GR 28979; (July, 1978) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-28979 July 31, 1978
RAFAEL BARICAN, petitioner, vs. HON. JUDGE WALFRIDO DE LOS ANGELES, MELENCIO C. CRUZ and CITY SHERIFF of Quezon City, respondents.
FACTS
Melancio C. Cruz filed a complaint for replevin in the Court of First Instance (CFI) of Rizal, Quezon City, against his wife, Bonifacia Aguilar, and Rafael Barican. Cruz sought to recover two passenger jeepneys, alleging they were conjugal property valued at around six thousand pesos. The court issued a writ of replevin, and the sheriff seized the vehicles. Barican moved to dissolve the writ, attaching deeds of sale showing he purchased the jeepneys for P11,500, thereby contesting Cruz’s claim of ownership. The respondent judge denied the motion.
Subsequently, Barican, through new counsel, filed a motion to annul the proceedings for lack of jurisdiction. He argued that since paragraph 10 of Cruz’s complaint stated the jeepneys’ value was only six thousand pesos, the claim fell below the jurisdictional amount of more than ten thousand pesos required for the CFI under the Judiciary Act. The lower court denied this motion as well. Barican then filed the instant petition for certiorari and prohibition with the Supreme Court, seeking to void the proceedings and recover the jeepneys.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of First Instance had jurisdiction over the replevin case, considering the alleged value of the property in controversy.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, ruling that the CFI had jurisdiction. The Court held that jurisdiction over the subject matter is determined by the allegations in the pleadings. The peculiarity here was that Barican, in his own motion to dissolve the writ, annexed deeds of sale proving he purchased the jeepneys for P11,500. By presenting this evidence, Barican himself refuted the complaint’s allegation that the value was only six thousand pesos and established that the actual value of the property in dispute exceeded the ten-thousand-peso jurisdictional threshold for the CFI.
Therefore, his subsequent motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction was without merit. The Court found that the value of the property, as evidenced by Barican’s own submission, was within the original jurisdiction of the CFI. Consequently, the petition was devoid of merit, the preliminary injunction was dissolved, and costs were assessed against petitioner Barican.