CGR Corporation v.
Treyes
G.R. No. 170916
April 27, 2007
Facts:
Ernesto Treyes allegedly forcibly and unlawfully entered the public land of the
petitioners, wherein he barricaded the entrance to the fishponds, set up barbed
wire fence along the road going to the fishponds and harvested the fish owned by
the petitioners. Treyes also destroyed the chapel builty by CGR and stole
religious icons therefrom.
The petitioners filed an action with the MTC for forcible entry against Treyes.
They also filed a separate complaint for damages with the RTC. Treyes filed a
motion to dismiss on the ground of forum shopping, res judicata and litis
pendentia.
The RTC dismissed the complaint on the ground that an action for damages can
only be commenced once there is a final judgment in the forcible entry case.
Issue:
Whether or not there was a splitting of a single cause of action
Held:
None. The recoverable damages in forcible entry and detainer cases refer only to
rents or the reasonable compensation for the use and occupation of the premises
or fair rental value of the property and attorneys fees and costs.
In this case, the claim for damages have no direct relation to the loss of
possession of the premises. It referred to the acts done by the respondent
after the act of dispossession had occurred.
Petitioners’ filing of an independent action for damages other than those
sustained as a result of their dispossession or those caused by the loss of their
use and occupation of their properties could not thus be considered as splitting of
a cause of action.
