KENNETH C. DUREMDES, PETITIONER, V. CAROLINE G. JORILLA, RODOLFO C.

DE LEON,
MANOLITO SIOSON,[*] ELMER B. GASANG, MICHAEL DE CASTRO, GENNETE E. RIVERA,
SYLVIA ORBASE, IRENE MAGSOMBOL, NENITA R. DOMAGUING, AND CHERILYN PALMA,
RESPONDENTS.

DECISION

INTING, J.:

This is a Petition for Review on Certiorari (With Application for a Temporary Restraining Order
and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court of the Resolutions dated
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July 25, 2017 and September 26, 2017 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 151644.
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The CA dismissed the Petition for Certiorari filed by Kenneth Duremdes (petitioner) and affirmed the
Decision dated July 21, 2016 of Branch 97, Regional Trial Court (RTC), Quezon City that denied
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petitioner's Petition for Relief from Judgment due to lack of merit.

Antecedents

On August 27, 2009, respondents Caroline G. Jorilla, Rodolfo C. De Leon, Manolito Sioson, Elmer
B. Gasang, Michael De Castro, Gennete E. Rivera, Sylvia Orbase, Irene Magsombol, Nenita R.
Domaguing, and Cherilyn Palma (collectively, respondents) filed a Complaint for Collection of Sum
of Money plus Damages against petitioner and a certain Emerflor B. Manginsay, Jr. (Manginsay).
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The case was docketed as Civil Case No. Q-09-65496. In their Complaint, respondents sought the
recovery of payments they allegedly made to Vitamins & Cebu Artists International, Inc. (VCAII) as
the latter's alleged victims of illegal recruitment. Respondents alleged that petitioner and Manginsay
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were majority stockholders of VCAII. 8

On March 20, 2014, the RTC rendered its Decision awarding the respondents actual and moral
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damages. In the Decision, the RTC explained that summons was served upon petitioner and
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Manginsay by publication in the March 29 to April 4, 2010, April 5 to 11, 2010, and April 12 to 18,
2010 issues of Viewliner Weekly News. However, petitioner and Manginsay failed to file their
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respective answers or any responsive pleading. Thus, upon respondents' motion, the RTC declared
petitioner and Manginsay in default and allowed respondents to present their evidence ex parte. 12

Subsequently, petitioner filed a Petition for Relief from Judgment dated May 22, 2014 accompanied
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by his own Affidavit of Merit. In the petition, he sought the annulment of the Decision dated March
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20, 2014 of the RTC. 15

Petitioner argued, among others, that the RTC Decision dated March 20, 2014 should be set aside
on the ground of fraud considering that respondents knowingly specified an erroneous address for
the purpose of fraudulently gaining a favorable judgment. Petitioner further argued that respondents
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could have referred to the General Information Sheet of VCAII where the valid address of petitioner
was mentioned. As a result, petitioner was not properly served with summons to be able to answer
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the allegations of respondents, and for the RTC to acquire jurisdiction over his person. 18

Petitioner furthermore argued that respondents committed fraud through the following acts: (1)
violating Section 1(a), Rule 111 of the Rules of Court relating to the institution of criminal and civil
actions, i.e., respondents filed a civil case against petitioner despite the previous filing and dismissal
of criminal cases against him and his co-accused; and (2) stating in their Verification and Certificate
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of Non-Forum Shopping that they have not filed any similar case despite the fact that they filed the
civil case to recover civil liability even though it was already deemed instituted in the criminal case. 20

Respondents then filed their Answer. Afterwards, petitioner filed his Reply.
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 Ruling of the RTC

Subsequently, on July 21, 2016, the RTC rendered its Decision denying the petition for lack of
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merit. The dispositive portion reads:

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Petition for Relief from Judgment filed by petitioner-
defendant Kenneth Duremdes, through counsel, is hereby DENIED for lack of merit.

Accordingly and as prayed by the respondents-plaintiffs in their Answer to the Petition, let a Writ of
Execution be ISSUED in view of the Decision dated March 20, 2014 in Civil Case No. Q-09-65496
for collection of sum of money plus damages.

SO ORDERED. 24

Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration, but the RTC denied it in its Order dated April 12, 2017.
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The RTC then ordered the issuance of a writ of execution in view of the finality of the Decision dated
March 20, 2014. 26

Thus, on July 17, 2017, petitioner filed a Petition for Certiorari (With Application for a Temporary
Restarining Order and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction before the CA.
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Ruling of the CA

In its Resolution dated July 25, 2017, the CA dismissed the petition. It ruled that the petition for
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certiorari was fatally defective based on the following infirmities which the CA enumerated, as
follows:

(1) There is no explanation at all in the present petition and in the petition for relief from judgment as
to why petitioner did not avail of the remedy of appeal upon his receipt of the trial court's Decision
dated March 20, 2014. The petition for relief from judgment, merely alleged:

In this case, petitioner only learned about the said Decision of this Honorable Court dated 20 March
2014 last 25 April 2014. Hence, under Section 3 of Rule 38 of the Rules of Court, petitioner has sixty
days (60) from notice or until 24 June 2014 and six (6) months after the judgment or final order was
entered.

It is basic that a petition for relief from judgment is an equitable remedy and is allowed only in
exceptional cases from final judgments or orders when no other remedy is available. It will not be
entertained when the proper remedy is appeal or certiorari. Apparently, in this case, the petition for
relief from judgment was filed on May 28, 2014 as a substitute for a lost appeal. It necessarily
follows that the present petition for certiorari, an extraordinary remedy, cannot be availed of to cure a
previously lost legal remedy.

(2) There is no original, duplicate original or certified true copy of the assailed Decision dated July
21, 2016 attached to the petition, in violation of Section 1, Rule 65, in relation to Section 3, Rule 46,
Revised Rules of Court. The Decision dated July 21, 2016 attached as Annex "C" of the petition was
only marked with "ORIGINAL SIGNED" on page 8 thereof. Apart from this, the Decision dated March
20, 2014 attached to the petition as Annex "A" is an illegible photocopy.

(3) Copies of pertinent pleadings/documents and other relevant portions of the records, such as the
opposition to the motion for reconsideration, reply, writ of execution, among others, are not attached
as annexes to the petition.29

Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration, but the CA denied it in its Resolution dated September
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26, 2017.
Hence, the petition.

The Court's Ruling

The Court grants the petition.

At the outset, the Court finds no merit in respondents' argument that the present petition should be
dismissed for failure to implead the CA as a public respondent. Suffice it to state that what petitioner
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filed is a petition for review on certiorari. Unlike in a petition for certiorari under Rule 65, wherein the
public respondent is included as a nominal party, Rule 45 of the Rules of Court does not require the
public respondent to be impleaded. 32

The Court will now discuss the propriety of the CA's dismissal of the petition for certiorari.

Substantial compliance with the formal requirements of a petition for certiorari.

To reiterate, among the grounds relied upon by the CA in dismissing petitioner's petition for certiorari
were: (1) petitioner failed to attach a certified true copy of the RTC Decision dated July 21, 2016 and
the attached copy merely bore the notation "ORIGINAL SIGNED;" (2) the RTC Decision dated March
20, 2014 attached to the petition was an illegible photocopy; and (3) copies of pertinent
pleadings/documents and other relevant portions of the records, such as the opposition to the
motion for reconsideration, reply, writ of execution, among others, were not attached as annexes to
the petition.

In Jaro v. Court of Appeals, the Court ruled that while rules of procedure are essential to the proper,
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efficient and orderly dispensation of justice, such rules are to be applied in a manner that will help
secure and not defeat justice. Thus, the Court has ruled against the dismissed of appeals based
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solely on technicalities, especially so when the appellant had substantially complied with the formal
requirements. Specifically, the Court ruled that subsequent and substantial compliance may call for
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the relaxation of procedural rules; thus:

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