Consing v Court of Appeals

G.R. No. 78272

August 29, 1989

Facts
This case involves a dispute between Dr. and Mrs. Merlin Consing, the petitioners, and
Caridad Santos, the respondent. The petitioners are the registered owners of a parcel of land
in Marikina, Rizal, which they subdivided into 38 lots and sold to buyers. Santos entered into a
contract of sale with the petitioners to purchase two lots. However, Santos defaulted on her
payments, and the petitioners filed an ejectment case against her. Santos then filed a
complaint for specific performance with damages against the petitioners.
The Court of First Instance (CFI) ruled in favor of Santos, ordering the petitioners to allow her
to continue paying the reduced purchase price of the two lots. The CFI also ordered the
petitioners to pay Santos attorney's fees. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the CFI
with modification as to the computation of the amount to be deducted from the purchase price.

Issue
WON the decision of the Court of Appeals complied with the certification requirement under
Article VIII, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution.

Ruling
The Supreme Court explained that the certification requirement is a new provision introduced
by the framers of the 1987 Constitution. Its purpose is to ensure that decisions are reached
after consultation with the members of the court. However, the absence of certification does
not necessarily mean that the case was not reached in consultation before being assigned to a
member for decision-writing. The regular performance of official duty is presumed, and the lack
of certification would only serve as evidence of failure to observe the requirement. In this case,
the Supreme Court found that there was no evidence to show that the Court of Appeals failed
to comply with the certification requirement. Therefore, the Court ruled that the decision of the
Court of Appeals is valid.