Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System v. ESM Trading Corporation
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Respondent ESM Trading Corporation (ESM) filed a civil case against petitioner Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and others, seeking the nullification of a public bidding and damages, alleging that MWSS awarded a contract for spring hydrants to Consuelo Commodities, Inc. (CCI), a non-complying and ineligible bidder, causing loss to ESM. Procedural History: The Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruled in favor of ESM, ordering MWSS and its officers to pay actual, moral, and exemplary damages, as well as attorney's fees. The RTC also dismissed the counterclaims of the defendants and entered no judgment against CCI for insufficiency of evidence. ESM moved for execution pending appeal, which the RTC granted. MWSS opposed this and appealed the RTC decision. MWSS then filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA) questioning the propriety of the execution pending appeal. The Petition: The CA dismissed MWSS's petition for certiorari and its subsequent motion for reconsideration. This led MWSS to file the instant petition for review on certiorari with the Supreme Court. Pending resolution of the Supreme Court petition, the CA, in a separate decision on the merits of the main case (CA-G.R. CV No. 74964), reversed the RTC's decision and deleted the awards of actual, moral, and exemplary damages in favor of ESM.
Issue(s)
Whether the petition for certiorari assailing the grant of execution pending appeal has become moot and academic in light of the subsequent reversal of the main decision. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in dismissing the petition for certiorari.
Ruling
The Supreme Court denied the petition for review on certiorari. It set aside the decision of the Court of Appeals dated March 14, 2003, and its resolution dated August 28, 2003, which dismissed MWSS's petition for certiorari. The Court declared the petition moot and academic.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of mootness: The Court held that the instant petition for review on certiorari has been rendered moot because the Court of Appeals, in the main case, reversed the trial court's decision, deleting the awards of damages. The reversal of the trial court's decision necessarily carried with it the nullification of the issued writ of execution pending appeal. Therefore, the issue of whether the execution pending appeal was proper became moot. On the propriety of the CA's dismissal: Since the petition was rendered moot, the Supreme Court found no reversible error in the Court of Appeals' dismissal of MWSS's petition for certiorari. The CA's action was consistent with the subsequent development in the main case. The Court of Appeals correctly dismissed the petition for certiorari because the subsequent reversal of the trial court's decision rendered the issue of execution pending appeal moot and academic. The Supreme Court, in setting aside the CA's decision, was acknowledging the mootness of the issue presented in the certiorari petition.
Main Doctrine
A petition for certiorari assailing an order granting execution pending appeal becomes moot and academic when the main decision sought to be executed is subsequently reversed by the appellate court.