Civil Procedure - Midterms

These are the reconstituted questions for our Midterm Examinations under Atty. HMB.

1. Explain "Jurisdiction is confered by law but is determined by the assertions in the pleading."
2. Jose, a Police Chief Inspector, was conducting surveillance operations at the Pegasus Night Club. On such occasion, he killed someone. He was subsequently charged with Homicide at the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City. After the prosecution rested its case, Jose moved to dismiss the case, contending that it is the Sandiganbayan that has jurisdiction over his case. The RTC ordered the records of the case be forwarded to the Sandiganbayan. The Sandiganbayan did not take cognizance of the case, and remanded it back to the RTC. Was the Sandiganbayan correct?
3. A building inside the "Pamilihang Sentral ng Sta. Mesa" is said to be owned by VCF Enterprises and is rented out to stallholders. Five stallholders of the building found evidence that proves VCF's Title No. 133576, issued by the Register of Deeds of Manila is spurious, questionable and doubtful. In behalf of all stallholders, the five instituted a class suit for cancellation of the title and damages. Is the complaint proper?
4. Ric Bonto entered into three different contracts with Mario (contract of lease), Lirio (contract of mortgage) and Augusto (contract of sale) involving the same parcel of land in Sampaloc, Manila. All violated the terms of their respective agreements. Can Ric Bonto institute a single complaint for all three?
5. Distinguish Primary Jurisdiction from Residual Jurisdiction.
6. Manuel filed a case to compel Doña Trinidad to transfer to him a parcel of land. The trial court ruled in favor of Manuel. The defendant appealed to the Court of Appeals. While on appeal, Doña Trinidad died. The heirs actively pursued the appeal without any formal substitution of parties. The CA affirmed the decision of the trial court. The heirs filed a petition before the Supreme Court claiming that the CA did not acquire jurisdiction on the person of the heirs because there was no formal substitution. (a) Will the petition prosper? (b) Suppose the property was transferred to a third person pendente lite, would the answer be the same?
7. Juan dela Cruz filed a case against Y Company at the Regional Trial Court of San Pablo City. He would like to take the deposition of Pedro Santos, a resident of Lucena City and employee of Y Company, because he was not able to secure a subpoena for him. Pedro refused to give his deposition. Even when the RTC have already issued a subpoena for him, he still refused to appear before the court. (a) What sanctions may be imposed upon Pedro Santos? (b) Suppose his deposition was taken and introduced in part, by the adverse party. May he be considered as his witness?
8. What are the requirements for genuiness and due execution of actionable documents?
9. Monark Corporation filed a case against Asian Construction for collection of sum of money due to the non payment of rentals for leased equipments owned by Monark. Asian Construction moved for leave of court to file Third Party Complaint against Bechtel Company, because it is latter that actually used the leased equipments and did not pay Asian Construction for the use. The Regional Trial Court denied the motion of Asian Construction. (a) Is the RTC correct in dismissing the motion for the filing of a Third Party Complaint? (b) According to the case, what are the requisites for a Third Party Complaint?
10. Jose's brand new Toyota Altis, parked along Batasan Road, Quezon City, was hit by a wayward Izuzu Crosswind. He then filed a case for damages at the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City against: "A", the driver of the Crosswind, who is a resident of Batangas City; "B" the owner of the Crosswind, who is temporarily a resident of Singapore; and "C" a foreign insurance corporation without any agent in the Philippines. Summonses were validly served to them on June 5, 10, and 15, respectively. (a) When must the defendants file their answer? (b) The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground of: "A" the venue is improper; "B" the court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of the case; and "C" the court has not acquired jurisdiction over the person of the defendant. Rule on the defenses.
11. Crispin filed a complaint for collection of sum of money at the Regional Trial Court of Makati for P250,000. Realizing the error, Crispin moved to amend the amount by raising it to P500,000. The court dismissed the motion claiming that it cannot rule on the amendment of the pleading as it has not yet acquired jurisdiction over the case. Is the contention of the RTC valid?
12. On August 1, 2005, Atty. Pepe Santos received a notice of registered mail. Because his family went on vacation from August 4 to 11, 2005 in Bali, Indonesia, he was only able to check the mail on August 21, 2005. He found out that it is a copy of the decision against his client dated July 13, 1999. Can he still appeal the decision?