SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 223853. September 13, 2017.]
CJH DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, petitioner, vs.PHILIPPINE LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE CO., INC., respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated13 September 2017which reads as follows: HTcADC
"G.R. No. 223853 (CJH Development Corporation v. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Inc.)
After a judicious study of the case, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition and AFFIRM the July 24, 2015 Decision 1 and March 30, 2016 Resolution 2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CV No. 98584 for failure of petitioner CJH Development Corporation (CJHDC) to sufficiently show that the CA committed any reversible error in awarding the full cash surrender value of P10,000,000.00 in favor of respondent Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Inc., plus interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the filing of the complaint on July 22, 2003 until full payment.
As correctly ruled by the CA, the completion date of the subject unit was on October 9, 2001, or the date when CJHDC sent PLDT a Letter 3 informing the latter of the completion of the rectification works (as per the punch list 4 sent by PLDT) on the unit, and attaching thereto its own turnover guidelines, 5 which state that "[w]hen a unit is completed, the buyer will receive written notice together with the turnover guidelines." Case law states that a punch list is "the report of unfinished work identified during an inspection by the owner and contractor just before completion of a building and 'work called for by the original contract (or subcontract) which the contractor (or subcontractor) has not satisfactorily completed.' Clearly, by its very nature, unless and until the items in a punch list are completed and/or corrected, accomplishment on a project can never be considered 100%." 6 As the unit was completed only on October 9, 2001, CJHDC could not impose the 3% per month penalty against PLDT, which penalty was premised on the former's claimed completion date of June 1, 2001. Likewise, CJHDC cannot claim rentals and association dues since PLDT was never in possession of the subject unit. Thus, without these deductions, PLDT could validly claim the full cash surrender value of its total payments made, i.e., P10,000,000.00, pursuant to their contract, plus interest as above-mentioned.
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of CourtBy:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 8-38. Penned by Associate Justice Ramon A. Cruz with Associate Justices Marlene Gonzales-Sison and Ma. Luisa Quijano Padilla concurring.
2.Id. at 41-42.
3.Id. at 171.
4.Id. at 210.
5. See Luxury Log Homes Turnover Guidelines; id. at 172-173.
6.Cayetano-Abaño v. Colegio De San Juan De Letran, 690 Phil. 554, 589 (2012).