THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. No. 249931. March 4, 2020.]
MERCY LAMORENA, petitioner,vs. PHILIPPINE SAVINGS BANK, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Third Division, issued a Resolution datedMarch 4, 2020, which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 249931 (Mercy Lamorena v. Philippine Savings Bank). — After a perusal of the records of the case, it appears that Associate Justice Louis P. Acosta (Associate Justice Acosta), a member of the Special 13th Division of the Court of Appeals (CA), is the former Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Taguig City, Branch 70, who penned the Decision 1 dated January 9, 2017 in LRC Case No. R-010. Associate Justice Acosta concurred in the Resolutions dated April 12, 2019 2 and October 4, 2019 3 of the CA's Special 13th Division in CA-G.R. CV No. 112036, which dismissed Petitioner Mercy Lamorena's appeal of the Decision dated January 9, 2017 of the RTC. HEITAD
Under Section 1, Rule 137 of the Rules of Court and Section 5 (e), Canon 3 of the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary, judges cannot participate in the proceedings where their ruling in the lower court is the subject of review. Failure of the judge to inhibit renders the ruling void for violation of the party's right to an impartial review, and consequently, his or her right to due process. 4 Due to Associate Justice Acosta's failure to inhibit from the case, the Resolutions rendered by the CA are void.
WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Resolutions dated April 12, 2019 and October 4, 2019 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 112036 are hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The appeal of petitioner Mercy Lamorena is reinstated and referred to the presiding justice of the Court of Appeals for raffle to another Division of the Court of Appeals.
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) MISAEL DOMINGO C. BATTUNG IIIDivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 14-18.
2. Penned by Associate Justice Priscilla J. Baltazar-Padilla, with Associate Justices Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob and Louis P. Acosta; id. at 21-22.
3.Id. at 28-30.
4. See Singson v. National Labor Relations Commission, 340 Phil. 470, 477 (1997).