An Act Amending Section 88 of Act No. 190, as Amended by Act No. 1778

February 4, 1916

ACT NO. 2588

AN ACT AMENDING SECTION EIGHTY-EIGHT OF ACT NUMBERED ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY, ENTITLED "AN ACT PROVIDING A CODE OF PROCEDURE IN CIVIL ACTIONS AND SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS," AS AMENDED BY ACT NUMBERED SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHT, BY CHANGING THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A DEFENDANT MAY BE ALLOWED TO APPEAL FROM A JUDGMENT OF A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE ORDERING THE RESTITUTION OF POSSESSION OF ANY LAND OR BUILDING

SECTION 1. Section eighty-eight of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, entitled "An Act providing a Code of Procedure in Civil Actions and Special Proceedings in the Philippine Islands," as amended by Act Numbered Seventeen hundred and seventy-eight is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 88. Appeal. — Either party may appeal from the judgment of the justice of the peace to the Court of First Instance within five days after receipt by him of notice of the rendition of the judgment, and the suit shall be conducted therein in the same manner as appeals from justices of the peace in other civil actions. If the plaintiff recovers possession of the premises in the Court of First Instance he shall have judgment for the amount of rents and damages then due. If the defendant appeals from the judgment of the justice, and desires to stay execution of the judgment pending the appeal, he shall give to the plaintiff security by an obligation, with sufficient sureties, approved by the justice of the peace, to enter the action in the Court of First Instance, and to pay rents, damages, and costs, and the defendant and the sureties shall be liable upon their obligation for damages and costs down to the time of the final judgment in the action. No stay of execution of a judgment for restitution of possession shall be allowed until such obligation has been filed with the justice. During the pendency of the appeal in any case in which a stay of execution of a judgment restoring possession, has been allowed, it shall be the duty of the defendant to pay to the plaintiff or into the Court of First Instance, at the option of the defendant, the amount of rent due from time to time under the contract, if any, as found by the judgment of the justice of the peace to exist, or, in the absence of a contract, to pay to the plaintiff or into court, as above provided, on or before the tenth day of each calendar month, the reasonable value of the use and occupation of the premises for the preceding month at the rate determined by the judgment. All moneys so paid to the Court of First Instance shall be deposited in the provincial treasury, or in the city of Manila in the Insular Treasury, there to be held until the final disposition of the appeal. Should the defendant fail to make the payments above prescribed from time to time during the pendency of the appeal, the Court of First Instance, upon the motion of the plaintiff, of which the defendant shall have notice, upon proof of the failure of the defendant to make such payments, shall order the execution of the judgment of the court which had original cognizance of the case relative to the possession of the property in litigation: Provided, That such execution shall not be a bar to the appeal taking its course in the Court of First Instance until the final decision thereof on its merits. If the case is tried on its merits in the Court of First Instance any money paid into court by the defendant for the purposes of the appeal shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the judgment of the Court of First Instance; and in any case wherein it appears that the defendant has been deprived of the lawful possession of land or a building pending the appeal, by virtue of the execution of the judgment of the justice of the peace, damages for such deprivation of possession may be allowed the defendant in the judgment of the Court of First Instance disposing of the appeal. The appeal bond above referred to shall be transmitted by the justice, with the other papers, to the clerk of the Court of First Instance to which the action is appealed."

SECTION 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the same shall take effect on its passage, in accordance with section one of Act Numbered Nineteen hundred and forty-five of the Philippine Legislature.

Enacted, February 4, 1916.