- Petitioner
- Insular Life Savings
- Respondent
- Spouses Felix Mateo Runes, Jr.
- Citation
- G.R. No. 152530
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- Second Division
- Ponente
- Callejo, Sr., J.
- Decided
- August 12, 2004
Summary
Spouses Runes obtained a P800,000 loan secured by real estate mortgage from Home Savings Bank. After foreclosure in 1993, they entered a contract to sell with the bank for P3,200,000. Despite paying P4,446,000 over five years, the bank refused to release the title. The RTC declared the contract null and void as pactum commissorium under Article 2088 of the Civil Code and ordered reimbursement plus damages. The bank's appeal was denied for being filed 12 days late due to counsel's father's death. The Supreme Court affirmed, ruling that counsel's grief did not constitute excusable negligence and that clients are bound by their lawyers' omissions. The case establishes that perfection of appeals is mandatory and jurisdictional, and the right to appeal is a statutory privilege requiring strict compliance with procedural rules.