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The Complaint. For This Reason, A Motion To Dismiss, Like Any Other Omnibus
Motion, Must Raise And Include All Objections Available At The Time Of The Filing Of
The Motion Because Under Section 8, All Objections Not So Included Shall Be
Deemed Waived.
MAY 15, 2016 BY THE LAWYER'S POST
The Case:
On a complaint filed against them for annulment of contract of mortgage,
foreclosure sale, certificate of sale and damages by the spouses Ochoa, represented
by respondent Araceli S. Azores, the spouses De Guzman filed a first motion to
dismiss, for lack of cause of action. The RTC denied the motion and set the case for
pre-trial conference. Undaunted, the spouses filed a second motion to dismiss, this
time alleging that the certification against forum shopping attached to the
complaint was not executed by the principal parties, the spouses Ochoa, in violation
of Sec. 5 Rule 7 of the Rules of Court, thus complaint was fatally defective and
dismissible. The RTC again denied the motion to dismiss. Their motion for
reconsideration was also denied.
The spouses filed a petition for certiorari, which the CA dismissed, noting that
following the omnibus motion rule, their failure to allege the defects of the
complaint which they pointed out in the second motion to dismiss were deemed
waived when they failed to raise it in their first motion to dismiss.
The Issue:
Whether or not the CA erred in dismissing their petition for certiorari.
The Ruling:
It is the position of the petitioners that the second motion to dismiss does not
violate the Omnibus Motion Rule under Section 8, Rule 15 of the Rules of Court
because the issue raised in the second motion was a question of jurisdiction. For
said reason, the matter of the defective verification and certification cannot be
considered to have been waived when it was not interposed at the first instance.
Considering that the issue is jurisdictional, the RTC should have dismissed the
complaint motu proprio.
The Court disagrees with the petitioners.