1. CHING AND PO WING PROPERTIES, INC., vs RODRIGUEZ ET. AL.

RULE 72 SUBJECT MATTER AND APPLICABILITY OF GENERAL RULES; RULE 73 - VENUE AND PROCESS
Facts:
The respondents filed a Complaint against the petitioners and all persons claiming rights or titles from
Ramon Ching (Ramon) and his successors-in-interest. The respondents alleged that they are the heirs of
Antonio Ching and that Ramon misrepresented himself as Antonios son when he was in fact adopted
and his birth certificate merely simulated; Antonio was killed with Ramon as the prime suspect and prior
to the conclusion of the investigations, Ramon made an inventory of the formers estate and illegally
transferred to his name the titles of Antonios properties. The respondents thus prayed for the issuance
of a TRO to restrain Ramon from disposing or selling any property that belongs to the estate of Antonio;
that Ramon be declared disqualified from inheriting from Antoni Ching; and be declared null the
unauthorized transfers made by Ramon.
Issue:
Whether or not the RTC should have granted the motion to dismiss, with regards to the issues which
could only be resolved in a special proceeding and not in an ordinary civil action.
Held:
No. Reversible errors were committed by the RTC and the CA when they both ruled that the denial of the
petitioners' second motion to dismiss was proper. An action for reconveyance and annulment of title
with damages is a civil action, whereas matters relating to settlement of the estate of a deceased person
such as advancement of property made by the decedent, partake of the nature of a special proceeding,
which concomitantly requires the application of specific rules as provided for in the Rules of Court. A
special proceeding is a remedy by which a party seeks to establish a status, a right, or a particular fact. It
is distinguished from an ordinary civil action where a party sues another for the enforcement or
protection of a right, or the prevention or redress of a wrong. To initiate a special proceeding, a petition
and not a complaint should be filed.1