EDMUNDO T. OSEA, et al. v. ANTONIO G. AMBROSIO, et al.
486 SCRA 599 (2006)
The doctrine of primary administrative jurisdiction provides that courts cannot or will not determine a controversy where the issues call for the exercise of sound administrative discretion.
The Contract to Sell executed by spouses Edmundo T. Osea and Ligaya R. Osea and respondent Antonio Ambrosio, involves the sale and purchase of a ―house and lot unit‖ in Villa San Agustin Subdivision, a low-cost housing and lot project. Even after signing the Deed of Sale on the lot, Spouses Osea stipulated that the house would be constructed in accordance with, inter alia, the terms of the Contract to Sell, wherein respondent Ambrosio contracted his co-respondent Rodolfo C. Perez to construct the Spouses Osea‘s house in accordance with the Specifications in the Contract to Sell, the Bill of Materials, and Approved Building Plan by the Building Official of Quezon City.
Ligaya Osea executed a Certificate of Lot and House Acceptance and thereafter occupied it. A month after occupying the house, its front and back walls cracked. Spouses Osea filed a complaint for damages against respondents Ambrosio and Perez before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City.
Respondent questioned the jurisdiction of the RTC over the complaint for damages, contending that it is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).
ISSUE:
Whether or not RTC has jurisdiction over the complaint damages based on the violation or deviation from the approved subdivision plan
HELD:
The Court of Appeals, by Decision which is being challenged in the present petition for review on certiorari, declared null and void the trial court‘s Decision for lack of jurisdiction as it is the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) which has jurisdiction over the complaint.
The appellate court did not thus err when it characterized petitioners complaint for damages as based on the violation or deviation from the ―approved subdivision plan‖. ―Sale‖ and ―purchase‖ of subdivision lots under P.D. 957 explicitly include the sale and purchase of buildings and other improvements thereon which form an integral part of the approved subdivision plan.
The extent to which the HLURB has been vested with quasi-judicial authority must also be determined by referring to the terms of P.D. No. 957, ―THE SUBDIVISION AND CONDOMINIUM BUYERS’ PROTECTIVE DECREE.‖ Section 3 of this statute provides the HLUB has the exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the real estate trade and business in accordance with the provisions of this Decree.
