FACTS:
Yolanda Granada and Cyrus Granada got married in 1991. In 1994, Cyrus went to Taiwan to seek employment but since then, he never communicated with Yolanda. After nine (9) years of waiting, she filed a Petition to have Cyrus declared presumptively dead which the RTC granted. The Republic of the Philippines appealed from the decision contending that Yolanda failed to prove earnest efforts to locate Cyrus and thus, failed to prove well-founded belief that he was already dead. Yolanda moved to dismiss the appeal contending that the Petition for Declaration of Presumptive Death based under Art. 41, Family Code was a summary judicial proceedings in which the judgment is immediately final and executory and, thus, not appealable. The CA granted the motion.
ISSUE:
Is the dismissal of the appeal correct, considering that the Family Code provides for summary procedure?
HELD:
Judgment declaring a spouse presumptively dead is immediately final and executory; remedy is Rule 65, not Rule 45. The RTC decision is immediately final and executory and not subject to ordinary appeal.
Since a petition for declaration of presumptive death is a summary proceeding, the judgment of the court therein shall be immediately final and executory. The appropriate remedy is a special civil action for certiorari if there is a showing of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.
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