The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by Irene Marcos Araneta against the widow and the daughter of the late Ambassador Roberto Benedicto, a political ally of her father.

Araneta, daughter of former President Ferdinand Marcos, named the Court of Appeals, the widow Julita Benedicto, and daughter Francisca Benedicto-Paulino as respondents.

Araneta in her Petition for Review on Certiorari assailed a CA decision annulling and setting aside orders dated Oct. 9, 2000, Dec. 18, 2000, and March 15, 2001 of the Regional Trial Court Branch 17 in Batac, Ilocos Norte which admitted her amended complaint against the two.

Sometime in 1968 and 1972, Roberto Benedicto of Negros Occidental, now deceased, and his business associates organized Far East Managers and Investors Inc. and Universal Equity Corp., the SC said.

Araneta would later allege both corporations were organized pursuant to a contract or arrangement whereby Benedicto, as trustor, placed in his name and those of his associates, as trustees, the shares of stocks of FEMII and UEC.

Benedicto and his associates had the obligation to hold those shares and their fruits in trust and for her benefit to the extent of 65 percent of such shares, Araneta said.

Araneta, through her trustee-husband, Gregorio Ma. Araneta III, demanded the reconveyance of the 65 percent stockholdings, but the Benedicto Group refused to oblige. 

In March 2000, Araneta instituted before the RTC two complaints for conveyance of shares of stock, accounting and receivership against the Benedicto Group with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order.

The widow and the daughter moved for the dismissal of the cases, Paulino arguing that the cases involved an intra-corporate dispute over which the Securities and Exchange Commission, not the RTC, has jurisdiction; venue was improperly laid; and the complaint failed to state a cause of action, as there was no allegation therein that plaintiff, as beneficiary of the purported trust, has accepted the trust created in her favor.

To bolster their contentions on improper venue, Benedicto and Paulino presented the Joint Affidavit of Gilmia  Valdez, Catalino  Bactat, and Conchita  Rasco who all attested to being employed as household staff at the Marcos’ mansion in Brgy. Lacub, Batac, Ilocos Norte and that Irene did not maintain residence in said place as she, in fact only visited the mansion twice in 1999; that she did not vote in Batac in the 1998 national elections; and that she was staying at her husband’s house in Makati City.

On June 29, 2000, the RTC dismissed both complaints.

During an August 25, 2000 hearing, the RTC in open court denied Irene’s motion for reconsideration, but deferred action on her motion to admit amended complaint.

On Oct., 2000, the RTC issued an order entertaining the amended complaint.

Benedicto and Paulino went to the CA via a petition for certiorari, seeking to nullify the RTC orders:  admitting the amended complaint and denying their motion to dismiss the amended complaint.

The CA granted Benedicto and Paulino’s petition and set aside the RTC orders admitting the amended complaints for being null and void, prompting Araneta to file a petition for review before the SC.

Araneta was a resident of Forbes Park, Makati City when she filed the case against the Benedictos in Brgy. Lacub, Batac, Ilocos Norte, the SC noted.

“The Court will not speculate on the reason why petitioner Irene, for all the inconvenience and expenses she and her adversaries would have to endure by a Batac trial, preferred that her case be heard and decided by the RTC in Batac,” the SC said.

On the heels of the dismissal of the original complaints on the ground of improper venue, three new personalities were added to the amended complaint doubtless to insure, but in vain as it turned out, that the case stays with the RTC in Batac, the SC noted.

The SC, in denying the petition of Araneta, said the CA decision and resolution dated Oct. 17, 2001 and June 20, 2002, respectively, affirmed its nullification of the orders of the RTC, Branch 17 in Batac, Ilocos Norte on the ground of lack of jurisdiction due to improper venue, and dismissed the civil cases she filed.

The SC decision promulgated on Aug. 22 was penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco  and concurred in by Associate Justices Leonardo Qusumbing, Conchita Carpio Morales, Dante Tinga and Arturo Brion.*CPG

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