G.R. No. 93394
December 20, 1990
Facts
Respondent bought a car in installment from World Cars, Inc. In the promissory note he signed, Estavillo agreed to pay a 2.5% penalty in case of late payment. The instrument also contained an acceleration clause. Subsequently, World Cars Inc. assigned the credit to petitioner.
Later on, the car was seized by two employees of the petitioner. The petitioner, through its branch manager, asserted that the car was confiscated because respondent was in arrears for two months. On the contrary, respondent insisted that he paid the two-month installments. The petitioner nevertheless refused to return the car. Thereafter, the car was sold at public auction and delivered to FNCB as the highest bidder. It was then taken to Manila, where it was ultimately resold. Hence, respondent sued.
The RTC ruled in favor of petitioner, contending that the seizure of the car was not warranted because respondent was not delinquent in his installment payments. Consequently, the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the lower court. Thus, this petition.
Issue
Whether or not the Court of Appeals erred in disregarding the facts and evidence showing that respondent was really in default.
Held
No. It is a well-established principle that the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts. In an appeal by certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, “only questions of law may be raised,” as the Rule itself says. The resolution of factual issues is the function of the lower courts, whose findings on these matters are received with respect and are in fact binding on the Supreme Court except only where the case is shown as coming under the accepted exceptions.
Here, there is no such showing of the exceptions to the rule that the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts. With that, the ruling of the trial court, as reviewed and affirmed by the respondent court, was upheld. Hence, the Supreme Court accepts the ruling of the trial court that the private respondent was up-to-date in his installment payments at the time of the seizure of the subject vehicle.