This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2010-08-03 |
VILLARAMA, JR., J. |
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| One (1) last note on the award of damages. Considering that petitioners acted in good faith in building their house on the subject property of the respondent-spouses, there is no basis for the award of moral damages to respondent-spouses. Likewise, the Court deletes the award to Vergon of compensatory damages and attorney's fees for the litigation expenses Vergon had incurred as such amounts were not specifically prayed for in its Answer to petitioners' third-party complaint. Under Article 2208[20] of the Civil Code, attorney's fees and expenses of litigation are recoverable only in the concept of actual damages,not as moral damages norjudicial costs. Hence, such must be specifically prayed for--as was not done in this case--and may not be deemed incorporated within a general prayer for "such other relief and remedy as this court may deem just and equitable."[21] It must also be noted that aside from the following, the body of the trial court's decision was devoid of any statement regarding attorney's fees. In Scott Consultants & Resource Development Corporation, Inc. v. Court of Appeals,[22] we reiterated that attorney's fees are not to be awarded every time a party wins a suit. The power of the court to award attorney's fees under Article 2208 of the Civil Code demands factual, legal, and equitable justification; its basis cannot be left to speculation or conjecture. Where granted, the court must explicitly state in the body of the decision, and not only in the dispositive portion thereof, the legal reason for the award of attorney's fees. | |||||