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Hasegawa filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that the contract was
entered in Japan hence, applying the principle of lex loci celebracionis, cases
arising from the contract should be cognizable only by Japanese courts. The
trial court denied the motion. Eventually, Nippon filed a petition for certiorari
with the Supreme Court.
Hasegawa, on appeal significantly changed its theory, this time invoking forum
non conveniens; that the RTC is an inconvenient forum because the parties are
Japanese nationals who entered into a contract in Japan. Kitamura on the
other hand invokes the trial courts ruling which states that matters connected
with the performance of contracts are regulated by the law prevailing at the
place of performance, so since the obligations in the ICA are executed in the
Philippines, courts here have jurisdiction.
HELD: No. The trial court did the proper thing in taking cognizance of it.
In the first place, the case filed by Kitamura is a complaint for specific
performance and damages. Such case is incapable of pecuniary estimation;
such cases are within the jurisdiction of the regional trial court.
Hasegawa filed his motion to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens.
However, such ground is not one of those provided for by the Rules as a ground
for dismissing a civil case.
The Supreme Court also emphasized that the contention that Japanese laws
should apply is premature. In conflicts cases, there are three phases and each
next phase commences when one is settled, to wit:
This case is not yet in the second phase because upon the RTCs taking
cognizance of the case, Hasegawa immediately filed a motion to dismiss, which
was denied. He filed a motion for reconsideration, which was also denied. Then
he bypassed the proper procedure by immediately filing a petition for certiorari.
The question of which law should be applied should have been settled in the
trial court had Hasegawa not improperly appealed the interlocutory order
denying his MFR.