The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the counterclaims filed by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation against television host Willie Revillame involving his contract with the former as host of the defunct show “Wowowee.”
In a briefer provided by the SC Public Information Office, it said the High Court’s Third Division junked the petitions for review filed by ABS-CBN and partially granted a similar plea by Revillame regarding the case.
To recall, Revillame on August 23, 2010 filed a civil action before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court seeking to cancel, terminate, and rescind his three-year contract with ABS-CBN to host “Wowowee” until September 10, 2011 “or upon cancellation or earlier termination of the program.”
He filed the suit after he resigned from “Wowowee” on May 5, 2010, which the television network rejected.
On September 15, 2010, ABS-CBN filed its answer with compulsory counterclaim, praying for liquidated damages in the amount of over P700 million, plus over P400 million for each further violation by Revillame, or for each week of violation of their contract.
A month later, ABS-CBN applied for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction to restrain Revillame from performing with TV5, owned by ABC Development Corporation on a similar show, titled “Willing Willie.”
However, the Quezon City RTC denied the TRO application but ordered Revillame to post P426.9 million in security bond for any damage that may be incurred by ABS-CBN.
ABS-CBN then proceeded to file a complaint with the Makati RTC for copyright infringement against Revillame, ABC Corporation, Wilproductions, Inc., and TV5 president Ray Espinosa, prompting the respondents to run to the Court of Appeals to stop the Makati court proceedings.
The CA ruled in favor of ABC Corporation and Espinosa, finding that ABS-CBN engaged in forum shopping for filing two suits, namely its case before the Quezon City RTC and the other one with the Makati RTC. It said both cases were based on one cause of action: Revillame’s alleged breach of its contract with ABS-CBN.
Following the CA’s dismissal of the copyright infringement complaint, ABC Corporation filed a motion to dismiss ABS-CBN’s compulsory counterclaim and the RTC granted the plea.
ABS-CBN then proceeded to elevate the case to the CA, which ruled in its favor and reinstated its compulsory counterclaim.
Revillame challenged the CA ruling before the SC, with the latter ruling in his favor.
In dismissing ABS-CBN’s case, the SC took judicial notice of the decision rendered by its First Division dated October 16, 2019 junking the former’s copyright infringement complaint on the ground of forum shopping.
The SC ruling penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomina Singh applied the doctrine of conclusiveness of judgment, which “ordains that issues actually and directly resolved in a former suit cannot again be raised in any future case between the same parties involving a different cause of action.”
“Conclusiveness of judgment proscribes the re-litigation in a second case of a fact or question already settled in a previous case. The second case, however, may still proceed provided that it will no longer touch on the same fact or question adjudged in the first case. Conclusiveness of judgment requires only the identity of issues and parties, but not of causes of action,” said the SC, citing its previous ruling in Ley Construction & Development Corp. v. Philippine Commercial and International Bank.
It likewise ruled that the TV giant engaged in forum shopping, saying that “ABS-CBN willfully sought the same relief in two different fora, expecting a favorable result after being denied the first time” and directed the Quezon City RTC to continue with the civil case without ABS-CBN’s compulsory counterclaim.
