Short answer. Not automatically. Appealing does not by itself entitle a tenant to remain, and Article 1674 arms the higher court against an appeal taken only to buy time: where the tenant's appeal is frivolous or dilatory, the lessor may move to be restored to possession while the appeal runs.
What the law says
if the higher court is satisfied that the lessee's appeal is frivolous or dilatory, or that the lessor's appeal is prima facie meritorious
Civil Code, Article 1674 — Ejectment Appeals. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The period of ten days referred to in said article shall be counted from the time the appeal is perfected.
Civil Code, Article 1674 — Ejectment Appeals. Read the full provision →
What the article is actually for
Article 1674 does not grant a tenant the right to stay pending appeal. It does the opposite: it hands the lessor a tool for the appeal stage. The remedy applies if the higher court is satisfied that the lessee's appeal is frivolous or dilatory, or that the lessor's appeal is prima facie meritorious. So the existence of an appeal is not, by itself, an answer to the question of who occupies the property in the meantime. That is decided separately, and a tenant who assumes that filing something buys a year of quiet occupancy is usually the one this provision was written about.
Frivolous or dilatory is the test
The two triggers are narrow and they point at the quality of the appeal rather than at the merits of the original tenancy. An appeal is dilatory when its function is delay rather than review, and the tell is usually a defence that was never raised below, or grounds that do not engage with what was actually decided. A tenant with a genuine defence, properly pleaded and argued, is not what this addresses. A tenant whose appeal exists in order to postpone a move is exposed by it, and the exposure arrives quickly.
The borrowed remedy and its ten days
The article does not invent a new remedy. It borrows the one in the second paragraph of Article 539, the motion for a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction to restore a possessor, and adapts the timing: the period of ten days referred to in said article shall be counted from the time the appeal is perfected. Ten days is very short, and it runs from perfection of the appeal rather than from any later event. A lessor who wants to use this has to be ready to move as soon as the appeal is taken, not once the appeal has begun to drag.
What a tenant with a real defence should do
Treat the judgment as effective unless and until you have done whatever is required to hold it in suspense. An ejectment judgment is enforced quickly, and what stays enforcement pending appeal is compliance with the requirements the Rules of Court set for it, not the mere act of appealing. Find out precisely what those are, and what has to be paid or posted and by when, before the period to appeal runs. Then make sure the appeal raises the defence you actually have, in terms that engage the decision, because a thin appeal is worse than none.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- HGL Development Corporation represented by its President, Henry G. Lim vs. Hon. Rafael O. Penuela and Semirara Coal Corporation, G.R. No. 181353, June 6, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sps. Castro vs. Sps. Se and Dela Cruz, et al, G.R. No. 190122, January 10, 2011 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Leonardo David vs. Nelson and Danny Cordova, G.R. No. 152992, July 27, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Joel G. Nolasco vs. Purence Realty Corporation, G.R. No. 252715, October 12, 2022 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1673 — Grounds for Judicial Ejectment
- Civil Code, Article 539 — Protection of Possession