Losing an ejectment case in the first-level court does not have to mean moving out while the appeal is decided — but keeping possession is not automatic either. The rules put the burden squarely on the losing defendant: the judgment can be enforced at once unless the defendant perfects an appeal on time, puts up a bond covering what the judgment already awarded, and keeps paying the current rent into court for as long as the appeal runs. Miss any leg of that tripod and the winning party can take possession back even though the appeal itself continues. This page sets out the sequence from the tenant's side: the appeal, the supersedeas bond, the periodic deposits, what happens when one of them fails, and what the appellate decision means for possession.
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Start from the default: execution is immediate
In ejectment, winning at first instance carries an unusual privilege. If judgment is rendered against the defendant, execution shall issue immediately upon motion of the plaintiff. Filing an appeal, by itself, changes nothing: the rule stays execution only where an appeal has been perfected and the defendant both files a sufficient supersedeas bond and, during the pendency of the appeal, deposits the rent falling due with the appellate court. All three conditions must be met together and kept up; the rest of this page takes them one at a time. Treat the day the judgment is received as the start of a sprint, not a breathing space.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Perfect the appeal to the Regional Trial Court within fifteen days
The appeal from a judgment of a Municipal Trial Court goes to the Regional Trial Court exercising jurisdiction over the area. It may be taken within fifteen (15) days after notice of the judgment, by filing a notice of appeal with the court that rendered the judgment and serving a copy on the adverse party. The notice must indicate the parties to the appeal, the judgment or the part of it appealed from, and the material dates showing the appeal is on time. Within the same period, the appellant must pay to the clerk of the court that rendered the judgment the full amount of the appellate court docket and other lawful fees — an appeal without the fees is not perfected.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 40. Read the source →
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Do not wait on a motion for reconsideration — it is prohibited here
In an ordinary civil case a timely motion for reconsideration or new trial interrupts the appeal period. Not here. Ejectment runs under the summary procedure, and among its prohibited pleadings are a motion for new trial, a motion for reconsideration of a judgment, a motion for reopening of trial, and any motion for extension of time to file pleadings or other papers. A losing defendant who files one of these gains nothing and loses days that cannot be recovered. Count the appeal period from receipt of the judgment and use it to prepare the notice of appeal, the bond and the first deposit — not a motion the court must disregard.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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File a sufficient supersedeas bond for what the judgment already awarded
The supersedeas bond is the backward-looking half of the stay. It must be approved by the Municipal Trial Court and executed in favour of the plaintiff, to pay the rents, damages and costs accruing down to the time of the judgment appealed from — that is, the amounts the judgment has already fixed, not future rent. The bond is then transmitted by the Municipal Trial Court, with the other papers of the case, to the clerk of the Regional Trial Court to which the action is appealed. A bond that is short of the judgment amounts is not a sufficient bond, so compute it from the judgment itself rather than from an estimate.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Keep depositing the current rent as the appeal runs
The forward-looking half is the periodic deposit. During the pendency of the appeal, the defendant must deposit with the appellate court the amount of rent due from time to time under the contract, as determined by the judgment of the Municipal Trial Court. If there is no contract, the deposit is the reasonable value of the use and occupation of the premises for the preceding month or period, at the rate fixed by the judgment, made with the Regional Trial Court on or before the tenth day of each succeeding month or period. The amounts are held by the court or an authorised government depositary bank until the final disposition of the appeal, and can be withdrawn earlier only in the limited situations the rule allows.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Miss a payment and possession is lost — but the appeal survives
The stay lasts only as long as the deposits do. Should the defendant fail to make the prescribed payments from time to time during the pendency of the appeal, the appellate court, upon motion of the plaintiff and upon proof of the failure, shall order execution of the judgment appealed from with respect to the restoration of possession. That execution, however, is not a bar to the appeal taking its course until it is finally decided on the merits. And the rule keeps score for a defendant who turns out to have been right: where possession was taken pending appeal by execution and the defendant prevails, damages for the deprivation and restoration of possession may be allowed in the judgment disposing of the appeal.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Expect the landlord's counter-move: a motion to restore possession at once
The winning plaintiff has a weapon of the same speed. Upon motion of the plaintiff, within ten (10) days from the perfection of the appeal to the Regional Trial Court, that court may issue a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction to restore the plaintiff in possession, if it is satisfied that the defendant's appeal is frivolous or dilatory, or that the plaintiff's own appeal is prima facie meritorious. In practice this means an appeal taken purely to buy time is exposed from the outset: even a defendant who has posted the bond and is making the deposits can be put out if the appeal itself is judged to have no substance.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →
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Argue the appeal on the record: the memorandum stage
The appeal is decided on paper. Once the record reaches the Regional Trial Court, its clerk notifies the parties. Within fifteen (15) days from that notice, the appellant must submit a memorandum briefly discussing the errors imputed to the lower court, with a copy furnished to the other side; the appellee may file a memorandum within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the appellant's. The appellant's memorandum is not optional — failure to file it is a ground for dismissal of the appeal. On the filing of the appellee's memorandum, or the lapse of the period for it, the case is submitted for decision on the entire record of the proceedings below and the memoranda filed.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 40. Read the source →
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The appellate judgment against the defendant bites at once
If the Regional Trial Court decides against the defendant, its judgment is immediately executory, without prejudice to a further appeal that may be taken from it. In other words, the bond-and-deposit mechanism buys the defendant the duration of this one appeal, not the duration of the whole judicial ladder: a defendant who loses again cannot keep possession simply by climbing to the next court. After the appeal is decided, the money the defendant paid into court for the stay is disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the appellate judgment — applied to the landlord's award if the landlord wins, returned so far as the judgment directs if the tenant does.
2019 Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1-71 (as amended by A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC, eff. May 1, 2020), RULE 70. Read the source →