I find myself unable to fully agree with the disquisition of my esteemed colleague, Mr. Justice Arturo B. Buena, reversing and setting aside the 15th June 1992 and 23rd September 1992 resolutions of the Sandiganbayan which has dismissed Civil Case No. 0142 but without prejudice to the filing of appropriate motions in Civil Case No. 0008.

The ponencia states that litis pendencia would not bar Civil Case No. 0142 from proceeding independently of Civil Case No. 0008 on the thesis that litis pendencia requires not only that the parties to the action be the same but also that there is substantial identity in the cause of action and relief sought such that the result of the first action would be determinative of the second. That much is a given; as early as Northcott & Co. vs. Villa-Abrille1 [41 Phil. 462.] this Court has held that a recognized test for such identity is to discover whether a judgment in the prior action would be conclusive on the liability sought to be enforced in the second and would thereby support the pleas of res judicata.

Nevertheless, we might have overlooked the fact that Rizal Commercial and Banking Corporation and Bank of America were only brought in as nominal parties in the second case for being the depositary banks of petitioner and for none other. As so aptly proferred by the banks, their refusal to allow petitioner to withdraw its funds was merely in compliance with the sequestration order and not intended to be a disavowal of their fiduciary obligation. The causes of action in the two cases are clearly intertwined, and they would be best determined if jointly considered. To do so would also be in keeping with the spirit behind the proscription on forum-shopping, one which can arise when a party avails himself of different judicial remedies, simultaneously or successively, all substantially founded on the same transactions and the same essential facts and circumstances, and all raising substantially the same issues.2 [See Gatmaytan vs .Court of Appeals, 267 SCRA 487.]

At all events, I respectfully submit that the Court is not in good position to make a pronouncement at this stage on the validity of the sequestration order. If at all, Civil Case No. 0142 could be ordered reinstated and the Sandiganbayan thereupon directed to proceed posthaste with its disposition. The PCGG should be accorded an opportunity to adduce its evidence to show that it has a prima facie determination for its sequestration order and that it can provide sufficient factual and legal basis for the continued sequestration of the property involved. Until the Sandiganbayan shall have been able to settle that issue, adjudicate the claims of all contending parties and, eventually, resolve the issue of ownership over the sequestered property, the lifting of the sequestration order could yet, in my view, be precipitate.

I vote to dismiss the petition.