JUSTICE MARTIN VILLARAMA, JR.: DOCTRINE OF IMMUTABILITY OF JUDGMENT

It is a fundamental legal principle that a decision that has acquired finality becomes immutable and unalterable, and may no longer be modified in any respect, even if the modification is meant to correct erroneous conclusions of fact and law, and whether it be made by the court that rendered it or by the highest court of the land.   The only exceptions to the general rule on finality of judgments are the so-called nunc pro tunc entries which cause no prejudice to any party, void judgments, and whenever circumstances transpire after the finality of the decision which render its execution unjust and inequitable (Sacdalan v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 128967, May 20, 2004, 428 SCRA 586, 599. x x x Indeed, litigation must end and terminate sometime and somewhere, even at the risk of occasional errors (Gallardo-Corro v. Gallardo, G.R. No. 136228, January 30, 2001 cited in Land Bank of the Philippines v. Severino Listana, G.R. No. 168105, July 27, 2011, VILLARAMA, JR., J.).