file:cvpro_part-1_vi.htm

6.  TRIAL (Rule 30)

A. Administrative
Circular No. 3-99, Jan. 15, 1999

To insure speedy disposition of cases, the following guidelines must be
faithfully observed:

I. The session hours of all Regional Trial Courts, Metropolitan Trial
Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal
Circuit Trial Courts shall be from 8:30 A. M. to noon and from 2:00 P. M. to
4:30 P. M. from Monday to Friday. The hours in the morning shall be devoted to
the conduct of trial, while the hours in the afternoon shall be utilized for
(1) the conduct of pre-trial conferences; (2) writing of decisions,
resolutions, or orders; or (3) the continuation of trial on the merits, whenever
rendered necessary, as may be required by the Rules of Court, statutes, or
circulars in specified cases.

However, in multi-sala courts in places where there are few
practicing lawyers, the schedule may be modified upon request of the Integrated
Bar of the Philippines such that one-half of the branches may hold their trial
in the morning and the other half in the afternoon.

Except those requiring immediate action, all motions should be scheduled
for hearing on Friday afternoons, or if Friday is a non-working day, in the
afternoon of the next business day. The unauthorized practice of some judges of
entertaining motions or setting them for hearing on any other day or time must
be immediately stopped.

II. Judges must be punctual at all times.

III. The Clerk of Court, under the direct supervision of the Judge, must
comply with Rule 20 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure regarding the calendar
of cases.

IV. There should be strict adherence to the policy on avoiding
postponements and needless delay.

Sections 2, 3 and 4 of Rule 30, 1997 Rules on Civil Procedure on
adjournments and postponements and on the requisites of a motion to postpone
trial for absence of evidence or for illness of a party or counsel should be
faithfully observed.

Lawyers as officers of the court, are enjoined to cooperate with judges
to ensure swift disposition of cases.

V. The mandatory continuous trial system in civil cases contemplated in
Administrative Circular No. 4 dated 22 September 1988, and the guidelines
provided for in Circular No. 1-89, dated 19 January 1989, must be effectively
implemented. For expediency, these guidelines in civil cases are hereunder
restated with modifications, taking into account the relevant provisions of the
1997 Rules of Civil Procedure:

B. Trial

1. Unless the docket of the court requires otherwise, not more than four
(4) cases shall be scheduled for trial daily.

2. The Presiding Judge shall make arrangements with the prosecutor and
the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) so that a relief prosecutor and a PAO attorney
are always available in case the regular prosecutor or PAO attorneys are
absent.

3. Contingency measures must likewise be taken for any unexpected
absence of the stenographer and other support staff assisting in the trial.

4. The issuance and service of subpoena shall be done in
accordance with Administrative Circular No. 4 dated 22 September 1988.

5. The judge shall conduct trial with utmost dispatch, with judicious
exercise of the court’s power to control trial proceedings to avoid delay.

6. The judge must take notes of the material and relevant testimonies of
witnesses to facilitate his decision-making.

7. The trial shall be terminated within ninety (90) days from initial
hearing. Appropriate disciplinary sanctions may be imposed on the judge and the
lawyers for failure to comply with the requirement due to causes attributable
to them.

8. Each party is bound to complete the presentation of his evidence
within the trial dates assigned to him. After the lapse of said dates, the
party is deemed to have completed the presentation of evidence. However, upon
verified motion based on compelling reasons, the judge may allow a party
additional trial dates in the afternoon; provided that said extension will not
go beyond the three-month limit computed from the first trial date except when
authorized in writing by the Court Administrator, Supreme Court.

I.   All trial judges must strictly comply with Circular No.
38-98, entitled ‘Implementing the Provisions of Republic Act No. 8493’ (‘An Act
to Ensure a Speedy Trial of All Cases Before the Sandiganbayan, Regional
Trial Court, Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court in Cities,
Municipal Trial Court, and Municipal Circuit Trial Court, Appropriating Funds
Therefore, and for Other Purposes’) issued by the Honorable Chief Justice
Andres R. Narvasa on 15 September 1998.

II. 

1. As a constant reminder of what cases must be decided or resolved, the
judge must keep a calendar of cases submitted for decision, noting therein the
exact day, month and year when the 90-day period is to expire. As soon as a
case is submitted for decision, it must be noted in the calendar of the judge;
moreover, the records shall be duly collated with the exhibits and transcripts
of stenographic notes, as well as the trial notes of the judge, and placed in
the judge’s chamber.

2. In criminal cases, the judge will do well to announce in open court
at the termination of the trial the date of the promulgation of the decision,
which should be set within 90 days from the submission of the case for
decision.

3. All Judges must scrupulously observe the period prescribed in Section
15, Article VIII of the Constitution.

This Circular shall take effect on February 1,1999, and the Office of
the Court Administrator shall ensure faithful compliance therewith.

City of Manila, 15 January 1999.

2.  Some Rules

1. The order of trial stated above is followed in
ordinarily contested cases. However, if the defendant in his answer admits the
obligation alleged in the complaint but raises special defenses, then the
plaintiff is relieved of the duty to present evidence in chief and so the
defendant should start the proceeding by presenting his evidence to support his
special defenses.155

2. When Case Deemed Submitted for Decision in
Trial Court

Under Administrative Circular
No. 28 dated July 3,1989:

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(3) A case is considered submitted for
decision upon the admission of the evidence of the parties at the termination
of the trial. The ninety (90) day period for deciding the case shall commence
to run from submission of the case for decision without memoranda; in case the
Court requires or allows its filing, the case shall be considered submitted for
decision upon the filing of the last memorandum or the expiration of the period
to do so, whichever is earlier. Lack of transcript of stenographic notes shall
not be a valid reason to interrupt or suspend the period for deciding the case
unless the case was previously heard by another judge not the deciding judge in
which case the latter shall have the full period of ninety (90) days from the
completion of the transcripts within which to decide the same.

(4) The court may grant extension of time to
file memoranda, but the ninety (90) days period for deciding the case shall not
be interrupted thereby.

(5) The foregoing rules shall not apply to
Special Criminal Courts under Circular 20 dated August 7, 1987, and to cases
covered by the Rule on Summary Procedure in which memoranda are prohibited.

xxx

Under Rule 30,
Section 5(g), upon admission of the evidence, the case shall be deemed
submitted for decision, unless the court directs the parties to argue or to
submit their respective memoranda or any further pleadings.

As
a general rule, no additional evidence may be presented at the rebuttal stage.
Subject to the discretion of the court, additional evidence may be submitted:

(1) if it is merely discovered;

(2) omitted through mistake or
inadvertence; or

(3) when the purpose is to
correct evidence previously offered.156

Under Administrative
Matter No. 00-2-01-SC amending the Rule 141 of the Rules of Court on Legal
Fees, it is provided in Sec. 2(b) that a fee shall be paid for motions for
postponements, to wit:

For motions for
postponement after completion of the pre-trial stage, one hundred (Php100)
pesos for the first, and an additional fifty (Php50) pesos for every
postponement thereafter based on that for the immediately preceding motion:
Provided, however, that no fee shall be imposed when the motion is found to be
based on justifiable and compelling reason.