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Rules 22 and 24
Revised Rules of Civil Procedure
(Pursuant to A.M. 14-03-02-SC, March 8, 2014)
A. PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE
c. Judicial Affidavits
1. Act on and resolve a request for issuance of subpoena
adtestificandum or ducestecumfiled by a party [Section 22.2(d)].
b. Matters to be taken up
1. Consult the parties and their counsels if there is a need to change
the Terms of Reference and order such change to be made when
warranted [Section 22.9(a)].
2. Include, upon request of a party, an excluded issue for trial if the
additional issue sought to be included is genuine and not a sham
and require the party so requesting to pay court costs amounting
to not less than P10,000.00 but not more than P50,000.00, at the
court’s discretion [Section 22.9(b)].
3. Forfeit the court costs if the issue so included is determined to be
a sham by the court or a higher court on appeal; otherwise, the
amount shall be refunded [Section 22.9(b)].
4. Adjourn, just once, the preliminary conference if the parties
request for time to consider a possible settlement [Section 22.9(c)].
5. Determine whether the issues to be resolved warrant an alternate
or face-to-face trial. In case the circumstances warrant a face-to-
face trial, determine whether it will be a simple or summary face-
to-face or regular face-to-face [Section 22.9(d)(4)]
6. Consult the parties and determine the following for purposes of
issuing the Order of Trial:
a) Sequence of issues to be heard;
b) The identity of witnesses who will be presented to testify on
each issue or related issues and the sequence for the
examination of such witnesses by the counsels of the
contending parties;
c) The specific dates for reception of evidence on each issue or
related issues;
d) The mode of trial to be adopted by the court;
i. Adopt a regular face-to-face trial where the issues are
complex or numerous and the evidence from both
sides consists of testimonies of several witnesses or
involve numerous pieces of evidence. Spread the
schedules of hearings of the regular face-to-face trial
over a period of time.
ii. Adopt a simple one-time face-to-face trial where the
issues are simple and few. If the issues turn out to be
complex or numerous, suspend the proceedings and
direct the conduct of a regular face-to-face trial in
succeeding settings.
iii. Adopt an alternate trial when warranted under the
circumstances or upon unanimous agreement of the
parties.
e) In case of a face-to-face trial, the separate date and schedule
for examination of witnesses exempt from face-to-face
examination.
7. Summarize the arrangements for the Order of Trial based on the
discussions during the preliminary conference.
1. BEFORE TRIAL
2. TRIAL PROPER
A. Common Rules
1. Require the witnesses during trial of issues to testify either in
English of Filipino, whichever language will allow fair exchanges
[Section 24.17].
2. Resolve any motion for the examination of the witness to be
conducted in the language or dialect known to the witness on the
ground of language difficulty [Section 24.17].
3. Try each factual issue in the sequence provided in the Order of
Trial. Two or more closely related issues may be simultaneously
tried. [Section 24.4(a)].
4. Examine the witnesses to determine the truthfulness of their
judicial affidavits [Section 24.4(d)].
5. Resolve the exception/s or objection/s raised against the
questions propounded by the counsel to the witness as follows
Sections 24.8 and 24.9]:
C. Modes of Trial
1. ALTERNATE TRIAL
a) Presentation of witnesses by the parties.
i. Order the party who bears the burden of proving the
affirmative of the first issue under consideration to be
the first to present witnesses respecting such issue
[Section 24.5(b)].
ii. If more than one witness will be presented, order the
parties to present the witnesses successively
respecting such issue. [Section 24.5(b)]
iii. After each witness is presented, be the first to
examine each of the witnesses. [Section 24.5(c)]
iv. After examining each of the witnesses presented,
order the counsel/s to then take turns to conduct the
cross, re-direct and re-cross of the particular witness.
[Section 24.5(c)].
v. After the court and the counsels have examined all
the witnesses for the particular issue or related issues,
order the counsel for the adverse party to present the
witness/es for that issue [Section 24.5(e)].
vi. After each adverse party witness is presented, be the
first toexamine each of the witnesses. [Section 24.5(c)].
vii. After examining each of the witnesses presented by
the adverse party, order the counsel/s to take turns to
conduct the cross, re-direct and re-cross of the
adverse party witness/es. [Section 24.5(c)].
viii. During the examination of the witnesses ensure that it
is entirely focused on the issue/s at hand and not
dwell on matters outside of and totally unrelated to
such issue/s. [Section 24.5(d)].
ix. After all the witnesses from both sides have been
examined respecting the issue or related issues, order
the parties to move on to the next issue or related
issues as appearing in the Order of Trial. [Section
24.5(e)] following the same rules.
a) Ground rules
i Make sure that all the witnesses are present during
the scheduled hearing. [Section 24.6(a)]
ii Ensure that witnesses exempt from face-to-face
examination are not included, i.e., a child witness or a
person who is mentally, psychologically, or
physically challenged or under a similar conditions
that puts such witness in a disadvantage in a face-to-
face confrontation. Order the Examination ofthese
exempt witnesses separately on the schedules
indicated in the Order of Trial. [Section 24.10]
iii Order the witnesses to be arranged in such a way that
they sit face-to-face around the table in a non-
adversarial environment[Section 24.6(b)].
iv Grant/deny the request for a person to speak and
ensure that only one person at a time shall speak
during trial.[Section 24.6(c)].
v Instruct the witnesses and the parties that the person
who is speaking must identify himself/herself for the
record at all times[Section 24.6(c)].
vi Rule on any objections raised against a witness who
attemptsto pose questions to other witnesses relating
to their testimonies.[Section 24.6(e)]
vii Ensure that witnesses are given equal time and
opportunity to answer questions propounded by the
court and/or the counsels.[Section 24.6(e)].
a) Ground rules
i Make sure that all the witnesses are present during
the scheduled hearing. [Section 24.6(a)]
ii Ensure that witnesses exempt from face-to-face
examination are not included, i.e., a child witness or a
person who is mentally, psychologically, or
physically challenged or under a similar conditions
that puts such witness in a disadvantage in a face-to-
face confrontation. Order the examination of these
exempt witnesses separately on the schedules
indicated in the Order of Trial. [Section 24.10]
iii Order the witnesses to be arranged in such a way that
they sit face-to-face around the table in a non-
adversarial environment[Section 24.6(b)].
iv Grant/deny the request for a person to speak and
ensure that only one person at a time shall speak
during trial. [Section 24.6(c)].
v Instruct the witnesses and the parties that the person
who is speaking must identify himself/herself for the
record at all times[Section 24.6(c)].
vi Rule on any objections raised against a witness who
attemptsto pose questions to other witnesses relating
to their testimonies.[Section 24.6(e)].
vii Ensure that witnesses are given equal time and
opportunity to answer questions propounded by the
court and/or the counsels. [Section 24.6(e)].
viii Conduct the trial in one setting. [Section 24.12].
1. Decision
a) In case of an alternate or regular face-to-face trial, render a written
decision within ninety (90) days after hearing the parties on their oral
argument. Prepare the written decision which may wholly or partially
adopt or use the memorandum or draft decision of the winning party.
2. Appeal
a) In case an appeal is filed, the period to appeal shall be reckoned from the
date of receipt of the written decision by the appealing party.
SAMPLE CASE
Company A, a construction company, entered into supply contract with Company B as supplier. One of
the terms of the contract is for Company B to supply 100 pcs. ofNarra wood panels to be used as flooring
in Company’s A projects. One of the requisites for the perfection of the contract is for Company B to
provide a Narra wood panel sample to Company A. Company B presented Narra wood panel class 3 to
Company A which the latter approved.
Company A is now suing Company B for breach of contract with damages for failure to provide the
Narra wood panels to Company A in accordance with the terms of the contract. In its Answer, Company
B argued that it complied with the terms of the contract because it delivered Narra wood panels. Its
failure to deliver the Narra wood panel class 3 to Company A was due to a log ban imposed by the
government which constitutes a fortuitous event. Company B argued that the wood panel it provided is
Narra wood class 4 which substantially complies with its obligation under the contract.
(a) Whether or not Company B breached its obligation under the supply contract to
supplyNarra wood panels to Company A;
(b) Whether or not the log ban is considered a fortuitous event; and
(c) Whether or not Company B is liable for damages to Company A.
A. Trial on the first issue of “whether or not Company B breached its obligation under the
supply contract to supply Narra wood panels to Company A”
JUDGE
Company B
Counsel
Stenographer
JUDGE
Company B
Counsel
Witness B-1
Witness B-2
Stenographer
B. After the examination of the witnesses of the contending parties has terminated, trial
will proceed to the subsequent issues (Second, Third) as appearing in the Order of
Trial.