This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2011-03-09 |
MENDOZA, J. |
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| In the light of the foregoing, the Court finds it just and proper that petitioner be allowed to present her cause of action during trial on the merits to obviate jeopardizing substantive justice. Verily, the better and more prudent course of action in a judicial proceeding is to hear both sides and decide the case on the merits instead of disposing the case by technicalities. What should guide judicial action is the principle that a party-litigant is to be given the fullest opportunity to establish the merits of his complaint or defense rather than for him to lose life, liberty or property on technicalities.[19] The ends of justice and fairness would best be served if the issues involved in the case are threshed out in a full-blown trial. Trial courts are reminded to exert efforts to resolve the matters before them on the merits and to adjudge them accordingly to the satisfaction of the parties, lest in hastening the proceedings, they further delay the resolution of the cases. | |||||
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2008-04-23 |
PUNO, C.J. |
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| Del-Nacia urges this Court to dismiss the instant petition for failing to attach material portions of the records of the case that will support the same as required under Section 6 of Rule 46 of the Revised Rules of Court, such as, for instance, copies of her own pleadings filed before the proceedings below.[29] It appears that the Agreement of the parties, subject of the dispute, was not attached to the petition. Nevertheless, since the Agreement and the other documents that were not attached to the petition are already part of the records of this case, and could easily be referred to by this Court if necessary, a dismissal of the instant petition purely on technical grounds is not warranted. Indeed, the Court has, in past cases, granted relief in favor of the petitioner despite this procedural infirmity.[30] Thus, we explained the rationale behind the Court's liberal stance as follows:We must stress that cases should be determined on the merits, after all parties have been given full opportunity to ventilate their causes and defenses, rather than on technicalities or procedural imperfections. In that way, the ends of justice would be served better. Rules of procedure are mere tools designed to expedite the decision or resolution of cases and other matters pending in court. A strict and rigid application of rules, resulting in technicalities that tend to frustrate rather than promote substantial justice, must be avoided. In fact, Section 6 of Rule 1 states that the Rules shall be liberally construed in order to promote their objective of ensuring the just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and | |||||