This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2006-09-22 |
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J. |
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| Petitioners now urge this Court to ignore technicalities and brush aside the procedural requirements so this case may be decided "on the merits." Although technical rules of procedure are not ends in themselves, they are necessary, however, for an effective and expeditious administration of justice. It is settled that a party who seeks to avail of certiorari must observe the rules thereon and non- observance of said rules may not be brushed aside as "mere technicality." While litigation is not a game of technicalities, and that the rules of procedure should not be enforced strictly at the cost of substantial justice, still it does not follow that the Rules of Court may be ignored at will and at random to the prejudice of the orderly presentation, assessment and just resolution of the issues. Procedural rules should not be belittled or dismissed simply because they may have resulted in prejudice to a party's substantial rights. Like all rules, they are required to be followed except only for compelling reasons.[26] (Emphasis added) In United Overseas Bank Philippines, Inc. v. Ching,[27] this Court upheld the dismissal of an appeal to the Office of the President for being 14 days late. There is no reason why we should be lenient this time, especially because petitioner filed the petition for review with the Court of Appeals after almost eight months from effectivity of A.M. No. 04-9-07-SC. This is consistent with our ruling in Manila Hotel Corporation v. Court of Appeals[28] that:Liberal construction of the rule has been allowed by this Court in the following cases: (1) where a rigid application will result in manifest failure or miscarriage of justice, especially if a party successfully shows that the alleged defect in the questioned final and executory judgment is not apparent on its face or from the recitals contained therein; (2) where the interest of substantial justice will be served; (3) where the resolution of the motion is addressed solely to the sound and judicious discretion of the court; and (4) where the injustice to the adverse party is not commensurate with the degree of his thoughtlessness in not complying with the procedure prescribed. | |||||