This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2003-07-21 |
CARPIO MORALES, J. |
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| In the recent case of Molina vs. Court of Appeals[17] which has facts similar to those of the case at bar, the Court of Appeals dismissed a special civil action for certiorari because the attached copies of the orders of the trial court (1) did not show the authority of the person certifying the same and (2) the seal of the trial court could not be identified. On petition for review, this Court held:A litigation is a contest in which each contending party fully and fairly lays before the court the facts in issue and then, brushing aside as wholly trivial and indecisive all imperfections of form and technicalities, asks that justice be done on the merits. Hence, Rule 1, Section 6 of the Rules of Court mandates that rules of procedure shall be liberally interpreted. In the instant case, we agree with petitioners that the Court of Appeals erred in stressing too much petitioners' failure to comply with technicalities. We cannot attribute to petitioners the perceived defects on the attached copies of the trial court's orders because petitioners did not have control over their preparation. Moreover, Rule 131, Section 3 (ff) of the Rules of Court lays the presumption in petitioners' favor that they followed the pertinent rules on attaching certified copies of the orders subject of their petition below. As private respondent failed to show evidence to rebut this presumption, the presumption must stand. (Citations omitted) (Emphasis supplied)[18] As in Molina, petitioner in the case at bar should not be faulted for the perceived defects of the certified true copy of the decision of the voluntary arbitrator attached to its petition filed before the Court of Appeals as petitioner did not have a hand in the preparation and issuance thereof. | |||||