EN BANC

[G.R. No. 188056. January 8, 2013.]

SPOUSES AUGUSTO G. DACUDAO AND OFELIA R. DACUDAO ,

petitioners, vs . SECRETARY OF JUSTICE RAUL M. GONZALES OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE , respondent.

DECISION

BERSAMIN , J : p

Petitioners — residents of Bacaca Road, Davao City — were among the investors
whom Celso G. Delos Angeles, Jr. and his associates in the Legacy Group of
Companies (Legacy Group) allegedly defrauded through the Legacy Group's "buy back
agreement" that earned them check payments that were dishonored. After their written
demands for the return of their investments went unheeded, they initiated a number of
charges for syndicated estafa against Delos Angeles, Jr., et al. in the O ce of the City
Prosecutor of Davao City on February 6, 2009. Three of the cases were docketed as
NPS Docket No. XI-02-INV.-09-A-00356, Docket No. XI-02-INV.-09-C-00752, and
Docket No. XI-02-INV.-09-C-00753. 1
On March 18, 2009, the Secretary of Justice issued Department of Justice (DOJ)
Order No. 182 (DO No. 182), directing all Regional State Prosecutors, Provincial
Prosecutors, and City Prosecutors to forward all cases already led against Delos
Angeles, Jr., et al. to the Secretariat of the DOJ Special Panel in Manila for appropriate
action.
DO No. 182 reads: 2
All cases against Celso G. delos Angeles, Jr. et al. under Legacy Group of
Companies, may be led with the docket section of the National Prosecution
Service, Department of Justice, Padre Faura, Manila and shall be forwarded to the
Secretariat of the Special Panel for assignment and distribution to panel
members, per Department Order No. 84 dated February 13, 2009.

However, cases already led against Celso G. delos Angeles, Jr. et al. of
Legacy group of Companies in your respective o ces with the exemption of the
cases led in Cagayan de Oro City which is covered by Memorandum dated
March 2, 2009, should be forwarded to the Secretariat of the Special Panel at
Room 149, Department of Justice, Padre Faura, Manila, for proper disposition.
For information and guidance.

Pursuant to DO No. 182, the complaints of petitioners were forwarded by the

O ce of the City Prosecutor of Davao City to the Secretariat of the Special Panel of the
DOJ. 3
Aggrieved by such turn of events, petitioners have directly come to the Court via
petition for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus, ascribing to respondent Secretary of
Justice grave abuse of discretion in issuing DO No. 182. They claim that DO No. 182
violated their right to due process, their right to the equal protection of the laws, and
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 their right to the speedy disposition of cases. They insist that DO No. 182 was an
obstruction of justice and a violation of the rule against enactment of laws with
retroactive effect.
Petitioners also challenge as unconstitutional the issuance of DOJ Memorandum
dated March 2, 2009 exempting from the coverage of DO No. 182 all the cases for
syndicated estafa already led and pending in the O ce of the City Prosecutor of
Cagayan de Oro City. They aver that DOJ Memorandum dated March 2, 2009 violated
their right to equal protection under the Constitution.
The O ce of the Solicitor General (OSG), representing respondent Secretary of
Justice, maintains the validity of DO No. 182 and DOJ Memorandum dated March 2,
2009, and prays that the petition be dismissed for its utter lack of merit.
Issues
The following issues are now to be resolved, to wit:
1.  Did petitioners properly bring their petition for certiorari, prohibition
and mandamus directly to the Court?
2.   Did respondent Secretary of Justice commit grave abuse of
discretion in issuing DO No. 182?
3.  Did DO No. 182 and DOJ Memorandum dated March 2, 2009 violate
petitioners' constitutionally guaranteed rights?
Ruling
The petition for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus, being bereft of substance
and merit, is dismissed.
Firstly, petitioners have unduly disregarded the hierarchy of courts by coming
directly to the Court with their petition for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus without
tendering therein any special, important or compelling reason to justify the direct ling
of the petition.
We emphasize that the concurrence of jurisdiction among the Supreme Court,
Court of Appeals and the Regional Trial Courts to issue the writs of certiorari,
prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto, habeas corpus and injunction did not give
petitioners the unrestricted freedom of choice of court forum. 4 An undue disregard of
this policy against direct resort to the Court will cause the dismissal of the recourse. In
Bañez, Jr. v. Concepcion, 5 we explained why, to wit:
The Court must enjoin the observance of the policy on the hierarchy of
courts, and now a rms that the policy is not to be ignored without serious
consequences. The strictness of the policy is designed to shield the Court from
having to deal with causes that are also well within the competence of the lower
courts, and thus leave time to the Court to deal with the more fundamental and
more essential tasks that the Constitution has assigned to it. The Court may act
on petitions for the extraordinary writs of certiorari, prohibition and mandamus
only when absolutely necessary or when serious and important reasons exist to
justify an exception to the policy. This was why the Court stressed in Vergara, Sr.
v. Suelto:
. . . . The Supreme Court is a court of last resort, and must
so remain if it is to satisfactorily perform the functions assigned
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 to it by the fundamental charter and immemorial tradition. It
cannot and should not be burdened with the task of dealing with causes in
the rst instance. Its original jurisdiction to issue the so-called
extraordinary writs should be exercised only where absolutely
necessary or where serious and important reasons exist therefor.
Hence, that jurisdiction should generally be exercised relative to actions or
proceedings before the Court of Appeals, or before constitutional or other
tribunals, bodies or agencies whose acts for some reason or another are
not controllable by the Court of Appeals. Where the issuance of an
extraordinary writ is also within the competence of the Court of
Appeals or a Regional Trial Court, it is in either of these courts
that the speci c action for the writ's procurement must be
presented. This is and should continue to be the policy in this
regard, a policy that courts and lawyers must strictly observe.
(Emphasis supplied)

I n People v. Cuaresma, the Court has also ampli ed the need for strict
adherence to the policy of hierarchy of courts. There, noting "a growing tendency
on the part of litigants and lawyers to have their applications for the so-called
extraordinary writs, and sometimes even their appeals, passed upon and
adjudicated directly and immediately by the highest tribunal of the land," the
Court has cautioned lawyers and litigants against taking a direct resort to the
highest tribunal, viz.:

. . . . This Court's original jurisdiction to issue writs of

certiorari (as well as prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto,
habeas corpus and injunction) is not exclusive. It is shared by this
Court with Regional Trial Courts . . ., which may issue the writ, enforceable
in any part of their respective regions. It is also shared by this Court, and by
the Regional Trial Court, with the Court of Appeals . . ., although prior to the
effectivity of Batas Pambansa Bilang 129 on August 14, 1981, the latter's
competence to issue the extraordinary writs was restricted to those "in aid
of its appellate jurisdiction." This concurrence of jurisdiction is not,
however, to be taken as according to parties seeking any of the
writs an absolute, unrestrained freedom of choice of the court to
which application therefor will be directed . There is after all a
hierarchy of courts. That hierarchy is determinative of the venue of
appeals, and should also serve as a general determinant of the appropriate
forum for petitions for the extraordinary writs. A becoming regard for
that judicial hierarchy most certainly indicates that petitions for
the issuance of extraordinary writs against rst level ("inferior")
courts should be led with the Regional Trial Court, and those
against the latter, with the Court of Appeals. A direct invocation
of the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction to issue these writs
should be allowed only when there are special and important
reasons therefor, clearly and speci cally set out in the petition.
This is established policy. It is a policy that is necessary to
prevent inordinate demands upon the Court's time and attention
which are better devoted to those matters within its exclusive
jurisdiction, and to prevent further over-crowding of the Court's
docket. Indeed, the removal of the restriction on the jurisdiction of the
Court of Appeals in this regard, supra — resulting from the deletion of the
qualifying phrase, "in aid of its appellate jurisdiction" — was evidently
intended precisely to relieve this Court pro tanto of the burden of dealing
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 with applications for the extraordinary writs which, but for the expansion of
the Appellate Court corresponding jurisdiction, would have had to be led
with it.
xxx xxx xxx

The Court therefore closes this decision with the

declaration for the information and evidence of all concerned,
that it will not only continue to enforce the policy, but will require
a more strict observance thereof. (Emphasis supplied)

Accordingly, every litigant must remember that the Court is not the only judicial
forum from which to seek and obtain effective redress of their grievances. As a rule, the
Court is a court of last resort, not a court of the rst instance. Hence, every litigant who
brings the petitions for the extraordinary writs of certiorari, prohibition and mandamus
should ever be mindful of the policy on the hierarchy of courts, the observance of which
is explicitly defined and enjoined in Section 4 of Rule 65, Rules of Court, viz.:
Section 4.  When and where petition filed. — The petition shall be led
not later than sixty (60) days from notice of the judgment, order or resolution. In
case a motion for reconsideration or new trial is timely led, whether such motion
is required or not, the sixty (60) day period shall be counted from notice of the
denial of the said motion.

The petition shall be led in the Supreme Court or, if it relates to

the acts or omissions of a lower court or of a corporation, board, o cer
or person, in the Regional Trial Court exercising jurisdiction over the
territorial area as de ned by the Supreme Court. It may also be led in
the Court of Appeals whether or not the same is in the aid of its
appellate jurisdiction, or in the Sandiganbayan if it is in aid of its
appellate jurisdiction. If it involves the acts or omissions of a quasi-
judicial agency, unless otherwise provided by law or these rules, the
petition shall be filed in and cognizable only by the Court of Appeals .

In election cases involving an act or an omission of a municipal or a

regional trial court, the petition shall be led exclusively with the Commission on
Elections, in aid of its appellate jurisdiction. 6

Secondly, even assuming arguendo that petitioners' direct resort to the Court
was permissible, the petition must still be dismissed.
The writ of certiorari is available only when any tribunal, board or o cer
exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions has acted without or in excess of its or his
jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction, and there is no appeal, nor any plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the
ordinary course of law. 7 "The sole o ce of the writ of certiorari," according to Delos
Santos v. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company: 8
. . . is the correction of errors of jurisdiction, which includes the
commission of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction. In this
regard, mere abuse of discretion is not enough to warrant the issuance of the writ.
The abuse of discretion must be grave, which means either that the
judicial or quasi-judicial power was exercised in an arbitrary or despotic
manner by reason of passion or personal hostility, or that the
respondent judge, tribunal or board evaded a positive duty, or virtually
refused to perform the duty enjoined or to act in contemplation of law,
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 such as when such judge, tribunal or board exercising judicial or quasi-
judicial powers acted in a capricious or whimsical manner as to be
equivalent to lack of jurisdiction.

For a special civil action for certiorari to prosper, therefore, the following
requisites must concur, namely: ( a) it must be directed against a tribunal, board or
o cer exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions; ( b ) the tribunal, board, or o cer
must have acted without or in excess of jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction; and (c) there is no appeal nor any plain,
speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. 9 The burden of proof lies
on petitioners to demonstrate that the assailed order was issued without or in excess
of jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction.
Yet, petitioners have not shown a compliance with the requisites. To start with,
they merely alleged that the Secretary of Justice had acted without or in excess of his
jurisdiction. Also, the petition did not show that the Secretary of Justice was an o cer
exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions. Instead, the Secretary of Justice would
appear to be not exercising any judicial or quasi-judicial functions because his
questioned issuances were ostensibly intended to ensure his subordinates' e ciency
and economy in the conduct of the preliminary investigation of all the cases involving
the Legacy Group. The function involved was purely executive or administrative.
The fact that the DOJ is the primary prosecution arm of the Government does not
make it a quasi-judicial o ce or agency. Its preliminary investigation of cases is not a
quasi-judicial proceeding. Nor does the DOJ exercise a quasi-judicial function when it
reviews the ndings of a public prosecutor on the nding of probable cause in any
case. Indeed, in Bautista v. Court of Appeals, 1 0 the Supreme Court has held that a
preliminary investigation is not a quasi-judicial proceeding, stating:
. . . [t]he prosecutor in a preliminary investigation does not determine the
guilt or innocence of the accused. He does not exercise adjudication nor rule-
making functions. Preliminary investigation is merely inquisitorial, and is often
the only means of discovering the persons who may be reasonably charged with
a crime and to enable the scal to prepare his complaint or information. It is not a
trial of the case on the merits and has no purpose except that of determining
whether a crime has been committed and whether there is probable cause to
believe that the accused is guilty thereof. While the scal makes that
determination, he cannot be said to be acting as a quasi-court, for it is the courts,
ultimately, that pass judgment on the accused, not the fiscal. 1 1

There may be some decisions of the Court that have characterized the public
prosecutor's power to conduct a preliminary investigation as quasi-judicial in nature.
Still, this characterization is true only to the extent that the public prosecutor, like a
quasi-judicial body, is an o cer of the executive department exercising powers akin to
those of a court of law.
But the limited similarity between the public prosecutor and a quasi-judicial body
quickly ends there. For sure, a quasi-judicial body is an organ of government other than
a court of law or a legislative o ce that affects the rights of private parties through
either adjudication or rule-making; it performs adjudicatory functions, and its awards
and adjudications determine the rights of the parties coming before it; its decisions
have the same effect as the judgments of a court of law. In contrast, that is not the
effect whenever a public prosecutor conducts a preliminary investigation to determine
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 probable cause in order to le a criminal information against a person properly charged
with the offense, or whenever the Secretary of Justice reviews the public prosecutor's
orders or resolutions.
Petitioners have self-styled their petition to be also for prohibition. However, we
do not see how that can be. They have not shown in their petition in what manner and at
what point the Secretary of Justice, in handing out the assailed issuances, acted
without or in excess of his jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to
lack or excess of jurisdiction. On the other hand, we already indicated why the
issuances were not in rmed by any defect of jurisdiction. Hence, the blatant omissions
of the petition transgressed Section 2, Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, to wit:
Section 2.  Petition for prohibition. — When the proceedings of any
tribunal, corporation, board, o cer or person, whether exercising judicial, quasi-
judicial or ministerial functions, are without or in excess of its or his jurisdiction,
or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, and
there is no appeal or any other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary
course of law, a person aggrieved thereby may le a veri ed petition in the proper
court, alleging the facts with certainty and praying that judgment be rendered
commanding the respondent to desist from further proceedings in the action or
matter speci ed therein, or otherwise granting such incidental reliefs as law and
justice may require.

The petition shall likewise be accompanied by a certi ed true copy of the

judgment, order or resolution subject thereof, copies of all pleadings and
documents relevant and pertinent thereto, and a sworn certi cation of non-forum
shopping as provided in the third paragraph of section 3, Rule 46. (2a)

Similarly, the petition could not be one for mandamus, which is a remedy
available only when "any tribunal, corporation, board, o cer or person unlawfully
neglects the performance of an act which the law specifically enjoins as a duty resulting
from an o ce, trust, or station, or unlawfully excludes another from the use and
enjoyment of a right or o ce to which such other is entitled, and there is no other plain,
speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law, the person aggrieved
thereby may le a veri ed petition in the proper court." 1 2 The main objective of
mandamus is to compel the performance of a ministerial duty on the part of the
respondent. Plainly enough, the writ of mandamus does not issue to control or review
the exercise of discretion or to compel a course of conduct, 1 3 which, it quickly seems
to us, was what petitioners would have the Secretary of Justice do in their favor.
Consequently, their petition has not indicated how and where the Secretary of Justice's
assailed issuances excluded them from the use and enjoyment of a right or o ce to
which they were unquestionably entitled.
Thirdly, there is no question that DO No. 182 enjoyed a strong presumption of its
validity. In ABAKADA Guro Party List v. Purisima, 1 4 the Court has extended the
presumption of validity to legislative issuances as well as to rules and regulations
issued by administrative agencies, saying:
Administrative regulations enacted by administrative agencies to
implement and interpret the law which they are entrusted to enforce have the
force of law and are entitled to respect. Such rules and regulations partake of the
nature of a statute and are just as binding as if they have been written in the
statute itself. As such, they have the force and effect of law and enjoy the
presumption of constitutionality and legality until they are set aside with nality
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 in an appropriate case by a competent court. 1 5

DO No. 182 was issued pursuant to Department Order No. 84 that the Secretary
of Justice had promulgated to govern the performance of the mandate of the DOJ to
"administer the criminal justice system in accordance with the accepted processes
thereof" 1 6 as expressed in Republic Act No. 10071 (Prosecution Service Act of 2010)
and Section 3, Chapter I, Title III and Section 1, Chapter I, Title III of Book IV of Executive
Order 292 (Administrative Code of 1987).
To overcome this strong presumption of validity of the questioned issuances, it
became incumbent upon petitioners to prove their unconstitutionality and invalidity,
either by showing that the Administrative Code of 1987 did not authorize the Secretary
of Justice to issue DO No. 182, or by demonstrating that DO No. 182 exceeded the
bounds of the Administrative Code of 1987 and other pertinent laws. They did not do
so. They must further show that the performance of the DOJ's functions under the
Administrative Code of 1987 and other pertinent laws did not call for the impositions
laid down by the assailed issuances. That was not true here, for DO No. 182 did not
deprive petitioners in any degree of their right to seek redress for the alleged wrong
done against them by the Legacy Group. Instead, the issuances were designed to
assist petitioners and others like them expedite the prosecution, if warranted under the
law, of all those responsible for the wrong through the creation of the special panel of
state prosecutors and prosecution attorneys in order to conduct a nationwide and
comprehensive preliminary investigation and prosecution of the cases. Thereby, the
Secretary of Justice did not act arbitrarily or oppressively against petitioners.
Fourthly, petitioners attack the exemption from the consolidation decreed in DO
No. 182 of the cases led or pending in the O ce of the City Prosecutor of Cagayan de
Oro City, claiming that the exemption traversed the constitutional guaranty in their favor
of the equal protection of law. 1 7
The exemption is covered by the assailed DOJ Memorandum dated March 2,
2009, to wit:
It has come to the attention of the undersigned that cases for syndicated
estafa were led with your o ce against o cers of the Legacy Group of
Companies. Considering the distance of the place of complainants therein to
Manila, your O ce is hereby exempted from the directive previously issued by the
undersigned requiring prosecution o ces to forward the records of all cases
involving Legacy Group of Companies to the Task Force.
Anent the foregoing, you are hereby directed to conduct preliminary
investigation of all cases involving the Legacy Group of Companies led in your
o ce with dispatch and to le the corresponding informations if evidence
warrants and to prosecute the same in court.

Petitioners' attack deserves no consideration. The equal protection clause of the

Constitution does not require the universal application of the laws to all persons or
things without distinction; what it requires is simply equality among equals as
determined according to a valid classification. 1 8 Hence, the Court has a rmed that if a
law neither burdens a fundamental right nor targets a suspect class, the classi cation
stands as long as it bears a rational relationship to some legitimate government end. 1 9
That is the situation here. In issuing the assailed DOJ Memorandum dated March
2, 2009, the Secretary of Justice took into account the relative distance between
Cagayan de Oro, where many complainants against the Legacy Group resided, and
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 Manila, where the preliminary investigations would be conducted by the special panel.
He also took into account that the cases had already been led in the City Prosecutor's
O ce of Cagayan de Oro at the time he issued DO No. 182. Given the considerable
number of complainants residing in Cagayan de Oro City, the Secretary of Justice was
fully justi ed in excluding the cases commenced in Cagayan de Oro from the ambit of
DO No. 182. The classi cation taken into consideration by the Secretary of Justice was
really valid. Resultantly, petitioners could not inquire into the wisdom behind the
exemption upon the ground that the non-application of the exemption to them would
cause them some inconvenience.
Fifthly, petitioners contend that DO No. 182 violated their right to the speedy
disposition of cases guaranteed by the Constitution. They posit that there would be
considerable delay in the resolution of their cases that would de nitely be "a agrant
transgression of petitioners' constitutional rights to speedy disposition of their cases."
20

We cannot favor their contention.

I n The Ombudsman v. Jurado, 2 1 the Court has clari ed that although the
Constitution guarantees the right to the speedy disposition of cases, such speedy
disposition is a exible concept. To properly de ne that concept, the facts and
circumstances surrounding each case must be evaluated and taken into account. There
occurs a violation of the right to a speedy disposition of a case only when the
proceedings are attended by vexatious, capricious, and oppressive delays, or when
unjusti ed postponements of the trial are sought and secured, or when, without cause
or justi able motive, a long period of time is allowed to elapse without the party having
his case tried. 2 2 It is cogent to mention that a mere mathematical reckoning of the
time involved is not determinant of the concept. 2 3
The consolidation of the cases against Delos Angeles, Jr., et al. was ordered
obviously to obtain expeditious justice for the parties with the least cost and vexation
to them. Inasmuch as the cases led involved similar or related questions to be dealt
with during the preliminary investigation, the Secretary of Justice rightly found the
consolidation of the cases to be the most feasible means of promoting the e cient
use of public resources and of having a comprehensive investigation of the cases.
On the other hand, we do not ignore the possibility that there would be more
cases reaching the DOJ in addition to those already brought by petitioners and other
parties. Yet, any delays in petitioners' cases occasioned by such other and subsequent
cases should not warrant the invalidation of DO No. 182. The Constitution prohibits only
the delays that are unreasonable, arbitrary and oppressive, and tend to render rights
nugatory. 2 4 In ne, we see neither undue delays, nor any violation of the right of
petitioners to the speedy disposition of their cases.
Sixthly, petitioners assert that the assailed issuances should cover only future
cases against Delos Angeles, Jr., et al., not those already being investigated. They
maintain that DO No. 182 was issued in violation of the prohibition against passing
laws with retroactive effect.
Petitioners' assertion is baseless.
As a general rule, laws shall have no retroactive effect. However, exceptions exist,
and one such exception concerns a law that is procedural in nature. The reason is that a
remedial statute or a statute relating to remedies or modes of procedure does not
create new rights or take away vested rights but only operates in furtherance of the
remedy or the con rmation of already existing rights. 2 5 A statute or rule regulating the
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 procedure of the courts will be construed as applicable to actions pending and
undetermined at the time of its passage. All procedural laws are retroactive in that
sense and to that extent. The retroactive application is not violative of any right of a
person who may feel adversely affected, for, verily, no vested right generally attaches to
or arises from procedural laws.
Finally, petitioners have averred but failed to establish that DO No. 182
constituted obstruction of justice. This ground of the petition, being unsubstantiated,
was unfounded.
Nonetheless, it is not amiss to reiterate that the authority of the Secretary of
Justice to assume jurisdiction over matters involving the investigation of crimes and
the prosecution of offenders is fully sanctioned by law. Towards that end, the Secretary
of Justice exercises control and supervision over all the regional, provincial, and city
prosecutors of the country; has broad discretion in the discharge of the DOJ's
functions; and administers the DOJ and its adjunct o ces and agencies by
promulgating rules and regulations to carry out their objectives, policies and functions.
Consequently, unless and until the Secretary of Justice acts beyond the bounds
of his authority, or arbitrarily, or whimsically, or oppressively, any person or entity who
may feel to be thereby aggrieved or adversely affected should have no right to call for
the invalidation or nulli cation of the rules and regulations issued by, as well as other
actions taken by the Secretary of Justice.
WHEREFORE, the Court DISMISSES the omnibus petition for certiorari,
prohibition, and mandamus for lack of merit.
Petitioners shall pay the costs of suit.
SO ORDERED.
Sereno, C.J., Carpio, Velasco, Jr., Leonardo-de Castro, Brion, Peralta, Del Castillo,
Abad, Villarama, Jr., Perez, Mendoza, Reyes, Perlas-Bernabe and Leonen, JJ., concur.

Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 7 and 19.

2.Id. at 18.
3.Id. at 19.
4.Heirs of Bertuldo Hinog v. Melicor, G.R. No. 140954, April 12, 2005, 455 SCRA 460, 470.
5.G.R. No. 159508, August 29, 2012.
6.This rule has been amended, rst by A.M. No. 00-2-03-SC ( Re: Amendment to Section 4, Rule
65 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure) to specify that the 60-day period within which to
le the petition starts to run from receipt of notice of the denial of the motion for
reconsideration, if one is led (effective September 1, 2000); and by A.M. No. 07-7-12-SC,
to add the last paragraph (effective December 27, 2007).

7.Section 1, Rule 65, Rules of Court; Pilipino Telephone Corporation v. Radiomarine Network,
Inc., G.R. No. 152092, August 4, 2010, 626 SCRA 702, 735.
8.G.R. No. 153852, October 24, 2012.

9.Acuzar v. Jorolan, G.R. No. 177878, April 7, 2010, 617 SCRA 519, 527-528.
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com
 10.G.R. No. 143375, July 6, 2001, 360 SCRA 618.
11.Id. at 623.
12.Section 3, Rule 65, Rules of Court.
13.University of San Agustin, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 100588, March 7, 1994, 230
SCRA 761, 771-772.
14.G.R. No. 166715, August 14, 2008, 562 SCRA 251.

15.Id. at 288-289.
16.Section 1, Chapter I, Title III, Book IV, Executive Order No. 292.
17.Rollo, p. 11.
18.Quinto v. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 189698, February 22, 2010, 613 SCRA 385, 414;
citing The Philippine Judges Association v. Prado, G.R. No. 105371, November 11, 1993,
227 SCRA 703, 712.
19.E.g., Ang Ladlad LGBT Party v. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 190582, April 8, 2010, 618
SCRA 32, 63.
20.Rollo, p. 13.
21.G.R. No. 154155, August 6, 2008, 561 SCRA 135, 146.
22.Yulo v. People, G.R. No. 142762, March 4, 2005, 452 SCRA 705, 710.
23.See Bernat v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. No. 158018, May 20, 2004, 428 SCRA 787, 789.

24.Caballero v. Alfonso, Jr., G.R. No. L-45647, August 21, 1987, 153 SCRA 153, 163.
25.Systems Factors Corporation v. National Labor Relations Commission, G.R. No. 143789,
November 27, 2000, 346 SCRA 149, 152; Gregorio vs. Court of Appeals, No. L-22802,
November 29, 1968, 26 SCRA 229; Tinio vs. Mina, No. L-29488, December 24, 1968, 26
SCRA 512; Billiones vs. Court of Industrial Relations, No. L-17566, July 30, 1965, 14
SCRA 674.

CD Technologies Asia, Inc. 2018 cdasiaonline.com