G.R. No.
L-2068 October 20, 1948
DOMINADOR B. BUSTOS, petitioner,
vs.
ANTONIO G. LUCERO, Judge of First Instance of Pampanga, respondent.
Facts:
The Counsel for the petitioner was arraigned and entered the plea of not guilty. His counsel moved that
the complainant present her evidence so that she and her witnesses could be examined and cross-
examined in the manner and form provided by law. The prosecutors objected, invoking section 11 of rule
108, and the objection was sustained. In view thereof, the accused's counsel announced his intention to
renounce his right to present evidence," and the justice of the peace forwarded the case to the court of
first instance.
The counsel for the accused petitioner moved that the record of the case be remanded to the justice of
peace of Masantol. The motion was denied and for that reason the present special civil action of
mandamus was instituted. Petitioner questions the validity of the provision of section 11 or Rule 108, on
the ground that it deprives him of the right to be confronted with and cross-examine the witnesses for the
prosecution, contrary to the provision of section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution.
Issue:
Whether or not section 11 of Rule 108 of the Rules of Court infringes section 13, Article VIII, of the
Constitution thus impairs substantive rights.
Held:
Substantive law creates substantive rights and the two terms in this respect may be said to be
synonymous. Substantive rights in a term which includes those rights which one enjoys under the legal
system prior to the disturbance of normal relations.
Preliminary investigation is eminently and essentially remedial; it is the first step taken in a criminal
prosecution. Section 11 of Rule 108 is also procedural. The degree of importance of a preliminary
investigation to an accused may be gauged by the fact that this formality is frequently waived.
It is inevitable that the Supreme Court in making rules should step on substantive rights, and the
Constitution must be presumed to tolerate if not to expect such incursion as does not affect the accused in
a harsh and arbitrary manner or deprive him of a defense, but operates only in a limited and unsubstantial
manner to his disadvantage.
G.R. No. L-6120 June 30, 1953
G.R. No. 141116 February 17, 2003
DAMASO SEBASTIAN and TOMASA CARDENAS, petitioners,
vs.
HON. HORACIO R. MORALES, Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform, LEONILA
SARENAS1 , JOSEPHINE SARENAS-DAYRIT, EVANGELINE SARENAS, ESTRELITA SARENAS TAN,
CECILIO MARCOS SARENAS, MANUEL DEL SARENAS, DAISY RITA SARENAS, and JOY
SARENAS, respondents.
Under Rule 1, Section 6 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, liberal construction of the rules is the
controlling principle to effect substantial justice. Thus, litigations should, as much as possible, be decided
on their merits and not on technicalities. This does not mean, however, that procedural rules are to be
ignored or disdained at will to suit the convenience of a party. Procedural law has its own rationale in the
orderly administration of justice, namely, to ensure the effective enforcement of substantive rights by
providing for a system that obviates arbitrariness, caprice, despotism, or whimsicality in the settlement of
disputes. Hence, it is a mistake to suppose that substantive law and procedural law are contradictory to
each other, or as often suggested, that enforcement of procedural rules should never be permitted if it
would result in prejudice to the substantive rights of the litigants.
Litigation is not a game of technicalities, but every case must be prosecuted in accordance with the
prescribed procedure so that issues may be properly presented and justly resolved. Hence, rules of
procedure must be faithfully followed except only when for persuasive reasons, they may be relaxed to
relieve a litigant of an injustice not commensurate with his failure to comply with the prescribed
procedure. Concomitant to a liberal application of the rules of procedure should be an effort on the part of
the party invoking liberality to explain his failure to abide by the rules.