Case Digest (G.R. No. 205039)
Facts:
Spouses Rozelle Raymond Martin and Claudine Margaret Santiago, G.R. No. 205039, October 21, 2015, Supreme Court First Division, Perlas-Bernabe, J., writing for the Court.On May 6, 2012, the petitioners arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 and, while complaining about offloaded baggage at the Cebu Pacific complaint desk, became involved in a physical altercation with Ramon “Mon” Tulfo and another passenger, Edoardo Benjamin Atilano. Petitioners were thereafter taken to the Airport Police Department for investigation. Days later, Mon’s brothers—Raffy Tulfo, Ben Tulfo, and Erwin Tulfo (respondents)—aired comments on their television program that petitioners alleged contained expletives, threats and menacing statements. Fearful for their safety, petitioners filed a petition for a writ of amparo against respondents on May 11, 2012 before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City (SP No. Q-12-71275).
On May 23, 2012, respondent Erwin Tulfo filed a Manifestation and Motion to Deny Issuance of Protection Order and/or Dismissal of the Petition motu proprio, which petitioners opposed as a prohibited pleading. On May 24, 2012, then Presiding Judge Bayani Vargas granted a temporary protection order (TPO) in favor of petitioners and directed respondents to file their return/answer. In their return, Ben Tulfo denied making any actual threat and characterized his statements as expressions of sentiment in defense of his brother.
Judge Vargas submitted the case for resolution on June 29, 2012 but subsequently retired; Acting Presiding Judge Maria Filomena Singh assumed the case. In a Resolution dated August 6, 2012 (Branch 219), Judge Singh dismissed the petition for writ of amparo and dissolved the TPO, holding that the Amparo Rule (A.M. No. 07-9-12-SC) is confined to cases of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats thereof and that the petition did not allege such circumstances. Petitioners’ motion for reconsiderati...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the petition for a writ of amparo filed by the petitioners a proper remedy under A.M. No. 07-9-12-SC in this case?
- Did the RTC err in motu proprio dismissing the amparo petition and dissolving the TPO despite the filing of a supposedly prohibited Motion to Deny Issuance of Protection Order and/or Di...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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