Title
Mercado vs. Lopena
Case
G.R. No. 230170
Decision Date
Jun 6, 2018
A domestic dispute led to multiple lawsuits, with petitioners alleging SLAPP by private respondents. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, citing procedural defects and inapplicability of SLAPP to domestic violence cases.
domestic dispute
grave abuse of discretion
domestic violence
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 230170)

Petition and Principal Reliefs Sought

Petitioners filed a Rule 65 petition for certiorari and prohibition seeking, among other reliefs: (a) a declaration that the actions filed by private respondents constitute Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP); (b) promulgation of rules to extend SLAPP protections (including amendment of the Rule on Violence Against Women and Children); (c) a temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction directing public respondents to desist from further hearings and for immediate dismissal of the subject cases. Petitioners alleged the subject cases were baseless, intended to harass and coerce them (including to force relinquishment of custody), and amounted to abuse or violence under R.A. No. 9262.

Key Dates and Procedural Posture

Most subject complaints were filed between September 2015 and February 2016; a Protection Order (PPO) in favor of petitioner Mercado was issued by the RTC (Civil Case No. R‑QZN‑15‑10201) on February 19, 2016 and the CA denied an appeal. Several complaints filed by private respondents remained pending before various courts and the Office of the City Prosecutor at the time of the Rule 65 petition; some complaints were dismissed by prosecutors for lack of probable cause. Petitioners brought the Rule 65 petition while many underlying proceedings remained pending.

Applicable Law and Constitutional Basis

The Court considered the petition under the procedural and substantive framework of Rule 65 of the Rules of Court and related provisions (including Rule 46/56 on material dates). Because the decision was rendered in 2018, the 1987 Constitution (Art. VIII, Sec. 5[5], concerning the Court's rule‑making power) governs the Court’s review of rule‑making claims and jurisdictional limits. Petitioners also invoked R.A. No. 9262 (Anti‑Violence Against Women and Their Children), and respondents invoked the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases (A.M. No. 09‑6‑8‑SC) defining SLAPP.

Factual Summary — Cases Filed by Private Respondents

Private respondents filed multiple actions against petitioners, including: a habeas corpus petition for custody of the children (docketed at RTC Branch 86); criminal complaints under R.A. No. 7610 and other penal statutes (People v. Sugar Mercado and Yolanda Mercado; People v. Yolanda Mercado; People v. Sugar Mercado et al.); libel complaints; complaints for physical injuries, defamation, slander by deed, unjust vexation; grave threats; a cybercrime complaint under R.A. No. 10175; and indirect contempt actions. Some complaints were dismissed by the prosecutorial office for lack of probable cause; others were pending.

Factual Summary — Cases Filed by Petitioners

Petitioner Mercado filed (a) an urgent petition for a Temporary/Permanent Protection Order (PPO), granted by the RTC on February 19, 2016 and affirmed by the Court of Appeals; (b) criminal complaints invoking R.A. No. 9262 against respondent Go and his parents (later dismissed by the OCP for insufficiency/lack of probable cause); and (c) other civil and cybercrime complaints against various private respondents. Thus, litigation exists on both sides and multiple proceedings are ongoing.

Petitioners’ Theory and Claim of SLAPP

Petitioners argued that the complaints filed against them were SLAPPs intended to harass, intimidate, and silence them by imposing emotional, psychological, and financial burdens to force relinquishment of custody. They sought both a declaration that the subject cases are SLAPP and a rule‑making intervention to extend SLAPP protections to cases involving victims of domestic violence under R.A. No. 9262.

Responses of Private and Public Respondents

Private respondents contended the petition was procedurally defective (forum‑shopping; premature), asserted many complaints predated the PPO, and maintained the complaints had factual and legal bases; they argued enforcement of legal rights via courts does not constitute violence against women. Public respondents (Secretary of Justice and OCP Chief) likewise raised procedural defects: lack of requisites for judicial review, premature filing because adequate remedies remain, and failure to observe judicial hierarchy. Substantively, they submitted SLAPP rules apply only to environmental cases under the Rules for Environmental Cases; thus the requested relief lacks legal basis.

Issues Presented for Resolution

The principal issue identified by the Court was whether the public respondents committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in taking cognizance of the subject cases, thereby justifying extraordinary relief.

Procedural Disposition — Prematurity and Availability of Remedies

The Court dismissed the petition as procedurally infirm and premature. Rule 65 requires the absence of any plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. Because most subject cases were pending, petitioners retained ordinary remedies: participate in those proceedings, appeal unfavorable judgments to the Court of Appeals, and seek prosecutorial review remedies (including petition for review to the Secretary of Justice) where applicable. The PPO provides its own enforcement mechanism: Section 21 of R.A. No. 9262 makes violation of a PPO punishable as contempt under Rule 71, and other criminal or civil remedies remain available. As a court of last resort, the Supreme Court emphasized strict adherence to the exhaustion of available remedies and hierarchy of courts.

Procedural Disposition — Failure to State Material Dates and Rule Violations

The petition also failed to comply with Rule 46/Rule 56 requirements to state material dates (receipt of notice of orders, dates of motions for reconsideration/new trial, and notice of denial), which permit the Court to determine timeliness of a Rule 65 petition. Petitioners omitted these material dates for the ten subject cases and did not explain the omission, rendering the petition dismissible for failure to comply with mandatory procedural requirements. The Court noted it will relax rules only for compelling reasons, which were absent.

Rule‑Making Power Cannot Be Invoked by Private Party via Rule 65

Petitioners asked the Court effectively to exercise its rule‑making power (Article VIII, Sec. 5[5], 1987 Constitution) to extend SLAPP protections to R.A. No. 9262 cases. The Court held that its plenary rule‑making authority cannot be invoked in a particularized manner by a private citizen through a Rule 65 petition, which is designed to correct jurisdictional errors of tribunals or officers, not to compel the Court to promulgate or amend procedural rules for the petitioner’s benefit.

SLAPP Doctrine Is Limited to Environmental Cases in Existing Rules

The Court explained that the SLAPP concept in this jurisdiction arose in the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases (A.M. No. 09‑6‑8‑SC), which explicitly limits SLAPP to actions “with the intent to harass, vex, exert undue pressure or stifle any legal recourse … in the enforcement of environmental laws, protection of the environment or assertion of environmental rights.” The procedural mechanisms and defensive posture for alleging SLAPP are embedded in those environmental rules (e.g., Rules 6 and 19). Because R.A. No. 9262 and domestic violence cases are not included within the scope of those environmental procedural rules, SLAPP defenses as presently crafted do not apply to these domestic violence or related matters.

Improper Attempt to Use SLAPP Defense Collaterally in Separate Forum

The Court emphasized SLAPP is a procedural pri

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