Title
Spouses Canaveras vs. Gamboa-Delos Santos
Case
G.R. No. 241348
Decision Date
Jul 5, 2022
Petitioners accused of falsification; counsel's absence deemed waiver of cross-examination. Court partly granted petition, allowing cross-examination for fairness, upheld witness testimony under Revised Guidelines.
spouses
certiorari
judge
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 241348)

Applicable Law and Procedural Authorities

Constitutional framework: 1987 Philippine Constitution (invoked principally for the accused’s constitutional right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses).
Rules and issuances applied: Rule 65, Rules of Court; the Judicial Affidavit Rule (A.M. No. 12-8-8-SC, sec. 10[b]); the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases (A.M. No. 15-06-10-SC, effective Sept. 1, 2017); Rule 1, sec. 6, Rules of Court; Section 4 and Section 5, Rule 65 (on where to file and on respondents and costs).

Antecedents — Charges, Trial Schedule, and Missed Hearing

Petitioners are charged with falsification of public documents (Art. 172 in relation to Art. 171, RPC) in Criminal Case No. 17-0597 before the MTCC, San Fernando, Pampanga. Pre-trial and subsequent trial dates were set, including May 23, 2018 for cross-examination of prosecution witness Nenita and June 6, 2018 for presentation of witness Rodel. Atty. Adan failed to appear on May 23, 2018; the trial judge issued an in-court Order deeming defense counsel’s absence a waiver of the defense’s right to cross-examine Nenita.

Trial Court Orders at Issue

Order dated May 23, 2018: in open court, the trial judge construed the absence of defense counsel despite notice as a waiver of the defense’s right to cross-examine the present witness (Nenita).
Order dated June 6, 2018: denial of Atty. Adan’s oral motion for reconsideration supported by a medical certificate dated May 23, 2018 (at that time unnotarized). The June 6 Order again refused to lift the deemed waiver; trial proceeded and Rodel testified. A later Order (June 21, 2019) reflected the trial judge’s voluntary inhibition.

Issues Presented to the Supreme Court

  1. Whether the second sentence of Section 10(b) of the Judicial Affidavit Rule is unconstitutional.
  2. Whether the trial judge committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in issuing the June 6, 2018 Order deeming waiver.
  3. Whether the trial judge committed grave abuse of discretion in allowing presentation of a witness despite alleged non-compliance with the Judicial Affidavit Rule.
  4. Whether petitioners were entitled to a TRO or writ of preliminary injunction (subsequently denied and rendered moot by the judge’s inhibition).

Petitioners’ Core Contentions

Petitioners asserted that Atty. Adan’s absence on May 23, 2018 was due to a legitimate medical condition (eye pain, discharge, diagnosed conjunctival cysts, trichiasis, dry eye syndrome) evidenced by a medical certificate; they contend that deeming waiver of the right to cross-examine on account of counsel’s absence — and by operation of the Judicial Affidavit Rule — unconstitutionally strips the accused of a constitutional right guaranteed under the 1987 Constitution. They further argued that the trial judge abused discretion in (a) applying the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases as if a motion for postponement were sought and (b) allowing Rodel’s testimony despite absence of a judicial affidavit, particularly where a private prosecutor was involved.

Respondents’ Core Contentions

The trial judge justified deeming waiver by reference to the motion-for-postponement provision of the Revised Guidelines, which limits allowable postponement grounds to acts of God, force majeure, or physical inability of the witness to appear and testify; absence of counsel does not fit these enumerated grounds. The judge also questioned the medical certificate’s notarization and probative content. As to Rodel’s testimony, the judge relied on the Revised Guidelines’ allowance for prosecutors to use written statements previously submitted to law enforcement or affidavits submitted before the investigating prosecutor in lieu of judicial affidavits.

Jurisdictional and Procedural Threshold — Hierarchy of Courts

The Court reiterated the doctrine of hierarchy of courts: petitions for certiorari relating to a lower court should ordinarily be filed first in the Regional Trial Court exercising territorial jurisdiction (Section 4, Rule 65). Although direct recourse to the Supreme Court was generally improper, the Court relaxed the rule because petitioners’ liberty was at stake and exceptional circumstances justified direct invocation of the Court’s original jurisdiction.

Court’s Treatment of the Constitutional Question

The Supreme Court declined to resolve the constitutional challenge to the second sentence of Section 10(b) of the Judicial Affidavit Rule. The Court held the constitutional question was not the lis mota of the case because the trial judge did not base her May 23 or June 6 Orders on that provision but rather on the Revised Guidelines’ postponement rules. The Court follows the principle that it will not decide constitutional questions when the controversy can be resolved on other grounds.

Court’s Analysis — Waiver, Revised Guidelines, and Medical Certificate

The Court found that the trial judge relied properly on Part III(2)(d) of the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases, which restricts motions for postponement except for acts of God, force majeure, or physical inability of a witness to appear and testify, and requires payment of a postponement fee when an exception is granted. Because Atty. Adan’s absence did not fall within the three enumerated grounds for postponement, and because he did not file a formal motion for postponement or show proof of payment of the postponement fee, the trial judge’s original reliance on the Revised Guidelines to deem waiver was not, on its face, a grave abuse of discretion.

Concurrently, the Court emphasized the paramount importance of the accused’s constitutional right to confront and cross-examine witnesses. Even though the trial judge strictly applied procedural rules, the circumstances warranted a liberal construction of rules to protect the accused’s right to cross-examination. The Court noted the medical certificate presented by defense counsel was unnotarized when tendered and thus was questioned in the trial court; however, the Supreme Court observed that notarization is not a per se requirement for admissibility or probative weight of medical certificates under existing jurisprudence. Given the centrality of Nenita’s testimony to the falsification charge and the absence of any showing that petitioners engaged in machination to delay or frustrate the prosecution, the Court held that fairness and due process required that petitioners be afforded the opportunity to cross-examine Nenita.

Court’s Remedies and Directions to Trial Court

The Supreme Court set aside the May 23 and June 6, 2018 Orders insofar as they deemed petitioners to have waived their right to cross-examine Nenita. The trial court was directed to recall and proceed with the cross-examination of Nenita and to continue the criminal proceedings with dispatch. The Court recommended practical measures trial judges might employ when continuity of trial is interrupted: calling counsel to swear to his medical certificate to address notarial defects, subjecting counsel to examination by the prosecution regarding the medical claim, ordering payment of postponement fees and reasonable expenses for recall of witnesses, or appointing counsel de oficio to preserve continuous trial and meet speedy-trial objectives. The Court reminded judges to apply procedural rules liberally when strict application would obstruct substantial justice.

Court’s Analysis — Presentation of Rodel’s Testimony and Judicial Affidavit Rule

The Supreme Court found no grave abuse of discretion in allowing Rodel’s testimony despite the absence of a judicial affidavit. The Revised Guidelines permit three alternatives for the form of testimony: (1) duly subscribed written stat

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