Section 1. Scope. - (a) This Rule shall apply to all
actions, proceedings, and incidents requiring the reception of evidence before:
(1) The Metropolitan Trial Courts, the Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, the Municipal Trial Courts, the Municipal
Circuit Trial Courts, and the Shari' a Circuit Courts but shall not apply to
small claims cases under A.M. 08-8-7-SC;
(2) The
Regional Trial Courts
and the Shari' a
District Courts;
(3} The Sandiganbayan,
the Court of Tax Appeals, the Court of Appeals, and the Shari' a Appellate Courts;
(4) The investigating officers and bodies authorized by the Supreme Court to receive evidence, including the
Integrated Bar of the Philippine (IBP); and
(5) The special courts and quasi-judicial bodies, whose rules of procedure are subject to disapproval of the
Supreme Court, insofar as their existing rules of procedure contravene the
provisions of this Rule. 1
(b) For the purpose
of brevity, the above courts, quasi-judicial bodies, or investigating officers
shalJ be uniformly referred to here as the "court."
Sec. 2. Submission of Judicial Affidavits and Exhibits in lieu of direct testimonies. - (a) The parties shall file with the
court and serve on the adverse party,
personally or by licensed courier service, not later than five days before
pre-trial or preliminary conference or the scheduled hearing with respect to
motions and incidents, the following:
(1)
The judicial affidavits of their
witnesses, which shall take the place of such witnesses' direct testimonies;
and
(2)
The parties' docun1entary or object
evidence, if any, which shall be attached to the judicial affidavits and marked
as Exhibits A, B, C, and so on in the case of the complainant or the plaintiff,
and as Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and so on in
the case of the respondent or the defendant.
(b) Should a party or
a witness desire to keep the original docu1nent or object evidence in his possession,
he Inay, after the same has been identified, marked as exhibit, and
authenticated, warrant in his judicial affidavit that the copy or reproduction
attached to such affidavit is a faithful copy or reproduction of that original.
In addition, the party or witness shall bring the original document or object
evidence for comparison during the preliminary conference with the attached
copy, reproduction, or pictures, failing which the latter shall not be
admitted.
This is without prejudice to the introduction of
secondary evidence in place of the original when allowed by existing rules.
Sec. 3. Contents
of judicial Affidavit. - A judicial affidavit shall be prepared in the
language known to the witness and, if not in English or Filipino1 accon1panied by a translation in
English or Filipino, and shall contain. the following:
(a) The name,. age, residence or business address,
and occupation of the witness;
(b) The name and
address of the lawyer who conducts or supervises the examination of the witness
and the place where the examination is being held;
(c)
A statement that the witness is
answering the questions asked of him, fully conscious that he does so under
oath, and that he may face criminal liability for false testimony or perjury;
(d)
Questions asked of the witness and his
corresponding answers, consecutively numbered, that:
(1) Show the
circumstances under which the witness acquired the facts upon which he testifies;
(2) Elicit from him those facts which are relevant
to the issues that the case pret;ents; and
(3) Identify the
attached docun1entary and object evidence and establish their authenticity in
accordance with the Rules of Court;
(e)
The signature of the witness
over his printed nan1e;
and
(f)
A jurat with the signature of the
notary public who administers the oath or an officer who is authorized by law
to adn1inister the same.
Sec. 4. Sworn
attestation of the lawyer. - (a) The judicial affidavit shall contain a
sworn attestation at the end, executed by the lawyer who conducted or
supervised the examination of the ·witness, to the effect that:
(1) He faithfully recorded or caused to be recorded the questions he asked and the corresponding answers
that the witness gave; and
(2) Neither he nor any other person then present
or assisting him coached the witness regarding the latter's answers.
(b) A false attestation shall subject the lawyer
mentioned to disciplinary action, including disbarn1ent.
Sec. 5. Subpoena. - If the governtnent
employee or official, or the requested witness, who is neither the wih1ess of
the adverse party nor a hostile wih1ess, unjustifiably declines to execute a
judicial affidavit or refuses without just cause to make the relevant books,
documents, or other things under his control available for copying,
authentication, and eventual production in court, the requesting party n1ay
avail hin1self of the issuance of a subpoena ad
testificandunL or duces tecum under Rule 21 of the Rules of Court. The rules governing the
issuance of a subpoena to the witness in this case shaJl be the san1e as when
taking his deposition except that the taking of a judicial affidavit shal1 be
understood to be ex parte.
Sec. 6. Offer of and
objections to testimony in judicial affidavit.- The party presenting the judicial affidavit of his witness in
place of direct testimony shall state the purpose of such testin1ony at the
start of the presentation of the witness. The adverse party may move to
disqualify the witness or to strike out his affidavit or any of the answers
found in it on ground of
inadmissibility. The court shall pro1nptly rule on the n1otion and, if granted, shall cause the n1arking of
any excluded answer by placing it in brackets under the initials of an
authorized court personnel, without prejudice to a tender of excluded evidence
under Section 40 of Rule 132 of the Rules of Court.
Sec. 7. Examination of the witness on his judicial affidavit. - The adverse party shall have the
right to cross-examine the witness on his judicial affidavit and on the
exhibits attached to the same. The party who presents the witness n1ay also
exatnine him as on re-direct. In every case, the court shall take active part
in exan1ining the wih1ess to detern1ine his credibility as well as the LTuth of
his testilnony and to elicit the answers that it needs for resolving the issues.
Sec. 8. Oral offer of and objectiolls to exhibits. - (a) Upon th~; termination of the testimony of his
last witness, a party shall in1mediately make an oral offer of evidence of his
documentary or object exhibits, piece by piece, in their chronological order,
stating the purpose or purposes for which he offers the particular exhibit.
(b)
After each piece of exhibit is
offered, the adverse party shall state the legal ground for his objection, if any, to its adn1ission, and the court
shall im1nediately make its ruling respecting that exhibit.
(c)
.Since the documentary or object
exhibits forn1 part of the judicial .ffidavits that describe and authenticate
them, it is sufficient that sucfl exhibits are simply cited by their n1arkings
during the offers, the objections, and the rulings, dispensing with the
description of each exhibit.
Sec. 9. Application of rule
to criminal actions. - (a) This rule shall apply to all criminal actions:
(1) Where the maximum of
the in1posable penalty does not exceed six years;
(2)
Where the accused agrees to the use of
judicial affidavits, irrespective of the penalty involved; or
(3)
With
respect to the
civil aspect of
the actions, whatever
the penalties
involved are.
(b) The prosecution shall submit the judicial affidavits
of its witnesses not later than five days before the pre-trial, serving copies ·uf the sarne upon the accused. The
complainant or public prosecutor shall attach to the affidavits such
docun1entary or object evidence as he n1ay have, marking them as Exhibits A, B,
C, and so on. No further judicial affidavit, docun1entary, or object evidence
shall be adn1itted at the trial.
(c) If the accused desires to be heard on
his defense after receipt of the judicial affidavits of the prosecution, he
shall have the option to submit his judicial affidavit as well as those of his
witnesses to the court within ten days fron1 receipt of such affidavits and
serve a copy of each on the public and private prosecutor, including his
docun1entary and object evidence previously n1arked as Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and so on. These affidavits shall
serve as direct testimonies of the accused and his witnesses when they appear
before the court to testify.
Sec. 10. Effect of
non-compliance zuith the judicial Affidavit Rule. - (a) A party who fails to submit
the required judicial affidavits and exhibits on time shall be deemed to have
waived their subn1ission. The court may, however, allow only once the late
submission of the same provided, the delay is for a valid reason, would not
unduly prejudice the opposing party, and the defaulting party pays a fine of
not less than Pl,OOO.OO nor more than PS,OOO.OO, at the discretion of the court.
(b)
The court shall not consider the
affidavit of any witness who fails to appear at the scheduled hearing of the
case as required. Counsel who fails to appear without valid cause despite
notice shall be deen1ed to have waived his client's right to confront by
cross-examination the witnesses there present.
(c)
The court shall not admit as evidence
judicial affidavits that do not conform to the content requirements of Section
3 and the attestation requirement of Section 4 above. The court may, however,
allow only once the subsequent submission of the con1pliant replacement
affidavits before the hearing or trial provided the delay is for a valid reason
and would not unduly
prejudice the opposing party and provided further, that public or private
counsel responsible for their preparation and subn1ission pays a fine of not
less than Pl,OOO.OO nor tnore than PS,OOO.OO, at the discretion of the court.
Sec. 11. Repeal or
mod~fication of inconsistent rules. - The
provisions of the Rules of Court and the rules of procedure governing
investigating officers and bodies authorized by the Supreme Court to receive
evidence are repealed or modified insofar as these are inconsistent with the
provisions of this Rule.
The rules of procedure governing quasi-judicial
bodies inconsistent herewith are hereby disapproved.
Sec. 12. Effectivity.-
This rule shall take effect on January 1, 2013 following its publication in two
newspapers of general circulation not later than September 15, 2012. It shall also apply to existing cases.
Manila, September 4,
2012.
x x x."
