Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT
Manila

THIRD DIVISION

G.R. No. 152643 August 28, 2008

CONCEPCION CUENCO VDA. DE MANGUERRA and THE HON. RAMON

C. CODILLA, JR., Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Cebu
City, Branch 19, petitioners,
vs.
RAUL RISOS, SUSANA YONGCO, LEAH ABARQUEZ and ATTY.
GAMALIEL D.B. BONJE,respondents.

DECISION

NACHURA, J.:

This is a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court,
assailing the Court of Appeals (CA) Decision1 dated August 15, 2001 and its
Resolution2 dated March 12, 2002. The CA decision set aside the Regional
Trial Court (RTC) Orders dated August 25, 20003 granting Concepcion
Cuenco Vda. de Manguerras (Concepcions) motion to take deposition, and
dated November 3, 20004 denying the motion for reconsideration of
respondents Raul G. Risos, Susana Yongco, Leah Abarquez, and Atty.
Gamaliel D.B. Bonje.

The facts of the case, as culled from the records, follow:

On November 4, 1999, respondents were charged with Estafa Through

Falsification of Public Document before the RTC of Cebu City, Branch 19,
through a criminal information dated October 27, 1999, which was
subsequently amended on November 18, 1999. The case, docketed as
Criminal Case No. CBU-52248,5 arose from the falsification of a deed of real
estate mortgage allegedly committed by respondents where they made it
appear that Concepcion, the owner of the mortgaged property known as the
Gorordo property, affixed her signature to the document. Hence, the criminal
case.6

Earlier, on September 10, 1999, Concepcion, who was a resident of Cebu

City, while on vacation in Manila, was unexpectedly confined at the Makati
Medical Center due to upper gastro-intestinal bleeding; and was advised to
stay in Manila for further treatment.7

On November 24, 1999, respondents filed a Motion for Suspension of the

Proceedings in Criminal Case No. CBU-52248 on the ground of prejudicial
question. They argued that Civil Case No. CEB-20359, which was an action
for declaration of nullity of the mortgage, should first be resolved.8 On May 11,
2000, the RTC granted the aforesaid motion. Concepcions motion for
reconsideration was denied on June 5, 2000.9

This prompted Concepcion to institute a special civil action for certiorari before
the CA seeking the nullification of the May 11 and June 5 RTC orders. The
case was docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 60266 and remains pending before
the appellate court to date.10

On August 16, 2000, the counsel of Concepcion filed a motion to take the
latters deposition.11 He explained the need to perpetuate Concepcions
testimony due to her weak physical condition and old age, which limited her
freedom of mobility.

On August 25, 2000, the RTC granted the motion and directed that
Concepcions deposition be taken before the Clerk of Court of Makati
City.12 The respondents motion for reconsideration was denied by the trial
court on November 3, 2000. The court ratiocinated that procedural
technicalities should be brushed aside because of the urgency of the situation,
since Concepcion was already of advanced age.13 After several motions for
change of venue of the deposition-taking, Concepcions deposition was finally
taken on March 9, 2001 at her residence.14

Aggrieved, respondents assailed the August 25 and November 3 RTC orders

in a special civil action for certiorari before the CA in CA-G.R. SP No. 62551.15

On August 15, 2001, the CA rendered a Decision16 favorable to the

respondents, the dispositive portion of which reads:

WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED and the August 25, 2000 and
November 3, 2000 orders of the court a quo are hereby SET ASIDE,
and any deposition that may have been taken on the authority of such
void orders is similarly declared void.

SO ORDERED.17
At the outset, the CA observed that there was a defect in the respondents
petition by not impleading the People of the Philippines, an indispensable
party. This notwithstanding, the appellate court resolved the matter on its
merit, declaring that the examination of prosecution witnesses, as in the
present case, is governed by Section 15, Rule 119 of the Revised Rules of
Criminal Procedure and not Rule 23 of the Rules of Court. The latter
provision, said the appellate court, only applies to civil cases. Pursuant to the
specific provision of Section 15, Rule 119, Concepcions deposition should
have been taken before the judge or the court where the case is pending,
which is the RTC of Cebu, and not before the Clerk of Court of Makati City;
and thus, in issuing the assailed order, the RTC clearly committed grave
abuse of discretion. 18

In its Resolution dated March 12, 2002 denying petitioners motion for
reconsideration, the CA added that the rationale of the Rules in requiring the
taking of deposition before the same court is the constitutional right of the
accused to meet the witnesses face to face. The appellate court likewise
concluded that Rule 23 could not be applied suppletorily because the situation
was adequately addressed by a specific provision of the rules of criminal
procedure.19

Hence, the instant petition raising the following issues:

I.

WHETHER OR NOT RULE 23 OF THE 1997 RULES OF CIVIL

PROCEDURE APPLIES TO THE DEPOSITION OF PETITIONER.

II.

WHETHER OR NOT FAILURE TO IMPLEAD THE "PEOPLE OF THE

PHILIPPINES" IN A PETITION FOR CERTIORARI ARISING FROM A
CRIMINAL CASE A QUO CONSTITUTES A WAIVABLE DEFECT IN
THE PETITION FOR CERTIORARI.20

It is undisputed that in their petition for certiorari before the CA, respondents
failed to implead the People of the Philippines as a party thereto. Because of
this, the petition was obviously defective. As provided in Section 5, Rule 110
of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, all criminal actions are
prosecuted under the direction and control of the public prosecutor. Therefore,
it behooved the petitioners (respondents herein) to implead the People of the
Philippines as respondent in the CA case to enable the Solicitor General to
comment on the petition.21

However, this Court has repeatedly declared that the failure to implead an
indispensable party is not a ground for the dismissal of an action. In such a
case, the remedy is to implead the non-party claimed to be indispensable.
Parties may be added by order of the court, on motion of the party or on its
own initiative at any stage of the action and/or such times as are just. If the
petitioner/plaintiff refuses to implead an indispensable party despite the order
of the court, the latter may dismiss the complaint/petition for the
petitioners/plaintiffs failure to comply.22

In this case, the CA disregarded the procedural flaw by allowing the petition to
proceed, in the interest of substantial justice. Also noteworthy is that,
notwithstanding the non-joinder of the People of the Philippines as party-
respondent, it managed, through the Office of the Solicitor General, to file its
Comment on the petition for certiorari. Thus, the People was given the
opportunity to refute the respondents arguments.

Instructive is the Courts pronouncement in Commissioner Domingo v.

Scheer23 in this wise:

There is nothing sacred about processes or pleadings, their forms or

contents. Their sole purpose is to facilitate the application of justice to
the rival claims of contending parties. They were created, not to hinder
and delay, but to facilitate and promote, the administration of justice.
They do not constitute the thing itself, which courts are always striving
to secure to litigants. They are designed as the means best adapted to
obtain that thing. In other words, they are a means to an end. When
they lose the character of the one and become the other, the
administration of justice is at fault and courts are correspondingly remiss
in the performance of their obvious duty.24

Accordingly, the CA cannot be faulted for deciding the case on the merits
despite the procedural defect.

On the more important issue of whether Rule 23 of the Rules of Court applies
to the instant case, we rule in the negative.

It is basic that all witnesses shall give their testimonies at the trial of the case
in the presence of the judge.25 This is especially true in criminal cases in order
that the accused may be afforded the opportunity to cross-examine the
witnesses pursuant to his constitutional right to confront the witnesses face to
face.26 It also gives the parties and their counsel the chance to propound such
questions as they deem material and necessary to support their position or to
test the credibility of said witnesses.27 Lastly, this rule enables the judge to
observe the witnesses demeanor.28

This rule, however, is not absolute. As exceptions, Rules 23 to 28 of the Rules

of Court provide for the different modes of discovery that may be resorted to
by a party to an action. These rules are adopted either to perpetuate the
testimonies of witnesses or as modes of discovery. In criminal proceedings,
Sections 12,29 1330 and 15,31 Rule 119 of the Revised Rules of Criminal
Procedure, which took effect on December 1, 2000, allow the conditional
examination of both the defense and prosecution witnesses.

In the case at bench, in issue is the examination of a prosecution witness,

who, according to the petitioners, was too sick to travel and appear before the
trial court. Section 15 of Rule 119 thus comes into play, and it provides:

Section 15. Examination of witness for the prosecution. When it

satisfactorily appears that a witness for the prosecution is too sick or
infirm to appear at the trial as directed by the court, or has to leave the
Philippines with no definite date of returning, he may forthwith be
conditionally examined before the court where the case is pending.
Such examination, in the presence of the accused, or in his absence
after reasonable notice to attend the examination has been served on
him, shall be conducted in the same manner as an examination at the
trial. Failure or refusal of the accused to attend the examination after
notice shall be considered a waiver. The statement taken may be
admitted in behalf of or against the accused.

Petitioners contend that Concepcions advanced age and health condition

exempt her from the application of Section 15, Rule 119 of the Rules of
Criminal Procedure, and thus, calls for the application of Rule 23 of the Rules
of Civil Procedure.

The contention does not persuade.

The very reason offered by the petitioners to exempt Concepcion from the
coverage of Rule 119 is at once the ground which places her squarely within
the coverage of the same provision. Rule 119 specifically states that a witness
may be conditionally examined: 1) if the witness is too sick or infirm to appear
at the trial; or 2) if the witness has to leave the Philippines with no definite
date of returning. Thus, when Concepcion moved that her deposition be
taken, had she not been too sick at that time, her motion would have been
denied. Instead of conditionally examining her outside the trial court, she
would have been compelled to appear before the court for examination during
the trial proper.

Undoubtedly, the procedure set forth in Rule 119 applies to the case at bar. It
is thus required that the conditional examination be made before the court
where the case is pending. It is also necessary that the accused be notified,
so that he can attend the examination, subject to his right to waive the same
after reasonable notice. As to the manner of examination, the Rules mandate
that it be conducted in the same manner as an examination during trial, that
is, through question and answer.

At this point, a query may thus be posed: in granting Concepcions motion and
in actually taking her deposition, were the above rules complied with? The CA
answered in the negative. The appellate court considered the taking of
deposition before the Clerk of Court of Makati City erroneous and contrary to
the clear mandate of the Rules that the same be made before the court where
the case is pending. Accordingly, said the CA, the RTC order was issued with
grave abuse of discretion.

We agree with the CA and quote with approval its ratiocination in this wise:

Unlike an examination of a defense witness which, pursuant to Section

5, Rule 119 of the previous Rules, and now Section 13, Rule 119 of the
present Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, may be taken before any
"judge, or, if not practicable, a member of the Bar in good standing so
designated by the judge in the order, or, if the order be made by a court
of superior jurisdiction, before an inferior court to be designated therein,"
the examination of a witness for the prosecution under Section 15 of the
Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure (December 1, 2000) may be done
only "before the court where the case is pending."32

Rule 119 categorically states that the conditional examination of a prosecution

witness shall be made before the court where the case is pending. Contrary to
petitioners contention, there is nothing in the rule which may remotely be
interpreted to mean that such requirement applies only to cases where the
witness is within the jurisdiction of said court and not when he is kilometers
away, as in the present case. Therefore, the court may not introduce
exceptions or conditions. Neither may it engraft into the law (or the Rules)
qualifications not contemplated.33 When the words are clear and categorical,
there is no room for interpretation. There is only room for application.34

Petitioners further insist that Rule 23 applies to the instant case, because the
rules on civil procedure apply suppletorily to criminal cases.

It is true that Section 3, Rule 1 of the Rules of Court provides that the rules of
civil procedure apply to all actions, civil or criminal, and special proceedings.
In effect, it says that the rules of civil procedure have suppletory application to
criminal cases. However, it is likewise true that the criminal proceedings are
primarily governed by the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure. Considering
that Rule 119 adequately and squarely covers the situation in the instant case,
we find no cogent reason to apply Rule 23 suppletorily or otherwise.

To reiterate, the conditional examination of a prosecution witness for the

purpose of taking his deposition should be made before the court, or at least
before the judge, where the case is pending. Such is the clear mandate of
Section 15, Rule 119 of the Rules. We find no necessity to depart from, or to
relax, this rule. As correctly held by the CA, if the deposition is made
elsewhere, the accused may not be able to attend, as when he is under
detention. More importantly, this requirement ensures that the judge would be
able to observe the witness deportment to enable him to properly assess his
credibility. This is especially true when the witness testimony is crucial to the
prosecutions case.

While we recognize the prosecutions right to preserve its witness testimony

to prove its case, we cannot disregard rules which are designed mainly for the
protection of the accuseds constitutional rights. The giving of testimony during
trial is the general rule. The conditional examination of a witness outside of
the trial is only an exception, and as such, calls for a strict construction of the
rules.

WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby DENIED. The Court of Appeals Decision

and Resolution dated August 25, 2000 and March 12, 2002, respectively, in
CA-G.R. SP No. 62551, are AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.