LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES, OBLIGATION AND LIABILITIES OF

MAKING OR EXECUTING AFFIDAVITS AND PETITIONS

What is Petition?
a written request or call for change signed by many people in support of a shared cause or
concern.
Who may file the petition.
Any person of legal age, having direct and personal interest in the correction of a clerical
or typographical error in an entry.
Where to file the petition. - The verified petition may be filed, in person, with the LCRO of
the city or municipality or with the Office of the Clerk of the Shari'a Court, as the case may be,
where the record containing the clerical or typographical error to be corrected.
Processing of the petition. - The C/MCR shall:
1. Examine the petition as to completeness of requirements and supporting documents.
2. Determine whether or not the civil registry document, which is the subject of the petition, If it is
part of the civil register of his office, he shall assume jurisdiction.
3 Ensure that posting or publication requirement is complied with in accordance with Rule 9.
4. Investigate and consider any third party intervention to the petition.
5. Enter all petitions in the appropriate record book, as may be prescribed by the CRG,
indicating therein, among others, the following information:
1. Petition number
2. Name of petitioner
3. Type of petition
4. Date of petition
5. Date of receipt
6. Entry sought to be corrected/changed
7. Correction/Change made
8. Action taken or decision
6. Act on the petition within five (5) working days after the completion of the posting and/or
publication requirement. In case the C/MCR, CG or D/CR approves the petition, he shall render
his decision in a prescribed form in triplicate copies, indicating therein the entry sought to be
corrected or the first name sought to be changed in the civil register, and the corresponding
correction or change made.
7. Record the decision in the appropriate record book as mentioned in Rule 5.6, and shall
transmit said decision together with the records of proceedings to the OCRG within five (5)
working days after the date of decision.
Form and content of the petition. - The petition shall be in the prescribed form of an
affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by law to administer oath.
The petition for the correction of clerical or typographical error shall be supported with the
following documents:
1. A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing
the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed;
2. At least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which
the correction or change shall be based;
3. Notice or certification of posting
4. Other documents which the petitioner or the C/MCR, or the CG, or D/CR may consider
relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition.
Legal Responsibilities, obligation and liabilities
The document is signed both by the person making the statement, called an affiant, and by a
person who is legally authorized to administer an oath, such as a notary public or certain
court and government officers.
Signing an affidavit that contains false information can subject the affiant to criminal penalties.
Therefore, before signing, it is very important to read the document carefully to ensure that the
information is accurate and truthful. If the affidavit includes any statements that are the opinion
or belief of the affiant, the fact that it is opinion or belief needs to be clearly stated.
The absolute most important thing about making an affidavit is to be truthful. It is illegal to lie
in an affidavit. It can be a form of perjury.

Restrictions on Affidavits
No restrictions for age are in place for signing an affidavit. However, you must be of sound mind
and you must understand what you are signing and why you are signing it. Generally, you will not be
asked to sign an affidavit unless you are over the age of 18. However, minors may be asked to sign
an affidavit in a family court matter. It is important that the minor is of sound mind and an age at
which they are able to understand the facts and know that they are signing a document that must be
true and correct.

Consequences of Signing an Affidavit

If you provide information that is false or lie on the affidavit, you could be fined for perjury. Penalties
could include monetary fines, community service, and even jail time. The punishment and the
severity of the punishment varies from state to state.
What should not be included in an affidavit?
Affidavits prepared based on facts, does not depends on the person’s belief or views. You
should avoid referring to facts that are based on information received from others, these are not
admissible as evidence in Court.
SUPREME COURT AMENDMENTS ON THE 1997 RULES ON CIVIL
PROCEDURE AND REVISE RULES ON EVIDENCE RELEVANT TO LEGAL FORMS
1. Judicial Affidavits of witnesses, as well as documentary and object evidence, must
now be attached to the Complaint and Answer.
The New Rules require that Complaints and Answers must now be accompanied by the
Judicial Affidavit/s of each party’s supporting witness/es, and the documentary and object
evidence which each party intends to present during the trial.
2. Plaintiffs or their representatives may be authorized to serve summons.
The New Rules allow courts to authorize plaintiffs or their representatives to serve summons
upon defendants pursuant to an ex-parte motion filed by the plaintiff, or in the event of failure to
serve summons by the court sheriff, or in cases where summons is to be served outside the
issuing court’s judicial region.
3. Summons may be served upon domestic private juridical entities upon specific
officers
wherever they may be found, upon their secretaries, and persons who customarily receive
correspondence for the defendant.
4. Motions to Dismiss are generally no longer allowed.
The New Rules generally prohibit the filing of motions to dismiss, except upon the grounds of
lack of subject matter jurisdiction, litis pendentia, res judicata, and prescription.
5. Motions for additional time to file pleadings are generally no longer allowed, except
for the filing of Answers.
The New Rules generally prohibit the filing of motions for additional time to submit court
pleadings, except if the pleading involved is an Answer to a Complaint.
6. Additional modes of filing and service of pleadings
The New Rules provide that initiatory pleadings and responses must be filed either
personally or by registered mail.
7. Pre-trial incidents modified
The New Rules provide that pre-trial must now take place before court-annexed mediation.
8. Schedule of trial
The New Rules provide that the trial of cases where there are no third, fourth, etc.,-party
complaints, counterclaims, and cross-claims should be completed within 180 calendar days.
 9. Recordings, photographs or other materials containing sounds may be considered
as documentary evidence.
Under the New Rules, writings, recordings, photographs or any material containing words,
sounds, numbers, figures, symbols or their equivalent or other modes of written expression
offered as proof of their contents are considered documentary evidence.
10. Duplicates are admissible to the same extent as an original.
(a) a genuine question is raised as to the authenticity of the original, or
(b) the admission of the duplicate in lieu of the original, given the circumstances, would be
unjust or inequitable.
11. Summaries, charts and calculations are admissible in evidence.
When the contents of voluminous documents “cannot be examined without great loss of
time, and the fact sought to be established is only the general result of the whole, the contents
[of the voluminous documents] may be presented in the form of a chart, summary or calculation”.
12. Exceptions to the attorney-client privilege
(a) enabling someone to commit a crime or fraud;
(b) claims on a deceased client;
(c) breach of duty by a lawyer or client;
(d) documents where the lawyer is an attesting witness; and (e) a matter of common interest
between two or more clients who retained or consulted a lawyer in common, unless there is an
agreement not to disclose information to the other client.
13. Trade secrets as privileged communication
 Although the 1989 Rules did not expressly recognize that trade secrets are privileged, the
Supreme Court ruled in Air Philippines Corporation v. Pennswell, Inc. that “[t]here is a privilege
not to disclose one’s trade secrets”
14. Privileged communication remains privileged even in the hands of a third person.
Under the New Rules, privileged communication shall remain privileged, “even in the hands
of a third person who may have obtained the information provided that the original parties to the
communication took reasonable precaution to protect the confidentiality”.
15. Hearsay
Hearsay is a statement (i.e., oral, written or non-verbal conduct) made by a person who is
not testifying during trial and is offered to prove the truth of the fact asserted.
16. Residual exception to hearsay
(a) the statement is offered to prove a material fact,
(b) the statement has more probative value than any other evidence which the proponent
can procure through reasonable efforts, and
(c) the purpose of the New Rules and the interests of justice will be served.