Amendments to pleadings are favored and should be liberally allowed in furtherance of justice - G.R. No. 148120

See - G.R. No. 148120


RODRIGO QUIRAO, MONICA QUIRAO, ROBERTO QUIRAO, EDILBERTO QUIRAO, JESUS GOLE, GERARDO QUIRAO, LAMBERTO VALDEZ & FEDERICO QUIRAO vs. LYDIA QUIRAO & LEOPOLDO QUIRAO, JR., G.R. No. 148120, October 24, 2003.



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The issue in this Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Revised Rules of Court is whether Branch 21 of the Regional Trial Court of Mambusao, Capiz should admit the amended answer of petitioners.

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The Rules of Court allow amendments of pleadings as a matter of right before a responsive pleading is served;19 otherwise, leave of court must first be obtained.20

Our case law teaches us that amendments to pleadings are favored and should be liberally allowed in furtherance of justice. This liberality is greatest in the early stages of a lawsuit, decreases as it progresses, and changes at times to a strictness amounting to a prohibition. Amendments are likewise subject to the limitation that they are not dilatory.21 Thus, trial courts are given the discretion to grant leave of court to file amended pleadings, and their exercise of this discretion will normally not be disturbed on appeal, unless there is evident abuse thereof.22
In the case at bar, petitioners filed their motion for leave of court to admit amended answer only after respondents have rested their case. Petitioners argue that the error was due to the oversight of the three previous counsels. Petitioners' fourth counsel also claims that he learned of the alternative defense late as his clients (petitioners herein) did not inform him of the Deed of Sale.23 Allegedly, they relied on the advice of their previous counsels that the said deed of sale "was a mere scrap of paper because it was not signed by Carlito de Juan."24 Respondents contend that petitioners' motion is too late in the day.

Petitioners' motion for admission of amended answer may be a little tardy but this by itself is not a cause for its denial. Their amended answer alleges that respondents no longer own the subject property having sold the same to de Juan who, in turn, sold the property to petitioners. These allegations, if correct, are vital to the disposition of the case at bar. The interest of justice and equity demand that they be considered to avoid a result that is iniquitous.1 Truth cannot be barred by technical rules. For this reason, our ruling case law holds that amendments to pleadings are generally favored and should be liberally allowed in furtherance of justice so that every case may so far as possible be determined on its real facts and in order to prevent the circuity of action.25

We should always bear in mind that rules of procedure are mere tools designed to facilitate the attainment of justice. Their strict and rigid application especially on technical matters, which tends to frustrate rather than promote substantial justice, must be avoided. Technicality, when it deserts its proper office as an aid to justice and becomes its great hindrance and chief enemy, deserves scant consideration from the courts.26



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