Small claims court cases amount raised to P300-K

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The amount of claims that fall within the jurisdiction of small claims courts has been raised from P200,000 to P300,000 effective Aug. 1 2018.

Municipal Trial Courts in Cities Branch 4 Presiding Judge Maria Clarita Tabin announced this in last Monday’s City Hall flag-raising ceremonies.

Tabin said the small claims scheme allows people to litigate on their own money claims amounting to P300,000 or less through an inexpensive, informal and simple procedure.

 “The procedure for small claims cases relaxes or dispenses with ordinary rules of civil procedure and evidence such as strict pleading requirements and formal discovery measures,” Tabin said.        

She said small claims cases can be filed directly in court through the Office of the Clerk of Court of the MTCC with the payment of a corresponding filing fee.

Litigants need not engage the services of lawyers thus saving them hefty lawyers’ fees.

The process also entails shorter period to resolve the case as the decision is handed down at the first hearing.

As a rule, a hearing must be set within 30 days upon filing of the case and resolution or decision can be obtained within 24 hours after the hearing.

The court takes charge of summoning the defendants and facilitating their response through pro-forma documents prior to the hearing. 

The jurisdictional amount is exclusive of interests and costs.

All first-level courts, except for Shari’a courts, are small claims courts. These include Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.

For the Metropolitan Trial Courts, the jurisdictional amount has been raised to P500,000.