Insigne vs Abra

Problem:
In order to have the respondents produce their Stock and Transfer Book for inspection,
petitioners filed a Motion for Production/Inspection of Documents. The RTC did not act on the
motion and dismissed the suit while the CA concurred with the RTC’s inaction on the ground
that “the Stock and Transfer Book is one of the corporate books which may be examined only by
a stockholder-of-record. Did the RTC err when it did not act on the motion?
Answer: Yes. The Court said that the RTC should have favorably acted on the
petitioners’ Motion for Production/Inspection of Documents in order to enable the
petitioners, consistent with the recognized privileges and disabilities, to enable them to
obtain the fullest possible knowledge of the issues and facts to be determined in Special
Civil Action Case No. 2070, and thereby prevent the trial from being carried on in the
dark, at least from their side.

Doing so would not have caused any prejudice to the respondents, for, after all, even
had the petitioners not filed the Motion for Production/Inspection of Documents, the
respondents would themselves also  be expected to produce the STB in court in order
to substantiate their affirmative defense that the petitioners were not stockholders-of-
record of Abra Valley.