Eighteenth Congress

Second Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-seventh day of July, two thousand twenty.

[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11576, July 30, 2021 ]

AN ACT FURTHER EXPANDING THE JURISDICTION OF THE METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURTS, MUNICIPAL TRIAL
COURTS IN CITIES, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURTS, AND MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT TRIAL COURTS, AMENDING FOR THE
PURPOSE BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 129, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “THE JUDICIARY REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1980,”
AS AMENDED

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Section 19 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, otherwise known as “The Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980,” as
amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 19. Jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Courts in Civil Cases. – Regional Trial Courts shall exercise exclusive original
jurisdiction:

“x x x

“(2) In all civil actions which involve the title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest therein, where the assessed value
exceeds Four hundred thousand pesos (P400,000.00), except for forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands or buildings,
original jurisdiction over which is conferred upon the Metropolitan Trial Courts, and Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal
Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts;

“(3) In all actions in admiralty and maritime jurisdiction where the demand or claims exceeds Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00);

“(4) In all matters of probate, both estate and intestate, where the gross value of the estate exceeds Two million pesos
(P2,000,000.00)’
“x x x

“(8) In all other cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses
and costs or the value of the property in controversy exceeds Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00).”

Section 2. Section 33 of the same law is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 33. Jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal
Circuit Trial Courts in Civil Cases. – Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts, and
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts shall exercise:

“(1) Exclusive original jurisdiction over civil actions and probate proceedings, testate and intestate, including the grant of
provisional remedies in proper cases, where the value of the personal property, estate, or amount of the demand does not
exceed Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00), exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses,
and costs, the amount of which must be specifically alleged: Provided, That interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees,
litigation expenses, and costs shall be included in the determination of the filing fees: Provided, further, That where there are
several claims or causes of actions between the same or different parties, embodied in the same complaint, the amount of the
demand shall be totality of the claims in all the causes of action, irrespective of whether the causes of action arose out of the
same or different transactions;

“x x x

“(3) Exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil actions which involve title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest therein
where the assessed value of the property or any interest therein does not exceed Four hundred thousand pesos (P400,000.00)
exclusive on interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses and costs: Provided, That in cases of land
not declared for taxation purposes, the value of such property shall be determined by the assessed value of the adjacent lots.

“(4) Exclusive original jurisdiction in admiralty and maritime actions where the demand or claim does not exceed Two million
pesos (P2,000,000.00).”

Section 3. Delegated Authority of the Supreme Court to Adjust the Jurisdictional Amounts for First and Second Level
Courts. – The Supreme Court, unless otherwise provided by law, without prejudice, however, on the part of the Congress to
adjust the amounts when the circumstances so warrant, may be adjust the jurisdictional amount for first and second level courts
to: (1) reflect the extraordinary supervening inflation or deflation of currency; (2) reflect change in the land valuation; (3) maintain
the proportion of caseload between first and second level courts.

Section 4. The provisions of this Act shall apply prospectively to all civil cases filed in the second level courts and first level
courts from the date of its effectivity thereof.
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Section 5. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and
effectivty of the other provisions thereof.

Section 6. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, and orders inconsistent with the provisions of this Act shall be considered
amended or modified accordingly.

Section 7. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2)
newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

(SGD.) LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO (SGD.) VICENTE C. SOTTO III

Speaker of the House of Representatives Senate President
This Act was passed by the Senate of the Philippines as Senate Bill No. 1886 on February 8, 2021, and adopted by the House of
Representatives as an amendment to House Bill No. 6589 on May 19, 2021.

(SGD.) MARK LLANDRO L. MENDOZA (SGD.) MYRA MARIE D. VILLARICA

Secretary General Secretary of Senate
House of Representatives
Approved: JUL 30 2021

(SGD.) RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE

President of the Philippines

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation

Published 8 November 2021, The Daily Tribune

In an effort to declog the dockets of trial courts, specifically second-level trial courts or the Regional Trial Courts (RTC) in the
country, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11576, which expanded the jurisdiction of the first-level trial
courts, namely the Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial
Courts (collectively referred to as MTC).

In passing the law, the legislature found that court congestion was mainly seen in the RTC where there were a higher number of
pending cases as compared to the first-level trial courts. Thus, the government saw that expanding the jurisdictional threshold
amount of the MTC can help in decongesting the court’s dockets and further alleviate the problem of delay in disposition of cases.

RA 11576 amends the 40-year-old law, Batas Pambansa (BP) 129, or the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980, by adjusting the
threshold values for civil cases under the jurisdiction of the MTC.

According to the Supreme Court (SC), the last time the jurisdictional amounts of trial courts nationwide were adjusted was in 2004,
when the amount in Sec. 33(1) of BP 129 for first-level trial courts outside of Metro Manila was increased to P300,000. Since then,
no further amendment to the jurisdictional amounts of the first-level trial courts has been made.

With the passage of RA 11576, the SC affirmed that “the jurisdictional amounts of the trial courts have now been adjusted to levels
which are more suitable to the current economic conditions and property valuation in the country.”

Actions involving title to, or possession of real property, or any interest therein
The newly-signed law increased the jurisdictional amount cognizable by the RTC in all civil actions which involve the title to, or
possession of, real property, or any interest therein from the previous amount of P20,000 (or P50,000 in Metro Manila) to P400,000.
Note, however, that the law retains the original jurisdiction over cases for forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands and
buildings with the MTC.

Admiralty and maritime

RA 11576 also increased the jurisdictional amount cognizable by the RTC in all actions in admiralty and maritime jurisdiction to
P2,000,000 from the previous amount of P300,000 (P400,000 in Metro Manila).

Probate matters, testate and intestate

With respect to all matters of probate, both testate and intestate, the law also increased the jurisdictional amount cognizable by the
RTC to P2,000,000, from the previous amount of P300,000 (P400,000 in Metro Manila).

Other civil cases

Finally, RA 11576 increased the jurisdictional amount cognizable by the RTC in all other cases in which the demand, exclusive of
interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses and costs or the value of the property in controversy to
P2,000,000 from the previous amount of P100,000.

SC’s authority to adjust the jurisdictional amounts

The new law also delegates to SC the authority to adjust the jurisdictional amount for first- and second-level courts to: (1) reflect the
extraordinary supervening inflation and deflation of currency; (2) reflect change in the land valuation; or (3) maintain the proportion
of caseload between first- and second-level courts.

The law, however, provides that the delegated authority to the SC is without prejudice on the part of Congress to adjust the
amounts when the circumstances so warrant.

RA 11576, which was signed last 30 July and took effect last 21 August 2021, is prospective in nature and shall only apply to all
civil cases filed in the first- and second-level courts from the date of effectivity thereof.
The law aims to not only declog the dockets of second-level courts but also to expedite the adjudication of pending and incoming
cases, which in turn would lead to a better administration of justice.

For more of Dean Nilo Divina’s legal tidbits, please visit www.divinalaw.com. For comments and questions, please send an email
to cabdo@divinalaw.com.