Judicial Affidavit Rule*

A.M. No. 12-8-8-SC

  Case congestions and delays plague most
courts in cities
 40% of criminal cases are dismissed,
Purpose for the complainants give up coming to court
implementation after repeated postponements
of JAR  Few foreign businessman make long-term
investments in the PH because its courts
are unable to provide ample and speedy
protection to their investments
  Compulsory use of judicial affidavits
in place of direct testimonies of
witnesses, implemented on the trial
courts on Feb. 2012
 As a result, it has been reported that
SC’s solution such has quickly reducing the time by
about two-thirds used for presenting
testimonies of witnesses, thus
speeding up the adjudication of
cases.
 This Rule shall apply to all actions, proceedings, and
incidents requiring the reception of evidence before:
 The MeTCs, MTCs in Cities, MTCs, MCTCs, and the
Shari' a Circuit Courts but shall not apply to small
claims cases
 The RTCs and the Shari'a District Courts
 The Sandiganbayan, CTAs, CAs, and the Shari'a
Appellate Courts;
Section 1. Scope  The investigating officers and bodies authorized by
the Supreme Court to receive evidence, including
the IBP
 The special courts and quasi-judicial bodies, whose
rules of procedure are subject to disapproval of the
Supreme Court, insofar as their existing rules of
procedure contravene the provisions of this Rule.
 The parties shall file with the court and serve on
the adverse party, personally or by licensed
courier service, not later than five days before pre-
trial or preliminary conference or the scheduled
hearing with respect to motions and incidents, the
Section 2. following:
Submission of 1. The judicial affidavits of their witnesses, which
shall take the place of such witnesses' direct
Judicial Affidavits testimonies; and
and Exhibits in lieu 2. The parties' documentary or object evidence, if
of direct testimonies any, which shall be attached to the judicial
affidavits and marked as Exhibits A, B, C, and so
on in the case of the complainant or the plaintiff,
and as Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and so on in the case of
the respondent or the defendant.
 Should a party or a witness desire to keep
the original document or object evidence
in his possession, he may, after the same
has been identified, marked as exhibit,
and authenticated, warrant in his judicial
Section 2. affidavit that the copy or reproduction
Submission of attached to such affidavit is a faithful copy
Judicial Affidavits or reproduction of that original. In
and Exhibits in lieu addition, the party or witness shall bring
of direct testimonies the original document or object evidence
for comparison during the preliminary
conference with the attached copy,
reproduction, or pictures, failing which the
latter shall not be admitted.
 A judicial affidavit shall be prepared in the
language known to the witness and, if not in
English or Filipino, accompanied by a
translation in English or Filipino, and shall
contain the following:
 (a) The name, age, residence or business
address, and occupation of the witness;
Section 3.  (b) The name and address of the lawyer who
Contents of conducts or supervises the examination of
Judicial Affidavit the witness and the place where the
examination is being held;
 (c) A statement that the witness is answering
the questions asked of him, fully conscious
that he does so under oath, and that he may
face criminal liability for false testimony or
perjury;
  (d) Questions asked of the witness and his
corresponding answers, consecutively
numbered, that:
 (1) Show the circumstances under which the witness
acquired the facts upon which he testifies;
 (2) Elicit from him those facts which are relevant to the
Section 3. issues that the case presents; and
 (3) Identify the attached documentary and object
Contents of evidence and establish their authenticity in
accordance with the Rules of Court;
Judicial Affidavit  (e) The signature of the witness over his printed
name; and
 (f) A jurat with the signature of the notary public
who administers the oath or an officer who is
authorized by law to administer the same.
 The judicial affidavit shall contain a sworn
attestation at the end, executed by the
lawyer who conducted or supervised the
examination of the witness, to the effect
that:
 (1) He faithfully recorded or caused to be
Section 4. recorded the questions he asked and the
corresponding answers that the witness
Sworn attestation
gave; and
of the lawyer
 (2) Neither he nor any other person then
present or assisting him coached the
witness regarding the latter's answers.
A false attestation shall subject the lawyer
mentioned to disciplinary action, including
disbarment.
 If the government employee or official, or the
requested witness, who is neither the witness of the
adverse party nor a hostile witness, unjustifiably
declines to execute a judicial affidavit or refuses
without just cause to make the relevant books,
documents, or other things under his control
available for copying, authentication, and eventual
Section 5. production in court, the requesting party may avail
Subpoena himself of the issuance of a subpoena ad
testificandum or duces tecum under Rule 21 of the
Rules of Court. The rules governing the issuance of a
subpoena to the witness in this case shall be the
same as when taking his deposition except that the
taking of a judicial affidavit shal1 be understood to
be ex parte.
NG MENG TAM, Petitioner,
v. CHINA BANKING
CORPORATION, Respondent.
G.R. No. 214054, August 05, 2015
  The case is a collection suit by China Bank
against Ever Electrical Manufacturing
Company Inc. the heirs of Go and Ng
Meng Tam.
 China Bank alleged that it granted Ever a
Facts loan. When Ever defaulted in its payment,
China Bank sent demand letters
collectively addressed to George, Vicente
and petitioner. The demands were
unanswered. China Bank filed the
complaint for collection.
  In his Answer, petitioner alleged that the
surety agreements were null and void since
these were executed before the loan was
granted. Petitioner posited that the surety
agreements were contracts of adhesion to be
construed against the entity which drafted
the same. Petitioner also alleged that he did

Facts not receive any demand letter.

 Petitioner served interrogatories to parties
to China Bank and required Mr. George C.
Yap, Account Officer of the Account
Management Group, to answer.
 George Yap executed his answers to
interrogatories to parties.
  Petitioner moved for the hearing of his affirmative
defenses. Because he found Yap’s answers to the
interrogatories to parties evasive and not
responsive, petitioner applied for the issuance of a
subpoena duces tecum and ad testificandum against
George Yap pursuant to Section 6,14 Rule 25 of the
Revised Rules of Court.
 When the case was called for the presentation of
Facts George Yap as a witness, China Bank objected citing
Section 5 of the JAR. China Bank said that Yap cannot
be compelled to testify in court because petitioner
did not obtain and present George Yap’s judicial
affidavit. The RTC required the parties to submit
their motions on the issue of whether the preparation
of a judicial affidavit by George Yap as an adverse or
hostile witness is an exception to the judicial
affidavit rule.
  Petitioner contended that Section 5
does not apply to Yap because it
specifically excludes adverse party
witnesses and hostile witnesses

Facts from its application. Petitioner

insists that Yap needed to be called
to the stand so that he may be
qualified as a hostile witness
pursuant to the Rules of Court.
  WON RTC committed an error
of law when it interpreted sec.
5 of the JAR?
 WON RTC committed an error
Issues: of law when it effectively
disregarded the relevant rules
on modes of discovery which
govern the presentation of
adverse witnesses.
  First Issue:
Sec. 5 of JAR
*neither the witness of the
adverse party nor a hostile
Held witness
Thus, Yap is excluded from Sec.
5 because he is a requested
witness who is the adverse
party’s witness.
  Second Issue:
(Rule 132) SEC. 12. Party may not
impeach his own witness. – Except
with respect to witnesses referred to

Held in paragraphs (d) and (e) of Section

10, the party producing a witness is
not allowed to impeach his
credibility.
  Afulugencia v. Metropolitan
Bank & Trust Co.
 In civil cases, the procedure of
Held calling the adverse party to the
witness stand is not allowed,
unless written interrogatories
are first served upon the latter.
  In sum, Section 5 of the JAR
expressly excludes from its
application adverse party and
hostile witnesses. For the
presentation of these types of

Held witnesses, the provisions on the

Rules of Court under the Revised
Rules of Evidence and all other
correlative rules including the
modes of deposition and discovery
rules shall apply.
 The party presenting the judicial affidavit of his
witness in place of direct testimony shall state the
purpose of such testimony at the start of the
presentation of the witness. The adverse party may
Section 6. move to disqualify the witness or to strike out his
Offer of and affidavit or any of the answers found in it on
objections to ground of inadmissibility. The court shall
promptly rule on the motion and, if granted, shall
testimony in cause the marking of any excluded answer by
judicial affidavit placing it in brackets under the initials of an
authorized court personnel, without prejudice to a
tender of excluded evidence under Section 40 of
Rule 132 of the Rules of Court.
 The adverse party shall have the
right to cross-examine the witness on
his judicial affidavit and on the
exhibits attached to the same. The
Section 7. party who presents the witness may
Examination of also examine him as on re-direct. In
the witness on his every case, the court shall take active
judicial affidavit part in examining the witness to
determine his credibility as well as
the truth of his testimony and to elicit
the answers that it needs for
resolving the issues.
 (a) Upon the termination of the
testimony of his last witness, a party
shall immediately make an oral offer
of evidence of his documentary or
object exhibits, piece by piece, in
Section 8. their chronological order, stating the
Oral offer of and purpose or purposes for which he
objections to offers the particular exhibit.
exhibits (b) After each piece of exhibit is
offered, the adverse party shall state
the legal ground for his objection, if
any, to its admission, and the court
shall immediately make its ruling
respecting that exhibit.
 (c) Since the documentary or object
exhibits form part of the judicial
affidavits that describe and
Section 8. authenticate them, it is sufficient that
Oral offer of and such exhibits are simply cited by
objections to their markings during the offers, the
exhibits objections, and the rulings,
dispensing with the description of
each exhibit.
 (a) This rule shall apply to all criminal
actions:
1.Where the maximum of the
imposable penalty does not exceed
Section 9. six years;
Application of
rule to criminal 2.Where the accused agrees to the
actions use of judicial affidavits, irrespective
of the penalty involved; or
3.With respect to the civil aspect of
the actions, whatever the penalties
involved are.
 (b) The prosecution shall submit the
judicial affidavits of its witnesses not
later than five days before the pre-
trial, serving copies if the same upon
the accused. The complainant or
Section 9.
Application of public prosecutor shall attach to the
rule to criminal affidavits such documentary or
actions object evidence as he may have,
marking them as Exhibits A, B, C, and
so on. No further judicial affidavit,
documentary, or object evidence
shall be admitted at the trial.
 (c) If the accused desires to be heard on his
defense after receipt of the judicial affidavits
of the prosecution, he shall have the option to
submit his judicial affidavit as well as those of
his witnesses to the court within ten days
Section 9. from receipt of such affidavits and serve a
Application of copy of each on the public and private
rule to criminal prosecutor, including his documentary and
actions object evidence previously marked as
Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and so on. These affidavits
shall serve as direct testimonies of the
accused and his witnesses when they appear
before the court to testify.
 (a) A party who fails to submit the
required judicial affidavits and exhibits
on time shall be deemed to have
waived their submission. The court
Section 10. may, however, allow only once the late
Effect of non- submission of the same provided, the
compliance with delay is for a valid reason, would not
the judicial unduly prejudice the opposing party,
Affidavit Rule and the defaulting party pays a fine of
not less than P 1,000.00 nor more
than P 5,000.00 at the discretion of the
court.
 (b) The court shall not consider the
affidavit of any witness who fails to
appear at the scheduled hearing of
Section 10.
the case as required. Counsel who
Effect of non-
compliance with fails to appear without valid cause
the judicial despite notice shall be deemed to
Affidavit Rule have waived his client's right to
confront by cross-examination the
witnesses there present.
 (c) The court shall not admit as evidence
judicial affidavits that do not conform to the
content requirements of Section 3 and the
attestation requirement of Section 4 above. The
court may, however, allow only once the
Section 10. subsequent submission of the compliant
Effect of non- replacement affidavits before the hearing or
compliance with trial provided the delay is for a valid reason
the judicial and would not unduly prejudice the opposing
Affidavit Rule party and provided further, that public or
private counsel responsible for their
preparation and submission pays a fine of not
less than P 1,000.00 nor more than P 5,000.00,
at the discretion of the court.