I am a resident of Quezon City wanting to file a civil case against my neighbor who owes me P88,000. I haled him before the barangay captain for amicable settlement as required by law. Nothing happened.
A “certificate to file action” was issued.
When I inquired how much it would cost to file that case, I was told about P5,000. It was a good thing no lawyer is needed to file a “small claims” case. All I would have to do was to fill out a prepared form and attach the promissory note. Judgment was to be rendered faster.
But the deal breaker was, such a case will be heard in Manila. A weird circular from the Supreme Court instructs that all civil cases cognizable by the Metropolitan Trial Court in Quezon City (MTC-QC) are to be thrown to the Metropolitan Trial Court in Manila (MTC-M) due to docket congestion in the MTC-QC. Under the old procedure, cases can be filed in the city where the complainant resides. The rationale was simple: He is the aggrieved party. It is but fair that he gets to choose the venue.
On any given day of the work week, travel from my place to the MTC-QC takes less than 30 minutes, while travel to the MTC-M is an excruciating 2- to 3-hour endurance ride. What planet did our Supreme Court justices come from? Are they not in touch with the reality that traffic is such a nightmare all over Metro Manila?
Good for these “sup-remes”—they are chauffeured in luxurious cars maintained by taxpayer money, and being late for work has absolutely no consequence to them. Super manhid talaga.
MARIA MARGARITA AYTONA, marimar_ay@yahoo.com