PRESS STATEMENT Legal Cooperation Cluster
08 May 2024
In Deduro v. Vinoya, G.R. No. 254753, 4 July 2023, the Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of the Petition for Issuance of Writ of Amparo filed by Siegfred D. Deduro and ordered the remanding of the case to the RTC for the conduct of summary hearing.
The Supreme Court held that the RTC erred in cursorily dismissing the case without requiring the respondent to file a return. Without the opportunity to file a return, the RTC deprived the State of the occasion to effectively define its side on the matter in violation of the fundamental right to due process.
The LCC takes this opportunity to emphasize that the Supreme Court has only issued the Writ of Amparo, which is entirely different from the grant of the privilege of the writ. In fact, the Court underscored that it is not yet making a categorical ruling on the merits of Petitioner’s prayer for the grant of the privilege of the writ of amparo. The RTC is still yet to determine the relevance and consistency of the evidence by both parties in resolving the Petition.
The LCC welcomes the conduct of summary hearing before the RTC where the State will be given the opportunity to present its evidence, and to ultimately bring out the truth for justice to prevail.
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