Notice of Resolution 2 A.M. No.
19-10-20-SC
SECTION 3. Manner of filing of complaints and other initiatory
pleadings. - The filing of complaints and other initiatory pleadings shall be
done by:
a. Submitting personally the original paper, plainly indicated as
3aepublic of tbe ~bilippines
such, to the court;
§s,upreme <1:ou rt
manila b. Sending the paper by registered mail; or,
c. Sending the paper by accredited courier.
EN BANC
In the case of Section 3.a., the clerk of court shall endorse the.date and
A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC hour of filing of the complaint or initiatory pleading. In the case of Section
(RE: 2019 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 1997 RULES OF 3.b. or 3.c., the date of mailing of the complaint or initiatory pleading and
CIVIL PROCEDURE) payments or deposits, as shown by the post office stamp on the envelope or
the registry receipt, shall be considered as the date of filing, payment, or
Rule 13-A deposit in court. The envelope shall be attached to the record of the case.
INTERIM RULE ON THE ELECTRONIC FILING AND SERVICE
OF PLEADINGS, JUDGMENTS, AND OTHER PAPERS IN CIVIL After the complaint or initiatory pleading has been filed through any of
CASES the three modes provided in the first paragraph of this Section, the filing party
shall subsequently email the complaint or initiatory pleading in digital file
format to the court. Digital copies of the additional accompanying documents
SECTION 1. Coverage. - This Rule shall govern the ele tronic filing of the complaint or initiatory pleading, such as annexes, appendices, or
of all pleadings, motions, and other papers as well as their sefvice, except exhibits, shall likewise be emailed. The electronic transmittal of the
those for which a different mode of service is prescribed. This : ule shall be complaint or initiatory pleading and the accompanying documents must be
applicable exclusively in civil cases before the first- and second level courts, made within 24 hours from the completeness of the primary mode of the
with no suppletory effect on other types of cases. complaint or initiatory pleading's filing.
SECTION 2. Filing and service, defined. - Filing i the act of The term "digital file format," when used to refer to pleadings, papers,
submitting a pleading or other paper to the court. and other documents, shall mean the portable document format.
Service is the act of providing a party with a copy of th . pleading or No court shall act upon any complaint or initiatory pleading unless the
any other paper. If a party has appeared by counsel, service updn such party latter's filing is accompanied by the electronic transmittal required in the third
shall be made upon their counsel, unless service upon the party arid the party's paragraph of this Section. If the electronic transmittal is not completed before
counsel is ordered by the court. When one counsel appears for sereral parties, the period, the complaint or initiatory pleading shall be deemed not filed,
opposite side. j
such counsel shall be entitled to only one copy of any paper served by the regardless of the completeness of the primary mode of its filing.
SECTION 4. Manner offiling and service ofpleadings subsequent to
When several counsels appear for one party, such party sh 11 be entitled the complaint or initiatory pleading, written motion, notice, appearance,
to only one copy of any pleading or paper to be served upon the ~ead counsel, demand, offer ofjudgment, or similar papers. -
if one is designated, or upon any one of them if there is no des,gnation of a
lead counsel. The date and time of receipt of the pleading or other paper by
the lead counsel of record shall be the reckoning date and time Iror purposes a. The filing and service of non-initiatory pleadings, written
of counting reglementary periods. motion, notice, appearance, demand, offer of judgment, or similar
papers shall only be made by transmitting them in digital file format
Notice of Resolution 3 A.M. No.19-10-20-SC Notice of Resolution 4 A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC
.through email. The date of the electronic mailing shall be considered d. Optional submission of parties' email address; exception.
as the date of filing and service . The submission of email addresses of the parties shall be optional but
highly encouraged, unless they are not represented by counsel, in which
. b. Digital copies of the additional accompanying documents of case, submission is mandatory.
non-initiatory pleadings, written motion, notice, appearance, demand,
offer of judgment, or similar papers-such as annexes, appendices, or e. Electronic carbon copies. Transmittal of all documents,
exhibits-shall likewise be filed and served through email. filing or service by email shall include, through electronic carbon copy
(CC:), all the email addresses of record of all counsels and their law
firms, if any, and optionally, all parties.
c. Non-initiatory pleadings, written motion, notice, appearance,
demand, offer of judgment, and other similar papers not emailed to the f. Effect of non-use of email address of record. All electronic
court shall be deemed not filed, and those not emailed to the party or transmittals must be made with any of the email addresses of record of
their counsel shall be deemed not served. the counsels of record, or that of their law firms, if any, or the e-mail
address of record of the filing party. If an electronic transmittal is made
SECTION 5. Papers required to be filed and served. - Every pleading with an email address not of record, the entire transmittal shall be
subsequent to the complaint, written motion, notice, appearance, demand, deemed as not received until such time that the transmittal is made
offer ofjudgment, or similar papers shall be filed with the court. These papers using a valid email address of record.
as well as every judgment, resolution, order, and notice issued by the court,
shall likewise be served upon the parties affected, except for summons, which g. Obligation to monitor e-mail address of record. Counsel and
shall continue to be governed by Rule 14. parties, the latter when not represented by a lawyer, have the obligation
to regularly and diligently monitor the inboxes of their email addresses
of record, including that of their law firms, if any, with the courts. No
SECTION 6. Presumptive service. - There shall be a presumptive court shall accept as an excuse for any purpose that counsel or parties
notice of a court setting to a party if such notice appears on the records to have have not checked the inboxes of their email addresses of record. Any
been successfully emailed to the party. lawyer who neglects to check regularly and diligently the inbox of their
email address of record shall be subjected to disciplinary action.
SECTION 7. Email address of record. -
h. Change of electronic mail address. A party or counsel who
changes their email address for a compelling or justified reason while
a. Notice. A notice of appearance shall be filed in all cases the action is pending must promptly file a notice of change of email
containing the valid and professional email address of all counsels, their address with the court within five calendar days from such change and
law firms, if any, and the parties they represent. serve the notice on all other parties. A lawyer who fails to comply with
this rule, to the detriment of the cause of the client, shall be subjected
b. Valid email address. An email address is deemed valid when to disciplinary action.
it is in the [local-part]@[domain] syntax and is capable of receiving
emails from other senders, especially those outside the address' own
domain. The email addresses, as filed in the notice of appearance, shall SECTION 8. Transmittal to official court email address. -Digital files
serve as the email addresses of record of the parties and their individual must be transmitted by the filing party or counsel to the official email address
counsels and law firms. of the court where the case is pending. A directory of the official email
addresses of the lower courts maintained by the Supreme Court of the
c. Mandatory submission of counsels ' email address. The Philippines is available at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/court-locator/.
submission of email addresses of the counsels, and their law firms, if
any, shall be mandatory. The counsels of record are required to use their SECTION 9. Electronic file format. -
professional email accounts as their email addresses of record. To
preserve the confidentiality, privacy, and security of communications,
a. The digital file of the primary pleading or other paper must
the use by lawyers of personal and/or nonprofessional email accounts
be separated from the electronic copies in digital file format of any
as their email addresses of record is prohibited.
accompanying additional documents, each of which must be contained
in their own digital files~
Notice of Resolution 5 A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC Notice of Resolution 6 A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC
Example:
b. The digital file may be electronically generated from a word
processing or portable document format creation program, or be The digital file for the Complaint for Unlawful Detainer for
scanned images of the original document in paper compiled in a digital Civil Case No. 123456 should have the filename "Complaint for
Unlawful Detainer-Civil Case No. 123456.pdf'
file, or a combination of both methods. However, in all cases, the
contents must be completely legible. If the digital copy is wholly or The digital file of Annex A of the Complaint for Unlawful
partially generated from scanned images of the original document on Detainer for Civil Case No. 123456 should have a filename "Annex
paper, the filing party or counsel shall ensure that the digital copy is an A-Complaint for Unlawful Detainer-Civil Case No. 123456.pdf'
exact and complete copy of the original document in paper. In case of
discrepancies between the images of scanned text and any machine- g. Electronic copies of pleadings and other papers transmitted to
readable text generated using optical character recognition or similar the court in the following cases: not in digital file format; transmitted
technologies, the former shall be the controlling text. The filing party as digital files with password protection or other encryption; with
or counsel shall retain the original document for inspection by the court embedded executable code or scripts; in archive files; or as corrupted
or other parties when necessary. files, shall be deemed as not filed. Copies of additional accompanying
documents transmitted to the court not in digital file format; as digital
c. The size of each digital file must be reasonable. The party or files with password protection or other encryption; with embedded
their counsel responsible for filing is also responsible for ensuring that executable code or scripts; in archive files; or as corrupted files, shall
the receiving court's official email address will not reject or block a be excluded from the records or rollo of the easels for which they have
transmittal email due to the file size of a11 attachment. Likewise, other been submitted, even if the digital file of the primary pleading or other
parties or counsel, as recipients, are responsible for ensuring that they paper has been correctly filed. The filing of digital copies not in
will be able to receive a transmittal emailf accordance with the format and manner as stated here shall subject the
filing lawyer, law firm, or party to disciplinary action or any appropriate
d. The form and substance of th contents of the digital files sanction to be imposed by the court.
filed in court shall be controlling. If the c urt determines, on motion or
motu proprio and after notice and hea ing, that there are material
discrepancies between the paper copy and the electronic copy of a paper SECTION 10. Transmittal email format. -
filed with the court, the court may impo e an appropriate sanction or
refer such finding to the proper office for isciplinary action against the a. Subject. The subject of the transmittal email shall contain the
lawyer, law firm, or party responsible for the filing. docket number/s, case title/s, and the designation of the pleading or
paper being transmitted, which shall indicate its nature.
e. The digital file of a pleading r other paper shall have the
same filename as its designation, in accor ance with Rule 7, Section 2. Subject: [Docket Number/s and Case Title] - Designation of the
At the option of the one filing, the design tion of the pleading or paper Pleading or Paper]
may be shortened for the filename, but must still contain sufficient
information to ascertain the nature of the elief sought. Example:
Subject: Civil Case No. 123456, Maria de/a Cruz v.
f. The digital file of each accompa ying additional document, if Juan de/a Cruz - Complaint for Unlawful Detainer
any, shall have the same filename as the ocument's title, which must
further be appended with the designatio of the pleading or paper to
b. Body. The body of the email shall follow the prescribed
which it is attached or annexed. Finally, al filenames must be appended
format and must contain sufficient information to enable the court to
with the docket number/s of the easels bei g filed. All information shall
ascertain the following: (1) the party or parties filing the pleading or
be separated with a hyphen (-). Any spe ial characters that cannot be
other paper; (2) the nature of the pleading or paper; (3) the party or
used in a filename by reason of technica limitations may be omitted
parties against whom relief, if any, is sought; and (4) the nature of the
entirely, or substituted with an underscor (_),at the option of the one relief sought:
filing.
(i) Primary manner of filing (i.e., electronic transmittal, or
personal filing, registered mail, or accredited courier)
Notice of Resolution 7 A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC Notice of Resolution 8 A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC
(ii) Filing date, which should be in the MM/DD/YYYY format (iii) In case the total file size of the documents exceeds the
(based on the primary manner of filing) maximum size allowed for attachments by the email
service provider being used by the one filing, the filer shall
(iii) Case data, namely: (1) docket number/s; (2) case title/s; (3) transmit the electronic documents in several
name of the filing party; (4) contact number/s of the filer; batches, but each email must indicated in the subject the
(5) other email address of the filer, if any; and (6) a list of batch number of the email and the total batches of emails
the document titles of the attachments to the transmittal sent, following the prescribed format in this Rule. It is the
email. responsibility of the one filing to ensure that the receiving
court's official email service provider will not reject or
block a transmittal email due to its size. The time and date
Example: of the final transmittal email, as indicated in the sequence,
shall be considered as the time and date of filing of the
Primary manner of filing: Electronic transmittal
pleading or other paper.
Filing date: 03/01/2024
Example:
Docket number: Civil Case No. 123456
Subject: Civil Case No. 123456, Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela
Case Title: Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela Cruz Cruz - Answer (batch 1 of 3)
Name of Filing Party: Juan dela Cruz Subject: Civil Case No. 123456, Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela
Cruz -Answer (batch 2 of 3)
Contact Numbers: (02) 888-9900 (landline), 0900-1122334
(mobile) Subject Civil Case No. 123456, Maria dela Cruz v. Juan dela
Cruz - Answer (batch 3 of 3)
Other e-mail address/es, if any: [filer's other e-mail address/es]
Title/s of Attachment/s: d. Retention requirement. In all instances, the filing party or
counsel must retain a copy of each transmittal email, in any form
1. Answer prescribed by pertinent rules on evidence, while the case is pending for
2. Acknowledgment Receipt
the inspection of the court or other parties when necessary.
c. Attachments. - SECTION 11. Service of Judgments, Final Orders, or Resolutions. -
Judgments, final orders, or resolutions shall be served electronically by
(i) A transmittal email shall contain only digital copies emailing digital copies to the email addresses of record of the parties and their
pertaining to one case. For the purposes of electronic counsels.
submission, consolidated cases with more than one docket
number shall be considered as one case. All files must be The date and time of delivery appearing in the internet message header
enclosed as individual attachments to the transmittal of the email sent by the court shall be the date and time of receipt of the
email. judgment, final order, or resolution. Under exceptional circumstances, the
court, upon motion and hearing, may allow the inspection of headers of the
(ii) All digital files must be transmitted as direct attachments court's transmittal email by a counsel or party. Motions for inspection filed
to the transmittal email, and not as external links to cloud on frivolous grounds shall subject the filing counsel to disciplinary action.
storage, filesharing sites, or similar thereto. Digital copies
must not be contained in archive files, such as ZIP (.zip)
or RAR (.rar), and must not require additional extraction In case the electronic service to a counsel, or a party not represented by
or conversion into portable document format. Failure to counsel results in an email delivery failure message, the court shall attempt
file any document as a direct attachment shall result in the retransmittal to the unserved counsel twice, with a five-day interval between
document being deemed not filed. each attempt. If, after the second attempt, the email continues to be rejected
by the receiving server, the date and time of the first successful service to the
party shall be considered the date and time of receipt of counsel or party. The
Notice of Resolution 9 A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC Notice of Resolution A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC
court shall indicate the facts and circumstances warranting the re-transmittal Service by registered mail shall be made by depositing the copy in the
in the body of each re-transmittal email and shall copy all email addresses of post office, in a sealed envelope, plainly addressed to the party or to the party's
record of the parties and their counsel as notice of the re-transmittal;provided, counsel at their office, if known, otherwise at their residence, if known.
that if a counsel provides more than one email address of record, the first Postage must be fully prepaid and with instructions to the postmaster to return
successful service to one email address shall be considered as service to all the mail to the sender after 10 calendar days if undelivered. If no registry
email addresses of record of that counsel. service is available in the locality of either the sender or the addressee, service
may be done by ordinary mail.
In case the electronic service to a party, represented by counsel, results
in an email delivery failure message, the court shall attempt re-transmittal to Service by accredited courier shall be made by availing the services of
the unserved party twice, with a five-day interval between each attempt. a courier service duly accredited by the Supreme Court for the express
Nevertheless, the date and time of first successful service to counsel shall be delivery and/or messengerial delivery of letters or written messages and other
controlling. The court shall indicate the facts and circumstances warranting mailable matters.
the re-transmittal in the body of each re-transmittal e-mail and shall copy all
email addresses of record of the parties and their counsel as notice of the re-
transmittal. The court shall ensure that all orders expressly waiving the electronic
transmittal requirement for particular filings are included in the electronic
case record or rollo.
When a party summoned by publication fails to appear in the action,
judgments, final orders, or resolutions against them shall be served upon them
also by means of publication at the expense of the prevailing party. SECTION 13. Completeness of service. - Electronic service 1s
complete at the time of the electronic transmission of the document.
Electronic service is not effective or complete if the party serving the
SECTION 12. Conventional service or filing oforders, pleadings, and document learns that it did not reach the addressee or the person to be served.
other papers. - Upon motion of the filing party or counsel, a court may
expressly waive the requirement of electronic transmittal of the following
submissions: In cases where the court has expressly waived the requirement of
electronic transmittal under Section 12, personal service is complete upon
delivery. Service by registered mail is complete upon actual receipt by the
(i) annexes, appendices, exhibits, or other accompanying addressee or after five calendar days from the date they received the first
documents to pleadings or other court submissions not readily notice of the postmaster, whichever date is earlier. Service by accredited
amenable to digitization in the prescribed digital file format; and courier is complete upon actual receipt by the addressee, or after at least two
(ii) sealed and confidential documents or records. attempts to deliver by the courier service, or upon the expiration of five
calendar days after the first attempt to deliver, whichever is earlier.
These submissions may be filed either personally, by registered mail,
or by accredited courier in the manner provided in Sections 3 .a., 3 .b., or 3 .c. SECTION 14. Proof of.filing. -The filing of a pleading or any other
paper shall be proved by its existence in the electronic case record or rollo.
These submissions may likewise be served personally, by registered
mail, or by accredited courier. Personal service of court submissions is made a. If the complaint or initiatory pleading is not in the record but is
through the following modes: personal delivery of a copy to the party or to claimed to have been filed personally, the filing shall be proven by
the party's counsel, or to their authorized representative named in the the written or stamped acknowledgment of its filing by the clerk of
appropriate pleading or motion; or by leaving it in their office with their clerk, court on a copy of the pleading or paper.
or with a person having charge thereof. If no person is found in their office,
or their office is not known, or they have no office, then the copy may be b. If the complaint or initiatory pleading was filed by registered mail,
delivered between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. at the party's or the filing shall be proven by the registry receipt and by the affidavit
counsel's residence, if known, with a person of sufficient age and discretion of the person who mailed it. Such mail must contain a full statement
residing in the said residence. of the date and place of deposit in the post office, in a sealed
envelope addressed to the court, with postage fully prepaid, and with
instructions to the postmaster to return the mail to the sender after
10 calendar days if not delivered.
Notice of Resolution 11 A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC A.M. No. 19-10-20-SC
Notice of Resolution 12
party, or that it is not necessary to protect the rights of the party that recorded
c. If the complaint or •initiatory pleading was filed through an it.
accredited courier service, the filing shall be proven by an affidavit
of service of the person who brought the pleading or other paper to
the service provider, together with the courier's official receipt and
document tracking number.
d. If the non-initiatory pleading or any other paper was filed by email,
the same shall be proven by an affidavit of electronic filing of the
filing party, accompanied by a paper copy of the pleading or other
document transmitted, or electronic acknowledgment of the
submission's filing by the clerk of court.
e. The clerk of court or branch clerk of court shall have the primary
responsibility of ensuring that all pleadings and other court
submissions electronically transmitted to their court are properly
accounted for and are included in the case record or rollo. A digital
copy of the transmittal email clearly showing the sender and the date
and time of receipt of the email by the receiving court shall be
included as the cover .sheet of the filing and shall form part of the
case record or rollo.
SECTION 15. Proof ofservice. - Proof of service shall consist of the
metadata in the email header showing the date of sending and receipt of the
email in digital filing. When necessary, the court may require the filing of an
affidavit of service executed by the person who sent the email, together with
a printed proof of transmittal.
In cases where the court has expressly waived the requirement of
electronic transmittal under Section 12, proof of personal service shall consist
of a written admission of the party served, or the official return of the server,
or the affidavit of the party serving, containing a statement of the date, place,
and manner of service.
SECTION 16. Notice of lis pendens. - In an action affecting the title
or the right of possession of real property, the plaintiff and the defendant,
when affirmative relief is claimed in their answer, may record a notice of
pendency of action in the office of the registry of deeds of the province where
the property is situated. The notice of lis pendens shall contain the names of
the parties and the object of the action or defense, and a description of the
property in the affected province. Only from the time of filing such notice for
record shall a purchaser, or encumbrancer of the affected property, be deemed
to have constructive notice of the pendency of the action and only of its
pendency against the parties designated by their real names.
The notice of lis pendens may be cancelled only upon order of the court,
after proper showing that the notice is for the purpose of molesting the adverse
