Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

Sixth Judicial Region
Branch 18
Roxas City

x------------------------------------------x
COMMENT WITH MOTION
FOR ADDITIONAL TIME TO FILE ANSWER
DEFENDANTS xxxxx by counsel, by way of Comment
to the Motion and Manifestation dated 04 April 2016, unto
this Honorable Court, most respectfully state that:
1. On 06 May 2016, the defendants received a copy of the
Order dated28 April 2016 giving defendants 15 days from
receipt of the same to file their comments to the Motion
and Manifestation dated 04 April 2016.
2. Thus, defendants have until 21 May 2016 within which to
file the said Comment. Considering that 21 May 2016 falls
on a Saturday, the last day of the filing of the comment is
on Monday, 23 May 2016. Clearly, the instant Comment is
being filed within the period given by the Honorable Court.
3. The defendants do not dispute that they have voluntarily
appeared before the Honorable Court as they have
appeared twice during the Preliminary Conference of this
case. It bears to note however that Defendants were not
assisted by any counsel.
4. During the Preliminary Conference itself, it would appear
that xxx could not have made any intelligible participation
for lack of legal representation. Moreover, after the
Preliminary Conference, xxxx was not able to get a copy of
Amended Complaint dated 03 June 2013 as she did not
know what to do at that time.
5. Despite this, the defendants join the plaintiffs in their
Motion that the defendants have voluntarily appeared and
as such, the Honorable Court has acquired jurisdiction
over the person of the newly-impleaded defendants.
1

6. The defendants have just recently engaged the services of

its counsel on 15 April 2016. In fact, the undersigned
counsel entered her appearance for this case on that
same date. It was only during that time they were advised
on what proper legal actions take for this matter. In fact,
foremost of defendants concerns is that they have not
filed an Answer to the Complaint.
7. In Guillerma Sablas vs. Esterlita Sablas, et al., 1 the
Supreme Court held that, It is within the sound discretion
of the trial court to permit the defendant to file his answer
and to be heard on the merits even after the reglementary
period for filing the answer expires. The Rules of Court
provides for discretion on the part of the trial court not
only to extend the time for filing an answer but also
to allow an answer to be filed after the reglementary
period.
8. Moreover, as the policy of the law is to have every
litigant's case tried on the merits as much as possible,
Section 11, Rule 11 of the Rules of Court provides:
Sec. 11. Extension of time to plead. Upon
motion and on such terms as may be just, the
court may extend the time to plead provided in
these Rules.
The court may also, upon like terms, allow an
answer or other pleading to be filed after the time
fixed by these Rules.
9. Considering the circumstances as above-mentioned and
the Defendants are still in the process of gathering
evidence in support of their defenses, Defendants are
constrained to move for additional time of 10 days from
the Resolution of this Motion to file their Answer.
10. This motion is being filed in good faith purely for the
foregoing reasons and is not intended to delay the
proceedings in the instant case.
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, premises considered, Defendants most
respectfully pray of the Honorable Court to grant
1 G.R. No. 144568, July 3, 2007
2

additional time of 10 days from the Resolution of this

Motion to file their Answer.
Defendants pray for other just and equitable relief.
Roxas City for Roxas City, 23 May 2016.