1997 Rules on Civil Procedure

2001 Edition < DRAFT COPY; Please check for errors > Rule 20
Calendar of Cases

Rule 20
CALENDAR OF CASES

Section 1. Calendar of cases. The clerk of court, under the direct

supervision of the judge, shall keep a calendar of cases for pre-trial, for
trial, those whose trials were adjourned or postponed, and those with motions
to set for hearing. Preference shall be given to habeas corpus cases, election
cases, special civil actions, and those so required by law. (1[a], R22)

The clerk of court has a calendar of cases – cases for pre-trial, trial cases, which were postponed.
When will be the continuation of the trial? May scheduling yan eh. Of course, the law says, preference
shall be given to certain type of cases like habeas corpus. It is very important because that involves the
freedom of an individual.

Sec. 2. Assignment of cases. The assignment of cases to the different

branches of a court shall be done exclusively by raffle. The assignment shall
be done in open session of which adequate notice shall be given so as to afford
interested parties the opportunity to be present. (7a, R22)

For example, in Davao City, there are more than 10 branches. Now, when you file a case, how will
we determine whether the case will be assigned to Judge Malcampo or Judge Quitain or Judge Torres?
Raffle ‘yan. Niraraffle ‘yan. I remember the ordinary raffling day in Davao City is every Tuesday. They
raffle the cases. All representatives of the different branches are there and then they have a system of
raffling. Which case will go to you? Para hindi ka makapili. So, that is how cases are assigned.

So, pagraffle ng kaso, there should be adequate notice to the parties. This is one section where the
clerk of court had a hard time applying it. Do you know why?

Because the present practice, pagfile mo ng kaso, they will immediately raffle it and then i-assign na
sa branch. The branch clerk of court will now issue the summons. Meaning, by the time it reaches the
defendant, nakaassign na. Suppose the defendant will object, “When that raffling was done, I was not
notified. I will question the raffle because it would seem that the requirement is that the plaintiff and
the defendant should be notified of the raffling.” Yaan!

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