RULE 7
Calendar and Adjournments
SECTION 1. Trial Calendar. – The staff clerk shall have a trial calendar for the cases that have passed pre-trial stage. Cases where there is a prayer for preliminary mandatory injunction and/or attachment shall be given preference.
SECTION 2. Notice of Trial. – Upon entry of a case in the trial calendar, the staff clerk shall cause a notice of the date of its trial to be served upon the parties within three (3) days by the process server.
SECTION 3. Continuous Trial. – All hearings shall be continuous until the case is terminated subject to exceptions provided under Section 2 of Rule 9.
SECTION 4. Raffle of Cases. – Actions which are to be conducted before this Bureau shall be raffled to the different Hearing Officer who shall thereafter handle the proceeding from its commencement until its final resolution. However, should the Hearing Officer to whom the case was raffled be unavailable during any scheduled hearing, upon request of either counsel the Director shall designate an appropriate officer to preside or conduct the proceedings.
RULE 8
Depositions and Discoveries
SECTION 1. Deposition pending action. – By leave of the Hearing Officer after the answer has been filed, the testimony of any person, whether a party or not, may be taken, at the instance of any party, by deposition upon written interrogatories. The attendance of witness through a subpoena may be compelled under Section 2(d) of Rule VI.
SECTION 2. Effect of Taking Depositions. – A party shall not be deemed to make a person his own witness for any purpose by taking his deposition.
SECTION 3. Stipulations Regarding Taking of Depositions. – If the parties so stipulate in writing, depositions may be taken before any person authorized to administer oaths, at anytime or place, in accordance with the Rules of Court, and when so taken may be used like other depositions.
SECTION 4. Period Within Which to Submit Answers to Written Interrogatories. – Should a party request to take the deposition of a non-resident in a foreign land, the answer to such written interrogatories must be submitted to the Hearing Officer handling the case within six (6) months from the date of issuance of the Letters Commission, without extension. Failure to submit the same within the period shall result in the striking off of said deposition and the affidavits of such deponent.
RULE 9
Hearing
SECTION 1. Trial of Cases. – The Hearing Officer shall, as far as practicable, set the case for successive and continuous daily hearing for the reception not only of the evidence in chief but also on any provisional remedy prayed for in the complaint or petition; Provided, however, that the hearing of the case on the merits or the reception of evidence of the parties shall be terminated within ninety (90) days, thirty (30) days to be allotted to complainant’s or petitioner’s evidence, thirty (30) days for respondent, and thirty (30) days; for any rebuttal and sur-rebuttal evidence. In the case of provisional remedies, the hearings or reception of evidence thereof shall be terminated within thirty (30) days.
SECTION 2. Postponement of Hearings. – Postponement of hearing shall be allowed only on extremely meritorious grounds provided, that the reception of evidence of the parties shall not exceed the periods provided under the preceding section.
SECTION 3. Order of Trial. – Unless the Hearing Officer, for special reasons, otherwise directs, the order of trial shall be as follows:
(a) The complainant or petitioner must produce evidence in support of his allegations in the complaint or petition. The affiants/witnesses whose affidavits were submitted must be subject to a cross examination by the opposing counsel on the basis of their affidavits.
(b) The respondent shall then offer evidence in support of his defense, counterclaim, cross-claim, and third-party claim subject to cross-examination by complainant or petitioner or his counsel.
(c) The third party-respondent, if any, shall introduce evidence of his defense, counterclaim, cross-claim and third-party claim.
(d) The fourth party, and so forth, if any, shall introduce evidence of the material facts pleaded by him.
(e) The parties against whom any counterclaim or cross-claim has been pleaded shall introduce evidence in support of their defense, in the order to be prescribed by the Hearing Officer.
(f) The parties may then respectively offer rebutting evidence only, unless the Hearing Officer, for good reasons, in the furtherance of justice, permits them to offer additional evidence pertinent to the original issue.
(g) When the presentation of evidence is concluded, the parties may submit their respective memoranda within ten (10) days from date of the last hearing. Unless otherwise provided for by special laws, the appropriate final pleadings required of the parties to be submitted shall include a draft of the decision/resolution they seek, stating clearly and distinctly the facts and the law upon which it is based. The Hearing Officer may adopt, in whole or in part, either of the parties’ draft decisions/resolutions, or reject both. This requirement shall likewise be applied to orders other than final judgment.
SECTION 4. Agreed Statements of Facts. – (a) The complainant and the respondent may agree in writing upon the facts involved in the action, and ask judgment upon the facts agreed upon, without the introduction of evidence. The Hearing Officer shall immediately prepare the decision and submit it to the Division Chief of the Administrative Complaints Division who shall recommend the same to the Director for his approval, if the agreed statement of facts is sufficient to support a decision.
(b) If the parties can agree only on some of the facts in issue, a hearing shall be held as to the others.
SECTION 5. Period for Resolving Cases. – Unless a different period is fixed by special laws, all contested cases or any incident thereof shall be decided or resolved within thirty (30) calendar days from submission for decision or resolution by the Bureau.
SECTION 6. Consolidation. – When actions involving a common question of law or fact are pending before the Bureau, the Hearing Officer may order a joint hearing or trial on any or all the matters in issue in the actions. It may order all the actions consolidated and it may make such orders concerning proceedings therein as may tend to avoid unnecessary costs or delay.
