LAGON V VELASCO - Case Digest
LAGON V VELASCO - Case Digest
LAGON V VELASCO - Case Digest
ISSUE: Whether or not Section 2 of the Judicial Affidavit Rule, which requires a defendant to adduce his testimony and that of his
witnesses by judicial affidavits, is violative of procedural due process?
HELD: NO. In issuing the assailed Order, Judge Velasco was actually enforcing the Judicial Affidavit Rule, promulgated by the
Court. Therefore, by no stretch of the imagination may Judge Velasco's faithful observance of the rules of procedure, be regarded
as a capricious, whimsical or arbitrary act. Essentially, Article VIII, Section 5(5) of the 1987 Constitution bestows upon the Court
the power to "promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights, pleading, practice, and
procedure in all courts x x x." Seeking to eradicate the scourge of long-drawn protracted litigations, and address case congestion
and delays in court, on September 4, 2012, the Court en banc promulgated A.M. No. 12-8-8-SC, or the Judicial Affidavit Rule.