Role of Shari’ah courts in judicial system reaffirmed
If proven guilty, concerned PCG personnel will also be given appropriate punishment and penalties following the Coast Guard’s prevailing laws and regulations
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If proven guilty, concerned PCG personnel will also be given appropriate punishment and penalties following the Coast Guard’s prevailing laws and regulations
The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the strengthened role of Shari'ah courts in Philippine judicial system as they are autonomous bodies which do not need to lean on civil courts.
This was the ruling of the SC En Banc, through Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, in its decision granting the consolidated petitions filed under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court by Annielyn Dela Cruz Maliga and Dr. John O. Maliga.
The petitions challenged the orders of the 5th Shari'ah District Court, Cotabato City, dismissing their complaints involving contracts of loan with interest.
The complaints were filed by Annielyn and John with the SDC following successive demands for payments by respondents Dimasurang Unte, Jr. and Abraham N. Tingao and Bai Shor Tingao over loans contracted by Annielyn with the respondents.
Annielyn had paid Unte P8,660,250 for interests alone, despite the principal amount of her loan being only P1,965,000, pursuant to said loans.
She had also paid spouses Tingao P1,452,000 on interest alone despite the principal amount being only P330,000.
The petitioners thus prayed in their complaints for the extinguishment of the loans and for the refund or restitution by the respondents of all overpayments.
The SDC, holding that it lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter of the complaint since it involves the application of the Usury Law, dismissed the complaints.
Prompting Annielyn and John to file the petitions before the Supreme Court.
The court in granting the petitions, first stressed that to determine which court has jurisdiction over an action, an examination of the complaint is essential.
The nature of an action, and which court or body has jurisdiction over it, is determined based on the allegations in the complaint, regardless if the plaintiff is entitled to recover upon all or some of the asserted claims.
In the case of SDCs, Article 143(1)(d) of Presidential Decree No. 1083 or the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines (the Muslim Code) provides that SDCs have exclusive original jurisdiction over, among others, all actions arising from customary contracts where the parties are Muslims, if they have not specified which law shall govern their relations.
Article 143(2)(b) of the same law further states that SDCs have original jurisdiction, concurrent with existing civil courts, over all other personal and real actions not mentioned in Article 143(1)(d), where the parties are Muslims, except those for forcible entry and unlawful detainer.
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