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PDIC vs. Gidwani
PDIC vs. Gidwani
RULE 37
New Trial or Reconsiderations
Section 1. Grounds of and period for filing motion for new trial or reconsideration.
— Within the period for taking an appeal, the aggrieved party may move the trial court to
set aside the judgment or final order and grant a new trial for one or more of the following
causes materially affecting the substantial rights of said party:
(a) Fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence which ordinary prudence could not
have guarded against and by reason of which such aggrieved party has probably been
impaired in his rights; or
(b) Newly discovered evidence, which he could not, with reasonable diligence, have
discovered and produced at the trial, and which if presented would probably alter the
result.
Within the same period, the aggrieved party may also move for reconsideration upon
the grounds that the damages awarded are excessive, that the evidence is
insufficient to justify the decision or final order, or that the decision or final order is
contrary to law.
A motion for reconsideration may be granted if:
Yes.
The filing of a motion for reconsideration is not mere formality, but an
opportunity for a judicial or quasi-judicial body to correct imputed errors, in fact
or in law, in its findings and conclusions.
The office of the motion is precisely to grant the investigating body, the DOJ in
this case, the opening to give a second hard look at the matter at hand, and to
determine if its previous ruling is in accord with evidence on record and statute.
In resolving the motion for reconsideration lodged with his office and in
exercising jurisdiction, SOJ Caparas has the power and discretion to make his
own personal assessment of the pleadings and evidence subject of review. He
is not bound by the rulings of his predecessors because there is yet to be a
final resolution of the issue; the matter is still pending before his office after all.
To hold otherwise would render the filing of the motion a futile exercise, and the
recourse, pointless.
G.R. 234616 | June 20, 2018
Velasco, Jr., J. | Third Division