REPUBLIC ACT No.

7691 AN ACT EXPANDING THE JURISDICTION OF THE METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURTS, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURTS, AND MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT TRIAL COURTS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE BATAS PAMBANSA, BLG. 129, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE JUDICIAR! REORGANI"ATION ACT OF 19#$ S%&'(o) 1. Section 19 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, otherwise known as the "Judiciary eorgani!ation "ct of 19#$", is hereby amended to read as follows% "Sec. 19. Jurisdiction in ci&il cases. egional 'rial (ourts shall e)ercise e)clusi&e original *urisdiction. "+1, -n all ci&il actions in which the sub*ect of the litigation is inca.able of .ecuniary estimation/ "+2, -n all ci&il actions which in&ol&e the title to, or .ossession of, real .ro.erty, or any interest therein, where the assessed &alue of the .ro.erty in&ol&ed e)ceeds 'wenty thousand .esos +P2$,$$$,$$, or, for ci&il actions in 0etro 0anila, where such &alue e)ceeds 1ifty thousand .esos +P2$,$$$.$$, e)ce.t actions for forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands or buildings, original *urisdiction o&er which is conferred u.on the 0etro.olitan 'rial (ourts, 0unici.al 'rial (ourts, and 0unici.al (ircuit 'rial (ourts/ "+3, -n all actions in admiralty and maritime *urisdiction where the demand or claim e)ceeds 4ne hundred thousand .esos +P1$$,$$$.$$, or, in 0etro 0anila, where such demand or claim e)ceeds 'wo hundred thousand .esos +P2$$,$$$.$$,/ "+5, -n all matters of .robate, both testate and intestate, where the gross &alue of the estate e)ceeds 4ne hundred thousand .esos +P1$$,$$$.$$, or, in .robate matters in 0etro 0anila, where such gross &alue e)ceeds 'wo 6undred thousand .esos +P2$$,$$$.$$,/ "+2, -n all actions in&ol&ing the contract of marriage and marital relations/ "+7, -n all cases not within the e)clusi&e *urisdiction of any court, tribunal, .erson or body e)ercising *urisdiction of any

court, tribunal, .erson or body e)ercising *udicial or 8uasi9 *udicial functions/ "+:, -n all ci&il actions and s.ecial .roceedings falling within the e)clusi&e original *urisdiction of a Ju&enile and ;omestic elations (ourt and of the (ourt of "grarian elations as now .ro&ided by law/ and "+#, -n all other cases in which the demand, e)clusi&e of interest, damages of whate&er kind, attorney<s fees, litigation e).enses, and costs or the &alue of the .ro.erty in contro&ersy e)ceeds 4ne hundred thousand .esos +P1$$,$$$.$$, or, in such other cases in 0etro 0anila, where the demand e)clusi&e of the abo&ementioned items e)ceeds 'wo 6undred thousand .esos +P2$$,$$$.$$,." S%&'(o) 2. Section 32 of the same law is hereby amended to read as follows% "Sec. 32. Jurisdiction of 0etro.olitan 'rial (ourts, 0unici.al 'rial (ourts and 0unici.al (ircuit 'rial (ourts in (riminal (ases. =)ce.t in cases falling within the e)clusi&e original *urisdiction of egional 'rial (ourts and of the Sandiganbayan, the 0etro.olitan 'rial (ourts, 0unici.al 'rial (ourts, and 0unici.al (ircuit 'rial (ourts shall e)ercise% "+1, =)clusi&e original *urisdiction o&er all &iolations of city or munici.al ordinances committed within their res.ecti&e territorial *urisdiction/ and "+2, =)clusi&e original *urisdiction o&er all offenses .unishable with im.risonment not e)ceeding si) +7, years irres.ecti&e of the amount of fine, and regardless of other im.osable accessory or other .enalties, including the ci&il liability arising from such offenses or .redicated thereon, irres.ecti&e of kind, nature, &alue or amount thereof% Pro&ided, howe&er, 'hat in offenses in&ol&ing damage to .ro.erty through criminal negligence, they shall ha&e e)clusi&e original *urisdiction thereof." S%&'(o) *. Section 33 of the same law is hereby amended to read as follows% "Sec. 33. Jurisdiction of 0etro.olitan 'rial (ourts, 0unici.al 'rial (ourts and 0unici.al (ircuit 'rial (ourts in (i&il (ases. 0etro.olitan 'rial (ourts, 0unici.al 'rial (ourts, and 0unici.al (ircuit 'rial (ourts shall e)ercise%

"+1, =)clusi&e original *urisdiction o&er ci&il actions and .robate .roceedings, testate and intestate, including the grant of .ro&isional remedies in .ro.er cases, where the &alue of the .ersonal .ro.erty, estate, or amount of the demand does not e)ceed 4ne hundred thousand .esos +P1$$,$$$.$$, or, in 0etro 0anila where such .ersonal .ro.erty, estate, or amount of the demand does not e)ceed 'wo hundred thousand .esos +P2$$,$$$.$$,, e)clusi&e of interest, damages of whate&er kind, attorney<s fees, litigation e).enses, and costs, the amount of which must be s.ecifically alleged% Pro&ided, 'hat interest, damages of whate&er kind, attorney<s fees, litigation e).enses, and costs shall be included in the determination of the filing fees% Pro&ided, further, 'hat where there are se&eral claims or causes of actions between the same or different .arties, embodied in the same com.laint, the amount of the demand shall be the totality of the claims in all the causes of action, irres.ecti&e of whether the causes of action arose out of the same or different transactions/ "+2, =)clusi&e original *urisdiction o&er cases of forcible entry and unlawful detainer% Pro&ided, 'hat when, in such cases, the defendant raises the 8uestions of ownershi. in his .leadings and the 8uestion of .ossession cannot be resol&ed without deciding the issue of ownershi., the issue of ownershi. shall be resol&ed only to determine the issue of .ossession/ and "+3, =)clusi&e original *urisdiction in all ci&il actions which in&ol&e title to, or .ossession of, real .ro.erty, or any interest therein where the assessed &alue of the .ro.erty or interest therein does not e)ceed 'wenty thousand .esos +P2$,$$$.$$, or, in ci&il actions in 0etro 0anila, where such assessed &alue does not e)ceed 1ifty thousand .esos +P2$,$$$.$$, e)clusi&e of interest, damages of whate&er kind, attorney<s fees, litigation e).enses and costs% Pro&ided, 'hat in cases of land not declared for ta)ation .ur.oses, the &alue of such .ro.erty shall be determined by the assessed &alue of the ad*acent lots." S%&'(o) +. Section 35 of the same law is hereby amended to read as follows% "Sec. 35. ;elegated Jurisdiction in (adastral and >and egistration (ases. 0etro.olitan 'rial (ourts, 0unici.al 'rial (ourts, and 0unici.al (ircuit 'rial (ourts may be assigned by the Su.reme (ourt to hear and determine cadastral or land registration cases

co&ering lots where there is no contro&ersy or o..osition, or contested lots where the &alue of which does not e)ceed 4ne hundred thousand .esos +P1$$,$$$.$$,, such &alue to be ascertained by the affida&it of the claimant or by agreement of the res.ecti&e claimants if there are more than one, or from the corres.onding ta) declaration of the real .ro.erty. 'heir decisions in these cases shall be a..ealable in the same manner as decisions of the egional 'rial (ourts." S%&'(o) ,. "fter fi&e +2, years from the effecti&ity of this "ct, the *urisdictional amounts mentioned in Sec. 19+3,, +5,, and +#,/ and Sec. 33+1, of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 as amended by this "ct, shall be ad*usted to 'wo hundred thousand .esos +P2$$,$$$.$$,. 1i&e +2, years thereafter, such *urisdictional amounts shall be ad*usted further to 'hree hundred thousand .esos +P3$$,$$$.$$,% Pro&ided, howe&er, 'hat in the case of 0etro 0anila, the abo&ementioned *urisdictional amounts shall be ad*usted after fi&e +2, years from the effecti&ity of this "ct to 1our hundred thousand .esos +P5$$,$$$.$$,. S%&'(o) 6. "ll laws, decrees, and orders inconsistent with the .ro&isions of this "ct shall be considered amended or modified accordingly. S%&'(o) 7. 'he .ro&isions of this "ct shall a..ly to all ci&il cases that ha&e not yet reached the .re9trial stage. 6owe&er, by agreement of all the .arties, ci&il cases cogni!able by munici.al and metro.olitan courts by the .ro&isions of this "ct may be transferred from the egional 'rial (ourts to the latter. 'he e)ecuti&e *udge of the a..ro.riate egional 'rial (ourts shall define the administrati&e .rocedure of transferring the cases affected by the redefinition of *urisdiction to the 0etro.olitan 'rial (ourts, 0unici.al 'rial (ourts, and 0unici.al (ircuit 'rial (ourts. S%&'(o) #. 'his "ct shall take effect fifteen +12, days following its .ublication in the 4fficial ?a!ette or in two +2, national news.a.ers of general circulation. "..ro&ed% 0arch 22, 1995