RESEARCH

Judgment on the Pleadings vs Summary Judgment

I. Judgment on the Pleadings

- Judgment on the pleadings is proper "where an answer fails to tender an issue, or

otherwise admits the material allegations of the adverse party’s pleading."
- An answer would "fail to tender an issue" if it "does not deny the material allegations in
the complaint or admits said material allegations of the adverse party’s pleadings by
confessing the truthfulness thereof and/or omitting to deal with them at all. Now, if an
answer does in fact specifically deny the material averments of the complaint and/or
asserts affirmative defenses (allegations of new matter which, while admitting the
material allegations of the complaint expressly or impliedly, would nevertheless prevent
or bar recovery by the plaintiff), a judgment on the pleadings would naturally be
improper.
- Can be invoked by Plaintiff or Defendant in a Counterclaim

(Teofilo Adolfo vs. Fe Adolfo, G.R. No. 201427, 18 March 2015)

II. Summary Judgment

- A summary judgment is permitted only if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact
and a moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. In relation to this, a
"genuine issue" means an issue of fact which calls for the presentation of evidence, as
distinguished from an issue which is fictitious or contrived, an issue that does not
constitute a genuine issue for trial. "The court can determine this on the basis of the
pleadings, admissions, documents, affidavits, and/or counter-affidavits submitted by the
parties to the court. Where the facts pleaded by the parties are disputed or contested,
proceedings for a summary judgment cannot take the place of a trial."

- For summary judgment to proceed in lieu of a full-blown trial, the party who moves for
summary judgment has the burden of demonstrating clearly the absence of genuine issues
of fact, or that the issue posed is patently insubstantial as to constitute a genuine issue

- Can be invoked by Plaintiff or Defendant (any time)