Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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* EN BANC.
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No. 8799 did not transfer the cases enumerated under Section 5 of
Presidential Decree (PD) No. 902-A to all the Regional Trial
Courts (RTCs).—Section 5, Item 5.2 of R.A. No. 8799 did not
transfer the cases enu-
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the general jurisdiction of the RTC under Sec. 19 of B.P. Blg. 129.
The mere filing of the Complaint before the Office of the Clerk of
Court in the RTC of Muntinlupa City, in the official station of the
designated Special Commercial Court as what occurred herein, is
not equivalent to the correct and proper filing of the Complaint
before the appropriate Regional Trial Court specially designated
by the Supreme Court to hear and decide cases enumerated under
Section 5 of P.D. No. 902-A. Branch 276 of the RTC, to which the
Complaint was consequently raffled, in the exercise of its general
jurisdiction, cannot order the transfer of the Complaint to Branch
256, the designated Special Commercial Court. Branch 276
cannot do so on the basis of authority over the case which it did
not have. Neither does it have authority over a coequal court.
Same; Same; Same; Same; View that courts should not
themselves correct the procedural mistakes of pleaders.—Indeed,
We
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PERLAS-BERNABE, J.:
This is a direct recourse to the Court, via a petition for
review on certiorari,1 from the Orders dated April 17, 20122
and July 9, 20123 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of
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7 Rollo, p. 44.
8 Id., at p. 47.
9 Id., at pp. 90-91.
10 Id., at pp. 92-97.
11 Id., at p. 14.
12 Dated February 7, 2011. (Id., at pp. 98-114)
13 Id., at pp. 107-110.
14 Id., at pp. 34-38.
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19
Act No. (RA) 8799, but since the Court selected specific
branches to hear and decide such suits, the case must, at
most, be transferred or raffled off to the proper branch.20
In an Order21 dated July 9, 2012, Branch 276 denied the
motion for reconsideration, holding that it has no authority
or power to order the transfer of the case to the proper
Special Commercial Court, citing Calleja v. Panday22
(Calleja); hence, the present petition.
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15 Id., at p. 37.
16 Dated May 8, 2012. Id., at pp. 152-160.
17 Id., at pp. 152-154.
18 Id., at pp. 154-155.
19 Otherwise known as “The Securities Regulation Code.”
20 Rollo, p. 155.
21 Id., at pp. 39-41.
22 518 Phil. 801; 483 SCRA 680 (2006).
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23 Rollo, p. 37.
24 See Medical Plaza Makati Condominium Corporation v. Cullen,
G.R. No. 181416, November 11, 2013, 709 SCRA 110, 120-121; citations
omitted.
25 Entitled “Re: Consolidation of Intellectual Property Courts with
Commercial Courts” (July 1, 2003). Prior to A.M. No. 03-03-03-SC,
however, the Court had already issued several resolutions in A.M. No. 00-
11-03-SC (entitled “Resolution Designating Certain Branches of Regional
Trial Courts to Try and Decide Cases Formerly Cognizable by the
Securities and Exchange Commission” [November 21, 2000]), A.M. No. 01-
5-298-RTC (August 27, 2001), and A.M. No. 01-12-656-RTC (July 8, 2002)
to implement the provisions of Item 5.2, Section 5 of RA 8799.
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26 See Herrera, Oscar M., Remedial Law, Vol. I, p. 73, 2007 Ed.
27 G.R. No. 179155, April 2, 2014, 720 SCRA 371, 381.
28 SEC. 5. In addition to the regulatory and adjudicative functions of
the Securities and Exchange Commission over corporations, partnerships
and other forms of associations registered with it as expressly granted
under existing laws and decrees, it shall have original and exclusive
jurisdiction to hear and decide cases involving.
a. Devices or schemes employed by or any acts, of the board of directors,
business associates, its officers or partners, amounting to fraud and
misrepresentation which may be detrimental to the interest of the public
and/or of the stockholder, partners, members of associations or
organizations registered with the Commission;
b. Controversies arising out of intra-corporate or partnership relations,
between and among stockholders, members, or associates; between any or
all of them and the corporation, partnership or association of which they
are stockholders, members or associates, respectively; and between such
corporation, partnership or association and the state insofar as it concerns
their individual franchise or right to exist as such entity;
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40 Tan v. Bausch & Lomb, Inc., 514 Phil. 307, 316; 478 SCRA 115, 124
(2005). See also final whereas clause of A.M. No. 03-03-03-SC.
41 See OCA Circular No. 82-2003, entitled “Subject: Consolidation of
Intellectual Property Courts with Commercial Courts.” (June 30, 2003)
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personnel thereof.
The objective behind the designation of such specialized
courts is to promote expediency and efficiency in the
exercise of the RTCs’ jurisdiction over the cases
enumerated under Section 5 of PD 902-A. Such designation
has nothing to do with the statutory conferment of
jurisdiction to all RTCs under RA 8799 since in the first
place, the Court cannot enlarge, diminish, or dictate when
jurisdiction shall be removed, given that the power to
define, prescribe, and apportion jurisdiction is, as a
general rule, a matter of legislative prerogative.42
Section 2, Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution provides:
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to
define, prescribe, and apportion the jurisdiction of the
various courts but may not deprive the Supreme
Court of its jurisdiction over cases enumerated in
Section 5 hereof.
x x x x
Here, petitioners filed a commercial case, i.e., an intra-
corporate dispute, with the Office of the Clerk of Court in
the RTC of Muntinlupa City, which is the official station of
the designated Special Commercial Court, in accordance
with A.M. No. 03-03-03-SC. It is, therefore, from the
time of such filing that the RTC of Muntinlupa City
acquired jurisdiction over the subject matter or the
nature of
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42 See Tinitigan v. Tinitigan, Sr., 188 Phil. 597, 611; 100 SCRA 619,
634 (1980).
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instead. Similarly, the transfer of the present
intra-corporate dispute from Branch 276 to Branch
256 of the same RTC of Muntinlupa City, subject to
the parameters above discussed is proper and will
further the purposes stated in A.M. No. 03-03-03-SC
of attaining a speedy and efficient administration of
justice.
For further guidance, the Court finds it apt to point out
that the same principles apply to the inverse situation
of ordinary civil cases filed before the proper RTCs
but wrongly raffled to its branches designated as
Special Commercial Courts. In such a scenario, the
ordinary civil case should then be referred to the
Executive Judge for re-docketing as an ordinary
civil case; thereafter, the Executive Judge should
then order the raffling of the case to a ll bra nches of
the same RTC, subject to limitations under existing
internal rules, and the payment of the correct docket
fees in case of any difference. Unlike the limited
assignment/raffling of a commercial case only to branches
designated as Special Commercial Courts in the scenarios
stated above, the re-raffling of an ordinary civil case in this
instance to all courts is permissible due to the fact that a
particular branch which has been designated as a Special
Commercial Court does not shed the RTC’s general
jurisdiction over ordinary civil cases under the imprimatur
of statutory law, i.e., Batas Pambansa Bilang (BP) 129.52
To restate, the designation of Special Commercial
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(1) In all civil actions in which the subject of the litigation is incapable
of pecuniary estimation;
(2) In all civil actions which involve the title to, or possession
of, real property, or any interest therein, where the assessed value
of the property involved exceeds Twenty thousand pesos
(P20,000.00) or for civil actions in Metro Manila, where such the
value exceeds Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) except actions for
forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands or buildings,
original jurisdiction over which is conferred upon Metropolitan
Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial
Courts;
(3) In all actions in admiralty and maritime jurisdiction where he
demand or claim exceeds One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) or,
in Metro Manila, where such demand or claim exceeds Two hundred
thousand pesos (P200,000.00);
(4) In all matters of probate, both testate and intestate, where the
gross value of the estate exceeds One hundred thousand pesos
(P100,000.00) or, in probate matters in Metro Manila, where such gross
value exceeds Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00);
(5) In all actions involving the contract of marriage and marital
relations;
(6) In all cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction of any court,
tribunal, person or body exercising jurisdiction or any court, tribunal,
person or body exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions;
(7) In all civil actions and special proceedings falling within the
exclusive original jurisdiction of a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court
and of the Court of Agrarian Relations as now provided by law; and
(8) In all other cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest,
damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs
or the value of the property in controversy exceeds One hundred thousand
pesos (P100,000.00) or, in such other cases in Metro Manila, where the
demand, exclusive of the abovementioned items exceeds Two hundred
thousand pesos (P200,000.00).
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DISSENTING OPINION
PEREZ, J.:
I am constrained to register my dissent to the ponencia
that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s)
jurisdiction over cases enumerated in Section 5 of
Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 902-A was transferred to all
Regional Trial Courts, unaffected by the proviso in the
same Section that the Supreme Court may designate the
Regional Trial Court branches that shall exercise the
transferred jurisdiction. I base my dissent on the plain
wording of Section 5.2 of Republic Act No. 8799 or “The
Securities Regulation Code.”
Briefly, the undisputed facts.
Petitioners Manuel Luis C. Gonzales and Francis
Martin D. Gonzales filed a Complaint against respondents
GJH Land, Inc. (formerly known as S.J. Land, Inc.), Chang
Hwan Jang, Sang Rak Kim, Mariechu N. Yap, and Atty.
Roberto P. Mallari II before the Regional Trial Court (RTC)
of Muntinlupa City seeking to enjoin the sale of S.J. Land,
Inc.’s shares which petitioners purportedly already bought
from, and fully paid to, S.J. Global, Inc. on 1 February
2010. Petitioners, the Gonzales’, designated their
Complaint as a Civil
275
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Unfortunately, the case was raffled to Branch 276
instead of being assigned to the single Special
Commercial Court in the RTC of Muntinlupa City,
which is Branch 256. As the Court sees it, this
erroneous raffling to a regular branch instead of to a
Special Commercial Court is only a matter of
procedure — that is, an incident related to the RTC’s
exercise of jurisdiction — and, thus, should not negate
the jurisdiction which the RTC of Muntinlupa City
had already acquired. As such, Branch 276 should
have merely ordered the transfer of the case to
Branch 256, and not its dismissal. x x x
In sum, the ponencia, discussing and citing the cases of
Calleja, on which the court a quo based the herein assailed
Order, Tan v. Bausch & Lomb, Inc.,4 and Home Guaranty
Corporation v. R-II Builders, Inc.,5 draws a distinction
between subject matter jurisdiction conferred by law, in
this instance falling with the RTCs, and the exercise of
jurisdiction, in accordance with the designation of
appropriate RTCs by the Supreme Court. Thus, according
to the ponencia, the RTC of Muntinlupa City regardless of
the Supreme Court designated branch, acquired
jurisdiction over Civil Case No.
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(4) In all matters of probate, both testate and intestate, where the gross
value of the estate exceeds One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) or,
in probate matters in Metro Manila, where such gross value exceeds Two
hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00);
(5) In all actions involving the contract of marriage and marital
relations;
(6) In all cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction of any court,
tribunal, person or body exercising jurisdiction or any court, tribunal,
person or body exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions;
(7) In all civil actions and special proceedings falling within the
exclusive original jurisdiction of a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court
and of the Courts of Agrarian Relations as now provided by law; and
(8) In all other cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest,
damages of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs
or the value of the property in controversy exceeds One hundred thousand
pesos (P100,000.00) or, in such other above mentioned items exceeds Two
hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00). (as amended by R.A. No. 7691*)
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This is evident from A.M. No. 00-11-03-SC and A.M. No.
03-03-03-SC.
Palpably, RTC caseloads and the need to equalize the
caseloads among all branches determine the need for the
Court to issue regulations regarding the Commercial
Courts’ exercise of jurisdiction over non commercial cases.
In all, the RTC Commercial Court has exclusive
jurisdiction over commercial cases and can still exercise
jurisdiction over regular cases if, as determined by the
Supreme Court, the caseloads necessitate such exercise.
While there may be arguments in favor of a simpler
arrangement whereby all the RTCs in all the Judicial
Districts are made Commercial Courts, such arguments
cannot be submitted for resolution by the Court. The
settlement is in the legislature.
Further on the issue, the proviso that “the Supreme
Court in the exercise of its authority may designate the
Regional Trial Court branches that shall exercise
jurisdiction over these cases” is a definition of the
conferred jurisdiction. The designation of specific
Regional Trial Court branches that will exercise
jurisdiction over cases enumerated under Section 5 of P.D.
No. 902-A is pursuant to statute and not solely the
consequence of the Court’s rule-making power and
administrative supervisory power of the Court over lower
courts under Article VIII, Sections 5 (paragraph 5) and 6,
respectively. In fact, A.M. No. 03-03-03-SC on which the
ponencia relies heavily for its position that the designation
of specific RTC branches as a simple procedural rule
incidental to the exer-
289
290
with the multi sala RTC. Since petitioners had filed what
they labeled as a Civil Case, they knowingly filed it
pursuant to the general jurisdiction of the RTC under Sec.
19 of B.P. Blg. 129.
The mere filing of the Complaint before the Office of the
Clerk of Court in the RTC of Muntinlupa City, in the
official station of the designated Special Commercial Court
as what occurred herein, is not equivalent to the correct
and proper filing of the Complaint before the appropriate
Regional Trial Court specially designated by the Supreme
Court to hear and decide cases enumerated under Section 5
of P.D. No. 902-A. Branch 276 of the RTC, to which the
Complaint was consequently raffled, in the exercise of its
general jurisdiction, cannot order the transfer of the
Complaint to Branch 256, the designated Special
Commercial Court. Branch 276 cannot do so on the basis of
authority over the case which it did not have. Neither does
it have authority over a coequal court.
Note that in this case, petitioners, given the labeling of
their Complaint as a Civil Case, should suffer the
consequences of its own act. The Office of the Clerk of
Court, cannot be faulted for raffling it to the RTC of
general jurisdiction as petitioners themselves invoked such
general jurisdiction.
In Calleja v. Panday,16 we likewise took note of the fact
that therein plaintiff’s petition for quo warranto was filed
as late
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CONCURRING OPINION
LEONEN, J.:
I concur with the ponencia’s conclusion that the
designation of certain Regional Trial Court branches as
Special Commercial Courts does not work to confer
jurisdiction over the branches designated as such. It was
an error for the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court,
Branch 276, to dismiss the Complaint filed by petitioners.
As the ponencia underscores, Branch 276 should have
instead transferred the case to the Muntinlupa City
Regional Trial Court, Branch 256, the branch duly
designated to perform the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial
Court’s functions as a Special Commercial Court. The
present Petition must, thus, be granted.
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signment shall not exceed six months without the consent of the judge
concerned.
(4) Order a change of venue or place of trial to avoid a miscarriage of
justice.
(5) Promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of
constitutional rights, pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, the
admission to the practice of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance
to the underprivileged. Such rules shall provide a simplified and
inexpensive procedure for the speedy disposition of cases, shall be uniform
for all courts of the same grade, and shall not diminish, increase, or
modify substantive rights. Rules of procedure of special courts and quasi-
judicial bodies shall remain effective unless disapproved by the Supreme
Court.
(6) Appoint all officials and employees of the Judiciary in accordance
with the Civil Service Law.
12 Const., Art. VI, Sec. 30 provides:
SECTION 30. No law shall be passed increasing the appellate
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as provided in this Constitution without
its advice and concurrence.
13 93 Phil. 376 (1953) [Per J. Bautista Angelo, En Banc].
14 Id., at p. 379; Rep. Act No. 422 (1950), otherwise known as An Act
Authorizing the President of the Philippines to Reorganize within One
Year the Different Executive Departments, Bureaus, Offices, Agencies and
Other Instrumentalities of the
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17 Id.
18 Id., at p. 380. University of Santo Tomas v. Board of Tax Appeals
cites Sec. 306: SEC. 306. Recovery of tax erroneously or illegally
collected.—No suit or proceeding shall be maintained in any court for the
recovery of any national internal revenue tax hereafter alleged to have
been erroneously or illegally assessed or collected, or of any penalty
claimed to have been collected without authority, or of any sum alleged to
have been excessive or in any manner wrongfully collected, until a claim
for refund or credit has been duly filed with the Collector of Internal
Revenue; but such suit or proceeding may be maintained, whether or not
such tax, penalty, or sum has been paid under protest or duress. In any
case, no such suit or proceeding shall be begun after the expiration of two
years from the date of payment of the tax or penalty.
19 Id., at p. 381.
20 Id., at p. 382.
21 Id.
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22 Id.
23 112 Phil. 551; 2 SCRA 721 (1961) [Per J. Labrador, En Banc].
24 Id., at p. 557; p. 725. Corominas, Jr. v. Labor Standards
Commission, cites Reorganization Plan No. 20-A, Sec. 25:
25. Each Regional Office shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction
over all cases affecting all money claims arising from violations of labor
standards on working conditions, including but not restrictive to: unpaid
wages, underpayment, overtime, separation pay, and maternity leave of
employees/laborers; and unpaid wages, overtime, separation pay, vacation
pay, and payment for medical services of domestic help.
25 Id., at p. 562; p. 730.
26 Rep. Act No. 602 (1951), Sec. 15(d) provides:
302
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SEC. 15. Penalties and recovery of wage due under this Act.—. . .
d. The Secretary may bring an action in any competent court to recover
the wages owing to an employee under this Act, with legal interest. Any
sum thus recovered by the Secretary on behalf of an employee pursuant to
this subsection shall be held in a special deposit account and shall be paid,
on order of the Secretary, directly to the employee or employees affected.
Any such sums not paid to an employee because he cannot be located
within a period of three years shall be covered into the Treasury as
miscellaneous receipts.
27 Rep. Act No. 602 (1951), Sec. 15(e) provides:
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SEC. 15. Penalties and recovery of wage due under this Act.—. . .
e. Any employer who underpays an employee in violation of this Act
shall be liable to the employee affected in the amount of the unpaid wages
with legal interest. Action to recover such liability may be maintained in
any competent court by anyone or more employees on behalf of himself or
themselves. The court in such action shall, in addition to any judgment
awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, allow a reasonable attorney’s fee
which shall not exceed ten percent of the amount awarded to the
plaintiffs, unless the amount awarded is less than one hundred pesos, in
which event the fee may be ten pesos, but not in excess of that amount.
Payment of the amount found due to the plaintiffs shall be made directly
to the plaintiffs, in the presence of a representative of the Secretary of the
Court. In the event payment is witnessed by the court of its
representative, the Secretary shall be notified within ten days of payment
that the payment has been made.
28 Rep. Act No. 602 (1951), Sec. 16 provides:
SEC. 16. Jurisdiction of the courts.—
a. The Court of First Instance shall have jurisdiction to restrain
violations of this act; action by the Secretary or by the employees affected
to recover underpayment may be brought in any competent Court, which
shall render its decision on such cases within fifteen days from the time
the case has been submitted for decision; in appropriate
303
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instances, appeal from the decisions of these courts on any action under
this Act shall be in accordance with applicable law.
29 An Act Creating the Government Survey and Reorganization
Commission and Appropriating Funds Therefor.
30 Corominas, Jr. v. Labor Standards Commission, supra note 23 at p.
561; p. 729.
31 Id.
32 Const., Art. VIII, Sec. 6.
33 Const., Art. VIII, Sec. 5(5).
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34 427 Phil. 604; 377 SCRA 353 (2002) [Per J. Ynares-Santiago, First
Division].
35 Id., at p. 612; p. 359.
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SEC. 23. Special jurisdiction to try special cases.
—The Supreme Court may designate certain
branches of the Regional Trial Courts to handle
exclusively criminal cases, juvenile and domestic
relations cases, agrarian cases, urban land reform
cases which do not fall under the jurisdiction of quasi-
judicial bodies and agencies, and/or such other special
cases as the Supreme Court may determine in the
interest of a speedy and efficient administration of
justice. (Emphasis supplied)
Section 23 is not a blanket license for this court to create
new courts of limited jurisdiction. It is an enabling
mechanism, empowering this court to fulfill its function as
the authority having “administrative supervision over all
courts[.]”36
When the legislature (at that time, it was the interim
Batasang Pambansa) adopted the Judiciary Reorganization
Act of 1980, it created all Regional Trial Courts as courts of
general jurisdiction, equally competent to exercise the
jurisdiction vested in them by the same statute. So, too,
when the Securities Regulation Code transferred
jurisdiction over SEC Cases, it did so to all of our courts
which were recognized as courts of general jurisdiction,
that is, to Regional Trial Courts.
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37 Id.
38 Const., Art. VIII, Sec. 5(5).
39 Ponencia, p. 257.
40 See Lozada v. Bracewell, G.R. No. 179155, April 2, 2014, 720 SCRA
371, 381 [Per J. Perlas-Bernabe, Second Division].
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III
A.M. No. 00-11-03-SC is not the only administrative
issuance of this court specifying Regional Trial Court
branches which are to focus on certain types of cases, not
because this court created or transformed them into special
types of courts in lieu of their being courts of general
jurisdiction, but solely in the interest of expediency and
efficiency.
In this court’s August 1, 2000 Resolution in A.M. No. 00-
8-01-SC,44 this court designated certain Regional Trial
Court branches as “Special Courts for drugs cases, which
shall hear and decide all criminal cases in their respective
jurisdictions involving violations of the Dangerous Drugs
Act [of] 1972
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51 Id.
52 Designation of Certain Branches of the Regional Trial Courts as
Family Courts.
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