Pascual v First Consolidated Rural Bank Feb 8 2017

Facts:

The petitioner filed before Court of Appeals a Petition for Annulment of Judgment
against lower court decision.

After the filing of responsive pleadings to the petition, the CA scheduled the
preliminary conference, and ordered the parties to file their respective pre-trial
briefs. Instead of filing their pre-trial brief, the petitioners filed a Motion for
Summary Judgment and a Motion to Hold Pre-Trial in Abeyance. At the scheduled
preliminary conference, the petitioners and their counsel did not appear.

The CA dismissed the petitioner for annulment of judgement because of failure to

appear in pre-trial which is mandatory in a Petition for Annulment of Judgment
being original action.
The petitioners contend that their Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion to Hold
Pre-Trial in Abeyance needed to be first resolved before the pre-trial could proceed.

Issue: Whether or not the dismissal is proper

Held: Yes because the pre-trial is mandatory and failure of the plaintiff to appear at
the pre-trial shall be a cause for dismissal of his action. A similar failure of the
defendant shall be a cause to allow the plaintiff to present his evidence ex-parte and
the court to render judgment on the basis thereof.

During the pre-trial, the trial court could then determine "the propriety of rendering a
summary judgment dismissing the case based on the disclosures made at the pre-trial
or a judgment based on the pleadings, evidence identified and admissions made during
pre-trial