Rule 132 Presentation of Evidence

Question 1

Section 1. Examination to be done in open court

Answer 1

The examination of witnesses presented in a trial or hearing shall be done in open court, and under oath or affirmation. Unless the witness is incapacitated to speak, or the question calls for a different mode of answer, the answers of the witness shall be given orally.

Question 2

Section 2. Proceedings to be recorded

Answer 2

The entire proceedings of a trial or hearing, including the questions propounded to a witness and his or her answers thereto, and the statements made by the judge or any of the parties, counsel, or witnesses with reference to the case, shall be recorded by means of shorthand or stenotype or by other means of recording found suitable by the court.

A transcript of the record of the proceedings made by the official stenographer, stenotypist or recorder and certified as correct by him or her, shall be deemed prima facie a correct statement of such proceedings.

Question 3

Section 3. Rights and obligations of a witness

Answer 3

A witness must answer questions, although his or her answer may tend to establish a claim against him or her. However, it is the right of a witness:

(1) To be protected from irrelevant, improper, or insulting questions, and from harsh or insulting demeanor;
(2) Not to be detained longer than the interests of justice require;
(3) Not to be examined except only as to matters pertinent to the issue;
(4) Not to give an answer which will tend to subject him to a penalty for an offense unless otherwise provided by law; or
(5) Not to give an answer which will tend to degrade his or her reputation, unless it be to the very fact at issue or to a fact from which the fact in issue would be presumed. But a witness must answer to the fact of his or her previous final conviction for an offense.

Question 4

Section 4. Order in the examination of an individual witness

Answer 4

The order in which an individual witness may be examined is as follows:

(a) Direct examination by the proponent;
(b) Cross-examination by the opponent;
(c) Re-direct examination by the proponent;
(d) Re-cross-examination by the opponent.

Question 5

Section 5. Direct Examination

Answer 5

Direct examination is the examination-in-chief of a witness by the party presenting him or her on the facts relevant to the issue.

Question 6

Section 6. Cross-examination; its purpose and extent

Answer 6

Upon the termination of the direct examination, the witness may be cross-examined by the adverse party on any relevant matter, with sufficient fullness and freedom to test his or her accuracy and truthfulness and freedom from interest or bias, or the reverse, and to elicit all important facts bearing upon the issue.

Question 7

Section 7. Re-direct examination; its purpose and extent

Answer 7

After the cross-examination of the witness has been concluded, he or she may be re-examined by the party calling him or her to explain or supplement his or her answers given during the cross- examination. On re-direct examination, questions on matters not dealt with during the cross-examination may be allowed by the court in its discretion.

Question 8

Section 8. Re-cross examination

Answer 8

Upon the conclusion of the re-direct examination, the adverse party may re-cross-examine the witness on matters stated in his or her re-direct examination, and also on such other matters as may be allowed by the court in its discretion.

Question 9

Section 9. Recalling witness

Answer 9

After the examination of a witness by both sides has been concluded, the witness cannot be recalled without leave of the court. The court will grant or withhold leave in its discretion, as the interests of justice may require.

Question 10

Section 10. Leading and misleading questions

Answer 10

A question which suggests to the witness the answer which the examining party desires is a leading question. It is not allowed, except:

(a) On cross examination;
(b) On Preliminary matters;
(c) When there is difficulty in getting direct and intelligible answers from a witness who is ignorant, or a child of tender years, or is of feeble mind, or a deaf-mute;
(d) Of an unwilling or hostile witness; or
(e) Of a witness who is an adverse party or an officer, director, or managing agent of a public or private corporation or of a partnership or association which is an adverse party.

A misleading question is one which assumes as true a fact not yet testified to by the witness, or contrary to that which he or she has previously stated. It is not allowed.

Question 11

Section 11. Impeachment of adverse party’s witness

Answer 11

A witness may be impeached by the party against whom he or she was called, by contradictory evidence, by evidence that his or her general reputation for truth, honesty, or integrity is bad, or by evidence that he or she has made at other times statements inconsistent with his or her present testimony, but not by evidence of particular wrongful acts, except that it may be shown by the examination of the witness, or record of the judgment, that he or she has been convicted of an offense.

Question 12

Section 12. Impeachment by evidence of conviction of crime

Answer 12

For the purpose of impeaching a witness, evidence that he or she has been convicted by final judgment of a crime shall be admitted if (a) the crime was punishable by a penalty in excess of one year; or (b) the crime involved moral turpitude, regardless of the penalty.

However, evidence of a conviction is not admissible if the conviction has been the subject of an amnesty or annulment of the conviction,

Question 13

Section 13. Party may not impeach his or her own witness

Answer 13

Except with respect to witnesses referred to in paragraphs (d) and (e) of Section 10 of this Rule, the party presenting the witness is not allowed to impeach his or her credibility.

A witness may be considered as unwilling or hostile only if so declared by the court upon adequate showing of his or her adverse interest, unjustified reluctance to testify, or his or her having misled the party into calling him or her to the witness stand.

The unwilling or hostile witness so declared, or the witness who is an adverse party, may be impeached by the party presenting him or her in all respects as if he or she had been called by the adverse party, except by evidence of his or her bad character. He or she may also be impeached and cross-examined by the adverse party, but such cross-examination must only be on the subject matter of his or her examination-in-chief.

Question 14

Section 14. How witness impeached by evidence of inconsistent statements

Answer 14

Before a witness can be impeached by evidence that he or she has made at other times statements inconsistent with his or her present testimony, the statements must be related to him or her, with the circumstances of the times and places and the persons present, and he or she must be asked whether he or she made such statements, and if so, allowed to explain them. If the statements be in writing, they must be shown to the witness before any question is put to him or her concerning them.

Question 15

Section 15. Exclusion and separation of witnesses

Answer 15

The court, motu proprio or upon motion, shall order witnesses excluded so that they cannot hear the testimony of other witnesses. This rule does not authorize exclusion of (a) a party who is a natural person, (b) a duly designated representative of a juridical entity which is a party to the case, (c) a person whose presence is essential to the presentation of the party’s cause, or (d) a person authorized by a statute to be present.

The court may also cause witnesses to be kept separate and to be prevented from conversing with one another, directly or through intermediaries, until all shall have been examined.

Question 16

Section 16. When witness may refer to memorandum

Answer 16

A witness may be allowed to refresh his or her memory respecting a fact by anything written or recorded by himself or herself, or under his or her direction, at the time when the fact occurred, or immediately thereafter, or at any other time when the fact was fresh in his or her memory and he or she knew that the same was correctly written or recorded;

but in such case, the writing or record must be produced and may be inspected by the adverse party, who may, if he or she chooses, cross-examine the witness upon it and may read it in evidence.

A witness may also testify from such a writing or record, though he or she retains no recollection of the particular facts, if he or she is able to swear that the writing or record correctly stated the transaction when made; but such evidence must be received with caution.

Question 17

Section 17. When part of transaction, writing or record given in credence, the remainder admissible

Answer 17

When part of an act, declaration, conversation, writing or record is given in evidence by one party, the whole of the same subject may be inquired into by the other, and when a detached act, declaration, conversation, writing or record is given in evidence, any other act, declaration, conversation, writing or record necessary to its understanding may also be given in evidence.

Question 18

Section 18. Right to inspect writing shown to witness

Answer 18

Whenever a writing is shown to a witness, it may be inspected by the adverse party.

Question 19

Section 19. Classes of documents

Answer 19

For the purpose of their presentation in evidence, documents are either public or private.
Public documents are:
(a) The written official acts, or records of the official acts of the sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals, and public officers, whether of the Philippines, or of a foreign country;
(b)Documents acknowledged before a notary public except last wills and testaments;
(c) Documents that are considered public documents under treaties and conventions which are in force between the Philippines and the country of source; and
(d) Public records, kept in the Philippines, of private documents required by law to be entered therein.
All other writings are private.

Question 20

Section 20. Proof of private documents

Answer 20

Before any private document offered as authentic is received in evidence, its due execution and authenticity must be proved by any of the following means:
(a) By anyone who saw the document executed or written; or
(b) By evidence of the genuineness of the signature or handwriting of the maker.
(c) By other evidence showing its due execution and authenticity.
Any other private document need only be identified as that which it is claimed to be.

Question 21

Section 21. When evidence of authenticity of private document not necessary

Answer 21

Where a private document is more than thirty (30) years old, is produced from a custody in which it would naturally be found if genuine, and is unblemished by any alterations or circumstances of suspicion, no other evidence of its authenticity need be given.

Question 22

Section 22. How genuineness of handwriting proved

Answer 22

The handwriting of a person may be proved by any witness who believes it to be the handwriting of such person because he or she has seen the person write, or has seen writing purporting to be his or hers upon which the witness has acted or been charged, and has thus acquired knowledge of the handwriting of such person. Evidence respecting the handwriting may also be given by a comparison, made by the witness or the court, with writings admitted or treated as genuine by the party against whom the evidence is offered, or proved to be genuine to the satisfaction of the judge.

Question 23

Section 23. Public document as evidence

Answer 23

Documents consisting of entries in public records made in the performance of a duty by a public officer are prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. All other public documents are evidence, even against a third person, of the fact which gave rise to their execution and of the date of the latter.

Question 24

Section 24. Proof of official record

Answer 24

The record of public documents referred to in paragraph (a) of Section 19, when admissible for any purpose, may be evidenced by an official publication thereof or by a copy attested by the officer having the legal custody of the record, or by his or her deputy, and accompanied, if the record is not kept in the Philippines, with a certificate that such officer has the custody.

If the office in which the record is kept is in a foreign country, which is a contracting party to a treaty or convention to which the Philippines is also a party, or considered a public document under such treaty or convention pursuant to paragraph (c) of Section 19 hereof, the certificate or its equivalent shall be in the form prescribed by such treaty or convention subject to reciprocity granted to public documents originating from the Philippines.

For documents originating from a foreign country which is not a contracting party to a treaty or convention referred to in the next preceding sentence, the certificate may be made by a secretary of the embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice-consul, or consular agent or by any officer in the foreign service of the Philippines stationed in the foreign country in which the record is kept, and authenticated by the seal of his or her office.

A document that is accompanied by a certificate or its equivalent may be presented in evidence without further proof, the certificate or its equivalent being prima facie evidence of the due execution and genuineness of the document involved. The certificate shall not be required when a treaty or convention between a foreign country and the Philippines has abolished the requirement, or has exempted the document itself from this formality.

Question 25

Section 25. What attestation of copy must state

Answer 25

Whenever a copy of a document or record is attested for the purpose of evidence, the attestation must state, in substance, that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or a specific part thereof, as the case may be. The attestation must be under the official seal of the attesting officer, if there be any, or if he or she be the clerk of a court having a seal, under the seal of such court.

Question 26

Section 26. Irremovability of public record

Answer 26

Any public record, an official copy of which is admissible in evidence, must not be removed from the office in which it is kept, except upon order of a court where the inspection of the record is essential to the just determination of a pending case.

Question 27

Section 27. Public record of a private document

Answer 27

An authorized public record of a private document may be proved by the original record, or by a copy thereof, attested by the legal custodian of the record, with an appropriate certificate that such officer has the custody.

Question 28

Section 28. Proof of lack of record

Answer 28

A written statement signed by an officer having the custody of an official record or by his or her deputy that, after diligent search, no record or entry of a specified tenor is found to exist in the records of his or her office, accompanied by a certificate as above provided, is admissible as evidence that the records of his or her office contain no such record or entry.

Question 29

Section 29. How judicial record impeached

Answer 29

Any judicial record may be impeached by evidence of: (a) want of jurisdiction in the court or judicial officer,

(b) collusion between the parties, or
(c) fraud in the party offering the record, in respect to the proceedings.

Question 30

Section 30. Proof of notarial documents

Answer 30

Every instrument duly acknowledged or proved and certified as provided by law, may be presented in evidence without further proof, the certificate of acknowledgment being prima facie evidence of the execution of the instrument or document involved.

Question 31

Section 31. Alteration in document, how to explain

Answer 31

The party producing a document as genuine which has been altered and appears to have been altered after its execution, in a part material to the question in dispute, must account for the alteration. He or she may show that the alteration was made by another, without his or her concurrence, or was made with the consent of the parties affected by it, or was otherwise properly or innocently made, or that the alteration did not change the meaning or language of the instrument. If he or she fails to do that, the document shall not be admissible in evidence.

Question 32

Section 32. Seal

Answer 32

There shall be no difference between sealed and unsealed private documents insofar as their admissibility as evidence is concerned.

Question 33

Section 33. Documentary evidence in an unofficial language

Answer 33

Documents written in an unofficial language shall not be admitted as evidence, unless accompanied with a translation into English or Filipino. To avoid interruption of proceedings, parties or their attorneys are directed to have such translation prepared before trial.

Question 34

Section 34. Offer of evidence

Answer 34

The court shall consider no evidence which has not been formally offered. The purpose for which the evidence is offered must be specified.

Question 35

Section 35. When to make offer

Answer 35

All evidence must be offered orally.

The offer of the testimony of a witness in evidence must be made at the time the witness is called to testify. The offer of documentary and object evidence shall be made after the presentation of a party’s testimonial evidence.

Question 36

Section 36. Objection

Answer 36

Objection to offer of evidence must be made orally immediately after the offer is made.

Objection to the testimony of a witness for lack of a formal offer must be made as soon as the witness begins to testify.

Objection to a question propounded in the course of the oral examination of a witness must be made as soon as the grounds therefor become reasonably apparent.

The grounds for the objections must be specified.

Question 37

Section 37. When repetition of objection unnecessary

Answer 37

When it becomes reasonably apparent in the course of the examination of a witness that the questions being propounded are of the same class as those to which objection has been made, whether such objection was sustained or overruled, it shall not be necessary to repeat the objection, it being sufficient for the adverse party to record his or her continuing objection to such class of questions.

Question 38

Section 38. Ruling

Answer 38

The ruling of the court must be given immediately after the objection is made, unless the court desires to take a reasonable time to inform itself on the question presented; but the ruling shall always be made during the trial and at such time as will give the party against whom it is made an opportunity to meet the situation presented by the ruling.

The reason for sustaining or overruling an objection need not be stated. However, if the objection is based on two or more grounds, a ruling sustaining the objection on one or some of them must specify the ground or grounds relied upon.

Question 39

Section 39. Striking out of answer

Answer 39

Should a witness answer the question before the adverse party had the opportunity to voice fully its objection to the same, or where a question is not objectionable, but the answer is not responsive, or where a witness testifies without a question being posed or testifies beyond limits set by the court, or when the witness does a narration instead of answering the question, and such objection is found to be meritorious, the court shall sustain the objection and order such answer, testimony or narration to be stricken off the record.

On proper motion, the court may also order the striking out of answers which are incompetent, irrelevant, or otherwise improper.

Question 40

Section 40. Tender of Excluded Evidence

Answer 40

If documents or things offered in evidence are excluded by the court, the offeror may have the same attached to or made part of the record. If the evidence excluded is oral, the offeror may state for the record the name and other personal circumstances of the witness and the substance of the proposed testimony.