4/30/2021
E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly
defined by the Supreme Court. It may also be filed in the Court of Appeals
whether or not the same is in aid of its appellate jurisdiction, or in the
Sandiganbayan if it is in aid of its appellate jurisdiction. If it involves the acts
or omissions of a quasi-judicial agency, unless otherwise provided by law or
these rules, the petition shall be filed in and cognizable only by the Court of
Appeals.
No extension of time to file the petition shall be granted except for
compelling reason and in no case exceeding fifteen (15) days.” (emphasis
supplied)
Although the above amendment took effect on September 1, 2000, this Court has
applied it retroactively. In Systems Factors Corporation and Modesto Dean v.
NLRC, et al.,[8] petitioner filed a petition for certiorari in the Court of Appeals on
January 24, 2000. The appellate court dismissed it on February 15, 2000 for having
been filed ten days beyond the prescriptive period. The counting of the sixty-day
reglementary period was reckoned from the date petitioner received the impugned
decision, interrupted by the filing of a motion for reconsideration, then resumed from
the date of receipt of the resolution denying the motion for reconsideration. The
petitioner therein sought recourse in this Court. While the case was pending in this
Court, Section 4, Rule 65 of the Rules was amended effective September 1, 2000.
Applying the amendment to the case, we ruled that the petition in the Court of Appeals
was deemed timely filed, viz:
“We hold that the amendment under A.M. No. 00-2-03-SC wherein the sixtyday period to file a petition for certiorari is reckoned from receipt of the
resolution denying the motion for reconsideration should be deemed
applicable. Remedial statutes or statutes relating to remedies or modes of
procedure, which do not create new or take away vested rights, but only
operate in furtherance of the remedy or confirmation of rights already
existing, do not come within the legal conception of a retroactive law, or the
general rule against retroactive operation of statutes (Castro vs. Sagales, 94
Phil. 208). Statutes regulating (sic) to the procedure of the courts will be
construed as applicable to actions pending and undetermined at the time of
their passage. Procedural laws are retroactive in that sense and to that
extent. The retroactive application of procedural laws is not violative of any
right of a person who may feel that he is adversely affected (Gregorio vs.
Court of Appeals, 26 SCRA 229; Tinio vs. Mina, 26 SCRA 512). The reason is
that as a general rule, no vested right may attach to nor arise from
procedural laws. (Billones vs. CIR, 14 SCRA 674)”[9]
In the case at bar, petitioner Serrano received the resolution of the NLRC denying his
motion for reconsideration on April 6, 1999. Thenceforth, he had 60 days or until June
7, 1999 to file a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals. But as June 7 fell on a
Saturday, he had until June 9, the next working day, to file his petition. Rule 22,
https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/52537
5/9