1/5/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly paragraph 7 of the said Article states that the Requested Party can render legal assistance subject to certain conditions which the Requested Party must observe. To recall, the Indonesia Government imposed the following conditions in taking the testimony of Mary Jane: a) Mary Jane shall remain in detention in Yogyakarta, Indonesia; b) No cameras shall be allowed; c) The lawyers of the parties shall not be present; d) The questions to be propounded to Mary Jane shall be in writing. Interestingly, nowhere in the present Rules on Criminal Procedure does it state how a deposition, of a prosecution witness who is at the same time convicted of a grave offense by final judgment and imprisoned in a foreign jurisdiction, may be taken to perpetuate the testimony of such witness. The Rules, in particular, are silent as to how to take a testimony of a witness who is unable to testify in open court because he is imprisoned in another country. Depositions, however, are recognized under Rule 23 of the Rules on Civil Procedure. Although the rule on deposition by written interrogatories is inscribed under the said Rule, the Court holds that it may be applied suppletorily in criminal proceedings so long as there is compelling reason. In a catena of cases, the Supreme Court had relaxed the procedural rules by applying suppletorily certain provisions of the Rules on Civil Procedure in criminal proceedings. For one, in Caños v. Peralta[36] the Supreme Court held that the trial court judge did not abuse his discretion when it ordered the consolidation and joint trial of the criminal cases that were filed against petitioner Adela J. Canos. It reasoned, among others, that consolidation of cases is authorized under Section 1, Rule 31 of the Rules on Civil Procedure. The same rule was applied in Naguiat v. Intermediate Appellate Court[37] and Cojuangco. Jr. v. Court of Appeals[38] wherein the Supreme Court upheld the consolidation of the criminal case and civil case that were respectively filed against the petitioners therein. On that score, the Court finds no reason to depart from its practice to liberally construe procedural rules for the orderly administration of substantial justice. The conditions with respect to the taking of the testimony of Mary Jane that were laid down by the Indonesian Government support the allowance of written interrogatories under Rule 23 of the Rules of Court, the pertinent provisions of which read: Section 1. Depositions pending action, when may be taken. — By leave of court after jurisdiction has been obtained over any defendant or over property which is the subject of the action, or without such leave after an answer has been served, the testimony of any person, whether a party or not, may be taken, at the instance of any party, by deposition upon oral https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/65855 15/22