Dear Atty. Kathy,
I won a case against Mr. X, from the trial court up to the Court of Appeals. Mr. X still appealed to the Supreme Court. However, based on the copy of Mr. X’s petition that I just received, I noticed that only the lawyer of Mr. X signed the “verification and certification of non-forum shopping,” when in past filings, it was Mr. X himself who signed. Is this allowed, considering that Mr. X’s lawyer does not have direct, personal knowledge of our case?
Mia
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Dear Mia,
The Supreme Court has ruled that verifications and certifications of non-forum shopping signed only by the duly authorized counsel and not by the parties can be considered substantially compliant, as required by the rules.
In the case of Altres, et al. vs Empleo, et al. (G.R. 180986, 10 December 2008), the Supreme Court held that the verification is deemed substantially complied with when one who has ample knowledge to swear to the truth of the allegations in the complaint or petition signs the verification, and when matters alleged in the petition have been made in good faith or are true and correct. With regard to the certification against forum shopping, the Supreme Court held that it must be executed by the party-pleader, not by his counsel; but, if for reasonable or justifiable reasons, the party-pleader is unable to sign, he must execute a Special Power of Attorney designating his counsel of record to sign on his behalf.
Further, in the recent case of Torres, et al. vs Register of Deeds of Davao City, et al. (G.R. 247490, 2 March 2022), the Supreme Court found that the counsel who signed the verification and certification was designated as the attorney-in-fact by the petitioners in an executed Special Power of Attorney. The Supreme Court also noted in the said case that the circumstances justify the authorization considering that the petitioners were all living and working abroad.
In your case, to see if there is substantial compliance by Mr. X with the requirements for the verification and certification of non-forum shopping as mentioned above, we need to check the following: If Mr. X’s lawyer is armed with a Special Power of Attorney from Mr. X to cause the preparation and filing of the petition and signing it on his behalf; what is Mr. X’s circumstance that would justify the authorization (i.e., if Mr. X is living abroad); and if Mr. X’s lawyer has ample knowledge to swear to the truth of the allegations in the petition and such allegations have been made in good faith or are true and correct. Absent the foregoing requirements, the execution by Mr. X’s lawyer of the verification and certification of non-forum shopping will not be allowed by the courts.
Atty. Kathy Larios