SC raises limit of small claims cases to P400k in MeTCs

The Supreme Court has increased the limit of small claims cases that can be filed before the Metropolitan Trial Courts from P300,000 to P400,000, effective April 1.

Recommended by the Office of the Court Administrator and taken up by the Court en banc, the initiative aims to "streamline and harmonize the rules of procedure for money claims filed before all first level courts," the SC Public Information Office said Wednesday.

In 2010, the SC authorized the implementation of the Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases to all first level courts in the country for money claims amounting to not more than P100,000, the PIO said.

The limit was raised to P200,000 in 2015 and to P300,000 last year, it added.

"The reform also decreases cost on the part of the claimant by approximately 20 percent, since attorney’s fees are no longer necessary given that lawyers are not allowed to represent a party in small claims cases," the PIO said.

The new move by the SC "result in the speedier and more efficient resolution of money claims cases, as well as help increase the country's score in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report," said Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, who chairs the Special Committee on Small Claims Cases, according to the PIO.

The PIO said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez hopes the move "will benefit small entrepreneurs using the court system" and lead to a higher ranking for the Philippines in the World Bank Doing Business Survey. —KBK, GMA News