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In Republic v. Heirs of Enrique Oribello, Jr., et al., G.R. No. 199501, 6 March
2013, the Supreme Court reminded trial courts to exercise their power to dismiss a
case motu proprio with caution. According to the Supreme Court, [r]esort to such
action must be determined according to the procedural history of each case, the
situation at the time of the dismissal, and the diligence (or the lack thereof) of the
plaintiff to proceed therein. If a lesser sanction would achieve the same result, then
dismissal should not be resorted to, thus:
While it is within the trial court's discretion to dismiss motu proprio the
complaint on the ground of plaintiff's failure to prosecute,
In Republic, the trial court therein deemed the Republic of the Philippines to
have abandoned its complaint for reversion due to non-appearance at a
hearing. The respondent argued that this declaration of abandonment is
tantamount to a dismissal of the case for failure to prosecute. Since the
Republic failed to appeal the said order, the order should be considered final,
hence properly leading to the dismissal of the case.
The Supreme Court did not side with the respondent on this point. Instead, the
Supreme Court examined the records and noted that the Republic was merely
deemed to have terminated its presentation of evidence. According to the High
Court, the records of the case clearly belie the argument that there was manifest
lack of intent to prosecute. While there was delay, this was not sufficient to
cause the dismissal of the case motu proprio: