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FACTS:
Core of the Case: Contract entered into by the Republic(RP) through Philippine
Navy and MFC for the construction of 55 units f fiber glass speed boats.
RP Request for admission on Marcelo, the latter included counter request for the
admission on matters.
Third Amended Complaint RP was granted a leave to file the 3rd amended
complaint, impleading petitioner corporation and two others. As alleged, newly
impleaded corporations are owned and dummies of the individual defendant.
1991, Marcelo submitted his own Pre-trial brief with written interrogatories, first
set and request for admission.
1996, MFC filed Pre-trial brief with written interrogatories, first set and request for
admission same as with the petitioner corporations.
RP filed separate opposition only to Marcelo and MFC and in turned filed their
respective replies.
Held:
The Republic did not answer the written interrogatories of the other defendant
corporations. In effect, the Republic admitted the non-participation of the other
defendant corporations in the contracts in question.
The Republic cannot plausibly evade the consequences of its failure to answer written
interrogatories and requests for admission. If the plaintiff fails or refuses to answer the
interrogatories, it may be a good basis for the dismissal of his complaint for non-suit
unless he can justify such failure or refusal.
"Evidentiary matters' may be inquired into and learned by the parties before the trial.
Indeed, it is the purpose and policy of the law that the parties - before the trial if not
indeed even before the pre-trial - should discover or inform themselves of all the facts
relevant to the action, not only those known to them individually, but also those known
to their adversaries; in other words, the desideratum is that civil trials should not be
carried on in the dark; and the Rules of Court make this ideal possible through the
deposition-discovery mechanism set forth in Rules 24 to 29.