Wednesday, March 16, 2011

SC amends rule on summoning foreign firms to court

Section 12, Rule 14 of the Rules of Court used to state that if a foreign private entity is involved as defendant in a legal suit, it can be summoned to court through its resident agent designated by law for that purpose, or if no such agent through the government official designated by law to that effect, or on any of its officers or agents within the Philippines.
In an en banc session, the Supreme Court now allow the following ways to summon to court foreign private juridical entities not registered in the Philippines or have no resident agent, (1) serving the summons personally through the appropriate court in the foreign country with the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs; (2) publishing the summons once in a general circulation newspaper in the country where the defendant may be found; (3) by fax or any recognized electronic means that could generate proof of service.
The new rule paves the way for the filing of a suit against a foreign private corporation even without a resident agent in the Philippines. Under the old rules, summons could only be served on the resident agent , if any, and in the absence of one, through the Securities and Exchange Commission or Department of Trade and Industry.

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