Exceeding Judicial Authority: Why Guardianship Courts Can’t Issue Preliminary Attachments Outside Their Limited Powers

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TLDR: This Supreme Court case clarifies that guardianship courts have limited jurisdiction and cannot issue writs of preliminary attachment in guardianship proceedings to secure potential debts of the ward’s property. Such orders are considered a grave abuse of authority, especially when the parties involved are not directly part of the guardianship case. Judges must act within their legal powers to avoid administrative sanctions.

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SPOUSES LEONARDO DARACAN AND MA. TERESA DARACAN, PETITIONERS, VS. JUDGE ELI G.C. NATIVIDAD, RTC, BRANCH 48, SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA, RESPONDENT. A.M. No. RTJ-99-1447, September 27, 2000

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INTRODUCTION

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Imagine your business being forcibly entered and your merchandise seized based on a court order from a case you’re not even directly involved in. This was the harsh reality for the Daracan spouses, highlighting the critical importance of understanding the limits of judicial power. This case against Judge Natividad of the Regional Trial Court of Pampanga arose from a seemingly overzealous issuance of a writ of preliminary attachment in a guardianship proceeding. The central legal question: Can a guardianship court issue a writ of preliminary attachment to secure property allegedly owed to the wards, even against individuals not formally party to the guardianship case itself?

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LEGAL CONTEXT: GUARDIANSHIP COURTS AND PRELIMINARY ATTACHMENT

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Philippine law meticulously carves out specific jurisdictions for different types of courts. Guardianship courts, established under Rule 96 of the Rules of Court, are special proceedings courts with a limited scope. Their primary function is to oversee the welfare and property of individuals deemed incapable of managing their own affairs, the ‘wards’. This jurisdiction is not unlimited; it is confined to matters directly related to the guardianship itself – the care, custody, and property management of the ward.

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On the other hand, a writ of preliminary attachment is a provisional remedy governed by Rule 57 of the Rules of Court. It’s a powerful tool allowing a plaintiff in certain civil actions to seize a defendant’s property as security for a potential judgment. Crucially, Rule 57 Section 1 explicitly enumerates the grounds for its issuance, which are typically actions for recovery of money or property based on specific causes of action like breach of contract, fraud, or embezzlement. It states:

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“SECTION 1. Grounds upon which attachment may issue. – At the commencement of the action or at any time before entry of judgment, a plaintiff or any proper party may have the property of the adverse party attached as security for the satisfaction of any judgment that may be recovered in the following cases: