In the determination of whether or not the complaint states a cause of action, the annexes attached to the complaint may be considered, they being parts of the complaint. The rule that the court's scrutiny is limited to the four corners of the complaint is subject to exceptions as laid down in Marcopper Mining Corporation v. Garcia, 143 SCRA 178 (1986): "Moreover, the rule on a motion to dismiss cited by the petitioner, while correct as a general rule is not without exceptions. In the present case, before the trial court issued the questioned order dismissing petitioner's complaint, it had the opportunity to examine the merits of the complaint, the answer with counterclaim, the petitioner's answer to the counterclaim and its answer to the request for admission. It was but logical for said court to consider all of these pleadings in determining whether or not there was a sufficient cause of action in the petitioner's complaint. The order of dismissal was in the nature of a summary judgment." Commenting on the exception as expounded in the above-cited case, Justice Florenz D. Regalado, an eminent authority on Remedial Law has this to say: "x x x. The exception is provided in Sec. 2, Rule 9, i.e., where the motion to dismiss on this ground in (sic) filed during the trial in which case the evidence presented is considered. Also, it has been held that under this ground the trial court can consider all the pleadings filed, including annexes, motions and the evidence on record (Marcopper Mining Corp. vs. Garcia, G.R. No. 55935, July 30, 1986)." [G.R. No. 120958. December 16, 1996]
