Right to appeal; form, contents

The right to appeal is not a natural right and is not part of due process, but merely a statutory privilege to be exercised only in accordance with the law. As the appealing party, the petitioner must comply with the requirements of the relevant rules; otherwise, she loses the statutory right to appeal. The Supreme Court emphasizes that the procedures regulating appeals as laid down in the Rules of Court must be followed because strict compliance with them is indispensable for the orderly and speedy disposition of justice.[1]

Section 2, Rule 42 of the Rules of Court provides:

Section 2. Form and contents. - The petition shall be filed in seven (7) legible copies, with the original copy intended for the court being indicated as such by the petitioner, and shall (a) state the full names of the parties to the case, without impleading the lower courts or judges thereof either as petitioners or respondents; (b) indicate the specific material dates showing that it was filed on time; (c) set forth concisely a statement of the matters involved, the issues raised, the specification of errors of fact or law, or both, allegedly committed by the Regional Trial Court, and the reasons or arguments relied upon for the allowance of the appeal; (d) be accompanied by clearly legible duplicate originals or true copies of the judgments or final orders of both lower courts, certified correct by the clerk of court of the Regional Trial Court, the requisite number of plain copies thereof and of the pleadings and other material portions of the record as would support the allegations of the petition.

Corollarily, Section 3 of this Rule states that, "[t]he failure of the petitioner to comply with any of the foregoing requirements regarding, among others, the contents of and the documents which should accompany the petition shall be sufficient ground for the dismissal thereof."

[1] See Juanita Magsino v. Elena De Ocampo and Ramon Guico, G.R. No. 166944, August 18, 2014.