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Santo Tomas University Hospital vs. Surla, et al.

SANTO TOMAS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, petitioner vs. CESAR ANTONIO Y. SURLA and EVANGELINE SURLA, respondents.

G.R. No. 129718 | 1998-08-17

D E C I S I O N


VITUG, J.:

Can a compulsory counterclaim pleaded in an Answer be dismissed on the ground of a failure to accompany it with a certificate of non-forum shopping? This question is the core issue presented for resolution in the instant petition.

First, a factual background.

On 26 December 1995, respondent spouses filed a complaint for damages against petitioner Santo Tomas University Hospital with the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City predicated on an allegation by the spouses that their son, Emmanuel Cesar Surla, while confined at the said hospital for having been born prematurely, had accidentally fallen from his incubator on...