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Amoroso and Constantino, Jr. vs. Vantage International et al.

RONNIE ADRIANO R. AMOROSO AND VICENTE R. CONSTANTINO, JR., PETITIONERS, VS. VANTAGE DRILLING INTERNATIONAL AND GROUP OF COMPANIES (FORMERLY VANTAGE DRILLING COMPANY AND GROUP OF COMPANIES), SUPPLY OILFIELD SERVICES, INC., LOUIS PAUL HEUSAFF, VANTAGE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CO. PTE. LTD., VANTAGE INTERNATIONAL PAYROLL COMPANY PTE. LTD., AND VANTAGE DRILLER III COMPANY, RESPONDENTS.

G.R. No. 238477 | 2022-08-08

SECOND DIVISION

D E C I S I O N
 
LEONEN, SAJ.:
 
No court or quasi-judicial agency can acquire jurisdiction over a defendant or respondent unless they are either validly served with summons or voluntarily appear in court.[1] The doctrine of piercing the corporate fiction is only applied during trial to determine established liability, because it presupposes that it had previously acquired jurisdiction over a defendant or respondent.[2]

As such, when a party seeks to use the doctrine of piercing the corporate fiction to ascribe liability op several entities, this Court must first determine whether it has jurisdiction over the...