Responsive pleadings must be filed within the period prescribed under the Rules; otherwise, the party may be declared in default . The Supreme Court has repeatedly reminded party litigants and their counsel to abide by – rather than flaunt – procedural rules for these rules illumine the path of the law and rationalize the pursuit of justice.
The period to file an Answer has been extended under the 2019 Proposed Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure (hereinafter, “2019 Amendments”), which takes effect on 1 May 2020. Here is a summary of the various periods to file an Answer, pursuant to Rule 11 (“When to File Responsive Pleadings”) under the 2019 Amendments. The summary of other Rules may be tracked through the Menu.
At the outset, we emphasize that a motion for extension of time is a prohibited motion (see Rules on Motions), with the only exception of a 30-day maximum extension to file an Answer (see Extension of Time to File Pleadings).
ANSWER to COMPLAINT:
30 calendar days after service of summons, unless a different period is fixed by the court. [Under the old 1997 Rules, the period to file the Answer is 15 days.]
- The time to answer a third (fourth, etc.)-party complaint shall be governed by the same rule as the answer to the complaint.
- 60 calendar days after receipt of summons, where the defendant is a foreign private juridical entity and service of summons is made on the government official designated by law to receive the same. [Under the old 1997 Rules, the period to file the Answer is 30 days.]
ANSWER to AMENDED COMPLAINT:
30 calendar days after being served with a copy of the amended complaint, if such filing is a matter of right. [Under the old 1997 Rules, the period to file the Answer is 15 days.]
- 15 calendar days from notice of the order admitting the Answer, when the filing of the amended complaint is not a matter of right. An answer earlier filed may serve as the answer to the amended complaint if no new answer is filed. This Rule shall apply to the answer to an amended counterclaim, amended cross- claim, amended third (fourth, etc.)-party complaint, and amended complaint-in-intervention. [Under the old 1997 Rules, the period to file the Answer is 10 days.]
- But in case of ANSWER to SUPPLEMENTAL COMPLAINT : 20 calendar days from notice of the order admitting a supplemental complaint, unless a different period is fixed by the court. The answer to the complaint shall serve as the answer to the supplemental complaint if no new or supplemental answer is filed. Under the old 1997 Rules, the period to file the Answer is 10 days.
ANSWER to COUNTERCLAIM or CROSS-CLAIM:
20 calendar days from service of the counterclaim or cross-claim.
- A compulsory counterclaim or a cross-claim that a defending party has at the time he or she files his or her Answer shall be contained in said Answer.
- A counterclaim or a cross-claim which either matured or was acquired by a party after serving his or her pleading may, with the permission of the court, be presented as a counterclaim or a cross-claim by supplemental pleading before judgment.
- When a pleader fails to set up a counterclaim or a cross-claim through oversight, inadvertence, or excusable neglect, or when justice requires, he or she may, by leave of court, set up the counterclaim or cross-claim by amendment before judgment.
REPLY:
15 calendar days days from service of the pleading responded to, if the filing of reply allowed under the 2019 Amendments (see Kinds of Pleadings). [Under the old 1997 Rules, the period to file the Answer is 10 days.]
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