G.R. No. L-27792 July 28, 1969
ANTONIO NARITO, petitioner, vs. JOSE CARRIDO, respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Antonio Narito was the defendant in a civil case in the Court of First Instance of Camarines Sur, where judgment was rendered against him. He appealed to the Court of Appeals. The appellate court required him to pay the docket fee and file forty copies of the printed record on appeal. Narito paid the docket fee but requested permission to file a typewritten or mimeographed record on appeal instead, claiming to be old and very poor. The Court of Appeals denied his request and subsequent motions for reconsideration, reiterating the order to file a printed record on appeal. Narito then petitioned the Supreme Court to set aside the Court of Appeals’ resolutions and to be allowed to litigate as a pauper before the Supreme Court, which was granted. The Court of Appeals, in its answer, contested Narito’s claim of poverty, alleging he owned and possessed land from which he derived harvests and had paid his lawyer attorney’s fees. Narito did not controvert these specific allegations.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in denying Antonio Narito’s request to file a non-printed record on appeal and to litigate as a pauper before it.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition. The Court held that under Section 16, Rule 41 of the Rules of Court, a petition to be allowed to appeal as a pauper must be filed with and determined by the trial court, not the appellate court. The trial court is the proper forum to decide the factual question of whether an appellant is a pauper and whether the case is of sufficient importance to warrant review. The Supreme Court noted there was no pretense that Narito had asked or was allowed by the trial court to litigate as a pauper. Consequently, the Court of Appeals correctly denied his request. The petition was denied without costs.