they had until May 3, 2000 to file their intended petition. The spouses however filed
their petition on May 8, 2000. They themselves even admit that they filed their
petition late. It is therefore clear that the CA simply applied the rules, while the
spouses concededly failed to observe the very same rules.
The dismissal of the petition by the Court of Appeals was discretion duly
exercised and not misused or abused.
The spouses anchor their petition on an invocation of the liberal construction
rule. However, this is not a license to disregard procedural requirements. The
spouses caused their own predicament when they decided to change their counsel
just a week before the period of expiration of the period to appeal before the CA.
Furthermore, the spouses failed to show any persuasive reason why they
should be exempted from strictly abiding by the rules when they filed their petition
for review in the CA beyond the prescribed period. They again disregarded the rules
in various ways absent any compelling reason why they filed this petition.