G.R. No. 172595 - BIENVENIDO EJERCITO AND JOSE MARTINEZ, VS. M.R. VARGAS CONSTRUCTION, BRION, MARCIAL R. VARGAS, SOLE OWNER, RENATO AGARAO,** PROJECT FOREMAN.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly summons should have been served on Vargas himself, following Rule 14, Sections 6 [36] and 7 [37] of the Rules of Court on personal service and substituted service. In the instant case, no service of summons, whether personal or substituted, was effected on Vargas. It is well-established that summons upon a respondent or a defendant must be served by handing a copy thereof to him in person or, if he refuses to receive it, by tendering it to him. Personal service of summons most effectively ensures that the notice desired under the constitutional requirement of due process is accomplished. If however efforts to find him personally would make prompt service impossible, service may be completed by substituted service, i.e. , by leaving copies of the summons at his dwelling house or residence with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein or by leaving the copies at his office or regular place of business with some competent person in charge thereof. [38] The modes of service of summons should be strictly followed in order that the court may acquire jurisdiction over the respondents, and failure to strictly comply with the requirements of the rules regarding the order of its publication is a fatal defect in the service of summons. It cannot be overemphasized that the statutory requirements on service of summons, whether personally, by substituted service or by publication, must be followed strictly, faithfully and fully, and any mode of service other than that prescribed by the statute is considered ineffective. [39] Agarao was not a party respondent in the injunction case before the trial court. Certainly, he is not a real party-in-interest against whom the injunction suit may be brought, absent any showing that he is also an owner or he acts as an agent of respondent enterprise. Agarao is only a foreman, bereft of any authority to defend the suit on behalf of respondent enterprise. As earlier mentioned, the suit against an entity without juridical personality like respondent enterprise may be instituted only by or against its owner. Impleading Agarao as a party-respondent in the suit for injunction would have no legal consequence. In any event, the petition for injunction described Agarao only as a representative of M.R. Vargas Construction Co., which is a mere inconsequentiality considering that only Vargas, as its sole owner, is authorized by the Rules of Court to defend the suit on behalf of the enterprise. Despite Agarao's not being a party-respondent, petitioners nevertheless confuse his presence or attendance at the hearing on the application for TRO with the notion of voluntary appearance, which interpretation has a legal nuance as far as jurisdiction is concerned. While it is true that an appearance in whatever form, without explicitly objecting to the jurisdiction of the court over the person, is a submission to the jurisdiction of the court over the person, the appearance must constitute a positive act on