Leave of Court

The admission of a third-party complaint requires leave of court. (Section 11, Rule 6, Rules of Court, as amended by A.M. 19-10-20-SC; DBP v. Clarges Realty Corporation, G.R. No. 170060, August 17, 2016)


Sound discretion

The admission of a third-party complaint lies within the sound discretion of the trial court. (DBP v. Clarges Realty Corporation, G.R. No. 170060, August 17, 2016)


Grounds for the denial of the third (fourth, etc.)-party complaint:

The third (fourth, etc.)-party complaint shall be denied admission, and the court shall require the defendant to institute a separate action, where: 
  1. the third (fourth, etc.)-party defendant cannot be located within thirty (30) calendar days from the grant of such leave;
  2. matters extraneous to the issue in the principal case are raised; or 
  3. the effect would be to introduce a new and separate controversy into the action (Section 11, Rule 6, Rules of Court, as amended by A.M. 19-10-20-SC).

Remedy if the motion for leave to file third-party complaint is denied

If leave to file a third-party complaint is denied, then the proper remedy is to file a separate case, not to insist on the admission of the third-party complaint all the way up to the Supreme Court (DBP v. Clarges Realty Corporation, G.R. No. 170060, August 17, 2016).


Requisites for  Third-Party Action

The requisites for a third-party action are:
  1. that the party to be impleaded must not yet be a party to the action; 
  2. that the claim against the third-party defendant must belong to the original defendant; 
  3. the claim of the original defendant against the third-party defendant must be based upon the plaintiffs claim against the original defendant; and, 
  4. the defendant is attempting to transfer to the third-party defendant the liability asserted against him by the original plaintiff. (Philtranco Service Enterprises v. Paras, G.R. No. 161909, April 25, 2012)