JURISDICTION OVER THE PARTIES IN CIVIL CASES

  

           JURISDICTION OVER THE PARTIES 

           Courts acquire jurisdiction over the plaintiffs upon the filing of the complaint. On the other hand, jurisdiction over the defendants in a civil case is acquired either through the service of summons upon them or through their voluntary appearance in court and their submission to its authority (Orion Security Corporation v. Kalfam Enterprises, Inc., G.R. No. 163287, 27 April 2007, 522 SCRA 617, citing Casimina v. Legaspi, G.R. No. 147530, 29 June 2005, 462 SCRA 171, 177). The service of summons is a vital and indispensable ingredient of due process (Spouses Mason v. Court of Appeals, 459 Phil. 689, 699 (2003), citing National Power Corporation v. NLRC, 339 Phil. 89, 107 (1997).  As a rule, if defendants have not been validly summoned, the court acquires no jurisdiction over their person, and a judgment rendered against them is null and void (Bank of the Philippine Islands v. Spouses Evangelista, 441 Phil. 445, 453 (2002).