JUSTICE MARTIN VILLARAMA, JR.: RIGHT TO APPEAL

The right to appeal is not a natural right or a part of due process, but merely a statutory privilege and may be exercised only in the manner and in accordance with the provisions of the law. The party who seeks to avail of the same must comply with the requirements of the rules, failing in which the right to appeal is lost. (Producers Bank of the Philippines v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 126620, April 17, 2002, 381 SCRA 185, 197.) (Heirs of Agapatio T. Olarte and Angela A. Olarte et al. vs. Office of the President of the Philippines et al., G.R. No. 177995, June 15, 2011, VILLARAMA, JR., J.).