Section 1. Scope. —

1. This Rule shall apply to all actions, proceedings, and incidents requiring the reception of evidence before:

   1. The Metropolitan Trial Courts, the Municipal Trial Courts in Cities, the Municipal Trial Courts, the Municipal Circuit Trial Courts, and the Shari'a Circuit Courts but shall not apply to small claims cases under A.M. 08-8-7-SC;

   2. The Regional Trial Courts and the Shari'a District Courts;

   3. The Sandiganbayan, the Court of Tax Appeals, the Court of Appeals, and the Shari'a Appellate Courts;

   4. The investigating officers and bodies authorized by the Supreme Court to receive evidence, including the Integrated Bar of the Philippine (IBP); and

   5. The special courts and quasi-judicial bodies, whose rules of procedure are subject to disapproval of the Supreme Court, insofar as their existing rules of procedure contravene the provisions of this Rule. [1]

2. For the purpose of brevity, the above courts, quasi-judicial bodies, or investigating officers shall be uniformly referred to here as the "court."

[1]: By virtue of the Supreme Court's authority under Section 5 (5), Article VIII, of the 1987 Constitution to disapprove rules of procedure of special courts and quasi-judicial bodies.