Section 44June 17, 1948, Sec./Art. 44

Original jurisdiction. - Courts of First Instance shall have original jurisdiction:

(a) In all civil actions in which the subject of the litigation is not capable of pecuniary estimation;

(b) In all civil actions which involve the title to or possession of real property, or any interest therein, or the legality of any tax, impost or assessment, except actions of forcible entry into and detainer of lands or buildings, original jurisdiction of which is conferred by this Act upon justice of the peace courts and municipal courts;

(c) In all cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest, or the value of the property in controversy, amounts to more than two thousand pesos;

(d) In all actions in admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, irrespective of the value of the property in controversy or the amount of the demand;

(e) In all matters of probate, both of testate and intestate estates, appointment of guardians, trustees and receivers, and in all actions for annulment of marriage, and in all such special cases and proceedings as are not otherwise provided for;

(f) In all criminal cases in which the penalty provided by law is imprisonment for more than six months, or a fine of more than two hundred pesos;

(g) Over all crimes and offenses committed on the high seas or beyond the jurisdiction of any country, or within any of the navigable waters of the Philippines, on board a ship or water craft of any kind registered or licensed in the Philippines in accordance with the laws thereof. The jurisdiction herein conferred may be exercised by the Court of First Instance in any province into which the ship or water craft upon which the crime or offense was committed shall come after the commission thereof: Provided, That the court first lawfully taking cognizance thereof shall have jurisdiction of the same to the exclusion of all other courts in the Philippines; and

(h) Said courts and their judges, or any of them, shall have the power to issue writs of injunction, mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto and habeas corpus in their respective provinces and districts, in the manner provided in the Rules of Court.