Short answer. Like a motion for reconsideration, a motion for new trial filed in the Court of Appeals must be resolved within ninety days counted from the date the court declares it submitted for resolution, not from the date it was originally filed or from when the underlying judgment was rendered.

What the law says

In the Court of Appeals, a motion for new trial shall be resolved within ninety days from the date when the court declares it submitted for resolution.

Rule 53, Section 3 — Resolution of motion. Read the full provision →

A parallel rule to motions for reconsideration

Rule 53, Section 3 mirrors the ninety-day resolution period that Rule 52 sets for motions for reconsideration, applying the same standard to motions for new trial. Both types of post-judgment motions in the Court of Appeals are meant to be resolved within the same window once the case is ripe for the court's decision. Keeping the two deadlines identical avoids giving litigants an incentive to prefer one type of post-judgment motion over the other purely because it might be resolved faster. This ninety-day period binds the Court of Appeals as the deciding body; it does not itself excuse the court from acting, and it says nothing about the separate deadlines that bind the movant and the adverse party in filing the motion and any opposition to it.

Submission, not filing, starts the clock

The ninety days run from the date the court declares the motion submitted for resolution — typically after any comment or opposition from the adverse party has been filed or the period to file one has lapsed. A motion for new trial can sit on the docket for some time between filing and that submission order, so the actual filing date is not the reference point for measuring the ninety days. Confusing the two dates can lead a party to wrongly conclude the court has missed its deadline when, in fact, the ninety-day period has not even begun to run. Checking the docket for the actual submission order is therefore the more reliable way to gauge how much time the court genuinely has left.

Why this matters practically

Because the case will already have generated affidavits and supporting evidence under Section 1, and possibly further proceedings ordered under Section 2, the point at which a motion for new trial becomes submitted for resolution can come well after the motion was first filed, which in turn affects when a party can reasonably expect a ruling. A party tracking the case should watch for the submission order itself, rather than counting ninety days from the motion's filing date, to avoid mistakenly concluding that the court is already overdue.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.