Short answer. Yes, generally. When a TRO or preliminary injunction application is included in your complaint and the case is filed in a multiple-sala court, raffle can only happen after notice to, and in the presence of, the adverse party, accompanied by service of summons. That requirement is excused only if summons genuinely could not be served despite diligent efforts.
What the law says
When an application for a writ of preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order is included in a complaint or any initiatory pleading, the case, if filed in a multiple-sala court, shall be raffled only after notice to and in the presence of the adverse party or the person to be enjoined.
Rule 58, Section 4 — Verified application and bond for preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order. Read the full provision →
What the law says
where the summons could not be served personally or by substituted service despite diligent efforts, or the adverse party is a resident of the Philippines temporarily absent therefrom or is a nonresident thereof, the requirement of prior or contemporaneous service of summons shall not apply
Rule 58, Section 4 — Verified application and bond for preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order. Read the full provision →
Raffle only after notice, in multiple-sala courts
Rule 58, Section 4(c) addresses exactly this situation: when an application for a writ of preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order is included in a complaint or any initiatory pleading, and the case is filed in a multiple-sala court — one with more than one branch — the case shall be raffled only after notice to and in the presence of the adverse party or the person to be enjoined. So the raffle itself, which decides which judge gets the case, cannot happen behind the other side's back when a TRO or injunction is being sought at the outset.
Notice must come with service of summons
That notice is not a bare heads-up. The rule requires it to be preceded, or accompanied at the same time, by service of summons on the adverse party in the Philippines, together with a copy of the complaint or initiatory pleading and the applicant's affidavit and bond. In other words, the adverse party is meant to be formally brought into the case, with the actual pleading and supporting papers in hand, at essentially the same moment the case is assigned to a judge, not notified informally after the fact.
The narrow exception for unservable summons
The requirement is not absolute. Where summons could not be served personally or by substituted service despite diligent efforts, or where the adverse party is a Philippine resident who is temporarily out of the country or is a nonresident altogether, the rule says the requirement of prior or contemporaneous service of summons does not apply. That exception is meant for parties who genuinely could not be reached, not as a routine way to skip notifying someone who could have been served with reasonable effort.
What happens after raffle: the summary hearing
Once the case has gone through raffle, a temporary restraining order application still cannot simply be granted on the papers. The rule requires it to be acted upon only after all parties are heard in a summary hearing, held within twenty-four hours of the sheriff's return of service or of the records reaching the branch selected by raffle. So notice before raffle is only the first checkpoint; a hearing where both sides are heard follows before any restraining order is actually acted on.