Short answer. The Municipal Trial Court. A person deprived of possession by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth, or whose right to possession has expired or been terminated, may bring the action there within one year of the unlawful deprivation or withholding of possession.
What the law says
a person deprived of the possession of any land or building by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth, or a lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person against whom the possession of any land or building is unlawfully withheld after the expiration or termination of the right to hold possession, by virtue of any contract, express or implied, or the legal representatives or assigns of any such lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person, may, at any time within one year after such unlawful deprivation or withholding of possession, bring an action in the proper Municipal Trial Court against the person or persons unlawfully withholding or depriving of possession, or any person or persons claiming under them, for the restitution of such possession, together with damages and costs.
Rule 70, Section 1 — Who may institute proceedings, and when. Read the full provision →
The Municipal Trial Court is the designated forum
The rule fixes the court directly: the action is brought in the proper Municipal Trial Court. Ejectment cases — whether forcible entry or unlawful detainer — belong at this level of the trial court system, not the Regional Trial Court, regardless of the property's assessed value or how much it may actually be worth.
This holds true even for high-value property, since the rule keys venue to the nature of the action rather than the property's monetary worth.
Two distinct situations are covered by this rule
The rule reaches both forcible entry — someone deprived of the possession of any land or building by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth — and unlawful detainer, where a lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person has possession unlawfully withheld after the expiration or termination of the right to hold possession under a contract. Both situations end up in the same court, under the same rule.
The one-year filing window is strict
The action must be brought at any time within one year after such unlawful deprivation or withholding of possession. This period is what keeps the case within the Municipal Trial Court's summary ejectment procedure — missing this window generally means pursuing a different, more involved action in an entirely different court instead.
Someone who waits too long to act loses access to the faster, summary process this rule provides.
Who may bring the action, and against whom
The action may be brought by the dispossessed person or the legal representatives or assigns of any such lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person, against the person or persons unlawfully withholding or depriving of possession, or any person or persons claiming under them. The remedy sought is restitution of such possession, together with damages and costs, all within this same summary proceeding.