Section 1
SECTION 1. Section four hundred and ninety-seven of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, entitled "An Act providing a Code of Procedure in Civil Actions and Special Proceedings in the Philippine Islands," is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "SEC. 497. Hearings confined to matters of law, with certain exceptions.—In hearings upon bills of exception in civil actions and special proceedings, the Supreme Court shall not review the evidence taken in the court below, nor retry the questions of fact, except as in this section hereinafter provided; but shall determine only questions of law raised by the bill of exceptions. But the Supreme Review Court may review the evidence taken in the court below and, after giving due weight to the fact that the judge who tried the case saw the witnessess when they testified, affirm or reverse by a preponderance of the evidence, or modify by such preponderance, the judgment there rendered, as justice may require, in the following cases: "(1) If before the final determination of an action pending in the Supreme Court on bill of exceptions, new and material evidence evidence be discovered by either party, which could not have been discovered before the trial in the court bellow, by the exercise of due diligence, and which is of such a character as probably to change the result, the Supreme Court may receive and consider such a new evidence, together with that adduced on the trial bellow, and may grant or refuse a new trial, or render such other judgment as ought, in view of the whole case, to be rendered, upon such terms as it may deem just. The party seeking a new trial, or a reversal of the judgment on the ground of newly discovered evidence, may petition the Supreme Court for such new trial, and shall attach to the petition affidavits showing the facts entitling him to a new trial and the newly discovered, evidence. Upon the filing of such petition in the Supreme Court, the court shall, on notice to both parties, make such order as to taking further testimony by each party, upon the petition, either orally in court, or by depositions, upon notice, as it may deem just. The petition, with the evidence, .shall be hoard at the same time as the bill of exceptions; "(2) If the excepting party filed a motion in the Court of First Instance for a new trial, upon the ground that the evidence was insufficient to justify the decision, and the judge overruled said motion, and due exception was taken to his overruling the same, the Supreme Court may review the evidence and make such findings upon the facts by a preponderance of the evidence, and render such judgment, as justice and equity may require. But, if the Supreme Court shall be of the opinion that this exception is frivolous and. not made in good faith, it may impose double or treble additional costs upon the excepting party, and may order them to be paid by the counsel prosecuting the bill of exceptions, if in its opinion justice so requires."