verbal agreement-- of paying debts

hi, atty.. can i ask for your opinion in my current situation..

my friend of mine, undergo betting scenarios, unfortunately he lose and owed my connection 17k.. he then agreed to pay 7k, and ask me to look for the 10k and take care of it..
so eventually me and my friends lend him the 10k to have no worries.. so now he have to pay the 10k directly to me and my friends..

months passed after we just agreed to his proposed conditions for paying like 1k a month (but only happened once) ,5-6 months after with a lot of stupid reasons (lose to casino, hold ups, no income) which i know is not true. ( he has a stable salary per month).. he then now admits not to pay and tells us to wait for his friend to pay him.. which i see very unreasonable because why is another person involved now, isn't hes debt concerns him and us..

i know its a low amount but still important.. any advices on what i could do?

what proof can you show that he owes you? if you live in the same municipality or city, you can first file a complaint at the bgy where he resides. if not, you can file a small claims case directly at the MTC where you reside. the rules are on sc.judiciary.gov.ph.

for proof perse:

i have lots of text and emails that contains false promises and condition to pay (from him which was never done)
also because we just belong to the same core group of friends, so everybody knows what he did, a lot of people can testify including me and my friend which he owes..

is this enough or do i need more? thanks atty

what other materials should i prepare.. in the pdf of small claims if the accused doesn't show up? on my understanding the claim is dismissed?

those emails and texts if proven they are from the debtor can be considered evidence of the debt. the pre-formatted complaint plus the attachment of some docu evidence is all it takes to start a small claim.

if the defendant(not accused) does not appear, the judge will resolve the case based on the evidence that you provided. it will not be dismissed as long as summons was validly served.