VENUE IN LIBEL CASES:

 Under Article 360 of the RPC, as amended by Republic Act No. 4363, libel cases where the complainant is a private individual is either (1) where the complainant actually resides at the time of the commission of the offense; or (2) where the alleged defamatory article was printed and first published. 

          If the private complainant opts for the second, the Information (formal indictment) must specifically state where the libelous article was printed and first published. 

         

          If the libelous article appears on a website, there is no way of finding out the location of its printing and first publication.

          It is not enough for the complainant to lay the venue where the article was accessed, as this will open the floodgates to the libel suit being filed in all other locations where the website is also accessed or capable of being accessed, and spawn the very ills the amendment sought to prevent.

          Thus, in cases where the libellous article appears on a website, the private complainant has the option to file the case in his/her place of residence, which will not necessitate finding out exactly where the libelous matter was printed and first published.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

LIE DETECTOR TEST (POLYGRAPH):

      A lie detector test is based on the theory that an individual will undergo physiological changes, capable of being monitored by sensors attached to his body, when he is not telling the truth.  The Supreme Court does not put credit and faith on the result of a lie detector test inasmuch as it has not been accepted by the scientific community as an accurate means of ascertaining truth or deception.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

AN ACTING APPOINTEE HAS NO CAUSE OF ACTION TO FILE A PETITION FOR QUO WARRANTO AGAINST THE NEW APPOINTEE:

     Quo warranto is a remedy to try disputes with respect to the title to a public office. Generally, quo warranto proceedings are commenced by the Government as the proper party-plaintiff. However, under Section 5, Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, an individual may commence such action if he claims to be entitled to the public office allegedly usurped by another. The Supreme Court stressed that the person instituting the quo warranto proceedings in his own behalf must show that he is entitled to the office in dispute; otherwise, the action may be dismissed at any stage. Emphatically, Section 6, Rule 66 requires the petitioner to  state in  the  petition his right to the public office and the respondent's unlawful possession of the disputed position. As early as 1905, the Court already held that for a petition for quo warranto to be successful, the suing private individual must show a clear right to the contested office. His failure to establish this right warrants the dismissal of the suit for lack of cause of action; it is not even necessary to pass upon the right of the defendant who, by virtue of his appointment, continues in the undisturbed possession of his office. Since the petitioner merely holds an acting appointment (and an expired one at that), he clearly does not have a cause of action to maintain the present petition.

https://www.facebook.com/

Provisional Remedies:

Provisional remedies are writs and processes available during the pendency of the action which may be resorted to by a litigant to preserve and protect certain rights and interests therein pending rendition, and for purposes of the ultimate effects, of a final judgment in the case. They are provisional because they constitute temporary measures availed of during the pendency of the action, and they are ancillary because they are mere incidents in and are dependent upon the result of the main action. 

           Provisional remedies are not main actions. They are merely ancillary actions attached to the main or general action. They are in aid of the principal action and cannot exist independently of the principal action. The purpose of provisional remedies is to preserve or protect the rights or interests of the parties during the pendency of the principal action.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

WHEN A PRIVATE PROSECUTOR MAY PROSECUTE A CASE EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR:

       A private prosecutor may prosecute the criminal action up to the end of the trial even in the absence of the public prosecutor if he authorized to do so in writing. This written authorization shall be given by either the Chief of the Prosecution Office or the Regional State Prosecutor. The written authorization in order to be given effect must however, be appointed by the court (Sec. 5, Rule 110, Rules of court; A.M. No. 02-2-07-SC, April 10, 2002 effective May 1, 2002). The written authorization to the private prosecutor shall be given because of either of the following reasons: (a) the public prosecutor has a heavy work load or, (b) there is a lack of private prosecutor (sec. 5, Rule 110, Rules of Court; A.M. No. 02-2-07-SC, April 10, 2002 effective May 1, 2002).

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

HYPOTHETICAL ADMISSION RULE:

     When a motion to dismiss is filed, the material allegations of the complaint are deemed to be hypothetically admitted. This hypothetical admission, extends not only to the relevant and material facts well pleaded in the complaint, but also to inferences that may be fairly deduced from them.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

VENUE IN JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE:

     For purposes of fixing venue under the Rules of Court, the "residence" of a person is his personal, actual or physical habitation, or actual residence or place of abode, which may not necessarily be his legal residence or domicile provided he resides therein with continuity and consistency. Hence, it is possible that a person may have his residence in one place and domicile in another.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

DEAD MAN’S STATUTE:

      The “Dead Man’s Statute” provides that if one party to the alleged transaction is precluded from testifying by death, insanity, or other mental disabilities, the surviving party is not entitled to the undue advantage of giving his own uncontradicted and unexplained account of the transaction. But before this rule can be successfully invoked to bar the introduction of testimonial evidence, it is necessary that:  1.  The witness is a party or assignor of a party to a case or persons in whose behalf a case is prosecuted; 2.  The action is against an executor or administrator or other representative of a deceased person or a person of unsound mind; 3.  The subject-matter of the action is a claim or demand against the estate of such deceased person or against person of unsound mind; and 4.  His testimony refers to any matter of fact which occurred before the death of such deceased person or before such person became of unsound mind.” Well entrenched is the rule that when it is the executor or administrator or representatives of the estate that sets up the counterclaim, the plaintiff, herein respondent, may testify to occurrences before the death of the deceased to defeat the counterclaim. Moreover, as defendant in the counterclaim, respondent is not disqualified from testifying as to matters of fact occurring before the death of the deceased, said action not having been brought against but by the estate or representatives of the deceased.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

AN ADMISSION, VERBAL OR WRITTEN, MADE BY A PARTY IN THE COURSE OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE SAME CASE DOES NOT REQUIRE PROOF:

     It may be made: (a) in the pleadings filed by the parties; (b) in the course of the trial either by verbal or written manifestations or stipulations; or (c) in other stages of judicial proceedings, as in the pre-trial of the case. When made in the same case in which it is offered, “no evidence is needed to prove the same and it cannot be contradicted unless it is shown to have been made through palpable mistake or when no such admission was made.” The admission becomes conclusive on him, and all proofs submitted contrary thereto or inconsistent therewith should be ignored, whether an objection is interposed by the adverse party or not.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

MULTIPLE APPEALS ARE ALLOWED IN SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS, IN ACTIONS FOR PARTITION OF PROPERTY WITH ACCOUNTING, IN THE SPECIAL CIVIL ACTIONS OF EMINENT DOMAIN AND FORECLOSURE OF MORTGAGE:

      The rationale behind allowing more than one appeal in the same case is to enable the rest of the case to proceed in the event that a separate and distinct issue is resolved by the court and held to be final.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

RECRUITMENT CASES:

      In illegal recruitment cases, the failure to present receipts for money that was paid in connection with the recruitment process will not affect the strength of the evidence presented by the prosecution as long as the payment can be proved through clear and convincing testimonies of credible witnesses.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION:

      Injunction is a judicial writ, process or proceeding whereby a party is directed either to do a particular act, in which case it is called a mandatory injunction or to refrain from doing a particular act, in which case it is called a prohibitory injunction. As a main action, injunction seeks to permanently enjoin the defendant through a final injunction issued by the court and contained in the judgment.  Two (2) requisites must concur for injunction to issue: (1) there must be a right to be protected and (2) the acts against which the injunction is to be directed are violative of said right. x x x To authorize a temporary injunction, the complainant must make out at least a prima facie showing of a right to the final relief.  Preliminary injunction will not issue to protect a right not in esse.  These principles are equally relevant to actions seeking permanent injunction.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

CHAIN OF CUSTODY:

     Crucial in proving chain of custody is the marking of the seized drugs or other related items immediately after they are seized from the accused. Marking after seizure is the starting point in the custodial link, thus, it is vital that the seized contraband are immediately marked because succeeding handlers of the specimens will use the markings as reference. The marking of the evidence serves to separate the marked evidence from the corpus of all other similar or related evidence from the time they are seized from the accused until they are disposed of at the end of criminal proceedings, obviating switching, "planting," or contamination of evidence.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

AUTHENTICITY OF PRIVATE DOCUMENT:

     Section 20, Rule 132  of the Rules of Court provides that before any private document offered as authentic is received in evidence, its due execution and authenticity must be proved either: (a) by anyone who saw the document executed or written; or (b) by evidence of the genuineness of the signature or handwriting of the maker.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=hl

NEWSPAPER OF GENERAL CIRCULATION:

     To be a newspaper of general circulation, it is enough that it is published for the dissemination of local news and general information, that it has a bona fide subscription list of paying subscribers, and that it is published at regular intervals. Over and above all these, the newspaper must be available to the public in general, and not just to a select few chosen by the publisher. Otherwise, the precise objective of publishing the notice of sale in the newspaper will not be realized.  In fact, to ensure a wide readership of the newspaper, jurisprudence suggests that the newspaper must also be appealing to the public in general. The Court has, therefore, held in several cases that the newspaper must not be devoted solely to the interests, or published for the entertainment, of a particular class, profession, trade, calling, race, or religious denomination. The newspaper need not have the largest circulation so long as it is of general circulation.  As it stands, there is no distinction as to the publication requirement in extrajudicial foreclosure sales conducted by a sheriff or a notary public. The key element in both cases is still general circulation of the newspaper in the place where the property is located.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

INSTANCES WHERE THE COURTS MAY INTERFERE WITH THE OMBUDSMAN’S INVESTIGATORY POWERS:

      (a) To afford protection to the constitutional rights of the accused; (b) When necessary for the orderly administration of justice or to avoid oppression or multiplicity of actions; (c) When there is a prejudicial question which is sub judice; (d) When the acts of the officer are without or in excess of authority; (e) Where the prosecution is under an invalid law, ordinance or regulation; (f) When double jeopardy is clearly apparent; (g) Where the court has no jurisdiction over the offense; (h) Where it is a case of persecution rather than prosecution; (i) Where the charges are manifestly false and motivated by the lust for vengeance.

https://www.facebook.com/mvplawoffice?ref=aymt_homepage_panel