Summary In the leading case of Pulido v. People, G.R. No. 220149, 27 July 2021, Hernando, J., the SC en banc exonerated the accused from criminal liability for bigamy when during the pendency of the bigamy case, a judicial declaration of nullity of the first marriage was entered. Previous decisions had held that a person…
One of the grounds of a motion to quash an information is that the officer filing the information had no authority to do so. (Section 3[d], Rule 117 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure). Section 9, Rule 117 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that the failure to raise a ground of quashal in…
Securities Law has been a subject which is below the radar of most bar reviewees. The reason probably is that it is given middling attention in law school. It is seldom a stand-alone subject and is more often folded into Corporation Law, where time constraints not infrequently lead to it being discussed in a less…
A lawyer consulted me regarding his case: An action for sum of money was filed against his defendant client in the Regional Trial Court (RTC). The plaintiff won a judgment of ₱600,000. The defendant forthwith filed a notice of appeal, while the plaintiff filed a motion for reconsideration, contending that the judgment award should be…
If you are a bar reviewee, try answering this short practice question on Commercial Law: “Author Y died on 3 February 2014. May Bozania Publishing Company publish Y’s books on 18 July 2064 without getting his heir’s authorization?” The overwhelming majority of those who answered this question wrote that Bozania Publishing Company may do so. …
There is a misconception among quite a few lawyers that a prior demand upon the obligor is necessary to confer a cause of action in a suit for specific performance. Even legal authorities sometimes fall prey to this oversight. See, for example, the following excerpt from a book on civil procedure: “For instance, if in…
A compulsory counterclaim is one which arises out of or is connected with the transaction or occurrence constituting the subject matter of the complaint. A permissive counterclaim is one which is not a compulsory counterclaim. The subject of compulsory/permissive counterclaims is a Bar FAQ. Almost all of the compulsory counterclaims which are asked in the…
A red herring is a fallacy that distracts from the pertinent issue by making an irrelevant argument. It is so called because dragging a red herring, a strong-smelling fish, across a trail will cause a hunting dog to leave the original trail and follow the path of the herring. An invidious form of a red…
One of the frequently asked bar questions on remedial law is that dealing with actions incapable of pecuniary estimation. Under Section 19(1) of B.P. Blg. 129, the RTC shall exercise exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil actions in which the subject of the litigation is incapable of pecuniary estimation. The challenge for the bar examinee…
The 2020 Rules on Evidence restated for greater clarity the rules on character evidence. It also introduced a significant change by providing that character may be proved not only by reputation evidence but also by a witness’s opinion and, if character itself is directly in issue, by evidence of specific instances of conduct. Uses of…