Daily Serving of Legal Matters

This photo is grabbed from www.imaginative-traveller.com As early as August 20, 2015, President Benigno S. Aquino III has signed Proclamation No. 1105 declaring the Regular Holidays and Special (Non-Working) Days for the Year 2016. For information, please be guided of these days before you click the button of any airfare promos. Regular Holidays: New Year’s Day                       1                  January (Friday) Maundy Thursday                      24                March Good Friday                              25                March Araw ng Kagitingan                    9                  April (Saturday) Labor Day                                1                  May (Sunday) Independence Day                     12                June (Sunday) National Heroes Day                  29                August (Last Monday) Bonifacio Day                            30                November (Wednesday) Christmas Day                          25

A photo of Archangel Lucifer, one of the 130 hopefules vying for Philippine President in 2016 Elections taken from www.scmp.com For information, there are 130 hopefuls filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) for Philippine President in the May 2016 Elections.  It is considered as one of the 'record-breaker' according to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The COMELEC has the ministerial duty to accept the COC of any person vying for any position.  It has no power, based on its own judgment, to say that a certain candidate is not qualified to file a COC of a certain position.  Its act is purely ministerial and not discretionary one.  The Supreme Court of the Philippines has clearly demarcated the difference between discretionary and ministerial act in Mallari versus Banco Filipino Savings & Mortgage Bank, G.R. No. 157660, August 29, 2008.  Thus: "The distinction between a ministerial and discretionary act is well delineated. A purely minist

In all criminal proceedings, the accused must be arraigned.  The accused must be arraigned before the court where the complaint or information was filed or assigned for trial. The arraignment shall be made in open court by the judge or clerk by furnishing the accused with a copy of the complaint or information, reading the same in the language or dialect known to him, and asking him whether he pleads guilty or not guilty (Sec. 1, Rule 116 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedures). The purpose of the arraignment is to inform the accused of the accusation filed against him.  Thus, it is important that it shall be done by reading in a language or dialect known to the accused.  Meaning, the information or complaint shall be interpreted or translated to the dialect or language spoken and known by the accused.  Otherwise, the arraignment is deemed not done. As stated above, the accused would be asked to enter his plea whether guilty or not guilty.  It is entirely dependent on the

image grabbed from www.rappler.com In the previous posts, the differences between Adultery and Concubinage were discussed. In this post, what will be tackled is how to prosecute the aforementioned crimes.  One shall observe and must follow it, otherwise, his or her case will be doomed. taken from  knowledgeisking.ning.com As stated in Article 344 of the The Revised Penal Code , the prosecution of the crimes of adultery and concubinage shall be: 1.  The crimes of adultery and concubinage shall not be prosecuted except upon complaint filed by the offended spouse. It is clear that only the offended spouse can file the complaint of the crimes of adultery and concubinage.  In the case of adultery, the complaint shall be filed by the offended husband and by the offended wife in the case of concubinage. No other person shall file the complaint.  Not even the parents of the spouses nor the children of the parties. 2.  The offended party cannot institute criminal prosecut

Grabbed at mywealthdesire.com As early as this week, the Philippine boxing hero and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquaio manifested his interest to seek for a seat in the Philippine Senate comes May 2016 elections. His fans were so excited of his decisions and hoping that he will eventually win as one of the twelve senators. But quite of number of his followers were also questioning his qualifications. It is of no secret that as the incumbent Representative of the lone district of Sarangani, he has attended so far 4 session days.  Although, Manny has promised that he will never repeat his performance in the House of Representative once he will win in the Senate. Taken at www.examiner.com What are the qualifications of a Senator? Is Manny qualified? Section 3 of Article VI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides the qualifications of a Senator.  Thus: "No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, and, on the day o