Daily Serving of Legal Matters

Memorandum Circular No. 73, s. 2014 Posted on  October 30, 2014 Office of the President of the Philippines Malacañang MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO.   73 To provide government employees full opportunity to properly observe  01 November 2014, a declared Special Non-Working Day, and to allow employees to travel to their respective provinces, work in government offices on 31 October 2014 is hereby suspended from 12:00 p.m. onwards. However, those agencies whose functions involve the delivery of basic and health services, preparedness/response to disasters and calamities, and/or the performance of other vital public services shall continue with their operations and render the necessary services. This Circular shall take effect immediately. By authority of the President: (Sgd.)  PAQUITO N. OCHOA, JR. Executive Secretary

As reported in The Philippine Star which was published in the website of ABS-CBN, a dance instructor and part- time events organizer was arrested for taking pictures of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player Danny Ildefenso naked and taking a shower at the Meralco gym in Pasig City, Tuesday, October 21, 2014. Anthony Arnold Trinidad, 46, tried to escape after Ildefonso, who plays for Meralco Botls, noticed him but he was cornered by Meralco security guards. Ildefonso said that he heard a clicking sound while taking the shower.  When he peeked through the curtain, he saw Trinidad kneeling on the floor and taking pictures. The cager filed a complaint for violation of Republic Act No. 9995 or the Anti- Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 against Trinidad.  However, after Trinidad asked forgiveness and promised to delete the photos, Ildefonso withdrew the complaint. For the benefit of the readers, what provision of R.A. No. 9995 Trinindad has committed allegedly and what...

Just very recently, the Quezon City council has passed an ordinance permitting a private individual to effect an arrest on a person, even without the necessary warrant of arrest issued by the court.  The act of QC council may sound a new mechanism to most of the people, especially in the residents of the place.  However, this act is not entirely foreign in our criminal justice system.  As a matter of fact, this CITIZEN'S ARREST, was well espoused in the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure. Section 5 of Article 113 of the above-mentioned criminal procedure provides when it is lawful to arrest without warrant.  Thus: "A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person: 1.  When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense; 2.  When an offense has just been committed and he has probable cause to believe based on his personal knowledge of facts or circumstances ...

This photo is taken from google.com I bumped this post when I visited the page of the Official Gazette of the Philippines.  It is all about the adoption for foreign nationals of a Filipino child.  I find it interesting especially that I have friends who are foreign nationals who signify their desire to adopt a Filipino child. So for the benefit of the foreign nationals who would like to adopt a Filipino child, this post is for you. So what are the qualifications for this kind of adoption?  Here are the qualifications: The adopter is of legal age The adopter is at least 16 years older than the adoptee The adopter is of good moral character and has not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude The adopter is in a position to support, educate, and care for their children and the child to be adopted in keeping with the means of the family The adopter  has undergone pre-adoption services The adop...

A photo of Vhong Navarro, Cedric Lee and Deniece Cornejo taken from google.com. Another twist in the real legal drama of Vhong Navarro-Cedric Lee-Deniece Cornejo teleserye has unfurled on Monday, September 15, 2014.  Accused Cedric Lee, Deniece Cornejo and Simeon Raz, Jr. were allowed to post bail in the amount of Five Hundred Thousand (P500,000.00) for each of them in the decision handed by Taguig Regional Trial Court on the petition to fix bail filed by the accused in a Serious Illegal Detention case filed by Actor-It's Showtime Host Vhong Navarro. Said decision brought shock to Navarro's camp and as well as to most netizens following the case.  In contrast, it was a heaven-sent decision on the part of the accused. Although, the criminal case faced by the accused is a serious illegal detention and this case is a non-bailable offense considering that it is a capital offense. A capital offense is one on which, under the law existing at the time of its commis...

Credit goes to google.com for this image. It is not uncommon to us that most of the criminal cases filed in courts, before they reached a full-blown trial stage, they were settled by the parties. As a consequence, those cases were dismissed. Is this really the case?  Criminal Cases, can they be settled? It is not.  They cannot be settled. A criminal case, when filed in court, it is not the victim who would stand as the complainant against the offender or the accused.  It is the people for that matter, for instance People of the Philippines, that files the case in court.  The victim, on the other hand, would only serve as a complaining witness/es to prove the allegation. In short, it is the State which files any criminal case.  Because of this, a criminal case filed in court is deemed not for settlement.  The State cannot just enter into compromise between the accused criminal without jeopardizing the welfare of its citizenry. ...

This image is taken from google.com. I remember when I was in grade school, I would write something on the front page of my notebooks saying "Real Property of Urbano T. Mante, Jr." to have a sort of a mark that those notebooks were mine.  Sometimes my classmate would ask me to change it to "Personal Property" because those notebooks were personally owned by me.  So, I would sometimes interchange Real to Personal Property. However in law school, I learned that real and personal property are two different things. The Civil Code of the Philippines, particularly Articles 414-418, discusses the differences between real and personal property. Real property is also known as IMMOVABLE property while personal property is called as MOVABLE property. As the names suggest, immovable property is basically stationary and cannot be moved or transferred to another place.  On the other hand, movable property refers to the property that can be moved with ease. ...