PROJECT JURISPRUDENCE

CASE DIGEST: PHILIPPINE NATIONAL RAILWAYS, Petitioner, v. KANLAON CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISES CO., INC.,Respondent. (G.R. No. 182967; April 6, 2011). FACTS:  In July 1990, PNR and Kanlaon entered into contracts for the repair of three PNR station buildings and passenger shelters.By November 1990, Kanlaon alleged that it had already completed the three projects. On 30 June 1994, Kanlaon sent a demand letter to PNR requesting for the release of the retention money. However, PNR denied Kanlaon’s demand because of the Notices of Suspension issued by the Commission on Audit (COA). Thus, forcing Kanlaon to file a complaint for collection of sum of money plus damages against PNR. In its amended complaint, Kanlaon even impleaded the COA. In its answer, PNR admitted the existence of the three contracts but alleged that Kanlaon did not comply with the conditions of the contract. Moreover, they alleged that Kanlaon did not complete the projects. Thus, they did not have any unpaid balance. ...

"Social justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government of measures calculated to insure economic stability of all the component elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex." This has been a very popular citation when it comes to the definition of social justice. It is not surprising since, as anyone can see, Justic...

CASE DIGEST: JEBSENS MARITIME INC., represented by MS. ARLENE ASUNCION and/or ALLIANCE MARINE SERVICES, LTD., Petitioners,v. ENRIQUE UNDAG, Respondent. (G.R. No. 191491; December 14, 2011). FACTS:  Records bear out that respondent was hired as Lead Operator on board the vessel FPSO Jamestown owned by Alliance Marine Services, Ltd. and managed by its local agent, Jebsens Maritime, Inc.(petitioners).He was eventually repatriated to the Philippines after his contract with the petitioners had expired. About two months after repatriation, he went to see a physician for a physical check-up and was diagnosed to have "Hypertensive cardiovascular disease, Atrial Fibrillation, Diabetes Mellitus II, Impediment Grade X (20.15%)." According to Dr. Vicaldo, respondents ailment was aggravated by his work as a seaman and that he was no longer fit for work. For said reason, respondent requested for financial assistance from petitioners but the latter denied his request. Constrained, he ...

CASE DIGEST: BANK OF COMMERCE and STEPHEN Z. TAALA, Petitioners, v. Spouses ANDRES and ELIZA FLORES,Respondents. <<<CLICK HERE FOR VERSION 2 OF THIS CASE DIGEST.>>> . (G.R. No. 174006; December 8, 2010). FACTS:  Respondents borrowed money from petitioner bank in the amount of Nine Hundred Thousand Pesos (P900,000.00). Respondents executed a Real Estate Mortgage over the condominium unit as collateral, and the same was annotated at the back of CCT No. 2130. Respondents again borrowed One Million One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P1,100,000.00) from petitioner bank, which was also secured by a mortgage over the same property annotated at the back of CCT No. 2130. Respondents paid One Million Eleven Thousand Five Hundred Fifty-Five Pesos and 54 centavos (P1,011,555.54). On the face of the receipt, it was written that the payment was "in full payment of the loan and interest." Respondents then asked petitioner bank to cancel the mortgage annotations on CCT No. 21...

CASE DIGEST: EFREN PANA, Petitioner, v. HEIRS OF JOSE JUANITE, SR., and JOSE JUANITE, JR., Respondents. (G.R. No. 164201; December 10, 2012). FACTS:  Efren Pana (Efren), herein petitioner, his wife Melecia, and another person, were charged with murder before the RTC of Surigao City. On July 9, 1997, the RTC rendered its Decision acquitting Efren of the charge but finding Melecia and another person guilty as charged and sentenced them to the penalty of death. The RTC also ordered those found guilty to pay civil indemnity and damages to the heirs of the victim. On appeal to the Supreme Court, it affirmed the conviction of both accused but modified the penalty to reclusion perpetua. With respect to the monetary awards, the Court also affirmed the award of civil indemnity and damages with modification. Upon motion for execution by the heirs of the deceased, the RTC ordered the issuance of the writ, resulting in the levy of real properties registered in the names of Efren and Mel...

CASE DIGEST: TRADERS ROYAL BANK, Petitioner, v. NORBERTO CASTARES and MILAGROS CASTARES, Respondents. (G.R. No. 172020; December 6, 2010). FACTS: Between 1977 and 1978, respondents obtained from petitioner Traders Royal Bank various loans and credit accommodations. Respondents executed two real estate mortgages (REMs) covering their properties. As evidenced by Promissory Note No. BD-77-113 dated May 10, 1977, petitioner released only the amount of P35,000.00 although the mortgage deeds indicated the principal amounts as P86,000.00 and P60,000.00. For failure of the respondents to pay their outstanding loans with petitioner, the latter proceeded with the extrajudicial foreclosure of the real estate mortgages. Thereafter, petitioner instituted Civil Case No. R-22608 for deficiency judgment, claiming that after applying the proceeds of foreclosure sale to the total unpaid obligations of respondents, the latter are still indebted to petitioner for the sum of P83,397.68. The RTC rule...

CASE DIGEST: MARY GRACE NATIVIDAD S. POE-LLAMANZARES, Petitioners, vs. COMELEC AND ESTRELLA C. ELAMPARO Respondents. (March 8, 2016; G.R. No. 221697). Grace Poe-Llamanzares wishes to run for the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. However, she's a foundling. Her parents are unknown. Mr. and Mrs. Militar who found the infant Grace in a church gave her to Mr. and Mrs. Poe, her adoptive parents. Under the Constitution, no person who is not a natural-born citizen shall serve as President of the Philippines. ISSUE:  Is Grace a natural-born citizen or a naturalized citizen or something in between? HELD: Grace is a natural-born citizen.  Adopting these legal principles from the 1930 Hague Convention and the 1961 Convention on Statelessness is rational and reasonable and consistent with the jus sanguinis regime in our Constitution. The presumption of natural-born citizenship of foundlings stems from the presumption that their parents are nationals of...

CASE DIGEST: PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC ZONE AUTHORITY, represented herein by DIRECTOR GENERAL LILIA B. DE LIMA, Petitioner, v. JOSEPH JUDE CARANTES, et. al.,Respondents. (G.R. No.181274; June 23, 2010). FACTS:  Respondents and the heirs of Maximino Carantes are in possession of a parcel of land located Baguio City. On June 20, 1997, they obtained Certificate of Ancestral Land Claim over the land from the DENR and secured a building permit and a fencing permitfrom the Building Official of Baguio City. Before long, they fenced the premises and began constructing a residential building thereon. Soon, respondents received a letterfrom. Torres, the Zone Administrator of PEZA, informing them that the house they built had overlapped PEZAs territorial boundary. Torres advised respondents to demolish the same within sixty (60) days from notice. Otherwise, PEZA would undertake its demolition at respondents expense. Without answering PEZAs letter, respondents filed a petition for injunction, wit...

CASE DIGEST: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH, and MA. MARGARITA M. GALON, Petitioners, v .PHIL PHARMAWEALTH, INC., Respondent. G.R. No. 182358; February 20, 2013). FACTS:  On August 28, 2000, the DOH issued Memorandum No. 171-C which provided for a list and category of sanctions to be imposed on accredited government suppliers of pharmaceutical products in case of adverse findings regarding their products (e.g. substandard, fake, or misbranded) or violations committed by them during their accreditation. In line with Memorandum No. 171-C, the DOH, through former Undersecretary Ma. Margarita M. Galon(Galon), issued Memorandum No. 209 series of 2000,inviting representatives of 24 accredited drug companies, including herein respondent Phil Pharmawealth, Inc. (PPI) to a meeting on October 27, 2000. During the meeting, Undersecretary Galon handed them copies of a document entitled "Report on Violative Products"issued by the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), which ...

CASE DIGEST: BPI FAMILY SAVINGS BANK, INC. Petitioner vs. GOLDEN POWER DIESEL SALES CENTER, INC. and RENATO C. TAN Respondents. (G.R. No. 176019; January 12, 2011). FACTS: CEDEC entered into a loan with BPI and secured the obligation with a real estate mortgage. CEDEC was unable to pay for the loan, which lead to BPI to foreclose extrajudicially. After the lapse of the redemption period, BPI was able to obtain title over the properties. However, BPI was unable to obtain possession over the property due to CEDEC continued refusal to vacate. BPI sought a writ of possession from the courts, which the court granted. When BPI sought execution of the writ, herein respondent Golden Power opposed the execution. Golden Power purchased the property in question from CEDEC, with an assumption of mortgage. Golden Power claims that it is a third party possessor, thus a writ of execution may not be issued ex parte. The court then ordered a suspension of the execution of the writ. BPI manifested op...

CASE DIGEST: BANK OF COMMERCE and STEPHEN Z. TAALA, Petitioners, v. Spouses ANDRES and ELIZA FLORES, Respondents. (G.R. No. 174006; December 8, 2010). FACTS:  Respondents are the registered owners of a condominium unit in Quezon City. Respondents borrowed money from petitioner bank in the amount of (P900,000.00). Respondents executed a Real Estate Mortgage over the condominium unit as collateral, and the same was annotated at the back of the CCT. Respondents again borrowed (P1,100,000.00) from petitioner bank, which was also secured by a mortgage over the same property. Respondents paid (P1,011,555.54), as evidenced by an Official Receipt issued by petitioner bank. On the face of the receipt, it was written that the payment was "in full payment of the loan and interest." Respondents then asked petitioner bank to cancel the mortgage annotations since the loans secured by the real estate mortgage were already paid in full. However, the bank refused to cancel the same and d...

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LOL-LO and SARAW, defendants-appellants. Written by Justice Malcolm. (G.R. No. 17958; February 27, 1922). The days when pirates roamed the seas, when picturesque buccaneers like Captain Avery and Captain Kidd and Bartholomew Roberts gripped the imagination, when grostesque brutes like Blackbeard flourished, seem far away in the pages of history and romance. Nevertheless, the record before us tells a tale of twentieth century piracy in the south seas, but stripped of all touches of chivalry or of generosity, so as to present a horrible case of rapine and near murder. On or about June 30, 1920, two boats left matuta, a Dutch possession, for Peta, another Dutch possession. In one of the boats was one individual, a Dutch subject, and in the other boat eleven men, women, and children, likewise subjects of Holland. After a number of days of navigation, at about 7 o'clock in the evening, the second boat arrived between the...

CASE DIGEST: IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ACADEMY and the late DR. PAULO C. CAMPOS substituted by his heirs, DR. JOSE PAULO E. CAMPOS, ATTY. PAULO E. CAMPOS, JR. and DR. ENRIQUE E. CAMPOS, Petitioners, v. AMA COMPUTER COLLEGE, INCORPORATED, Respondent. (G.R. No. 173575; February 2, 2011). FACTS:  This case is about the rescission of a lease contract on the ground that the building turned out to be structurally unsafe even as the lessee had previously inspected the same. Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA) owned a three-storey building in Dasmariñas, Cavite which AMA subsequently leased. AMA wrote ICA demanding the return of all that it paid within 24 hours from notice. AMA cited the building’s structural deficiency, which it regarded as a violation of ICA’s implied warranty against hidden defects. When its request for reimbursement remained unheeded, AMA filed an action for breach of contract and damages with prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary attachment against ICA...

CASE DIGEST: ENRIQUE AGRAVIADOR y ALUNAN, Petitioner, v. ERLINDA AMPARO-AGRAVIADOR and REPUBLIC OF THEPHILIPPINES, Respondents. (G.R. No.170729; December 8, 2010). FACTS:  On May 23, 1973, the petitioner and the respondent contracted marriage. They begot four children. On March 1, 2001, the petitioner filed with the RTC a petition for the declaration of nullity of his marriage with the respondent, under Article 36 of the Family Code. He alleged that the respondent was psychologically incapacitated to exercise the essential obligations of marriage as she was carefree and irresponsible, and refused to do household chores like cleaning and cooking; stayed away from their house for long periods of time; had an affair with a lesbian; did not take care of their sick child; consulted a witch doctor in order to bring him bad fate; and refused to use the family name Agraviador in her activities. The respondent moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the root cause of her psyc...

CASE DIGEST: ROLANDO L. CERVANTES, Petitioner, v. PAL MARITIME CORPORATION and/or WESTERN SHIPPING AGENCIES, PTE., LTD.,Respondents. (G.R. No. 175209; January 16, 2013). FACTS:  Petitioner Rolando Cervantes (Cervantes) was hired as Master on board the vessel M/V Themistocles by respondent PAL Maritime Corporation, the manning agent of respondent Western Shipping Agencies, PTE., LTD., (Western Shipping) for a 10-month period. The owner of the vessel sent a telex message to Cervantes enumerating several complaints regarding his poor performance. On the following day, Cervantes replied and imputed ill- motive on the part of the foreign inspectors who were making false accusations against Filipino crew members. He sent another telex message stating that: ANYHOW TO AVOID REPETITION [ON] MORE HARSH REPORTS TO COME. BETTER ARRANGE MY RELIEVER [AND] C/O BUSTILLO RELIEVER ALSO. UPON ARR NEXT USA LOADING PORT FOR THEIR SATISFACTION. In response to said message, Western Shipping sent a...

CASE DIGEST: DAVID LU, Petitioner, v. PATERNO LU YM, SR., PATERNO LU YM, JR., VICTOR LU YM, JOHN LU YM, KELLY LU YM, and LUDO & LUYM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, Respondents. CONSOLIDATED WITH G.R. No. 157381 & G.R. No. 170889. FACTS:  The three consolidated cases stemmed from the complaint for “Declaration of Nullity of Share Issue, Receivership and Dissolution” filed on August 14, 2000 before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Cebu City by David Lu, et al. against Paterno Lu Ym, Sr. and sons (Lu Ym father and sons) and LLDC. The RTC ruled in favor of David et al. by annulling the issuance of the shares of stock subscribed and paid by Lu Ym father and sons at less than par value, and ordering the dissolution and asset liquidation of LLDC. In G.R. No. 157381 wherein Lu Ym father and sons challenged the appellate court’s resolution restraining the trial court from proceeding with their motion to lift the receivership order which was filed during the pendency of G.R. No. 1536...

Treachery is a generic aggravating circumstance to robbery with homicide although said crime is classified as a crime against property and a single and indivisible crime. xxx. Treachery is not an element of robbery with homicide. Neither does it constitute a crime specially punishable by law nor is it included by the law in defining the crime of robbery with homicide and prescribing the penalty therefor. Treachery is likewise not inherent in the crime of robbery with homicide. Hence, treachery should be considered as a generic aggravating circumstance in robbery with homicide for the imposition of the proper penalty for the crime. xxx. In fine, in the application of treachery as a generic aggravating circumstance to robbery with homicide, the law looks at the constituent crime of homicide which is a crime against persons and not at the constituent crime of robbery which is a crime against property. Treachery is applied to the constituent crime of “homicide” and not to the const...

CASE DIGEST: DENNIS A.B. FUNA, Petitioner, v . ACTING SECRETARY OF JUSTICE ALBERTO C. AGRA, IN HIS OFFICIAL CONCURRENT CAPACITIES AS ACTING SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND AS ACTING SOLICITOR GENERAL, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY LEANDRO R. MENDOZA, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, Respondents. (G.R. No. 191644; February 19, 2013). FACTS: The petitioner alleges that on March 1, 2010, President Gloria M. Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Agra as the Acting Secretary of Justice following the resignation of Secretary Agnes VST Devanadera in order to vie for a congressional seat in Quezon Province; that on March 5, 2010, President Arroyo designated Agra as the Acting Solicitor General in a concurrent capacity;that on April 7, 2010, the petitioner, in his capacity as a taxpayer, a concerned citizen and a lawyer, commenced this suit to challenge the constitutionality of Agra concurrent appointments or designations, claiming it to be prohibited under Section 13, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution;...

CASE DIGEST: TOP MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. LUIS FAJARDO AND THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF LAS PAS CITY, et al., Respondents. (G.R. No. 150462; June 15, 2011). FACTS:  On December 31, 1964, Emilio Gregorio (Gregorio) filed an application for registration of title over Lots 1 to 4 of Plan Psu-204785 situated at Mag-asawang Mangga, Las Pis, Rizal, before the then Court of First Instance (CFI) of Rizal, Branch II (LRC Case No. N-5053, LRC Rec. No. N-27523). On January 4, 1966, said court issued an order declaring as abandoned the reserved oppositions of Jose T. Velasquez and Pablo Velasquez.Thereafter, the case proceeded to trial. Meanwhile, on July 29, 1965, Jose T. Velasquez (Velasquez) filed an application for registration of title over six lots denominated as Lots 7 and 9 of Psu-80886, Ap-5538, and Lots 1, 7, 9 and 11 of Psu-56007 Amd., Ap-11135, situated at Almanza, Las Pis, Rizal, in LRC Case No. N-5416, LRC Rec. No. N-28735, before the same court. On January...