Romulo Yap Law Office

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1943563/fwd-embargo-house-oks-divorce-bill-on-final-reading

House approves divorce bill on final reading MANILA, Philippines — The divorce billwas approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading on Wednesday. During the plenary session on Wednesday — the last day

https://youtu.be/RxlgDfLc_SI?si=Q8zAC8PYq0HSAHn1

4 na sangkot umano sa non-appearance annulment at late registration of birth, arestado | 24 Oras Inaresto rin ang 4 na sangkot umano sa pag-aayos ng annulment nang hindi humaharap sa korte gayundin sa late na pagpaparehistro ng birth certificate. Mahigit...

What crimes involve moral turpitude?

What crimes involve moral turpitude? "Moral turpitude," it has been said, "includes everything which is done contrary to justice, honesty, modesty, or good morals." (Bouvier's Law Dictionary, cited by numerous courts.) Although no decision can be found which has decided the exact question, it cannot admit of doubt that crimes of this c...

Minimum Wage Increase in NCR

"True enough, you cannot have justice without law. Laws are the roads by which you reach your destination. But even truer, you cannot have law without justice. Roads mean nothing if you don’t know where you are going..... It’s justice that animates laws. It’s justice that unlocks the irresistible force of law. It’s justice that unleashes the hurricane power of law. Not the other way around." - Conrado de Quiros

Soon all court proceedings could be done online through videoconferencing - CJ Gesmundo

All court proceedings could soon be held online thru video conferencing – CJ Gesmundo – Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper

Employees who report for work during weather disturbances are entitled to full regular pay provided that they have worked for not less than six hours, said Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma.

Read more below:

Rules on work suspension, payment of wages during weather disturbances out | Department of Labor and Employment Posted on August 25, 2022 News Release Department of Labor and Employment August 25, 2022 Rules on work suspension, payment of wages during weather disturbances out Employees who report for work during weather disturbances are entitled to full regular pay provided that they have worked for not less....

Beware of scams like these. A lot of these are going around and being posted on Facebook.

RA9262 or the Law on VAWC also protects women in illicit relationships

SC: Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-VAWC Law Protects Even Women in Illicit Relationships |

The illicitness of a relationship a woman engages in does not diminish her dignity in any way. She will be protected just the same by the law that values her and her children’s dignity and guarantees full respect for their human rights.

In a Decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, the Court’s Second Division upheld a Permanent Protection Order (PPO) issued under Republic Act No. 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, over contentions that sought to straitjacket the text and spirit of the law.

The petitioner was a man against whom the PPO had been issued to prevent further acts of violence against the respondents—his longtime live- in partner, a woman, and their children. He was 47 and admittedly married when he met the respondent woman, then 20, in 1979.

Before the Court, the petitioner primarily argues that Republic Act No. 9262 cannot provide relief for the respondent woman, as she was only his paramour. For him, although the law’s protection extends to a woman with whom one has or had a sexual or dating relationship, this should be interpreted to mean as a relationship without any legal impediment to marry each other. Otherwise, he says, the law would effectively tolerate adulterous relationships.

Applying the rule on statutory construction that when the law does not make any distinction, neither should the courts, the Court corrected the petitioner’s mistaken notion. It said that the law “protects women and their children from various forms of violence and abuse committed within a setting of an intimate relationship”—including the respondent woman and their children.

The Supreme Court Public Information Office will upload the decision to the SC website once it receives an official copy from the Office of the Clerk Court Second Division. (G.R. No. 187175, Cabañez v. AAA)

Read more at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/28495/.

"Diplomats are normally protected from both criminal charges and civil cases in the countries where they are posted.
But the court found a Saudi diplomat accused of exploiting a Filipina domestic worker in London did not have immunity in relation to the allegation."

No diplomatic immunity in modern slavery cases, Supreme Court rules The UK Supreme Court says a Saudi diplomat accused of exploiting a Filipina worker is not protected.

Aside from the Vatican, the Philippines is the only country in the world that does not allow divorce.

Bill making divorce legal re-filed in 19th Congress | Jovee Marie de la Cruz A bill seeking to legalize divorce in the country has been re-filed in the 19th Congress. In House Bill (HB) 78, Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, the principal author of previous bills legislating absolute divorce, underscored that there are only two sovereign states in the world where divorce is illegal...

Expanded Solo Parents Act has reduced the period of abandonment to qualify from 1 year to 6 months. Qualified low earning solo parents will also receive P1,000 monthly assistance as well as be entitled to discounts.

Solo parents get P1,000 monthly, more perks under new law MANILA, Philippines — Low-income solo parents will now receive a P1,000 monthly cash subsidy under a new law that will provide more benefits to solo parents in the country.Republic Act No.

COLLUSION HEARING IN ANNULMENT OF VOIDABLE MARRIAGE AND DECLARATION OF NULLITY OF VOID MARRIAGE

In actions for annulment or declaration of nullity of marriage, collusion between the parties is prohibited. Collusion in this specie of cases occur when the parties agree on the annulment/declaration of nullity and trifle with the legal process by resorting to fabricated facts and evidence in order to obtain a favorable decision.

In actions for annulment/declaration of nullity of marriage, part of the procedure is the collusion hearing to be conducted by the trial prosecutor upon order by the court. Here, the prosecutor will propound probing questions to determine if there is collusion between the parties. The prosecutor shall then report his/her findings to the court and if he/she finds collusion, the parties are given the opportunity to refute such finding. The court shall then decide if collusion exists. If the court determines that there is indeed collusion as found by the prosecutor, the petition will be dismissed.

In the same collusion hearing, the prosecutor will also determine the correctness of the party’s residence as indicated in the petition. This is so because a petition for annulment or declaration of nullity of marriage may only be filed in the family court of the city or province where either the petitioner or the respondent has been residing for the past six months prior to the filing of the petition. Failure to prove residency will result in the dismissal of the petition while alleging a false address will also result in the petition’s dismissal as well as possible criminal and/or administrative sanctions.

Jurisdiction over adoption cases shall now be with DSWD – SC The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday approved the release of a revised guidelines on the Rule on Adoption in light of the enactment of Republic Act No. 11642, or the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act

SC: Photos, Messages from Facebook Messenger obtained by Private Individuals Admissible as Evidence

The Supreme Court has ruled that photos and messages obtained by private individuals from a Facebook messenger account are admissible as evidence in court.

In a 31-page decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, the Court sustained the conviction of the petitioner, Christian C. Cadajas, for violation of RA 9775, or the Anti-Child Po*******hy Act, rejecting the petitioner's claim that the chat thread presented as evidence against him should be excluded since the same was obtained in violation of his right to privacy.

In 2016, petitioner, then 24 years old, started a romantic relationship with AAA, a 14-year-old girl. AAA, using her mother's cellphone, BBB, would converse with petitioner on Facebook Messenger. In one of their conversations, petitioner coaxed AAA to send photos of her private parts, to which AAA relented. BBB later discovered this conversation when AAA forgot to log out of her Facebook account on her mother's phone, prompting AAA to delete the messages on her account. However, BBB forced AAA to open the petitioner's Facebook messenger account to get a copy of their conversation.

The Court held that because the Bill of Rights under the Constitution, which includes the right to privacy, was intended to protect citizens from government intrusions, the right to privacy and its consequent effects on the rules on admissibility of evidence cannot be invoked against private individuals.

In the case of petitioner, the Facebook Messenger chat thread was not obtained through the efforts of police officers or any State agent but by AAA, a private individual who had access to the photos and conversations in the chat thread.

Neither can AAA be said to have violated the petitioner's privacy, ruled the Court, since by giving AAA the password to his Facebook Messenger account, the petitioner lost a reasonable expectation of privacy over the contents of his account. Thus, even if AAA was only forced by her mother to obtain the photos and messages, there is still no violation of the petitioner's privacy, since by allowing another person access to his account, the petitioner made its contents available not only to AAA but to other persons AAA might show the account to, whether she be forced or not to do so.

The Court also held that the restrictions under the Data Privacy Act (DPA) do not apply to petitioner since the DPA allows the processing of personal information related to the determination of criminal liability of a data subject.

The Court also ruled that the crime of child po*******hy, while defined and penalized under a special law, should be classified as mala in se, or acts that are inherently immoral and thus require proof of criminal intent by the accused, as opposed to mala prohibita, or those acts which are prohibited only because the law says so, making the intent of the accused irrelevant. The Court held that consistent with legislative deliberations on the Anti-Child Po*******hy Act, it is clear that the illegal acts under the law are not mere prohibitions but serious, depraved acts.

Thus, in cases of child po*******hy, the criminal intent of the accused must be proven. In the petitioner's case, it was established that he had intended to induce AAA, a minor, to exhibit AAA's private parts, since it was petitioner's prodding that led AAA to take and share the intimate photos.

Read the full text of the decision at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/27967//.

Senate passes bill on lifetime validity of birth, death, marriage certificates The bill says that these documents will forever be valid “provided that the document remains intact, readable and still visibly contains the authenticity and security features.”

“A mere breach of a promise to marry is not an actionable wrong, as long as it is not of such extent as would palpably and unjustifiably contradict good customs…Litigation to the sorrows caused by a broken heart and a broken promise must be discouraged.”

sc.judiciary.gov.ph

Inaprubahan na ng Wage Board ang P33 na umento sa minimum wage ng mga manggagawa sa National Capital Region, ayon sa Department of Labor and Employment.

Dahil dito, P570 na ang minimum wage ng mga mangagawa sa non-agriculture sector, habang P533 naman sa agriculture sector.

BASAHIN: https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/14/22/dole-ncr-wage-board-grants-p33-pay-hike

Congratulations to everyone who passed the 2020/2021 Bar Examinations! To those who didn't make it, don't lose heart. Just get up and try again.

media1.tenor.co

2020/2021 release of Bar Exam results

2020/21 Bar Examinations Release of Results

With nullity of marriage, the ex husband is no longer obligated to support his former wife. As regards the children, he should still provide support as long as they are unemancipated or studying.

With nullity of marriage, does ex-husband need to support his ex-wife? How about the children? – Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper

Don't be a victim. There's no such thing as "no appearance", "express," "online," etc. annulment or declaration of nullity of marriage.

Babaeng suspek sa umano'y online annulment scam, arestado | 24 Oras Naglahong parang bula ang inipon-ipon na libo-libong pisong downpayment ng isang g**o sa isa umanong online annulment scammer!'Yan ang tinutukan ni Emil Suma...

https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/20847/

Court operations from Sept. 8 - 30, 2021

sc.judiciary.gov.ph

https://youtu.be/FowUE9J05yA

2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure and to the Revised Rules on Evidence

The bill legalizing absolute divorce in the country hurdled committee approval on Tuesday, August 17 and is headed for the second time for plenary deliberations in the House of Representatives.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/17/bill-legalizing-absolute-divorce-gets-nod-of-lower-house-panel/

House population and family relations panel unanimously approves bill seeking to legalize divorce in the country | via Xave Gregorio

https://business.inquirer.net/329121/bir-days-of-tax-evading-social-media-influencers-are-numbered

BIR: Days of tax-evading social media influencers are numbered MANILA, Philippines—The next trending "vlog" of your favorite social media influencer may showcase a court hearing or, worse, his or her jail cell if they will not pay their taxes, the

Beware of online scams. "Marriage Blocking" is not legal and can never be legit. It's a crime.

"New normal" in-court litigation