Constitutional Law 1 - page 5

FACTS: Patricia Maquiran filed a suit for damages arising from the death of her husband due to an accident. The case was assigned to the respondent judge and was submitted for decision in August 1994. However, up to the time Maquiran filed an administrative complaint against respondent judge on 16 Sep 1999, no decision had as yet been rendered on the civil case. ISSUE(S): Whether on not respondent judge was grossly negligent in resolving the case before her court. HELD: YES. Although we are inclined to be compassionate, respondent judge must realize that compassion has its limits. Respondent count have…

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FACTS: Petitioners assailed the 08 Aug 2001 decision and the 29 Oct 2002 resolution of the Court of Appeals affirming that there were no legal grounds to initiate proceedings to nullify original certificate of title no. 820 and 7477 and the subsequent titles derived therefrom Transfer Certificate of Title Nos. 128240 to 128249, inclusive, and TCT No. 128279 all covering parcels of land in Tondo, Manila registered in the names of private respondents. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the CA complied with Section 14, Article VIII of the Constitution. HELD: YES. There is sufficient compliance with the constitutional requirement when a…

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FACTS: In 1985, the High Court of Malaysia issued two separate orders directing Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC), a Filipino company, to pay Asiavest Merchant Bankers (M) Berhad, a Malaysian company, a total of $5,108,290.24 for PNCC’s failure to complete a construction project. PNCC failed to comply with the judgment, prompting Asiavest to institute a complaint in the Philippines. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the judgment of a foreign court may be enforced in the Philippines. HELD: YES. Section 50(b), Rule 39 of the Revised Rules of Court provides that a judgment against a person of a tribunal of a foreign…

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FACTS: Petitioner George Yao was convicted for unfair competition for the sale of counterfeit General Electric (GE) lamp starters. He filed a motion for reconsideration which was denied by the Metropolitan Trial Court of Caloocan City. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the Court of Appeals committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction in denying petitioner’s due process of law. HELD: YES. Faithful adherence to the requirements of Section 14, Article VIII of the Constitution is indisputably a paramount component of due process and fair play. It is likewise demanded by the due process clause of the Constitution. More…

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FACTS: Petitioner Ricardo Valladolid was caught in an entrapment scheme effected by JRM & Co. Inc., owner and operator of Copacobana Apartment-Hotel on suspicious that he is relaying confidential business information to competitor Tropicana Apartment-Hotel. Subsequently, he went on a leave of absence. His first two requests for a five-day vacation leave and a fifteen-day sick leave were approved. However, his 30-day sick leave was not granted. He filed a complaint for illegal dismissal with vacation and sick leave pay with the NLRC when he was refused admittance upon his return. On 28 Feb 1979, JRM filed an application for…

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FACTS: Petitioners assailed the constitutionality of various provisions of R.A. 8731 or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) and its implementing rules and regulations on the ground that they amount to an unlawful deprivation of the State’s ownership over lands of the public domain as well as minerals and other natural resources therein, in violation of the regalian doctrine embodied in Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution. ISSUE(S): Whether or not IPRA is unconstitutional. HELD: The justices voted evenly (7-7) on the petition. Upon redeliberation, the votes remained equally divided. As the necessary majority was not obtained,…

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FACTS: Prudential Bank instituted an administrative case seeking for the disbarment of Atty. Benjamin Grecia in connection with his actuations in a civil case where the latter represented the plaintiff. Grecia filed a petition for redress and exoneration and for voluntary inhibition. ISSUE(S): Whether or not a constitutional provision has been disregarded in the Court’s Minute Resolution dated 12 Jan 1988. HELD: NO. It bears repeating that this is an administrative case so the constitutional mandate that “no…motion for reconsideration of a decision of the Court shall be…denied without stating the legal basis therefor” is inapplicable.

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FACTS: Lucio Teng was convicted by the Regional Trial Court for violation of Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 and estafa. Upon appeal, the Court of Appeals sustained the RTC decision with modification, affirming his conviction for BP 22 and certifying his case of estafa to the Supreme Court. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review the case. HELD: NO. It is essential that before a criminal case can be certified to this Court for review, the Court of Appeals must first render judgment finding the appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime charged and imposing upon…

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FACTS: Petitioner Victoriano Tirol, Jr. assailed the resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman which found petitioner and his co-accused criminally culpable for violation of Section 3(a) of R.A. No. 3019, as amended, and the order of the same office denying petitioner’s motion for reconsideration of the said resolution. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review the case. HELD: NO. Only questions of law may be appealed to us by way of certiorari. This court is not ordinarily a trier of facts, its jurisdiction being limited to errors of law. There is no question of law…

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FACTS: Special Prosecutor Raul Gonzales forwarded to Justice Marcelo Fernan an anonymous letter-complaint together with a telegram of Miguel Cuenco in relations to the disbarment charges against the justice. ISSUE(S): Whether or not a member of the Supreme Court may be disbarred during his term of office. HELD: NO. A public officer who under the Constitution is required to be a member of the Philippine bar as a qualification for the office held by him and who may be removed from office only by impeachment, cannot be charged with disbarment during the incumbency of such public officer. Such public officer,…

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