The Supreme Court has just issued Administrative Circular No. 08-2008, providing for Guidelines in the Observance of a Rule of Preference in the Imposition of Penalties in Libel Cases. Trial courts may, in its discretion and based on the peculiar circumstances of each case, impose only a fine, instead of imprisonment.

My fiancee and I secured a marriage license, but no marriage ceremony was ever celebrated. I learned, however, that my “wife” is already using my surname in her documents, including her passport. Am I considered as “married”?

It won’t be long until the results of the 2007 bar exams will be released. As always, the examinees (and their families) are going through a difficult stage of waiting for the release of the results. We’ve talked about the agony of waiting for the bar results, but not about the repercussions on those who [...]

I just learned that the Sec. Ace Durano of Department of Tourism (DOT) has tapped HappySlip (or search “HappySlip” in youtube), a.k.a. Christine Gambito, as ambassadress for the North American market. The decision to use blogs and the internet could be attributed to the fact that Sec. Durano is relatively younger and, therefore, is presumably [...]

The University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law has released the results of the Law Aptitude Examination (LAE) for academic year 2008-2009. Please see the list of passers and updates here. There are 301 who passed the written exam. Please note that the written exam is only the first part of the selection process.The [...]

There are of discussions on the Ponzi and pyramiding scams at the Pinoy Entrepreneurs blog (see “Scams and Schemes“). There’s a discussion of an actual case, the Panata Foundation case. The 2000 case of People vs. Menil, Jr. involves a strikingly similar scheme. It’s really amazing how this scam still works despite almost a hundred [...]

My wife called my attention one morning. She was arranging the contents of her cabinet drawer and she found a bunch of old emails, written back when I was still courting her. She showed me an email that I wrote, a reply to her statement about not giving me any false hopes and about moving [...]

The recent talks on reviving the plan to implement a national identification (ID) system brings two cases back into the spotlight. In the first case, Ople vs. Torres, the Supreme Court struck down Administrative Order 308 which seeks to implement the “National Computerized Identification Reference System.” In the second case, Kilusang Mayo Uno vs. Director-General [...]

I don’t know Arnel Pineda or his band, Zoo, until the other day. On a long drive weaving through heavy Metro Manila traffic on my way to a morning court hearing, an FM dj mentioned Arnel Pineda’s name and that he is the newest vocalist of the rock band Journey. (Post transferred here. All posts [...]

(The U.P. Centennial celebrations kicked-off yesterday, 7 January 2008. As I was reminiscing about the time I walked the UP campus, I’m reminded of Joseph Nathan Cruz’s valedictory speech delivered on 15 April 2000 at UP Diliman). UNDERSECRETARY Rosario Manalo, Dean Josefina Agravante, esteemed faculty, dear parents, fellow graduates, good evening. Let me begin by [...]