Monthly Archives: January 2008

SC issues Guidelines for Imposition of Libel Penalties

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 11 Comments

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. Read more »

Posted in Criminal Law, Legal Procedure

Annulment in the Philippines: Questions and Answers (Part 3)

Posted on January 29, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 68 Comments

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”? Read more »

Posted in Family Law

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Do you [still] want to become a lawyer?

Posted on January 28, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 21 Comments

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 are still on deck, so to speak. In the words of Lito Basilio, in his comment in one of the articles in this blog: Read more »

Posted in Bar Exams

Promoting Philippine Tourism through blogging

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 2 Comments

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 more updated to the potentials of the internet than the older bureaucrats. Whatever the reason is, I believe that tapping bloggers, and the internet in general, to promote the Philippines is a wise move for the DOT. It is, after all, much cheaper than other forms of promotions. Read more »

Posted in The Beyond

UP College of Law: Law Aptitude Examination (LAE) Results

Posted on January 23, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 31 Comments

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 second phase is the panel interview. When the dust settles, only 200 will be accepted to the UP College of Law. Any celebration (and, ahem, OMG moments noted by Kalawkohan) is premature at this time.

Posted in Legal Misc

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Ponzi Scheme: The Panata Foundation and Menil Cases

Posted on January 15, 2008 by Atty. Fred| Leave a comment

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 years of existence. Maybe people have this nagging doubt that such get-rich scheme is highly suspicious, but rational thinking is oftentimes defeated by the very same reason — the prospect of getting rich quickly. Read more »

Posted in Criminal Law, Money & Finance

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False Hopes, Genuine Hopes

Posted on January 13, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 2 Comments

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 too fast. Read more »

Posted in Life

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Cases on the National Identification (ID) System

Posted on January 10, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 1 Comment

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 of NEDA, the SC upheld the validity of Executive Order 420 which adopts a unified multi-purpose ID system for government. Let’s discuss each case, in the hope of giving our readers a brief overview how the new proposals are different from these cases.

Posted in Politics & Society

The Journey of Arnel Pineda

Posted on January 10, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 5 Comments

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 under life and fatherhood will be transferred to PinoyDad.com.)

Posted in Life

The Power to Transform

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Atty. Fred| 4 Comments

(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 saying that my mother is a domestic helper. In other people’s homes she cooks, does the laundry, cleans in the bathroom, and takes care of the infants. She put me through school doing that kind of work because that was the only thing she could do. She never finished high school, never enjoyed bourgeois luxuries. Read more »

Posted in The Beyond