1.

Tijing vs. Court of Appeals, 354 SCRA 17 , March 08, 2001

Case Title : EDGARDO A. TIJING and BIENVENIDA R. TIJING, petitioners, vs. COURT OF APPEALS (Seventh
Division) and ANGELITA DIAMANTE, respondents.Case Nature : PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of
the Court of Appeals.
Syllabi Class : Parent and Child| Appeals| Custody| Habeas Corpus| Evidence| Civil Registry| Birth
Certificates|Filiation| DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Test| Words and Phrases|
Syllabi:
1. Parent and Child; Custody; Habeas Corpus; The writ of habeas corpus is the proper legal remedy to enable
parents to regain the custody of a minor child even if the latter be in the custody of a third person of his own free
will.+
2. Parent and Child; Custody; Habeas Corpus; Petitioners must convincingly establish that the minor in whose
behalf the application for the writ is made is the person upon whom they have rightful custody, and if there is
doubt on the identity of the minor in whose behalf the application for the writ is made, petitioners cannot invoke
with certainty their right of custody over the said minor.+
3. Appeals; Evidence; Where the conclusions of the Court of Appeals con- tradict those of the trial court, the
Supreme Court may scrutinize the evidence on the record to determine which findings should be preferred as more
conformable to the evidentiary facts.+
4. Parent and Child; Civil Registry; Birth Certificates; Evidence; Under the law, the attending physician or
midwife in attendance at birth should cause the registration of such birth, and only in default of the physician or
midwife can the parent register the birth of his child; A false entry in a birth certificate regarding the alleged
marriage between the parents of the child puts to doubt the other data in said birth certificate.+
5. Parent and Child; Filiation; Evidence; Resemblance between a minor and his alleged parent is competent
and material evidence to establish parentage.+
6. Parent and Child; Filiation; Evidence; DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Test; Parentage will still be resolved
using conventional methods unless we adopt the modern and scientific ways available; Being a novel scientific
technique, the use of DNA test as evidence is still open to challenge, but eventually, as the appropriate case
comes, courts should not hesitate to rule on the admissibility of DNA evidence; Courts should apply the results of
science when competently obtained in aid of situations presented, since to reject said result is to deny progress.+
7. Parent and Child; Filiation; Evidence; DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Test; Words and Phrases; DNA
and DNA Testing, Explained.+
1.
People vs. Rullepa, 398 SCRA 567 , March 05, 2003
Case Title : PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. RONNIE RULLEPA y GUINTO, accused-
appellant.Case Nature : AUTOMATIC REVIEW of a decision of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Br. 96.
Syllabi Class : Criminal Law| Rape| Child Witnesses| Statutory Rape| Evidence| Judicial Notice| Words and
Phrases|
Syllabi:
1. Criminal Law; Rape; Child Witnesses; Accuseds suggestion that the 3-year old complainant merely imagined
the things of which he is accused, perhaps getting the idea from television programs, is preposterous.+
2. Criminal Law; Rape; Child Witnesses; That the complainant suffered pain in her vagina but not in her anus
despite her testimony that the accused inserted his penis in both orifices does not diminish her credibility.+
3. Criminal Law; Rape; Courts are seldom, if at all, convinced that a mother would stoop so low as to subject her
daughter to physical hardship and shame concomitant to a rape prosecution just to assuage her own hurt
feelings.+
4. Criminal Law; Rape; Statutory Rape; Elements.+
5. Criminal Law; Rape; Statutory Rape; Guidelines in Appreciating Age as Element of the Crime or as a
Qualifying Circumstance.+
6. Criminal Law; Rape; Evidence; Judicial Notice; While several cases suggest that courts may take judicial
notice of the appearance of the victim in determining her age, a handful of cases holds that courts, without the
requisite hearing prescribed by Section 3, Rule 129 of the Rules of Court, cannot take judicial notice of the victims
age.+
7. Criminal Law; Rape; Evidence; Judicial Notice; Words and Phrases; Judicial notice is a phrase sometimes
used in a loose way to cover some other judicial actioncertain rules of evidence, usually known under other
names, are frequently referred to in terms of judicial notice; The process by which the trier of facts judges a
persons age from his or her appearance cannot be categorized as judicial notice.+
8. Criminal Law; Rape; Evidence; Judicial Notice; A persons appearance, where relevant, is admissible as
object evidence, the same being addressed to the senses of the court.+
9. Criminal Law; Rape; Evidence; Judicial Notice; Experience teaches that corporal appearances are
approximately an index of the age of their bearer, particularly for the marked extremes of old age and youth.+
10. Criminal Law; Rape; Evidence; Judicial Notice; There can be no question as to the admissibility of a
persons appearance in determining his or her age, and as to the weight to accord such appearance, especially in
rape cases, People v. Pruna, 390 SCRA 577 (G.R. No. 138471, 10 October 2002), laid down the guidelines.+
11. Criminal Law; Rape; Evidence; Judicial Notice; As the alleged age approaches the age sought to be
proved, the persons appearance, as object evidence of her age, loses probative value, and doubt as to her true
age becomes greater, which doubt must be resolved in favor of the accused.+

People vs. Narvasa, 298 SCRA 637 , November 16, 1998
Case Title : PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FELICISIMO NARVASA, JIMMY ORANIA and
MATEO NARVASA, accused, FELICISIMO NARVASA and JIMMY ORANIA, appellants.Case Nature : APPEAL from a
decision of the Regional Trial Court of Alaminos, Pangasinan, Br. 54.
Syllabi Class : Criminal Law| Illegal Possession of Firearms| Evidence| Credibility of
Witnesses| Conspiracy|Penalties|
Syllabi:
1. Criminal Law; Illegal Possession of Firearms; Evidence; Credibility of Witnesses; The Court has ruled
that a witness is not expected to remember an occurrence with perfect recollection of minute details.+
2. Same; Same; Penalties; Republic Act No. 8294 considers the use of an unlicensed firearm only an
aggravating circumstance in murder or homicide; RA 8294 should be given retroactive effect.+
3. Same; Same; Same; Conspiracy; In conspiracy, the act of one is the act of all.+
4. Same; Same; Same; The second element of illegal possession of firearms can be proven by the testimony or
the certification of a representative of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Unit that the accused was not a licensee of
the firearm in question.+
5. Same; Same; Same; In People v. Orehuela, the Court held that the existence of the firearm can be established
by testimony, even without the presentation of the said firearm.+

De Vera vs. Aguilar, 218 SCRA 602 , February 09, 1993
Case Title : BASILIO DE VERA, LUIS DE VERA, FELIPE DE VERA, HEIRS OF EUSTAQUIA DE VERA-PAPA
represented by GLICERIA PAPA-FRANCISCO, et al., petitioners, vs. SPOUSES MARIANO AGUILAR and LEONA V.
AGUILAR, respondents.Case Nature : PETITION for review on certiorari of the decision of the Court of Appeals.
Syllabi Class : Evidence| "Best evidence" rule|
Syllabi:
1. Evidence; "Best evidence" rule; Admissibility of secondary evidence; Requisites.+
2. Evidence; "Best evidence" rule; Due execution, How established.+
3. Evidence; "Best evidence" rule; Loss of original document, How established.+
BALDOMERO INCIONG, JR., petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS and PHILIPPINE BANK OF COMMUNICATIONS, respondents.
SYLLABUS
1. REMEDIAL LAW; EVIDENCE; PAROL EVIDENCE RULE; DOES NOT SPECIFY THAT THE WRITTEN AGREEMENT BE A
PUBLIC INSTRUMENT.- Clearly, the rule does not specify that the written agreement be a public document. What is required
is that the agreement be in writing as the rule is in fact founded on "long experience that written evidence is so much more
certain and accurate than that which rests in fleeting memory only, that it would be unsafe, when parties have expressed the
terms of their contract in writing, to admit weaker evidence to control and vary the stronger and to show that the parties
intended a different contract from that expressed in the writing signed by them" [FRANCISCO, THE RULES OF COURT OF
THE PHILIPPINES, Vol. VII, Part I, 1990 ed., p. 179] Thus, for the parol evidence rule to apply, a written contract need not be
in any particular form, or be signed by both parties. As a general rule, bills, notes and other instruments of a similar nature
are not subject to be varied or contradicted by parol or extrinsic evidence.
2. CIVIL LAW; OBLIGATIONS; SOLIDARY OR JOINT AND SEVERAL OBLIGATION, DEFINED.- A solidary or joint and several
obligation is one in which each debtor is liable for the entire obligation, and each creditor is entitled to demand the whole
obligation. [TOLENTINO, CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Vol. IV, 1991 ed., p. 217] Section 4, Chapter 3, Title 1, Book
IV of the Civil Code states the law on joint and several obligations. Under Art. 1207 thereof, when there are two or more
debtors in one and the same obligation, the presumption is that the obligation is joint so that each of the debtors is liable only
for the proportionate part of the debt. There is a solidary liability only when the obligation expressly so states, when the law
so provides or when the nature of the obligation so requires. [Sesbreo v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 89252, May 24, 1993,
222 SCRA 466, 481.]
3. ID.; GUARANTY; GUARANTOR AS DISTINGUISHED FROM SOLIDARY DEBTOR.- While a guarantor may bind himself
solidarily with the principal debtor, the liability of a guarantor is different from that of a solidary debtor. Thus, Tolentino
explains: "A guarantor who binds himself in solidum with the principal debtor under the provisions of the second paragraph
does not become a solidary co-debtor to all intents and purposes. There is a difference between a solidary co-debtor, and a
fiador in solidum (surety). The latter, outside of the liability he assumes to pay the debt before the property of the principal
debtor has been exhausted, retains all the other rights, actions and benefits which pertain to him by reason of the fiansa; while
a solidary co-debtor has no other rights than those bestowed upon him in Section 4, Chapter 3, Title 1, Book IV of the Civil
Code." [Tolentino, Civil Code of the Philippines, Vol. V, 1992 ed., p. 502]

Riviera Filipina, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals, 380 SCRA 245 , April 05, 2002
Case Title : RIVIERA FILIPINA, INC. petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, JUAN L. REYES (now deceased),
substituted by his heirs, namely, Estefania B. Reyes, Juanita R. de la Rosa, Juan B. Reyes, Jr. and Fidel B. Reyes,
PHILIPPINE CYPRESS CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, CORNHILL TRADING CORPORATION and
URBAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, respondents.Case Nature : PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of the
Court of Appeals.
Syllabi Class : Appeals| Contracts| Actions| Certiorari| Pleadings and Practice| Sales| Leases| Right of First
Refusal|Rescission| Interpretation of Contracts| Statutory Construction| Fraud| Parties| Substitution of
Parties| Death of a Party|
Syllabi:
1. Appeals; Certiorari; Pleadings and Practice; The distinctions between Rule 45 and Rule 65 are far and wide,
the most notable of which is that errors of jurisdiction are best reviewed in a special civil action for certiorari under
Rule 65, while errors of judgment are corrective only by appeal in a petition for review under Rule 45.+
2. Contracts; Sales; Leases; Right of First Refusal; The concept and interpretation of the right of first refusal
and the consequences of a breach thereof evolved in Philippine juristic sphere only within the last decade.+
3. Contracts; Sales; Leases; Right of First Refusal; Rescission; The prevailing doctrine is that a right of first
refusal means identity of terms and conditions to be offered to the lessee and all other prospective buyers and a
contract of sale entered into in violation of a right of first refusal of another person, while valid, is rescissible.+
4. Contracts; Sales; Leases; Interpretation of Contracts; Statutory Construction; General propositions do
not decide specific caseslaws are interpreted in the context of the peculiar factual situation of each proceeding;
The court must read a contract as the average person would read it and should not give it a strained or forced
constructionwhere the parties to a contract have given it a practical construction by their conduct as by acts in
partial performance, such construction may be considered by the court in construing the contract, determining its
meaning and ascertaining the mutual intention of the parties at the time for contracting.+
5. Contracts; Sales; Leases; Interpretation of Contracts; Fraud; Silence or concealment, by itself, does not
constitute fraud, unless there is a special duty to disclose certain facts, or unless according to good faith and the
usages of commerce the communication should be made.+
6. Contracts; Sales; Leases; Interpretation of Contracts; Neither abstract justice nor the rule of liberal
construction justifies the creation of a contract for the parties which they did not make themselves or the
imposition upon one party to a contract of an obligation not assumed.+
7. Actions; Parties; Substitution of Parties; Death of a Party; The failure of a counsel to comply with his duty
under Section 16 of Rule 3 of the Revised Rules of Court, to inform the court of the death of his client and no
substitution of such is effected, will not invalidate the proceedings and the judgment thereon if the action survives
the death of such party; The purpose behind the rule on substitution of parties is the protection of the right of
every party to due process.+
Cruz vs. Court of Appeals, 192 SCRA 209 , December 10, 1990
Case Title : LUCIO R. CRUZ, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS AND CONRADO Q. SALONGA, respondents.Case
Nature : PETITION to review the decision of the Court of Appeals.
Syllabi Class : Evidence| Civil Procedure| Parol Evidence|
Syllabi:
1. Evidence; Parol Evidence; Sec. 7, Rule 130 is predicated on the existence of a document embodying the
terms of an agreement. Exh. D does not contain such an agreement, hence the rule will not apply, and parol
evidence may be introduced to explain the real agreement between the parties.+
2. Evidence; Parol Evidence; A deed is not conclusive evidence of everything it may contain.+
3. Evidence; Parol Evidence; Failure to object to the introduction of evidence varying the terms of a written
agreement, is deemed a waiver of the benefit of the parol evidence rule.+
4. Evidence; Parol Evidence; Courts cannot disregard evidence which would ordinarily be incompetent under the
rules but has been rendered admissible by the failure of a party to object thereto.+
5. Civil Procedure; Pleadings, Amendment of; Where the failure to order an amendment does not appear to have
caused a surprise or prejudice to the objecting party, it may be allowed as a harmless error.+

Lechugas vs. Court of Appeals, 143 SCRA 335 , August 06, 1986
Case Title : VICTORIA LECHUGAS, petitioner, vs. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, MARINA LOZA, SALVADOR LOZA,
ISIDRO LOZA, CARMELITA LOZA, DAVID LOZA, AMPARO LOZA, ERLINDA LOZA and ALEJANDRA LOZA,
respondents.Case Nature : PETITION to review the decision of the Court of Appeals.
Syllabi Class : Evidence| Contracts| Appeal|
Syllabi:
1. Evidence; Contracts; Parol evidence rule cannot be invoked where at least one party to the suit is not a party
or privy to the written instrument in question.+
2. Evidence; Contracts; Same.-
The petitioners reliance on the parol evidence rule is misplaced. The rule is not applicable where the controversy is
between one of the parties to the document and third persons. The deed of sale was executed by Leoncia Lasangue
in favor of Victoria Lechugas. The dispute over what was actually sold is between petitioner and the private
respondents. In the case at bar, through the testimony of Leoncia Lasangue, it was shown that what she really
intended to sell and to be the subject of Exhibit A was Lot No. 5522 but not being able to read and write and fully
relying on the good faith of her first cousin, the petitioner, she just placed her thumbmark on a piece of paper
which petitioner told her was the document evidencing the sale of land. The deed of sale described the disputed lot
instead.
3. Evidence; Contracts; Appeal; The respondents never changed their theory on appealthat what appears on
the Deed of Sale was not the land the vendor intended to sell to petitioner.+

Abella vs. Court of Appeals, 257 SCRA 482 , June 20, 1996
Case Title : MERCEDES N. ABELLA, petitioner, vs. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, and CONRADO
COLARINA, respondents.Case Nature : PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of the Court of Appeals.
Syllabi Class : Contracts| Evidence| Documentary and Oral Evidence| Pleadings and Practice| Appeals|
Syllabi:
1. Contracts; It is a cardinal rule in the interpretation of contracts that if the terms of a contract are clear and
leave no doubt upon the intention of the contracting parties, the literal meaning of its stipulations shall control.+
2. Contracts; Evidence; Documentary and Oral Evidence; Without any doubt, oral testimony as to a certain
fact, depending as it does exclusively on human memory, is not as reliable as written or documentary evidence.+
3. Contracts; Evidence; Documentary and Oral Evidence; A party, being of age and a business-woman, is
presumed to have acted with due care and to have signed the receipt in question with full knowledge of its
contents and import.+
4. Contracts; Pleadings and Practice; Appeals; It is a settled rule that an issue which was not threshed out
below may not be raised for the first time on appeal.+