CONFLICT OF LAWS ATTY. GALAHAD A.

PE BENITO

COURSE OUTLINE
I. INTRODUCTION TO PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
a. International Law
b. Branches of International Law
c. Distinctions between Public and Private International Law
i. Nevsun Resources Ltd. v. Araya
ii. Germany v. Philipp, February 3, 2021, SCOTUS
d. Transformation to Customary International Law
i. Abdullahi v. Pfizer
1. National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
2. Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program
e. Foreign Element
f. Phases in Conflicts Resolution
i. Hasegawa v. Kitamura
g. Steps in Determining Applicable Law
h. Choice of Applicable Law
i. Extraterritoriality
i. Small v. United States
ii. Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.
iii. Boumediene v. Bush, June 12, 2008
j. Corporate Liability for Human Rights Violation
i. Jesner v. Arab Bank
ii. Nevsun Resources Ltd. v. Araya
k. Forum Non Conveniens
i. Saudi Arabian Airlines v. Rebesencio et al.
ii. Bangladesh Bank v. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, et al.
 l. State-Sanctioned Killing
i. Colvin v. Syrian Arab Republic, 363 F.Supp.3d 141 (2019)
m. Immunity from Suit/Political Question
i. Hwang v. Japan, 413 F.3d 45 (D.C.Cir. 2005)
ii. Vinuya v. Executive Secretary, G.R. No. 162230, April 28, 2010
iii. Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung AG, 578 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2009)
n. Indigenous People’s
i. Ha Datu Tawahig v. Cebu City Prosecutor, G.R. No. 221139, March 20, 2019
II. CHOICE OF LAW
a. Choice of Law Principles
b. Principle 1: Local law
c. The problem of renvoi
i. Aznar v. Garcia
ii. Bellis v. Bellis
d. Principle 2: Needs of the interstate and international systems
e. Principle 3: Relevant policies of the forum
i. Pitzer College v. Indian Harbor Insurance Company
ii. Cadalin et al. v. POEA Administrator
iii. Bank of America NT & Asia v. American Realty Corporation
iv. Dacasin v. Dacasin
f. Principle 4: Relevant policies of other interested states
i. Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney
ii. Butler v. Adoption Media, LLC
g. Criticism of Governmental Interest Analysis Approach
h. Principle 5: Protection of justified expectations
i. Francisco v. Stolt Achievement MT
i. Principle 6: Basic policies underlying the particular field of law

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 i. Hancock v. Watson
j. Principle 7: Certainty, predictability, and uniformity of result
k. Principle 8: Ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied
l. Other Principles Affecting Choice of Law
m. Proof of Foreign Law and Processual Presumption
i. Wildvalley Shipping v. Court of Appeals
ii. Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. v. Guerrero
iii. Edi-staff Builders International v. NLRC
n. The Apostille Convention
o. Exceptions to proof of foreign laws
i. Norse Management Co. v. National Seamen Board
p. Scrivener’s Error
i. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation v. Sherman et al.
ii. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute
III. CONTRACTS
a. Conflict of Laws in Contractual Relations
i. Tolentino v. Secretary of Finance, 235 SCRA 630
b. Primacy of Contractual Stipulations
i. Bagong Filipinas Overseas Corporation v. National Labor Relations Commission
ii. Atienza v. Philimare Shipping
iii. Pakistan International Airlines v. Blas Ople
c. Choice of Law Stipulations
d. Pandemics and Force Majeure
e. Waiver of Renvoi
f. Approaches to Contractual Conflicts of Law
i. Erie Insurance Exchange v. Edmund D. Heffernan II
ii. Government v. Frank

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 iii. Saudi Arabian Airlines v. Rebesencio, G.R. No. 198587, January 14, 2015
iv. In re KMH
g. Depecage
h. Philippines Follow Lex Loci Contractus
i. Triple Eight Integrated Services, Inc. v. NLRC
i. Defenses to Jurisdiction and Choice of Law
i. Hasegawa v. Kitamura
IV. TORTS AND DAMAGES
a. Torts as a Source of Obligation
b. Concept of Negligence
c. Conflict of Laws in Torts
d. Approaches to Conflicts’ Torts
i. Dowis et al. v. Mud Slingers, Inc. et al.
ii. Melton v. Stephens
iii. Saudi Arabian Airlines v. Court of Appeals
iv. First National Bank in Fort Collins v. Rostek
v. Kamelgard v. Macura
vi. Lankenau v. Boles
vii. Winter v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
viii. FutureSelect Portfolio Management, Inc. v. Tremont Group Holdings
e. Lex Loci Delicti v. Most Significant Relationship
f. Philippines’ preference for Most Significant Relationship
V. DATA PRIVACY
a. Comparison between DPA of PH and other countries
i. https://blog.itgovernance.asia/blog/how-does-the-philippines-data-privacy-act-
compare-with-the-gdpr
ii. https://iapp.org/news/a/gdpr-matchup-the-philippines-data-privacy-act-and-its-
implementing-rules-and-regulations/

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 b. NPC Advisory Opinion No. 2017-05
c. NPC Advisory Opinion No. 2017-09
d. NPC Advisory Opinion No. 2017-12
e. NPC Advisory Opinion No. 2017-24
f. NPC Advisory Opinion No. 2018-03
g. Rollins Ranches LLC, et al v. Watson, No.0:2018-cv-03278, 2020 BL 19242 (D.S.C.
May 22, 2020)
h. Giorgi Global Holdings v. Wieslaw Smulski, No. 17-4416, 2020 BL 190347 (E.D.P.A.
May 21, 2020)

VI. CITIZENSHIP AND DUAL NATIONALITY

a. How Acquired
b. Citizenship at Birth
c.Multiple Citizenships
d. Natural Born Citizenship
i. Bengson III vs. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal
e. Foundlings are Natural-Born Citizens
i. Poe-Llamanzares v. COMELEC
f. Importance of Citizenship
i. Djumantan v. Domingo
g. Relation to Conflict of Laws
h. Dual Allegiance
i.Mercado v. Manzano
i. Expatriation
i. Board of Immigration Commissioners v. Go Callano
j. Republic Act No. 9225: Citizenship
k. Retention and Re-acquisition Act
i. Jacot v. Dal
ii. Sobejana-Condon v. COMELEC

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 iii. Maquiling v. COMELEC
iv. Arnado v. COMELEC
l. Reacquisition v. Retention
i. David v. Agbay
m. Practice of Profession
i. In Re: Petition to Re-Acquire the Privilege to Practice Law in the Philippines
n. General Principles in Dealing with Conflict of Nationality Laws
o. Citizenship under U.S. Laws
i. Perez v. Brownell
ii. Afroyim v. Rusk
p. Assisted Reproductive Technology Children and Citizenship
q. Republic Act No. 9225 and U.S. Citizenship
i. Dvash-Banks v. Pompeo
r. ART is not against public policy
VII. DOMICILE
a. Kinds
b. Domicile and Citizenship
c. Loss and Retention
i. Schill v. Cincinnati Ins. Co.
ii. Romualdez Marcos v. COMELEC
iii. Jalosjos v. COMELEC
d. Permanent Residency Overseas and
e. The Process of Foreign Naturalization
i. Caballero v. COMELEC
ii. Caasi v. Court of Appeals
iii. Coquilla v. COMELEC
iv. Poe-Llamanzares v. COMELEC

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 f. Absentee Voting and Domicile
i. Macalintal v. COMELEC
ii. Nicolas-Lewis v. COMELEC
g. Republic Act No. 10590
h. Venue in Estate Proceedings
i. Jao v. Court of Appeals
ii. San Luis v. San Luis
VIII. PROPERTY
a. When Conflict Arises
i. Laurel v. Garcia
b. Rule as to Real and Personal Property
i. Roberts v. Locke
ii. Tayag v. Benguet Consolidated
c. Specific Rules as to Ownership of Real Property
i. Ramirez v. Vda. de Ramirez
ii. Matthews v. Taylor
iii. Cheesman v. Intermediate Appellate Court
iv. Llantino v. Co Liong Chong
d. Condominium Act of the Philippines
e. Sovereign Immunity
i. Holy See v. Rosario, Jr., 238 SCRA 524
ii. Doe v. Holy See, 434 F.Supp.2d 925 (D.Or. 2006) (SEE CA Decision)
IX. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
a. Marriage Conflict of Laws
b. Full Faith and Credit
i. US v. Jarvison
ii. Cook v. Cook

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 iii. In re Marriage of Medina
c. Importance of Marriage
d. Marriages Not Subject of Recognition
i. Obergefell v. Hodges
e. Civil Unions
i. Langan v. St. Vincent’s Hosp. of N.Y.
f. Divorce and Public Policy
i. Tenchavez v. Escano
g. Limited Recognition of Divorce
i. Van Dorn v. Romillo
ii. San Luis v. San Luis
iii. Pilapil v. Ibay-Somera
iv. Roehr v. Rodriguez
h. Right to Re-marry after Divorce
i. Republic v. Orbecido
i. Recognition of Foreign Divorce and Correction of Entry
i. Corpuz v. Sto. Tomas
j. Continuing Liberalization of Divorce
i. Republic v. Manalo
ii. Morana v. Republic
k. Nature of Recognition of Foreign
l. Divorce Proceedings
i. Fujiki v. Marinay
m. Paternity
i. In re K.M.H., 169 P.3d 1025
X. WILLS AND SUCCESSION
a. Conflict of Laws in Succession

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 b. Definition
c. Extrinsic Validity of Wills
d. Allowance of Will Proved Outside of the Philippines
i. Dalton v. Giberson
e. Intrinsic Validity of Will
i. Miciano v. Brimo
ii. Bohanan v. Bohanan
XI. ADOPTION
i. Ramirez Marcaida v. Aglubat
a. Applicable Law at Time of Adoption
i. Republic v. Miller
ii. Ellis v. Republic
b. Resident or Non-resident Aliens May Adopt
i. Spouses Park v. Liwanag
c. Domestic and Inter-Country Adoption
XII. CORPORATIONS
a. Conflicts Problems on Corporations
b. Domestic and Foreign Corporations
i. Cargill, Inc. v. Intra Strata Assurance Corporation
ii. Steelcase v. Design International Selections, Inc.
c. Residence of Corporations
i. State Investment House, Inc. v. Citibank
d. The “Internal Affairs” Rule
i. Rogers v. Guaranty Trust Co.
ii. Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Sobieski
iii. Mansfield Hardwood Lumber Co. v. Johnson
e. State of Incorporation

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 f. Domicile of Corporations
i. Hyatt Elevators v. Goldstar Elevators
ii. Clavecilla Radio System v. Antillon
iii. Tayag v. Benguet Consolidated
g. Nationality of Corporations
h. Tests of Corporate Nationality: Control Test
i. Tests of Corporate Nationality: Grandfather Rule
i. Narra Nickel Mining and Development Corporation v. Redmont Consolidated Mines
Corporation
j. Controlling Doctrine: Control Test
k. Capital Refers to Common Shares
i. Gamboa v. Teves
l. SEC Memorandum Circular No. 8, Series of 2013
m. Validity of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 8, s. of 2013
i. Roy v. Herbosa
XIII. TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION
a. The Problem of Pollution
b. Climate Change
c. Paris Climate Agreement
d. Climate Change Litigation
i. Georgia v. Tennessee Copper Co.
e. Approaches to Transboundary Pollution
i. Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd.
ii. Nnadili v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc
XIV. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
a. Conflict in Intellectual Property Rights.
b. Intellectual Property Code and

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 c. International Conventions
i. Bridgeman Art Library, Ltd. v. Corel Corp.
d. Approaches to IP Conflicts of Law
i. Subafilms, Ltd. v. MGM-Pathe Communications Co.
ii. Allarcom Pay Television v. General Instrument Corp.
iii. Itar-Tass Russian News Agency v. Russian Kurier, Inc.
iv. Sarl Louis Feraud Intern. v. Viewfinder, Inc.
XV. ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS
a. Effect of Foreign Judgments
b. Res Judicata Effect of Foreign Judgment
i. Fujiki v. Marinay
c. When Foreign Judgment May Be Repelled
i. Roehr v. Rodriguez
ii. St. Aviation Services v. Grand International Airways
d. Wrong Interpretation of Law
i. Guimaraes v. Brann
e. Local Courts Not a Refuge for Failed Business Dealings
i. Philippine Aluminum Wheels v. FASGI Enterprises
f. Proof of Foreign Law
g. The Apostille Convention

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