Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA)- most of the references now is being made

thru the SCRA it has the latest laws and legislations.

*Latest volume is 800+.

*It is expensive to keep up with the SCRA because one volume would cost P 800-1000.
*Everything is now available online with the advancement of modern technology.
*Stopped subscribing when they reached volume 500. His collection is just a wallpaper at
the office.

….American Jurisprudence…. First time an issue is raced in the Philippine jurisprudence

- Illogical… rely on United States, in order to have to same ruling, the courts have to
rely under the US jurisprudence needs to be relied on
- once provisions or issues are settled in the Philippine jurisprudence, there is no
need to rely on American jurisprudence.

American Digest

Vellayos Digest - attempt to replace (SCRA) but it did not succeed, also contains decisions
of the Supreme Court

Philippine Reports - predecessor of SCRA

 The decisions might have already been consigned condolence because the new laws
and legislations (not used anymore)
 A landmark case can be found in the Philippine Reports for example Calalang v
William wherein the Supreme Court laid down the cardinal and primary rights of
due process and easy proceeding.

Supreme Court Advance Decisions (SCAD) - another attempt to replace SCRA

SCRA remains reliable

Quick Index Digest - compilation of the syllabus that is classified by topic.

 How to use it: If you are going to research on a particular subject, like for all cases
decided on 1988, there is a topical index here, like for example abandonment, all cases
related to abandonment promulgated in 1988 may be found in page 1.

Remedial Law particularly on criminal procedure.

 Criminal procedure provides for the rules on how to commence a criminal -
prcoeeding From the time, one is placed under ….issue a warrant of arrest and then
preliminary criminal investigation, filing in the appropriate courts.
 All those rules pertaining to criminal procedure are contained in the 2000 Revised
Rules on Criminal Procedure.
*What we always rely on is the book of Herera (4 volumes), he is the father of one of our
faculty members here, Justice Oscar Herera Jr. (justice of the Sandiganbayan) We have an
extensive book on criminal procedure.
*Justice Feria and Justice Banepayo specializes on remedial law.

Revised Penal Code - a mandatory law

 It is a substantive law on criminal law, of course there are so many special criminal
laws and the one collating all these is the RPC .
 Patterned after the Spanish … [criminal laws], since we were colonized by Spain by
for 400 years so our criminal laws were patterned after Spain’s criminal laws.
 Book of Louis V. Reyes is one of the oldest books on criminal law.
*What I would have in the office besides the book of Reyes is the 4 Volumes Criminal Law
of the book of Ambrosio Talinga one book in criminal law which is very rich in
jurisprudence, which one thing is of definite concern are penal laws
unlike remedial laws, the …. and standard procedure depending on your cause of action,

Cause of action - It pertains to your claims.

Example: Marriage Contract
Civil:
 Art. 36 of the Family Code their cause of action there would be petition for
declaration of nullity of marriage. If it is a voidable marriage, file for a petition for
annulment.
Petition for Annulment Petition for the Nullity of
Marriage
Marriage is valid until Marriage is void at the very
declared otherwise. beginning.

Legal separation is a separation from … and …. but the marriage still remains intact.
Support is also part in a marriage contract when the couple has children, between
the husband and wife then the children can ask for support.

Criminal:
 Adultery
 Bigamy
 Concubinage
*Those are the criminal cases, as to how these initiate is made we have the laws on criminal
procedure.

Procedural and Substantive laws, one which would prevail would be the substantive law.
Procedural law is only procedures. In fact we have this liberal interpretation of the rule in
procedural law, but in respect to the substantive law, we … because it is substantive in
nature. Adjective law, just like an accessory, you get to apply them, you get to promote ….
civil procedures, despite of criminal law, in practice, would consist of 90% procedure and
10% substantive.
Procedure- depends on the needs of the client, this cannot be learned overnight, one must
master as he goes along as he practices. As for substantive law, if you are already in
practice, all you have to do is to cut and paste, but what would be your cause of action that
is remedial law.
Remedial law comprises of 20% in the bar examination and the others are less than
that, that is how important remedial law is. So this portion pertains to remedial law,
 basic evidence * I would usually prescribe the Camaran. It contains the allegations that
they are going to prepare it is cited in the book of Camaran. Justice Flores Regalado, -
high standards Justice Benepayo (bar examiner when Atty. took the Bar), former dean
of faculty of Civil Law.

Philippine Admiralty and Maritime Law

*One of the advantages in practicing herein Manila is that it will expose you to all kinds of
cases under the sun unlike in the province, the concentration of lawyers there are only
criminal and land reform cases. But here in Manila we have corporate practice, maritime
practice, insurance, regardless of the conditions here in manila, the traffic, the chaotic
streets, still it is preferable and ideally to practice here because you get to be exposed to all
the fields in law.

Torts and Damages - Civil Law

Art. 19-21 of the Civil Code - pertains to the causes of action that can be filed if you are
aggrieved by acts or omissions of the defendant, you can always use these in the subject of
damages. You will be taking up on the awarding of attorney’s fees, moral damages,
exemplary damages, nominal damages, what are their basis and what do they consist of
compensatory damages. For example in a case involving homicide or murder how is the
court able to compute, if the victim had lived up to that age (probable life expectancy) -
those things are taken up in torts and damages.

Labor Code - consists of Labor Relations (interaction between the employer and
employee) and Labor Standards (the benefit which an employee would receive from an
employer).
Labor is laborious.
*The book that I would always prescribe is the book of Azucena, he is a labor arbiter and as
you can observe, his book underwent several revisions already. If there is one author more
diligent in updating his book, it would be none other than Azucena because there is no
subject in law which is more dynamic than labor laws. Like before there was a night time
prohibition against working women but now because of the proliferation of call centers
wherein employees would usually have graveyard shift where they would service their
clients abroad, that prohibition against night time prohibition is now abolished. In lieu of
the abolished provision, we have a special group of working women and that is to
accommodate those employees working in call center.
*Alcantara one of the old books in labor, it has a reviewer and for a regular course.
Alcantara, would wake up early in the morning and write the manuscript of his book in
long-hand. It becomes more difficult to come up with a book right now because of so many
distractions, but with conviction and determination anybody can come up with a book.

Social Legislations - Geared towards the majority, for their aim is for the promotion of
social justice
 GSIS Law - all employees in the government service
 SSS Law - all employees in the private sector
 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law - for farmer beneficiaries

Social justice: Ramon Magsaysay: “Those who have less in life should have more in law.”
SC Calalang v Williams definition of social justice:
“neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy,” but the
humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State
so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be
approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people,
the adoption by the Government of measures calculated to insure economic stability
of all the competent elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper
economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the
community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or
extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all
governments on the time-honored principles of salus populi estsuprema lex.

Social justice must be founded on the recognition of the necessity of

interdependence among divers and diverse units of a society and of the protection
that should be equally and evenly extended to all groups as a combined force in our
social and economic life, consistent with the fundamental and paramount objective
of the state of promoting health, comfort and quiet of all persons, and of bringing
about “the greatest good to the greatest number.”
85% of Society consists of Labor and 15% consists of upper class of the society.

Constitutional Law - all laws must orbit or revolve around the Constitution, they must
bow to the Constitution, because the Constitution is the fundamental law of the land.
Former justice of the Supreme Court Isagani Cruz (isagani Cruz Jr. is a member of the
faculty), De Leon, Rene Gorospe [#2 in the bar examination]- Constitution (1 st edition was 2
volumes, otherwise it is not commercial marketable) and Political Law

Civil Law - Hilado, Arturo Tolentino (former vice president) - scholarly work for every
provision of the Civil Code there is an origin and he would make the annotations in his own
words unlike the recent books where decisions are cluttered, Tolentino has the answer for
the Rationale
Edgardo Paras - outline is simple
*Book - product of experience and knowledge of practice thru the years

Tax Law - Taxation is taxing,

*The ones who would always have an edge would be CPAs because they are familiar with
numbers
Most of the practitioners of tax cases are CPA lawyers.
*During his time, our professor Atty. Aban, he really made tax subject very simple, type of
professor since he was very diligent and enthusiastic in teaching.

*Dean Divina wants to focus on the field of Corporate Law

Legal Writing - Writing it is either you had it or not.

It takes years of practice.
Read any book under the sun to widen your vocabulary.
In writing pleadings, the word would capture the very essence you the paragraph. It is
more difficult to come up with one sentence out of a paragraph. In law, brevity and
directness is preferred than being verbose.
Compilation of the Bar Examination Questions. - Compiled by the UP law center.
A direct, suggested, and alternative answer is found in it.
^How to answer: Yes/No, then legal basis (provisions of the law).
Factual basis is usually used in criminal cases - establishing facts of the case.

Publication - Tanada v Tuvera

 Publication is found in Article 2 of the Civil Code.
 Official Gazette is the official publication of the government, but since the readership
is only limited. Published regularly.
 E.O 200: Allowing the publication to be in a newspaper of general circulation.

The Lawyers Review in the … wherein latest decisions and land mark decisions are
published in the Lawyer’s Review, stopped publication.

Journal of the Senate - Contain the Minutes of the Senate, House of Representatives: lower
house then 3 readings on 3 separate days, 2/3 of the majority pass, then Congress,, then 3
readings (separate dates) open for debates, interpolation and discussions of the bill. If a
provision is being questioned, you can determine the letter and spirit of the law with the
Journal of the Senate.

Scholarly work of the students in various fields of laws

Harvard Law Review
UST Law Review

… = can’t understand
^ Bear in mind that I ask in one of my examination, I ask how the law library looks like.