Political Law

1. On Police Power. To be considered reasonable, the government's exercise of police

power must satisfy the "valid object and valid means" method of analysis: first, the
interest of the public generally, as distinguished from those of a particular class, requires
interference; and second, the means employed are reasonably necessary to attain the
objective sought and not unduly oppressive upon individuals.(Association of Medical
Clinics for Overseas Workers, Inc. v. GCC Approved Medical Centers Association, Inc., G.R.
No. 207132, December 6, 2016)
2. Requisites for the Exercise of Judicial Review. (1) there must be an actual case or
controversy calling for the exercise of judicial power; (2) the person challenging the act
must have standing to challenge the validity of the subject act or issuance; otherwise
stated, he must have a personal and substantial interest in the case such that he has
sustained, or will sustain, direct injury as a result of its enforcement; (3) the question of
constitutionality must be raised at the earliest opportunity; and (4) the issue of
constitutionality must be the very lis mota of the case. (Senate v. Ermita, G.R. No. 169777,
April 20, 2006)
3. On the exercise of the "calling out" powers of the president. The President shall be the
Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes
necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence,
invasion or rebellion. (Article VII, Section 18, 1987 Philippine Constitution).
4. On the power of the president to veto a particular item. The President shall have the power
to veto any particular item or items in an appropriation, revenue, or tariff bill, but the veto shall
not affect the item or items to which he does not object. For the President to exercise his item-veto
power, it necessarily follows that there exists a proper "item" which may be the object of the veto.
An item, as defined in the field of appropriations, pertains to "the particulars, the details, the
distinct and severable parts of the appropriation or of the bill." (Belgica v. Executive Secretary,
G.R. No. 208566, November 19, 2013).
5. On the exemption of liability for libelous statements made during a privileged
speech. Said expression refers to utterances made by Congressmen in the performance
of their official functions, such as speeches delivered, statements made, or votes cast in
the halls of Congress, while the same is in session, as well as bills introduced in
Congress, whether the same is in session or not, and other acts performed by
Congressmen, either in Congress or outside the premises housing its offices, in the
official discharge of their duties as members of Congress and of Congressional
Committees duly authorized to perform its functions as such, at the time of the
performance of the acts in question. (Jimenez vs. Cabangbang, G.R. No. L-15905, August 3,
1966; Trillanes vs. Marigomen, G.R. No. 224451, March 14, 2018).
6. The plain view doctrine. Objects falling in plain view of an officer who has a right to be
in a position to have that view are subject to seizure even without a search warrant and
may be introduced in evidence. The 'plain view' doctrine applies when the following
requisites concur: (a) the law enforcement officer in search of the evidence has a prior
justification for an intrusion or is in a position from which he can view a particular area;
(b) the discovery of evidence in plain view is inadvertent; (c) it is immediately apparent
to the officer that the item he observes may be evidence of a crime, contraband or
otherwise subject to seizure. The law enforcement officer must lawfully make an initial
intrusion or properly be in a position from which he can particularly view the area. In
the course of such lawful intrusion, he came inadvertently across a piece of evidence
 incriminating the accused. The object must be open to eye and hand and its discovery
inadvertent. (People vs. Lagman, G.R. No. 168695, December 8, 2008).

7. The Terry Search. The Terry search or the "stop and frisk" situation refers to a case
where a police officer approaches a person who is acting suspiciously, for purposes of
investigating possibly criminal behavior in line with the general interest of effective
crime prevention and detection. To assure himself that the person with whom he is
dealing is not armed with a weapon that could unexpectedly and fatally be used against
him, he could validly conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such
person to discover weapons which might be used to assault him. (People v. Canton, G.R.
No. 148825, December 27, 2002; People v. Cristobal y Ambrosio, G.R. No. 234207, June 10,
2019).
8. On the ownership requirements for mass media corporations. The ownership and
management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to
corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and managed by such citizens.
(Article XVI, Section 11, 1987 Philippine Constitution)
9. On the regulation of speech. Generally, restraints on freedom of speech and expression
are evaluated by either or a combination of three tests, i.e., (a) the dangerous tendency
doctrine which permits limitations on speech once a rational connection has been
established between the speech restrained and the danger contemplated; (b) the
balancing of interests tests, used as a standard when courts need to balance conflicting
social values and individual interests, and requires a conscious and detailed
consideration of the interplay of interests observable in a given situation of type of
situation; and (c) the clear and present danger rule which rests on the premise that
speech may be restrained because there is substantial danger that the speech will likely
lead to an evil the government has a right to prevent. This rule requires that the evil
consequences sought to be prevented must be substantive, "extremely serious and the
degree of imminence extremely high." As articulated in our jurisprudence, we have
applied either the dangerous tendency doctrine or clear and present danger test to
resolve free speech challenges. More recently, we have concluded that we have generally
adhered to the clear and present danger test. (Chavez v. Gonzales, G.R. No. 168338,
February 15, 2008)
10. On the regulation of speech. Content-based restraint or censorship refers to restrictions
"based on the subject matter of the utterance or speech." In contrast, content-neutral
regulation includes controls merely on the incidents of the speech such as time, place, or
manner of the speech. (Note: Content-Neutral Regulation is allowed, Diocese of Bacolod
vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 205728, January 21, 2015).

International Law

1. As to the sources of international law. a) international conventions, whether general or

particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states; b)
international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; c) the general
principles of law recognized by civilized nations; d) subject to the provisions of Article
59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the
various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law. (Article 38(1),
ICJ Statute).
 2. On Customary International Law. In order to establish the customary status of a
particular norm, two elements must concur: State practice, the objective element; and
opinio juris sive necessitates, the subjective element.
3. State practice refers to the continuous repetition of the same or similar kind of acts or
norms by States. It is demonstrated upon the existence of the following elements: (1)
generality; (2) uniformity and consistency; and (3) duration. While, opinio juris, the
psychological element, requires that the state practice or norm "be carried out in such a
way, as to be evidence of a belief that this practice is rendered obligatory by the
existence of a rule of law requiring it (Bayan Muna v. Romulo, G.R. No. 159618, February 1,
2011).
4. On Monism and Dualism. This ambivalent attitude towards the relationship between
international and municipal law exemplifies the still on-going debate between two
schools of thought — "monism" and "dualism". Monists believe that international law
and domestic law are part of a single legal order; international law is automatically
incorporated into each nation's legal system and that international law is supreme over
domestic law. Monism requires that domestic courts "give effect to international law,
notwithstanding inconsistent domestic law, even constitutional law of a constitutional
character." Dualists, however, contend that international law and domestic law are
distinct, each nation ascertaining for itself and to what extent international law is
incorporated into its legal system, and that the status of international law in the
domestic system is determined by domestic law. Under this view, "when municipal law
provides that international law applies in whole or in part within our jurisdiction, it is
but an exercise of the authority of municipal law, an adoption or transformation of the
rules of international law. (Government of the United States of America v. Purganan, G.R.
No. 148571 (Resolution), December 17, 2002)

Labor Law

1. On the question of who are indirect employers. Any person, partnership, association,
or corporation which, not being an employer, contracts with an independent contractor
for the performance of any work, task, job or project.
2. On service charges. If service charges are abolished, the equivalent share of each
covered employee computed for 12 months shall be added to his salary by management.
Management cannot use the tip as substitute for service charges.
3. On the two-tiered test in the determination of the existence of employer-employee
relationship.

a. The putative employer's power to control the employee with respect to the
means and method by which work is accomplished.
b. Underlying economic realities of the activity or relationship.

4. On the two methods of minimum wage adjustment.

a. "Floor Wage" method – fixing of the determinate amount that would be

added to the prevailing statutory minimum wage
b. "Salary-ceiling" method – wage adjustment is applied to employees receiving
a certain denominated salary ceiling. Sometimes referred to as "salary cap"
method.
 5. On an employee's right to refuse a promotion. There is no law that compels an
employee to accept a promotion, as a promotion is in the nature of a gift or a reward,
which a person has the right to refuse. When the employee refuses to accept his
promotion, he is exercising a right and he cannot be punished for it. He who uses his
legal right injures no one (Dosch vs. NLRC and Northwest Airlines).

6. On the Entitlements or benefits due to night workers which are not usually available
to ordinary workers.

a. Health assessment free of charge and at regular intervals;

b. Mandatory facilities such as first aid facilities, sleeping or resting quarters and
c. transportation fares from the work premises to nearest point of residence; and;
Transfer to a regular day job for those certified not fit for night work.

7. On the Membership of Priests with the SSS. Membership of priests with the SSS is not
in violation of the constitution against the application of public funds for the benefits of
priests working for the church. Funds contributed to the SSS are not public funds but
belong to the members held in trust by the government. Payment to the priest is made
because he is an employee, not because he is a priest.
8. On the reason for a moving picket. The right to picket is one of passage – a pedestrian
right. It does not create the additional rights of squatting or assembling on the portion of
the employer's land used as highway or public thoroughfare.
9. On the definition of gross violation of the CBA. Gross violation of the CBA is flagrant
and/or malicious refusal to comply with the economic provisions of the CBA. The labor
arbiter has jurisdiction over disputes arising from gross violations of the CBA.
10. On the creation of local chapters. A duly registered Federation or National Union may
directly create a local chapter by issuing a charter certificate indicating the establishment
of a local chapter. The chapter shall acquire legal personality upon the issuance of the
charter certificate to file a petition for certification election.

Taxation Law

1. On double taxation. There is double taxation when the same taxpayer is taxed twice
when he should be taxed only once for the same purpose by the same taxing authority
within the same jurisdiction during the same taxing period, and the taxes are of the same
kind or character. (Nursery Care Corp. v. Acevedo, G.R. No. 180651, July 30, 2014).
2. On the principles of a sound tax system. The principles of a sound tax system are fiscal
adequacy, administrative feasibility, and theoretical justice. Fiscal adequacy means the
sources of revenue must be sufficient to meet government expenditures and other public
needs. Administrative feasibility means tax laws and regulations must be capable of
being effectively enforced with the least inconvenience to the taxpayer. And, theoretical
justice means that a sound tax system must be based on the taxpayers' ability to pay.
3. On donor's tax. Donor's Tax is a tax on a donation or gift, and is imposed on the
gratuitous transfer of property between two or more persons who are living at the time
of the transfer. It shall apply whether the transfer is in trust or otherwise, whether the
gift is direct or indirect and whether the property is real or personal, tangible or
intangible.
 4. On the coverage of MCIT. A corporation starts to be covered by the MCIT on the 4th
year following the year of the commencement of its business operations. The period of
reckoning which is the start of its business operations is the year when the corporation
was registered with the BIR. This rule will apply regardless of whether the corporation
is using the calendar year or fiscal year as its taxable year.
5. On the carry forward provision of the MCIT. Any excess of the MCIT over the normal
income tax may be carried forward and credited against the normal income tax for the
three (3) immediately succeeding taxable years.
6. On VAT. Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a form of sales tax. It is a tax on consumption
levied on the sale, barter, exchange or lease of goods or properties and services in the
Philippines and on importation of goods into the Philippines. It is an indirect tax, which
may be shifted or passed on to the buyer, transferee or lessee of goods, properties or
services.
7. On the lifeblood doctrine. That taxation is an essential attribute of sovereignty and the
lifeblood of every nation are doctrines well-entrenched in our jurisdiction. Taxes are the
government's primary means to generate funds needed to fulfill its mandate of
promoting the general welfare and well-being of the people and so should be collected
without unnecessary hindrance. (CIR v. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., G.R. Nos. 197945
& 204119, July 9, 2018)

Criminal Law

1. On Extraterritoriality of penal laws. The provisions of this [Revised Penal] Code shall
be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its
interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:

a. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship

b. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or
obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;
c. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the
obligations and securities mentioned in the presiding number;
d. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the
exercise of their functions; or
e. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations,
defined in Title One of Book Two of this Code. (Art. 2 of the Revised Penal Code)

2. On mens rea. Mens rea has been defined before as "a guilty mind, a guilty or wrongful
purpose or criminal intent," and "essential for criminal liability."The criminal statute
must also provide for the overt acts that constitute the crime. For a crime to exist in our
legal law, it is not enough that mens rea be shown; there must also be an actus reus. It is
from the actus reus and the mens rea, as they find expression in the criminal statute, that
the felony is produced. (Valenzuela y Natividad v. People, G.R. No. 160188, June 21, 2007,
552 PHIL 381-419).
3. On self-defense. The elements of self-defense of are:

a. unlawful aggression;
b. reasonable necessity to prevent or repel the aggression; and
 c. absence of provocation on the part of the person the defending himself.
(Masipequiña v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. L-51206, [August 25, 1989], 257 PHIL
710-721).

4. On unlawful aggression. The three elements of unlawful aggression, namely:

a. there must be a physical or material attack or assault;

b. the attack or assault must be actual, or, at least, imminent; and
c. the attack or assault must be unlawful. (People v. Nugas, 677 Phil. 168, 177 2011).

5. On alternative circumstances. Alternative circumstances are those which must be taken

into consideration as aggravating or mitigating according to the nature and effects of the
crime and the other conditions attending its commission. They are the relationship,
intoxication and the degree of instruction and education of the offender. The alternative
circumstance of relationship shall be taken into consideration when the offended party is
the spouse, ascendant, descendant, legitimate, natural, or adopted brother or sister, or
relative by affinity in the same degrees of the offender. (Planos y Lanoy v. People, G.R.
No. 232506 (Notice), [November 18, 2020]).
6. On intent to kill. If the victim dies due to the accused's deliberate act, intent to kill is
conclusively presumed and there is no need for evidence (Jaca v. People, G.R. No.
219145 (Noitce), [January 20, 2020]).
7. On the safe spaces act. Crimes of gender-based streets and public spaces sexual
harassment are committed through any unwanted and uninvited sexual actions or
remarks against any person regardless of the motive for committing such action or
remarks:

a. Gender-Based Sexual Harassment in Restaurants and Cafes, Bars and Clubs,

Resorts and Water Parks, Hotels and Casinos, Cinemas, Malls, Buildings and
Other Privately-Owned Places Open to the Public.
b. Gender-Based Sexual Harassment in Public Utility Vehicles
c. Gender-Based Sexual Harassment in Streets and Public Spaces Committed by
Minors
d. Gender-Based Online Sexual Harassment.
e. Gender-Based Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.
f. Gender Based Sexual Harassment in Educational and Training Institutions.
(Republic Act 11313).

8. On Qualified Gender-Based Streets, Public Spaces and Online Sexual Harassment.

The penalty next higher in degree will be applied in the following cases:

a. The act takes place in a common carrier or PUV, including, but not limited to,
jeepneys, taxis, tricycles, or app-based transport network vehicle services,
where the perpetrator is the driver of the vehicle and the offended party is a
passenger:
b. If the offended party is a minor, a senior citizen, or a person with disability
(PWD), or a breastfeeding mother nursing her child;
c. If the offended party is diagnosed with a mental problem tending to impair
consent;
 d. If the perpetrator is a member of the uniformed services, such as the PNP and
the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the act was perpetrated while
the perpetrator was in uniform; and
e. If the act takes place in the premises of a government agency offering frontline
services to the public and the perpetrator is a government employee. (Republic
Act 11313).

9. On the scope of the data privacy act. The Act applies to the processing of all types of
personal information and to any natural and juridical person involved in personal
information processing including those personal information controllers and processors
who, although not found or established in the Philippines, use equipment that are
located in the Philippines, or those who maintain an office, branch or agency in the
Philippines subject to the immediately succeeding paragraph: Provided, That the
requirements of Section 5 are complied with. This Act does not apply to the following:

a. Information about any individual who is or was an officer or employee of a

government institution that relates to the position or functions of the
individual, including:

i. The fact that the individual is or was an officer or employee of the

government institution;
ii. The title, business address and office telephone number of the
individual;
iii. The classification, salary range and responsibilities of the position
held by the individual; and
iv. The name of the individual on a document prepared by the individual
in the course of employment with the government;

b. Information about an individual who is or was performing service under

contract for a government institution that relates to the services performed,
including the terms of the contract, and the name of the individual given in
the course of the performance of those services;
c. Information relating to any discretionary benefit of a financial nature such as
the granting of a license or permit given by the government to an individual,
including the name of the individual and the exact nature of the benefit;
d. Personal information processed for journalistic, artistic, literary or research
purposes;
e. Information necessary in order to carry out the functions of public authority
which includes the processing of personal data for the performance by the
independent, central monetary authority and law enforcement and
regulatory agencies of their constitutionally and statutorily mandated
functions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as to have amended or
repealed Republic Act No. 1405, otherwise known as the Secrecy of Bank
Deposits Act; Republic Act No. 6426, otherwise known as the Foreign
Currency Deposit Act; and Republic Act No. 9510, otherwise known as the
Credit Information System Act (CISA);
f. Information necessary for banks and other financial institutions under the
jurisdiction of the independent, central monetary authority or Bangko Sentral
 ng Pilipinas to comply with Republic Act No. 9510, and Republic Act No.
9160, as amended, otherwise known as the Anti-Money Laundering Act and
other applicable laws; and
g. Personal information originally collected from residents of foreign
jurisdictions in accordance with the laws of those foreign jurisdictions,
including any applicable data privacy laws, which is being processed in the
Philippines. (Republic Act 10173).

10. On the right to Data Portability. Right to Data Portability. – The data subject shall have
the right, where personal information is processed by electronic means and in a
structured and commonly used format, to obtain from the personal information
controller a copy of data undergoing processing in an electronic or structured format,
which is commonly used and allows for further use by the data subject. The Commission
may specify the electronic format referred to above, as well as the technical standards,
modalities and procedures for their transfer. (Republic Act 10173).
11. On the Battered Woman Syndrome. SECTION 26. Battered Woman Syndrome as a
Defense. – Victim-survivors who are found by the courts to be suffering from battered
woman syndrome do not incur any criminal and civil liability notwithstanding the
absence of any of the elements for justifying circumstances of self-defense under the
Revised Penal Code. In the determination of the state of mind of the woman who was
suffering from battered woman syndrome at the time of the commission of the crime,
the courts shall be assisted by expert psychiatrists/ psychologists.
12. On Economic Abuse under R.A. 9262. Economic abuse" refers to acts that make or
attempt to make a woman financially dependent which includes, but is not limited to
the following:

a. withdrawal of financial support or preventing the victim from engaging in

any legitimate profession, occupation, business or activity, except in cases
wherein the other spouse/partner objects on valid, serious and moral
grounds as defined in Article 73 of the Family Code;
b. deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources and the right to the
use and enjoyment of the conjugal, community or property owned in
common;
c. destroying household property;
d. controlling the victims' own money or properties or solely controlling the
conjugal money or properties.

13. On Child Abuse. Notably, case law qualifies that for one to be held criminally liable for
the commission of acts of Child Abuse under Section 10 (a), Article VI of RA 7610, "the
prosecution [must] prove a specific intent to debase, degrade, or demean the intrinsic
worth of the child; otherwise, the accused cannot be convicted [for the said offense]."The
foregoing requirement was first established in the case of Bongalon v. People(Bongalon),
where it was held that the laying of hands against a child, when done in the spur of the
moment and in anger, cannot be deemed as an act of child abuse under Section 10 (a) of
RA 7610, absent the essential element of intent to debase, degrade, or demean the
intrinsic worth and dignity of the child as a human being on the part of the offender,
viz.: Not every instance of the laying of hands on a child constitutes the crime of child
abuse under Section 10 (a) of Republic Act No. 7610. Only when the laying of hands is
shown beyond reasonable doubt to be intended by the accused to debase, degrade or
demean the intrinsic worth and dignity of the child as a human being should it be
punished as child abuse. Debasement is defined as the act of reducing the value, quality,
or purity of something; degradation, on the other hand, is a lessening of a person's or
thing's character or quality; while demean means to lower in status, condition,
reputation, or character.