QUESTION AND ANSWER

SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS

1. A, B, C are sibling and heirs of Sps. X and Y who both died without a will. Upon their death, Sps. X and Y left an
estate comprising of a one hectare agricultural land, a 5 Storey commercial building and a house and lot in
Tagaytay. in the proceedings for the settlement of the intestate estate of Sps. X and Y, C claimed that the
Tagaytay house and lot should be excluded in the estate because said property was already donated to C when X
and y are still alive. Does the settlement court have jurisdiction to determine and pass upon the issue of
ownership of the Tagaytay house and lot in the settlement of estate proceedings? Reason?

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

2. X is an American but is a resident of Sta. Rosa, Laguna at the time he died. X died as a bachelor leaving no
compulsory heirs. X left his house and lot in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Z, the sibling of X filed a petition for the
probate X’s will in the RTC of Sta.Rosa, Laguna. A, the common law wife of X opposed the same on the ground
that X is an American citizen and thus his will should be probated in the Us. Can the RTC Sta. Rosa, Laguna admit
X’s will to probate? Reason.

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3. X and Z are spouses who have been married for more than 20 years. One day, X left the conjugal above and lived
with his mistress Y. To compel X to live with her because she is X’s Legal wife, Z filed a petition for the issuance
of a writ of habeas corpus against Y before the RTC to produce X before the court. Will the petition be given due
course? reason.

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4. Dina Sulit wanted to change her first name from Dina to Lina because she was always mocked and teased due
her name. If you were Dina Sulit’s counsel, what law/rule will you use to effect the change of her first name.
Explain.

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5. Baho Kho wanted to change the nationality which was erroneously reflected in his birth certificate as “Chinese”
when in fact he is a “Filipino’ because both his parents are Filipinos. If you were Kho’s counsel, what law or rule
will you apply and in what court or agency will you file the petition? Reasons.

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6. X is the daughter of Y. X had a child out of wedlock, Z. Since Y was the one who took care of Z since she was a
baby, Y decided to adopt Z. X consented to the adoption. However, the siblings of X, A and B opposed the
adoption on the ground that there will be a dual relationship between X and Z because X will be Z’s biological
mother as well as her elder sister at the same time. If you were the judge, will you grant or deny the adoption?
Reasons.

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7. X was appointed by the court as guardian of the minor Z. In the Letters of guardianship, X was tasked to
administer and preserve the properties of the ward Z. However, during the term of X’s guardianship, Z got
seriously ill and needed large amount of money to defray medical expenses. X wanted to sell a 1-heactare real
property owned by Z to finance the latters hospitalization. Is X the selling of the wards property covered by the
power/authority of X as guardian? Reasons.

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 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE

8. In a complaint for robbery thru force upon things filed by A against X, Y and Z, the investigating
prosecutor after preliminary investigation decided to file the Information against X and Y only, thus
dropping Z as an accused. When the Information was filed in court and reviewed by the Judge for the
purpose of issuing warrant of arrest, The judge directed the prosecution to file an Amended
Information in order to include Z as additional accused. Is the Judge correct in issuing an order
directing the Prosecutor to file an Amended Information to plead Z as additional accused? Reasons.

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9. In a buy bust operation, X was caught selling 1 sachet of shabu. Subsequently when he was searched,
no other contraband was recovered in his possession. After the inquest, a single Information for
violation of Sec.5 (sale of shabu) and Sec 11 (possession of shabu) of RA 9165 was filed against him. X
through counsel, objected on the ground of duplicity in the Information. Is the Information duplicitous?
Reasons.

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10. For parking his car in a prohibited zone, x was issued a citation ticket by the police traffic enforcer. X
was further searched and recovered from his pocket was a sachet containing shabu. prior to
arraignment, X moved to quash the arrest on the ground that the search and the arrest were illegal.
Was X validly arrested? Reasons.

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11. X is a 17-year old minor charged with rape. In the Information, the investigating prosecutor
recommended that the offense should not be subject to bail considering that it is a capital offense. X,
through counsel, moved that he be admitted to bail because the same is a matter of right on his part. If
you were the judge, will you grant X’s application for bail? Reason.

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12. For discharging a caliber 45 pistol, an Information for Discharge of Firearm was filed against X. X was
arraigned but due to the repeated absence of the private complainant, the case was dismissed.
Subsequently, a case for Alarm and Scandal involving the same incident was filed against X. X moved to
quash the Information for Alarm and Scandal on the ground of double jeopardy. If you were the judge,
will you grant or deny the motion? Reasons.

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13. X was charged of Qualified Theft. X hired a counsel de parte, Atty. A to assist him in his defense. For
failure of Atty. Y to attend three hearings without any justification, the court appointed Atty. B as de
officio counsel of X. X refused on the ground that it is a violation of his right to counsel. Do you agree
with X? Reasons.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
- No, the contention of X is not correct.
- In the case of Amion Vs Judge Chiongson is was ruled that, there is no denial of the right to
counsel where a counsel de oficio was appointed during the absence of the accused’s counsel de
parte pursuant to the courts desire to finish the case as early as practicable under the continuous
trial system.
- Since in this case The defense counsel has been failed to attend during hearing for several times,
without any justification. So for that reason,the court has the power to provide him Another
counsel for the purpose of finishing the case as early as practicable.
- Accused-complainant was not, in any way, deprived of his substantive and constitutional right to
due process as he was duly accorded all the opportunities to be heard and to present evidence to
substantiate his defense but he forfeited this right, for not appearing in court together with his
counsel at the scheduled hearings.
14. While eating at a fastfood restaurant, A police officer noticed X who was likewise eating in the same
restaurant. While X was eating, A noticed a hard object bulging on X’s tummy. thus, after X finished
eating, A followed him. When X went to a gas station, A placed his arm over X’s shoulders and asked
him to raise his shirt. Afraid, X raised his shirt and A discovered a caliber .45 pistol. In the case for illegal
possession of firearm, X moved to suppress the evidence on the ground that the same was a product of
an illegal search. If you were the judge, will you grant or deny X’s motion? Reasons.

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15. If there is a conflict between autoptic evidence and testimonial evidence, which should be given
greater weight? Explain.

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16. In a criminal case of murder, the defense has already presented thirty (30) witnesses. The counsel for
the accused manifested that they have 10 other additional witnesses to be presented. Accordingly,
Judge X issued an order terminating the presentation of evidence by the Defense on the ground that
the Defense evidence is already full. The Defense moved for reconsideration on the ground that said
order denied them due process. Is the contention of the Defense correct? Reasons.

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17. In a civil case for recovery of possession filed by X against Z, the evidence presented by the parties is in
equipoise. If you were the Judge, how will you decide the case. Reasons.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
- If I were the Judge I will Dismissed the petition/complaint
- Under the rules, when the evidence of the parties is in equipoise or when there is a doubt as to
where the preponderance of evidence lies, the party with the burden of proof fails then the
petition / complaint must be denied.
18. In a criminal case of homicide, the prosecution has not presented any direct evidence pointing to be
accused as the perpetrator of the crime. however, the prosecution has adduced several circumstantial
evidence indirectly proving the offense charged. Can the accused be convicted using circumstantial
evidence only? Reasons.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
- No. Certainly, it is not only by direct evidence that accused may be convicted of the crime
charged.
- Circumstantial evidence is resorted to when direct testimony would result in setting felons free
and deny proper protection to the community.
- The accused may be convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence, provided the proven
circumstances constitute an unbroken chain leading to one fair reasonable conclusion pointing to
the accused to the exclusion of all others as the guilty person.

19. A is mental retardee who witnessed the rape with homicide that was perpetrated by X against Y. When
the Prosecution is about to present A as witness, the Defense objected on the ground that A could not
be a competent witness. Rule on the objection with reasons.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
- Yes. While it is true that the credibility of one who is a mental retardee may be difficult to
determine, still it can be ascertained by deducing from the manner she testifies in court as to the
surrounding facts of the crime committed
- Moreover mental retardation per se does not affect credibility.A mentally retarded may be a
credible witness. The acceptance of her testimony depends on the quality of her perceptions and
the manner she can make them known to the court. (People Vs Tamano)

20. While walking his way home one night, X found a woman with stab wound in her chest. Before
expiring, the woman told X that Z was the one who killed her. When the Prosecution introduced X to
the witness stand, the Defense objected on the ground that the testimony of X was hearsay evidence.
Rule on the Objection with reasons.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
- The Objection is not correct.
- Since in this case there is a Dying Declaration between X and the woman and Dying Declaration is
one the exceptions to the Hearsay Rule,
- The declaration of a dying person, made under the consciousness of an pending death may be
receive in any case wherein his death is the subject of inquiry, as evidence of the cause and
surrounding circumstances of such death. (Sec. 37)
- So in this case X can be a witness and his/her testimony is admissible as evidence in court.