Decision summaries
What each Supreme Court decision decided, in a sentence or two. Open one and use its Summary tab for the facts, issue and ruling in plain language or lawyer mode. These are study aids, not legal advice. Check the decision itself before you rely on it.
- G.R. 247463Apr 2024People of the Philippines v. Hon. Amelia a. Fabros-Corpuz, in Her Capacity as Acting Presiding Judge of RTC – Muntinlupa City, Branch 256, and Anthony Archangel y SyA lower penalty under Republic Act No. 10951 can be applied to a convict already serving sentence only if it actually favors him, and a judge who orders release by applying the wrong penalty provision commits grave abuse of discretion.
- G.R. 239385Apr 2024Flordivina M. Gaspar,* v. M.i.y. Real Estate Corp.,** and Melissa Ilagan YuA worker who cannot prove that a company hired her, paid her, could fire her and controlled her work is not that company's employee, so she cannot claim illegal dismissal against it.
- G.R. 214074Feb 2024Philippine National Bank v. Median Container Corporation and Eldon Industrial CorporationA bank's claim to collect money, filed in answer to a customer's suit to correct what a contract says, was a separate claim that needed its own filing fees, so it was dismissed.
- G.R. 264913Feb 2024People of the Philippines v. Ronald Paradero AporadoA killing done on the spur of the moment after being teased is homicide, not murder, and mockery during a drinking session is not enough to lessen the penalty.
- G.R. 264846Feb 2024Ccc v. Ddd, Eee, Fff, Ggg & HhhA father lost his bid to take back his two children from their late mother's relatives because the children's welfare and their own wishes came first.
- G.R. 235894Feb 2024Karen Baldovino Chua v. Jose Noel B. de CastroA regular court cannot send a construction dispute to the construction arbitration body when the parties never agreed to arbitrate.
- G.R. 265754Feb 2024People of the Philippines v. Dennis Hernandez y Caringal and Maria Cristina Anonuevo y CorianaA minor lured with a fake job offer and then forced to have sex at gunpoint is a victim of qualified trafficking, and the man who raped her and the woman who helped him are both guilty of qualified rape.
- G.R. 262193Feb 2024Development Bank of the Philippines v. Commission on AuditWhen the Commission on Audit takes years too long to decide a case, the disallowance it ordered can be wiped out, even if the payments were improper.
- A.C. 13753Feb 2024Julieta L. Co v. Atty. Jorge P. MonroyA government lawyer who used his office to trick a friend into paying for a vehicle he could not deliver was disbarred, even though his criminal conviction was not proven final.
- A.C. 12353Feb 2024Melody H. Santos v. Atty. Emilio S. Paña, JrA lawyer who took part in getting a fake court decision for a client was disbarred, meaning he can no longer practice law.
- G.R. 257702Feb 2024Mark Anthony Pagtakhan y Flores v. People of the PhilippinesA robbery conviction cannot stand when the only proof is a victim's pointing at the accused, with no early description of the robber and an identification shaped by what other people told him.
- G.R. 228490Feb 2024Heirs of Elias Solano & Gleceria Falabi Solano v. Pascual T. Dy Heirs of Pascual T. Dy Vs. Spouses Renato & Merle Samson, Heirs of Elias Solano & Gleceria Falabi SolanoA lender who holds land only as security for a loan does not own it, so she cannot sell it to someone else; the buyer gets only the lender's right to be paid and the landowners may still redeem the land.
- G.R. 250296Feb 2024Republic of the Philippines, Represented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (Dpwh) v. a.d. Gonzales, Jr. Construction and Trading Company, IncA contractor that actually did government work must still be paid for it, even if the contract lacked the required certification that funds were available, otherwise the State would be unjustly enriched.
- G.R. 244657Feb 2024Michael G. Valencia v. People of the PhilippinesA man can be convicted of adultery based on strong circumstantial evidence, even if no one saw the sexual act itself.
- G.R. 255308Feb 2024Ma. Anacleta Rachelle Paguirigan y Cueto v. People of the PhilippinesAn accused cannot be convicted of estafa for deceit that was not alleged in the information, and here the evidence also failed to prove deceit, so she was acquitted but still had to refund the money.
- G.R. 260118Feb 2024Paolo Martin M. Ortigas, Denise Marie O. Ting and Carissa Katrina O. Ko, Heirs of Jocelyn M. Ortigas v. Court of Appeals and Hesilito N. CarredoA court judgment against a person who was already dead when the case was filed is void, and the dead person's heirs can ask the Court of Appeals to cancel it.
- G.R. 256540Feb 2024Bison Management Corporation v. Aaa• and Dale P. Pernito,••Filipino workers abroad are protected by Philippine law, so an overseas worker cannot be fired just for testing positive for HIV, even if the foreign country allows it.
- G.R. 237422Feb 2024People of the Philippines v. Ben G. BationA man caught watering marijuana plants was acquitted because the police did not have a media representative present during the inventory and gave no good reason for it.
- G.R. 244695, 244752Feb 2024& 245294 Manggagawa Sa Komunikasyon Ng Pilipinas v. Pldt, Inc. G.r. No. 244752 Pldt, Inc. Vs. Hon. Secretary of Labor and Employment Silvestre H. Bello III and Manggagawa Sa Komunikasyon Ng Pilipinas G.r. No. 245294 Silvestre H. Bello III in His Capacity as the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment Vs. Pldt, IncThe Labor Secretary can decide whether an employer-employee relationship exists during a labor inspection, but he cannot order thousands of contractors' workers regularized on the strength of worker interviews alone.
- G.R. 254531Feb 2024Floro Galorio y Gapas v. People of the PhilippinesA man who stabbed his attacker once to stop him from hurting his wounded nephew was acquitted because he acted in defense of a relative.