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. 263341Feb 2025People of the Philippines v. Alfredo Acdang y Balangen and Allan Acdang y Balangen Allan Acdang y BalangenEven when a man is caught in the act of tending marijuana plants, he must be acquitted if the police fail to follow the required steps for handling the seized plants without a good, proven reason.
- G.R. 253218Feb 2025Department of Science and Technology (Dost) Officials and Personnel Represented by Sec. Fortunato de La Peña, in His Capacity as Secretary v. Commission on AuditA government department head cannot challenge a Commission on Audit disallowance that has long become final when only the 103 employees held liable had the right to challenge it, and he filed no proof that he was authorized to act for them.
- G.R. 257747Feb 2025People of the Philippines v. Amalia Soriano y Realingo a.k.a. "Amy"Not using an evidence bag for seized drugs does not by itself free the accused, because what matters is how the evidence was handled and passed from one officer to the next.
- G.R. 272006Feb 2025Republic of the Philippines v. Linney Jean L. Tangarorang and Ramer R. TangarorangA child who was legitimated by her parents' later marriage stays legitimate even if that marriage is declared void because of one spouse's psychological incapacity.
- G.R. 268979Feb 2025Jeffrey Rosacay Empuerto and Leonido and Rosalyn Empuerto v. Sheena Olpoc CabrillosA court cannot decide who gets custody of a child just because the parents signed an agreement; it must let the other side answer and hold a proper trial focused on the child's best interests.
- A.C. 13435Feb 2025(Formerly Cbd Case No. 18-5815) Denis Guy Martin v. Atty. Leticia E. AlaA lawyer who repeatedly urges police to shoot a person without legal basis, and who uses abusive language in her pleadings, can be suspended from the practice of law, even if she acted out of fear or distress.
- G.R. 267108Feb 2025Conrado Nuñez, Jr., Clarita Nuñez-Abraham, Celia Nuñez-Nuñez, Heirs of Eduveges Nuñez-Alinea, as Represented by Conrado Nuñez, Jr., and Heirs of Helen Nuñez-Quiozon, Represented by Robert Conrad Nuñez Quiozon and Conrado Nuñez, Jr. v. Spouses Oscar and Norma Nuñez, the City Assessor of Quezon City, and the Register of Deeds of Quezon CitySomeone who says a registered title in another person's name should be cancelled must prove their own ownership, and a one-page photocopy of an old title with no explanation for the missing original is not enough.
- G.R. 248699Feb 2025People of the Philippines v. Jeorge Ejercito Estregan, Arlyn Lazaro-Torres, Terryl Gamit-Talabong, Kalahi U. Rabago, Erwin P. Sacluti, Gener C. Dimaranan, and Marilyn M. BruelA mayor who gives a government contract to a private company without public bidding, even though the company was not legally allowed to do that kind of business, can be convicted of graft, but councilors who merely approved a general ordinance and ratified the contract were acquitted.
- G.R. 235870Feb 2025Adriano a. Arcelo v. People of the Philippines Rosa Anna Duavit-Santiago,* Vs. People of the Philippines Dr. Roberto T. Borromeo Vs. People of the PhilippinesThe Supreme Court held that the education trust fund FAPE is a government instrumentality whose money is public funds, so its president was rightly convicted for lending himself that money, while two officers who processed the loans in good faith were acquitted.
- G.R. 276682Feb 2025Renato Guevarra y Robles v. Honorable Court of Appeals and People of the PhilippinesA radio host who runs for office must stop his media work during the campaign, and the Court upheld the conviction of a candidate who kept hosting a program and attacked an opponent on air.
- G.R. 249239Feb 2025And 250286 Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Telstar Manufacturing Corporation Telstar Manufacturing Corporation Vs. Commissioner of Internal RevenueThe tax bureau lost its tax assessment against Telstar for 2009 because it let the company sign defective waivers that did not extend its deadline, and because its demand letter never actually demanded payment.
- G.R. 260983Feb 2025(Formerly Udk No. 17529) Klaus Peter Neunzig,* v. Hon. Court of Appeals, Twenty First Division, Mindanao Station and Rossana Balcom-doringA foreigner who bought a house through a Filipino friend to get around the ban on foreign land ownership cannot be evicted by her through an ejectment case, because the arrangement and the lease contracts are void and neither side gets the court's help.
- A.C. 13361Feb 2025Henry G. Lacida v. Atty. Rejoice S. SubejanoA lawyer who borrows money from a client that is a lending company, in an ordinary loan of the kind the client offers to the public, does not break the rule against borrowing from clients.
- G.R. 263099Feb 2025Noel Untalan y Sarreal v. People of the PhilippinesA person cannot be convicted of illegal possession of a firearm when he never had any intention to possess it, such as when a police bodyguard left the gun in his house without his knowing.
- G.R. 263038Feb 2025Jan Michael B. Aguiling v. People of the PhilippinesA trial judge may approve a drug plea bargain that follows the Supreme Court's own framework even if the prosecutor objects only because it conflicts with the Department of Justice's internal guidelines.
- G.R. 274980Feb 2025Atty. Fred L. Bagbagen v. Anna May F. PerezA government official's salary can be garnished to pay a court judgment, because no law exempts it, and not only because it lost its public character once deposited in a bank.
- G.R. 277015Feb 2025Alvin Clark y. Teng v. Pearly y. Teng, Albert y. Teng, Paul T. Teng, and Cheryl Ann T. Hao, as Members of the Board of Directors of Mabuhay Educational Center, IncCourts will not stop a family corporation's board from ending its business or selling its property, because that is a management decision, and closing a business is not the same as dissolving the corporation.
- G.R. 274922Feb 2025People of the Philippines v. the Honorable Sandiganbayan (First Division), Teddy C. Tumang and William B. ColisWhen the Ombudsman takes more than six years to finish a preliminary investigation without a good reason, the accused's right to speedy disposition of cases is violated and the criminal cases are dismissed for good.
- G.R. 266641Feb 2025Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Script2010, IncA decision becomes final if the losing party does not file the proper motion or appeal on time, and a lawyer's mistake in choosing the wrong filing does not undo that, so the Court refused to review the tax case.
- G.R. 255706Feb 2025Rowena Manlutac Green v. Jeffery a. Green and the Republic of the PhilippinesA marriage can be declared void for psychological incapacity based on the totality of the evidence, including a psychiatric report built on interviews with the spouses and people close to them, unless there is reason to think those accounts were made up.