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. 265553Oct 2023Leo G. Trimor v. Blokie Builders and Trading Corporation and Filamer Amado P. BulaoA construction worker is presumed to be a regular employee, and an employer who says he is a project employee must prove he was told the project and its duration when he was hired, so a project contract signed more than two months after work began does not cut it.
- A.C. 13550Oct 2023Ariel Conducto Castillo v. Atty. Restituto S. MendozaA lawyer who writes a demand letter to protect his clients' share in an unsettled estate is not guilty of deceit just because the estate has no administrator yet.
- G.R. 255087Oct 2023People of the Philippines v. Adelberto Federico Yap, Sigfredo v. Dublin, Veronica S. Ordoñez, Ma. Venus B. Casas, and Marlon E. BarilloGovernment officials cannot be convicted of graft for acts that are not stated in the charge, and a procurement irregularity is not graft unless bad faith or gross negligence and real injury are proven.
- G.R. 263603Oct 2023People of the Philippines v. Eul Vincent O. RodriguezPolice who set up a sting against someone already offering minors for sexual shows are conducting a valid entrapment, not instigation, so the accused's conviction for qualified trafficking stands.
- G.R. 233461Oct 2023Vicente Atlas R. Catalan and Maryrose T. Diaz v. Cristina B. Bombaes G.r. No. 233681 Ma. Kristel B. Aguirre Vs. Cristina B. BombaesA buyer of titled land cannot claim to be a buyer in good faith if the facts around her should have made her suspicious about the seller, even when the title looked clean.
- G.R. 246231Oct 2023Allan de Vera y Ante v. People of the PhilippinesOn reconsideration, the Supreme Court acquitted a man of child abuse because the prosecution did not prove beyond reasonable doubt what he did, how seriously it harmed the girl, or that he meant to degrade her.
- G.R. 216838-39Oct 2023Janet Lim Napoles v. Hon. Conchita Carpio Morales in Her Capacity as Ombudsman, People of the Philippines, and Sandiganbayan John Raymund de Asis Vs. Hon. Conchita Carpio Morales in Her Capacity as Ombudsman, People of the Philippines, and Sandiganbayan Alan a. Javellana Vs. the Office of the Ombudsman, National Bureau of Investigation, and Atty. Levito BaligodThe Supreme Court refused to stop the PDAF (pork barrel) scam cases against Janet Lim Napoles, John Raymund De Asis and Alan A. Javellana, because the Ombudsman had enough basis to find probable cause and send them to trial.
- G.R. 258805Oct 2023St. Anthony College of Roxas City, Inc., Represented by Sister Geraldine J. Denoga, D.c., Dr. Pilita de Jesus Liceralde, and Dr. Anton Mari Hao Lim v. Commission on Elections, Represented by the Acting Chairperson Commissioner Socorro B. Inting, and COMELEC Director James Arthur B. Jimenez in His Official Capacity as Spokesperson of the COMELEC and as Director IV of the COMELEC Department for Education and InformationThe COMELEC cannot remove or destroy privately owned election posters and tarpaulins displayed on private property, because its size limits cover candidates and political parties, not private persons.
- A.M. CA-24-002-POct 2023(Formerly Jib Fpi No. 22-016-CA-P) Court of Appeals v. Rommel P. Labitoria, Clerk II, Judicial Records Division, Court of AppealsA court employee who tests positive for illegal drugs is guilty of a serious offense, but the Court may impose suspension instead of dismissal when there are mitigating circumstances such as a first offense, long service and completed rehabilitation.
- A.M. RTJ-20-2579Oct 2023(Formerly a.m. No. 20-06-75 RTC) Office of the Court Administrator v. Judge Edralin C. Reyes, Presiding Judge, Branch 43, Regional Trial Court, Roxas City, Oriental MindoroThe Supreme Court dismissed a trial court judge from the service for asking for bribes from lawyers and litigants, and held that his messages found on a court-issued laptop could be used against him.
- G.R. 254978-79Oct 2023Department of Trade and Industry v. Toyota Balintawak, Inc. and Toyota Motor Phils. CorpSomeone who buys a brand new car with a defect may choose to use the Lemon Law (R.A. 10642), the Consumer Act (R.A. 7394) or another law, because the Lemon Law is an alternative remedy and not the only one.
- G.R. 261134Oct 2023People of the Philippines v. Anabelle Yamson y Montero a.k.a. "Mommy Janice," and Randy Tacda y Huelar a.k.a. "Biboy,"A bar floor manager who hired minors as guest relations officers and offered them to customers for sex is guilty of qualified trafficking in persons, and a waiter who knowingly helped is guilty as an accomplice.
- G.R. 254886Oct 2023People of the Philippines v. Robert G. Lala, Pureza a. Fernandez, Agustinito P. Hermoso and Gerardo S. SurlaGovernment officials who break procurement rules are not automatically guilty of graft; the prosecution must also prove they acted with corrupt intent.
- G.R. 203386Oct 2023Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (Mmda) v. Diamond Motor CorporationThe MMDA cannot force a private landowner to give up a ten-meter strip along a river for a flood-control maintenance road, because no law gives it the power to take private property and it did not prove the strip was necessary.
- G.R. 262686Oct 2023People of the Philippines v. Gerald Flores y Alagdon, Harrold Francisco y Gabat a.k.a. "Punonoy", and Louie Truelen y GrezolaIn drug cases, police must prove that the required witnesses were really present at the inventory of the seized drugs, and that proof is missing, the accused must be acquitted.
- G.R. 258524Oct 2023Berteni Cataluña Causing v. People of the Philippines, Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 93, Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City, and Representative Ferdinand Ledesma Hernandez of the Second District of South CotabatoCyber libel must be filed within one year from when the offended party, the authorities or their agents discovered it, not within 15 years, and the Court abandoned its earlier Tolentino ruling.
- G.R. 257136Oct 2023Mary Ann D. Domingo v. Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (Moleo), Plt. Col. Ali Jose a. Duterte, Pmaj. Jonathan Victor M. Olveña, Pmaj. Timothy B. Aniway, Jr., Pssg Reymel a. Villanueva, Pssg John Cezar S. Mendoza, Psms Joel J. Saludes, Pssg Harold Jake a. dela Rosa, Pcpl. Arnel de Guzman, Pcpl. Johnston Alacre, Pmsg. Virgilio Cervantes, Pcpl. Artemio Saguros, Jr., Pat. Carlo Miguel Daniel, Pat. Randy Chua, Pat. Ruby Dumaguing, Psms. Alberto Sucgang, Pssg. Richard Ramos, Pcpl. Orland Lucky Boy de Leon, Pmaj. Avelino U. Andaya, Pssg. Edgar L. Manapat, Pat. Aldrin Matthew a. Matining, Harlem RamosThe Court will not overturn the Ombudsman's choice to charge police officers with homicide instead of murder unless it was arbitrary, and police being armed and numerous in an operation does not by itself make a killing murder.
- G.R. 259511Oct 2023Nhorkayam Tumog y Cajatol v. People of the PhilippinesA person found holding recently stolen items is presumed to be the thief unless he explains it, but the Court deleted the money award because the items had already been returned.
- G.R. 256468Oct 2023People of the Philippines v. Arvi Villa y GarciaA shooting victim's wounds must be proven to be fatal by medical evidence before the shooter can be convicted of frustrated murder, and a claim of insanity needs medical proof.
- G.R. 263278Oct 2023People of the Philippines v. Rommel Jimenez y DecenaA murder conviction cannot stand when the only eyewitness's identification of the accused is unreliable, because the presumption of innocence outweighs an uncertain identification.