A.

Legal Research

 Searching for Authority that can be applied to a given set of facts and issues
 Gathering information to support legal theories/decision-making

Research Plan: Basic Steps Description

1. Conduct factual analysis  5Ws 1H
 Persons involved
 Place where the facts arose
 Subject matter involved
2. Identify legal issues  Cause of action or ground for defense
 Relief Sought
 Will help determine the relevant facts
3. Develop Search terms  Narrow research and yield relevant info
 Consider which branches of government may have
established law
4. Collect background information  Secondary Sources: sources that describe and interpret the
law cited to persuade the court to reach a particular decision
but the court is not obliged to follow
 Summarized in a narrative
 Learn from legal experts
5. Search for authority  Primary Sources: documents that establish the law on a
particular issue (case law or leg act)
 Authoritative, controlling, precendent
 Stare decisis
6. Synthesize arguments  Self-explanatory duhhh
7. Update and verify  Make sure laws are still good
 Make sure cases are current

Primary Sources
1. Constitution
2. Codes and Statutes
3. Local and Foreign Cases
4. Legislative Materials (committee reports, congressional record)
5. Executive and administrative materials
6. Judicial Issuances
7. Ordinances
8. Rules of Procedure
Secondary Sources
1. Books and other non-periodic materials
2. Journals
3. Internet sources
4. Theses and unpublished materials
5. Interviews
6. Speeches
B. ALS Catalogue on Plagiarism
1. Unauthorized use
2. Without adequate attribution
3. Of published IDEAS, EXPRESSIONS or WORKS of another
4. With the INTENT or through NEGLECT
5. To pass the same as his or her own in any written materials submitted, printed or published in any law school publication or in
compliance with academic requirements.
Notwithstanding any jurisprudence to the contrary, and in accordance with the exercise of the constitutionally recognized
ACADEMIC FREEDOM, plagiarism is identified not through intent BUT THROUGH THE ACT ITSELF: the objective act of falsely
attributing to one’s self what is not one’s work whether INTENTIONAL or OUT OF NEGLECT is sufficient to conclude that
plagiarism has occurred.
One who pleads ignorance appeals to lack of malice or alleges poor instruction from teacher or superiors are NOT valid
excuses.
Forms of Plagiarism
1. Verbatim without credit
2. Paraphrasing without credit
3. Active to passive without credit
4. Rearranging the structure of the paragraphs without credit
5. Piecing together sections of the work of others to a new one without credit
6. Summarizing without credit
7. Adopting ideas, concepts, formulas, graphics or picture without credit
8. Getting the sole credit for a team project
9. Claiming credit for more than what one has contributed
10. Manipulating facts and figures and presenting them as new.
In the Matter of Charges of Plagiarism etc. Against Associate Justice Mariano C. del Castillo

 2010 – SC said that del Castillo has NO INTENT

 2011 – SC said the decision of SC is NOT a literary work. Its main purpose is to resolve the dispute. No plagiarism if the intent is
to solve a case. Same also applies to lawyers with regard to their pleadings and other documents so long as they do not
depart, as officers of the court, from the objective of assisting the Court in the administration of justice.
 In the academe, it depends on the school policies. According to the ALS Journal whether with intent or neglect, there can be
plagiarism. It is identified through the ACT ITSELF.
 Carpio – copying works of the government is not actionable. But failure to make such attribution is a case of sloppy writing.
- Clearly, there is no legal obligation, by a judge or by any person, to make an attribution when copying Works of the
Government.
- In writing judicial decisions, the judge may copy passages from the pleadings of the parties with proper attribution to the
author of the pleading. However, the failure to make the proper attribution is not actionable.
- In writing judicial decisions, the judge may NOT copy passages from textbooks, journals and other non-government works
WITHOUT proper attribution. However, whether the failure to make the proper attribution is actionable or not depends on
the nature of the passages copied.
- If the work copied without proper attribution is copyrighted, the failure to make such attribution violates Section 193
of the Intellectual Property Code
 The works copied are:
1. A Fiduciary Theory of Jus Cogens
2. Breaking the Silence: Rape as an International Crime
3. Enforcing Erga Omnes Obligations

C. Other unethical conducts

Rule 1.01 - A lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct.

Rule 10.01 - A lawyer shall not do any falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in Court; nor shall he mislead, or allow the Court to
be misled by any artifice.

Rule 10.02 - A lawyer shall not knowingly misquote or misrepresent the contents of a paper, the language or the argument of opposing
counsel, or the text of a decision or authority, or knowingly cite as law a provision already rendered inoperative by repeal or
amendment, or assert as a fact that which has not been proved.

Hipos v. Bay

 Added a statement that does not really belonging to Ledesma Case

 Also added block quotation and quotation marks and putting “underscoring ours” in order to make it appear as if it was written by
the SC.
 Also added the work “NO” to make it appear in the disposition as if there was no probable cause.
 When there is conflict between FALLO (dispositive portion) and body, the FALLO CONSTROL. BUT if there is manifest error
in the fallo, the body prevails.

Allied Banking Corporation v. CA

 Misquoted SC in Dosch v. NLRC – counsel said that it allows refusal to be transferred if the reason is family.
 Counsel got the decision from SCRA which is NOT THE WORK OF THE SC.
COMELEC v. Noynay

 Counsel was careless. Different spelling of the names. In citing it should be full and not only “in the case of Alberto Naldeza” it
should be in full with the opposing party.
 Memorandum of the Court Administrator is NOT SC’s ruling.

D. Legal Opinions

Dear XXX,

We Understand that:

- Fucks
- Fucks
- Fucks
- Fucks

In view of the foregoing we are here to resolve the issue of:

- Issue
- Issue
[Executive Summary]

Answer to the Issues

- Answer
- Answer

[Conclusion]

E. Overview of the PH Legal System

In re: Application of Max Shoop

 1920 – We are NOT a foreign country to US. Allows lawyers from US to practice law in PH as long as practiced law in US for at
least 5 years.
 In PH, Anglo-American jurisprudence are used and applied in the court to the extent that Common Law Principles are NOT in
conflict with the LOCAL WRITTEN LAWS.
 Spanish jurisprudence does NOT recognize the principle of stare decisis.
 Codes > Case Law

Classes of Sources

1. Primary Sources – authentic and official repositories of case and statutory law; contains reproduction or exact copies of
statutes and treaties, ordinances and reports of judicial decisions; published by the issuing agency itself or by the OG and
other official publications
2. Secondary sources – unofficial sources; those commercially published; written by commentators or text writers stating their
comments, criticisms; cite secondary sources in the absence of primary sources
3. Search Books – gives directions on where to source the authorities (index)

2 types of electronie/online sources – no complete and updates search tools

1. Open access
2. Subscription-based

Case Law

Parts of a Case

1. Docket Number and date of promulgation

2. Title of the Case
3. Syllabi/headnotes
4. Name of counsels
5. Nature of the case
6. Facts
 7. Issues
8. Arguments of the parties
9. Decision
10. Judgment/final order

Case Sources
1. Supreme Court rulings
a. Official Gazette – official publication of the government; not all decisions are published
b. SC’s Office of the Reporter – official repository of original decisions (1901-1945 not available)
c. Philippine Reports – published by Bureau of Printing until volume 126
d. Supreme Court Reports Annotated – from 1961 to present; cases are arranged based on date of publication; has syllabi;
subject-index at the back of each volume; annotations on important legal matters
e. Supreme Court Website
f. E-SCRA
g. CD Asia
h. CD Asia Online
i. Lawphil
j. Chan Robles
2. Court of Appeals – decisions are merely persuasive on lower courts
3. Philippine Digest – digests of SC decisions published in Phil. Reports; arranged according to topics/subjects; 4 units until volume
75
4. Republic of the Philippines Digest – continuation of Phil. Digest; covers all SC decisions 1946-1966
5. Velayo’s Digest – SC decisions and important CA decisions; 1st set 24 vols; Supplementals 49 vols.
6. Special Courts – Sandiganbayan only has one volume of published; Lex Libris – where decision from 1980-2005 is available
7. Administrative Agencies, Commissions, Boards – SEC, CSC

Statutory Laws
1. Acts - Enactments by PH Legislature (1907-1935) and PH Commission (1900-1907)
2. Commonwealth Acts – by NA (1835-1945)
3. Republic Acts – by Congress (1946-1972; 1987–present)
4. Batas Pambansa – by batasang pambansa
5. Presidential Decrees
Administrative Issuances – by heads of depts., bureaus and agencies
- Before Admin Code of 1987 – selectively published in OG
- After Admin Code of 1987 – all will be filed with UP Law Center’s Office of National Administrative Register (ONAR)
and quarterly published in National Administrative Register

F. Constitution

Civil Code. Article 7. Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be excused by
disuse, or custom or practice to the contrary.

When the courts declared a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution, the former shall be void and the latter shall govern.

Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only when they are not contrary to the laws or the Constitution.
(5a)

Angara v. Electoral Commission

 The SC emphasized that in cases of conflict between the several departments and among the agencies thereof, the judiciary, with
the SC as the final arbiter, is the only constitutional mechanism devised finally to resolve the conflict and allocate constitutional
boundaries.
 That judicial supremacy is but the power of judicial review in actual and appropriate cases and controversies, and is the power and
duty to see that no one branch or agency of the government transcends the Constitution, which is the source of all authority.
In the matter of the Petitions for Admission to the Bar
 Congress has exceeded its power in making rules for the admission to the Bar.
 SC has sole authority to make rules regarding such matter.
Serrano v. Gallant
 “termination of overseas employment without just, valid or authorized cause shall be entitled to his salaries for the unexpired portion
of his employment OR for 3 months for every year of the unexpired term, WHICHEVER IS LESS”
 This deprives OFWs because of the 3 month cap. Local workers are entitled to all the salaries for the unexpired term while some
OFWs are NOT. This violates the right of SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS for it deprives him of property.
 Salaries do not include overtime and leave pay. Salary is understood as the basic wage exclusive of overtime, leave pay and other
bonuses.
Sameer Overseas Placement agency v. Cabiles
 Valid Dismissal:
1. Valid Cause
2. Valid procedure – 2 written notices before termination (1st inform of certain acts that may cause dismissal and 2nd is the decision)
Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS
 Unless it is expressly provided that a legislative act is necessary to enforce a constitutional mandate, the presumption now is that
all provisions of the constitution are self-executing.
 When our Constitution grants rights and privileges covering national economy and patrimony, the State shall give preference to
qualified Filipinos.
 Filipino First Policy
 When a foreign corp exceeds the bid of the Filipino corp, there is no question that the Filipino will have to be allowed to match the
bid of the foreign entity.
G. Parts of a Statute
1. Preamble – WHEREAS CLAUSE; Prefatory statement or explanation or a finding of facts, reciting the purpose, reason, or occasion
for making the law to which it is prefixed; Usually not used by legislations because content of the preamble is written in the explanatory
note; common with PDs
2. Title – Long title v. Short title; Only one subject and expressed in title
3. Enacting Clause - is a short phrase that introduces the main provisions of a law enacted by a legislature. It usually declares the source
from which the law claims to derive its authority.
4. Body
a. Declaration of Policy
b. Definition of Terms
c. Sanctions
d. Transitory Provisions
5. Separability Clause – if a portion is declared null and void, the other parts remain valid. Such is NOT controlling and the courts may
still invalidate the whole statue where what is left after the void part is NOT complete and workable
6. Repealing Clause – laws affected
7. Effectivity clause – date

SECTION 26. (1) Every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed in the title thereof.

(2) No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in
its final form have been distributed to its Members three days before its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of
its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be allowed,
and the vote thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal.

SECTION 27. (1) Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President. If he approves the
same, he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with his objections to the House where it originated, which shall
enter the objections at large in its Journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the Members of
such House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the Members of that House, it shall become a law. In all such cases, the votes of each
House shall be determined by yeas or nays, and the names of the Members voting for or against shall be entered in its Journal. The
President shall communicate his veto of any bill to the House where it originated within thirty days after the date of receipt thereof;
otherwise, it shall become a law as if he had signed it.

(2) 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.

Civil Code

Art. 2. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is
otherwise provided. This Code shall take effect one year after such publication. (1a)

Tanada v. Tuvera
 Publication is mandatory and the 15 days is not.
 A law can add a requirement to publication.
 Everything MUST be published not only a part thereof. NOT only substantial compliance
 Sec. 3 Chapter 2 Book 7 of Admin Code – (1) Every agency shall file with the University of the Philippines Law Center three (3)
certified copies of every rule adopted by it. Rules in force on the date of effectivity of this Code which are not filed within three (3)
months from that date shall not thereafter be the basis of any sanction against any party or persons.
 Covered by the rule on publication are:
1. Presidential Decrees and Executive Orders
2. Administrative Rules and regulations if their purpose is to enforce or implement and existing law
3. Charter of a City even though only local application
4. Circulars by Monetary Board if meant not merely to interpret but the FILL IN THE DETAILS of the Central Bank Act
 NOT covered are:
1. Interpretive regulations – regulating only the personnel of admin agency
2. Letter of instructions issued by admin superiors
3. Instructions issued by Minister of Social Welfare on case studies
4. Rules laid down by head of gov’t agency to workload of his personnel or wearing of uniforms
5. Municipal ordinances because covered by LGC

H. Other Principles

Art. 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith. (2)

Art. 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided. (3)

Art. 7. Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom or
practice to the contrary.

When the courts declared a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution, the former shall be void and the latter shall govern.

Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only when they are not contrary to the laws or the
Constitution. (5a)

Chapter 5
OPERATION AND EFFECT OF LAWS

Sec. 18. When Laws Take Effect. - Laws shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the completion of their publication in the
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation, unless it is otherwise provided.
Sec. 19. Prospectivity. - Laws shall have prospective effect unless the contrary is expressly provided.
 Sec. 20. Interpretation of Laws and Administrative Issuances. - In the interpretation of a law or administrative issuance promulgated
in all the official languages, the English text shall control, unless otherwise specifically provided. In case of ambiguity, omission or
mistake, the other texts may be consulted.
Sec. 21. No Implied Revival of Repealed Law.- When a law which expressly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the law first repealed
shall not be thereby revived unless expressly so provided.
Sec. 22. Revival of Law Impliedly Repealed. - When a law which impliedly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the prior law shall
thereby be revived, unless the repealing law provides otherwise.
Sec. 23. Ignorance of the Law. - Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.

Chapter 6
OFFICIAL GAZETTE

Sec. 24. Contents. - There shall be published in the Official Gazette all legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature; all executive
and administrative issuances of general application; decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals,
or other courts of similar rank, as may be deemed by said courts of sufficient importance to be so published; such documents or classes
of documents as may be required so to be published by law; and such documents or classes of documents as the President shall determine
from time to time to have general application or which he may authorize so to be published.
The publication of any law, resolution or other official documents in the Official Gazette shall be prima facie evidence of its authority.

Sec. 25. Editing and Publications. - The Official Gazette shall be edited in the Office of the President and published weekly in Pilipino
or in the English language. It shall be sold and distributed by the National Printing Office which shall promptly mail copies thereof to
subscribers free of postage.

Tawang Multi-purpose Cooperative v. La Trinidad Water District

 Article 12 Sec. 11 of Consti - Operation of public utility not allowed for exclusive franchise.
 A law against this would be in violation of the Doctrine of Constitutional Supremacy