Atty Tibs Palasan Jr.

13/10/2025

17/09/2025

Sa sesyon nito noong Septyembre 15, 2025, ipinag-utos ng ang consolidation o pagsasama-sama ng G.R. No. E-02119 at G.R. E-02235 at naglabas ito ng temporary restraining order o TRO na pumipigil sa Commission on Elections (COMELEC), sa Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), at sa lahat ng taong kumikilos sa ilalim ng kanilang awtoridad mula sa pagpapatupad ng Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 77 habang hinihintay ang pinal na resolusyon ng mga kasong ito. Agarang ipinapatupad ang TRO.

Itinatag ang BTA sa ilalim ng Republic Act No. (RA) 11054 o ang Bangsamoro Organic Law, para magsilbing pansamantalang pamahalaan ng Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) sa panahon ng transisyon nito.

Nirereorganisa ng batas na ito ang mga parlyamentaryo na distrito sa loob ng BARMM para muling italaga ang pitong parliamentaryong upuan na unang itinalaga sa Lalawigan ng Sulu. Sa 2004 na desisyon nito sa Province of Sulu v. Medialdea, sinabi ng Korte Suprema na hindi bahagi ng BARMM ang Sulu.

Naghain ng petition for certiorari and prohibition with prayer for TRO ang mga petitioner sa G.R. Ang E-02219 na kinukwestiyon ang legalidad ng BAA 77 dahil sa umano'y paglabag sa Voter’s Registration Act sa pamamagitan ng pagbabago ng mga presinto sa panahon ng halalan, bukod sa iba pa.

Samantala, naghain ng petition for certiorari and prohibition and for the issuance of a status quo ante order ang mga petitioner sa G.R. Blg. E-002235 na iginiit na labag sa Saligang Batas ang BAA 77 dahil nilalabag nito ang mga probisyon hinggil sa pagtiyak ng malaya, maayos, tapat, payapa, at mapagkakatiwalaang halalan sa panahon ng eleksyon, bukod sa iba pa.

Inatasan din ng Korte Suprema ang COMELEC at BTA na maghain ng kanilang komento sa mga petisyon sa loob ng limang araw.

Basahin ang press briefer sa https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/press-briefer-september-16-2025/.

Sumunod sa Credit Attribution Policy ng SC PIO: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/.

23/03/2025

26/01/2025

The has held that banks are not allowed to unreasonably refuse payment by borrowers who risk facing higher interest and additional charges.

In a Decision written by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, the SC’s Third Division ordered Premiere Development Bank (Bank) to accept the check tendered by Spouses Engracio T. Castañeda (Engracio) and Lourdes E. Castañeda (Lourdes) as full payment of their personal loan.

The spouses took out a PHP 2.6 million personal loan from the Bank. But they also acted as surety to 3 corporate loans worth PHP 86.8 million obtained by 2 corporations where Engracio served as president and vice president.

When the spouses paid PHP 2.6 million for their personal loan and P6 million for one of the corporate loans, the Bank applied the payment to all 4 loans.

The SC ruled the Bank should have applied the amount as full payment of the spouses’ personal loan. Although Article 1252 of the Civil Code allows the lender to choose how to allocate loan payments if the borrower does not exercise the right to choose, this rule only applied to multiple loans by the same borrower.

It held that the Bank incorrectly treated the spouses and the companies as a single borrower, combining payments for separate personal and corporate loans, as the spouses and the companies are different entities.

Read the full text of the press release at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/sc-banks-cannot-unreasonably-refuse-payment-from-borrowers/.

Read the full text of the Decision at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/185110-premiere-development-bank-vs-spouse-engracio-t-castaneda-and-lourdes-e-castaneda/.

Copying of this content is subject to the SC PIO’s Credit Attribution Policy: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/

25/10/2024

Hindi maaaring gamiting ebidensya ang katibayan ng sexual disposition o sekswal na nakaraan ng isang biktima sa kahit anumang criminal proceeding na may kaugnayan sa kasong child sexual abuse.

Ito ang iginiit ng Korte Suprema sa isang Desisyon na isinulat ni Associate Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr., kung saan napatunayan ng Second Division ng Korte Suprema na guilty si Adrian J. Adrales (Adrales) sa kasong qualified trafficking in persons sa ilalim ng Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act of 2003 (Republic Act No. 9208).

Hinatulan si Adrales ng habambuhay na pagkabilanggo at pinagbabayad ng danyos na PHP 1.8 million matapos mapatunayan na binugaw niya ang 14 anyos na si AAA sa iba’t ibang lalaki noong taong 2011, kapalit ng pera.

Paliwanag ng Korte, may trafficking kapag ang mga indibidwal ay ni-recruit, dinala o nilipat—may pahintulot o kaalaman man o wala —sa ilalim ng mga pagbabanta, pamimilit, panlilinlang, o pag-abuso sa kapangyarihan para sa mapagsamantalang layunin tulad ng prostitusyon.

Ang krimen ay qualified trafficking kapag ang sangkot ay mga menor de edad. Ito ay may kaukulang parusa na habambuhay na pagkabilanggo.

Depensa ni Adrales, kilala umano si AAA bilang pr******te sa kanilang lugar.

Pero ayon sa Korte, protektado si AAA ng sexual abuse shield rule sa ilalim ng Section 30(a) ng Rule on Examination of a Child Witness.

Ang sexual abuse shield rule ay naglalayong protektahan ang mga biktima laban sa invasion of privacy, potential embarrassment, at sexual stereotyping na nangyayari kapag isinapubliko ang kanilang maseselang sekswal na detalye. Ang proteksyon na ito ay naghihikayat sa mga biktima na magsalita laban sa mga nang-abuso sa kanila.

Basahin ang buong press release sa: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/sc-evidence-of-victims-past-sexual-acts-not-admissible-in-child-sexual-abuse-cases/

Basahin ang buong teksto ng Desisyon sa: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/242473-people-of-the-philippines-vs-adrian-adrales-y-jurado/

14/10/2024

write-up #12

Mental constructs

This is not being partial in favor of the legal profession but as between the two degrees in which students really burn their midnight candles - law and medicine - law is more difficult.

Don't bash me my dear doctors. Medicine is a science, and it's mastery depends on physical and observable phenomena. More, save for the physiological processes, human anatomy as a whole is the same, except for the quirks of nature. The human heart, though it's size may vary from one person to another, is essentially the same in structure and function.

Law is entirely different animal. Architects design buildings based on imagination but the result is tangible. Law is purely an abstraction, and its effect is something which cannot be touched. It remains in the realm of the abstract. Laws and their results in society remain to be intangible.

Way back in my first law school, my civil law professor always told us that we were building a house. The subjects of law that we were studying were at best sketchy. But later on we would realize that we were building a house of legal concepts. True enough, during my review, the legal concepts fell in a frame of an imaginary building.

Starting from the philosophical basis of law as the foundation, to the constitution as the pillars of the imaginary house, to the statutory laws, and the executive and administrative issuances, and jurisprudence as finishing touches, a lawyer must be able to construct and imagine this house in his mind.

But the practice of law demands more than the capacity to imagine the house of laws. The trend in private law practice is towards writing the arguments including the testimonies of witnesses. One can argue orally all he can in court but at the end of the day, the judge reads the memorandum of arguments and come up with a resolution or decision.

Writing skill is a must in private law practice. I know of lawyers who spend nights and days just to write one extensive memorandum. But there are lawyers who can do it in just one day. The difference is the skill level. Writing pleadings is not your ordinary writing. It demands mastery of the applicable laws and shape them into one persuasive piece.

A private law practitioner must me an expert in legal writing. The expertise does not come overnight. Having the mastery of the laws, the daunting challenge is to come up with a persuasive pleading. This takes time and practice plus the attitude for excellence. A young law private practitioner must spend time and effort to come up with well-written pleading. Early on, he should not be content with the run of the mill pleadings, something that one copies, cuts, and pastes into a pleading. While technology makes writing convenient, it brings with it the scourge of laziness and mediocrity.

After years of writing excellent pleadings, the lawyer slowly but gradually makes mental constructs on how to approach an argument and come up with a persuasive piece. Confronted with set of facts, the lawyer can readily come up with an idea on how to argue for a client. Instead of spending nights and days, a major pleading may be written in one early morning. Well-written piece becomes his second nature that it does not take him extra effort to write.

From building a house of laws, a diligent young lawyer will later on become an architect of the law, capable of imagining the shapes and curves of a legal argument and fashion them into both entertaining and persuasive pleading, doing it with less effort than when he started his career.

13/10/2024

30/09/2024

write-up #11

Lawyering and financial management

The number of lawyers who have been disciplined by the Supreme Court due to finance issues speaks volumes of their lack of financial acumen. The common issue is spending beyond their capacity.

Private law practice is not the popular path for lawyers. Many take the government or corporate employment where the salary comes every month, regardless of the work load. New bar passers initially go to private law practice only to face financial issues. A new private practitioner has to deal with office rents, salaries of staff, light and water, and other miscellaneous expense.

The finance issues force lawyer to quit private practice to find a more stable source of monthly income. Meeting the finance needs of law office, and the new family is a daunting task. If I am not wrong, there are only five in my batch who remain in the private practice.

Live within your means. Or better still, live a little bit below your capacity. That way you force to save for the dry months of private law practice. Unlike employment income, private practitioners do not earn income on a regular basis. There are times when you earn one year worth of salary income in just one case. When you do, save a lot because the following months may be very lean.

As a young lawyer, my first car was a Kia Pride. I had a car loan with a bank. The officer of the bank was a fraternal brother. He was offering me to take a car loan for a full-sized sedan, while taunting me for taking a small car. A little irritated, I quipped: " If I have money, I will buy a land cruiser. " Years after, my fraternal brod, may his soul rest in peace, was terminated from the bank, and was facing qualified theft cases for dipping into the bank's assets.

Whenever I drove my Kia Pride, non-lawyer friends who were riding better cars would joke at me, pointing that a lawyer should drive a better car. I did not mind them and I was in fact was driving it with pride. I earned it, and never defaulted in any monthly amortization. Many cars after, and so do the car loans, not one month did I default in the payment to the extent that the banks urge me to loan for a luxurious car.

Good finance management makes good private law practice. Sometimes, lawyers accept non-meritorious cases out of financial necessity. The key to any young private law practitioner is to attain financial stability so that he is not compelled to accept clients if he is doubtful of the merit of the case. Sound decision is accepting cases is best if it is based on the factual and legal backdrop of the case and not from any extraneous considerations.

There are court cases which have been filed and one wonders why they were filed at all. Your guess is as good as mine.

A private law practitioner does not expect to receive pensions or retirement benefits after their active years, save for the SSS pensions and the private pension plans. Have an SSS and get pension plans. Better still get health insurance plans. Law practice requires personal service. You earn while you can still walk to the court room or sign a document. When your health breaks down, your hardener is better at earning income than you.

In my mid-thirties, I was in a court room with my former dean, a former legislator, and a former mayor of the city. They were aging and limping, and obviously had missing gaps about their knowledge of the law. Right then, I realized that I should strive to have a passive income to tide me at times when the body is weak, and will be inevitably be weaker. That realization compelled me to plant trees and will not mind if I would be harvesting them in the sunset of my life.

Create sources of income other than your private law practice. When your income does not depend only on your lawyering, you are more discerning in what cases to accept. You will find private law practice very fulfilling and therefore, you perform better, and consequentially, without you realizing it, you have grown professionally.

Unless one has sound financial management, the fortitude to stay within the ethics of lawyers may waver.

28/06/2024

I am not an American voter but the democrats should replace Biden asap. He has lost his full mental powers. Let him rest in his armchair🙏