C.S. Serrano Law & Notarial Office

07/01/2026

Welcome to the legal profession, fellow lawyers! May you all serve as hope in the pursuit of justice!

01/01/2026

Doctrine: FAILURE TO TIMELY OBJECT THE ADMISSIBILITY OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT AMOUNTS TO THE PARTY’s WAIVER OF ONE’s RIGHT TO OBJECT THERETO NO MATTER HOW MERITORIOUS THE OBJECTIONABLE GROUND CAN BE UPON APPEAL IN DEFERENCE TO DUE PROCESS, JUSTICE AND FAIR PLAY

In Trimillos vs. Fcash (GR No. 271360), the Supreme Court reinstated National Privacy Commission (NPC)’s adjudication imposing Php15,000.00 as nominal damages against the latter in favor of the former due to the latter’s unauthorized access of the former’s contact lists and allegedly sending them text and email correspondences as contact references regarding the former’s unsettled loan obligations. However, these correspondences were never authenticated through identification and affidavits by the recipient persons. Notwithstanding, when Trimillos was favored by the NPC, Fcash appealed and successfully sought refuge from the Court of Appeals due to Trimillos’ failure to authenticate these correspondences in accordance with the Rules on Electronic Evidence.

Observation: The Rules on Evidence (A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC, July 17, 2001) specifically covered the NPC as quasi-judicial body adjudicating a civil matter, as it provides: Section 2. Cases covered. – These Rules shall apply to all civil actions and proceedings, as well as quasi-judicial and administrative cases.

Meanwhile, NPC’s 2021 RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE NATIONAL PRIVACY COMMISSION, AS AMENDED made mention of the Rules of Evidence as a footnote insofar as electronic signature is concerned, however, there is no mention of Rules on Electronic Evidence’s applicability in its proceedings. The Rules on Evidence are easily remembered to litigants when directly coming to judicial court’s refuge.
However, in most case, especially when coming to quasi-judicial body’s succor, despite the Rules’ express provision on applicability, the said Rules slipped to mind because mainly the quasi-judicial body such as NPC has their own rules and guidelines to follow imposed upon parties.

Caveat emptor: This post is not substitute to a legal advice suitably fitting one’s unique circumstance for it merely discusses the legal implications. Instead, the foregoing is publicly intended for academic discussion and discourse. For a thorough advice and discussion about one’s legal circumstance, one may leave a message.

19/12/2025

Latest development on Electronic Notary Public. The Supreme Court through Office of the Bar Confidant opened its application for any interested and qualified potential Electronic Notarization Facility (ENF) Provider that shall come up with a software facility through which the electronic notarization shall be conducted by the commissioned Electronic Notary Public (ENP).

18/07/2025

30/05/2025

This serves as an stern reminder to the public and those who engaged in illegal notarial practice that the unauthorized notarial practice comes with a hefty penalty beginning from imprisonment up to monetary fines.

Further, pursuant to OCA CIRCULAR NO. 291-2023, Executive Judges of multi-sala RTCs or Judges of single-sala RTCs are ENJOINED to create their own Task Force Honesto Notario which shall monitor and immediately report any violation of the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice committed by a duly commissioned notary public.

Even a lawyer armed with a notarial authority is strictly reminded with the notarial prohibitions, no less strictness is imposed upon those are not authorized.

To summarize, an erring lawyer commissioned as notary public may be slapped with administrative sanctions such as suspension and disqualification while an individual who is not commissioned nor authorized as notary public may be slapped with imprisonment for the crime committed and heavy monetary fines.

𝗡𝗕𝗜 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 (𝟯) 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗔𝗬 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬

The National Bureau of Investigation – Special Task Force (STF) and Cybercrime Division (CCD), under the leadership of Director JUDGE JAIME B. SANTIAGO (Ret.), arrested three (3) individuals for violation of Article 172 (Falsification by Private Individuals) in relation to Article 171(1) and Article 171(2), Article 176 (Possession of Instruments or Implements for Falsification), Article 177 (Usurpation of Authority or Official Functions), and Article 315 par. 2(a) (Estafa by means of Deceit) of the Revised Penal Code.

On 27 May 2025, the STF and CCD received a request to verify and conduct appropriate actions on the illegal notarial activities of a group of persons in the vicinity of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in Pasay City, particularly the notarizing of documents using the Complainant’s name and details as Notary Public without his knowledge, authority, and consent. Acting on the request, NBI agents conducted covert inquiries and verifications in the target area on the same date. An entrapment operation was hatched subsequently.

Upon arrival in the target area, two (2) offices offering Notarial Services were sighted. Simultaneous entrapment operations on both offices were conducted, resulting in the arrest of Subjects IRENE CATUBAY y PABORADA, VIOLETA A. TUGADO, and EVETH A. BUENAVENTURA, and the seizure of instruments and implements used in the illegal notarial practice.

The Subjects were brought to the STF/CCD Office for standard booking and arrest procedures and placed under temporary custody and detention. Thereafter, the arrested Subjects were presented for inquest before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Pasay City for the abovementioned violations.

30/05/2025

01/05/2025

Maligayang araw ng manggagawa! Pagbati sa lahat ng manggagawa!

Manggagawa! Alam mo ba na maaaring putulin relasyon mo sa employer (employer-employee relationship) nang walang kahit anong dahilan at ito ay hindi kailangang aprubahan o pirmahan ng iyong employer?

Ito ang sinasabi ng batas patungkol dito:

Labor Code of the Philippines, ART. 300. [285] Termination by Employee. (a) An employee may terminate without just cause the employee -employer relationship by serving a written notice on the employer at least one (1) month in advance. The employer upon whom no such notice was served may hold the employee liable for damages.

Ang kailangan lamang ay sundin ang tamang proseso sa paghahain ng written notice isang buwan at least bago ang nasabing pormal na pagputol ng employer-employee relationship kasi kung hindi ito masusunod ay maaaring magbayad ng danyos ang isang employado sa kanyang employer.

Sinusegundahan din ito ng ating Korte Suprema:

In cases of voluntary resignation, the employee finds himself in a situation where he believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the service and he has no other choice but to disassociate himself from his employment. (Molave Tours Corporation v. NLRC, G.R. No. 107721, 10 January 1994, 229 SCRA 240)

30/04/2025

Korte Suprema: Ang Pangangaliwa ay Maituturing na Sadyang Pananakit sa Asawa sa Ilalim ng Anti-VAWC Act

Ipinagpapalagay ng Korte Suprema na may “criminal intent” na manakit sa asawa ang pangangaliwa, sapat para ituring na paglabag sa batas na Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children (VAWC).

Sa desisyon na isinulat ni Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, napatunayang guilty ang lalaki sa pagdulot ng “mental and emotional anguish” sa asawa dahil sa pagkakaroon niya ng ibang babae at anak.

Ayon sa lalaki, wala naman siyang intensyong magdulot ng “mental and emotional distress” sa kanyang asawa nang siya ay mangaliwa.

Pero ayon sa Korte Suprema, likas na mali ang pangangaliwa base sa pamantayan ng ating lipunan, sa ating kultura o maging sa relihiyon.

At dahil mas nilalayong protektahan ng batas ang mga biktima kaysa parusahan ang nagkasala, tinitingnan ng batas ang epekto ng isang pagkakasala sa babae o bata, at hindi ang motibo ng nagkasala.

Paglilinaw ng Korte Suprema, ang desisyon na ito ay hindi maaaring gamitin sa mga hindi tradisyunal na setup ng pamilya o pakikipag relasyon sa iba na may pahintulot ng asawa dahil walang maituturing dito na “mental or emotional anguish.”

Basahin ang buong press release: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/sc-criminal-intent-to-cause-anguish-presumed-in-marital-infidelity-under-anti-vawc-act/

04/03/2024