By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. Attorney L was the subject of an administrative complaint for Unethical Practices, Conflict of Interest and Disloyalty to Clients. After due investigation, the High Court found that respondent made a “clear breach of the canons of professional responsibility” and suspended respondent indefinitely. The year was 1991. Respondent subsequently sent a […]
By Atty. Gregorio Batiller Jr. Prompt notice by the cardholder to the credit card company of the loss or theft of his card should be enough to relieve the former of any liability occasioned by the unauthorized use of his lost or stolen card. The July 25, 2006 decision of Manuel C. Acol vs. Philippine
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. In an April 2001 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the academic freedom of the University of the Philippines to choose its professors as against the application of a Civil Service Rule which provides for the automatic termination of an employee who fails to return to duty after the lapse of
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. This is about a case that was tossed by the MTC to the RTC, only to be tossed back to the MTC by the RTC and finally by the Supreme Court to the RTC. A barangay in Cebu City instituted suit for expropriation of a parcel of land with the
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. Sometime in the 1980s, L made fund placements of about $150,000 with the Anglo-Asean Bank – a private bank registered under the laws of the Republic of Vanuatu. Subsequently, L encountered difficulties in recovering not only the interest on his placements but also the principal of the investments he put
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. The general impression seems to be that the Office of the Ombudsman has jurisdiction over all cases for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act committed by the Sandiganbayan (e.g. accused has a Salary Grade 27 or higher) or by the regular courts. Hence, I have come across instances
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. This case involves a suit for recission of a donation allegedly made in fraud of creditors (accion pauliana). Petitioner Cheng is the owner of B Shipping Lines, (BSL). Sometime Oct. 1985, X Corp. shipped on board one of BSL’s vessels some 3,400 bags of copra at Masbate for delivery to
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. The facts revisited: On May 29, 1996 PNB International Finance Ltd. (PNB-IFL), a subsidiary company of PNB, organized and doing business in Hong Kong, extended a letterof credit in favor of the respondents in the amount of US$300,000 secured by real estate mortgages constituted over 4 parcels of land in
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. In “Philrock, Inc. vs. Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC) and Spouses Vicente and Nelia Cid” (S.C. G.R. 132848-49, June 26, 2001), the Supreme Court declared: “(W)hen parties agree to settle their disputes arising from or connected with construction contracts, the CIAC acquires primary jurisdiction. It may resolve not only the merits
By: Gregorio M. Batiller, Jr. Very recently a major newspaper featured an article on malpractice by doctors of a government provincial hospital. A child was bought to the hospital, complaining of stomach pains. It was then prescribed that he needed to take some oral suspension. But no amount of coaxing could convince the child to
