Atty. Phil Juris

T he Supreme Court has affirmed that circumstantial evidence, when forming an unbroken chain of events, is sufficient to sustain a conviction beyond reasonable doubt , even in the absence of direct evidence. In a Decision penned by Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez, the Second Division upheld the conviction of the accused for violations of Republic Act No. 9995, or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009. Factual Background The case stemmed from four separate charges involving the clandestine recording of female victims while bathing inside their residence. The victims—three sisters and their cousin—discovered that their uncle, who frequented their home to supervise renovations, had secretly placed a mobile phone inside a soap box in the bathroom. The device was positioned in a manner that allowed it to capture images of persons bathing. One of the victims, upon entering the bathroom, noticed a light emanating from the soap container. Upon inspection, she found a mobile phone act...

  Deceit is not an essential requisite of estafa with abuse of confidence, since the breach of confidence takes the place of the fraud or deceit. Elements of Estafa with abuse of confidence.—The elements of estafa with abuse of confidence are as follows: (a) that money, goods or other personal property is received by the offender in trust, or on commission, or for administration, or under any other obligation involving the duty to make delivery of, or to return the same; (b) that there be misappropriation or conversion of such money or property by the offender or denial on his part of such receipt; (c) that such misappropriation or conversion or denial is to the prejudice of another; and (d) that there is a demand made by the offended party on the offender.  It is well-settled that when the money, goods, or any other personal property is received by the offender from the offended party in trust or on commission or for administration, the offender acquires both material or phys...

"Eat Bulaga" host and comedian Vic Sotto is reportedly set to file a complaint against director Darryl Yap over the movie *The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma*.  According to a News 5 report, Sotto’s legal counsel stated that the complaint will be filed at the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court on Thursday, January 9. The controversy arose after Sotto’s name was mentioned in the film’s teaser. Yap, in a Facebook post on Monday, January 6, said he was uncertain about apologizing to Sotto for including his name in the teaser.  He wrote:   “About Sir Vic Sotto, I’m not sure whether to offer an apology for his name being mentioned in the film. The truth, after all, is unapologetic. As a public figure tied to a public story, I believe there’s an understanding that stories like this will inevitably resurface. My role as a filmmaker isn’t to pass judgment or provoke—it’s to tell the story as it happened, with honesty and respect for the facts. I trust that those who will watch ...

  The breach of procurement regulations by public officials does not automatically result in a graft conviction, the Supreme Court ruled. In an 18-page decision promulgated on Aug. 7, 2024, the Supreme Court acquitted several officials of the Davao City Water District (DCWD) of charges under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act  The officials, members of the DCWD’s Pre-Bidding and Awards Committee-B, were accused of bypassing mandatory public bidding procedures by recommending Hydrock Wells Inc. for a water supply project through a negotiated contract, which was subsequently approved by the DCWD Board. According to the court, while some procurement procedures may have been bypassed, there was no evidence of bad faith or favoritism on the part of the petitioners. The petitioners also opted for a negotiated contract, believing it was a permissible exception due to the urgency of the project and the limited number of qualified bidders, the court noted. “It is imperative for...

  When a person violates a Regulation that imposes a fine or community service, arrest is not proper. Therefore, there could be no search incidental to a lawful arrest [.] Examples : (i) Violation of city or municipal ordinance ; (ii) Under R.A. 4136 , or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, the general procedure for dealing with a trafficviolation is [not] the arrest of the offender, [but] the confiscation of the driver’s license of the latter or issue a corresponding ticket as the case may be[.] To protect the people from unreasonable searches and seizures, Section 3(2), Article III of the 1987 Constitution providesthat evidence obtained from unreasonable searches and seizures shall be inadmissible in evidence for any purpose in any proceeding. In other words, evidence obtained and confiscated on the occasion of such unreasonable searches and seizures are deemed tainted and should be [excluded] for being the proverbial fruit of a poisonous tree[.] [...] the law requires that...

  As it stands now, the proper thing for a finder of a lost property of unknown owner, except hidden treasure, to do is to return or turn it over to the proper authority, who is the mayor of the city or municipality where the finding has taken place.  Thereafter, the provision in Article 719 shall apply. Nevertheless, the failure, per se, to turn it over to the mayor does not constitute the crime of theft. People v. Rodrigo instructs that there must be a deliberate failure on the part of the finder to return the lost thing. Thus: [U]nder paragraph 2, subparagraph (1), the elements are (1) the finding of lost property; and (2) the failure of the finder to deliver the same to the local authorities or to its owner.  In this kind of theft intent of gain is inferred from the deliberate failure to deliver the lost property to the proper person, the finder knowing that the property does not belong to him. [ G.R. No. 218969, January 18, 2021 ] FERNANDO PANTE Y RANGASA PETITIONER...

  Bawal Bastos Law.  The Republic Act No. 11313, or The Safe Spaces Act (Bawal Bastos Law), covers all forms of gender-based sexual harassment (GBSH) committed in public spaces, educational or training institutions, the workplace, and online spaces. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 are committed through any unwanted and uninvited sexual actions or remarks against any person 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 for committing such action or remarks.   This law, while being closely related to Republic Act 7877 [or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995], expands the meaning of ‘safe spaces’. The new law also [expands] the meaning of sexual harassment and who can be considered an offender. While the former law limited the definition of offenders to authority figures (abuse of authority), the present law (Bawal Bastos Law) recognises that [anyone] can be an offender....