GENERAL CONCEPTS 9.

the official acts of legislative, executive and judicial departments of

the Philippines,
What facts constitute my cause of action or defense? - Substantive 10. the laws of nature,
law 11. the measure of time, and
Substantive law creates, defines and regulates rights and duties 12. the geographical divisions.
concerning life, liberty or property which when violated gives rise to a
cause of action. Section 2. Judicial notice, when discretionary. — A court may take judicial
notice of matters which are:
Evidence defined. — Evidence is the means, sanctioned by these rules, of 1. of public knowledge, or
ascertaining in a judicial proceeding the truth respecting a matter of fact.  2. capable to unquestionable demonstration, or
3. ought to be known to judges because of their judicial functions.
Admissibility of evidence. — Evidence is admissible when it is relevant
to the issue and is not excluded by the law of these rules. Matters of judicial notice have three material requisites:
(1) the matter must be one of common and general knowledge;
Moral Certainty - that degree of proof which produces conviction in an (2) it must be well and authoritatively settled and not doubtful or
unprejudiced mind. uncertain; and
(3) it must be known to be within the limits of the jurisdiction of the court.
Circumstantial evidence, when sufficient. Circumstantial evidence is
sufficient for conviction if: *Note: The principal guide in determining what facts may be
(a) There is more than one circumstances; assumed to be judicially known is that of notoriety.
(b) The facts from which the inferences are derived are proven; and
(c) The combination of all the circumstances is such as to produce a GR: courts do not take judicial notice of the evidence presented in other
conviction beyond reasonable doubt. proceedings, even if these have been tried or are pending in the same
court or before the same judge.
Quantum of Proof XPN: If the cases are closely interwoven, or so clearly interdependent, as
a). Proof beyond reasonable doubt - Criminal to invoke a rule of judicial notice.
b). Clear and convincing proof
c). Preponderance of Evidence - Civil JUDICIAL ADMISSION
d). Substantial evidence - Administrative
Admission of a party — The act, declaration or omission of a party as to
a relevant fact.
JUDICIAL NOTICE
R129 Section 4. Judicial admissions. — An admission, verbal or written,
Judicial Notice - Matters which the court may take cognizance of without made by the party in the course of the proceedings in the same case, does
proof or evidence. not require proof. The admission may be contradicted only by showing that
it was made through palpable mistake or that no such admission was made
R129 Section 1. Judicial notice, when mandatory. — A court shall take
judicial notice, without Elements:
1. the introduction of evidence, 1. Must be made by a party to the case
2. of the existence and territorial extent of states, 2. Must be made in the course of the proceedings in the same case
3. their political history, 3. Either verbal or written
4. forms of government and symbols of nationality,
5. the law of nations, A party may make judicial admissions in
6. the admiralty and maritime courts of the world and their seals, (a) the pleadings,
7. the political constitution and (b) during the trial, either by verbal or written manifestations or
8. history of the Philippines, stipulations, or
(c) in other stages of the judicial proceeding.
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(Extra Judicial)Confession to be admissible must be:
a) voluntary;
b) made with the
assistance of a competent and independent counsel;
c) express; and
d) inwriting.
BURDEN OF PROOF
Burden of proof. — Burden of proof is the duty of a party to present
evidence on the facts in issue necessary to establish his claim or defense
by the amount of evidence required by law.
Burden of Proof (Persuasion/Production)
 Burden of Persuasion - the duty of the party alleging the case to
prove it. It never shifts.
 Burden of Evidence/ Production - The duty imposed upon a party,
at any time during the trial, to establish a prima facie case in his
favor or to overcome a prima facie case against him.
ESTOPPEL
Estoppel - an admission or representation is rendered conclusive upon the
person making it and cannot be denied or disproved as against the person
relying thereon.
Estoppel by silence - arises where a person, who by force of
circumstances is under a duty to another to speak, refrains from doing so
and thereby leads the other to believe in the existence of a state of facts in
reliance on which he acts to his prejudice.  of the written agreement.
PRESUMPTION
Conclusive presumptions — The following are instances of conclusive
presumptions:
(a) Whenever a party has, by his own declaration, act, or omission,
intentionally and deliberately led to another to believe a particular thing
true, and to act upon such belief, he cannot, in any litigation arising out of
such declaration, act or omission, be permitted to falsify it
(b) The tenant is not permitted to deny the title of his landlord at the time
of commencement of the relation of landlord and tenant between them.  TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE
Disputable Presumptions - presumptions that are satisfactory if
uncontradicted but may be contradicted and overcome by other evidence.
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*Note: No presumption of legitimacy or illegitimacy. There is no
presumption of legitimacy of a child born after three hundred days
following the dissolution of the marriage or the separation of the
spouses. Whoever alleges the legitimacy or illegitimacy of such
child must prove his allegation.
BEST EVIDENCE RULE
Section 3. Original document must be produced; exceptions. — When the
subject of inquiry is the contents of a document, no evidence shall be
admissible other than the original document itself, except in the following
cases:
(a) When the original has been lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced in
court, without bad faith on the part of the offeror;
(b) When the original is in the custody or under the control of the party
against whom the evidence is offered, and the latter fails to produce it
after reasonable notice;
(c) When the original consists of numerous accounts or other documents
which cannot be examined in court without great loss of time and the fact
sought to be established from them is only the general result of the whole;
and
(d) When the original is a public record in the custody of a public officer or
is recorded in a public office.
PAROL EVIDENCE RULE
Section 9. Evidence of written agreements. — When the terms of an
agreement have been reduced to writing, it is considered as containing all
the terms agreed upon and there can be, between the parties and their
successors in interest, no evidence of such terms other than the contents
However, a party may present evidence to modify, explain or add to the
terms of written agreement if he puts in issue in his pleading:
(a) An intrinsic ambiguity, mistake or imperfection in the written
agreement;
(b) The failure of the written agreement to express the true intent and
agreement of the parties thereto;
(c) The validity of the written agreement; or
(d) The existence of other terms agreed to by the parties or their
successors in interest after the execution of the written agreement.
Qualifications to Testify - All persons who can perceive, and perceiving,
can make their known perception to others, may be witnesses.
Requisites:
Ability to observe
Ability to remember what he observed
Ability to communicate the information to others
DISQUALIFIED TESTIMONY / PRIVILEGE COMMUNICATION
Privilege Communication
1. Husband and Wife
2. Attorney Client
3. Doctor Patient
4. Priest - Penitent
5. Public Officer - communication made in confidence due to public
office
6. Executive Privilege
7. Trade Secrets
8. Reporter/Journalist Privilege (GR: source cannot be disclosed. XPN:
Security of the State)
Attorney Client
Requisites:
(1) There exists an attorney-client relationship,
(2) The client made the communication in confidence.
(3) The legal advice must be sought from the attorney in his professional
capacity.
As a matter of public policy, a client's identity should not be shrouded in
mystery. Exceptions thereto are:
1) Client identity is privileged where a strong probability exists that
revealing the client's name would implicate that client in the very activity
for which he sought the lawyer's advice.
2) Where disclosure would open the client to civil liability, his identity is
privileged.
3) Where the government's lawyers have no case against an attorney's
client unless, by revealing the client's name, the said name would furnish
the only link that would form the chain of testimony necessary to convict
an individual of a crime, the client's name is privileged.
Doctor Patient
The requisites in order that the privilege may be successfully invoked:
(a) the privilege is claimed in a civil cases;
(b) the person against whom the privilege is claimed is one duly authorized
to practice medicine, surgery or obstetrics;
(c) such person acquired the information while he was attending to the
patient in his professional capacity;
(d) the information was necessary to enable him to act in that capacity;
and,
(e) the information was confidential and, if disclosed, would blacken the
reputation (formerly character) of the patient
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Executive Privilege
The elements of presidential communications privilege are:
1) The protected communication must relate to a "quintessential and non-
delegable presidential power.
2) The communication must be authored or "solicited and received" by a
close advisor of the President or the President himself. The judicial test is
that an advisor must be in "operational proximity" with the President.
3) The presidential communications privilege remains a qualified privilege
that may be overcome by a showing of adequate need, such that the
information sought "likely contains important evidence" and by the
unavailability of the information elsewhere by an appropriate investigating
authority.
HEARSAY
Hearsay - out of court statement to prove the truth of the matters
asserted.
Why hearsay is not allowed:
No opportunity to cross examine
No opportunity to assess the declarants demeanour
Not made under oath
EXCEPTIONS TO HEARSAY
Dying Declaration
1. death is imminent and the declarant is conscious of that fact,
2. the declaration refers to the cause and the surrounding
circumstances of such death,
3. the declaration relates to a fact which the victim is competent to
testify to, and
4. the declaration is offered in a case wherein the declarant's death is
the subject of the inquiry
5. The dying declaration is complete or fully expresses the cause or
circumstances of his/her impending death.
Res Gestae
1. A startling occurrence;
2. Spontaneous statement or was made before declarant had time to
contrive;
3. Statement made under the stress of excitement caused by the
occurrence;
4. Statement made while startling occurrence is happening, or immediately
before or after;
5. Relates or concerns to the startling occurrence.
Declaration against Interest:
 1. Declarant dead or unable to testify mentally incapacitated or
physically incompetent.
2. Declaration is against declarant’s pecuniary, proprietary or penal
interest at the time it was made
3. Declaration is based on the declarant’s personal knowledge.
Declaration About Pedigree:
1. Declarant is dead or unable to testify,
2. Declaration (or act) relates to the “pedigree” of another person
3. That person is related to the declarant by birth or marriage,
4. Declaration was made before the controversy,
5. Relationship between declarant and the other person is shown by
evidence other than such act or declaration.
Family Reputation or Tradition Regarding Pedigree
Declaration relates to the reputation or tradition existing in a family prior
to the controversy regarding the pedigree of any of its members,
Witness testifying about it is a member of that family by consanguinity or
affinity.
Common reputation
Common reputation existing previous to the controversy, as to boundaries
of or customs affecting lands in the community and reputation as to events
of general history important to the community, or respecting marriage or
moral character, may be given in evidence. Monuments and inscriptions in
public places may be received as evidence of common reputation.
Commercial Lists
1. Statement of matters of interest to persons engaged in an occupation;
2. Contained in a list, register, periodical, or other published compilation;
3. Published for the use of persons engaged in that occupation;
4. Generally used and relied on by persons in that occupation [or the
general public].
Learned Treatises
1. A published treatise, periodical or pamphlet,
2. On a subject of history, law, science, or art,
3. And court takes judicial notice, or a witness expert in the subject
testifies, that the writer of the statement in the treatise, periodical or
pamphlet is recognized in his profession or calling as expert in the subject.
Business Entries/ Record
1. The person who made the entry must be dead, outside the country or
unable to testify;
2. The entries were made at or near the time of the transactions to which
they refer;
3. The entrant was in a position to know the facts stated in the entries;
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4. The entries were made in his professional capacity or in the performance
of a duty, whether legal, contractual, moral or religious;
5. The entries were made in the ordinary or regular course of business
Records of Regularly Conducted Business Activity
1. A memorandum, report, record or data compilation of acts, events,
conditions, opinions, or diagnoses, made by writing, typing, electronic,
optical or other similar means,
2. at or near the time of or from transmission or supply of information
3. by a person with knowledge thereof,
4. kept in the regular course orconduct of a business activity,
5. and such was the regular practice to make the mamorandum, report,
record, or data compilation by electronic, optical or similar means,
6. All of which must be shown by the testimony of the custodian or other
qualified witnesses.
Dead Man’s Statute (Now and exception to hearsay)
Statement of decedent or person of unsound mind. – In an action against
an executor or administrator or other representative of a deceased person,
or against a person of unsound mind, upon a claim or demand against the
estate of such deceased person or against such person of unsound mind,
where a party or assignor of a party or a person in whose behalf a case is
prosecuted testifies on a matter of fact occurring before the death of the
deceased person or before the person became of unsound mind, any
statement of the deceased or the person of unsound mind, may be
received in evidence if the statement was made upon the personal
knowledge of the deceased or person of unsound mind at a time when the
matter had been recently perceived by him or her and while his or her
recollection was clear. Such statement, however, is inadmissible if made
under circumstances indicating its lack of trustworthiness.
The Lord is my
strength and my shield;
 my heart trusts in him,
and he helps me.
Psalm 28:7

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