PROJECT JURISPRUDENCE

To deprive an accused, who relied in good faith on his or her counsel, the right to appeal is a violation of the right to due process. Thus ruled the Supreme Court’s Third Division in a Decision, penned by Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, granting the Petition for Review on Certiorari filed by Rodrigo O. Conche and recalling the Entry of Judgment issued by the Court of Appeals (CA). The Court also directed the CA to give due course to Conche’s appeal and elevate the records of the case for this purpose. In 2012, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Parañaque City convicted Conche of violating Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Through his counsel de parte, Gutierrez and Trinidad Law Office (GT Law Office), he sought reconsideration but was denied by the RTC. Conche appealed, but his conviction was sustained by the CA in its Decision dated September 21, 2015, affirming the penalty of life imprisonment and fine of PhP500,000.00. GT Law Office received a copy o

On August 15, 2023, the Supreme Court dismisses ABS-CBN's Counterclaims in dispute with Willie Revillame. Issues actually and directly resolved in a former suit cannot again be raised in any future case between the same parties involving a different cause of action. Thus ruled the Supreme Court’s Third Division, in a 22-page Decision penned by Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, dismissing the Petitions for Review filed by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation (ABS-CBN) and partly granting the Petition for Review filed by Willie B. Revillame. The separate petitions challenge various rulings of the Court of Appeals (CA). On August 23, 2010, Revillame filed a civil action before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) seeking to cancel, terminate, and rescind his three-year contract with ABS-CBN (Civil Case No. Q-10-67770). Under the contract, Revillame was to host the show “Wowowee” on the ABS-CBN network until September 10, 2011 “or upon cancellation or earlier termination of the progra

EN BANC [ G.R. No. 224469. January 05, 2021 ] DIOSDADO SAMA Y HINUPAS AND BANDY MASANGLAY Y ACEVEDA, PETITIONERS, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT. DECISION LAZARO-JAVIER, J.: The Case This Petition for Review on  Certiorari [1] assails the following dispositions of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 33906: a) Decision[2] dated May 29, 2015 affirming the conviction of petitioners Diosdado Sama  y  Hinupas and Bandy Masanglay  y  Aceveda and their co-accused Demetrio Masanglay  y  Aceveda for violation of Section 77 of Presidential Decree 705 (PD 705) or the  Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines : and b) Resolution[3] dated April 11, 2016 denying their motion for reconsideration. Proceedings before the Trial Court By Information[4] dated May 27, 2005, petitioners and Demetrio were charged, as follows:[5] INFORMATION The undersigned Prosecutor, under oath, accuses DIOSDADO SAMA y HINUPAS, DEMETRIO MASANGLAY y ACEVEDA, BANDY MASANGLAY y ACEVEDA, residents of Baran