What is evidence?

Evidence is the means, sanctioned by

these rules, of ascertaining in a judicial
proceeding, the truth respecting a
matter of fact.
Distinguish proof and evidence.
Proof is the effect or result of evidence,
while evidence is the medium of proof.
Factum probans v. factum
probandum
Factum probandum is the fact to be
proved; the fact which is in issue and
to which the evidence is directed.
Factum probans is the probative or
evidentiary fact tending to prove the
fact in issue.
Burden of proof v. burden of
evidence
Burden of proof is the obligation 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 evidence is the duty of a
party to go forward with the evidence
to overthrow any prima facie
presumption against him.
What is the equipoise or
equiponderance doctrine?
The equiponderance doctrine refers to
a situation where the evidence of the
parties are evenly balanced or there is
doubt on which side the evidence
weighs more heavily. In this case, the
decision should be against the party
with the burden of proof. Hence, where
the burden of proof is on the plaintiff
and the evidence does not suggest
that the scale of justice would weigh in
his favor, the court should render a
verdict for the defendant.
When is judicial notice mandatory?
A court shall take judicial notice,

without the introduction of evidence,

of:
(1) the existence and territorial extent
of states
(2) their political history
(3) forms of government and symbols
of nationality
(4) the law of nations /react-text
(5) the admiralty and maritime courts
of the world and their seals
(6) the political constitution and history
of the Philippines
7) the official acts of the legislative,
executive and judicial departments of
the Philippines;
(8) the laws of nature
(9) the measure of time; and
10) geographical divisions.
What is the best evidence rule?
What are its 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.
What is multiple admissibility of
evidence? Illustrate.
There is conditional admissibility when
the relevance of a piece of evidence is
not apparent at the time it is offered,
but may be seen when connected to
other pieces of evidence not yet

offered. The proponent will ask that the

evidence be admitted subject to the
condition that he is going to establish
its relevancy and competency at a
later time. If the connection is not
shown as promised, the court, upon
motion of the adverse party, strike out
from the record the evidence that was
previously conditionally admitted.
State the rule on documentary
evidence.
Documents as evidence consists of
writing or any material containing
letters, words, numbers, figures,
symbols or other modes of written
expression offered as proof of their
contents.
What are the implied admissions
of an actionable document?
When an action is founded upon a
written instrument, the genuineness
and due execution of the same
instrument shall be deemed admitted
unless the adverse party, under oath,
specifically denies them and sets forth
what he claims to be the facts. The
failure to deny the genuineness and
due execution of the instrument
amounts to a judicial admission.
What is the doctrine of processual
presumption?
Philippine courts do not take judicial
notice of foreign laws. Hence,
whenever a foreign law is being
invoked, the same must be pleaded
and proved, failure of which, it shall be
presumed that the foreign law is the
same as the law of the forum. This is
the doctrine of processual
presumption.
What is the effect of admissions in
an amended pleading?
When a pleading is amended, the
amended pleading supersedes the
pleading that it amends and the
admissions in the superseded pleading
may be received in evidence against

the pleader. /react-text

react-text: 447 Admissions in the
superseded pleadings are to be
considered as extrajudicial admission
which must be proven.
When and how may parol evidence
be introduced?
When: A party may present 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.
HOW: It is done by offering extrinsic or
extraneous evidence that would
modify, explain or add to the terms of
the written agreement, but parol
evidence may only be allowed, if any
of the matters mentioned is put in
issue in the pleadings.
What is the original of a
document?
(a) The original of the document is one
of the contents of which are the
subject of inquiry;
(b) When a document is in two or more
copies executed at or about the same
time, with identical contents, all such
copies are equally regarded as
originals;
(c) When an entry is repeated in the
regular course of business, one being
copied from another at or near the
time of the transaction, all the entries
are likewise equally regarded as
originals.
What are the requisites for the
admissibility of real or object
evidence?

(1) The evidence must be relevant.

2) The evidence must be
authenticated.
(3) The authentication must be made
by a competent witness; and
4) The object must be formally offered
in evidence.
What is the sequence or order of
presentation of secondary
evidence?
(1) A copy of the original
(2) A recital of the contents of the
documents in some authentic
document; or
(3) By testimony of witnesses
Circumstances when private
documents need not be
authenticated.
(1) When the document is an ancient
one
2) When the genuineness and
authenticity of an actionable document
have not bee specifically denied under
oath by the adverse party;
(3) When the genuineness and
authenticity of the document have
been admitted;
4) When the document is not being
offered as authentic.
A document is an ancient one where a
private document is more than 30
years old, is produced from the
custody in which it would naturally be
found if genuine, and is unblemished
by any alterations or circumstances of
suspicion.
How is genuineness of
handwriting proved?
The handwriting of a person may be
proved by any witness who believes it
to be the handwriting of such person
a) because he has seen the person
write,
(b) or has seen writing purporting to be
his upon which the witness has acted
or been charged and has thus acquired
knowledge of the handwriting of such
person.

Evidence respecting the handwriting

may also be given by a comparison,
made by the witness or the court, with
writings admitted or treated as
genuine by the party against whom the
evidence is offered, or proved to be
genuine to the satisfaction of the
judge.
What is the reason for applying
the best evidence rule?
The need to present to the court the
exact words of a writing where a slight
variation of words may mean a great
difference in rights. Ancillary
justification, prevention and detection
of fraud.
Give the distinction between best
evidence rule and parol evidence rule?
1) Best Evidence establishes a
preference for the original document
over a secondary evidence while parol
evidence rule is not concerned with the
primacy of evidence but presupposes
that the original is available.
(2) Best evidence rule precludes the
admission of secondary evidence if the
original document is available while
the parol evidence rule precludes the
admission of other evidence to prove
the terms of a document other than
the contents of the document other
than the contents of the document
itself for the purpose of varying the
terms of the writing.
3) The best evidence rule can be
invoked by any litigant to an action
whether or not said litigant is a party
to the document involved while the
parol evidence rule can be invoked
only by the parties to the document
and their successors-in-interest.
(4) The best evidence rule applies to
all forms of writing while parol
evidence rule applies to written
agreements (contracts) and "wills."
What are the kinds of evidence
that need not be authenticated?

These are:
(a) Object evidence
(b) Documentary evidence
c) Electronic evidence
Does the rule on privileged
communication apply to electronic
evidence?

Yes, privileged communications apply

even to electronic evidence. Under
Sec. 3, Rule 3 of the Rules on
Electronic Evidence, the confidential
character of a privileged
communication is not lost solely on the
ground that it is in the form of an
electronic document.