LEGAL COUNSELING:

SUMMARY OF THE CASES PRESENTED

By:

TEAM HO WAN

Dy, Czara Loraine

Garcia, Charlotte Yris
Landayan, Mary Mercedita
Senique, Alyssa Paulina
Tec, Natasha Kim

4B – AY 2018-2019

Legal Counseling

Dean Jose de la Rama

University of Santo Tomas

 SUMMARY OF THE CASES PRESENTED

CASE DESCRIPTION UPDATE

Case No. 1. Single Mother Support Case

Summary: After Mrs. Feraer’s threat to bring the matter to

Ms. Annaliza Feraer and her three sons were
left alone by her husband, Rowell when the
latter cohabited with another girl. The children
of Annaliza saw on facebook the fact that their
father is already with another woman. Rowell
discontinued any form of financial suport to his
legal family and limited his communication to
his children.
court by filing a petition for support, the
husband begged that the former desist from
such and also made the promise to continue
giving support for their three children. Mrs.
Feraer did not push through with the civil case.
Mr. Feraer has now been giving the client 3000
pesos a month

Recommendation:
File a petition for support before the Family
Court. In order to prepare for the case. We
additionally advised her to gather evidence as
to the father's financial capability and the exact
amount that their family needs as support.
These matters were unknown even to the client
during the interview.

Case No. 2. Alleged Unpaid Condominium Dues

Summary: There is still no legal action on the part of both

Jeniss Mile Dela Cruz Muarip is the owner of parties. The situation still remains the same.
Unit 2611 – A, East Tower, Grass Residences However, as an ordinary consequence, the
Condominium located Quezon City. The alleged unpaid dues still accrues. But it shall be
original date of turn-over was on June 2011. noted that the owner, Ms. Muarip is religiously
However, it was only in April of 2017 that Ms. paying all dues except the alleged unpaid ones
Muarip signed any document evidencing
acceptance of her unit. Nonetheless, Grass sent
her a Letter dated October 11, 2018 which
stated an unpaid amount of PHP 126, 076.71
representing Condominium Dues, Interests and
Penalty starting June 2011 up until the actual
turn-over. It is clear from the Contract to Sell
that there is a reservation of the beneficial use
and possession until there has been an actual
transfer upon turn – over after completion of
the project and its ready occupancy. In view of
this, Ms. Muarip is requesting that the alleged
unpaid amount prior to turn-over be waived.

Recommendation:
If amicable settlement through mediation shall
ultimately fail, our advice to Ms. Muarip is to
file a complaint for Breach of Contract with
Damages against Grass Residences
Corporation for its delay in turning over the
condominium unit. Said action should be filed
before the HLURB.

If the Condominium Corporation files an

Action for Collection of Sum of Money against
Ms. Muarip for the alleged unpaid
Condominium dues, interests and penalty, we
would file a Motion to Dismiss under Rule 16
of the Rules of Court based on the ground that
the pleading asserting the claim states no cause
of action.
Case No. 3. Relatives Borrowing Money from Kasamabahay Estafa Case

Summary: They already settled and Derlyn did not

Derlyn Buena has a daughter out of wedlock, anymore demand for the whole amount of loan.
who is under the care and custody of her sister, She told us that she already received
Jena Buena who borrowed a total of P45,000 P33,500.00 which for her is sufficient instead
allegedly for the daily needs of her child in the of the judicial expenses that may cost her in
province. She thereafter learned that the money case she would pursue her claim in court.
she lent to her sister were not actually spent for
the needs of her daughter. Derlyn demanded
the amounts loaned to Jena that were allegedly
for the needs of her child and those that were
discovered to be loaned to Jena's friends but
the latter cannot pay.

Recommendation:
Our primary recommendation is to first settle
the loan for themselves; if to no avail, we
recommended Derlyn to file a case for Estafa
under Article 315(b) of the Revised Penal
Code or to file a civil case for Collection of
Sum of Money before a small claims court.
Derlyn may sue her sister for they were not
living together which precludes application of
Article 332 of RPC regarding exemption from
criminal liability.
 Case No. 4. Minor Car Crash Incident

Summary: Carol was able to have her car repaired. She

Carol Villanueva accidentally bumped into the mentioned to Soliven about resorting to
back of a van which suddenly halted, causing judicial remedies if he and his relatives
damage to both cars. The driver, Peter Soliven, continued to send her threats so he finally
sent Carol a list of the damage she allegedly agreed to settle the matter by accepting from
owed him which amounted to P333,986.00. her a more reasonable amount based on an
She was skeptical of the large amount estimation obtained by Carol from a more
considering that the list he gave included parts credible source.
which were not even affected by the collision.
The van driven by Soliven turned out to be
owned by his cousin who was already in
Canada; it was also a "colorum" van. Carol
signified her willingness to pay but for a
reasonable verified amount but Soliven refused
to cooperate and disregarded her requests for
proper documents. Soliven's relatives
continuously badgered her to pay the P333,986
and even threatened to call her employer so
that she'd be forced to pay the questionable
amount.

Recommendation:
Exhaust extrajudicial means first by contacting
the insurer to claim proceeds for Third Party
Liability insurance. Her last resort is to file a
civil case for damages or criminal action for
violation of Art. 283 of the RPC (Light
Threats). She can also report to the LTFRB
about the "colorum" van of Soliven which is
illegal.
Case No. 5. Australian Adoption Case

Summary: The client has a grandson who was
born out of wedlock. The biological parents of
the child separated and the mother thereafter
married an Australian who now wants to
jointly adopt the client’s grandson.
The child was brought to Australia under an
Australian Student Visa. Intercountry Adoption
between Philippine and Australian nationals
are still banned till further notice.

Recommendation: Since the prospective

adoptees are no longer residents of the
Philippines and the purpose is to bring the
child to Australia, the prospective adoptees
should undergo Intercountry adoption and take
note of the parallel procedures in Australia.
 Case No. 6. Child Custody Case

Summary: As the father does not want to subject his

Philip, our client, has a five-year old daughter
out of wedlock with his ex-girlfriend. The
child has been with him since she was six
months old and has never heard from the
mother of the child since then until in 2018
when our client contacted her because Philip
wanted to take his daughter abroad for vacation
and he needs the consent of the child’s
unwilling mother to apply for the child’s
passport and to be able to take her abroad. The
mother of the child now threatens our client
that she will take the child from him.
daughter to the possible emotional
consequences of a prolonged custody
litigation, he decided not to initiate the custody
“battle” over their minor daughter especially
considering that he has the actual custody
anyway and that no threat to disturb the same
from the end of the mother seems serious and
imminent presently.

Recommendation:
The recommendation we had given was for the
father to file a petition for custody over the
minor illegitimate child in order for the father
to obtain the legal authority to care for and rear
for the child exclusively.