1.

You are a Family Court Judge and before you is a Petition for the Declaration of
Nullity of Marriage (undr Art 36 of Family Code) filed by Maria against Neil. Maria claims
that Neil is psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential obligations of
marriage because Neil is a drunkard, a womanizer, a gambler and a mama’s boy –
traits that she never knew or saw when Neil was courting her. Although summoned, Neil
did not answer Maria’s petition and never appeared in court.

To support her petition, Maria presented three witnesses – herself, Dr. Elsie Chan and
Ambrosia. Dr. Chan testified n the psychological report on Neil that she prepared. Since
Neil never acknowledged nor responded to her invitation for interviews, her report is
solely based on her interview with Maria and the spouses’ minor children. Dr. Chan
concluded that Neil is suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder an ailment that she
found to be already present since Neil’s early adulthood and one that is grave and
incurable. Aria testified on the specific instances when she found Neil drunk with
another woman, or squandering the family’s resources in a casino. Ambrosia, the
spouses’ current household help, corroborated Maria’s testimony.

On the basis of the evidence presented, will you grant the petition?

2. A collision occurred at an intersection involving a bicycle and taxicab. Both the

bicycle rider ( a businessman then doing his morning exercise) and the taxi driver
claimed that the other was a fault. Based on the police report, the bicycle crossed the
intersection first but the taxicab, crossing at a fast clip from the bicycle’s left, could not
brake in time and hit the bicycle’s rear wheel, toppling it and throwing the bicycle rider
into the sidewalk 5 meters away.

The bicycle rider suffered a fracture right knee, sustained when he fell on his right side
on the concrete wal. He was hospitalized and was subsequently operated on,
rendering hm immobile for 3 weeks an requiring physical rehabilitation for another 3
months. In his complaint for damages, the rider prayed for the award of P1000000
actual damages, Php200, 000 moral damages, P200,000 exemplary damages,
P100,000 nominal damages and P50,000 attorney’s fees.

Assuming the police report to be correct and as the lawyer for the bcycle rider, what
evidence (documentary and testimonial) and legal arguments wll you present in court
to justify the damages that your client claims?

3.Sergio is the registered ownder of 500sqm land. His friend, Marcelo, who was long
been interested in the property, succeeded in persuading Sergio to seel it to him. On
June 2, 2012, they agreed on the purchase price of P600,000 and that Sergio would
give Marcelo up to June 30, 2012 within which to raise the amount Marcelo, in a light
tone usual between them said that they should seal their agreement through a case of
Jack Daniels Black and P5000 “pulutan” money which he immediately handed to
Sergio and which the latter accepted. The friends then sat down and drank the first
bottle from the case of bourdon.

On June 15, 2013, Sergio learned of another buyer, Roberto who was offering P800,000
in ready cash for the land. When Roberto confirmed that he could pay in cash as soon
as Sergio could get the documentation ready, Sergio decided to withdraw his offer to
Marcelo, hoping to just explain matters to his friend. Marcelo, however, objected when
the withdrawal was communicated to him, taking the postion that they have a firm and
binding agreement that Sergio cannot simply walk away from because he has an
option to buy that is duly supported by a duly accepted valuable consideration.

A. Does Marcelo have a cause of action against Sergio?

B. Can Sergio claim that whatever they might have agree upon cannot be
enforced because any agreement relating to the sale of real property must be
supported by the evidence in writing and they never reduced their agreement to
writing?

4. Armand died intestate. His full-blood brothers, bobby and Conrad, and half-blood
brothers, Danny, Edward and Floro all predeceased him. The following are the surviving
relatives :

1. Benny and Bonnie, legitimate children of Bobby

2. Cesar, legitimate child of Conrad;

3. dante, illegitimate child of Danny;

4. Ernie, adopted child of Edward

5. Felix, grandson of Floro

The net value of Armand’s estate is P1,200,000. Compute for the amount of share of
each surviving relatives from Armand’s estate.

5. The Roman Catholic church accepted a donation of a real property located in Lipa
City. A deed of donation was execute, signed by the donor, Don Mariano, and the
done, the Church as represented by Fr. Damian. Before the deed could be notarized,
Don Mariano died. IS the donation valid.

6. Due to the continuous heavy rainfall, the major streets in Manila Became flooded.
This compelled cris to check in at Square One Hotel. As soon as crishot off from his
Toyota Altis, the Hotel’s parking attendant for the key of his car and gave him a valet
parking customer’s claim stub. The attendant parke his car at the basement of the
hotel. Early in the morning, cris was informed by the hotel manager that his car was
carnaped.
 a. What contract is any was perfected betweem Cris and the Hotel when Cris
surrendered the key of his car to the Hotel’s parking attendant?

b/ What is the liability, if any, of the hotel for the loss of Cris car?

7. After undergoing sex reassignment in a foreign country, Jose, who is now using the
name of “Josie”, married his partner Ador. Is the marriage valid?

8. Ted, married to Annie, went to Canada to work. Five years later, Ted became a
naturalized Canadian Citizen. He returned to the Philippines to convince Annie to settle
in Canada. Unfortunately, ted discovered that annie and his friend Louie were having
an affair. Deeply hurt, Ted returned to Canada and filed a petition for divorce was
granted. In December 2013, ted decided to marry his childhood friend Corazon in the
Philippines. In preparation or the wedding, ted went to the Local Civil registry of Quezon
City where his marriage contract with Annie was registered. He asked the Civivl registrar
to annotate the decree of divorce on his marriage contract with annie. However, he
was advised by the national Statistics office to file a petition for judicial recognition of
decree of divorce in the Philippines.

Is it necessary for ted t file a petition for juridical recognition fo the decree of divorce he
obtained in Canada before he can contract a second marriage in the Philippines.

9. Mario executed his last will and testament where he acknowledges the child being
conceived by his lie-in partner Josie as his own child and that his house and lot in
Baguio City be given to his unborn conceived child. Are the acknowledgment and the
donation mortis causa valid? Why?

10. A driver of a bus owned by company Z ran over a boy who died instantly. A criminal
case for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide was filed against the driver. He was
convicted and was ordered to pay P2 Minllion in actual and moral damages to the
parents of the bow who was an honor student and had a brght future. Without even
trying to find out if the driver had assets or means to pay the award of damages, the
parents of the boy fiiled a civil action against the bus company to make it directly liable
for the damages.

a. Will their action prosper ?

b. If the parents of the boy tdo not wish to file a separate civil action against the
bus company, can they still ake the bus company liable if the driver cannot pay the
award for damages?If so, what is the nature of the employer;s liability and how may
civil damages be satisfied?

11. Sidley and Sol were married with one (1) daughter, Solenn. Sedfrey and Sonia were
another couple with one son, Sonny. Sol and Sedfrey both perished in the same plane
accident. Sidley and Sonia met when the families of those who died sued the airlines
and went through grief-counseling sessions. Years later, Sidley and Sonia got married. At
that time, Solenn was four (4) years old and Sonny was five (5) years old. These two (2)
were then brought up in the same household. Fifteen (15) years later, Solenn and Sonny
developed romantic feelings towards each other, and eventually eloped. On their own
and against their parents' wishes, they procured a marriage license and got married in
church.

(a) Is the marriage of Solenn and Sonny valid, voidable, or void?

(b) If the marriage is defective, can the marriage be ratified by free cohabitation
of the parties?

12. Silverio was a woman trapped in a man's body. He was born male and his birth
certificate indicated his gender as male, and his name as Silverio Stalon. When he
reached the age of 21, he had a sex reassignment surgery in Bangkok, and, from then
on, he lived as a female. On the basis of his sex reassignment, he filed an action to
have his first name changed to Shelley, and his gender, to female. While he was
following up his case with the Regional Trial Court of Manila, he met Sharon Stan, who
also filed a similar action to change her first name to Shariff, and her gender, from
female to male.

Sharon was registered as a female upon birth. While growing up, she developed male
characteristics and was diagnosed to have congenital adrenal hyperplasia ("CAH")
which is a condition where a person possesses both male and female characteristics. At
puberty, tests revealed that her ovarian structures had greatly minimized, and she had
no breast or menstrual development. Alleging that for all intents and appearances, as
well as mind and emotion, she had become a male, she prayed that her birth
certificate be corrected such that her gender should be changed from female to
male, and that her first name should be changed from Sharon to Shariff.

Silverio and Sharon fell in love and decided to marry. Realizing that their marriage will
be frowned upon in the Philippines, they travelled to Las Vegas, USA where they got
married based on the law of the place of celebration of the marriage. They, however,
kept their Philippine citizenship.

(a) Is there any legal bases for the court to approve Silverio's petition for
correction of entries in his birth certificate?

(b) Will your answer be the same in the case of Sharon's petition?

(c) Can the marriage of Silverio (Shelley) and Sharon (Shariff) be legally
recognized as valid in the Philippines?

13. Sydney, during her lifetime, was a successful lawyer. By her own choice, she
remained unmarried and devoted all her time to taking care of her nephew and two
(2) nieces: Socrates, Saffinia, and Sophia. She wrote a will giving all her properties
remaining upon her death to the three (3) of them. The will was admitted to probate
during her lifetime. Later, she decided to make a new will giving all her remaining
properties only to the two (2) girls, Saffinia and Sophia. She then tore up the previously
probated will. The second will was presented for probate only after her death.
However, the probate court found the second will to be void for failure to comply with
formal requirements.

(a) Will the doctrine of dependent relative revocation apply? (2.5%)

(b) Will your answer be the same if the second will was found to be valid but
both Saffinia and Sophia renounce their inheritance?