Legal Insights
Plain-language guides and case briefs on Philippine law — researched from the firm's law library of 184,000+ statutes, Supreme Court decisions, and agency issuances, and written so non-lawyers can understand and act on them.
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Improvident Plea in Rape Cases: Ensuring Voluntariness and Comprehension
Philippine Supreme Court ruling on conditional guilty pleas, void judgments, and the required searching inquiry in capital rape cases.
Credibility in Rape Cases: How Mental Capacity Affects Testimony Admissibility
The Supreme Court affirms a rape conviction despite the victim's moderate intellectual disability, clarifying credibility standards for witnesses with mental limitations.
Rape Shield Consensual Relationship Claims and the Imperative of Proof in Rape Cases
The Supreme Court clarifies that a "sweetheart defense" in rape cases requires concrete evidence, not bare assertions, to be credible.
Rape and Credibility: How Courts Evaluate Testimony in Sexual Assault Cases
Philippine Supreme Court explains how trial courts assess rape victim testimony, identity, delay in reporting, and affidavit of desistance.
Rape AND Robbery Distinguishing Separate Crimes From A Special Complex Offense
Rape Conviction Affirmed Establishing Filiation FOR Aggravated Penalties IN Sexual Assault Cases
Father Rape Conviction and the Limits of Credibility in Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse Cases
The Supreme Court affirms a father's rape conviction, explaining why a daughter's delayed report and alleged "complex" do not destroy credibility.
Robbery With Rape: How Intimidation Proves Lack of Consent in Philippine Law
Philippine Supreme Court ruling explains how intimidation, not physical force, suffices to prove lack of consent in robbery with rape cases.
Rape Conviction Upheld Despite Vague Information: Protecting Victims and Ensuring Justice
The Supreme Court affirms a father's rape conviction despite a vague information, explaining procedural rules and victim credibility in incest cases.
Credibility of Rape Victims' Testimony: The Daughter-Father Exception in Philippine Law
Philippine Supreme Court affirms rape conviction based on daughter's credible testimony against father, explaining why courts give greater weight to such accusations.
Protecting the Vulnerable: Upholding Convictions in Child Rape Cases Despite Minor Inconsistencies
The Supreme Court affirms a father's rape convictions, clarifying rules on information defects, alibi, and victim credibility in incest cases.
Rape by a Stepfather Figure and the Limits of Information in Imposing the Death Penalty
A rape conviction upheld, but the death penalty was reduced because the qualifying circumstance was not properly alleged.
Forcible Abduction With Rape: Positive Identification Prevails Over Alibi
The Supreme Court affirms a rape conviction, ruling that the victim's positive identification outweighs the accused's alibi and denial.
Positive Identification Prevails Over Alibi in Robbery with Rape Conviction
Supreme Court affirms robbery with rape conviction, ruling that positive identification by the victim outweighs the defense of alibi.
Relationship Matters Qualifying Circumstances and Retroactive Penal Laws in Rape Cases
How a missing allegation of stepfather relationship reduced a death sentence to reclusion perpetua, and why Garcia applies retroactively.
Protecting Children: Parental Rape and the Importance of Victim Credibility in Philippine Courts
The Supreme Court clarifies that a stepfather's relationship to a rape victim must be stated in the Information to justify the death penalty.
Rape, Intimidation, and Resistance: What the Law Requires in the Philippines
Philippine law does not require "tenacious" resistance in rape. A knife threat is intimidation enough. Learn the rules from a Supreme Court ruling.
Forcible Abduction vs Rape: Distinguishing Intent and Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases
Philippine Supreme Court ruling on People v. Abalde clarifies statutory rape, force, intimidation, and evidence standards in sexual assault cases.
Proving Rape Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Lessons from People v. Abalde
A look at People v. Abalde on how Philippine courts weigh a rape victim's testimony, force, intimidation, and the standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
When a Guilty Plea Fails: Why Rape Convictions Were Remanded for Rearraignment
The Supreme Court set aside death sentences for rape because the trial court failed to conduct a proper searching inquiry into the guilty plea.
Credibility in Rape Cases: Victim Testimony and Prior Abuse Under Philippine Law
Philippine Supreme Court ruling on rape conviction, victim credibility, and prior sexual abuse as evidence.
Defining the Boundaries of Rape: Penetration vs Attempt in Philippine Law
The Supreme Court clarifies when rape is consummated versus merely attempted, requiring proof of penile entry into the labia.
Protecting the Credibility of Testimony From Persons With Mental Disabilities in Rape Cases
How Philippine courts assess rape testimony from mentally disabled victims, and why mental deficiency does not diminish credibility.
Protecting the Vulnerable: Rape of a Woman Deprived of Reason Under Philippine Law
The Supreme Court affirms that sexual intercourse with a mentally retarded woman constitutes rape under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code.