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.
Get a cited, plain-language answer from 184,000+ statutes and decisions — free, no sign-up.
Upholding Due Process: The Limits of Retroactive Application in Behest Loan Cases
Supreme Court affirms Ombudsman's dismissal of behest loan charges, clarifying that administrative orders defining behest loans are not penal laws and cannot retroactively criminalize past transaction
Retroactive Application of Penal Laws Favoring the Accused in Illegal Firearm Possession
When a new penal law favors an accused, it applies retroactively. The Supreme Court explains this rule in an illegal firearm possession case.
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.
Retroactive Application of Penal Laws in the Philippines: When Can a Sentence Be Reduced
Philippine Supreme Court explains when favorable penal laws apply retroactively, reducing sentences even after conviction and while serving time.
Retroactive Application of Penal Laws Protecting Accused Rights in the Philippines
Explaining how the 1987 Constitution's abolition of the death penalty retroactively benefits accused persons whose crimes were committed before its ratification.
Retroactive Application of Penal Laws: When a Final Sentence Can Be Modified
Explore when favorable penal laws apply retroactively and whether a final sentence can be modified, based on People v. Caco.
Retroactive Application of Penal Laws: When Does a Lighter Sentence Apply
Explaining when Philippine courts apply a new, lighter penal law retroactively, based on the Supreme Court's ruling in Magtibay.