CIVIL LAW:CONSIGNATION;
INAPPLICABLE TO LEASE WITH OPTION TO BUY
In Vda. de Quirino v. Palarca, it was ruled that consignation
referred to in Article 1256 of the Civil Code is inapplicable to a lease
with option to buy because said provision refers to consignation as one
of the means for the payment or discharge of a "debt," whereas the lessee
was not indebted to the lessor for the price of the leased premises. The
lessee merely exercised a right of option and had no obligation to pay
said price until execution of the deed of sale in his favor, which the
lessor refused to do.
CRIMINAL LAW:ESTAFA;WHEN
PERIOD OF PRESCRIPTION COMMENCES TO RUN
The period of prescription commences to run from the date of
the commission of the crime if it is known at the time of its commission.
Thus, if there is nothing that was concealed or needed to be discovered,
because the entire series of transactions was by public instruments, duly
recorded, the crime of estafa committed in connection with said transaction
was known to the offended party when it was committed and the period of
prescription commenced to run from the date of its commission.
REMEDIAL LAW:QUANTUM
OF EVIDENCE REQUIRED IN PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS
The quantum of evidence now required in preliminary investigation
is such evidence sufficient to "engender a well founded belief" as to the
fact of the commission of a crime and the respondent's probable guilt thereof.
A preliminary investigation is not the occasion for the full and exhaustive
display of the parties' evidence; it is for the presentation of such evidence
only as may engender a well grounded belief that an offense has been committed
and that the accused is probably guilty thereof.
LABOR LAW:STRIKES;
ILLEGAL IF UNDERTAKEN DESPITE ASSUMPTION OR CERTIFICATION BY SECRETARY
OF LABOR
A strike that is undertaken despite the issuance by the Secretary
of Labor of an assumption or certification order becomes a prohibited activity
and thus illegal, pursuant to the second paragraph of Art. 264 of the Labor
Code as amended (Zamboanga Wood Products, Inc. v. NLRC, G.R. 82088, October
13, 1989; 178 SCRA 482). The Union officers and members, as a result, are
deemed to have lost their employment status for having knowingly participated
in an illegal act.
COMMERCIAL LAW:AIR
TRANSPORTATION; LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES
Assuming arguendo that airline passengers have no vested right
to amenities in case a flight is cancelled due to force majeure, what makes
an airline liable for damages in the instant case is its blatant refusal
to accord the so-called amenities equally to all its stranded passengers
who were similarly situated.
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