CIVIL LAW:DAMAGES
UNDER ARTICLE 33 OF CIVIL CODE; ONLY PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE REQUIRED.
To hold a person liable for damages under Article 33 of the
Civil Code, only a preponderance of evidence is required. An acquittal
in a criminal case is not a bar to the filing of an action for civil damages,
for one may not be criminally liable and still be civilly liable. Thus,
the outcome or result of the criminal case, whether an acquittal or conviction,
is really inconsequential and will be of no moment in the civil action.
CRIMINAL LAW:ESTAFA;
ATTEMPTED ESTAFA.
Although one of the essential elements of estafa is damage
or prejudice to the offended party, in the absence of proof thereof the
offender would at least be guilty of attempted estafa. Appellant commenced
the commission of the crime of estafa but he failed to perform all the
acts of execution which would produce the crime, not by reason of his own
spontaneous desistance but because of his apprehension by the authorities
before he could obtain the amount. Since only the intent to cause damage
and not the damage itself has been shown, respondent court correctly convicted
appellant of attempted estafa.
REMEDIAL LAW:COUNTERBOND
OF DEFENDANT; PURPOSE.
To forestall the possession by the plaintiff of the property
our procedural law provides that the defendant must post a counterbond
and must furnish the plaintiff with the copy of the undertaking. Again,
if only for the purpose of emphasis, this is required to protect the plaintiff,
should his action be adjudged meritorious. We need not mention, that this
procedure was purposely formulated to allow the defendant to continue possessing
the property. Not to require him to post any bond would likewise, be counter
to the objectives and intent sought by the framers of the law. In short,
whoever holds the property must post the bond to stand as security to the
non-holder pending the final determination of the case.
LABOR LAW:ADJUSTMENT
OF MINIMUM WAGE; TWO METHODS.
Historically, legislation involving the adjustment of the minimum
wage made use of two methods. The first method involves the fixing of determinate
amount that would be added to the prevailing statutory minimum wage. The
other involves "the salary-ceiling-method" whereby the wage adjustment
is applied to employees receiving a certain denominated salary ceiling.
The first method was adopted in the earlier wage orders, while the latter
method was used in R.A. Nos. 6640 and 6727. Prior to this, the salary-ceiling-method
was also used in no less than eleven issuances mandating the grant of cost-of-living
allowances.
COMMERCIAL LAW:INSURANCE;
INJURED CAN SUE DIRECTLY THE INSURER.
The injured for whom the contract of insurance is intended
can sue directly the insurer. The general purpose of statutes enabling
an injured person to proceed directly against the insurer is to protect
injured persons against the insolvency of the insured who causes such injury,
and to give such injured person a certain beneficial interest in the proceeds
of the policy, and statutes are to be liberally construed so that their
intended purpose may be accomplished. It has even been held that such a
provision creates a contractual relation which inures to the benefit of
any and every person who may be negligently injured by the named insured
as if such injured person were specifically named in the policy.
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