Saturday, March 17, 2012

Unlawful Detainer

In Cabrera v. Getaruela, the Court held that a complaint sufficiently alleges a cause of action for unlawful detainer if it recites the following:

(1) initially, possession of property by the defendant was by contract with or by tolerance of the plaintiff;

(2) eventually, such possession became illegal upon notice by plaintiff to defendant of the termination of the latter’s right of possession;

(3) thereafter, the defendant remained in possession of the property and deprived the plaintiff of the enjoyment thereof; and

(4) within one year from the last demand on defendant to vacate the property, the plaintiff instituted the complaint for ejectment (Ruben C. Copuz, rep. by Atty.-in-fact Wenifreda C. Agullana Vs. Sps. Hilarion Agustin and Justa Agustin, G.R. No. 183822. January 18, 2012).

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Serious Misconduct

For serious misconduct to justify dismissal, the following requisites must be present: (a) it must be serious; (b) it must relate to the performance of the employee's duties; and (c) it must show that the employee has become unfit to continue working for the employer.

Installation of shunting wires is without doubt a serious wrong as it demonstrates an act that is willful or deliberate, pursued solely to wrongfully obtain electric power through unlawful means. The act clearly relates to the petitioner's performance of his duties given his position as branch field representative who is equipped with knowledge on meter operations, and who has the duty to test electric meters and handle customers' violations of contract. Instead of protecting the company’s interest, the petitioner himself used his knowledge to illegally obtain electric power from Meralco. His involvement in this incident deems him no longer fit to continue performing his functions for respondent-company (Norman Yabut Vs. Manila Electric Company and Manuel M. Lopez, G.R. No. 190436. January 16, 2011).

Agency

The essential elements of agency are: (1) there is consent, express or implied of the parties to establish the relationship; (2) the object is the execution of a juridical act in relation to a third person; (3) the agent acts as a representative and not for himself, and (4) the agent acts within the scope of his authority.

Contrary to the findings of the CA, all the elements of an agency exist in this case. The first and second elements are present as CAI does not deny that it concluded an agreement with Holiday Travel, whereby Holiday Travel would enter into contracts of carriage with third persons on CAI’s behalf. The third element is also present as it is undisputed that Holiday Travel merely acted in a representative capacity and it is CAI and not Holiday Travel who is bound by the contracts of carriage entered into by Holiday Travel on its behalf. The fourth element is also present considering that CAI has not made any allegation that Holiday Travel exceeded the authority that was granted to it (Sps. Fernando and Lourdes Viloria Vs. Continental Airlines, Inc., G.R. No. 188288. January 16, 2011).

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Agricultural Leasehold

An agricultural leasehold relationship is said to exist upon the concurrence of the following essential requisites: (1) the parties are the landowner and the tenant or agricultural lessee; (2) the subject matter of the relationship is agricultural land; (3) there is consent between the parties to the relationship; (4) the purpose of the relationship is to bring about agricultural production; (5) there is personal cultivation on the part of the tenant or agricultural lessee; and (6) the harvest is shared between the landowner and the tenant or agricultural lessee (Rene Antonio Vs. Gregorio Manahan, G.R. No. 176091. August 24, 2011).

Friday, December 2, 2011

Retaining Lien

An attorney's retaining lien is fully recognized if the presence of the following elements concur: (1) lawyer-client relationship; (2) lawful possession of the client's funds, documents and papers; and (3) unsatisfied claim for attorney's fees (Valentin C. Miranda Vs. Atty. Macario D. Carpio, A.C. No. 6281. September 21, 2011).

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Carnapping

The elements of carnapping as defined and penalized under the Anti-Carnapping Act of 1972 are the following:

1. That there is an actual taking of the vehicle;

2. That the vehicle belongs to a person other than the offender himself;

3. That the taking is without the consent of the owner thereof; or that the taking was committed by means of violence against or intimidation of persons, or by using force upon things; and

4. That the offender intends to gain from the taking of the vehicle (People of the Philippines Vs. Renato Lagat y Gawan, a.k.a. Renat Gawan and James Palalay y Villarosa, G.R. No. 187044. September 14, 2011).

Accretion

We have held that for Article 457 to apply the following requisites must concur: (1) that the deposit be gradual and imperceptible; (2) that it be made through the effects of the current of the water; and (3) that the land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the banks of rivers (Jose Fernando, Jr. et al. Vs. Leon Acuña, et al., G.R. No. 161030. September 14, 2011).