PRELIMINARY PERIOD
OBJECTIONS (summary)
1. Irrelevant (Rule 128, Sec. 4)
− It must be relevant to the issue in fact
2. Incompetent (Rule 128, Sec. 3)
− It must not be excluded by the Constitution, laws or
ROC
3. Violation of Original Document Rule (Rule 130, Sec. 3)
− No evidence is admissible other than the original
document.
XPNs:
(a) When the original has been lost or destroyed,
or cannot be produced in court, without bad faith
on the part of the offeror;
(b) When the original is in the custody or under
the control of the party against whom the
evidence is offered, and the latter fails to produce
it after reasonable notice, or the original cannot be
obtained by local judicial processes or procedures
(c) When the original consists of numerous
accounts or other documents which cannot be
examined in court without great loss of time and
the fact sought to be established from them is only
the general result of the whole;
(d) When the original is a public record in the
custody of a public officer or is recorded in a
public office; and
(e) When the original is not closely-related to a
controlling issue.
4. Violation of Parol Evidence Rule (Rule 130, Sec. 10)
− When there is a written agreement
− Applies only to parties/successors-in-interest
− Applies to will
XPNs:
1. An intrinsic ambiguity, mistake imperfection
in the written agreement;
2. The failure of the written agreement to
express the true intent and agreement of the
parties thereto;
3. The validity of the written agreement;
4. The existence of other terms agreed to by
the parties or their successors in interest after
the execution of the written agreement.
5. Violation on Ground of Marital Disqualification Rule
(Rule 130, Sec. 23)
1. There must be a valid and existing marriage;
2. The other spouse is party to the action;
3. The civil or criminal case is not by one against the
other.
NOTE: valid and existing marriage when called
to testify
XPNs:
− civil case by one against the other, or
− criminal case for a crime committed by one
against the other or the latter's direct
descendants or ascendants.
6. Violation on the Ground of Privileged Communication
(Rule 130, Sec. 24)
− Marital privilege communication Rule
1. There must be a valid marriage between
the husband and wife
2. There is a communication received in
confidence by one from the other.
3. The confidential information was
received during marriage
− Attorney Client privilege
XPNs:
1. Furtherance of fraud/crime
2. Claimants through the same deceased
client.
3. Breach of duty by lawyer or client
4. Document attested by the lawyer
5.
Joint clients
− Doctor patient privilege
− Priest penitent privilege
− Public office privilege
7. Parental and filial privilege (sec. 25)
8. Privilege relating to trade secrets (sec. 26)
9. Violation on the ground of lack of personal
knowledge (Rule 130, Sec. 22)
10. Res Inter Alios Acta - extra-judicial admissions
XPNs:
1. Admission by a co-partner or agent
2. Admission by co-conspirator
3. Admission by privies
4. Admission by silence
11. Hearsay – out of the court statements; ORAL, WRITTEN,
NON-VERBAL STATEMENTS
XPNs:
a) Inconsistent with the declarant’s own
testimony, and was given under oath subject to the
penalty of perjury at a trial, or other proceeding, or
in a deposition;
b) Consistent with the declarant’s testimony
and is offered to rebut an express or implied
charge against the declarant of recent fabrication
or improper influence or motive; or
c) Once identification of a person made after
perceiving him or her
12. Lack of Personal Knowledge - anything that is not a
product of your own perception, and you testified on that
in order to prove the matters asserted.
Factum probandum – ultimate fact to be proven (what needs
to be proven?)
Factum probans – evidentiary facts which would establish
factum probandum (how will it be proved?)
FACTUM PROBANDUM IS THE PRODUCT OF FACTUM
PROBANS
Probans > Probandum
Proof > Evidence
Classification of Evidence:
1. Direct – proves a fact w/o inference
2. Circumstantial – thru inference
3. Cumulative – the same kind and character
4. Corroborative – supplementary; to strengthen it
5. Positive – affirm; it does exist
6. Negative – deny; it does not exist.
Elements of Circumstantial Evidence:
1. There is more than one circumstance
2. The facts from which the inference are derived are
proven
3. The combination of all the circumstances is such as
to produce conviction beyond reasonable doubt
RULE 129
Mandatory Judicial Notice: (EPFSLA | PONMG)
1. Existence and territorial extent of states
2. Their political history
3. Forms of government
4. Symbols of nationality
5. Law of nations the admiralty and maritime courts of the
world and their seals
6.Political constitution and history of the Philippines
7. Official acts of the legislative, executive and judicial
departments of the National Government of the Philippines
8. Laws of nature
9. Measure of time
10. geographical divisions
Ordinances by LGU – not included in the mandatory judicial
notice
Discretionary Judicial Notice:
1. public knowledge
2. capable of unquestionable demonstration;
3. ought to be known to judges because of their
judicial functions.
When hearing is necessary:
1. During pre-trial and trial
2. Before judgment or on appeal
Judicial Admission - an admission, oral or written, made by
the party in the course of the proceedings in the same case,
does not require proof.
− Papable mistake
− No such admission was made
Elements of Judicial Admission:
1. It must be made by a party to a case
2. It must be made in the course of the proceedings in
the same case
3. It does not require a particular form
Criminal case: reduced in writing signed by the accused and
counsel
XPN: stipulation of facts DURING trial
Civil case: no required form
Admissions:
In amended pleading: extra-judicial
In dismissed pleading: extra-judicial
Proposed state witness: inadmissible
RULE 130
1. OBJECT EVIDENCE – addressed to the senses of the
court; proof of existence; it may be exhibited, examined or
viewed by the court
1. The evidence must be relevant;
2. The evidence must be competent;
3. The evidence must be authenticated by
a witness; and
4. The object evidence must be formally offered in
evidence
Readily identifiable marks
Made identifiable
No identifying marks (general object)
Chain of Custody:
1. Seizure and marking of the confiscated drug
2. Apprehending officer to Investigation officer
3. Investigation officer to Forensic chemist
4. Forensic chemist to Court
2. DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE - consist of writings,
recordings, photographs or any material containing letters,
words, sounds, numbers, figures, symbols, or their
equivalent, or other modes of written expression offered as
proof of their contents.
Photographs include still pictures, drawings, stored images,
x-ray films, motion pictures or videos.
ORIGINAL DOCUMENT RULE – applies to documentary
evidence
Duplicate – admissible to the same extent as the original.
UNLESS:
1. Genuine question is raised as to the
authenticity of the original, or
2. In the circumstances, it is unjust or inequitable
to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original
* Xerox copy – original evidence
If you are for exclusion, question the authenticity of the
xerox copy so that the other party will produce the original.
SECONDARY EVIDENCE RULE
Hierarchy:
1. Copy
2. Recital
3. Testimony
PAROL EVIDENCE RULE - when the terms of an agreement
have been reduced to writing, it is considered as containing
all the terms agreed upon and there can be, as between the
parties and their successors in interest, no evidence of such
terms other than the contents of the written agreement.
Parol Evidence - it is any evidence aliunde (extrinsic
evidence) which is intended or tends to vary or contradict a
complete and enforceable agreement embodied in a
document. It may refer to testimonial, real or documentary
evidence.
NOTE: Parol evidence is evidence outside of the agreement
of the parties while the parol evidence rule prevents the
presentation of such parol evidence.
3. TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE - all persons who can
perceive, and perceiving, can make known their perception
to others, may be witnesses.
Child – not disqualified to testify; RECW – rules on
examination of child witness
Marital Disqualification Rule – there is valid and existing
marriage when called to testify
RES INTER ALIOS ACTA
XPNs:
1. Admission by a co-partner or agent
1. the declaration or act of the partner or agent
must have been made or done within the scope of
his authority or when the agent is authorized by the
party to make a statement concerning the subject;
2. The declaration or act must have been done
during the existence of the partnership for agency;
3. The existence of partnership or agency is proven
by evidence other than the declaration or act of the
partner or agent.
2. Admission by co-conspirator
1. The declaration or act be made or during the
existence of the conspiracy.
2. The declaration or act must really to or in
furtherance of the conspiracy.
3. The conspiracy must be shown by evidence other
than such declaration.
3. Admission by privies
1. There must be an act, declaration or omission by
a predecessor-in-interest;
2. The act, declaration, or omission of the
predecessor-in-interest must have occurred while
he was holding the title to the property;
3. The act, declaration, or omission must be in
relation to the property.
4. Admission by silence
1. He must have heard or observed the act or
declaration of the other person;
2. He must have had the opportunity to deny it;
3. He must have understood the statement;
4. He must have and interest to object as he would
naturally have done if the statement was not true;
5. The facts are within his knowledge;
6. The fact admitted or the interference to be drawn
from his silence is material to the issue.
HEARSAY
Hearsay is a statement other than one made by the
declarant while testifying at a trial or hearing, offered to
prove the truth of the facts asserted therein.
1. A statement is
(1) an oral or written assertion or
(2) a non-verbal conduct of a person, if it is intended
by him or her as an assertion.
2. Hearsay evidence is inadmissible except as otherwise
provided in these Rules.
* Hearsay is an out of the court statement of the WITNESS
testifying in court.
FINALS PERIOD
HEARSAY
Elements of hearsay:
1. There must be an out of court statement which was not
made by the declarant in the hearing or trial
2. The statement is offered by the witness-declarant in court
to prove the truth of the matters asserted by the statement
Therefore: All statements of an ‘in trial’ witness is hearsay
if it is offered to prove the substance of such testimony or to
prove the matters asserted by that statement.
LACK OF PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE – (sec. 22) A witness
can testify only to those facts which he or she knows of
his or her personal knowledge that is which are derived
from his or her own perception. Oral statement; written
statement; Non-verbal act.
HEARSAY
Any
out
of
court
statement of a declarant
while testifying in court,
intending to prove the
truth of the matters
asserted therein.
LACK OF PERSONAL
KNOWLEDGE
Anything that is not a
product of your own
perception, and you
testified on that in order to
prove
the
matters
asserted.
EXCEPTIONS TO HEARSAY
1. Dying declaration (Sec. 38, Rule 130)
2. Statement of decedents or persons of unsound mind
(Section 39, Rule 130)
3. Declaration against interest (Sec. 40, Rule 130)
4. Act or declaration about pedigree (Sec. 41, Rule 130)
5. Family reputation or tradition regarding pedigree (Sec.
42, Rule 130)
6. Common reputation (Sec. 43, Rule 130)
7. Part of res gestae (Sec. 44, Rule 130)
8. Record of regularly conducted business activity (Sec. 45,
Rule 130)
9. Entries in the official records (Sec. 46, Rule 130)
10. Commercial Lists and the like (Sec. 47, Rule 130)
11. Learned treatise (Sec. 48, Rule 130)
12. Testimony or deposition at the former proceeding (Sec.
49, Rule 130)
13. Residual exception (Sec. 50, Rule 130)
1. DYING DECLRATION
1. The declaration concerns the cause and the
surrounding circumstances of the declarant’s
impending death.
2. It is made when the death appears to be imminent and
the declarant is under a consciousness of an impending
death.
3. The declarant would have competent to testify had he
or she survived.
4. The dying declaration is offered in case in which the
subject of inquiry involves the declarant death.
2. STATEMENT OF DECEDENTS OR PERSONS OF
UNSOUND MIND
NOTE: The Dead Man’s Statute is already dead. Under the
new rule, those persons who are disqualified to testify
under the old rule are now allowed to testify. (testifying
by death, insanity or other mental disabilities)
Conditions for admissibility:
1. The statement was made upon the personal
knowledge of the deceased;
2. The person of unsound mind at a time when the
matter had been recently perceived by him or her
and while his or her recollection was clear.
3. DECLARATION AGAINST INTEREST
- Declaration against interest is only considered as an
exception to the hearsay rule if it is against the
declarant. But if it is in favor of the declarant, then it is
not an exception to the hearsay rule. In fact, it is
inadmissible for being self-serving.
- A statement tending to expose the declarant to criminal
liability and offered to exculpate the accused is not
admissible unless corroborating circumstances clearly
indicate the trustworthiness of the statement.
4. ACT OR DECLARATION ABOUT PEDIGREE
3 important persons:
1. The one who died and unable testify;
2. The one who is related to the person who died whose
pedigree is in question; and
3. The one who will testify on the declaration or act of the
person who died in relation to the pedigree of the person
whose pedigree is in question.
Requisites:
1. The declarant is dead or unable to testify;
2. The declarant is related by birth, adoption, or
marriage;
3. To the person whose pedigree is in issue; absence
thereof, with whose family he or she was so intimately
associated as to be likely to have accurate information
concerning his or her pedigree;
4. The declaration was made before the controversy;
5. FAMILY REPUTATION OR TRADITION REGARDING
PEDIGREE
1. There is controversy in respect to the pedigree of any
members of the family;
2. The reputation or traditions of the pedigree of the
person concerned existed previous to the controversy.
3.The witness testifying to the refutation or tradition
regarding the pedigree of the person is a member of the
family of said person, either by consanguinity of affinity.
6. COMMON REPUTATION
- To prove the boundaries of or customs affecting lands
in the community and reputation as to events in relation
to general history important to the community or
respecting marriages or moral character.
7. PART OF RES GESTAE
a.) Spontaneous statement
1. There is a startling occurrence.
2. A statement was made while the event is taking
place, or immediately prior or subsequent thereto.
3.. The statement was made before the declarant had
time to contrive or devise falsehood.
4. The statement relates to the circumstances of the
startling event or occurrence.
b.) Verbal Acts
1. The principal act to be categorized must be
equivocal
2. The equivocal act must be material to the issue
3. The statement must accompany the equivocal act
4. The statement gives a legal significance to
equivocal act
8. RECORD OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED BUSINESS
ACTIVITY
- The best witness to testify on the content of the record
is the one who made the record but when the one who
made the record is unable to testify, then one who will
testify in lieu of the one who made the entry into the
record is a person who has a knowledge of the record.
9. ENTRIES IN THE OFFICIAL RECORDS
- The other public officers (custodian of the public
record) is going to testify but not the one who made the
entry because he has personal knowledge of what he is
going to testify to (not an exception in this case).
10. COMMERCIAL LISTS AND THE LIKE
11. LEARNED TREATISE
1. It should have a judicial notice from the court.
2. The expert witness testifies that the author of such
writing is an expert.
12. TESTIMONY OR DEPOSITION AT THE FORMER
PROCEEDING
1. The witness is dead or out of the Philippines or who
cannot, with due diligence, be found therein, or is
unavailable or otherwise unable to testify;
2. His testimony or deposition was given in a former case or
proceeding, judicial or administrative, between the same
parties or those representing the same parties
3. The former case involved the same subject as that in the
present case, although on different cause of action
4. The issue testified to by the witness in the former trial is
the same issue involved in the present case
5. The adverse party had the opportunity to cross-examine
the witness in the former case (Manliclic vs. Calaunan, 512
SCRA 642).
Evidence of the moral character of a party in a civil case is
admissible only when pertinent to the issue of character
involved in the case.
13. RESIDUAL EXCEPTION
- If a particular exception does not fall under a recognized
exception to the hearsay rule, you can have it admitted
through residual exception as exception to the hearsay rule.
In cases in which character or a trait of character of a person
is an essential element of a charge, claim or defense, proof
may also be made of specific instances of that person's
conduct.
(c) In Criminal and Civil Cases:
Evidence of the good character of a witness is not admissible
until such character has been impeached.
In all cases in which evidence of character or a trait of
character of a person is admissible, proof may be made by
testimony as to reputation or by testimony in the form of an
opinion. On cross-examination, inquiry is allowable into
relevant specific instances of conduct.
a.) Substantive Requirement:
1. Equivalent circumstantial guarantees of
trustworthiness.
2. The statement is offered as evidence of a
material fact.
3. The statement is more probative on the point
for which it is offered than any other evidence
which the proponent can procure through
reasonable efforts.
4. The general purposes of these rules and the
interests of justice will be best served by
admission of the statement into evidence.
RULE 131
b.) Procedural Requirement:
- it must advise the opposing party sufficiently in
advance of the trial or hearing about the statement
and the name and address of the declarant.
Burden of proof in CIVIL CASE – plaintiff or defendant
Burden of proof in CRIMINAL CASE – prosecution (acussed
enjoys the presumption of innocence.
Burden of proof - the duty of a party to present evidence on
the facts in issue necessary to establish his or her claim or
defense by the amount of evidence required by law. Burden
of proof never ships.
Burden of evidence - the duty of a party to present evidence
sufficient to establish or rebut a fact in issue to establish a
prima facie case. Burden of evidence may ship from one
party to the other in the course of the proceedings,
depending on the exigencies of the case.
PRESUMPTIONS
OPINION RULE
GR: the opinion of a witness is not admissible.
XPNs:
a.) Opinion of Expert Witness – opinion of a witness on a
matter requiring special knowledge, skill, experience,
training or education.
b.) Opinion of Ordinary Witness – (a) The identity of a
person about whom he or she has adequate knowledge; (b)
A handwriting with which he or she has sufficient
familiarity; and (c) The mental sanity of a person with whom
he or she is sufficiently acquainted.
- The court is not bound to accept the testimony of an expert
witness.
- The testimony has persuasive effect but the court is not
automatically bound to accept.
Parameters that may be used by the court in giving
weight to the testimony:
1. Whether the opinion is based upon sufficient facts or
data;
2. Whether it is the product of reliable principles and
methods;
3. Whether the witness has applied the principles and
methods reliably to the facts of the case; and
4. Such other factors as the court may deem helpful to
make such determination. (Rule 133, Section 5)
CHARACTER EVIDENCE
GR: inadmissible
XPNs:
a.) In Criminal Cases:
(1) The character of the offended party may be proved if it
tends to establish in any reasonable degree the probability
or improbability of the offense charged.
(2) The accused may prove his or her good moral character,
pertinent to the moral trait involved in the offense charged.
However, the prosecution may not prove his or her bad
moral character unless on rebuttal.
(b) In Civil Cases:
1. CONCLUSIVE:
(a) Whenever a party has, by his or her own declaration, act,
or omission, intentionally and deliberately led another to
believe a particular thing true, and to act upon such belief, he
or she cannot, in any litigation arising out of such declaration,
act or omission, be permitted to falsify it; and
(b) The tenant is not permitted to deny the title of his or her
landlord at the time of the commencement of the relation of
landlord and tenant between them.
2. DISPUTABLE - evidence may be presented against it.
(a) That a person is innocent of crime or wrong;
(b) That an unlawful act was done with an unlawful intent;
(c) That a person intends the ordinary consequences of his
or her voluntary act;
(d) That a person takes ordinary care of his or her concerns;
(e) That evidence willfully suppressed would be adverse if
produced;
(f) That money paid by one to another was due to the latter;
(g) That a thing delivered by one to another belonged to the
latter;
(h) That an obligation delivered up to the debtor has been
paid;
(i) That prior rents or installments had been paid when a
receipt for the later one is produced;
(j) That a person found in possession of a thing taken in the
doing of a recent wrongful act is the taker and the doer of the
whole act; otherwise, that things which a person possesses,
or exercises acts of ownership over, are owned by him or her;
(k) That a person in possession of an order on himself or
herself for the payment of the money, or the delivery of
anything, has paid the money or delivered the thing
accordingly;
(l) That a person acting in a public office was regularly
appointed or elected to it;
(m) That official duty has been regularly performed;
(n) That a court, or judge acting as such, whether in the
Philippines or elsewhere, was acting in the lawful exercise of
jurisdiction;
(o) That all the matters within an issue raised in a case were
laid before the court and passed upon by it; and in like
manner that all matters within an issue raised in a dispute
submitted for arbitration were laid before the arbitrators
and passed upon by them;
(p) That private transactions have been fair and regular;
(q) That the ordinary course of business has been followed;
(r) That there was a sufficient consideration for a contract;
(s) That a negotiable instrument was given or indorsed for a
sufficient consideration;
(t) That an indorsement of a negotiable instrument was
made before the instrument was overdue and at the place
where the instrument is dated;
(u) That a writing is truly dated;
(v) That a letter duly directed and mailed was received in
the regular course of the mail;
(w) That after an absence of seven years, it being unknown
whether or not the absentee still lives, he or she is
considered dead for all purposes, except for those of
succession.
The absentee shall not be considered dead for the purpose
of opening his or her succession until after an absence of ten
years. If he or she disappeared after the age of seventyfive
years, an absence of five years shall be sufficient in order
that his or her succession may be opened.
The following shall be considered dead for all purposes
including the division of the estate among the heirs:
(1) A person on board a vessel lost during a sea voyage, or
an aircraft which is missing, who has not been heard of for
four years since the loss of the vessel or aircraft;
(2) A member of the armed forces who has taken part in
armed hostilities, and has been missing for four years;
(3) A person who has been in danger of death under other
circumstances and whose existence has not been known for
four years; and
(4) If a married person has been absent for four consecutive
years, the spouse present may contract a subsequent
marriage if he or she has a well-founded belief that the
absent spouse is already dead. In case of disappearance,
where there is a danger of death, the circumstances
hereinabove provided, an absence of only two years shall be
sufficient for the purpose of contracting a subsequent
marriage. However, in any case, before marrying again, the
spouse present must institute summary proceedings as
provided in the Family Code and in the rules for declaration
of presumptive death of the absentee, without prejudice to
the effect of reappearance of the absent spouse.
(x) That acquiescence resulted from a belief that the thing
acquiesced in was conformable to the law or fact;
(y) That things have happened according to the ordinary
course of nature and ordinary nature habits of life;
(z) That persons acting as copartners have entered into a
contract of co-partnership;
(aa) That a man and woman deporting themselves as
husband and wife have entered into a lawful contract of
marriage;
(bb) That property acquired by a man and a woman who are
capacitated to marry each other and who live exclusively
with each other as husband and wife, without the benefit of
marriage or under a void marriage, has been obtained by
their joint efforts, work or industry;
(cc) That in cases of cohabitation by a man and a woman
who are not capacitated to marry each other and who have
acquired property through their actual joint contribution of
money, property or industry, such contributions and their
corresponding shares, including joint deposits of money and
evidences of credit, are equal;
(dd) That if the marriage is terminated and the mother
contracted another marriage within three hundred days
after such termination of the former marriage, these rules
shall govern in the absence of proof to the contrary:
(1) A child born before one hundred eighty (180) days after
the solemnization of the subsequent marriage is considered
to have been conceived during such marriage, even though
it be born within the three hundred days after the
termination of the former marriage; and
(2) A child born after one hundred eighty (180) days
following the celebration of the subsequent marriage is
considered to have been conceived during such marriage,
even though it be born within the three hundred days after
the termination of the former marriage.
(ee) That a thing once proved to exist continues as long as is
usual with things of that nature;
(ff) That the law has been obeyed;
(gg) That a printed or published book, purporting to be
printed or published by public authority, was so printed or
published;
(hh) That a printed or published book, purporting to contain
reports of cases adjudged in tribunals of the country where
the book is published, contains correct reports of such cases;
(ii) That a trustee or other person whose duty it was to
convey real property to a particular person has actually
conveyed it to him or her when such presumption is
necessary to perfect the title of such person or his or her
successor in interest;
(jj) That except for purposes of succession, when two
persons perish in the same calamity, such as wreck, battle, or
conflagration, and it is not shown who died first, and there
are no particular circumstances from which it can be
inferred, the survivorship is determined from the
probabilities resulting from the strength and the age of the
sexes, according to the following rules:
1. If both were under the age of fifteen years, the older is
deemed to have survived;
2. If both were above the age of sixty, the younger is deemed
to have survived;
3. If one is under fifteen and the other above sixty, the former
is deemed to have survived;
4. If both be over fifteen and under sixty, and the sex be
different, the male is deemed to have survived, if the sex be
the same, the older; and
5. If one be under fifteen or over sixty, and the other between
those ages, the latter is deemed to have survived.
(kk) That if there is a doubt, as between two or more persons
who are called to succeed each other, as to which of them
died first, whoever alleges the death of one prior to the other,
shall prove the same; in the absence of proof, they shall be
considered to have died at the same time.
If there are two presumptions – presumption that is
founded upon weighter considerations of policy shall apply.
If equal weight – NEITHER presumption applies.
RULE 132
PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE
- Open Court
- Made under oath or affirmation
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF A WITNESS
A witness must answer questions, although his or her answer
may tend to establish a claim against him or her.
However, it is the right of a witness:
(1) To be protected from irrelevant, improper, or insulting
questions, and from harsh or insulting demeanor;
(2) Not to be detained longer than the interests of justice
require;
(3) Not to be examined except only as to matters pertinent to
the issue;
(4) Not to give an answer which will tend to subject him or
her to a penalty for an offense unless otherwise provided by
law; or
(5) Not to give an answer which will tend to degrade his or
her reputation, unless it be to the very fact at issue or to a fact
from which the fact in issue would be presumed. But a
witness must answer to the fact of his or her previous final
conviction for an offense.
ORDER OF EXAMINATION OF A WITNESS:
(a) Direct examination by the proponent – party who
presented the witness
(b) Cross-examination by the opponent – the witness may
be cross-examined by the adverse party on any relevant
matter.
(c) Re-direct examination by the proponent – the one who
conducts the direct examination; calling him or her to explain
or supplement his or her answers during cross-examination
(d) Re-cross - examination by the opponent
opposite party who did the cross-examination.
- the
WHEN TO MAKE OFFER
All evidence must be offered ORALLY.
* Recalling witness is ONLY DISCRETIONARY on the part of
the Court.
LEADING AND MISLEADING QUESTIONS:
Leading - A question which suggests to the witness the
answer which the examining party desires.
GR: Not allowed
XPNs:
(a) On cross-examination;
(b) On preliminary matters;
(c) When there is difficulty in getting direct and intelligible
answers from a witness who is ignorant, a child of tender
years, is of feeble mind, or a deaf-mute;
(d) Of an unwilling or hostile witness; or
(e) Of a witness who is an adverse party or an officer,
director, or managing agent of a public or private
corporation[,] or of a partnership or association which is an
adverse party.
Misleading - one which assumes as true a fact not yet
testified to by the witness, or contrary to that which he or
she has previously stated. It is not allowed.
IMPEACHMENT OF ADVERSE PARTY’S WITNESS
- By contradictory evidence
- By evidence that his general reputation for truth,
honesty or integrity is bad.
- By evidence that he has made at other times
statements inconsistent with his present testimony.
WITNESS MAY REFER TO A MEMORANDUM
The memorandum which the witness will refer to must be
his own memorandum or if others must be under your
direction. Referral to a memorandum must be limited to a
situation to refresh ones memories.
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS
(a) The written official acts, or records of the official acts of
the sovereign authority official bodies and tribunals, and
public officers, whether of the Philippines, or of a foreign
country;
(b) Documents acknowledge before a notary public except
last wills and testaments;
(c) Documents that are considered public documents under
treaties and conventions which are in force between the
Philippines and the country of source; and
(d) Public records, kept in the Philippines, of private
documents required by law to the entered therein.
* Apostille Convention- before the convention, you have to
double authenticate documents that are considered public
documents under treaties and conventions. If a document is
from another country and apostillized, the due execution
and authenticity is presumed.
PRIVATE DOCUMENT
Before any private document offered as authentic is
received in evidence, its due execution and authenticity
must be proved either:
(a) By anyone who saw the document executed or written;
or
(b) By evidence of the genuineness of the signature or
handwriting of the maker. Any other private document need
only be identified as that which it is claimed to be. (Sec. 20,
Rule 132)
* Ancient private document - if the private document is
more than thirty years old (ancient document), is produced
from the custody in which it would naturally be found if
genuine, and is unblemished by any alterations or
circumstances of suspicion, no other evidence of its
authenticity need be given.
Public document – authentication is not anymore required
if the document is being offered as evidence
Private document – you have to authenticate it.
The offer of the testimony of a witness in evidence must be
MADE AT THE TIME THE WITNESS IS CALLED TO
TESTIFY.
The offer of documentary and object evidence shall be MADE
AFTER THE PRESENTATION OF A PARTY’S TESTIMONIAL
EVIDENCE.
GR: The court shall consider no evidence which has not
been formally offered. The purpose for which the evidence
is offered must be specified.
XPN: Tender of excluded evidence - If documents or things
offered in evidence are excluded by the court, the offeror
may have the same attached to or made part of the
record. If the evidence excluded is oral, the offeror may
state for the record the name and other personal
circumstances of the witness and the substance of the
proposed testimony.