No Registration, No Travel Policy (LTO Memorandum Circular AVT-2015-1927; full text)

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[Reproduced below is the full text of LTO Memorandum Circular AVT-2015-1927 (No Registration, No Travel Policy). Incidentally, in an Advisory published in newspapers, the LTO announced that: “In line with the implementation of NO REGISTRATION-NO TRAVEL policy, starting April 1, 2015, please be advised that only LTO Law Enforcers and LTO Deputized Agents in complete uniform with valid ID and carrying LTO issued Temporary Operators Permit (TOP) are authorized to stop vehicles and apprehend those in violation of the same.”] Continue reading →

Premature Marriage No Longer a Crime

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The death of either spouse dissolves the marital bond (same effect with annulment or declaration of nullity). This simply means that, subject to compliance with certain requirements, the husband or the wife is free to marry again. There is no legal obstacle for remarriage (and we’ve heard of a plot or two involving a spouse who wants to kill the other spouse so he/she can marry another person). Men may remarry right away. Women, on the other hand, must wait for 301 days or, if pregnant at the time of the husband’s death, must wait until childbirth, before they can remarry. Continue reading →

2014 Bar Exam Results: Top 10 and Full List

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Congratulations! The Supreme Court released the results of the 2014 bar examaminations on Thursday, 26 March 2015. Out of the 5,984 law school graduates that took the 2014 bar exam, only 1,126 passed (18.82% passing rate). The Top 10 bar passers and the full list of successful bar examinees are reproduced below: Continue reading →

What You Need to Know Under the “Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013” (Republic Act 10586): A Primer

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The first arrest under Republic Act No. 10586 (also known as the “Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013? and its Implementing Rules and Regulations was made in March 2015. Whether one subscribes to the policy behind the new law or one would simply avoid the penalty of imprisonment that comes with violations of this law, it is always helpful to be familiar with its basic provisions. After all, ignorance of the law excuses no one. Continue reading →

Implementation of Higher Cap (P82,000) for Tax-Exempt Bonuses and Other Benefits

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There is a new cap for the exemption of bonuses and other benefits, from the former amount of P30,000. Under Republic Act (RA) No.10653, signed into law in 2015, gross benefits received by officials and employees of public and private entities up to a maximum amount of Eighty Two Thousand Pesos (P82,000) are excluded from the computation of the gross income of the recipients of such benefits, and thus, such amounts are exempt from income tax. To implement RA 10653, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Regulations (RR) 3-2015. Here’s a briefer of RR 3-2015. Continue reading →

P15 Minimum Wage Hike for NCR (Wage Order No. NCR-19, full text)

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A 15-peso increase minimum wage was approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) and announced by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz. “The new minimum wage in the National Capital Region has been raised to P481 for workers in the non-agriculture sector and P444 for workers in the agricultural sector. The minimum wage hike is expected to be affirmed by the NWPC this week, and the RTWPB will publish it, after which it will take effect 15 days after its publication,” DOLE-NCR Regional Director Alex Avila said in a report. This issuance is Wage Order No. NCR-19, reproduced in full below (see also Primer on Wage Order NCR-19). Continue reading →

Increase of Tax Exclusion to P82,000 for 13th Month Pay and Other Benefits (BIR Revenue Regulations No. 3-2015; Full Text)

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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVUENUE
Quezon City

March 9, 2015

REVENUE REGULATIONS NO. 3-2015

SUBJECT: Implementing the Provisions of Republic Act No. 10653, More Particularly on the Increase of the Total Amount of Exclusion to P82,000.oo for 13th Month Pay and Other Benefits from Gross Income Effectively Further Amending the Pertinent Provisions of Revenue Regulations No. 2-98 Continue reading →

The “Relaxation” of Rules in Declaration of Nullity of Marriage Based on Psychological Incapacity

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“SC relaxes rules on psychological incapacity as ground to annul marriages,” says the news title in a popular newspaper. While the news article does not mention the title of the case, it’s clearly abundant that it refers to the 2015 case of Valerio E. Kalaw vs. Ma. Elena Fernandez (G.R. No. 166357, 14 January 2015). Did the Supreme Court, in the case of Kalaw, “relax” the rules on petitions for declaration of nullity of marriage based on psychological incapacity? Let’s discuss this question and, at the same time, highlight ten matters that may be of interest to those seeking answers.   Continue reading →