Couples exempt from securing a marriage license
Dear PAO, My boyfriend and I are planning to get married this year, and we have been in a relationship for more than 10 years. During weekends and holidays, I stay at my boyfriend’s condominium. Are we still required to secure a marriage license, or are we exempt from such requirement according to our law? […]
Transportation assistance in case of death of loved ones
Dear PAO, I am a minimum wage earner here in Metro Manila. Just last week, my relatives from the province called to inform me that my brother had passed away. He died single and without any children. I really want to go home to arrange all the funeral and burial matters; however, I do not […]
Assailing the void disposition of the absolute community of property by one spouse is imprescriptible
Dear PAO, Marina was married to Dindo, and she sold to me a parcel of land without the consent of her husband. The deed of sale was registered in 2001, and a corresponding title was issued in my name. Last year, Dindo filed a complaint against me before the barangay, claiming that the sale was […]
Illegal insurance deductions to OFWs
Dear PAO, I am an OFW based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Lately, I have noticed some deductions in my pay slips related to insurance. I asked a clarification from my recruitment agency in the Philippines, and they informed me that these were for the compulsory worker’s insurance coverage that I am required by […]
Physician may not be named as heir in a last will and testament
Dear PAO, I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.My oncologist, Dr. Van, has been treating me for the past eight months.However, when I woke up the other day, I felt like my body was giving up.Since I don’t have a spouse or child, and my parents are already dead, I want to make a […]
Donation to an unborn child
Dear PAO, I have no husband and without any child. I treated Lando, my nephew, as if he were my own son. Currently, the wife of my nephew is six weeks pregnant. I plan to donate my land in Bicol to the unborn child of Lando and his wife. I just want to know if […]
Termination of subsequent marriage by reappearance of absent spouse
Dear PAO, I was married in 1998, and after my first husband, Jeff, was declared presumptively dead in 2015, I foolishly married Jon, his favorite cousin. To my shock, Jeff contacted me last month via Facebook. While I once loved him deeply, my heart now belongs to Jon, so I blocked him. My nephew, a […]
Interpretation in favor of smaller transmission of rights
Dear PAO, My parents were in a quandary because they thought that the document entitled “Bilihan ng Lupa” which they signed with Tino was a sale. However, the latter insists that it is an equitable mortgage. According to my parents, the document is a sale with a right to repurchase for three years, while Tino […]
Sale of mortgaged property to creditor per se is not prohibited
Dear PAO, Henry obtained a loan from me and furnished his house and lot as security for his debt. We also agreed that if he cannot pay his debt, we will execute a deed of absolute sale where he will sell his property to me, with his outstanding debt and interest forming part of the […]
Law enforcers can’t act solely on confidential, tipped information
Dear PAO,I have a question regarding the actions of the law enforcers toward me while I was riding a bus to Biñan, Laguna. They asked if I could open my bag for inspection. I hesitated because I was just traveling from work to home at the time. I am confused as to why they wanted […]