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‼️NOTICE‼️
Please be informed that our office will be closed on Thursday, 22 January 2026, as our lawyers will be attending a case conference at VP Law – Capiz.

Regular office operations will resume on Friday, 23 January 2026.

Thank you.

In a 13-page decision, the Supreme Court enumerated two (2) considerations in order for a conviction of murder to be upheld: first, the identification of the accused as perpetrator of the crime, and second, all the elements constituting the crime were duly proven by the prosecution to be present.

The court also mentioned the totality of circumstances test to consider the following factors:
(1) the witness' opportunity to view the criminal at the time of the crime; (2) the witness' degree of attention at that time; (3) the accuracy of any prior description given by the witness; ( 4) the level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the identification; (5) the length of time between the crime and the identification;
and (6) the suggestiveness of the identification procedure.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE:

(LEGAL ETHICS) JUSTICE SAMUEL H. GAERLAN PENNED CASE: Mendoza v. Atty. Santiago, Jr., A.C. No. 13548 (2023) [Per J. Gaerlan, Third Division]

Notarization is not an empty, meaningless routinary act. It is invested with substantive public interest. The notarization by a notary public converts a private document into a public document, making it admissible in evidence without further proof of its authenticity. A notarial document is, by law, entitled to full faith and credit upon its face. A notary public must observe with utmost care the basic requirements in the performance of their duties; otherwise, the public's confidence in the integrity of the document would be undermined.