Amicus Curiae

Under the current framework of criminal cases in the Philippines, generally, a complaint must first be filed with the Office of the City Prosecutor if the penalty for the crime, as prescribed by law, is at least four years, two months, and one day, without regard to the fine.

To further strengthen the consumer protection framework, the financial regulators under Republic Act No. 11765 or the “Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act” (FPCA) took turns releasing the rules to effectively carry out the provisions of the law.

In August 2022, I wrote an article on probationary employment. The discussions centered mainly on the issues arising from the essential requirements under Article 296 of the Labor Code, i.e., that the employee must be apprised of the regularization standards at the time of his/her engagement, and that the probationary period must not exceed six months.

With fast-paced digitalization, electronic money (“e-money”) has rapidly become a regular part of the public’s daily transactions, particularly in the urban and urbanized areas. Since its introduction, e-money has much evolved, with various industry participants introducing differing consumer e-money products and platforms.

Last March 6, 2023, the House of Representatives passed a Resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention with a supermajority of 301 Representatives. Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez announced that those who supported the Resolution are “in a rush to amend the restrictive economic provisions” of the Constitution, referring to the limitations imposed on foreign direct investments.

The COVID-19 pandemic impelled local companies, such as those in the Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector, to transition from onsite work to work-from-home (WFH) arrangements.

On December 22, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in the case of Christian Louboutin vs. Amazon. Mr. Louboutin is a designer of luxury goods known for his trademark over the color red (Pantone 18-1663TP) applied to the sole of high-heeled shoes, which has been registered since 2005 under the Benelux Convention and in the European Union (EU) since May 10, 2016.

Just before the close of 2022, the Monetary Board approved the amendments to the provisions of the Manual of Regulations for Banks (“MORB”) on credit exposure limits to a single borrower as well as the definition of capital for purposes of determining compliance with prudential limits and requirements.

Libel is one of the most the controversial crimes currently present in Philippine law. Countless debates have raged on between its proponents and detractors, with both sides equally relentless about their respective positions. However, just like anything else in the world, the wisdom behind the continuing criminalization of libel is a complicated one. Both sides of the divide possess convincing and sober points that deserve consideration.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), pursuant to the rulemaking authority vested in it by the recently enacted Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (Republic Act No. 11765), issued Circular No. 1160 Series of 2022 amending the financial consumer protection regulations contained in the Manual of Regulations for Banks (MORB) and Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions (MORNBFI).