The Lazy Lawyer

  FACTS: On 13 January 2012, herein petitioner Richard Chua tiled before the Office of the City Prosecutor (OCP) of Manila, a complaint charging one Letty Sy Gan of forty (40) counts of violation of Batas Pambansa Bilang (BP Blg.) 22 or the Bouncing Checks Law.  After conducting preliminary investigation, the OCP found probable cause and, on 22 March 2012, filed forty (40) counts of violation of BP Blg. 22 before the MeTC. Consequently, the MeTC informed petitioner that he has to pay a totalof ₱540,668.00 as filing fees for all the forty (40) counts of violation of BP Blg. 22.  Finding the said amount to be beyond his means, petitioner consulted with the MeTC clerk of court to ask whether he could pay filing fees on a per case basis instead of being required to pay the total filing fees for all the BP Blg. 22 cases all at once.  The MeTC clerk of court opined that petitioner could not.  Petitioner was thus unable to pay any filing fees. On 18 April 2012, pe...

 Lagman v. Medialdea (2019) FACTS: These are consolidated petitions filed under Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution, assailing the constitutionality of the third extension from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019, of the declaration of martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of  habeas corpus  in the entire Mindanao. Before the expiration of the second extension of Proclamation No. 216 or on December 4, 2018, Secretary Lorenzana in a letter  to the President, recommended the third extension of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of  habeas corpus  in the entire Mindanao for one year from January 1, 2019 up to December 31, 2019.  Secretary Lorenzana wrote the recommendation to the President primarily to put an end to the continuing rebellion in Mindanao waged by the DAESH-inspired groups and its local and foreign allies, particularly the Daulah Islamiyah (DI), and the threat posed by the Co...