2026

In this case, incriminating iPhone message backups were discovered in a government-issued laptop previously assigned to a judge and later returned to the Supreme Court for repair. Subsequent forensic examination and judicial audits uncovered evidence of bribery, improper dealings with lawyers and litigants, and negligence in handling court exhibits. The Supreme Court ruled that judges and government employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy over files stored in government-issued devices, especially where official policies allow monitoring and audits. The Court further held that the exclusionary rule and the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine do not apply in administrative proceedings involving evidence obtained from government property.

In this case, TOPROS alleged that its president and director, together with several individuals, formed competing corporations and diverted corporate assets, resources, clients, and business opportunities for their own benefit. Upon review, the Supreme Court held that a corporate officer or director may be held liable for violating fiduciary duties when he appropriates a business opportunity that rightfully belongs to the corporation. The Court reiterated that liability may arise when the corporation is financially capable of pursuing the opportunity, the opportunity falls within its line of business, the corporation has an interest or expectancy in it, and the officer’s actions place him in conflict with his duties to the corporation.

In this case, a laborer-carpenter was repeatedly and successively rehired by a construction corporation a total of 38 times for various projects spanning nearly 31 years. Upon the completion of his last project, the company terminated his services, claiming he was merely a project employee whose employment automatically ceased. The Supreme Court ruled that he had attained regular employment status, holding that continuous and successive rehiring for tasks that are vital, necessary, and indispensable to the employer’s usual business transforms a project employee into a regular employee, regardless of the execution of project contracts.

In this case, a man repeatedly sent threatening, degrading, and humiliating text messages to his former partner after learning that she was involved with another man. He threatened to expose intimate photos, embarrass her before creditors and neighbors, accuse her of wrongdoing, and even implied harm against her and her family. The victim later suffered mental anguish, sleepless nights, emotional distress, and damage to her reputation. The Supreme Court ruled that the series of harassing text messages constituted psychological violence under Section 5(h)(5) of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, emphasizing that harassment causing substantial emotional or psychological distress is punishable under the law.