NG Reyes Law Office

21/08/2026

We are closed today, August 21, 2026.

Operation will resume on Monday, August 24, 2026.

11/07/2026

Dear Clients,

Please be advised that Ms. Melanie Sanchez is no longer with Reyes Law Office as of July 10, 2026.

During this transition, please direct any questions or matters to Mrs. Chen Reyes at 0927-653-4497. We will share further updates regarding a permanent replacement in due course.

Thank you for your cooperation and continued hard work.

Sincerely,
Atty. Narciso G. Reyes, Jr.
0917-653-0398
[email protected]

28/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Hn6s4mtGr/?mibextid=wwXIfr

𝗙𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗣 𝗢𝗙 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 34 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯-𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦.

𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 "𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺"; 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘣 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦.

𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝘃𝘀. 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗟 𝗔𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗥𝗥𝗘
𝗚.𝗥. 𝗡𝗼. 𝟮𝟲𝟮𝟲𝟱𝟯, 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒:
Boots Rodel Aguirre and Alma T. Aguirre were married on May 8, 2009, without securing a marriage license. Instead, they bypassed the license requirement by executing an Affidavit of Cohabitation under Article 34 of the Family Code, falsely swearing that they had continuously lived together as husband and wife for at least five years (since December 2003).

However, Boots actually lived and worked in Israel from May 2006 to May 2009, returning only days before the wedding. In 2013, Boots filed a petition to declare their marriage void ab initio (from the beginning), admitting that the affidavit was fabricated to bypass the law. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) and the Court of Appeals (CA) both declared the marriage null and void. The Republic, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that Boots’ stay in Israel was merely a "temporary absence" that did not disrupt their cohabitation.

𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄:
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚-𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚 34 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙙𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚.
PFR FAMILY https://s.shopee.ph/2VpfhAooeU

𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆:
Yes, the marriage is VOID. The Supreme Court denied the Republic’s petition and affirmed the lower courts' rulings.

The Court held that the exceptions to the marriage license requirement must be strictly construed. While brief, mutual separations for work or business can sometimes occur without breaking cohabitation in a pre-existing common-law setup, the records showed that Boots and Alma never actually established an exclusive, regular common-law home before he left. Because the essential matter in their sworn affidavit was a lie, the document was reduced to a "mere scrap of paper" with no legal force. Without a valid license or a truthful affidavit to exempt them, the marriage was legally non-existent from the start.

𝘼𝘾𝘾𝙊𝙍𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙇𝙔, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙞 𝙞𝙨 𝘿𝙀𝙉𝙄𝙀𝘿. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙮 28, 2021, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙮 1, 2022, 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝘼-𝙂.𝙍. 𝘾𝙑 𝙉𝙤. 06914 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙁𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙈𝙀𝘿.

FULL:
https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/262653.pdf

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🌱✨

11/02/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ADReC3DEW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The (SC) has nullified the foreclosure of several properties after ruling that the interest charged on the unpaid bank loan was unfair and imposed without the borrower’s consent.

In a Resolution written by Associate Justice Ricardo R. Rosario, the SC’s Special Third Division granted the Motion for Reconsideration filed by Editha Ang and Violeta Fernandez, whose properties were foreclosed by United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) after they failed to pay a PHP 16-million loan.

Ang and Fernandez obtained a loan from UCPB. Based on the loan documents, however, UCPB was allowed to unilaterally adjust the interest rate every quarter based on market conditions.

When Ang and Fernandez failed to pay the total loan when it fell due, UCPB began to extrajudicially foreclose their properties.

Ang and Fernandez then filed a petition with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) to nullify the foreclosure sale, claiming that because the bank had the sole power to set and increase the interest rate, the rate was unfair and invalid.

The SC initially agreed that the interest rate was invalid but still upheld the foreclosure sale, ruling that the borrowers remained in default.

Upon reconsideration, however, the SC ruled that if the interest rate was unconscionable or imposed unilaterally by the lender, then any foreclosure that follows is also invalid.

The Court emphasized that under the Civil Code, contracts must be fair and mutually agreed upon. A contract that depends only on one party’s will is void.

In this case, the interest rate was solely determined by UCPB. Since the interest rate was invalid, the foreclosure of the properties was void.

The SC held that the borrowers should be given a chance to pay the loan at an interest rate agreed upon by both parties. Otherwise, they would be at the mercy of the lender and risk losing their property without a fair opportunity to settle their debt.

Read the full text of the Press Release at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=152735.

Read the full text of the Decision at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=152719.

Read the Dissenting Opinion of Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=152726.

Copying of this content is subject to the SC PIO’s Credit Attribution Policy: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/.

09/02/2026

Lawyers’ Meeting (LM) to start off the week. Welcoming Atty. Krisha Gem Salagan to Reyes Law Office