CIVIL LAW:WILLS AND SUCCESSION; POWERS OF COURT TO CONTROL PROPERTIES OF

DECEASED.
The court which acquired jurisdiction over the properties of a deceased person through the filing
of the corresponding proceedings, has supervision and control over the said properties, and under
the said power, it is its inherent duty to see that the inventory submitted by the administrator
appointed by it contains all the properties, rights and credits which the law requires the
administrator to set out in his inventory. In compliance with this duty, the court has also inherent
power to determine what properties, rights and credits of the deceased should be included in or
excluded from the inventory. Should an heir or person interested in the properties of a deceased
person duly call the courts attention to the fact that certain properties, rights or credits have
been left out in the inventory, it is likewise the courts duty to hear the observations, with power
to determine if such observations should be attended to or not and if the properties referred to
therein belong prima facie to the intestate, but no such determination is final and ultimate in
nature as to the ownership of the said properties.
CRIMINAL LAW:DUE PROCESS; ACCUSED MUST BE INFORMED OF THE ACCUSATION AGAINST HIM.
In a criminal case, due process requires that, among others, the accusation be in due form, and
that notice thereof and an opportunity to answer the charge be given the accused; hence, the
constitutional and reglementary guarantees as to accuseds right to be informed of the nature
and cause of the accusation against him. An accused should be given the necessary data as to
why he is being proceeded against and not be left in the unenviable state of speculating why he is
made the object of a prosecution, it being the fact that, in criminal cases, the liberty, even the
life, of the accused is at stake. It is always wise and proper that the accused be fully apprised of
the charge against him in order to avoid any possible surprise that may lead to injustice.
REMEDIAL LAW:JUDICIAL BONDS; NATURE.
Judicial bonds are contractual in nature. They constitute a special class of contracts of guaranty
since they are given by virtue of judicial order. Even if the appeal bond is defective, a situation
not true in the present case, as long as it is not void and given in good faith and not for the
purpose of delay, the trial Court may order its amendment. The appeal should not be dismissed
without giving the appellant an opportunity to perfect the bond or to file a new bond. This Court
even held that an appeal bond signed by one bondsman is not defective as to justify dismissal of
the appeal.
LABOR LAW:BACKWAGES AND MORAL DAMAGES; WHEN RECOVERABLE.
Backwages in general are granted on grounds of equity for earnings which a worker or employee
has lost due to illegal dismissal. Upon the other hand, moral damages are recoverable only where

the dismissal of the employee was attended by bad faith or constituted an act oppressive to labor
or was done in a manner contrary to morals, good customs or public policy while exemplary
damages may be awarded only if the dismissal was effected in a wanton, oppressive or malevolent
manner.
COMMERCIAL LAW:CHECKS; CASHIERS CHECK; EQUIVALENT TO ACCEPTANCE.
It is a well-known and accepted practice in the business sector that a cashiers check is deemed as
cash. Moreover, since the said check had been certified by the drawee bank, by the certification,
the funds represented by the check are transferred from the credit of the maker to that of the
payee or holder, and for all intents and purposes, the latter becomes the depositor of the drawee
bank, with rights and duties of one in such situation. Where a check is certified by the bank on
which it is drawn, the certification is equivalent to acceptance. Said certification implies that
the check is drawn upon sufficient funds in the hands of the drawee, that they have been set
apart for its satisfaction, and that they shall be so applied whenever the check is presented for
payment. It is an understanding that the check is good then, and shall continue good, and this
agreement is as binding on the bank as its notes in circulation, a certificate of deposit payable to
the order of the depositor, or any other obligation it can assume.