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A person in contemplation of death may execute his own will, without need of lawyer’s assistance and the other formalities of a testament provided it is entirely written, dated and signed by the hand of the testator himself [Art. 810]. Under the Civil Code of the Philippines (R. A. 386 – approved: 18 June 1949), this is known as ‘holographic will’. It is subject to no other form, may be made in or out of the Philippines, and need not be witnessed.

Illegitimate children, as a general rule, shall use the surname and shall be under the parental authority of their mother. But pursuant to the ”Act Allowing Illegitimate Children to Use the Surname of their Father” (R. A. 9255 – approved: 24 February 2004), which amended Article 176 of the Family Code, illegitimate children may however use the surname of their father if their filiation has been expressly recognized by the father through the record of birth appearing in the civil register, or when an admission in a public document or private handwritten instrument is made by the father. The father however has the right to institute an action before the regular courts to prove non-filiation during his lifetime.

THAT business entities or enterprises registered as ”Barangay Micro Business Enterprise”, or BMBE, under the “Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Act of 2002” (R. A. 9178 – approved: 13 November 2002) are entitled to the following incentives: (a) tax exempt from income arising from operations [Sec. 7]; (b) exemption from the payment of minimum wage [Sec. 8]; and (c) special credit window from some government financial institutions [Sec. 9].

To qualify as BMBE, the company must be engaged in the production, processing or manufacturing of products or commodities, including agro-processing, trading and services, and its total asset, including those arising from loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity’s office, plant and equipment are situated, is not be more than Three Million Pesos (P3,000,000.00) [Sec. 3 (a)].

Food outlets, restaurants, and stores are required by the “An Act for Salt Iodization Nationwde (ASIN) Law” (R. A. 8172 – approved: 20 December 1995) to make available to customers only iodized salt in their establishment [Sec. 5 (c)]. A violation is punishable by a fine of not less than P1,000 nor more than P100,000, including a possible revocation of business permits and/or ban of its product from the market [Sec. 9].

Under the Rent Control Act of 2005 (R. A. 9341 – approved: 21 December 2005), lessees of residential units who pay a monthly rentral of not more than P10,000 (in highly urbanized cities) and P5,000 (in other areas) [Sec. 11] enjoy the following: (a) non-increase of rentals beyond 10% [Sec. 3]; (b) non-ejectment for unpaid rentals unless the total arrears amount to at least three (3) months [Sec. 7 (b)]; (c) right of first preference to lease the premises after vacating the same for purposes of repairs ordered by authorities [Sec. 7 (d)]; and (d) non-ejectment by reason of mortgaged or sale of the leased premises [Sec. 8].

If the property is to be vacated by the lessee for the use of immediate family members, the following conditions must be complied: (i) lease contract has expired; (ii) formal notice to vacate of at least three (3) months in advance; and, (iii) prohibition to lease the same property to a third party for a period of one year from the time lessee vacates the premises [Sec. 7 (c)].

Violations of the law carry a criminal penalty of fine of between P5,000 to 15,000 or imprisonment of not more than six (6) months [Sec. 12].

NOTE: The law expired on 31 December 2008 and deliberations whether to extend it or not are still pending in Congress.