1. Definition

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

Documents as evidence consist of writings, recording, photographs, or any material containing letters, words, sounds, numbers, figures, symbols, or their equivalent, or other modes of written expressions, offered as proof of their contents. Photographs include still pictures, drawings, stored images, x-ray films, motion picture or videos. (Sec. 2, Rule 130, ROC, as amended)

Question 2

What are the Categories of Documentary Evidence?

Answer 2

1. Writings;
2. Recordings;
3. Photographs;
4. Any other material containing letters, words, sounds, numbers, figures, symbols or their equivalent; or
5. Other modes of written expression offered as a proof of their contents.

Question 3

Q: May a private document be offered and admitted in evidence both as documentary evidence and object evidence? (2005 BAR)

Answer 3

A: YES. A private document may be offered and admitted in evidence both as documentary evidence and as object evidence depending on the purpose for which the document is offered. If offered to prove its existence, conditions or for any purpose other than the contents of a document, the same is considered as object evidence. When the private document is offered as proof of its contents, the same is considered as documentary evidence. The document may be offered for both purposes under the principle of multiple admissibility. (Riano, 2019)

Question 4

What are the Requisites for Admissibility?

Answer 4

The requisites for admissibility of documentary evidence are: (R-A-M-O)

1. The document should be Relevant;
2. The documents should be Authenticated and proved in the manner provided in the Rules of Court. Such authentication must be done by a competent witness;
3. The documents should be identified and Marked; and
4. They should be formally Offered to the court and shown to the opposing party so that the latter may have the opportunity to object thereto.

(Ramcar, Inc. v. Hi-Power Marketing, G.R. No. 157075, 17 July 2006)

Question 5

Q: When Linda died, her common-law husband, Lito and their alleged daughter, Nes, executed an extrajudicial partition of Linda’s estate. Thereafter, the siblings of Linda filed an action for partition of Linda’s estate and annulment of titles and damages with the RTC. The RTC dismissed the complaint and ruled that Nes was the illegitimate daughter of the decedent and Lito based solely on her birth certificate, which on closer examination, reveals that Nes was listed as “adopted” by both Linda and Lito. Is the trial court correct?

Answer 5

A: NO. A record of birth is merely prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. It is not conclusive evidence of the truthfulness of the statements made therein by the interested parties. Nes should have adduced evidence of her adoption, in view of the contents of her birth certificate.

The mere registration of a child in his or her birth certificate as the child of the supposed parents is not a valid adoption, does not confer upon the child the status of an adopted child and the legal rights of such child, and even amounts to simulation of the child’s birth or falsification of his or her birth certificate, which is a public document. (Rivera v. Heirs of Villanueva, G.R. No. 141501, 21 July 2006)

Question 6

Theory of Indivisibility (Rule on Completeness)

Answer 6

When part of an act, declaration, conversation, writing, or record is given in evidence by one party, the whole of the same subject may be inquired into by the other; and when a detached act, declaration, conversation, writing, or record is given in evidence, any other act, declaration, conversation, writing or record necessary to its understanding may also be given in evidence. (Sec. 17, Rule 132, ROC, as amended)