ASSIGNMENT 1

You are a paralegal in a law office. A partner has assigned to you the problem below.
You have been asked to study whether the client, Mr. Rod Castro, has grounds for filing a
criminal action against Vicky Adarno. Research on the applicable laws and prepare a
memorandum for the partner. You need not write a summary of the facts. But include in the
memorandum the issue/s involved, your recommendation, and justification for the
recommendation. Do not consult each other. Write the memorandum on yellow pad and
submit it at the start of the class next Tuesday, July 15.
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Rod Castro is a gay businessman. He owns and operates a 30-bedroom hotel in
Cabanatuan City. He is maintaning an apartment in Mandaluyong City where he stays when he
has business and personal matters to attend to in Metro Manila. He has a second cousin, Vicky
Adarno, who is married to a rehabilitated addict. They live in Marikina. As far as Rod knows, the
Adarnos do not have fixed sources of income though they make it appear that they are well-off.

Rod and Vicky usually exchanged casual communications via text messages and on
Facebook. From time to time, Vicky would call Rod on his mobile phone to invite him to attend
her family occasions in Cabanatuan. Last April of this year, Vicky called Rod over his mobile
phone to invite him to attend the birthday party of her nephew in Cabanatuan. He declined the
invitation because of a prior commitment. Rod never had any business transactions of any kind
with Vicky or her husband.

At around 11:00 AM on May 2, 2014, while Rod was having lunch at a restaurant near
his apartment in Mandaluyong City, he received a call from Vicky. When he answered the
phone, she immediately blurted out: Rod, bakit ginawa mo sa akin ito ibalik mo ang pera ko.
Rod was completely surprised and so he asked her what money was she referring to. She
replied: Confirmed na ng FBI, NBI na ikaw na nag-hack ng bank account ko. Ibalik mo sa akin
ang pera kong P100,000. Not knowing what she was talking about, Rod said: Ano? Anong
pinagsasabi mong pera? Ako ba ang kausap mo? Her reply was: Oo, ikaw nga, si Rod. Pinsan,
bakit mo nagawa sa akin ito? Since there were other customers in the restaurant, Rod told
Vicky that he was going home and asked her to call him again and to explain what she was
saying. When Rod went back to his apartment, he waited for her call but she never called again.

The following day, Vicky called Rod again and repeated her demand that Rod return her
money. Rod replied: Alam mo Vicky, ako ang may karapatan na magalit sa yo. Sinasama mo
ko sa mga illegal activities ninyong mag-asawa. Bakit mo ko hihingan ng pera at ni anino ng
bank account mo ay hindi ko alam, kung meron ka ngang account. Ginagawa mo akong loka.
She did not reply but closed the call instead.

For the next three weeks, Rod received an average of 5 to 6 text messages from Vicky,
accusing Rod of allegedly hacking her bank account and getting P100,000.00 and demanding:
ibalik mo lang pera ko o maglabanan tayo pls I have so much respect for you and I cared for
you why me. In her other messages, Vicky assailed Rods character (hindi ko akalain na
napakasama pala ng pagkatao mo), threatened to file a case against him as well as to expose
to the public his kabaklaan, to shame and humilate him (sisirain ko ang reputasyon mo;
makakaladkad ka sa kahihiyan; masisira ang hanapbuhay mo), unless he returned her
money. Just return my money, hindi na kita iistorbohin, at parang walang nagyari. If you
dont return my money, siguraduhin mo lang na mahaba ang pisi mo at tuloy-tuloy ang mga
kaso na isasampa ko sa yo. Vicky also boasted of the strong connection of her husband in the
NBI and his fraternity, and that Rod would surely get into trouble unless he returned the
P100,000.

Rod said he wanted to ignore Vicky and her text messages because they were totally
untrue. Nonetheless, he was having attacks of anxiety, sleepless nights and very fearful of his
personal safety because of the continuous barrage of text messages. He kept a record of Vickys
calls and text messages and he wants to file a criminal action against Vicky, if possible.
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