2. CREDIBILITY V.

COMPETENCY
 COMPETENCY CREDIBILITY

The legal fitness or legal capacity of a The character of the witness to be

person to testify as a witness. believable or not.

Involves a determination of whether the This goes to the truth of the testimony. It
person offered as a witness has all the includes the ability of the witness to
qualifications prescribed by law and is not inspire belief or not.
among those disqualified by law or by the
rules of evidence.
It is a matter of law or, in this jurisdiction, Has nothing to do with the law or the rules
also a matter of rule. Has a reference to it refers to the weigh and trustworthiness
the basic qualifications of a witness as his or reliability of the testimony.
capacity to perceive and communicate his
perception to others. It also includes the
absence of any of the disqualifications
imposed upon a witness.
ISSUES OF COMPETENCY
Persons covered by the survivorship
disqualification rule (Dead Mans Statute) cannot
testify as to any matter of fact occurring before
the death or insanity of the adverse party
Drug abuse will not render a person incompetent
to testify. While bias and drug abuse may not be
grounds for barring a witness from testifying,
they may serve as grounds for attacking the
credibility of a witness.
 DETERMINATION OF CREDIBILITY
Questions concerning the credibility of a witness are best addressed
to the sound discretion of the trial court as it has the best position
to observe his demeanor and bodily movements.
It is a settled rule that the conclusions of the trial judge regarding
their credibility command great respect and consideration,
especially when they are supported by the other evidence on
record. As we said in one case:

The trial judge had the opportunity to observe the witnesses

personally and to determine by his own first-hand impressions
the credibility of their testimony as indicated by their demeanor
on the stand, the forthrightness of their declarations, the
shades of tone and word and pause drawing the line between
fact and fabrication.
(a) DISQUALIFICATION OF A WITNESS
WHO ARE DISQUALIFIED?
General Rule: Only those expressly covered
under the enumerations by law maybe
disqualified from testifying.
TOTAL OR ABSOLUTE
The person is disqualified to testify in any case:
Mental incapacity or insanity.
Mental immaturity
PARTIAL OR RELATIVE
The person is qualified to be a witness but is
disqualified to testify in certain matters:
Marital disqualification rule [Sec. 22]
Survivor's disqualification rule or dead man's
statute [Sec. 23]
Marital communication rule [Sec. 24(a)]
Attorney-client privilege [Sec. 24(b)]
Physician-patient privilege [Sec. 24(c)]
Priest-penitent privilege [Sec. 24(d)]
Privilege of State secrets [Sec. 24(e)]
The specific enumeration of disqualified
witnesses excludes the operation of causes of
disability other than those mentioned in the
Rules.
Exclusivity of The Grounds for
Disqualification

The grounds are limited exclusively and

restrictively to those enumerated by the law.
Under Sec. 20 of Rule 130, except as provided by
the law and the rules, the following factors do
not, as a general rule, constitute a
disqualification of a witness:
Religious belief;
Political belief;
Interest in the outcome of the case; or
Conviction of a crime, unless otherwise
provided by law.
LAWS THAT EXPRESSLY DISQUALIFIES A
WITNESS
Rule 119 Section 17. An accused may not be
discharged to act as a state witness when he
has been convicted of a crime involving moral
turpitude.
Civil Code Art. 821. Those who have been
convicted of falsification of document, perjury,
or false testimony are disqualified from being
witnesses to a will.
 CASES
Pp. v. Dominguez

The fact of prior criminal conviction does not

suffice to automatically disqualify or discredit a
witness, the testimony of such a witness must be
assayed and scrutinized in exactly the same way
the testimony of other witnesses must be
examined for its relevance and credibility.
Pp. v. Entila

It is true that in most instances, corroboration by

relatives of the accused is accorded scant
consideration in view of the truism that blood is
thicker than water. However, a witness' testimony
cannot be stripped of full faith and credit simply on
account of his relationship to the parties. Although
relationship can put the testimony of a witness in
doubt, it cannot affect credibility itself. The lower
court should have subjected the testimony of the
defense witness to the ordinary process of
evaluation and accordingly assigned to it the proper
intrinsic weight.
Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Chiong

The relationship of a witness with a party does

not ipso facto render him biased witness in
criminal cases where the quantum of evidence is
proof beyond reasonable doubt. There is no
reason why the same principle should not apply
to a civil case where the quantum of evidence is
only preponderance of evidence.
 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
Voir Dire Examination is an examination
conducted by the court on the competency of a
witness whenever there is an objection to the
competency of the witness and is usually made
before the witness starts with his testimony. The
party objecting maybe allowed to present
evidence on his objection or the court itself may
conduct the questioning on the witness.