REPUBLIC ACT No.

4363
AN ACT FURTHER AMEND ARTICLE THREE HUNDRED SIXTY OF
THE REVISED PENAL CODE.
Section 1. Article three hundred sixty of the Revised Penal
Code, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Twelve
hundred and eighty-nine, is further amended to read as
follows:
"Art. 360. Persons responsible. Any person who shall publish,
exhibit, or cause the publication or exhibition of any
defamation in writing or by similar means, shall be
responsible for the same.
"The author or editor of a book or pamphlet, or the editor or
business manager of a daily newspaper, magazine or serial
publication, shall be responsible for the defamations
contained therein to the same extent as if he were the author
thereof.
"The criminal and civil action for damages in cases of written
defamations as provided for in this chapter, shall be filed
simultaneously or separately with the court of first instance of
the province or city where the libelous article is printed and
first published or where any of the offended parties actually
resides at the time of the commission of the
offense: Provided, however, That where one of the offended
parties is a public officer whose office is in the City of Manila
at the time of the commission of the offense, the action shall
be filed in the Court of First Instance of the City of Manila or
of the city or province where the libelous article is printed
and first published, and in case such public officer does not
hold office in the City of Manila, the action shall be filed in the
Court of First Instance of the province or city where he held
office at the time of the commission of the offense or where
the libelous article is printed and first published and in case
one of the offended parties is a private individual, the action
shall be filed in the Court of First Instance of the province or
city where he actually resides at the time of the commission
of the offense or where the libelous matter is printed and first
published: Provided, further, That the civil action shall be filed
in the same court where the criminal action is filed and vice
versa: Provided, furthermore, That the court where the
criminal action or civil action for damages is first filed, shall
acquire jurisdiction to the exclusion of other courts:
And provided, finally, That this amendment shall not apply to
cases of written defamations, the civil and/or criminal actions
to which have been filed in court at the time of the effectivity
of this law.
"Preliminary investigation of criminal actions for written
defamations as provided for in the chapter shall be conducted
by the provincial or city fiscal of the province of city, or by the
municipal court of the city or capital of the province where
such actions may be instituted in accordance with the
provisions of this article.
"No criminal action for defamation which consists in the
imputation of a crime which cannot be prosecuted de officio
shall be brought except at the instance of and upon complaint
expressly filed by the offended party."
Section 2. If any section or sections of this Act shall be
declared unconstitutional or invalid, it shall not invalidate the
other sections hereof.
Section 3. This Act shall take effect only if and when, within
thirty days from its approval, the newspapermen in the
Philippines shall organize, and elect the members of, a
Philippine Press Council, a private agency of the said
newspapermen, whose function shall be to promulgate a
Code of Ethics, for them and the Philippine press, investigate
violations thereof, and censure any newspaperman or
newspaper guilty of any violation of the said Code, and the
fact that such Philippine Press Council has been organized and
its members have been duly elected in accordance herewith
shall be ascertained and proclaimed by the President of the
Philippines.
RULE 4
Venue of Actions
Section 1. Venue of real actions. Actions affecting title to or possession
of real property, or interest therein, shall be commenced and tried in the
proper court which has jurisdiction over the area wherein the real
property involved, or a portion thereof, is situated.
Forcible entry and detainer actions shall be commenced and tried in the
municipal trial court of the municipality or city wherein the real property
involved, or a portion thereof, is situated. (1[a], 2[a]a)
Section 2. Venue of personal actions. All other actions may be
commenced and tried where the plaintiff or any of the principal plaintiffs
resides, or where the defendant or any of the principal defendants
resides, or in the case of a non-resident defendant where he may be
found, at the election of the plaintiff. (2[b]a)
Section 3. Venue of actions against nonresidents. If any of the
defendants does not reside and is not found in the Philippines, and the
action affects the personal status of the plaintiff, or any property of said
defendant located in the Philippines, the action may be commenced and
tried in the court of the place where the plaintiff resides, or where the
property or any portion thereof is situated or found. (2[c]a)
Section 4. When Rule not applicable. This Rule shall not apply.
(a) In those cases where a specific rule or law provides otherwise; or
(b) Where the parties have validly agreed in writing before the filing
of the action on the exclusive venue thereof. (3a, 5a)
IMPLEMENTING RULES & REGULATIONS
OF
THE FOREIGN INVESTMENTS ACT OF 1991
[Republic Act No. 7042]
AN ACT TO PROMOTE FOREIGN INVESTMENTS,
PRESCRIBE THE PROCEDURES FOR REGISTERING
ENTERPRISES DOING BUSINESS IN THE PHILIPPINES
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES



RULE I
DEFINITIONS
f. "Doing business" shall include soliciting orders,
service contracts, opening offices, whether liaison
offices or branches; appointing representatives or
distributors, operating under full control of the foreign
corporation, domiciled in the Philippines or who in any
calendar year stay in the country for a period totaling
one hundred eighty [180] days or more; participating
in the management, supervision or control of any
domestic business, firm, entity or corporation in the
Philippines; and any other act or acts that imply a
continuity of commercial dealings or arrangements,
and contemplate to that extent the performance of
acts or works, or the exercise of some of the functions
normally incident to and in progressive prosecution of
commercial gain or of the purpose and object of the
business organization.cralaw
The following acts shall not be deemed "doing
business" in the Philippines:
1. Mere investment as a shareholder by a foreign
entity in domestic corporations duly registered to do
business, and/or the exercise of rights as such
investor;
2. Having a nominee director or officer to represent
its interest in such corporation;
3. Appointing a representative or distributor
domiciled in the Philippines which transacts business
in the representative's or distributor's own name and
account;
4. The publication of a general advertisement through
any print or broadcast media;
5. Maintaining a stock of goods in the Philippines
solely for the purpose of having the same processed
by another entity in the Philippines;
6. Consignment by a foreign entity of equipment with
a local company to be used in the processing of
products for export;
7. Collecting information in the Philippines; and
8. Performing services auxiliary to an existing isolated
contract of sale which are not on a continuing basis,
such as installing in the Philippines machinery it has
manufactured or exported to the Philippines, servicing
the same, training domestic workers to operate it, and
similar incidental services.


Corporation Code
Sec. 127. Who may be a resident agent. A resident agent
may be either an individual residing in the Philippines or a
domestic corporation lawfully transacting business in the
Philippines: Provided, That in the case of an individual, he
must be of good moral character and of sound financial
standing. (n)
Sec. 128. Resident agent; service of process. The Securities
and Exchange Commission shall require as a condition
precedent to the issuance of the license to transact business
in the Philippines by any foreign corporation that such
corporation file with the Securities and Exchange Commission
a written power of attorney designating some person who
must be a resident of the Philippines, on whom any summons
and other legal processes may be served in all actions or
other legal proceedings against such corporation, and
consenting that service upon such resident agent shall be
admitted and held as valid as if served upon the duly
authorized officers of the foreign corporation at its home
office. Any such foreign corporation shall likewise execute
and file with the Securities and Exchange Commission an
agreement or stipulation, executed by the proper authorities
of said corporation, in form and substance as follows:
The (name of foreign corporation) does hereby stipulate and
agree, in consideration of its being granted by the Securities
and Exchange Commission a license to transact business in
the Philippines, that if at any time said corporation shall cease
to transact business in the Philippines, or shall be without any
resident agent in the Philippines on whom any summons or
other legal processes may be served, then in any action or
proceeding arising out of any business or transaction which
occurred in the Philippines, service of any summons or other
legal process may be made upon the Securities and Exchange
Commission and that such service shall have the same force
and effect as if made upon the duly-authorized officers of the
corporation at its home office.
Whenever such service of summons or other process shall be
made upon the Securities and Exchange Commission, the
Commission shall, within ten (10) days thereafter, transmit by
mail a copy of such summons or other legal process to the
corporation at its home or principal office. The sending of
such copy by the Commission shall be necessary part of and
shall complete such service. All expenses incurred by the
Commission for such service shall be paid in advance by the
party at whose instance the service is made.
In case of a change of address of the resident agent, it shall be
his or its duty to immediately notify in writing the Securities
and Exchange Commission of the new address. (72a; and n)
AM. No. 11-3-6-SC

AMENDMENT OF SECTION 12, RULE 14
OF THE RULES OF COURT ON SERVICE UPON
FOREIGN PRIVATE JURIDICAL ENTITY
Section 12, Rule 14 of the Rules of Court is hereby amended
to read
as follows:

"SEC. 12. Service upon foreign private juridical entity.
When the defendant is a foreign private juridical entity which
has transacted business in the Philippines, service may be
made
on its resident agent designated in accordance with law for
that
purpose, or, i f there be no such agent, on the government
official designated by law to that effect, or on any of its
officers
or agents within the Philippines.

If the foreign private juridical entity is not registered in
the Philippines or has no resident agent, service may, with
leave
of court, be effected out of the Philippines through any of the
following means:

a) B y personal service coursed through the
appropriate court in the foreign country with the
assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs;

b) B y publication once in a newspaper of general
circulation in the country where the defendant may be
found and by serving a copy of the summons and the
court order by-registered mail at the last known address
of the defendant;

c) B y facsimile or any recognized electronic
means that could generate proof of service; or

d) B y such other means as the court may in its
discretion direct."

This rule shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in
a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines