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KAZUHIRO HASEGAWA and NIPPON ENGINEERING relationship to the parties following the [state of the] most significant

CONSULTANTS CO., LTD vs. MINORU KITAMURA relationship rule in Private International Law.
G.R. No. 149177 November 23, 2007
NACHURA, J. Issue:
Whether the Philippine courts in civil cases for specific performance and
Facts: damages has jurisdiction
 Petitioner Nippon , a Japanese consultancy firm providing technical
and management support in the infrastructure projects of foreign Held:
governments, entered into an Independent Contractor Agreement The Court ruled in the affirmative since there is a premature invocation of
(ICA) with respondent Minoru Kitamura, a Japanese national choice-of-law. In the judicial resolution of conflicts problems, there are three
permanently residing in the Philippines. consecutive phases are involved: jurisdiction, choice of law, and recognition
 The agreement provides that Kitamura was to extend professional and enforcement of judgments. Corresponding to these phases are the
services to Nippon for a year following questions: (1) Where can or should litigation be initiated? (2) Which
 Nippon then assigned Kitamura to work as the project manager of the law will the court apply? and (3) Where can the resulting judgment be
Southern Tagalog Access Road (STAR) Project in the Philippines, enforced?
 Nippon's general manager Kazuhiro Hasegawa informed Kitamura
that the company had no more intention of automatically renewing his In this case, only the first phase is at issue—jurisdiction as petitioners are
ICA. His services would be engaged by the company only up to the actually referring to subject matter jurisdiction. Petitioners, in their motion to
substantial completion of the STAR Project dismiss, do not claim that the trial court is not properly vested by law with
 Kitamura initiated Civil Case for specific performance and damages jurisdiction to hear the subject controversy for, indeed, Civil Case for specific
with the Regional Trial Court performance and damages is one not capable of pecuniary estimation and is
 Petitioners, contending that the ICA had been perfected in Japan and properly cognizable by the RTC of Lipa City.
executed by and between Japanese nationals, moved to dismiss the
complaint for lack of jurisdiction. They asserted that the claim for What they rather raise as grounds to question subject matter jurisdiction are
improper pre-termination of respondent's ICA could only be heard and the principles of lex loci celebrationis and lex contractus, and the "state of the
ventilated in the proper courts of Japan following the principles of lex most significant relationship rule." The Court finds the invocation of these
loci celebrationis and lex contractus. grounds unsound. In short, forum non conveniens is not a ground for a motion
 RTC: Invoking our ruling in Insular Government v. Frank that matters to dismiss.
connected with the performance of contracts are regulated by the law
prevailing at the place of performance, denied the motion to dismiss. The principles of Lex loci celebrationis, lex loci contractus and "state of the
 CA: finding no grave abuse of discretion in the trial court's denial of most significant relationship rule, in conflict of laws makes reference to the
the motion to dismiss. The CA ruledthat the principle of lex loci law applicable to a dispute, they are rules proper for the second phase, the
celebrationis was not applicable to the case, because nowhere in the choice of law. They determine which state's law is to be applied in resolving
pleadings was the validity of the written agreement put in issue. The the substantive issues of a conflicts problem.
CA thus declared that the trial court was correct in applying instead
the principle of lex loci solutionis Further, petitioners' premature invocation of choice-of-law rules is exposed by
 Petitioners question its jurisdiction to hear and resolve the civil case the fact that they have not yet pointed out any conflict between the laws of
for specific performance and damages filed by the respondent. The Japan and ours. Before determining which law should apply, first there should
ICA subject of the litigation was entered into and perfected in Tokyo, exist a conflict of laws situation requiring the application of the conflict of
Japan, by Japanese nationals, and written wholly in the Japanese laws rules. Also, when the law of a foreign country is invoked to provide the
language. Thus, petitioners posit that local courts have no substantial proper rules for the solution of a case, the existence of such law must be
pleaded and proved
Held:
SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES (SAUDIA) vs. REBESENCIO The Court ruled in the affirmative. Forum non conveniens finds no application
G.R. No. 198587, January 14, 2015 and does not operate to divest Philippine tribunals of jurisdiction and to
LEONEN, J. require the application of foreign law.

Facts: Forum non conveniens relates to forum, not to the choice of governing
 Petitioner Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) is a foreign corporation law. Accordingly, under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, "a court, in
established and existing under the laws of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi conflicts of law cases, may refuse impositions on its jurisdiction where it is
Arabia. not the most 'convenient' or available forum and the parties are not precluded
 It has a Philippine office located in Makati City from seeking remedies elsewhere.
 Respondents (complainants before the Labor Arbiter) were recruited
and hired by Saudia as Temporary Flight Attendants and after working In Bank of America, NT&SA, Bank of America International, Ltd. v. Court of
as Temporary Flight Attendants, respondents became Permanent Appeals,70 this court underscored that a Philippine court may properly assume
Flight Attendants. jurisdiction over a case if it chooses to do so to the extent: "
 They were separated from service on various dates in 2006. (1) that the Philippine Court is one to which the parties may conveniently
 They contended that the termination of their employment was illegal resort to;
and that the termination was made solely because they were pregnant. (2) that the Philippine Court is in a position to make an intelligent decision as
 Respondents alleged, they had informed Saudia of their respective to the law and the facts; and
pregnancies and had gone through the necessary procedures to (3) that the Philippine Court has or is likely to have power to enforce its
process their maternity leaves. decision
 However, respondents were told that if they did not resign, Saudia
would terminate them all the same. Such threat of termination entailed First, all the parties are based in the Philippines and all the material incidents
the loss of benefits, transpired in this jurisdiction. Thus, the parties may conveniently seek relief
 Saudia anchored its disapproval of respondents' maternity leaves and from Philippine tribunals. Second, Philippine tribunals are in a position to
demand for their resignation on its "Unified Employment Contract for make an intelligent decision as to the law and the facts. Third, Philippine
Female Cabin Attendants" which provides that the employment of a tribunals are in a position to enforce their decisions. There is no compelling
Flight Attendant who becomes pregnant is rendered void basis for ceding jurisdiction to a foreign tribunal. Quite the contrary, the
 Faced with the dilemma of resigning or totally losing their benefits, immense public policy considerations attendant to this case behoove
respondents executed handwritten resignation letters. Philippine tribunals to not shy away from their duty to rule on the case.
 Thereafter, respondents filed a Complaint against Saudia and its
officers for illegal dismissal
 Saudia assailed the jurisdiction of the Labor Arbiter. It claimed that all
the determining points of contact referred to foreign law and insisted
that the Complaint ought to be dismissed on the ground of forum non
conveniens.

Issue:
Whether the Labor Arbiter and the National Labor Relations Commission may
exercise jurisdiction over Saudi Arabian Airlines and apply Philippine law in
adjudicating the present dispute
SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES vs. CA Further, records show that petitioner SAUDIA has filed several
G.R. No. 122191 October 8, 1998 motions praying for the dismissal of Morada's Amended
QUISUMBING, J. Complaint. Undeniably, petitioner SAUDIA has effectively submitted to the
trial court's jurisdiction by praying for the dismissal of the Amended
Facts: Complaint on grounds other than lack of jurisdiction. Clearly, petitioner had
 Private respondent Morada filed a Complaint for damages against submitted to the jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City.
SAUDIA, and Khaled Al-Balawi ("Al-Balawi"), its country manager
as petitioner SAUDIA denied her any assistance when she was As to the choice of applicable law, it is necessary for us to determine under
wrongfully convicted sentencing her 5 months of imprisonment and what category a certain set of facts or rules fall. This process is known as
286 lashes. "characterization", or the "doctrine of qualification". It is the "process of
 SAUDIA filed an Omnibus Motion To Dismiss on the ground hat the deciding whether or not the facts relate to the kind of question specified in a
trial court has no jurisdiction to try the case which was denied conflicts rule." The purpose of "characterization" is to enable the forum to
 SAUDIA then filed its Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition select the proper law.
 Petitioner SAUDIA maintains that private respondent's claim for
alleged abuse of rights occurred in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It An essential element of conflict rules is the indication of a "test" or
alleges that the existence of a foreign element qualifies the instant "connecting factor" or "point of contact". In this case, the point of contact or
case for the application of the law of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by the connecting factor is the place where the tort is committed.
virtue of the lex loci delicti commissi rule.
 Private respondent contends that since her Amended Complaint is And applying the torts principle in a conflicts case, we find that the
based on Articles 19 and 21 of the Civil Code, then the instant case is Philippines could be said as a situs of the tort (the place where the alleged
properly a matter of domestic law. tortious conduct took place) because it is in the Philippines where petitioner
allegedly deceived private respondent, that although she was already working
Issue: in Manila, petitioner brought her to Jeddah on the pretense that she would
Whether or not Philippine Law should govern merely testify in an investigation of the charges she made against the two
SAUDIA crew members for the attack on her person while they were in
Held: Jakarta. As it turned out, she was the one made to face trial for very serious
The Court ruled in the affirmative. The Court agrees with private respondent's charges, including adultery and violation of Islamic laws and tradition.
assertion that violations of Articles 19 and 21 are actionable, with judicially
enforceable remedies in the municipal forum.

Pragmatic considerations, including the convenience of the parties, also weigh


heavily in favor of the RTC Quezon City assuming jurisdiction. The court a
quo found it best to hear the case in the Philippines. Had it refused to take
cognizance of the case, it would be forcing plaintiff (private respondent now)
to seek remedial action elsewhere, i.e. in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where
she no longer maintains substantial connections. That would have caused a
fundamental unfairness to her.

Moreover, by hearing the case in the Philippines no unnecessary difficulties


and inconvenience have been shown by either of the parties. The choice of
forum of the plaintiff (now private respondent) should be upheld.

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