đ How to Use
A complete guide to navigating the Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence Search Engine
When you first open the app, you will see the main search screen. Simply type any keywords into the search bar and press Search or hit Enter.
- All Text â Searches inside the full text of every decision. Best for topic-based research (e.g., "illegal dismissal", "double jeopardy").
- G.R. Number â Jump directly to a case if you already know the GR number (e.g.,
G.R. No. 12345).
- Case Title â Search by party names (e.g., "People vs. Dela Cruz").
- Exact Phrase â Forces the search engine to find the exact wording you type, in sequence.
đĄ Tip: The search is powered by SQLite FTS5 â a professional-grade full-text search engine. It is extremely fast even across 20,000+ decisions.
Once results load, the workspace expands into a three-column view. The left sidebar contains all your filter tools:
- Filter by Year â Type any year (e.g.,
2024) to narrow results to decisions promulgated in that year only.
- Filter by Ponente â Type the name of a Justice (e.g.,
Hernando) to show only decisions written by that ponente.
- Sort Controls â In the results column, use the sort buttons to reorder results by đĨ Relevance, đ
Newest, âŗ Oldest, or đ¤ Title A-Z.
âšī¸ Note: Year and Ponente filters are combined. You can filter by a specific ponente within a specific year simultaneously.
Click any case card in the results column to load its full text in the right-side Reader pane. The document will load instantly with your search keywords highlighted in yellow.
The Reader toolbar contains the following tools:
- đ Find â Open an in-document search bar to find specific words within the current decision.
- đ Syllabus â Toggle between the syllabus (headnotes) and the full decision text.
- â Bookmark â Save this case to your bookmarks or a research folder.
- đ§ Listen â Activate Podcast Mode â the app will read the decision aloud using text-to-speech.
- đ Citation â Copy the properly formatted legal citation to your clipboard instantly.
- đ Share Link â Generate a shareable deep-link URL that brings a colleague directly to this specific case.
- đĨī¸ Fullscreen â Expand the reader to fullscreen for distraction-free reading.
đĄ Tip: Click any Republic Act, G.R. Number, or Executive Order that appears highlighted (underlined) within the document text to load that referenced law or case side-by-side in a second pane.
Click â Search Tips in the sidebar to open the full guide. The search engine supports standard FTS5 operators:
- Exact Phrase: Wrap words in quotes â
"due process of law"
- OR Search: Find either term â
murder OR homicide
- NOT (Exclude): Exclude a term â
dismissal NOT reinstatement
- Wildcard: Match partial words â
acquit* matches "acquit", "acquittal", "acquitted"
- Proximity (NEAR): Words within N words of each other â
dismissal NEAR/5 employee
- Column Search: Search only in the title â
title:Marcos
âšī¸ Note: All searches are case-insensitive. You do not need to capitalize anything.
By default, the search scans Jurisprudence (Supreme Court decisions). To switch to the Statutes database, click the đ Statutes & EOs toggle â either on the landing page or the sidebar toggle.
The Statutes database contains:
- Republic Acts (RA) â All enacted Philippine Republic Acts
- Presidential Decrees (PD) â Decrees issued during martial law
- Batas Pambansa (BP) â Laws passed by the Batasang Pambansa
- Executive Orders (EO) â Presidential Executive Orders
â Premium Feature: Full-text search inside statutes and cross-referencing between cases and the statutes they cite is a premium subscriber feature.
You can organize your research using a folder and bookmark system stored in your browser:
- Click the + button in the sidebar to create a new Research Folder (e.g., "Labor Law Cases", "Clients â Santos").
- While reading a case, click â Bookmark to save it. You can choose to place it in an existing folder or leave it in "Uncategorized".
- Click â Uncategorized in the sidebar to view all unsorted bookmarks.
- Click đ My Notepad to open a free-form text area for writing case notes and research memos.
âšī¸ Bookmarks and folders are saved locally in your browser. They will persist between sessions on the same device and browser.
While a case is open in the Reader, you can export the full text in two ways:
- đ Word â Downloads the full decision as a
.docx Microsoft Word file. You can set up your law firm's branding (name and logo) via the White-Label Personalization settings, which will appear as a letterhead on the exported document.
- đ¨ī¸ Print â Opens the browser print dialog pre-formatted for clean, clean legal document printing.
đĄ Tip: To set up your firm's White-Label branding, click the âī¸ Settings or personalization button in the app header and enter your firm name and upload your logo.
The free tier gives you access to cases from the current rolling year. To unlock the full 125-year archive (1901 to present), upgrade to a Premium plan:
- Monthly Pass â âą499/mo: Full access to all jurisprudence. Cancel or renew anytime.
- 6-Month Pass â âą2,490/6mo: Full access to all jurisprudence. Billed semi-annually.
- Yearly Pass â âą4,990/yr: Full access to all jurisprudence. Billed annually.
- Lifetime Pass â âą14,990 once: Permanent access, never expires. Includes priority updates for all new rulings.
To upgrade, click on any locked year in the Filter by Year sidebar, or click the Login / Upgrade button in the top-right corner of the app. Payment is processed securely via PayMongo â GCash, Maya, and credit/debit cards accepted.
â Premium subscribers also get access to the full Statutes & EOs database, cross-referencing, and White-Label document exports.