Instructor: Mejia, Jojo V.
Categories: OCLE7877F
Enrolled: 18 students
The topic discusses the settlement of estates under the TRAIN Law and the common issues encountered in real estate conveyancing in the Philippines. It explains the importance of immediately settling a deceased person’s estate to avoid legal complications and difficulties among heirs in the future. The lecture also reviews the basic concepts of succession, including testate, intestate, and extrajudicial settlement of estates. Atty. Jojo V. Mejia further discusses the changes introduced by the TRAIN Law, particularly the simplified 6% estate tax rate and the allowable deductions in computing the net estate. The topic also covers donor’s tax, vanishing deductions, and the relevance of estate planning despite the changes in taxation laws. In addition, the lecture highlights issues involving agricultural lands, land use conversion, agrarian reform laws, and adverse claims in real estate transactions. Overall, the discussion provides practical legal guidance on estate settlement, taxation, and property conveyancing in the Philippines.
Jojo V. Mejia was born in Polangui, Albay but hails from and grew up in Arayat, Pampanga. He finished both his AB Economics and Bachelor of Laws degrees at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1980 & 1985, respectively. During both his college and law school days, he was deeply involved in NGO work with Ateneo Office of Social Action Office doing community organizing and prison work. After graduation from the law school, he went into law practice by joining the law office and later on the Senate Staff of Sen. Rene Saguisag. After his senate stint, he was appointed Director at the Department of Agrarian Reform before he went back to private life as Vice-President for Legal Affairs of TVI Pacific, Inc., a Canadian mining company. Thereafter, he joined the Ligon Solis Mejia Florendo Law Firm where he is currently a Senior Partner. During all the years after he passed the bar in 1986, he was actively involved in the the Academe by teaching part-time at the Ateneo School of Law, College of the Holy Spirit, De la Salle University, and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila(PLM), where he was eventually appointed as University Secretary and Legal Counsel. Later on, he joined DLSU as a full-time professor and Chairman of the Commercial Law Department. He retired as a full-time professor when he turned 60 last January 14, 2020 but was re-hired as a part time faculty where he now holds the rank of a Senior Professional Lecturer. In 2011, he took a leave of absence from the DLSU to assume as a Regular Member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) representing the academe with a rank of a Court of Appeals Associate Justice. After finishing his second term at the JBC in 2017, he went back to DLSU to resume his teaching as well as to the Ligon Solis Mejia Florendo Law firm to resume his law practice. His area of law practice is Agrarian Reform, Real Property Acquisitions and Estate Planning and Settlement. For his social involvement, Atty. Mejia is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, the Fraternal Order of Utopia and a proud member of the Rotary Club of Timog-Quezon City.