May the ledger presented by Gov. Singson be used as evidence?
The ledger may be used as evidence if the original copy is to be presented. When the subject of inquiry is the contents of a document, no evidence shall be admissible other than the original document itself, except in the following cases: (a) when the original has been lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced in court, without bad faith on the part of the offeror; (b) when the original is in the custody or under the control of the party against whom the evidence is offered, and the latter fails to produce it after reasonable notice; (c) when the original consists of numerous accounts or other documents which cannot be examined in court without great loss of time and the fact sought to be established from them is only the general result of the whole; and (d) when the original is a public record in the custody of a public officer or is recorded in a public office. (Sec. 3, Rule 130, Revised Rules of Court).
