Category Archives: Columns

Former president Joseph Ejercito Estrada won the mayoralty race in Manila. The Commission on Elections proclaimed him the winner, and his opponent, Alfredo Lim, publicly conceded his victory. In fact, he will take his oath and assume office this noon. However, a legal challenge earlier dismissed by the Comelec may have gained some traction due to a very recent en banc  jurisprudence, Comelec vs Jalosjos. Continue reading →

The Supreme Court launched recently in the Regional and Metropolitan Trial Courts of Quezon City a new pilot program, called “eCourt,” to automate the trial courts. The aim is to speed up the delivery of justice by reducing case processing time, eliminate sources of graft, and improve public access to performance information in the lower courts. Continue reading →

The discrepancies, variances or differences (or whatever the Commission on Elections wants to call them) between the manual count and the electronic count made by the PCOS machines present formidable basic problems which I think must be solved by definitive legislation. Continue reading →

Applauding the economy’s giant 7.8-percent leap for the first quarter of the year, the World Bank and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the organization of top business executives of the country, called for the conversion of this naked growth to inclusive growth, one that alleviates poverty and creates jobs for our masses. Continue reading →

Public school teachers, whom the Commission on Elections always deputizes to administer the polls at the precinct level, are the big winners of the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) automated system. No longer required to tally manually the election results, they were spared from harrowing physical work, nighttime terror threats and tedious legal hassles. Continue reading →

Now that President Aquino has thumbed down proposals to change the economic provisions of our Constitution, our officials should turn to other ways of attracting long-term foreign direct investments (FDIs). These are the kind of investments that spur inclusive growth, alleviate poverty and create jobs. Unfortunately, FDIs have, in the past, come in trickles although they have been poured massively on our neighboring countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. Continue reading →

With due respect to the Commission on Elections, I find no legal and factual basis for the proclamation in installment of six senatorial candidates (Grace Poe, Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, Nancy Binay and Sonny Angara) on May 16, and another three (Bam Aquino, Koko Pimentel and Sonny Trillanes) on the next day, May 17. Continue reading →

Despite scathing criticisms damning the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) system, the automated elections will be held tomorrow (Monday) as scheduled. Let us all go out and vote. Continue reading →

The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro forged last year was merely a road map, or a work in progress to attain peace and prosperity in Southern Philippines. Still to be fleshed out are four vital annexes that would lead to the enactment of a Bangsamoro basic law and the eventual creation of a Bangsamoro homeland. (For details, see my Oct. 21, 2012, column.) Continue reading →

Because of the growing worldwide interest in our surging economy, retired Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and incumbent chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy, dissected four controversial decisions on the economic provisions of the Constitution during his recent lecture at the Ateneo Law School. Continue reading →