Category Archives: Columns

The less-than-perfect results of the mock elections conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reignited legal and technological controversies. Despite some glaring glitches, Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. pronounced the make-believe polls a success. He assured the public that all the defects were “minor” and could in time be addressed satisfactorily. Continue reading →

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous en banc resolution dated Jan. 8, noted a startling statistic that “80 percent of the backlog in the first- and second-level courts involve criminal cases, and that delays in those cases are caused mainly by lack of prosecutors, absence of prosecution witnesses, and lack of PAO (Public Attorneys’ Office) lawyers.” (First-level courts are city and municipal courts, while second-level courts are regional trial courts.) Continue reading →

President Aquino is still studying the surprising proposal of Dean Andres D. Bautista, chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to abolish the agency he heads. Understandably, P-Noy wants to think deeply before sweeping into the dustbin of history the first official act of his mother, the late President Cory Aquino. Continue reading →

To implement effectively the gun ban during the election period, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) authorized the military and the police to set up “at least one” checkpoint in each city/municipality to conduct a “warrantless search” of passing vehicles. Continue reading →

When confronted with a Sandy Hook terror spree as in Connecticut in the United States, or a Ronald Bae shooting rampage as in Kawit, Cavite, the knee-jerk reaction, whether American or Filipino, is abolition. Abolish the gun. Or, more accurately, ban the gun totally. Continue reading →

The interesting “tsika”  among celebrities and common folks alike during Yuletide was the dawning biotechnological age, especially stem cell therapy, as the modern “fountain of youth” to arrest aging and to regenerate body organs. Many stem cell clinics and specialty centers now abound, offering stem cells extracted from sheep fetuses, or from the very patients themselves, or worse, from aborted pregnancies. Continue reading →

This is a sequel to my Oct. 7 column in which I opined that judicial decision-making could be reduced, in its simplest terms, into an Aristotelian syllogism, and that most of the time, the crucial part of the syllogism is the minor premise on whether the facts alleged in the complaint or information have been duly proven. Continue reading →

The Philippines improved its rating in the latest (2012) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI). We now rank 105th (tied with seven others) among 176 countries. We overtook several countries, including our neighbors Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh, which were ahead of us in previous CPIs. Last year, the Philippines ranked 129th. Continue reading →

Acting on the motion of PSBank, the Supreme Court dismissed the bank’s petition to stop the Senate from opening the dollar deposits of then Chief Justice Renato C. Corona on the ground that the case had become moot and academic. The impeachment trial has long been terminated and the Court’s adjudication of this case is no longer relevant or material to the impeachment proceedings. Continue reading →

After two and a half years, President Aquino’s “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” mantra, loosely translated as good governance and good economics, has gained traction. Reason to smile, but not yet to celebrate. Continue reading →