SoAR HigH my DEaR GRADUATES

As bright as my morning has started, later today it will even go brighter as my students, the School of Law Class of 2010 will proudly march and receive their degree and title, Bachelor of Laws.

Studying law is never a walk in the park, i keep telling my students that. And now that they were able to hurdle 4-5 long years of study, is an achievement in itself. And I am truly proud of them. I believe in all my students' potential and I can't wait for them to be lawyers.

To my dear graduates, you are a step closer towards your dream and it is definitely within your reach. Never for a moment think that you can not make it, because you can. Keep your goal close to your heart. Fly and soar high my dear class of 2010 and let the sky be your limit.... ADELANTE!

What is LEGAL may not always be right and MORAL

Much to my dismay as a constituent of this beloved Republic and shame as a Filipino, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had the gall to file her certificate of candidacy as member of Congress. I have resigned to the idea that I will have to bear with a President who is as heartless as she is greedy for power, as corrupt as she commits all forms of blunder. I figured it will only be six months more until I will see the dawn of the new day for this country. But lo and behold! She clings like monkey to her post! Now wasn't that part of her SONA?

Whether or not she can run can be addressed in two ways. First, in accordance to the laws of man and Second, based on the ordinance of reason compounded from moral values in recognizance to a higher form of being.

The laws of man is not perfect and yet this is the instrument by which every sovereign is assured of a just and orderly government. Reigning supreme in the Philippines is our 1987 Constitution under which law, the President is disqualified from seeking any reelection which by definition clearly means running for the same office. Obviously, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not seeking for reelection but as member of Congress. Absent any of the disqualifications for one to become congressman, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may thus, run for Congress.

Looking at this issue on a more wider perspective and taking into consideration the wisdom of the law as well the moral, ethical and Filipino traditional values, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo can not and should not run for any other office after her term as President of the Republic. To be President of the Republic is a position that requires utmost dignity which must be wielded by someone with probity at all times even after serving his/her term of office. Upon assumption of office, the Chief Executive has six (6) years to serve the Filipino people and realize his/her vision for the country after which she should pass it on to another person who so rightfully deserves to serve as well. In the case of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo she had nine (9) years. Nine (9) years to prove her worth but patently failed. Nine (9) years of growing a deaf ear from all the clamor and protest from an obviously dismayed constituent. And despite serving for a long period of time, she still had the nerve to say she is not ready to step down from public office. She was supposed to have reached her peak, the twilight years of her public service after achieving the highest position of the land and yet she is willing to sell herself low and short if only to stick like glue to fame and power. If that is not lack of self worth and delicadeza then I do not know what else to call it.

We do not need a law in order to know that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could not and should not run for reelection or any other elective position. For just as man is an imperfect being creating an imperfect law, there is a higher form of law which although unwritten exists right within in the confines of natural law and the dictates of our conscience. For what is legal may not always be right and moral.
Man being a rational being is given a wide latitude of knowing what is right from wrong, and clearly Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo either refuses to see what is right or is just too desperate to cover up her wrong.

Souls and Sirens

Don't you hate it when you hear a siren from behind the back of your car and then you panic to switch lane so the vehicle can pass only to know it's just one those "eyebrow-raising so-called who are you VIP" passing through.. and there you are all caught in the traffic..

Well, there is actually a law as to who can use these sirens.. and the rest are supposed to be ordinary souls like us... Reading Sassy Lawyer's Blog, someone tipped her off about this video and this is so true here in the islands..

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE THROUGH ADMINISTRATION OF INJUSTICE!!!

The video footage showing how the PNPs have inhumanely mishandled the case of Ted Failon seemed like a ghost from the Martial Law past that has come to haunt poor Juan dela Cruz all over again. If the police were too careless and heartless in conducting themselves in this case which involves a famous media person in a public place where all cameras on practically all TV Networks and print media have glued its eyes on, then just like in the horror movies.. "BE AFRAID..BE VERY AFRAID" because only God knows what they are capable of doing to an ordinary blue collared Juan who has been charged (take note, charged and not convicted) of a measly crime.

The police have repeatedly claimed that Ted Failon et.al are suspects for Obstruction of Justice. Truth be told, i am more inclined to rule that the case is one of suicide than foul play or murder/parricide/homicide.

P.D. 1829 or Obstruction of Justice is committed when a person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by committing any of the following acts:

(a) Preventing witnesses from testifying in any criminal proceeding or from reporting the commission of any offense or the identity of any offender/s by means of bribery, misrepresentation, deceit, intimidation, force or threats;

(b) Altering, destroying, suppressing or concealing any paper, record, document, or object with intent to impair its verity, authenticity, legibility, availability, or admissibility as evidence in any investigation of or official proceedings in criminal cases, or to be used in the investigation of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases;

From the foregoing, it is quiet obvious that, intent must be present for such crime to be committed. It makes me wonder why Ted Failon and the rest of the his in-laws are already being arrested as if they have committed a heinous crime tantamount to threatening national safety and security when all that the police could pin them down for was their failure to allegedly report the incident for the sole reason that they have heeded to their human instinct which is to save the life a person, a loved one.

The incident at the hospital showed patent and gross violation of fundamental human rights which should be condemned to the highest degree! I could not fathom what could have been in the minds and hearts of the police when they insisted on taking Ted Failon and his in-laws who had nothing else in mind at those moment but the recovery of their beloved who was in critical condition. I say it is stupid for any person especially the police to recommend and even insist on letting a patient whose life is extended by machines with all the tubes attached to her body be made to undergo a painful not to mention outdated paraffin test. If one is not stupid for thinking such is alright then i say he is a complete idiot. To make matters worse, the police' insensitivity to insist and take into custody the siblings of Trinidad Entong for questioning at a time when their sister is fighting for her life in the ICU at the New Era Hospital was far from lawless and arbitrary, it was completely barbaric. Until the police can completely come up with its own theory and insist that the same is not suicide then there is no crime committed yet, so what is obstructed there?

Ironic as it may be but we no longer feel safe under the cudgels of the persons tasked to protect and uphold our safety. While the police continue to insist on pressing charges against the Failons for Obstruction of Justice in accordance to their own definition and not what the law actually provides, the higher authorities ought to do something. The video footages clearly showed how injustice was administered and until such time when the punishment is imposed upon the very last person who had a hand in the inhuman treatment of the Failons...then we do not need to watch scary movies anymore, we simply open our TV, watch the news and Be afraid..be very afraid..