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Tagalog Translation; Bisaya Translation ‘[Issuing search warrants] requires judgment, circumspection, and yes, holding police power to the higher standard. After all, the greater the power, the less the excuse.’ Speaking as a lawyer and as a human rights advocate, I am twice in grief over Bloody Sunday, the massacre of nine human rights activists and …
Continue reading “When Judicial Orders Become Death Warrants”
“These incidents deserve attention from the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples.” The baseless arrest in Cebu last week of the Salugpongan teachers and elders and the forced abduction of the Lumad children are gross violations of their human rights under international and Philippine law. In particular, the Duterte government violated their right to …
Continue reading “Gross Violations of IP and Children Rights”
Co-authored with Rose Angelique Dizon. ‘We – UP administrators, professors, students, researchers, administrative and support staff, alumni, all academics in the country, and all Filipinos of good will – must all stand together against this travesty’ Humayo’t itanghal, giting at tapangMabuhay ang Iskolar ng Bayan– UP Naming Mahal The campuses of the University of the …
Continue reading “United We Stand. Divided Is Not An Option.”
Citing Associate Justice Marvic Leonen’s alleged well-documented bias against him and his family, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is asking the Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, to re-raffle his electoral protest case and for Leonen, to whom the case is assigned, to inhibit from the case. The rules for voluntary inhibition of judge or …
Continue reading “Justice Leonen and the Marcos-Robredo Case”
Co-authored with Joy Reyes. The following is Part 2 of a two-part series. You can read Part 1 here. Proscription, differentiated from designation, is the process by which the Court of Appeals declares a group of persons, organization, or association as a terrorist upon the verified application of the DOJ with recommendation from the NICA and …
Continue reading “Gross Violations of Due Process in Anti-Terror Law Rules”
Co-authored with Joy Reyes. The following is Part 1 of a two-part series. You can read Part 2 here. Released by the Department of Justice and the Anti-Terrorism Council, the 48-page IRR lays down the guidelines and procedures of the law, and have several salient provisions, including those on warrantless arrests and delisting. Naturally, many critics, …
Continue reading “No Assurance from the Anti-Terror Law’s Rules”
“It has become clear that the SALN has been misused and weaponized.” Over the years, the Supreme Court has made pronouncements about the SALN, the statement of assets and liabilities and net worth required by the 1987 Constitution and special laws. In the case of RE: Request of Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the …
” It is still possible to hold elections even in these times of national health emergency.” Like constitutional change, the postponement of elections abbreviated as “No-el” or “No elections” automatically generates a knee-jerk reaction of suspicion and opposition among Filipinos. In the past, the same proposals were unceremoniously shot down before they could take off …
‘We can all agree that any public disclosure of the SALN should not be done as a result of some ill intent. It is not to be utilized to destroy a political opponent, besmirch a reputation, or exact vengeance against any individual for some perceived wrong.’ This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Read …
‘The Corona impeachment opened a genie, a monster of bad governance and politics, that we must put back into the bottle’ The following is Part 1 of a two-part series. Read Part 2 here. The SALN is required under Article XI Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution and other laws, including Section 8 of Republic …
