WITH DUE RESPECT

In a 12-page decision promulgated on April 30, 2025, the Eighth Division of the Court of Appeals (CA)—composed of JJs Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela (chair), Eleuterio L. Bathan (ponente), and Florencio M. Mamauag Jr., (member)—declared “NULL AND VOID” (caps and bold fonts in original) the decision, dated May 12, 2023, of Judge Abraham Joseph B. Alcantara…

Much has been talked, broadcast, forwarded, and written about Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born, Augustinian-educated, Peruvian missionary who preferred the seminary over a law scholarship at Harvard, and who, via his words and deeds, quietly demonstrated the calling of every priest—and indeed, of every Christian—to care for the forgotten, the powerless, the outcasts, and…

My curiosity was drawn to an Inquirer item sourced from Kyodo News, that nearly 30 percent of the Japanese engaged in common-law relationships have chosen not to marry because they did not want to change their own or their partner’s name as required by Japanese law, a recent private survey has shown. Moreover, the rate…

On May 1 every year, organized labor always rallies for the same demands: higher wages, security of tenure, lower prices, end of “endo-contractualization” or “5-5-5,” etc. HOWEVER, MY THOUGHTS THIS YEAR VEER TOWARD UNORGANIZED LABOR, mainly the self-employed, those belonging to the so-called “gig” economy like musicians, dance instructors, singers, ballet dancers, and others similarly…

Last Monday’s column (see “Let us celebrate Women Suffrage Day,” 4/21/2025) elicited a lot of responses saying I should not limit myself only to those directly responsible for the grant of suffrage to Filipino women but should hail others who excelled in many private endeavors, achieving equality if not superiority with the other gender. Let’s…