With Due Respect

At the request of Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, I represented our country in the recent Asean Law Association (ALA) “Inaugural Lecture Series on Gender Justice” in Kuala Lumpur, sponsored by the Malaysian Supreme Court. It was keynoted by ALA…

The year 2025 was confronted by an avalanche of news—some historic, many scandalous; some factual, others plainly fake. Including this piece, I have written 52 columns this year, each one a mental exercise in updating with current events, in critically…

Last Monday, I argued that without enforcement, accountability weakens and impunity thrives. Dynasties endure not because corruption is hidden, but because exposure carries little to no cost. The problem is not the existence of political families, but whether our institutions…

In the Philippines, politics is a family business. The numbers are staggering. Political dynasties hold more than 65 percent of all public elective positions, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. Last week, I wrote that dynastic nuances would…

From the ravages of the flood control scams emerged certain surnames, names not too difficult to identify given their long histories of influence and power. Some 38 years after the 1987 Constitution solemnly vowed (in Article II, Section 26), “The…

The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives (HR) has again filed bills to revise the Party-list Law (RA 7941) to “ensure that it stays true to its original purpose of serving the marginalized” and underrepresented. Sen. Risa Hontiveros filed…

Since retiring from the bench, I have witnessed how tech wonderfully reshapes the pursuit of knowledge and justice. Recently, at a seminar on “Decision Intelligence and Supercreativity Leading in the Age of AI” sponsored by PLDT and other MVP companies,…

Last week, I took up artificial intelligence (AI) as it relates to the judiciary. Now, let me say that AI is a force that reshapes every sector and challenges even enthusiasts, like ancient me, to keep up. Lucky am I…

Every great revolution reshaped human life and the laws that protect it. The agricultural age gave us laws on land and food; the industrial age, on commerce and labor; the information age, on computers, data and behavior. Now, with the…

I have written at least eight columns on the outrageous flood control scams, the investigations, the apparent culprits, the laws applicable, and the personalities who could hasten the criminal prosecution, the return of the ill-gotten loot to the national treasury…

Together with the Constitution, the Anti-Graft Law (RA 3019) and the Law of Forfeiture of Ill-Gotten Wealth (RA 1379), I consider the Ethical Standards Law (RA 6713) as the “Bible” of public officials who must therefore obey it especially amid these…

Fulfilling his commitments, new Ombudsman (OMB) Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla issued his “MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 3, Series of 2025” (OMB MEMO), opening to the public—subject to certain procedural guidelines—the sworn statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs) of all…

As secretary of justice, Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla was the President’s alter ego in dispensing justice in accordance with the goals, mission and programs of the appointing authority. He is a major part of the executive team charged with the…

Aping the Supreme Court (and other collegiate courts), the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) announced it would keep its proceedings behind closed doors and will not allow livestreaming, TV coverage and/or viewing by the public allegedly “to avoid trial by…

To be appreciated are the chairman (retired Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes Jr.) and the two members (former public works and highways secretary Rogelio Singson and SGV country managing partner Rossana Fajardo) of Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI). Baguio City…

The TRILLION PESO MARCH and other rallies during the last few days denounced the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) as a mere diversion, a fall guy of sort, and a “palabas.” I would rather give the ICI and its chairman,…

The revelations of Curlee and Sarah Discaya and several officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) during the legislative hearings admitting they received billions of pesos that ended in the plunders’ pockets via the flood control scams,…

Right after President Marcos denounced the flood control scams with his now viral “Mahiya naman kayo,” the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, and the House Infra Committee (jointly with other committees) immediately started their fully televised investigations.     TO AID LEGISLATORS…

The award ceremony last Friday honoring the (1) 20 law scholars, (2) five MBA fellows and (3) nine dissertation writing winners of the Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity (FLP) drew, if I may be permitted to humbly say, the admiration…

The Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity (FLP) will award 20 legal scholarships at P250,000 each (or a total of P5 million), five fellowships to students taking Master of Business Administration (MBA), or its equivalent, specializing in entrepreneurship, sustainability, management, economics…

To vent his frustration over the Senate’s 19-4-1 vote that “archived” the Articles of Impeachment filed by the House of Representatives (HOR), Senator Tito Sotto is reviving the long-archived proposal to revise and/or amend the Constitution, more popularly referred to…

Much has been written, broadcasted and streamed disagreeing with, nay, criticizing heavily, the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court in Duterte v. House of Representatives or HOR (July 25, 2025, per SAJ Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, en banc, 13-0-2) declaring unconstitutional the…

 On July 14, I wrote that the Supreme Court disciplines its members. Question of readers: Does it also discipline the justices of the Court of Appeals, the Court of Tax Appeals and the Sandiganbayan as well as the trial judges…

Last Monday, I raised three major issues in the Konektadong Pinoy bill (KP) recently passed by Congress and awaiting presidential action. These are the violations (1) of, and the consequential inability of the government to avail of the protection granted…

        Essentially, “connectivity” refers to the capacity to be linked and to transmit voice and data to and from computers, mobile phones and similar devices via Wifi, the internet, data and other modern transmission facilities. It seamlessly…

The Constitution gives our Supreme Court enormous powers and duties, mainly, to (1) “settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable”; (2) “determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack…

In line with its Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) from 2022 to 2027, the Supreme Court is initiating “High-Performance Courts” by creating key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics, like those used in the private sector to measure the…

In my column on March 24, I wrote that the pivotal issue in the case against former president Rodrigo R. Duterte in the International Criminal Court in The Hague is whether the ICC has acquired jurisdiction, given that (1) under…

Voting 18-5, the Impeachment Court (IC), in an unusual and unprecedented action, remanded or returned to the House of Representatives (HOR) the Articles of Impeachment (AI) seeking the removal from office and the disqualification to hold public office in the…

Normally, Supreme Court justices are looked upon as a revered set of gruff, unsmiling, cold, and unreachable demigods loftily perched on Mount Olympus. The rare time they are seen in public is during oral arguments when they don their black…

In People v. Alcantara taken up last Monday in this space, the government elevated the acquittal by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Mandaluyong City of former senator, former secretary of justice, and now representative-elect Leila de Lima to the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

I thank top election lawyer Romulo B. Macalintal for reminding me that the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. proclaimed April 30 of every year as Woman Suffrage Day through Presidential Decree No. 2346 dated March 29, 1984. HISTORICALLY, SINCE…

The Supreme Court has required the Senate and the House of Representatives to comment—within a non-extendible period of 10 days from notice—on the petition of 1Sambayan coalition to compel Congress to enact an anti-political dynasty law. It also consolidated the…

Former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his wife Imelda, et al., won Civil Case No. 0033 (later subdivided into eight complaints denominated as Civil Cases 0033-A, 0033-B, 0033-C, 0033-D, 0033-E, 0033-F, 0033-G, and 0033-H) involving the coconut levy funds and…

After my column on “Rejuvenating Baguio” was published on Jan. 13, I received numerous pleas from the occupants of lots and condominium units and golf course proprietary members in Camp John Hay in Baguio, lamenting their ejection from the lots…

Comments long and short, wide and narrow, partisan and neutral on the indictment for the crime against humanity of mass murder, arrest in the Philippines, airlift via a chartered jet to, and detention in The Netherlands of former president Rodrigo…

In Manalese v. Ferreras (Nov. 25, 2024, per J. Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, Third Division, 5-0), the Supreme Court stressed the hornbook doctrine that buyers must examine very well the property, item, or goods being sold; the relevant deeds of…

Alberto “Bert” David Lina may have passed to the Eternal Kingdom, but his legacy of love for his family, for his work, and for God will pervade this eulogy (that I edited and abridged to fit my limited space here)….

Pity the Supreme Court justices. Their clogged dockets are being crowded further by numerous new “transcendental” cases. Most, if not all, involve constitutionality issues that are elevated to the banc and invariably need time-consuming oral arguments. Several refer to “gravely…

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognize and proclaim the integrity of the family and the sanctity of marriage. So do our…

Last Feb. 4, the Supreme Court held oral arguments on the petition filed by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and others against the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Department of Finance (DOF), the Executive Secretary, and the Philippine Health Insurance…

In litigations between the parents, the children’s interest is paramount. Even while abroad, the mother is still preferred over the father in the sole custody of children under seven years of age. Since her work abroad as an overseas contract…

Among the hundreds of executive orders (EOs) signed on Jan. 20 by United States President Donald Trump, the EO which unduly limits birthright citizenship—the inherent right to American citizenship of those born in the US—is plainly disadvantageous to the Fil-Ams…

In my Jan. 6 piece concluding my four-part series on stem cell therapy, I said that in 2003, I wrote a book titled, “The Bio-age Dawns on the Judiciary.” Many readers asked: Why were the Supreme Court and I interested…

In two past columns, I chastised the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its chair, George Erwin Garcia (GEG), whom I have known to be an eminent election lawyer, for repeatedly committing grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess…

In my last four columns, I wrote about rejuvenating humans via stem cell therapy. Let me now discuss the rejuvenation of my old-time favorite Baguio City. During the ’50s and ’60s when most readers were not yet born, we of…

I will now summarize my long conversations with Dr. Daniel Block and Dr. Andres Morato, report on my own healings, and venture my personal views on the mystery of stem cells. NO REJECTION OF THE STEM CELLS FROM THE EMBRYO of…

To my utter surprise, my column last Monday, (“Scotus legalizes bribery”) drew a record number of applauses (and some applesauce) via emails, texts, and phone calls from here and abroad. FROM NEW YORK CITY, a reader who prefers to be…

The dizzying political turmoil in the United States has come to a peaceful halt. It started a month ago when incumbent United States President Joe Biden stumbled in refuting the many lies of his opponent Donald Trump. In a follow-up…

Not until our country won the 501-page, unanimous Arbitral Award (AA), dated July 12, 2016, did the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) become a household name in the Philippines, in Asia, and in the world. Yet, it is the oldest…

After reviewing the significant decisions of the Supreme Court in 2023, I thought I should share little-known ones that may affect or be of interest to both lawyers and ordinary people. FIRST, UNDER THE FAMILY CODE, children conceived or born…

The buzz words among seniors, especially incumbent and retired jurists, are what I call “lovely longevity”—the art of putting more life to our years under God’s providence, not just adding more years to our lives. I have several chat groups…

I will not fly Qatar Airways (QR) anymore. Neither will I recommend it to anyone. It has failed multiple times to honor its commitments. The money part may matter, but the broken promises matter most. A year ago, on July…