The Real State of the Nation

Expect lies to honk from the speakers as your president delivers her version of the State of the Nation before the month ends. As usual, she would highlight her government’s “achievements” throughout the past fiscal year. Expect a report of economic growth inspite of global economic crisis, contained unemployment threats (thanks mainly to business process outsourcing), sufficient food supply and productivity, winning anti-terrorism mechanisms, etc. Expect glossy graphs and tables from an economics expert, to bloat the positives and hide the real statistics. Expect a handful of “outstanding” Filipino acheivers like Manny Pacquiao to be given recognition by the government. Expect a runway of solons clad in signature barongs and gowns and jewelries. Expect a showcase of wealth and prosperity as the real state of the nation. Yes, expect a spectacle of lies in the grand cinematic tradition. Expect as well public agitations and uproars. It won’t be a special day. Only a realization that we had been toyed for five long years, and we just sat and watched, letting all the lies to run our lives. The choice is ours. Let the whole world know of the real state of our nation.

Just a glimpse of the conditions gripping our nation today:

We are still hounded by massive graft and corruption, and the government agencies fail miserably in eliminating this chronic vice basically because it is rooted from the very government bureaucracy itself. All the laws are the there supposedly to arrest the manic situation, but the people who are tasked to implement these laws can even be guilty of the crimes themselves. Years in and years out, we had been treated to corruption scandals like the ZTE- NBN deal that probably points to the Malacañang as the culprit. Unexplained multi-million government spendings like the trips abroad (either “official” or the whimsical “support” trip to the Pacquiao bouts) at the expense of public coffers – remain unchecked; the responsible officials remain unaccountable to the public.

The number of extra-judicial killings of journalists and political activists continues to grow by the day. And we have their executors-perpetrators being rewarded with seats in the halls of Congress. Convicts of heinous crimes are being given summary pardon by the chief executive, presumably for possible political favors or for popularity from the masses. The drugs maze remains a no-brainer for the government task forces – they try and try formula solutions.

Hail to our English-speaking Filipinos! Global employment is no problem. We send our heroic domestic helpers, nurses, teachers, doctors – name them, we have them – abroad. Or, we don’t even need to leave our shores since the BPOs (business process outsourcing companies) grow like mushrooms right in our neighborhood. Learn some net-surfing and neutralize your accent, and, presto, you’ll have a seat in the call center for a pay that is equivalent to a regular local supervisory job. This has been the flagship of the Arroyo government, thank you. The Philippines will soon become the BPO capital of the world. Ergo, the Philippine educational system should have geared the curriculum towards training the students to be efficient, submissive call center agents. These BPOs not only reflect the Filipino workers’ commendable ability to multi-task; these BPOs represent the Philippine economy as a mouthpiec of global capitalism.

By and large, the Philippines remains a neo-colony of the superpowers (The United States and the rest of the G7) and its creditors (the International Monetary Fund, etc.). Our primarily agricultural lands are being transformed into golf courses, real estates, economic zones, and techno-hubs of foreign investors. The best of our produce goes to the global market, while the tables (if any) of the Filipino masses remain servient to leftovers and under-nourishing food stuffs. The dumping of excess products into our shores, care of the much-in-placed trade liberalization policies, has left the growth of the local industy stunted. Our economy has remained dependent to foreign and domestic loans (read: grants, aids).

The Philippine political and social set up remains a semi-feudal one. The seats in the executive and legislative branches of the government, from the national down to the municipal levels, remain occupied (read: reserved) by the few monied clans, the oligarchs. From this reality, we expect the laws and policies they pass to be servient to their and their cohorts’ interests, while apathetic to the plights of our people.

Despite all the socio-political and economic ills pervading the nation, the Filipinos remain as the most patient, persevering, jubilant people among the Third World countries. Historically too, Filipinos collectively act to oust a system that is no longer serving the purpose of public good. We will see tomorrow how the nation will react to another sets of lies. One thing for sure, we know the truth and we are at the helm of taking the necessary steps in the name of truth and justice.

Puno for President

[THIS ARTICLE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

I support the move to have Chief Justice Reynato Puno run for President. At this stage of our nation's history, we need a leader with the vision, expertise, experience, moral integrity -someone who earns the respect and admiration of the Filipino people and the international community. Chief Justice Puno is the perfect fit. No only does he have the stellar educational qualifications; CJ Puno has the untarnished, exemplary character and reputation required of the leader to correctly push a corrupt government and crisis-laden economy into a glorious destiny.

(from http://www.mb.com.ph/)

CURRICULUM VITAE

OF CHIEF JUSTICE REYNATO S. PUNO

I.PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES:

a. Born on May 17, 1940 in Manila;

b. Married to the former LUZVIMINDA T. DELGADO, former Clerk of Court, Supreme Court;


c. Blessed with three children:

Reynato, Jr., male, born on June 21, 1970, finished college at De La Salle University in 1992 (BSBA Management), an independent businessman, married to Cherryl Mae H. Yap;

Emmanuel, male, born on December 25, 1974, finished college at De La Salle University in 2003 (Human Resource Management), an independent businessman, married to Rachelle Catherine Fabreo, have three children namely: Alessandra Isabelle F. Puno, born on January 22, 2001; Laticia Raquelle F. Puno, born on July 19, 2003; and Elijah Rey F. Puno, born on October 30, 2004;

Ruth, female, born on April 15, 1981, finished college at Ateneo de Manila University in 2003 (Management Economics), currently pursuing Masters in Business Administration major in Marketing at Graduate School of Business University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.


II. ACADEMIC DEGREE:

a. Undergraduate:

1. Finished Bachelor of Science in Jurisprudence, U.P., 1962;

2. Finished Bachelor of Laws, U.P., 1962.


b. Graduate:

1. Finished Master of Comparative Laws, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., 1967;

2. Finished Master of Laws, University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S.A., 1968;

3. Finished all academic requirements of the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science, University of Illinois, Champaign, Urbana, U.S.A., 1969.

c. Honorary:

1. Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, given by the Philippine Wesleyan University, April 1994;

2. Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, conferred by Angeles University Foundation, April 20, 2005;

3. Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, conferred by the Bulacan State University, August 30, 2005.

4. Doctor of Philosophy in Law, honoris causa, Hannam University, South Korea, October 26, 2005.


III. ACADEMIC AND OTHER DISTINCTIONS:

a. As an undergraduate student:

1. Editor-in-Chief, The Philippine Collegian, official weekly student newspaper, U.P., 1960-1961;

2. Chairman, Editorial Board, The Law Register official student newspaper, College of Law, U.P., 1960-1961;

3. Recent Documents Editor, The Philippine Law Journal, official law journal, College of Law, U.P., 1961-1962;

4. Asst. Editor-in-Chief, the 1962 Philippinensian, official graduate annual, U.P., 1961;

5. Recipient, Outstanding Student Award for Excellence and Leadership given by the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity of the U.P. College of Law, 1960, 1961, 1962.


b. As a post graduate student:

1. Grantee, full scholarship given by the Academy of American Law to study the Degree of Master of Comparative Laws (M.C.L.) at the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas;

2. Grantee, full scholarship given by the Walter Perry Johnson Foundation to study the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M) at the University of California, Berkeley, California;

3. Grantee, tuition scholarship given by the University of Illinois of Champaign, Urbana to study the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.);

4. Finished the degree of Master of Comparative Laws (M.C.L.), with high honors and as valedictorian of a class consisting of 23 graduate scholars from various parts of the world;

5. Recipient, American Jurisprudence Prize for excellence in Comparative Private International Law given by the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., of New York and the Bancroft Whitney Publishing Co., of California, 1966-1967;

6. Recipient, American Jurisprudence Prize for excellence in U.S. Constitutional Structure given by the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., of New York and the Bancroft Whitney Publishing Co., of California, 1966-1967;

7. Recipient, American Jurisprudence Prize for excellence in International Organization given by the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., of New York and the Bancroft Whitney Publishing Co., of New York and Bancroft Whitney Publishing Co., of California 1966-1967;

8. Recipient, American Jurisprudence Prize for excellence in Problems of Doing Business Abroad given by the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., of New York and the Bancroft Publishing Co., of California, 1966-1967;

9. Recipient, American Jurisprudence Prize for excellence in Commercial Law given by the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., of New York and the Bancroft Whitney Publishing Co., of California, 1966-1967;

10. Granted honorary citizenship by the State of Texas, U.S.A. in 1966.


c. As a professional:

1. Chosen as one of the Outstanding Men (TOYM) of the Philippines in the field of law, 1977;

2. Chosen as one of the Outstanding Alumni of the Alpha Phi Beta Law, Alumni, U.P. College of Law, 1975;

3. Elected Co-Chairman of the World Section of Prosecutors, 8th Manila World Law Conference of the World Peace Thru Law Center;

4. Represented the Philippines in the legal Congress on the Court Defense of the State Administration sponsored by the Advocate General of Italy in Rome, Italy, 1976;

5. Delegate, International Law Association Conference, Manila, 1978;

6. Lecturer, U.P. Law Center, Institute of Judicial Administration; Professor of Law, F.E.U., 1969 - 1973;

7. Special Lecturer on Constitutional Law, Philippine Judicial Academy;

8. Bar Examiner in Criminal Law, 1979; Bar Examiner in Mercantile Law, 1989; Bar Examiner in Taxation, 1993;

9. Recipient, Araw ng Maynila Award as Outstanding Jurist, June 24, 1987;

10. Chosen as one of the Distinguished Citizens of the Philippines, 1980;

11. Chosen as one of the Outstanding Residents of Quezon City and included in its Honor Roll, 1979;

12. Recipient, Certificate of Recognition, Province of Pampanga for Outstanding Public Service in the Judiciary, 1987;

13. Recipient, Sunburst Award, Arellano High School; Outstanding Alumnus, 1995;

14. Ten Outstanding Masons of the Philippines, April 26, 1990;

15. Chairman, Committee of the Supreme Court digesting its Decisions for distribution to Members of the Judiciary;

16. Chairman, Committee on Revision of the Rules of Court, 1999 up to the present which drafted the Rules of Criminal Procedure (2000), Child Witness Rule, Rules on Rehabilitation of Corporations; Rules on Intra-Corporate Disputes; Rules on Family Courts; Rule on Commitment of Children; Rule on Adoption, Rule on Declaration of Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages; Rule on Legal Separation; Rule on Provisional Orders; and Rule on Violence Against Women and Their Children;

17. Chairman, Raffle Committee (En Banc cases) 1999 up to the present;

18. Working Chairman, First Division, Supreme Court up to May 29, 2002;

19. Chairman, Court Systems Journal of the Supreme Court;

20. Editorial Consultant, Journal of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines;

21. Outstanding Alumnus, UP College of Law, 1996;

22. Grand Cross Award, (March 1998) highest award of the Supreme Council 330 Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of the Republic of the Philippines;

23. Grand Lodge Gold Medal, (April 1998) highest award of the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the Republic of the Philippines;

24. Grand Cross of Rizal, (1998) highest award of Order of the Knights of Rizal;

25. UP's Most Outstanding Law Alumnus 1997;

26. Delegate, UN Judicial Colloqium on the Application of International Human Rights Law at the Domestic Level, Vienna, Austria, October 27, 1999;

27. Delivered Paper on Role of Courts In Protecting Environment in UNEP sponsored conference, Bangkok, Thailand, January 31-February 1, 2001;

28. Headed the Philippine Delegation of Judges to observe Commercial Courts in Sydney, Australia, March 2001;

29. Headed Philippine delegation to the Symposium on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights and Patent Litigation sponsored by the European Patent Office, Munich, Germany, September 10 to 14, 2001;

30. Read papers on (1) Jurisdiction, Categories of Cases and Standing to Sue; (2) Standards and Scope of Judicial Review; and (3) Remedies, ADRs and Access to Information at the Conference on Administrative Law and Environmental Protection, sponsored by the Office of the Administrative Courts of Thailand and the US-Asia Environmental Partnership held on December 7-8, 2001 at Bangkok, Thailand;

31. Delegate to the First International Forum for Training of the Judiciary, Jerusalem, Israel, March 2002; and the Second Forum, Ottawa, Canada, 2004;

32. Participated in Judicial Administration and Reform Course held in Sydney, Australia from June 2 to 21, 2002 sponsored by the International Development Law Institute (IDLI);

33. Participated, together with Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr., in the Round Table Meeting of Chief Justices to Review the Draft Universal Declaration of Judicial Standards under the auspices of the United Nations Center for International Crime Prevention held at The Hague, Netherlands last 25 to 27 November 2002;

34. Presented Philippine Paper in First Regional Seminar of Asian Constitutional Court, September 8-9, 2003, Jakarta, Indonesia;

35. Centennial Awardee in the field of law given by the United Methodist Church on the occasion of its 100th Anniversary, Philippine Wesleyan University, 1999;

36. Certificate of Recognition, 90th Founding Anniversary of the UP College of Law, January 12,2001;

37. Chairman, 1994 Board of Judges TOYM;

38. Voted as the Most Outstanding Jurist Activist by the Consumers Union of the Philippines, July 4, 2003;

39. Delivered Paper on Election Disputes: Waste of Means or Constitutional Necessity in the Second Regional Seminar of Asian Constitutional Court Judges, March 31-April 2, 2004, Bangkok, Thailand;

40. First Filipino Recipient of the Distinguished Global Alumni Award, 2003-2004, given by the Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, March 31, 2005;

41. Ulirang Ama Awardee 2005 given by the National Mother's Day & Father's Day Foundation of the Philippines, Inc.;

42. Delivered the Philippine Paper on the subjects Problems between Constitutional Courts and Politics and Legal Basis for the Election/Dismissal of Constitutional Justices at the 3rd Conference of Constitutional Courts Judges held in Mongolia from September 6 to 8, 2005;

43.Has written numerous legal articles published in law journals.


IV. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE:

a. Assistant Attorney, Gerardo Roxas and Abraham F. Sarmiento Law Office, 1962-1963;

b. Tax Attorney; Joint Legislative and Executive Tax Commission, 1963-1967;

c. Partner, Puno Law Office, 1969-1971;

d. Solicitor, Office of the Solicitor General, 1971-1974;

e. Acting City Judge, Quezon City Branch II, 1972-1974;

f. Assistant Solicitor General, 1974 to November 28, 1982; and on several occasions, Acting Solicitor General;

g. Appointed Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals, June 20, 1980;

h. Reappointed Appellate Justice of the Intermediate Appellate Court (First Special Division), January, 1983;

i. Appointed Deputy Minister of Justice, November 7, 1984 and on several occasions as Acting Secretary of Justice;

j. Acting Chairman of the Board of Pardons and Parole, February 1985;

k. Appointed Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals, August 1, 1986;

l. Appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, June 1993;

m. Member, House Electoral Tribunal, 1998-1999;

n. Member, Senate Electoral Tribunal, 1999-2002;

o. Member, Presidential Electoral Tribunal;

p. Chairman, House Electoral Tribunal, May 30, 2002;

q. Chairman, Third Division of the Supreme Court, May 30, 2002;

r. Chairman, Second Division of the Supreme Court, November 2003;

s. Chairman, Senate Electoral Tribunal, November 2003 to present;

t. Chairman, Committee of Zero Backlog of Cases.



V. CIVIC AND CHURCH AFFILIATIONS:

Church:

Puno United Methodist Church - No. 33 Holy Spirit Drive,Don Antonio Heights, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City

Congregation:

Morning Congregation
Vesper Congregation
MASA Mission

a. Lay Preacher, United Methodist Church; present Chairman of the Administrative Council, Puno Memorial United Methodist Church; past Chairman of the Administrative Board of the Knox United Methodist Church, the biggest and oldest Methodist Church in the Philippines;
b. Elected Sovereign Grand Commander, Supreme Council of the S.G.I.G. of the thirty-third and last degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Philippines (1991-1994);
c. Elected Grandmaster, Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the Philippines, (1984);
d. Knights of Rizal;
e. Integrated Bar of the Philippines;
f. UP Law Alumni;
g. Alpha Phi Beta Alumni.

Campus Press Freedom

I just have a first-hand experience of censorship. Ironically, it occurs right at the corridors of the College of Law, by no less than the appointed editor-in-chief (EIC) of the Manila Law Journal.

I don’t mind submitting my opinion article under the scrutiny of the EIC. However, the authority of EIC to edit one’s work has its limitations. The EIC should at all times be wary of censorships as this would be anathema to freedom of expression, one of the emblems of democracy. To practice censorship is to muddle with democracy. Thus, when the said EIC castrated my article and showed it to third persons (tantamount to publication) wihout first (at the very least) consulting its author, the EIC becomes guilty of censorship.

Upon confrontation, the EIC managed to profess that as the appointed EIC, she has the “power and prerogative” to edit, censor, and decide what comes out for publication.

The article pertains to Back to the Basics which has been published here. My vehement contention is the EIC’s indiscriminate tinkering of the last paragraph. I anticipate (should she insist on her derelicition) the following lines to come out instead of its original form:

“Then, we must pass these tests to achieve our vision. Students, STUDY IN THE GRAND MANNER – WITHOUT EXCUSES! Facilitators of learnings (Law Professors), TEACH WITH PASSION AND COMMITMENT! Our commitment must begin HERE and NOW – right before MLC perish into oblivion.”

That is not the way I write! Definitely, I would not use ALL CAPS coupled with exclamation point unnecessarily. Worse, the power-tripper EIC had taken the context all wrong. There are other unfair editing she made in the whole manuscript, but it is sufficient to zero in on the above paragraph. Her comments maintain that my lines were “reprimanding the professors here!” She justifies that

“We don’t have an edge. We are not good/exemplary students sir!”

I suggest that she go over the whole article and comprehend its context.

Being a de facto EIC does not give her the blanket authority to edit her Associate Editor’s commentary without the latter’s consent, for such act is a clear attempt to butcher freedom of speech. Freedom of speech and of expression are not absolute, alright. The Editorial Board may edit its staff’s work when such work, among other grounds, tends to espouse unlawful endeavors, or endanger a person or property, or promote immorality, or pose a threat to national security, or had been obtained through illegal means. Even then, there lies a thin gray line between the exercise of editorial prerogative and prior restraint. In case of conflict between editorial prerogative (aka prior restraint), freedom of expression prevails. That may be a bitter lesson that we have to take under a democracy. Absolutely, censorship has no place in a democracy.

Taking a lesson from the dark years under Martial Law, the writers either allowed their works to go under the hatchet blindly or they butchered the butcher himself.

Last week:

A text message from the Journal’s “adviser”, said the “EIC” threatens to remove me from the editorial board of the Manila Law Journal. She (the bogus EIC) takes this act single-handedly, allegedly, because of my unprofessional and ubecoming [conduct]. The nerve of her to announce such bold, violative scheme.

Let me now raise the legal issues surrounding the matter.

1. Law students’ publications are covered by Republic Act 7079, or the Campus Journalism Act of 1991. This I verified with Rep. Teddy Casiño, one of the proponents of the law.

Teddy and I were together in the student movement at that time – I was the National Director for Advocacy of the Natonal Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), while he was the President of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP). The NUSP then criticized Teddy and the CEGP for allowing themselves, wittingly, as instruments in legislating a rather touted as oppressive and delimiting enactment. With rectificatory tone, Teddy and CEGP concluded that we could as well maximize the law in favor of freedom of the press. But as expected, school adminstrators across the country have used the law to perpetuate oppressive acts in violation of our constitutiional rights to speech, expression and of the press.

Hence, going back to the EIC case, the Manila Law Journal is covered by RA 7079.

2. The law specifically provides that the student publication shall be independent, “published by the student body through an editorial board and publication staff composed of students selected by fair and competitive examinations. Once the publication is established, its editorial board shall freely determine its editorial policies and manage the publication’s funds.”

On the other hand, Sec 1. Rule VII of the Implementing Rules, provides:

SEC. 1. Selection of Student Staff Members. – The selection of the chief editor and other members of the staff of tertiary student publication shall be through competitive examinations prepared, conducted and supervised by a committee composed of a representative of the school administration, one faculty member, one mass media practitioner who is acceptable to both (school administration and editorial board) and two past editors to be chosen by the outgoing editorial board.

No fair and competitive (editorial) examination ever took place. There were only three students who took the exams last year, among whom was the bogus EIC (beic). Interestingly, the bogus EIC, being the Legal English teacher of the College, was the one who conducted the exam. Viola, where on earth could you find an examinee being adminstered by herself as the judge? If she desired to be part of the publication, she could have at least inhibited from being a judge, or vise versa, be a judge and not take the exam. A double personality, a case of conflicting interests. Pronto, this bogus EIC said she was appointed by the Dean to head the publication and gave her the blanket authority to appoint her staff. With due respect to the venerable Dean, but as students of law, would we allow ignorance of the law to reign in our College of Law?

Before the whole scam, I inquired from the Dean’s Secretary if I could still take the exam, having learned from her that no editorial exam had been called so far. She assured me that there was no need for the exam as the editorial board was already being consolidated by this beic. Ironically, I coordinated with the beic, who outright appointed me as her Associate Editor. I admit my fault for perpetuating the seeming conspiracy. I did attempt to seek for the exercise of the proper process, but thinking that perhaps indeed no student was interested to form the publication, I blindly danced to the beic’s cacophony.

Several meetings were held – by only I and the beic. The first was rather awkward. We spent a couple of hours in a cafe, only to listen to her private stories. I had to cut her several times to get to the bottom of the meeting. In other words, the whole concept of the next issue emanated from me, since her only concern was the layout. Why would she trouble ourselves early with the layout when there were no articles yet to layout? She did not even bother to think about the theme. But anyway, it was my moment of privilege to iron out my ideas, thank you. Thereafter, I busied myself doing research and writing the commentary as well as the case digests. (Was I hallucinating or having a delusion of grandeur to claim that we could produce a scholarly journal)?

Thus, the editorial board has been void from the start. Ergo, it cannot validly publish in the name of the student body and utilize the publication funds for that purpose.

3. The contents of the publication are determined by the editorial board through a deliberative process, and not singularly by the editor-in-chief nor by the adviser.

However, supposing that the subject editorial board is legitimate, the herein beic exclusively edited the manuscripts sans the proper deliberative process. She contended that “the edior-in-chief” has all the power and authority to decide what comes out in the paper, and can remove an erring editor and staff.” Whooa, such whimsical power! She might think that she was acting as an adviser for an elementary school paper. Ironically, none of her appointed staff seems to have the gut to question her capricious acts.

4. The appointment of an adviser is optional, according to the decision of the editorial board.

And once the editorial board decides to have an adviser, the latter’s function is limited to “technical” advising. In other words, the appointment does not grant the adviser the authority to interfere upon the contents of the publication. The principle behind this is to allow the students (editors and staff) to manage the publication among themselves, and mature into professional, competent, responsible journalists. The technical aspect would be analogous to making sure that no law is violated by the student editors and staff.

Sure, I always believed even way back my college days, that what transpires in the campus are but the microcosm of the larger social realities. Attempts may be made by power-greedy individuals (wittingly or unwittingly), but these attempt would succeed only if we remained passive, blind and numb to their impacts. What use do our vigilant eyes and dissenting voices have in a democracy? Otherwise, let us all go back to the monolithic eras when laws were mere tapestries of disguise.