angelic moo

My son Daniel (or Chip) has a school project that is attracting a lot of attention. He is campaigning for a law to ban the sale of softdrinks in all schools all the way to high school. The project has reached the halls of Congress. Last year, bills were filed in both Houses of Congress and even some sanggunians . While most of the reaction is positive not everyone is happy about his project. There are insinuations that this is a scheme to make Chip popular or that we are using him to advance our own political agenda. Multiple Intelligence International School has a project called “Kid’s Can” where they think of ways kids can make a difference in the world.   So when he was in the first grade we asked him what he wanted to do for the project. At first he said he wanted to stop people from smoking. My wife and I thought that project might be too difficult for a first grader. So we asked him if there was anything else he wanted to work on. He said he wanted to stop kids fr...

There is a curious statement from the Department of Justice on the local government resistance to open-pit mining.  Secretary Leila de Lima recently warned officials local officials that they could face administrative charges for their refusal to allow large-scale mining operations that use open-pit mining techniques.   De Lima said:  “Whenever we issue one [opinion] on any legal issue or concern referred to us, we deem our views expressed therein as having strong persuasive effect especially among government functionaries and, as such, we are entitled to respect." The Secretary’s statement is incomplete and misleading. The principle she is citing is not directed at all government functionaries, but rather at courts to guide them when they engage in the interpretation of laws.  The Supreme Court has held that statutory interpretations of executive bodies (like the Department of Justice) “do not hold decisive sway upon the judiciary bu...

The UP College of Law lost two of its pillars recently.  Professors Araceli Baviera and Domingo Disini, Jr. passed away.  Both were revered as mentors and colleagues who taught generations of law students. They were both my Professors but they taught me the important lessons as their colleague in the faculty.   Prof. Baviera would walk into the faculty reading room at the first floor of the library, with Giov the security guard by her side.   He had been handed a small piece of paper with citations for the Supreme Court decisions.   Giov would proceed to pull the volumes of SCRA off the shelves and put them in a pile next to her.   It would be a pile of books so high it towered a few inches above our heads.   Sometimes there were two shorter piles of books.   Prof. Baviera would then take each volume and read the decisions of the Supreme Court, taking down notes in her yellow pad.     I had that rare privilege of sittin...

See "Bullying the State" at  http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=Bullying-the-state&id=59295

Obscenities in Court Opinions: Some Thoughts             There is a disturbing trend in recent Supreme Court decisions that needs to be immediately addressed.   In a number of cases involving the crime of rape, the word “fucked” appears many times either as part of the stenographic notes of the direct examination of the complainant or in excerpts of the trial courts’ decisions under review.   The word is used as a translation of the complainant’s testimony describing an alleged rape.             The word first appeared in 1983 in the case of People v. Banasen , and since then has appeared in seventeen other decisions.   In these decisions, the word appeared forty-four different times.   The most recent decision is a May 2011 ruling.   The following are the cases: People of the Philippines v. Domingo Banasen, G.R. No. L-55487, Decemb...

Late last year, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo said that the provincial government of South Cotabato did not have the power to ban open-pit mining and should instead review its Environmental Code that prohibited such mining method . [1]   According to Robredo, “The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 does not prohibit open pit mining.   A local government ordinance cannot undo an act of Congress.” [2]   In a Memorandum Circular dated November 9, 2010, Robredo directed the provincial government of South Cotabato to review its Environmental Code.   According to the Memorandum Circular, "[i] n view thereof , you are hereby enjoined to cause the immediate suspension of the implementation of said ordinance pending its review.” [3] Secretary Robredo’s actions in this case are inconsistent with law. a.       Robredo’s legal analysis is flawed.   There is no law that prevents local governments from imposing additional strictures to safeg...