Mabini Hall - Access to Justice

Finally, Republic Act No. 9211, or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 is fully in effect. All forms of tobacco advertising in mass media are now prohibited. Did you notice? With the increasing awareness and evidence of the harmful effects of smoking and the snowballing anti-smoking movement globally, it is time we cut big tobacco to size. But first, on human stupidity. [Read more →]

What do you say my fellow Filipinos? Shall bid for the right to host the Olympics right here in Manila in 2020? If Beijing and the other world cities can do it, why not the capital of the 90-million strong hardworking and creative Pinoys? Let’s imagine the possibilities. [Read more →]

The State of the Nation Address aside, one burning issue is the advertisement of products by national politicians. You see them on big billboards endorsing bath soaps, laundry detergents, food supplements and skin care. Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago complained to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that such constitutes premature campaigning and partisan political activity and is a violation of the spirit and intent of our election laws. The Comelec recently ruled that no law was violated and promptly referred the matter to Congress for more legislation. And we thought we had more than enough laws. [Read more →]

This city law is long overdue. It regulates the selling and serving of liquor and alcoholic beverages in licensed establishments. In many countries worldwide, the sale of alcohol is heavily monitored. Alcohol licenses are limited and difficult to get. In the Philippines, anyone can just start selling alcohol to anyone, anytime. In fact, our babies learn to drink from their bib bottles before they walk. [Read more →]

The other title to this article is “To convert or not to convert.” With the effective doubling of fuel prices, I am referring to the conversion of vehicles to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to save on gas. The cost of conversion ranges from P37,000 to P60,000 depending on the type of vehicle. [Read more →]

There is nothing so fantastic and so heartening than a letter to the President of the Republic of the Philippines. It is directly addressed to the highest and most powerful officer of the land, President Gloria Arroyo, with the one-line address of Malacañang Palace, Manila. How simple can it get—an ordinary citizen writing a complaint against an abuse or asking for help? [Read more →]

Dead bodies are still floating but the blame game is already in full swing. Fingers are put to good use—pointing to everyone else for the ferry tragedy that caused the deaths of 800 innocent lives and a multiple of that for the shattered families. As with all investigations, talk shows and media reports, the issues get murkier.

Let’s sort this mess out, shall we? The basic document between the common carrier and the passengers is a contract of carriage. It is an agreement to safely transport passengers from point A to B as far as human care and foresight can provide, using the utmost diligence of very cautious persons with a due regard for all the circumstances. In legal jargon, the standard of care required is extraordinary diligence because of the public nature of the carrier. [Read more →]

Let us first observe a few moments of silence for the safe return of our dear Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, freed from her captors after a week’s ordeal.

To begin with, these bandits we call “Abu Sayyaf” for lack of a better term to label them since they employ similar methods of violence and operate in the same geographical area. There is no evidence on the ground that it is the same dreaded ASG that until this incident has largely been neutralized, marginalized and almost banished from our national media, hence, our consciousness. [Read more →]