Mabini Hall - Access to Justice

Another sad, senseless death and it’s Christmas season. A nine-year-old child was shot to death yesterday—hit right in the heart. Another random killing, another family broken, another injustice. Perhaps it is to be expected in this land of ours where everyone packs a gun or intends to, finances allowing.

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The right to reply is the right to answer charges or allegations in the public arena chiefly those in media like newspapers, tabloids and other forms of print media including television, radio and now the Internet.
What happens oftentimes is that a newspaper exposes an alleged scam or wrongdoing in bold headlines and brings a person [...]

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In the news recently, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) employee lost her valuables when thieves broke into her sports utility vehicle parked in the lot between the ADB Building and the Podium Mall. The husband and wife victims lost their personal belongings including a laptop. The car park company, Secure-Citiparking Philippines Corp., has promised to [...]

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Back to colonial mentality and national development. Since the founding of the Republic, we Filipinos have been blaming our colonial past for the state of the nation. The Spanish for the siesta, the mañana habit and the culture of patronage; the Japanese for the rape and pillage and for outstripping us in growth since; and [...]

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This week is turning out to be pretty special. I celebrated my birthday and what better way to celebrate than to speak before 5,000 high school student leaders from all over the land. Their energy level was breathtaking and impossible to match from the opening raucous birthday song as a welcome gift.

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Don’t look now but if you do, that figure is the monthly salary of the President of the Republic of the Philippines—before tax. To most of our countrymen, that is a huge amount that can go a long way to feed a family of five on more than a staple of NFA rice and the [...]

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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 [...]

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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.

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