On Charter Change Under The Duterte Administration

Legal Memorandum [1]On Charter Change Under The Duterte Administration: Resolution of Both Houses No. 8 Proposed Federal Constitution by Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares[2] Introduction The specter of another charter change (Cha Cha) is again haunting the Filipino people. While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with amending the Constitution, the moves…

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Tributes pour in for slain Filipino priest

Ambassadors, bishops and journalists describe Father Marcelito Paez as a courageous, patient and exemplary priest   Inday Espina-Varona and Mark Saludes   UCAN  Philippines December 7, 2017 Ambassadors, bishops and journalists paid tribute to slain priest Father Marcelito Paez recalling his “unflinching courage” and patience in building coalitions for justice. Father Wilfredo Dulay,…

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Philippine military under fire over aid blockade

Troops are blocking aid to almost 2,000 indigenous people who fled their homes amid intensifying military operations against communist rebels in Mindanao last week, according to church officials in the southern Philippines.   Students and teachers from indigenous communities in Mindanao stage an indignation rally on December 2 in Quezon City to condemn…

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The Pope to trade unions, “Defend the environment and the work of all”

Photo credit: Vatican Press

In a message at a conference in the Vatican, Francis asks not to ignore the excluded, fight corruption and educate consciences in solidarity. Many Argentinean trade unionists present

Cardinal Turkson and Secretary General Cisl, Annamaria Furlan, at the trade union conference in the Vatican

IACOPO SCARAMUZZI   | VATICAN CITY

“Today there is at stake not only the dignity of the employed, but also the dignity of the labour of all people, and the home of all people, our mother earth.” So the Pope wrote in a message to an international meeting of trade union organizations that took place yesterday and today in the Vatican. In addition to stressing the need to guarantee to all the three Ls: land, lodgings and labour [the three Ts: tierra, techo y trabajo], Jorge Mario Bergoglio denounced the risk related to two other “Ts”, “continued acceleration of changes” and “a paradigm of power, rule and manipulation” that could drive the use of technology. Francis finally asked trade unionists not to ignore the excluded, to fight the temptation of corruption and to educate consciences in solidarity, respect and care.

The Pope did not address a speech to the participants, as it had been suggested, but sent a message. The meeting, entitled “From Populorum progressio to Laudato si’. Work and workers’ movements at the centre of integral, sustainable and fraternal human development” Why does the world of work continue to be the key to development in the global world?”, and was organized by the Vatican Department for the Service of Integral Human Development. In addition to the secretaries-general of Cgil, Cisl and Uil, Susanna Camusso, Annamaria Furlan and Carmelo Barbagallo, who are currently engaged in a discussion on pensions with the government, there are numerous Argentinean trade unionists present at a time when the debate is taking place in Bergoglio’s homeland on a reform of work promoted by the government of Mauricio Macri.  Continue reading

Speaking Out Against Abuse

Photo credit: Our Time Press

Fr. Shay Cullen
7 December 2017

The front cover of Time Magazine for its last issue of 2017 shows a group of brave women who eventually found the courage to speak out against the sexual exploitation and harassment they suffered at the hands of abusive males and made the hash tag #MeToo trend on social media. There is a growing movement to name and shame the women abusers by going public, talking to the media and signing affidavits. Women have been trying to expose the abuse for many years using other hash tags but none has been so successful as #MeToo.

It came to light when some women began to speak out against the well-known Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein. That became world news and many more women then found the courage to tell their story also to the media. He was forced to leave his position and go abroad and has since lost all prestige and power.

According to Twitter, as many as 1.7 million women and men used the #MeToo hash tag in 85 countries around the world. Many better known media personalities and politicians have stepped down or have been fired from their posts as a result of a number of similar allegations being made against them.

This is a movement that could greatly help the dignity of women and to change the male perception of them as objects or lesser human beings that can be used to satisfy their lustful desires and whims. This is a challenge to men to respect and to speak out against abuse and sexual harassment where they know of it.

They ought to take a stand on behalf of women and children and to teach their own children to do likewise. The next generation could be very different if they did so and break down the machismo-dominated attitude that makes some men believe that they are superior and can abuse those weaker and more vulnerable than them. The culture of silence and looking the other way when adults know of sexual abuse and harassment have to change. It is making them complicit and as it is tantamount to approving the abuse. This kind of social media and community education is vital to empower women and children.

In the Philippines the public attitude is slowly changing from indifference to child sexual abuse to that of concern and knowledge of how awful a crime it is and the need to report it and take fast action to help children and women victims to get help. This is not coming from the leadership but from the grassroots. Local and national leadership support the sex industry and the abuse of women and children as witnessed by the local government giving operating permits and licenses to sex bars and clubs where children and women are sexually exploited with impunity. The national leadership allows it despite that fact the sex bars are rife with illegal drugs. They are not a battlefield for the war on drugs. That can be easily won by legislation canceling all the operating permits and closing them down.

There is the growing knowledge that child sexual abuse is a serious crime especially by children themselves. When eight-year old Jessica was on her way to school in Bacong, Bataan, her neighbor Reynaldo Quiambao accosted her and asked her to go buy him a cigarette. She did it and when she came back to him he took her inside his house, into a bedroom and raped her. She was crying and begging to be let go. After the act of sexual abuse, he gave her twenty pesos (about $0.40 ). She went to school and was crying. Her teacher told her to stop crying and asked why but she was afraid of her teacher. When she went home she was crying and courageously told her elder sister Juliet. That was in August 2011. Her mother was very angry and immediately they went to the police and reported the incident. They responded and as it was within the legal time frame the accused was arrested and jailed under the inquest procedure.

The family sought the help of the Preda Foundation legal team and since Jessa was still traumatized she was admitted to the Preda Home for Girls. There, she felt safe and secure from her attacker and was welcomed by the other children who had similar experiences. She took the Emotional Expression Therapy and overcame the trauma and began to be happy and play and study again in Preda. She was empowered even at that early age and she was able to testify in court and point out the abuser and tell her story. It was like another #MeToo. Continue reading

Statement on the Impeachment Complaint against Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno

The Supreme Court is aptly called the last bulwark of democracy. As the final interpreter of the Constitution and the law, the Court occupies a critical role in the protection of civil liberties and the prevention of excesses by both the legislature and the executive. In short, a truly democratic State cannot exist without a stable and independent judiciary, which ironically happens to be the weakest among the three co-equal branches of Government.

An impeachment proceedings is an extra-ordinary way to remove from office a high public official occupying a position created by the Constitution. Because its target is an important public official, such proceedings has a very disruptive effect and must, therefore, be resorted to sparingly and only in extreme situations where the grounds relied upon are clear and compelling.

The impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno comes closely in the heels of the impeachment and subsequent removal of then Chief Justice Renato Corona. We fear that this consecutive attack against the head of the judiciary might create an unintended chilling effect on present and future justices that will eventually weaken the Court.

Without going into the merits of the impeachment complaint, the LAIKO unequivocally expresses its full support for Chief Justice Sereno. Our knowledge of how the Chief Justice conducts herself gives us reason to believe that she is a person of integrity unsullied by any hint of corruption. Her well-written opinions for the High Court are masterful and demonstrate an uncommon probity, impartiality, and intellectual acumen worthy of her high position.

Under Chief Justice Sereno’s watch, the Supreme Court has accomplished unprecedented reforms in the Judiciary, not least its computerization initiative that ensures transparency and accountability in the High Court and in the entire judiciary. Indeed, she is not only a woman of principles but a leader of action as well.

We therefore enjoin all Filipinos to speak up for what is right and to defend our democratic institutions. We also endorse the statement of the Coalition for Justice.

For the Board of Directors of Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas,

ZENAIDA F. CAPISTRANO
National President

Noted by:

+MOST REV. BRODERICK S. PABILLO, D.D.
LAIKO National Director
Chairman, CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity

06 December 2017

Palawan 5 Summit Statement of Support for Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno

We, the 230 delegates of Palawan 5, representing over 100 Christian organizations, denominations, churches and ministerial fellowships in the Philippines do hereby declare our support for Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

In her half-decade at the helm of the Philippine Judiciary, Chief Justice Sereno has served with integrity, independence, and impartiality, conducting herself in a manner that befits her office and consistent with the canons of the Bar and the Bench.

Under her stewardship, the Supreme Court has spearheaded much-needed reforms in the Judiciary to ensure transparency and accountability in the High Court and to uphold the independence of the nation’s last bulwark of democracy.

The Book of Proverbs in the Sacred Scriptures teaches us, however, that “one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked” (Proverbs 29:27). At the first hearing of the House Committee on Justice we witnessed this, as its members brazenly denied Chief Justice Sereno her most basic rights, while her accuser was accorded every concession imaginable to present a poorly conceived case built on hearsay and misrepresentations of fact and law.

We believe that the persistent efforts of a powerful few to impeach the Chief Justice on charges that are clearly baseless and malicious are a brazen move to silence a jurist who has consistently handed down decisions that are pro-people and pro-Constitution.

Thus, the present impeachment proceedings are a mockery of the Rule of Law. These are not only an attack on the Chief Justice, they are an assault on the independence of the Judiciary and the institutions necessary to preserve democracy. Should political forces succeed in removing the Chief Justice by the simple expedient of violating her basic rights, they would have damaged the country irreparably y severely weakening one of the institutions we can rely on to check abuse in government and to uphold individual rights under the Constitution.

A rigged process is ultimately a mockery of the Constitution— and sets democracy for a fall. Our own painful history has shown that a government allowed to run roughshod over the rights of one can only be emboldened to trample on the rights of all. Our own experience of authoritarian rule in the not-so-distant past illustrates the danger we all face if but one person is denied his or her basic rights.

If this administration does not recognize the basic rights of the Chief Justice of the Philippines, how do we expect it to respect the basic rights of any Filipino?

this patent injustice. We call on our fellow citizens to stand with Chief Justice Sereno in the face of this partisan attack on judicial independence. We ask our people to echo her call to come to the defense of the Rule of Law.

The time to make a stand for truth, justice and righteousness is NOW. The time to fight for what is right is NOW.

“… and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.” – Jeremiah 4:2

Palawan 5 Campaign Signature Sheet
List of Members of the House of Representatives 
Materials for Information Campaign:
Briefer on Impeachment
Simplified Answers to Impeachment of CJ Sereno
Judicial Reforms of CJ Sereno
Pray for Chief Justice Sereno