Hector de Leon Now Online

I first encountered Hector de Leon during college, when his books were the required reading materials for our Obligations and Contracts and Partnerships and Corporations class. I would later find out during law school that he has authored numerous books covering a wide array of legal topics, rivaling perhaps only Jose Nolledo (If you are a law student and you have not been hiding under a rock, I'm sure you have encountered de Leon). Because he has written books for a wide spectrum of law subjects, he may be suspected as a Jack-of-all-trades, master of none type. But make no mistake, he is a successful author because he writes in a clear and understandable manner especially helpful to students. For that he should be given credit.

Thanks to Lex Discipulus, I have found out that Hector de Leon Jr. (Son of the ubiquitous Hector de Leon, who co-authored some books with his father, I think) has gone digital. He has a blog, Lexoterica: A Philippine Blawg, which can be a very useful tool for law students and practitioners alike. What I like best about his blog is that he makes a summary of the latest Supreme Court cases, which can greatly help lawyers in refreshing their knowledge of Philippine jurisprudence. Perhaps next only to Lawphil, the Supreme Court site and ChanRobles, this is probably the most useful website for those in the legal profession.

Inundation

The bulk of the news today still center on the devastation wrought by Pepeng and Ondoy. It is heart-wrenching to see our brethren helpless amidst storms, floods and landslides. When Ondoy struck, practically everyone in greater Manila area was affected, including us in Malabon. People in our area are used to floods, so the only casualties were the properties not brought to higher ground. Not so lucky were people in other parts of Luzon (notably Marikina and Pasig), some of whose lives were lost. The same goes true for the people in Pangasinan, who bore the brunt of typhoon Pepeng's wrath. For those who lost loved ones, my heartfelt condolences.

It is an anomaly that for a nation hit regularly by typhoons year in and year out, we still seem unprepared for the worst. My father observed that the recent events show that the Philippines is still a country in infancy – we seem to have no set policy and standards on, among other things, disaster preparedness. Almost every action is backed by guesstimation. Tantsahan ba. Hopefully, as we pick up ourselves from the shambles, every person has gotten some learning experience from these events. It is about time, right?

Photo: Dan Saavedra, Flickr, Creative Commons

The Return

After a forlough of several months, I am back to writing (hopefully regularly) in this blog. I'll admit that writing again seems like an unfamiliar territory for me, much like a person who has not ridden a bicycle in a long time. Hopefully, I will get my groove back ASAP.

President Cory: Gone, But Will Never be Forgotten

What I will say might have already uttered a great many times, but no matter. This is my tribute to our beloved President Cory Aquino.

I have to say that I am deeply affected by the demise of President Cory, I cannot exactly pinpoint why. I was only in 4th grade when she stepped down as president. Sure, I saw  her on TV every once in a while. I had a vague idea of who she was and what she represented (through class lessons and stories from my parents). But the significance of what Cory did never really hit me until a few years later, during EDSA II. I would imagine that EDSA II paled in comparison with the original People Power, in terms of magnitude and chutzpah. But that sense of control, empowerment and pride felt during EDSA II  made me appreciate what the Cory-led revolution was and what it stood for.

I also think that the loss of Cory is so palpable because she passed away at a time when our nation is desperately longing for a true leader. We have an abundance of people acting as warlords, but we have not enough people acting as servant-leaders. What I admire about Cory is that for her, power was a means, and not an end. This is, of course, in sharp contrast to the contemporary politicians, who do everything they can to cling to power, and who spend millions advertising on TV, already campaigning for an election which is still 10 months away.

I take my hats off to President Cory. I have nothing but respect and gratitude. I'm sure history will be very kind to her. For what she represented, she will be immortalized in the collective memory of the Filipinos. For all the good that she did, she will always be revered by a grateful nation.

By the way, if you want to offer prayers or condolences to the Aquino family, you can do so by clicking here.

Cheaper Medicines Now

A controversy regarding the Cheaper Medicines Act arose a few days ago, when Senator Juan Ponce Enrile revealed an alleged bribe by one pharmaceutical company. It's not exactly a bribe, more of a donation, in favor of the government. And that is not necessarily a bad thing, and there's nothing illegal with such an act. It is within a corporation's power to donate to the government. In fact, it is a good thing. Taken at face value, giving discount cards for the people to use is a nice gesture on the part of the pharmaceutical company.

The alleged bribery was denied by the company, so we must give them the benefit of the doubt. If they say that there's no intention to bribe, then let us assume that the discount cards were given out of pure gratuity.

Same with the voluntary price cut proposals. From the point of view of pharmaceutical companies, proposing voluntary price cuts can be a win-win compromise for both parties. It is understandable from the perspective of a profit-driven entity to maximize money coming in.

However, these acts should NOT in anyway influence the full implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Act. The implementation of the price ceiling is long overdue, and much needed by the people. We have suffered long enough from having exorbitant prices of medicines. It is only natural that pharmaceutical companies will do everything in their capacity in order to stall or prevent the implementation. But who is in charge here anyway? The government should correct the anomaly in our country of having one of the cheapest cigarettes while having one of the most expensive medicines in Asia, if not the world. The cigarette situation will take a longer time to correct, but having cheaper medicines would be a good start.

Succession Bill: Massive Failure

Trust our solons to make the most inane and opportunistic suggestions.

I had to laugh when I read about the suggestion of some of our lawmakers to pass a Succession Bill in case of a failure of elections next year. The proposed bill will give powers to Congress to appoint a temporary president.

First off, if you were disgusted/appalled/turned off by this suggestion, then the parliamentary form of government is not for you. The set-up that our lawmakers are proposing is akin to a parliamentary form of government. The parliamentary system, in a nutshell, is when we vote for the legislators, and the legislators vote for the prime minister. So when the issue of the parliamentary system in charter change comes up, remember your reaction when you first heard of the Succession Bill, and base you decision with that in mind.

Second, I don't know if the proponents of the bill know their law (as they should, they are the ones who make them in the first place), then it would be patently clear to them that what they are proposing is unconstitutional. The Constitution provides that the president should be voted at large. An exception to this is if in case president resigns, dies, becomes permanently disabled or is removed from office. in such a case, the line of succession will apply i.e. Vice President (gasp!), Senate President (double gasp!), House Speaker (triple gasp!). Another exception is when there is an extra-constitutional move to replace the president (e.g. EDSA, but this will not likely happen in the near future). So there is no way for congressmen to give themselves the power to choose who the president would be, whether acting or not, and whether there is a failure of elections or not. 

Photo: fireflythegreat , Flickr, Creative Commons

An Extreme Disbarment Case

We have some shady lawyers in this part of the globe, but the story of a Florida lawyer is one for hte books.

AP reports about a Florida lawyer who had sex with his clients. But it's not just some simple, consensual sex. The report goes:

[T]he man admitted having sex with his 18-year-old client and another woman in exchange for credits toward her $2,300 fee for handling an assault case.

He agreed to take off $200 every time he had sex with her and $400 when she arranged sex with another woman.

 The end result? Disbarment.