Constitutional law experts are having a field day. It is just as well that laymen are alerted to constitutional concepts which have a profound effect on their lives. For the Constitution is the fundamental law.
All public officers and employees must submit a declaration under oath of their respective statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) on April 30. In accomplishing the SALN, they could learn a lesson or two from arguably the most scrutinized SALN in Philippine history: that of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona. Corona is on [...]
The impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona has put the spotlight on an otherwise nondescript document that all government officials routinely file annually: the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN). The Senate, sitting as impeachment court, will decide whether or not Corona has violated the Constitution by failing to disclose his SALN [...]
For 2012, government officials are going to fill out a new form of SALN prepared by the Civil Service Commission, one which includes a new feature: personal and family expenses. Personal expenses: food clothing travel toiletries mobile phone plan Family expenses: home mortgage electricity water tuition groceries Following revelations about Corona’s SALNs, it is worth [...]
The massive flooding that hit Iligan City at the height of Tropical Storm “Sendong” was a natural calamity made worse and a lot more fatal by illegal activities.
Like the couple in the movie, “Titanic,” the parents of Jude Buot, Elmer, 61 and Maria, 56, were trapped in rising waters and faced death together.
“Who would have thought a flood could bear so much force to bring my house down and wash it out to sea? I live in a middle-class subdivision in Santiago, Iligan City, called Orchid Homes and it is now leveled to the ground. The entire row of houses where my neighbors and family dwelled, crumpled against rampaging floodwaters and all that is left are bent steel and debris,” Edward Banawa said as he recounted his ordeal.
Days before the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, evidence which otherwise should have been first brought before the Senate made the headlines, triggering accusations of trial by publicity.
On the Supreme Court, Judge Learned Hand quipped “it would be most irksome to be ruled by a bevy of Platonic Guardians … I should miss the stimulus of living in a society where I have, at least theoretically, some part in the direction of public affairs.”
Asia News Network (ANN) magazine’s list for 2011 was a mix of those who made a difference positively and negatively in society. Regardless of their contribution—whether for the greater good or otherwise—their lives provided the public precious lessons. AsiaNews’ Asian of the Year was Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, who was recognized for raising important issues in China to the general public through his art and blog at the risk of his own life.
The sooner we realize that disasters are never natural but always a product of hazard and history, that a people’s vulnerability is not a given of place but derivative from the past, the better we are likely to understand what fate might await us in a world of changing climate.
WE can’t spend the next 40 years repairing damage. There must be a way to avoid the repeated loss of lives, and sidestep annual economic dislocations.
