Out of town… again…

Hi, this is Punzi.

I cannot come to my blog starting tomorrow because I have a case in a place 10 hours away by bus. I may be out for the rest of the workweek (but I'll probably blog back Friday). Not bringing the camera this time. Just my tried, tested and trusty iPod.

I may have no internet access there. So please leave a message at the sound of the beep…

BEEEEEEP!

Congressional Inquiry

Just browsing over the Supreme Court decision of Executive Order No. 464.

Some choice cuts from it:

Congress undoubtedly has a right to information from the executive branch whenever it is sought in aid of legislation. If the executive branch withholds such information on the ground that it is privileged, it must so assert it and state the reason therefor and why it must be respected.

The infirm provisions of E.O. 464, however, allow the executive branch to evade congressional requests for information without need of clearly asserting a right to do so and/or proffering its reasons therefor. 

By the mere expedient of invoking said provisions, the power of Congress to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation is frustrated. That is impermissible. w]hat republican theory did accomplish…was to reverse the old presumption in favor of secrecy, based on the divine right of kings and nobles, and replace it with a presumption in favor of publicity, based on the doctrine of popular sovereignty. (Underscoring supplied) 

Otherwise, we shall not have merely nullified the power of our legislature to inquire into the operations of government, but we shall have given up something of much greater value – our right as a people to take part in government.

You may also want to read a comment I made when they passed that executive order. 

The Right to Prosperity

The Rizalist put forth a curious theory yesterday when we had our "side" discussions at the iBlog2 Summit.

The Honorable and new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court apparently elevated the right to prosperity as a universal human right, as opposed to the right to pursue prosperity (which is what we probably have now).

What are the implications of this "apparent" direction the Panganiban Supreme Court is heading into?

There is a "wild" theory that this will be used to justify all the constitutionally off-tangent actions of the current administration. Yes, folks, Proclamation 1017, Executive Order No. 464, Calbrated Preemptive Response, the whole wheel of cheese. Everything can be justified in the name of the right to prosperity.

Disturbing because to do this in the name of such right, the right to prosperity must be given more weight or stature in the heirarchy of rights. Yes, it should be more important that the right to liberty or even life. That's not what I've been taught in law school.

Machiavellian. But come to think of it, not that far-fatched.

But it cuts both ways, my friend. The right to prosperity must be treated both as personal and state prosperity. And this is where the fun begins.

I could, theoretically, sue a bank for not granting my loan application because that would curtail my right to prosperity. And under that principle also, crimes such estafa, unfair competition and even robbery may become unconstitutional. The possibilities are endless.

But why stop there? Why not expand that right to prosperity to "the right to happiness?"

Why? Don't I have the right to be happy?

A day of days…

More than participating and helping fellow bloggers deal with legalities in blogging, iBlog2 was a chance to meet old friends, meet in person old friends for the first time and meet new friends. Indeed, a day of days… pardon my Chronicles of Riddick hangover…

Some pictures:

That's Rebecca MacKinnon from Global Voices Online delivering the keynote. Scouring through her profile, she did not mention her civil status… Tough luck! But I hope she's not married. Even if she is, I'm not the jealous type (heheheheheh…) This is probably the closest I will ever get to my dream Harvard Master's Degree in Law… sigh…

That's Manolo Quezon III delivering his usual brilliant piece on political blogging. A possible future Executive Secretary…

That's Jove Francisco, on leave from his Palace beat in attendance… with Dr. Ronald Meinardus in the foreground…

That's the great Dean Jorge Bocobo in the audience… I was privileged enough to exchange views with "the man"… his deep insight into Philippine current events and his love for Rizal… Sorry, sir. This is the only picture I got of you there… but Ajay got a good picture of us together.

Fellow Pinoy Tech Bloggers Clair Ching and "Supremo" Abe Olandres… million dollar smiles… literally…

Salivating over Von's brand-spanking-new iBook as he liveblogged the event here, here and here… drool…

Here's Attorneys Marvin Aceron and Bong Sison delivering the necessary lessons on libel and linking, the track I moderated…

And that's us getting our plaques for contributing to the event.

Finally met my twin Ron Allan…

Nice to have met all of you there. See you @ iBlog3!

And A Happy Easter to All…

 

 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (20,1-9)

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him."

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.

For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

Black Saturday

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 16,1-8.

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.

Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, "Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed.

He said to them, "Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.

But go and tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.'"

Then they went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment.

They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Good Friday

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (18,1-40.19,1-42)

When he had said this, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.

Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, "Whom are you looking for?"

They answered him, "Jesus the Nazorean." He said to them, "I AM." Judas his betrayer was also with them.

When he said to them, "I AM," they turned away and fell to the ground.

So he again asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" They said, "Jesus the Nazorean."

Jesus answered, "I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for me, let these men go." This was to fulfill what he had said, "I have not lost any of those you gave me."

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus.

Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?"

So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him,
and brought him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.

But Peter stood at the gate outside. So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in. Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, "You are not one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not."

Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because it was cold, and were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine.

Jesus answered him, "I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing.

Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said."
When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, "Is this the way you answer the high priest?"

Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?"

Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not."

One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Didn't I see you in the garden with him?"

Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.

So Pilate came out to them and said, "What charge do you bring (against) this man?"
They answered and said to him, "If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you."

At this, Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law." The Jews answered him, "We do not have the right to execute anyone,"
in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.

So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"

Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"

Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?"

Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants (would) be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."

So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in him."

But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"

They cried out again, "Not this one but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.

And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak,and they came to him and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly. Once more Pilate went out and said to them, "Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him."

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And he said to them, "Behold, the man!"

When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him."

The Jews answered, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God."

Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid,
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" Jesus did not answer him.

So Pilate said to him, "Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?"

Jesus answered (him), "You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin."

Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, "If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar."

When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge's bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your king!"

They cried out, "Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."

Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,
and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha.

There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews."

Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that he said, 'I am the King of the Jews.'"

Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down.

So they said to one another, "Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be," in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled (that says): "They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots." This is what the soldiers did.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."

Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I thirst."

There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth.

When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may (come to) believe.

For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: "Not a bone of it will be broken."

And again another passage says: "They will look upon him whom they have pierced."
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds.

They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.

Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.

So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.

Maundy Thursday

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (13:1-15)

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.

The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist.

Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?"

Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later."

Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet."

Jesus answered him, "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."

Simon Peter said to him, "Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well."

Jesus said to him, "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all." For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean."

So when he had washed their feet (and) put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

True Colors

Chalk up one reason to go against charter change with the people running the government.

Here’s the plan:

1. Attack the Senate to make is appear it sorely needs to be abolished. This accomplishes two things, namely, it prepares the people to actually want charter change. Also, it diverts the people’s attention away from it’s own performance (which is pass the budget 8 months late, with increasing pork as the only major revision).

2. With the Senate out of the way, it can the pretty much the hell it wants.

But on second thought, the people merely got the government they deserved. Once again I say, by allowing themeselves to get paid (and even outright seeking payment at the outset), the electorate reduced itself to paid hacks. Those elected will naturally lose respect for them, since they know it does not matter how well or how poorly they served the public good. Come election time, what only matters is how much they will get paid.

Oh, well!

One year hence…

It has been a year since we have agreed on the present custody arrangements for Bea and Nico.

But the result of the 12th visit has remained the same as the 11 before it. 12 no-shows.