Anatomy of Injustice

Our love to our parents...

2011-04-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

In aid of Legislation..

2011-03-30T00:55:00.000-07:00

a.IN AID OF LEGISLATION (sec 21)

President and the SC Justices are NOT compelled to appear.

If summon by Congress under sec 21, cabinet members cannot refuse to appear and can be held in contempt.

The continuance of such incarceration only subsists for the lifetime, or term, of such body. Once the body ceases to exist after its final adjournment, the power to incarcerate ceases to exist as well. Thus, each ‘Congress’ of the House lasts for only 3 years.

In order for a witness to be subject of incarceration, the primary requirement is that the inquiry is within the scopre of Congress powers (i.e. its in AID OF LEGISLATION)

However, cabinet & dept heads and officials lower in rank can refuse to appear on the ground of executive privilege.The following are the officials under executive privilege in aid of legislation (but not in question hour):

(i.) Senior officials of executive departments who in the judgment of the department heads are covered by the executive privilege;

(ii.) Generals and flag officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and such other officers who in the judgment of the Chief of Staff are covered by the executive privilege;

(iii.) Philippine National Police (PNP) officers with rank of chief superintendent or higher and such other officers who in the judgment of the Chief of the PNP are covered by the executive privilege;

(iv.) Senior national security officials who in the judgment of the National SecurityAdviser are covered by the executive privilege; and

(v.) Such other officers as may be determined by the President.

Executive privilege covers all confidential or classified information between the President and the public officers covered by EO 464, including :

(i.) Conversations and correspondence between the President and the public official covered by this executive order

(ii.) Military, diplomatic and other national security matters which in the interest of national security should not be divulged

(iii.) Information between inter-government agencies prior to the conclusion of treaties and executive agreements

(iv.) Discussion in close-door Cabinet meetings

(v.) Matters affecting national security and public order

Garcillano cannot invoke executive privilege since he is not a member of the executive, he is a COMELEC commissioner.

The power to punish for contempt is inherent in Congress and this power is sui generis. It cannot be exercised by local government units unless they are expressly authorized to do so.

The problem in this case is when the invited personnel invoke his right against self-incrimination and the most common alibi of "I DON'T KNOW YOUR HONOR"

We need to overcome an oppressor's deception

2011-03-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

Oppressors are great pretenders...

I know a leader who masters deception. He performs the abuse discreetly that the victims failed to notice it. He use the tactics and techniques used by oppressors.

Let us use the frog as an example.. If you will put a frog in a pan and hastily raise the volume of the fire, the frog will surely jump out from the pan...

Now, if you will gradually raise the volume of the fire, the frog cannot feel the heat and will die surely without noticing it...So, in this technique he gradually implement a command or order and the people adopted gradually the order without noticing that they had been deceived.

There are series of questions need to be asked in order to overcome an oppressor's deception...Hereunder are the following:

Who is the victim? - it is very important...

What is the nature of the injury? - it is not merely on physical injury...

How the victim been hurt?

Is the abuse or oppression continuing?

What is the means or method of abuse or injury?

Who is the perpetrator, and why does he or she commit the abuse? - mostly on the greedy desire of the perpetrator...

Is the person who actually performs the abuse sent by someone else or under a chain of command or authority? - mostly by the strong advise from the husband or wife...

Your Supreme being is the God of Justice

2011-03-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

My dear friends, "the battle of justice in the whole world is not fought where we think it is. The struggle against injustice is not fought on the battlefield"... Gary A. Haugen.

We, people, should not lost hope of making the difference. We have the strength to oppose oppression but we lack a sense of hope to fight all injustices. As the saying goes.. "No one can make you inferior without your consent"..

So justice occurs on earth when power and authority between people is exercised in conformity with God's standard of moral excellence.

We believe in the Supreme being. No matter what is your religion or belief.. you know that there is a Creator. That Creator has the moral standard for us to obey and follow. Any deviation of that moral standard is the beginning of injustice.

Everyone of us has the duty to fight any form of injustices by inculcating the minds of the oppressed that still, there is... HOPE.

Why do such injustices happen?

2011-03-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

The first question we may ask is, Why do massacres occur?

I believe the reason is because people choose to indulge their selfish and brutal urges to dominate the defenseless. They have chosen to live in rebellion against God or they might have no God at all.How about the Cotabato massacres? Innocent lives are being sacrificed because of so greedy desire to stay in power.

Why does God allow injustice? Why might God permit someone to hack another human to death?

Is it man's free will?

What may be the reason is, I am sure that sooner or later justice will be properly served. The oppressor will be punished accordingly based solely on the offense committed... but how long? or when?. May the people who has the power to give justice to the victims will not vehemently withhold it. They should disclose the truth no matter what. They have their duty to the people, to the court and to the society. My prayer is, may time will come that the offenders will be punished and be jailed up to their last penny.

"Why Me?"

2011-02-23T04:43:00.000-08:00

The world is filled with sadness, hatred and misery... some say, life is unfair. The wicked prosper and the good suffer... the victims often burst - out, "Why me?"

When I was still a baby, my aunt was playing with me by the window sill at my grandparents' two story-house. Suddenly, she lost her grip causing me to fall. By the grace of God, i was able to escape death. What I got were bruises and a broken rib. If only I could talk, surely I would ask, "Why me?"

Due to poverty, at age 12, my parents handed me to my childless aunt who promised to send me to high school. At that very young age, i often cried at night missing my parents...and asked to myself "Why me?"

At 21, I was able to enter the Philippine Military Academy. Sadly, after three (3) years, I was discharged from the service. Again I cried asking God "Why me?"

Despite my long days at work and attending to my family's needs, while studying in law school, I was able to graduate and I took the 2003 bar exams. When the results were released, I browsed the internet looking for my name printed on it. Finally, my wife accepted the truth and said, "Pa, I cannot find your name..."Again, I asked the very question "Why me?"

But I would not give up my dreams easily. Again, I took the 2004 bar exams. On the day of the result, my wife got up early to buy a newspaper but with tears told me, "Pa, still I cannot find your name..." Again, i was not able to make it. This time I uttered those words with so much trembling, "Why me?"

Harriet Beecher Stowe, once said: "Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn", I took the 2005 bar exams hoping that God will find favor on me, this time. Then, on the day of the result, with so much vigor and excitement, my wife woke up early to buy a newspaper. But, after scanning the newspaper from front page up to the last page, reviewing again from the front page without even skipping the obituaries section, she told me with anger, "Pa I cannot find your name and I'm getting sick and tired of your dream..." I felt my world shutter. While other people encourage me, my wife is telling me to give up. I felt I was alone... And the world abandoned me. At that very moment, my body was almost in the brink of collapse, I asked myself, yet no sound escaped my lips even how hard I tried to shout "Why me?"

In the saddest moment of my life. I found strength in the story of a reformed drug addict. He was in the point of committing suicide when the words of his grandmother saved him. His grandmother told him "What are you talking about not wanting to live? Even a little cockroach runs like hell for its life! Are you worse than a cockroach? Are you weak? no dreams, no hopes?" Those words hit him hard and deep. Surely, he was better than a cockroach!

This story has a great impact on me... I AM BETTER THAN A COCKROACH!!! Life is beautiful, but we have to find it... We have to see it... We have to experience it. To find the perfect beauty of life is to make the most of it.

As I reflect, I realize that I have also some achievements. I have a loving wife, five healthy and talented children and despite being born to a poor family, I was able to graduate and now have a stable job.

IN THE SAME WORLD WE CAN FIND HAPPINESS, LOVE AND PEACE... AND IF I WILL ASK MYSELF AGAIN, "WHY ME?" I WOULD RATHER SAY "WHY NOT ME?"