tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91884322026-03-02T04:03:12.697+08:00A veritable fanatic of the Internet. His avocation is teaching while his main vocation is practicing the much maligned law profession. Currently teaching Constitutional Law at the FEU Institute of Law and a guest lecturer at the De La Salle University teaching "Freedom and Regulation in Cyberspace" in the Graduate Program of the Department of Communication. He is married to his beautiful Ateneo law school classmate and is blessed with a daughter and a son.Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.comBlogger191125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-39839339519568080232008-12-16T00:37:00.005+08:002008-12-16T09:00:10.337+08:00

So much has been commented on Mar Roxas' swearing during the Anti Charter Change Rally. The papers found his cussing a novel experience that they had to mention that it was a departure from Mar's usual decorum. Big Deal! [Incidentally, can someone enlighten me why is it when we cuss in Filipino, we damn the mother ("Putang Ina") while the Spanish damn the son ("Hijo de puta")] For one thing,

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-46665916996625060942008-11-12T15:33:00.003+08:002008-11-12T16:22:01.281+08:00

Today, the bloggers made political history.  Led by Manolo Quezon, the bloggers, among others, filed a Motion for Intervention before the Secretary General of the House of Representatives, asking that we be allowed to intervene and include the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain which the Supreme Court found unconstitutional.If you watched the ANC interview of Manolo, it would seem

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-68327727535344177302007-11-13T03:22:00.000+08:002007-11-13T04:03:59.064+08:00

I know that Adel Tamano will not take kindly to the title in this post but there just seems to be no appropriate word for the proceeding that occurred yesterday in the House Justice Committee when it dismissed the Tamano complaint. In deference to Adel who is a Muslim, I could have called it a farce or a staged show but none comes close to aptly describe the stench that filled the proceedings in

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1319256595847121502007-08-26T22:29:00.000+08:002007-08-26T22:38:12.179+08:00

This is a reposting of the issue on the admissibility of the Garci tapes which I posted on 18 July 2005. From the moment the Garci tapes were revealed by Messrs. Paguia and Bunye, everybody concluded those tapes which were surreptitious recordings of cellular phone conversations of Commissioner Garcillano ("Garci") with other people violated R. A. No. 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Act.What are the

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-38776271444051492552007-07-23T23:23:00.000+08:002007-07-24T11:20:21.195+08:00

As a guest commentator for ANC yesterday, I was requested to watch the President's third to the last SONA address. Much will be said about the substance of the SONA or the lack of it. I, however, will not touch on those but would point out the protocol or the absence of it during SONA.In terms of protocol, the whole ceremony and the pre-SONA address went without a noticeable hitch. Two years ago

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-63812379696776428812007-06-18T23:59:00.000+08:002007-06-19T01:03:53.652+08:00

Now that the midterm elections are over, focus will shift back to the Puno Supreme Court. Whether or not political debts will have to be paid, the Puno Supreme Court will be comprised of an overwhelming Arroyo appointees and predictably, the president will exact her pound of flesh. To date, there are only 14 sitting justices - Justice Gregory Ong's appointment is in question before the Supreme

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-29560319454152353112007-05-27T02:17:00.000+08:002007-05-27T03:55:40.148+08:00

While in the thick of the special elections, I have compiled some euphemisms and new terms I discovered and learned during the 2007 elections:1. Clerical error - Getting caught cheating & explaining it away;2. Command votes - Fabricated 12-0 TU sweep in Maguindanao and Bohol;3. Political machinery - The pro-administration's stalled cheating operations;4. Palace reward - fake P500 and P1,000 bills

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-210597927155501232007-05-08T00:46:00.000+08:002007-05-08T02:07:29.895+08:00

I had the opportunity to read the Brawner decision on the case of Jesse Robredo, courtesy of John Nery. Without going too legalese, let me raise my objections to Commissioner Brawner's decision which are replete with errors and ignoring existing jurisprudence on the matter.In order to disqualify the citizenship of Jesse Robredo, Jojo Villafuerte, the petitioner, attacked the citizenship of the

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-5784964848045406722007-02-28T23:52:00.000+08:002007-03-01T00:07:35.239+08:00

Dear Harvey,I read with interest your letter of despair which has spread throughout Philippine cyberspace. I am sure many of us sympathize with your frustration. Certainly, the 7 events you mentioned may give rise to you emigrating from the Philippines. Those events should certainly give pause to all of us who bleed for our motherland.But I must disagree with you on your decision to leave.

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1165515741916330512006-12-08T02:20:00.000+08:002006-12-08T02:22:21.946+08:00

Finally, the bishops have spoken!For the longest time, the bishops have remained tentative owing to the fact that the dislike for GMA was not necessarily a question of good and evil. What they got enmeshed in were technicalities of the Garci tapes that they forgot that cheating, lying and stealing in the presidential elections was a moral transgression.But this time, nobody can doubt the

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1159900051454336302006-10-04T02:27:00.000+08:002006-10-04T02:27:31.716+08:00

Congressman Prospero Nograles is a fool and he would like us to believe that the Comelec officials can do no wrong. Nograles posited the belief that the Ombudsman cleared the COMELEC officials because there was no proof beyond reasonable doubt! But that is not the role of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is nothing more than a glorified fiscal whose province is to investigate anomalies of public

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1159377851248982892006-09-28T01:24:00.000+08:002006-09-28T01:38:51.513+08:00

Last Tuesday, at around 7 p.m., through the prodding of Helga, I decided to drop by and observe the Supreme Court oral arguments. While I may not have been there early, the repeated updates by the DZBB reporters made up for the lack of video coverage.At around 7 in the evening, the Supreme Court was like any government edifice after office hours except for the presence of the two media giants in

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1156784649448145122006-08-29T01:04:00.000+08:002006-08-29T01:31:14.390+08:00

I am an unregistered, unknown admirer of of Legion. No, not the Legion of Mary but the Legion (as coined by MLQ3) of Bengzon, Orosa and LAmbino et al., otherwise known as Legion ng BOLA et al.Far too long, I have suffered in silence against the attacks on the virtue of the people’s initiative, an enlightened provision in the 1987 Constitution. Far too long, my ears grate whenever I hear the case

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1155830791188668462006-08-18T00:06:00.000+08:002006-08-18T00:06:31.230+08:00

1983 was my senior year in De La Salle University.  That year, I defended my Communication Arts thesis, a film project entitled “Kahapon Hanggang Bukas” where my film collaborator was Emmanuel “Nuel” Naval. Unlike me where I proceeded to study law, Nuel pursued his film craft and eventually became an Urian Awardee.  To the best of my knowledge, he is currently connected with

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1152720517434052122006-07-13T00:08:00.000+08:002006-07-13T00:08:37.463+08:00

One of the standard features of a high school examination is the Compare and Contrast test.  Let us then compare and contrast the Garci tapes and the Danny Lim video.First, the Garci tapes indubitably reveals the female voice in the tapes as that of the president.  The Lim video clearly shows Brig. Gen. Danny Lim voicing his withdrawal of support from the Arroyo

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1152642760520211912006-07-12T02:32:00.000+08:002006-07-12T02:32:40.740+08:00

I watched the pilot episode of Manolo Quezon’s The Explainer.   Being the first episode, I was happy with the outcome.The first topic Manolo discussed was the issue of Church and State.  Very timely considering the bishops just issued their pastoral statement.For the first thirty minutes, Manolo explained the history and evolution of the Church’s position on secular dominion

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1152549554593348372006-07-11T00:39:00.000+08:002006-07-11T02:56:27.980+08:00

This part of the Bishops’ pastoral letter regarding impeachment bothers me:“For unless the process and its rules as well as the mindset of all participating parties, pro and con, are guided by no other motive than genuine concern for the common good, impeachment will once again serve as an unproductive political exercise dismaying every citizen and deepening the citizens’ negative perception of

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1151423926382145962006-06-27T23:58:00.000+08:002006-06-27T23:58:46.416+08:00

If the impeachment legal team has been concerned with technicalities of late, manifested by the daily filing of the same impeachment complaint, there is reason for that madness.  And that madness stems from the fact that the House of Representatives is assuredly going to employ the same dilatory technicalities that they successfully employed in the impeachment last year.What

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1150902087037672172006-06-21T23:01:00.000+08:002006-06-21T23:01:27.053+08:00

Atty. Romulo Macalintal is making a mountain out of a molehill.  In an Inquirer news report, he claims the opposition cannot yet file an impeachment complaint because the previous one is still pending before the Supreme Court.  Let us break the sum into its parts.It is true that an impeachment complaint can only be filed once every anniversary year.It is also true that there

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1150300695536501672006-06-14T23:58:00.000+08:002006-06-14T23:58:15.563+08:00

It is the first day of my Constitutional Law Class at the Far Eastern University Institute of Law.  Unlike most law professors which apply escuela brevi for the first day, I take this opportunity to get to know my 38 or so students intimately, and also the chance to orient them as to what constitutional law is all about.It is interesting for law students to be taking up Constitutional

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1150125975171877732006-06-12T23:26:00.000+08:002006-06-12T23:29:38.426+08:00

For the longest time, I have been a fan of the West Wing. Since Channel 23 showed it, I have religiously followed the series with extreme fanaticism. I even bought 2 complete seasons of the series in VCD format at the Powerbooks where to my dismay, the editing by the legitimate distributors was so lousy it would have been preferable to buy from the Pirates of Metrowalk. But I digress.Being a

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1149607981043507832006-06-06T23:33:00.000+08:002006-06-06T23:33:01.056+08:00

Since everybody is into celebrating the first year anniversary of the Garci tapes, I would like to chime in too but will ask myself: What were my beliefs this time last year?This time last year, I believe that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the duly elected president of the Republic of the Philippines;This time last year, I heard the Garci tapes and I could distinctly hear that the female voice on

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1149433928095983612006-06-04T23:12:00.000+08:002006-06-05T11:03:28.350+08:00

I have often heard in many TV interviews that people cannot comment on a case because it is “sub judice” or literally, under judgment. They refrain from doing so under the theory that to speak about the case will affect the administration of justice or the objectivity of the judges.I think the Philippine judicial system should scrap sub-judice from our system since it is one useless vestige of a

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1147277686716153262006-05-11T00:14:00.000+08:002006-05-11T00:14:46.736+08:00

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled adversely against the Palace in three cases, we do not hear much from the Palace mandarins, Charter Change advocates like Sigaw ng Bayan lead convenor, Raul Lambino, and COMELEC Chairman Abalos challenging all anti Charter Change opponents to bring a case before the Supreme Court!Cat got their tongues? Did the 3 decisions put the fear of God in their hearts?

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9188432.post-1146834843287580972006-05-05T21:14:00.000+08:002006-05-06T01:06:52.180+08:00

Just today, our favorite Cabinet official, Secretary of Justice Raul Gonzalez, went to town threatening over the airwaves to file administrative charges against Judge Pozon handling the Subic rape case and Judge Delorinio handling the Batasan 5 case. In addition, he intends, through his subalterns, to ask for the inhibition on the two judges.For the umpteenth time, I think the Secretary is

Edwin Lacierdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02498998943215285752noreply@blogger.com2