According to the Official Gazette website, the State of the Nation Address or SONA is the once-a-year event when our President faces a joint session of Congress and “reports on the state of the country, unveils the government’s agenda for the coming year, and may also propose to Congress certain
July 26, 2023
The recent drama in the House of Representatives is a teaching moment for us. It is an opportunity to learn a fundamental feature of the 1987 Constitution. Note that 78% of our people know nothing about our charter. An “appalling statistic” according to one law school dean. And so, every
June 16, 2023
In 2021, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, released a report examining the “threats posed by disinformation to human rights, democratic institutions and development processes”. The report asserts, “There is growing evidence that disinformation tends to thrive
May 30, 2023
Social media was abuzz with criticisms of President Bongbong Marcos’ much ballyhooed official visit to the United States. Most complaints were about him traveling abroad while the country faced serious and urgent problems. The fact is, as our top diplomat, part of the president’s work is to maintain strong relations
May 17, 2023
Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez filed a few weeks ago House Bill No. 69, which if enacted into law will be known as the Blue Economy Act. The primary goal of the bill is to “Adopt blue economy as a framework for sustainable and safe use
April 22, 2023
Apolinario Mabini comes to mind now because we are flirting with Charter Change or Cha-Cha once again. Many legal scholars consider him the first Filipino constitutionalist. Unfortunately, today’s Cha-Cha move will probably fail just like previous attempts, given the philosophical stalemate between the House of Representatives and the Senate. Nonetheless,
March 27, 2023
Whether we like it or not, the Charter Change or Cha-Cha televised debates have shown us that in many instances, our constitution is indeed the problem and amending it is the only solution. Pertinently, we have also learned from these public discussions that there are actually only two plausible modes
March 1, 2023
As per the 1987 Constitution, we hold elections for local officials in the Philippines every three years. Moreover, the charter also mandates that no local official can serve for more than three consecutive three-year terms. So theoretically, a governor, mayor and sanggunian member can only stay in office for a
February 16, 2023
It struck me as ironic that a lot of people commended the filing of a bill mandating the inclusion of constitutional education in our curriculum. First, because this is essentially an admission that we have not been studying our 35-year-old constitution. Which probably explains why close to 80% of Filipinos
February 6, 2023
Press Secretary, Trixie Cruz-Angeles, aims to give digital media influencers (bloggers and vloggers) more access to presidential press briefings via a revamped accreditation system. Her predecessor, Martin Andanar, started the practice of allowing select social media personalities to cover special events attended by President Rodrigo Duterte to promote presidential
July 5, 2022
The Philippines has had three constitutions. The first one, the Constitution of 1935, was part of the preparatory process before the granting of independence by the United States in July 1946. The second one of 1973 provided the fourteen-year authoritarian regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr with a coat of legitimacy.
June 27, 2022
“I serve at the pleasure of the President.” We always hear Cabinet secretaries say this when there is public demand for their resignation. Creative legalists from the executive branch assert that this “pleasuring the President” principle means that presidential appointees, such as department secretaries, hold their posts at the complete
January 27, 2022