By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III It has been reported in several leading media outfits (including this newspaper) that the Ombudsman had pronounced that he has not- and will not- conduct lifestyle checks on public officials. The said pronouncement was reportedly made during a congressional hearing. Without any attempt at content-moderation, the news also
September 24, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III If there is one good thing that came out of the pandemic that precipitated the impositions of lockdowns, social-distancing measures and ban on sale and consumption of liquor in public, it is perhaps the respite from the ructions that erupt from bibulous videoke-singing in some insalubrious drinking spot
September 17, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III When COVID-19 struck early this year, economists hastened to point out that the virus is a “Black Swan Event” – a metaphor for an event which common knowledge, experience or belief, and even experts, do not see coming. Given that it is something that the world had not
September 12, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III Covid-19 is hitting hardest and right at the very core of humanity by shredding the fabric of interpersonal relationships. Social distancing measures, governmental restrictions on travel, prohibitions on group gatherings, imposition of curfew hours, and mandatory quarantining, are tearing away at human relationships and togetherness. And the severity
September 1, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III “ALL happy families are like one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”, quipped Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina. The recent pandemic had surely brought about different strains of family discord especially for those whose breadwinners have been locked out of the country caused by governmental
August 24, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III “The Philippines’ lockdown”, as reported in The Economist (Lockdown in the Philippines, Four months and counting, July 11th 2020), [is] “among the fiercest and longest-lasting in the world, has been terrible for millions x x x”. For the duration of the lockdown, the Filipinos were hemmed inside their
August 18, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III A recent pronouncement from the government that is starting to cause ructions is the obdurate plan to re-impose the death penalty. This will revive the age-old moral question of whether it is right to take one’s life as punishment for taking the life of another. Of course, at
August 12, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III Working conditions under the “new normal” pose several challenges among which is adapting to erratic work schedules. While the serrated work arrangements may mean more time spent at home and with family, it could also equate to reduced take-home pay. But that could not be the only downside
August 5, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III It has been reported that the “party-goers” who allegedly breached quarantine rules by attending a pool party in a hotel had been charged before the Iloilo City Prosecutor’s Office for violation of REPUBLIC ACT No. 11332 or An Act Providing Policies and Prescribing Procedures on Surveillance and Response
July 28, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III Just a week apart are separate declarations swirling on the internet about two (2) possible home invasions that the government through the police will be perpetrating, which are: (1) to hunt down COVID-19 patients like criminals in a house-to-house search; and, (2) to hold a “shame-campaign” against those who
July 21, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes, III The ‘closure’ of ABS-CBN had been largely denounced as an attack or infringement on freedom of the press which jurisprudence considers as tightly woven with freedoms of speech and of expression. From a strictly legal standpoint, it is not up for debate that “A textual interpretation of Section
July 14, 2020
By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III The last embers of hope were doused with cold ink when Republic Act No. 11479 or the anti-terror bill was signed into law last July 3rd. Different legal sectors are now raising a howl of protest against many of the law’s provisions that run afoul of the constitution
July 7, 2020