Of Fists and Fits: The Case of the Punching City Mayor

This is in reaction to Mr. Richard Dy’s ‘Why I’d Punch the Sheriff too’ as published in the Philippine Collegian on July 5, 2011.

The mythical Athenian hero Theseus once said that ‘there is no worse enemy than he who keeps the law on his own hands’. A tyrant finds it hateful when people reason with wisdom and live with a sense of justice because he fears they will shake his power. A tyrant leads with the force of fear, far from a system of legitimate power and institutions a democratic state enjoy.

For the democratic system to work, rule of law must exist and be preserved. For rule of law to be sustained, the law that the people has crafted must apply to all; be it to the poor (who should have more in law) or the ignorant (who knew nothing of the law).

The Day the Music Died in Manila: Part 2

Discussion of the various aspects of the  hostage-taking situation illustrated a number of problems emanating from the scenario. These includes some of the most critical errors that made a relatively manageable hostage-taking incident  turn from being under control into a raging drama that caught many, even non-Chinese  and non-Filipino, in a time lapse. Philippine Political Situationer observed that these grave errors were committed:

The House of Representatives’ Version of Constitutional Adventurism

On September 28, on a meeting initiated to define the future actions of the House of Representatives was called to order. The meeting was held to discuss the house consideration of the Status Quo Ante Order of the Supreme Court (dated September 14, 2009) and other issues that pertain to SC Order, which includes the reply to the SC order, representation of HoR in the Courts, and the possible action of the Committee with the pending status quo ante order. By lunch time, the Committee decided (with vote of 33 representatives) to set aside the status quo ante order and move on with the impeachment complaint. This article would delve into the implications of such move by the Philippine Legislative Body.

The Day the Music Died in Manila: Part 1

When a supposedly happy Chinese tour in the country turns into a deadly excursion with a deranged former police officer, things should be planned both on the operational and strategic level to ensure minimum loss to lives and property. The recent hostage taking did neither of the two. In the light of the mockery of every badge that hung on every police officer, this series would be comprised of two parts: one, an analysis of what happened and what went wrong, while the second part would be what should be done about it.

Security Governance: Democratizing the Security Sector

The world’s demand to more responsive, transparent accountable and participative government led to the development of the idea of ‘good governance’. Some countries, particularly in Western Europe, have been successful in integrating them into various facets of government, like security administration. Despite the moves to inculcate governance principles into the Philippine government, there are little or no moves to do such in its security sector. The Philippine security sector remains restricted and reactive which is mirrored by the manner by which security administration is handled by the Philippine government. With too many sociopolitical, economic and environmental vulnerabilities and security considerations, maybe the Philippines should start integrating governance principles in the security sector to make it more responsive to the calls of changing times.