Due Process

Of all the rights guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution, the right to due process is one of the most significant. It is in fact our foremost safeguard against any invalid act that curtails our right to life, liberty and property. Thus, the fundamental law declares: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, and property without due process of law...".

Contrary to common notion, the right to due process is not only inherent in judicial proceedings but in administrative proceedings, as well. An employee can only be removed for just cause. This "just cause" must be proved by clear, convincing evidence before a tribunal, a tribunal that is impartial. The process must not however end there; the tribunal must hear the defending party, with or without the service of counsel. In addition, when the defending party presents controverting evidence the tribunal must consider such evidence presented; otherwise, the process is incomplete, therefore undue or invalid. After both parties have been accorded their respective day in court, the tribunal renders judgment based only on the matters proved and evidences duly submitted. In sum, this is the essence of due process--hear, after wards, condemn if warranted.

Due process as a principle is inherent in any civilized and moral society. This is because due process is based on fairness and equity, which are foundations of any God-fearing community. There is thus no point in making due process limited to legal and administrative proceedings; it must be sacredly observed even in our day-to-day dealings.A father, before he employs the harshness of the rod, must hear his child first; otherwise, the lesson he wants to impose is likewise lost by such denial. More so with persons who are privileged to hold high offices. With more reason that they should act with caution. They must be responsible in whatever words they utter and whatever judgment they make. A false belief, which is held as "the" truth by the official becomes "the" truth that almost everybody believes in. If the official opines that a group is "bad" and all "rotten eggs", the people who hears the opinion will be more inclined to hold that the opinion is true. As people differ in understanding situations, there will be those who will believe that the opinion is flawless whether or not it has basis. And when this happens, we perpetrate injustice. We perpetrate an act of depriving some faultless individuals with their right to a clean name. And there is nothing more regretful than that....

Noone Can Put Me Down But Myself

I believe that nothing is impossible... The only barrier that separates ME and SUCCESS is my will to succeed. Noone and nothing can ever hold me back from what I aspire to achieve. They will only succeed in doing so if I allow them to pull me down. I am the lone creation who is near perfect. God Himself has designed me that way...a unique and supreme creature of this earth.

I believe that nothing is impossible...because IMPOSSIBLE is but an entry in the dictionary. As for me, the word "impossible" doesn't exist in my vocabulary so why make it a part of my life? I am as powerful as my thoughts and as weak as my imagination.

I can...only if I make up my mind that I CAN. So long as I allow myself to be a prisoner of my self-made prison cells, so long as I allow myself to be manipulated by Fate... and so long as I consent to the whims and caprice of manipulators...I CAN'T.

As long as the sun shines and the moon lingers up in the night sky, I have all the chance in the world to be the person I want to be. But, this golden opportunity, this belief that I am a unique creation will just turn to cinders unless I find my purpose and decide to be committed to it no matter what.

Indeed, noone can hold me back but myself.

Hay Naku

Hay..para akong nauupos na kandila pag naiisip ko na malapit na kong sukatin sa susunod na Setyembre. Nakaka excite, nakakakaba, nakakatakot...grabeng mixed emotions talaga. Sabi ng iba mahaba pa naman daw ang panahon, roughly 11 months pa, pero sabi ko "hindi nila alam ang sinasabi nila". Sa nakasubok na...11 months is in fact almost no time to prepare na. Sa 11 months, halos reviewers nalang ang mababasa mo. Ito ang realidad sa nalalapit na pagharap ko sa eksamen sa La Salle-Taft. Bilang guro sa umaga at estudyante sa gabi, mula simula (at palagay ko ) hanggang sa huli, tanggap ko ang katotohanan na mas marami sigurong nabasa kaysa akin ang mga full-time. Siguro mas matibay nga ang pundasyon nila. Siguro mas handa nga sila. Pero, malakas pa rin ang loob ko...i'll fight it out until the last drop of my strength....bahala na si Bro sa akin.

Free Darfur

While the principles of sovereign equality and self-determination are important concerns, it is also an accepted and time-honored principle of international law that international agreements like the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute must be upheld and used decisively to protect Humanity. The President of Sudan and his confederates should face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court. Submitting them to the power of the ICC can never be construed as an invasion of their country's sovereignty as it is admittedly an exception to the rule that "sovereignty is absolute".

The possibility of reprisals from the perpetrators and their allies is but natural. Whenever acts of those in 'power' are challenged on grounds, valid or otherwise, it is foolish to expect that such challenge will be accepted with open arms and firm handshakes.

With 400,000 death toll and 2.5 million Darfuri refugees, the violence in Darfur is beyond the grasp of logic and reason—a case beyond justification, indeed. An intervention from the international community has long become ripe. Let us act now lest we become part of the perpetration of this evil.

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