Sembreak

So its been a really while since I last touched my blog.YES.After a sem.and after my almost consummated sembreak. Law had been fun and crazy.

AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED WITH MY NEW SEMBREAK.

Before the sem ends I was planning to write my univ paper. BUT... due to the haunts of grades which could actually affect my term (and not tenure) in law school, it seems that the two week break had been FUTILE!! :(

Soo... even if my break would be over in just less than 72 hours... here are the things which I would really want to still do...

1. Read One-L! Cheska, one of my law school buddies and my housemate recommended this book by Scott Turrow. The story hovers around the life of the author who was a first year harvard law student. Cheska exclaimed that... "I CAN REELLAATTEE!" :)

2. Lose weight. Stress of first sem freaked me out. And my body that I really dramatically put on some pounds. And my parents being alarmed... offered me to have a vacation somewhere in asia. :)

3. Cook- I really love food. And i really stop experimenting and cook something REAL. Father also told me this.

BOOKS

Here's BBC 100 Greatest Books. I read around 8. And I still have a lifetime to finish them. BUT. With the exhaustion due to law school will my social life for books be fruitful? Hope.it will.


1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen :)
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling :)
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling :)
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling :)
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling :)
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden :)
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo :)
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho :)
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie

RH Bill: Natural and Positive Law

I. Introduction
House Bill No. 5043, “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development,” or more commonly known as the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill is the bill which deals in promoting contraception.
Dubbed by the authors and co-authors, it is the pro-poor measure which will (as they always affirm) be the real solution of problems in high fertility among poor families, high maternal mortality rate, high infant mortality rate, the increasing number of unintended pregnancies and abortion, and increasing number of teenage pregnancies. As the researcher analyzed the bill and the intent of its main authors, the researchers had synthesized that the bill presupposes two essences—reproductive rights of women and poverty alleviation.
According to Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, who is the main author of the bill, the bill actually seeks the following:
• RH is about the right of mothers and children to good health.
• RH is about the right of women not to die from childbirth or pregnancy-related causes.
• RH is about the right of children to improved quality child care and better development outcomes.
• RH is about the right of parents to have the prospect of investing more on the health and education for their children.
• RH is about the right of women for more income generating activities and educational opportunities as they are liberated from unremitting pregnancies.
• RH is about the right of women to avoid making the unbearably painful decision of having an abortion because they and their husbands simply cannot afford to raise another child.
• RH is about everyone’s basic human right to exercise reproductive self-determination.
• RH is about people-centered development that upholds human dignity.
And in order to achieve such goals, contraception is one of the agents which it entails to promote. However, as the researchers examined the bill, there are ambiguous provisions which entail the promotion of abortion and distort the image of the family.

II. Natural Law

A. Physiology / Essence of the woman
Falsity is going against what is true to its nature. The ethos or the essence of a woman is her capability of bearing a child. Falsity with regard to conception, is when a woman uses artificial means in order to prevent her from bearing a child. This rejection actually rejects as well the real essence of motherhood—which entails a distinct femininity of a woman.
There are forms of contraceptives which manipulates certain physiological characteristics of women. One of which is the manipulation of hormones of women. Just as affirmed in reproductive technologies, such manipulation results in the lack of control over the body. Hormones are chemicals released by cells and affect other cells in the body. It basically transports signals from cell to cell. Therefore, these are natural occurrences of the body which, if either altered or modified by artificial methods, ‘falsify’ the ethos of a woman.
Moreover, there are contraceptives which thin the lining of the uterus. Such drugs make the uterus a disposable place for the formation of life—rejecting whatever natural tendencies it may have. Being the uterus the central formation of life which is a natural occurrence to women, it therefore ‘falsifies’ motherhood and womanhood.

B. Freedom
Freedom is not absolute. In the exercise of human freedom, every person has to be responsible for his or her actions. Both the means employed and the end in which such means are for, should be for the common good. The RH bill provides a wrong sense of freedom for it shrouds itself under the veil of a greater range of choices, but what it actually does is that it creates mandatory provisions that force people such as doctors, and institutions such as hospitals to provide contraceptives for people.
Just as in the context of Immanuel Kant, the will is the core which constitutes freedom of every human being. Such freedom is accompanied by reasons. Man and woman, being rational beings, fulfill their identity when “we free our conduct from determination by merely natural factors such as inclinations and desires and determine their conduct and by adhering with the universal law and reason. ”
Since man and woman are finite creatures, both desire happiness which is deemed by a natural stimuli or incentives to action. And being rational creatures, it is therefore natural to man and woman to achieve decisions which adhere to the universal law—affirming nature.
It has been said that fertility is in so much importance that the state cannot give all the decisions to individuals since the life and death of a society depends heavily in its population.

C. Right
Freedom is not absolute since it affects the rights of other people and that the environment itself poses restrictions on freedom. The RH Bill, with its aim to give women the absolute freedom to choose whether or not they would continue with their pregnancy, disregards the right to life of the unborn child. Under natural law, the common good must be upheld, thus the right to life of both the woman and the unborn child must be protected. No one right may be chosen over the other.
Contemporary delineation of right entails liberty. However, if the underlying philosophical basis is considered, such notion is ‘off beam’ or skewed. In the legal environment, rights are not created by laws; these are inherent materials of the state which the law regulates—being protected and being regulated.
In the words of Justice Holmes: “a right was indeed a kind of metaphysical substance which was supposed to underlie the empirical fact that public force would be brought against those who contravened it.”
Further delineation of such right reveals that it is beyond conscious act like choice and decision. Just as said by Lewis, we can actually say: ‘Your choices did violence to your rights. ’ Natural rights are expression of natural facts. In this case, there are no other alternatives, since man and woman are rational being, man and woman are with certain drives. Hence, a society which does not adhere with the natural right “frustrates an ultimate desire in us to an extent not warranted by objective material circumstances. ”
Moreover, as we delineate rights, it is then unnatural not to touch human dignity as it is, just what various philosophers had confirmed, inherently attached to human rights. Just as in the Declaration of Human Rights:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Human dignity dominantly presupposes social, legal value and legal concepts of person, personality, attribution and responsibility. Lewis further explained that:
“This insight reveals why constitutions and human rights agreements protect human freedom of action and the right to develop one’s personality; it is because these rights are necessary for standards of good law—meaning a legal system that is in accordance with the basic facts of human existence. The personality is individualized, because it essentially perceives itself from the first-person perspective – even “John Doe” is unique from his own inner-perspective. ”

Today’s contemporary living, the society defines dignity as a respect towards another person. Therefore, abortion and contraception are seen as agents of such dignity as these avoid the conception of unwanted children who are just going to suffer when they live.
Delineation of its hermeneutical definition bestows us that it is, indeed, respect as it is actually being invoked with human dignity. However, dignity, just like respect, opposes utilitarian thinking which presupposes abortion and contraception. As we used Kant’s reasoning, just as in the previous discussions, he explained that the approbation of man and woman to adhere to the law classifies dignity.

He further explained it by distinguishing ‘objects of respect’ from ‘object of interest.’ Object of respect contains all absolute approbation which object of interest does not have.


III. Positive Law

The Legal Positivist detaches the Law entirely from morality and values. Unlike those who subscribe to the Natural Law theory, the Legal Positivist does not concern himself with the rationale behind the law. For him, ethics and morality have no necessary connection towards the validity of the laws. As long as the laws are in place and have been enacted in accordance to procedure by the legislators, then its validity cannot be assailed. As far as the positivist is concerned, if a Law has been passed conforming to the secondary rules – the rules governing the procedure for the enactment of primary rules – then that law is valid and is binding on the citizens of the state.

From our perspective, the Reproductive Health Bill cannot be enacted into law without violating our existing secondary rules governing legislation. For laws to be properly enacted in the country, they must conform to both Procedural and Substantive due process. It will be easy for the RH Bill to comply with the Procedural due process requirements, but the Substantive provisions of the Bill itself are not in harmony with our existing laws governing Legislation – laws that the Reproductive Health Bill by itself has no power to amend.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, protects -- in the Bill of Rights -- the Right to Life and the Right to the Freedom of Religion. As such, no laws can be passed violating the aforementioned rights because such a law would be Unconstitutional. This is the secondary rule that the Reproductive Health Bill will violate if enacted into Law. The reproductive health bill may lead into the legalization of abortion in the country, an action that will be clearly contrary to our Constitutional mandate to protect every individual’s right to life, even that of the unborn. More so that with the abortifacients it mandates to promote, the bill will risk the health of women, which is also unconstitutional.

The RH Bill will also make it mandatory for all hospitals to provide contraceptives to anyone who requests for it, and refusal to do so shall subject the hospital to criminal liability. Note that this provision exempts no one, regardless of the nature of the institution. By this provision, hospitals that are run by Catholic and Christian institutions will be forced to, against their Religious convictions and principles, comply with the requirement of distributing contraceptive paraphernalia to their clients. Clearly, forcing institutions to adopt practices that are contrary to their deeply held religious beliefs is a violation of their right to Religious freedom. Again, the RH Bill violates a secondary rule of Legislation. Therefore, in the eyes of the Legal Positivist, the Reproductive Health Bill cannot be validly enacted into law because it is in violation of the existing Rules and Laws governing the enactment of Legislation in the country.

IV. Conclusion and Recommendation

After conducting thorough research and reflection on the controversial RH bill, and using Natural Law and Positive Law in evaluating the validity of such bill, we therefore conclude that the RH Bill grossly goes against such laws, and we believe that it should not be enacted by Congress.
A change of mind set; a mind set of shying away from western tested measures. We should remember that their context is different from ours and this plays a big role in determining what policies are to be addressed by the state. Why should we impose to our countrymen a law which we know would go against our Filipino values and morals? Why do not we address the problem in a Filipino way that would uphold Filipino values? Why do not we just strengthen the natural way of family planning and resort to every available means that are consistent with our Filipino heritage? We should remember that we already possess our country’s freedom from foreign control long ago, let us not subject our blood fought freedom once again to westerners by adopting solutions produced by western minds. Let us create an answer that is fully Filipino, uniquely Filipino and inherently Filipino because at the end of the day we Filipinos are the ones who will be responsible for our country not aliens.
In Rubi v. Provincial Board of Mindoro , the Court said that the term LIFE “should not be dwarfed into mere animal existence.” This just shows that life is something that is protected and respected by the state and great weight should be given in favor of it not against it. In Justice Cruz’s words, “the word should embrace the enjoyment by the individual of all the God-given faculties that can make his life worth living. Included in the guaranty therefore would be his right to give full rein to all his natural attributes, to widen the reach of his capabilities, to enhance those moral and spiritual values that can make his life more meaningful and rewarding. The right of reproduction, for example, and the resultant savoring joy of parenthood, are part of the life vouchsafed to the individual under due process of law.
Since the intent of the authors of the RH Bill is to address the rights reproductive freedom of women and the control of population in alleviating poverty, it is strongly recommended by the researcher to address the notion by other greater solutions which do not affect the outmost nature of man and especially women and of the family.
In alleviating poverty, instead of investing the trillions of pesos in contraceptives as provided in the RH Bill, it is the researcher’s best advice to allocate this money to other efforts and activities of the government in poverty alleviation. Moreover, there are already existing laws which directly address such issue, but which efficacy has not yet established due to mismanagement and corruption.
One of which is the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act. It is a “multi-dimensional and cross-sectoral approach which recognizes core values, cultural, integrity and spiritual diversity of target sectors and communities. ” It also seeks to help Filipino families in the long run as it mandates livelihood, capital and training to beneficiaries.
In terms of reproductive freedom, since contraception defies the being of women, it is best advice by the researcher to use an alternative that promotes empowerment of women in reproductive matters—abstinence.
There are two kinds of abstinence, the mutual decision of the couple and the unilateral decision of a woman.
Mutual decision of the couple is a “self-imposed celibacy, either continuous or through rhythm method.” There were more approach in this kind of abstinence; one is male continence which makes the husband avoid ejaculation. A more woman-centered approach was later introduced—the avoidance of the climax. These methods require self-control.
The unilateral decision of a woman is, perhaps, the most empowering one. It is the power of the wife to say no to the sexual act with her husband. Through saying no, the woman gains more power in the conjugal act. It is often known as the voluntary motherhood. Just as in the words of Linda Gordon:
“xxx only in this kind of self-control can a woman be free from unwanted sex and repeated and punishing pregnancies and families from the cost of two many children. ”
Moreover, another suggestion is the strengthening of the families which is truly achievable. Under the Family Code, family is defined as:
“The family, being the foundation of the nation, is a basic social institution which public policy cherishes and protects. Consequently, family relations are governed by law and no custom, practice or agreement destructive of the family shall be recognized or given effect. ”
In strengthening the families, it is therefore necessary to start at the marriage of couple since it is the root and foundation of every family.
A city in the province of Bataan is already starting its initiative in strengthening the families. Just as said by its congressman and mayor of Balanga, the family should be the basic institution which the city government should be focusing on. Hence, the government adopted EDUchild. It stands for Education for the Upbringing of Children, a non-profit organization which aims parents to help other parents in the delicate rearing of children. And these initiatives provide basic education in strengthening the relationship deeply founded in the real definition of freedom and right which adhere in the nature.

never let go

DETERMINED TO DO GOOD IN LAW SCHOOL...
(as i am watching Cory's funeral)

Exception to the rule

One of the reasons why I wanted to become a lawyer is due to the influence of some great Filipino leaders who had presented passion in bringing justice and making our country worth living... and one of those is Pres. Cory.

Perhaps, she is the only contemporary president who did not benefit from her presidency!

Sexism has it. An inexperience house wife at the top position of the country. Perhaps, such statement has some certainty. But her dedication and loyalty for the trust the Filipinos gave to her is really untenable. I must say, her administration is perhaps, the hardest ever. legal crisis as her government reverse all the deceits,lies and human rights violations of the marcoses. worst calamities ever as mt. pinatubo erupted and as baguio was struck by earthquake.

some thoughts often occur to me-- what does it really take to be a great leader... is it really just about some academic and intellectual prestige just as the way a lot of people wanted to bash on the incapacity of erap and other aspiring government officials coming from showbiz industry... or on to other things?

But as I see the administration of Pres. Cory.I think its not really about the brain. Its more of the sincerity to govern. to serve. Just as Pres. Reagan (a movie actor by profession) who had superseded the legacy of any other contemporary president of the US whom were ivy-league graduates, it really comes from the heart. :)

Haayy... if wala lang akong midterms... I'll be there in the wake, ushering! >_<

Can Christianity Inspire Culture?

This year's UNIV presents a very interesting topic... Can Christianity Inspire Culture?

Of course!

With more than thousands of years being established, Christianity has been one of the most popular religion around the globe. With such, various Christian teachings has been established in non ascetical areas.

Being a first year law student, analyzing the laws, be it in the constitution, in the penal code, or in the civil code... remnants of Christian teachings are well established. Aside from the law, Christian teachings could also be the best solutions in the worst crisis in--like in the collapse of the Global Market due to the bubbles created. Moreover, Christian teachings could also be traced in the lives of some great leaders which had shaped and moved the world to be better without being branded as 'Christians.'

AND THERE ARE A LOT MORE which could be patterned with the Christian teachings. :)

Pope, the Father, and UNIV!

Its been months, but the experience lives on...

UNIV is an international get together of university students in Rome, tackling a certain issue and spending the holy week there. Last year's topic was about the root of UNIVERSITAS.

And... I must say, its really the best holy week ever--having seen the Holy Father up close... hear his voice directly from him... it was absolute bliss. More so that I was able to see and hear and even gave my letter telling him how much I pray for him and all his intentions... and some stuff in tahilan and my studies to Bishop Javier. Very lucky that we attended two get togethers. :)

Indeed, univ is a once in a lifetime chance! Its all worth it... because everytime I look back... the get togethers of the Father, the way he looked at us with great affection and care... and the way the Pope looked at us--realizing that he was praying for us at the same time... makes me more energized on what I am doing in law school.