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[OPINION] Law and justice in the West Philippine Sea

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The following is former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio’s speech at the conferment of his honorary doctoral degree from the University of the Philippines on December 10, 2020.

One of the greatest challenges facing the country today is how to defend and preserve our sovereign rights in our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). What is at stake is a maritime area larger than the total land area of the Philippines, and this huge maritime area is rich in fish, oil, gas, and other natural resources. 

I remember in early 1995 when China seized from the Philippines Mischief Reef, a submerged atoll within the EEZ of the Philippines in the WPS. I was then the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of President Fidel Ramos. The Philippines was totally defenseless. We did not have the military capability to take back Mischief Reef. We could not invoke the PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty because Mischief Reef is outside the territory of the Philippines. We could not go to a tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS because China had not yet ratified UNCLOS at that time. This incident left a deep scar in my mind – that a powerful state could just grab what legally belonged to a weaker state, and there was no power on earth that could right such a wrong. 

China had demonstrated to the world that might makes right. Ominously, China was claiming not only Mischief Reef, but 80% of our EEZ in the WPS.   It was obvious that Mischief Reef was neither the first nor the last geologic feature that China would seize from the Philippines. 

On August 16, 2011, I penned the unanimous decision in Magallona v. Executive Secretary , upholding the amendment to our archipelagic baselines to conform to UNCLOS. This case opened my eyes – that we could defend and preserve our sovereign rights in the WPS through the Rule of Law by questioning before an UNCLOS tribunal the validity of China’s historic claim under its nine-dash line. We had, however, to first put our house in order by bringing our archipelagic baselines into conformity with UNCLOS so that we could go to an UNCLOS tribunal with clean hands.  

The petitioners in Magallona wanted the Supreme Court to declare the waters enclosed by the Treaty of Paris lines as Philippine territorial sea in violation of UNCLOS. As I stressed in my ponencia in Magallona , the absence of UNCLOS-compliant archipelagic baselines “weakens the country’s case in any international dispute over Philippine maritime space.” True enough, one of the judges in the arbitral tribunal at The Hague asked why the Philippines was questioning China’s historic nine-dash line when the Philippines itself had its own historic Treaty of Paris lines. We submitted to the tribunal the Magallona decision to prove that the Philippines had abandoned the Treaty of Paris lines and were already totally compliant with UNCLOS, showing that we had come to the tribunal with clean hands.  Coming to any court or tribunal with unclean hands means getting your case dismissed outright. 

On October 29, 2011, barely two months after the Magallona decision, I launched my advocacy to bring China’s nine-dash line before an UNCLOS tribunal. In my address at the 50 th Anniversary of the College of Law at the Ateneo de Davao University, I stated: 

“If China’s 9-dash line is questioned before an UNCLOS tribunal, there is no doubt that it would be declared as having no basis in international law. China’s 9-dash line simply cannot co-exist with UNCLOS. Upholding one means killing the other. The challenge then, for the Philippines as well as for other states trampled upon by China’s 9-dash line, is how to bring the validity of China’s 9-dash line to an UNCLOS tribunal, given that China has opted out in 2006 from the compulsory dispute settlement mechanism of UNCLOS.”  

Fortunately, our own academics and graduates of the University of the Philippines helped find a way out of this jurisdictional dilemma. I had what I called the UNCLOS group, composed of Dr Jay Batongbacal, Dr Diane Desierto, the late Dr Aileen Baviera, Atty Lani Somera, Atty John Molo, Atty Elma Leogardo, and whenever they happened to be in Manila, Dr Suzette Suarez and Dr Lowell Bautista. We met periodically at a Chinese restaurant to find a way to question China’s nine-dash line before an UNCLOS tribunal despite China’s opting out of compulsory arbitration.  The discussions of this UNCLOS group gave me a very clear idea on the way forward. 

I submitted to then Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario a Memorandum outlining how the Philippines could initiate an arbitration to question China’s nine-dash line before an UNCLOS tribunal. Secretary del Rosario was very receptive, and he followed my advice to secure the opinion of known international legal experts in the US and Europe on the Law of the Sea to determine the feasibility of questioning China’s nine-dash line before an UNCLOS tribunal. The response from the international legal experts was positive. 

Very soon thereafter, China seized Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines following the April-June 2012 standoff between Philippine and Chinese vessels. In December 2012, when President Benigno Aquino III realized that China would remain permanently in Scarborough Shoal, he instructed Secretary del Rosario to file the arbitration case against China. With the preliminary work already mostly done earlier, the Philippines filed the following month, on January 22, 2013, its Statement of Claim against China pursuant to UNCLOS.   

The Philippines did not have the military capability to take back Scarborough Shoal in any kind of armed conflict with China. So the Philippines brought China to a forum where there was a level playing field, where the dispute would be resolved based solely on the law and the facts, regardless of how many warships, warplanes, missiles, or nuclear bombs  China possessed. We neutralized China’s military might when we brought the dispute before an UNCLOS tribunal. Might was no longer right. 

Secretary Albert del Rosario requested me to explain to foreign policy makers, university academics, and think tanks in Europe, North America, and Asia why the Philippines filed the arbitration case against China and why the Philippines was on the right side of the law, the facts, and history.  And so in 2015 I embarked on a world lecture tour to explain the South China Sea dispute from the Philippine perspective. 

To most people, especially those in the West, China’s claim to ownership of the South China Sea since 2,000 years ago seemed plausible because China has an ancient civilization. We had to correct this glaringly erroneous perception. The battle to defend our sovereign rights in the WPS is also a battle for the hearts and minds of the peoples of the world, for in the end we need world opinion on our side to enforce any favorable arbitral ruling against a nuclear-armed China.   

The July 12, 2016 Arbitral Award that invalidated China’s nine-dash line has affirmed with finality that the Philippines has a full EEZ in the WPS. And yes, the arbitral tribunal expressly declared that Mischief Reef is part of Philippine EEZ. So if China is still in Mischief Reef, it is there illegally as a squatter. Sea level rise by the end of this century and beyond will submerge all the naturally-formed islands of China in the WPS. Once submerged, they will form part of Philippine EEZ if within 200 nautical miles from our archipelagic baselines. 

Philippines challenges China, vows to keep Western powers in South China Sea

In short, an UNCLOS arbitral tribunal has decided with finality the maritime dispute between the Philippines and China in the WPS. Nature, however, will decide with finality the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China in the WPS. Time is definitely on the side of the Philippines. 

Whenever ships of foreign naval powers sail in the WPS to conduct freedom of navigation and overflight operations, including naval drills, they enforce the arbitral ruling because their naval operations can take place only if there is an EEZ in the WPS. In the WPS, only the Philippines can claim an EEZ because the Philippines is the sole adjacent coastal state in the WPS.   These freedom of navigation and overflight operations of foreign naval powers, including naval drills, conducted regularly in accordance with international law and UNCLOS, are the most tangible and effective enforcement of the arbitral ruling. 

Let me thank again the international team of foreign lawyers who brilliantly represented the Philippines before the arbitral tribunal and who won for the Philippines a truly landmark victory. We owe them a debt of gratitude. 

I have on many occasions explained the many legal, peaceful, and non-confrontational ways of enforcing the arbitral ruling. These are actions that the Philippines can take anytime, even in the administrations that will succeed the Duterte administration.   

Recently, we have seen some light at the end of the tunnel. The Philippines and China signed last November 27, 2018 the Memorandum of Agreement or MOU to cooperate in exploiting oil and gas in the WPS under the Service Contract system of the Philippines. In August of 2019 the Philippines and China signed the Terms of Reference or TOR to implement the MOU.  

A final meeting was supposed to have been held in Manila between Philippine and Chinese officials last March 2020 to vet the partnership agreement that should have been forged by that time between China National Offshore Oil Company and Forum Energy. Forum Energy holds Service Contract 72 awarded by the Philippine government with an area covering Reed Bank, which has gas reserves much greater than Malampaya.  However, the pandemic prevented the holding of the meeting in Manila and a new date for a meeting has yet to be announced.  

In the meantime, President Duterte has lifted the moratorium on exploration activities in the WPS, a moratorium that the Philippine government imposed in 2014 after Chinese coast guard vessels harassed Philippine-commissioned survey ships operating in the WPS. This time, the Chinese government announced that it will not stop the exploration activities of Philippine survey ships in the WPS because a “consensus” has been reached between China and the Philippines, referring to the MOU and TOR. 

West Philippine Sea oil, gas venture eyed for Q4 2021

Under the Service Contract system of the Philippines, the service contractor will receive 40% of the net proceeds in payment for the capital, services, and technology that it will provide in extracting the oil or gas, while the Philippine government will receive 60% of the net proceeds as owner of the oil or gas. This is the same sharing formula between the Philippine government and Shell, which operates the Malampaya gas field in the WPS.  This is a win-win formula that China can offer to Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. I understand that the Vietnamese find this formula acceptable.

The first whereas clause of every Service Contract awarded by the Philippine government states that the Philippines owns the oil and gas.  Another provision of every Service Contract provides that Philippine law governs the contract. To me, these provisions are sufficient to preserve our sovereign rights in the WPS, considering that the Chinese state-owned company will be assuming the rights and obligations of the service contractor under the Service Contract system of the Philippines. As long as the structure in the MOU and TOR is not changed, I can vouch to the Filipino people that Philippine sovereign rights in the WPS are preserved. 

One of the greatest achievements of former President Benigno Aquino III was the filing of the arbitration case against China which legally secured our EEZ in the WPS. If the  MOU and TOR arrangement with China pushes through, one of the greatest achievements of President Rodrigo Duterte will be the enforcement of the arbitral ruling, and its application to the wider South China Sea dispute, bringing much needed peace and stability to our region.  

Of course, we must have our feet firmly planted on the ground and understand that China may still walk back from its commitment under the MOU and TOR. That is why we must address the serious weakness in UNCLOS – and that weakness is the absence of a mechanism to enforce decisions of arbitral tribunals under UNCLOS. There is no world policeman who can enforce arbitral rulings of UNCLOS tribunals. Each state party to UNCLOS is treaty bound to comply in good faith with decisions of arbitral tribunals organized under UNCLOS.  However, a losing state party can go rogue and there is no enforcement mechanism to stop a losing party from going rogue.

As lifelong students of the law, we must find ways to bridge this gap between a final arbitral ruling and its enforcement, between law and justice. The arbitral ruling is the law between the parties, but unless enforced, there is no justice. As every lawyer worth his attaché case knows, enforcement or execution of the judgment or award  is “the fruit and end of the suit and the life of the law.” 

Under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the winning party can impose additional tariffs on the exports of the losing party, thus instituting a built-in mechanism to enforce decisions of arbitral panels under the WTO. In the next round of negotiations to update UNCLOS, the Philippines can propose a similar built-in enforcement mechanism: the privileges of the losing state under UNCLOS will automatically be suspended for failure to comply with an arbitral ruling within a given period. Thus, the losing state can have its deep-sea mining permits suspended, its voting rights suspended, and its representation in UNCLOS committees, including the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, suspended until it complies with the arbitral ruling.  

This gives substance to the recognized principle that UNCLOS is a “package deal” – a ratifying state must accept UNCLOS in its entirety and cannot cherrypick the provisions it wants to accept and the provisions it wants to reject. As lifelong students of the law, we must always strive to improve our legal systems, learning lessons from disquieting experiences that ultimately drive the progressive development of the law. In the process, we bridge the gap between law and justice, which is the task of every lawyer who has learned law in the grand manner, as envisioned by Dean George Malcolm, the first Dean of the UP College of Law.   

Let me end this address by quoting what has become our battle cry in this epic struggle to defend our sovereign rights in the WPS. This is what I stated 10 years ago on the night I started my advocacy to defend and preserve our EEZ in the WPS. 

“This battle to defend our EEZ from China, the superpower in our region, is the 21st century equivalent of the battles that our forebears waged against Western and Eastern colonizers from the 16th to the 20th century. The best and the brightest of our forebears fought the Western and Eastern colonizers, and even sacrificed their lives, to make the Philippines free. 

In this modern day battle, the best and the brightest legal warriors in our country today must stand up and fight to free the EEZ of the Philippines from foreign encroachment. In this historic battle to secure our EEZ, we must rely on the most powerful weapon invented by man in the settlement of disputes among states – a weapon that can immobilize armies, neutralize aircraft carriers, render irrelevant nuclear bombs, and level the battlefield between small nations and superpowers. 

That weapon – the great equalizer – is the Rule of Law. Under the Rule of Law, right prevails over might.” – Rappler.com

Antonio T. Carpio is a retired Supreme Court senior associate justice.

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Human Rights in the Philippines: Understanding Your Rights and Legal Protections

• Last updated: 15 June 2023 10:06
• Created: 17 June 2022 09:47
• Hits: 10384

Human rights are fundamental rights and freedoms that are inherently granted to every human being. In the Philippines, these rights are enshrined in the Philippine Constitution and various international treaties and agreements. It is essential to understand your rights and legal protections to ensure that you can exercise your freedoms and protect yourself from any violations.

Right to life, liberty, and security of person

The right to life, liberty, and security of a person is a fundamental human right. It guarantees every person the right to live free from any form of violence or abuse. The Philippine Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing. The country has laws and institutions in place to protect individuals from these abuses, such as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, the Human Security Act of 2007, and the Commission on Human Rights.

Right to due process of law

The right to due process of law is the right to a fair trial, the presumption of innocence, and the right to legal representation. The Philippine legal system ensures that individuals are not subject to unfair treatment by the state. The country has established courts and other legal institutions that guarantee that individuals can defend themselves in court and are protected against arbitrary actions by the state.

Right to freedom of expression

The right to freedom of expression includes the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association. It allows individuals to express themselves freely without fear of reprisal. The Philippine Constitution guarantees these freedoms, and there are laws and institutions in place to protect individuals who exercise them, such as the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 and the Freedom of Information Act of 2016.

Right to privacy

The right to privacy guarantees individuals the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and to keep personal information confidential. The Philippine Constitution protects these rights, and there are laws and institutions in place to enforce them, such as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and the Anti-Wiretapping Law.

Right to equal protection of the law

The right to equal protection of the law guarantees that all individuals are treated equally under the law, regardless of race, gender, religion, or other characteristics. The Philippine Constitution prohibits discrimination, and there are laws and institutions in place to enforce this principle, such as the Magna Carta of Women and the Anti-Discrimination Act.

Legal remedies for human rights violations

If you believe that your human rights have been violated in the Philippines, there are legal remedies available to you. You can file a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights, an independent government agency tasked with protecting human rights. You can also seek legal assistance from a lawyer or a human rights organization, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

It is crucial to know your rights and assert them when necessary. By doing so, you can help ensure that your freedoms are protected and that those who violate your rights are held accountable. Protecting human rights is essential to promoting a just and equitable society in the Philippines. It is our duty to respect and uphold human rights, for the benefit of ourselves and future generations.

Written by : Pinoy Attorney

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Age of Criminal Liability: An Essay on the Philippine Juvenile Justice System

The Philippines recognized the rights of the children and imposes upon itself the constitutional duty defend their rights to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development. 1 To perform this duty, the government enacted several laws which emphasize and provide specific measure to protect and safe guard the rights of the children. One of these enactments is the Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 which was passed on May 20, 2006. This law effectively repealed Article 68 of the Revised Penal Code which prescribes the penalty to be imposed upon a person under eighteen (18) years of age. Under the law, children fifteen years old and under is exempted from criminal responsibility, and a child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age is exempt from criminal liability unless he/she has acted with discernment. 2 This legislative enactment submits that the Philippine Justice System recognizes the restorative approach towards children in conflict with the law. This is in parallel with the Supreme Court pronouncement in the case of Republic of the Philippines vs. Robert Sierra, that R.A. No. 9344 "also drew its

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‘We Haven’t Learned Our Lesson’: Victims Recall Martial Law in the Philippines

Ferdinand E. Marcos placed the country under military rule 50 years ago this week. With his son now in power, those who lived through those dark days fear their stories will be lost.

Supported by

Photographs by Jes Aznar

Interviews by Jason Gutierrez

• Sept. 21, 2022

They were community organizers and unionists. Teenagers and pro-democracy activists.

Those who were detained under the dictatorship of Ferdinand E. Marcos in the Philippines numbered in the tens of thousands. The dictator declared martial law in the country 50 years ago on Wednesday, a grisly period when the opposition was imprisoned, tortured and killed.

The regime was toppled by peaceful pro-democracy protests in 1986, forcing the Marcoses into exile. The victims who survived those years were shocked when Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the dictator’s son and namesake, was elected president in May.

Mr. Marcos won a landslide victory after spending years trying to rehabilitate his family’s name and by appealing to Rodrigo Duterte’s many supporters, even putting the former president’s daughter on the ticket.

Though Mr. Marcos has asked not to be judged by his father’s actions and insisted that his opponents have attacked his family unfairly, critics worry he will continue the culture of impunity that flourished under his father and Mr. Duterte. The Marcos family has never apologized, though some victims have received reparations from the government.

With the Marcoses back in the presidential palace, some survivors of martial law fear their stories will be lost. Here are nine of them.

“I will continue fighting for what is right, while I still have the strength.”

Cecilio Bejer, 71

Cecilio Bejer, a labor activist, was detained twice during the martial law years. The first time was in 1972, when he worked as a machine operator at a rubber factory. “All the menfolk, 12 years old and up, were told to go outside, no one was spared,” he said. The authorities separated the workers who had tattoos or long hair from those who didn’t. After the men were searched and interrogated, they were let go, Mr. Bejer said.

When the factory shut down in the mid-1970s, Mr. Bejer became a full-time activist. In 1980, he was arrested again and taken to prison after the military claimed he was making anti-government posters. The guards accused him of being a protest leader, kicking and beating him. He was later transferred to a facility for political prisoners and held there from July to December of 1980. “Was it all a waste?” he said. “I feel that there is no change at all. But I will continue fighting for what is right, while I still have the strength.”

“Those of us who can testify that Marcos committed sins are still alive.”

Carmencita Florentino, 70

While working on behalf of the residents of Tatalon, a poor, urban community outside Manila, Carmencita Florentino was arrested twice, first in 1977, and then again the following year. “There were more or less 500 of us in jail,” said Ms. Florentino. She said some of her cellmates were tortured and molested.

“I am afraid of the Marcoses now that they are back in power. Those of us who can testify that Marcos committed sins are still alive,” she said. She blamed Ferdinand E. Marcos and his regime for her suffering. “If he did not ruin our future, he may have earned our respect,” she said. Ms. Florentino said she now lives in a home that is as small as the prison cell she was once held in.

“They can try to change history, but they can’t.”

Pedrito Cipriano, 71

Pedrito Cipriano, a dock worker in the 1970s, was an active union organizer. One of the rallies he attended was broken up by Marcos forces. Mr. Cipriano said he was detained, beaten and tortured before being freed a few months later. He is among the many Filipinos who accuse the Marcos family of siphoning billions of dollars from the government when they held power decades ago. “Not just Marcos Jr., but the entire Marcos family benefited from the stolen wealth,” he said, his voice frail.

Mr. Cipriano remains active in community organizing. Many young people have no memory of martial law, and an older generation of Filipinos fear the Marcos family has glossed over the brutality of the dictatorship. “What happened before was true,” Mr. Cipriano said. “They can try to change history, but they can’t.”

“It was right to defend your country, the Philippines. What else was I supposed to do?”

Silvestra Mendoza, 83

A timid, soft-spoken grandmother with a steely resolve, Silvestra Mendoza was part of a civic group led by mothers focused on helping the urban poor. She was accused of being a subversive and held in detention for weeks in 1977. “I was accused of violating 1081,” Ms. Mendoza said, referring to the presidential proclamation that placed the Philippines under military rule.

In jail, she struggled to maintain her composure because she knew she did nothing wrong. “You should not be afraid. It was right to defend your country, the Philippines. What else was I supposed to do?” she said. Now she feels that many Filipinos have squandered the gains of the peaceful, pro-democracy protests that toppled the Marcos regime. She laughed at Mr. Marcos’s suggestion that the elder Marcos was innocent. “Weren’t they with his father when he was kicked out of the country?” she said.

“I did not know why I was in jail or why I was called a subversive.”

Loretta Sipagan, 87

The police officer who arrested Loretta Sipagan was the husband of a friend. Ms. Sipagan was a community organizer in a slum neighborhood in the 1970s. She said she was fighting for better homes, not lofty ideals like democracy and human rights. Still, she spent two months and 10 days in prison. While in detention, she worked on growing her network of activists.

“I was in jail with other political detainees. I did not know why I was in jail or why I was called a subversive. We just had an organization working for the common good,” she said. She recalled being reunited with the arresting officer years later. He apologized and said he was just doing his job. She said she bore him no ill will, and even thanked him for opening her eyes to the reality of martial law.

“President Marcos may be worse than his father.”

Romeo Fortez Mendoza, 71

When he was in his 20s, Romeo Fortez Mendoza was part of a youth group that often faced down the police and military forces during protests. He was nabbed by the authorities in 1978 while protesting the regime’s planned demolition of homes.

“Nothing has changed,” he said, referring to the Marcos family’s return to power. “President Marcos may be worse than his father.” The weathered activist said one of his daughters is now a police officer. “I tell her about martial law, about my suffering,” he said. But were he to run into his daughter at a protest, “I will just walk away.”

“I think that we are a hopeless case.”

Lydia Sanchez, 77

Lydia Sanchez and her husband were taken by the authorities in 1973. She was let go after two days. Her husband, Nicolas, spent five months in jail, where he was regularly beaten. “They whacked him on the head until his ears bled, and then they submerged him in a toilet bowl,” she said. “They were asking him about something that he knew nothing about.”

Despite being arrested, the couple never stopped their activism on behalf of the poor. They were forced to move from place to place. When the Marcos dictatorship fell in 1986, they were among the first to storm the presidential palace. “I was very happy. All of us who went there were crying,” she said. But now that the son is in power, she is angry. “We haven’t learned our lessons as a people,” she said. “I think that we are a hopeless case.”

“They repeatedly hit me on the head. I cried and cried. They told me I would never be freed.”

Pacita Armada, 62

Pacita Armada was living at her uncle’s house when the authorities arrived to carry out a raid. Her uncle was a unionist, and Ms. Armada said she was grabbed by the hair, dragged outside and taken to the police station with about a dozen other people. She was only 16.

“They forced me to say something about my uncle’s activities. I told them I knew nothing. They repeatedly hit me on the head. I cried and cried,” she said. “They told me I would never be freed.” Ms. Armada was detained for four months, during which her father died. “I think he died because of me,” she said. “He was stressed out and suffered a heart attack and died.”

“The Marcoses can at least say sorry for what they did.”

George Obedosa, 72

George Obedosa has Parkinson’s disease. His back is bent, but he attributes his posture to the torture he endured during detention under the Marcos dictatorship. “The Marcoses can at least say sorry for what they did,” Mr. Obedosa said of his two years in detention. He was arrested in the central province of Samar in 1972, the year martial law was declared in the Philippines.

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• Aug 28, 2020

Becoming Great Lawyers: The Role of Law Students in Upholding the Rule of Law

Updated: Nov 11, 2020

By: Robby Brian De Guzman

“[T]he truth remains true that never have our people had greater need than today for great lawyers, and for young men and women determined to be great lawyers. Great lawyers— not brilliant lawyers. A scoundrel may be, and often is, brilliant; But only a good man can become a great lawyer.” - Senator Jose “Ka Pepe” W. Diokno's Letter to his eldest son, Jose Ramon

When Ka Pepe first wrote these words while in detention in 1972, he was only responding to his son’s simple request─ a list of law books to read. Elated by his son’s decision to become a lawyer despite witnessing his own arrest and detention, the human rights activist wrote about the true measure of being a great lawyer. The letter, although written many years ago, could have been written yesterday with its relevance both to lawyers and law students alike in today’s times.

It is not hard to tell that these are not the best of times in our nation. We are studying law at a period when due process of law is considered as unnecessary bureaucracy when the law is weaponized against anyone who would dare speak truth to power, and when the very institutions mandated to uphold the Constitution become agents of fear rather than protectors of liberty and human rights. One may ask then, “What is our role as law students in upholding the rule of law?” The answer is quite clear. Now more than ever, the challenge to every law student is to strive to become tomorrow’s great lawyers— not just brilliant lawyers.

But how do we become great lawyers?

In a world marred by widespread inequality, not only is the rule of law the last bastion of hope in preserving our rights and dignity as human beings; it is the raison d'être of the legal profession. The moment it collapses, our future profession becomes obsolete as lawyers become reduced to pawns whose only purpose is to put up a façade of legitimacy for a system run by whoever is in power or who can give the highest bribe. After all, it would be pointless for law students and lawyers to master the law if it could not be invoked and given a binding effect in our practical lives. Thus, it is every law student’s responsibility to ensure that the rule of law reigns supreme in our country.

To assume, however, that the rest of the public shares this appreciation and devotion to the rule of law would be a mistake. Sadly, people have lost faith in our laws often perceive as highly legalistic and serving only the interests of the rich and the powerful. And not without any justification, the law is considered by many of the poor and the powerless as an inconvenience, or worse, a tool for the scrupulous elements of our society to remain unpunished and free.

If we are to become great lawyers, we are expected to find solutions that would elevate the rule of law when it seems to have lost its utility to the ordinary man on the street. As law students, we owe it to our soon-to-be profession to live by the words of former President Ramon Magsaysay that “he who has less in life, should have more in law; that the little man is fundamentally entitled to a little bit more food in his stomach, a little more cloth on his back and a little more roof over his head”, amidst the growing climate of hopelessness and resignation.

It is our foremost duty, as law students, to study well─ to read, understand, and analyze every provision, section, and article of law we study in class. Our chosen career requires the highest degree of diligence, patience, and perseverance; in addition to many late nights of reading voluminous pages of law subjects.

As law students today, we are the lawyers of tomorrow. We must always remind ourselves that our future profession is about advocating for our client’s cause and we can only do so if we have a clear grasp of the law. The life, liberty, property, and hope of those who trust our expertise depend on every law, cases, and commentaries we read, or not read, during our stay in law school.

Clearly, if we want to contribute in upholding the rule of law in our country it is our duty to arm ourselves with idealism and passion strengthened by the knowledge of the law- all while cultivating our critical thinking, strong reasoning, and analytical skills to distinguish the finer points of the law and its application.

To become great lawyers— not just brilliant lawyers, however, law students must be more than skilled technicians trained merely to practice our trade. In a plethora of cases, the Supreme Court has consistently reminded members of the Bar that lawyering, more than being a trade or occupation, is a noble profession.

In addition to being masters of the lessons thought in our law subjects, we must develop character. We must cultivate, even more than a deep knowledge of the law, the conviction to do what is true, just, and right , and to resist compromising our ideals and values. We must not only be experts of law but also principled and passionate advocates for its application for genuine and meaningful change. We must not only be steeped in the language of the statutes and the Court but also fluent in the language of truth, justice, and rule of law. We must not only use our voice to recite provisions of law verbatim but also to speak out for those who cannot speak. This is what is meant by the nobility of the legal profession.

As future lawyers, we must constantly challenge the unjust and oppressive status quo and create new conventions and traditions if only to empower those who find themselves powerless. While there is truth in the view that laws will only be as good as the minds of the people that make, interpret, and implement it, would it not be more ideal to say that laws will only be as good as the people that fight for it?

Our role to safeguard the rule of law comes with the challenge to ensure that it is the rule of just law. It is, after all, not only a set of convenient solutions to the country’s problems; but an embodiment of our people’s collective aspirations toward justice. The rule of just law must be the goal of every democracy and entails more than mere adherence to the rules we memorized for our recitations and examinations. Rather, it requires that, when faced with a choice, we must choose to uphold that which guarantees the fundamental values of truth, justice, and human rights.

Wielded properly, the law has the power to do so much good─ safeguard our rights, protect the citizens, punish criminals, and hold wrongdoers accountable. It does not only determine right and wrong but instills order and justice in a society. But even if it has the power to do all this good, law, when weaponized, can also be used to jail the innocent, free the wrongdoers, silence dissenting voices, and revise history. As potent as it is in effecting change, the law is vulnerable to evil and evil forces.

For this, we must choose to uphold the rule of just law, even when those in power have made it difficult, if not completely impossible, to do so under the pretext of rule of law. This means that, when human rights and due process are disregarded in the guise of swift solutions to problems, or when the law is trampled upon and twisted to suit the interest of a few and powerful, or when the law is reduced to a numbers game, we ought to be the first to stand up and say that that cannot be.

As law students, it is our identity, mandate, and mission as future members of the legal profession to stand for our principle. We need to make a stand. And to make a stand we must act. More than merely contemplating the idea of justice within the confines of our law schools, we must confront the common injustices of our society and seek to address them.

For years, law schools have been integrating legal aid programs as part of their curriculum not only to give their students opportunity to have hands-on experience in the practice of law but more importantly to extend free legal assistance to indigents and marginalized sectors, which include urban poor, farmers, migrant workers, laborers and indigenous peoples community. By providing our legal assistance─ giving legal advice, drafting pleadings, attending hearings, and doing legal research─ all without charge, we are able to heed the call to take up the cudgels for the poor and marginalized who are rarely given the opportunity to fight freely for their rights. We can also volunteer in law student organizations or civil liberties groups who are actively working to respond to the legal needs of ordinary Filipinos who have no means of securing legal assistance due to poverty or lack of knowledge. Our laws, after all, exist to achieve justice for all and not only for a privileged few.

Lastly, we must speak out with truth even against the overpowering tide of popular opinion. To be able to do the right thing in the face of such great resistance requires the strength to choose what is right even when it is difficult and everyone else is against us. In this current war against truth, justice, and human rights, we must insist on what is true, just, and right. Our silence at a time of abuse and oppression is complicity and our inaction is an encouragement to undermine the rule of law.

In Ka Pepe’s letter, he described a conversation he had with one soldier who asked him, “Pero sir, kailangan pa ba ang mga abogado ngayon?” And in a way that perhaps he did not intend, the soldier raised a perfectly valid question. There he was a human rights lawyer detained in a cell while the nation remains in the grip of a dictator who does not respect the rule of law. Hopeful that the rule of force would soon yield to the rule of law, Ka Pepe highlighted the need for the best of our country’s men and women─ great lawyers, engineers, economists, and managers─ to clear the shambles and restore the foundations of that noble and truly Filipino society for which our forefathers fought, bled and died.

More than three decades later, as our human rights and fundamental freedoms face grave threats once more, it would be easy to favor the convenient choice over the right choice. However, we must always remember that great lawyers, like diamonds, form under great pressure and the most challenging conditions. Becoming a great lawyer is not taking the path of least resistance; rather it lies in choosing to forge ahead even when confronted by challenges and struggles. To borrow the words of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, “it is not on the mountaintops of grandeur and glory that greatness shines. It is in the valleys of the shadow of death, in the grit and dirt of the battle trenches. It is in your utmost extremity when you find yourself overwhelmed by darkness, but continue to hold fast to your principles, that you blaze the brightest.”

*Robby Brian de Guzman is the First Placer in the First ever Barrista Solutions Essay Writing Contest. He is a student at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

Note: The views expressed in the essay do not reflect the official position of Barrista Solutions.

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Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Philippine Government — Ferdinand Marcos as a Leader: Impact of Martial Law on Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos as a Leader: Impact of Martial Law on Philippines

• Categories: Leader Philippine Government Philippines

About this sample

Words: 693 |

Published: Aug 31, 2023

Words: 693 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, ferdinand marcos: golden era illusion, dark legacy of ferdinand marcos as a leader.

• Amnesty International. (1982). 'The Philippines: Torture in the Marcos Era.' Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA35/001/1982/en.
• World Bank Data. (1980s). Retrieved from World Bank database.
• National Historical Commission of the Philippines. (n.d.). 'The Martial Law Years.' Retrieved from https://www.nhcp.gov.ph/resources/online-resources/martial-law-years/.

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Employee Rights in the Philippines

The right to work is one of the fundamental human rights. The state of legislation in the field of the implementation of this right is not only an indicator of the society’s level of development but also an aspect that directly affects the efficiency of its economy. In this regard, the legal regulation of labor relations is of particular importance, which is the creation of the needed legal conditions for achieving optimal coordination of the interests of the parties to labor relations and the state. The main legislative and regulatory act in employment in the Philippines is The Labor Code of the Philippines. Thus, the Labor Code is the primary tool that protects workers in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, different types of employment are distinguished depending on the nature and conditions of the activity. According to Philippine Labor Law: Types of Employees (n.d.), a regular employee is a worker who has been engaged to perform actions that are usually necessary or desirable in the employer’s usual business. Another type of employment is project employment, where an employee is hired for a specific project or undertaking, and the duration of employment is determined by the volume of work and/or the course of the project. Furthermore, seasonal employment is a common practice for retail, food, hospitality, and other related industries to increase their workforce to meet demand during peak seasons. In the legislation of the Philippines, permanent seasonal employees who are called to work from time to time are defined. Moreover, fixed-term employment occurs when an employee provides services for a certain period, and the employment contract must be terminated after this period.

Philippine law regulates the work of casual employees hired to perform work or provide services that are secondary to the employer’s business or only for a particular period specified at the time of employment. They are entitled to most of the statutory benefits other than retirement and leave benefits. According to the Department of Labor and Employment (2017), there is probationary employment when an employee, after being hired, undergoes a probationary period, during which the employee determines his suitability for work permanently. Typically, the probationary period does not exceed six months from the employee’s start date. Thus, the Labor Code of the Philippines defines different types of employees, which differ in the nature and conditions of activity.

Philippine law also defines the minimum labor standards that must be provided to an employee. According to the Philippines’ minimum wage law, the minimum wage rate varies from one region of the country to another. Moreover, the Department of Labor and Employment (n.d.) obliges to set “minimum wages applicable to various sectors, namely non-agricultural, agricultural plantation and non-plantation, cottage/handicraft, and retail/services, depending on the number of workers, capitalization or annual gross sales in some sectors” (p.2).

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (2017), no employee should work more than 8 hours a day. At the same time, it deserves a daily 1-hour lunch break. If an employee works overtime, he receives compensation in the amount of 25% of his regular salary. Bureau of Working Conditions (2019) affirms that all employees reserve the right to vacation pay. It will include his regular daily wages. If they are called to work on a public holiday, they should be paid twice the standard rate. Therefore, Philippine law regulates labor standards, including wages, hours worked, compensation, and privileges.

Thus, the legal regulation of employment in the Philippines aims to preserve and promote employment based on ensuring workers’ labor rights and interests, providing them with guarantees, and improving legislation on employment and labor. The primary legislative source in the field of work in the country is the Labor Code of the Philippines. The document establishes various types of employment, including regular, project, seasonal, fixed-term, casual, and probationary employment. Moreover, Philippine legislation defines labor standards that aim to create an enabling environment at work.

Bureau of Working Conditions. (2019). Handbook on workers’ statutory monetary benefits. Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

Department of Labor and Employment. (n.d.). Republic Act No. 6727: Wage Rationalization Act . Web.

Department of Labor and Employment. (2017). The Labor Code of the Philippines. DOLE

Philippine Labor Law: Types of Employees. (n.d.). Nicolas & De Vega Law Offices.   Web.

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Real ID deadline is rapidly approaching, what to know about the new flight requirement

The really real deadline to make your state-issued identified card, or driver’s license Real ID compliant will be here before you know it. 

And you won’t be fly domestically after 2025 without it. The government has been trying to make Real IDs a thing for a while, initially passing The Real ID act in 2005 in an attempt to set “minimum security standards” for state-issued identification documents.

The law was set to take effect in 2020 but was pushed back by the Department of Homeland Security over “backlogged transactions” at MVD offices nationwide as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to USA TODAY reporting . 

The May 2025 extension was necessary, DHS says, as state driver’s licensing agencies worked to address the mountains of paperwork, which in turn impacted the MVD’s ability to make any real progress on the Real ID rollout. 

“Following the enforcement deadline, federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, will be prohibited from accepting driver’s licenses and identification cards that do not meet these federal standards,” DHS said in 2022. 

Learn more: Best travel insurance

That means every every traveler, 18 or older, must have a compliant form of identification in order to travel.

Here’s what to know. 

When does Real ID go into effect? 

The Real ID “full enforcement date” is Wednesday, May 7, 2025, according to DHS. 

When will a Real ID be required to fly?

You or your loved ones need to have a Real ID compliant document, driver’s license or identification card, by May 7, 2025. 

If you have another form of identification that is TSA-approved, like an up to date passport or a permanent resident card then you probably don’t need a Real ID compliant document.

Here are a couple TSA-approved alternatives, if you’re on the fence about getting a Real ID.

• State issued enhanced driver’s license
•  DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
• U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
• Border crossing card
• An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe
•  HSPD-12 PIV card
• Foreign government-issued passport
•  Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
• Transportation worker identification credential
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
• U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
•  Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)

How long does it take to get a Real ID?

It will take about two weeks , or 15 business days to get your Real ID or Enhanced Driver’s License from your state's Motor Vehicle Department.

Enhanced driver’s licenses, which are only issued in a couple of states, including Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Vermont, are considered acceptable alternatives to REAL ID-compliant cards, DHS says. 

How do I know if I have a Real ID? 

All Real IDs will have a stamp on the right hand corner to show that the identification document meets federal standards set forth by The Real ID Act of 2005. 

The symbol stamped on your Real ID card will vary, depending on which state you obtain your new identification card from. 

What does a Real ID look like? 

Your Real ID will have most, if not all of the information that’s included on your driver’s license. 

The only difference is the seal included in the right-hand corner. 

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