The Family Code of the Philippines has significantly abrogated inequality between the husband and wife. It reformed family law and emancipated the wife from the exclusive control of the husband and placed her at parity with him in the family.¹ However, trails of inequality and partiality to the husband in some of the provisions of the Code have remained. For decades, provisions that give the husband’s decision "legal primacy" in disagreements over community property or parental authority have treated women as subordinate partners in their own homes. These laws suggest that for a family to function, a woman’s voice must…

The Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs (OTLA), the Foreign Service Institute, the University of the Philippines Law Center, and the Asian Society of International Law, recently held the launch of the second edition of “Treaties: Guidance on Practices and Procedures,” co-authored by Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya and Professor Rommel J. Casis. The event took place on 20 February 2026 at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City and was attended by diplomatic officials, legal practitioners, academics, and representatives from government agencies. The program opened with…

On 23 February 2026, the UP Gender Law and Policy Program (UP GLPP) participated as a resource institution in the Senate Committee Hearing on the proposed Right to Care Bill, presided over by Senator Risa Hontiveros. The hearing convened national government agencies, civil society organizations, legal practitioners, healthcare professionals, and sectoral representatives to deliberate on a legislative framework recognizing the designation of a healthcare agent. In her opening statement, Senator Hontiveros emphasized that care is most ethical when it is grounded in respect for a person’s wishes—ideally expressed in advance. She noted that local government units such as Pasig, Baguio,…

The EDSA People Power Revolution did not merely restore democracy--it restored the conditions necessary for meaningful judicial reform. Marking 40 years since, the UP Institute for the Administration of Justice draws from the archives of the Judges' Journal (a former UP Law Center publication) to spotlight the select reforms that defined and reshaped the Philippine judiciary in the post-EDSA era. #EDSAat40 #EDSAPeoplePower #NeverAgain #TatakUPLaw #UPIAJ

  Forty years ago, history stood still on a highway. On a stretch of asphalt known as Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the Filipino people chose courage over fear, truth over tyranny, and hope over silence. This was the EDSA People Power Revolution. In February 1986, millions gathered—not with weapons, but with prayers, with conviction, and with an unyielding belief in the rule of law. They came from classrooms and courtrooms, from factories and parishes. Among them were students, faculty, and alumni of the University of the Philippines—men and women who believed that the law must serve the people, not…

The UP Law Center’s Institute for the Administration of Justice (IAJ) held its latest Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) program titled, Like a Bridge Over Troubling Waters: Corruption and Access to Justice, from 26 to 30 January 2026, convening around 150 legal professionals nationwide. Done in a hybrid format, the theme came at a time when issues of corruption, accountability, and public trust continue to challenge Philippine legal institutions, ultimately undermining access to justice and the rule of law. The MCLE featured 22 distinguished speakers from the three branches of government, academe, civil society, and with affiliations with international organizations.…