Prof. Tony La Viña: Misuse of Impeachment Impeachment has been distorted in the Philippines- to replace policy debates or legal forums where differences in approaches to governance are litigated. The point is – impeachment cannot be used as a tool to persecute or silence perceived political opponents or critics or to subject presidents or other officials to harassment for performing their duties. This can never be the intent of the framers of the Constitution. In Rappler’s online column Thought Leaders (5th and 8th Sept. 2017), Professor Tony La Viña raises alarm bells on the way resort to impeachment proceedings is…

ANALYSIS: The aftermath of the ASEAN 50th AMM: Whither the West Philippine Sea? Jay L. Batongbacal Posted at Aug 09 2017 05:30 PM | Updated as of Aug 09 2017 06:53 PM (Reproduced from https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/08/09/17/analysis-the-aftermath-of-the-asean-50th-amm-whither-the-west-philippine-sea) The conclusion of the 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) underscores a major turning point in the disputes between China and the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea. Viewed against the previous week’s prelude of talks of joint development (and reported coercion against Vietnamese unilateral exploration) of petroleum resources, as well as post-meeting statements of foreign ministries, the stronger-yet-weaker statement on the South China Sea…

Corruption and civic space: Contextual factors influencing EITI compliance Journal publication by Cielo Magno and Dante Gatmaytan (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2017.07.003) Abstract Market and government failures led to the formation of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) as an alternative governance structure. The Extractive IndustriesTransparency Initiative (EITI) is one of these. The impact assessments of EITI yield mixed results. The variation in impact may be attributed to the difference in compliance with the EITI Standard. The authors implemented an ordered logit regression analysis to analyze the relationship between contextual factors and countries’ level of EITI compliance. The authors used the 2013–2015 World Governance Indicators (WGIs)…

New Release: MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND POLITICS by Dante B. Gatmaytan Now Available at the UP Law Center Book Room MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND POLITICS (UP Law Faculty Scholarship Series) Dante B. Gatmaytan PHP 450.00 The Supreme Court, according to conventional wisdom, does not concern itself with policy issues. Policy-making is left to other "political" branches of government. Experience has shown, however, that the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, cannot avoid politics because it is asked to decide politically charged issues from the legitimacy of a revolution to the impacts of globalization. The court's…

Dean Agabin Assails Members of the Lower House Dean Pacifico Agabin, who has taught Public Office and Accountability at the College, said that congressmen in the House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability were wrong in issuing a show cause order to Justices of the Court of Appeals and for accusing them of judicial overreach. The Dean rendered this opinion regarding the month long impasse between the Lower House and the CA in the case of the detained provincial officers of Ilocos Norte. He assailed House representatives for their seeming unawareness of the “expanded definition of judicial power in…

Prof. Jay Batongbacal: "Dutertismo and the West Philippine Sea: Year One" In an article published by Rappler.com last June 30, Prof. Jay Batongbacal addressed the country’s eventual policy in dealing with China in issues over the West Philippine Sea a year after after the conclusion of the Philippines v. China case against the latter’s “nine-dash line” claim in the area. The director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea stressed that while the government’s calculated willingness to communicate with China has moved the country toward a position of non-alignment and has reaped apparent benefits, “it…