Opinion Archives — UP College of Law

Definition of “Forthwith” Unnecessary and Incorrect (by Prof. Dante Gatmaytan)

Definition of “Forthwith” Unnecessary and Incorrect by Dante Gatmaytan In Generillo, Jr. v. Senate of the Philippines (G.R. No. 278311), the Supreme Court defined “forthwith” as found in Article XI, Section 3(4). In a press release the Court explained: While the Constitution requires the House of Representatives to act within a certain number of session days on an impeachment complaint, it does not specify a fixed timeframe for the Senate to start an impeachment trial. It simply provides that the trial “shall forthwith proceed,” leaving the timing to the Senate’s discretion. The SC clarified that the term “forthwith” in Article…

Reversing the Comelec

The majority opinion allows a person who continuously failed to file income tax returns to run for the highest office of government. It undermines Supreme Court decisions that stress the importance of paying taxes: “The principle is well established that taxes are the lifeblood of government and every citizen is duty bound to pay taxes and to pay taxes in the right amount.” The Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision dismissing the petitions to disqualify Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from running in the 2022 elections should be reversed. The decision was promulgated by two members of the “former First Division” after Commissioner…

The banking and financial system as a weapon of war in the Russia-Ukraine crisis

'When the sanctioned country is brought down to its knees, it brings down with it its own people' All this news about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia have rightfully made people jittery and scared. Some are seeing signs of a possible world war with the tensions in Europe spilling over to other parts of the world. In fact, the breach of Taiwan’s airspace by nine Chinese aircraft on the same day as the Russian invasion was seen as an indication that a similar move may soon be made by China in its attempt to reclaim Taiwan. As expected, the…

Should banks be held liable for the BDO/Unionbank phishing scam?

'We should not lose sight of who the real villain is here' You have to give it to Filipinos for always injecting humor in everything they do – even in the perpetration of scams. The recent news about the unauthorized fund transfers from BDO depositors’ accounts to the UBP account of Mark Nagoyo brought to the fore the issue of bank liability for online scams and the Filipino brand of humor. I suspect that whoever is the perpetrator of this scam is a Filipino, considering that only a Filipino would fully understand the irony of the manner this scam was done. The…

The President’s Health: A Duty to Disclose

by Prof. Dante B. Gatmaytan “It is a ministerial duty on the part of the Office of the President to make the status of the President known to the public. What is discretionary is the manner in which it is to be released.” Professor Dante Gatmaytan discusses his observations and opinion regarding the recent dismissal by the Supreme Court of the case of De Leon v Duterte, where for the first time since 1987, Section 12 of Article VII of the Constitution which provides that "[i]n case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of…

When getting ‘91% approval’ means things are really bad

by John Molo 'When you live in a shanty, you are keenly aware how one loose comment can reach the wrong person, and get you kicked out. And that was before the drug war, not to mention the pandemic.' When Pulse Asia released its findings showing that the President had a “91% approval rating,” it received a lot of pushback. Being neither Dilawan nor DDS, I was more surprised about the actual numerical rating than the fact that it was still high. The President remains popular. But a President remaining popular is one thing; getting a “91% approval rating” is…

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