With the enactment of R.A 11469 or the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act" constitutional law scholar Prof. Dante Gatmaytan’s opinion was sought by Rappler editor-at-large, Marites Vitug, in an interview on 30 March .  The law passed by Congress on 24 March grants the President limited emergency powers for a period of three months, to oversee the COVID-19  health crisis. The trakeaway from the interview was that the law should help the President facilitate the procurement of all health related needs to combat the COVID-19  crisis.  Professor Gatmaytan explained that the Constitution has provided for such emergency powers, RA…

Emergency Powers in the time of COVID-19 Even as a "public discussion" of whether a grant of emergency powers to the President was called for at this time, Congressional action passed on such authority to the Executive, as reported on 23 March 2020. Two law professors from the UP College of Law were sought out by media for their legal take on the subject. Professor Dante B. Gatmaytan - interviewed on 22 March and Professor Antonio La Vina in an Opinion on 23 March - both argued against the proposal. They both opined that the President has enough authority under…

Message from UP President Danilo L Concepcion March 20, 2020 Click here for the official release of UP President Danilo L Concepcion's message. Dear members of the UP community: I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to you all for your amazing response to this crisis—a global situation the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetimes. We have been forced to suspend classes, work and all other campus activities, and to stay inside our homes and practice social distancing, all to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and to keep our healthcare system from…