UP Law Wins 2019 Jessup National Championships The UP Law moot court team brought home the championship in the 2019 DivinaLaw Philippine National Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition held in University of Santo Tomas from February 21 to 23. With a 4-0 sweep, the team won all the rounds up to the local finals. They will compete once more in the International Rounds held annually in Washington, D.C. this coming March 28 to April 8.The delegation consisted of senior Marianne Crielle Vitug (IV-C), juniors Abelardo Hernandez (III-E), Marianne Angeli Estioco (III-D), Danielle Sophia Garduno (III-BGC…

Prof. Tony La Viña on rehabilitating Manila Bay "It is time now for the Supreme Court to remand this case to the lower court for execution of its final order." Prof. Tony La Viña comments on the road to rehabilitating Manila Bay with the government's weight behind the effort. In his column “Eagle Eyes” in the Manila Standard. An environmental policy expert and former DENR Undersecretary, La Viña  traces past efforts to clean up Manila Bay and avers that government does not have to start from scratch in doing its work on Manila Bay. He suggests that a 2011 Supreme Court Resolution on the matter might…

TSEK.PH Launched Eleven news organizations and three universities signed a memorandum of understanding for TSEK.PH a collaborative fact-checking project, at the University of the Philippines on February 11, 2019. They are teaming up to fact-check claims related to the May 13, 2019 midterm elections. The three partners from the academe UP, De La Salle University, and Ateneo de Manila University can help "put in context how the [media] partners have approached" the fact checks, in case newsrooms differ in their evaluation of a claim. The full coverage of TSEK.PH LAUNCH can be accessed at : https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/223179-tsek-ph-project-newsrooms-universities-fact-check-claims?fbclid=IwAR2D7fxO2LNuzlE0p7IakEEsixHRJ-1Z8NQjCM8R4TE1Awe_5Vxyn-Dw28E

Cyber libel case against Maria Ressa, deficient - Prof. JJ Disini Prof. JJ Disini, representing Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, plans for a motion to quash the cyber libel case, seeing "deficiencies" in the prosecution's position. The case arises from a 2012 article on Rappler predating by some months the Cybercrime Prevention Act (2012) and republished in 2014, but the libel charge was filed only in 2017. The ABS-CBN radio interview with Professor Disini may be accessed at https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/14/19/cyber-libel-case-vs-rappler-riddled-with-deficiencies-ressa-lawyer?fbclid=IwAR2GZRK71qlPpSoLNC126WXB8lx7PyonlxRc3DjjVfYVyonEFmZjGB9pkcw  

Multiple republication not applied to cyber libel law Prof. Theodore Te on the enactment of law ex post facto and on multiple republication as applied to the cyber libel case filed against Maria Ressa during a roundtable discussion on the talk show The Chiefs: https://www.facebook.com/ONENewsPH/videos/396431544454249/  

UP IHR releases Q&A on Lowering the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility Following the proposed lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines, the University of the Philippines Law Center Institute of Human Rights has released on their Facebook page the "Q&A on Lowering the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility." This Q&A briefer will guide and inform the public on the human rights issues arising from or relating to the proposed legislation, discussing it not just through the legal lens, but in consideration of the factors contributing to the actions of children. The briefer can be viewed…