Tag Archives: Government

Bending the Law: The Legacy of Estelito Mendoza

Opinion, , , , , , ,

At the age of 95, the so-called “Lawyer of last resort”, Estelito Mendoza, passed away today, March 26, 2025. While many will herald him as one of the titans of the Philippine legal landscape, we must not forget the roles he played during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

As Minister of Justice and Solicitor General during the period of Martial Law, Mendoza was key to giving legal clothing to the Marcos dictatorship – using the law to silence dissent, sweep away democratic institutions, and kept political prisoners deprived of liberty.

The infamous case of Javellana v. Executive Secretary, Mendoza justified the legality of Martial Law and the indefinite suspension of civil liberties.

Even after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, Mendoza continued providing legal services to the many cronies who enabled and benefitted from ill-gotten wealth: Imelda Marcos, Lucio Tan, Roberto Ongpin, and Danding Cojuangco.

Mendoza served as chief counsel for Joseph Estrada during his impeachment trial.

He went to score legal victories for accused plunderers:

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was acquitted of plunder in the PCSO fund scam

Jaime Dichaves, the self-confessed owner of the Jose Velarde accounts, was acquitted of plunder charges.

Bong Revilla who was implicated in the pork barrel scam of Janet Lim-Napoles, also got acquitted.

Juan Ponce-Enrile, former Defense chief and one of the architects of Martial Law, was granted bail thanks to Mendoza.

When the Supreme Court decided in favor of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s appointment of Renato Corona as Chief Justice, ruling that the ban on midnight appointments did not cover it, it was Mendoza’s arguments that formed the basis for that decision.

This is Estelito Mendoza’s legacy: bending the law to benefit his clients, regardless of precedents or its spirit.

Duterte Impeachment – Timing is Everything

Opinion, , , , , ,

Nothing happens in the House of Representatives without the approval or support of the President. So when 215 of its members endorsed the 4th and last impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte – the largest ever number of endorsements for impeachment in the history of the House, you’d know that the Marcos administration has done its homework, chosen a plan and finally set the ball rolling.

The INC rally was supposed to be a show of force to persuade the Marcos-Romualdez bloc to maintain the status quo, but the recent SWS survey showing 41% of the public supporting the VP’s impeachment and the VP herself suffering a continuing decline to 52% trust rating was enough to convince the administration that it’s time to get it done and over with.

As it has always been in politics, timing is everything. Sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate days before Congress adjourns on Feb 8 puts pressure on Senators who are running for re-election. These Senators are not only up for re-election, but they are also perceived to be friendly to the Dutertes thus making them vulnerable: with considerable public support for the VP’s impeachment, it will be difficult to go on the campaign trail if they would be seen to be defending and voting against Sara Duterte’s removal from office. Also, the impeachment trial would take away their time from campaigning.

Additional pressure comes from the daunting prospects of going against a well-funded administration whose prospects of securing a continuation of the Marcos restoration depend on the results of the 2025 elections.

If all goes well, the Marcos-Romualdez bloc would see more compliant Senators coming in to conduct Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial and give a satisfactory verdict.

This would then give Marcos a chance to nominate his preferred VP – a tantalizing prize for those with ambitions come 2028 – Romualdez, Escudero, Poe.

Ultimately, the Dutertes once more are in the fight for their political survival.

Presidential insensitivity

Opinion, , ,

According to the Social Weather Stations’ recent survey, the nationwide involuntary incidence stood at 14.2% for Q1 of 2024. This is higher than the previous 12.6 hunger rate seen in December 2023. That’s 3.95 million Filipino families that are “being hungry and not having anything to eat.”

True to his “Imeldific” upbringing, President Marcos, Jr’s apparent response is to release a vlog doing his own informal survey, asking whether viewers prefer adobo or sinigang?

Marcos Jr vlogs about Filipino dishes as the more Filipinos experience involuntary hunger

Go figure…

Someone who does not find value in putting up classroom decorations clearly has no business being the Secretary of Education.

#NeverAgain Bundle by Adarna House

Daily dose, , , , , ,

Back in May, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo red-tagged Filipino book publisher Adarna House when it offered to sell book bundles about the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr’s dictatorship, describing it in a Facebook post as part of a plan to “subtly radicalize” Filipino children to rise up against the government.

The outrageous and dangerous insinuation that Adarna House, a respected book publisher founded by no less than National Artist Virgilio Almario, has ties to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People’s Army.

Even acclaimed English author Neil Gaiman weighed in:

It cannot be stressed enough that red-tagging is dangerous and there have been activists that were murdered after being red-tagged.

More to the point, publishing books about important historical events especially in a format aimed at younger readers is not only noble work, it is essentially public service.

So to support Adarna House, I bought their #NeverAgain Bundle which consists of the following books:

  • “Ito ang Diktadura” (2017) by Equipo Plantel
  • “Edsa” (2013) by Russell Molina
  • “Isang Harding Papel” (2014) and “Si Jhun-Jhun, Noong Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar” (2001) by Augie Rivera
  • “The Magic Arrow” (2021) by Bolet Banal

After a little over a month, the books finally arrived yesterday and the wait was worth it. My daughter finished reading all the books in one sitting and said she really enjoyed each one.

#NeverAgain
#NeverAgain Bundle by Adarna House

The #NeverAgain bundle and many other good titles are available over at Adarna House’s website so grab a copy if you can. I promise you will not regret it.

Disclaimer: This is not a paid post nor am I connected to Adarna House, Inc in any way.