S1L30 – The Right of Suffrage and the Duck in the Cockpit, introducing Mr. Hilong Talilong As I’m shuffling classcards for another recitation, I noticed a few classcards that look very new—I suppose there are some students that I have never called
S1L29 – Blind Items and the law on Libel Blind items are an item again nowadays after President Duterte exploded his “bomb” about a presidential candidate snorting cocaine. In Ilocano there’s a saying “nu sino mangan sili isu magasangan” (or maybe it’s
S1L28 – The Inherent Defects of Republican Democracy that sent Miss Deema crying Mr. Juan Dimacaawat, will you please count how many of you are here?” After a minute Juan reported, “We are twenty, sir.” “Alright, listen class. I prepared four lectures
S1L27 – The 3 D’s in Estafa: Deceit, Damage and Discovery, feat. Mommy Dionisia In Baguio City, law classes meet in the evening, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm although I once famously “punished” a class by lecturing until 11:00 PM. Evening classes
S1L26 – The Doctrine of Forgiveness, feat. Miss Kata Ngahan Miss Kata Ngahan, are you around…?” “I’m present, sir. I never miss your class, it’s a pleasure and a signal pride for me to be sitting here and learning from a consummate
S1L25 – Lawyers are cool and fashionable, feat. Mohawk-hairstyled Jack Makataruz from Bauko A law class is not always about discussions of legal doctrines and principles. A law class is a dynamic mini-society which is really a microcosm of the community itself.
S1L24 – Why Lawyers love to say things in Latin, Juan Dimacaawat hits on Miss Deema Niwala Law is general education. That’s why there is really no such thing as the most ideal pre-law preparation. My students come from diverse under-grad backgrounds.
S1L23 – Admissions and Denials, feat. Miss Deema Niwala Miss Deema Niwala, are you around?” “I’m here, sir. I’m always present. In fact, I always sit in front and you barely take notice of my presence.” This is one of those great
S1L22 – Basic Criminal Law concepts, feat. Mr. Juan Dimacaawat Mr. Juan Dimacaawat, stand up please…” “Yes, sir!” Something I always admired about this particular law student of mine is he never comes to class with tons of books or notebooks in
Why banks betray smaller clients over bigger ones Semester 1 Non-class lecture 21 Truth be told, not all of my teachings happen in a classroom situation. Sometimes law students ambush me in the cafeteria and ruin my lunch, or merienda, by asking
S1L20 – Natural and Juridical Persons Mr. Juan Dimacaawat, are you present?” I surveyed the classroom looking for my favorite law student. He just barely managed go barge into the classroom, sweating like a pig from running to make it in time
S1L19 – Can a bank just freeze your account? I do legal education in my Facebook account, and on my webpage, but not legal counselling. So for those who have asked me if they should close their bank accounts with BPI, PNB,
S1L18 – BENECO Lawyers go up against NEA over “Rule of Law” If you ask me what was the first critical blunder of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) in its ill-fated effort to takeover BENECO, it would be this: it underestimated the
S1L17 – How the public is being hypnotized into surrendering BENECO In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king. What this old adage means, to me, is that men obtain power because they see what others cannot. A more cynical
S1L16 – How to guard yourself against cyberlibel, introducing Juan Dimacaawat Mister Juan Dimacaawat, are you around?” My favorite law student is a stocky fellow from Mankayan, Benguet, the son of a retired miner who now owns a welding shop fabricating “ball
S1L15 – Everything that “Persona Non Grata” Resolution means or does not mean One of the myths that law students are able to dispel quickly is the popular impression that their law professors know everything. They hold them in such high esteem
S1L14 – The Difference between “power of control” and “supervision”” This is potentially boring stuff unless you’re sick and tired of people who talk like they know everything about electric cooperatives, BENECO, and NEA—but are actually bluffing and just trying to impress
S1L13 – The Courts: Where trolls and bashers cannot prevail I am biased for litigation, but on a practical level I would do everything to try to avoid going to trial. It’s too costly, stressful and time-consuming. And you never really attain
S1L12 – How BENECO’s valiant MCO’s are like Masadans, outnumbered but not outfought The siege of Masada was one of the final events in the First Jewish–Roman War which raged from 73 to 74 A.D. On a high plateau above the plains
S1L11 – Rebellion has no penalty if the rebels win I’m shuffling classcards again for today’s class recitation….Juan Dimacaawat? “Present, sir!” Alright, Mr. Dimacaawat. Please read Art. 135 of your Revised Penal Code. “Any person who promotes, maintains or heads a rebellion
S1L10 – Desperate NEA Resorts to Red-tagging Mia Magdalena In July 2018, the Philippine government deported 71-year old Australian Missionary nun Sister Patricia Fox, oblivious of the fact she had lived in the Philippines for more than 27 years. She spoke Cebuano,
S1L9 – Quantifying the Enormous Voting Strength of MCO Power This is an interesting number to ponder: 138,000. That’s the number of member-consumer-owners (MCO’s) of BENECO as of the end of September 2021. Baguio City has 164,125 registered voters. In other words,
S1L8 – “Trapos” panicked by the rise of MCO Power Now, it’s giving shifty politicos a migraine—this belated awareness that the BENECO member-consumer-owners (MCO’s) just might be an even bigger bailiwick than the INK and the Catholics combined. Politico A: “Naku, patay
S1L7 – The Most Potent Basis of Consumer power: OWNERSHIP When American Idol Season 1 Champion Kelly Clarkson sang, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” she could very well have been singing about what’s happening in BENECO today. Before NEA launched
S1L6 – How to interpret law using “Ejusdem Generis” To my law students in the college of law and in the Facebook School of Law: What is meant by “EJUSDEM GENERIS?” It’s a rule in statutory construction—which, by the way, has nothing
S1L5 – NEA is Applying the Doctrine of “Presumption of Regularity” Totally wrong January (Bar Exam) is just around the corner. We have very little time to cram as much information as we can into our law students’ heads. So for those
S1L4 – The Failure of Diligence of PNB over BENECO’s Money This is for my law students preparing for the Bar. This is on Banking Laws and Procedures (Debit Transactions): QUESTION: Can BENECO recover the one million pesos withdrawn from its account
S1L3 – Senate Probe of NEA will expose its Derelect Relevance So there’s going to be a Senate investigation into this worsening anarchy that the National Electrification Administration (NEA) is fomenting in Baguio and Benguet in its hungry grab for BENECO. When
S1L2 – NEA’s red-tagging strategy will backfire and spook the business community Everyone in Baguio should be alarmed by the red-tagging strategy that NEA has unwisely decided to include in its arsenal of weapons against BENECO. The business community, in particular, should
S1L1 – How the “Rule of Law” is perverted mimics a pro-wrestling match The best way to understand how the “rule of law” is perverted is to watch any professional wrestling match on YouTube. Pick any match where the two opponents wear
Pre-Semester Frontier Post 50 (Facebook’s “Artificial Intelligence” Failing to Protect MCO Accounts) Artificial intelligence” (AI) is another one of those contradiction in terms you will inevitably have the pure annoyance of running into these days. All social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube,
Pre-Semester Frontier Post 49 Persona non grata” literally translates to “an unwelcome person” in Latin. It’s not a crime, so it has no penalty. It’s neither a judgment nor a decision handed down by a court, so it cannot be executed. It
“Dura Lex Sed Lex”Pre-Semester Non-classroom Lecture 48 Laws would be meaningless without courts. Laws tell you what your rights are. But your rights end where my rights begin. It is the court that draws the line between us. Without that clear separating
Why Baguio and Benguet people resent NEA’s High-handednessPre-Semester Frontier Post 47 There’s an underlying reason why the brazen attempt of NEA to takeover BENECO is generating so much public outrage, helping galvanize opposition to what many see as a naked power grab—no
A Day that will life in Infamy for NEAPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 46 That shameful blitzkrieg carried out by NEA in South Drive on October 18, 2021 was not just a shortlived takeover of BENECO’s premises. It was the beginning of a long
PNB has reasons to be worriedPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 45 If I were PNB Baguio I would be afraid. I would be VERY afraid. They allowed a third party to withdraw ONE MILLION PESOS from an account of a depositor—BENECO—without even informing the
NEA’s Golden Girl May be Highly-achieved, but she’s still UNQUALIFIEDPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 44 Qualification is a tricky issue. To run for President of the Philippines, you must be at least 40 years old, natural-born Filipino, able to read and write, a registered
Why it’s crucial for BENECO to elect fresh officers or renew office termsPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 43 Back in those days of my pathetic attempts to go to the gym, one of the guys wore a shirt that said “Your workout is my
No one can afford to be in the sidelines in this BENECO fight, jwhen just being counted is enoughPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 42 Someone asked me today, “what can I do about this BENECO crisis, especially now that men with guns are involved?”
What even a little girl can do to help BENECOPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 41 Tito, I feel so helpless and so little, so insignificant. I’m just a kid. What can I do?” Katherine, you’re 14 but you’re not playing computer games. Instead you’re
Why Turning South Drive into a Hamlet is UNCONSTITUTIONALPre-Semester Non-classroom Lecture 40 This is for my law students preparing for the Bar (but, of course, since it’s a public post all are welcome to read it) A WARRANT—whether it be to effect
Deputizing the PNP to execute a NON-JUDICIAL or NON-QUASI JUDICIAL ORDER is just PLAIN WRONGPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 39 It might be the last straw to break the camel’s back. Throwing South Drive into a military hamlet sent a blood-curdling message down the
Why NEA CANNOT just fire anybody in BENECO by mere publication Pre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 38 Again this is for my law students preparing for the Bar—and everyone else out there who are in denial of the fact that they are good enough
I think NEA will try to seize BENECO by Fake People PowerPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 37 In this day and age of social media channeling heightened public awareness, public opinion is no longer an abstract factor in policy formulation. There remain a few
NEA Cannot use the PNP to perform its rulemaking powers, only it’s adjudicating powerPre-Semester Non-classroom Lecture 36 The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is skating on really very thin ice, if it insists on its handpicked general manager for BENECO. Can NEA use
NEA validly serving an invalid Order doesn’t make the Order validPre-Semester Non-classroom Lecture 35 My bad, I forget to mention that some of my posts are really intended for our law students that we still can’t meet face-to-face. Even bar review is
As an ordinary consumer, Laarni Ilagan and BENECO make me proudPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 34 I waited three days before going public on Facebook with my minor gripe about still not having electricity despite the storm being over. At 6:30 AM, well over
Baguio-Benguet Consumers are Slowly Waking upPre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 33 Ordinary people of good conscience are beginning to react to the BENECO crisis. I think it’s because the COVID19 Delta Variant reminds them of it everyday. The NEA variant behaves uncanningly similar. It
Of the 19 powers given to NEA by RA 10531, the power to appoint a GM is NOT one of them…
Of the 19 powers given to NEA by RA 10531, the power to appoint a GM is NOT one of them…
