What excludes terrorist acts?

What is not a "terrorist act" according to Australia's Criminal Code of 1995? According to Australia's anti terror law under their Criminal Code of 1995, a terrorist act does not cover engaging in advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action where a person does not have the intention to urge force or violence or cause harm to others. Meanwhile, under the Philippines anti terror law Republic Act No. 11479, what shall NOT be considered "terrorism" are the following: Terrorism shall not include advocacy, protest, dissent stoppage of work or industrial or mass action or other similar exercises of civil and political rights, which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person;s life, or to create a serious serious risk to public safety. It seems the Philippines only nearly copied what is NOT considered a terrorist act from Australia's anti terror law. In fact what is NOT terrorism, is more expansive under the Philippine anti terror law than that of the Australian anti-terror law.

Ban frontliner migration during Covid emergency

I was asked to give a legal opinion to a query in the Office of the President’s Commission on Filipinos Overseas regarding emigrant Filipino health frontliners set to migrate/leave to other countries during this period of national emergency. Section 4, Article II of the 1987 Constitution states: “The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people. The Government may call upon the people to defend the State and, in the fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required, under conditions provided by law, to render personal, military, or civil service.” Section 5, Article III of the 1987 Constitution states: “The maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy.” On the other hand, the Constitution guarantees certain rights of our people as enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Section 1, Article III of the 1987 Constitution guarantees that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law.” Section 6 Article III of the 1987 Constitution guarantees that “the liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of the court. Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.” Because of the global pandemic brought about by the COVID 19, the government has acted in order to preserve the lives of all Filipinos. Section 23 Article VI of the 1987 Constitution provides that in times of national emergency “the Congress may, by law, authorize the President, for a limited period and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy, unless sooner withdrawn by resolution of the Congress, such powers shall ceased upon the next adjournment thereof.” , Congress has enacted Republic No. 11469, otherwise known as the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, which declared a natianl emergency and directed the Prsidnet for a limited period to act. Whereas, Section 4(m) of Republic Act 11469, otherwise cited as Bayanihan to Heal As One Act was passed on 24 March 2020, provides, emergency powers for the President to, “engage temporary Human Resource for Health (HRH) such as medical and allied medical staff to complement or supplement the current health workforce or to man the temporary medical facilities to be established in accordance with Section 4 (k) of this Act. Pursuant to the Bayanihan law, the President has issued Proclamation 922 Series of 2020, declaring a state of public health emergency throughout the Philippines, Section 2, of Proclamation 922 series of 2020 provides, “All government agencies and LGUs are hereby enjoined to render full assistance and cooperation and mobilize the necessary resources to undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the COVID-19 threat” The Commission Filipinos Overseas (CFO) is an agency under the office of the President, existing pursuant to Batas Pambansa No. 79. Batas Pambansa No. 79 enumerates the powers and functions of the Commission Filipinos Overseas which among others include, to “Perform such other related functions as may be directed by the President or assigned by law.” There are Filipino health professionals such as doctors and nurses who have been contracted by foreign employers, such as among others employers in the United States and other countries, to work in health and medical institutions there, granting such Filipinos immigrant visas. The Commission on Filipinos Overseas, pursuant to registration regulations entitled “Guidelines for the registration of Filipino emigrants and departing spouses and other partners of foreign nationals” dated February 8, 2007 registers these Filipinos as a requirement for migrant Filipinos who intend to leave the Philippines and reside and work overseas. In view of the foregoing, this following comments or opinion is rendered. The Commission on Filipinos Overseas is a government agency attached to the Office of President. It is the legal mandate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas under Batas Pambansa No. 79 to perform functions as may be directed by the President or assigned by law. These are abnormal times. In fact, there has been a formal declaration of a national emergency by Congress in accordance with the 1987 constitution, and subsequently proclaimed the by the President. The current declared national policy grants express emergency powers for the President to, “engage temporary Human Resource for Health (HRH) such as medical and allied medical staff to complement or supplement the current health workforce or to man the temporary medical facilities”. In fact the President has issued a proclamation directed to all government agencies, and these include the Commission on Filipinos Overseas to render full assistance and cooperation and mobilize the necessary resources to undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the COVID-19. During abnormal times, or in this time of national emergency, with more reason should government agencies, more particularly the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, render functions consistent with the orders and directives of the President. Thus, there is a current legal mandate upon the Commission on Filipinos Overseas as a government agency to fully assist and cooperate in mobilizing necessary resources and undertaking critical and appropriate response and measures against COVID-19. This means that all actions undertaken by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, particularly on emigrant Filipinos connected with the medical profession, like doctors and nurses among others, intending to leave abroad , must be fully in consonance and consistent with the current declared national policy. It must be emphasized that under the Constitution the government can call upon its citizens to render personal, military and civil service. This would include our Filipino medical professionals like doctors and nurses in these times of national emergency. We are aware that Constitutional rights are not suspended even in times of national emergency. The right to life liberty and property, the right to pursue a profession, the right to travel, to leave the country, and the non-impairment of contract clause, are constitutionally guaranteed. Indeed, there are competing interests between the state and individuals pursuing their civil liberties. Yet again, the State has acted upon a constitutional mandate during a national emergency. It is imperative that the Commission on Filipinos Overseas must act in full “assistance and cooperation” with the declared national policy, and directives of the President in a period of national emergency. Thus any act, which otherwise is regularly performed by the Commission under normal times and circumstances, that strays from the declared national policy, should be suspended. It is submitted here that any such suspension does not constitute a grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. On the contrary, such suspension would be consistent with the Constitution and the laws and the directives of the President. It is submitted that the liberty to travel is lawfully and constitutionally impaired by the enactment of the law declaring a national emergency. In the case of Marcos versus Manglapus [177 SCRA 668 (1989)] the Supreme Court said: “The President has the obligation under the Constitution to protect the people, promote their welfare and advance the national interest. It must be borne in mind that the Constitution, aside from being an allocation of power is also a special contract whereby the people have surrendered their sovereign powers to the State for the common good. In this current situation, there is a law, the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act, that declares a national emergency and authorizes the President to act in response to such national emergency. Thus, with more legal reason is there for the impairment of the right to travel at this time, specifically to those vital “human resources” (frontliners) which are needed in this time of national emergency. There are times when the bill of rights may be subordinated by the mandate of the state under the Constitution to advance the greater national interest. In any event, the same Constitution also mandates that the powers of the President under a state of national emergency is only for a limited period, and not permanent. Hence, these directives are effective during the ‘limited period.” When conditions would later prevail such that there is no more need to address an emergency situation in our country, then the individual’s valued rights under the constitution can be invoked without being infringed. It is noted that the suspension of registration would only be limited to those covered by the Bayanihan Act and the directive of the President, namely human resources i.e. medical professionals who are most needed here during the emergency.

Hooking up with Greg

I take pleasure in relaying that my very good friend and law school classmate, Greg Macaltao, is doing very well as a businessman in Vancouver. I hooked up with Greg in our recent Vancouver visit just to know how he is doing. I re-connected with him at Facebook and told him I would be in town. We met at a Starbucks outlet inside a grocery store near the place we parked. We had a nice time talking about the past, the present, and the future. Past: Greg was a good friend in law school, a seat mate in fact in Section B. Very good student, and studied at the fourth floor where the Ateneo MBA was housed, from early morning till class time. After law school and a few years of Manila law practice he moved to the U.S. to study masters in business in the U.S., and made a career shift from law to business. Present: He is Vancouver-based now, living near downtown and establishing a start-up export-import business with some partners. He buys goods/products from the Philippines, and ships it to Vancouver for distribution. What the product was, he didn't disclose at that time for superstitious reasons. Future: He hopes to make the first major shipment in a couple of months, and is wishing everything goes well. I'm sure it will. Way to go, Greg...

For The Love of Hair

Annie Edison wrote an article on hair loss, that I would like to share: For the Love of Hair There comes a time in every man's life when one has to face up to the inevitable. Dealing with a few more wrinkles and a bit of sagging around the chin is one thing, but facing up to the thought of losing your hair is something else altogether. I've always been secretly proud of my hair, but I have to admit that these days when I look in the mirror I can't help but notice that the tide is a little further back from the shore than it once was. Whilst this leaves me with what I proudly assume is a distinguished looking forehead, there have been times recently when I've been given over to pondering the mysteries of male ageing as a part of my regular musings. This seems to be something with which the Bible has very few comments. Although 2 Corinthians 4:16 has the encouraging statement that "though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day", the process of ageing seems to be far less straightforward. More troubling, Proverbs 20:29 tell us that "the glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their grey hair". Quite true. But what if the old man doesn't have grey hair? What if he has no hair at all? A Question of Health People really do hate to lose their hair. Psychologists state that in today's world a person's hair is a part of their identity, rather like the clothes that they wear. Losing your hair can mean losing a vital part of how you present yourself to the world. At the same time, there is the inevitable awkward issue about age. Looking in the mirror and seeing your father's face staring back at you is quite humbling, but it's also quite spooky. Nobody wants to feel that they are getting older. If you are a woman, most of these changes happen on the inside so that they are hidden from the world. If you are a man who is going to lose his hair, everyone is going to see. In some cases, as the Hairloss Center experts explain, hair loss is related to health issues such as insulin resistance resulting from too much body weight. Heart disease is another common factor that can increase the risk. For some, it is simply a matter of genetics. Inspirational Figures This made me think about some inspirational people who have no hair, and to look into the stories of their lives. The first names that spring to mind are movie stars. Bruce Willis is a particular inspiration. He grew up as the son of an American soldier father and a German mother, a thoroughly blue collar family background that Bruce has always been proud to affiliate himself with. After the army, his father worked in a factory and as a welder, meaning that Bruce's upbringing in Carney's Point New Jersey was a very normal experience. Bruce himself had a serious stutter, which caused his high school contemporaries to nickname him 'buck-buck' because of his habit of repeating words and sounds twice. Before becoming a famous actor, Bruce Willis worked as a private investigator. Bruce has been a great ambassador for the hairless look. Another actor who has embraced baldness is Patrick Stewart, of Star Trek fame. His portrayal of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation has become the stuff of television legend. Despite being voted television's sexiest man in 1992, Stewart has achieved his highest acclaim for his stage work, particularly Shakespeare. Like Willis, Stewart was born to an army father and a blue collar mother. Unlike Willis, however, Stewart's home life was far from pleasant. His father was a domestically violent man who suffered from shell shock, and who Stewart has described as being a "very potent individual". In recent years, Patrick Stewart has shown that he can resonate with much younger generations by taking a character voice role in the anarchic cartoon American Dad and by embracing the social media networking portal Twitter. Patrick Stewart seems to be an icon for being not letting age get in the way of your life. Unsung Heroes Perhaps the most inspirational of all, however, are those people who aren't famous because of their ability to play an action hero or guide a fictional spacecraft through space. The summer of 2012 saw the Olympics come to London, and one participant really stood out for me. Joanna Rowsell competed in the Olympics as a cyclist at the tender age of 24. Rowsell had won the cycling world cup when she was only 23, and had stunned TV audiences by climbing onto the podium, taking off her helmet, and revealing a completely bald head. Rowsell suffers from alopecia, a condition where the body's immune system attacks the hair follicles, causing the hair to fall out. Joanna Rowsell lost her long auburn hair when she was only ten years old. Despite enduring teasing and taunting at school, Rowsell focused on making herself be the best that she could be physically. In 2012 this paid off when she again climbed onto a podium, this time with the whole world looking on, in order to accept an Olympic gold medal. For me, I don't know how I would cope with going bald. I'd like to think that it would suit me in the way that it does Bruce Willis, or that it would make me look distinguished in the way that it does Patrick Stewart. However, thinking about this whole thing has made me realize that worrying about how we look is so much less important than trying to be the best that we always can be. In a world where people face a daily struggle just to survive, fretting about the hairs on your head is nothing short of a waste of energy. We hold influence through our actions, not by how we look.

Bohol's churches

My heart bleeds seeing Bohol’s historical churches felled by nature’s wrath. I suddenly reflected our pilgrimage to some of these magnificent cathedrals a year ago. It seemed God had wanted us to view, visit, pray and commune inside these churches, in all its beauty and splendor, one last time. In Christianity’s history, churches have been conquered, razed, and destroyed. But they are meant to be rebuilt. Bohol’s churches will be restored, certainly. But something tells me, its not going to be the same. Now I realize what a blessing that pilgrimage was.