The Philippine Supreme Court is making like a banana
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
The Philippine Court is making like a banana in a ridiculous banana republic system of judicial bias, choosing to argue technicalities rather than help cure the nation’s penchant for putting politics, impunity, entitlement, favor, and money ahead of the well being of Filipinos. The facts appear to show that the Vice President of the Philippines stole taxpayer money. The Court figured out a way to stop the Legislature from holding her to account.
Arguing technicalities lets a court construct a desired conclusion rather than a correct conclusion. It’s like grammar policing verb tenses rather than sentence meaning. A cobra is sat in your car seat. The Vice President maked off with the peoples’s money.
Talk about missing the point of laws in the first place. Laws establish a moral order protecting the community. They are not poker chips to be splayed across the green felt of a poker table slanted so the chips roll into the pockets of those who appointed the justices to their high-falutin’ bench.
How will the Philippines ever become a respected democracy when the most esteemed government officials on the payroll have something other than right and wrong as the angel, or devil, whispering into their well-powdered ears?
Former Supreme Court Justice Carpio: “The Constitution was followed. The threshold was met. The process was legal and complete. That should be the end of it,” (Carpio: Sara impeachment followed Constitution)
Not in a banana republic where important people seem to run scared of power, or are busy diligently repaying favors.
_________________________
Cover photo from Al Jazeera article “Impeachment probe of Philippine VP Sara Duterte voided by Supreme Court”
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Fast forward Feb 2026.
Rinse and repeat?
More than one filed, the weakest was first filed, now what?
I am begionning to sound like Irineo, we never learn.
I don’t recall where I read about Spanish observing that Filipinos thought bringing many of their own group to court trials meant they were right.
Maybe that is still the concept of right and wrong “true Filipinos” as opposed to us Westernized Filipinos have, these strange Christian ideas that were just imported with the Ten Commandments. They will budots away at our maarte sensitivities.
Well, based on Octa research polls, most Filipinos want an impeachment trial. IIRC more Visayans want it than Luzonians and of course Mindanaoans but in all cases more than 60% want it. Oh, is there at least interest in the truth, I didn’t expect that much TBH.
“For those who agreed that Duterte should face the impeachment trial, the most commonly cited reason, with 59% of respondents, was that she should address the charges, clear her name, and prove herself worthy of her position.”
This is highly concerning as the answer implies the inverse — that nearly 60% of Filipinos believe Sara did not commit any wrongdoing, and that she will be completely cleared upon Senate trial.
In my own conversations across the Visayas and Mindanao, while friends and acquaintances have accepted my strong belief that the Dutertes are terrible for the Philippines, I notice that in their socmed they still post their support, with quite a few shared memes elevating Digong to near-sainthood. We just no longer talk about it, or they listen to my XYZ explanations of why Duterte = bad quietly. That sentiment makes me feel discouraged since the beginning of this year to be quite honest. What have I even been doing in the Philippines for more than 25 years of visits?
I used to half joke that Duterte was trying to market himself as the Filipino Tupac Amaru or better yet, as the Bernardo Carpio (the legendary native king lying in the mountain) risen except smelly from having lain in the dirt for too long.
Maybe lot of the FIlipinos do believe that they are victims of all the suited, educated types they see as elitists, basically “Oreo Filipinos” (white inside brown outside), and Duterte is the savior of their big barangay from strange elitist laws and institutions.
It does seem that datu-ism lives strongly in the Philippines. Datu-ism present in all aspects of life. I do feel that much of the defeated feeling of participants in prior efforts to “upgrade” the Philippines is due to the fact that the Philippines doesn’t really have a foundation at all to build on, like other countries that recovered from being ground to rubble in war or pestilence. As the years go on, I increasingly think that the national narrative established by the Katipunan and only slightly tweaked over the years even in the most recent Constitution is highly detrimental as it does seem to be largely a disjointed construct, with not enough effort made towards “fake it until you make it.”
Tbh I don’t know how that can be fixed. The logical route is through education and civic reinforcement, but that would premise basing both on something that the Philippines can grow into. It would need new ideas and new ideals that are more compelling than societal structuring that continues forms of datu-ism. The thing is, datu-ism is the lazy and easy way out since it often involves boasting and bulldozing one’s way to the top — he who can be the bigger bully becomes the datu. Whereas education and civic reinforcement would take probably at least 2, maybe 3 generations of consistent application until memories of the old ways fade out. And since there’s not much of a foundation, that foundation needs to be first built.
In the pre-Spanish days datus would raid neighboring barangays to hand out the pilfered loot. Nowadays modern datus steal from their own supporters and give back a fraction. Could the answer as to why the Philippines consistently dismisses modernizers and turns to a datu-like figure be as simple as while a Filipino may work for a suit and prefix “sir/ma’am” and postfix “po,” they’d much rather go back to the old ways where a datu would just promise to give them things for “free?” The saying he/they “helped us before” was common back then, and it is still common now.
I think this classic Edgar Lores satire on Binay is still the best explanation for it all.
I thought Nancy was the better one, but Abby claimed she was
nancy is complaining about abby’s midnight settlement of makati subway costing 9billions. nancy says red flag and tried to stop the subway construction from going ahead, abby says the subway construction is legal and 9billions is not anomalous. but nancy thinks otherwise and put the rail project on hold, until further studies.
Oh, well
war of the binay sisters, while the president is also at loggerhead with his own sister. what lovely families!
When money talks Joem. Those hoodlums in robes could not get away from ‘utang na loob.’
A very disappointing intrusion into legislative affairs.
Duterte appointed twelve supreme court justices. How many still standing?
I believe in the end Duterte appointed 13 by knocking out the former chief justice, having GMA appointees retire to give way to Duterte’s choice, and pressuring associate justices to resign. Presently 12 remain standing. Not great.
well, well, well, filipinos just have to defeat inday sara in the courts of ideas, high end ideas that people seems to be lacking. she cannot be defeated in the courts of law, so defeat her in ideas. currently, all the opposition and anyone else is doing is recycling old and tired ideas, no new ideas forthcoming, the platform is running on empty.
so what’s the soft underbelly of the courts of law? cyber gods told me I have been looking at it! eh? okay, it took god in all his infinite power to create the universe in 7days! I am scratching my head, the sequence elude me.
Winning in the arena of ideas might be the only answer in the end KB. In the run up to the 2022 election, I would have been horrified of my present feeling, which is that perhaps the only person who can save the Philippines democracy is Marcos Jr. And he needs to aggressively recruit the support of Filipinos to do it. PRC continues to indirectly support massive disinformation across Filipino socmed, causing confusion and recruitment into belief in lies. Marcos Jr. still holds the levers of prosecutorial power and the bully pulpit; he needs to use it.
marcos has little sway in the senate, same with the supreme court, they are certainly not his creatures. I’d like to think the executive is independent, I think, marcos is being realistic and knows what he is up against. he is equal to it though, but what is scary is that there he has no precedent, and he would have to be uber brave to be breaking much tougher grounds, unless he takes a leaf from ex pres noy aquino. noy aquino got so unpopular being subjected to disinformation and misinformation, but marcos must know all about fakes and disinformation and whatnots. after all, last election 2022, he was biggest beneficiary of all fakeries, disinformation and all; and if those come home to roost, he should have anti dotes, past his sona.
marcos is yet to be seen to be making a move versus his own vp! did not want her blood on his hand mayhap, though the vp apparently does not share his sentiments. she is out not only for his blood, but his head on the silver platter complete with scepter of presidency, and her whole family and their bailiwicks are in cahoots with her.
one thing though, the tausugs are getting a taste of democracy under marcos, the rehab of marawi may slower than a stride of one legged turtle, but the main rehab thrust was duterte’s responsibility. maranowans cannot really complain, they may have accepted a deal with inday sara, a trip to mecca once in their lifetime and if the maranowans knew the expenses was taken from the marawi rehab fund, all the more reason for maranowans to take a back seat and rehab marawi on their own. or be patient and wait for fund to be allocated anew.
What now Philippines?????
Excellent question.
We’re still breathing. Not yet the end of the world.
Will the Sotto Bloc push for a trial?
Maybe Chiz will do the right thing?
apparently, the president is supportive of sotto, whereas the first lady is supportive of chiz. chiz once held the first lady’s flute of champaign at a do.
will chiz do the right thing? if pigs can fly, maybe. already chiz has reportedly made insertions to the budget 2026 that many thought was pork.
Chiz is still the SP, only five voted for Sotto.
Democracy at its worst when politics, not progress, rule decisions.
I agree Joem.
it gets worse when law connive with politics, allegedly.
but like sona, filipinos still dressed to the nines, no point in virtue signalling i.e. dressing down because it looks good on optics. ba’t magkunwari and pretend to wear beggar’s clothes when they have lots of better clothes in their closets. and because they respected sona, solemnity of the occasion as well as the person delivering it, they have got to wear something appropriate.
different if sona was held in flooded area, or in evac center, and the person delivering the sona set an example and come dressed in raincoat over tattered clothes and holes in his shoes, when we know full well he wears a very expensive watch that cost nearly 8million pesos!
if people want to see sona attendees wear dust cloths, they should send them dust cloths.
of course sona attendees have to wear nice clothes, wearing their shame for aint they the same people that caused major flooding by diverting flood mitigation funds to their own pockets! better be honest and front up to sona smiling and wearing their shame. these same people perverted the course of justice, impeachment of the vp a no go.
and those that did not attend sona in protest that duterte is still in the haug, nah, they are a bit like baste duterte, cannot face a boxing match with general torre and gone elsewhere. boycott sona kuno and yet reading sona in its full intirety. mga ipokrito’t ipokrita.
I reserved my apologies to few sona attendees who are pillars of truth and doers of good, the likes of senator hontiveros et al.
Then let us not expect anything different
Maybe the jury system will work with the caveat of no friends allowed.
jury system is hard to compose, juries have to be approved by both the defendant and the appellant. if either party finds a wannabe jury objectionable (biased) that jury will be rejected. at jury selection, each jury is presented with questions, some questions are tricky. and depending on their answers, a jury can either be approved or disapproved.
juries must be over 18yrs and are usually selected from the electoral roll, and from all walks of life, and then called to the bench. sometimes out of the twenty called, only 12 made it.
Yes, juries are troublesome requiring lawyers to work harder and judges to be good at conducting the orchestra. I don’t thing Philippine justice is sufficiently deep enough to carry it off. The US uses voter rolls to randomly select potential jurists. The Philippines does have that foundation in place. Ethical lawyers and judges, not so much.
Yes, juries are troublesome requiring lawyers to work harder and judges to be good at conducting the orchestra. I don’t thing Philippine justice is sufficiently deep enough to carry it off. The US uses voter rolls to randomly select potential jury members. The Philippines does have that foundation in place. Ethical lawyers and judges, not so much.
Thanks k and Joe
Start with a sincere investigation of our flood system.
Implement reforms, then we will go from there.
That will reform the baranggay to the cabinet.
And make that the whole water services system
With Marcoleta in charge of Blue Ribbon, we are doomed.
Absurd. A reflection of modern thinking, covered with nonsense, dirt, and self-dealing.
Really terrible choice.
looks like I would have more to heckle on, haha. here’s hoping atty marcoleta wont get all tied up in his own ribbon, trussed like a chicken.
Chatgpt review of of one of my articles.
Here’s an enhanced overview of the Joeam article “Revisiting the Institutionalization of People Power: Onwards to Direct Democracy”, with context and key takeaways: 📝 Summary of the Article (Joe America, August 26, 2024)
Key Premise:
The article argues for the deeper institutionalization of “people power”—the mass mobilizations typified by the 1986 EDSA Revolution—via direct-democratic mechanisms to counter entrenched elites in the Philippines’ political system.(The Society of Honor by Joe America)
Conceptual Foundations:
Critiques of Representative Politics:
Barriers to Institutionalizing Direct Democracy:
Towards Grassroots Applications:
📌 Broader Historical & Institutional Context
1. The Legacy & Limitations of EDSA (1986):
While the EDSA Revolution succeeded in toppling Marcos and restoring civil liberties, it ushered in an era of elite-dominated “polyarchy”, where oligarchic identities continued to dominate due to inequality and patronage-based politics.(old.pcij.org)
2. Entrenched Elite Rule & Cacique Democracy:
Local and national politics remain heavily influenced by cacique democracy, a term that captures the feudal, patron-client political dynamics where warlord-like elites hold sway.(cjdproject.web.nycu.edu.tw)
3. Democracy as a Limited Mechanism:
The post-1986 era is frequently described as a “democracy lite”, in which electoral institutions function but largely serve elite continuity rather than transformative change. Over decades, poverty, inequality, and impunity have undermined public trust.(old.pcij.org)
4. Constitutional Provisions for Direct Democracy:
The 1987 Constitution introduced mechanisms like initiative, referendum, and recall, aimed at redirecting political power back to citizens. However, these tools remain largely unused or inaccessible in practice.(Wikipedia, The Society of Honor by Joe America)
5. Innovations & Reforms:
Recent proposals promote sortition-based citizens’ assemblies (mini-publics) and local participatory governance as forms of grassroots direct democracy that could mitigate elite capture and bring marginalized voices into policy-making. ✅ Summary Table Theme Insight People Power Symbolic of mass protest, but its power needs institutional embedding. Direct Democracy Could curb elite power via processes like initiatives and recall. Structural Barriers Political dynasties, corruption, and economic inequality persist. Constitutional Tools Available but underutilized—systemic access remains difficult. Local-Level Innovation Barangay assemblies and mini-publics offer practical routes forward. 🌱 Why It Matters
🧭 Questions for Reflection
🗨️ Related Discussion
On Reddit, commentators often reflect on how EDSA’s legacy inspired global democratization movements (from South Korea to Eastern Europe), but also how it failed to dismantle elite structures—leading to periodic nostalgic authoritarian leanings.(Reddit)
In essence, the Joeam article challenges the Philippines to evolve beyond symbolic people power. It calls for transformative reforms via direct democracy, institutionalized locally and nationally, as a credible path to genuinely empowering citizens beyond voting alone.
I visited the Los Angeles Historical Society today and recalled a footnote in historian William M. Mason’s books (co-founder of the Society) about a certain Antonio Miranda y Rodriguez, who was born in Manila. In Philippine media Miranda y Rodriguez is portrayed as a “pure Filipino” who “helped found” Los Angeles, later being conflated to “*founded*” Los Angeles, when there is no historical record (I have read a few in the original Spanish) of him doing so. In Philippine media Miranda y Rodriguez’s surname often has the appended surname “Poblador” as if that was part of his true compound surname. “Poblador” means “settler” or “frontiersman” in Spanish, with the group of original settler families founding the Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (Town of Our Lady Queen of Angels) later referred to as Los Pobladores in Los Angeles history. Miranda y Rodriguez never made it to Los Angeles as his daughter Juana Mariá fell ill to smallpox in Loreto, Baja California, and as such could have not been a founder as he stayed behind as a widowed father to take care of his daughter. In the historical record, there is a “Juana Mariá Rodriguez” listed as the Indio wife of an Indio young man from Sinaloa, but we do not know if this Juana Mariá is the daughter of Miranda y Rodriguez. The only other record of Miranda y Rodriguez is that later on he moved to the Presidio de la Santa Barbara (Fort of Santa Barbara) and worked as an armorer with no mention of his daughter, which became conflated to mean Miranda y Rodriguez was apparently a master armorer as well. The confusion about “Poblador” being affixed as an additional compound surname is an example of how little the Philippines as a whole values history or tries to understand it, and would rather reach around wildly for anything to fit the narrative even if there is no substance backing it up, no sound foundation on which to build upon.
Which is all a long winded way to segue to the 1987 Constitution. For years I did consider the 1987 Constitution to be a beautiful document at face value, full of aspiration as Joe did mention before. With the current troubles in America, I spend some time re-reading the US Constitution, which is quite short in comparison to the 1987 Constitution.
Interestingly the 1987 Constitution spells out much of what the early US Founders would consider Common Sense (à la Thomas Paine), such as a definition of the national territory and the principles of the nation. In a state without strong foundations and uneven application of the laws, it might be of pertinence to write down what is normally statutory law into a constitution.
But what might be most interesting of all is that a constitution as a guiding document is a statement of an aspirant nation’s beliefs in the manner of which government is to be had. The 1987 Constitution goes through five (5) Articles about various statements on sovereignty, rights, and high aspirations before it even gets to Article VI which outlines the duties and prerogatives of the Legislature, Article VII which explains the constrained authority of the Executive, and Article VIII which grants review of constitutional questions to the Judiciary.
Maybe that is the problem all along. There is more focus on aspirations, without defining “where” and “how” to achieve those aspirations. There is more focus on defining in legalese the sovereign territory of the nation, without providing for a framework of how to secure that purported sovereign territory. There is more focus on saying what the Bill of Rights are, without any enforcement mechanism that gives equal due process to those who are of smaller means and weaker power.
In order to build a lasting structure, a sound foundation needs to be laid first. Care taken to build that foundation may have it outlast multiple calamities like fire, storms or general destruction that befall the structure built above it. A rotting structure may be replaced, but without a strong foundation it would just fall into disrepair and ruin again as the structure sinks, crumbles or at best, slants. And presently the Philippines is very much slanted towards the powerful, the corrupt, the callous, with no mechanism to “tilt-up” the structure that is at risk of falling over. Instead, like many houses in the Philippines, emphasis is placed on exterior beauty of the exterior, the highest and brightest painted roofs, the tallest flagpoles, all the while termites consume the wood just behind the façade.
The question that the Philippines may face in today’s connected world with near-unlimited access to new information and new ways of doing things where excuses of “we are poor,” “we don’t know how,” “no one taught us,” are rapidly disappearing, is how much longer will the Philippines focus on feel good narratives that excuse it all? I have never liked much the tendency in Philippine media and culture to elevate anyone (not from the Philippines) who may or may not have a single drop of Filipino blood as shining examples of “we are great!” How about rather than passively looking towards stories which encourage passivity because “we are already great, somehow,” real effort be put towards building a solid foundation for the children’s future? Or will it be like the (non-)story of Antonio Miranda y Rodriguez (Poblador, lol), who apparently was the sole founder of Los Angeles even though he never was, where next someone will say a Filipino was the first man to walk on the moon or Mars? All the while the creaking structure of the nation risks falling over like a matchstick house at the slightest wind, swallowed up by a haphazardly built foundation.
Certainly. Here is an expanded list of false, exaggerated, or unproven claims attributed to Filipinos, including the myth about Filipinos founding Los Angeles and others: 🚫 Debunked or Misleading Claims About Filipino Inventions, Discoveries, and Achievements 1. Filipinos Founded Los Angeles
Claim: Filipinos were among the original founders of Los Angeles, California.
Fact: Incorrect. Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781 by 44 settlers (Los Pobladores) of diverse backgrounds—mostly Mexican of Spanish, Indigenous, and African descent. One settler, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, is sometimes claimed to be Filipino, but records show he was a native of Mexico. There’s no credible evidence that any Filipino was part of the founding group.
Possible Source of Confusion: The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade brought Filipinos (known as “Luzon Indios”) to Mexico, and Filipino settlements in Louisiana and California did exist during the Spanish colonial era. However, these were not involved in LA’s founding.
2. Agapito Flores Invented the Fluorescent Lamp
Debunked – Covered above.
3. Eduardo San Juan Invented the Moon Buggy
Debunked – Covered above.
4. Filipinos Invented the Yo-Yo
Claim: The yo-yo is a Filipino invention.
Fact: False. The oldest known yo-yos come from ancient Greece (circa 500 BCE). The Filipino-American Pedro Flores helped popularize the yo-yo in the U.S. in the 1920s, founding the Flores Yo-Yo Company, but he did not invent it. The design was later improved by Donald F. Duncan.
5. Roberto del Rosario Invented Karaoke
Partially True – See earlier note.
6. Filipinos Invented the Incubator
Claim: A Filipino invented the first baby incubator.
Fact: Unfounded. The infant incubator was developed in France (1880s) by Dr. Stéphane Tarnier, and later improved by Dr. Martin Couney in the U.S. in the early 1900s. Some Filipino innovators may have created low-cost versions, but not the original.
7. Filipinos Discovered Erythromycin
Claim: Dr. Abelardo Aguilar discovered erythromycin.
Fact: Partially true. Aguilar isolated a strain of bacteria that produced erythromycin in the Philippines (1952) and sent it to Eli Lilly, which developed and patented the drug. Aguilar’s contribution was significant, but he was not credited as the inventor, and the development was largely corporate-led.
8. Filipinos Invented the Video Phone
Debunked – Covered above.
9. Filipinos Created the First Anti-Cancer Drug
Claim: A Filipino discovered a miracle herbal cure or anti-cancer drug.
Fact: Unproven. Many herbalists and folk medicine practitioners claim to have found natural cures, but none have passed through international peer-reviewed clinical trials or been officially recognized as medical breakthroughs.
10. Barong Tagalog Was Bulletproof or a Weapon Detector
Debunked – Covered above.
11. Filipino Sailors Were First to Circumnavigate the Globe
Claim: Enrique of Malacca, who sailed with Magellan, was the first person to circumnavigate the globe.
Fact: Debated. Enrique was likely a Malay (possibly from Sumatra or Malacca), not Filipino. He served as Magellan’s slave/interpreter. Some argue that since he returned close to his homeland after Magellan’s death, he may have been the first person to circumnavigate the world. But there’s no direct evidence he reached his birthplace after being released. The first verified circumnavigation was by Juan Sebastián Elcano and remaining crew in 1522.
12. Lolong Was the World’s Largest Crocodile Ever
Claim: The crocodile named Lolong, captured in the Philippines, was the largest ever recorded.
Fact: True. This is one of the few verified records. Lolong, at 6.17 meters (20.24 feet), is officially recognized by the Guinness World Records (2012) as the largest crocodile in captivity. This is a legitimate Filipino achievement.
🧠 Summary Table Claim Verdict Notes Filipinos founded Los Angeles ❌ False No Filipino among Los Pobladores Fluorescent lamp – Agapito Flores ❌ False No patents or evidence Moon Buggy – Eduardo San Juan ❌ Exaggerated No NASA credit Yo-Yo invented by Filipinos ❌ False Greek origin; Filipino helped popularize Karaoke invented by Roberto del Rosario ⚠️ Partially true Patented “Sing-Along System”, not the first Incubator invention ❌ False Developed in France Erythromycin discovery ⚠️ Partial Filipino discovered bacteria, not credited Video phone invention ❌ False Multinational development Anti-cancer herbal cures ❌ Unverified No clinical or peer-reviewed basis Barong as bulletproof ❌ Myth Folklore, not functional Enrique as first circumnavigator ⚠️ Debated No full confirmation
Would you like a companion list of confirmed Filipino inventions, global recognitions, and real scientific contributions to celebrate authentic achievements?
Earlier prompt before adding L.A.
Here are several claims of inventions, discoveries, or achievements often attributed to Filipinos that have been proven false, misleading, exaggerated, or unverified: ⚠️ Commonly Misattributed or Debunked Claims 1. Armalite Rifle (M16/M4) – Claimed invented by a Filipino
2. Fluorescent Lamp – Agapito Flores
3. Moon Buggy (Lunar Rover) – Eduardo San Juan
4. Yo-Yo – Ancient Filipino Weapon Turned Toy
5. Philippine-made “One of the Best Solar Cars”
6. First Karaoke Machine – Roberto del Rosario
7. First Video Phone – Filipino inventor
8. Medical Inventions (e.g., Erythromycin, Incubator, Anti-Cancer Cures)
9. “Most Intelligent People in the World” or “Best Nurses Worldwide”
10. Barong Tagalog is Bulletproof
🧠 Final Thoughts
While Filipinos have made valuable contributions to science, technology, and innovation, it’s important to:
Would you like a list of real verified Filipino inventions and achievements as a contrast?
These claims always give me a chuckle. I had never heard of the Lolong one before, though I’m not sure if it’s an “achievement” if the buaya was just living in nature… I had never heard of the bulletproof barong Tagalog. I do know about the Moro juramentados from US historical accounts, and it was further explained to me when I talked to the Tausug during a visit that in actuality the “bulletproof” myth of the juramentados was the when the tribal warriors went on sabil (jihad) they would be protected from all harm including from gunfire until they accomplished their final attack, at which point they would succumb to the wounds and be granted entry to Paradise.
More where that came from.
Amulets or anting-antings like Ramon Revilla movies.
the best agimat eludes the tausugs: the agimat to protect themselves from their own bad choices and bad decisions. else they suffer the consequences time and again.
Oh,yes.
There is always this loftiness of those Filipinos who either aspire to higher morals or want to LOOK like they aspire to higher morals (the Bible verse quoters especially) which isn’t grounded in reality. Meanwhile those grounded in reality are either grounded electrically or too close to the mud to really be of much use. Just leaving some Constitutions / basic laws here for reference to give an idea of modern rules, medieval rules and ancient tribal rules over here:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/index.html the German “Basic Law” of 1949 is a modern Constitution (the Swiss 1991 Constitution is even more modern, but I am most familiar with the German one) with a section for principles and the rest is the architecture of a modern state. Article 72c is one I remember pretty well from Social Studies in German SHS, as a provision to keep the gap between living conditions small to avoid a replay of Weimar.
https://www.admin.ch/dam/gov/de/Bundesrat/Staatskunde/Englische%20%C3%9Cbersetzung.pdf.download.pdf/Englische%20%C3%9Cbersetzung.pdf the 1291 Swiss Federal Charter is a relatively simple document of gentleman farmers who decided to form a “confederacy” of three valleys to defend themselves against oppression from Habsburg nobles and banditry likewise, and defines ways conflicts are to be settled and adjudicated. “Any dispute amongst the Confederates shall be settled by the most prudent amongst us, whose decision shall be defended by all” is an article that Manny Pacquiao would call “common sense”. Zero legalese.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Baiuvariorum is Bavarian tribal law as written down by clergy, with clearly defined clans (that had own internal means of resolving their affairs, Germanic clans whether Goths or Nibelungen or the 5 Bavarian clans of old were a lot like GOT clans) and different laws for people of differing status (even between free men and FREED men), women and different types of property, conflicts, animals. Most funnily, Article 23 is about pigs.
One can kind of see a line of development which the Philippines did NOT take from the informal but traditional customary laws of the old barangays (there are studies of how the laws of IPs for instance in Mindanao and Cordillera were) to modern, formalized law. There is little of the hypocrisy (there, I said it) of Philipine law as over here, culture and law grew hand in hand. There are novels of course mocking 18th century magistrates who wore powdered wigs, spoke French and Latin to intimidate peasants, and the assimilation of “Roman Law”, i.e. the Corpus Iuris Civilis of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian was a long process, the assimilation of church law also.
What is interesting is the customary law of boundary stones in Bavarian tribal law (which according to some research is actually old tribal law mixed with late Roman martial law, understandable as this area was a troubled zone even before the Romans officially left) has modern equivalents in parts of Franconia I was told, where there allegedly are yearly walk throughs of fields to check whether boundary stones have not been moved. For that to work of course, the entire community must understand that RULES ARE RULES. Filipinos seem to think that rules are to be jerked around with. OK every country has that but PH is unbelievable.
P.S. that Bavarian tribal law of old was highly patriarchal is clear. I remember how a German columnist I used to follow had a series in 2018 and 2019 about the drafting process of the 1949 German Constitution and even the most high-minded men of that era had a hard time putting the equality provision for men and women into it, as proposed by two female delegates. But then again, laws as guidelines for societies evolve.
I tend to believe that the Ten Commandments were exactly what Moses’ people were NOT following in the desert, the Golden Calf being the documented violation of the First Commandment. If people were good by themselves, especially in larger numbers, there would be no need for codified morality and legality. Rule by barangay captain common sense is only possible in small communities where everyone knows everyone. There was a lament by Lao Tsu about having to formalize things, Joey will certainly know more about this.
this subthread was an answer to Joey’s comment about the Philippine Constitution, it slipped down and I am going to eat breakfast now, not move it.
I wouldn’t necessarily assign aspirational motives to bible verse quoting Filpinos — reposting bible verse quotes is quite common in pinoy socmed and I see it as a virtue signalling behavior to collect social plus points from their personal networks. In either case, there is doubt as to whether the poster actually understands the Bible verse and its context at all, much less applying the morality behind the isolated Bible verse into their personal life.
Even Filipinos who are exposed to Western society often misunderstand the reasoning behind why one would follow the laws and rules, often jumping to the enforcement of the law as the singular reason for Westerners (generally) abiding by the law. Yes enforcement is important of course to set an example of hard headed people, but the main reason why Westerners (Americans at least) follow the law and societal norms is because we don’t want *other* people to break the rules. When everyone breaks the rules and social norms, there is reduced order and trust in a society, which only encourages others to similarly break the rules or be at a disadvantage. There is a need for government to enforce the laws, but there is also a need for society to enforce social norms. In the Philippines both are quite weak and reasoning out is often used to make excuses. Here in the US the importance of enforcing rules and social norms is on full display, and it only takes a small percentage of society to break rules and norms to cause chaos. It turns out that laws are generally good, and there was a reason why bad behavior like racism and sexism should be actively shunned.
The critical requirement for making laws work is that there needs to be an agreement to enforce the consensus. Writing it down such as in the 1987 Constitution and statutory law is not enough when at every position of power, personal authority says what the law is and it often contradicts what is written down. Things get ridiculous when I see doctors berating patients, a pharmacist insisting on receta for obviously (and legally) over-the-counter medicines, or a bank teller (*teller!*) bossing the banking client around when it is the client’s deposit which in part pays for the teller’s salary. How do people even deal with so many mini-datus and have a chance to get out of a submissive mentality in order to get ahead? If power trips are that bad at low levels, imagine how worse it is when someone has the title “security guard,” “SK,” “tanod,” “captain,” or an elected position? And here I am, a common citizen who dressed down my city mayor at a recent city council meeting and he sat there meekly taking it in.
Well here’s an amusingly sad but illustrative story that was told me just earlier today. So an acquaintance went to the PSA regional office to process his officially issued National ID card because the printable ePhilID was not being accepted when presented upon request, even though a ePhilID is a legitimate National ID in lieu of the offical ID card. Well, logically if the ePhilID is presented to the PSA office alongside a supported identifying document to establish identity, that should be enough. But nope. The PSA office demanded proof of residence in the form of a Postal ID. When the acquaintance got the Postal ID, the next PSA officer said no, the Postal ID is not accepted, only the Voter’s ID. Now the acquaintance had to go all the way back to his province (4 hours) to get the Voter’s ID, whereupon the next PSA agent said no, the Postal ID, Voter’s ID are all invalid and the barangay clearance must be presented. The next agent said the barangay clearance was necessary yes, but in addition there needed the Certificate of Live Birth. At this point he had traveled back and forth from the city to his province 3 times. The last agent who accepted the request to process the officially issued National ID told my acquaintance that actually, the ePhilID was enough all along and that yes, ePhilID is completely valid in lieu of the official-issue physical card. Never mind that the National ID should’ve been batch sent by PSA to the barangay hall around 2 years ago IIRC a conversation about that. Along the way, every single PSA agent was a mini-datu imposing new interpretations of the rules, becoming rude and unprofessional when simple guidance questions were asked, but the real kicker is that the rules and requirements are posted on the PSA website for all to see and read.
Yes, it’s true:
1) rules that are followed by most make life more predictable, one can utilize one’s energy for more productive pursuits.
2) at least 80% of people need to be committed to following the rules so they can actually be followed – and enforced upon those who aren’t (that) committed. Germans will play loosest with speed limits I guess, but not with red or green lights.
When you pledge allegiance and say justice for all in the end, isn’t that the aspirational part of your ideals.
The founding fathers too were have foundations made on sand at the start because it was made before they won the war.
History is written by the Victor’s.
There was a stage in my life that i mixed hall mark style greeting card posts with Bible ones, before it was a few days straight then it became random to none.
It is called social, because no man is an island even if they chose to. If they want to be an island, then be alone in a cave without anything but a survival bag.
Filipino Bible verse quoters seemed harmless to me before, what I guess gave them a bad name recently were those who had Bible verses on their profiles or all over timelines – and posts favoring tokhang or wishing bad things upon Filipino liberals. Living examples of what an Ateneo Jesuit quite a while ago called “split-level Christianity” in the Philippines, meaning do as I say not as I do. Manny Pacquiao allegedly defending his affairs by saying he did not violate “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” as none of his chicks were wives of his neighbors is at least a funny Pinoy interpretation of matters, at least he is thinking about it.
Allow me to relate by quoting from today’s blog article.
“The problem is that social media nonsense has overwhelmed our moral standards. Even religions have lost their sense and compassion. They promote politics and favor, ugliness for sure. Jesus is another icon of virtue rising as the foundations of his good works sink in a stinky green sludge of people believing they are a better God than He was.”
Thanks Joe, I have actually read the article thrice. Will comment on the weekend, can’t really get into reacting to that article without going ballistic. There are so many aspects to today’s insanity that the German saying “it won’t fit on a cow’s hide” applies.
That’s a very reasonable approach. 🙂
Here’s the relevant chapter from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching:
“Rid of formalized wisdom and learning
People would be a hundredfold happier,
Rid of conventionalized duty and honor
People would find their families dear,
Rid of legalized profiteering
People would have no thieves to fear
These methods of life have failed, all three,
Here is the way, it seems to me:
Set people free,
As deep in their hearts they would like to be,
From private greeds
And wanton needs.”
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 19
Lao Tzu criticized having rules for rules sake (Legalism movement — Fa-jia), emphasizing instead natural intuition, simplicity and harmony (The Tao). Legalism was known for having excessive rules to the point no one really knew what the rules were, and a new order of officials needed to be created to interpret the rules (the mandarins), which led to corrupt officials (mostly in the borderlands further away from the capital) bending or just creating new rules out of whole cloth when it suited them.
What could have our literature looked like if it was full of Afro Asian and South Americsn from the start then maybe our world history would have a different look as well.
in our society, lgus are free to create their own by laws and ordinances, and inhabitants within its enclave live by it. what applies to one enclave may not apply to another enclave, their local heads being different and their circumstance unique. but in case of further dispute, the supreme courts settles the finality of all disputes.
i think if they propose Federalism again, it would be a mess as if we are not in a mess right now.
Progress, one mess at a time, haha.
ahem, I think, we are already in federalism in practice. except that we stop short of replacing a leader who is proving to be unpopular and unwise with someone in the leader’s own party. example: with uniteam, sara can justly replace marcos, and be president. but sara would have to legitimised her presidency and call early election. people may opt to oppose sara, and elect new president, or vote to give sara full term of office.
similarly, under federalism, and with sara’s constant haranguing of the president, calling him unfit for office, etc, the president can call caucus of his own party and if the party so desire, sara can be expelled to the backbench (banish to the fringes of the admin) where she will have less to say, or resign all together. I think, she will stay and bear the humiliation, for the sake of her pay complete with perks and benefits.
Yes, feudal = federalized and Marcos should not accept VP Duterte’s rude behavior, I agree.
What are the local laws in Davao City? Are they allowed to eat people there? That is improbable but maybe they are required to worship a certain family.
Why not make laws in the Philippines based on what the majority really feel? The facade of a liberal democracy would fall very fast I guess. Though the Republics of Quezon City, Pasig and Naga might be like Wakanda compared to the rest.
many filipinos have been wanting to set mindanaw adrift, let mindanaw be on its own, independent and totally cut off from the rest of the nation. good riddance! but the motion got ruled out time and again. I think, joeam was one of those for mindanaw’s inclusion, citing untold natural resources the country in dire need off. of what good is its natural resources when in return mindanaw creates problems more than our nation can solve? we can always buy those natural resources from our neighboring countries. and even from the sultanate of mindanaw or mindanaw province of china, or whatever they call themselves then; that is, if ever they managed to develop their own resources so much so as for them to be of export quality.
pity about heydarian’s saharan subcontinent comment. he should have articulated it so well, and who knows! mindanaw might have taken utmost umbrage and totally break away from our democratic nation! footloose and fancyfree! out!
we would never have troublesome duterte bloc in senate and no duterte appointed judges in supreme court, so pro duterte that their decision is hovering on malfeasance. one such decision is back burnering sara’s impeachment; the other, that winning candidate denied of office by comelec because of fraud and misrepresentation, etc, the 2nd candidate with most votes cannot ascend. there would have to be another election and another round of expenses, to fill the vacancy. crap! gives you summat a feeling said judges are partial and have vested interest.
The 1987 Constitution was an anti Marcos anti Martial law constitution.
We are more on full renovation rather than partial as demonstrated by our 20th century constitutions. I think we have more originality in the Aguinaldo constitution just for being our first.
The German 1949 Constitution was also designed to NOT have the defects of the 1919 Weimar Constitution, but managed to be well-constructed. Philippine 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions are NOT substantially that different, BTW.
Nice catch as usual
If you read about agimat, anting-anting etc.
It used to be that the SC, in its original American configuration, was intended to serve as an additional check and balance to the already existing codependence of both executive and legislative bodies.
However, it is indeed a sore point that some judges for the SC are chosen by the sitting president on the basis of personal IOU loyalty than impartiality, many being used to nullify legislative plans or rivals conflicting with the executive’s personal interests.
noticed how the supreme court of the united states is pro trump! the justice appointed by biden to the supreme court, ketanji, is no match to her colleagues. as well, the democrats are aging and apparently bereft of better ideas and cannot even put a winning candidate.
same in the philippines, the justices appointed by duterte are yet to cut the umbilical cord that binds them. under president marcos, the justices being set for life, seems to care little how the highest court is run and managed, its optics taken a battering. true, the law is not about popularity, but our sitting supreme court seems to be playing politics and little of the law.
if the 1st impeachment filed was apparently weak with no substance, then supreme court should have dismissed it outright, rather than entertain it, sit on it, think about it, and think more about it, then let it drag with time, unmindful summat that time sits for no one. and when they ran out of time, come up with judgement benefiting the erring vp!
it is no wonder filipinos have taken to the streets and protesting.
Putting Obama on the same pedestal as Jesus is nothing short of blasphemous. Obama ushered in the era of birthing persons and women have phallus.
I too don’t like the decision of the Supreme Court. But I think they got it right. Instead of rhetorics, how about some proper constitutional critique?
How about it?
Good of you to stop by, Miriam. I fear you have missed the point entirely, which is possible when one takes creative writing lessons as dry literal truths. The point is that we ought to recognize and appreciate honest compassion, not get drawn into the social media feeding frenzy. Which, come to think about it, is rather the tenor of your comment. Rich on hostility, light on comprehension.
If you’d like to do a constitutional critique, you are welcome to do an article and submit it here for publication. It’s not my area of interest or expertise.
Jesus was mentioned because he was dismissed by non believers. Nothings changed, Deities and people alike have non believers.
I know there is more to come, but last week was the lowest of the low so far of Trump’s trumpish moves.
He fired the statistician because he believed, numbers lie, undermining institutional integrity.
He listens to ill adviced voices in his head that tell him to go on with his tariffs and hold the world hostage because that is the only path to a nobel prize.
As a layman trade deficits are driven by consumer spending, ergo more and more imports.
Some evil voice told him to raise tariffs so Americans can no longer spend and eliminate the trade deficit problems. Genius, simply genius.
Another genius move is making India thinks it is being bullied losing the strongest Indo-Pac ally.
Philippine implications? We are supposedly friend to all and enemy to none. PBBM is in India,and last week he was in the US.