[OPINION | Deep Dive] 18 words

If the best thing you can say about 2018 is that it’s about to end, then you probably have more than 18 words that would capture your 2018. This week’s Deep Dive focuses on 18 words that best sum up my 2018 (they are not arranged in any particular order).

1. TRAIN

The acronym for Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, signed into law as Republic Act No. 10963, has become not only a word but, for many, a bad word. Signed into law in December 2017, it impacted almost everything in 2018. TRAIN reduced personal income taxes but increased those on cars, tobacco, sugar-sweetened beverages, and fuel. While it resulted in a higher take-home pay for most consumers, the law also brought about adjustments in prices of commodities affected by the TRAIN law, with a trickle-down effect to consumers.

2. JOKING

As in, “he was just joking.” Practically, the first thing the President’s spokespersons would say to explain outrageous and contradictory statements made by the President, which was quite often and quite a lot. While a folksy sense of humor might win campaigns, it’s not the best way to govern. Memo to the spin machine: handle policy with gravitas and criticism with levity, not the other way around.

3. BULLY

China in relation to the Philippines as far as our territorial claims are concerned. Ex cathedra statements from the rostrum, given behind the Seal, painting political opponents and dissenters in the worse possible light, frequently accompanied by curses and other coarse language. A 14-year old with martial arts training picking on those bigger than him, in full living color.

4. GOD,
5. CATHOLICS, AND
6. BISHOPS.

Frequently the target of presidential ire in his speeches, either collectively or individually. Often described in condescending, often coarse, language, God, the Catholic Church, and its bishops have apparently become the President’s preoccupation in his public speeches, something that is difficult to understand. Notably, his spokespersons have never characterized these statements as jokes.

7. AMNESTY

A legal term that again came into the public consciousness due to the ham-handed attempt to arrest a dissenting senator on the basis of a legal theory that is, charitably put, unfounded. This resulted in a petition filed with the Supreme Court (still pending), and two long-dead cases being resurrected by the Department of Justice with diametrically-opposed results.

8. QUO WARRANTO

An obscure technical term then known only to lawyers (literally meaning “by what right”) but which became a much-used term and the subject of intense discussion and debate. This, thanks to a petition filed by the Solicitor General with the Supreme Court against then-sitting Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno and a judgment by the Supreme Court ousting the Chief Justice through a mode other than impeachment.

9. CHIEF JUSTICES

A direct effect of the quo warranto decision is that 2018 saw 3 Chief Justices taking the helm of the judiciary. After Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno was ousted by the SC’s decision in May 2018, Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro, retiring in October 2018, was appointed in August 2018, as the 24th Chief Justice. Upon her retirement in October 2018, she was succeeded by Lucas P. Bersamin, who was appointed as the 25th Chief Justice in November 2018.

10. MARTIAL LAW

In 2018, the Supreme Court sustained Congress’ green light to the second extension of martial law in Mindanao, first declared on May 23, 2017 through Presidential Proclamation No. 216, first extended by Congress on July 23, 2017 until December 31, 2017, and again on December 13, 2017 until December 31, 2018. The second, year-long extension of martial law was challenged in the Supreme Court and resulted in a decision promulgated on February 6, 2018 sustaining Congress approval of the President’s request for a second extension of martial law. On December 12, 2018, Congress, in joint session, approved a third extension of martial law in Mindanao for another year.

11. CHARTER CHANGE

2018 saw two drafts to revise the 1987 Constitution in order to put in place, among others, a federal system of government – a campaign promise of the President. Both drafts were diametrically opposed and textually inconsistent with each other. The first draft submitted by a Consultative Committee formed by the President and headed by former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno came up with a total overhaul not only of the form of government but of the 1987 Constitution itself. The second draft came into the national consciousness more surreptitiously, through Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 15 filed and shepherded by no less than the Speaker of the House of Representatives and former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Where the first draft Constitution was a bludgeon, the second was a scalpel. The Puno Commission draft has essentially been forgotten, while the Arroyo-led RBH 15 has already passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting Senate action.

12. VOID AB INITIO

This 3-word phrase came into the public consciousness as a result of the quo warranto action initiated by the Solicitor General to remove the former Chief Justice. This became the preferred legal theory of the administration to remove dissenters. After Sereno, the “void ab initio“ theory was applied to Senator Trillanes, whose grant of amnesty under a former administration and a previous Congress was revoked by Proclamation No. 572 signed by the President on August 31, 2018. This was challenged by Mr. Trillanes before the Supreme Court in a matter that remains pending.

13. SPOKESPERSONS

2018 saw the departure of the President’s spokesperson Harry Roque, appointed in November 2017, who resigned in October 2018 and his replacement by an acting spokesperson, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo. While ordinarily, the appointment and departure of the President’s spokesperson isn’t significant, Roque’s was notable because of the manner by which he was replaced. Both spokespersons – Roque and Panelo – were also notable for the propagation of the “he was just joking” line as a catch-all explanation for every outrageous statement of the President.

14. ICC

This acronym for the International Criminal Court practically became a buzz word, especially after the Philippine withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the ICC. Generating legal controversy and a challenge before the Supreme Court, oral arguments were heard and the matter has been submitted to the Supreme Court for decision. The question that is on everyone’s minds is whether the Philippine withdrawal from the Rome Statute which created the ICC will affect the ICC’s jurisdiction to take cognizance of the EJKs that are still being committed with impunity.

15. ACQUITTED

Former Senator Bong Revilla made this a trending word after the Sandiganbayan acquitted him for plunder but nonetheless found that he was civilly liable. The plunder acquittal by a divided Special Division of the Sandiganbayan was significant as it was the first high-profile acquittal of one of those charged under the so-called PDAF scams after a full-blown trial on the merits. The question now on the minds of many is whether 2019 will bring at least two more acquittals based on the same legal theory as applied to Revilla.

16. JUSTICE

At least for Kian Delos Santos, an EJK victim whose murderers were convicted and sentenced to reclusion perpetua by Judge Rodolfo Azucena Jr on November 29, 2018. Whether 2019 will make this a trending word for more victims of EJKs remains to be seen.

17. SORIANO, AZUCENA JR, DELA CRUZ, AND ESTOESTA.

These are names of two Regional Trial Court judges and two Sandiganbayan justices who stood out because they decided to go against the grain.

Judge Andres Soriano of RTC Makati, Branch 148 resisted the pressure to issue a warrant of arrest against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV arising from the President’s Proclamation No. 572 (contrasted from the warrant of arrest issued by his RTC neighbor, Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 150).

Judge Rodolfo Azucena Jr of RTC Caloocan, Branch 125 convicted the murderers of Kian Delos Santos and sent a strong message against those who would carry out EJKs.

Justices Efren Dela Cruz and Ma. Theresa Gomez Estoesta  of the Sandiganbayan dissented from the majority in its acquittal of former Senator Bong Revilla for plunder. Both submitting separate dissents, Justices Dela Cruz and Estoesta argued that the evidence against Mr. Revilla was sufficient to convict him. Notably, Justice Dela Cruz is the chair of the First Division and is the only justice among the 5 who ruled in the Revilla case who has heard the case since it started. He is also an aspirant for a Supreme Court seat.

18. WAR

The war in 2018 was not just against illegal drugs, it was also against free speech and expression, and many other forms of dissent. Rappler reporter Pia Ranada was barred from covering the President in Malacañang – a ban that apparently is not territorially-confined, but extends to any activity where the President is present. Rappler CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa has been charged with tax evasion, with Rappler itself facing legal action for corporate ouster. ABS-CBN has been threatened with denial of its franchise by no less than the President. Journalists have been killed and continue to be killed. Paid internet trolls continue to attack legitimate forms of dissent expressed on social media.

There was also a war against legal representation, specifically through the killing of lawyers who would dare to take a side against the establishment. NUPL’s Benjamin Ramos was one in a growing list of lawyers whose advocacy for the poor and voiceless made him an “enemy of the State.”

19 words for 2019

These are not, by any means, the only words to describe 2018. These are just 18 of the many words that describe my 2018.

As a new year approaches, I want to jumpstart the next Deep Dive and 2019 with 3 of 19 words that I hope will describe 2019.

Resilience. Courage. Hope. – Rappler.com

Theodore Te, Ted to many, is a human rights lawyer and advocate, law educator, font geek and comic book fan, occasional movie and music reviewer, a life-long Boston Celtics fan and a loud opponent of the death penalty, violations of human rights, government abuse, and social injustice. Deep Dive is his attempt at probing into issues of law and rights, politics and governance (and occasionally entertainment and sports) beyond the headlines, the sound bites, the spin, and the buzz.