The Prophet Al Gore

Yesterday was the fourteenth of April.

If it were any other year, it would still be the height of summer in the Philippines. But this is 2008.

For the first time in my entire life, I have seen rainfall in the middle of April. This was totally unheard of before.

Today is the same. Fifteenth of April, and the scorching summer sun is hiding behind black rainclouds, which have arrived a month early.

Of course I already knew Al Gore was right about global warming. This here is proof.

Now the question is: will mushroom season arrive earlier this year too?

On the Writ of Amparo

All hail the Chief.

Two days ago (the twenty-fourth which was also my brother's birthday) was the first day of the promulgation of the writ of amparo. This is the latest move by the Supreme Court to drastically lessen, if not totally eradicate, the extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the military.

People thought there was no solution to this nagging problem. The ones who were abducted, and the bodies that were recovered, were said to belong to suspected communists, or to communists sympathizers. And since the government keeps reiterating that we are at war with the communists, then these deaths will simply be shrugged off as casualties of war.

And what if the writ of habeas corpus is not a sufficient remedy for the speedy administration of justice? Simple---we import a remedy from Latin America, which we call the writ of amparo.

The writ of amparo is definitely a more appropriate remedy for all these disappearances. Consider this: no docket fees. This certainly goes in favor of the poor farmers and peasants. Plus the writ may be filed twenty-four-seven, and may be executed even a judge's or Justice's handwriting. This is justice without the financial constraints.

There is no doubt about it. Chief Justice Puno will go down in history, as one of the most revolutionary figures in modern times. That's the truth, as even Joma Sison says that the only way he can return home to the Philippines is when Chief Justice Puno becomes president.