Inviolable

They are unsettling, yes. But high profile proposals like those spewed by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez – consensual dissolution of marriage; civil law unions; the shift in property relations from absolute community to complete separation of property – are not new. They are the vicissitudes meant to test the enduring worth of our policies on family, marriage and parenthood.

The trend worldwide is incontrovertible. With a universal upsurge in non-conformity, the community of nations seems to have yielded to the onslaught of normative revolution when it comes to these “institutions.” Indeed, change is the new normal.

Apart from the Vatican, the Philippines, the only Catholic country standing without a divorce law, is the only remaining stronghold of state support for marriage. Of course, this is based on our Constitution’s avowed intent to protect the family as the foundation of society and the ardent endorsement of marriage as an inviolable social institution.

Get with the program. But these are policies based on the realities of 1986. To an increasing number of Filipinos, being the last frontier is an embarrasment rather than a matter of pride. Perhaps it is time to have a national discussion on these bedrock beliefs that have long warranted the blind fidelity of the Filipino. Where are we truly headed on these issues?

The Alvarez proposals are major because it is the Speaker himself that has asked the questions. And they are valid questions. Whoever said that the Speaker has “personal” motives for his advocacy is doing this high public official a disservice.

Even the Supreme Court, in its landmark 2015 decision in Kalaw v Fernandez, speaking through the scholarly Justice Lucas Bersamin, acknowledged: “… the Constitution itself does not establish the parameters of state protection to marriage as a social institution and the foundation of the family. It remains the province of the legislature to define all legal aspects of marriage and prescribe the strategy and the modalities to protect it ...” xxx “there is a corresponding interest for the State to defend against marriages ill-equipped to promote family life.”

Congress is the best forum to have this public debate. Lets just make sure that our lawmakers are reminded of the State’s social objectives in promoting the family. They include, according to Llewelyn and Schneider: regulation of sexual behavior, orderly perpetuation of the species, regulation of wealth, and, first and foremost, the protection of the interests of the children.

UNFORGIVABLE. The deployment in Marawi of the Philippine Air Force’s FA-50 fighter jets has been temporarily shelved in the aftermath of the death of 2 soldiers and injury to 11. This is a heartbreaking reprise of the May 31 first “friendly fire” fiasco from the PAF’s SF260W aircraft which caused the death of 10 soldiers and the wounding of 7. The tragedy validates the lament of the transferee students from Marawi who joined us at the Universidad de Manila. It was not the snipers that scared them, rather it was the aerial bombing. Snipers distinguish. Bombs don’t.

An FA-50 has the capability to launch precision guided munitions. It appears, however, that the bombs used were still the regular ordnance. The fate of the fallen soldiers serves as a gruesome reminder. These men were not supposed to die at the hands of the very government which they were precisely protecting with their lives. Truly, the nature of war – specially in this day and age of unconventional warfare – is such that, regardless of who wins, in the end we all lose.

A FEW GOOD MEN. The President indulged his inner brat in inflicting on the National treasury certain campaign creditors given lucrative government positions. Plus, his second reinstatement of Police Supt. Marvin Marcos is dismally unbelievable. But three of his recent appointments go a long way in fortifying our sorely tested faith in his choices of the public men we subsidize.

Francis Tolentino (Ateneo Law), the 2016 elections 13th Senator, is the new Presidential Political Adviser. One of the most grounded officials of the Cabinet of President Benigno Aquino III, Secretary Tolentino is more than capable of being the clearing house of the myriad intel and data from the Administration’s rainbow alliance, processing the same and furnishing the President with the most credible and unadulterated information he needs to make his decisions.

Andres Reyes, Jr. (Ateneo Law) is our newest Supreme Court Associate Justice. Like Justices Samuel Martires and Noel Tijam before him, Justice Andy comes from the Judicial Branch. He was the celebrated Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals. In contrast, President Aquino’s last three appointments, Justices Benjamin Caguioa, Francis Jardeleza and Marvic Leonen, all had no prior judicial experience. The Duterte Justices are heavy on the judicial temperament essential to sustain the Court’s posture of judicial restraint.

Edilberto Sandoval, former Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice, is the new Special Prosecutor under the Office of the Ombudsman. Justice Eddie, who could have been a Supreme Court Justice, displays remarkable humility in accepting a position which should see him regularly pleading before the very court he once headed with distinction. 

BLACK HOLE. The urgency of selecting the right men is further illustrated by the irrevocable resignation of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief. In a major setback to the President’s campaign against illegal drugs, the administration acknowledged the resurgence of the Bilibid drug trade. Benjamin de los Santos, former PNP General, lawyer and Duterte hope for true reform, resigned irrevocably in the face of allegations against the SAF troopers; inexplicable loss of certain evidences; positive drug test results not only from inmates but also from BuCor employees; and the stabbing death of an inmate. These developments are PR disasters for the central plank of the administration’s program. If the Government can’t manage to control what goes on in its jails, how can it possibly succeed in ridding the larger streets of the menace? Let’s hope the President finally locates the right candidate for this herculean labor.