Thus Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno summarized the Philippine reality of the law serving more the interests of those who are in power, rather than those who most need them.

In his talk given during the 1st Alphan Lecture Series on 27 February 2009, the Chief Justice reiterated the need to make the law responsive to the needs of the poor and marginalized. “Unless they find law a friend, they will later treat law as their enemy. They will resist law if all they experience is its lawlessness.”

The Lecture, attended by students, professors, and people’s organizations from different marginalized sectors – informal settlers, women, fishers, and farmers – emphasized on the need to empower the poor by using the law as a tool to gain access to democratic institutions and processes.

“The four pillars of legal empowerment of the poor are acquisition of property rights, business rights, labor rights, and access to justice. These will enable the poor to fight for equality and help them gain significance in society,” the Chief Justice said.

He, however, underscored that legal empowerment must not be equated to ‘charity’ to the poor. “Legal empowerment is about endowing the poor with rights, arming them with the tools to enforce these rights in our judicial system.”

In sponsoring the Lecture together with the Economic, Social, Cultural Rights – Asia, and the Alternative Law Groups, the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity highlighted the responsibility of law students to become ‘Abogado para sa bayan [lawyers for the nation]’ after they graduate and pass the bar exams.

The Alphan Lecture Series on the Emancipation from Poverty through Legal Empowerment is the first in a series of talks to be given by eminent Alphans in celebration of the Fraternity’s 70th Anniversary. ##

The Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity – U.P. College of Law

and the

U.P. Kalipunan para sa Agham Panlipunan at Pilosopiyang Pilipino (UP KAPPP)

invite you to

HypoTHERMIA: Release your inner heat, a dance party on

31 January 2009, 8:00PM,
Club Industry, Bellagio Square, Tomas Morato, Quezon City

Tickets at Php200, inclusive of two drinks.

The last bastion of democracy is under siege.

We, the students of the University of the Philippines, in solidarity with the youth of the land, join the outrage against the assault on the independence of the Supreme Court  and strongly condemn the machinations contrived by  nefarious and evil forces  to initiate impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno (UP Law Class of ‘62);

We understand that the impeachment initiative  is  calculated to serve partisan, selfish, and unpatriotic interests;

We understand that its underlying premises contradict the most fundamental principles governing procedure inside the Supreme Court and the due process of law well-enshrined in the Constitution;

We understand that destroying the character and integrity of Chief Justice Puno will in effect undermine the integrity of the very institution that he represents;

We stand by and lend our full support to Chief Justice Puno, a man of unassailable and unsullied integrity, and therefore call for the cessation of all acts seeking to attack him and the Puno Court;

We advocate transparency, honesty, and integrity in public service, so ably exemplified by Chief Justice Puno. We shall fight for the protection of judicial independence!

Around 100 students converge in the Oblation statue Monday (19 January 2009) to condemn what is believed to be machinations to “undermine the independence of the Judiciary.”

Armed with placards and lighted candles, the protesters denounced the planned impeachment of Chief Justice Reynato Puno (Law ‘62) as serious moves to serve “partisan, selfish, and unpatriotic interests.”

Initiated by the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity – UP College of Law, the candle-lighting highlighted the need for the youth to remain vigilant in defending the independence of the Supreme Court as the “last bastion of democracy.”

“We are calling for the defense of the Chief Justice not necessarily because he is our Fraternity Brother, but because he embodies what the Judiciary needs – credibility, integrity, unsullied independence, and probity.”

Aside from the candle-lighting, a petition of support is being circulated around campus so that students can show their individual commitments and support to the defense of the Judiciary. But organizers were quick to point out that this signature drive is different from moves to draft the Chief Justice as President in the 2010 elections.

“While we respect moves by certain organizations to draft the Chief Justice as a presidential candidate in 2010 – for us a clear sign of his integrity and moral uprightness – we wish to dissociate ourselves with those moves. Defending Judicial independence should not be marred by narrow partisan politics and vested interests.”

Attending the candle-lighting are students led by Student Regent Shahana Abdulwahid. The students come from various colleges in the University, including the College of Law and the National College of Public Administration. Different organizations and student political parties showed their solidarity by sending their representatives. ##

Ditto Sarmiento: Portrait of the Writer as a Valiant Hero
by Vichael Angelo Roaring, Philippine Collegian, 04 October 1997

We all have personal images of what heroes ought to look like tucked in the personal recesses of our minds. Such concepts of heroism, courage, and martyrdom are more commonly associated with power, strength, and physical might. But how do we reconcile this association of heroism and martyrdom with the life of Abraham “Ditto” Sarmiento Jr. the lanky bookworm who vigorously fought the repression and depravation of the martial law regime?

The Bespectacled Bibliophile
” Ordinary” and “quiet” were the words family and friends would use to describe the young man wearing a thick pair of bifocal lenses. Born the eldest son to the affluent couple Attorney Abraham Florendo Sarmiento and Irene Montano Pascual, on June 5, 1950, Ditto lived a pampered, sheltered and silver-spooned existence. He studied in the exclusive Ateneo de Manila from grade school to high school. His mind was considered at par with the level of geniuses by family, peers, and school officials. Up to his adulthood, Ditto’s exceptional intellect did not go unnoticed, with even his military interrogators asking about his impressive IQ. His preference for the company of books and his perennial bouts with asthma did not help erase the ‘geeky nerd’ label attached to Ditto during his grade school, high school, and to some extent, even in college.

Ditto’s asthma and his weak physique were problems that hounded him throughout his life. This, coupled by his maternal grandmother, Lola Inggay’s overzealousness in shelling out cash for his forays in the bookstore during his early days gave Ditto a head start in his passion and appreciation for books. Ditto entered college and had his first dose of radicalism and activism in the University of the Philippines during the summer of 1967. At the age of 20, Ditto married Marsha Santos. Their short marriage eventually ended in a separation but bore a son named Dritter.

The Paper
The University of the Philippines and its official campus paper, the Philippine Collegian, became institutions central to Ditto’s life. During his sophomore year in UP, he joined the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity, and the Philippine Collegian. Starting as a reporter, Ditto’s diligence paid off. He became editor-in-chief in 1975.

Ditto’s assumption of the Editorial post had come at a time of severe political turmoil. Under Ferdinand Marcos’ Martial Law, printing presses were being padlocked and journalists were being arrested en masse. It was in this time of eerie silence that the Collegian, at the leadership of Ditto, found its strongest voice. With a sharp mind and an equally sharp pen, Ditto openly bashed the dictatorship, rousing student concern about the worsening national political crisis. In the editorial for a September 24, 1975 issue titled “On the Right of the Studentry to be Represented,” Ditto wrote “The University is not, after all a Diliman Republic. We do, after all, live in the Philippines. And the Philippines, after all is in a state of crisis.”

Ditto’s clear cut stand on the role of UP during the dictatorship rang clearly in his editorials. One, dated July 23, 1975, stated “We must never lose sight of the fact that we are under Martial Law with its concomitant restrictions on civil liberties and personal freedom. For opposed to this is the idea of the University, a University dedicated to molding young men and women into mature adults capable of thinking and deciding for themselves. The University should not only offer knowledge it should also inculcate wisdom, for as Dr. Renato Constantino wrote, knowledge is power, [but] only wisdom is liberty.”

Crimes Against the Military State
The Collegian soon faced the ire of the Martial Law bigwigs. Abraham Sarmiento Jr. was “invited” by the military for an interrogation on December 26, 1975, only a few days after his mother died. But Ditto remained unfazed, his editorials not in the slightest bit lacking in sharpness. In the article “A Message of Hope to Filipinos” of the December 16, 1975 issue, the Collegian printed an article citing 500 signatories challenging Marcos to convene the Interim National Assembly which would provide an orderly transmission from the presidential to the parliamentary government. From the Bangkok Post, Collegian reprinted “Where Does The Philippines Go From Here?” an article questioned the way the military regime was leading the country.

In a bold and unprecedented move, Collegian distributed copies of its January 14, 1976 special issue with the editorial titled “Uphold Campus Freedom” right inside the building in the University where Marcos and his wife Imelda were invited as ‘honored’ guests, almost directly in front of them. In the editorial, entitled “The Collegian and Suppression” Ditto’s remembered words appeared: “Kung Hindi Tayo Kikibo, Sinong Kikibo? Kung Di Tayo Kikilos, Sinong Kikilos? Kung Hindi Ngayon, Kailan Pa?” Ditto continued “If it is the youth’s conviction that the time has come to uphold strongly their right, not only for free expression but to pursue truth, justice and freedom, then so is the Collegian’s decision to begin with the struggle for people’s and student’s rights.” The editorial adds “The time has come for us to take action and not lie silently about as our rights increasingly become trampled upon. The time is now, for if not now, when?…Only us the studentry in alliance with other progressive sectors of society can stand up to fight our inherent right for free expression.”

This, it turned out, was the straw that broke the old Apo’s back. The next editorial by Ditto for the Philippine Collegian entitled “Where Do We Go From Here?” was published a week afterward, disputing Marcos’ New Society or the “Bagong Lipunan.” This was to be his last editorial and presswork for the Collegian as he was arrested at his house and detained at Fort Bonifacio on January 24, 1976 for his violation of Presidential Decrees Nos. #33 and #34, rumor mongering and printing and circulation of leaflets and propaganda materials.

Ditto’s incarcerations at Fort Bonifacio and Camp Crame worsened his fragile health. While his father continuously lobbied for his transfer from the sub-human conditions in the military prison to a hospital, Ditto shared his prison cell with other detainees, those whom the Military dictatorship considered detrimental to the “New Society” because of their critical view at the government and their desire to enact change. It was in prison that Ditto met the urban poor, and the others of society whom he never got to know of during his sheltered childhood. In prison, Ditto met such activists as Leonardo Nicdao, Nestor Bongayong, Mariflor Parpan, Edgar Maranan and Satur Ocampo. In a letter to Ditto’s family, Ocampo, his cellmate, wrote, “Ditto in one sense was quite a boy, but he was in times of crises, no ordinary man. His rectitude and courage as a Collegian editor attested to this. At close range I witnessed his strong will to disregard his frail health and prepare himself for a hunger strike when the two of us were faced with such a challenge.”

The fetters of captivity did not bar Ditto from fighting his battle in the four corners of his cell. Ditto was more than willing to engage in a hunger strike, along with other political detainees. Fellow inmates in the Bicutan Rehabilitation Center said, “Ditto rose above the situation and braved the wrath of the powers to assert truth over falsehood, principle over obsequiousness, the people’s interest over the ruling few.”

A Comet Exits
Under orders from Philippine Constabulary Chief General Fidel V. Ramos, Ditto was granted temporary liberty on August 27, 1976. But the almost six months he was denied adequate medical attention coupled with the non-conducive surroundings of his prison had taken their toll upon Ditto’s frail body. On November 11, 1977. Abraham Sarmiento Jr. died of a heart attack, alone, in his room. He was twenty-seven.

Ditto’s heroism and courage will never cease to inspire. Former President Diosdado Macapagal’s words ring deep and true in his reply to Ditto’s queries. “Kami ang kikibo, kami ang kikilos, hindi bukas kundi ngayon.”

But to found it unqualifiedly upon academic freedom as one other supposed inherent right of the students, is error that should not be made, if only to avoid disparaging attacks from the authorities that the vocal critics among the students do not know what they are talking about.

Often used as the concept may have been, academic freedom is obscured by the failure of the to distinguish between collective and individual liberty. To claim that academic freedom pertains to the students and as such may be raised against the authorities is only partly right. To claim exactly the opposite, that it belongs to the university and not to the students, shares the same deficiency.

Academic freedom, the enjoyment of which by all institutions of higher learning is guaranteed by the constitution, pertains to the university as an institution. What is removed by one hand from state regulation, and by the other, granted to the university, that it may transmit by critical teaching higher education and create an atmosphere conducive to scholarship, is academic freedom. It consists in the right of the university to determine who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught, and who may be admitted to study.

But academic freedom has also its personal aspect. Though not guaranteed by special constitutional provisions, it is, if properly viewed, a limited field of the more general freedoms of speech and press. In a questionably over-narrow treatment, academic freedom of the scholar as distinguished from academic freedom of the university, has been limited to the freedom of the teacher or the student to inquire into the problems of his science and to impart his findings either through publication or instruction without interference from the authorities, unless the scholars of his own profession finds his method professionally unethical or incompetent.

But it has a broader scope than that. In supplanting outmoded ideas with new ones, the status of the scholar as an academician is irresponsible from his status as citizen. One is at least as important as the other, and in considering academic freedom, both are as important as the status of the university.

There is too much truth in society that will be left unexposed if the academic freedom to seek and to express the truth as one personally sees it is unduly limited to the confines of laboratory walls. And to so construe the concept as a right pertaining to the university as an institution and not to the scholar as well is plain confusion.

Arguments are understood and refutable least when words are not given their accepted meaning, and convenient shifts in meaning made as often as arguments are threatened with refutation make the resolutions of conflict unduly postponed.

Series of national consultations with government offices, grassroots formations and civil society organizations were held to critique draft policy papers that covered the identified thematic issues.

Two years hence, a book entitled The Way Forward: A Policy Resource Book on Legal Empowerment of the Poor in the Philippines has been published and distributed to different stakeholders. Viewed as the first comprehensive local literature on legal empowerment of the poor, this book is one of the concrete outputs of the UN-initiated multi-stakeholder project.

Right now, ESCR-Asia is conducting activities to raise public consciousness on the legal empowerment paradigm. Part of these initiatives is the continuing discussion with various LEP stakeholders in the academe and the government sector on policy and programmatic recommendations that have been identified in the book.

In this vein, we would like to invite you to a public forum titled “Legal Empowerment of the Poor in the Philippines: Perspectives, Problems and Prospects”. This will be on February 28, Thursday, 1:00 – 5:00pm at the Ambion Room (Room 110), College of Law University of the Philippines Diliman. The activity is a joint undertaking of ESCR-Asia, the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity – UP College of Law, and the UP Portia Sorority.

HIGH SCHOOL Category
Grand Prize: Roxanne Dayrit (St. Mary’s College of Baliuag, Bulacan)
Runners Up: Francis Luteria (St. Augustine School of Cavite) and Richard Villar (Ramon Magsaysay High School of Manila)

COLLEGE Category
Grand Prize: Jerrie Abella (University of the Philippines-Diliman)
Runners Up: Johanna Sisante (University of the Philippines-Diliman) and Tisha Nami Martinez (Ateneo de Manila University)

The Awarding Ceremonies will be held on 28 November 2007 (Wednesday), 7:00 pm, at the Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman.

Rules of the Competition

1. The Competition shall have two categories: High School and College. It shall be open to all students nationwide.

2. The entry, with the theme “Kung hindi tayo, sino? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan?: The role of campus journalism in social change,” must be written in English with a minimum length of 500 words or two (2) pages. Essays must have their own titles. All entries must be single-spaced, in letter size (8.5 x 11) bond paper with one (1) inch margin on all sides, and written in 12-point Times New Roman. Only the participant’s pseudonym or alias must appear in the submission.

Entries submitted online must be saved in Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) format.

3. What is required for this Competition is a personal essay, a non-fictional narrative, or an editorial.

4. Only one entry per participant is allowed.

5. Participants are required to register by downloading the Registration Form fromhttp://ditto.upalphaphibeta.org before entering the competition. They must send back the accomplished Registration Form and their entries in separate emails with the proper subject heading to ditto.sarmiento@gmail.com no later than 10 October 2007.

For those sending their Registration Forms and entries through snail mail, these must be sent separately to The 1st Ditto Sarmiento Essay Writing Competition, Unit 1602-A, West Trade Center, 132 West Avenue, Quezon City. Registration Forms and entries submitted through snail mail must be post-marked no later than 10 October 2007.

6. The School Principal, the Dean, or the Department Chair must endorse the entries to be considered. School officials must ensure that participating students provide true, accurate, and complete information on the Registration Form.

7. Only original and unpublished work may be entered. Essays which have won in previous contests are barred from joining the Competition. Winning entries shall become and remain the property of the Competition. Participants who wish their entries returned should send a request to the organizers no later than fifteen (15) days after the announcement of winners, through an email to ditto.sarmiento@gmail.com.

8. Deadline for submission of entries shall be on 10 October 2007 at 11:59pm.

9. There shall be three winners in each category: the top winning entry and two runners up. Winners shall be announced in November 2007. A Board of Judges shall determine the winning entry using the following criteria: creativity, originality, and faithfulness to the theme. The decision of the Board shall be final.

10. For the High School category, the top winning entry shall receive Php15,000 and a plaque, while the two runners up shall receive Php5,000 each plus plaque. For the College category, the top winning entry shall receive Php25,000 and a plaque, while the two runners up shall receive Php10,000 each plus plaque.

The two top winning entries shall be published in a national newspaper. The Organizers shall notify the winners by phone, fax, and email.

Contacts
For details, please visit http://ditto.upalphaphibeta.org/. For inquiries, please email us atditto.sarmiento@gmail.com, or you may also send a message to jayson.sanjuan@gmail.com orjbsanjuan@up.edu.ph, or send an SMS to +63905.2644953.