Chief Justice Reynato Puno espouses an activist role for the Philippine Supreme Court and he has the gumption to carry out this policy. The convening of the two-day National Consultative Summit on Extra-Judicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances was the perfect platform for the Court to send out the message that it will not stand idly by while fundamental liberties are threatened.

The multi-sectoral summit was meant to address the tide of extrajudicial killings and was widely applauded by many sectors.

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I want to vent about a theft which happened in Greenbelt about a month or so ago, when my sister lost her purse to thieves in Café Bola. In it were money, credit cards, I.D.s, driver’s licenses (for here and elsewhere) and such other things which women, by some stroke of genius, are able to cram into their bags. Thus, was ruined a long-planned for vacation, as the following weeks were spent going through the usual bureaucratic maze in a frantic bid to replace the lost items.

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The Human Security Act (R.A. 9273) went into effect yesterday, amidst anxiety on the part of many as to how it will be implemented. So as not to further add to the din, allow me to give my two cents worth after which I will keep silent on the subject for the nonce and observe how things unfold.

The argument against the HSA is that it will threaten our basic civil liberties and will be used by the Arroyo administration against its political enemies. This concern is well founded. There are many worrisome provisions in it, some of which I discussed earlier.

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