Atty. Te writes; Lumads and Air 21

Atty. Te writes; Lumads and Air 21

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Published on Monday, 24 June 2013 00:00

Written by DUCKY PAREDES

By A Web design Company

‘(T)he letter of Atty. Te is welcome. Certainly, the more lines of communication that the Court opens, the more the Supreme Court becomes what we need in an open and modernizing society.’

WE have a letter: “Thank you for your Op-Ed piece in Malaya Business Insight, June 18, 2013 (“Why Justice is Delayed”) and for your coverage of the launch of eCourt at the Quezon City trial courts last Thursday. 

“I take this opportunity to make a factual clarification of a portion of your piece, however, and only because it might mislead your readers. In the tenth paragraph of your piece, you wrote that:

“’The judiciary’s share in the 2012 national budget was at 11.9 percent (P13.35 billion out of the P1.8 trillion outlay) from 14 percent (P11.06 billion out of the P1.4 -trillion budget) in 2009.’

“Based on official figures from the DBM, the actual percentage of the judiciary share of the national budget for 2012 was 1.00%, not 11.9 percent; the judiciary got P18,114,296 out of the P1,816,000,000. And in 2009, the judiciary got a 1.06% of the national budget, with P15,094,319 out of the total national budget of P1,426,000,000.

“As you may appreciate, the figures are quite significant. For that reason, may we respectfully ask for a correction of the figures cited. To our mind, the actual figures and percentages do not belie rather they support your Op-Ed’s central thesis.

“Thank you once again for your piece and should you require any assistance that the PIO may provide you, please know that I and my staff are at your disposal.” — Atty. Theodore Te Ll.B. (UP), Ll.M. (CLS) Assistant Court Administrator and Chief, Public Information Office, Supreme Court

***

As I gather from some lawyer-friends, while money is a problem for our courts and the justice system, part of the problem is also the quality of our judges and the long, long process that cases go though prior to the time that a decision can be reached. 

The lawyers actually blame the Supreme Court for this.

While it used to be that once a case is filed, hearings could begin forthwith, the SC (by its pronouncements) has added unnecessary steps that only prolong the process. For instance, these lawyers point out, there are so many instances where attempts at reconciliation are mandated. But even in the previous faster judicial process, it was always possible for one of the parties to start reconciliation. At any point in the process, reconciliation is possible, even after judgment has been made,

The point they make is that if we have a clogged judicial docket, don’t put all the blame on the central government, before looking at the quality of our judges and the constantly longer process that litigants have to go through.

Considering that the caseload of our judges is three a day, the longer these cases, the heavier the caseload of our judges gets. Clearly, the system is overloaded and is not doing any of us any good.

Justice delayed is justice denied? More often than not.

At any rate, the letter of Atty. Te is welcome. Certainly, the more lines of communication that the Court opens, the more it becomes the Supreme Court we need in an open and modernizing society.

***

We have four children, whose successes I always attribute to my wife, Snoogie, who has been their constant guide, while the father has often been too preoccupied with other matters.

The following is from the website of Cornell University:

“A Mountain of Difference recasts the early colonial encounter between the indigenous Lumad and Christian missionaries in the southern Philippines. This groundbreaking study of the Lumad—the non-Muslim native peoples of Mindanao—draws on Spanish archival sources and indigenous oral traditions to reconceptualize the political and cultural history of the island’s ‘upland’ minorities.

“While Lumad peoples are widely believed to have successfully resisted the traumatic transformations of Spanish colonization, Oona Paredes makes a case for the deep cultural impact of Catholic missions in Mindanao, arguing that key elements of “traditional” Lumad life today may have evolved from earlier cross-cultural encounters with Iberian Catholic missionaries. Vignettes of Lumad life prior to the nineteenth century show different communities actively engaging colonial power and mediating its exercise according to local priorities, with unexpected results.

“This book complicates our understanding of Mindanao’s history and ethnography, and outlines the beginning of an autonomous history for the marginalized Lumad peoples. The interactions explored in this book illuminate the surprisingly complex cultural and power dynamics at the peripheries of European colonialism.”

Oona, our eldest and only daughter, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.

***

On June 21, 1979, Alberto D. Lina, 24, lost his job. This turned out to be a blessing. He had been talking to his wife, Sylvia , about what he saw as a sunrise industry for the Philippines. This was Air 2100 that in five years became the sole licensee for Federal Express Corporation.

By 1997. Air 21 was the first Global Service Partner of FedEx in the Asia Pacific, along with earning an ISO certification from the Lloyds Registrar’s Quality Assurance of London. 

Last Friday, Air 21 celebrated its 34th Anniversary with a dinner for its employees and customers at the Manila Hotel. This was after it had successfully tackled the task of delivering election materials including the PCOS machines to all the precincts in Luzon and Mindanao. Bert and Sylvia were there to greet all their guests. 

The Air 21 story is inspiring because it is that of a home-grown company that has reached Superbrand status through the joint efforts of its officers and employees.

The Lina Group of companies, besides those whose function dovetails with that of Air 21, is a pioneer in the manufacture of solar panels.

***

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at

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Atty. Te writes; Lumads and Air 21