Congratulations to Mindanao lawyer and peace advocate Mary Ann Arnado for receiving the first-ever World Vision International Peace Price.

From the World Vision website:

World Vision has announced the recipients of its Peace Prize on the International Day of Peace.
The prize includes two awards: the Peacemaking Award, which honours an individual, and the Peacebuilding Award, which is being shared by two organisations.

The Peacemaking Award is awarded to Mary Ann Arnado of the Philippines. Mary Ann Arnado received the award for her work with the Mindanao people in the Philippines.

Her understanding of the long-running internal conflict affecting Mindanaons has helped her to bridge the gap between indigenous women and youth and community leaders, promoting peace.

If you thought all lawyers think about is getting money from their clients, you should think again. This award for Atty. Arnado is proof that lawyers have social conscience too. Again, our congratulations to Ms. Arnado and we wish her the best of luck in her future peacemaking endeavors.

Peace.

In the Philippines, you have to pay parking fees when you use mall carparks according to a recent decision handed down by the Philippine Supreme Court.

The Office of the Solicitor General apparently argued (in behalf of the car-owning public) that the collection of fees by mall owners is prohibited by the National Building Code but the Supreme Court concluded otherwise. From a Business Mirror report:

The Court thus did not give credence to the argument of the Office of the Solicitor General that Section 803 of the National Building Code and Rule XIX of its IRR that the cited provisions “compel operators/lessors of shopping centers to provide parking and loading spaces in accordance with the minimum ratio of one slot per 100 square meters of shopping floor area.”

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) further argued the requirement of free-of-charge parking contributes to the aim of safeguarding “life, health, property and public welfare” under Section 102 of the NBC, as well as greatly help in alleviating traffic congestion since this would discourage motorists from parking their vehicles on the streets.

The decision written by Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario of the Third Division said the term “parking fees” cannot be found in the entire provisions of the Building Code and its IRR, which only means that the cited provisions do not regulate the collection of the same.

“If Rule XIX is not covered by the enabling law, then it cannot be added to or included in the implementing rules. The rule-making power of administrative agencies must be confined to details for regulating the mode or proceedings to carry into effect the law as it has been enacted.”

So what should you do if you don’t want to pay parking fees? Well, you can always use public transport or you can advocate for the passage of a law that would prohibit mall owners from collecting parking fees.

He survived the attempt against his life and is currently in the hospital. We sure hope he recovers.

The Inquirer reports:

A labor federation lawyer was wounded when unidentified armed men shot him in Sto. Tomas town, Friday morning, police said.

Supt. Raul Tacaca, Sto. Tomas police chief, identified the victim as Joseph Pajanustan, lawyer for Obrero Pilipino Labor Federation and a resident of Cavite.

Tacaca said Pajanustan was inside his office at Magmen Bldg. in Barangay 4, when shot by the assailant at around 7 a.m.

Pajanustan is at St. Cabrini Hospital intensive care unit where he is undergoing treatment.

Tacaca added the attack on victim could be work-related.

Police, as of this writing, are conducting an investigation to identify the gunman who, they said, was seen by the lawyer’s employee.

Anyways, here’s the a list of Philippine law schools which produced bar topnotchers (1st placers). We guess you are entitled to some boasting rights if you happen to be from any of these schools.

• University of the Philippines College of Law, 49
• Ateneo de Manila Law School, 19
• Philippine Law School – 7
• University of Manila – 6
• San Beda College of Law – 6
• Far Eastern University Institute of Law – 3
• University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law – 3
• University of the Cordilleras (formerly Baguio Colleges Foundation) College of Law – 2
• Manila Law College Foundation (formerly Escuela de Derecho de Manila) – 1
• Manuel L. Quezon University College of Law, 1
• Divine Word College, 1
• University of the East College of Law , 1
• San Sebastian College Institute of Law, 1

The Inquirer reports:

Represented by its general manager, Agnes Ballesteros, BMGI (note: the Belo Medical Group, ed) filed the complaint last month against lawyer Argee Guevarra with the Taytay, Rizal, prosecutor’s office over his “deliberate and malicious intent to destroy the reputation of BMGI and Belo’s practice.”

In the complaint, Ballesteros accused Guevarra of launching a vindictive attack on the firm and Belo through the comments he posted in his Facebook account.

According to her, Guevarra called for a boycott of Belo clinics, adding that the lawyer also referred to Belo as incompetent and even claimed that she was bribing people to cover up complaints arising from botched cosmetic procedures conducted by BMGI doctors.

Atty. Guevarra is the lawyer of businesswoman Josefina Norcio who is reportedly suing the Belo Group for reckless imprudence because of a botched butt augmentation procedure.

Says he of the libel case filed against him:

“I welcome the libel suit as an opportunity to ring the alarm of the Department of Health against the proliferation of such colorum clinics which is destroying the country’s medical tourism.”

Maybe he has something up his sleeve? Truth, after all, is the best defense against libel.

The schools are as follows:

• Abra Valley College in Bangued, Abra
• Polytechnic College of La Union in Agoo, La Union
• Ramon Magsaysay Technological University in Iba, Zambales
• East Central Colleges in San Fernando, Pampanga
• Southern Bicol College in Masbate
• Eastern Samar State University in Borongan, Eastern Samar
• Samar College in Catbalogan, Western Samar

CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles revealed that these were identified in a study by the commission on the law programs of various schools based on data from the Supreme Court from 1999 to 2009.

“These law schools that have been getting zero percent will be advised to shut down their law programs,” Angeles told reporters.

He added that four other non-performing law schools have voluntarily phased out their law programs. These are:

• Virgen De Los Remedios College in Olongapo City
• Manuel A. Roxas Educational Institution
• International Harvardian University in Davao City
• Zamboanga A.E. College in Zamboanga City.

CHED will start closing the non-performing law schools next year. It also plans to close law schools with poor passing rates, i.e., those with a passing rate of less than five percent in the bar exams for the past 10 years.