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.

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.

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.