‘Law is not just for lawyers’ says book authors

UNDERSTANDING the essence of the law isn’t a role confined to legal circles.

Supreme Court cases involve stories of people, which everyonecan learn from and appreciate.

Giving life to these stories in layman’s language, and adding depth by interviewing some of the actors was the challenge of veteran journalists Marites Vitug and Criselda Yabes.

“The law is not just for lawyers. It is for everyone,” said Vitug during yesterday’s Cebu launching of their book “Our Rights, Our Victories: Landmark Cases in the Supreme Court” held at the audiovisual room of the University of San Carlos Law School.

The book’s 12 chapters cover 16 landmark cases of the High Court between 1960 to 2008.

Most of the rulings tackled cases involving libertarian themes of human rights, freedom of information and freedom of speech.

“The book does not just discuss the petitioners and the respondents but also the life of the personalities involved. We are giving life to it,” Yabes said.

One case discussed in the book is the High Court’s verdict on the case filed by the late Cebuano lawyer Valentino Legaspi against the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

In his petition, Legaspi cited the refusal of the CSC to show results of eligibility tests of two sanitation workers of City Hall.

Legaspi, who became the third president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter, sought the intervention of the High Court for the release of the documents.

He won the case in a unanimous decision in 1987, but it took months before the CSC finally released the records.

The ruling is the seminal case on the right to information, enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution which anchors the ongoing lobby for passage of the Freedom of Information Act in Congress.

Vitug is chairperson of the advisory board of Newsbreak, an independent online magazine.

Her earlier book “Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court” in 2010 exposed the inner workings and decision-making of the High Court.

Yabes is a veteran journalist, who have covered global conflicts in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Jolo, Sulu.  ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL