Author: Agabin, Pacifico A.
The theme of this book is that there is no separation of law and politics. It looks at Supreme Court decisions from the lens of a political behaviorist without the blinders on the eyes of the law practitioner. The focus is on Supreme Court leading cases on constitutional law, because it is when the high court decides constitutional cases that it becomes a political body, for good or for ill. This holds true especially under the present constitution, which has virtually erased the fine line initially drawn under the late and unlamented separation of powers principle, such that when two political bodies meet—e.g., the Supreme Court and Congress—it results in a clash of titans, which reached its peak in the recent impeachment of a chief justice drama that has now become part of our legal history.
The author has straddled both the world of the academe and that of the marketplace. He served as dean and professor of the College of Law of the University of the Philippines and of Lyceum University. He is also active in the practice of law, and has served as counsel for a peasants’ union and several government institutions. He has written two books, Unconstitutional Essays, which was awarded Book of the Year in Law in 1997 by the Manila Critics Circle, and Mestizo: The Story of the Philippine Legal System
Reprinted 2017 / UPP