Resident brods became kuyas to the kids at the Nayon ng Kabataan, Mandaluyong City for a day as they joined the Office of Brod Chief Justice Reynato Puno ’59 in holding talks about honesty and obeying the law last April 25.

In his talk given during the 1st Alphan Lecture Series on 27 February 2009, the Chief Justice reiterated the need to make the law responsive to the needs of the poor and marginalized. “Unless they find law a friend, they will later treat law as their enemy. They will resist law if all they experience is its lawlessness.”

“The four pillars of legal empowerment of the poor are acquisition of property rights, business rights, labor rights, and access to justice. These will enable the poor to fight for equality and help them gain significance in society,” the Chief Justice said.

Armed with placards and lighted candles, the protesters denounced the planned impeachment of Chief Justice Reynato Puno (Law ‘62) as serious moves to serve “partisan, selfish, and unpatriotic interests.”

“We are calling for the defense of the Chief Justice not necessarily because he is our Fraternity Brother, but because he embodies what the Judiciary needs – credibility, integrity, unsullied independence, and probity.”

We, the students of the University of the Philippines, in solidarity with the youth of the land, join the outrage against the assault on the independence of the Supreme Court and strongly condemn the machinations contrived by nefarious and evil forces to initiate impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno (UP Law Class of ‘62).