Musings of Don Kishote….

It was 1994 when Internet came into Cagayan de Oro City. We have to dial-up to Xavier University.

That time, we were starting to build simple websites using notepad, and our favorite browser was Netscape 1.0.

In 1996, I joined a Telecoms company and there, with unlimited internet, i started to improve my website development skills. I built a fledgling intranet that got the attention of the President. Needless to say, in 2000, i was promoted to lead a ’start-up’ group to build the company’s capability in developing commercial websites along the B2B and e-commerce concept.

Thus start the development of various of website projects (dating website, online HR portal, Online procurement system), and my baby: Pinoylaw.com.

I think it was the first domain name we registered under the company’s Internet Value-Added Services (IVAS) business, and the first domain to be hosted in our fledgling web server, other than our own corporate domain.

Birth Pains

The concept for Pinoylaw.com is to develop it into an online portal for Filipinos to access confidential/membership-only/minimal-fee legal advice. The problem is, the company does not want to pay royalty to lawyers who will serve as legal advisor, and there is the issue of how to accept payments online (No paypal then).

This ambivalence from the company stymied the progress of Pinoylaw.com

A month after and still no support, i decided to adopt Pinoylaw.com and turn it into a ‘legal information’ website, linking other sites with Philippine law-related articles, and some worldwide law-related information/trivia. Too busy with other projects and Law school, i just made Pinoylaw.com a ‘repository’ of links to all legal sites i can find in the internet.

I created the first logo in a hurry using a Microsoft clipart. (Unfortunately, i do not have with me the original logo.)

Then i started a web campaign for cross-linking with other websites, especially Philippine schools. I think Silliman University was the first to accept the link using the original logo. I also registered Pinoylaw.com in various search engines, but i put my campaign efforts with Yahoo and Google.

However, in 2002, the company underwent another change in management that put a stop to our web projects. By then, Pinoylaw.com is due to expire from the company’s charge, so i used my own credit card to renew the domain and acquire ownership.

I still did not pursue commercialization of the website since i haven’t made up my mind whether I will join the web-biz bandwagon or remain a hobbyist. I choose the latter. And so Pinoylaw.com remained ads-free and I have to renew it yearly.

I badly wanted a new logo but my in-house graphics designer couldn’t give me a desirable logo. Finally, by stroke of luck, i met a professional computer-based graphics artist named Melvin (he is now in Oman). He wanted to get an internet connection and would like us to host his propose website. I told Melvin about ‘my’ own website and the need for professional logo. He said he will make one for me. And sure he did.

I made a redesign of the front page of Pinoylaw.com to introduce the new logo. And finally, the new Pinoylaw.com:

Pinoylaw.com - “Your Window to Philippine Legal Information and Solutions“

Description: “A Philippine-based website offering free legal advice online and vast links to Philippine law information.”

Pro-bono lawyers

Then i met Atty. Francis Ku, a young lawyer in CDO who also served us the company’s retainer legal consultant. I told Atty. Ku about my desire to provide ‘free’ legal assistance online using Pinoylaw.com. Atty. Ku agreed to do pro-bono legal advice for Pinoylaw.com.

I am not sure if we are the first website to offer such free legal advice online. But we surely are the first to give a confidential legal advice.

After Atty Ku, other lawyers actually applied to provide pro-bono services. One lawyer was from a prominent Makati-based law firm who once served as Mercantile Law examiner in 2004 (I think) Bar exam. There was also a lady corporate lawyer from a big bank base in its Makati main mffice. Another volunteer lawyer came from Quezon Province. Our company’s junior lawyer in Makati also briefly served Pinoylaw.com.

But it was Atty. Ku who stuck it out with Pinoylaw.com till I lost the website. The success of the free legal advice in the website could have not been possible if not for the pro-bono services of Atty. Ku. My million thanks to him.

I sent a letter to the webmaster of the Supreme Court website recommending a letter of commendation for Atty Ku. But I guess it was lost in the jumble of emails there.

Free legal advice

The free legal advice portion of the website was its biggest draw. We averaged 9 posts a day, but our highest was 15 posts in a day. 60% of the queries/requests for legal advice fell under Marriage and Family relations (separation, annulment, inheritance, paternity).

It was quite astonishing how many Filipino couples wanted to end their marriage for a variety of reasons. I think the underlying message of these distressed couples is that it is better to annul the marriage and separate rather than hurt each other and the children by continuing to live together.

Plenty of queries also for criminal cases (inc. BP 22, credit card, estafa), Civil cases (damages, contracts), Real Estate (esp. partition, lease, sale, rent law), labor & employment, and commercial law issues.

Majority of those who registered in Pinoylaw.com came from Metro Manila. But there is also large number of inquiries from overseas Filipinos, especially on marital, property, and finance-related cases.

Message Board

Since my development team has been disbanded the following year, I was force to create a Pinoylaw.com discussion board from a free provider in the internet. This message board remained active till these days, although a hacking attack on the provider’s server cause much of pinoylaw.com’s discussions to disappear (wiped-out) including the banner logo. http://p082.ezboard.com/bpinoylaw74510

Unfortunately, I forgot the admin log-in and access and now the message board is being spammed mercilessly.

Recognition

There was one time Pinoylaw.com was nominated for Philippine Webby Awards.

Also, Pinoylaw.com was featured in Philippine Star Online.

Notable Links from the Supreme Court website (prior to recent design) and Silliman University.

I also got email from Filipinos, home and abroad, thanking the website for the free legal advice service.

In Memoriam

In May 2006, in my quest to become an overseas worker, I totally forgot to renew Pinoylaw.com, and promptly, an American domain hijacker took over and registered the domain name in his name.

I had the chance last March 24, 2008, but the guy beat me to it to register the site:

WHOIS result:

Domain servers in listed order:

NS1.REVENUEDIRECT.COM
NS2.REVENUEDIRECT.COM

Record created on: 2000-03-24 01:45:58.0
Database last updated on: 2008-03-14 21:01:30.927
Domain Expires on: 2009-03-24 01:45:58.0

Registry Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Status: clientUpdateProhibited

I guess I will never regain the domain name back. I am thinking of creating a new domain to serve same purpose.

Even though Pinoylaw.com never attained commercial success, but the fact that it was able to provide adequate legal advices to Filipinos, home and abroad, was already a success story for me.

REFERENCES:

 If you search for ‘pinoylaw.com’ in Google, it will give you the following selected links: 

http://p082.ezboard.com/bpinoylaw74510 

http://www.paralegalgateway.com/lawyerjokes.html

http://www.alllaw.com/international/http://www.pinoysites.org/phil529.htm

http://www.filipinolinks.com/Society/Legal_Resources/more3.html

http://www.washlaw.edu/forint/asia/philippine.html

http://www.gov.ph/forum/thread.asp?rootID=57849&catID=9http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/law/lig_primary.html

http://www.philippines.com.au/cgi-bin/global/tseekdir.cgi?location=Root-Government_and_Politics-Philippine_Laws&st=15&nd=20 

http://www.gov.ph/forum/thread.asp?rootID=8078&catID=9http://www.alleba.com/Government/Law/ 

http://www.hanappinoy.com/philippines/pinoy/9.html

http://www.yehey.com/search/categories.aspx?c=811

http://find.yuku.com/find/communities?q=+legal

http://www.pinoysites.org/phil40.htm

http://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/forum/archive.php?Saang+forum+ka+pa+member%3F/3642 

http://find.yuku.com/find/communities?q=+legal    

2007 Bar Exams News and Bar Exams-related stories: 

http://www.supremecourt.gov.ph/news/courtnews%20flash/2008/03/03290801.php

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080330-127231/I-just-wanted-to-pass-says-bar-topnotcher

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080329-127171/Regalados-967-remains-unsurpassed-in-RP-bar-exams-history 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080329-127168/First-bar-exam-in-RP-held-in-1901-with-13-test-takers

It is very distressing that Filipino workers are not only abused and taken advantage in foreign lands BUT abused by foreign companies right in our own land. Why???

Because in pursuit of foreign investments, the national and loca governments are too willing to sacrifice our workers to unfair labor practices and below-the-minimum wages.

Look, if this is a local company, the DOLE and RTWPB would have swoop down on the company to enforce the minimum wage law. But because this is a foreign company — koreans, chinese, indians and lebanese — they turn a blind eye and let our workers suffer such humiliation.

In other words, a Filipino need not go overseas to feel abused in his employment. Just work on those korean, chinese, indian and lebanese company, these are the same humiliation and suffering you will have working with them overseas.

Something is really dysfunctional in the way our government and its agencies dispenses the labor law. When it comes to these “cheap-skate” asian companies, the government is syaing “just be happy you have a job.” Sure we need job creation and foreign investment, but not to the extent of allowing these cheapskate companies to abuse our workers.

We are losing our national identity, pide and territory due to massive corruption in the government. and still, the government sells us workers to these ‘cheapskate’ investors to works as slaves , instead of enforcing the labor law and protect our workers from these slaving asian companies.

This Hanjin company has been around the Philippines for a long while doing road construction, shipyard, garments and a host of other industrial activities. So you can bet it has on its payroll local government officials, agency officials that is why the picketing workers are feed to the dogs. That is why instead of being investigated for anti-labor and unfair labor practices, local government send police to break the picket and treat the workers like they are lowly foreign workers.

Everytime a work-related accident or death  happens on a Hanjin company, this cheapskate company issues press release that they will investigate the incident. But never you will hear from the government investigating and making Hanjin culpable for the accident.

All in the name of job creation and foreign investment.

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Workers picket Korean firm for keeping them casuals

By Niña Catherine Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: January 25, 2008

LOS BANOS, LAGUNA– More than 150 workers are holding a picket in front of Hanjin Garments Inc., a Korean-owned garment factory in Cabuyao, Laguna, to protest alleged unfair labor practices.

The workers set up a tent in front of the factory at 3 a.m. on Thursday and carried placards demanding regularization, reinstatement of those “illegally” terminated last year and wage increase.

Christopher Capistrano, vice president of the Aniban ng mga Manggagawang Inaapi sa Hanjin Garments (Organization of Oppressed Workers in Hanjin Garments), said the picket would continue until management responded to the union’s demands.

The Inquirer tried to interview the management but no one wanted to comment.

Rolly Diega, regional director of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), said the workers filed a case of unfair labor practice at the NCMB. A hearing was set for Jan. 28.

Diega said the workers filed a notice of strike but lost a vote to proceed with the strike.

“Their action is not illegal since it is only a protest and not a strike,” he said.

Hanjin is an export company that produces blazers, cocktail dresses and pants, including the branded Mossimo pants and shorts that it sells to the United States.

Owned by Jeong Kee-min and Mak Rae-min, Hanjin Garments employs more than 1,000 contractual workers.

Capistrano said the management had refused to regularize workers although they had been employed for nine years.

“There are no regular workers here, all of us are contractual,” he said.

Capistrano added that the workers demanded a daily increase of P185 in wages.

“This is not just. I have been working here for the past nine years and I am still getting P185 a day,” he said.

The mandated daily wage set by the Department of Labor and Employment for Cabuyao is P282.

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Sige ito pa:

Korean shipyard workers find maggots in free meals

THE Commission on Audit (COA) has rebuked the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration for “illegally” granting about P40 million in incentives and allowances to its officials and employees for the past  three years.
 
 
COA also took the POEA to task for allowing its executives and employees who were issued mobile phones to download about P796,000 worth of games, tones, picture messages and other unauthorized items.
 
 
In its latest report, prepared by Director IV Roberto Marquez, COA said the POEA drew P24.048 million from the funds of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration to grant an “incentive allowance” to its
personnel. Such use of OWWA funds is unauthorized, COA said. 
  
 
It said that even if the OWWA Board of Trustees had justified the giving of the incentive allowance by citing the increase in OWWA collections from overseas Filipino workers, the move was “without legal basis.”
 
 
Section 15 (e) of the General Appropriations Act, FY 2003 (as reenacted in 2004), “as well as previous general appropriation acts, provides that no government funds shall be [used] to pay honoraria,  allowances or other compensations to any government official or  employee, except those  specifically authorized by  law,” the report stated.
 
 
Section 3 of Administrative Order 103 also bans national government agencies from granting new or additional benefits to their officials and employees “except for Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) Incentives and those expressly provided by  presidential issuance,” the COA said. 
  
 
Although it recommended that the POEA management stop granting the incentive allowance, COA acknowledged that the issue is awaiting final disposition before the Legal Adjudication Office.
 
 
COA noted that the POEA granted P15.448 million for the CNA signing bonus and rice allowance to its employees, a violation  of rules laid down by the Public Sector Labor Management Council.
 
 
COA said the POEA management and the employees’ union agreed on a quarterly rice subsidy to its employees, including casuals, contractual and temporary workers, and a P15,000 signing bonus “to be given on a staggered basis within three years subject to the availability of savings.”
 
 
On the strength of the agreement signed on December 10, 2001, the POEA granted P15.448 million from 2002 to 2004. But! the COA reviewed the payments and found they could have violated the rules on CNA signing bonus and allowances. Rice and other subsidies require “appropriation of funds,” or approval from Congress  and subsequent enactment of the President, COA said.
 
 
COA also cited a May 16, 2002, circular from the Department of the Budget and Management that said the President has issued a “moratorium on the grant of CNA signing bonus due to some problems raised on the payment and fund source.”
 
 
COA added that the moratorium has been in effect until these problems are resolved and a policy is issued on the matter.
 
 
It also cited the July 11, 2002, decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Social Security System v. COA, in which it ruled against the signing bonus as a form of additional compensation under the Constitution.
 
 
COA said that despite the Court’s earlier pronouncement against the granting of incentives and allowances, the POEA in 2004 still gave P7.2105 million to its employees and officials as signing bonus and rice subsidies.
 
 
The POEA justified its move by saying that the budget department had approved the release of incentives and allowances, COA  said.
 
 
COA also questioned why the POEA failed to follow the guidelines in its memorandum on October 26, 2001, covering the use of cell phones after the POEA paid for the nonessential downloads made by its officials and employees.
 
 
The POEA is supposed to put a limit on the use of cell phones, but the audit on its telephone bills showed that P487,283.59 of the P1.3-million total from 2003 to 2004 consisted of charges in excess of the authorized limit.
 
 
Even POEA’s bookkeeper in charge admitted that she could not impose limits on the use of ! the cell phones to some officials, COA said.
 
 
“We also noted that the POEA had incurred other charges amounting to P308,747.58 in the use of the mobile phones, in addition to the fixed charges of P400,002.80 due to subscription to Globe lines or plans.

These additional charges are value-added taxes and currency adjustment fees. Other charges which are personal and which are easily incurred and billed due to the nature of line subscription, include share-a-load and its processing fee, GPRS such as Globe games, photo messages, polyphonic ring tones,digital postcards, photo album, cinema and magazine covers, premium java download, instant messaging and  catxtcism, etc.,” COA said.
 
To avoid further overpayments, COA recommended that the POEA coordinate with Globe to shift to prepaid cards and end the subscription of postpaid lines.

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