Next to the executive secretary (little president), the president listens to the presidential legal counsel with the intensity of a student.
The new presidential legal counsel is Atty. Ed de Mesa, whose brief professional profile is reproduced below for the info of my readers.
I expect that he will play a big role in making recommendations to the president in re: the appointment of new judges and justices.
It will be noted that the immediately past and the incumbent presidents of the country, i.e., the much-maligned Gloria Arroyo (2001-2010) and the humble and simple Noynoy Aquino (2010-2016), are economists/politicians and not lawyers or jurists.
A non-lawyer president can easily get confused and dumbfounded by the intricacies and complexities of the law and the justice system if not properly guided by an excellent, honest and independent-minded presidential legal counsel and a systematic and visionary executive secretary.
The advantage of Noynoy over Gloria Arroyo is that, notwithstanding his being a non-lawyer, the spirit of natural law and natural justice safely resides in his compassionate mind and heart, thanks to the upbringing he received from his model parents Ninoy and Cory Aquino, who are the greatest contemporary Philippine icons and symbols of freedom and democracy.
Atty. Eduardo V. De Mesa
Presidential Legal Counsel
Eduardo V. De Mesa heads the Labor and Litigation Departments of the Carag, De Mesa and Zaballero Law Firm. He is a seasoned litigator and has extensive experience in tax, commercial, civil, criminal and administrative litigation. His tax litigation experience includes successful representation of clients before the Court of Tax Appeals, Court of Appeals and/or the Supreme Court on matters involving tax assessments, claims for tax refunds and tax exemptions. His labor law practice includes collective bargaining negotiations, settlement of strikes and other labor disputes, employee disciplinary actions, labor law advisory services and labor litigation. Atty. De Mesa also practices election and immigration law.
Atty. De Mesa received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1985 from the University of the Philippines where he graduated in the top 10 of his class and was a member of the Order of the Purple Feather Honor Society. He obtained a degree in Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Sto. Tomas in 1974. He passed the National Teachers Examination in 1977 and was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1986.
He is presently a Commissioner on Bar Discipline of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). He is also a member and an accredited arbitrator of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc.
see:
http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=8&deptitem=op/plc
