Amicus Curiae

Over the past decade, we have seen the democratization of content creation as social media outfits like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter provide artists, vloggers, influencers, and content creators platforms to express themselves and build personal brands. Accordingly, as more and more consumers began seeking authenticity in the products and services they purchase, the advertising industry gravitated towards collaborating with content creators in marketing brands, giving birth to the era of influencer marketing.

The value-added tax (VAT) is only imposed if the goods or services are “destined” for local consumption. There is no VAT when they are meant for consumption abroad. Our system follows the so-called destination principle insulating exporters and export-oriented enterprises from paying VAT on their local purchases.

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, it is already indubitable by now that the adverse impact is not only on the health and safety of the populace but their livelihood as well. The Philippines in particular, has imposed one of the longest, if not the longest, lockdowns and this has taken a heavy and serious toll on the economy.

The vaccination program in the Philippines is currently underway, but it seems that the
virus is spreading faster than the government can vaccinate its people. One of the
solutions proposed to ease the burden from the government and augment its current
efforts is to allow the private sector to procure and import vaccines directly from the
manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. However, the current Philippine
regulations on the sale and importation of vaccines makes this challenging.

The surge in the COVID-19 cases in the country comes with an increase in the morbidity and mortality rate. To curb the devastating effects of the virus, one concrete solution is to vaccinate the populace against the SARS CoV-2 virus. The limited supply of the vaccines, however, led the National Government to come up with a Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 Vaccines, listing the priority population groups who can first benefit from the vaccine rollout.

To mitigate the dire financial and economic effects brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted Republic Act No. 11534 otherwise known as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act or CREATE.

On Nov. 11, 2020, the Supreme Court promulgated a landmark decision involving the fundamental equality between women and men before the law. In Alanis v. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court ruled on a legitimate child’s right to use and adopt his mother’s maiden name — a matter which not only allows a legal option for the use of a surname, but also elevates the level of mothers from a legal perspective.

You are driving your car on your way home when you encounter a group of police officers by the side of road who signal you to stop. You comply with the order and stop somewhere near their group.

On March 3, the secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Silvestre H. Bello III issued Department Order (DO) 224-21 Series of 2021 entitled “Guidelines on Ventilation for Workplaces and Public Transport to Prevent and Control the Spread of COVID-19.”

In the book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, the authors argue that the prosperity of a nation is not primarily based on geography, climate, or culture.