Modernizing our laws
If only as a symbolic gesture to start the renewal and reform that the new administration III of President Benigno C. Aquino III is ushering in, his allies in Congress should think of immediately conduct a review of the  criminal laws in the country to rid our penal system of outmoded provisions and precepts.  Lack of space for this piece prevents an exhaustive exposition, and even just an enumeration, of those many archaic features of our laws; but a hop, skip and jump over the Revised Penal Code (RPC) is sufficient to prove my thesis.
Our RPC dates back to 1886.  By Royal Decree dated December 17, the Penal Code then in force in the Spanish Peninsula was ordered published and made effective in the Philippine Islands.  It was revised, as per Administrative Order No. 94 of the Department of Justice, enacted into law by the Philippine Legislature on December 8, 1930 and took effect January 1, 1932.  Click for Complete Article
 

A Postscript on the REIT  
It was not surprising that out of the more than 80 who attended the Round-Table Discussion that the Romulo law office organized last week, on June 24, concerning R.A. No. 9856, only about 10 from the trust industry, by trust industry’s stalwart Raul Diaz own count, attended.  The present trust industry appears to be carrying some heavy baggage when it comes to real estate in general and to the Real Estate Investment Trust in particular.
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Taxation of the REIT
It was taxation that then primarily discouraged Philippine fund managers and trustees from adopting the foreign version of the real estate investment trust (REIT) into their line up of investment products.  And it is taxation that now, under R.A. No. 9856, will principally determine whether investors will consider the REIT as an attractive placement of their funds.
The general rule is found in Section 16. Unless otherwise provided under the REIT law, the national internal revenue taxes found in the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (“Tax Code”), as amended will apply.  The key therefore is how strongly the REIT law’s tax incentives, which improve on the taxation under the Tax Code, can induce investors to put some of their money in the new vehicle.
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Protection of the REIT Investor
For the target market to even be willing to try the new mode of owning real estate being introduced by the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Act of 2009, it was essential to have in place adequate provisions protecting the investor and safeguarding his interest from others’ greed.   R.A. No. 9856 and SEC’s implementing regulations did not disappoint.
Independence is a principal requirement of the major pillars of an REIT’s operations.   Making explicit what is implied in their respective definitions in the law, the IRR provides that the Fund Manager, the Property Manager, and the Property Valuer are to be “independent of the REIT, its promoters or sponsors.” 
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