Imagine, the grand Acacia Tree - majestic in bearing, sturdy as a rock and with wings of branches giving shelter to many.

That is what Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno appears to us today. In Manila Hotel, he spearheaded this week a two-day National Consultative Summit on Extra-Judicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances.

The Supreme Court head unsheathed the sword of Justice from the scabbard to use the libertarian aspect of the 1987 Constitution to put an end to some 800 (Karapatan figures) unexplained murders of activist leaders and media men (46) since 2001.

The Summit of 500 multi-sectoral representatives and foreign observers will make recommendations to end this shameful record of human rights violations that has caused an international uproar. This also led a United Nations human rights rapporteur Philip Alston to denounce the Military and Government - if not for complicity but for allowing impunity by failing to solve the murderous rampage, almost rivaling the Martial Law years.

In March this year, Puno already revealed the stripes in his body by erecting 900 independent regional courts to try cases of this nature all over the country.

Puno's immediate predecessor Justice Art Panganiban, was human rights defender, to the core of his being. Publicly, he told our Group: "In cases of doubt, I will cast my vote in favor of human rights."

People originally thought Puno was a Palace Boy upon his appointment. But he reversed this miscasting by throwing out the idiocy of the people's initiative and referendum for Charter Change, pushed by mindless public officials and JDV clones who thought their constituency were as mindless as they were.

Surprising even his own worst critics, Puno did what the Executive and Legislative could not/will not do. President GMA seemed to be helplessly hostaged to the situation that she had asked the European Union experts to help solve these murderous assaults. Has she lost control of the Military, or at least some parts of it?

The Legislative was as supine, just too busy enjoying their porky perks and (some) stealing the elections to even bother about killings - good gracious, even those happening in their own province or district. Some judges in provinces were also so terrified by the prospect of reprisals from agents of the state to even act on these killings.

The Military, of course, had a public relation's nightmare and had to reiterate that "salvaging" is never a state policy and went busy justifying that militants were killing one another over turf and loyalty issues while stating that some unprofessional journalists got what they probably deserved.

This nationwide massacre may perhaps go unabated if the military mindset of some rogue members of the military intelligence continue to inflict on their psyche that "all militant peasant and fisher folk groups and party list groups" are merely fronts of the armed NPA (New People's Army).

If they equate NPAs as terrorists, that kind of misguided conscience can easily justify in their saying that non-armed civilians should also be part of the order of battle. How will the murders stop then?

Our new-found civil libertarian hero Justice Puno said that elected officials often cannot help render justice because doing so may be prejudicial to "some of their powerful constituencies." He decried that politicians are interested more in high-profile cases and projects rather than the protection of human rights of the poor and marginalized. Thus, Puno said often "the rights of the righteous are trampled by the rights of the wicked."

It behooves Government and the Military, therefore, to support this Puno Initiative. Not only is the international standing of the country (with economic implications) at stake here but the very cooperation of the populace on the anti-terrorism National Security Act of 2007 will be severely eroded at this time it is needed the most.

Losing that war on terrorism will get Manila to lose favor with Washington - a dire event that will collapse the Palace's line of defense for legitimacy. Finally, the image of the Military will suffer an irreversible diminution in the minds of the people as they wage a public relations war with the militants.

People are watching three areas of reforms coming out of the Summit. One, is redefining the extent of "command responsibility" in the handling of these killings and disappearances. Two, will be an extended and full-proof protection of witnesses under the Writ of Amparo Act. Three, is the recognition of the Minnesota Protocol stating that if the "victim is last seen with the military, the latter will be held responsible for his death or disappearance."

Indeed people talk about the basic tenets of freedom like the Constitutionally-derived right "to life, liberty and the pursuit and happiness."

But truly, if others take your life, there is no liberty or happiness to pursue for a dead man. That is why taking another man's life is the worst of all human right violations.

The Manila Hotel Summit must see this first. Then let's see what happens.

In the meantime, we bow in appreciation to the Chief Justice in Robe. No Hoodlum this one. Let us rejoice.

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