(1888PressRelease)
October 16, 2009 - ABOUT THE BOOK : Amidst the confounding social malaise that grips a country beset by inequity and an inordinate tolerance for corruption, the lives of three young Filipinos intersect in a twist of fate.
Their divergent backgrounds and class associations provoke nagging questions on morality, with the core narrative embroiling a spectrum of Philippine society.
From unimaginable conditions of squalor to swank villas that define the matrix of greed, political patronage, and quid pro quo accommodation, the conflict rages between noble conviction and metastasized greed, ultimately between good and evil.
Stripped to the bone, this account of a high-profile crime and consequent legal action is interspersed with the novel's didactic form, with the moral instruction serving as the ulterior authorial motive. It is also a scathing report on the sordid downfall of the current administration, making this book as topical as today's troubling headlines.
Despite the present-day morass, the courage of a few good men spells a nation's true birthright: to transform a blighted culture to one of brimming hope for the future.
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE BOOK
This is a riveting account of the Filipino nation’s dysfunctional institutions. Frank Chavez draws from his long experience as a trial lawyer and former Solicitor General to produce a compelling portrait of decadence in our time. In measured prose, he weaves strands of real events into the filter of satirical fiction. The composite corrupt characters he depicts are all recognizable. We can smell their rot on every page. But heroes come forward when we least expect them. And so, rather than endorse an attitude of knowing cynicism, the author ends his story on a note of sheer faith in new beginnings: This blighted nation can be made whole again.
—Randy David
Professor of Sociology, University of the Philippines
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank Chavez graduated cum laude, Bachelor of Laws, from the University of the Philippines in 1971. He was a Bar Examiner for Remedial Law in 1985, and was named a 1987 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) awardee for Law and Human Rights. He served the Aquino government as Solicitor General of the Philippines from 1987 to 1992.
He is a Founding Partner of the Chavez Miranda Aseoche Law Offices, and the Founder of Operation Clean Hands, Inc., an anti-corruption association of lawyers. He has contributed no less than 70 cases to Philippine jurisprudence through decisions promulgated by the Supreme Court.
Among his numerous distinctions is the recently conferred “Tribune of the People,” a lifetime achievement award given by the National Union of People’s Lawyers and the Senate minority bloc led by Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., Sen. Manuel B. Villar and Sen. Francis Pangilinan. The conferment was in recognition of his unwavering fight these past 38 years for freedom, justice, human rights, honesty in government service and Constitutional advocacy — espousing public interest cases and the cause of the poor, the needy and the oppressed.
For more information, log on to website:www.cma-law.net
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