Bad writing
Lately, I have taken a liking for the law commentaries of Jose Sison on the Philippine Star. They are usually insightful and concise in their presentation of legal issues, but today's column on the Leyte flood is terribly bad, I must protest. Had I not known it was Sison I was reading, I would have presumed that it was written by some high school student taking a jab at editorial writing. Two sentences are particularly jarring:

Countries, whether economically rich or poor, are endowed by the Creator with natural resources to be conserved and developed for the benefit of their own people. But in third world countries like the Philippines, this is not the case.

What did Sison mean by this? That the Philippines was not endowed by the Creator with natural resources? Surely he could not have meant that, but the juxtaposition of the two sentences suggests so.

The column could have used some editing. Alert: former Justice Isagani Cruz, here on exhibit is another instance of atrocious legal writing.