upsetting

this just in: former pakistani prime minister benazir bhutto assassinated.

now, pervez musharraf must go down.

god, i hate authoritarian leaders who think no one else can rule their country and who'd stop at nothing, not even killing their opponents or muzzling the press, to preserve their regime.

yes, i'm pointing my fingers without evidence. it's gut feel.

i can't believe there's another marcos on this planet. god take them all away please.

*****
i apologize for that erratic post. that was only gut feel.

the pakistani government is pointing its fingers at terrorist groups and several of them have claimed responsibility for the attack. it's a valid point because bhutto has been very clear about her plans to rid pakistan of islamic extremists once she gets elected. and some sectors are saying these extremists do not want a woman for a leader.

however, what have these extremist groups really have to gain by her death? she isn't prime minister yet. some are saying that these groups wanted to kill her because she would have been a key ally of the us and the west in the war against terror. but isn't president musharraf also a key ally of the us? why not attack him instead since he is the one currently in power anyway. wouldn't that have made their statement much more powerful?

consider the situation: bhutto was killed in rawalpindi, an area where pres. musharraf is staying and where the pakistani military is headquartered. don't you think such a place would have been a secure area?

assuming without conceding that musharraf did not have a hand in the attack, he would nonetheless be responsible for not providing adequate security befitting a former prime minister, considering that bhutto had been complaining about the lack of security ever since she returned to pakistan and ever since another suicide bombing attempt directed against her in october (she was attacked the day after her return).

but it makes more sense to me if musharraf or the military had a hand in the assassination. for a long time, pakistan had been under military rule. it was only recently that musharraf agreed to give up his military post to become a civilian president, but it was a move that was largely due to pressure from the west. the power-sharing deal between bhutto and musharraf was to provide stability in the region, to give the beleaguered president enough popularity with the common people.

come to think of it, since when has a dictator agreed to share power with an opponent? my theory is that the power-sharing deal was just a show, some sort of a machiavellian move, to appease the west. but to really ensure keeping the power in his hands, all musharraf had to do was to have bhutto assassinated, blame islamic extremists groups, and make it impossible for an election to take place. that way, the west has no one to cling to in its war against terror but musharaff. with the us and the military on his back, how can musharraf ever lose his post?

for all we know, it could have been the military. bhutto has once voiced out her intention to return the military to the barracks and to pave the way for a truly democratic pakistan. it must be remembered that bhutto had a troubled relationship with the military. it was the military who ousted her father as pakistan's first civilian president and later ordered him executed. she herself was ousted as prime minister largely also because of the military. bhutto's popularity and inevitable victory at the polls would have signaled trouble for the military.

or who knows, it might have been another opposition leader, former prime minister nawaz sharif, whose supporters were allegedly also attacked prior to the bhutto assassination. interestingly, the attack wasn't directed against him, and he rushed immediately to bhutto's side at the hospital. hmmm...classic machiavellian move.

but really, i'm no expert. it was just gut feel. ever since musharraf declared emergency rule, muzzled the press, and ordered opposition leaders arrested (including house arrest for bhutto), i've lost trust in him. he is one desperate man, clinging foolishly to power.

some things new

1. home alone this christmas

my brother left for qatar last week to see my parents for the holidays. not sure if he's staying there for work although they've been asking me to make his cv (wow, registered nurse na nga siya, ako pa rin gagawa ng cv...basta ba for a price hehe). too bad i can't come along coz two weeks is two short (panglaptop na lang yung plane fare hehe) and i think i have to hit the books in those two weeks. this only means i'm home alone this christmas: no brother, no mother or father. i have relatives of course, pero iba pa rin yung immediate family.

2. futsal tuesdays

kate and cy invited me to join their weekly futsal games at club650 in libis almost a month ago. i did go once, never mind that i have pril the next day. so, after medjur ended at 8pm one tuesday, i had dinner then read about 3 cases at seattle's before joining the 11pm-12mn game with inquirer peeps. then i went home to finish the readings, slept at 4am, woke up at 9am and just had enough time to review while on the way to school. kaya naman pala e!

i played in two more games. now i'm hooked. i asked for jerseys from my two blocks this christmas and i did get them. i asked my dad for futsal shoes one time; he bought a pair the next day and is due to arrive on christmas eve. yahoo! now my blockmates are finding this development a little too weird, i think hehe.

3. contact lenses

because vanity is my favorite sin, and because i had to act the part of a prince charming without glasses for our christmas parties this year, i finally bought a pair of contact lenses. i'm still in the process of getting used to it, medyo hassle pa rin e. i think i'll still stick to wearing eyeglasses pag tinatamad at nagmamadali.

4. nocturnal habits

ever since vacation began, i've been going out all night, sleeping in the morning and spending the afternoon lounging around, updating this blog from time to time. i'm starting to like this arrangement hehe. unhealthy but happy.

5. simbang gabi

and since i'm still up at 4:30am, i might as well attend simbang gabi, right? i'm not really a believer of completing the novena masses so my wish could be granted (i've never completed one before and it looks like i won't be able to complete it this year) but it's always nice to take part of a tradition that dates back to hundreds of years ago. and of course, it's also a good way to prepare for christ's coming.

merrry christmas everyone! and in keeping with my block's disney theme for christmas, may your dreams come true! for now, let me just sing: i've been dreaming of a true love's kiss...obviously not over it yet hehe.

more pics at my multiply account

exciting

Trillanes and company did it again. For whatever reasons, the government neither had the foresight nor the skill to stop them.

I was third year in college when Trillanes and company stormed Oakwood and laid bombs all over the place to make a plea against corruption in government. It was a weekend and I spent the entire day following the developments (like a true-blue journ geek).

Four years later, I am now on my third year in law school, Trillanes and company walked out of a court hearing, marched their way to the Manila Peninsula, held their ground armed with high-powered rifles, until the military came, rammed a tank into the hotel lobby and fired tear gas on everyone.

How did it happen again? That’s just one of the questions. How, in the first place, could the rebel soldiers walk out of a hearing just like that? Didn’t they have security personnel with them? Were they not supposed to be on tight security, knowing fully well what they’re capable of? Where did they get the firearms? And the red armbands? It must have certainly been well-planned. How else to explain the presence of Guingona and other civil society figures?

Now, the Magdalo group is back in custody. Surprisingly, even members of the media have been arrested (I heard my college prof criticizing treatment of the media). There’s a curfew and a gun ban. What’s next?

If I’m malicious-minded, I’ll probably think this is all just a play. You think Trillanes hates GMA so much? I don’t think so. They’re probably lovers. You know, Trillanes plays bad guy so GMA would have reasons to impose Martial Law and they could rule the Philippines forever (insert evil laugh).

But I’m too goody-goody to think of that. Nah, it’s too impossible. Trillanes must really be a well-principled guy who happened to express his views in the wrong venue (then again, who am I say what’s the right venue?). GMA must really be this kapit-tuko president who has weathered several coup attempts and who has managed to stay in power because she’s brilliant (see, the economy?).

Frankly, I don’t know what to think anymore. Call me jaded, but how else should I react? Something tells me though that when history repeats itself, that means you haven’t learned the lesson.

Four years after Magdalo sieged Oakwood, they’re at it again, making the same pleas. Nothing much has changed since then. And you wonder why.

Sadly, people don’t seem to care. At all.

I don’t know what Trillanes was thinking this morning. Nothing happened the first time, why do it again? Did he really think people’s minds have changed?

Perhaps Trillanes was sending another message. He’s already in prison, yet he still managed to restage what he did four years ago, sans the help of grenades and bombs. What else could he possibly do? What could he not do? Matakot ka na Gloria!

Or maybe he was just trying to make our lives exciting. It was quite a spectacle, don’t you think? Another political turmoil and we’re back in the map of the world. We’re on cnn, bbc and al jazeera (never mind fox)! Ooo, how exciting.


**********
Was glad to see some familiar faces among the media people covering the Manila Pen standoff. Saw Julie, a college blockmate who’s a reporter for the Inquirer, running after Trillanes (what an exercise it must have been). Also saw DJ, a classmate in college who also works for the Inquirer, just outside the bus which brought reporters to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan (I wonder if he was hauled off to Bicutan, too). I could imagine Kate and Cy doing last minute research at the PDI office in Makati, and Hannah must really be busy at the GMA newsroom. Iris most likely will have a long night tonight at Saksi. Glenn would have his story for Kyodo of course. I’m sure Paul and Nherz will have the showbiz angle over at PEP. Many other brave souls are working hard to keep us, the public, informed, mabasa man ng ulan, matapunan man ng tear gas, makulong man sa Camp Bagong Diwa. Great job guys, I am proud of you. What a noble job indeed.

Times like these I regret having gone to law school. I could’ve been there, right where the action is, telling everyone the story. I don’t even need to see my name on print, or be seen on tv; it’s enough to be there and to be able to tell my grandchildren later on that on this date, at this time, I was there, I saw history unfold right before my own eyes. walter cronkite over justice brandeis, any time.

Where was I today? I was at home trying to finish my readings for a subject on local government. Then I left for school only to find out an hour later that our prof isn’t coming. How very exciting.

On second thought, law school is exciting. You’ve got profs giving 5’s like no one’s studying (uy, bitter), good guys getting booted out of law school just because they’re too good to forum shop (jump from one class to another to choose profs) while others are making a career out of it, and of course, professors bickering over the deanship issue—perfect stuff for campus chismis.

Hmmm, why not put up a tabloid in law? Everyone’s talking about chismis anyway. Why not set the record straight in a tabloid? That way, professors and students alike will have a forum to express their views on who should be dean, or on whatever issue, so they need not post them on the walls of Malcolm or on their blogs. That way, both sides of the issue will be presented—front, left, right, back and center included. That way, information will be double-checked and inaccuracies corrected. And of course, I’ll have something exciting to do. Hmmm…why not?

Now, if only I could think of a fitting name for my tabloid. Suggestions, anyone?


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cross-posted at: driven 2

life after 5.0

i flunked a 3 unit course last sem. i found out about it when i checked my mail last week. it read: your average is 3.25, the final grade that will be recorded is 5.0.

i refreshed the page hoping to see another grade, but the page showed the same figure. so 5.0 it is.

i stood up, ate supper, and went up to my room. i was ok, i thought. so he did give me a 5.0. so what? the phone rang.

i don't know how she noticed but my tita called to check on me. i didn't look well, she said. she asked if i have a problem. i said no at first. but after some prodding, i burst. i.flunked.nego. suddenly, the world fell apart.

how did i fail? i studied so hard for that subject, more than any other subject perhaps. i read two books. i attended his classes. i studied the entire sem. where did i go wrong?

then i thought about all the efforts i've exerted since first year. the agony of keeping yourself awake to finish your readings, of waking up with swollen eyes, of facing the professor's wrath just to earn yourself decent grades. heck, i wasn't even aiming for laude; i was just hoping to keep those grades decent. now it's all gone, just like that.

my parents called the moment i texted them about it. how do you explain to your parents, who are working abroad to send you to law school, that you flunked a subject? well, i didn't have to explain. they were more worried about me feeling so bad about it that i might not be able to accept it. they knew 90 for me was low in high school and elem. and 2.0 is the only lowest grade i got in college. but 5.0? it's a first. (lang ya, di man lang dumaan ng 3.0 o 4.0)

in fact, they were so worried they called 3 times and texted countless other times just to make sure i'm ok. my tita checked on me twice, suggesting that i go out, but i preferred to stay inside my room. they were perhaps alarmed that i might get depressed. i assured them i'm ok. hell, i'm not going to kill myself over this.

so instead, i took the pieces charivari will sing the next day, and rehearsed until my head hurt. i tried sleeping and when i couldn't, i got up, took a shower and went to mass at 6am. the priest just said it right: despite all things that's happening, good things will come. i felt incredibly light on my walk home. everything will be better, i thought. omnia in bonum.

so off i went to the charivari gig that friday morning for up law's alumni homecoming. afterwards, i invited my friends to watch beowulf. around 15 of us went on a field trip to trinoma.

the next day i watched one more chance with rhea at eastwood.

on sunday, i put down my books and joined a 2-on-2 basketball match with my cousins and my brother. i've been ignoring their invitations for weeks because i had to study. this time around, i had nothing to lose, so i played, sank my first free throw and three point shot in a decade. that's what you call tsamba hehe.

on monday, it was back to school again, the start of the second sem.

if there's anything to be gained from this experience, as my friend/spiritual guide would say, it's that things will never be in your hands all the time. it's also a good way to learn humility and to reexamine what your intentions are. what am i in law school for?

i went to law school because i want to be a lawyer. but i would've wanted to work first, as a journalist, my other passion. i went to law school immediately after college because i passed LAE, and sayang naman if i didn't push through. i studied hard because i was off to a good start, sayang naman if i slacked off. i joined an internship program last summer not because i'm excited to work for a firm but because they only invited the top ten in the batch, sayang naman if i didn't grab the opportunity. and had this not happened, i would probably end up working in a big firm, never mind what i really want to do, because sayang naman if i don't take the job. now i've got nothing to lose. maybe i could finally start doing things i really really want to do, and not because sayang naman.

perhaps i should thank the prof?

well, so many negative things have been said about him. he flunked 30 of us and we never saw our bluebooks and our recit cards. he never showed up to those who wished to talk to him. i honestly don't think talking to him would do any good. and there's so much more i shall not bother to listen to. what for? no matter how bad he is, he is still the prof, who, in up law, is god. and there's nothing we can do about it.

prof. leonen once said, a prof may give you a 5.0 but that should not define you. that may be his impression of you at that particular moment but that doesn't make you a bad or good person that you are.

can't agree more.

i flunked nego, but 5.0 shall not define me. the world did not change and those i love still love me. and yes, avena gave me a 1.75. for me, that's all that matters. (humility is a work in progress hehe.)



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cross-posted at: driven 2

goofy daw ako?

Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Goofy Your alter ego is Goofy! You are fun and great to be around, and you are always willing to help others. You arn't worried about embarrassing yourself, so you are one who is more willing to try new things. Goofy 69% Pinocchio 56% Peter Pan 56% Sleeping Beauty 56% The Beast 44% Snow White 25% Cinderella 19% Cruella De Ville 13% Ariel 13% Donald Duck 6%

tragic

she had the perfect life: she was young, intelligent, beautiful, talented and successful. but at age 29, charmaine dragun, an australian news anchor, jumped to her death off a cliff in sydney. she left a childhood sweetheart, her family and friends, and strangers like me asking, why?

from wikipedia:

Charmaine Dragun (21 March 1978 – 2 November 2007) was the regular co-anchor of Ten News Perth, Western Australia, 5pm News bulletin. Dragun had also filled in on Ten's nationally broadcast Morning News, Weekend News and presented Ten Late News on Fridays.

Shortly before 4:00pm on Friday, 2 November 2007, Dragun took her own life by jumping from The Gap in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. A Channel Seven news report the following day stated that Dragun was undergoing treatment for depression and had recently changed medication. Police have described the death as not suspicious. Police have confirmed that several witnesses spotted a woman sitting on the cliff before finding her body. Dragun was due to present the 5pm news for Perth and Ten Late News on the day she died. Staff in Perth and Sydney were only informed of her death 15 minutes before the programme was due to air.

Commenting on her death, Network Ten's CEO Grant Blackley said: "Charmaine was a highly intelligent, vibrant and caring person, universally liked and admired by her colleagues. Our deepest sympathies go to her partner, Simon, and her family."

back on track

i gained something back today. all it took was 3 days of no tv, no internet, no radio.

it feels great to be looking at the bright side again. and to believe once more.

domestic dispute

while taking an afternoon nap the other day, i was awakened by loud voices of two people shouting at each other. it was our driver and our helper. i went downstairs to see what the bickering was all about only to see my cousin helping my 80-year-old lola get up; she fell while trying to stop the driver from punching the helper.

i was infuriated. two grown-up women, people you expect to be mature enough, engaged in a petty squabble inside our house, right in front of my lola, who ended up getting hurt in the process. if something bad had happened to her, they would've been spending the night in luneta.

apparently, it started when the driver made a snide remark while the helper was passing by. when the latter confronted her, the driver got upset, brought up long-standing grudges and challenged her to a fistfight. not getting what she wanted, she lunged at the helper and would've hit her were it not for my lola and my cousin who rushed to restrain her. all three of them fell on the floor. but the bickering went on, and wouldn't have stopped had i not told them to. they finally ended it but not before the driver threatened the helper to watch her back.

now it's the helper who's out of the house. probably frightened for her own safety, she asked permission to stay with a relative for the meantime while my aunt's not around (i'm living in my aunt's house kasi). i was told she's not coming back for so long as the driver is still here.

the driver meanwhile, is still with us. how fair is that?

lest you mistake me for being biased towards the helper, i don't actually have favorites. both have been kind to me. the helper has been serving me breakfast for the past three years. the driver drops me off at the train station every morning on my way to school.

in fact, i was surprised something like that had to happen. we've always treated our housemates as part of the family. we dine with them in one table, share the same food with them, and on christmas, we exchange gifts with them. it's a pity it is they who have to have problems with each other.

i told my aunt it's clear who was at fault. regardless of the cause, it's unforgivable when one starts hitting another person. shout at a person if you have to but never, never lay hands on another person. guess what, the driver attempted to do just that. she even threatened to kill the helper. why is she that angry? she gave me a couple of reasons, mentioning old issues, but really too petty in my opinion to warrant the aggression she showed.

but alas, the driver is more valuable at this point for my aunt. she couldn't fire her. so we can't ask the helper to come back. instead, we're getting a new one.

so that's how we decide things eh? not on who's right or wrong but on what's practical? and why do i get the sense that we're actually rewarding the aggressor?

but of course, i have to oblige.

i can't believe an injustice has just taken place, inside our own house, and there's nothing i can do about it.

mind floating

i was unusually relaxed yesterday, the day of our evidence finals. after attempting to memorize the provisions, i didn't bother to go back to the cases, or even review the annotations. i was lounging in bed from time to time. i even left the house earlier than usual. but something told me something's amiss. something was bound to go wrong...somewhere.

i found out what went wrong when i got to philcoa. i just got off the jeep when i checked my bag...shoot, my wallet's not there! i checked my purse and counted the coins, 1...2...3...4...4.50. oh no, i can't even get to malcolm. i checked my bag again. no signs of my wallet. great. this is just the best time to forget your wallet, one hour before your final exam.

at least i was in philcoa, i thought. i could always, err, walk to malcolm? not exactly a pleasant option but at least that's a feasible last resort.

good thing my brother was in UP at that time for a training in red cross. i figured he must be done in a while so i asked him if he could drop by philcoa and spare me some bucks. just then, a miracle happened: he did. it's one of those days when it's good to have a brother. i can't even ask him to do anything at home, but at least he's there when you badly need some...cash hehe.

my friends told me i should've texted them so they could fetch me. that, i thought, was an option but it was too much of a hassle for them considering that they're also preparing for an exam so i didn't want to bother them. besides, my brother was around.

anyway, i arrived at malcolm just before 6 when the exam was supposed to start. ma'am gave us an extra hour by coming in at around 7, and gave us an extra hour for the exam so we ended at 10. you'd know when the day really gets weird when, in the middle of the preliminaries for the exam, i asked yvette, "hindi mo ba mami-miss si ma'am?" um, just what exactly did i say?

see, i wasn't really relaxed at all, i was out of my mind the whole time. probably because at the back of my mind, i was thinking about the two handwritten integrated outlines due this morning which i imagined to be about 20 long pages in length, a page of which i haven't even started writing as of last night. as with any other paper due this sem, it was a buzzerbeater finish. it was due 11am. i passed mine at 11:01, but the lady was kind enough to accept it. just my luck.

the evidence exam last night was fine, i think. i finished it so i think it was fine. but you can't really be sure.

after submitting my bluebook however, ma'am said something that really freaked me out, in a nice way. it made me wonder, how much do professors know about their students? i thought you can be anonymous in front of your prof if you really want to. hindi pala. hmmm, pano nya kaya nalaman yun?

anyway, i have 70 handwritten digests and 1 more exam to go before sembreak. sembreak here i come!

last stretch

this sem is probably the worst i've had so far. everything seemed to pass by like a whirl. before i knew it, it's the end of the sem and there's plenty of catching up to do.

the day my family and i left for surigao to attend my lolo's wake, i found myself reading at the airport while waiting for the plane, reading during the flight, reading while aboard a van for a 3-hour road trip on the way to our town, reading during the wake, reading still the next day while on my way back to the airport, in the plane and while on a cab straight to a make-up class that lasted til 11pm. it was my first trip in more than a decade with my whole family (we somehow travelled separately) and wow, i wasn't there at all. they stayed behind for the burial; i flew back early to prepare for a midterm exam in evidence. how inhuman.

then came september, bar examinations month. with bar operations in full swing and with three exams on that month, all hell broke loose. there was just no way to study for the exams on weekends so i used what little time i had during the week, missing some classes if i had to, but there's just never enough time!

now, with final exams setting in, i still have tons of things to finish: case digests for about a hundred cases and some integrated outlines, apart from studying of course.

it doesn't help that i find myself in between bouts of not wanting to study at all these days. must be signs of burn out. last wednesday, i had to force myself to finish the assignment for evidence, which i'm glad i did coz i got called the next day for a 3-hour recit (buti na lang i was reciting with yvette). just my luck. i got called at around 7.30 pm, and i kept glancing at the watch, 8, 9, 10, but ma'am just wouldn't stop. we finished at almost 11pm. gutom na ako, masakit na ulo ko, pagod na ako but i did learn a lot. ma'am is officially my favorite prof. (hmm...i somehow have this penchant for finding the good side in those who terrorize others, with some exceptions)

to be fair, this sem isn't that bad at all. the bar operations went well, without a hitch, i think. thanks to the leadership of py and all the volunteers of barops. i didn't teach this sem and i gave up an RA job because i knew it would be very difficult to joggle all those things together. i'm glad everything turned out well.

and i'm even happier someone didn't give up on me while i was going through all these. babawi ako. can't wait for this sem to be over!

the verdict is out

erap is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of plunder and is sentenced to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in prison. in an ironic twist of fate, the man who approved the bill as senator would now be punished under the same law for acts committed while he was president. that's life. question is, what's next for the philippines?

bye lolo

my lolo died on wednesday night. my parents arrived last saturday, and today we're off to surigao to pay last respects to a man we've all looked up to. he was a former mayor, a teacher, a farmer, and probably, one of the greatest children of our town. he was 97.

sick and phone-less

i lost my phone while on my way home last tuesday. i lost the sim which i've been using since high school and with it, 7 years worth of contact infos.

but i was too sick to even care. have been suffering headaches these past few days. the pain usually starts mid-afternoon, just as classes are about to end, and continues til the night. i just wanted to sleep but the pain is so sharp i was hitting my head on the pillow the other night. could not even study for nego midterms tomorrow. argh, what the hell is happening?

someone named jobito

PASSION FOR REASON
Jovito Salonga as Magsaysay laureate

By Raul Pangalangan
Inquirer, 08/03/2007

In his memoirs, “A Journey of Struggle and Hope,” the latest Filipino awardee of Asia’s Nobel Prize wrote that as a young student at the Central elementary school in Pasig, he wrote his name as “Jobito,” thinking he had been named after Job of the Old Testament, who persevered in his faith despite incredible suffering. He corrected the spelling to “Jovito” only before he reached high school.

He was so poor that decades later and while campaigning for Congress, an old classmate showed him a sixth-grade class picture that showed an unshod Jobito, unable to afford to buy a pair of shoes.

He chose to become a lawyer after hearing a “spell-binding” speech by then Speaker Manuel Roxas at the Pasig town plaza, and he proceeded to take up his law at the University of the Philippines, where he was a working student whose day-time job was editing and laying out proofs at a printing press.

He was in his last semester in law school in December 1941 when World War II broke out, and in April 1942, instead of graduating from law school, he was arrested and tortured by the Japanese military police, the kempetai. After being beaten up at the Pasig municipal jail, he was transferred to Fort Santiago and eventually to the New Bilibid Prison, where he became part of a “brigada” that included the brave members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce who had led an anti-Japanese boycott, including Alfonso and Albino Sycip.

He was released in 1943 and began his preparations for the bar examinations, in which he placed first, in a tie with another future senator, Jose Diokno. When the war was over, the collaborator who caused his capture by the Japanese was brought to him for punishment. Jovito recalled: “He could have been maimed on the spot, but I was in no mood to wreak vengeance -- I let him go and he was very thankful.”

Another of Salonga’s life-shattering ordeals was the Aug. 21, 1971 bombing of the Plaza Miranda proclamation rally of the Liberal Party. Two fragmentation grenades were hurled on the stage where the senatorial candidates, led by Salonga, were sitting. A medical report described his condition: “There was an open fracture of the left leg; open mangling injuries of both the hands and forearms. The opposite leg was littered with shrapnel. [He] had abdominal, thoracic and facial injuries.” Another doctor remarked that his “wounds were so extensive … that an associated eye injury ha[d] been considered relatively minor up to this time.” He had to learn to walk all over again, using parallel bars, and eventually a crutch and later a cane.

(After the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, a former New People’s Army rebel came to visit Salonga who was in exile in the United States then. Ariel Almendral had gone to the Sierra Madre in Isabela where he witnessed the trial of an NPA cadre, Danny Cordero, who spoke of his own role in the Plaza Miranda bombing, implicating the highest levels of the communist party. This was later corroborated independently by Victor Corpus, who as a faculty member of the Philippine Military Academy, led the raid on its armory. The senator wrote in his memoirs that, after hearing yet another corroboration from a friend, he “did not doubt the truth of his revelation. He had no motive to lie [n]or did he ask for any favor.”)

But this was not the last. After Marcos declared martial law, Salonga was arrested in 1980 and detained at Fort Bonifacio’s Maximum Security Unit, in the same isolation room where Ninoy Aquino had been imprisoned. He was released when Marcos hosted an Asian jurists’ conference at the Philippine International Convention Center, and used the occasion to win propaganda points on his dismal human rights record. Marcos issued a release order which stated: “Salonga is ordered released from military custody and placed under house arrest under the custody of his wife, Mrs. Lydia Busuego Salonga.” The irrepressible Rene Saguisag would later quip that Salonga was thus subject to both martial law and marital law.

Today Salonga continues to work through citizens’ groups, chief among them, Kilosbayan, Bantayog ng mga Bayani, and Bantay Katarungan (of which I’m the current chair, and he is emeritus chair). In one of our quiet conversations, he said that working with the law student volunteers of Bantay Katarungan is by far the most gratifying job he’s had. I was surprised to hear that from a former congressman, senator and Senate president who has weathered both Fort Santiago and Fort Bonifacio, and on whom our national nightmares had brought personal pain and lifelong scars.

The trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation couldn’t have chosen a better time to honor his life and work. That by his career and his character he is worthy of the honor -- that is self-evident. That the next generation of Filipinos need to be told that there are living exemplars of values we hold dear -- for responding to that need, we must congratulate the Magsaysay trustees. How many of my students, after all, know that Fort Bonifacio had a maximum security isolation cell, when today all they would see is The Fort, a high-class neighborhood of malls and fancy residences? Ninoy Aquino always addressed him as “Prof.” Indeed, he teaches best who teaches by his example.

**********

i met jovito salonga twice and shook his hands at one point. it's amazing how he manages to make his way up to the third floor of the malcolm hall despite his age and the shrapnels in his body. he may have difficulty hearing, but his mind is still sharp and keen. what a life he's lived and is living.

dean pangalangan, on the other hand, is one of the nicest profs around. yesterday, upon seeing a blockmate of mine cry, he asked me what the matter was. talk about concern for your students. and he wants me to be part of a media-related conference. i don't know if i have the time but if it's what the dean wants, i'd be happy to be part of it. (btw, he's not even my prof now.)

and then there's ninoy aquino. he left law school to be a journalist. then a senator. then a hero.

2 years

7.23.07

never thought it'll last this long. here's to more.

love you my choc'lit, in case you're not convinced enough.

losing it

what do you do if you have an a**hole for a prof?

pray that God will save his soul.

because you can't do anything else.

so this is me, mr. good faith no more.

married...to work

i was watching al jazeera tonight when i chanced upon riz khan's one on one with mike wallace, a veteran u.s.-based journalist, who recently retired from cbs' 60 minutes.

there was something he said which caught my attention:

"i was self-absorbed...i was married to my job that i neglected my family."

why do i get the feeling that if i choose to be a journalist, i'm going to end up like him?

so maybe that's why i'm in law school. i don't want to end up that way.

then again, lawyering is another toxic profession. no guarantees there of not ending up the same way.

maybe i'd be less passionate about my job as a lawyer than i would've been as a journalist. or maybe not.

ay mali!

what's the worst thing you could give on the birthday of a one-year-old child?

a pink dress.

because the child's a boy!

stupid me.

misadventures of a law intern

on the rare occasions that i take the bus on the way home, something bad happens. on monday, my old phone got stolen straight out of my bag. tonight, i got stuck in ortigas for almost an hour!

ah, just one of the price to pay for a summer internship.

last week, i didn't join my blockmates for their cebu-bohol adventure. i was viewing their pics this morning (in the office, of all places). how i wished i was there. they went to a lot of places, some of which i haven't been to despite my 10-year stay in cebu. it would've been the best time for me to meet up with my high school friends. sayang!

last weekend, i got left behind as my relatives all headed to surigao for my uncle's 25th anniversary of his ordination into priesthood. 25 years is such a long time that a big celebration is only fitting. they spent one night at an island. last i heard, they all went to siargao (famous for surfing). ha, i should've been there also.

now, i can't go to davao for a volunteer work. would've been my first trip there.

but hey, i made a choice and i'm not exactly regretting it.

i'm learning a lot, afterall.

apart from legal research, now know how to operate a photocopier and a coffeemaker. not that we are asked to photocopy documents or prepare coffee, i just find it uncomfortable to ask the non-legal staff to do these things for me because well, i'm not yet a lawyer.

this weekend, i MUST learn how to 1) swim breaststroke 2) swim long enough to finish one lap, and 3) swim fast enough to try to win. that's because next week is the firm's sportsfest and guess which sport i'm competing in?

two words: good luck! good thing i have all of sunday to prepare, and rhea's willing to join me.

if it's any consolation, there's free food in the office. for a growing child like me, that should be enough hehe.


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warning: random, incoherent thoughts

be careful what you wish for.

i was lounging around most of the time yesterday at work, waiting for "the call" from my supervising lawyers. at one point, i made the call myself to ask if there's something i can do (baliw talaga). work did come at past 5pm. then another one came, due monday. now, i'm swamped with work! (and i'm not complaining.)

since i wouldn't be reporting to work today as i have to attend a long overdue make-up class that keeps getting postponed, i decided to stick around and get the first job done. i managed to finish making the digests of half of the cases assigned to me before i realized that it was 12mn already (work supposedly ends at 6 or 7pm). considering that i was the only one left at the apprentice's office and that the owner of the building was in critical condition at that time (who knows he might say goodbye soon to come and visit me), i decided to call it quits hehe. truth is, i was dead tired already that i hailed a cab on the way home.

to be clear though, i wasn't required to stay late. we are free to go home after 6 provided our work is done. my SL texted me this morning that i could submit the digests on monday. yun naman pala e!

work, as of now, isn't really as toxic as i expected it to be. we spent at least two hours yesterday "entertaining" the lawyers. we were invited to the testimonial luncheon for new lawyers where we, the apprentices, were asked to do a surprise number. within 5 minutes, we came up with an r. kelly, spice girls and backstreet boys medley, complete with choreography. that's in exchange for the sumptuous lunch which included lechon, kare-kare, pancit, adobo and halu-halo! how's that for internship, eh? i wonder what we'll be asked to do next...

the down side is that we were forced to reveal really embarrassing trivias about ourselves. one is now known as ms. topless, the other, the jailed jaywalker. as for me, i'm not telling.

*****

off to school i went this afternoon, only to find out we're not having classes for the Nth time. worst, we're holding our exam three days before enrolment in june! looks like someone's spending his summer studying, hay... so much for staying late in the office and for not reporting to work.

the bright side is that i did meet my blockmates today. as birthday treat, i bought pizza, ice cream and softdrinks. gem and yvette chipped in, their treat to the block for getting 1.75 from the terrifying one.

i also got my gift from my blockmates. the note read:

"jobert, this is to keep you looking and feeling fresh when you deal with your *ahem* clients and your boss (should be bosses hehe). have fun during your internship. don't get too stressed out. happy birthday! from: the block, cess and van"

naks, how sweet naman.

what also made my day today was when i met some of our alumni who recently passed the bar while on my way home. they thanked me for the barops work we did last time and even convinced me to go back to the college for the testimonial activity (where there's free food). what a way to inspire me to continue with my barops work.

when i got back to the college however, my blockmates invited me to go with them to sm north. being the kaladkarin that i am for today, i did go with them, only to miss the testimonial when we came back. oh well, the food probably didn't taste good anyway hehe. besides, block comes first. always will b. (that's our new tagline for our block shirt, for the block that once was b and always will b, despite the dissolution.)

tomorrow, steve is throwing an overnight birthday party at montalban, rizal. should be fun. pictures at multiply soon.


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day of survival

first things first, VKV (singko kung singko) club survives! the prof submitted the grades already and we all passed "daw." woohoo. i'm hoping this is for real. walang bawian!

*****

today was the first day of our apprenticeship at the thou-shall-not-be-named law firm. there are 10 of us apprentices (6 from up and 4 from ateneo) and we get to occupy the offices at the 6th floor of the building (just us, plus some unseen companions hehe). it's more of a waiting room really, where we await work which comes in the form of "the call."

as soon as we get assignments, we work on it either on our desktop, or rush to the library at the 4th floor, or head to the 9th floor to do some research in the lex libris. sounds like a lot of exercise, eh?

the exercise is needed however to offset the not so healthy lifestyle. free food + free coffee + lots of work + long hours of work (9 to 9 i heard) = deadly combination. good thing first day wasn't as toxic as i thought it would be, as we, the apprentices, spent almost the entire morning just getting acquainted with each other. (o, acquainted lang ha.)

i like the job so far, particularly the adrenalin rush i get while raising to beat a deadline. reminds me so much of the newsroom, except that here, there's no news. at least not yet.

the people are also very warm and accommodating. the partners joke around like everyone else does that sometimes you'd forget you're in a law firm. and you get to talk to them and share tables with them too. the only problem is that you can't leave until they're done. when you have work to do, that would really be a problem!

i just hope to enjoy this internship and learn a lot from it, too. of course, to survive in one piece would be the goal on top of anything else.


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22 and counting

plenty of reasons to be thankful for, first of which is that my birthday this year didn't fall on a good friday as it did several times in the past. that means...no fasting and abstinence hehe.

rhea asked me what's my wish this year. well, i honestly don't know. can't think of any. i think i already have most of the things i would have wished for, and i didn't even have to ask for them.

it would've been nice if my parents were still here (they left last friday), but it's not too much of a loss either. birthday or not, i was with them for a couple of weeks.

it would've been nice if our block didn't get dissolved, but such is life and there's a reason for everything. at least we spent 2 great years together.

it would've been nice if i get to have all the material things i want, but what for? i have what i need. others don't even have the barest essentials.

ah, just one more thing. enlightenment. i just need to know for certain which path to take, which road to follow. hopefully this summer.


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bye dalmie!

dalmie, one of our 3 dogs, died today after he vomited and defecated blood. he turned 1 year last month.

i'm not really fond of dogs. but when you got used to having them around, you somehow know something's missing when one of them is not there. nakakamiss din pala.

and how can i not miss dalmie? he's makulit, maingay, masiba. he'd bark at me each time i enter the gate every single day as if i don't live here. it gets annoying at times, but maybe it was just his way of making lambing.

in the end though, it was his pagiging masiba that killed him. my friend said he must have eaten a rat poison or something. our driver believes someone gave him bubog (little pieces of glass). poor dog, he never turns down any food given to him.

we called him dalmie because he was cuddly when he was young, with spots of black all over his body, resembling that of a dalmatian. he might not have been a true dalmatian, being an askal that he was, but to us, he will always remain just that - dalmie, the dog who died before his time.


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dissolved

tonight i mourn the loss of a block i love so dearly. all it took was a piece of paper, with some words scribbled on it. in an instant, we are uplaw2009b no more.

i am still at a loss as to what to make of things. there's so much to lose that i could not even bring myself to thinking how things will be different, how things will never be the same again. i'd like to think this were just a bad dream, that tomorrow when i wake up, the same boisterous and heartfelt laughter that i've gotten used to for the past two years, would greet me as i come to class. or that this were but a joke, a cruel one, that some pranksters want to pull off on the first day of april, in the way some of my blockmates are so adept at.

but a joke this isn't, and neither is this a dream. this is a reality that has yet to sink in.

strange, isn't it, that the fate of 26 people, once complete strangers but whose lives have since grown intertwined within the jungle that is law school, should now be decided by a piece of paper, as if what bound us together were a mere agreement one could so easily assail. even worse is the idea that fate is toying with our destinies like big brother meddling in the affairs of his housemates.

not a few of us are wondering as to the reason and purpose for this. i'm sure there is. there must be. for a block that once and continues to pride itself in being the most cohesive in our batch, this might very well be a test of strength. this thought, however, does little to console our ruffled emotions because the truth is, come june, we'll be sitting in different rooms, on different seats with different faces. what makes it all the more painful is that we get to see each other once in a while, only to look back at the glorious days of what had been.

i will miss a lot of things about my block. competitive digest pools. lunch-out sessions of more than 10. well-planned parties. tambay and study sessions. tsismisan and laitan portions. bangag recits. cam-whoring. and yes, i will miss being the butt of the block's jokes from time to time.

one fond memory i have of my block that i will remember most took place last december. i was running late for my trip to sagada with rhea when i dropped by the block christmas party. a lot of complications took place. we got caught up in traffic, my bag got lost, there were sudden schedule changes. i was all harassed when i arrived at the place, anything but in party mood. but they found ways to make me enjoy the party despite my being there for only 20 minutes. some of my blockmates fetched my bag. they made sure i ate. they took photos while we were all wearing our costumes. one had her driver drive me over to a place where i could get a cab. and while i was leaving, i could hear them chanting, go jobert! that was when i truly proved that this is more than just a block i could call my own -- this is a family, my family.

a family we will still be. but blockmates no more.

i'm sorry if i sound like i'm grieving for a lost loved one. it's worse even. it is more than a loved one i'll lose. it's like a part of me is dying gradually, like cancer slowly eating you up. and that's the worst part -- knowing you're about to lose that part of the body and you can't do anything about it.

thanks dear blockmates for two years' worth of memories. here's to more years ahead, despite and inspite of everything. once a blockmate, always a blockmate. uplaw2009b. always will B.


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almost there

just 2 more exams and the sem's over!

unofficially, i'm on vacation right now as i'm relaxing already. this sem's greatest obstacle, civpro that is, ended wednesday night with a 6-10pm exam. finally, no more recits, no more marathon make-up classes (picture our sched last week: wed 2-9.30pm, fri, 7-11am, 7-10pm and these were recit classes), and no more of the terror inflicted by the Great V, oopss...i might be speaking too soon. it ain't over til the grades are out, and only then shall the fate of the VKV club be decided. (vkv stands for singko kung singko, the 16 students of 2b with suicidal tendencies who decided to stick it out til the end.)

with civpro out of the way (at least for now), it seems like it's vacation already. but wait, there's labor exam on monday and credit, can you believe this, make-up classes on the 3rd and the 4th (because we met only thrice this sem)? so when's our exam like? the 10th?

then internship starts on the 11th and ends on may 9. then bar operations. so i'm not getting any vacation?

no wonder why i'm relaxing these days.

almost there but i don't think i'll ever get there...vacation that is.

times like this, i envy my brother. it's his graduation today, but even before his graduation, he's been relaxing already. everytime he's home, he'll either eat, watch tv or sleep, studying only during exams. he leaves home early and comes home late but i still wake up much earlier and sleep much later (for an average of 4 hrs a night)? why not...try his lifestyle? nah, it probably won't work for me haha.

so why is an elder brother blogging while his brother's marching? that's because i got left behind! nope, i didn't wake up late. it's just that they're only allowed 2 guests each (that's for my mom and dad). and poor kuya still had to wake up early to act as production assistant/photographer/whatever (a.k.a. dakilang alalay) before they left. but no problem, i've been getting a lot of benefits lately, benefits that should've gone to the one graduating but guess who's been getting? haha (evil laugh).


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better by the day

after having gone through the worst, everything just seems to get better and better.

got my second chance.

my parents are home for my brother's graduation. last time we were complete was 4 years ago.

my blockmates won murphy's law, a trivia contest, besting 24 other up law teams. (we got eliminated because of 2 sex and pornography questions at the start, or we were just plain lousy)

done with the class i was teaching.

portia ball, where i was "employed" as an escort, went well.

survived my (hopefully) last recit with the terrifying one, on her birthday!

property grades out; satisfied. got good grade "daw" in labor midterms (prof said it so might as well believe it).

done with my civpro digests.

enjoying my unexpected 2 days break.

mountain hike in tagaytay on sat.

one week til the end of classes. 4 exams to go before summer break.

got invited, got accepted and will start internship with a firm soon (although i'm not sure if this is a good idea on a summer, and i'm not too happy with the Firm, either...for experience's sake?)

looking forward to working with a lot of people in barops.

and for that summer trip somewhere, sometime, somehow.

here's to second chances!

**********
incidentally, this entry is my 100th post on this blog. amazing, it took me all of 3 years to make 100 entries. lazy.

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worst of times

sometimes, being good is not good enough.


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teaching and teaching blues

it started with a call.

a schoolmate in college called me up early june last year and asked if i was interested in handling a comm120 (law and mass media) course at kalayaan college. the idea never crossed my mind until he brought it up. surprisingly, i got excited about it. i've been doing some private tutorials for several years but handling a college class is totally different. i didn't know i wanted to teach all along.

my first sem went well. i taught 13 students. this sem, i'm teaching comm140 (communication theory) to supposedly 4 but in reality 3 students.

while teaching is a fulfilling job, there are just some things that get to you sometimes.

last sem, i almost flunked a student for plagiarizing guess what? a reaction paper on a movie. the moment i read his paper, i just knew there was something wrong. i got convinced it was cut and paste after i finished reading it. it was no reaction paper at all. it was...bitin.

so i searched his article online, encoding each sentence on the search toolbar. the results led me to wikipedia, where i found parts of his article posted there, word-for-word. he did some rearranging, and some editing, but there's no denying it was the same article he submitted.

i confronted him the next meeting, allowing him to air his side. he offered no explanations, admitting the charge outright. i told him i was giving him a 5 but that he could still attend my class so he could learn more.

perhaps i said it in a fit of anger, but i did try to be as calm as possible the whole time i was talking to him. what upset me was not that he thought little of me by supposing that he could get away with it; rather, it was the thought that he's a journalism student for crying out loud, and that paper was to earn him extra points only. it wasn't even a requirement. and of all websites, wikipedia pa!

in the end, i never had the heart to flunk him. he came to class til the end of the semester and passed the finals. i gave him a 3 instead, but i did tell him the next time we met that i was giving him a chance; he better not do it again.

now just this morning, another student almost pissed me off. i had already finished giving the midterms exam to 2 of my students and i was on my way to the bank when i spotted student no. 3. i asked him if he was taking the exam. he said yes so i told him to wait for me in the room for 15 minutes.

when i came back, he was nowhere to be found. lo and behold, it was me who waited for 30 minutes before my prodigal student came, apologizing for being late. i allowed him to take the exam nevertheless but only until the end of the period scheduled for the exam.

i don't know if i'm too lenient on my students but being a student myself, how can i afford to be more imposing when i know how it is to be at the receiving end? then again, how will they ever learn unless they learn it the hard way?

tough balancing act i suppose. but a tough act definitely worth balancing.


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survived a 2-hour, one-man recit

glad to be alive, still.

yesterday, i volunteered to recite in my "favorite" prof's class, just to preempt an unexpected recit and just so i could spend the weekend studying for the midterms exam of another subject.

it wasn't entirely the most conducive of circumstances. got home the night before at around 12mn after celebrating 18th monthsary with rhea (very late dinner because she had class til 9pm; other details, personal hehe). slept at around 3am, at just about the same time rhea was leaving for the airport on the way to davao.

with just 3 hours of sleep, i attended labor 2 at 8am, without finishing the assigned readings. spent the rest of the day preparing for civpro and, at 3pm, i stood up in class, and volunteered for a recit.

normally, there would be 2 or 3 people on deck for a particular meeting. but since no one else volunteered, the terrifying one said, "ok, we're satisfied with mr. navallo for now." that now stretched into 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours; she did not call anybody else.

so i was left answering one question after another. if you know the professor, her questions are never easy. at some point, when i could no longer even wager a guess, my blockmates were whispering the answer (a phenomenon called radyo; tv refers to notes). too bad i could not hear a thing; the prof just had to say, "louder."

how i survived it, i don't know. she seemed nice to me that day. she didn't ask me to recite the provisions word for word. she was patient as i searched for the answers in my notes. and she did not make me sit down no matter how moronic my answers had been.

but if you ask my blockmates, what could be harsher than subjecting one poor fellow to two hours of questioning, complete with emotional attacks like "mr. navallo, we've already discussed this a thousand times..."?

then again, i always try to look at things positively. the fact that i was still standing when the bell rang is enough for me to conclude that she has been kind, at least to me.

**********

that 2-hour recit must have done more harm than good to my brain that my head was badly aching when i got home. i tried sleeping with little success; you can't really sleep when you have a bad case of cough pestering you.

woke up at 1 am to welcome a cousin who had just arrived from abroad, while attempting to study for admin. slept at 3 am and so on goes the routine of waking up at 6am to get to class.

exhausting, this lifestyle is. but as rhea's friend once pointed out, we complain about it on the surface but truth is, we are secretly enjoying it. we must be crazy or something.

**********

given this schedule, there could not have been any other answer when alyansa asked me to run for usc councilor this year: NO. sorry, but there are some things i cannot afford to give up. i can always serve in other ways, sans the position. i've had far too many constipations already for eating more than i can chew and my sins as a glutton are piling up; i'll try eating just right this time.

besides, i also ran under stand-up back in college. enough said.


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when you'd rather not hear your name

the terrifying one has been calling me frequently lately (every meeting lang naman this week).

monday: mr. navallo, you've recited twice.

wednesday: (after seeing me gesturing at the one reciting) mr. navallo, would you like to recite? (i shake my head to mean no...long pause) mr. navallo!

friday: (only 1 volunteered) mr. navallo, how many times have you recited? i said, twice ma'am. (faces my seatmate) ms. castro, how many times have you recited? (seatmate answers, once ma'am). would you like to recite? (long pause) it's ok if you don't want. (seatmate: ma'am, i want).

is this a bad thing or what?

i could only surmise that it's because those in front of us have all dropped out of the subject, leaving us, the people in the second row, at the frontline. as of today, 7 have dropped out of the course, 20 of us are desperately trying to stay. we're starting to curse whoever wrote those provisions, some of which are awkwardly phrased, making memorizing them all the more difficult. to think that the professor settles for nothing less than the exact words as they appear in the rule!

that explains why just before our class, we share 1 prayer: "lord, please wag ngayon. mag-aaral ako next time." it's not as if we don't study every time. this is one class where hearing your name called correctly isn't the most pleasant thing...and where we are forced to pray.

well, such is life in law school. i actually like the prof (plus the terror she inflicts on us), wag lang niya akong ibagsak!

**********

an upper class (who happened to be the girlfriend of a former blockmate), asked me if the rumor she heard is true: nagfrat ka na raw? gumulong ako sa kakatawa. obviously not true, and i have no plans of joining. no thanks, i can manage by myself.

as it turned out, they were merely verifying the info. an organization is inviting me for something, and they're not particularly fond of fratmen. i was surprised at the invitation, but it's completely out of my plans. i said i'll give it a thought and will talk to some people. but i honestly don't think the job is for me, and there are other complications as well. let's see.

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an encounter with the chief justice

up and up law paid tribute yesterday to chief justice reynato s. puno by hosting a testimonial luncheon at the executive house. cj puno is an alumnus of up law, who graduated in 1962. he is the 12th sc chief justice to have come from our college.

now, i'm not really a singer and i don't have illusions of becoming the next singing idol, but for a chance to meet the chief justice, i can sing anything, with coughs, colds and all.

as part of charivari, up law’s “organic” chorale in the words of prof. marvic leonen (i don’t know what he meant by that but the last time i heard the word organic was in chemistry and i always associate it with fertilizers), we sang here, there and everywhere of the beatles and the way you look tonight, and of course, the perennial lupang hinirang and up naming mahal.

the ceremony was brief, except that it started late. surprisingly, the dean’s speech was short. the chief justice’s speech was more of a tribute to the college, hailing it as the premier college of the premier university. “while the up college of law makes great lawyers, other colleges could only make notaries-public,” he said to that effect. this elicited chuckles from the crowd.

he went on to enumerate the achievements of his batch. apparently, 3 of the associate justices in the supreme court are his batchmates. haydee yorac also came from their batch, which i think is a statement by itself. their valedictorian and bar topnotcher (whose name i conveniently forgot) is now sought after by the bir.

in his speech, cj puno hinted at the direction his court will take in deciding major controversies. he said that he will neither take judicial activism nor judicial restraint as a policy but that he will listen to the people. how will he do that? he’ll turn to up, up having manifested on previous occasions that it knows the views of the people.

i don’t really mind bashing other schools. it’s school pride i suppose. maybe it’s just part of the tradition. but i don’t really buy the idea that up knows and can represent the views of the people. on what basis is the cj saying this? economic standing? last time i checked, there’s a disparity between the income of those attending up and the income of filipinos in general. political views? perhaps only in the sense that up is as divided as the whole country is on different matters. geographical representation? it’s a known fact that those who go to up mostly come from the metro manila area. and those who enter up law mostly come from either up or ateneo.

so much for that. he’s chief justice anyway so i’ll let him say whatever he wants. i was there not to critique his speech, but to see him in person.

when the time finally came to shake hands with him, alas, my terror prof was there! she too was just as eager to meet the chief justice, shaking his hands and meekly bowing her head before him. now that’s what i call a scene worth seeing!

fearing an encounter too close with the terrifying one might expose me to the risk of getting called in class (which was, uhm, 15 mins away at that time), i stepped back and waited until my prof left. too bad, i had to rush back to the college lest my prof gets to class ahead of me. oh well, there’s always a next time.

the good thing is that we did pose for a photo with the chief justice; the bad news is, i don’t have a copy!

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simulblog with pics at: driven 2