UP LSG's "SO[ano]NA?" July29/9-12NN! Malcolm Theater

UP Law Student Government

invites you to

"SO[ano]NA?"

a post-SONA assessment forum

July 29 (Tues), 9AM-12NN

Malcolm Theater

With guest speakers:

Ms KARINA DAVID

Former Civil Service Commissioner

Dr. LEOCITO GABO
CSWCD Faculty

*additional speakers to be confirmed

postcard from heaven

nakakahiya

several people have posted this entry already but i think it requires another post. because it's simply embarrassing. i can't believe i've actually met this judge in person.

For UP boast, judge draws SC reprimand
By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Just because you are a University of the Philippines (UP) law graduate doesn’t make you smarter than others. So says the Supreme Court, in effect.

Saying no school had monopoly of knowledge of the law, the high court reprimanded a Calamba City Regional Trial Court judge who told a lawyer that since the latter did not graduate from the UP College of Law, he and the judge could not be equals.

The court sanctioned Judge Medel Belen with a reprimand after finding him guilty of conduct unbecoming of a judge, and warned him that he would be sanctioned more severely if he repeated such an act.

The lawyer, Melvin Mane, had filed a complaint against Belen over the judge’s remarks but later withdrew the complaint, saying he filed it because of his impulsiveness.

But the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) pursued the administrative proceedings against Belen.

In its June 30 decision penned by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio Morales, the high court said a lawyer’s competence should not be judged based on the law school he went to.

“An alumnus of a particular law school has no monopoly of knowledge of the law,” the court said.

“By hurdling the bar examinations which this court administers, taking the lawyer’s oath, and signing the Roll of Attorneys, a lawyer is presumed to be competent to discharge his functions and duties as an officer of the court, irrespective of where he obtained his law degree,” the court added.

for the full text of the article: For UP boast, judge draws SC reprimand

for the full text of the supreme court decision: Atty. Melvin Mane v. Judge Medel Belen

not just another law school party: open to everyone, law student or not

The University of the Philippines Law Student Government,

Upsilon Sigma Phi, and Blue Star Exchange
in cooperation with
ClickTheCity. com, Chevron, Azta Urban Salon
bring you

FEATURING a fashion show of Blue Star Exchange and American Boulevard apparel, a dance exhibition by UP Winlaw and a dance showdown by UP Streetdance Club
ENJOY free-flowing drinks at the bar for an entire hour!

This 19th of July 2008, Saturday, at 8 PM,
Be at ASCEND, Bonifacio High Street.

Tickets at Php300 with free drink!
For ticket inquiries, contact Aya (0917-8037483) or Jus (0923-4003707)

Represent! is also brought to you by American Boulevard.

KICKOFF the new schoolyear by showing your 100% support!
For the benefit of the 2008 UP Bar Operations.

nakakainggit

at the height of the mv princess of the stars tragedy, i noticed that the byline of the headline for several days read: by tarra quismundo, on sibuyan island. tarra was my orgmate in up journ club back in my undergrad days. sabi ko kaagad sa blockmate ko, ang galing naman ni tarra. nakakainggit!

no, it's not about making it to the front page as a banner story. i'm sure tarra had done it before, countless of times, in her 5 years at the inquirer. but there's something amazing about being on the scene, in a remote island, to cover the story. i was imagining the difficulties she must have gone through while she was there.

true enough, tama nga hinala ko. she spent 10 days there on her own with only 2 shirts, her laptop, her phone (not even a satellite phone), usb and little money in a town with no landlines (only the town hall had internet access). imagine the nightmare of submitting stories on a deadline! imagine not knowing anyone on an island!

but tarra managed to pull through. and she did a great job of covering the tragedy, translating into words what otherwise would have been unwritable. sabi nga niya: "It was not simply a case of writing about it; it became a mission to do justice to their pain through reportage." galing!

read her entire account of her experience here: Surviving_Sibuyan

see her pictures here: Sibuyan_souvenirs

now why i am blogging about this? because tarra deserves a shotout hehe. in a profession where print journalists are often underrated compared to their broadcast counterparts, i simply think they deserve more credit. congrats tarra! idol!

**********
speaking of idols, can't wait for monday. sa wakas (hopefully), makakapagpaautograph na ako sa isa ko pang idol, howie severino. i'll have my dvd of his i-witness docus (na hindi ko pa napapanood entirely) ready, just in case. thanks to rhea for this gift.

haha, ambabaw lang ng kaligayahan ko. i don't think i'll ever reach the supreme court but you can send me to any island. now! hehe.

oh well, 15 months to go (sana di madagdagan) and it's freedom. can't wait.

bakit kailangan pang mabuhay, kung lahat naman tayo mamamatay?

“bakit (daw) kailangan pang mabuhay, kung lahat naman tayo papunta sa death,” this is what jose lorenzo tan, the ateneo student who killed himself, allegedly told his father when he was still alive (article of Melnie Ragasa-Jimena). the 24-year-old locked himself in a room in ateneo, burned charcoal and suffocated himself to death.

sayang. dami pa siguro nyang nagawa had he chosen to live. not all students get to take postgrad studies in ateneo. not all get to study in ateneo even. and definitely not everyone gets to study at all. he could've done more.

but of course, i couldn't blame him. i can't really say how much depression can alter one's perception of things. this isn't the first time someone killed himself out of depression (in fact, this is the third time i'm blogging about it; i must be obsessed with this topic haha). i'm sure many more will follow. still, isn't it sad each time it happens?

i wish the guy knew what he was giving up when he committed suicide. i wish he had the answer to his question. i wish i had the answer to his question.

i guess the purpose of having a life that is fleeting is to encourage a human being to lead a life that is well-lived and to make the most out of it. when you know that something beautiful will come to an end, you'd treasure it more and appreciate each passing day better. for what difference will one day make when you know that it will just be another day in a never-ending series? but one day will surely mean a lot when you know it's your last. imagine what you can do!

so before you take that knife, or that rope or what have you, consider this:

why choose to live?

because every waking moment is a chance to do good...and to do better. treasure it while it lasts.