driven

the good life

2011-10-14T20:48:00.002+08:00

OneRepublic - Good Life by VEVO

THE GOOD LIFE
One Republic

Woke up in London yesterday
Found myself in the city near Piccadilly
Don’t really know how I got here
I got some pictures on my phone

New names and numbers that I don’t know
Address to places like Abbey Road
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want
We’re young enough to say

[Chorus]

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life

Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

[Verse 2]

To my friends in New York, I say hello
My friends in L.A. they don’t know
Where I’ve been for the past few years or so
Paris to China to Col-or-ado

Sometimes there’s airplanes I can’ t jump out
Sometimes there’s bullshit that don’t work now
We are god of stories but please tell me-e-e-e
What there is to complain about

[Bridge 1]

When you’re happy like a fool
Let it take you over
When everything is out
You gotta take it in

[Chorus]

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life

Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

[Bridge 2]

Hopelessly
I feel like there might be something that I’ll miss
Hopelessly
I feel like the window closes oh so quick
Hopelessly
I’m taking a mental picture of you now
‘Cuz hopelessly
The hope is we have so much to feel good about

[Chorus]

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life

Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

Oh yeah...A good good life...

[Verse 2]

To my friends in New York, I say hello
My friends in L.A. they don’t know
Where I’ve been for the past few years or so
Paris to China to Col-or-ado

Sometimes there’s airplanes I can’ t jump out
Sometimes there’s bullshit that don’t work now
We are god of stories but please tell me-e-e-e
What there is to complain about

love the whistling part

..........
sarap mangarap

surigao mine attacks

2011-10-07T10:47:00.003+08:00

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For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

saksi ako segment which aired on saksi on october 4, 2011.

..........

lessons from Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T01:21:00.003+08:00

image courtesy of jonathan mak

when i posted my last entry with steve jobs's 2005 commencement speech in stanford university, i had a strong feeling he won't last very long. i just saw a picture of him, frail in a scary way, posted on a website (a product of poor editorial judgment, i must say) and he looked as if he could go anytime soon.

less than a month after my last post, he is gone. steve jobs died on wednesday, peacefully and in the company of his family and friends, as the official statement said. he was 56, at the prime of his life. gone too soon perhaps, but not without leaving so much for humankind to cherish.

so thank you steve jobs, not just for revolutionizing the world through technology, but for leaving us lessons to learn from. your brilliance and ingenuity may never be matched in our lifetime and for generations to come.

here's a resolve that i will find what i love. perhaps not now but someday, i will.

..........
Thank you Steve Jobs, RIP. You will be missed but your legacy will live on.

words of wisdom from steve jobs

2011-09-14T23:59:00.003+08:00

just because i need these words right now...

'YOU'VE GOT TO FIND WHAT YOU LOVE,' JOBS SAYS

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005 at Stanford University.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Source: Standford University

..........
si steve jobs na ang maysabi: stay hungry! walang diet-diet!

9/11

2011-09-11T11:07:00.007+08:00

ten years ago, i woke up to a front page photo on the inquirer of two familiar towers burning. it was the twin towers in new york, arguably the united states' most iconic symbol of economic power and financial strength. the twin towers burning was a surreal sight, one i never thought i'd see. but 9/11 did happen and 10 years on, we are still feeling the effects of the attacks that defined this decade.

9/11 spawned the wars in afghanistan and iraq as the u.s. and its allies spearheaded the "war on terror." several other terrorist attacks took place all over the world, even as governments beefed up security and anti-terror policies. the manhunt for osama bin laden, the head of al qaeda who admitted to masterminding the attacks, dragged on for years until he was killed in a raid in pakistan on may 1, 2011. but osama's death is, by no means, the end of terrorism.

while the u.s. drew sympathy from the rest of the world for the sheer number of casualties (almost 3,000) and the destruction that the attacks caused, 9/11 conveyed the sense of hatred and resentment that some muslims and arabs feel towards the u.s. for its foreign policies in the arab region. to them, the u.s. was no longer the mediator in the israeli-palentine conflict; it had become the enemy.

that the attacks were carried out by muslims only highlighted the underlying suspicion, skepticism and fear towards muslims, particularly in the u.s. more and more muslims fell victim to profiling and the paranoia towards islam reached a point that a florida-based pastor oversaw the burning of quran early this year. and just last month, a norwegian launched a coordinated bombing and shooting spree which killed 92 people, as he called for "a christian war to defend europe against the threat of muslim domination."

incidentally, in response to a new york times article on the oslo attacks which i reposted on this blog, i received an email from elizabeth potter of unity productions. elizabeth and unity productions are initiating an online film and social media project that aims to "change the narrative – from muslims as the other, to muslims as our fellow americans." they're asking people of different backgrounds to pledge and share a real life story about a Muslim friend, neighbor, or colleague that they admire. watch their video below:

the film brilliantly puts together soundbites from evangelical preachers (or so they sound) and media commentators spewing out hatred against muslims and islam juxtaposed with images of what seemed like ordinary americans, who happen to be muslims, living an ordinary, peaceful life in the u.s. the message: you may not know it but your neighbor, who acts and lives like you, may be a muslim--far from the terrorist you imagine a muslim to be.

i may not be an american but the message holds true for the rest of the world. 9/11 was a terrorist attack plain and simple. but it was not carried out by islam and not all muslims took part in the attack.

my fellow american is a worthwhile project deserving our support. help promote this project if you share the same sentiments.

for more information, visit their website: My Fellow American

..........
no words will perhaps be able to capture the devastation caused by 9/11. what i cannot put into writing, i'll share through pictures. see the 25 most powerful photos of 9/11 that life and yahoo put together here.

i need...

2011-09-06T01:59:00.002+08:00

...a sense of mission, a sense of purpose, to keep me going.

coz i feel like a robot right now. or a zombie.

or maybe i just need some sleep.

..........
i'm coming home, i'm coming home, i know my kingdom awaits...

sick and disgusting

2011-07-24T14:02:00.004+08:00

a bomb explosion rocked norway's capital on july 22, leaving 7 people dead. hours later, around 85 people were killed in a nearby island in a shooting rampage. all these were alleged to have been committed by one man. find out why.

OSLO SUSPECT WROTE OF FEAR OF ISLAM AND PLAN FOR WAR
By Steven Erlanger and Scott Shane
Published: July 23, 2011

OSLO — The Norwegian man charged Saturday with a pair of attacks in Oslo that killed at least 92 people left behind a detailed manifesto outlining his preparations and calling for a Christian war to defend Europe against the threat of Muslim domination, according to Norwegian and American officials familiar with the investigation.

As stunned Norwegians grappled with the deadliest attack in the country since World War II, a portrait began to emerge of the suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, 32. The police identified him as a right-wing fundamentalist Christian, while acquaintances described him as a gun-loving Norwegian obsessed with what he saw as the threats of multiculturalism and Muslim immigration.

“We are not sure whether he was alone or had help,” a police official, Roger Andresen, said at a televised news conference. “What we know is that he is right wing and a Christian fundamentalist.”

In the 1,500-page manifesto, posted on the Web hours before the attacks, Mr. Breivik recorded a day-by-day diary of months of planning for the attacks, and claimed to be part of a small group that intended to “seize political and military control of Western European countries and implement a cultural conservative political agenda.”

He predicted a conflagration that would kill or injure more than a million people, adding, “The time for dialogue is over. We gave peace a chance. The time for armed resistance has come.”

The manifesto was signed Andrew Berwick, an Anglicized version of his name. A former American government official briefed on the case said investigators believed the manifesto was Mr. Breivik’s work.

The manifesto, entitled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” equates liberalism and multiculturalism with “cultural Marxism,” which the document says is destroying European Christian civilization.

The document also describes a secret meeting in London in April 2002 to reconstitute the Knights Templar, a Crusader military order. It says the meeting was attended by nine representatives of eight European countries, evidently including Mr. Breivik, with an additional three members unable to attend, including a “European-American.”

The document does not name the attendees or say whether they were aware of Mr. Breivik’s planned attacks, though investigators presumably will now try to determine if the people exist and what their connection is to Mr. Breivik.

Thomas Hegghammer, a terrorism specialist at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, said the manifesto bears an eerie resemblance to those of Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders, though from a Christian rather than a Muslim point of view. Like Mr. Breivik’s manuscript, the major Qaeda declarations have detailed accounts of the Crusades, a pronounced sense of historical grievance and calls for apocalyptic warfare to defeat the religious and cultural enemy.

“It seems to be an attempt to mirror Al Qaeda, exactly in reverse,” Mr. Hegghammer said.

Mr. Breivik was also believed to have posted a video on Friday summarizing his arguments. In its closing moments, the video depicts Mr. Breivik in military uniform, holding assault weapons. Rarely has a mass murder suspect left so detailed an account of his activities. The manifesto describes in detail his purchase of chemicals, his sometimes ham-handed experiments making explosives and his first successful test detonation of a bomb in a remote location on June 13.

He intersperses the account of bomb-making with details of his television-watching, including the Eurovision music contest and the American police drama “The Shield.”

The manifesto ends with a chilling signoff: “I believe this will be my last entry. It is now Fri July 22nd, 12.51.”

Indeed, the operation appeared to have been extremely well planned.

According to the police, Mr. Breivik first drew security services to central Oslo when he exploded a car bomb outside a 17-story government office building, killing at least seven people.

Then he took a public ferry to Utoya Island, where he carried out a remarkably meticulous attack on Norway’s current and future political elite. Dressed as a police officer, he announced that he had come to check on the security of the young people who were attending a political summer camp there, many of them the children of members of the governing Labor Party.

He gathered the campers together and for some 90 hellish minutes he coolly and methodically shot them, hunting down those who fled. At least 85 people, some as young as 16, were killed.

The police said Saturday evening that they expected the death toll to climb. There were still bodies in the bombed government buildings in Oslo, and at least four people missing on Utoya.

The police also said that unexploded munitions were still in some downtown Oslo buildings, and they had not ruled out the possibility that Mr. Breivik had accomplices.

He was equipped, the police said, with an automatic rifle and a handgun; when the police finally got to the island — about 40 minutes after they were called, the police said — Mr. Breivik surrendered.

The police also said he had registered a farm in Rena, in eastern Norway, which allowed him to order a large quantity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an ingredient that can be used to make explosives. The authorities were investigating whether the chemical had been used in the bombing.

Besides the manifesto, Mr. Breivik left other hints of his motives.

A Facebook page and Twitter account were set up under his name days before the rampage. The Facebook page cites philosophers like Machiavelli, Kant and John Stuart Mill.

His lone Twitter post, while not calling for violence, paraphrased Mill — “One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests” — suggesting what he saw as his ability to act.

Those postings, along with what was previously known about Mr. Breivik publicly, aligned with but hardly predicted the bloody rampage he would undertake on Friday.

Before then, he had been a member of the right-wing Progress Party, which began as an antitax protest and has been stridently anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim.

Joran Kallmyr, a member of the party who is now Oslo’s vice mayor for transportation, said he met Mr. Breivik several times in 2002 and 2003 at local party meetings. “He was very quiet, almost a little bit shy,” Mr. Kallmyr said. “But he was a normal person with good behavior. He never shared any extreme thoughts or speech with us. There was absolutely no reason to expect that he could do something like this. We’re very shocked.”

Mr. Breivik quit the party in 2006, apparently disappointed by the party’s move toward the center.

“He didn’t like our politics, I guess, and moved on,” Mr. Kallmyr said.

His Internet posts also indicated contempt for the Conservative Party, which he accused of having given up the battle against multiculturalism.

But on Friday he directed his firepower at the center-left Labor Party, which leads the coalition government.

“Breivik feels that multiculturalism is destroying the society and that the enforcing authority is the prime minister and the Labor Party, the lead party of contemporary Norwegian politics,” said Anders Romarheim, a fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies.

But the attacks, along with what appear to have been years of preparation for them, raised questions about whether the Norwegian security authorities, concentrating on threats of Islamic terrorism, had overlooked the threat from the anti-Islamic right.

“This is the Norwegian equivalent to Timothy McVeigh,” the right-wing American who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, said Marcus Buck, a political scientist at the University of Tromso in northern Norway. “This is right-wing domestic terrorism, and the big question is to what extent Norwegian agencies have diverted their attention from what they knew decades ago was the biggest threat” to focus instead on Islamic militants.

The unclassified versions of the last three Norwegian Police Security Service reports assessing national threats all played down any threat by right-wing and nationalist extremists. Instead, the reports emphasized the dangers posed by radical Islam, groups opposed to Norway’s military involvement in Afghanistan and Libya, and others.

The 2011 report, released early this year, concluded that “the far-right and far-left extremist communities will not represent a serious threat to Norwegian society.”

Even after the attacks, that appeared to be the official position.

“Compared to other countries I wouldn’t say we have a big problem with right-wing extremists in Norway,” Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at a news conference on Saturday. “But we have had some groups, we have followed them before, and our police is aware that there are some right-wing groups.”

Even if the authorities had focused on right-wing groups, it was unlikely that they would have noticed Mr. Breivik.

Kari Helene Partapuoli, director of the Norwegian Center Against Racism, said Mr. Breivik did not belong to any violent neo-Nazi groups that she was aware of, and his Internet postings, before those of last week, did not espouse violence.

“The distance between the words spoken and the acts that he carried out is gigantic, because what he did is in a different league of what the debates have to do about,” she said.

Arild Groven, secretary general of the Norwegian Shooting Association, a sports group, confirmed that Mr. Breivik had belonged to Oslo Pistolklubb, one of the 520 clubs in the association.

“We all read and watch the news about the shootings in the United States,” Mr. Groven said. “But it doesn’t happen here.”

Kristian Ulrichsen, a researcher at the London School of Economics, said in some ways the homegrown nature of the attack made it harder for Norwegians to accept. “With 9/11 in America, people could ask, ‘Who are they?’ and could pour their rage out on someone else,” he said. “But we can’t disavow this person, he’s one of us.”

source: The New York Times

UPDATE: suspect admits responsibility but considers attacks "necessary."

more from the BBC News.

.........
if your religion/ideology, or fear of some other religion/ideology, pushes you to kill people, use your effing brain! more basic than any religion/ideology on this planet is respect for life.

what this guy did is just sick and disgusting. he doesn't deserve to live, but i'm no god to say this.

power corrupts

2011-07-21T23:24:00.002+08:00

from conrado de quiros' column in the philippine daily inquirer.

this is exactly how i feel about the whole sara duterte-sheriff incident, except that de quiros manages, as he usually does, to phrase it so poetically and so brilliantly. he truly has the gift of words.

of course, he generalizes sometimes (if not most of the time). while some generalizations may not be fair, you're not reading de quiros for a point-by-point and comprehensive discussion of the issues. it's the impact of his columns that makes them worth reading. it's up to the reader if he falls for them hook, line, and sinker.

There's The Rub
POWER CORRUPTS
Conrado de Quiros

The guy is just out of control.

Lashing out at his critics last Monday, Rodrigo Duterte flashed a dirty finger at the cameras. And as with the case of his daughter beating up a local sheriff, he offered no apologies for it. In fact, when the local media told him that the Department of Human Rights wanted him sanctioned for it, he flashed the finger again. It was freedom of expression, he said. “It is a sign of anger, it is a sign of extreme disgust. It means galit ako sa iyo,” he said, and spat out expletives to go along with that explanation.

I haven’t written about the Sara Duterte incident simply because others have already done a good job of it. Our editorials especially, which have given a very good perspective on it. The mayor’s wrath was not unprovoked, but her response was thoroughly disproportionate. Beating up a sheriff because he was overeager to demolish shanties does not make things better, it makes them worse. A lot, lot worse.

It shows a public official who is judge, jury and executioner. Or judge, jury and thug.

And now, this.

I know that Sara Duterte’s tough-guy stance has met with a good deal of support in Davao. I know Rodrigo Duterte’s tougher-guy antics have met with a good deal of support in Davao. I know father and daughter are fairly popular in Davao. That has got nothing to do with it. Some things are not a matter for public acclamation. Some things may not be put to a vote. Some things are a matter of right and wrong. Burying Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is one of them. Condoning behavior like this in a public official is another. It is wrong. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.

At the very least, it is one thing to be irreverent, it is another to be crass. It is one thing to be tough, it is another to be abusive. You can’t see the difference between the two, you do not deserve public office, you deserve jail. Or time in a ladies’ polishing school.

Freedom of expression? How long do you think someone who flashes a dirty finger at Rodrigo Duterte in Davao City to suggest anger and extreme disgust at him will remain free? In fact how long do you think someone who flashes a dirty finger at Rodrigo Duterte in Davao City to say “galit ako sa ’yo,” will remain on this earth? That freedom is completely one-way. It is Rodrigo Duterte’s freedom to say, “F-k you,” to the world. It is not the world’s freedom to say, “F-k you,” to him.

Courtesy is not there simply because people invented it out of having nothing better to do, it is there to make communication possible. It is there to make dialogue possible. It is there to make reasonable argument possible. Courtesy from public officials is not demanded simply because polite society wants its pound of flesh, it is there to make public discourse possible. It is there to make public policy possible. It is there to make governance possible.

Rodrigo Duterte may no more flash a dirty finger at the world, or indeed the very thing the finger is supposed to represent, than Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may flash whatever she wants to flash at the world to propose that she is angry, disgusted, galit ako. Though in her case, it would be completely superfluous, her very rule was a metaphorical flashing of the dirty finger at her compatriots. The same can now be said of Duterte’s rule.

I grant a good deal of this country is ungovernable and you have to show machismo, or cojones as the Mexicans say, to tame the lawless places, if not indeed to merely get by. But the principle has always been, “Walk quietly and carry a big stick.” It has never been, “Walk noisily and carry a small dick.” The latter is the principle behind painting the doors of suspected drug pushers red, pushing the bodies of dead criminals into empty oil drums with signs that say “Huwag tularan” and dropping them into rivers, and making sigas and other lowlife disappear from the face of the earth. That doesn’t make things better, that makes things worse.

We know that from the long nightmare we’ve had in the not so distant past. Ferdinand Marcos also made crime disappear immediately after declaring martial law. Suddenly the students were no longer marching in the streets, suddenly the kids were coming home early and no longer smoking joints courtesy of a curfew and harsh anti-drug laws, suddenly the youth were no longer sporting long hair, the thing being punishable by an ROTC haircut and an overnight sojourn in Camp Aguinaldo cutting grass. Parents loved it and wondered how long martial law would last.

Suddenly, a Chinese drug pusher was lined up against a wall and shot to death as a warning to all criminals that this was the fate that awaited them if they defied martial law. Suddenly, the sirens were quiet in the night, wailing only in sudden spurts, the police cars probably chasing down an activist or two who hadn’t yet come to terms with the new world and was painting a protest sign on a wall. Suddenly the crime rate dropped to near-zero. The residents of the Greater Manila area loved it and wondered how long martial law would last.

Well, martial law lasted a decade and a half. With results so catastrophic the country is still reeling from them. And eventually crime came roaring back with a vengeance. There is another principle here, and a far more obdurate one:

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

To those in Davao City and elsewhere who say, “We don’t mind that Rodrigo Duterte is an SOB so long as he’s our SOB,” think again. The next time you extol the virtues of a Dirty Harry or a Dirty Rudy, mind that the last dirt you could see could be, like martial law, the one being shoveled up your ass, or face.

While you lie in your hole in the ground.

source: philippine daily inquirer

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i can't stand public officials like rudy or sara duterte, no matter how good they are to their constituents or how they governed davao city well. good thing i'm not in davao city.

Living in the Moment

2011-07-18T21:33:00.002+08:00

from maria ressa's aptly titled blog, "brave new world."

LIVING IN THE MOMENT
Maria Ressa

One of the things I love about being a reporter is when you land in a new city, you’re forced to really live in the moment, particularly if you’ve never been there before. All your senses are alive because it’s new. Your heart throbs because not only are you on deadline, you have a whole society to explore and learn.

As the years went by, that feeling of discovery and truly being alive subsided because I got to know the cities I reported from – where to stay, where to eat, where to hang out, where to find the news. They became part of my habit so I started tuning out.

That’s why travelling and physically moving house every now and then is essential. Too often, as we get older, we stop really looking, stop really listening, stop living in the moment. We get in the car. We drive to work. We barely look at the people we run into. We’re barely alive because we’re thinking of future tasks and future deadlines.

As we get older, life adds layers to our core selves – some necessary, some not; some materialistic, some metaphysical. Your house, your car, your furniture, your clothes – signs of how you look at yourself and how the world looks at you. The layers you add to protect yourself from betrayal, from intrusions into your private life, from hurt – well, somehow we learn to add those layers to protect ourselves. Anyone who handles power or authority has to deliver bad news, play corporate games — and as we get older, you just can’t allow yourself to feel everything you felt when you were young.

But why not?

That’s part of the reason I moved to Singapore. I decided to go back to basics and try to peel away some of those layers. I wanted to listen to myself. No other agenda but to learn and to live in the moment.

That means stripping out the noise. So no high-priced condominium which insulates you from the the wear and tear of daily life. I decided to do something I’d wanted to do for years: live in an HDB flat. HDB stands for housing development board – it’s public-subsidized housing, and more than 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats. I wanted to see how Singaporeans live.

I didn’t get a car. I took public transportation – MRT, buses – so efficient, and riding them made me realize how I missed watching people. Let’s face it – spending 99% of your time inside the ABS-CBN compound doesn’t allow you much people watching time. Everyone knows you and you know them, particularly if you’re the boss.

I missed the kindness of strangers – like when I saw 6 people give up their seats to older folks inside the mrt. It makes you feel good about the human race. (And made me think that Singapore’s public service ads plastered everywhere work).

There’s a wonderful sense of community. Outside my building is a central area built into the plan for public housing – a kid’s playground, an exercise area, a basketball court, an open circular area for barbecues. It is a vibrant community – multicultural because every building represents the racial breakdown – 75% Chinese, 14% Malay, 9% Indian, the rest Eurasians and others.

For nearly two weeks, I was vibrantly alive as I counted how many stops to get off, looked around new areas and discovered new places. Then as I developed a routine, I felt myself starting to slip into the past or the future – my attention was no longer in the moment. When I recognized it, I thought that’s part of life. We discount what we know.

Nothing beats the thrill of living in the moment. Once you get there, it affects everything else and reminds you why you want to stay there. It allows you to put your life in perspective – become more self-aware – and to pay tribute to the people and the places that are important to you.

When I returned to my apartment in Manila, everything felt new. I felt different, and my relationships benefitted from that. I was no longer taking things for granted. I was energized – looking at the world through fresh eyes.

Last February, I wrote about how reunions with loved ones can rejuvenate. Travel and staying in the moment is another way of doing that. Again, one of my very favorite quotes from TS Eliot: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

That, folks, is the story of our lives!

source: brave new world

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"A life lived in the moment is a life lived fully." - Maria Ressa

death of an associate

2011-07-12T01:36:00.002+08:00

a 32-year-old american lawyer dies while doing legal work from her home office on a sunday. tragic, however you look at it. i just hope she died doing what she loved most.

may her soul rest in peace. and may those of us who are still alive think, think and think really hard about it...

IN RE THE PASSING OF A SKADDEN ASSOCIATE

By Ellie Mystal

For the past week, a conversation has percolating around Skadden that has made its way into the ATL inbox. A Skadden associate, Lisa Johnstone, died last week. Her obituary ran earlier this week in the San Diego Union Tribune. And her memorial service was yesterday. She died of an apparent heart attack, though we understand that her autopsy has not yet been completed. She was 32.

We’re talking about Lisa Johnstone’s death because reports indicate that she died while doing legal work from her home office on a Sunday. We’re talking about Lisa Johnstone because for over a week, Skadden associates have been talking about just how many hours Johnstone had been working. We’re talking about Johnstone because while the root cause of her death my never be known, many Skadden associates and others who know the story are taking this as an opportunity to assess their lives and their mental and physical well being.

And that’s a good thing. The best advice I ever received in Biglaw was the partner who said: “You don’t have a thermostat”…

If you talk to Skadden associates in Los Angeles right now, they are understandably angry. The people we’ve spoken to in that office say that in the weeks prior to her death, Johnstone was pulling 100-hour weeks and was under intense pressure. Multiple sources tell us that she had her vacation cut short after being called back to work.

Sources also report that Johnstone had shown some disturbing signs of overwork. Multiple people told us that she was suffering from hair loss. Again, we don’t have the autopsy report, but multiple sources speculate that under these conditions, Johnstone had turned to “the lawyer version of performance enhancers,” just to stay awake.

Now, if you’ve never worked a day in Biglaw, these stories might sound like “horror” stories. And maybe they are. But they’re not “novel” stories. We can’t be sure of what happened to Lisa Johnstone, but we can be sure that this kind of stuff “happens to” Biglaw associates all across the country.

I’ve pulled a few 100-hour billable weeks. I still remember them, as I imagine one would remember spending a week in prison, or a week marooned at sea. On one case, a senior associate on the team (who, incredibly to me, was working harder than everybody else) passed out in the office — right in the middle of the conference room everybody was working in (the partners were, you guessed it, out of town at the time). We had to call an ambulance and everything. And when they carted her away, the rest of us went right back to work — because that’s the mentality that had brought us through law school and into a job like that in the first place.

Luckily, she was fine — just “exhausted,” which until that time, I did not know was an “official” medical diagnosis. And that case pretty much clinched partner for her so, you know, I guess it all worked out based on the logic of Biglaw life. But later on that week, our team was addressed by the partner in charge of the case. He gave us the standard blah blah blah about taking care of ourselves and all that. But then he said (and I won’t forget this until the day I die): “You guys, you don’t have a thermostat. Nobody knows how far you can go before you blow.”

… Now, understand, at the time I was angry. Enraged. I felt much of what these Skadden L.A. associates have been feeling this week. Here was a colleague of mine, a person I liked even though we weren’t friends in the social sense, who had just been pushed to the brink. Here was this colleague who had just gone down a road I did not want to go down, and the firm — who at that point was the thing I had dedicated my freaking life to — was doing nothing to help her. And by her, I of course meant me. A thermostat? Are you kidding me? Why is the goal to push me to the absolute breaking point without actually causing me so much harm that I can no longer stand up? That’s how people treat horses, not men and women.

But over time, and after I quit, I came to understand that the partner wasn’t actually saying the most callous thing in the universe. I mean, it was still a pretty cold thing to say, but it wasn’t totally devoid of feeling. He was also reminding us that we ourselves don’t really know how much we can take, until maybe it’s too late.

We treat ourselves like horses sometimes. I know I did. I never took some of the stimulants available to enhance my “alertness,” though I certainly know a lot of people who did. But as I’ve discussed before, I did find myself filling out prescriptions for drugs that were supposed to make the anxiety go away. When my colleague collapsed, I didn’t think: “Wow, there are limits.” I thought: “Oh nononononono, we’re a man down, I’m going to have to work even harder now.”

When I quit, it wasn’t just because I felt like the firm was going to work me into the ground. It was also an admission that I was not wired to stop it from happening. I didn’t, at that point, have the skills to tell the firm: “No, I’m not billing 100 hours this week. Not now, not ever.” But I didn’t know what would happen to me if I kept working like that, and I didn’t like what was happening to me already. So I quit, consequences be damned. I didn’t have a thermostat.

My story is the one I know about. I don’t know Lisa Johnstone’s story. We don’t know what kind of pressures she was feeling. We don’t know if she was being pushed, or if she would have naturally found a way to work as much as she possibly could. We don’t know if her heart could have given out sitting on a beach sipping a cocktail, just like it apparently did sitting in her home office trying to get work done. She’s gone now, and we can just hope and pray for her family and friends.

But we, the living, are not gone. We still have choices to make. If in Johnstone’s death somebody else out there can find a moment to recalibrate his or her life, that can be a good thing.

These Biglaw jobs are hard. Insane even. You literally can no longer pay me enough to do one. But if you are putting yourself in the middle of this pressurized insanity, please remember that you don’t have thermostat. Nobody knows how much you can take.

Ed. Note: We’re leaving the comments open. We’re leaving the comments open because we think that it is appropriate that lawyers who read us have a chance to share their thoughts on wellness in the profession, work/life balance, and all the other issues the death of a colleague and fellow practitioner naturally bring up. We’re not leaving the comments open so people can take potshots at a woman who just passed away. So please try to control yourselves.

source: abovethelaw.com

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if i have less than 24 hours to live, will i be doing what i'm doing now? hmmm...

my life as an undocumented immigrant

2011-06-24T20:42:00.005+08:00

A moving story written by a Pulitzer-prize-winning undocumented immigrant in the U.S. who happens to be a Filipino...

MY LIFE AS AN UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT
Jose Antonio Vargas

One August morning nearly two decades ago, my mother woke me and put me in a cab. She handed me a jacket. “Baka malamig doon” were among the few words she said. (“It might be cold there.”) When I arrived at the Philippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport with her, my aunt and a family friend, I was introduced to a man I’d never seen. They told me he was my uncle. He held my hand as I boarded an airplane for the first time. It was 1993, and I was 12.

My mother wanted to give me a better life, so she sent me thousands of miles away to live with her parents in America — my grandfather (Lolo in Tagalog) and grandmother (Lola). After I arrived in Mountain View, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area, I entered sixth grade and quickly grew to love my new home, family and culture. I discovered a passion for language, though it was hard to learn the difference between formal English and American slang. One of my early memories is of a freckled kid in middle school asking me, “What’s up?” I replied, “The sky,” and he and a couple of other kids laughed. I won the eighth-grade spelling bee by memorizing words I couldn’t properly pronounce. (The winning word was “indefatigable.”)

One day when I was 16, I rode my bike to the nearby D.M.V. office to get my driver’s permit. Some of my friends already had their licenses, so I figured it was time. But when I handed the clerk my green card as proof of U.S. residency, she flipped it around, examining it. “This is fake,” she whispered. “Don’t come back here again.”

Confused and scared, I pedaled home and confronted Lolo. I remember him sitting in the garage, cutting coupons. I dropped my bike and ran over to him, showing him the green card. “Peke ba ito?” I asked in Tagalog. (“Is this fake?”) My grandparents were naturalized American citizens — he worked as a security guard, she as a food server — and they had begun supporting my mother and me financially when I was 3, after my father’s wandering eye and inability to properly provide for us led to my parents’ separation. Lolo was a proud man, and I saw the shame on his face as he told me he purchased the card, along with other fake documents, for me. “Don’t show it to other people,” he warned.

I decided then that I could never give anyone reason to doubt I was an American. I convinced myself that if I worked enough, if I achieved enough, I would be rewarded with citizenship. I felt I could earn it.

I’ve tried. Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream.

But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them. It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful. And it has meant relying on a sort of 21st-century underground railroad of supporters, people who took an interest in my future and took risks for me.

Last year I read about four students who walked from Miami to Washington to lobby for the Dream Act, a nearly decade-old immigration bill that would provide a path to legal permanent residency for young people who have been educated in this country. At the risk of deportation — the Obama administration has deported almost 800,000 people in the last two years — they are speaking out. Their courage has inspired me.

There are believed to be 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. We’re not always who you think we are. Some pick your strawberries or care for your children. Some are in high school or college. And some, it turns out, write news articles you might read. I grew up here. This is my home. Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.

My first challenge was the language. Though I learned English in the Philippines, I wanted to lose my accent. During high school, I spent hours at a time watching television (especially “Frasier,” “Home Improvement” and reruns of “The Golden Girls”) and movies (from “Goodfellas” to “Anne of Green Gables”), pausing the VHS to try to copy how various characters enunciated their words. At the local library, I read magazines, books and newspapers — anything to learn how to write better. Kathy Dewar, my high-school English teacher, introduced me to journalism. From the moment I wrote my first article for the student paper, I convinced myself that having my name in print — writing in English, interviewing Americans — validated my presence here.

The debates over “illegal aliens” intensified my anxieties. In 1994, only a year after my flight from the Philippines, Gov. Pete Wilson was re-elected in part because of his support for Proposition 187, which prohibited undocumented immigrants from attending public school and accessing other services. (A federal court later found the law unconstitutional.) After my encounter at the D.M.V. in 1997, I grew more aware of anti-immigrant sentiments and stereotypes: they don’t want to assimilate, they are a drain on society. They’re not talking about me, I would tell myself. I have something to contribute.

To do that, I had to work — and for that, I needed a Social Security number. Fortunately, my grandfather had already managed to get one for me. Lolo had always taken care of everyone in the family. He and my grandmother emigrated legally in 1984 from Zambales, a province in the Philippines of rice fields and bamboo houses, following Lolo’s sister, who married a Filipino-American serving in the American military. She petitioned for her brother and his wife to join her. When they got here, Lolo petitioned for his two children — my mother and her younger brother — to follow them. But instead of mentioning that my mother was a married woman, he listed her as single. Legal residents can’t petition for their married children. Besides, Lolo didn’t care for my father. He didn’t want him coming here too.

But soon Lolo grew nervous that the immigration authorities reviewing the petition would discover my mother was married, thus derailing not only her chances of coming here but those of my uncle as well. So he withdrew her petition. After my uncle came to America legally in 1991, Lolo tried to get my mother here through a tourist visa, but she wasn’t able to obtain one. That’s when she decided to send me. My mother told me later that she figured she would follow me soon. She never did.

The “uncle” who brought me here turned out to be a coyote, not a relative, my grandfather later explained. Lolo scraped together enough money — I eventually learned it was $4,500, a huge sum for him — to pay him to smuggle me here under a fake name and fake passport. (I never saw the passport again after the flight and have always assumed that the coyote kept it.) After I arrived in America, Lolo obtained a new fake Filipino passport, in my real name this time, adorned with a fake student visa, in addition to the fraudulent green card.

Using the fake passport, we went to the local Social Security Administration office and applied for a Social Security number and card. It was, I remember, a quick visit. When the card came in the mail, it had my full, real name, but it also clearly stated: “Valid for work only with I.N.S. authorization.”

When I began looking for work, a short time after the D.M.V. incident, my grandfather and I took the Social Security card to Kinko’s, where he covered the “I.N.S. authorization” text with a sliver of white tape. We then made photocopies of the card. At a glance, at least, the copies would look like copies of a regular, unrestricted Social Security card.

Lolo always imagined I would work the kind of low-paying jobs that undocumented people often take. (Once I married an American, he said, I would get my real papers, and everything would be fine.) But even menial jobs require documents, so he and I hoped the doctored card would work for now. The more documents I had, he said, the better.

While in high school, I worked part time at Subway, then at the front desk of the local Y.M.C.A., then at a tennis club, until I landed an unpaid internship at The Mountain View Voice, my hometown newspaper. First I brought coffee and helped around the office; eventually I began covering city-hall meetings and other assignments for pay.

For more than a decade of getting part-time and full-time jobs, employers have rarely asked to check my original Social Security card. When they did, I showed the photocopied version, which they accepted. Over time, I also began checking the citizenship box on my federal I-9 employment eligibility forms. (Claiming full citizenship was actually easier than declaring permanent resident “green card” status, which would have required me to provide an alien registration number.)

This deceit never got easier. The more I did it, the more I felt like an impostor, the more guilt I carried — and the more I worried that I would get caught. But I kept doing it. I needed to live and survive on my own, and I decided this was the way.

Mountain View High School became my second home. I was elected to represent my school at school-board meetings, which gave me the chance to meet and befriend Rich Fischer, the superintendent for our school district. I joined the speech and debate team, acted in school plays and eventually became co-editor of The Oracle, the student newspaper. That drew the attention of my principal, Pat Hyland. “You’re at school just as much as I am,” she told me. Pat and Rich would soon become mentors, and over time, almost surrogate parents for me.

After a choir rehearsal during my junior year, Jill Denny, the choir director, told me she was considering a Japan trip for our singing group. I told her I couldn’t afford it, but she said we’d figure out a way. I hesitated, and then decided to tell her the truth. “It’s not really the money,” I remember saying. “I don’t have the right passport.” When she assured me we’d get the proper documents, I finally told her. “I can’t get the right passport,” I said. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

She understood. So the choir toured Hawaii instead, with me in tow. (Mrs. Denny and I spoke a couple of months ago, and she told me she hadn’t wanted to leave any student behind.)

Later that school year, my history class watched a documentary on Harvey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco city official who was assassinated. This was 1999, just six months after Matthew Shepard’s body was found tied to a fence in Wyoming. During the discussion, I raised my hand and said something like: “I’m sorry Harvey Milk got killed for being gay. . . . I’ve been meaning to say this. . . . I’m gay.”

I hadn’t planned on coming out that morning, though I had known that I was gay for several years. With that announcement, I became the only openly gay student at school, and it caused turmoil with my grandparents. Lolo kicked me out of the house for a few weeks. Though we eventually reconciled, I had disappointed him on two fronts. First, as a Catholic, he considered homosexuality a sin and was embarrassed about having “ang apo na bakla” (“a grandson who is gay”). Even worse, I was making matters more difficult for myself, he said. I needed to marry an American woman in order to gain a green card.

Tough as it was, coming out about being gay seemed less daunting than coming out about my legal status. I kept my other secret mostly hidden.

While my classmates awaited their college acceptance letters, I hoped to get a full-time job at The Mountain View Voice after graduation. It’s not that I didn’t want to go to college, but I couldn’t apply for state and federal financial aid. Without that, my family couldn’t afford to send me.

But when I finally told Pat and Rich about my immigration “problem” — as we called it from then on — they helped me look for a solution. At first, they even wondered if one of them could adopt me and fix the situation that way, but a lawyer Rich consulted told him it wouldn’t change my legal status because I was too old. Eventually they connected me to a new scholarship fund for high-potential students who were usually the first in their families to attend college. Most important, the fund was not concerned with immigration status. I was among the first recipients, with the scholarship covering tuition, lodging, books and other expenses for my studies at San Francisco State University.

As a college freshman, I found a job working part time at The San Francisco Chronicle, where I sorted mail and wrote some freelance articles. My ambition was to get a reporting job, so I embarked on a series of internships. First I landed at The Philadelphia Daily News, in the summer of 2001, where I covered a drive-by shooting and the wedding of the 76ers star Allen Iverson. Using those articles, I applied to The Seattle Times and got an internship for the following summer.

But then my lack of proper documents became a problem again. The Times’s recruiter, Pat Foote, asked all incoming interns to bring certain paperwork on their first day: a birth certificate, or a passport, or a driver’s license plus an original Social Security card. I panicked, thinking my documents wouldn’t pass muster. So before starting the job, I called Pat and told her about my legal status. After consulting with management, she called me back with the answer I feared: I couldn’t do the internship.

This was devastating. What good was college if I couldn’t then pursue the career I wanted? I decided then that if I was to succeed in a profession that is all about truth-telling, I couldn’t tell the truth about myself.

After this episode, Jim Strand, the venture capitalist who sponsored my scholarship, offered to pay for an immigration lawyer. Rich and I went to meet her in San Francisco’s financial district.

I was hopeful. This was in early 2002, shortly after Senators Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican, and Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat, introduced the Dream Act — Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. It seemed like the legislative version of what I’d told myself: If I work hard and contribute, things will work out.

But the meeting left me crushed. My only solution, the lawyer said, was to go back to the Philippines and accept a 10-year ban before I could apply to return legally.

If Rich was discouraged, he hid it well. “Put this problem on a shelf,” he told me. “Compartmentalize it. Keep going.”

And I did. For the summer of 2003, I applied for internships across the country. Several newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe and The Chicago Tribune, expressed interest. But when The Washington Post offered me a spot, I knew where I would go. And this time, I had no intention of acknowledging my “problem.”

The Post internship posed a tricky obstacle: It required a driver’s license. (After my close call at the California D.M.V., I’d never gotten one.) So I spent an afternoon at The Mountain View Public Library, studying various states’ requirements. Oregon was among the most welcoming — and it was just a few hours’ drive north.

Again, my support network came through. A friend’s father lived in Portland, and he allowed me to use his address as proof of residency. Pat, Rich and Rich’s longtime assistant, Mary Moore, sent letters to me at that address. Rich taught me how to do three-point turns in a parking lot, and a friend accompanied me to Portland.

The license meant everything to me — it would let me drive, fly and work. But my grandparents worried about the Portland trip and the Washington internship. While Lola offered daily prayers so that I would not get caught, Lolo told me that I was dreaming too big, risking too much.

I was determined to pursue my ambitions. I was 22, I told them, responsible for my own actions. But this was different from Lolo’s driving a confused teenager to Kinko’s. I knew what I was doing now, and I knew it wasn’t right. But what was I supposed to do?

I was paying state and federal taxes, but I was using an invalid Social Security card and writing false information on my employment forms. But that seemed better than depending on my grandparents or on Pat, Rich and Jim — or returning to a country I barely remembered. I convinced myself all would be O.K. if I lived up to the qualities of a “citizen”: hard work, self-reliance, love of my country.

At the D.M.V. in Portland, I arrived with my photocopied Social Security card, my college I.D., a pay stub from The San Francisco Chronicle and my proof of state residence — the letters to the Portland address that my support network had sent. It worked. My license, issued in 2003, was set to expire eight years later, on my 30th birthday, on Feb. 3, 2011. I had eight years to succeed professionally, and to hope that some sort of immigration reform would pass in the meantime and allow me to stay.

It seemed like all the time in the world.

My summer in Washington was exhilarating. I was intimidated to be in a major newsroom but was assigned a mentor — Peter Perl, a veteran magazine writer — to help me navigate it. A few weeks into the internship, he printed out one of my articles, about a guy who recovered a long-lost wallet, circled the first two paragraphs and left it on my desk. “Great eye for details — awesome!” he wrote. Though I didn’t know it then, Peter would become one more member of my network.

At the end of the summer, I returned to The San Francisco Chronicle. My plan was to finish school — I was now a senior — while I worked for The Chronicle as a reporter for the city desk. But when The Post beckoned again, offering me a full-time, two-year paid internship that I could start when I graduated in June 2004, it was too tempting to pass up. I moved back to Washington.

About four months into my job as a reporter for The Post, I began feeling increasingly paranoid, as if I had “illegal immigrant” tattooed on my forehead — and in Washington, of all places, where the debates over immigration seemed never-ending. I was so eager to prove myself that I feared I was annoying some colleagues and editors — and worried that any one of these professional journalists could discover my secret. The anxiety was nearly paralyzing. I decided I had to tell one of the higher-ups about my situation. I turned to Peter.

By this time, Peter, who still works at The Post, had become part of management as the paper’s director of newsroom training and professional development. One afternoon in late October, we walked a couple of blocks to Lafayette Square, across from the White House. Over some 20 minutes, sitting on a bench, I told him everything: the Social Security card, the driver’s license, Pat and Rich, my family.

Peter was shocked. “I understand you 100 times better now,” he said. He told me that I had done the right thing by telling him, and that it was now our shared problem. He said he didn’t want to do anything about it just yet. I had just been hired, he said, and I needed to prove myself. “When you’ve done enough,” he said, “we’ll tell Don and Len together.” (Don Graham is the chairman of The Washington Post Company; Leonard Downie Jr. was then the paper’s executive editor.) A month later, I spent my first Thanksgiving in Washington with Peter and his family.

In the five years that followed, I did my best to “do enough.” I was promoted to staff writer, reported on video-game culture, wrote a series on Washington’s H.I.V./AIDS epidemic and covered the role of technology and social media in the 2008 presidential race. I visited the White House, where I interviewed senior aides and covered a state dinner — and gave the Secret Service the Social Security number I obtained with false documents.

I did my best to steer clear of reporting on immigration policy but couldn’t always avoid it. On two occasions, I wrote about Hillary Clinton’s position on driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. I also wrote an article about Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, then the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who was defending his party’s stance toward Latinos after only one Republican presidential candidate — John McCain, the co-author of a failed immigration bill — agreed to participate in a debate sponsored by Univision, the Spanish-language network.

It was an odd sort of dance: I was trying to stand out in a highly competitive newsroom, yet I was terrified that if I stood out too much, I’d invite unwanted scrutiny. I tried to compartmentalize my fears, distract myself by reporting on the lives of other people, but there was no escaping the central conflict in my life. Maintaining a deception for so long distorts your sense of self. You start wondering who you’ve become, and why.

In April 2008, I was part of a Post team that won a Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings a year earlier. Lolo died a year earlier, so it was Lola who called me the day of the announcement. The first thing she said was, “Anong mangyayari kung malaman ng mga tao?”

What will happen if people find out?

I couldn’t say anything. After we got off the phone, I rushed to the bathroom on the fourth floor of the newsroom, sat down on the toilet and cried.

In the summer of 2009, without ever having had that follow-up talk with top Post management, I left the paper and moved to New York to join The Huffington Post. I met Arianna Huffington at a Washington Press Club Foundation dinner I was covering for The Post two years earlier, and she later recruited me to join her news site. I wanted to learn more about Web publishing, and I thought the new job would provide a useful education.

Still, I was apprehensive about the move: many companies were already using E-Verify, a program set up by the Department of Homeland Security that checks if prospective employees are eligible to work, and I didn’t know if my new employer was among them. But I’d been able to get jobs in other newsrooms, I figured, so I filled out the paperwork as usual and succeeded in landing on the payroll.

While I worked at The Huffington Post, other opportunities emerged. My H.I.V./AIDS series became a documentary film called “The Other City,” which opened at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and was broadcast on Showtime. I began writing for magazines and landed a dream assignment: profiling Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg for The New Yorker.

The more I achieved, the more scared and depressed I became. I was proud of my work, but there was always a cloud hanging over it, over me. My old eight-year deadline — the expiration of my Oregon driver’s license — was approaching.

After slightly less than a year, I decided to leave The Huffington Post. In part, this was because I wanted to promote the documentary and write a book about online culture — or so I told my friends. But the real reason was, after so many years of trying to be a part of the system, of focusing all my energy on my professional life, I learned that no amount of professional success would solve my problem or ease the sense of loss and displacement I felt. I lied to a friend about why I couldn’t take a weekend trip to Mexico. Another time I concocted an excuse for why I couldn’t go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Switzerland. I have been unwilling, for years, to be in a long-term relationship because I never wanted anyone to get too close and ask too many questions. All the while, Lola’s question was stuck in my head: What will happen if people find out?

Early this year, just two weeks before my 30th birthday, I won a small reprieve: I obtained a driver’s license in the state of Washington. The license is valid until 2016. This offered me five more years of acceptable identification — but also five more years of fear, of lying to people I respect and institutions that trusted me, of running away from who I am.

I’m done running. I’m exhausted. I don’t want that life anymore.

So I’ve decided to come forward, own up to what I’ve done, and tell my story to the best of my recollection. I’ve reached out to former bosses and employers and apologized for misleading them — a mix of humiliation and liberation coming with each disclosure. All the people mentioned in this article gave me permission to use their names. I’ve also talked to family and friends about my situation and am working with legal counsel to review my options. I don’t know what the consequences will be of telling my story.

I do know that I am grateful to my grandparents, my Lolo and Lola, for giving me the chance for a better life. I’m also grateful to my other family — the support network I found here in America — for encouraging me to pursue my dreams.

It’s been almost 18 years since I’ve seen my mother. Early on, I was mad at her for putting me in this position, and then mad at myself for being angry and ungrateful. By the time I got to college, we rarely spoke by phone. It became too painful; after a while it was easier to just send money to help support her and my two half-siblings. My sister, almost 2 years old when I left, is almost 20 now. I’ve never met my 14-year-old brother. I would love to see them.

Not long ago, I called my mother. I wanted to fill the gaps in my memory about that August morning so many years ago. We had never discussed it. Part of me wanted to shove the memory aside, but to write this article and face the facts of my life, I needed more details. Did I cry? Did she? Did we kiss goodbye?

My mother told me I was excited about meeting a stewardess, about getting on a plane. She also reminded me of the one piece of advice she gave me for blending in: If anyone asked why I was coming to America, I should say I was going to Disneyland.

Jose Antonio Vargas is a former reporter for The Washington Post and shared a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings. He founded Define American, which seeks to change the conversation on immigration reform. Editor: Chris Suellentrop (C.Suellentrop-MagGroup@nytimes.com)

source: the new york times

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sad to see this happening in a country founded by immigrants. ironic, isn't it?

love in a time of torture

2011-06-08T11:52:00.002+08:00

an inspiring story about how a young protester survived torture in the hands of Syrian police through the help of a note from the one he loves.

cynical me thinks the account is a bit fictionalized. but an amazing story nonetheless. besides, in these times of war, we all need love stories, don't we?

read on!

LOVE IN A TIME OF TORTURE

A young man's account of sadistic torture in a Syrian secret prison, and how a girl's note helped him through his pain.

Hugh Macleod and Annasofie Flamand

Arrested during a protest in the first days of the Syrian uprising, a young man endured acts of sadism and torture at the hands of Bashar al-Assad's secret police.

As his body was beaten, whipped, electrocuted and worse; the prisoner could think only of the girl he loves, clenching a note from her in his hand as the torturers did their worst.

Told largely in his own words, this is his remarkable personal story of endurance and hope in a place filled with darkness and despair.

A small piece of paper held tight in a clenched fist. A lifeline to a better place.

Days become nights become days. The kicks, the punches, the questions, the insults, the humiliation and the pain.

"She was always on my mind in the toughest moments during the torture. The only thing that relieved the pain was my belief that, at that moment, she was comfortable in her bed."

The beatings begun on the police bus driving arrested protesters to one of Syria's most notorious secret police branches.

"Your mother is a whore!" screamed one of the policemen, as he slammed the butt of his rifle into the prisoner's face. "We will f*** her and your sister!"

But the young man wasn't listening.

"In the first five minutes I was only thinking of her. I was so afraid for her. But when the bus drove off I saw her trying to phone somebody, so I was so happy that she's wasn't under arrest. I didn't know then that they arrested her a few minutes later.

"We were welcomed at the prison by beatings. Our hands were tied behind our backs and we were blindfolded. We were made to sit on our knees in the prison courtyard for an hour while they beat us continuously and kicked us all over our bodies.

"Then we were ordered to lie down on our stomachs and five or six security men took turns running and jumping on our backs while insulting us. Then they made us sit on our knees again for more than two hours while they whipped us. I could feel the moisture of the blood on my fingers."

He was later led into a room, still blindfolded, for the first of many interrogations.

"There were three interrogators and a fourth person writing down what I said. The interrogators wanted to know why I had gone to the protest, who I had gone with and what the slogans we had chanted. All, of course, under a torrent of insults.

"After that I was sent back to the prison yard and was made to sit on my knees until the evening - when I was again interrogated. I was asked the same questions and gave the same answers. Then I was led back to the courtyard to sit on my knees for another two hours or so."

That first night the prisoners were stripped naked while the prison guards made jokes about their genitals. The prisoners asked for food and water, and were refused.

"I would smile when I was forced to take off my clothes at night and I was shaking from the cold. How could I be cold knowing that she was enjoying the warmth? Since when can the cold find its way into our bodies while the warmth of love is filling our every cell?"

The young man was led to a corridor with prison cells on either side. For the next six days, when the interrogations were over, this is where he would be left, kicked and beaten with sticks by the passing guards so he could not fall asleep, his legs hunched up and cramping, his head forced back upright against the wall so that he could never lie down.

"I would only be allowed to drink water every second day. If I needed to go to the toilet I would be given 30 seconds. If I spent any longer than that they would tie me to a large tire and whip me."

'Humans and Monsters'

On the second day the interrogations grew worse.

"They were asking me the names of the people I had been with at the protest. But I refused to give any names. I said I had gone there alone and had not seen anyone at the demonstration who I knew."

Back in the corridor a man arrived and told the guards to untie the prisoner and take his blindfold off. He was ordered to strip naked again.

"First, the man applied the electric shock device to my chest. He then moved it to my nipples. It felt a bit like an explosion. You can't describe the pain. It was so painful.

"At first I was surprised. I didn't understand what had happened. Then, after two or three times, I somehow grew accustomed to it. My head was banging against the wall, but I didn't feel that until they finished."

After the chest, the man lowered the electric prod, slowly and methodically, applying the current first to the elbows, left and right, then to the wrists, left and right, then to the knees, left and right, then to the ankles, left and right.

"I saw him. He was so angry. He accused me of working with the US and Israel. I later found out that he was the head of the prison. He was shouting. Then I remembered her smile.

"At every moment her words were ringing in my ears and my chest was full of her rebellious spirit. It shaped my will, which can never be broken, as long as we defend the principles of right and justice.

"In the end I said: 'I beg you God, don't let them arrest my friends. I don't want them to be electrocuted like me.' In prison there is no female or male. There are only humans and monsters."

After the beatings on the third day, the young man thought he might die.

"I heard the guards, further down the corridor. They were talking about the demonstrations in Deraa. They were very upset and discussed killing me in front of people in order to terrify them and force them to stop their protests. That night the beatings continued until the morning."

On the fourth day, the young man again overheard the guards, this time talking about how the protests had begun to spread across Syria.

"When I heard the word 'uprising' I thought seriously that maybe this crazy regime will kill us all to stop this."

'An expression of fear'

The words of his two favourite Arab writers, Ghassan Kanafani and Mahmoud Darwish, came back to him.

"Deep down inside I was so happy because the words of the poets were in my mind, that if we die my friends and my family will live in peace and freedom. She will live in freedom and we'll meet in another world. That was a great feeling when I thought about it."

That night his interrogators forced a stick up his rectum, repeatedly.

"During the torture I remembered the words of Kanafani, which always reminded me of her: 'If the prisoner is beaten, it is an arrogant expression of fear.' Every single cowardly strike from the security police was another crack in my wall of fear."

Unable to walk after six days of torture and stress positions, the young man was taken to see the prison doctor.

"He asked me why I couldn't walk and when I told him the reasons he kicked and hit my knees and slapped my face. He asked: 'Does that make you feel better?'"

After the sixth night in the corridor, the young man was carried to a cell no larger than four square metres. There was a single blanket on the floor and two other prisoners inside, one of them a protester he had been arrested with. The other man said he was being held on a drugs charge.

"The next day the interrogators asked me about all the things we three had been speaking about in the cell. Then I realised that the third man had been put there to spy on us."

Days went by and prisoners would come and go, until nine men were forced to share the tiny cell. One of the prisoners was a lawyer.

"He told me all my friends at the protest had been arrested and that she had been arrested as well, but that they had been released after a week. He said the secret police had hit her. I cried for a week.

"I had a small piece of paper with me in the prison. Very small. It was from her. She had drawn something on this paper. All the time I would smell the paper and remember the hand that had drawn it.

The young man learned later that his parents had gone to each of Syria's 17 security branches asking for their son. All denied they were holding him.

Only when the lawyer who had shared the cell with him was released did the traumatised parents finally know of their son's whereabouts, just two days before his own release.

Though tortured for a month in appalling conditions, the young man has no plans to flee his homeland.

He's working hard to earn a living. And though he takes drugs to help with the pain in his back and knees, he says he sleeps well at night.

The girl he loves is safe and those "paper tigers" of Assad's security forces will be unable to withstand the wind of change, he believes.

Then he wants to marry her. If she'll have him. If she only knew how she had saved him. How she had helped him through all that about which he'll never tell her.

source: al jazeera english - features

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so many stories to tell, only one lifetime to live...

tribute to chit

2011-05-18T16:09:00.004+08:00

written by a prof of mine in college as a tribute to a fellow-journalist who died in a tragic car accident last friday, may 13, 2011.

i will never forget ma'am carlos, the author, because she once told me, as part of her critique of a feature article i wrote: "wala kang puso." that comment has stuck with me ever since and each time i write features or blog entries, i always strive to put a lot of heart into my work (which takes quite some effort really).

in this piece, ma'am carlos shows how to write with a heart, without being overly dramatic. i didn't have the chance to know chit estella personally (i may have met her a few times because she looks familiar) but after reading this tribute, i somehow got a sense of how she was as a person, in the eyes of her friend.

i'm reposting this because not only was the news of chit estella's death shocking enough, the article struck a chord on so many levels (the loss of a good journalist, the journalism profession, mortality and life in general...). it's also a good example of how to write effectively and affectively.

ADVENTURES WITH CHIT, LESSONS TO KEEP
By: Desiree Carlos

We were so young then: Chit Estella, Joel and Vina Paredes, Yvonne Chua, Raffy Japa, Tatin Marfil, Mike Alunan, Cris Cerdeña, and Jenny Santillan, among others. We knew the newspapers were all controlled by Marcos and his cronies. As idealistic UP graduates, how could we stomach working in any of these papers?

But we all wanted to write, we all wanted to help change the lives of the Filipino people, and we all hoped our passion for writing the news would make a difference.

And so we chose to work in the crony papers after graduation. Naisip namin na sa panahon na iyon, sa loob ng peryodiko ang tanghalan ng pakikibaka para sa mga peryodistang tulad namin. For the years or months we worked in the crony papers, we tried our best to look for ways to do what we believed was a journalist’s role in society as taught by Louie Beltran and our other professors: we tried to inform the people, not fool them.

It was not easy.

In the beats that we covered separately or together, we experienced what we merely used to hear about in college about a corrupt media and corrupt government officials. Some colleagues tried to bribe us or collected money “in our behalf,” government officials directly handed money to us (which we returned without trying to offend the official at baka di na kami makakuha ng istorya), we got disappointed often when our story ideas or requests for coverage were disapproved by the news desk because it’s not news enough (read: they’re not pro-Marcos, or they’re about protest actions and sides of groups or persons on important social realities like human rights abuses).

Because of the frustrations in the beat and our inability to do much despite our desire, we became allies although we worked for rival papers. We would meet up after work, eat, and release all our frustrations and talk about stories we wanted to pursue and write about. We would discuss political and social issues, and encourage each other when we wanted to quit.

Our favorite place was the Paredes’ house in Mandaluyong where, as Chit would then say, “Ang sarap talaga magluto ng nanay nila Vina, no?”

For before Roland Simbulan, the only thing I know that could compete with Chit’s love for journalism was her love for food.

Chit, Vina and I would comb the Quiapo, Divisoria and Escolta areas to look for places where we could eat good food for very low prices. Salaries of reporters and correspondents were so meager na kung di na kaya ng sikmura mo, tatanggapin mo na yung perang naglipana sa beat ninyo.

Despite having very little money, we found ways to enjoy our adventures in these “poor men’s shopping havens.” We’d go window-shopping! We would look at capri pants in different colors and say to ourselves, “I will buy that…next time.”

Once we went to SM Makati. How we loved shopping with our eyes and trying out clothes! Until now, I can’t forget this white dress that Chit said looked good on me. Ganon naman si Chit, parating nakangiti at parating may encouraging words. Though we bought nothing then, we left the mall feeling sated. I learned from Chit and Vina that contentment is a state of mind that goes down to one’s heart.

And from Chit, Vina and Cris, I learned two more important lessons. One, that there are other ways to do one’s job as a journalist if you can’t do it in your own newspaper. Second, a real journalist shares her story because a true journalist wants to provide the people with all possible information that will help them make an intelligent choice. Yes, to a true journalist, the people come first, not the byline or recognition.

This was our secret and now I will share it with you.

When we were covering Imelda Marcos, Mel Mathay and the Metro Manila Commission, the Quezon City Hall and the Quezon City Courts (Chit for Tempo, Cris and Vina alternately for the Daily Express and I for Ang Pahayagang Malaya), Chit, Vina and Cris would also look for corruption stories and opposition stories and pass them to me. Aside from the MMC, QC Hall and courts, I was also assigned to human rights stories, the opposition (with Joel Paredes), and street rallies (with Joel, Ellen Tordesillas and Malaya police reporters).

They knew Malaya was undermanned. They knew I couldn’t handle so many beats at one time. They understood I had to prioritize covering the human rights beat.

And so they helped me in the beats we covered together. They would give me leads for stories and even shared their notes. This was how selfless these journalists were at that time: Chit, Vina and Cris. Nananalaytay sa dugo nila ang pagiging peryodista kaya sa bansag nilang “maliit na paraan namin,” tinulungan nila akong i-cover at i-uncover ang mga katiwalian sa QC hall at MMC.

There was no rivalry among us. There was only friendship and a shared passion to unearth the truth and to ensure the Filipino people will get hold of it. Chit, Vina and Cris were not after recognition. For this, I salute them. And I thank them again.
The last time I saw Chit was at the journalism department of the UP College of Mass Communications. I was inquiring about the exam and thesis for my master’s degree. I “needed” the label as a coordinator of the Kalayaan College’s journalism program. After talking to Racquel, Chit invited me to her room. We talked as if the last time we met was just last month and not two years or so ago.

She asked about Tani, my eldest, who was a “fixture” at the Malaya newsroom when she was a baby and I had no yaya. Then she told me she too was finishing her master’s studies because it’s a requirement to be a full professor. I remember asking her, “Bakit nga ba natin ginagawa ito (referring to studying again)?” She paused, thought a moment, then smiled, “Masarap magturo. At hindi ba, panahon na para ipasa natin ang natutunan natin?” I thought, “So, Chit has found another way to ‘practice’ journalism and her venue is now the classroom.” Then she added,”Tuloy mo lang magturo.” I nodded. Then I stood up from my chair and prepared to leave. Chit then said,”Kita tayo uli ha? Kain tayo..” I smiled. Si Chit talaga.

(The author was a longtime reporter for Malaya. She wrote this piece to pay tribute to Chit Estella-Simbulan, who died in a car accident last May 13, 2011).

source: newsbreak

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here's another interesting piece written by stox (aileen estoquia), a schoolmate in college, who happened to be both ma'am carlos' and chit estella's student. read it here: Tribute to a Mentor.

well-deserved

2011-05-05T19:00:00.007+08:00

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH TO RECEIVE HIGHEST AWARD FROM COLUMBIA JOURNALISM SCHOOL

The Columbia University School of Journalism is presenting its highest honor–the Columbia Journalism Award–to Al Jazeera English. AJE managing editor Al Anstey will accept the award at the 2011 commencement ceremony, where he will also address the graduating class.

The school’s faculty, which selects the awardees, voted for Al Jazeera English for the overall depth and quality of its peerless coverage of the ongoing protests in the Middle East. “Al Jazeera English has performed a great service in bringing the English-speaking world in-depth coverage of the turmoil in the Middle East.” said Dean Nicholas Lemann. “We salute its determination to get to the heart of a complicated story unfolding in countries where news has historically been difficult to cover.”

Usually the award is presented to an individual. This is only the second time that a show or organization has receieved the honor. In 1993 the award went to PBS’ “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.”

for more: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/al-jazeera-english-receiving-award-from-columbia-journalism-school_b64693#more-64693

barely five years old and AJE is making huge waves! also well-deserved:

SHEILA CORONEL TO RECEIVE COLUMBIA'S HIGHEST TEACHING AWARD

Sheila Coronel, one of the Philippines' most respected journalists and currently a New York-based professor of journalism, will be awarded one of Columbia University's highest honors, the Presidential Teaching Award, at the university's commencement ceremony in May.

A co-founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and its long-time executive director, Coronel has been the first and only director of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University since 2006.

Columbia has long been considered the gold standard in journalism education. University-wide, only five Columbia faculty are given Presidential Teaching Awards every year.

for more: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/219211/pinoy-abroad/sheila-coronel-to-receive-columbias-highest-teaching-award

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what can i say? AJE and sheila coronel are simply awesome! and so is columbia journalism school. kudos!

bin laden is dead

2011-05-02T10:54:00.004+08:00

cnn's john king could not have been more emphatic:

"imagine the magnitude of this statement: bin laden is dead."

us authorities say they have bin laden's body. us president obama to speak shortly.

the questions now are: what will his death mean and what happens next?

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after 9/11/01, 5/1/11 will be remembered as the day the world knew bin laden is dead.

random reflections

2011-04-09T23:34:00.002+08:00

Breaks my heart to see innocent people trying to make a living spend another night in jail despite all your efforts to free them, especially if one of them, younger than you are, looks you in the eye and asks: sir, kung wala po kaming kaso, bakit kami nakakulong?

Had to keep emotions in check to remain objective and professional but as you look back and reflect on the day's events, you wonder: has my profession made me less of a human being not allowed to show empathy to my clients?

Hope not. Lawyers we are, human beings foremost.

5th bar weekend

2009-11-04T05:52:00.005+08:00

3-5 october 2009

the skies were gray when i proceeded to orchid suites on the first saturday of october. pepeng was threatening to bring heavy winds and rain all over the metro, but whatever hopes we had of having the exams postponed just like what happened the week before (when ondoy hit metro manila) were quickly dashed by an announcement from midas (the supreme court spokesperson) the day before: "the bar exams will push through." there was no turning back.

while part of me wanted to end the misery as soon as possible, part of me didn't want the whole thing to end just yet. maybe i wasn't ready for the exams (who will ever be ready?) or maybe i have gotten used to the routine of waking up each morning, preparing for another day of studying, that if everything ended that sunday, what will i do next? haha, silly, i know. the geek in me just could not resist: i was starting to miss studying even before it ended.

or maybe it was the fear that after the bar exams, we now have to fend for ourselves: work, work, work. goodbye daily allowance. goodbye "student" privileges.

or maybe it was the thought that the familiar faces known as the block, which had become our source of strength day in day out for the past four and a half years, will have to go separate ways.

or maybe it was the idea that after the exams, there was nothing else we could do about our fate. we either pass, or fail, and everything will no longer be in our hands.

whatever it is, the storm that was brewing inside accounted for that eery feeling: there was excitement for sure, but there was also anxiety.

the tension eased up a bit when i finally entered the room full of blockmates. the first person i looked for was jen. i knew she was deeply affected by the floods the week before. she was unusually ok. for a person who lost everything (save for her reviewer, codal, and the ever-important bar permit), she was smiling and joking with everyone as if nothing happened. amazing how she was able to cope. had it been me, i wouldn't have known how to finish the exams.

judging from the banter inside the room, it seemed as if there were no exams the next day. i was trying to cram legal forms for a while but i soon joined the fray and was taking pictures just like the old times. i thought, if these were to be our last study moments together, better capture them on film, er, on cam.

rains started to pour later that afternoon. dusk fell and before we knew it, we were walking our way to la salle early sunday morning. this is it, the final day.

the hours went by quickly, but even moreso with legal ethics. with only three hours, the examiners asked for four legal forms, the lawyer's oath, and a whole set of questions worth 1 or 2 points each. my hands were already hurting when, at 20 minutes before 5, i still had two legal forms to do and some questions left to answer. i scribbled as fast as i could, never mind the margins, never mind the hurried handwriting, never mind if my answers were as short as one or two sentences. i have to finish this exam and hope for partial points, i thought.

luckily enough, i managed to finish just as the bell rang. i left the room and looked for my other batchmates. we went out of la salle and marched through taft as one group. there, waiting for us, was a group of familiar faces, the same people who'd asked how the exams went and the same persons who'd tell us everything will be fine. they're also the same ones who, for the past few months, had taken turns to provide us, bar examinees, with whatever help we needed. as a barops volunteer myself, i know how difficult it must have been for them especially when things didn't always go smoothly. yet, at the end of the day and at that precise moment, their mere presence was what mattered most.

after the temporary euphoria at taft otherwise known as the salubong, i went back to orchid with my blockmates. we posed for some pictures but the exhaustion and the frustratingly lengthy ethics exam were dampening our spirits. we decided to rent a room and make the most of our stay at the hotel, this time with no exams to worry about. we went to dinner together and headed back to the hotel. peach and i attended the toned down beerops and smuggled some booze. but instead of drinking, we ended up talking well into the wee hours of the morning. (peach got to bring home a box of booze hehe, peace peach).

we woke up late the next day. 8 am is late for any bar examinee; but we were bar examinee no more so we stayed in bed for a bit. ah, how good it felt to get more sleep without worrying about the day to come. quoting cj: ang sarap ng pakiramdam na gigising ka sa umaga na walang iniisip kung ilang pages ang kailangang basahin o kung ilang subjects pa ang kailangang aralin.

it was already afternoon when i arrived home the monday after the exam. i could feel the heat, the kind that breaks deep into your skin and makes you weak. but for some reason, i was upbeat and excited and was anxious no longer. i thought about the things that i will and can do from hereon. i will not worry about the results for the meantime. i looked outside the window and saw the sun shining brightly. the storm is over. things are looking good. and i am free at last!...after four and a half years.

p.s.: to everyone who helped us make it through the bar exams, thank you!

..........
more pics at: driven 2

dunkin aral moments

2009-10-31T05:47:00.005+08:00

june 2009 nang magsimulang pumasok ang panic mode na dulot ng bar exams. tatlong buwan na lang bago magseptember, hindi pa ako tapos sa first reading. iniisip ko, kailangang magpuyat para matapos ang dapat tapusin. hence, the hunt for the nearest 24-hour food place, na mura lang pero masarap ang pagkain.

dito ko narediscover ang dunkin donuts sa aurora. walking distance lang from the house. mura at masarap ang food, may cr na, at libre pa ang water at aircon. higit sa lahat, wala akong kakilala!

mahigit tatlong buwan din akong halos araw-araw na tumambay sa dunkin. noong una, magdamagan. pero nung papalapit na ang bar exams, sinimulan ko ng 7:30am hanggang mga 11 ng gabi. uwi lang for lunch at dinner. minsan, sa sobrang desperation, dun na rin ako bumibili ng lunch sa nagdedeliver para sa crew. at ang alas11, nagiging alas dose o ala una, hangga't di pa sumasakit ang ulo ko.

sa tagal ng pinalagi ko dun, nakilala ko na rin ang mga staff. alam ko kung kelan nagsisimula at nagtatapos ang shift nila, kung kelan nakastraight na dalawang shifts sila dahil walang kahalili, at kung kelan merong hindi makakapasok.

sila din, alam na rin nila na hindi ako nagkakape, walang yelo ang tubig ko, at pine-orange ang gusto kong juice. minsan, nagtatanong din sila kung bakit ako absent sa dunkin.

sa maiiksing panahong nagkakausap kami ng crew, kahit papano may alam na rin ako nang konti sa mga buhay-buhay nila. may isang nagpapaaral ng kapatid, may working student at may isang nurse na at nagtitraining pero tuloy pa rin ang trabaho sa dunkin. karamihan sa kanila, kinailangang huminto sa pag-aaral at tumulong sa pamilya.

sabi ng isang crew minsan, "sir, ang swerte n'yo naman, wala kayong problema." napaisip ako: ang bar exams, hindi ba problema yun? hindi ko nga alam kung pano tatapusin yung mga binabasa ko at kung pano isisiksik lahat ng nabasa ko sa munting utak ko.

pero kung titingnan mo nga naman, hindi siya problema. isa syang pagkakataon, pagkakataon na mapatunayan mong karapat-dapat kang maging abogado. kung problema man yun, definitely not in the same league ng problema nila. funny, kasi for a bar examinee, ang mundo ay nakaikot sa bar exams. pero hindi naman tumitigil ang mundo sa pag-ikot para sa iba. at may iba pang mas higit na suliranin.

naisip ko rin, kung yung crew halos walang kapaguran na pumapasok 6 days a week, doing physical work for 8 hours straight, or kung minsan, 16 hours straight, anong karapatan kong mapagod at magtamad-tamaran e nagbabasa lang naman ako, kumakain, at nakikinig sa music? anong karapatan kong magreklamo sa five months of solitude, a.k.a. bar review, e hindi naman lahat nabibigyan ng ganitong pagkakataon?

wherever i am now, i'm lucky to have gotten this far. it would be an injustice to waste this opportunity by not making the most out of it. siguro i just needed some donuts and new acquaintances to remind me of that.

para sa crew ng dunkin, salamat sa pagdamay sa puyatan at sa magdamagang/buong araw na aralan. hindi ko na kayo maaabutan pag-uwi ko sa january dahil most of you endo na, at malamang hindi niyo to mababasa, pero salamat dahil hindi ko alam kung pano ko malalampasan ang bar review without your help, just by being nice and by being there.

at para sa ating lahat: sa crew, sa mga kasabay kong nag-aaral sa dunkin, at sa mga kasama kong nagtake ng bar exams, isang taimtim na panalangin: that someday, we get to live the good life that we all deserve.

dunkin crew (june to october 2009): ma'am agie, sir franz, ma'am april, sir ron, sir nhardz, paul, marvin, zoren, deza, joli, mar, osang, gene, tin, dhen, laine, jezza, anne, joseph, je, jhaytee, mikki at dalawang kuya guards.

mga nag-endo na: lorie, rj, philip & dy

mga nagresign: lablet, mhong at iba pa.

..........
more pics at: driven 2

good news and a tragedy

2009-04-16T23:15:00.001+08:00

it's official: GAGRADUATE na ako! ironically, the last grade to come out was nego haha.

and i said yes. God please guide me.

thank you Lord for all the blessings.

*****
bless the soul of trina etong and condolences to her family. still unclear what happened; hope things clear up so the truth will come out and justice will be served.

the police are doing a lousy job. no need for warrant of arrest because of violation of obstruction of justice? what the heck? and why the cruel treatment of the suspects?

heads should roll after this.

how i spent my 24th birthday

2009-04-10T02:54:00.003+08:00

9 april 2009

how do you spend your birthday on a maundy thursday?

i spent almost the entire day digging through mounds of accumulated readings from first year to fourth year, sorting them out and looking for the best notes and reviewers for the bar.

went to mass and confession with my lola.

went on visita iglesia with jae and erwin before heading for a late night pizza.

what a "holy" birthday. no lechon. no party. no booze. well, there's still ice cream. but it was great nonetheless.

salamat sa mga nakaalala. sa mga hindi, ayos lang, busog naman ako so no cranky time.

and to all of you who have been part of the past year: salamat nang marami. i cannot thank you enough. i don't know how to start repaying you back. si "bro" na ang bahala sa inyo.

UP Law Professional Enhancement Program (aka Special Bar Review)

2009-03-22T17:04:00.000+08:00

tuloy na tuloy na!

starts April 13, 2009
Institute of Small Scale Industries
only P3,500!

this is just too much

2009-03-14T21:41:00.000+08:00

A Killing Too Far: Rebelyn Pitao

by KEITH BACONGCO | 03/14/2009 | 8:51 AM
abs-cbnnews.com

DAVAO CITY – Rebelyn was wearing her white school teacher’s uniform when she left home to go to work. “Ma, lakaw na ko (Ma, I have to go now),” she called out to her mother Evangeline.

It was 6:30 a.m. – the last time Mrs. Pitao saw her 20-year old daughter. It was the last time she ever heard her voice.

Rebelyn usually arrived back home by 6:30 p.m. each school day. But last week, Wednesday March 4, there was no sign of her. Mrs. Pitao was worried: An hour and a half later, local police officers and a tricycle driver knocked on her door and brought news that Rebelyn had been abducted on her way home by armed gunmen.

“When I heard she had been taken, I knew I would never see her alive again,” said Mrs. Pitao from her small house in Bago Galera, Toril District in Davao City. “I knew they would kill her because they were angry at her father.”

Rebelyn, who would have turned 21 on March 20, was the third child and daughter of New People’s Army (NPA) leader Leoncio Pitao, also known as Commander Parago. Her partially-naked body was found late the following day, Thursday March 5, in an irrigation ditch in Barangay (village) San Isidro in Carmen, Davao Del Norte, about 50 kilometers north from here. She had been bound, gagged, raped and repeatedly stabbed in the chest.

“There were rope markings around her neck and mud all over her body,” her mother told the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project. “She was like a carabao.”

According to the Scene of Crime Operatives (SOCO) of the Davao City police, Rebelyn had been dead for more than 20 hours before she was found by a local farmer. It suggests she was killed very soon after being taken.

“Her body bore five wounds inflicted by a thin sharp object such as an ice pick, which pierced her lungs and liver,” according to Dr. Tomas Dimaandal who conducted the autopsy at a local funeral home. His report added that her genitals had suffered cuts “possibly caused by a hard object.” Her mouth had been taped up.

Mrs. Pitao explained how, with the police officers listening, tricycle driver Danny Peliciano told her that two unknown men had boarded his vehicle alongside Rebelyn when she climbed in to ride home. As they neared Bago Gallera de Oro subdivision a white van – a Toyota Revo – blocked their path and forced the tricycle to stop.

“Two other men came out of the van and dragged her out of the tricycle. The driver said Rebelyn was screaming for help but he could not do anything because the men were armed. The driver said he ran away. Then they dragged my daughter inside the van.”

Mrs. Pitao believes the other two men on the tricycle were accomplices and all four men climbed in the van.

The abduction site is about 300 meters from the national highway and is beside a church with the nearest house 50 meters away.

Peliciano is now missing: A fellow driver who did not wish to be named said that right after the incident he quit working his usual route and disappeared. “He is no longer staying at home and we have no idea where he is now. I think he went into hiding because he is a witness,” said the man.

Mrs. Pitao believes her daughter may have been attacked inside the van or taken to a place in nearby Panabo City or Carmen where she was tied up, tortured and killed soon after and then taken after dark to the ditch.

It is believed she was dumped there between midnight and 1 a.m.

According to a police report obtained by the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project from the Carmen police station, Rebelyn’s body was discovered by rice farmer Raffy Agres whose signed affidavit says he found her lying in the flooded ditch at around 5 p.m. that Thursday.

“You could hardly see the body even when you were just beside the canal because of the grass here and the ridge,” said banana plantation worker Noel Lanoy who was with Agres when Rebelyn was found.

“He screamed out that a body had been dumped and it was a summary killing,” said Lanoy. “I first thought it was a banana tree trunk.”

Egles Brieta whose house lies about 100 meters away from the scene, says she didn’t see or hear any vehicle that would have been needed to dump Rebelyn’s body. “It is so quiet here, yet we didn’t hear anything or anybody.”

A makeshift bamboo cross now stands in the knee-deep water where Rebelyn was found. According to Brieta, the bodies of two men were also found dumped here in 2004.

Outrage and denials

The abduction, torture and killing of Rebelyn have been met with widespread disgust and condemnation alongside public pledges to deliver justice and ensure an open, independent and transparent investigation.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered government agencies to conduct a thorough investigation, and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has called the abduction, torture and murder “a deed most foul and the work of a monster.”

A senior military officer has called it “a crime against humanity,” with Senator Richard Gordon calling it a “war crime.”

So far however, Task Force Rebelyn, the group set up to investigate the crime claims it has few real leads. Davao City Police Chief Senior Superintendent Ramon Apolinario initially complained his men had only a few clues to work with – the testimonies of the tricycle driver and the rice farmer who found her –along with a description of the van allegedly used.

Rebelyn’s guerilla father claims the vehicle has been spotted parked outside a “known army safe house in Carmen” –something the military hotly denies.

Almost from the very moment she was reported missing, the Philippine Army’s high command has come out vehemently and repeatedly in public to deny the military was in any way responsible for Rebelyn’s abduction or her subsequent torture and killing.

But after her own father –Commander Parago – publicly named four military suspects as his daughter’s killers on Sunday, the Army’s position has slowly changed. While it still denies any responsibility, it now admits two of the men Parago mentioned are currently their military intelligence officers who are now “restricted” to the barracks at the 10th Infantry Division headquarters in Camp Panacan in Davao.

The military is now pledging 100 per cent cooperation with the police inquiry but insists the investigation also has to follow up all other leads too.

A few days earlier, Major General Reynaldo B. Mapagu, Commander of the 10th ID, denied any involvement of the military in the killing of Rebelyn, adding that it was “not the policy of the Philippine Army to target civilians in its campaign against the communist insurgents.”

And in a separate press statement, Lt. Colonel Rolando Bautista, 10th ID spokesperson, said they understand the ordeal of the family of Rebelyn “but it would be unfair to blame the incident (on) the military.”

In the hours after she first went missing, military sources suggested Rebelyn was probably the victim of infighting between members of the NPA. They added that she may also have been targeted by relatives of people who were themselves kidnapped and abused by Parago over the years.

But Rebelyn’s father is adamant that no other group could be behind her killing and claims the army “lashed out at her because they couldn’t get me.”

He does not believe that any government-led investigation will bring justice for her daughter.

“There were so many investigations for the victims of extrajudicial killings but none so far have been solved,” he said. “Not just political killings but also killing of journalists in this country -what happened to their investigations?”

Ominously, he added: “We (the NPA) will be the ones to investigate and punish those behind the killing of my daughter.”

Prepared with sacrifices

Chief of the NPA’s 1st Pulang Bagani Command which operates in the fringes of this huge city, Parago said the killing of his daughter would “strengthen and intensify the efforts to continue the revolution.

“I’m hurt and I’m enraged. Yet even if I cry, there’s nothing I could do to bring her back. When I learned that she was abducted, I already knew that were going to kill her. I’ve been expecting that to happen not just to my daughter but to my entire family as well.”

Parago’s son Ryan claims he too was attacked by military agents and now lives with his father as an NPA guerilla. “They tried to stab me in 2005 and the next day I left to come here. Had I not, I would have been dead now just like Rebelyn.”

Parago broke his silence three days after her daughter was found dead. The Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project and several journalists met up with him at a location in the outskirts of this city.

“Since I joined the NPA (in 1978), I’ve been expecting that something will happen to my family,” he said. “You have to be prepared with all the sacrifices in all aspects when you’ll join the revolution.”

Clad in black military uniform, smoking a cigarette and in full battle dress, the 51-year-old Parago worried that what happened to Rebelyn may also happen to other members of his family. “There is a big possibility that they will do my family harm because they could hardly capture me.”

Parago accused two named sergeants with the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) and two named officers serving in the Military Intelligence Battalion (MIB) as those who he says are directly responsible for his daughter’s death. In a separate interview with a radio station he also named others –including an Army major.

Parago said that based on the NPA’s “own intelligence information,” the four intelligence officers were responsible for the killing of his brother Danilo in June last year alongside others. “My brother was a provincial guard of Davao del Norte -he was a government employee, and yet still he was killed.”

A spokesperson of the Army’s 10th ID has confirmed the names Parago mentioned to the journalists are members of the military. Two of them he confirmed are being held in the divisional barracks. The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Eastern Mindanao Command spokesperson Major Randolph Cabangbang said the military would fully cooperate with the police investigation.

“We are also affected; the military organization is very concerned about this and by the perception of civilians. We are not looking into this incident as soldiers but as fathers too,” stressed Cabangbang.

He added they were also investigating the white Toyota Revo with the plate number LPG-588 that was reportedly used in abducting Rebelyn. “We verified the plate number to the Land of Transportation office,” he said – “but apparently it is not registered or found in the LTO’s database.”

Cabangbang was adamant there “would be no whitewash or cover-up” in the investigation “even if the suspects are from the military.”

He added: “We will give the PNP (Philippine National Police) a free hand on this. We also welcome an independent body to conduct its own investigation to help bring justice for Rebelyn. This incident is already beyond the fighting between the AFP and the NPA, this is already an attack against humanity.”

He flatly denied the military conducted surveillance on the Pitao family: “The only subject for our surveillance is Parago - not his entire family”

Elusive Parago

Parago has long been a wanted man: Former commander of the Philippine Army's 10th ID Major General Jogy Leo Fojas last year vowed his troops would “nail the elusive Parago” before the end of 2008.

Parago has been accused of kidnapping and killing civilians, whom the NPA suspected as “military intelligence assets.” He admits his guerillas have killed suspected informers in cold blood: Parago claimed he knew his “comrades” were responsible for the killing of an informer, but was “not around when the execution happened.”

”The People’s Court does not kill innocent civilians, we carefully examine their crimes against the people before we carry out punishments,” he said.

Yet there is no such recognized court under national or international law and many people see absolutely no difference between extrajudicial killings allegedly committed by the military and those said to be committed by the NPA.

In January 7, the NPA are believed to have killed Saturnino Rizaldo, a suspected member of the military intelligence group. A month later, they also reportedly murdered a second intelligence agent in Paquibato district here.

In a mobile phone interview, Simon Santiago, southern Mindanao political director of the NPA, told the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project that the NPA executed Rizaldo because of his “crime against humanity.”

“The NPA has standing order against those who have committed serious crime against the masses,” Santiago stressed.

The other victim he said was “a former NPA member turned military asset.”

Remembering Rebelyn

Parago said he waited until his daughter was 11 before telling her he was the known Commander Parago of Southern Mindanao. “When they (my children) asked me where I was, I often told them I was working abroad.”

Shortly after his release from a prison sentence in 2000 and learning that he would again go back to join the NPA, Parago recalled Rebelyn saying: “Pa, abi nako mag uban na ta hangtud sa hangtud (Pa, I thought we would be together again forever).”

Parago was captured by military agents in 1999 at his home in Toril district. He was released without preconditions after spending just under two years in jail.

He also recounted the time when Rebelyn asked for a new pair of jeans and he couldn’t give her one. “I told her to ask for the old pair of jeans from her older sister. Rebelyn did it and did not complain. When her mother was finally able to give her a new pair, Rebelyn was so happy and grateful. Even for the smallest things, Rebelyn never forgot to say ‘thank you.’”

Mrs. Pitao also recalled that since Rebelyn was still small, she really wanted to be a teacher. “Since she was small, that was her dream -and she really fulfilled her dream,” she said.

Rebelyn served as a substitute teacher for five months at St. Peter’s College of Technology and taught Grade 2.

Her mother recalled how happy Rebelyn was when she had her first salary of PhP 7,800 (USD 162). “She was so happy because that was her first time that she actually had some real money.”

Mrs. Pitao added said that her daughter’s fellow teachers were surprised to learn she was the daughter of Commander Parago. “Yet their treatment towards us never changed. They even sympathized with us because they knew we were not part of the conflict -we were not combatants.”

Held hostage

Mrs. Pitao claimed the military had harassed their family in the past. In 1999, she insisted, seven military agents came into their house and briefly held the family hostage to force her husband to surrender.

“They knew my husband was coming down to visit us because it was All Saints Day,” she recalls. “The children were so scared because we were all held at gunpoint.”

Parago also claims to remember the alleged incident: “I went there to visit but was surprised to see the military. I had a grenade with me but had I tossed it inside my house it would have killed my family as well as the agents –and so I let myself get captured.”

Mrs. Pitao said the incident was a traumatic experience for the children: “Trauma has been gone for a long time but now it’s back again because of what happened to their sister.”

Safety of the family

Davao City Police have been providing 24-hour security during Rebelyn’s wake and Mrs. Pitao said she was thankful to Mayor Duterte. While having gone on record as saying he dismissed all allegations that any military or police officers could be involved in the killing, the mayor has made a public promise to Parago to find those responsible. The two have even spoken together on the phone.

For her part, Mrs. Pitao is refusing to comment on her family’s future security: “We cannot say anything about it now or what are we going to do now. We have yet to talk about it. But I admit that we are very affected. I’m worried about my children because two of them are still studying and they are now worried for their security.”

Rebelyn’s death brings the number of victims of extrajudicial killings in southern Mindanao since 2001 up to 93 according to Kelly Delgado, secretary general of the human rights group Karapatan for southern Mindanao region.

Authorities contest Karapatan’s figure and insist it is much lower. But it is not known if either figure includes an anti-mining activist who was shot dead by two gunmen on Monday March 9 in nearby Koronadal City.

Delgado claims the killing of Rebelyn was intended as a warning: “This is a message for the family members of not just the NPA but as well those who are in the progressive organizations that they too can be targets,” Delgado said. “It is also a message meant to demoralize our ranks.”

“Since the government has set 2010 as the deadline to crush the communist movement, extrajudicial killings may even get worse because civilians whom they suspect as communist supporters will become soft targets,” Delgado said.

“The killings have become systemic and it is impossible to stop them. What we can do now is to become vigilant and impose security measures among people.”

Retired Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have set a 2010 deadline to end the insurgency.

But last year, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Alexander Yano admitted that the government might not be able to wipe out the 40-year-old communist movement by 2010.

The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), turns 40 on March 29 –the day before a public hearing on vigilante killings is due to open here.

Bishop Delfin Callao of the Philippine Independent Church has said that an independent body needs to be created to investigate Rebelyn’s killing.

“How can you investigate if you are the accused?” Callao asked reporters in a press conference last week. The investigation, he insisted, should not allow any representatives from government agencies, police or military to join.

"This will assure us of complete impartiality and the findings can be the basis of any criminal charges to be filed against the suspects.”

The investigating body, he said, should be composed of the people from church and civil society organizations. “Even if the government authorities snub the results, the most important thing here is we surface the truth.”

Rebelyn’s funeral and burial is due to be held here on Saturday March 14. Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project

(The author is a journalist based in Davao City and one of the founders of AKP Images, an independent photo agency.)

Ditsi Carolino's LUPANG HINIRANG, March 12, 12nn-2pm, UP Malcolm Theater

2009-03-11T01:46:00.001+08:00

Lupang Hinarang is a film in two parts about a fierce and deadly battle raging between farmers and landowners in the continuing saga of agrarian reform in the Philippines. The documentary opens with the tribal Sumilao farmers, Ka Rene, Linda and Bajekjek, who, inspired by Gandhi’s protest march, journey on foot for two months from their mountain village in Bukidnon to the presidential palace in Manila.

It is a gruelling 1,700 kilometer journey through scorching heat, rains, fatigue, and great uncertainty. After weeks of walking, the farmers reach Manila, rally at the corporate offices of San Miguel, confront the agrarian reform secretary and grapple with anti-riot police before finally meeting the President.

The second part tells the story of the sugarcane workers from Negros. When the landowner’s armed guards kill one of the farmers in 2007, Chay Lindy, Chay Gamay, and Chay Biray go on a harrowing 29-day hunger strike with other farmers on the steps of the agrarian reform office in Manila. The hunger strike results in victory for the farmers until the film ends in a shocking climax.

Lupang Hinarang is a timely documentary set against ongoing debates in Congress to extend and reform CARP (CARPer) or to kill it.

When: March 12 (Thursday); 12nn - 2pm

Where: Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law

Meet the farmers and the filmmaker in the open forum which will be held after the screening.

Text 09175345373 for ticket inquiries. Limited seating available so please come early.

A minimum donation of P100 will be greatly appreciated.

Brought to you by the UP Law Student Government.

About the filmmaker

Ditsi Carolino studied documentary filmmaking at the National Film and Television School in England. “Riles: Life on the Tracks” (2002) an intimate portrait of a couple who live in the slums of Manila, is her graduation film. Riles: Life on the Tracks screened in many film festivals, won the Royal Television Award for Best Student Factual Film in the UK, Best Documentary at the CineManila International Film Festival, and was subsequently acquired for broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Nick Fraser of the BBC Storyville says of the film, “Through a semi-comedic device, Ditsi is able to paint a picture of survival in the Philippines… a charming, and somehow encouraging film – it celebrates ingenuity, and it’s very watchable.”

In 2004 “Bunso” (The Youngest), her film about kids in jail in the Philippines won Best Director at the One World International Film Festival, the Youth Jury Prize in Perspektiv: Human Rights Film Festival in Nuremberg and the Grand Prize at the EBS IFF in Seoul with IDFA’s Ally Derks as jury chair, and Trinh Minh Ha as member. This film was used extensively by a network of child rights advocates and was instrumental in the passage of the juvenile justice bill in the Philippines. In 2005, Ditsi got a grant from the Asian Cultural Council / Rockefellers Brothers Fund to explore the documentary scene in New York City for 6 months. She is now based in Manila, working on a film about landless peasants.

Unmasking the Myth of Reciprocity: A Forum on the VFA

2009-03-01T06:28:00.000+08:00

The National Union of People's Lawyers and the Junk the VFA Movement in cooperation with the UP Law Student Government

present

UNMASKING THE MYTH OF RECIPROCITY:
A Forum on the Visiting Forces Agreement

speakers include Sen. KIKO PANGILINAN and Dean PACIFICO AGABIN

March 3, 2009, 1-4 pm, Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law

congrats to the new LSG officers; thank you from the current LSG Executive Board

2009-02-26T02:34:00.000+08:00

Dear friends and fellow law students,

As of 8:30 p.m. last night, we elected a new set of officers in the Law Student Government.* This ushers in a new era in Malcolm Hall, with a new Constitution and with more LSG officers to serve the students and the College.

Elected into office are the following:

Justin Vincent "JV" La Chica
President

James Daniel "James" Donato
Vice President

Francesca Noelle "Cesca" Huang
Secretary

Joseph Cristopher "Chris" Fernandez
Treasurer

Raymond Marvic "Ice" Baguilat
PRO

Maria Cristina "Shamby" Yambot
College Rep to the USC

Krizelle Marie "Krizelle" Poblacion
Danilo "Dan" Sebollena Jr.
4th year reps

Anna Maria Vinzons "Anna" Chato
Ma. Florence Therese "Chingkay" Martirez
3rd year reps

James Anthony "Tonton" Mina
Juan Antonio "Tonyboy" Oposa
2nd year reps

Darwin "Darwin" Angeles
Evening rep

*First year reps to be elected at the start of the next academic year.

Congratulations to the new LSG Central Board. Good luck and may you have a successful and productive year ahead!

On behalf of the current LSG Executive Board, our sincerest thank you to everyone for all the help and support throughout the year. It has been one hell of a journey. Tiring and frustrating at times, but fulfilling nevertheless. If we failed to meet your expectations, we apologize. We'll do our best in the remaining days in office to try to achieve what we have set out to do. Please continue supporting the new set of officers.

Again, maraming maraming salamat.

UP LSG EB 08-09. Jobert. Arianne. Bernice. Aaron. Janette. Sop.

--
Michael Jobert I. Navallo
Outgoing President, Law Student Government
University of the Philippines College of Law
Mobile: 09277930026
Landline: 410-0137
E-mail: jobertn@gmail.com

Sectoral Representation: A Forum to Consolidate Efforts to Amend the Party-list System

2009-02-24T15:50:00.000+08:00

Start:	Feb 26, '09 1:00p
End:	Feb 26, '09 4:00p
Location:	UP COLLEGE OF LAW, AMBION ROOM

With:

Prof. Bobby Tuazon
Director of Policy Study, Publication and Advocacy, Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), which conducted a 10-year Assessment of the Party-List System in the Philippines

Dr. Edna Co
Associate Professor, UP National College of Public Administration and Governance; member of the Philippine Democracy Assessment Team on Free and Fair Elections and the Democratic Role of Political Parties;

Atty. Christian Monsod
Delegate to the 1986 Constitutional Commission and co-sponsor of the party-list provision in the 1987 Constitution and a Representative from the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms of the House of Representatives

it's official: HOLIDAY on MONDAY (for schools only)

2009-02-20T05:33:00.000+08:00

Proclamation 1728 (Declaring February 23, 2009 as Special Holiday for All Schools)

MALACAÑANG
MANILA

PROCLAMATION NO. 1728

DECLARING FEBRUARY 23, 2009 (MONDAY) AS A SPECIAL HOLIDAY FOR ALL SCHOOLS IN OBSERVANCE OF THE 23rd ANNIVERSARY OF THE EDSA PEOPLE POWER REVOLUTION

WHEREAS, this year marks the 23rd anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution;

WHEREAS, the historic event which restored and ushered political, social and economic reforms in the country, serves as an inspiration to Filipinos everywhere as we continue to chart our collective effort as a nation and as a people;

WHEREAS, it is but fitting that the entire Filipino nation be given the opportunity to observe this milestone in our country’s history;

NOW, THREFORE, I, EDUARDO R. ERMITA, Executive Secretary, by order of Her Excellency, PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, do hereby declare February 23, 2009 (Monday) as a special holiday for all private and public schools at all levels throughout the country.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 19th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Nine.

By order of the President:

(Sgd.) EDUARDO R. ERMITA
Executive Secretary

too bad may hearing ako. at wala talaga akong pasok ng monday.

OPEN LETTER ON COLLEGE SECURITY AND SAFETY CONCERNS

2009-02-04T21:48:00.002+08:00

At around lunchtime on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, an Upsilonian was attacked by two fellow-UP students while he was attending class inside the Very Large Classroom of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering building. According to his brods, the victim was hit on the head by lead pipes, causing injuries which require confinement for several days. The assailants managed to escape despite security presence but were allegedly identified to be members of Sigma Rho Fraternity.

The incident followed several weeks of rumors that an on-going frat war exists between Sigma Rho and Upsilon. Until the incident last week, both frats denied any hostilities between them.

To prevent further escalation of tension and in view of the fact that the two frats have substantial membership in the college, the Dean's Office has temporarily banned non-law students from entering the premises of the college, from last Saturday until the next few days. Security personnel will inspect IDs and strictly implement the NO ID NO ENTRY policy. Police officers will also continue to be detailed in different areas of the Law Complex.

This is apart from the Memorandum issued by the College Secretary on 23 January 2009 prohibiting non-law students and strangers from loitering within the UP Law Complex. The Memorandum was meant to address concerns from some students that quite a number of non-law students have been frequenting the college. Some students complained of parking problems while others claimed to have been intimidated by the mere presence of a group of unfamiliar faces along the walkways. There is also the fear that attacks, similar to what happened at EEE, might take place inside the classrooms—a reasonable fear given previous incidents in the college.

In response to measures from the College Admin to ensure the security and safety of everyone in the Complex, we at the Law Student Government Executive Board echo the call for sobriety and cooperation.

We call on our fellow students to be vigilant and to report any suspicious behavior. Please WEAR YOUR ID at all times. This is to assist security personnel in ensuring that only those with official business in the college will roam the halls of the complex.

We call on the frats concerned to AVOID TAKING ANY FURTHER STEPS THAT MIGHT PROVOKE UNNECESSARY VIOLENCE. We understand that a truce has been reached; our challenge is for you to live up to your word. If, at all, the urge to hurt each other is uncontrollable, please spare innocent students from the wrath of your vengeance. Please do not compromise our security with a show of your machismo.

We call on the heads of Sigma Rho and Upsilon as well as those of the other frats to POLICE YOUR RANKS. As law students, we should be first in making sure that the laws are followed by those over whom we exercise moral authority. We call on alumni brods of these fraternities, including professors in the college, to exercise your influence over your resident brods. Please do not encourage nor condone irresponsible and criminal behavior.

We call on the UP Administration to MOVE QUICKLY TO INVESTIGATE THE EEE INCIDENT AND ALL PREVIOUS CASES OF FRATERNITY-RELATED VIOLENCE. Let us not give aggrieved parties an excuse to retaliate solely on the basis of a perceived lack of action.

The LSG EB CONDEMNS ALL ACTS OF SENSELESS VIOLENCE, whether within our college or outside. There is simply no excuse for committing a crime, moreso, if law students, supposedly learned in the law and presumably law-abiding citizens, are involved.

The security and safety of the students, both affiliated and unaffiliated, is our primary concern. Let's do our part to end this cycle of violence. We've heard it said before, we are saying it now and we will continue to do so until our goal is met: END THE VIOLENCE. It's time to grow up.

LAW STUDENT GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE BOARD 08-09

new number: 09277930026

2009-02-03T22:22:00.002+08:00

hi! i lost my phone to a pickpocket while on my way home last night. gone along with it are your contact numbers and messages. i'm now in the process of trying to move on hehe. so here's my new number: 09277930026. please text me so i can store your number. thanks!

--
Michael Jobert I. Navallo
President, Law Student Government
University of the Philippines College of Law
Mobile: 09277930026
Landline: 410-0137
E-mail: jobertn@gmail.com

incommunicado

2009-02-02T15:37:00.000+08:00

i lost my phone to a pickpocket while on my way home tonight. stupid me.

even more stupid, i decided to rely on good faith and texted my phone to plead to the pickpocket to please return my SIM card. that, of course, was an exercise in futility because the pickpocket turned the phone off when i tried calling. poor SIM must be lying around somewhere in katipunan.

so i'm incommunicado for the meantime. send me an email at jobertn@gmail.com if you need anything. better if you give me your number too so i can start rebuilding my contacts. will text you as soon as i get a new number.

hay, bakit ngayon pa!

sell-out

2009-02-01T19:22:00.000+08:00

i've succumbed to facebook! actually, i reactivated my account just so i can invite more people to vote in the UP Law Students' Constitution Plebiscite, Feb. 2-4, 2008, Student Lounge. pathetic, i know, but i'm desperate haha.

IMPT: OPEN LETTER ON THE NEW UP LAW STUDENTS' CONSTITUTION PLEBISCITE

2009-01-30T00:25:00.001+08:00

Dear fellow students of the law,

Last Sunday, 25 January 2009, members of the Law Student Government Executive Board, General Assembly and Electoral and Judicial Tribunal met for the last time to finalize amendments to the current Law Student Government (approved in 2005). The amendments have been in the offing for the past two years, propelled by the need to have a more efficient representation, to address loopholes in the law, and to meet contingencies, such as the impending de-blocking next year.

We are proposing major changes for your consideration:

2005 Law Student Government Constitution

2009 Law Students' Constitution

LSG is composed of three bodies:

EXECUTIVE BOARD – duly elected representatives (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer and College Rep to the University Student Council)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY – composed of the heads of the 19 blocks in the college; decides matters of policy

ELECTORAL & JUDICIAL TRIBUNAL – oversees the conduct of elections and impeachment proceedings

LSG will be composed of only two bodies:

CENTRAL BOARD – duly elected representatives (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer, College Rep to the University Student Council, 2 reps from each of the year levels and 2 reps from the evening blocks) who will now exercise both executive and legislative functions

ELECTORAL & JUDICIAL TRIBUNAL – composed of fifteen (15) commissioners (transitionally 7), chosen mainly on the basis of character and competence to serve as overseers of elections and impeachment proceedings and decide other actual controversies with regard to the Constitution

In addition:

ORGANIZATIONAL AFFAIRS BOARD – Constitutional body composed of representatives of different organizations in the college

ACADEMIC REFORMS COMMITTEE – standing committee under the Executive Board tasked to propose changes in the curriculum

NATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE – standing committee under the Executive Board whose main objective is to develop social awareness and public responsibility among students of the college

In addition:

BAR OPERATIONS COMMISSION – now a Constitutional commission which will no longer be headed by the Vice President but will be led by a Commissioner appointed by the President at the end of the first semester.

ACADEMIC REFORMS COMMISSION – now a Constitutional commission which will serve as the students' voice in the formulation and implementation of academic and administrative policies and regulations

The ORGANIZATIONAL AFFAIRS BOARD, now the ORGANIZATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, will be under the PRO.

The NATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, now the PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, will be under the Vice President.

Why the changes?

1. From GA to Year Level Representatives: Merging of the functions of GA and EB in the Central Board

a. In view of the impending de-blocking next year, it will be very difficult to constitute the General Assembly. Hence, in place of block representatives, we will be electing two representatives from first year to fourth year with the evening sections entitled to their own two representatives.

b. The proposed structure will be more efficient and effective since it will mean more people helping out in the activities of the Central Board. At the same time, coordination will be faster since the year level representatives are part of the Central Board. This will balance the need to consult students without sacrificing the timeliness and speed by which consultations must be done.

c. Since the year level representatives are elected, they will be accountable to the electorate and will be subject to impeachment should they fail to perform their functions, unlike in the present GA where no sanctions could be imposed on block presidents who do not attend meetings.

2. Composition of the EJT

The EJT, being an independent, non-representative body, will no longer be composed of representatives from the different blocks. The fifteen (15) commissioners will be selected from EJT's roster of volunteers on the basis of character and competence, and will continue to serve as such as long as they remain qualified. To ensure its independence, in no case shall a majority of the members at any given time belong to the same student organization, fraternity or sorority.

3. The Law Representative

a. The Law Representative may be a creature of the USC Constitution but we are giving him ex-officio membership in our Central Board so that he will be bound by the decisions of the board when he votes in the USC.

b. However, we are subjecting him to the impositions of our Constitution and we maintain that violations of the terms of our Constitution will merit disciplinary measures therein provided.

c. We further maintain that removal of the Law Rep for grounds under our Constitution effectively deprives him of the right to hold office as Law Rep regardless of what the USC Constitution says. His mandate comes from this College and as such, this college can relinquish such bestowed mandate.

4. The Independence of the Bar Operations Commission

Under the current Constitution, the elected Vice President becomes Bar Operations Head. Since elections are not held until February, this means that preparations for the Bar will only start late February or early March. There is a need to hasten the process from October to February. Hence, under the proposed Constitution, the LSG President will now be given the power to appoint a Bar Operations Commissioner at the end of the first semester on the basis of a shortlist prepared by the Bar Operations Commissioner with the concurrence of the graduating class. This will:

a. Ensure that preparations for the Bar Exams will start early

b. Bar Operations Commissioner will be elected but will come from the volunteers, who are presumed to be familiar with the system and who will earn the post on the basis of competence and merit.

c. The required concurrence of the graduating class will give them more power as to their choice of Bar Operations Commissioner.

The foregoing is just a summary of the proposed changes to the Constitution. Please take time to read the present and the proposed Constitution attached below.

Why vote?

We cannot overemphasize the importance of ratifying the new Law Students' Constitution. As the very title of the text suggests, this is OUR Constitution, the very document that will govern our student representation in this college. Faced with an almost certain de-blocking next year, we must make sure that our Constitution is flexible enough to meet the exigencies of the times, whether or not this development will indeed push through. (Now whether or not we are in favor of the de-blocking is a different matter altogether. For that, we will have to consolidate our stand in the coming days, even as the Dean claims it is the college administration's prerogative.)

This is also our chance to introduce improvements in the Law Student Government to make it a more relevant, effective, efficient and representative institution, responsive to the needs of its constituents.

With that said, please VOTE in the upcoming plebiscite, MONDAY to WEDNESDAY next week, FEBRUARY 2-4, 2009, at the STUDENT LOUNGE.

Voting schedule is as follows:

February 2, 2009, MONDAY: 10am to 6pm

February 3, 2009, TUESDAY: 10am to 6pm

February 4, 2009, WEDNESDAY: 10am to 9pm

Should you have problems with the schedule, please inform us so we can ask the EJT to adjust the time.

Thank you. We look forward to your full participation. Feel free to forward and repost this message.

In the service of the students,

Law Student Government Executive Board 08-09

--
Michael Jobert I. Navallo
President, Law Student Government
University of the Philippines College of Law
Mobile: +639279704899 / +639233330885
Landline: 410-0137
E-mail: jobertn@gmail.com

what your name means

2009-01-25T17:35:00.000+08:00

got this from: http://www.paulsadowski.com/NameData.asp

i don't believe in numerology but i just got curious. funny some are true, but the thing about me liking business just doesn't seem to fit. the business page is the only section in the newspaper i don't read. hence, i think i will have a hard time in commercial law come bar exams. lagot!

You entered: michael jobert iral navallo

There are 24 letters in your name.
Those 24 letters total to 103
There are 10 vowels and 14 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:

Shakespearean	Male	'King Henry IV, Part 1' Sir Michael, a friend to the Archbishop of York. 'Henry VI, Part 2' Michael and his company are followers of Jack Cade, a rebel.
Hebrew	Male	Who is like God? Gift from God. In the Bible, St. Michael was the conqueror of Satan and patron saint of soldiers.
Biblical	Male	Poor; humble

Your number is: 4

The characteristics of #4 are: A foundation, order, service, struggle against limits, steady growth.

The expression or destiny for #4:
Order, service, and management are the cornerstones of the number 4 Expression. Your destiny is to express wonderful organization skills with your ever practical, down-to-earth approach. You are the kind of person who is always willing to work those long, hard hours to push a project through to completion. A patience with detail allows you to become expert in fields such as building, engineering, and all forms of craftsmanship. Your abilities to write and teach may lean toward the more technical and detailed. In the arts, music will likely be your choice. Artistic talents may also appear in such fields as horticulture and floral arrangement, as well. Many skilled physicians and especially surgeons have the 4 Expression.

The positive attitudes of the 4 Expression yield responsibility; you are one who no doubt, fulfills obligations, and is highly systematic and orderly. You are serious and sincere, honest and faithful. It is your role to help and you are required to do a good job at everything you undertake.

If there is too much 4 energies present in your makeup, you may express some of the negative attitudes of the number 4. The obligations that you face may tend to create frustration and feelings of limitation or restriction. You may sometimes find yourself nursing negative attitudes in this regard and these can keep you in a rather low mood. Avoid becoming too rigid, stubborn, dogmatic, and fixed in your opinions. You may have a tendency to develop and hold very strong likes and dislikes, and some of these may border on the classification of prejudice. The negative side of 4 often produces dominant and bossy individuals who use disciplinarian to an excess. These tendencies must be avoided. Finally, like nearly all with 4 Expression, you must keep your eye on the big picture and not get overly wrapped up in detail and routine.

Your Soul Urge number is: 8

A Soul Urge number of 8 means:
With an 8 soul urge, you have a natural flair for big business and the challenges imposed by the commercial world. Power, status and success are very important to you. You have strong urges to supervise, organize and lead. Material desires are also very pronounced. You have good executive abilities, and with these, confidence, energy and ambition.

Your mind is analytical and judgment sound; you're a good judge of material values and also human character. Self-controlled, you rarely let emotions cloud judgment. You are somewhat of an organizer at heart, and you like to keep those beneath you organized and on a proper track. This is a personality that wants to lead, not follow. You want to be known for your planning ability and solid judgment.

The negative aspects of the 8 soul urge are the often dominating and exacting attitude. You may have a tendency to be very rigid, sometimes stubborn.

Your Inner Dream number is: 5

An Inner Dream number of 5 means:
You dream of being totally free and unrestrained by responsibility. You see yourself conversing and mingling with the natives in many nations, living for adventure and life experiences. You imagine what you might accomplished.

And Then They Came For Me

2009-01-20T05:57:00.001+08:00

The text below was written by a Sri Lankan editor shortly before his assassination in Colombo on January 8 and was published posthumously. Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor of the The Sunday Leader, was an outspoken critic of the Sri Lankan government whose president, incidentally, is his close friend. Inspiring tale about friendship, patriotism and selflessness.

This article strikes me not only because the author knew death was forthcoming, but also because Wickrematunga was a lawyer who chose to be a journalist. He knew he could have lived a far better life had he chosen to practice law but he was brave enough to make the choice.

I read this at a time of recruitment dinners with big firms. I attended one last night; two more are coming. Despite promises of excellent training, big bucks and a bright career ahead, I'm tempted to just run away from all of these, start all over again and do something which I could be passionate about, something I don't consider work because I actually enjoy doing it Crazy decision, especially when graduation is just three months away and getting invited to recruitment dinners is something only law students can dream about.

Reading this only reinforces that state of confusion in my mind, which my blockmates call 'na-jo-jobert.' I've been in this mode for the past four years. Unlike Lasantha however, I'm not brave enough to make the choice. And that's the tragedy of my life.

“And then they came for me” by Lasantha Wickrematunga

No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honour to belong to all those categories and now especially the last.

I have been in the business of journalism a good long time. Indeed, 2009 will be The Sunday Leader’s 15th year. Many things have changed in Sri Lanka during that time, and it does not need me to tell you that the greater part of that change has been for the worse. We find ourselves in the midst of a civil war ruthlessly prosecuted by protagonists whose bloodlust knows no bounds. Terror, whether perpetrated by terrorists or the state, has become the order of the day. Indeed, murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges. For neither group have the risks ever been higher or the stakes lower.

Why then do we do it? I often wonder that. After all, I too am a husband, and the father of three wonderful children. I too have responsibilities and obligations that transcend my profession, be it the law or journalism. Is it worth the risk? Many people tell me it is not. Friends tell me to revert to the bar, and goodness knows it offers a better and safer livelihood. Others, including political leaders on both sides, have at various times sought to induce me to take to politics, going so far as to offer me ministries of my choice. Diplomats, recognising the risk journalists face in Sri Lanka, have offered me safe passage and the right of residence in their countries. Whatever else I may have been stuck for, I have not been stuck for choice.

But there is a calling that is yet above high office, fame, lucre and security. It is the call of conscience.

The Sunday Leader has been a controversial newspaper because we say it like we see it: whether it be a spade, a thief or a murderer, we call it by that name. We do not hide behind euphemism. The investigative articles we print are supported by documentary evidence thanks to the public-spiritedness of citizens who at great risk to themselves pass on this material to us. We have exposed scandal after scandal, and never once in these 15 years has anyone proved us wrong or successfully prosecuted us.

The free media serve as a mirror in which the public can see itself sans mascara and styling gel. From us you learn the state of your nation, and especially its management by the people you elected to give your children a better future. Sometimes the image you see in that mirror is not a pleasant one. But while you may grumble in the privacy of your armchair, the journalists who hold the mirror up to you do so publicly and at great risk to themselves. That is our calling, and we do not shirk it.

Every newspaper has its angle, and we do not hide the fact that we have ours. Our commitment is to see Sri Lanka as a transparent, secular, liberal democracy. Think about those words, for they each has profound meaning. Transparent because government must be openly accountable to the people and never abuse their trust. Secular because in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society such as ours, secularism offers the only common ground by which we might all be united. Liberal because we recognise that all human beings are created different, and we need to accept others for what they are and not what we would like them to be. And democratic… well, if you need me to explain why that is important, you’d best stop buying this paper.

The Sunday Leader has never sought safety by unquestioningly articulating the majority view. Let’s face it, that is the way to sell newspapers. On the contrary, as our opinion pieces over the years amply demonstrate, we often voice ideas that many people find distasteful. For example, we have consistently espoused the view that while separatist terrorism must be eradicated, it is more important to address the root causes of terrorism, and urged government to view Sri Lanka’s ethnic strife in the context of history and not through the telescope of terrorism. We have also agitated against state terrorism in the so-called war against terror, and made no secret of our horror that Sri Lanka is the only country in the world routinely to bomb its own citizens. For these views we have been labelled traitors, and if this be treachery, we wear that label proudly.

Many people suspect that The Sunday Leader has a political agenda: it does not. If we appear more critical of the government than of the opposition it is only because we believe that - pray excuse cricketing argot - there is no point in bowling to the fielding side. Remember that for the few years of our existence in which the UNP was in office, we proved to be the biggest thorn in its flesh, exposing excess and corruption wherever it occurred. Indeed, the steady stream of embarrassing exposés we published may well have served to precipitate the downfall of that government.

Neither should our distaste for the war be interpreted to mean that we support the Tigers. The LTTE are among the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations ever to have infested the planet. There is no gainsaying that it must be eradicated. But to do so by violating the rights of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting them mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames the Sinhalese, whose claim to be custodians of the dhamma is forever called into question by this savagery, much of which is unknown to the public because of censorship.

What is more, a military occupation of the country’s north and east will require the Tamil people of those regions to live eternally as second-class citizens, deprived of all self respect. Do not imagine that you can placate them by showering “development” and “reconstruction” on them in the post-war era. The wounds of war will scar them forever, and you will also have an even more bitter and hateful Diaspora to contend with. A problem amenable to a political solution will thus become a festering wound that will yield strife for all eternity. If I seem angry and frustrated, it is only because most of my countrymen - and all of the government - cannot see this writing so plainly on the wall.

It is well known that I was on two occasions brutally assaulted, while on another my house was sprayed with machine-gun fire. Despite the government’s sanctimonious assurances, there was never a serious police inquiry into the perpetrators of these attacks, and the attackers were never apprehended. In all these cases, I have reason to believe the attacks were inspired by the government. When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.

The irony in this is that, unknown to most of the public, Mahinda and I have been friends for more than a quarter century. Indeed, I suspect that I am one of the few people remaining who routinely addresses him by his first name and uses the familiar Sinhala address oya when talking to him. Although I do not attend the meetings he periodically holds for newspaper editors, hardly a month passes when we do not meet, privately or with a few close friends present, late at night at President’s House. There we swap yarns, discuss politics and joke about the good old days. A few remarks to him would therefore be in order here.

Mahinda, when you finally fought your way to the SLFP presidential nomination in 2005, nowhere were you welcomed more warmly than in this column. Indeed, we broke with a decade of tradition by referring to you throughout by your first name. So well known were your commitments to human rights and liberal values that we ushered you in like a breath of fresh air. Then, through an act of folly, you got yourself involved in the Helping Hambantota scandal. It was after a lot of soul-searching that we broke the story, at the same time urging you to return the money. By the time you did so several weeks later, a great blow had been struck to your reputation. It is one you are still trying to live down.

You have told me yourself that you were not greedy for the presidency. You did not have to hanker after it: it fell into your lap. You have told me that your sons are your greatest joy, and that you love spending time with them, leaving your brothers to operate the machinery of state. Now, it is clear to all who will see that that machinery has operated so well that my sons and daughter do not themselves have a father.

In the wake of my death I know you will make all the usual sanctimonious noises and call upon the police to hold a swift and thorough inquiry. But like all the inquiries you have ordered in the past, nothing will come of this one, too. For truth be told, we both know who will be behind my death, but dare not call his name. Not just my life, but yours too, depends on it.

Sadly, for all the dreams you had for our country in your younger days, in just three years you have reduced it to rubble. In the name of patriotism you have trampled on human rights, nurtured unbridled corruption and squandered public money like no other President before you. Indeed, your conduct has been like a small child suddenly let loose in a toyshop. That analogy is perhaps inapt because no child could have caused so much blood to be spilled on this land as you have, or trampled on the rights of its citizens as you do. Although you are now so drunk with power that you cannot see it, you will come to regret your sons having so rich an inheritance of blood. It can only bring tragedy. As for me, it is with a clear conscience that I go to meet my Maker. I wish, when your time finally comes, you could do the same. I wish.

As for me, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I walked tall and bowed to no man. And I have not travelled this journey alone. Fellow journalists in other branches of the media walked with me: most of them are now dead, imprisoned without trial or exiled in far-off lands. Others walk in the shadow of death that your Presidency has cast on the freedoms for which you once fought so hard. You will never be allowed to forget that my death took place under your watch. As anguished as I know you will be, I also know that you will have no choice but to protect my killers: you will see to it that the guilty one is never convicted. You have no choice. I feel sorry for you, and Shiranthi will have a long time to spend on her knees when next she goes for Confession for it is not just her owns sins which she must confess, but those of her extended family that keeps you in office.

As for the readers of The Sunday Leader, what can I say but Thank You for supporting our mission. We have espoused unpopular causes, stood up for those too feeble to stand up for themselves, locked horns with the high and mighty so swollen with power that they have forgotten their roots, exposed corruption and the waste of your hard-earned tax rupees, and made sure that whatever the propaganda of the day, you were allowed to hear a contrary view. For this I - and my family - have now paid the price that I have long known I will one day have to pay. I am - and have always been - ready for that. I have done nothing to prevent this outcome: no security, no precautions. I want my murderer to know that I am not a coward like he is, hiding behind human shields while condemning thousands of innocents to death. What am I among so many? It has long been written that my life would be taken, and by whom. All that remains to be written is when.

That The Sunday Leader will continue fighting the good fight, too, is written. For I did not fight this fight alone. Many more of us have to be - and will be - killed before The Leader is laid to rest. I hope my assassination will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration for those who survive to step up their efforts. Indeed, I hope that it will help galvanise forces that will usher in a new era of human liberty in our beloved motherland. I also hope it will open the eyes of your President to the fact that however many are slaughtered in the name of patriotism, the human spirit will endure and flourish. Not all the Rajapakses combined can kill that.

People often ask me why I take such risks and tell me it is a matter of time before I am bumped off. Of course I know that: it is inevitable. But if we do not speak out now, there will be no one left to speak for those who cannot, whether they be ethnic minorities, the disadvantaged or the persecuted. An example that has inspired me throughout my career in journalism has been that of the German theologian, Martin Niemöller. In his youth he was an anti-Semite and an admirer of Hitler. As Nazism took hold in Germany, however, he saw Nazism for what it was: it was not just the Jews Hitler sought to extirpate, it was just about anyone with an alternate point of view. Niemöller spoke out, and for his trouble was incarcerated in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1937 to 1945, and very nearly executed. While incarcerated, Niemöller wrote a poem that, from the first time I read it in my teenage years, stuck hauntingly in my mind:

First they came for the Jews

and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists

and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left to speak out for me.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: The Leader is there for you, be you Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, low-caste, homosexual, dissident or disabled. Its staff will fight on, unbowed and unafraid, with the courage to which you have become accustomed. Do not take that commitment for granted. Let there be no doubt that whatever sacrifices we journalists make, they are not made for our own glory or enrichment: they are made for you. Whether you deserve their sacrifice is another matter. As for me, God knows I tried.

A CALL TO RESPECT THE ELECTORATE

2009-01-15T18:15:00.000+08:00

In a statement released last week by the student council of the UPD College of Mass Communication (CMC-SC), it was said that:

“Also, these colleges with amendments were asked to show the body the quantitative and qualitative data of the consultations they said to have made. As transparency was requested, they refused to show any data. A representative of the Law Student Government even admitted they did not hold consultations with the students of the said college, citing constraints in schedule. We ask: if these amendments did not come from a consensus from the students, how can democracy be ensured, then.”

We feel that we need to respond to this and clarify the matter as there are insinuations of non-transparency and non-consultation. We do this not for the benefit of the CMC-SC (because we owe it no explanation), but for the benefit of our constituents in the College of Law.

First. There is no single way of conducting a consultation. Given the block system in our college, it has always been customary practice for the LSG EB to conduct its consultations through the General Assembly of Representatives (GA)—a body composed of block presidents—and for the latter to present its concerns to the former, simply because this symbiosis has proven to be most efficient and expedient.

Last December, the LSG conducted its consultation by circulating a primer on the Office of the Student Regent (OSR) and Codified Rules on Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) prepared by the Law Representative, as well as the primer and open letter released by the incumbent Student Regent. The GA representatives were then asked to discuss the matter with their respective blocks and to submit to the EB any proposal that they may have to amend the CRSRS of 2007. None of the blocks were able to submit any proposal, so when we reported to the SR, we specifically indicated that there were no direct proposals from the blocks, but there were proposals coming from the EB itself. There is nothing unusual about this. As an EB, we are authorized under the LSG Constitution to represent the students in all matters affecting student rights and welfare. And as students, we, too, have a right to suggest rules that would eventually govern the selection of our student regent.

It is true that the EB was unable to conduct room-to-room (RTR) discussions, as it had originally planned, because of constraints in time and our individual schedules. But as pointed out above, our standard consultation practice has always been through the GA. Whether or not such will be supplemented with RTR discussions is discretionary. Even so, the LSG Secretary did notify the GA representatives that members of the EB would be willing to discuss the issue/s further in their classes should their blocks request us to do so.

No student council has a monopoly on the best way to consult its constituents. And if our own constituents point out the flaws in the way our consultation was done, we will acknowledge them and consider alternative ways to consult. But it is not for one student council to dismiss the efforts of another simply because of differences in method. Invoking the presumption of regularity is not a tactic to evade transparency; it is a presumption born out of respect for and a belief, in good faith, that each council conducted its consultations as sincerely as it could.

Second. “Consensus” and “majority” are not preconditions to a valid proposal of an amendment to the CRSRS. The CMC-SC asks, “if these amendments did not come from a consensus from the students, how can democracy be ensured, then.” Without even going into why democracy is not synonymous with consensus, we wish to point out that this question proceeds from a false premise: i.e., that an amendment must be proposed by a majority before it can be considered by the LSG, or by the GASC. Nowhere in our history, not even in the CRSRS of 2007, is there such a requirement. Please note that there is a difference between a proposal and its resolution. The former does not require a majority or any number for it to be validly made, but the latter does, which is why we have voting requirements whenever we hold the GASC. Deliberative bodies like Congress, and boards of both public and private corporations, do not require majority of its members to propose a matter before they deliberate upon it.

Third. Assuming without conceding that the amendments we proposed are “invalid” for having been “invalidly” done, there are still valid proposals from other student councils, other students. Including the proposals in the referendum is not equivalent to passing upon its merits, because that is precisely what the students will be deciding for themselves on January 26-29. Our point was simply to subject ALL the proposals, including the CRSRS of 2007, to the students’ vote. Thus, we suggested that the phrasing of the question be: "Which proposal do you think should govern the selection of the next SR?", and that the answers be "Proposal A (CRSRS of 2007), Proposal B (CRSRS of 2007, as amended by Student Council X), Proposal C (CRSRS of 2007, as amended by Student Council Y), Proposal D (CRSRS of 2007, as amended by Student Council Z)..." and so on. There are other ways to present the question, but it is clear that the referendum question, as it is currently worded, is oversimplified.

Obviously, a broader phrasing of the question would not foreclose the possibility of the CRSRS of 2007 being ratified through and through; thus, this should even be seen by its proponents as a chance to be vindicated.

To “unite” and ensure the approval of the CRSRS of 2007 now and to push for amendments later, may sound like a good compromise, but it is unlikely to happen. Because assuming the referendum (with its current phrasing of the question) does proceed and it succeeds, would it not be disrespectful for the GASC to immediately amend a set of rules that has been ratified by majority of the UP students?

We do not see how an expansion of the referendum question can threaten the OSR. The point is to have alternatives presented to the student body so that the Office may be strengthened and be made more credible. If there is anything we all agree on, it is that conducting a referendum is logistically and financially taxing. But since we have resolved to “rise to the challenge”, we must make sure that our undertaking is properly done. Why insist on taking short cuts when we already have the chance to maximize direct student participation?

Clearly, the danger of a failed referendum comes from the narrow and oversimplified phrasing of the question. By limiting the answer to a YES or NO, the issue has been severely slanted to appear as either an affirmation or rejection of the OSR, when the question does not even have to be answerable by a mere yes/no to begin with. A vote of yes/no only amounts to approving/disapproving the CRSRS of 2007, and not the OSR itself, because the law and jurisprudence provide for mechanisms to ensure that the OSR will not be vacant. Thus, it is patently dishonest to claim that if the CRSRS is not approved, we will have no SR, or that we will be at the mercy of a Malacañang appointee (see Referendum FAQs).

All these limiting of choices, the silencing of the minority, remind us of the dictum of an extremely conservative, right-wing leader—that “there is no alternative”.

But there are alternatives, and we call on our SR to allow us some options. There is no better way to ensure the failure of a referendum than by pushing a reasonable electorate up against a wall.

- The Executive Board, UP Law Student Government 2008-2009

15 January 2008

Choose to Know MANIFESTO OF PROTEST AND APPEAL

2009-01-15T15:02:00.000+08:00

MANIFESTO OF PROTEST AND APPEAL

To the Memorandum of Student Regent Shahana Abdulwahid

dated 9 January 2009

We, the undersigned students, student organizations, and student councils, write this letter in protest to and as an appeal from the decision of Student Regent (SR) Shahana Abdulwahid released last 30 December 2008, limiting the referendum question only to the following:

"Do you approve of the existing Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) as rules and qualifications to govern the selection of our student representative to the UP Board of Regents? YES or NO"

We submit that such a decision is an affront to elementary concepts of democratic consultation and maximum student participation. Considering that the subject of the referendum are no less than the rules and qualifications of the SR, it is highly questionable why the referendum question is oversimplified in its present form, when there are other existing proposals that have yet to be discussed head on in the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC). For example, the following proposals have been recommended and supported by a considerable number of student councils:

1. The inclusion of a minimum academic requirement as a qualification for nomination as SR;

2. The inclusion of an express enumeration of powers and responsibilities of the SR;

3. The democratization of the voting structure of the SR to take into account the relative sizes of the units without sacrificing the interests of smaller UP units;

4. The de-politicization of the SR selection process by deleting in the rules the KASAMA sa UP, a political alliance composed of several student councils; and

5. The rationalization of the selection process by extending the effectivity of the rules to at least 3 years, instead of the current system of annual amendment.

Because of the SR’s decision, the above proposals will not be open for discussion, debate, and ultimately, the vote of the students in the referendum. In effect, the students will be asked to approve or disapprove a set of rules which, in most likelihood, they have not even read in full. For all intents and purposes, the referendum process will only be reduced to a rubber stamp for the status quo, all because the above questions of policy will not be passed on to the students for their scrutiny.

Thus, we appeal to the SR’s better sense of judgment to include the above policy determinations in the referendum ballot. We trust that the SR will recognize and honor the growing call from students for informed and meaningful participation in the SR rules referendum.

In the interest of maximum student participation, we call on the SR, in the sternest manner possible, to let the UP students decide.

Democratize the SR Selection process

In her memorandum, the SR supposed that our “main and urgent task” is to have the CRSRS placed in a referendum. However, we respectfully disagree. It is not our task to simply ratify the CRSRS. More significantly, we are duty-bound to ensure that the process for selection of the SR is most representative of students’ values, and is one done in a most democratic manner. What better way to determine this than to ask the students directly what they want?

We believe it is only in this way can we forge and instill in every UP student a close sense of familiarity with, affinity to, and ownership of the Office of the SR.

Much to our disappointment, proposals to amend the existing CRSRS were only “duly noted but not deliberated on” in the December 19 General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) allegedly because the meeting was “not the proper venue to deliberate on those proposals.” The SR would like us to posit that the meeting was “set purposely to discuss and deliberate on the conduct of the SR Referendum.”

However we ask: how is it logically possible to discuss the conduct or procedure of the referendum when the actual substance of the rules to be subjected to the referendum itself is not settled first? Is it not reasonable that before we discuss how the referendum is held, we should initially deliberate what to ask the students in the referendum?

But since there was neither deliberation nor voting in the GASC, the Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection (CRSRS), the status quo rules, cannot be used in the referendum without honoring the results of earnest consultation efforts resulting in proposed improvements to the rules.

Consultation results must be given due respect

In the GASC it was saddening that the consultation reports and proposals by different student councils were decimated to mere recommendations to the SR.

We respectfully manifest to the SR that there is no sincerer way appreciating the diligent efforts of the student councils who conducted massive and comprehensive consultations through convocations, organizations hopping, room-to-room discussions, surveys, etc. than to make sure that their recommendations will be deliberated on in the body which they were made to believe to be the proper venue for them.

But because the GASC, the highest student council institution under the new UP Charter, was hindered from deciding on the proposals of the student councils, it is but prudent to leave it to the student population itself to decide what they want the SR to be and how they want he or she to be chosen. In force and effect, the soundness and necessity of the proposed amendments ultimately fell on the lap of the students themselves when the student leaders in the GASC were not able to decide on it.

The SR cannot arrogate unto herself this highly delicate power when in the very first place, the opportunity for deliberative discussion with all the student councils, i.e. the December 19 GASC, was available to her.

While we may be able to strip the student leaders of the opportunity to discuss and decide on these proposals, as we have done today, we could never, in conscience, take this basic right away from the students.

Current rules urgently need review

The CRSRS, since it was first adopted in 1997 has had its share of criticisms, and now even the SR “acknowledge[s] that there is indeed a need to review the CRSRS.” To say the least, student leaders for the past decade have been in disagreement as to its provisions. Thus, the referendum comes as a welcome opportunity for student representatives to stop arguing and start asking their constituents—those who they seek to represent—what they want in their student regent.

There is no evil in asking directly what the students want. In fact, we submit that it is the highest form of democracy. Students, nay, UP students are no doubt ready for such a harrowing test of intellect. No amount of maneuvering or quibbling as to logistical or financial difficulty can trump any attempt to obstruct their exercise of their supreme right.

Triumph of technicalities

We appeal the SR not to allow a feeble resort to technicalities of procedure triumph over essential democratic rights.

The UP Charter was passed into law on 29 April 2008. The SR sought the legal opinion of Vice President for Legal Affairs Atty. Theodore Te on September as to the effects of the referendum requirement in the UP Charter. From that time hence, when asked by student councils about when and where the GASC would be, the SR answered that she was still waiting for the legal opinion. The student councils were clearly at a loss, and were under the SR’s sole mercy as to how to proceed.

Direction only came on 7 November 2008 when the SR issued a memorandum enjoining that student councils to conduct consultations as to the SR rules and submit comprehensive reports of such efforts. The student councils nevertheless obliged and submitted to the SR the result of their consultation drives. Only to be surprised in the GASC where voices were silenced by the amplified twaddle of technicalities.

The SR cannot blame, and therefore hold accountable, the student councils for supposing that the December 19 GASC was the proper and only venue in which their proposals would be tackled and discussed. Nowhere in the 7 November and also in the 2 December Memoranda of the SR did she mention that the 19 December GASC would be a special one. Nowhere in the CRSRS or the above memoranda was it mentioned that a special GASC does not have the power to decide on, or even discuss recommendations. The SR’s reliance on Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary Proceedings as to the effect of a special meeting is patently misplaced and uncalled for when the student councils do not even know that there is such a thing as a special GASC.

As guidance to the student councils, the SR should have categorically informed them of the true nature (regular or irregular or special, and its effects) of the December 19 GASC rather than leaving them in the dark. Their reliance in good faith on the SR’s ambiguous representations that the recommendations will be tackled in GASC is enough reason for her to give ample way for deliberation on the amendments.

Moreover, the SR cannot logically and in good faith invoke the 1 October deadline under the CRSRS for proposing amendments. First, the enactment of the UP Charter effectively ended the effectivity of the CRSRS in governing the selection of the student regent. As thus, until such time the said rule is subjected to a referendum, it cannot be used as a basis for imposing an October 1 deadline.

Even assuming that the CRSRS was still binding, the SR’s own actions preclude her from raising the aforementioned deadline. For one, she only posted the CRSRS in the upsc_osr e-group (the SR on-line information dissemination arm) on 3 October 2008, two (2) days later than the deadline. For another, she did not issue a memorandum reminding the student councils of the 1 October deadline, as was customarily done by all previous SRs. And lastly, even the SR herself was unsure of the next step absent the legal opinion of the VP for Legal Affairs. In fact, in her September 19, 2008 memorandum, the Student Regent’s only directive, despite the apparent confusion caused by the law, was to “please stand by for further details;” thus, she could not have reasonably expected the student councils to know more about how to proceed any more than she did.

Critical analysis, collective action, active promotion of students’ rights and welfare—these are what UP students and their leaders are known for through the years. Heedless resort to technicalities has never been one of these defining characteristics.

To reiterate, it becomes clear that the SR could not and should not allow the SCs to be bound by mere technicalities when what is at stake is the substantive right of the students to a democratically chosen representative in the BOR.

Indeed, the polestar of this protest and appeal is the high ideal of basic democracy.

In times when our national leadership is consistently oblivious to the true expression of our people’s aspirations, and when the powers-that-be continue to dominate and mute worthy dissent, there is all the more gripping reason for student leaders in the University of the Philippines, to want to know what the students specifically want in their SR.

Our call—let the students decide

In this referendum, we dare to ask the students to decide for themselves.

We call on the Student Regent to include in the ballot the proposals submitted by various student councils as alternative questions.

We have attached here a copy of the questions that would be subjected in the referendum. We strongly believe that these questions as formed would promote maximum democracy in the selection of our next SR.

We likewise demand that the student regent halt the growing misapprehension that a “no to the CRSRS” is a “no to the OSR.” This campaign borders on misrepresentation and fraud, and would likely result in more divisiveness. The Student Regent, through her consultations with the UP legal office, knows that as a public officer, a failure to appoint or elect the next student regent will result only in a hold-over of the incumbent.

More than a decade of a status quo that is largely unchecked by the students in the exercise of their primary right to be heard through their vote is simply enough. We should welcome, and not repel, the referendum as an opportunity to hear out the students in its purest, and henceforth most compelling, form.

For if we believe otherwise, if we foreclose, actively or even by omission, the opportunity for students to decide and determine delicate questions of policy, then the Office of the Student Regent is surely in need of defense—not from the state, the UP administration or any one else, but from our very own selves.

Signed:

Third Bagro, Chairperson*,
UP Diliman University Student Council (UPD USC)

Jan Robert Go, Chairperson*,
UP Manila University Student Council (UPM USC)

Nasvin Del Rosario, Chairperson*,
UP Visayas Cebu College Student Council (UPV CC SC)

Helena Garcia, Chairperson*,
UP Extension Program in Pampanga Student Council (UPEPP SC)

Rafael Usa, Jr., Chairperson,
UP Visayas Tacloban College Student Council (UPV TC SC)

Jobert Navallo, President,
UPD Law Student Government (UPD LSG)

Maria Christina Langit, Chairperson,
UPM College of Medicine Student Council (UPM Med SC)

Jamie Pring, Chairperson,
UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (UPD CSSP SC)

Christopher Yu, Chairperson,
UPD College of Science Student Council (UPD CS SC)

Iris Siy, Chairperson*,
UPD College of Home Economics Student Council (UPD CHE SC)

Sean Su, Chairperson*,
UPD College of Architecture Student Council (UPD Archi SC)

Juan Antonio Maningat, Chairperson*,
UPD School of Statistics Student Council (UPD SSSC)

Bernica Marquez, Chairperson,
UPD College of Business Administration Student Council (UPD CBA SC)

Noel Ricardo Reyes, Chairperson,
UPD School of Economics Student Council (UPD SE SC)

John Almeda, Chairperson,
UPD Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council (UPD AIT SC)

Sheila Mae Sabalburo, Chairperson,
UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Council (UPD NCPAG SC)

Kriska Tayag, Chairperson,
UPD College Music Student Council (UPD CM SC)

McRhonald Banderlipe, Chairperson*,
UPD School of Labor and Industrial Relations Student Council (UPD SOLAIR SC)

Sophia Monica V. San Luis, Law Representative*
UP Diliman University Student Council (UPD USC)

UPD Law Student Government (UP LSG)

UPM College of Medicine Student Council (UPM Med SC)

UPD College of Engineering Student Council (UPD ESC)

UPD College Music Student Council (UPD CM SC)

UPD College of Business Administration Student Council (UPD CBA SC)

UPD School of Economics Student Council (UPD SE SC)

UPD Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council (UPD AIT SC)

UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Council (UPD NCPAG SC)

UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (UPD CSSP SC)

* Signed in their personal capacity as such

Pass the CARPER Bill Now!

2008-12-16T11:56:00.000+08:00

Statement of the UP Law Student Government Executive Board:

For many people December signifies a month of celebration, of joyous family gatherings and looking forward to seemingly bright futures. But for many farmers all over the country, December signifies uncertainty over the future of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines. Time is of essence what with two more session days to go for the year. If no action is taken over the pending bills which not only extend the funding for CARP (CARPER Bills), but also institute some much-needed reforms, agrarian reform in our country will be left in limbo, it’s status uncertain and its to-be beneficiaries left hanging.

Yesterday, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabilo and at least twenty farmer-leaders began an indefinite hunger strike. While we support such sacrifice, we cannot help but wonder why such means have to be undertaken in order to show that they are willing to undergo great hardships in order that the CARPER bill be passed. We are deeply saddened by the fact that in order to grab the attention of our leaders, farmers from all over the country have had to march hundreds and even thousands of miles and undergone many hardships and challenges en route to Manila. To our mind, the benefits of the Agrarian Reform Program should accrue to the farmers as a MATTER OF RIGHT, yet, they have to go through great lengths to claim such rights? There’s something very wrong and disturbing about that.

We believe that Agrarian Reform need not be complicated nor cloaked in technicalities. It is a Constitutional mandate which has at its heart social justice. The government does not have an option to institute and implement such a program nor does the Congress have the privilege to pass a related law based on its whims and caprices. It is a DUTY and as such, UNTIL the ends of social justice have been met, it is incumbent upon both our lawmakers to pass laws which will enable the agrarian reform program to continue and the executive branch to ensure that such program is properly, effectively, and equitably implemented.

Justice Jose P. Laurel so aptly and eloquently defined social justice in the case Calalang vs. Williams [70 Phil. 726 (1940)] as being neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government of measures calculated to ensure economic stability of all the component elements of society, through the maintenance of a proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutiona lly, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi est supremo lex. We believe that an Agrarian Reform Program is one such concrete measure to attain the ‘equalization of social and economic forces so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated.”

The Philippines’ has had an Agrarian Reform Program for the past twenty years and while some have benefited from it, many more have yet to reap the benefits it promises. It cannot be left on a standstill at this crucial point in time, it must go on, albeit with much-needed reforms so that the ends of social justice may be met.

We are one with the various groups as we call on our Congress to utilize the last two session days wisely and pass into law HB 4077 and SB 2666 which precisely extend CARP and introduce reforms to the said Program. We challenge those Members of Congress who heretofore remain undecided as to which position to take to think of social justice, of equity, of the plight of the Filipino farmer who has tilled land which he does not own to decide in favor of CARPER. To take no action at this crucial juncture would be fatal to the cause of agrarian reform as the means to attaining social justice and equity. Let us not stand as uninterested spectators but rather, let us be in solidarity with the Filipino farmer and take action. We say that delay will only be inimical and there is no other option but CARPER NOW!

- UP Law Student Government Executive Board 2008-2009

Malcolm Madness: Law School Musical

2008-12-12T19:06:00.001+08:00

MALCOLM MADNESS 2008:
LAW SCHOOL MUSICAL
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Malcolm Theater

NO TO CHARTER CHANGE BEFORE 2010!

2008-12-12T06:26:00.002+08:00

Two years ago, members of the Lower House floated around the idea of amending the Charter. Facing opposition from the Senate, the House gave the Senators three days to agree to a constitutional convention, failing which they would pursue charter change without the participation of the Senate, through a constituent assembly.

Two years ago, people outraged by the Lower House’s disregard for the bicameral nature of Congress assembled in mass protest actions. Eventually, Congress shelved its ill-conceived plans of hastily amending the Constitution.

Two years ago, the UP Law Student Government issued a statement calling the maneuvers of the Congressmen then as “an obvious and grave abuse of power and discretion.”

It is unfortunate that we find ourselves having to do the same thing today, to call on our leaders who never seem to understand that so long as the initiative to amend the Constitution is in blatant disregard of the text and spirit of the fundamental law of the land, and so long as the initiative is to be carried out by people who suffer under an obvious conflict of interest, their calls for cha-cha will always remain suspect.

We, the undersigned students of the University of the Philippines College of Law, denounce the recent moves by our lawmakers in the Lower House to amend the Constitution without the participation of the Upper House, and without the participation of the people.

We are not against the idea of amending the Constitution; perhaps, there really are governmental and policy reforms that warrant the reworking of our Charter.

But we are against the idea of railroading the amendments process and disregarding the very nature of bicameralism. The 1987 Constitution may not speak of the manner by which amendments to the constitution are to be voted upon—that is, whether it is to be voted by all the members of Congress jointly or separately. But this omission does not mean that the framers intended for Congress to vote jointly. If anything, the omission was a mere human oversight, because at the time the 1987 Constitution was being drafted, the original proposal referred to a unicameral Congress similar to that in the 1973 Constitution. Since we ended up with a bicameral legislature, it is but reasonable to say that the general rule for the manner of voting is to vote separately. If laws are passed by the lower and upper Houses separately, why should the process of amending our fundamental law be any different?

We are against the idea of amending the Charter before the 2010 elections, by the very people who stand to directly benefit from it. It is to be noted that several proposals among the 30 cha-cha-related resolutions filed in the 14th Congress call for a shift from a republican to a federal government. Such a change in our political structure would naturally entail talks about term limits, term extensions, and qualifications—matters that we cannot leave to a con-ass that suffers from a conflict of interest. Any amendment to our fundamental law will have far-reaching consequences; thus, the need for our lawmakers and the people to deliberate upon them. There is a venue where proposed amendments may be intelligently discussed and debated, without the trappings of vested political interests. Unfortunately, we do not see the con-ass being championed by administration allies as that kind of venue. Two years ago, the public showed its distrust of this administration spearheading any form of charter change. From 2006 and 2008, nothing has happened to significantly increase public trust in it; in fact, after the numerous scandals and human rights violations that have surfaced since 2006, people’s trust in this administration has plunged even further.

We call on the President to ask her allies to stop any and all attempts to change the charter before the 2010 national elections. It is not enough for Malacañang to deny that it had a hand in the maneuverings of its allies in Congress; being their titular head, PGMA is in the position to stop them if she were really so inclined. We remind her of what she said two years ago, that “Philippine democracy will always find the proper time and opportunity for Charter reform at a time when the people deem it ripe and needful, and in the manner they deem proper.”

We call on our elected leaders to be more circumspect in their actions; to consider, instead, urgent issues that need to be addressed before they adjourn this year: the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program; the Reproductive Health Bill; the Access to Information Bill; the rising incidences of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and harassment of lawyers, activists, peasants and journalists; among others.

We call on our fellow law students and students from other colleges to be vigilant about attempts to undermine the rule of law. Study the issues. Talk to your friends and families about cha-cha. Be involved in actions to safeguard the integrity of our Constitution and its processes. The Constitution may not be perfect, but for now it remains to be the law. To quote our predecessors, “Let us not get caught in the tragedy of being a law student who studies the law in a vacuum and remains in the dark in the midst of surrounding political turmoil. Let us grab this chance to learn the law not just inside Malcolm Hall but to learn it in spite of Malcolm Hall.”

More than that, let us be involved precisely because we are students of Malcolm Hall.

- The Executive Board, UP Law Student Government 2008-2009

11 December 2008

(Sgd.)

Michael Jobert I. Navallo

President

(Sgd.)

Alessandra Maria Anna Gloria O. Reyes

Vice-President

(Sgd.)

Bernice C. Mendoza

Secretary

(Sgd.)

Janette T. Lim

Treasurer

(Sgd.)

Aaron Jarveen O. Ho

Public Relations Officer

(Sgd.)

Sophia Monica V. San Luis

Law Representative

CARP Beyond 2008? Different Perspectives on the Future of the Philippine Agrarian Reform Program

2008-12-09T16:55:00.000+08:00

The UP Law Student Government
in cooperation with the Office of the Dean

invites you to

CARP Beyond 2008?
A Forum on the Future of Philippine Agrarian Reform
on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 (International Human Rights Day)
at the Sarmiento Room from 12nn-3PM

*snacks will be served

----
CONCEPT PAPER

CARP Beyond 2008?
a Forum on the Future of Philippine Agrarian Reform

It’s quite simple: the land belongs to the farmer and the farmer to the land. This inextricable bond between the farmer and the land he tills is at the heart of the issue of Agrarian Reform. Blood, sweat, and tears have been given up in the farmers’ long drawn out fight for genuine agrarian reform.

Twenty years after Republic Act 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law was enacted, there is once again a clamor not just for Agrarian Reform, but for the extension and reform of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Twenty years have passed and while the objectives of the CARP are honorable and seek to distribute land and effectively redistribute wealth, much has yet to be done given the less than universal and consistent implementation of the law, lack of political will, and the great number of farmers who are yet to reap the benefits of this program.

Twenty years has passed and still, farmers have gone to great lengths to fully claim the land which is rightfully theirs. It was only last year that the Sumilao Farmers walked 1,700 kilometers from Bukidnon to Manila. This year, many farmers’ groups have followed (literally) in their footsteps -- The Banasi Farmers walked more than 400 kilometers, the Calatagan Farmers, among others. There are farmers who are in the twilight of their lives yet have marched hundreds of kilometers not so much for themselves, but for their grandchildren whom they believe can have a better future.

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform is, in theory very promising and revolutionary. The CARP implements the Constitutional blueprint for national development. It is a poverty-alleviation measure that seeks to transform agrarian reform beneficiaries into more productive members of society who can use the land to generate more income for their families. As a major social justice program, the CARP seeks to address the problem of inequitable distribution of land. However, if genuine and comprehensive agrarian reform is truly the end goal, much has yet to be done.

The forum seeks to give an overview of the CARP over the past twenty years as well as the pending reform measures in Congress. It will also be a venue to exchange ideas and insights so as to give a more in-depth understanding of Agrarian Reform in our country.

This Week at UP Law

2008-12-07T19:51:00.002+08:00

Faculty Lecture: Issues and Problems in the Enforcement of the Anti-VAWC Law

Speaker: Prof. Rowena Guanzon
When: December 8, 2008, 1:00-3:00pm
Where: Malcolm Theater, UP Law

Brought to you by the Office of the Dean, UP Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority, UP Portia Sorority, UP Women in Law, UP Paralegal Volunteers Organization and the UP Law Student Government

Corruptionary: A Cultural Innovation for Good Governance

NATIONAL STUDY CONFERENCE
When: December 8 & 9, 2008
Where: University Hotel, UP Diliman

Brought to you by the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)

CenPEG is inviting all interested law students to attend a 2-day conference / festival of sorts on CORRUPTION. This is in line with the recent release of the first dictionary on corruption-related words, the Corruptionary.

Notably, Professors Vicky Avena and Harry Roque are speakers in this Conference.

Prof. Avena will be the resource person in "The Rule of Law and Corruptionary", Monday, December 8, 1pm to 230pm.

Prof. Roque will be the speaker in the Workshop on "A Program on the Rule of Law against Corruption", December 9, 1030am to 1230pm.

All these will be held in the University Hotel. Do Come. :)

USC Karolfest 2008

UP Charivari, the Official Chorale of the College of Law, will be competing against other college-based chorales in UP during the annual university carolfest this TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2008, 5:00pm at the UP Theater.

Charivari will be rendering 3 Filipino Christmas songs all composed by UP Alumni.

Admission is FREE! Come and support your friends as the sing for UP Law! God Bless Charivari!

Members:
Erwin Arandia (Conductor)
Nino Gonzales
Third Bagro
Ryan Balisacan
Emil Lunasco
R. Aragones
Emil Baleleng
Sheila Alinsangan
Andi Lacuesta
Vani Ignacio
Peach Raymundo
Judith Alejo
Tiff Gerona
Jonna Orbe
Lobit Baldrias-Serrano

CARP Beyond 2008?

CARP Beyond 2008? Different Perspectives on the Future of the Philippine Agrarian Reform Program

When: December 10, 2008, Wednesday, 12nn to 3pm
Where: Sarmiento Room

University Convocation

When: December 11, 2008, 1:00 to 5:00pm (NO CLASSES - to be confirmed with the OCS)
Where: UP School of Economics Auditorium

Brought to you by the USC.

The USC encourages all iskolar ng bayan to attend the Univesity Convocation this Thursday, December 11 at the School of Economics Auditorium, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. The USC has asked Chancellor Cao to suspend classes Thursday afternoon to encourage students to take part and be involved in the assembly.

To be discussed are important campus issues, from updates on the campaigns for Student Demands (regarding free use of university facilities, dormitory issues, lab fee increases, etc.) to the crucial Student Regent Selection Process Referendum. Resolutions will also be drafted regarding the aforementioned issues. All UP Students are strongly encouraged to take part in these crucial endeavors.

University Wide Anti Cha-Cha Vigil

When: December 11, 2008, Thursday, 6:00pm onwards
Where: Academic Oval

Brought to you by the Office of the Dean and the UP Law Student Government

No to CHA-CHA before 2010!

When: December 12, 2008, Friday, afternoon
Where: Ayala, Makati

UP Law Class of 83 Pakain

When: December 13, 2008, 11:30am to 1pm
Where: Malcolm Hall Lobby

Watch out for four major raffle prizes (32-inch Philips LCD) and lots of minor prizes!

MALCOLM MADNESS 2008: Law School Musical

When: December 13, 2008, 6pm onwards
Where: Malcolm Theater, UP Law

Corruptionary ConFest: Dec 8-9, University Hotel

2008-12-07T15:39:00.000+08:00

de la hoya surrenders

2008-12-07T07:56:00.000+08:00

manny pacquiao does it again!

May kuwenta ba kamo? E-kuwento mo!

2008-11-20T08:20:00.001+08:00

Tired of mainstream coverage of issues that affect you and your community? Do you feel that news reports about issues in your community are often slanted or inaccurate? Do you often wish you can report important events happening before your very eyes with the competence and skill of a professional journalist?

Then here is your chance to upgrade your skills! Come and participate in the Pinoy Citizen Journalism Seminar, entitled "May kuwenta ba kamo? E-kuwenta mo!".

On November 29, 2008, from 9 am to 5 pm, ordinary citizens from various communities and sectors will converge at the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) in UP Diliman to talk about the prospects of true citizen empowerment through journalism. Through technological tools like the cellphone, the personal computer, and the digital camera, citizens have the opportunity to report events that unfold before their very eyes, from natural disasters to demolitions, from tragic accidents to state brutality and repression.

The Seminar will have a plenary discussion on the prospects of citizen journalism and the advent of technology that can be used for citizen reporting. In the afternoon, there will be breakout sessions on various journalistic skills, from news and features writing, to photography, videography and science journalism/blogging.

Sponsored by Pinoy Weekly, College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and Computer Professionals Union (CPU), in coordination with Philippine Reader.

Resource persons include Prof. Danny Arao (UP College of Mass Communications), journalist Iris Pagsanjan (GMA news), photographer Raffy Lerma* (Philippine Daily Inquirer), award-winning blogger and new media advocate Tonyo Cruz, Rowena Carranza-Paraan of NUJP and PCIJ , Dr. Giovanni Tapang (UP College of Science), SIPAT (Sine Patriyotiko) and speakers from Pinoy Weekly and CPU.

No registration fee! Come as you are! It would be better if you have basic tools like laptop or camera with you, but you can do with paper and pen.

Pre-registration will be open soon! First fifty (50) pre-registrants will get a Pinoy Citizen Journalism kit and free lunch!

For more information on the event, visit: http://pinoycitizenjourn.wordpress.com/

INCOGNITO: A Dance and Masquerade Party

2008-11-09T16:39:00.000+08:00

UP LSG and UP WINLAW
invite you
to be part of
INCOGNITO
a dance and masquerade party.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Embassy Fly @ The Fort Global City, Taguig

Party starts at 6:00 PM
for inquiries contact
Kate Modesto (09172519425) or Trish Fernandez (09165522779)

COURTS OF LAW: STREET WAR

2008-11-01T09:44:00.003+08:00

UP LAW STUDENT GOVERNMENT
presents

bakbakan na! courts of law: street war.

november 16, 23 and 30, 2008.

Gang Leaders (Block Heads):

A - Tim Guanzon (0927-4437902)
B - Diana Bello (0917-8817588)
C - Adrian Arugay (0916-5406398)
D - Jay Yano (0917-8327306)
E - Jan Barcena (0927-3153209)

brought to you by PRO Aaron and his team.

huling hirit

2008-10-08T17:51:00.001+08:00

i'll be a hermit for the next few days as i prepare for final execution, er, examinations. but before i sign off, can i just say: what the heck was gloria thinking in pardoning claudio teehankee, jr?

with that said, good luck everyone with the final exams. thank you for volunteering and participating in the activities of the law student government and the bar operations. we apologize for our misgivings. rest assured that next sem we'll try even harder to make things better at malcolm hall. see you and enjoy your break!

Baggy pants ban "unconstitutional," rules US judge

2008-09-17T19:52:00.001+08:00

MIAMI (AFP) - A Florida judge has deemed unconstitutional a law banning baggy pants that show off the wearer's underwear, local media reported Tuesday.

A 17-year-old spent a night in jail last week after police arrested him for wearing low pants in Riviera Beach, southeast Florida.

The law banning so-called "saggy pants" was approved by city voters in March after supporters of the bill collected nearly 5,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

The teen would have received a 150 dollars fine or community service, but he spent the night in jail due to a history of marijuana use, the Palm Beach Post newspaper said.

"Somebody help me," said Palm Beach Circuit Judge Paul Moyle, before giving his decision.

"We're not talking about exposure of buttocks. No! We're talking about someone who has on pants whose underwear are apparently visible to a police officer who then makes an arrest and the basis is he's then held overnight, no bond."

"Your honor, we now have the fashion police," added public defender Carol Bickerstaff, who asked the law be declared "unconstitutional."

The judge agreed with Bickerstaff immediately, reported the Post.

Laws that ban low-slung pants are on the books in several US cities, including Delcambre, Louisiana, where offenders can be fined up to 500 dollars or jailed for up to six months.

Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia are among the larger US cities considering similar measures.

-----

i don't wear baggy pants that show off my underwear. i think it's baduy. but if someone wants to dress that way, who am i to tell him not to dress as he pleases?

neither do i wear sando to school. seldom do i wear slippers. but should we exclude those who choose to dress that way from learning the law in the grand manner?

in the first place, what substantial interest are we advancing in imposing a dress code? the college's concern to look professional? its concern to set itself apart from the rest in diliman? or its goal towards achieving a higher bar passing rate?

having a dress code reinforces the one thing i hate about lawyering: pretense. we put so much premium on our appearance, on our "performance" and decorum in court, but come to think of it, how much have we (lawyers and lawyers-to-be) contributed towards improving this country?

frankly, i have more respect for a jesuit volunteer in slippers sent to some remote area than for a lawyer dressed in an armani suit who thinks of nothing else but billable hours.

the clothes do not make the man. the greatest tragedy is perhaps for a man to be respected solely for the clothes that he wear, and for nothing else.

gerrymandering

2008-09-11T20:37:00.001+08:00

a friend from ateneo law wrote this article while we were in cotabato city on the eve of the armm elections. immediately after posting this on her blog, i told her she should submit it to youngblood coz i think it's worth publishing. a month later, her article does get published! read on. congrats krizna!

--

Gerrymandering
By Krizna Gomez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:05:00 09/11/2008

One of the memorable sessions we’ve had so far in Political Law Review dealt with “gerrymandering,” the practice of carving up a new province or district from separate and even non-contiguous municipalities that comprise some politicians’ bailiwicks to enable them to preserve their hold on power. And recently just before the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, I saw for myself what gerrymandering actually means.

Before you can reach Buluan, a town in Maguindanao province, you have to pass by another province, Sultan Kudarat. And Shariff Kabunsuan province is so small you can actually drive through its highway without knowing that you are no longer in it. On an area inspection as we prepared to monitor the elections, we were able to go around Shariff Kabunsuan and Maguindanao, and then reach the boundary of Sultan Kudarat in less than two hours.

Maguindanao (which would include Shariff Kabunsuan) is really beautiful. (I never thought I’d find it to be that way, but I can’t think of a better word to describe the place.) On both sides of the road are vast, green tracts of land with mountains stretching to the horizon. The houses are built so far apart that at some points, our local partners would refer to them as a “no man’s land.” And these simple houses are built of nipa.

Then you reach the seat of government, the Provincial Capitol of Maguindanao, and the “palaces” (yes, they have two of those) of the Ampatuan family, which are called “the Malacañang of the Mindanao.” These palaces rise from both sides of the road, one owned by the father, the other by the son. They are grand structures that contrast sharply with the poverty in the region. Joel, our local, said, “May bangko pa ‘yan sa loob” [“It even has a bank inside”].

During that two-hour trip, we passed through countless checkpoints and so many soldiers either walking in file by the side of the road or being transported in trucks and other military vehicles, all in full battle gear. At one checkpoint, the lady lawyer who was with us, and who had just finished praying the rosary, asked the solider, “How old are you?”

The soldier, who was sweating profusely from the heat of his uniform (or from terror) and obviously taken aback by the question, meekly uttered, “Twenty-two po.”

Boy, I’m 23 and I’ve never had to wear grenades around my waist to survive.

That day was yet another day of learning for me, reinforcing what I’ve started to realize since last year: We can never really judge a place and its people, without knowing their lives, how they live, and what they have to contend with every day. It’s so easy for the media to portray this part of the country as a war-torn land and for brilliant legal minds sitting in some comfortable office in Manila to agree with the logical reasoning of the Supreme Court in dissolving an entire province such as Shariff Kabunsuan, or to criticize an alien concept such as the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity based on what we know to be the Constitution and what we fear to lose as a nation should we give away so much independence to some groups.

I, for one, agree with the decision to strike down the law that created the province of Shariff Kabunsuan (like what I said, it’s really absurdly small and very contiguous, and people know that one motive for creating new provinces or towns is to increase the internal revenue allotment). But until that day, I based my beliefs and principles only on what I knew to be right under the law, and I never thought anything else mattered. But when you go to the ground and find out that the Muslims of Shariff Kabunsuan and those of Maguindanao belong to two very different tribes, then the lines lose their clarity. When you see a big streamer hung across the highway that reads, “SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, PLEASE RECONSIDER YOUR DECISION. HAVE MERCY ON US” and supposedly put up by hundreds of employees of the provincial government who suddenly found themselves unemployed and with nowhere else to go, your keen legal mind finds itself confused by a complicated reality. When you hear a decorated military colonel, who has suffered imprisonment for love of country, predicting with conviction that one day, the whole of Mindanao will be separated from the Philippines because it is simply inevitable and it is most needed to avert bloodshed, you begin to question what you know to be the best for the nation or to stop hundreds of 22-year olds from having to kill against their will.

I’m a law student. But on that day, I was a law student who was not reading law books but who was immersed in the poorest, most battered corner on this side of the country.

I’m not saying that we should change what we know of the law because of what we see out there. But maybe, we can start learning how to look at the law minus the unflinching arrogance of our legal education but with a more sensitive eye if not an understanding heart for those who are left to bear the consequences of applying it.

I still think the Supreme Court was right in applying the law in Sema v. Comelec. Perhaps our government negotiators really gave away too much as the price of peace in Mindanao. But what I think cannot feed the families of those who were thrown out of their jobs in Shariff Kabunsuan, or prevent a young man from dying while fighting for peace. It’s tough to be a lawyer in a country that is poor and divided. It is hard to be both right and understanding.

Krizna Gomez, 23, is a fourth-year law student at the Ateneo de Manila University. She was in Cotabato City as part of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections, a group of non-partisan lawyers and law students that monitored the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

tired

2008-09-07T18:50:00.000+08:00

the first barops had just ended and yet i'm already extremely exhausted. i think i could sleep forever. but no, there are classes tomorrow and there are other matters to take care of. hay...

thanks to those who helped out at century park and at taft. hope to see you again in the next three saturdays.

congrats to arianne and the rest of the barops team for making it through the first weekend. hopefully wala nang madadampot ng mga police next time (inside joke, sorry sa mga di nakapagbarops).

let me just doze off for the meantime. will try multiply silence for as many days as possible, para makapag-aral naman at magkabuhay din.

BarOps na!

2008-09-05T20:11:00.000+08:00

ALUMNI, PROFESSORS, STUDENTS, STAFF
UP LAW, Bar Ops na!!!

We are at the Century Park
(SHERATON) Hotel
(by Harrison Plaza)
from Saturday 1pm till Sunday 5pm
all weekends of September.

Please join us in supporting our
2008 BAR TAKERS!!!
Help out, hang out, mingle, socialize, make friends, find love, show your school spirit!!!

Face the Challenge. Be the Strength.
100% LET'S GO UP LAW!!!

P.S. Please wear ONLY UP / UP Law apparel or school colors

LSG Statement on the Library Dress Code

2008-09-02T17:03:00.001+08:00

Dear all,

Please find attached the letter drafted by the Law Student Government Executive Board on the Dress Code imposed by the Law Library. Hard copies are being given to the blocks through your president or representative. If you agree with the statement, please affix your signature. We hope to submit the letter to Prof. Santos as soon as we get feedback from all the blocks, so please help us expedite the process. Thanks!

--

Prof. Antonio S. Santos

Head Librarian, Espiritu Hall

UP College of Law Library

Dear Sir:

Last Thursday, the Law Library posted an announcement prohibiting the wearing of sandos and slippers inside the library. This regulation, which was effective immediately after posting, was imposed without prior notice or consultation with the students—not even with the LSG. Apart from this lack of notice, there are also no clear standards to guide the library personnel and the students as to what counts as inappropriate attire (How is a sando defined? How are slippers defined?).

Since the policy was effective immediately, some students (including non-law students) suddenly found themselves being expelled from the library, or being denied entry because of their "inappropriate attire." On Friday, LSG President Jobert Navallo clarified the matter with you. During that meeting, you cited three grounds to justify the regulation, to wit:

1) MC No. 14, which imposes a dress code for government officials and employees;

2) the Ateneo Law Library's dress code;

3) the UP Main Library's dress code (which allegedly imposes a similar prohibition).

We find however, that these rationales are thoroughly insufficient.

The first ground, which is the memorandum relied upon by the Library, is inapplicable to students. MC No. 14 is a memorandum issued in 1991 by the Civil Service Commission Chair to all government officials and employees, and was merely re-copied and re-released in 1997 by the then Vice Chancellor of UP, Mrs. Perla Legaspi, to UP units. By no stretch of the imagination can we say that law students are government officials and employees, and so from the title alone, it is obvious that such memorandum was never meant to apply to students. Inclusio unius est exclusio alterius.

Even assuming that MC No. 14 is applicable to students, why is it being invoked only now, and why the hurried implementation? Surely it cannot be because of any "urgency," because the university memo was issued ten years ago and no corresponding dress code among students was then imposed. The belated adherence by the College of Law library at the very least warranted prior notice to the student body.

The second reason propounded by your good office is that the Ateneo Law Library imposes a dress code. It does not follow, however, that the UP Law Library should impose the same. If there is anything that has been clear in our minds since day one, it is the fact that UP is not Ateneo. UP is a state university; it has, arguably, students from more diverse social and regional backgrounds; and it has no other graduate school that prescribes a dress code (not even its MBA Program).

In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are "persons" under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State. In our system, students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views. (Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 393 U.S. 503 [1969], emphasis supplied.)

Law students, in any school, are presumably responsible thinkers. But this should be a natural presumption in a school where the main teaching tool is the Socratic Method. Our professors are here not to define what counts as inappropriate, or to impose a dress code that they believe is appropriate, but to help students realize the correct answer, if there ever is one, in clothing.

Let the students continue to decide for themselves matters that are personal and that have no reasonable relation to their competence in studying the law. Indeed, nobody has ever claimed that UP Law graduates are less likely to act professionally in the field because UP does not impose a dress code the way Ateneo does, or that our lower bar passing rate is attributable to the way we dress.

The final justification is that the UP Main Library has a similar dress code. We find this hard to believe since no official memo has been distributed to the students, given to the USC or published or reported in the Philippine Collegian and, unless the students are apprised of a rule, they cannot reasonably be expected to abide by it.

Assuming however, that such a policy exists, it would still be a non-sequitur. Why should law students be precluded from questioning the Law Library's policy, just because the Main Library has imposed a similar policy? Policies affecting students which are imposed unilaterally and without any consultation should always be subject to attack.

Perhaps what is abnormal in this situation is the fact that the Library has not put forth any substantial interest in regulating the way students dress themselves. In Tinker v. Des Moines, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a student's right to free speech (which includes how he dresses) can only be curtailed if the speech would impinge on other student's rights, and if it would result in a substantial disruption / material interference with school activities. No such harm exists with the wearing of slippers and sando (although we have not seen anyone actually wear sando to school). And assuming it does, the harm must be real, and not merely conjectural, and the regulation should be such as to alleviate the harm in a direct and material way. School uniform policies should only be upheld if "it advances important government interests unrelated to the suppression of free speech, and if it does so in ways that effect as minimal a restriction on students' free expression as possible" (Jacobs v. Clark County School District, United States District Court for the District of Nevada, May 12, 2008).

The fundamental freedom of expression has guaranteed, as the history of our country would attest, that the students of the University of the Philippines, particularly of the College of Law, will always be at the forefront of student activism, and consequently, national development. It is for this reason that we regard it with utmost reverence and jealousy.

We therefore call on the UP Law Library to lift the policy and desist from implementing any dress code without first consulting the student body.

Sincerely,

The Executive Board

UP Law Student Government 2008-2009

Michael Jobert I. Navallo

President

Alessandra Maria Anna Gloria O. Reyes

Vice-President

Bernice C. Mendoza

Secretary

Janette T. Lim

Treasurer

Aaron Jarveen O. Ho

Public Relations Officer

Sophia Monica V. San Luis

Law Representative

--
Michael Jobert I. Navallo
President, Law Student Government
Mobile: +639279704899 / +639233330885
Landline: 410-0137
E-mail: jobertn@gmail.com

IMPORTANT: Letter from the LSG re: Library Dress Code (No sandos, No slippers)

2008-08-29T21:21:00.000+08:00

Dear fellow UP Law students:

Yesterday morning, the Law Library posted an announcement from the Law Librarian which prohibits the wearing of sandos and slippers inside the library. This regulation was to be implemented immediately after posting, without prior notice nor consultation with the students, not even with the LSG. The merits and demerits of imposing a dress code inside the library, thus, were not discussed.

This development comes just a few weeks after the General Assembly (a body composed of representatives from the different blocks) turned down a suggestion to enforce a dress code on Mondays. Why the sudden imposition of a dress code in the library? We at the LSG are at a loss ourselves as to the reason.

Upon clarification with the Law Librarian, Prof. Santos cited three grounds to justify the regulation: 1) a memorandum imposing a dress code for government officials and employees; 2) the Ateneo Law Library's dress code; 3) the UP Main Library's dress code (which allegedly imposes a similar prohibition). A fourth reason are the complaints from some professors about the way some students are dressed.

We will not address these grounds in this forum but will rather comment on them in the statement that the LSG EB is preparing. We will forward the EB statement to the General Assembly for consultation with the different blocks before finally submitting it to the Law Librarian.

We are encouraging everyone to send your comments to jobertn@gmail.com so we can consider your thoughts on the matter. For the meantime, we ask for your patience as we try to address this issue. Thank you!

--
Michael Jobert I. Navallo
President, Law Student Government
Mobile: +639279704899 / +639233330885
Landline: 410-0137
E-mail: jobertn@gmail.com

UP MassComm Alumni HomeComing: Sept. 27, 2008

2008-08-29T20:11:00.002+08:00

Dear Fellow Alumni and Friends,

Greetings!

As part of the Centennial Celebrations of the University of the Philippines, the College of Mass Communication Alumni Association is organizing a grand alumni homecoming on Saturday, September 27, 2008 at the College of Mass Communication grounds starting at 1:00pm dubbed as “UP MASSCOMM AND YOU: PHOTOGRAPHS, MEMORIES ATBP”. This homecoming will be bringing back fondest memories of our college days where we had fun in learning and in doing lots of things.

This event will include a variety program showcasing CMC talents and the election of the CMC Alumni Association Board comprised of fifteen (15) members.

However, the highlight will be YOU, our dearest alumni! You! Bringing back your CMC memories and sharing it with your batch mates and other alumni.

We would like you to bring your batch memorabilia like the following:

Ø Oldest classcard, Form-5, class paper with grade, script, journalism article, graded exam in bluebook (should be a masscomm subject), course syllabus, student ID card, library borrower’s card, old photo’s etc.

Ø CMC Student Org album, photos or slum book, atbp.

Just present your memorabilia item at the reception desk and you get a prize instantly!

If you have a special collection during your student days you may want to put them on display at the Exhibition Area to be designated by your college.

Let’s bring back our CMC memories, renew our ties with our fellow alumni and college friends and lovers on September 27, 2008. For more details and information, you may access the CMC website at www.cmc.upd.edu.ph or contact us at:

Maryo J. 0917-8907249 / maryoj56@yahoo.com

Armi (632) 920-6863/ 0917-8129149 / armisan2004@yahoo.com

Katkat (632) 920-6864 / 0927-2495820 / katkatramos@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you!

Warmest regards, Noted:

Maryo J. De Los Reyes Elena E. Pernia, Ph.D.

Batch 1974 Batch 1976

President, UP-CMCAA Dean, UP-CMC

U.P College of Mass Communication Alumni Association (CMCAA)

U.P College of Mass Communication Foundation Inc. (CMCFI)

Plaridel Hall Ylanan Road U.P Diliman Q.C Phone No: (632) 9818500 L: 2679 / (632) 9206864 / (632) 9283188 / Fax No: (632) 9263465 http//: www.upd.edu.ph/~cmc / cmc.upd.edu.ph/

today and tomorrow

2008-08-27T04:19:00.001+08:00

TODAY (August 27):

10am-12nn Talk by Estelito Mendoza at the College of Law Sta. Ana Room

12nn Mass for Cris Mendez at the NCPAG Atrium to be followed by a short program

2pm Special Mass for UP Bar Candidates

6pm Testimonial Dinner in honor of the late Sen. Lorenzo Tanada at the Executive House

TOMORROW (August 28):

8:30-11:30am Kabuhayan, Karapatan at Katarungan: A Forum on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Violations and Remedies at the College of Law Malcolm Theater with Keynote Speaker Chief Justice Puno

1-5pm The Future of Philippine Elections: Reflections on the ARMM Election with COMELEC Chair Jose Melo

2:30-4:30pm Rethinking the Bangsamoro Crucible: A Reader book launch by CENPEG at the Bulwagang Sala'am, Asian Center/Romulo Hall

530-6:30pm Anti-Frat Violence Candle-Lighting at the Kalayaan Dormitory Steps

If you have time, please drop by at any of these events.

isang taon na

2008-08-24T08:20:00.000+08:00

NO CLASSES today, Aug. 20, 12noon onwards

2008-08-20T07:01:00.001+08:00

it's confirmed: NO CLASSES TODAY, Aug. 20, 12 noon onwards.

announcement came from Dean Leonen and Chancellor Cao.

BUT:

Forum on Bangsamoro Juridical Entity Memorandum of Agreement will push thru 1.30 pm today at the Malcolm Theater.

please inform everyone you know.

Michael Jobert I. Navallo
President, UP Law Student Government
Mobile: +639279704899 / +639233330885
Landline: 410-0137

freshie week na!

2008-08-20T06:34:00.001+08:00

The UP Law Student Government

in cooperation with

UP College of Law organizations/sororities/fraternities

presents:

FRESHIE WEEK '08

Asskicking Freshness

August 19 (Tuesday)

LSG Gawad Kalinga Batch Build

LSG Barops Relay

Ms. Freshie Photoshoot

August 20 (Wednesday)

Scintilla Juris Fraternity Chess Tournament

Law Debate & Moot Court Union (LDMU) Debate Tournament (Eliminations)

August 21 (Thursday)

Portia Sorority Vice Relay

Charivari Videoke Challenge

August 22 (Friday)

Winlaw Guitar Hero Trournament

LDMU Debate Tournament (Finals)

August 23 (Saturday)

Freshmen Night

Ms. Freshmen Night Pageant

Block Presentation

Games by Upsilon Sigma Phi and Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority and MORE!!

See you at Malcolm!

day 2 in cotabato city

2008-08-10T20:16:00.002+08:00

i woke up to 5 text messages and 1 missed call this morning, most of which came from my blockmates. ryan was warning me about an impending conflict in cotabato which he got from our mole in malacanang; tiff was telling me to keep safe while tish texted just to tell me, jobs, uwi ka na.

i don't know if i should feel good about it (your concern dear blockmates is heartwarming) or be more alarmed about recent developments.

but we have to do what we came here for.

so early today we went on an ocular inspection all over shariff kabunsuan and maguindanao. i know i promised my dad i'm not going out of the city but come on, i'm here for the armm elections so i better see the areas where the elections will be held. cotabato city, although the seat of armm, is not even one of them (puzzling, i know). so if i stay in cotabato city, there's nothing to see.

contrary to most people's perception however, shariff kabunsuan and maguindanao are generally peaceful today. except for several checkpoints and a group of soldiers marching with high-powered rifles, and yes, a skirmish in one of the barangays in shariff kabunsuan, most of the reported violence took place in north cotabato, about hmmm, an hour away from the city. what strikes you though is that it's so peaceful, you wonder why there seems to be no activity in the high way on a sunday!

one thing you'll notice also is that it's too clean for an elections. i mean, if there are 7 people running for governor, why do i see only posters of ampatuan all over? there are no signs of his opponents campaigning. i can't even picture out their names, much less their faces.

many observers are saying the contest is over long before election day. i say there seems to be no contest at all!

so why are we still here? well we're here to see how the automated elections will go, if it's feasible at all to adopt the system in the 2010 elections and if so, which among the two systems: one that resembles an upcat exam (shaded ballots read by counting machines) or one where voting is via touchpad (i'll spare you the technical names).

one sad realization during the trip though is seeing huge mansions in the middle of vast fields while lowly nipa huts and dilapidated houses abound next to them. how can you flaunt your wealth in front of people barely able to make ends meet?

the trip took the entire morning. we reached as far as the border of sultan kudarat, the province adjacent to maguindanao. we were back in the city for lunch before we met with the head of the philippine national police in the area. then krizna and i had to finish some things just before the 6pm deployment meeting with the volunteers. had to buy some stuff, have some documents photocopies and look for a tarp printer on a sunday while it's raining.

meeting finally ended at around 9pm but lo and behold we're not yet done. at 12mn, we're still waiting for our posters (which we will post in our vehicles) and we have to deliver them to the different roving teams before dawn!

tomorrow, we leave at 6am for sharif aguak, dropping by at some precincts along the way. we have to be back in cotabato city before lunchtime to prepare for presscon at 1pm. after that, i don't know exactly what will happen. but we'll definitely stay up until the last vote has been counted.

what a long day it's been; the next one is even longer. but the adventure has just begun. good luck to us all.

p.s. it's interesting to meet some old acquaintances while in cotabato city. last night, i met raffy lerma, a former collegian photographer who now works for the inquirer. benjie liwanag of dzbb, whom i first met when i was a trainee reporter in camp crame, is also here. just tonight, i bumped into an orgmate, janice ponce de leon. she is working for probe.

of course, it's also good to meet a lot of new faces, mostly law student volunteers like myself. and people who are connected to you in some way you never imagined.

small world ika nga. too bad we still fight over it.

blogging in cotabato city!

2008-08-09T15:27:00.001+08:00

after that early (mis)adventure at the naia3 terminal this morning (i.e., we got left behind), krizna and i finally arrived in cotabato city at 2pm this afternoon, thanks to pal (down with cebu pacific hehe). we went straight ahead to pacific heights hotel for the meeting with local lente volunteers and other election watchdogs. it's interesting that there's quite a number of citizens' organizations and foreign watchdogs that are taking part in this elections. even more fascinating are the number of law students who are willing to cut class for this initiative.

i'm excited for my job. apart from "municipality-hopping," i was tasked to help out in consolidating reports from different areas in the region and in preparing press releases for the media. sounds familiar? wow, is this college all over again?

we have one whole day to prepare for the elections on monday. lots of work to do tomorrow, but i'm looking forward to it.

so this is me, trying to live my backpack lawyer/journalist dream. never thought this is possible while being in law school. thanks lente.

now, can this trip get any better?

p.s. happy trip sa mga aalis tom for zamboanga, marawi and basilan. berns, arianne, abdel, dianna and kiko, ingat kayo guys! see you wednesday.

naiwanan kami ng plane!

2008-08-09T07:45:00.002+08:00

we were supposed to take the 10:05 am cebu pacific flight for cotabato. guess what, krizna (from ateneo human rights center and legal network for truthful elections) and i got left behind. well, the plane hasn't actually left yet when we reached naia3 terminal at around 9.30am. they didn't allow us to board the plane anymore (kasi malayo pa raw ang tataxihan ng plane from naia 3 terminal, it's going to cause a lot of delay, etc...). so now we're taking the 12nn pal flight as chance passengers 1 and 2. we're crossing our fingers because the only other way to get there is to take the plane to davao and travel by land to cotabato (which is almost a non-option given the areas that we will have to pass by to get there).

thanks to krizna's pr skills however, i'm confident we'll make it to that flight.

if it makes us feel any better, our boss, atty. chochoi, also missed his flight to zamboanga. ayun, hindi kami mapapagalitan hehe.

wish us luck, not just for our safety and security. i'm more concerned about the lawyer we're supposed to be with (who got on board cebu pacific). when krizna told her that we're going to miss our flight, her reaction was: pano na yan, i spent all my money in bacolod. i'm supposed to check in the hotel as soon as i arrive, i don't have money with me...blah blah

um, kinakabahan ako kung ganito makakasama ko, sorry. she didn't even bother to ask how we'll make it to cotabato. so pano to kung giyera na? oh well...

update: we're taking the 12nn pal flight. confirmed na! we'll board the plane in a while. see you all when we come back. pls. pray for us. we'll be safe. or try to haha.

crushed

2008-08-07T00:31:00.000+08:00

this is one of those times when i wish people don't read the news. just when i'm all set to leave for maguindanao (change of plans, i'm no longer going to basilan) for the armm elections, then comes a scathing text message from my parents, after having read the news: i thought mga bright mo. wa mo maghunahuna na nag ready na ang mga milf for war due to tro sa moa signing. hinay hinay baya mo. (akala ko matalino kayo. di niyo ba iniisip na naghahanda na ang mga milf para sa giyera dahil sa tro sa moa signing. dahan dahan kayo.)

where did that come from?

i know i know there's been talk about "fear of resurgence of violence" in the armm region because of the suspension of the signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domains between the milf and the philippine government. but to say that milf is preparing for war, that's a bit exagg from my point of view.

or maybe they are. regardless. war or not, the armm elections will push through and so will our job in monitoring the automated elections. there's no turning back now. not two days before the scheduled flight!

i tried arguing my way before my parents over ym. i told them that everything will be fine since there'll be lawyers around and that we'll just stay in counting centers. i told them that i think what we're doing is really important that's why i'm willing to cut classes for it (before launching into a discourse on how vital elections are to democracy, how this armm automated elections will affect 2010 elections, and how my presence there will be my own little contribution as a filipino). i tried varying the intonation of my voice, changing the look on my face, god knows what else. i even asked my brother to help me argue my case. alas, it seems that my arguing skills aren't working. after an hour or so of pleading before the chief magistrates, i am unable to convince them to change their minds.

damn.

this is terrible. i am 23 years old and yet i can't decide for myself. it's not as if i'm leaving a 2-year-old kid behind should something happen (god forbid). i'm not suicidal but what will happen to the world if we constantly live under the fear of something going wrong? i mean, if you die, it's your time to die, whether you're in maguindanao or not.

of course, i'm not a parent so i may not be able to understand how it is to be worried sick over your beloved child who has gone to some unsafe place. i understand how my parents feel, but does this mean i will never be allowed to go to these places just because they're "unsafe"? what if it's my job to go there to cover these places? (i haven't even told them about what i wanted to do after law school.)

i can argue with them forever but the moment they start talking about working abroad to send me to law school and how they just wish to see me graduate, i just fall on my tracks. how can i argue against that?

how will i ever explain to them that i feel strongly about lente and the whole automated election monitoring thing. we've been preparing for this for months now. i've been looking forward to that trip. and it's not because i just want to. it's because i think i have to.

maybe i'm a bit naive or too idealistic. maybe it's foolish to go to armm these days, as a blockmate of mine would point out. maybe i just have this messianic complex that's misplaced. someone bring me back to my senses please. or let me just rant for a while.

now i'm not sure if i'm going to school today because frankly, i don't know why i should. the only reason i see why we should study the law is for us to apply it and make our own contributions, no matter how little, to improving this country. it shouldn't wait until we graduate; it should start now while we're still in law school.

if i can't even do that, why bother. especially if i really can't see myself making pleadings all day and making millions out of it. and be a waste of space.

off to basilan

2008-08-03T07:07:00.000+08:00

if all things go as planned, i'd be in basilan this time next week for the armm elections. just got the go-signal from my dad via ym, a reluctant yes, with a hint of resignation: unsa pa man amo mahimo di na man guro ka mapugngan (ano pang magagawa namin, di ka naman magpapapigil). i'd like to think i'm a good son, but a stubborn one i guess hehe.

thank you LENTE for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. i'll give it my best shot. can't wait!

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

2008-07-27T10:37:00.000+08:00

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

2008-07-25T19:36:00.000+08:00

nakakahiya

2008-07-14T20:21:00.001+08:00

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

2008-07-12T04:59:00.000+08:00

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

2008-07-04T19:47:00.002+08:00

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?

2008-07-02T18:42:00.000+08:00

“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.

brutal

2008-06-30T19:27:00.000+08:00

"...Niño Calinao was seated on a bench with other UP students. When appellant Ranin neared their bench, he suddenly fired two successive shots at Calinao. The other students ran away as Calinao fell to the ground. While the latter was crawling on the ground holding his stomach, appellant Ranin shot him a third time. Then, appellant Ranin fired a fourth time at the fallen body of Calinao. De Castro tugged on appellant Ranin’s shirt and told him, “Dodong, Dodong, tama na yan, patay na yang bata.”

-People v. Ranin, Jr., G.R. No. 173023, 25 June 2008

it took 9 years before a decision could be reached in the death of nino calinao, a senior up journalism student who was gunned down in broad daylight in palma hall on feb. 19, 1999. sure, the court sentenced the hitman to reclusion perpetua, without the possibility of parole. but to this day, the alleged masterminds roam freely. after 9 years.

now that's just brutal. there's no other way to describe it.

and i thought nothing could be more brutal than nino's death.

to what end?

2008-06-30T18:50:00.000+08:00

there's trouble in my hometown:

9 npa rebels, 2 cops killed in surigao del norte

last i heard (and one that's not on the news because he's not ces drilon), the suspected rebels took hostage the priest of our town, fr. duarte, who was thankfully released last night. police are now pursuing the rebels who allegedly sought refuge in siargao island.

this takes me back to 15 years ago when skirmishes would often happen when i was a kid. i thought those days were long over; was i wrong.

but why take a priest hostage? take the mayor, the police commander, or whoever in government you wish to abduct, but why take a civilian hostage?

sorry to those who believe in armed struggle but i find it hard to believe there's ideology behind these acts of ransacking government offices, bombing cell towers, and risking the lives of innocent townfolks. to what end?

USC Statement on AS Walk Rumble

2008-06-27T19:05:00.000+08:00

USC Statement on the AS Walk rumble

It is unfortunate that fraternity violence, in whatever form, persists despite the high ideals for which fraternities are founded.

It is even more unfortunate that in our University—touted as the training ground for the best and the brightest young minds of the country, bastion of academic freedom and excellence, and home of no less than the Iskolar ng Bayan—fraternity violence has remained so deeply ingrained in its traditions.

As we celebrate our 100 years of existence, we lament this decades-long tradition, and stand witness to yet another of its incidents.

Yesterday morning, the Beta Sigma fraternity reportedly attacked the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity at their tambayan along AS walk. The attack led to a violent rumble between the two fraternities. Professor Agerico de Villa of the Philosophy Department of CSSP attempted to stop the ensuing rumble but was allegedly kicked while doing so. As a result, five members of Beta Sigma were arrested, three were brought to UP-PGH while four members of APO were given stitches.

These incidents are not uncommon and, after all the resulting deaths and casualties, we in the University Student Council have realized that to condemn the act is nothing more than an exercise in futility. It appears that, from the failure of fraternities to arrest the rampancy of fraternity violence, the call falls only on deaf ears.

And so from this day on, we no longer condemn merely the acts of violence but the actors, the active participants who, despite being among the privileged few who were chosen to become Iskolars ng Bayan, failed to exercise good judgment and circumspection, and flagrantly flouted university rules, much less, basic decorum. We condemn the instigators who were expected, but failed greatly, to conduct themselves as gentlemen not only because such is inscribed in their fraternities' tenets but because such is expected from a scholar of the people. Lastly, we condemn the fraternities that find themselves constantly embroiled in these incidences, for their failure to uphold the ideals of brotherhood and for tolerating these criminal acts. For any incident of rumble or hazing that takes place, is a sad testament to their failure to curb a pattern of violence that has ripened into an ugly tradition that indelibly smear fraternities as student institutions and the name of our University.

We urge the witnesses to cooperate with the administration, in order to bring the perpetrators of this incident to justice. We urge the UP administration to identify and prosecute fully and swiftly all the active participants- -those who attacked and those who retaliated, while observing their respective rights to due process.

Nearly ten months have passed since the last incident of fraternity violence that resulted in the death of one of our students. There has been no progress in the prosecution of the Cris Mendez case and we, in the University Student Council believe, that this is due largely to the undue observance of technical rules of procedure that hamper substantial justice. In light of this, we call for the continued review and eventual revision of policies in relation to fraternities, sororities and organizations, particularly the highly judicialized rules of procedure in the Student Disciplinary Tribunal.

In turn, we extend our services to the administration and to the witnesses. We guarantee that we will cooperate and assist in the investigation, that we will ensure that the rights of those accused will be observed, that we will extend protection to the witnesses who will come forward and that we will take steps and attempt to reconcile the differences of the erring fraternities.

We likewise urge all fraternities, sororities and organizations to exercise restraint in similar situations, and to observe at all times, the rules set by the administration governing their conduct.

It is high time for these Greek-letter fraternities, premised on excellence and service, to set aside their differences and work collectively to finally put an end to fraternity violence.

Lastly, we urge the UP studentry to remain vigilant and to continue to renounce all acts of fraternity violence against fellow iskolars ng bayan.

UP has no place for barbarity and violence

2008-06-27T18:52:00.001+08:00

Last Tuesday, 24 June 2008, only several weeks into the start of the academic year and just after UP marked its 100^th foundation year, the university bore witness once more to the rearing of the fraternity system’s ugly head. Members of the Beta Sigma (BS) and Alpha Phi Omega (APO) Fraternities figured in a violent rumble for which some fraternity members sustained head injuries. While this latest incident of fraternity-related violence may fail to offend the sensibilities of the largely resigned and exasperated UP community, aspects of the incident cannot fail to provide cause for heightened alarm:

According to reports compiled by the UP Diliman Police, the rumble erupted when members of the Beta Sigma Fraternity staged a surprise attack against APO members then at the AS Walk. Considering that the ensuing violence occurred at around 10 a.m. in the busiest part of the most densely populated building in the university, the rumble can only be described as a barbaric display of audacity; and of an utter lack of consideration and sensitivity to the welfare of innocent fellow students. At the height of the commotion, Prof. De Villa of the Department of Philosophy even attempted to break the fight up, only to find himself the victim of assault from one of the malefactors. The rumble was also a product of clear premeditation, because there was a conscious effort on the part of the perpetrators to breach and take advantage of the paucity of security personnel manning the entry points of AS.

As members of the UP community, there is no cogent reason for anyone of us to take the stance of a passive spectator in the midst of this increasingly brazen exhibition of barbarity. We have a duty to defend the integrity of our institution and the safe and secure learning environment which it must strive to create as a matter of moral obligation and imperative. All existing avenues must be activated to send a clear and unequivocal message that any fraternity wishing to engage in such barbaric intramurals in the future shall face the full force of the law and the condemnation of the entire UP community:

1. We call on the Student Disciplinary Tribunal and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs to deal with the perpetrators accordingly and expeditiously;

2. We call on all University, College, and Dormitory Councils to swiftly adopt and implement concrete measures aimed at protecting the welfare and safety of their respective constituencies, in coordination with the University and College administration;

3. We call on the network of fraternity resident members and alumni of Beta Sigma, Alpha Phi Omega, and all other fraternities to commit to helping the police in the investigation and resolution of this case, and to ensuring that such acts of violence shall never again be employed for any reason;

4. We call on all students, faculty members, and administrative staff to take small but significant steps within their personal circles to continuously and emphatically condemn any and all forms of fraternity-related violence in the University.

UP is an academic community. In this enclave of intellectual pursuit, there is simply no space for the kind of barbarity and violence that only unthinking and uncritical individuals subscribe to. We should set a clear example for all fraternities to see. We should not let UP’s one hundred glorious years be tarnished by this cancer in a supposedly healthy concept of brotherhood. If we sweep this incident under the rug again, the cycle of violence will continue, and the level of impertinence and malevolence will also be elevated. It is within our capacity to deal with this latest fraternity rumble in the proper manner – with unmistakable condemnation and steadfast resolve to prevent its repetition.

UP SAWA (UP Student-Led Anti-Fraternity-Related-Violence Watch Alliance)

no classes in up tomorrow, june 23, 2008

2008-06-22T18:22:00.000+08:00

but before we celebrate, let's pray for the 700 or so passengers of mv princess of the stars which sank off the coast of sibuyan island, and the many other victims of typhoon frank (fengshen). keep safe everyone!

wanted: witness

2008-05-19T21:01:00.003+08:00

if you know of a witness who has a talent in popping out of the blue, please let me know. i need one in about 8, make that 7.5, hours. haha.

**********

7.5 hours later...

li navallo arrives in court to find out that...WALA SI JUDGE!

am i lucky or am i lucky? the heavens must have heard my prayer hehe. of course He didn't send me a witness, but taking the judge away (for only a day) has the same practical effect: hearing postponed, which means one more week to look for a witness. make that two weeks kasi walang pao lawyer next week. at baka three weeks pa since the fiscal might not be available on the third week. whew!

wait, i shouldn't be rejoicing because my client is in jail. hay...

just to be clear though, i did try my best to get a witness. really. kung pwede ko lang ikwento. hehe defensive masyado.

weirdest OLA experience

2008-04-29T16:43:00.002+08:00

i know i have a hearing early tomorrow and i should be preparing for it but i just have to blog about this.

during my OLA duty last week, i talked to a 70-year-old woman whom i thought was our client. she looked normal and seemed to have a valid concern. so i told her to come back today with all the documents that we might need to do what she wanted us to do.

she came back this afternoon but to my surprise, she gave me this mean look when i greeted her along the corridor. i was puzzled because as far as i could remember, i was extra nice to her the last time and i couldn't recall anything that i did that could have offended her.

when i went inside the office, i was shocked at what she said to my co-interns. ruby said: "anong ginawa mo kay lola?" to which i replied, "huh? what do you mean?"

apparently, the old lady came up to them and asked that she be assigned to another intern. bastos raw kasi ako. she even asked if "edukado ba yun?" at ang likot-likot ko raw, nanghihingi ba daw ako ng pera.

my co-interns knew me better so they remained calm and continued to listen.

lola: "pakiramdam ko nga sinundan niya ako sa bahay."

at sinabi ko raw na "pa-k*****" (the K tagalog word which i can't even bring myself to utter). "paano kung nabuntis ako? kailangan panagutan nya yun!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. can't keep myself from laughing. i've just been accused of sexually harassing a 70-year-old! good lord! we were laughing in the office the whole afternoon. (not at the client of course, but at the weird accusation).

now i could see the case being called out by the clerk of court: people of the philippines versus navallo, criminal case number so-and-so for sexual harassment. law intern michael jobert navallo, accused.

and i never knew i like old women pala. this made my day.