Another Life Wasted

I cannot, for the life of me, understand what drives otherwise sane persons to join fraternities and subject themselves to torture; or the prospects of death. There’s just no cogent need for it.

While I was in law school, I received several invitations from fratmen who made me think that life will be unbearably hard if I didn’t join their group. I didn’t budge. True, I later settled with one, but this was a fraternity where no physical initiation was required. It actually looked more like a scholastic organization.

The benefits of being a “brod” are no secret: camaraderie, assistance, belonging, an extensive network. All these are touted to extend beyond the boundaries of school. But I was quite sure I can get all those even without a frat.

When we took our bar review, we were witness to another trait instilled in a brod: extreme courage. This means fear of nothing, since the frat’s behind him anyway.

My first brush with frat-related violence was when one law student was reportedly mauled by hooded men using baseball bats at the parking lot. The victim was severely injured but I guess nothing came out of the investigation.

Next came the incident at the library (it was open to both students and reviewees) where a co-reviewee was harrased by a frat just because he had the gall to approach one lady who happened to be a brod’s girlfriend. The poor guy was forced to apologize and never went back went back to school.

What bothers me is the fact that those who were all too ready to ignite violence in the name of brotherhood are people knocking at the door of the bar. These would-be lawyers seem to have no qualms about committing infractions of law. Is that because they know that their illustrious lawyer-brods will be using their legal expertise to extricate them from whatever trouble they get entangled with?

I can only surmise that Cris Anthony Mendez was planning to go to law school and applied for membership early on. With dreams of becoming a lawyer, he thought being with a frat will help him sail through it.

You all know what happened. All his dreams mean nothing now. With him now dead, it’s even improbable that he gets to pursue justice, as a victim.

What’s more pathetic is, despite many publicized deaths due to hazing, young people still flock to these exclusive organizations. I’m pretty sure that one of these days, another life will be offered at the temple of violence, but they will never learn.

(Note: Check Mendez’s Friendster account and cry.)

A Visit to Lucena

It was a plan hatched over bottles of downed beer. As usual, the agreement was "all for one, one for all." No one was allowed to break the covenant. Or else, the penalty is Five Thousand Pesos per head.

One of the gang’s members claimed to have an uncle in Lucena. And based on drunken accounts of a previous experience, there is plenty of seafood in the man’s table. We initially salivated over the prospects but everybody later dismissed it as just another tale. Thus the dare: we will go a-visiting during one of the forthcoming long weekends.

The first Saturday turned out to be stormy. We had no choice but to postpone the excursion. But the next one (last Saturday) had to be it, come hell or high waters.

And so we did. Without regrets, I must say. We had the beach all to ourselves, pigging out on the freshest of seafoods. Of course, the ever-reliable videoke was there when the spirits settled in. What more could we ask for?

Oh yes. I also had fun taking pictures. Not as good as other bloggers could have done it, but what the heck! I took them and I like them. :-)

Ruffa: Abused? Com'on...

It was an awfully disgusting sight – TV footages of Ruffa Gutierrez and Yilmaz Bektas drooling over each other, fully reconciled and even floating the idea of getting married again.

The hell … were they not the same celebrities who declared war against each other in the media? Wasn’t that the Ruffa who claimed to have been abused and battered, with the dramatic recounting of the horrible events all captured by the cameras? Was this not the same Ruffa who sought police protection (read: public funds) so as to deter any possible harm that the same Ylmaz was supposed to be capable of committing despite the oceans that separate them? Is this not the same Ruffa whom Gabriela proclaimed as a poster girl for women standing up for their rights?

Damn! We were duped! The images clearly do not evoke women empowerment. This was plain and simple public deception which trivialized the law aimed at protecting women’s rights.

When Republic Act No. 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act was promulgated, the biggest concern raised was that it could open the floodgates to abuse, having raised the concept of abuse to more than the physical type. The law went to the extent of penalizing psychological and economic abuse, and not only that, these abuses were already deemed committed even if they were only on the level of threats or attempts, e.g. attempting to cause the woman or her child physical harm, threatening to deprive the woman or her child of custody to her/his family and threatening to deprive the woman or her children of financial support legally due her or her family.

Given the uncertain nature of the law (think: how does one prove an attempt to cause physical harm if such is confined to the parties? Or, how do you quantify psychological abuse?), the implementing authorities were very careful in its application such that it can be availed only by people who truly suffered from abuse and may not be employed for harassment or revenge by any woman scorned.

I don’t know with you, but I truly think that Ruffa has given those who doubt the law a reason to be more cynical. She has just become the icon for the dark side of the law – where scheming women can cry abuse to pursue devious ends.

Call me biased, but it never entered my mind that she was indeed abused – what I clearly saw was a showbiz has-been trying desperately to return to her glorious days. The script was all too neat to be true – the theatrical confession, the explosive accusations, the melodramatic baptism by the pool, etcetera). And I only have to look at her mentor – her mother, and look back to her envelope-switching days to substantiate my claim. What I saw on TV last night simply affirmed it (check again that part where Ruffa was flaunting and taunting Yilmas with the gash in her head).

Ruffa just caused a big setback to the fight for women’s rights. And we, the showbiz-crazed nincompoops get the better part of the blame for being big-time suckers. (Insert Ruffa’s and Annabelle’s crackling guffaw here).

My Dream Me

They call him a “scum”. “Zero-conscience”.

I shall add obnoxious, irreverent, egotistical, peacock-proud, and a damn-good filthy-rich lawyer!

I dream to be like him. I want to be like him.

I wish I could re-invent myself and metamorphose into someone as feisty and as gung-ho as him. Being coy, conciliatory, tentative and fearful has not served me well.

Is there some place I could go, any machine I could insert myself into, where my personality can be re-engineered to fit my requirements?

I know, Sebastian Stark (SHARK) is just a figment of somebody's fertile imagination and repressed ambitions. He probably could just be a representation of his creators' dream person. But he couldn’t be far from being a real one.

I plan to be one.

And by the way, he’s not that bad. He too is a softie, given family concerns. Good enough, right?

I beg your pardon, Sir?

Anyone please, explain this to me like I were a three-year old.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), since that infamous ambush of Marines that despicably ended with beheadings and other mutilations, has been grossly out-maneuvered, out-skilled and yes, believe or not, out-numbered.

On August 9, another ambush left 26 soldiers dead and 17 others wounded - the biggest single day casualty in the history of the AFP.

But then came AFP Chief Gen. Germogenes Esperon Jr. saying: “we may have more fatality but we are still winning the war” (or words to that effect).

Excuse me?

I may not be a military strategist (even if I have been wanting to finish Sun Tzu’s The Art of War for years now), but I guess it doesn’t need genius to figure out this equation: more dead and wounded equals loss.

I see no other way to look at it.

Unless we take our soldiers to be no better than chess pawns which we can deploy as “sacrifices” so that we may gain headway towards a checkmate. Tell me this is not how our military minds operate.

Patience..patience..

I am a volcano waiting to explode.

The fiery lava inside my guts now linger dangerously near boiling point. Just a little more heat and pressure and …. Ka-boom! There’s no wrath like a ….

Well, maybe not. It’s probably just not me being explosive. But what do I do? There’s a threshold to one’s self control right?

I just don’t understand why people who have power over other people’s lives would be so grossly insensitive.

Hear this: the Rules, crafted by the agency itself, specifically provide for 15 days to resolve a certain Motion. Such was filed on June 20. E anong petsa na ngayon? Last thing I heard, it’s still being evaluated!

I know, some cases take a much longer wait. So? It doesn’t lessen the impact of this delay; it is bigger reason to seethe in rage.

Lives depend on our justice system. There are those that rely on a piece of paper to move on. Just one little piece. But some fat-a__ed j_rk is sitting on it!

Am I being unreasonable? I guess not. All I ask is for those tasked to dispense judgments to empathize with those begging for their attention and recognize the urgency of restoring the latter’s broken lives. In the first place, they themselves set the time frame. I would not be ranting if it were clear early on that the process will take light years. We would not have even filed the god-damned motion!

Not all have the patience of Job. I pray I will be blessed with it. Soon!!!

Barops '07- Pre-Bar Party

Barely a month. That’s how much time left for bar reviewees (baristas we call them) to complete their readings. I tell you, it’s a mad dash. This time last year, I was already unbearably panicky. It seemed that my backlog was growing inches thicker by the day.

This was the phase when we were constantly glued to our seats in the library from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., browsing through notes like Sherlock Holmes looking for clues in a haystack. Our only respite were the hourly trips to the coffee vendo machine and downing a few bottles of beer when our eyes can no longer take the beating. There our motormouths take over. I pity those tabled beside us during those gulping sessions as they surely developed high blood pressure listening to our irreconcilable arguments.

The pressure by this time is reaching its peak. It is good therefore to suppress it so that it doesn’t reach explosive proportions. It’s not urban legend when people say some get crazy immediately before or during the bar exams.

And what’s the best way to tackle and beat pressure? Party, of course!

And that’s what our alma mater's bar operations committee did last Saturday. This was the first time it was done in our law school's history and it was a smashing success. Some of the examinees were game enough to be there. The others? Well, to each his own survival style.

Here are some of the pictures of that riotous send-off cum fund-raising party.

Love, What Have You done?

“Be mine….and mine alone, and I will be yours and yours alone! I love you forever, I love you for always. As long as i’m living my Tweetie you’ll be!”

This undoubtedly, is one mushy and heartfelt love note, proof of an avowed undying affection.

But it was not one that met the stringent requirements of society and more so the profession that one of the parties embraced.

That party is Atty. Jose Emmanuel “Noli” M. Eala.

I admit, my heart bleeds for him. Familiar as I am with the sacrifices one makes just to have the “Atty.” affixed to his name, it pains me that the privilege is stripped of him, all because of love gone haywire.

In law school, our teachers never get tired reminding us not to ever cross swords with the Lawyer’s Oath and the Code of Professional ethics. In this case, Eala’s indiscretion (pursuing an amorous relationship with a married woman while he himself was married) irked the High Court so much as it found him to have shown “disrespect for an institution held sacred by the law” (marriage) and “betrayed his unfitness to be a lawyer”, that it decreed his disbarment.

I think it was too harsh a punishment for Eala, but I surmise the Supreme Court wanted to impart a strong statement. The institution of marriage is now under attack and it is becoming a widespread perception that lawyers are the primary advocates of its dissolution by virtue of annulments. With this decision, the Court seems to reiterate that it’s one thing for lawyers to have the power to facilitate the breakdown of troubled marriages within the bounds defined by law, it’s another to show utter disregard to the sanctity of one by trampling on it while it still exists.

In the case of Chua-Qua vs. Clave (where a teacher fell in love with and eventually married her student), the SC came up with one of the most-quoted legal paeans to love when it said that “love has reasons which reason does not know”. Everybody then agreed. For love indeed traverses intellectual, social and economic boundaries.

But not the lines drawn by law and morals. Here, love alone is not enough.

But who knows? For Noli and his fiancée (or is it now wife?), the disbarment may be a debacle as most of us would see it, but it probably is not sufficient to diminish the sparkle and intensity of the very reason why this happened – their love. They could be happy still.

So I wish them the best of luck. Truth is, I do not see the disbarment as the end of the saga. My crystal ball is blinking “more to come”….

Sports Rantsblitz

CNN featured a full report on Iraq’s winning the Asia Cup against Saudi Arabia last night, something not so unlike the coverage it gave to the Middle East Wars. This was because the phenomenon is so “extrooordinary”, as Rosemary Church repeatedly blabbered, Iraq being the unheralded underdog. But from my view, it appeared more like continuing propaganda for the US, as the reports focused more on the celebrations in the American camps, and the guest commentator’s plea to use the event as a leverage for the promotion of peace and democracy in invaded Iraq. With so much free goodwill, I guess George Bush drowned himself in tequila last night and may just accord the players a White House reception one of these days. Who says sports and politics don’t mix?

* * *
BBC on other hand never even recognized the event, as it did not merit even a roller in its screen. Why the snub? Is this an indication that the British are now trying to wean themselves from the trouble that is Iraq?

* * *

In the home front, our basketball-crazy brethren are still panting over the RP five’s win over China. Never mind if the losing team was composed of China’s second stringers and was even beaten by Jordan. No Yao Ming there, my dear wishful-thinking friends.

I don’t understand why until today, we still dream of making it big in the basketball world when it’s obvious even to the untrained that we don’t stand the slightest damn chance. Yes! That, even if we cheat the entire universe by claiming that those representing the Philippines now are Filipinos, even if the shameful truth is that they are Pinoys only by virtue of the genes of their pet dogs.

(Note: Just learned that Jordan clobbered the Pinoy Dreaming Team. I rest my case.)

Minding My Own Business

Employees like us have this eternally-burning desire to be in business. This we see as the window that will allow us to eventually be our own boss and finally earn income to as much as our perseverance and hard-work can bring us.

But for most, this aspiration remains and dies a dream. By just recognizing and assessing our chances against the known risks, backing out or never even bothering to start, is but a normal recourse. Filipinos, unlike the Chinese, have this pre-occupation with the safe side.

For good reason, I surmise. It’s not easy to simply forego assured income and throw away the comforts of employment. Not directly facing the vicissitudes of the market spares us the trouble of protecting our investments. We may not earn stratospheric incomes, but we still live simple, quiet and unharassed lives. To each his own drama, ika nga.

But I have long been wishing to get out of the mold. That’s why I’m now talking business with some very close friends. And as expected, we’re realizing it’s not for the fainthearted! Just at the planning stage, things could really get bloody difficult. For starters, we all cannot imagine gambling away our meager but sweat-stained savings!

I’m not quite sure if I have the acumen for business. I am convinced some people are born with it and I still have to check if I am in any way blessed with the requisite skills. Through all these time, I can only recall very few moments which can qualify as entrepreneurial ventures. And most of them happened when I was but a kid. I remember being an ambulant vendor of pineapples, pechay, eggplants and other garden produce. I may have earned a lot that time but I never really became passionate with making my own money.

But the biggest dampener must have been this incident which happened precisely on one of my birthdays:

The setting: high school in our hometown. Our teachers tried to train us to become adaptable to both home and farm work, so we exchanged places with our female classmates and had a home economics class. We were asked to prepare a vegetable dish and then sell it.

The cooking part was easy. It was more difficult selling the stuff to the town folks.

Pi-nak-beeeet!….. Pi-nak-beeeet! We shouted as our jolly group peddled around the town.

Midway, we passed by one man. The ever bubbly group-leader-me made his practiced pitch:

“Manong, bili na kayo ng pinakbet”, I coaxed him. “Siguradong-siguradong pampalinaw ng mata”.

After some more tries, he remained unperturbed. So we left him.

But after walking just a few paces away, he called us back! We ran sensing a sale.

But as we got near him, he grabbed me by the back of the neck with his left hand, then his right hand threw a quick upper cut. “Ayan, isang order”, he said.

I was bewildered. As he left, he threw a piercing stare.

There I realized what my fault was.

He was half-blind!

From then on, I never ever peddled anything again.

See Ya Folks at the (Indie) Movies!

I was in the middle of a dream during yesterday’s unusual Sunday afternoon nap when my cellphone unceremoniously blared out Chris Daugthry’s “It’s Not Over”. My favorite song alright, but hearing it at the time when the dream was reaching its climax (not mine, naughtyhead!) was definitely not enough to push me out of bed. So I grudgingly checked out who the intruder was, but I was jolted out of my semi stupor when I saw the caller ID – it was the most influential theater blogger of the decade, Gibbs Cadiz!

Wala lang naman. He just wanted to check if I have read his recent post on Cinemalaya. I admitted I haven’t. So he just asked me to visit his popular blog and help him spread the news about his new pakulo - the contest on the reviews re the Cinemalaya entries (for details see this).

Hmm. The Gibbs Cadiz asking me to help spread the word? Parang sasampu lang yata ang readers ko a, and most of them I guess are also his readers. Spill over na lang ang napupunta sa akin. Sige na nga.

Tutal, I do agree with him that we should check out the independent film phenomenon and judge for ourselves if it indeed offers a better alternative than the run-of-the mill Filipino movies being rammed down our throats. As many pundits profess, we’re not running out of creative talent. Our brighter stars simply remain unrecognized and uncompromising with their ideals. But I heard many of them are now making their presence felt through this exclusive filmfest. So let’s give them the plaudits they deserve. Wag na nating hintayin na mapansin muna sila ng foreign audiences bago tayo sumilip.

So guys, if you have time, do try visiting the CCP for the indie film entries. I have passed up on previous opportunities due to my pursuit of another career, but this time, mukhang balak kong balikan ang pagiging mass comm ko. So see you there.

And don’t forget to write your 5 dollars worth of praise or diatribe. Basta blog lang kayo. Bahala na ang judges mamroblema. And since kasama na sina Migs at Mcvie sa judges, me pag-asa na kayong manalo, he he.

And to Gibbs, wag kalimutan ang pasalubong!

Highway Robbery

I met with some friends at the Alabang Town Center last night.

Going home, I passed through an unmanned toll gate going into the South Superhighway.

When I reached the Magallanes toll plaza, the teller asked for my entry card.

I had none.

I argued my case. No one was distributing cards at the entry point!

She said she can’t do anything. I have to pay as if I lost the card.

I wanted to stand my ground, but the queue behind me was getting longer. And it was getting past midnight.

It was useless arguing with the teller. It was not her fault.

I could hear the guerilla in my head grumbling and kicking - “Think of the many others on the same shoes! Someone must stand up for them!”

I didn’t. I grudgingly paid. Damn!

All I could say was “!#&@!!!-ina niyo! Ayusin niyo serbisyo nyo!” Then sped off.

As I arrived home, I tried fending off sleep. I was really pissed off.

So I brought out my long-kept dusty chest underneath my bed and got three black candles and five incense sticks. As I lit them, I muttered my most powerful incantations.

“Magkabuhol-buhol sana ang bituka ng mga tao sa PNCC na nabubuhay sa panloloko ng iba”. Wushooooshhhh!

Atraaaas!!

As you now know, the Composed Gentleman nominated this site for Blog of the Week (Week #64) last week. I indulged. I also got curious how I would fare.

And by now you must have noticed na tinanggal ko na ang aking voting box sa sidebar. Pano, I got pummeled, clobbered and pulverized by the competition! Nye! Kakahiya! Wala pala talaga akong fans! Waaah! He he. Yun pang solid supporters ko, na disenfranchise dahil dalawang IP address lang ang pinagsasaluhan namin sa office. Nakalapit man lang sana sa frontrunners. Bwehehe.

Butsokey. For now, atras muna. I’ll try again when I have already gained internet celebrity status. Ten years from now, perhaps? :-)

"Teka Teka" Fighters

How would you feel if the weapon upon which you anchor your life turns out to be a dud? What would you do if at the approach of a determined enemy, your gun won’t fire? Won't you just shout “Teka, teka! Wait lang Boss!” and pray that you'll have Hiro's power to freeze time?

It would’ve looked like a scene lifted straight from a worn-out comedy movie, but nope. This seemed to have happened to our Armed Forces, ironically at a time when other countries could boast of modern and ultra-efficient military gadgets.

Truth is, our men in the field are not asking for high-tech arms. All they need are functioning equipment. Just that, but that we cannot even provide them, thanks to the greed of some military officers.

I can only imagine the Marines cursing their superiors while trying to muster enough strength and courage to fight the barbaric enemies. Clearly outnumbered, they knew that a few feet away lurk the bullets that could take their lives in a snap. The only thing left with them is the consolation that they were fighting the fight of the brave and that when death stares them in the face, they could at least bring a few of the enemies to the grave.

Wrong.

The mortars that their government provided them turned out to be useless. As the enemies inch towards them, our soldiers had to do the “itaktak mo” jig hoping it would spark life to the dormant mortars.

It was a pitiable sight. And really scary.

To think that Trillanes and the men in Oakwood have already sounded the alarm bells for the purchase of substandard weapons a long time ago. To think that many lives and limb have by far been offered by our men-in-uniform in the altar of shameless corruption.

Now that he is Senator, the people expect Trillanes to confront his former superiors and hold them accountable for the carnage.

For indeed, no amount of ceremony befitting a fallen hero can bring back the wasted lives of the Marines who fought to keep the peace in this country. An honest-to-goodness overhaul of the system is in order to at least assure the military (as well as the police personnel) that we are not playing with their lives.

Stress Busting View

Our Monday flag ceremony speaker, a psychiatrist, reported that more and more Filipinos, including professionals are seeking medical intervention so as to handle and mitigate stress. Focusing on the workplace, she suggested that employers should exert effort to ensure that the working environment, both the physical and inter-personal, is pleasant and harmonious, as any deviation will ultimately reflect on productivity.

Our speaker highlighted the importance of having windows where employees could go to and provide respite to their computer-screen-harassed-eyes. In this respect, I guess our workplace more that meets the requisite. Our office walls are purely glass, so what we have is the widest view possible not just of idyllic Manila Bay but also of the hotels surrounding us where these sights greet you everyday….

How's these for stress busters, huh?