Understanding Me

I don’t know if I am being narcissistic for thinking of this. I just felt the need that I really need to have to understand myself more for me to conquer my fears. There are things I couldn’t understand. For example, as a lawyer I should now be stronger. My character, fearless. But no. I am still the fragile person always thinking about how to take refuge from the stresses of work, from the pain that comes with this life.
There is still so much to know about me. Can I still indulge on myself when the world needs to be taken cared of, when the universe needs to be discovered and explored? I am a nano-molecule in this universe. I am a nano-molecule trying to understand itself against a gazillion, ad infinitum.

Searching

Today, I have allowed a widow with little children to be put in jail. How is justice best delivered to the people, I ask. Look me in the eyes, she said. Find me amongst criminals, find me further in the dregs of this society, stop when you find me in a shanty with my little children beside me.

I, too, seemed helpless. Maybe it’s too late for I have found you there, behind bars without your children.

Shaping a Life

I have a new home. I just transferred hours ago and here I am slouching on the barren floor without a bed or any other muebles. That’s how literally barren my room is. Surrounding me are the bulky travel bags packed with unwashed laundry, thick books, mattresses, shoes, and a life full of unwanted memories. I will start a new a life here while the world continues to turn around as people grieve and live in fear; while nature wretches the living.

I feel so convenient in this new place. My office is just a stone’s throw away, the train could be heard from the distance, the horns of the buses are like buzzing bees. This is a new chapter yet again and this will be repeated soon and over and over as I try to shape a life I don’t understand. As I try to shape a life I do not own.

Legal Implications of the SC Decision in Peñera vs. Comelec

Facts of the case:

Penera filed her Certificate of Candidacy for local elective position on the afternoon of 29 March 2007, and a day before the start of the campaign period for the May 14, 2007 elections.

Accompanied by a bevy of supporters, [Penera and her partymates] came to the municipal COMELEC office on board a convoy of two (2) trucks and an undetermined number of motorcycles, laden with balloons ad [sic] posters/banners containing names and pictures and the municipal positions for which they were seeking election. Installed with [sic] one of the trucks was a public speaker sound subsystem which broadcast [sic] the intent the [sic] run in the coming elections. The truck had the posters of Penera attached to it proclaiming his [sic] candidacy for mayor.

Issues: Whether or not [Penera] has engaged in an election campaign or partisan political activity outside the campaign period.

Decision:

Penera violated the Omnibus Election Code which prohibits premature campaigning. The prohibited act of premature campaigning is defined under Section 80 of the Omnibus Election Code, to wit:

SECTION 80. Election campaign or partisan political activity outside campaign period. — It shall be unlawful for any person, whether or not a voter or candidate, or for any party, or association of persons, to engage in an election campaign or partisan political activity except during the campaign period: Provided, That political parties may hold political conventions or meetings to nominate their official candidates within thirty days before the commencement of the campaign period and forty-five days for Presidential and Vice-Presidential election.

Penalty for premature campaigning is disqualification. Sec. 68 of the said Code provides:

SECTION. 68. Disqualifications. - Any candidate who, in an action or protest in which he is a party is declared by final decision of a competent court guilty of, or found by the Commission of having xxx (e) violated any of Sections 80, 83, 85, 86 and 261, paragraphs d, e, k, v, and cc, subparagraph 6, shall be disqualified from continuing as a candidate, or if he has been elected, from holding the office. Any person who is a permanent resident of or an immigrant to a foreign country shall not be qualified to run for any elective office under this Code, unless said person has waived his status as permanent resident or immigrant of a foreign country in accordance with the residence requirement provided for in the election laws.


Important points that need to be noted:

1. Premature campaigning as defined in the Omnibus Election Code could be committed not only by a candidate but by any person.

2. What is premature campaigning?

Answer: Premature campaigning is understood to be the conduct of election campaign or partisan political activity outside of the campaign period.

3. When is the campaign period?

Answer: For a complete listing of the calendar of activities set by Comelec for the 2010 Automated Elections visit: http://www.comelec.gov.ph/modernization_/2010_natl_local/Calendar_of_Activities.html

4. What constitutes election campaign or partisan political activity?

Answer: Section 79(b) of the Omnibus Election Code defines election campaign or partisan political activity in the following manner:

SECTION 79. Definitions. - As used in this Code:

x x x x

(b) The term "election campaign" or "partisan political activity" refers to an act designed to promote the election or defeat of a particular candidate or candidates to a public office which shall include:

(1) Forming organizations, associations, clubs, committees or other groups of persons for the purpose of soliciting votes and/or undertaking any campaign for or against a candidate;

(2) Holding political caucuses, conferences, meetings, rallies, parades, or other similar assemblies, for the purpose of soliciting votes and/or undertaking any campaign or propaganda for or against a candidate;

(3) Making speeches, announcements or commentaries, or holding interviews for or against the election of any candidate for public office;

(4) Publishing or distributing campaign literature or materials designed to support or oppose the election of any candidate; or

(5) Directly or indirectly soliciting votes, pledges or support for or against a candidate.



5. When is a person officially considered a candidate in order to commit premature campaigning and be penalized by disqualification for its commission?

Answer: A person, upon the filing of his/her COC, already explicitly declares his/her intention to run as a candidate in the coming elections. Thus, considered as a candidate for purposes of committing premature campaigning.

6. Periods to reckon with:

Under RA 8436, as amended by RA 9369:

Sec. 15. “x x x Any person who files his certificate of candidacy within this period (deadline set by Comelec for the filing of Certificates of Candidacy) shall only be considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign period for which he filed his certificate of candidacy” Provided, That, unlawful acts or omissions applicable to a candidate shall effect only upon the start of the aforesaid campaign period x x x”

7. What are the implications of this decision in light of the many infomercials being plugged by aspirants in the 2010 elections?


Answer: It is the filing by the person of his/her COC through which he/she explicitly declares his/her intention to run as a candidate in the coming elections. It is such declaration which would color the subsequent acts of said person to be election campaigning or partisan political activities as described under Section 79(b) of the Omnibus Election Code. It bears to point out that, at this point, no politician has yet submitted his/her COC. Also, the plain solution to this rather misplaced apprehension is for the politicians themselves to adhere to the letter and intent of the law and keep within the bounds of fair play in the pursuit of their candidacies. This would mean that after filing their COCs, the prudent and proper course for them to take is to wait for the designated start of the campaign period before they commence their election campaign or partisan political activities. Indeed, such is the only way for them to avoid disqualification on the ground of premature campaigning.

Dreaming of a Hero

Maybe it’s because I have romanticized a character so captured in Atticus Finch. Maybe because I see a lot of injustice seething in every corner I pass through. Maybe because I experienced so much pain and suffering in my life first-hand and that I very well know where the destitute, the impoverished, the abused, the ordinary people seeking justice are coming from.

I will embark on a journey less traveled. I am settled with myself that I have come this far for a reason. I saw the meaning in my life right on this very day when I handed a pleading to an OFW who was very distraught about what the future will bring. I don’t want the riches of this world. I want to help people.

There was extreme happiness in me. I see a hero in the eyes of the people I meet. From this day on, I will start to dream again from the rubbles and with the end of rebuilding what’s destroyed.

I will be dreaming of a hero in every battle for justice. For them I will live. For them I will dream.

Pre-Week Bar Tips

I really don’t know if I am of the authority to give these Bar tips and make all those who happen to read this follow and put the blame later on me for failing the exam. First of all, I am only doing this out of experience and on the basis that applying whatever method (sic) or perspective at that has seen me passing the bar, no sweat. I am not bragging about anything, please understand that such statement was made out of the afterthought that I came to the bar site and took the exam with only a fraction of legal concepts and jurisprudence in my memory and holy cow I passed. So without further ado, here are the practical, realistic and doable things you may want to consider to do before you take the exam, while taking it, and the days in between Sundays.

1. By now, most of you I know are cramming hehe. Most of you I am sure are bombarded ith different and varying assumptions and guesses and well, predictions on what the examiners will ask come the bar exam. Please shut your ears for a while to this hullabaloo. Listening to them will all the more distract you. What you need is focus! How to do this? Well, given the very very short time left for you to gather all what you studied in law school, your readings during the review, and the lectures and handouts if you attended a formal review program, the best thing to do is to find the perfect material to sum it all up. In my case, I find the San Beda Red Notes very, very helpful. It summarizes salient points, key concepts you can apply in every question imaginable on a particular subject. It is handy yet it allows you to be in the right perspective in order for you to answer every question on the topic/subject, if I my say, correctly or maybe close to that. Well, as you know for sure it doesn’t matter if your answer is right on the dot what really matters is that it makes sense to the examiner. San Beda Red Notes will allow you to do just that. UP Law Center Bar Review handouts are likewise a good choice. What I did is that with the voluminous handouts they give, I picked those which explain the fundamentals of a subject. Get down to the basics and you will never go wrong. It will be your salvation believe me!


2.Condition your physical, emotional, spiritual and what have you states. This is self-explanatory. However, how parsimonious the statement is it is rather quite difficult to accomplish. You know yourself better and I am limited to awakening you from whatever slumber you are in by telling you that the bar exam is here! Hey it’s here, wake up! Come on, the waiting period is over. In my case, a week before the exam I had this terrible stomach cramps caused by an overwhelming stress most of you have now. I temporarily got rid of this by taking Maalox. It eased the pain two days before the exam but it will always recur in the middle of the week. What I did was I prayed a lot. Hang on to whatever faith you have. When all else fails your spirituality really matters. We had this ritual of going to the Church of the Holy Sacrifice at UP Diliman every morning during Saturdays before the exam. It helped a lot because it gave me a boost and the reason to continue the battle. God will never leave you in distress if your intentions are true. Before taking the exam, ascertain to yourself that you will do your best whatever happens. Promise to yourself and to God that you will never give up and that you will finish the battle. Likewise, before taking the exams believe that you will pass. Tell yourself that you will pass it in a loud voice. Repeat it over and over. Clear your thoughts! What you have in mind right now should only be the bar and nothing else. Thinking of other problems or others’ problems is a no-no. Be positive even only for this period. If you’re already short on your finances call me and I will help you (just joking) don’t think much about it. Imagine that it will come by later through manna after you take the exam. If resources are really not at hand, pray for a miracle who knows the universe is really conspiring in your favor and will help you produce it, no sweat. By now, everything must be ready: IDs and permits, tech-pens (you know me and my friend who also passed the bar used blue Dong-a .5 tech-pens, you will never go wrong with blue especially when your penmanship is not that pleasing to the eyes), your clothes to wear (I don’t know if it helped me but I wore yellow during the four Sundays) be sure that you are comfortable with your clothes don’t dress up much because you’re not attending a party neither a formal event. You can wear slippers if you’re comfortable with it, your food during the exams and during lunch-breaks, having a chocolate bar while taking the exam is more than a sugar rush it maintained my focus and energy to answer the exam. Naku malaking tulong ito. Sinasabi ko sa inyo. Choco bar and Gatorade. Brain boosters! For lunch, our school provided a not so appetizing menu, but you know it helped because it didn’t make us full. You shouldn’t eat too much during lunch. Hwag nyong busugin masyado ang tyan nyo dahil makakatulog kayo sa hapon. I tell you, one of my seatmates literally slept in one of those afternoons without finishing the exam.


3. Me and my friend stayed in a hotel near the bar site. We managed to find a hotel along Malvar St. called Malvar Hostel. It is a three star hotel. The place is soooo conducive for studying a day before the exams and for having sufficient sleep. If you’re planning to stay in a hotel and you haven’t found one yet, I suggest you go to Malvar Hostel who knows it really gives luck to those who stay in it. Well, me and my friend were only the ones who stayed in the hotel who took the bar and we both passed. You wouldn’t go wrong there. Their rates are at Php 1,980 at that time, but you can haggle with the friendly manager that you will forego the free breakfast and have the rate slashed at Php 1,780. Me and my friend shared in the deluxe room upstairs so we only paid 800+ each for a night’s stay. We stayed at Room 204. Hehe


4. Be CONFIDENT during the exams. I told one friend that one of the things which helped me is that I am too, over, confident while taking the exams. If there’s a proper place, venue wherein you can go high with your pride it is during the bar exams and not during debates in law school. Pour all the pride you’ve got. You won’t believe me, but I always finish answering thirty minutes ahead the time. I tell you I am always the early bird in the exam room all throughout the four Sundays not because I know everything that are being asked and I am certain that what I answered are all correct but because of yabang. Hehe and of course of having the right perspective of doing all things I previously mentioned. Being mayabang during the bar is very appropriate if only to maintain your focus. Do it. I am sure you will pass.


5. How to answer? My answers are very direct and concise, ganun ba. If a question asks for a yes or no? I start my answer with a yes or no followed by the explanation which is rather based on a specific law/legal concept I remember or based on jurisprudence. My mastery of the fundamental laws really helped me answer the questions in a direct and concise manner. My answers are outlined in this manner. Yes or No – Legal Basis –Conclusion. If I am not really sure of the answer meaning the question is quite trivial to me, I think of a related law/legal concept related to the matter at issue and write my answer in the same vein. Yes-or-No- Legal basis – Conclusion. When I am confronted with a very very trivial question like what is a hard law or a soft law, I view it in the perspective of common knowledge and start from there. Hard meaning matigas. hehe. .How is hard usually interpreted in legal terms meaning strict or legalistic ang pagtingin yung ganun ba. When all else fails just answer what you know with all your heart and pray to God.


And now you’re ready. Slay the dragon. Dream, Believe and Survive as a popular TV contest properly puts it. The practice of law is just a stone’s throw away, IT IS waiting there at the other end. The promise of practicing law is knocking right at your doorstep and it is for you to open or have that door closed and wait for another point in time where it will be there knocking again but why wait when you can open the doors now. Di ba? Time is precious. Fear not the bar. Take it easy. Make the bar easy on yourself. Pretending may be inappropriate for you but it is rather an easy path to take, an easy option without having risks to take (because you’ve taken all the risks already and there’s no room for additional risks anymore hehe) when the bomb is about to explode. So try to pretend when the situation necessitates it won’t harm you.

What's in a Holiday?

What’s in a holiday? Not so much except for frizzy hair and wet mattresses caused by a seemingly lethargic system getting more and more bored of life at the moment. The bed is as good as a deathbed for precious time and fertile thinking were it not for holidays which fragment this fledgling lawyer’s life like a forgotten page in a newspaper loosely drifting in a ghastly corner of a street.

No work means no life for me, sadly. No work means a sluggish life in this humid apartment only ventilated by a wall fan which punctured in its place an enormous picture of two felines looking straight at the other end of the room which happens to be large windows now covered thickly with dirt. No work means thinking many lugubrious thoughts and plans which will in the end ruin my day. No work is self-destructive.

The past few weeks have seen me less court appearances much of writing pleadings and legal opinions. This is punctuated by a brief meeting with a client at the close of the week consulting many trivial legal questions. Being wealthy really has its price and being in such kind of stature breeds a paradoxical animosity between same bloods. Being wealthy breeds greed and apathy and that’s how the Civil Code provisions on Wills and Succession and lawyers of course come in. Settling their disputes makes me feel awkward but at the same time makes me appreciate the beauty and wisdom of the law on heirship which I loathe back in law school.

My senior has this knack of illustrating their respective shares on the estate of the patriarch. On the whiteboard she draws a circle divides it into half further divides the half portion by thirteen and shades a piece then tells to the doe-eyed heir: “This will be your share.” My senior breathed an aura of resignation after an hour of talking and talking explaining all legal complications of not settling the estate among themselves. I know she wants to tell them one last thing in a high-pitched tone: “Why don’t you all agree with the darn estate and have your selves enjoy your share till you breath last!” She was able to say it of course but in a courteous manner what do I expect. Between truth and business existence, the latter is more potent in this practice so to speak but being candid sometimes in specific matter pays well. This is a golden rule. It expels the air of opportunism and insincerity and draws the woman sitting opposite to you (eye-to-eye) to inevitably tell with all her enthusiasm: “Ok, how much will it cost? What will be the arrangement? Should I sign papers now?” What a sheer power, made my eyes grow bigger in real time.

And so we got an extra with that deal, another annulment case this time. Keep the cases coming, rainmaker.

Holidays, another one coming next week but I have nowhere to spend it at this time. No way to spend it for one of the loneliest persons ever lived. Nowhere to spend but this room with all of its four corners, with a laptop, with black ants eating fallen crumbs, with a few old newspapers, with a bed, and with nobody. “Nobody, nobody, but you!” Yes, you. Who? Is it okay to plug my number here? Me so pathetic.