Thursday, March 31, 2005
This day in history from:
The will of the people must never be silenced...
Salus Populi est Suprema Lex. (The will of the people is the supreme law.)
The recent dismissal of FPJ's protest sounded the death knell for the opposition's hopes to regain power. It appears, therefore, that whatever issue or question on the present administration's legitimacy has been put to rest. Political, economic and social stability should be the expected result.
But wait...
They forgot this latin maxim. Remember this and remember this well. Salus populi est suprema lex.
The will of the people is the supreme law. (The latin version sounds cooler, don't you think?)
All technicalities must yield to the will of the people. This is not a question of who decides and who benefits. This is a question of truth.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
This day in history from:
Punzi's handy-dandy universal theory on women...
Women are far superior than men... and do you know why?
Simple. They can easily manipulate us. Trust me. This is not only from my own personal experience (and more than a couple of beers, if I may add). There is some historical truth to what I am about to say. Many wars have been fought, many countries, governments, large companies and marriages have been destroyed, conquered, taken over and handed over to women just because they can and actually did. There is no need for any historical enumeration to prove this point.
And you need not look far. The shrewdest businessman was never be fooled by his colleagues in their respective transactions, only to have his clock (as well as his riches) cleaned by his mistress he picked up in some girlie bar. Mind you, this mistress probably never had a college degree and yet cleaned his Ivy-league educated man for everthing he's got.
Imagine, from personal experience, I was never a match for a college drop-out receptionist, even with my law degree (that I earned after eight years of university study) and several year's worth of law practice.
How, you say, are we easily manipulated? They know how to push our buttons to get what they want. As a matter of fact, we men have only one button to push. And women know this and push it well...
For women, the task is simple and very easy to accomplish. They just have to get our other "head" down "there" to override our true heads. Yeah you know... the one that actually thinks.
They just have to give us the mere promise or even hope of future copulation. The very act or the deed itself is even purely optional on their part.
Once they succeed and our other head takes over, they can pretty much have their way with us. At that point, we are pretty much at their mercy.
Face it. How many of us would have jumped over the highest mountain, swam the deepest ocean, plucked the stars out of the night sky to string into pearl necklaces and all that other "romantic" crap just to "get the girl?" And what does "getting the girl" really mean? Admit it. It's simply getting the girl in the sack.
And that's why they can get their way with us men. They know we men want one thing and only one thing from them. You think we are just using them. On the contrary, they are just using us to get what they want.
And just what do women want? We men don't have a clue.
That's our weakness. They know what we want but we don't know what they want.
C'mon. When the chips are down, you know what I just said is true. We are inferior beings compared to them.
So now you know, my friends. And, as GI Joe and my fellow-blogger officemate says, "Knowing is half the battle."
Sa pagsapit ng Linggo ng Pagkabuhay nitong taon ng kailangangkailangang pagbabago para sa Pilipinas, ating alalahanin ang bagong pag-asang sinasagisag ng dakilang araw na ito matapos tayong tubusin sa ating mga kasalanan ng ating Panginoong Hesukristo. [As Easter comes in this year of much needed reforms for the Philippines, let us remember the new hope symbolized by this holy day after Jesus Christ redeeemed our sins.]
Christ’s passion gave birth to a new man; so too our struggle for urgent change will find transformation into a new nation with more jobs, cleaner environment, safer streets, more investments, and freedom from the ills of crushing debt, endless poverty, and vile corruption.
Huwag tayong mawalan ng pagasa sa kabila ng maraming mga pagsubok. Isulong natin ang ating bansa sa klarong direksyon mula sa inyong halal na liderato, desididong aksyon sa Kongreso, at pagkakaisa ng taumbayan. [We must not lose hope inspite of all these setbacks. Let us move our country in a clear direction from your elected leaders, resolute action from Congress, to the unity of the people.]
Nawa’y laging maghari ang pag-ibig ng Diyos sa ating mga puso upang tuluyan na nating makamit ang makabuluhang pagbabagong maghahatid sa atin ng kapayapaan at kaunlaran. Nawa’y mapaikot na natin ang ekonomiya at makapagbigay ng tunay na puhunan sa buhay ng karaniwang Pilipino. [May the love of God reign in our hearts so that we can truly achieve relevant change that will bring us peace and prosperity. May we finally turn around our economy and give true quality of life to the common Filipino.]
We must stay the course, as Christ did, to eventual triumph. We must stay the course until the Philippines has turned the corner. In the end the weak-willed and the self- serving will be changed or cast off. In the end the corrupt will be indicted and convicted, and their ill-gotten gains forfeited to the government. And our faith and perseverance will win support and vindication from the people.
Happy Easter to all!
-President GMA's Easter 2005 Message
At the outset, this statement is sooooo easy to make sitting in a comfortable chair in an air-conditioned room (or comfy in the cold climate relaxing during a vacation break) where you really don't have to worry about where you'll get your next meal, or where you'll be able score some money to pay mounting debts. Practising philosophy, economics, or law is always easy from an armchair. There is really a tendency to wax poetic, philosophical and even religious if you never really know what hunger or even burden really is.
What course is it? Heavier burden for the poor by additional taxation? There is only so much the people can take. There has to be a better way of doing this. There must be an equality of sacrifice and the burden should be equitably distributed. The additional taxes will barely make a dent in the rich person's coffers. For the middle class downwards, however, it will mean their quality of life will suffer a major downgrade...again. And where will all these additional taxes go?
All this talk about the self-serving, weak-minded and corrupt people getting what they deserve has become worn-out lip service. These people can afford to have the wheels of justice turn their way. Believe me, I know this for a fact.
Finally, true change should begin from within. And I mean this in more ways than one.
The Terri Schiavo case has been brewing for the past few years when she collapsed on 25 February 1990 allegedly due to a potassium imbalance.
As this story nears its logical conclusion, I was just thinking, the world spends a ton of money trying to implement a "humane" death penalty on convicted criminals who have committed crimes heinous enough to forfeit their lives. But at the same time, some people battle for the right to die by denying an alleged vegetative person food and water.
How come an innocent person gets to die by food and water deprivation while convicted and hardened criminals get a painless lethal injection or cynide gas in an expensive execution chamber?
How did the system get so twisted and perverted that a criminal gets a "humane" death and an innocent person gets to die like a dog?
I believe with the right to die, assuming it exists, comes the right to die humanely. I believe Terri Shiavo, at the very least, is entitled to die with dignity.
Where has this world gone to?
Some have criticized countries with death penalty like ours as barbarians. At least these countries take pains to provide a humane death even to criminals. Denying a dignified death to an innocent person is even more barbaric.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
This day in history from:
The stupid laws we come up with...
I was so late for my meeting yesterday with a client because my mom asked me to go to the bank for some errands. It took me more than an hour before my turn because of the long line. Worse, we have this stupid ordinance banning the use of celphones inside bank premises.
I could have done a lot of things while stuck there waiting for my turn. But no! This stupid ordinance will not let me. The bank guards enforce this strictly.
I could not get hold of this ordinance from the web. Even the city's website is down. It figures...I wanted to know who authored this stupidity so I can lambast him/her.
Apparently this celphone ban was for "security" reasons.
There are reasonable "security reasons" for banning celphone use in banks. In some US cities, there is a ban on celphones with built-in cameras. This is more reasonable and/or understandable. It would prevent would-be bank robbers from taking snaps or videos of the bank setup.
But the ban here covers all use, from phone calls to text messages. But if I step out of the bank doors, however, the prohibition ceases and the guards let me be. So what's the difference? If I was the bank robber, I would just step out to call and/or text my cohort that "It's ok to rob the bank now..." And I will not be stupid enough to shout that inside or outside the bank. Of course it will be in code (such as, "The Hen is in the coop..., The Rat is in the hole..., etc.).
Sad to say it's very hard to give up the convenience of a celphone given my profession. If a bank is inefficient enough to make me wait in line for more than an hour, they better let me use my damn celphone. At least I could have something better to do in the meantime.
Do you know the worse part of that bank experience was? I was not even depositing my own money. It was just my uncle's pension checks since he's in the States. The experience did not even benefit me at all, except maybe as blog material.
Well our supposed "best hope" Manny Pacquiao lost by unanimous decision to Erik Morales. I was planning to watch the fight "via satellite" on cable but it became clear to me that "via sattelite" does not equal "live" because I listened to a blow by blow account on a.m. radio when I was going home from running errands.
The radio reporter said they were in the 4th round when the TV coverage was still showing the undercards. So I just opted for the live audio.
Reports also revealed that there were a lot of Filipino politicians who went to the Sin City to watch the fight live. It was soooo easy for them to go there, since they did not spend a single penny of their money. This disgusts me more than Manny's loss.
When Manny lost, I was so pissed-off that I chose not to watch the fight and instead watched Star Trek: Nemesis on HBO and then American Chopper on Discovery. And now as I blog, the events of today reveal losses on multiple levels. Consider the following:
1. The one that bought broadcast rights lost to the radio stations armed with nothing more than a reporter who bought a ticket to the MGM Grand with a post-paid cellular phone.
2. Manny Pacquiao lost to Erik Morales and all that conditioning and training was overcome by nothing more than an "accidental" headbutt.
3. The Filipino people is the double loser today. Not only were they robbed of their pride, but their money as well because the scum-of-the-earth politicians spend their money to watch the fight live and gamble the people's money in the Sin City.
I am getting sooooo frustrated with this country... I heard New Zealand is a good place to migrate. If anyone reading this has some information on how to migrate there, please let me know. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, March 19, 2005
This day in history from:
Things I've always wanted to tell older lawyers
Was planning to postpone this blog until next week. But the events of the day provides the perfect backdrop for this blog. There will be other things to blog about next week. Hey, I might even blog religious since Good Friday and Easter are coming up...
Since I almost succumbed to the flu yesterday after another all day meeting with a client (remember them, the ones that did not think I was "high-caliber?) I thought my day was going to be routine. I was just planning to catch up on some paperwork and report to my government consultancy office for the day.
I friend (that fellow blogger I already blogged about) asked me to attend a meeting to settle a case of my client that I asked him to handle. In short, it was for my client, but I asked that friend to handle this particular case for me. Why I gave him this case is another story...
I had a bad feeling going there. Traffic was unusually heavy that I ended up fifteen minutes late. And lo and behold, the gang was all there. The entire board of the company we sued was there. And there he was, a high-caliber elderly lawyer.
He is well known as he was a former justice and current lawyer of a former president under "resort" arrest for graft and corruption. Turns out he is a member of this board, as well as its legal counsel.
So the meeting begins. The president (I presume) starts with a litany of damages we have caused him. Then he proposes a settlement and this blew me away... He proposes to "live and let live."
What the f@c& was that! They made me drive through EDSA at rush hour and then offered that settlement! I know they were using that "high-caliber" lawyer to attempt to intimidate me... Unfortunately for them, outnumbered or "outgunned" though I may be, I made it pretty clear that even if we lose the case, they lose the war. And in the process, I even acquired information I can use against them later on.
This provides the perfect background to tell you the things I've always wanted to tell lawyers like the ones I met today. Here goes...
1. Never rest on your laurels for you are only as good as your last work.
2. Reputation does not equal ability.
3. I know how to win.
4. Never, EVER, underestimate your adversary.
5. I know what you're trying to pull because I'm trying to pull the same thing.
6. Try to keep up with the times. Even if you're seventy years old and full of experience, you may be beaten by a rookie with a laptop, a PDA and WiFi.
7. Arrogance, like flattery, will get you nowhere.
8. Given the justice system today, settle.
9. I still got 30 years on me. How about you?
10. It's never personal. It's just work.
I just hope they don't read this. They may get ideas.
I've just come back from a client's planning session. This started last week but did not finish, hence the need to come back today. Before this meeting, I had to meet with one of its board members to finalize on an assignment given to us. This is where this blog begins to get its title...
During that pre-meeting, this board member casually mentions to me that during one of the rare times I was not present during a board meeting, the board almost hired a new "high-caliber" lawyer they were willing to shell out a handsome fortune to deal with pending legislation potentially prejudicial to their interest. It was only this one board member that stood by me. He eventually prevailed over all of them, fortunately but I got the job for peanuts (since they were already my client).
I had mixed feelings when I knew about it. First, I was angry that this client did not trust me enough, that they think I am not a "high-caliber" lawyer, that I could be easily be fired for no apparent reason whatsoever as I am just as good as my last work.
Then I just decided to let it go (but just blog it for record purposes). Hey, I still ended up getting the job and they kept on praising me when I delivered. Also, I am the ONLY legal authority in the field my client is in. No one, I mean, NO ONE can match wits with me insofar as this field is concerned. I have been in this field for almost five years and I have developed this as a sub-specialty, or a market niche of sorts.
This incident inspired me to blog things I really want to say to my clients. Here goes...
1. We are not supermen. We cannot guaranty results and you cannot judge or evaluate us on some objective output or goal.
2. We are like doctors as we deal with your life-or-death concerns. So don't try to haggle with our fees, in the same manner as you don't haggle with your doctor's fees. Like your doctors, we are not free and we deserve everything we charge you.
3. You cannot keep us on a leash. We will try to give an opinion that will favor you as far as absolutely impossible. But if we say it's impossible, believe us because we will not gain anything by feeding you BS. Just by being out client, we are always automatically on your side.
4. We only give advise. You still make the final decision.
5. As much as possible, please don't call us after office hours, on weekends or holidays unless it is again a matter that cannot wait until then (like when you're in prison or dying). There is nothing much we can do during these hours because courts and government offices also keep hours, weekends and holidays.
6. If you need us just to be your friend or you just need to someone to talk to, just say so. We will not turn you away (I don't usually bill extra for that, but I cannot commit my brother lawyers to this).
7. Don't expect an instant answer to your questions. We'd rather give you a correct answer later than give you a wrong answer now. SOMETIMES, we just don't know the answer at that moment but we're just too proud to admit it.
8. We are not offended if you seek a second opinion. We're pretty sure the other guy will say the same thing but charge you more for it.
9. Do not assume that we are rich and that we don't need our fees. We live in the same world with the same rising prices to everything. We also have needs and we have mouths to feed.
10. Lastly, TELL US EVERYTHING. The quality of our work depends on how much you tell us. This is simple GIGO-garbage in, garbage out. Tell us garbage, our advise is garbage. Don't worry, telling your most intimate secrets will cost us out licenses and our livelihood so again, it is not in our interest to kiss and tell.
This also applies to loyalty. Be loyal to us and we will also be loyal to you.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
This day in history from:
My other life...
Don't get me wrong, even with all the adversary my kids and I are experiencing, I have no regrets about how I have lived by life so far. Meaning, if I have to live my life all over again, knowing what I know now, I wouldn't change a thing... yada yada yada...
Do you know why?
My hobbies keep me alive. They're extremely diverse.
1. Magazine Collecting
The magazines, mind you, are likewise diverse. From gaming magazines like PSM and GamePro to you guessed it, gadget mags like T3 and Mph, to racy suff like FHM, Maxim and Stuff. Call me a magazine freak as well because my collection is nearing an entire law school career's worth of reading materials. For those who went to law school, you know how much is that.
2. Music
I play the piano and the flute. Since my work/play space (I have a picture of it in my Friendster account... uuuuuuyyyyyy!) includes a synthesizer that I don't play just for fun, I have collected a lot of MIDI files of various genres from pop to rock, new age to musicals, to classical. And I do make occassional recordings.
The good thing about my set up is I can literally play the piano and the flute at the same time...
3. Choir
Where would I be now without a church choir? Let's see...
If I was not in a choir during law school, I might have ended up in an insane asylum...or flipping burgers at some fast food joint...
If I was not in a choir during the recent turbulent times a few years ago, I might have ended up in prison for murder and/or kidnapping...
If I was not in three choirs now, I may end up with a bullet in my head.
4. My gadgets
The list below needs no additional elucidation. And the reputation I have been getting from THAT LIST is growing into epic proportions...
Well that's all for now. Tired of working all day staring at the computer screen.
I just isolated the problem with my old Pentium II-350 yesterday. Apparently, one memory bank was having problems so it hangs everytime I tried to use it. All the while, I though the problem was the OS.
The solution was to try to increase the memory in the two remaining banks. So from the former 128-64-64MB, for 256 RAM, the plan was to purchase another 128 so I can get the same amount of memory, while bypassing the defective bank.
When I got to my old, reliable computer store, they told me they had a 256MB available! So it got me thinking...and tt proved to be a very good decision (so rewarding if you think first...hehehe!). Improved two computers for the price of a single memory card.
So I purchased the 256MB and put it in my Duron 850. This computer had a 128-128-128MB configuration. Now it has a 256-128-128MB for a whopping 512MB! Then I put the excess 128MB on the Pentium II.
Bothered by the two "wasted" 64MB memory, I attempted to put one of them in the defective bank. Guess what? IT WORKED!
So now, my Duron 850 had 512MB (from 384MB) and my Pentium II now has 320 (from a defective 256MB). I can feel the difference in these two machines already! And for such a low price...
Saturday, March 12, 2005
This day in history from:
Our Journey
Half the world is sleeping,
half the world's awake
Half can hear their hearts beat,
Half just hear them break
I am but a traveler, in most every way
Ask me what you want...to know
What a journey it has been
And the end is not in sight
But the stars are out tonight
and they're bound to guide my way
When they're shining on my life
I can see a better day
I won't let the darkness in,
what a journey it has been...
I have been to sorrow
I have been to bliss
Where I'll be tomorrow,
I can only guess
Through the darkest desert
Through the deepest snow,
Foward, always foward, I go...
What a journey it has been
And the end is not in sight
But the stars are out tonight
and they're bound to guide my way
When they're shining on my life
I can see a better day
I won't let the darkness in,
what a journey it has been...
Fowards, always foward..
Onward, always up..
Catching every drop of hope
In my empty cup
What a journey it has been
And the end is not in sight
But the stars are out tonight
and they're bound to guide my way
When they're shining on my life
I can see a better day
I won't let the darkness in,
what a journey it has been...
What a journey it has been...
-The Journey, composed by Julie Gold
I borrowed Lea Salonga's first album since being internationally famous back when I was still burning the midnight oil in law school. This particular song was my favorite. It was particularly applicable to our lives then and was a particularly optimistic song. Used to I love optimistic songs because with the adversity we faced back then, I thought optimistic songs were all we had. So you can just image what we were facing...
I heard this song again during my daughter's graduation from prep yesterday. I have to admit hearing it again was particularly poignant. With what we have particularly gone through these past few years, hearing that song again made me look back on what we, or I in partular, have gone through. And what a journey it has been, and the end is not in sight. But the stars are out tonight and they're bound to guide my way.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
This day in history from:
The Travails of a Single Parent
Ahh... being a single parent. Or a single father to be exact...
Very different from your typical single mom/mother story. So to summarize this kind of life, allow me to present my very own "Top 10 best things about being a single dad," with apologies to David Letterman. Here goes...
10. You get to go around getting sympathy from women because your kids look like they need a mother...Wait a minute! Haven't I just gotten out from that situation?
9. Falling asleep @ 6:00 a.m. with one kid... then waking up @6:01 a.m. with the other...
8. Daughter in and out of the bathroom quicker. Men's bathrooms don't have lines in cubicles!
7. Absolute power to discipline your kids... Until reversed by the grandmother supreme court!
6. The wonders of doing hair...from a dad sporting a crew-cut half his life!
5. No need for alimony!
4. Being treated like an adult and a kid all in the same house...
3. Seeking companionship from your gadgets...
2. The wonders of liniments and self-massaging...
1. Kissing another male (kid) without fear of judgment or prosecution.
Sorry that I took so long to blog again. A friend of mine and fellow blogger once said that the amount of blog is inversely proportional to the amount of work you have. Hence, I have been busy.
I was reading a gadget magazine recently (the brand I will not disclose) and they always add an inventory of the interviewee's gadgets. That got me taking stock of my current gadgets. Here was what I got...
I can only conclude one thing... Gadget freak!!!! Or perhaps, as one other friend tells me, I'm using this to fill a void in my life...I don't know.
Well my kids are doing fine if you want to know. Of course not all parts of our lives today are rosy. We have our ups and downs but we still manage to pull through.
PRAYER FOR GENEROSITY
Lord Jesus,
Teach me to be generous,
Teach me to serve You as You deserve
To give and not to count the cost,
To fight and not to heed the wounds,
To toil and not to seek for rest,
To labor and not to ask for reward,
except that of knowing
That I do Your Holy Will. Amen
THE LAWYER'S PRAYER
May every word I speak be from Your Truth...
I ask come from Your Wisdom...
May every case I handle receive Your Guidance...
May every heart, every life I touch, feel Your Love.
THE JABEZ PRAYER
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,
"Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your Hand be with me,
that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain."
So God granted him what he requested.
Side Oath
The Lawyer's Oath
I do solemnly swear that
I will maintain allegiance to
the Republic of the Philippines,
I will support its Constitution
and obey the laws as well as
the legal orders of the
duly constituted authorities therein;
I will do no falsehood,
nor consent to the doing of any in court;
I will not wittingly or willingly
promote or sue any groundless,
false or unlawful suit,
nor give aid nor consent to the same;
I will delay no man for money or malice,
and will conduct myself as a lawyer
according to the best of my knowledge
and discretion with all good fidelity
as well to the courts as to my clients;
and I impose upon myself this voluntary obligation
without any mental reservation
or purpose of evasion. So help me God.
