If you have noticed, I blogged sparingly for this week (except for the SONA live-blogging) because of what has happened this week. If I did post an entry, it was kind of cryptic, to say the least.
So let me reveal what happened this week.
After the SONA live-blog, my uncle (by affinity because he was married to my father's sister) died last Tuesday succumbing to a ton of complications arising from lung cancer. Hence, we went to the wake everyday. There were even days that I come from Makati just to go back home and pick up my parents and sister to go to the wake... in Makati.
Then, I ran into a "small" accident last Friday. I miscalculated parking the car so my front tire plunged into an open drain, killing my tire and damaging the rims in the process. Suffice it to say that Friday was not a good day.
Then we buried my uncle yesterday. That was a long day.
And I spent this day having the car repaired. Fortunately, the expense was below what I budgeted. At least this week will end in a good note.
Frankly, I'm appaled because you're a hypocrite. And practice what you preach.
You quickly accuse people of harboring criminals or being coddlers when you're one yourself. The way I see it, you are also guilty of obstruction of justice for knowingly or wilfully obstructing, impeding, frustrating or delaying the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent his arrest prosecution and conviction
And don't be too quick to judge people based on their political affiliations. Last time I checked, you're not a judge but lead prosecutor.
Believe me, karma has a way of getting back at you...
With You, I am always with You, You hold me tight, Your hand in mine. You bring all things to a good end, You lead me on in Your good pleasure. What is heaven to me without You?
Where am I on earth if You are not there? Though my body is broken down, Though my heart dies, You are my rock, My God, the Future that waits for me. Far away from You, life is not life. To break faith with You is to be no one.
With You, my highest good, my God, with You, I am secure.
("Psalm 73," words and music by Fr. Manoling Francisco, S.J.)
Now JDV forgot to say the the singing of the anthem goes first... a Freudian slip?
The President is then forced to go back to her seat, to the cheers of the crowd. (Are the people laughing at them or with them?)
Now comes the invocation. Our parish priest, Fr. Gerry Tapiador, is one of those saying the prayers in a presumably ecumenical rite.
NOW, JDV introduces the President and she goes down to her podium to deliver her 6th State of the Nation Address...
Here we go... Thanks the speaker and congratulates the new Senate President.
Starts with a Lebanon report. Filipino OFW's coming home. (Coming home to what?)
"Gathering the means to being the first step..." Thanks the Congressmen for passing tough measures. The first SONA with a Powerpoint presentation...
"We have the money!" (Where? Can you give me some? I need it, too.)
Thanks the tax and customs collectors. (For not stealing?)
Thanks the armed forces and police. (For not turning on her?)
Thanks the mayors and local government officials. (For not issuing permits?)
Thanks the Filipino people for sacrificing. (But, we're still sacrificing!)
Thank yous have stopped. Not here to talk about politics but wanted to outline progress plan.
Now have funds to:
1) Address social inequity 2) Stamp out terrorism and lawless violence (read: her enemies)
3) Constitutional and Electoral changes, to bring back the power to the provinces and cities "there must be a better so that those who lose will not make the country pay for their frustrated political ambitions."
4) Finance the Medium-term investment plan
Investment in Super-Regions!
a) North Luzon Agri-Business Quadrangle investments and infrastructure projects (talk of highways, farm-to-market roads, irrigation and cold chains for vegetables)
b) Metro Luzon Urban Beltway global competitiveness, investment in five strategies (food affordability, lessen electricity costs, modernize transportation, upgrade productivity technologies and reduce red tape)
c) Central Philippines tourism development, geothermal power, airports
22 quarters of consecutive growth! 2 Million out of poverty! Automate Elections! Take on the world and win!
Game to old fights but a waste of time.
My final comments (that I have not said before...):
1. Seems that we have a lot of money for all these projects. Where did it come from? 2. Human props... 3. If these are true, then we live in very exciting times. Please don't disappoint us. 4. Finally, I don't know if it is just me, but it sure sounds like division of the spoils...
1. Marriage is not a word. It is a sentence. A LIFE sentence.
2. Marriage is love. Love is blind. Therefore marriage is an institution for the blind.
3. Marriage is an institution in which a man loses his Bachelor's Degree and the woman gets her masters.
4. Marriage is a three ring circus: engagement ring, wedding ring and SUFFERing.
5. Married life is full of excitement and frustration: In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman! listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the NEIGHBOR listens.
6. Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want, and when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that instead.
7. There was this man who muttered a few words in the church and found himself married. A year later he muttered something in his sleep and found himself divorced.
8. A happy marriage is a matter of giving and taking; the husband gives and the wife takes.
9. Son: "How much does it cost to get married, Dad?" Father: "I don't know son, I'm still paying for it."
10. Son: "Is it true, Dad, that in ancient China, a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?" Father: "That happens everywhere, son, EVERYWHERE!"
11. Love is one long sweet dream, and marriage is the alarm clock.
12. They say that when a man holds a woman's hand before marriage, it is love; after marriage it is self-defense.
13. When a newly married man looks happy, we know why. But when a 10-year married man looks happy, we wonder why.
14. When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing - either the car is new or the wife is.
15. Confucius says: man who sinks into woman's arm soon have arms in woman's sink.
16. When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.
17. Eighty percent of married men cheat in America, the rest cheat in Europe.
18. After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin. They just can't face each other, but still they stay together.
19. Marriage is when a man and a woman become one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.
20. Before marriage, a man yearns for the woman he loves. After the marriage the "Y" becomes silent.
21. I married Miss right, I just didn't know her first name was Always.
22. It's not true that married men live longer than single men, it only seems longer.
23. A man was complaining to a friend: "I had it all - money, a beautiful house, the love of a beautiful woman, then...POW! It was all gone." "What happened?," asked his friend. He says: "My wife found out."
24. Wife: "Let's go out and have some fun tonight." Husband: "OK, but if you get home before I do, leave the hallway lights on."
25. At a cocktail party, one woman said to another: "Aren't you wearing your ring on the wrong finger?" The other replied, "Yes, I am. I married the wrong man.
26. Man is incomplete until he gets married, then he is finished.
27. It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, he still ends up with the same boss.
28. A man inserted an ad in the paper - WIFE WANTED. The next day he received a hundred letters and they all said the same thing - YOU CAN HAVE MINE.
But as you can see from this lecture, one can only be guilty as an accessory to a crime:
By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principals of the crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whenever the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime. (Article 19 (3), Revised Penal Code)
So let's review first.
What are accessories after the fact?
Accessories are those who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either as principals or accomplices, take part subsequent to its commission.
They do not participate in committing the crime but their acts come after its commission.
What are the types of harboring in our laws?
There are two types:
1. Harboring, concealing or assisting in the escape of a criminal by a public official with abuse of his official functions
2. Harboring, concealing or assisting in the escape of a criminal guilty of treason, parricide, murder or an attempt on the life of the president by a private person.
What is the difference between the two?
The first and most obvious difference is the first one is committed by a public official and the second, by a private official.
In the first instance, there is no qualification as to the crime of fugitive. In the second, the crime is limited to treason, parricide, murder or attempt on the life of the president.
In the first instance, there is no need for a conviction. In the second, the criminals assisted must be guilty first of the specific crimes.
Where type of harboring is the dawg using against the good bishop?
It appears he is using the second type.
But can the good bishop be liable for this one?
No. First, the crime the soldiers are being charged with does not fall within those specifically listed in the law. Second, the soldiers have not been convicted yet.
How can the dawg weasel his way out of this one?
He can use the concept of conspiracy to pin the good bishop. If he proves that there is a conspiracy between them, and the bishop was in it from the very start, then the bishop is liable for rebellion like the soldiers.
Will he succeed?
Probably not. First, the good bishop's admission is not admissible because it is not sworn to and was done without full advise of his Miranda rights.
If I were the lawyer of the good bishop, I will advise his to remain silent from now on. If the dawg tries to get a confession (the right way), the good bishop can always clam up and invoke his right to remain silent and his right not to incriminate himself.
If I were the lawyer for the good bishop, I will not hand the conviction to the dawg on a silver platter. The dawg has to sweat it out and gather evidence that independently proves the good bishop's alleged guilt.
Second, assuming the confession is valid and binding upon the good bishop, there is no crime, as stated above. The brand of harboring practiced by the good bishop is not penalized under the provision I cited above.
Finally, conspiracy will be hard to prove. The dawg has to prove, by the the good bishop's actions that he was in it from the very start. The act of harboring does not, by itself, prove that.
So, what counter charges can the good bishop file?
Well, he could have them all excommunicated and condemn then all to eternal hell-fire.
Yes, Section 1 (c) of Presidential Decree No. 1829 imposes a penalty upon any person who knowingly or wilfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent his arrest prosecution and conviction.
Here, there is no distinction between a public official and a private person, and what crime the fugitive
So what then could be the good bishop's defense here?
Again, he can still say the confession is invalid because he was not apprised of his rights before he made it. (But to retract his admission now would be considered lying, which the good bishop may not want to do.)
Second, the good bishop can always say that he did not know at the time that the soldiers were fugitives. They could be just fearful for their lives back then. But here, once the good bishop knew they were fugitives, he should have alerted the authorities or drove them away. But that would be un-Christian.
Finally, if all else fails, the penalty for obstruction of justice is probationable. So the good bishop will not do any actual jail time, even if convicted. The offense is most certainly bailable, too.
Once again, class, I forgot all about this. Sorry.
Every time I attend a hearing at Makati, I feel tired. But fortunately, I finished my case there today, so I'll probably stay away from there for quite a while. Unless there's work there.
But going there saps the energy out of me. So I have two options to recharge: sleep or booze. Then again, booze will help me sleep... so I could have both.
She posted herself as "single" but had the temerity to keep my name. That's my main gripe. She can't have her cake and eat it, too. And her poses... AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHH! I could describe it in more detail but that would be libelous.
And I won't post the pictures here because this is my blog and I don't want to "contaminate" this sacred blog of mine. You'll see what I mean when you see it.
But if you really want to see (or if I aroused you curiosity enough) click here.
See what I mean?
Take my wife... please!
(PS.: When I showed Bea her pictures, she claimed that's the only time she remembered how "she" looked like.)
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
This day in history from:
Wish this was here...
Our Constitution entrenches both civil and political rights and social and economic rights. All the rights in our Bill of Rights are inter-related and mutually supporting. There can be no doubt that human dignity, freedom and equality, the foundational values of our society, are denied those who have no food, clothing or shelter. Affording socioeconomic rights to all people therefore enables them to enjoy the other rights enshrined in [the Bill of Rights].
The realisation of these rights is also key to the advancement of race and gender equality and the evolution of a society in which men and women are equally able to achieve their full potential.
The right of access to adequate housing cannot be seen in isolation. There is a close relationship between it and the other socio-economic rights. Socio-economic rights must all be read together in the setting of the Constitution as a whole. The State is obliged to take positive action to meet the needs of those living in extreme conditions of poverty, homelessness or intolerable housing. Their interconnectedness needs to be taken into account in interpreting the socio-economic rights, and, in particular, in determining whether the State has met its obligations in terms of them.
Rights also need to be interpreted and understood in their social and historical context. The right to be free from unfair discrimination, for example, must be understood against our legacy of deep social inequality.
For a country that is relatively young compared to us when it comes to democracy, they are more progressive when it comes to the recognition of socio-economic rights as equal to civil-political rights.
Here, we are still stuck with the feudal paradigm of property. The better is a balanced one-- where all rights complement and inter-relate to one another. There should not be a hierarchy of rights but completeness of rights.
During the time Bea attended school today (from 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.), I:
1. Drove my dad to the town of Bay, Laguna 2. Drove to Laguna's capitol in Sta. Cruz 3. Went around a mall there 4. Drove back to my office near the Shhhhh area in Pasig City and attended to some paperwork there 5. Drove back to Bea's school to pick her up.
And the car is a stick shift with a heavy clutch...
And after that, I had more paperwork to do at the house that I just finished.
So you can imagine how tired I am right now.
Oh well. As I always say: "Better to have a lot of work than no work."
Just because you are an impeachable officer does not make you such. It does not make you immune from suit. There is nothing in the 1987 Constitution that says you are, unlike the President and members of the legislature. I checked.
It only clearly and unmistakably shows that you have something to hide, as you hide behind this flimsy technicality. If you're truly innocent, defend yourself on the merits.
And with the loss of public trust on the institution you head, you even have the temerity to act like there's nothing wrong with the system you preside over.
You refuse, naively or deliberately, to admit there's something wrong when the writing is all over the wall. That's what really gets to me.
I think you better just resign out of sheer principle. If you had some left.
This is the final straw for me. I have lost trust in you. And I hope a lot of people feel the same way, too.
Dear Staff, please be aware that there have been some minor changes to the Personnel Policy as follows:
DRESS CODE:
It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing a signature clothing like Guess, Polo, Dockers, Dickies etc. & carrying a Gucci bag or Marithe Francois Girbaud we assume you are doing well financially and therefore you do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes and therefore you do not need a raise. If you dress in-between, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.
SICK DAYS:
We will no longer accept a doctor statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.
SURGERY:
Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything. We hired you intact. To have something removed constitutes a breach of employment.
PERSONAL DAYS:
Each employee will receive 52 personal days a year. They are called Sunday.
VACATION DAYS:
All employees will take their vacation at the same time every year. The vacation days are as follows: January 1 & December 25 and all special and regular holidays.
RESTROOM USE:
Entirely too much time is being spent in the restroom. In the future, we will follow the practice of going in alphabetical Order. For instance, all employees whose names begin with 'A' will go from 8:00 to 8:20, employees whose names begin with 'B' will go from 8:20 to 8:40 and so on.
If you're unable to go at your allotted time, it will be necessary to wait until the next day when your turn comes again.
In extreme emergencies, employees may swap their time with a co-worker. Both employees' supervisors must approve this exchange in writing.
In addition, there is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open and a picture will be taken. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the "Chronic Offenders" category.
LUNCH BREAK:
Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch as they need to eat more so that they can look healthy. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure. Fat people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim Fast and take a diet pill.
Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplation, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.
But what kind of a legal bind is he anyway? I say not much.
The worst thing that he faces in the United States is deportation.
In the Philippines, what charges does he face? Virtually none.
The only standing violation he has right now is contempt of the Senate, for continually snubbing its committee hearings. He can easily take care of this by just appearing there. He can even argue that the warrant is moot and academic because that committee already concluded its hearings and even finished its report.
And even if he is forced to testify, he can invoke a lot of rights (like his right against self-incrimination) and just clam up. The Senate would just end up as fools there.
Which leaves us with his pending charges elsewhere. Obviously, the proper prosecutorial agencies are taking their sweet time charging him with anything. And the people have already been conditioned to "move on" while "time heals all wounds."
So don't count on him getting the justice he deserves. And don't let his denial of assistance from his "former" friends fool you.
I wouldn't and I'm not, just as I don't count on getting anywhere with Gen. Carlos Garcia, whose fate we do not know anymore. Last time we heard, he won the perjury round.
Or like Garci, he'll probably fade into the sunset and the public will eventually become disinterested.
"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (George Santayana)
Unknown to many, I'm a history buff and I have always been interested in Philippine and world history.
As a matter of fact, I have made plans a while back for formal history graduate studies in case law school did not work out for me.
To a certain extent, however, I have gotten history lessons in my study of law, since law encapsules to the norm at the time it was established. Hence, the study of legal history is already a shortcut to the study of general history.
But how can be learn from history if we do not know is?
Sure, there are history classes that already bored the wits out of us because of lack of timing, irrelevance and unimaginative presentation.
But a current affairs television program from a historical perspective? That would be a better service to society than any formal history lesson.
We have cheated to get ahead in this society, spat on the honest people, taunting them to leave the proverbial kitchen if they could not stand the heat. And that's exactly what they did and actually thrived, even excelled outside the country.
The Ten Commandments (From the Book of Deuteronomy, 5:1-32)
5:1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
6 “‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
17 “‘You shall not murder.
18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery.
19 “‘And you shall not steal.
20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ 32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
I was browsing for Jerry Seinfeld quotes for a previous post when I stumbled upon this quote from Neil Gaiman:
Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.
I was just reading the maiden issue of Maxim Magazine Philippines (sorry no online version yet, I checked), specifically the interview of Angelica Panganiban. There she foisted the question, "Hey, aren't you tired of staring?"
On a related note, she's the girl "that girl" fancied when she was pregnant with Bea (in the vernacular "pinaglihian"). Seeing her all grown up (and ripe for the picking, heheheheheheheh!) just showed me just how fast time flies (I'm referring to Angelica and not Bea, you chester!).
But then I digress...
First of all, I also read these magazines for the articles. As if... No seriously... As if... No seriously...
Second of all, to answer that question, "No, Ma'am, I will never tire of staring."
Because they're there to be stared at...
Because you cannot overturn millions of years of evolution just because you want me to look away...
And I cannot follow Jerry Seinfeld's advise. I cannot simply "Get a sense of it, then walk away."
I'm just being honest, Ma'am. Isn't that the best policy?
So just let me oogle away because subconsciously, that's what they really want. And it's free and harmless...
If they didn't, why appear in those magazines in the first place?
At first we started out real cool,(cool) Taking me places i ain'tnever been But now your getting comfortable Ain't doing those things that you did no more Your slowly makin me pay for things Your money should be handling
And now you ask to use my car (car) Drive it all day and don't fill up the tank And you have the audacity To even come and step to me And ask to hold some money from me Until you get your check next week
You triflin',good for nothing type of brother Silly me,why haven't I found another A baller, when times get hard he's the one to help me out insted of, a scrub like you who don't know what a man's about
can you pay my bills can you pay my telephone bills can you pay my automo'bills then maybe we can chill I don't think you do so you and me are through
now you been maxing out my card(card) give me bad credit,buying gifts with my own ends haven't paid the first bill but you steady heading to the mall going on shopping sprees peprpetrating to your friends that you be ballin'
and then you use my cell phone(phone) callin who ever that you think at home and when the bill comes all of a sudden you be acting dumb don't know where none of these calls come from when your mamma's numbers here more than once
JESUS H. CHRIST! (now that we're in the religious subject).
The last time I heard that was when the "Model Father" became qualified for the award when he did it with his then girlfriend (and did not become his wife, mind you).
"When we did it, God was there," I distinctly remember the girl saying in a showbiz talk show.
I'm really appalled on how people use God's name in vain, disregarding the Second Commandment.
Oh C'mon! The God I believe in is not a peeping tom or a pervert. Maybe the god these people believe in is.
I believe my God does not tolerate fornicators (at best, and this applies to both cases) or rapists (at its worst, since there was nothing proven yet).
So I can always say to them, "My God is better that your god..."
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.
