What’s Right and Real

As an instructor of Constitutional Law in the nearby law school, I teach my students what their constitutional rights are. Such that if they found themselves in a situation, they would know what ought to be done. But, then again, what ought to be done is really different from what is actually done. This is the sad fact one can view from the tragedy which has befallen local newscaster Ted Failon.

Ted Failon’s wife was found inside their daughter’s bathroom, propped up against the wall in a pool of her own blood with a gun laying beside her. What would ordinarily have been considered as just another suicide has blown out of proportion. Ted is now accused of having killed his wife, what with all the suspicious things that have been unearthed by the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) — Manila’s hopeful version of CSI.

Apparently, after discovering his wife’s body in the bathroom, she was rushed to the nearest hospital. Meanwhile, back at home, the house maids allegedly saw fit to clean up the mess left behind. Thus, they washed away all the blood inside the bathroom. The gun used in the shooting was handled, the original fingerprints being rendered indeterminable. Now, the SOCO thinks that Ted shot his wife — and the police are having a field day out of it.

As a sort of local celebrity, there is something so interesting and intriguing about the entire thing. People are shocked that even newscasters can succumb to what appears to be ordinary problems and finding the answer in self-extermination. They hunger for the twists in the plot worthy of suspense and thrilling movies. Perhaps this is what the police are trying to get out of it.

On the news, police are seen hauling off housemaids inside the police cars, saying they are now arrested. For what? They don’t say. Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, even assuming that such arrests are legal, the suspects would have a right to counsel. As in fact, in the news, a lawyer was attempting to talk to the housemaids of the Failon residence. Funnily enough, the police who are supposed to execute the laws, are the first ones to break them. The police (whose name was not announced) even tried to block off the lawyer from talking to her clients.

It was all so annoying and irritating that it almost seems funny now. As a lawyer myself, I would expect that respect would be granted to fellow lawyers, most especially by the police. But from the way the police was treating that lawyer, she could have been just another bum or beggar he was shooing off. That was a blatant violation of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the very fundamental law of this country. And these people who have been entrusted with the execution of that law are consciously and publicly violating it! How totally revolting! I somehow feel sick to my stomach that I live in a country where that happens. Unfortunately, however, these are only my words — they carry no weight as against the purposely unconscientious, hopelessly stupid and pathetically dumb.

So, now, I wonder how I would face my students this coming semester. I teach them what is right. In fact, I get mad when they get it wrong or just plain don’t get it. I scold them for not exerting effort to understand what they are studying. I penalize them with low grades for even daring to be wrong in my class. All these I do just to drive home the point: this is the law and this is how it should be done. Anything else is just plain wrong. But the actions of the police, seen nationwide on the nightly news, just makes my job useless, pointless and hopeless. Why should my students even bother to know what’s right from wrong when in the real world, the right thing isn’t always the real thing.

 

Into the hereafter…

“As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.” – Leonardo da Vinci

It is a sad, sad day for the Philippine music industry. At past 12 noon today, master rapper Francis Magalona has succumbed to leukemia.

At the young age of 44, Francis M., as he is popularly known, is already an accomplished musician/artist. In my opinion,  I think he is the best rapper the Philippines has ever seen. He has composed rap songs known all over the archipelago.  He has likewise collaborated with other top band, producing truly Original Pinoy Music (OPM).

He was not limited in his talents. Singing was not his only forte. He also had a gift for tv hosting. As part of the show Eat Bulaga, he has proven that he can hold his own with tv legends Vic Sotto and Joey De Leon, whether in hosting game show segments or in bringing on the knock-knock jokes and making people laugh. He has likewise started his clothing line, Three Stars and a Sun, showcasing his Filipino pride.

Despite his previous involvement with prohibited drugs, this has not deterred people from acknowledging his great contribution in the music industry. His talent cannot be denied. He had character, for which he will be remembered. He has lived a full life, this I can be certain. He will be surely missed.

It’s been a great ride, Francis M.

 

Sometimes, you just don’t know.

Busy, busy, stressfuuuul freaking day at work. Grrr!

It was only when I got to work this morning that I realized a proceeding was due in court, where I would have to take an active part. As a lawyer, it’s supposed to be just another day. But not when you don’t know what the hell is going to happen. It’s like being in first year law school all over again and you don’t know how the system works. What’s worse is that it feels like I’m the only newbie in the group. Everybody’s been doing it for a long time, it’s almost as natural as breathing. Meanwhile, I’m kicking and flailing just trying not to sink in the water. Aarggh! Sometimes, I really don’t know if I’ve made the right choice. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if I would have been better off as a call center agent… These are the kind of days that I ask myself if I’m really qualified for the job.

I can’t help but compare myself to this other lawyer I met this morning. She was dressed smartly, talked with a serious air and went on about her way as if she couldn’t be bothered for small talk but could only spare a smile. She was genial but she had the air of a total career woman. She was the kind of lawyer I’d like to aspire for. In fact, she’s not much older than me but she seems matured in all her ways. I, on the other hand, still laugh at stupid silly things, like when the cat outside tries to wrestle with its mother. I find it amusing, whereas she, I’m sure, wouldn’t have probably bothered to observe it. I wish I were that kind of lawyer. She looked like she knew everything she was doing and that everything she does is calculated with only the end in view.

Meanwhile, I feel like Bridget Jones or Rebecca Bloomwood. It’s like I’m faking knowledge of everything. Everytime, I keep wondering if it’s the day somebody will uncover the fraud that I am. Whether it was that smile I gave or the gestures I made, I would think it was a sure tell-tale sign of my stupidity.

To be honest, I don’t feel much different from when I was in high school. Aaargh!

 

Office Politics and other injustices

Ever since I’ve attained the age of majority, I’ve only had the chance to work in three offices, including the present one. And of the three, I can state with certainty that my favorite was the second one.

For one thing, my boss then was respectable beyond any doubt. In fact, in the almost two years that I’ve been part of his staff, I’ve never had any reason to doubt him or his credibility. To this date, he is still the one I look up to, the one I aspire to be someday (not to be a man, of course, but to attain what he has). I think I can fairly say that he is the embodiment of fairness and justice. Of course, it is the very requisite for the job. But you would be surprised to know that others holding the same position as him do not necessarily enjoy the same qualifications.

In addition, I found that majority of his staff were likewise wonderful people. They were genuine — and that’s the best characteristic a person can have, as far as I’m concerned (and as far as I think). There were no petty squabbles or stupid cat fights, every issue was resolved using the light of reason.

By far, I think there is no other job or, perhaps, workplace that can quite compare to that one. Well, I suppose we only get lucky once. I had to move on.

In so far as my present occupation/workplace is concerned, I think the phrase “not a bed of roses” would be applicable. It has been riddled with drama since I started, I suppose. It’s got comedy, mystery, romance (or something similar), suspense and some action. Lately, it’s been turning into a CIA/James Bond story filled with agents and double agents. You turn around and you don’t really know who to trust.

If there’s one thing I really dislike in the office arena, it’s distrust – or the inability to know who to trust. It feels like you’re walking on eggshells or something similar. You always have to be careful around the people, whether with what to say or do. And you never know whether what they say to your face is the truth or just a version of what they think you want to hear. I, on the other hand, would always prefer to hear the truth. It doesn’t need to be brutally honest, just the plain truth, no salt nor sugar added.

An example:

Since December last year, the office has been looking for somebody to fill in a vacancy. I’ve recommended people I think are qualified (over qualified, in fact). But at the last minute or just when they’ve gotten the nod from the main boss, they decide they want something else. Who can blame them, really? The salary isn’t really something to die for.

So anyway, just when it seems there is no one else left, one staff member recommends a young guy who’s apparently in dire need of a job to help sustain his studies. I know the guy and, to be honest, he isn’t really on top of my “highly recommended” list. But his circumstances, i.e., willing to work hard to earn some dough to support his further aspirations, easily make him on the top of the other applicants. That is, of course, in addition to the fact that I know him and he knows me (i.e., he’s had a healthy dose of fear of me, which makes him easier to handle). Plus, the staff member who recommended him gives him glowing commendations.

That was last December 2008, before I left for my Christmas vacation.

Surprise, surprise! When I returned to work after the holidays, the birds (well, actually, just one bird — the one who recommended the guy) were singing a new song.

Apparently, the young guy turned out to be a distant relative of somebody the bird strongly disliked. And for this reason, he was no longer highly commendable, as far as the bird is concerned. If that is not the height of injustice, then perhaps, what the bird did next would qualify.

The young guy frequently comes to the office for one reason or another. And everytime he’s there, it’s as if he and the bird are the best of friends, the latter wishing him good luck and telling him she hopes he’ll get the job. But everytime he goes away, she’s actually rooting for another. Hypocrisy — if it could only kill people, there would be a lot less of the population.

In fact, the reason why the young guy was not accepted by the main boss is due to the underhanded trick the bird did — just to make sure he doesn’t get it. The sole reason? Because he is related to some person the bird hates.

I get that in real life, there’s really no black and white. It’s not like a person is totally good or totally bad, as in the movies. You can’t categorize people as villain or hero. That would probably make life insufferable, or something. But I do hope the world is rid of hypocrites.

Sometimes, I think my life is boring. And then sometimes, I think there’s too much drama. At least, that’s how it feels like in the office.

 

When in Cebu…

It started out as just some sort of mini-vacation: a long weekend to be spent in Cebu, just because I haven’t been there before and it so happens my husband was scheduled for a hearing in one of the trial courts there. So, I tag along to see if Cebu is any match for my beloved Metro Manila. As a side trip, we were supposed to visit a clinic recommended by the doctor in relation to our struggle to have our own child.

So, last Friday, I took a half-day leave from work, boarded a budget airline with my husband and flew for Cebu. Within an hour from boarding, we have safely landed in the International Airport of Cebu. Excitement has not even begun to sink in and we were already headed for our hotel.

I have been mentally disciplining myself days before our trip, that despite whatever temptation  I may come across, I was in Cebu strictly for sightseeing purposes only. Under no circumstances was I supposed to shop for my personal pleasure. As such, early Saturday morning, after having breakfast at Bo’s Coffee Club, my husband and I went and saw some sights… By “some,” I actually mean two. We went to the Sto. Nino shrine and then to Magellan’s Cross. We walked around, did the “tourist” thing, i.e., took pictures of one another, prayed in the church and then walked around some more. For some reason, we ended up in Ayala Mall.

Still trying hard to maintain self-discipline, I told my husband that we were at the mall only to look around, perhaps to compare what it has and has not, in relation to malls in Manila. In fact, we were quite successful. We hadn’t really bought anything, except for lunch, of course, and then coffee at Starbucks (which is really not negotiable. I mean, it’s a staple, right?). Oh, I also had to buy a “tabo” at the Home Department (the bathroom in the hotel didn’t have one — I like to be “thoroughly” clean, if you know what I mean.). But that was it. As far as I’m concerned, self-discipline successfully overpowered the impulse to shop.

Earlier that day, my husband and I had agreed that we were supposed to have dinner at Shangri-la. I’ve heard that they’ve got quite a buffet, not to mention the splendid place. But, as the day wore on, we’ve agreed that we both need to be on a diet, physically and financially. So, we scrapped the Shangri-la plan and just kept on walking around the mall. After all, what’s a better way of getting fit than through cardiovascular activity, e.g. walking. The fact that we were doing it inside a mall is certainly of no moment. Walking is walking is walking, period. Right.

Sunday came and it was still the same. Not much purchases other than the staples, i.e., breakfast, lunch, dinner and Starbucks. Although this time, we spent the day in SM rather than Ayala. By three in the afternoon, we’ve worn ourselves with out cardiovascular activity and decided to return to the hotel.

Everything was going well until Monday came. For some reason, the thought that it would be the last day of stay in Cebu had me sort of panicking. While my husband and his father went and saw a movie, I volunteered to just walk around, still in the spirit of exercising. But then, I inadvertently (hah, right!) walked by the ladies’ department. Then I saw the shoes… the bags… the clothes… It was like they were calling out to me, telling me that I may never pass this way again. In fact, I was quite stunned with the quality and style the “Parisian” brand has taken on. It used to be that I would not even look twice at it. I mean, no one in their right state of mind with financial capability would buy that brand if they were looking for fashion and quality (just my opinion). But yesterday, I swear that their shoes could stand as knock-offs of some famous brands but without the expensive price tags.

So, I walked around, trying to decide. As I had initially planned, there should be no shopping for personal pleasure…But then again, if it was for work, it wouldn’t be considered as “for personal pleasure,” right? I mean, obviously I can’t go to work wearing Crocs, right? So, I found myself a brown pair of shoes, somewhat similar to that “gladiator” style that’s now sweeping in the nation (even though I’ve already read that in Metro or Marie Claire, I think, about a year or two ago). I tried on the strappy gladiator sandals/slip ons/shoes and my feet looked depressing. They were like two macho men desperately trying to look cool and manly in spaghetti straps. I slipped out of them before anybody else got disgusted with my feet. Anyway, after I’ve found the right size of shoes, I headed to the cashier. It so happened that I looked to my left and there were these nice gray ones also. But I couldn’t find one in my size. So, I decided I’d leave it to fate. I’ll ask the salesman if they have it in my size: a negative answer and I would be satisfied with my brown high heels, a positive answer would be a sign to buy it. I may never pass this way again, right? As luck would have it, they did. Now, it’s off to the cashier with two pairs.

I walked around the ladies’ department some more and suddenly, it was like I was trapped inside a big maze of beautiful bags, accessories and shoes. Everywhere I went, something always caught my attention, a bag, a blouse, a necklace, begging me to buy them. I’d already spent half the amount of money I had with me to be used just in case of emergency and yet I wanted to buy more. I was desperate to get out of the department store to free myself of temptation. I tried to reason with myself, I already had three pairs of shoes (Oops, I forgot! I bought another pair of shoes at Charles & Keith last Friday, right after we arrived. heehee). I couldn’t possibly need more. It just got me thinking, if I had more money than I could ever need, I’d probably spend more than half of it buying shoes. I’d end up having more pairs than there are days in a year. Of course, compared to Imelda Marcos, that’s nothing. But that’s exactly the point, isn’t it? I’m not Imelda Marcos, why would I need that many pairs? As I think of it now, I still don’t know why. All I know is that I want more!

Of course, I had to restrain myself from spending more than I already had. I feared that my husband would kill me if I brought home most of the stocks from the shoe department — not that I have that amount of money.

All in all, it was a wonderful sort of mini-vacation. I got to see some sights and bought some pairs of shoes. I’m perfectly contented…now. Teehee!