Congratulatons attorney friends!

Let me congratulate all my friends who passed the Bar Exams 2008 especially to

Atty. Vanessa Raymundo

who landed on the tenth spot of the Bar Topnotchers. I am so proud of you dear!!! The moment Justice Tinga announced your name I felt like collapsing as if it was my name announced. Idol!!!

To my sorority sisters, Congratulations. AD ASTRA ASPIRA!!! You've finally reached the star.

Atty. Divi Bles Defante
Atty. Wilhelmina Mojet Dayag

To MES Divi, the burden that you had to carry as you traverse the journey to the bar was not ordinary as compared to the other sisses. That same burden that I also have almost made me give up this journey that I haven't even finished a greater part of it. But you, you made it through until you reached your star. You inspired me to keep moving forward despite the challenge that we have. You are my inspiration.

To my fraternity brothers, congratulations as well, most especially to

Atty. Emmanuel Castillo!

Among the brothers who took the bar exams, I consider you as my closest brod after all the laugh trips after each Sunday, you deserve a special greeting on my blog! hehe*

Fiat!!!

Anyway to my La Salle friends, I am so proud of you! Gone were the days when we just lounge in the backseats of the Miguel classrooms, laughing our ass out, if not bashing our favorite rivals. That was our biggest battle at that time. Now my friends, you are now authorized to fight your battles inside the court room.

With your triumph, it gave me a brighter way towards the bar. If you guys can, why can't I? We all have the same wave length anyway!!! haha* I just pray that we have the same fate!!!

But seriously, thank you for without your success I wouldn't be having this burning passion and belief that in 2011 we will call each other compañero and compañeras!!!

Atty. Katherine Villena
Atty. Jacqueline Palmes
Atty. Eric Juan
Atty. Ysidra May Kintanar
Atty. Timothy David
Atty. Kaye Clemente

To my dear friends and sisters who were not able to rejoice, do not be disheartened. To borrow the words of brother Atty. Delbert Clifford Buena+, "they can only delay me, but they cannot deny my destiny". You will all reach your stars. If not 2008, then 2009!!!

Brod Delbert, rest in peace. You made it!!! Fiat.

My Post Some Years Back

I came across one of my blogs and I read some of the posts. I just want to share what I've written before. This writing shows how clueless I was about the law. It made me laugh especially when I said that we should start imposing taxes on the churches. Clearly unlearned of the law. hehe*** anyway just read on...

January 27, 2005

House Bill No. 3555: The Bitter Pill!

Have I become so aloof? I try to watch the news everyday to get me updated with what's happening in the corner and I'm not hiding in a cave, pero bakit ngayon ko lang nabalitaan na napasa na sa House of Representatives pala ang VAT Restructuring Bill? Hindi ko man lang nabalitaan na pinag-uusapan na ito sa Congress! I guess I was just bombarded with sensationalized news, those petty street crimes, and all, that I failed to notice the bigger and more important news. Or siguro, ganun lang talaga kagaling mag-conduct ng railroad/marathon sessions ng Congress lalu kapag may pressure from the President?!

It is ironic that I have little knowledge of economics, taxation, and all samantalang it has been my mom's job even before I was born. I must say that I have limited knowledge about taxation, so limited that any layman without formal education would even understand. Anyway, I'm not going to deal with that.

I'm aware that it is a part of the program of the Arroyo Administration and I also know about the nation's worsening fiscal problems. I understand the effort of the government in implementing measures to save our nation, but I just feel for the poor people. Definitely they are the ones who'll be affected greatly. Although there are major considerations in exempting the basic commodities, such as rice, corn, fish (bangus, tilapia, galunggong), eggs, noodles, fruits, beef, pork, and chicken. Paano ang mga sardinas, paano na kung ang isda ilagay sa lata, na hindi exempted sa VAT? Ergo, prices will still increase right?! And I'm wondering why independent power producers, and other cosmetic services are exempted from VAT? And I'm talking about cosmetic surgeries here, alright! Hindi naman kayang i-afford ng mga mahihirap ang magbayad ng ganung kalaki para lang sa pagpapaganda. My point here is, oo nga at we have to take the 'bitter pill' as Zubiri put it, para maligtas ang mamamayan sa mas malaking problema but the thing is, ang laki na ng pasanin ng consumers walang katapusang pagtaas ng gasolina, electricity, water, products and services, tapos tataas ulit hindi naman tumataas ang sweldo nila?! Bakit hindi kasi i-consider ang pagpataw ng buwis sa mga exempted gaya ng.... simbahan, maybe?! O kaya, mas mahigpit na monitoring sa mga hindi nagbabayad ng buwis. Ang daming negosyante ang hindi nagbabayad ng tamang buwis... Hmm, I should know...

My heart goes out to the poor Filipino. Personally, hindi ganun kasakit ang nararamdaman ko sa pagtaas ng VAT kasi hindi ako nagtratrabaho, kung may pera man ako bigay lang sa akin yun. Sa tuwing titignan ko ang resibo ng mga binili ko sa tuwing mag-shshopping ako, iniisip ko kung san napupunta yung 10% ng binayaran ko. Kung hindi ko pala nabalitaan ang pagincrease ng VAT, magugulat na lang pala ako sa pagtingin ko sa resibo ko next time... Ako, napapansin ko ang epekto ng VAT, paano pa kaya yung simpleng mamamayan na walang humpay sa pagtrabaho. Pagod at pawis ang puhunan para sa perang kikitain pero saan mapupunta sa VAT na pambayad sa basic services? Pero malala situation ng bansa kung hindi kikilos ng mga ganyang alternatibo ang pamahalaan anong mangyayari sa atin in the future?

Hindi ko alam kung saan talaga ako lulugar sa issue na ito. Pero kung bitter pill nga ito, sana hindi naman ganun katagal ang pagtiis ng mga Pilipino sa pag-inom ng gamot na ito". Sana hindi ma-immune ang mga kawawang Pilipino, Gaya ng sinabi ni Mr. Palengke, sana ito ay "sunset provision" lang. Kapag naka-recover ng konti ang bansa (sana talaga matupad ang recovery!), sana i-reduce nila ulit ang VAT. Sana tuparin ni Joe de Venecia at ni Nograles ang pangako nilang reduction ng VAT kapag nag-improve na ang fiscal problems ng bansa. Hanggang kailan kaya magtitiis ang Pilipino? Sana hindi ganun katagal...

Sa Senado kaya, ganun din kaya kabilis ang pagpasa nito gaya sa House of Representatives? Sabi kasi ni Drilon, gagawin ang lahat para mapasa ito in the soonest possible time...Hmmm... Ano kaya gagawin ng opposition senators para dito?

Anyway, can I just say, bakit nagiging trend na ata ng mga elected leaders ang pag-walk out kapag hindi maganda ang pinatutunguhan ng usapan/ debate nila? I just notice it, at kahit mas suportado ko ang ilan sa mga Congressman na nagwalk out nung isang araw, tingin ko hindi tama ginagawa nila. Sana tinapos na lang nila properly ang session para alam nila kung anong ending, kahit hindi in favor sa kanila, at least alam nila gagawin nila...

getting a life

The past years had been very stressful for me. Traversing the law school journey had so much to do with it. Since I entered law school, I started to gain weight! I am uncontrollably at the brink of becoming obese! And I absolutely abhor that fact. Just this evening I saw my picture taken 2 years ago. I can't believe how far I've become now from my shape in that picture. Aside from that, I became a constant visitor of the emergency room of UST from throbbing head pain to acute gastritis to emergency appendectomy. Although it would be quite unfair to blame it all on the stress caused by law school, but much of the change in my lifestyle was caused by such that lead me to this various sickness.

This got me thinking, is the law life really for me?! hehe* I am still in law school, I have a two-three semesters left before I plunge in to the biggest battle but as of this writing I feel so unhealthy, old, and ugly!!! All for the law degree. All for the ATTORNEY! Mabuhay naman kaya ako long enough to reap all the efforts I devoted in studying law?!

Just bare with my drama... Wala lang talaga ako masulat na iba. I just want to write all my brain farts in this blog. I kept on swearing that I'll update my blog often, I'll revive this blog, blah blah blah... Yet you will notice that my latest posts are like 1 or 2 months apart from the last post.
Kasi naman I want to limit my blog to posts that are sensible, something that are acceptable to the public, something that would not defame me in the future when I look back at my writings. The thing is, what if I don't have anything sensible to say? That would leave my blog rotten and my mind cluttered... It has been cluttered ever since but at least I believe that writing is therapeutic. So I have to write.

So what I want to do now is to write unabashedly about my thoughts, apprehensions, dreams, and hopes in life. If this blog would look lame, mundane (as it has been naman eversince, feelingera!) then so be it. This will be my outlet from all the stress in law school.

Basta I just want to organize my life. I want to do a lot of things. I've become a slave of this cloth bound books, tons of cases, highlighters, etc... I need to get a life... Seriously!

sembreak: Tax professor rant

Today is the official start of my sembreak. After this week, I'm off to enroll for the summer term which will last for a month. I have to make this sacrifice 'coz it will be a lot harder for the first semester of the next school year if I let this summer pass by just bumming. Few more semesters left before the bar exams!

I've been relieved that this semester is over. However, I'm a bit disappointed because of the possibility of failing Taxation 1. To begin with, my semester started with optimism and enthusiasm about the subject. I've been hearing about tax since birth, seriously! However, this vigor deteriorated gradually as begin to immerse myself with the subject. I realized that the wordings of the law on taxation are two technical that no layman would understand it outright. The sadder part is that our professor who happens to be a topnotcher in the CPA board exam, a topnotcher in the Bar examinations, a current Commissioner in one of the most controversial government agencies as of this writing, did not help us understand the subject. Instead, he bombarded us with tons of cases that grappled our time and effort. I know we are trained to read a lot of cases, then who am I to complain if you may ask? The thing is instead of giving us a brief background about the subject, he gave us the list of cases and started to conduct recitations. I was able to survive the recitation rounds without passing but I was like a robot who just loaded all the data in my memory but that's only good for a couple of minutes, then my mind bugs down.
The worst part of all this, I got a very low grade in the exam. It is by far the lowest grade I ever received in my entire academic life! Although I don't fret on that part after all no one passed in the class and my grade is still relatively on the average. But we were all surprised when we received our booklets. All of us were confident that we'll pass. However this person seemed to have a different approach on the questions. No one got the right answer in what seemed to be the easiest question in the exam. Hell, I even mentioned the corresponding jurisprudence applicable and yet, I got a big fuggin* X mark on that number! We checked our books and some of us even answered in verbatim. But still!!!

And not only that, I compared my answer to my classmate who got the highest grade in the class. It was with regard to an objective question. My answer was more complete as compared to my classmate. I even checked the books again. And yet, compared to my classmate, I was 3 points short of the grade that my classmate had. Unfair to highest level!!!

Moving on, I know that I have bleak chances of passing the subject. But I don't really feel too bad about it (emphasis on the word too). Of course, I'd be very disappointed after all the effort and time I've put through it. But the thing is, what can I do with an unfair teacher? What can we do?

I don't mind a teacher who flunks half of the class if not the entire class, if I know that teacher really puts time to aid their students understand the subject. That is not spoon feeding. If the student still failed despite the effort of the teacher, then no regrets. By all means the problem is really with the student.

My teacher covered the Tax Code sections 35 - 104 in 2 1/2 hours!!! Beat that! Try to read the provisions of the NIRC. Hell, does he expect that all of us have an idea of what the words written in the code are that we can absorb everything in one sitting? It is not like the Revised Penal Code or the New Civil Code that has provisions that even if you're drowsy or sleepy, still you'd get the gist of it.

TOXIC!!! He even required the class to submit a case digest on the cases assigned. 200 cases and rulings if I estimated it right. I was able to make half of it. Not bad. And we had to submit that in his office in Ortigas! shet!!!

All for the passing grade.

facebooking in the wee hours

pakshet! for some reason, I can't log in to my blogger account in our library. Much as i wanted to blog, I can't. Screw that free internet!

that's why I missed surfing the internet. It's 3 in the morning already and I am nursing this throbbing pain in my head again. Yet I am still here glued to the monitor, blogging. Actually, I am playing in Facebook. The sorority game thing is quite addicting. I'm just waiting for my energy level to load up that's why I had the chance to blog.

Gosh! I terribly missed the internet!

Anyway, the student council had the elections yesterday. And I am very happy about the results of the elections. Most of the candidates I voted won in the elections. Ok, I'm going to blog about that sometime.

Basta. My mind is cluttered with so many things, ideas, apprehensions, etc. The school pressure is just too much to handle. I might die any minute! hehe kidding!

But really I am frigging stressed out! I badly needed to unwind...