57. That Maquiling case and Sen. Grace Poe

Sen. Grace Poe is set to make an announcement today, which is presumably about her intention to run as President. But sponsored Facebook and Twitter feeds  abound with legal questions about her legal fitness to run for the position. I have raised my reservations too in paragraphs 6 and 53 but have not found the occasion to look it up myself until today. One of the cases being cited is that of the former Mayor of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, known as Maquiling v. Comelec (G.R. 195649, April 16, 2013). The facts of that case are as follows: Rommel Arnado, a natural born Filipino, acquired American citizenship, became a dual Filipino and American citizen, renounced his American citizenship under oath as prescribed under Republic Act No. 9225, got elected as Mayor of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, and used his American passport twice while serving as Mayor. The Supreme Court removed him from his position as Mayor for being ineligible. The Court said, "by using his US passport after renouncing his American citizenship, (Arnado) has recanted the same Oath of Renunciation he took." The logic is that by nullifying his Oath of Renunciation, Arnado was still beholden to his American citizenship, which under the Local Government Code was a ground for disqualification as the law expressly disqualifies those who have dual citizenship from running for local office. The key action that got Arnado disqualified was his use of his American passport, in spite of holding the position of Mayor of a local town. How he thought he could get away with it is beyond me, but this case is now being cited to disqualify Sen. Grace Poe. Reading the materials being peddled around by her friends and enemies, the accusation is she had used her American passport too while serving as MTRCB Chair. This is something that she has, however, repeatedly denied. She renounced her American citizenship on October 20, 2010, and she never used her American passport thereafter. The proof that will best show it was never used is the passport itself. But that is evidence that comes during trial. Yet in her paragraph 1.23.2 of her Answer to the disqualification case filed against her in the Senate Electoral Tribunal, she swore under oath that "At no time after she executed the (Affidavit of Renunciation), did (she) ever use her U.S.A. passport." Thus, Arnado's case is irrelevant to Senator Grace Poe's legal fitness to be a Senator or President of the Philippines. Personally, I thought the Maquiling case was the strongest objection against her candidacy; but so long as the proposition holds true that the good senator never used her U.S.A passport after she executed her Affidavit of Renunciation,  the  Maquiling argument is weak.

56. Religious Freedom and Illegal Detention

In paragraph 42, we explained Freedom of Religion and discussed some decided and hypothetical freedom of religion issues. After talking to some friends from the Iglesia ni Cristo, I've come across a potential landmark jurisprudence on this matter. Say a minister takes a vow of obedience to his religious superior. Then, the religious superior enforces this vow by telling the minister to stay in a guarded home. The issue then would be whether the superior is  liable for Illegal Detention or whether he can raise as a defense that he is merely enforcing the congregation's religious code, whIch the minister consented to when he made his sacred vows. The answer can be more discussed without religious bias if we change  the characters and assume that the religion concerned is the Catholic religion and the superior concerned is the Jesuit Provincial. What I would like to underscore is the unfair comment that this matter is not a legitimate grievance worthy of making one traffic mess for or maybe a revolution. The key essence of Illegal Detention is the prohibition on any one restraining one's freedom of movement with malicious intent.   The question may be approached whether the minister consents to the detention as his religious vow includes the vow to obey the rules  of the congregation, including any disciplinary measure of detention. Yet, I think the more fundamental issue is whether detention was ordered by the religious superior with malice. In other words, the detention may only amount to a crime if there was no religious reason for it. If it were detention for ransom money or for any selfish motive, then it would not fall under the ambit of religious freedom. Yet, the definition of a religious purpose is the tricky part. If, for example, a minister is detained by the superior, because the minister has been instigating sedition in the populace or in the congregation, and the superior decides to detain him to protect the congregation or government, that might not be a religious reason, but it doesn't appear to be malicious either. I don't have the answer. For this reason, it is indeed alarming for the ordinary members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo that the Secretary of Justice, knowing how difficult the issues are at hand, decided to give the case some special attention, made a few comments in a press conference while receiving the case file, and created a special panel of investigators, especially so that every time she did this, i.e., PDAF cases and the PAGCOR cases, the cases ended up in court which issued warrants of arrest.   She could have at least skipped the press conference; but she had to do it, because she wants to run for senator. Now, with all this mess, the real issue has been drowned out by the murmurs and the catcalls.

55. Desaparecidos

In paragraph 54's discussion of the milieu of mass media of the mid-70s, which was about three years from the declaration of martial law, the role of media as an entertainer is underscored. Media fed us the feel good stories of World War II and gave us Dolphy. The Bulletin was like a memo from Malacanang. The only anguish allowed airtime is one for lost love and its variations; there was nothing about the martial law situation. We were all trained to be authority loving children, and Marcos was our hero. But Toym Imao, an artist born in 1968, would have his awakening when Marcos pulled out Voltes V from television, just four episodes before the series would end. That was 1978, and while I was a crazed Voltes V fanatic myself, my awakening would be much later. But Toym has taken it to heart, and his awakening of the manipulation of the media by the martial law regime  would lead him and his art to the realm of protest art. I caught Toym's art installation at the University of the Philippines this morning, and I was stunned by the expressions on the faces of images, so I decided to take a picture of them. The images represent the Desaparecidos, the missing persons whose loss is believed to have been sanctioned by the Philippine State. There were many of these reported disappearances during the martial law era, but we would not hear of them until much later when Ferdinand Marcos was deposed. Yet, the sad fact is these disappearances have not stopped. Labor leaders like Bert Olalia, media handlers like Bubby Dacer, whistle-blowers like Bentain, and activists like Jonas Burgos would vanish along with countless names of students and community leaders in the past twenty-nine years. In pursuit of its reform agenda this present administration has passed the "Anti-Desaparecidos Law." Yet, at least twenty persons have disappeared and believed to have been abducted by elements of the State, since the law was passed in 2012.  Toym Imao is now a celebrated international artist, and it is encouraging to know how far he has gone from the martial law milieu of state-controlled media that nurtured our generation's young minds.

54. My Media Diet in the Mid-70s

Afternoons in the 70s were spent listening to Victor Wood's radio show, "Mr. Lonely". The television was a scarce appliance and the transistor radio was our medium of communication and entertainment. My dad required us kids to take naps in the afternoon, and we would bore ourselves to sleep with AM radio drama shows. On Saturday nights, I would be in our neighbor's sala early evening to get the front seat for the 7:00 o'clock re-run of "Combat". I never quite understood the World War II tv series, but I've often wondered why Rick Jason and Vic Morrow were never on the lead at the same time. My earliest recollection of the show was when Vic Morrow, who starred as Sgt. Chip Saunders, got deaf after a bomb explosion, and there would be moments he would be oblivious to a German platoon coming at his blind side. And we would be at the edge of our seats, hoping he would not get caught. Combat did not have complicated plots for a five year old to follow; it was war, they shoot at each other, somebody dies, the end. The moral dilemmas that the characters faced in each episode would be lost in my young mind.  I would go home after the show, sleep, and the following day, I'd get hold of the Bulletin, and  peruse the movie pages. I'd analyze every movie ad, note the actors, and wonder if the title of the movie promised any fun. A title of a movie stands out from memory, "Kaming Matatapang ang Apog", which apparently was a Dolphy movie. The Bulletin had this two page movie spread and at the top half of the spread would be the names of the theaters in boxes with the movies showing on those theaters. On one particular Sunday morning, I noted there were a lot of theaters showing that Dolphy movie. It was also showing for many weeks. I was not allowed to watch movies then, because I was too young, and I didn't really mind as reading the movie pages was enough entertainment for me. In the Panorama Magazine that came with the Sunday Bulletin was a cartoon, and the memory escapes me if it was on the fifth page or the back page. But I'd look forward to being humored by that cartoon every week. Our neighbors, who were Baptists,  had Gospel Comics, which were written in Tagalog; I borrowed them one night, and I finished reading the New Testament in one week. Gospel Comics were the only graphic novels that my Mom allowed in the house. Apparently, it was the heyday of the Philippine comics industry, but my Mom censored them from the household as for some reason they had a reputation of being crass. Later, as I grew older, I would have access to comics, but I had to hide them from my Mom, who never took a liking for them. Looking back at all my diet of mass communications in the mid -70's, I would say it was lean by today's standards. I used up most of my time interacting personally with other kids, running, talking, laughing, brawling, and growing up before the mass media explosion that would characterize the 80s. It's probably the reason why I think I'm not as bright as my kids as when they were five in the early 2000s. But I'm not willing to concede that they had more fun. 

53. Metaphors of 2016

The metaphor of the straight path, "Tuwid na Daan" may have been a clever device that got this Administration elected after a corrupt regime, but it doesn't look like it can have an extended run. This Administration failed in the delivery of basic transportation services, and hardly anyone would like to be associated with a road these days, much less be traveling on one. I spent five hours on the EDSA last Tuesday, September 8, 2015, inching our way to the Mall of Asia and back in the middle of the rain, and monitoring how everyone else was doing; they were doing no worse. Meanwhile, the radio had Mar Roxas's commercial repeating his "Daang Matuwid" spiel more than once per hour, which irritated me and convinced me that he was probably spending all that money for people not to vote for him instead. Continuity is, of course, the message but continuity from an era of botched police operations, MRT accidents, and unfulfilled promises like the Freedom of Information Law is unwise. These Mar Roxas people are spending too much time with their sycophants and bootlickers that they don't realize they're headed to loserdom. With barely eight months left before the elections, it is too late to reinvent a new metaphor to reenergize Mar Roxas's campaign, and it has no choice but to stick to its propaganda line. Meanwhile, Binay and Duterte have not chosen theirs. I saw a youtube ad of Grace Poe with the 2004 FPJ theme, "Bagong Umaga",  literally new dawn.  The choice was very tasteful of FPJ when he used it in 2004. If the daughter would use it for her campaign, it would equally connote the idea of change and hope. It sounds fresh but familiar; it would work well as a contrast to the tired cliche of "Tuwid na Daan." A new dawn always carries a message of hope and change. It opens our eyes to new possibilities, new experiences, and new energies. If I heard that song in the middle of the rain and traffic in EDSA last Tuesday, I would be a Grace Poe convert for good. It would be telling myself this traffic nightmare would end soon. Bring me to the next day. I want to get to tomorrow now. No more incompetence and blaming others for this mess. I want new hope. Unfortunately, the Grace Poe campaign is going to face legal hurdles by her enemies' design. The danger is that the legal issues hounding her might sap her energies, and then we  end up with a President whose election would stand in the balance of the Supreme Court. If that happens, then only a technical elucidation of the law and its application would resolve it, and the only metaphor that we would be looking at is the blindfolded Lustitia and her scale.

52. #AlDub is a Script from Shakespeare

I've caught two clips on YouTube of this phenomenal #AlDub segment of Eat Bulaga, Philippine TV's long-time running lunch show, and I can understand why its viewership is approximating a Pacquiao fight. It's Romeo and Juliet. It bears the theme of prohibited love like Hemingway's Farewell to Arms or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera: two lovers separated by time, distance, or conflicting social interests fighting for their love. Shakespeare sets it up against the family wars of his time, and breaks it with a stupid mistake of a messenger that ended in the lovers committing suicide one after the other. Hemingway puts it in the backdrop of World War I, and it ends in the death of the lady after giving birth. Marquez frames it in South America as the young lovers wait till they get old to fulfill their love on a steamship going back and forth a South American river. The highlight of the story is Marquez's description of two old people making love. Yet, with the comedic genius of Eat Bulaga's talents, this tired old theme gets a social media twist in #AlDub with live audience and online internet participation to boot. They made the plot as simple as possible. Boy (Al) meets girl (Yaya Dub), but only on camera. Grandmother (Lola Nidora) objects and sets the obstacles and conditions for the two to meet and fulfill their promise of love. And with that simple plot, they've milked it of all its dramatic and comic possibilities. People are hooked.  Children think the story is true and they hate Lola Nidora with all their souls. The Inquirer even made it a banner headline -- an implied admission that fictitious tales roam their front pages. #AlDub is trending topic on Twitter and Facebook. Office workers, household folks, drivers, managers, doctors, lawyers, and industry leaders are talking about it. Of late, concerns are being raised that the phenomenon might be used to propel a politician's career. Yet, this will end soon for sure. I'm betting it should go the way of Marquez. To paraphrase him as he wrote in Love in the Time of Cholera, that when a woman decides to love a man, "there is no wall she will not scale, no fortress she will not destroy, no moral consideration she will not ignore at its very root: there is no God worth worrying about.” I can imagine how Philippine TV and internet is going to break out into ecstasy when it happens. Eat Bulaga has everyone itching for this ending; it better fulfill that itch. For if it goes  the way of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or Hemingway's Farewell to Arms where the lovers die, we might have a revolution.

51. Notes on the Inferno: The Second Circle

I take back what I said in paragraph #48 that Manuel L. Quezon's vision of a government run like hell by Filipinos is a smashing success. It turns out after reading Dante's Inferno, hell is pretty organized. In spite of all the people there, nobody's  complaining about the traffic. Nobody leaves hell. People just keep on coming. And unlike the chaotic government, no smart aleck is claiming that traffic in hell is not fatal (they are all dead) or that it's a sign of development. The Minos,  which guards the gate, tells the souls their place in the nine circles, and they're not in a hurry. Nonetheless, in the Second Circle of Hell, dwell the lustful. In Canto V, we read of the story of Francesca Da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta. The story is Francesca's husband caught her in bed with Paolo, her husband's brother, thus her husband killed them both. She claims  they were just reading a book about Lancelot and Guinevere, so they did it, and they got caught. She claims their predicament is rooted on love, (Line 125 Canto V). The modern equivalent of this story is the wife who went to bed with her husband's brother after watching porn. In law, love is hardly an excuse for this malfeasance. In fact, the Revised Penal Code doesn't prescribe jail time for this kind of murder and parricide for the assailant-husband. So, this kind of "what I did for love" excuse will only earn the victim and her lover a bullet and free pass to hell. Love is such an abused word. We once had a case against a judge for slapping her clerk of court. Her excuse? It's a slap of love, literally, "sampal ng pagmamahal." I can't believe the court bought it and we lost the case. Nevertheless, in Dante's Inferno, those who are lustful belong to a bigger group of sinners who commit the sin of incontinence or the inability to restrain one's urges. That's why the sinners there are full of excuses; everyone is to blame but themselves.  Hell is organized indeed, but hell, like earth, is also full of bullshit. 

50. Notes on the Inferno: Limbo and the Nine Circles

I've been studying Dante Alighieri's classic "The Divine Comedy" for a book project. The epic poem is considered a landmark in world literature, and has spun countless artworks, books, movies, and even a computer game. Exiled from Florence, Dante portrays himself  as the hero of the story who explores hell, purgatory, and heaven. In the process, he  meets dead people, finds out where they are, and even talks to them. One thing I noticed is this book may appear to be a theological piece of work, but at the heart of it is political satire. The personalities in it, or particularly those who were placed in hell by Dante where I am currently bookmarked, are actually his family's enemies. So, when Dante was writing this epic, he must have been a having a great time, imagining all those personalities who were responsible for his being in exile, as he puts all of them in hell. Essentially, the book says there are nine circles in hell, each circle is inhabited by a certain group of sinners: 1st) The Pagans, 2nd) The Sexually Promiscuous, 3rd) The Gluttons, 4th) The Hoarders and Wasters, 5th)The Angry and the Sullen, 6th) Heretics and Skeptics, 7th) The Violent, 8th) The Fraud, 9th) The Traitors. If somebody were to update this book to the 21st Century with a focus on the Philippines, there's going to be a lot personalities in hell. Let's start with the pagans. In Dante's book, these are the people who were born before Christ so they weren't saved. Nonetheless, in Dante's list of the people in the first circle, also known as limbo, are Homer, Ovid, Horace, Virgil, Caesar, Aristotle, Socrates and Plato, among others. As a philosophy major, it breaks my heart to know that the three pillars of western philosophy are in hell, even if its in the first level. The Jews, like Abraham, were saved from hell, because Jesus is supposed to have descended to hell to save them after he died. I reckon the Filipinos there would be Lapu-Lapu, Rajah Soliman, Datu Kalantiao, Datu Puti, Datu Sumakwel, and may other pre-Spanish Datus. A curious case would be Datu Humabon, who converted to Christianity on April 14, 1521 and was baptized as Carlos. But he had Spanish soldiers killed after they raped their women, so maybe he was not able to confess before he died, in which case he may be found in the 7th circle. Really, Dante's piece is a nifty political trick. Yet, it is all subjective. If PNoy would make the modern list of Filipinos in hell, I'm sure that list would not be the same as Gloria Arroyo's list, while some people would have both their names on the list. To say that somebody is going to hell is harsh judgment, because nobody knows the complete story why persons act unreasonably or sinfully at times. Sometimes, sinful actions may not even be defined. Well, Dante's lucky, because he's dead. If he were alive today and he made that Filipino list, he would not be in hell, but in jail. 

48. Exemplars

Somewhere buried in my Facebook timeline is a comment I made about a post, which gave accolades to this present administration as being one of the best the country has ever had. I said something like why do we compare against our own? We should compare with the best of the world across time. And of course, that would burst the bubble, so to speak, of any one who would like to trumpet the outgoing administration to boost the dismal rating of its anointed. Yet, this myopia appears to be prevalent not only with the present but also with the past leadership. I'm not even thinking about the globalization slogan of "Think global, act local." I'm just thinking exemplars. We should not limit ourselves to the Filipino personalities of the past of which the best appears to have vanished with the Propaganda Movement. Yet, those guys did not even experience running a country. They just wanted independence. They have romanticized it so much, that the great apostle of their efforts, Manuel L. Quezon, who headed the Philippine Commonwealth, had preferred, over a government run like heaven by foreigners, a government run like hell by Filipinos. By that standard alone, we can say that Quezon's vision was a smashing success. NVM Gonzalez said there is genius in the Filipino race, but we have to teach these geniuses as they are nurtured and educated today,  that there are a lot of idiots among us too. We have to teach them to look to Lincoln for wise leadership, Churchill for courage and resolve, Gandhi for purity of will and method, and many others. They should have monuments here too, because they also remind us about freedom, and the extent of the human capacity to do what is right. And if we measure this administration against just the three I mentioned above, I would not even say a word. We shouldn't be that stupid to say that we had it good.

47. Sunday Meal

My wife, Celeste, and I would be on our way to the market before the sun is up. Crabs, shrimps, mussels and some other new seafood -- who knows what we would find? -- are on the "to buy" list. The other day they had angel wing clams, which made me remember that Chef Chris Locher, then from the fabled C' Italian Dining of Angeles, once cooked this for us, and we could not have enough of it, because of the heavenly way he cooked it. Sometimes it's the sea mantis -- cooked with salt and pepper, deep fried until crispy -- and other days it would be just lobsters or curachas -- not enough meat as my son, Anselmo, puts it. The boys, Ben, Anselmo, and Agustin, welcome these culinary adventures, but the girl, Regina, would only have pork. The kitchen would be busy as soon as we arrive with our finds. Turmeric is our "go to" seasoning, because it adds that ginger kick and that marvelous yellow hue to any dish that it touches. And white wine brings the sweet sour sophistication to the seafood chemistry. All of these would be cooked, recipes in hand, with rice and grilled pork on the side. The dishes are then placed in hand made colorful clay plates, which Celeste took pains and years to find. Rosemary and basil leaves then garnish the meals fresh from the garden pots. At about noon, the members of the family take their designated spots with their sauces, salt and pepper in vinegar, and soy sauce, on their places. Nobody starts unless everyone is on the table and has prayed. This is our Sunday lunch meal. This is how I hope my kids would remember their Sundays growing up in the early 21st Century.  It took years for Celeste and myself to develop this ritual of a meal, and I reckon it's still a work in progress. I'm still working on the live string quartet to boot. Seriously, the complicated detail and the time and attention we put on this meal measure up only to the importance that we put on the occasion. It's the only time in the entire week that we are gathered together as a family to talk. The rest of the week is the time we get lost in the mess of our daily individual lives, the kids with schoolwork, computer games and anime, and the adults with their jobs, duties, and their budgets. But the Sunday lunch meal is when we all put everything aside. This is where Regina talks about her mangas and the anime, Attack of Titans, where I learn about the latest football news, or the new Ipad game, or that UP is not such a hard school according to my college level son, Ben. The dog takes some attention too as it barks for some bones. We all laugh and cheer together at its antics.  This is also where we talked about our successes and tragedies and challenges. It's not always fun. But always, it's us talking. The rest of humanity have their meal rituals too, like Christ and his disciples and the Last Supper. State dinners for the heads of state, "kauntians" for the poor, boodle fights for the men in uniform, no matter how modest or elaborate, the Sunday meal is the most impressive meal of the week. But I have a suspicion it's not about the food. It is about the satisfaction, not only of the need for nourishment  of the body, but also of the spirit. For meals are not only about being  hungry, but also about being together with the people we love and respect who  also share our hunger no matter what our faiths. And that is as much human as we can get. 

46. Bloc Voting

Legend has it that Diosdado Macapagal lost to Ferdinand Marcos in the 1965 elections, because Marcos solicited the 500,000 Iglesia ni Cristo votes. Macapagal publicly declared his disapproval to the bloc voting practice by the religious sect, and lost to Marcos by about 600,000 votes. Since then, the bloc voting Iglesia Ni Cristo had been a mythical game changer in Philippine elections. Many have spoken against the evils of bloc voting, but it makes sense for a politician to court these votes, because it gives him a sure number for the win. The common sense approach to winning an election is by determining the majority of the average turn-out of the voting population, divided by the number of strong candidates. That is the magic number. The politician is always scrounging for votes to get that number. And if there is a bloc vote from an organization, sect, or other interest groups, then that would deliver a big chunk of that magic number; the politician would be hooked. It also makes perfect sense for any organization to create a bloc vote knowing that politicians would be after them all the time. The real world scenario, however, is there is always a trade-off for that vote. An appointment here and there, a radio or tv frequency, a mining claim, a free patent to a public land, or a big ticket housing loan -- as the song goes "everything counts in large amounts." Plato warned us in "The Republic" of the ills of democracy that could give rise to tyranny. In a democratic environment, as shown by the Philippine experience, these bloc voters could become unruly. Say for example, they want the Secretary of Justice to come from their ranks, so none of the cases filed against their brethren would prosper. They could potentially dictate how the law could be applied. Further, as politicians are always haggling with other interest groups which always get what they want so long as they deliver the votes, society would degenerate, and there would be anarchy. The anarchy would then create a vacuum for the rise of tyranny. For this reason, Plato batted for a better government ran by a philosopher king. A philosopher king would not haggle with the bloc voters, because the philosopher king would always think about the general welfare. Unfortunately, the closest thing the world ever had to a philosopher king was Solomon, and Solomon is just one of the kings in the Iglesia's and Catholic's Book of Kings. Solomon also never had to deal with the bloc voters. He became king upon proclamation by his father, David, and not by a popular vote; albeit, it evokes a good feeling to think about how, if he were alive in a modern democracy, Solomon would turn these bloc voters away, especially when they come demanding for their spoils. 

45. Exit Row

With all this flying back and forth to Mindanao, I've developed a liking for the exit row. These are the seats on the twelfth row when taking Cebu Pacific, or the twenty-secondth row, but designated as forty-first seats, when aboard Philippine Airlines. The best thing about these seats is the extra leg room. The normal rows are so crammed, especially with the Cebu Pacific planes, that sitting  on them is like being in a military training. There is only one way to sit, which is straight up. If the guy in front of me decided to recline his chair, I'd be inches away to having a direct view of his bald spot. And if the flight is from Manila to Davao, that's an hour and twenty minutes of that view, which is not good. The exit row, however, takes off that inconvenience. I have space to stretch my  legs, and the reclining chairs don't interfere with my line of sight. For two hundred fifty pesos more, it's bliss in flight. Of course everything has a catch. Being in the exit row requires the passenger to read the manual on how to open the exit doors in case of emergency. Fine, if it never happens. But if it does, it may be a life-changing experience. I have a friend who's brother was on the exit row in a plane travelling to Bacolod.  His plane over shot the runway, and he did his duties. He opened the door, but in all the commotion, he was pushed overboard before the stairs could inflate. He survived what was equivalent to a two storey fall. But he was badly injured until he died. He sued the airline, yet the case remains unresolved years after his death. Indeed, the exit row is a dangerous fascination, perhaps like the attraction to light of the fireflies in that tale of Teodora Alonzo, Rizal's mom, related to him when he was a kid. But a life lived by turning away from the fascinating things, because of perceived danger is a life for the common man. Many like to live the life of the common man; whatever suits them. But the exit row is not for the them, it's for those people who like the fireflies are willing to get burned for things they want from life. If Rizal were alive today and flying aboard these flights, I'm sure I would have met him by now by the exit row. I have also imagined many times opening that door,  if by fate, the same eventuality as what happened to my friend's brother takes place. In my mind, I have practiced how not to get pushed overboard by the wild throng before the stairs inflate. For unlike the fireflies that die by their attraction to the light, uncommon people learn from their experience and the experience of others to survive and enjoy what they want.

44.Just your luck, punk

In the news recently is a report that Mayor Duterte allegedly gave a violator of Davao City's smoking ban a choice: get the violator's penis shot with a .38 caliber revolver,  get imprisoned, or eat the cigarette butt. The Mayor's press people have denied parts of the report but the reporter stands by his story. What I am concerned about, however, is that Rappler's mood index for this story generated a result that people are happy about it. While it is possible that this mood index rating is being manipulated, still I have a feeling that this may be the sentiment, especially among non-smokers and the fans of the Duterte saga. The pre-text of the story is Duterte's alleged reputation as a stern implementor of the law. But I can hardly say that what he did was legal. Assuming the facts in the news story are correct, Durterte is actually liable for Grave Coercion. Under the Article 286 of the Revised Penal Code, the following are the elements of Grave Coercion: (1) that a person is prevented by another from doing something not prohibited by law, or compelled to do something against his will, be it right or wrong; (2) that the prevention or compulsion is effected by violence, threats, or intimidation; (3) that the person who restrains the will and liberty of another has no right to do so, or in other words, that the restraint is not made under authority of law or in the exercise of any lawful right. In this case, forcing the violator to eat the cigarette butt or get his crotch shot or face arrest most certainly fulfills elements 1, 2, and 3, unless the Mayor, who used to be a prosecutor, can find the law that says forcing a smoker to eat his cigarette butt is legal. Indeed, the mindless glamor that people give the Mayor's antics is getting out of hand. I can imagine that as people read the news story, they were envisioning Mayor Duterte as Clint Eastwood acting as Dirty Harry pointing the gun at the violator's crotch and saying the immortal words, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" Wake up everyone. Dirty Harry is dirty. Clint Eastwod is old. This is not a movie. And that cigarette butt stunt was Grave Coercion. 

43. Sleep Secrets

Somebody showed me Arnold Schwarzenegger's Six Secrets of Success on youtube. I found it funny when he reached the #5 secret, which was "Work your butt off," I told myself I don't know anyone who actually became successful without working. That's too obvious to be a secret. Nonetheless, he recounted how many hours we all have to sleep. He was saying while we are all sleeping or horsing around or partying, somebody is working and getting smarter and better than we are. He sleeps six hours, so he's only got eigtheen hours to work. Thus, for those who sleep eight or nine hours his recommendation to them is to sleep faster. I was expecting canned laughter after that line, but there was none. So, Big Arnold must have been serious. I'm wondering how can a person sleep faster. This thought takes me to a book written by Quijano de Manila about the life and times of former Vice President Salvador "Doy" Laurel. There is a lot of Philippine history in that book as it also recounts the life of Doy's father, former President Jose P. Laurel. But I recall that book now specifically for a breathing technique that Doy shared. Basically, he was saying if you inhale in one nostril and exhale in the other, and you do it for thirty minutes, that exercise would give you the energy that six hours of sleep would provide. He said that was how he managed to survive the long hours required for his graduate school work in Yale. I've done the technique myself in college and law school, and I must say that it worked. I haven't found the need or occasion to do this trick recently. Of course, Big Arnold was not likely thinking about Doy's breathing technique. Yet, what concerns me is how sleep has acquired such a bad reputation with "successful" people. My own experience is sleepless people are hardly successful. I reckon some of them actually die before they can achieve a measure of success. Some might be using a breathing technique and snort some prohibited substance on the side. In fact, if Big Arnold spent an extra hour sleeping, he might have been a better governor or actor. Seriously, if his motivation in cutting  sleep time is because somebody is getting better or smarter than him while he is  sleeping, he must be sick. I haven't met a person who got better by not sleeping enough or someone who caught up with better people by sleeping less. In case you find this video, you have to decide whether you're watching for advice on life strategies or you're just looking to laugh. I chose the second one and I haven't laughed this much recently.

42. Freedom of Religion

In 1633, Pope Urban VIII had Galileo declared a heretic and imprisoned for professing that the world revolves around the sun. Today in the Philippines, considering that we have the Freedom of Religion clause in the Constitution, Galileo could profess his view or even the opposite view, i. e., it's the sun revolving around the world, and the State could care less. Galileo would be a free man. The Freedom of Religion Clause in the Constitution guarantees two things: 1) The State will not establish a religion; and 2) The State will not interfere in the practice of any religion. In Galileo's era, Catholicism was a state religion. Thus, if one professed a belief contrary to  Catholic doctrines, it was equivalent to a crime against the State, for which one could be punished and sent to jail. This would not work today, because under the first guarantee, Freedom of Religion ensures that there is no state religion, and no religion can receive special favors, funding, or endorsements from the State. Neither can any religion receive any burden or punishment from the State for being a religion. Galileo could even believe that there is no god, and the State wouldn't mind. To the State, what Galileo does with his soul, is his business, and the State has no business with souls. I don't know if Galileo kept his Catholic faith, but he if did not, and instead he established for himself the Church of the Sun Worshippers that would have been fine with modern day Philippines. This is the second guarantee under the Freedom of Religion, known as the Free Exercise Clause. Galileo could propagate his view, write his bible, develop his church rituals, and create a code of conduct. The State would not touch him. Galileo could even refuse to salute the flag if that was contrary to his religion, and the Supreme Court would be constrained to uphold his right to do so, as it did in one case, known as Ebralinag vs. Division Superintendent of Schools of Cebu (GR No. 95770, March 1, 1993). Yet, if you're wondering whether the Free Exercise Clause would protect a religion that uses kidnapping and violence against church members and non-church members, the answer is of course not. Freedom of Religion is not a license to trample with the law.  The limits and bounds of this Free Exercise Clause are defined by its effect on other people's rights. Accordingly, if Galileo's theoretical Church of the Sun Worshippers would require human sacrifice as a ritual, Galileo is going to jail. Yet, the Supreme Court would swing in favor of upholding the right when balanced with some other value. In a relatively recent case (Estrada vs. Escritor, AM No. P-02-1651, June 22, 2006) the Supreme Court said that living-in with a married man, if it is sanctioned by one's faith, would not amount to immorality, and consequently not a ground for dismissal from government service. So, if the Church of the Sun Worshippers profess the doctrine of free love, regardless of marital status, the Supreme Court would not find that immoral. I don't know if Galileo would have welcomed that too. Yet, one thing is for sure,  if Galileo were alive today and living in this country, he would have been a happy man. With our Freedom of Religion and other freedoms, he could be our ambassador to all the people in the world today persecuted for their religious beliefs, saying come all ye faithful and ye faithless, it's more fun ..!

41. Freedom of Assembly

Time was when Illegal Assembly was a cool crime, a badge of honor, a solid proof that not all criminals are crooks. As a high school student studying in San Beda near the fabled Mendiola Bridge, I once saw Senator Lorenzo Tanada being hauled off in a police van for holding a rally without a permit. Tanada even brandished his fist in defiance of the police as the old man got sped off to prison. He got rescued by his lawyers, posted bail, and then prepared for the next rally. As I got older,  I participated in rallies myself: in 1986 EDSA One,  in the late 80's against the US bases, in the 90's against the Ramos planned constitutional amendment, in 2001 EDSA Dos, and then in 2006 at the Black and White Movement's photo ops at Luneta where I met Edwin Lacierda. My protest resume is rather thin, compared to veteran street parliamentarians like Argee Gueverra who even got jailed for it. But this constitutional right to free assembly is something I use for good measure. When I resolve to go to the streets, I don't care about the traffic we're going to cause. The goal is to get noticed, and causing traffic is one of the ways to get noticed. When you're out there, you're telling the people, things are not normal, something is wrong, so stop whatever you're doing, and join us. Now, it's almost ten years since I've attended my last rally. I looked at the  Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) mass actions in EDSA recently and analyzed the grievance. Leila de Lima's actions as Secretary of Justice were perceived as bias against the INC, because she received the complaint for Illegal Detention against the INC's central committee personally, and she created a special panel to investigate the case. If the case prospered, it would be like the entire cabinet going to jail. So, the implications to the INC's followers may be alarming. Well, as a lawyer, I would have to admit that most of my cases never received that kind of special treatment and attention -- not from this current Secretary of Justice or from the others before her. And I have yet to see any rule from the Department of Justice that provides this kind of special procedure for special circumstances, which have also been undefined. Thing is she's been doing this in the hot items in her checklist, like the PAGCOR cases and PDAF cases, and all of them went unfavorably against the respondents. Thus, we now have the INC flock at EDSA, telling us things are not normal. The Secretary is acting as if she's going to send their central committee to jail. Well, I'm not inclined to join them. But, I'm not going to heckle them either.  Max Ehrman's Desiderata, which we memorized in San Beda High, had special lines for these circumstances, "Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story." The INC's reputation among the Catholic elite is not very good, principally because of their bloc voting schemes. They have been depicted as mindless minions obeying the command of their leaders, which is inaccurate and unkind. Yet, I have to concede, regardless of who sent them to EDSA, the INC flock has a story here, which might even be a good one.

40. Tea is all we need

I didn't used to be a tea fan. I had a classmate in law school who kept a tea bag in her wallet.  She would ask for hot water, which was free from the cafeteria, during breaks, and she would enjoy her cup with a dash of calamansi and a biscuit on the side. I tried it once then,  but I thought it was too complex for me who was used to caffein-laced soda and coffee. Many years later, after I have established my law firm, somebody gifted me with a box of chamomile tea. I served it to clients in the office and tried it once. It came to me then that my taste buds were now ready for that kind of sophistication.  I sought out other flavors: English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Chai, Black, Green, and Mint. My wife got me a tea caddie, and the caddie presented the various tea flavors we have collected to clients. Often, while discussing strategies in business and litigation, my clients and I would enjoy pot after pot of tea until the work was done. Recently, I was introduced to a brand of tea called, Basilur, which offered a mix of fruits and flowers. Taking it is like tasting the grand orchestra of teas: a little sweetness there, a little citrus, lots of flowers, some dark shades, vanilla, and some mint. They all come together beautifully in one package.  I served it once to clients after dinner, and we stayed up until one o'clock in the morning, working with the tea as our only elixir of energy. Looking back, tea is one of the oldest commodities traded in the world. The taxation of tea even led to the American Revolution in the affair known as the Boston Tea Party. Yet, with all the magical sophistication of this drink which established its reputation as the drink of commerce and politics, the power of tea is its ability to bring you to your senses. Of all the teas I've tasted nothing compares with the tea that a Chinese nun gave me; it was black tea mixed with brown rice. I took it one afternoon, and instantly I felt being transported to my hometown, relaxed and easy, and with no worries. Never mind the business and the politics. Tea is all we need. 

39. Coffee anyone?

Fresh beans make the best cup. Ground them, but not too fine. You don't want the granules to be seeping through the sieve. One tablespoon per cup is the proportion of granules to water in the coffee press. The water must be boiling. To keep the glass from cracking, put a spoon on the coffee press to take some heat off the glass as you pour the water. Stir it well, and be amazed at the marriage of coffee and water; it will swirl as the aroma flies off in the air. Then, let it rest. Prepare your cup and saucer while the granules settle at the bottom of the coffee press. When you see that almost everything has rested, it is time to enjoy your coffee. Press it now slowly and pour it in your cup. Savor it well. It's good coffee prepared with the coffee press. The coffee press has not always been the way we prepare our coffee. My grandfather used to put ground coffee and water in a pot in a slightly different proportion and boil them. Once it boils, the drink is poured into cups as well, and the remaining coffee stays in the pot for reheating and drinking anytime of the day. Soon, my uncle bought a drip method coffee maker, and from this method,  the aroma of the coffee became a sub-highlight of the coffee experience. For many years, I thought the drip method was the only way that I could prepare a decent cup, until I discovered the coffee press. There are other methods like the capsule type, which is quite fancy and expensive, but nothing beats the coffee press. Legend has it that drinking coffee is associated with energy and rebellion; that's why Charles II tried to ban it in  Europe in 1676 only to back down two days before the ban was supposed to take effect. Indeed, the experience of coffee -- from preparation of the beans, the pouring of the water, the mixing of water and coffee, the way the aroma is diffused, until the tongue tastes the bitter sweet flavor of this concoction, which runs through your throat and  nestles in your belly -- triggers moments of epiphany when you seem to know what's really going on, and you want to rebel against all the bull shit around you. And then, you sober down. It's just coffee messing with your mind.

38. Gambling as a National Policy

As of my last count, there are thirty-five casinos in the Philippines of which twelve are outside Metro Manila. Three more are under construction, and other gambling licenses being peddled around in coffee shops and law offices by this government's power brokers. I have not counted the ubiquitous E-Games kiosks that offer electronic slot machines catering to the middle-end crowd who have no access to the hotel and resort casino establishments. A check with wikipedia showed there are 102 E-Games, but I think there are more. I have also not counted the bingo places, which are found in the malls for the mass market gambling crowd. The real deal is the online casinos, which are like portals for all gamblers with a credit card and an internet-connected computer. Indeed, there appears to have been a remarkable increase in the number of gambling havens in this country under the current  administration. I can't help but ask, are there really that many gamblers in this country to sustain these establishments? They claim these casinos are for tourists, which is probably why they have one in Ilaya, Mandaluyong, in a hotel they call Madison Square Garden.  The casino appears to be intended as come on for tourists in Mandaluyong who may be led to think that they are staying in a hotel affiliated with the Madison Square Garden in New York. Seriously, I think the government gets it wrong when it looks at these gambling havens exclusively as money-making machines for charity. Fine, the house never loses, they make millions, but these gambling havens are not manufacturing money. They are taking it from people. The only way for these gambling havens to sustain themselves across time is to create and nurture a culture of gambling. They want people to make a good living and gamble it all away in an all night splurge on the gambling tables. In other words, the vision is to turn our kids into gamblers. I believe there is genius in the Filipino race. But like the genius, Niccolo Paganini, who enthralled the world as a violinst in his time and lost his fortune playing cards, our geniuses are going to be gamblers, and they will put everything to waste.  This is all because we had a President who made the growth of gambling a policy of his administration. To describe this administration as an idiot is such an understatement.

37. An argument for cameras on the dashboard

A truck tailgated us this morning at Katipunan Ave. The driver kept his truck close to our rear. And then at the stoplight, he took another lane. I got my phone and tried to call the number on the truck's body, which was a hotline for complaints. No one answered and soon the truck started moving again.  We saw it swerving left to right on two other lanes, the driver and his companion looking jolly and pumped up by their speed. I tried to record everything on the phone, but I forgot to press the record button unfortunately. My wife said it was alright, and we'd just call the hotline maybe later during office hours, so someone would be there to pick up the phone. Thinking about this incident, it came to me that this is an argument to attach a camera on the dashboard to record these wayward drivers on the road. A camera, that is always on whenever the car is on a trip, will never tell a lie. It is primary evidence if presented in court; it should bring some integrity in motoring disputes. No more influence peddling or bribes to obtain favorable police reports. If any policeman will stop us for violating any regulation, the video on the camera will prove him right or acquit us of the accusation. Of course, it is never going to prevent any accident, but it's use will be in court disputes, when people are just settling scores, as it were, so they can move on. These car cameras will be like the CCTV's that are revolutionizing crime detection and prosecution these days. And we don't hear a lot from the privacy rights advocates about these cameras being constitutionally problematic. Indeed, this might be so, because the cameras that populate our lifestyle currently are not quite how George Orwell depicted them in 1984. In the Philippines these cameras are not integrated into one system, so there is no one person yet all powerful to see eveything that's happening. Yet, surely the court system will benefit if that happens, because there is one thing that George Orwell got right: cameras don't lie so put them all over the place. Next time I see that truck, I'll make sure I capture that bastard on cam.

36. Traffic

For a man with impressive credentials, Sec. Abaya can be mindless at times. Asked about the bad traffic in Metro Manila, he quipped that traffic is not fatal. It is a statement that professors of logic would call, non-sequitur, an irrelevant statement more fitting to be uttered by a comedian, rather than the incumbent Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications who also happens to a be degree holder in Military Science and Law. Come to think of it, traffic is indeed not fatal, unless you are having a stroke with a few minutes to make it to the  hospital, and you're in EDSA on  a rush hour. Yet, bad traffic is not a problem unique to the Philippines or the current secretary of transportation. We're not even in the top five countries with the worst traffic. And all of us contribute to the worsening situation, because 1) we are all here;  2) whenever we leave, we leave at the same time; and 3) we're not leaving for good.  Thus, no one can really pin the blame exclusively on the government and its leaders if traffic is bad. It will help if insensitive comments are not uttered, and people in government realize that they are a provider of solutions and not an oracle telling us to accept our plight, because we're not going die from it anyway. Still, a mindless comment like Sec. Abaya's  shows the mental disposition of a besieged secretary who seem to have tried a lot of things to solve the problem but is hardly appreciated; it is an indication of what psychologists call learned helplessness. I can't imagine how salvation history would have turned out if Moses said something like that to the Chosen People. It would have ended right there and then I suppose.  Yet soon, it will surely be over for this government. And the honorable Secretary will fare better in its last few months if he stops talking to the media without a teleprompter, so he can't infect us with a candid show of his stressed out mind. For in the end, what we really want from the government is hope -- hope that we're not just going to live, but also live well.

35. The Guy in the corner of Panay Avenue

There is no rain or sun for this guy. Any day is business day. We see him every morning, with his makeshift cart, and a throng of his patrons. Once he had too many people lining up for his meal, he blocked off the entire corner of Panay Avenue with a rock, so his customers would not be disturbed by the onslaught of traffic leading to Capitol City Medical Center. My wife, the stickler for traffic rules,  complained to the authorities. The following day the rock was gone, but it was still business as usual for the guy.  I told my wife that he must have discovered a secret recipe, because he never seemed to run out of customers. I wondered what it was, until one Saturday morning, our maid complained of numbness on the right side of her body, and we decided to bring her to Capitol's emergency room. I decided it was also time to try my guy's secret recipe; he was there in the corner with his patrons as usual. I asked what he had. He replied, "Pares sir?" I said sure. He got a bowl of fried rice, and scooped from his large aluminum container of soup. It was thick clear soup, a little sour and little sweet with chunks of liver and other pork innards. He garnished it with scallions and red peppers.  I swear I must have eaten something like this in some fancy Chinese restaurant. This food is premium compared to the common street offerings, and he just calls it "Pares" because it is paired with rice. I handed the guy a thousand peso bill, and said sorry I didn't have a smaller bill as I just came from the ATM machine. The guy smiled. No problem and handed me the change. I walked back to my wife who said the maid would be fine. I told my wife the guy was serving delicious Chinese soup for sixty bucks. For a while the mythical story of Edgar Sia, the man who made billions selling Mang Inasal to Jollibee, crossed my mind.  Who knows? The guy is never absent from his post, and he knows his customer relations. Now, if someone can just give him a break.

34. Rainy Days

Back in the 80s, the most anticipated voice was Nilo Rosas from the Department of Education. Every rainy morning we would turn on the AM radio, and would await for his live interview. The interview would begin with a few pleasantries, and we would learn that Mr. Rosas was just having breakfast or that he was already in the office, and then the question would be asked. We would be all ears as he laid the premise of his announcement. He would say that he was monitoring the radio reports, that he had a call with the weather agency, and yes -- he decided there would be no classes. And it was mayhem from there. We would leave the radio, drop our school bags, change back in to our house clothes, and turn on the TV and indulge in the morning shows. I would spend my time with the guitar or the piano, trying to learn new songs with Jingle Magazine or Jingle Songhits in hand. Nowadays, my kids would get there 'no classes' announcements from everywhere.  Aside from the tv and radio, the announcements are passed on in text messages, twitter, facebook, viber, and email. Yet, you would  anticipate the same reaction when they learn that there would be no classes. It would be mayhem alright. All computers, tvs, and gadgets in the house would be fired up; everyone would be racing to get entertained, just like the kids that we were in 80s on rainy days. Indeed, there is a common inter-generational experience and understanding in 'no classes' announcements, which might be uniquely Filipino. Somehow, we all need a relief from the daily grind. The constant demands of  getting educated, or getting work done could be boring and tiresome. And when everything else would let you down, like the rock ceaselessly rolling down from the top of the mountain and we are like Sisyphus working daily to push it up, there is nothing like the weather to change all that, and give a break just for a day.

33. Journey to Maguindanao

Book Review A la Borges*: Journey to Maguindanao by Juan de los Reyes (New Avenues Press: 2012)

The absence of published Maguindanaon literature for consumption of the general public seriously undermines Maguindanaos assimilation to the archipelago. We've scored the web for stories, songs, and poems from this ethnic group, and all we are led to is a thin volume of Maguindanao folklore published by the Notre Dame University of Cotabato, and it is not available to the public. No wonder the Maguindanaons are probably the most misunderstood ethnic group in the Philippines, leading to many years wasted, thousands of lives lost, and millions of pesos spent on the Moro wars. This absence is now filled by Journey to Maguindanao, which features a Tom Wolfe approach to the subject, immersed  in the details of day to day Maguindanoan life, and full of insight and respect for the Maguindanaons. The author shows us the subsistence life of the farmers, their clan wars, and the dependence on their leaders who are used to running in elections unopposed, and the violence the Moro wars have brought upon them. The book is a significant contribution to the dialogue of cultures in the archipelago and the world, and breaks ground for more books on Maguindanao that might actually be the key to peace in the south and not some law pass to make some President become a Nobel Peace Prize winner. 

*A review of books that have not been written by authors who have not been born.

32. Cooking Paella

The process is about cooking and enhancing the rice. The soffritto -- sauteed tomato, garlic, onion, peppers,  paprika, and pork in olive oil -- gets it going. The rice is mixed with the soffritto; and it pops and fries as it is enveloped in all that aroma and flavor. The broth is then introduced, and the mixture of soffritto and rice is engulfed while the heat from all that sauteing is diffused by the liquid. In a matter of minutes, everything boils. At this precise moment, the saffron is infused, dissolving and turning the meal into a splendor of orange and yellow. Then, as the liquid is about to dry, the seafood is arranged on top of the rice. It would be cooked at about the same time as the rice. The meal is then covered with foil and removed from the heat. Soon, it is ready to be served. 

In spite of faithful adherence to this age-old recipe, I still cannot claim that I have cooked paella, as some people say that paella can only be cooked the way it is cooked in Valencia, Spain, using Valencian rice and water and by a Valencian male on a Sunday at noon. It is therefore a mistake to call paella, paella outside of Valencia -- as if  people's bellies mind. Yet, for all this conservationist cuisine advocates woe for their lost  culinary heritage, surely they should recognize that paella as cooked in Valencia cannot be divorced from the paella cooked in various parts of the world. To paraphrase Rizal, genius, especially culinary, is everyone's patrimony. I call mine Arroz de los Indios Bravos, or simply paella mio, and enjoy the cooking and eating experience. Ole!

31. Happy to Be Around

Turning forty-five means I have been on this earth as it completes forty-five revolutions around the sun. If we count the nine months that I was in my mother's womb, that makes it forty five and three-fourths times. If, by the grace of God, I live up to the age of ninety, forty-five means I'm in the third quarter of my life. In basketball, the third quarter usually decides the outcome of the game. It is when the dominant team builds the twenty-point lead, or when the underdog, which has been lagging the first half, gets back in the game. It's when the coaches decide to adjust the game plan, or anticipate the adjustment of the opposing coaches for the win. So what will it be in the third quarter of life? Einstein debated with Neils Bohr on quantum mechanics at this time. Hemingway wrote the Old Man and the Sea. Rachmaninoff composed Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. Karol Josef Wojtyla became a Cardinal. Picasso painted the massive Guernica. And Churchill rose from Secretary of War to Prime Minister. It is indeed the time to be alive, the period when experience tames reckless passion,  when discipline meets energy, the time when we slay the dragons of our quest and find our treasures in the cave. This only means I'm far away from being done. To everyone who has greeted me today, thank you for your kindness. I'm happy to be around and even happier to finish this game.  

30. Journeys

I no longer have any doubts  about evolution. My kids are better evolved as compared to the kid that I once was, thanks to the benefit of my wife's genes. They are tall and broad-shouldered teeners and tweeners, adept in communications, and comfortable with themselves. They are all also better students than I was; technologically savvy, with advanced musical skills and veterans of music recitals. My then lanky frame as a fourteen year old, with no passion but basketball and Spandau Ballet, will be out of place with this brood. Yet, what is amazing is that as early as ten years of age, these kids already know what they want to do with their lives:  An engineer, a human resource manager, an anime artist, and a teacher. Me, I didn't know until I was already in college. Of course, these life plans can change, and what is even more amazing is that my kids know the value and importance of choosing their own life journeys, whereas I would have serious doubts about life's purpose until I read Joseph Campbell and re-read the life of Jesus Christ.

29. Trip to Davao

To catch a 4:00 am trip to Davao, we woke up at 1:00 am, and left the house at 1:30am. The court hearing is at 8:30am, and like most hearings, the admonition is your case is gone if you miss the hearing.  You can imagine the contingency planning required if things fall apart, i. e., the plane is late or is cancelled, which flight is the next and so on.  The toughest part of the trip is trying to catch some sleep while the plane is in flight. Airplane economy seats are not comfortable for sleeping. They are fine as seats, however, for one to two hour trips. But that's how far it goes. Food is something to look forward to in the place of destination. Davao tuna, anyone? And the get-up should be spotless. Davao lawyers can easily outdress the sartorialists of Manila, which I don't like, especially if the judge is thinking the lawyer who is better dressed is more prepared, because he had time to get suited up. Indeed, working trips can be troublesome for creatures of habit. Yet, these temporary displacements provide for an opportunity to be mindful again of little things, how we sleep, eat, and dress  up; matters that were once a source of pleasure and insight that soon became matters to be ignored in the daily routine. It is rather annoying to be worried again about such stuff, but being mindful is always a good thing. Mindfulness is the essence of our brain. So, here we go Davao. Engage me.

28. Senator Butz Aquino

Senator Butz Aquino, brother of Ninoy and uncle of the President, died yesterday. Seeing his face on the headlines somehow triggers a load of memories from childhood. The marches on Mendiola Bridge -- Senator Butz led the way with the August Twenty One Movement (ATOM); they were not that many to begin with. Once I monitored the ATOM run which covered many kilometers from Tarlac and ended in the tarmac where Ninoy was shot, and there were barely ten of them there. But Senator Butz, he marched on until that fateful early morning of February 22 when he gathered the people in EDSA that eventually ended in the departure of the Marcoses. I voted for him in his senatorial campaign, especially because he had this hip jingle sang by Freddie Aguilar that connected with the young voters then. Senator Butz is dead now; and the world is left poorer, because it lost the pair of eyes, which were among the first to see that a dictatorship could crumble with marches and runs alone. Rest in peace dear senator, you are not just the brother of Ninoy, you have been your own man all along.

27. Fr. Roque Ferriols, S. J.

I can think of at least ten people who have mentored me in many ways in the path of life. But today it's about Fr. Roque Ferriols. I've always called him mysterium tremendum. The old man, it is easy to piss him off. Speak to him in English without knowing what you're talking about -- "Ano ang kalansay? "Father it's part of the anatomy...," "Ano? *%!¥£€!!...kalansay it's your bones!" Tell him you can't attend your oral schedule because of a conflict with Fr. Green. "$:&;&! Father&;@;&:@) sabbathical£€|££}£\£!" Ask if there will be class in the afternoon, ";&/&akdj&;&:$/You are pressuring me not to hold classes with your question!" Yet, he is also mysterium fascinocium, especially when he picks a line from his book and speaks it in Greek, Latin, French, Ilocano and Bisaya. Then he reminds us that, if sometimes our love for knowledge is not enough motivation, then perhaps fear will settle it as he threatens to give a quiz that will cover everything we have discussed from the first day of classes. But what I  am eternally grateful for is his having taught me what a wonderful pre-occupation it is to engage in a life long adventure into discovering the mysteries of being. It's one thing to be taught a skill, but it is a great blessing to be shown your life's purpose. Thank you Father.  I'm still working on my quest. I have been happy so far.