Special Message for L4A Batch 2010-2011

Special Message for L4A Batch 2010-2011

Posted: Apr 28, '11 4:26 AM RCMCORNER.Multiply.com for everyone

There are two things that I do not like doing. First, attending parties, and second, writing my speech. Since I was told that that I should do at least one of these tonight, I am constrained to write a simple message to you. My predicament prevented my presence in your gathering tonight. Anyway, I hope that this will make up for my absence.

            This is the nth time that I was invited to attend a celebration for graduating BSLM students. In several instances in the past, I always had a convenient excuse not to be around. Well, last year, a chronic back pain provided the excuse. But today, it is different. I have to be around at the place where I am now—it’s both duty and privilege.

When you get old, you’ll find out that many things should be taken seriously.  I say older because you are still young despite the looks in the faces of some of your seatmates.  Rejoice because you are still young. You still have the magic in your eyes and the wonder in your heart. As you go older, you’ll find out that life is more of a challenge, a process of becoming.

            The four years that you have spent taking up the BS Legal Management program are incomparable with any event in your life. After you received your diploma, and when you try to look back, you could sense that those four difficult years seem like one day only—a day of excitement, intolerance, disappointment, uncertainty, and fear.   You could not bring back time of course. Time flies, and we, with it. You have to settle with remembering those great days of your life.

            You would remember some of your teachers with respect. Some would be remembered for their rudeness or bigotry. Some would be recalled for their stupidity while others would be remembered as mere copycats. And of course, there would be those who are not worth remembering at all.

            Despite all the heartaches and headaches, you could proudly tell others that the institution which gave you your diploma is the best of schools. Indeed, that college in Mataas na Lupa,  Lipa City is the best school in Mataas na Lupa, Lipa City. That is your Alma Mater; you have no other option but to be proud of it.

Of course, I would remember you. I could recall each one of you; there’s no doubt about it. How could I forget you when you are the only class who made a biography in a legal writing course? Well, not everyone had been extended the privilege of taking up the legal writing course under me.

  

            On top of this, I know that you could not forget me. I know how difficult it has been for you.  Attending a Statutory Construction class at 7:30am and standing for at least an hour during recitations are experiences that you would not always have in your life.  Having a hot headed teacher is always terrifying. A demanding teacher is always hated.  I know that you have felt this, especially during your early days under me.  I know that it has been difficult for you. I know that if you had been given a chance, you would ask for a teacher who is lenient and who would impress and patronize you. But that’s not how life should be. Life is challenge. It is a process. It is a becoming.  It is a struggle, sometimes with pain and with tears but always with joy.  You have experienced life in my class. You have felt it. And I hope that you would remember those days when you have felt that you’re still alive.

            Few days after tonight, I will no longer be your teacher. Well, insofar as I am concerned, you were just one of the students that have crossed my path. You are special just as all other students had been special. For a time, we might have shared the same road and have walked together— this did not make you extra-special however.   I have treated you the way mortals are to be treated.  And you are mortals, not demigods.

            Now, you have to travel alone.  Along the way, you will meet some other persons who can enrich your life.  Stick with them. Learn from them good things as good things do not grow out of speculation but from experience and examples.  Experience life and feel it as a precious gift. Take risks. Never be afraid.

            In your dealings with anyone, especially with your friends, bear this in mind: DO NOT BREAK A PERSON’S TRUST. You cannot bring back a broken trust. You can never mend it. Strive hard to make your word your bond.  Be credible always.  Do not use anyone or allow others to use you for their ambition. Be ambitious if you must but be fair always. Stand up even if it will cost you dearly. Stand up even if you have to risk things that are precious to you.  And remember, always remember: With good looks comes great responsibility!

March 28, 2011, Lipa City.

What would you buy with a million cash?

"Let's make believe that all of a sudden, you had a million dollars, what's the first thing you would buy and why would you buy it?"

The year was 1973. Ms. Margie Moran, the Philippines’ most beautiful woman, had stunned the audience with her clear-cut answer that earned for her the Miss Universe title: "A house and lot because it's the most expensive thing and I can't afford it. If I had a million bucks, I'd buy a house a lot and live by myself, and other people, of course." (Source:  <http://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/49315/top-10-unforgettable-beauty-pageant-answers/3>)

What would you buy with a million cash?

            Fictional and historical characters did something good with the millions that they have.

Edmond Dantes of Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo bought his way up to avenge himself and put powerful men to justiee. Jean Valjean of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables used a bishop’s million worth of mercy to redeem his soul from perdition and to save others from damnation. Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist during World War II, used his millions to rescue 1,200 Jews from concentration and death camps. Alfred Nobel, realizing that he and his brother had become, “The merchant of death” after inventing the dynamite, left all his fortune to honor extraordinary men and women for their outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. 

These men had spent their millions for something greater than themselves. They gave the world an invaluable lesson: a million bucks comes with great responsibilities.

            So, what would you buy if you have a million pesos?

            How about food and water? In our time, more than two-thirds of the population is wallowing in deprivation and poverty. Jobs might be available, but most of these are temporary and unstable. Food is slowing becoming a rare commodity. Meanwhile, the water sources of the world continue to dry up and muddle. Scientists have predicted that the next war will be fought over food and potable water. The world is sure to faee a great humanitarian crisis over the lack of food and water. And not even a million pesos can guarantee a long term access to food and water.

            How about real estates? Well, Ms. Margie Moran is right. Real estates are getting more and more expensive. It seems that the Earth itself is shrinking as time passes by. Truth to tell, people are making so many babies without praying to God to give them additional world to inhabit and populate. Indeed, ownership is becoming a fast fading concept. A new approach to homelessness and land insecurity is needed to resolve people’s conerns for permanent and dignified habitat. And even with a million bucks, one cannot simply feel that sense of security which traditional goes with land ownership. You will need more than a million pesos to live a secured and dignified life.   

            How about education? Intelligence, (and especially common sense), is becoming rare nowadays. Education has a price of course. Schools need to invest in state of the art facilities and hire good teachers to be competitive. And with college and post-graduate degrees becoming imperative, people of substance need to earn more so that they can go to good universities. However, while diplomas may be quantifiable, intelligence and good sense are simply beyond any percuniary estimation. They are priceless. As such, a million pesos will not make you more intelligent than anyone who was born with a good brain and the ability to use it well.

            How about public position? Oh yes, with a million pesos you will have a fighting chance to be elected councilor in a third or second class muncipality in the Philippines. Political power comes with a price. The more money you invest, the more power you acquire. This is how our electoral democracy works. Unfortunately, a million pesos is insignificant compared to the tens and hundreds of millions or billions that ogres and vultures in high places are playing with.

            So what would you buy with a million pesos?

Hmm, show me a million bucks and I’ll figure it out for you.  

Sonnet 24

Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath stell'd
Thy beauty's form in table of my heart;
My body is the frame wherein 'tis held,
And perspective it is the painter's art.
For through the painter must you see his skill,
To find where your true image pictured lies;
Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still,
That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.
Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:
Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me
Are windows to my breast, where-through the sun
Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee;
   Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art;
   They draw but what they see, know not the heart.

Deal or No Deal

Mr. Wikipedia gives us the background of the question as follows:” Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht (Hunt for Millions) produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases (or, in some versions, boxes) with certain sums of money. The player chooses a case or a box to knock an amount of money off the board” [see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_or_No_Deal>].

The turn of events in the pork barrel scam leads us to the question of whether there has been a deal between the primary suspect in the crime and the Aquino administration. Why is the Aquino administration giving special treatment to Mrs. Janet Lim-Napoles, alleged culprit in the P10-Billion pork barrel scam?

The administration has been unusually soft towards her compare to the manner by which it has treated others who were accused of corruption scandals in the past. The public was stunned when she suddenly showed up in the Palace after the President has offered P10 million reward for her capture. Public suspicion was triggered when President Aquino received her personally and conveyed her to the PNP Chief using the presidential car. And to the minds of the public, Mrs. Napoles continues to enjoy unusual privileges from the administration even after her incarceration.

Of course, she should be treated the way any innocent woman should be treated. After all, she has not been indicted for any crime related to the pork barrel scam. As of this writing, the Department of Justice is still determining the nature and numbers of criminal charges that it will file against her, and all her co-conspirators, benefactors and beneficiaries. Witnesses are still being summoned; documents are still being examined. Whistleblowers are still whistling to tell the tales of the stolen billions.

In legal parlance, Mrs. Napoles is as innocent as anyone of us. Even assuming that government would later indict her for Plunder or Malversation of Public Funds or any other crime, she still have to be treated with compassion— the compassion we extend to anybody who is facing criminal charges in court. “Accusation is not synonymous with guilt,” said the applicable legal precept. Unless her guilt is proven by proof beyond reasonable doubt, she is still a free woman.

So, do not worry at all. Stay cool. Whatever special treatment she is receiving now will not affect the court’s capability for an impartial justice. This is how the system goes, theoretically of course. In the meantime, let the public continue speculating whether there was, or there would be, any deal between her and the administration.

The Napoles Affair showcases the game that politicians are playing. Curtly, the contest is not about who’s who or which suitcase or box will bring out the biggest cut. The game has been, and shall always be, about money and power. All the suitcases, all the boxes and all the bayongs contain the same things—money and power. To join in the game, politicians have to kill one another, literally if needed be. This is the most popular game show in town where survivors are sure to have it all as indeed, even in the brink of bankruptcy, the “banker” is expected to offer a deal that can save them from ending up empty-handed.

In one extreme, the unusual privileges accorded to her may be interpreted as an indicium of an unhappy alliance between Mrs. Napoles and her custodians. Unfortunately for them, such partnership never will be justified in the eyes of the public. The public is watching with interest. It is critical and will not be fooled easily. It is seeking justice. Anything less will not do. It is seeking the truth. No other thing will ever be acceptable.

Deal or No deal? Your guess is as good as mine.