The year that was!

I'll be celebrating the end of 2007 much like the way I began it, partying in makati and spending the night in Ascot. But unlike in years past, 2007 was in my 24 years of existence, the most meaningful yet in my life. I will just look back at some of the turning points of the year.

1. Transferring to Ateneo de Davao and meeting new friends.

I am a firm believer of the adage "A door closes, a window opens." The summer of 2007 left me once again at the crossroads. This time Ateneo de Manila Law School didn't want me. I thought, the quarter life crisis that I experienced the past two years will still find no resolution. I took a leap of faith in this one. I uprooted myself to a different school and a different city. With that came apprehension. Questions like how will i fit in or how am i gonna survive come into my head. So far so good, it has been awesome. I met new friends. I am coping up with school and I am having fun. 

2. Finding a job

I am able to find work on my own in a law firm. With it, I already have a deeper understanding of the profession I am about (hopefully) entering into. I am grateful eternally to my bosses Atty. Geraldine Tiu, Atty. Gary Teves, and the third girl, Atty. Jenny Ramos for allowing me into their firm. You guys will always have a special place in my heart.

3. The lessons learned in other two items.

Everything else, 2007 marked in my renewed passion for life. It made me see things in a new different light. Dad said that you're aura changed. I think it is because of the change of atmosphere. Leaving out of the house makes a person more of an adult.

Finally,

I don't expect 2008 to be smooth sailing but with the lessons learned in the past year, I am confident that with God's grace, I will overcome obstacles and continue my quest to be a better person.

Cheers! and Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Blues and Celtic Green, and Jinxes

Christmas for me has started last thursday night when I arrived at the airport and went straight to my ateneo law school class christmas party. It was great. I went home at 7 am and intoxicated! It was great seeing old friends again. It was a perfect kick-off to a busy, fattening, and widly intoxicating holiday season.

Speaking of the Holidays, it seems that the Boston Celtics have a lot of reasons to have a good christmas! They are on top of the world with a 21-3 record and experts are waiting if they can reach the 70 win mark that only the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls have done. The Celtics are impressive this first quarter of the year. It is good if they can maintain it. But Celtic pride will not only have to exorcise 20 years of futility but the developing best record curse as well. Since 2001, only 1 team with the best record overall has ended up going to the NBA finals and won it all. That was the 2003 San Antonio Spurs. The rest have fallen in the playoffs including one who was at the losing end of the greatest upset in NBA history. Let's take a brief look at those teams who were hyped up to win it all but fell at the wayside.

1. 2001 San Antonio Spurs

2 years removed from winning their first championship, the Spurs with a healthy Tim Duncan, a consistent David Robinson, and Derek Anderson being a welcome addition to a veteran cast grabbed the best record with another monstrous second half of the season winning 35 of their last 44 games. Finishing with a 58-24 record, they looked to steamroll in the playoffs. They did just that. They eliminated Minnesota in four and disposed the Dallas Mavericks in five. A rematch of the 1999 playoffs was set when the Spurs faced the Laker juggernaut. What should have been a classic turned out to be a dud as the Spurs were swept out by the Lakers.

2.Sacramento Kings

With a high powered offense scoring at about a 105 points per game, winning streaks of 12 and 11, a 61-win season, and a 2-1 lead at the Western Conference finals against the Lakers should mean that the title is already yours at the taking, But Horry, Kobe, and Shaq had other ideas. The Lakers managed to take everything that the Kings gave and dished it out plus a few miracle shots here and there enroute to a 3rd straight finals appearance and a 3-peat.

3. 2004 Indiana Pacers

Size, depth, a combination of youth and experience, defense, balance, the Pacers have it all except sanity. The 61 win Pacers fell down to the equally tough yet more composed Detroit Pistons who were on their way to the NBA championship.

4. 2005 Phoenix Suns

The Suns had the MVP, a high powered offense and a lot of excitement. One big problem, they haven't found a way to stop Duncan. A problem they still have to contend with.

5. 2006 Detroit Pistons,

The motto of the Pistons is "going to work every night" It seemed that at that time though, the Pistons slept in the playoffs. They got blown up by 23 points one game against the Bucks, they "allowed" King James and the Cavs to take a 3-2 lead in the semis and by the time they faced the Heat in the ECF, they looked lost and the Heat won in 6 en route to the championship.

6. 2007 Dallas Mavericks

Need I say more? The highlight for me was not any Baron Davis dunk, or a Stephen Jackson 3 but Kate Hudson cheering in the sidelines! Whatta goddess!!!!!!

I am at fault so please lemme out of mah marriage.

The Supreme Court held in Chi Ming Tsoi vs. Court of Appeals,
G.R. No. 119190 January 16, 1997 (you can read the entire version at www.lawphil.net) that any party can file for a declaration of nullity based on psychological incapacity. Until this day, neither the Supreme Court nor our own "distinguished" and "very illustrious" members of congress have not come up with fixed grounds or guidelines like drunkeness or having intercourse with a cow or something like that in filing a petition for P.I. in law and jurisprudence. The supreme court in Republic vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 108763. February 13, 1997 (you can view it also at www.lawphil.net) basically said that the incapacity should exist at that time of celebration of the marriage, it has to be grave enough to hinder essential marital obligations as stated in articles 68-74 of our family code. And finally, it has to be incurable. Well, i still do not know, what kind of disease that the framers of the Family Code intended when they inserted this open ended provision that practically adds more to the tons of articles that law students in this country are memorizing.

Anyway, to the meat of the matter, there is one woman who went to our law office wanted to file a petition for declaration of nullity based on psychological incapacity. For the purposes of protecting my bosses, i cannot divulge furthermore what happened in the consultation by virture of the attorney-client privilege that the woman and my boss had when the former went to the office but for purposes of discussion, here is the situation that most people end up in that leads them to law offices and which results in lawyers making money.

A a woman marries B a man. A is a workaholic no nonsense type of girl like Oprah Winfrey and B a "gutless" bum so to speak who is laid back. A complains about B. B drinks and lives of wife's money and gets a pretty and hot housewife for a mistress. Wife gets tired, goes to law office and consults lawyer. Of course, she does not say that she was one dominating SOB and a control freak at that that is why B remains unmotivated. Well, sounds like the ones that we see in movies like "Little Children." Oh well, in this scenario, sympathy falls for A and B deserves all the humiliation and punishment that the law and society can give him. But hell, the ironic thing is that B can turn this into "A fairy tale ending" with Ms. pretty hot mistress! How will he do it? He can file a petititon for nullity of marriage based on psychological incapacity. He just needs to prove that he is a perpetual bum, a maniac, and a leech and it is incurable. Worse thing is that it does not have to be with any jane who wears mini skirts but with only to that specific spouse! It sounds "juicy" to all a*holes in the world! I can just prove that I am one BIG S.O.B. and the law makes me a free man! Also sounds like a win-win situation, wife gets rid also of bum husband. But here is the painful side, Mr. Bum can leave on his own terms. A the wife will only get a pyyric victory because of the fact that the husband can potentially give the impression that the wife ain't the marrying type with all the blows to the ego it can provide.

The Supreme Court has elucidated in its jurisprudence that the family has to be given primary protection. But indeed, this "Small" procedural leeway of letting either party regardless of guilt to file for a petition opens up a lot of cans of worms. It empowers a maniac to get out of a marriage with little accountabilty save perhaps striking his name out of the insurance policy and getting disinherited by the innocent spouse. (Read the family code for further explanation.) But other than that, it allows erring spouses to strike the first blow and culminate their own "Titanic" like love story with a third party with minimal consideration to the suffering of the one who is innocent. As the people in the Philippine Law Community continues to finetune this seemingly absurd provision in law, let us (Students included) not forget the primary objective of protecting the family and not turn this into a "vaudeville" to satisfy selfish desires. I recommend perhaps, harsher punishment for erring spouse like damages for example or whatever it is we can come up with. Until next time.