A Prelude to the Quarterlife

Two days to go.  On Wednesday, I’d be double the age I look.

Okay, that was an overstatement and only because I’ve been getting more than the usual scoop of remarks about how young I look.  The obvious response would be to take it as a compliment.  Thing is, amongst friends my height, I’m a case in isolation. But to my solace, they’d attribute it to good genes. And I buy that for peace of mind. Haha.

Twenty-three had been conceivable but twenty-four feels like a spring to my years – like I’m about to cross some border.  Of course, age remains to be a concept which is why the very title of this entry contradicts my belief.  But you know, it occasionally gives you a tug at life’s movement and a cue to step forward.

Today, I’m exactly where I visualized myself to be almost a decade ago – a bit off schedule but within approximation.   Not that I’m still following the schedule.  All the blind curves and prolonged pit stops rescued me from a life that would have been less than the best.  I would say that those deviations were divinely orchestrated – even the letdowns and setbacks.  Things would’ve been terribly different had I settled with my own blueprint and only listened to my own voice.

What would have I accomplished a quarter-of-a-century old? I would be in South Africa doing volunteer work for the UN since Beyond Borders moved me that much.  I would have fallen for some guy I’d mistake for John Cusack’s character in Serendipity.  I would be a happy stressed “public servant” who’d earn the ire of politicians ‘coz she’s too ridiculous to think she’d make a difference.  I’d be working in the DFA as if I remember anything from all my foreign language classes.  Heck, I’d probably even do a Liza Macuja. Well, maybe that’s stretching it a bit.  But no matter how silly or altruistic my intentions were, they’d fail the test of purpose.  Needless to say, I’m nowhere near any of the above. 

And thank heavens.  Almost a quarter into this life (that’s assuming I reach a hundred), I am winning souls and making disciples. Ain’t life grand?

Judicial Hanky Panky

The day of reckoning draws near and from the sidelines, the likes of us can’t help but shout our own boos and cheers.  In anticipation of the spectacle that is the impeachment trial, I thought I’d contribute to the pool of critiques and commentaries before the tide goes any higher.

 (photo taken here)

I was originally going for Corona-ng Tinik but thought it might be a little too impolite to the judiciary (plus, I think it sounds too familiar); after all, the Chief Justice was quoted attributing this whole impeachment hullaballoo  not only as his personal battle but officially, of the whole judiciary as well.  I am wowed at the idea of such counter-strategy. But that particular statement topped my irk-o-meter.

I’m no legal expert and bereft of any bragging rights but in my 2 years of law school training, never have I come across a doctrine equating the Chief Justice to the whole judiciary.  Not one of my professors ever advanced such view.  It’s defensible to ascribe an attack on a justice as an attack on the integrity of the Supreme Court.  But to the whole judiciary? I think that sort of thinking may find good ground in Mt. Olympus. 

Recall the whole Garci fiasco that marred GMA’s repute.  The Chief Executive reaped discredit for that, but the whole Executive branch couldn’t be slammed altogether.  To some extent, they gained from her stay in power through their appointments. But the character of each appointee cannot be undermined because of GMA’s suspect moral fiber. 

Similarly, misleading is the conclusion that to hold a Chief Justice accountable is in effect, to undermine the Judiciary.  In fact, the very process of impeachment operates to filter the institution. For heaven’s sake, the Chief Justice is not the Judiciary. No one died and made gods of mere mortals.

In spite of this, I am a student of law and I am mandated to respect the final arbiter of what would eventually and probably be the cases I would handle.  I am also necessitated to respect the authority afforded to the highest court.  While I’m clearly no fan of the Chief Justice, I respect the authority of his office.  But, what becomes of an authority vested without merit? Are we bound to revere it just because? Or does this afford us enough justification to pay no heed to such supremacy? I say we must regard it, but like many exceptions to the rule, we are not proscribed to question it. 

The creature that is the separation of powers paves for the system of checks-and-balances in the government and dismisses any claim to primus inter pares among any of the branches.  For this matter, no one can call dibs on Duke-ship in the governmental peerage.  It’s like the Presidency, the Legislature, and the Supreme Court are the dukes and duchesses; the executive departments and appellate courts the marquis; the bureaus, LGUs and trial courts the earl, viscounts and barons.  Such is the hierarchy of government. But hegemony is clearly out of the question.  

What I am trying to drive at is that no one – not the President, not the Senators, and apparently, not the Chief Justice – is spared from being held accountable. I understand how the whole impeachment process stinks.  It’s like a skunk that expels unwelcome political stench.  Though not primarily meant to besmirch, it still sends off a signal that could damage one’s repute or political ambition. Through the lens of objectivity, it is a course of action to uncover the “truth”.  But of course, it is more than just that.  It is a game of numbers. And power and the desire to stay in power. 

As a side comment, permit me to express my amusement to President Aquino’s youngest sister.

The news of impeachment may have caught the public off guard, but it is no big surprise really, considering the budding political skirmish between the Executive and the bulk of the Supreme Court.  It’s no hush-hush that the present administration is hell-bent on countermanding the anomalies of its predecessor.  But of course PNoy kept mum about it, as should be expected.  But I think he should reconsider. If I were PNoy, I’d free myself of the formality of pretense. It’s pretty useless since his sister’s not shutting her  mouth and by the looks of it, not anytime soon. 

(photo taken here)

I was reading our school’s paper when my eye caught sight of this little comment right side of the Editorial page.  To wit:

“I really have to choose? Okay. Si Senator Miriam [Defensor-Santiago], kasi kailangan naming ng boto niya sa impeachment [ni Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona].”

In fairness to Kris, her brand of transparency is what our “public servants” probably lack. Maybe she should be spokesperson. :)

I Pledge to Read

...and make up for all those years I preferred sitting in front of the idiot box than devouring the classics.  Occasionally chancing upon lists and lists of timeless manuscripts and even noteworthy contemporaries gave me a sinking feeling of failing one’s own belief.  Here I was thinking how avid a reader I am until slapped with an eternal list of books I should have read all the summers of my childhood. I don’t regret spending nights playing SuperMario or tree-climbing with my cousins or flying kites in the open fields of Cadiz.  The only regret I now have of my childhood is reading less than what I should have with all those free time. It was pretty delusional to believe and equate the love of reading to a zeal for it.

It’s such a shame and a pity likened to one who adores Audrey Hepburn but hasn’t paid enough homage to watching any of her films the fact that I haven’t read Charles Dickens yet.  To prove how off tangent I was, I bought a copy of Frankenstein at a book sale with such geek vogue. But to date the paperback’s still lounging inside my suitcase since almost half a decade ago.  Mary Shelley would have zombied on me at such a callous act of devaluation, though honestly, honestly not in bad faith.

So I pledge to read though most unfortunately at such a time when the demands of law school would not indulge me.  But as they say, if there’s a will, there’s a way. And summer. And the perennial holidays and semestral breaks.

So I pledge to read more and devour as much knowledge and wisdom as I can.  And I intend to make each reading activity an optimal learning experience.


So help me God. #