INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES - SOUTH COTABATO & GENERAL SANTOS CITY CHAPTER BOARD OF OFFICERS 2009-2011

(from left to right)
ATTYS. EMILIO, TANDOG, ALBANO, ALABA, OPERIANO, ALBANO, SALIGUMBA, ACADEMIA, BAYAN, CACERES, MIGUEL AND YOURS TRULY.

Atty. Operiano is the present president of the chapter, while Atty. Elvie Albano is the Vice- President.

The Chapter Secretary is Atty. Tandog, while the Treasurer is Atty. Alaba. Atty. Bayan and I are the Auditor and the P.R.O., respectively. Atty. Miguel is the immediate Past President and Ex-Officio Director.

The rest of the gang are the Directors.

ISLAND GARDEN CITY OF SAMAL

HERE are the pictures of our trip to Samal Island last April 8-9, 2009.

RETREAT or SURRENDER

Here are the photos taken during the Retreat of the HTC Faculty and Staff last April 6-8, 2009 . Just click HERE or the Blog Title or the Photo featured above to view the pictures.

YESTERDAY, I WAS SUPERMAN; TODAY, I STARVE

I could hardly believe that in just one day, I was able to deliver speeches as the graduation guest speaker in two (2) schools in Marbel yesterday, one in the morning and another in the afternoon; hence, i brought home two (2) plaques of appreciation. I had to hurriedly drive back to General Santos City to catch up with the Oathtaking of the newly elected IBP SocGen Chapter Board of Officers - in my less than one year of law practice since admission to the Philippine Bar, I was elected as the Public Relations Officer. It was so premature, I complained...albeit silently. Then, the Big Boss called me up, requesting me to attend to a client, which task I was able to comply with only after the IBP meeting held right after the oathtaking. After talking to the client, I dined as fast as I could, because i was entasked to host the necrological service for a brother in the profession who had already gone to the Great Beyond! My deepest sympathy to the bereaved family of Atty. Hegino Villondo.

This morning, I went back to Marbel for a hearing in a case assigned to me just yesterday. I had to be there as early as possible to have at least an interview with the witness I was scheduled to present. No more excuses... But to my mind, everything went just fine. The only problem was that I was not able to have my breakfast before leaving home such that I broke down so fast inside the courtroom. I asked for a continuance from the court which it did hesitantly grant, perhaps because I forgot to tell the good judge that the court stenographer was the one suggesting to me to beg for such continuance. The lesson: Don't skip meals!

EI! GUYS! TODAY IS THE RELEASE OF THE 2008 BAR EXAMINATION RESULTS!

Congratulations to all Bar Passers! I have just opened the list in the http://www.inquirer.net/. The SC website, sc.judiciary.gov.ph, was a bit late in publishing it. Anyway, I intend to write a special article for this one, so better watch out for it. :)

CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION

This week has been filled with so much challenges- great challenges. May pahabol pa talaga! Quite difficult but I learned a lot...especially on how the rules work in actual practice. Well, I'm relatively young in the profession...and it is going to be a long, long journey... Congratulations nga pala sa mga graduates! Especially to my students! May God bless you all in your journey...

SOMETHING BIZARRE

Weird indeed was it! There were only two lawyers in court today! The Honorable Judge, whom Atty. Dondon fondly called as Judge Mafia (LoL) and...I, respectfully appearing for the plaintiff. The rest of the SocGen IBP 'gang' are now in Bacolod for the IBP National Convention. I already made up my mind not to join the convention a month ago...or so. I was correct, my services would be needed - hence, necessitating my presence. I went to court three times! First, to file an urgent motion I prepared only this morning (I had to do the personal service and the mailing, as well as the filing of the same personally!). Second, to appear for the hearing of the said motion at 2 p.m., and therefore, I had to go home to get my barong. And third, to find out if Judge Mafia (judge no. 3) would hear the motion, in the absence of the absent pairing judge (judge no. 2) who should have substituted the absent judge (judge no. 1) in whose sala the case was previously raffled. See how it works?!

The lesson I learned? Make sure to obtain your 72-hour TRO either on a Monday or a Tuesday, so that you would have three business days within which to secure an extension to make it a 20-day TRO. The 72-hour TRO expires after 3 days from its issuance, not from the service to the defendant. Although it can be argued that when the last day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, you have until the next business day to ask for the extension, still, you must have lost already the two days when you could have asked for the said extension; hence, your chance is rendered slim and there is always the danger of losing that chance. I'm reminded of that principle in Corporation Law that if the corporation has already been dissolved by the expiration of its corporate life, there is nothing more to be extended. You cannot resurrect the dead. Can you? :)

WATCHMEN

I'm still trying to convince myself that somehow, I enjoyed watching Watchmen. That when I fell asleep inside the cinema, that was because of the exhaustion brought about by the day's (and night's) work congestion or because of its kilometric runtime - 2 hours and 55 minutes! I am still trying to recall the scenes that might have been captured by my then less discerning mind.

...Until I asked: Who were those characters again? ...of the olden times? Well, I could recall The Commedian, who was murdered at home; Dr. Manhattan, whom one review described as a "towering blue radiation mutant who's a lonely ironic humanoid", Nite Owl, whose costume is nice but I'd rather have another actor for the role (hehe! that's me...you would know why should you watch!) and sexy-wholesome Silk Spectre (there's the clue! LoL!). Boring? No, Watchmen isn't boring, but as Owen Gleiberman would correctly put it, it is just a fragmented sci-fi doomsday noir; it remains as detached from the viewer as it is from the zeitgeist. (What?!)

P.S. :

Noir refers to a film genre that offers dark or fatalistic interpretations of reality. The term is applied to U.S. films of the late 1940s and early '50s that often portrayed a seamy or criminal underworld and cynical characters. The films were noted for their use of stark, expressionistic lighting and stylized camera work, often employed in urban settings.

The word zeitgeist (a German word) describes the intellectual, cultural, ethical and political climate, ambience and morals of an era or also a trend.

THE INTERNATIONAL (A Large-Scale Banking Scandal Story)

I've just watched The International, this time (and for the first time), with my sister!

It's about an Interpol Agent named Louis Salinger and a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney named Eleanor Whitman, who are determined to bring to justice one of the world's most powerful banks (IBBC), after uncovering myriad and reprehensible illegal activities. Salinger and Whitman would follow the money from Berlin to Milan to New York to Istanbul. This movie is said to have been based on the story of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), a major international bank founded in Karachi, Pakistan in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a leading Pakistani financier. The company was registered in Luxembourg. At its peak, it operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and had assets in excess of US$ 20 billion making it the 7th largest private bank in the world by assets. Through a global network of branches and subsidiaries, the bank defrauded investors and conducted illegal transactions around the world. Even cartoonists portrayed the BCCI as an evil octopus embracing the globe; wits nicknamed it the Bank of Crooks and Criminals. This reminds me of the Anti-Money Laudering Law. Well, just watch it...It's a nice movie...:) If you want, you can click HERE for the trailer.