Bakit Ganoon?

 Bakit ganoon?

Akala ko ba sabi ninyo sundin natin ang batas, huwag kami maningil ng lagpas sa batas.

Nag-file kayo ng motion for extension of time to develop the property, DALAWANG TAON na expired yung Conversion Order ninyo. Sabi ng batas, dapat six months before the expiration.

Nagfile kayo ng appeal at kung anu-anong legal pleading, revoked na SEC registration ng korporasyon. May certificate kami galing SEC. Gusto niyo makita?  Malinaw na malinaw. Madami akong absent nung law school, pero hindi ako absent nung araw na sinabi ng teacher namin na pag walang registration, walang juridical personality, hindi pwede maghabla.

Gusto niyo maextend ang Conversion Order ninyo, hindi ninyo naman sinubmit mga hinihingi sa inyong requirements sa ilalim ng batas. Walang development plan. Walang performance bond. Walang kopya ng papeles ng korporasyon.

Bukod dun, akala ko ba may moratorium on conversion?

Pakshet, nanalo pa din kayo.

 *********************

So I’ve been told it’s part of the game. Over and over, I’ve been told. In law school we were taught by the best teachers never to love the law, but to love the idea of stretching it to its limits, even breaking those limits, in order to create windows and inroads for those have no voice. I have retained this message in my head, and have no reverence for the law, or respect for self-important (oftentimes pot-bellied) lawyers who brandish the law as if it were a scythe and who look at the legal profession as an exclusive brotherhood.

Be that as it may, nothing prepared me for the sheer heartbreak of a lost case – nay, a lost CLEAR case. Hindi ko sinasabing hindi ko maintindihan, hindi ko sinasabing hindi ko matanggap, sinasabi ko lang masakit. Masakit talaga. Sobra.

I remember when I decided to go into agrarian reform. It was in 2006, just two years ago, in Bondoc Peninsula, Quezon, where I joined an International Observers Mission. Prior to that, I knew nothing about agrarian reform, I was not in the least bit interested in farmers’ rights. I didn’t even want to go to the Observers’ Mission at first because I was recovering from an illness and had frequent  visits to the hospital. I went anyway, because well, it was part of my work. And I do my work.  So we met up with the farmers, and for three days, ate with them, walked with them, visited their leaders in jail, even sang songs with them.

And in that three days, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

I guess some people would laugh at how affected I am because of the loss of one case in a medium-sized landholding in Batangas. I guess it does seem funny, especially if you saw me Thursday late at night, crying hard, over a decision of the Office of the President, stopping for a while to breathe for air, and then crying again over fear that the agrarian reform program would not be extended after June 10. 

I’m not an AR old-timer, pasensya na if I still haven’t acquired the sophistication to insulate my heart from my work. Pasensya na if reversals make me cry, and withdrawn notices of coverage cut me deep. This doesn’t mean I’m frustrated and walking away. This doesn’t mean that I don’t agree that this is “part of the game” or that I don’t believe that there will be more defeats to follow.

This only means I’m a kid, two years out of law school, asking to be allowed to cry for her first lost agrarian reform case.

———————————-

 * For a news story on the decision, click here. Note however that the handling NGO for this case is Task Force Mapalad (TFM) and not Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). The article might have given that impression. Also, lack of SEC registration is not our only ground, but also other clear violations of the Conversion Order and Administrative Order 1, Series of 2002. I was only quoted on the issue of SEC registration.  

Kakatamad mag Blog

And I thought I would be raring to blog after a ten-day “gag” during my stay in Beijing. But no. It’s been over a week and I’m not motivated in the least to come up with a new entry. Not that there’s nothing to blog about. There’s that Lonely Planet-ish entry on China — from the grandeur of the Great Wall to the extreme difficulty of peeing in the so-called Asian toilet (once and for all, someone tell me, does one turn her back to the door or face it?) — waiting to be written. And then, of course, I’m still reeling from the heartbreak of losing an important leaseback case (totoo ito: mas masakit pala matalo sa unang kaso kesa makipaghiwalay sa boypren). Oh and I’m also moving jobs at the end of the month, thereby saying goodbye to my dear friends in IDEALS and hello (again) to my friends at AKBAYAN and CARET. as well as providing all-out (albeit voluntary) support to my Katarungan buddies.

Di naman ako depressed kaya di ako makasulat. Certainly, I have reasons aplenty to be happy. Jordan, my best friend, is coming in a few days, Jeremy, my close college friend, is already here from Canada. We have a notice of coverage issued in one case (yahoo). My friend Kit had a successful kidney transplant. And I’m going to Baguio soon. Wala na kasi yung 2-week medical vacation I had initially wanted para makapagpacheckup and all, in between changing jobs, di na nakayanan ng work load so one weekend nalang in Baguio. I can’t believe I’m actually counting the days before a trip to a place I’ve been to countless times before. Parang batang excited pumuntang Jollibee. Haha. Eh sa excited talaga ako eh. Kailangan ko lang talagang tapusin ang aking overdue paper on China ODA. Dahil sa totoo lang, minumulto na niya ako sa panaginip.

Ay ito pa pala. Gusto ko ng rain boots. Gusto ko polka dot pink. Kasi ayoko nababasa toes ko eh. Kung sino may alam na mapagbibilhan ng ganun, pakisabihan naman ako. Asap.

What about you? What’s going on in your life?

And I’m back…

Mmmmmmm, the sweet smell of free speech and democracy. After ten days of having my right to expression curtailed by the Chinese government and requesting a friend to approve my comments  — WordPress and Blogspot and Multiply not allowed in China — I’m back in business.

Too tired to blog right now, though. Just got home two hours or so ago. Eto muna, a few random pictures. From Herbert’s camera and mine. More pics in my Multiply account.

Bye for Now

Leaving for China in a few hours; will be there for ten days. Gus told me to go the Great Wall and make a wish there so it reaches the moon.

In case you miss me unbearably and start getting twitchy (hehe) , check out my multiply site here. Online exhibitionism rocks.

Buh-bye for now. Mwah!

Other People’s Conversations

Usapang lasing sa Antipolo, one drunken rainy night (na-overhear lang sa kabilang mesa):

“Kung bang maysakit ka at feeling mo may taning buhay mo, hindi ba’t there is a certain logic in wanting mga relasyong dead-end at walang patutunguhan para madali ang putulan at wala masyadong sakitan?”

 

 

Piandre

Three Cheers (or in aktibista speak: tatlong bagsak) for Piandre, my favorite hair salon. Now I have another reason for liking them, apart from giving me one of my favorite hairstyles ever.

Today was a full day for me. Had a meeting in the morning, bought myself a pair of jeans towards lunch time, watched Ploning with my sister after lunch, and then went to Piandre for an appointment with my stylist Jerome. The Akbayan Gay and Lesbian Collective has threatened me with sanctions if I don’t fix my buhaghag haircut before leaving for China on Thursday, and I scare easily, so I decided not to put it off anymore.

Happy with my reinvigorated bob, I went home, checked emails and then took a nap. When I woke up, I looked for my phone but I couldn’t find it. I usually keep it under my pillow for easy retrieval, but it wasn’t there. It wasn’t in my bag, either. I asked my dad to ring my phone so I could search for it around the house. It was ringing from his end, but I couldn’t hear my familiar merry ringtone.

This would be the nth time I would lose a cell phone but the first time I lost it since being post-paid a year and a half ago. Hay naku, hassle. I stopped and thought where I was when the I sent or read my last text message. The last text exchange I had was with Danny. I said that I cried while watching Ploning and I was thinking of coloring my hair. His reply was “pakulayan mo, kung hindi bagay, paitiman mo ulit.” (Kamusta naman ang hair follicles ko sa ganyang mungkahi?! Haaaaay, wala talagang alam ang mga boys. Pero first things first. Cellphone muna.)

My fear was that I had left it in the taxi I rode from Timog to New Manila. He was a nice enough old fellow, pero malay natin, baka pasahero ang nakakita at hindi binigay sa kanya. Stress, stress, stress, and more stress. I called Piandre with fingers crossed. It was actually Zosimo, who I happened to be chatting with over YM, who prodded me to do it.

And what do you know? It was there! My trusty pink Motorola Razr. I can go back for it anytime. I asked my dad to drive me there after dinner but it was closed na. Ok lang, feeling disconnected and disempowered (technology is power, hehehe… NOT!) muna ako tonight, but tomorrow is a brand-new day.

This isn’t really much of a story but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I’d like to say thank you to Piandre for my fab Beijing-bound bob, and for babysitting my pink cellphone for the night.

Yay! I Won a Laptop Bag!

Hindi talaga ako nagpapalagpas ng mga contest-contest. Several years ago, naglalakad ako sa mall, nakashorts, sando at kumakain ng ice cream, may public speaking contest daw. Five minute extemporaneous speaking contest, bubunutin mo yung topic from a hat. Tingingnan ko yung prize: P1000.00 gift certificate from SM. Kung ngayon ngang abugado ako e hindi ko tatanggihan yun, ano pa kaya kung dugyuting college student pa lang ako.  Di ko na maalala ang topic, basta pang miss universe. Environment. World peace. Echos. Ahem. Nanalo ako, first place.  (Yun pala ang gift certificate, SM appliance center lang. HIndi SM department store. Pero okay pa din, nagkaroon kami ng bagong electric fan.)

Anong point? Mahilig talaga ako sa mga pakontes-kontes. Bring it on, babeh. Go lang ng go. Kaya ko ito shinashare kasi nanalo ako today lang ng laptop bag. Yahooo! Asteeeg. Salamat sa www.kikay.exchange.ph, ang isa sa paborito kong website na tinuro sa akin ni Golda. Salamat din kay Jill (at congrats for passing the bar, atty.). Tignan niyo yung bag. Kung gusto niyo bumili, punta kayo dito.

At eto naman ang aking… naks…. winning piece. Kung gusto niyo makita in actual form, andito.

Kinabuhayan cafe Bed and Breakfast

Of course I love Quezon. It is after all, the place where my passion for agrarian reform has taken wing. Say “Quezon” and I think landlord harassment and economic displacement. In short – work. Little did I guess that tucked inside that yawning mass of land and hotbed of rural violence, is a tiny gem of a place where one can find her momentary quiet and the larger-than-life problems are temporarily put on hold.

Kinabuhayan Bed and Breakfast in Dolores, Quezon, hardly looks promising on the outside. The façade has none of the grandeur of big, glitzy resorts. When you enter the premises, you are greeted at the doorstep by the owner of the place, a middle-aged, English-speaking guy with long hair named Jay and his pet pig named Onion. He greets you flamboyantly, like long-lost friends, and then chitchats with you about anything and everything under the sun.

 Perhaps the best way to describe the place is also the best way to describe its owner – spontaneous, warm, a little bit crazy, a whole lot of charming. One sees no formal landscaped hedges, or pompous fountains. It is a sprawling garden, a mess of flowers and plants and trees growing randomly and profusely. Wrought iron chairs and tables are found in strategic corners, under a canopy of bouganvilleas, perhaps, or under the shade of an acacia tree.

 Kinabuhayan’s gourmet food is its main draw. The food Jay prepares is nothing short of amazing. There are no menus; everyone eats what he prepares. No need to worry, though, because he does not disappoint. We had spareribs, fish, mushroom risotto, lamb, roast chicken, curry, and the most unforgettable salad of herbs and fresh flowers drizzled with Jay’s secret vinaigrette. Dinner is a candlelit affair under a canopy of stars and Japanese lanterns, and is served with a glass of champagne. After dinner, Jay and his sidekick Ralph invite everyone to a lambanog nightcap. No rowdy videoke here – guitar, lambanog and John Lennon songs are the way to go. 

 Sleeping arrangements are two-story kubos with no walls. There is a sala set on the first floor, and on the second floor, a futon with a kulambo. If you booked ahead of time, you can request for the treehouse. If you booked last minute, prepare to sleep in a small tent, which can in itself be quite an experience.

 In the morning, they can bring you to Kubli Springs to swim. It’s private so no need to worry about crowds. If the weather so permits, Jay will set up dinner there. Since Dolores is the gateway to Banahaw,  tours are being offered at an extra charge.

 Each meal in Kinabuhayan Café Bed and Breakfast costs P600.00. If you stay for three meals, accommodations are free. It’s near Manila, so you may just have lunch there and take a dip in the springs. But believe me when I say that Kinabuhayan is at its most enchanting under the blanket of night, when the stars sing a love song to the most secret parts of you, and the rest of the world fades to black.