today is my enrollment in the college of law. it did not sink on me yet but i know i am genuinely happy for it to extet that not even the fact that the results of the board exam might be released some time after 5 pm tonight. i will already in law school in two to three weeks, imagine that. now i know how it feels to come so close to what one has been dreaming for a lifetime. it aint gonna be that easy but i will still take it, thank you

isipin mo nalang ham yan!

hehe im enjoying this. at least we have something else to argue on other whether our good friend jenny should entertain big O's romantic innuendoes. hehe

I see, I think there is nothing to debate on because we both agree that the Catholic Church has gone overboard (again) as regard to the movie.

QUITE NATURAL THAT THEY WOULD REACT THIS WAY, being the protective parents that they are... of course, so typical of them to over react on things. and yeah, they have been doing it (trying you suppress some materials to them are heretical or whatever) for a hundred of years already. they have been keeping from us all the other gospels that were written just because they deem it detrimental to the catholic faith. now we are looking at a half baked truth because there are some aspects in the life of Christ that were written in this so called Gnostic gospels that they try to withhold from the public. another, our present pope once dissuaded pope john paul II from apologizing to the world for the crusades that killed many non-Christian believers. pope benedict said that it will have an effect on the catholic church. but thanks to john paul's wisdom he proceeded with the church’s apology. and now they are doing it again with da vinci code.

you see, this not a matter of how much the material, or the statement is detrimental to the catholic faith, but on how much the catholic church, as a whole, undermines the pe0ple's rationality and, painful as it is, the people's faith. this only goes to show that they cannot trust the people that they will stand firm behind what they believe in during times when their catholic faith are being swayed by things such as the da vinci code.

right, I got your point; that is why I am saying that in my onion that is so wrong. and again I agree that there are indeed people who have frail catholic beliefs. now I don’t think that watching the movie can actually affect these people's faith. why? because they are afraid in life! these people in the slums. according to you are great examples of Filipino people who have weak faith in God. and I say that whether they will see the movie or not, they will never renounce their faith simply because they are so afraid in life. they are so poor that they think that renouncing their religious beliefs would cause more sufferings. oh don’t tell me I am wrong. even us educated people do the same. sometimes we are so afraid to challenge God or to even disregard Him because we are afraid that we might be punished accordingly and that when we are in dire need, we are afraid that God, who is the sole widely accepted explanation for all of our sufferings and blessings, would turn a deaf's ear.

now, the critical catholic base I think is the educated population, for they are the ones who have the capacity to think that if they will not believe in God because of the Da Vinci Code, they can still tide themselves over another day because they can work, and they can realize that all that man eats are from his labor. now being said so, I think that the church's effort of blocking the screening of the movie is a misplaced endeavor, and a plain insult to all critical thinkers.


yeah, here's to eleven years and a lot more this..hehe keep it coming. you should have taken law instead of med. hehe

mali kayo spaghetti yun!

My good friend and I had an argument regarding the church's intervention on the regular screening of Da Vinci Code in the country. For her it is but proper that the church is trying to convince the people not to watch the movie, to the extent that they deem the movie not to be shown in the country. She argued that not all Filipinos are critical enough to think that the content of the movie and the book to which it was based are fiction. This incapacity of the people presents founded risks that the catholic might be compromised by a work of an author, whom according to her does not even has the balls to tell the people that what he has written is the truth.

Prevention is better tan according to her, and said that it is better to deprive the educated few just to save the majority from the negative effects of the movie.

I do not concur.

If the Catholic Church feels that there are people whose belief in Christ’s divinity will be swayed by the movie, then that would reflect on their capacity to spread the word of God! It is their primary responsibility to spread Catholicism and strengthen it. If they think that people are going to be swayed by the movie then they already acknowledge that they are not doing their job well enough.

My friend argued though that religiosity comes from the house and that Catholic Church cannot be blamed for acts that only the insolent and stubborn people had caused. Well even the president of the Philippines is being blamed for the country unstable political environment that was caused mainly by the opposition group. Again, going back to my argument, it is the Catholic Church’s responsibility to secure to the people their faith in God.

Ok, my friend may read this and argue that by trying to block the screening the movie, the Catholic Church is already securing the faith of the people. That’s another point. Before we graduated in college, we were made to reflect on our lives in an over-night retreat in tagaytay. Came confession, I confessed that somehow I do not want to believe priests mainly because I find some things that are not in conformity with what they teach. And Fr. Fabia told me that the priests do not hold what I would want to believe in. he further told me that I was created with a free will (granting that I believe in such) and that being a rational being, I have the right to think for myself and believe whatever I would want to believe in.

And this is what the Catholic Church has been preaching, free will. If upon reading the book or seeing the movie the people do not want to believe in God anymore then they are already exercising their free will, which the church has been preaching about. Again, the church cannot talk about free will and undermine the people’s rationality. What they should do is to secure the people’s faith. The church is saying that the book and the movie are works of fiction and that the facts that were laid upon were not precisely accurate. Then they should present that to the people. Show their side of the coin. I do not believe that the church should be hindered from doing such due to their limited resources. There are ways to convey the message to the people in such a way that even the uneducated ones will understand. The church should never be hindered by economics and demographics.

The church, according to my knowledge, is the people and the people that what composes the church. It is in this light I presume that even the non-believers are member of the so-called church; same thing goes with the uneducated, the educated, the apathetic and empowered. All same dogs with different collars. Now, by blocking the movie’s screening they are not being equal to those people who are critical enough to think that Da Vinci Code is a product of fiction. Blocking the movie is an insult to these people’s intellect. I do not agree when my friend said that it is better to sacrifice some to save the majority, because there should be no such thing as “majority rules” in the Catholic Church. They are always saying that we are all brothers and sisters in the eyes of God and thus by being so, we are all created equal. Now all acts of man, especially of those who personify God should be for the benefit of all! If they block the movie’s screening, then they are not giving justice to those who are critical thinkers.

Another point, if the church succeeded in blocking the screening of the movie, it will never be an assurance the public will not have an access to it. Pirates are equally intelligent as the church is in one or another the movie will be accessed by the people through pirated vcds and dvds. six or so much months after, local video shops will be selling authentic vcd and dvds of the movie. Therefore, the act of blocking the movie is futile.

It all boils down to what measures should the catholic church do to preserve the faith of the people in light of all these hooplas of dan brown. I am not saying that the movie will not have glaring effect on the people, it does. I am not saying that the church should sit down and watch the people’s religiosity being swayed by the movie. All I am saying is that the church should protect the faith of the people and be more vigorous in doing so. Blocking the screening of the movie is a sign of mediocrity on the side of the catholic church because there are better and more effective ways in preserving the catholic faith. The church only needs to think hard and work hard.

Disclaimer: lemme get some things straight here. I am not an atheist although I more often than not criticize the clergymen. And I believe in God

dumbfounded.

the catholic church is trying to block the screening of da vinci code in the country for reasons of protecting the religiousity of the people. they're afraid that it could have a great effect on the people's belief on Christ's divinity.

amazing that the people who destroy the people's faith are the people from the church themselves. they cannot preach about the people having the capacity to think and act according to their knowledge and faith and undermine the people's ability on ascertaining the truth at the same time. fine, the movie could really have an effect on the people's faith, but supressing the movie is way very much uncalled for. their job is to spread the word and to lead people toward the eternal belief that Christ is divine. the problem witht the catholic chruch as regard to the book of dan brown is that they have not done so much to bring to the people Christ's divinity. instead of supressing the movie why dont they write a book or make a documentary that answers all the questions that arose in the people's mind after reading the book.

a reactor said that the problem with reading the book is that the people no longer try to balance the things they know and the things they have read in the book. true. when i read the book i never cared on reading the bible and see if what was written in the book is true or not. but that is not the author's problem. it is the church who should lead the people in knowing the entire truth about it. present their facts goddamit!

dumbfounded.

the catholic church is trying to block the screening of da vinci code in the country for reasons of protecting the religiousity of the people. they're afraid that it could have a great effect on the people's belief on Christ's divinity.

amazing that the people who destroy the people's faith are the people from the church themselves. they cannot preach about the people having the capacity to think and act according to their knowledge and faith and undermine the people's ability on ascertaining the truth at the same time. fine, the movie could really have an effect on the people's faith, but supressing the movie is way very much uncalled for. their job is to spread the word and to lead people toward the eternal belief that Christ is divine. the problem witht the catholic chruch as regard to the book of dan brown is that they have not done so much to bring to the people Christ's divinity. instead of supressing the movie why dont they write a book or make a documentary that answers all the questions that arose in the people's mind after reading the book.

a reactor said that the problem with reading the book is that the people no longer try to balance the things they know and the things they have read in the book. true. when i read the book i never cared on reading the bible and see if what was written in the book is true or not. but that is not the author's problem. it is the church who should lead the people in knowing the entire truth about it. present their facts goddamit!

my early mornng wake-up and hiccup

i opened my eyes and there you were inside my embrace, breathing what i breathe out. i knew that behind those closed eyes is something that stares at me innocently. i knew that somewhere behind that silent breathe was my fragile delight.

i gazed up to see the light that peeps pass the curtain and saw myself forgetting where i was from. i ran to remember who i was, screaming inside me, asking how dare could have i forgotten. till the sight of you calmed me. everything that was important was that you were within my breath’s reach.

and laid back to run the moment's pictures in my mind. you were there, my tranquility in my crazy streaks of reality.

I opened my eyes and loved what I saw – my life inside my embrace

isang tulog nalang jollibee nanaman

when i was a kid i used to loved the commercial of jollibee where a kid was singing "isang tulog nalang jollibee nanaman." i think the commercial was successful as far as i am concerned for it, too, became my way of asking my mom to take me to jollibee.

many years and pounds later i am again singing the same song, only now, anxiety rather than excitement rules me.

tomorrow will be the start of my four day CPA board examinations, which will run till monday of the succeeding week. nerve wracking? you bet. try waking up in the morning and feel the anxiety first before your morning woods.

amazing to have come this far

three days to go

and counting.ticking gone.. tik tak tik tak

a lil leash of hope

i admit, when i entered the campus of letran this afternoon to attend our pre-week sessions for managerial accounting i was a bit enlightened on how nice letran's campus is. suddenly i had the hilarious realization that that was the campus of the students we fondly call "iskwater" during NCAA games.

i was 15 minutes late and i had the hard time locating the darn student center auditorium, which was located in the 4th floor of whatever building. when i got there, the room 3/4 filled was the only thing the came into my senses. wow, i think the room can house a thousand audience and 75% of that room was filled with CPA hopefuls. it never dawned on me that today marks the 4th day to the board exams until i saw the powerpoint presentation of Dean Principe. the last minute tips off his hats were greatly appreciated, especially by yours trully since i am having a hey day in the toilets memorizing concepts of capital budgeting.

i expected that pep talks will succeed the formal session, and it did. what i did not anticipate is the amount of wisdom i got from Dean Principe.

"do not live in others standards"

that was way better than the lectures he gave out... at least i know i have learned something from this exercise.

geriatric

" i hope they go back to the mountains because that is where they truly belong "

this is the statement of the DOJ chief in the late night news in reaction to the Batasan 5's freedom after a 70-day ordeal in the congress big brother house. i can see that he was so pissed that the 5 were able to go back to their respective home and that he failed to nail them as instigator of rebellion.

i just hope that when i finish my law education and when i am finally a lawyer that person is no longer the DOJ chief and that he has already retired from the law profession. i dont think i can work with the idea that he is my colleague in the profession.

c'mon, you do not make sweeping statements like that in national television and act as if you are against violence in attaining national reforms. if there is one person who should act professionally even after a great deal of defeat in the oral arguments of one's case, then that should be him because he is the DOJ chief! his action further drags the law profession and worsens the people's cynicism towards the country's justice system.

four days to go

tik tak tik tak

in denial

what i dislike about my personality is that i hate it when other people know something that i do not. when that happens i always delve into a great deal of effort to at least know the same things that others do.

now, what is saddening in what i am doing is that there are a lot of people that excel in accounting. every damn day i am drowning in jealousy seeing people take their review for the board exams relatively easier while i am eating shit for breakfast and yet know less than what they do. it sucks to stick my ass out for this endeavor and yet feel as if i am not getting anywhere nearer to my objective.

please let not the gods tell me that i do not deserve this. five years in the program of accounting in san beda and yet i do not? damn i cannot fathom the idea of taking the reality that i am not meant to have this. i have slept too little in the past years to tide myself another day in the program. when i pass the board exams, i will be certified that i have sufficient competency in the field of accounting. damn it! i have sacrificed too much to survive in the program. i cannot take the idea that a 2-week affair will ultimately judge the efforts that i gave as insufficient.

yes, for quite a time now i am saying that this exams has become something that i no longer want. true that i no longer want to work as an auditor, but it is not entirely correct when i said that i do not care if i will not pass the board exams. i do, a lot. i am just denying that i want it to cushion the feeling of my inevitable failure.

i want to pass it for the simple reason of pride and the sense of achievement. i feel that i will be robbed with the chance to wear my pride outside my collar. worst, i feel like being cursed to the pit of stupidity for not knowing what others know.

i am tired of denying the fact that i like to pass the board exams, and i am tired of constantly checking my confidence that was robbed off me by this endeavor

five days to go

and the countdown continues... tik tak tik tak

circus goes on

in the wake of the latest development on the espionage case against aragoncillo in the United States, i cant help not to feel utter disgust over the officials of this country who are being held as co-conspirators in the case.

fine, these officials argue that they were not indicted in the case, therefore they are not liable for the crime committed by aragoncillo. however, they need not complicate the law to know if they had imorally went against what is right. the man just plead guilty for downloading classified documents and had passed the said documents to the said officials for cring out loud!

one need not have a harvard education to know that somehow somewhere in the case levied against aragoncillo these officials have a hand morally on what i call as desperate measures to wrest power, if not legally.

indicted or not, the mere fact that they received such classified documents without informing the proper authority about it, and the mere fact that aragoncillo plead guilty, are clear indications that these officials will use any measure to gain power. now i fully understand that the problem really is not on the people and their lack of education, but rather on these officials who think that the people are stupid whom they lie on again and again.

i miss my daisy... i hope she knows that im equally having a hard time on having my hands filled with accounting stuff that i already have lesser time to talk to her. i dont want this feeling.. i hope she knows that. and that if i only have a choice not go on with the exams and talk to her instead, then i would gladly take it.. this is tough, i wish i can be with her instead... sad............. ............ ............

six days and counting

six months after the first day of the review classes, everything boils down to this.. one week and counting.tik tak tik tak

missing her

i missed my daisy last night. i arrived home from a dinner at 12am and four and a half hours later i still havent had a single minute of sleep. i just miss her that's all. i havent had a cup of coffee, neither had i drank a bottle of enery drink and yet i kept on rolling on and off my bed.

i know somehow she feels that i have lesser time for her these weeks. sucks... i dont want her to feel that. the least thing i would want her to feel is that i am taking her for granted in lieu of the board exams.. something is wrong with me. i wish i would know..

i miss her

time to ride the rocking chair

reading the newspaper is already a rarity in my present state as reviewee for the boards, all the more watching the news in TV. just when i totally dropped my calculator for a while and totally focus on the news, this geriatric DOJ boss appears on national television and asking a certain Makati Regioanl Trial Court judge to resign from the case it is holding just because she rendered a ruling that went against the agency’s case against the Batasan five.

For the benefit of those have no idea on the case and those who turned a deaf’s ear on the issue, Batasan Five is composed of five party-list congressmen who are being ran after by the government for allegedly inciting the people to sedition and rebellion. They are currently being held in protective custody of the lower house so as to evade imprisonment.

In a 20-page decision, the judge denied the amended facts submitted the court by the DOJ to part of the facts and evidences that will prove the agency’s case against these congressmen due to mere technicality.

Ok, so what is wrong with this picture is not found inside the courtroom but rather on the office of agency, which is supposed to be serving the best interest of the people and not that of the administration.

One: dura lex sed lex – the law maybe harsh but it is the law. The secretary may have seen that the arguments of the judge based on jurisprudence and enacted law of the land as unbeneficial to the people and he may argue that the law upon which the decision was based on to have loopholes and vague, but and a big BUT, it is the law. No matter how much does he sees such ruling as absurd, it is still the law.

If the DOJ does not conform to the decision of the court then he may ask the court for reconsideration. He cannot go out of the open and ask the judge to resign from the case just because he lost the rebuttal as to the acceptability of their evidences and the procedures. He may express disapproval, but that does earn him the right to bully his people for them to render a good judgment in favor of his case even if his case does not earn it. Moreso, if he does not agree with the decision, then he must question the facts upon which the decision was based and the decision itself. He should present his case in an acceptable manner so as to merit a fair judgment from the court, and not to appear in front of national television asking for measures to be given as sanction on the judge who went against the facts of his case.

Sayang, kapwa ko bedista pa naman.

It seems that this world is indeed rule by inutile.

lost enthusiasm

have you ever tried eating pressure for breakfast? i do, i breathe it in and out for six months now and i am on the verge of breaking down now that the board exams is just a week away. true enough dean principe aptly said "wag ninyong hintayin yan, dadatin at dadating din yan".

to some of us in the accountancy field, the board exams is the culmination of the years of hard work to meet the tough demands of the course. it seemed as if burning eyebrows were never enought to tide us over another day in the course. to some it marks the ultimate destination of accountancy majors. it marks the beginning of their endless journey in search for better fortunes using their knowledge in accounting.

to me it is nothing but a mere examination i have to get over with.

six years in college, only now that i realize that i was enrolled in the wrong course. i pity myself to have failed the capacity to think about that early on, while there was still time to save my years in the tertiary academe. now i am lost of words in describing how i wonder how to bring back the lost years that i delved myself in the study of accounting. it is not for me and certainly i can no longer see myself in an office with a calculator on one hand and a spreadsheet on the other hand.

i respect the people who have grown to love the profession. i respect the people who are earning their livelihood from the profession. a part of me will continue to give respect to it and to the people who form part of what they claim as the syndicate of all professions. but i simply cannot see myself mixing with their kind anymore. accounting is so boxed in its Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS). there is no room for self imporvement in that profession. i should know, been there done that.

somehow it pains me just to even think that i have wasted everything up, but i have to take a stand today so as not to commit another mistake and waste some more in the future.

losing my faith

three years in the publication, one year as the EIC. if i may evaluate how much i have made a difference in the society of Bedans, i will only give a blank dumbfounded face. to say freeing the people from ignorance is noble; to achieve it is hard; to give from it is being real; and to continue believing makes the fall a lil bit harder. often do i think that ignorance maybe really is a bliss. but i cannot discount the things i continue to adhere on. indeed my political was correct, "to achieve reforms, one must reform thy self into becoming the person who will not succumb into helplessness".

now i ask myself, am i that a failure that i do not think that i scattered the seeds well enough? or are my fellow dreamers are just so deaf to hear the hungry mouth and so blind to see the glaring reality?

maybe, ignorance is really a bliss

do i have a dirt on my face? i don't know, you tell me. do i suck on what i do? i don't know, you tell me. do i freak you out? i don't know, you tell me. you can't? i don't know, maybe you just don't have the ball?

think about it, if you can.

ysiad

talk to me and tell me the things i want; tell me you'll be there. i am constantly reminded of how much of this that we have is invulnerable and how much is not. i am constantly reminded of how much of eternal and how much is ephemeral. talk to me and tell me you'll be here. not because i doubt myself alone, but because i want you to see a world spinning exactly as i tell it to. .. you're there in it, and it is ours... take it

i passed the qualifying exams for san beda law school!

exhilirating

tomorrow i will take myself for a walk where i will try to remember who i was portraying before all these hoopla in CPA board exams started. i am having a tough time over something i know my pride will only be the sole benefactor.

i do not know where to start actually, but i am a bit rusty in my writing. so that's where.....

am i happy? i guess. ultimately i will be

last bus out

little do i know that in my own lil world, an old bus terminal can become the ideal physical manifestation of sadness. i was sad to realize that no matter how great i spend some few stolen moments with my girlfriend i still have to take the last bus out of her own lil fortress to back to my own grayish one.

the ride home was too long and the moments we have shared in that oh so brief encounter cannot compensate for the sadness that surrounds me.

but i shall be back. i guess i now belong there and i shall be going back.