Quaere Verum

It's official. Out of 5,610 examinees who took the Bar examinations last September, 1,526 made it, for a passing rate of 27.22%. This figure is a bit lower than last years' 30% passing rate. It was indeed a graduate of the University of the Philippines (UP) which took the top spot. Other schools which made it into the top ten include the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), Manuel Luis Quezon University (MLQU), University of Perpetual Help-Rizal (UPHR), Philippine Law School (PLS), and Far Eastern University (FEU). The complete results can be viewed here . While there certainly would be a lot of people having cause to celebrate, no doubt there would be more disappointed by the results. My heart goes out to them, knowing exactly how they feel. Congratulations to those who made it. I can only hope and pray that my next attempt be as successful. To all the new lawyers, I ask of you to please use your legal knowledge and expertise into fighting for what is right. We all know th...

The results of the Bar examinations held last September are supposedly scheduled to be released this evening. The passing rate was earlier announced to be 27.2% and rumor has it that it was a graduate of the University of the Philippines who took the top spot. More details as they unfold. Good luck to all examinees.

An old man, probably some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the park bench. He didn't move, just sat with his head down staring at his hands. When I sat down beside him he didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat. I wondered if he was ok. Finally, not really wanting to disturb him but wanting to check on him at the same time, I asked him if he was ok. He raised his head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," he said in a clear strong voice. "I didn't mean to disturb you, sir, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were ok?" I explained to him. "Have you ever looked at your hands?" he asked. "I mean really looked at your hands." I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point he was making. Then he smiled and relate...

A Dragon Ball Z fan's wet dream: all 291 episodes on 40 DVDs. All original versions, with Japanese subtitles. Not the heavily-edited, censored, watered-down U.S. dubbed version. In full DVD quality and Dolby Digital. :-) Someone give me a life. I guess that means no nightlife for the next week or so. :-)

Since I was in the area, on account of my attendance at the World TB Day 2006 event yesterday (see previous post here ), I thought I take a few pictures of the Quezon Memorial Shrine. Even though I see the monument dedicated to the memory of the 1st President of the Philippine Commonwealth/2nd President of the Philippine Republic virtually everyday, somehow, I never really took the time to really look at it. Well, now I did. Here are a few pictures: The Quezon Memorial Shrine. It was penned by Federico Ilustre, a Filipino architect whose submitted design won in a nationwide competition. It took about twenty years to complete, with construction ending in 1978, on the 100th anniversary of President Quezon's birthday. It stands exactly 66 meters tall, representing the age when he died. The three pylons represent the three main islands of the Philippines: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. At the top of the pylons are three mourning angels holding sampaguita wreaths. The angels are the wo...

Pictures from the World TB Day 2006 event held at the Quezon Memorial Circle this morning: DOH Secretary Francisco T. Duque receiving an award of appreciation after delivering his keynote speech. In attendance were employees from the DOH, PhilHealth , and other government agencies, as well as various NGOs. Officemates pose for a picture.

WE CALL on world leaders, governments, organizations, civil society, corporations and individuals to endorse, fully fund and implement the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015. BECAUSE each year nearly 2 million people die and 9 million people become sick with TB, and because TB infects one-third of the world's population. BECAUSE TB is a global pandemic and an emergency in Africa and the European region. BECAUSE TB is the biggest killer of people with HIV/AIDS and multi-drug resistant forms of TB are a threat around the globe. BECAUSE TB is curable. BECAUSE the Stop TB strategy is getting results. BECAUSE 14 million more lives can be saved over the next 10 years. BECAUSE treating and curing people with tuberculosis prevents the spread of the disease, reduces poverty, strengthens health systems, engages all care providers and empowers those affected. BECAUSE new vaccines, drugs and diagnostics to Stop TB are urgently needed. BECAUSE access to TB treatment is a human right. BECAUSE TB c...

An elderly man lay dying in his bed. In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite sugar cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered enough strength to get out bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom. With even greater effort, he forced his boney fingers to grab the handrail and he went down the stairs, one stumbling step at a time. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven. There, on the kitchen table, spread out in rows upon wax paper, were literally hundreds of his favorite sugar cookies. Was it heaven? Or, was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife of 60 years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man? Mustering one great final effort, he lunged toward the table, landing on his knees in a rumpled posture. His parched lips were slightly parted. The wondrous taste of the cookie was already...

We really should be looking more into the psychological profiles of our school teachers. Last week, Delmar Redota, a nine year-old second grade pupil of the Silangan Elementary School in Barangay Upper Bicutan passed away, a week after being forced to eat pencil shavings by a teacher as punishment for supposedly being mischievous. The ingestion of pencil shavings apparently led to the girl contracting tonsilitis and pneumonia, which led to her death. Read the full story here on INQ7.net . The teacher, Brenda Elbambuena, is believed to be in hiding. The victim's mother, Diana Redota, for one reason or another, or perhaps due to lack of resources, doesn't seem to be inclined to press charges, and only wishes for her daughter have a decent burial. Considering that teachers exercise substitute parental authority and are responsible for our children's safety whenever they are in school, I think Elbambuena should be made to answer for the grim fate suffered by Delmar. Surely we ...

Porcelain Moby In my dreams I'm dying all the time As I wake its kaleidoscopic mind I never meant to hurt you I never meant to lie So this is goodbye This is goodbye Tell the truth you never wanted me Tell me In my dreams I'm jealous all the time As I wake I'm going out of my mind Going out of my mind

This is my favorite brand of canned meat/beef loaf ever since I was a kid. But now, I'm a bit puzzled. It says Beef Loaf right? So how come there's pork in the ingredients? (Pause for dramatic effect.)

It's been more than two decades since I last played or owned a handheld game. I bet some of you would be surprised to know that, considering my background of being a techie/gamer type of person. But it's true. I'm into PC and console gaming, but I never really bothered with handhelds. For the most part the consoles and the games themselves can be quite expensive, and the sound and graphics usually pale in comparison to full-size consoles. Before we go further, here's a little trip down memory lane. How many of you remember owning a Nintendo Game & Watch ? You know, those small games with monochrome LCD screens which keep time on the side? Well for me, and probably for a lot of you as well, the Game & Watch truly represented my first foray into handheld gaming. I was still in elementary school when I remembered owning my first ever Game & Watch : Popeye. Not long after that, I found myself with another: Donkey Kong Jr. These two games gave hours and hours of...

*sigh* Been somewhat busy lately, as a result I missed posting an update yesterday. It's quite a shame, since there were a lot of blog-worthy topics to write about the past couple of days. Maybe that's the problem. With just too many things to potentially blog about, I guess I momentarily lost focus. Ironically enough, most of what I wanted to write about involves the current state of Philippine politics. Among the topics that I wanted to blog about were Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo's resignation , speculated to be connected to his less than stellar defense of the controversial Proclamation No. 1017 . But then again, it certainly wasn't an easy task to defend such a questionable order. Who knows? Maybe his conscience indeed got the better of him, prompting him to quit. I also wanted to write about the recent survey results released by Pulse Asia which revealed that virtually six out of every ten Filipinos want President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down. But...

Kung mayaman ka, meron kang "allergy" Kung mahirap ka, ang tawag dyan ay "galis" o "bakokang". Sa mayaman, "nervous breakdown" dahil sa "tension and stress" Sa mahirap, "sira ang ulo". Kung mayaman ka, "pneumonia" daw ang sakit mo, Kung mahirap, "TB" yon. Sa mayaman, "hyperacidity", Kapag mihirap, "ulcer" dahil walang laman ang tiyan. Sa mayaman: "malikot ang kamay" ang tawag ay "kleptomaniac" Sa mahirap, ang tawag ay "magnanakaw" o "kawatan" Pag mayaman ka, you're "eccentric" Kung mahirap ka, "may toyo ka sa ulo" o "may topak" o "may sayad". Kung mayaman ka at sumakit ang ulo mo, ikaw ay may "migraine" Kung mahirap ka naman at sumakit ang ulo mo, ikaw ay "nalipasan ng gutom". Kung mayaman ka, you are referred to as someone who is "scoliotic" Pero kung mahirap ka, ika...

This message is from a commencement speech made by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Anna Quindlen, at Villanova University. Lilies Of The Field by Anna Quindlen I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account but your soul. People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is a cold comfort on a winter night, or when you'...

Check this out. Actually, I think they came pretty damn close. :-) http://youtube.com/watch?v=49IDp76kjPw

Lucky seven. Here I am, stuck in some internet cafe' in Quezon City. I'd rather go home, but I can't. Because my car's plate number ends in 1, I can't drive it on public roads until 7 PM. I'm a bit bushed, bored, and uninspired. Thought I'd rant a bit to while the time away. I never really did like browsing the internet from public computers. I have to be doubly certain that I log off properly from my email, blog, and other accounts, lest they be accessible to others when I leave this station. I have this friend who once opened her Friendster account in an internet cafe', and left the computer without logging off properly. Some idiot took advantage of the fact and sent expletives to various people in her friend list, including myself. Let that be a lesson to all of you out there who aren't careful about their accounts when on public computers. Aside from the security issues, one reason I dislike using public computers is that virtually all of them,...

There was a time not so long ago, perhaps a few years back, that having an account on Friendster was the "in" thing to do. Virtually everyone who had access to a computer and the internet was into it, and I was no different. Not only did I actually exert the effort to look up friends of mine, I actually went to the extent of browsing the profiles of people I don't know for the purpose of inviting them to be on my Friendster list. It wasn't an unusual thing to do in those days. Almost everyone I knew was doing it as well. We even had a term for those who were truly bent on expanding their friend lists whatever the cost. We referred to them as kina-career ang Friendster . These are the type of people who would actually have shots of themselves taken at a photographer's studio just for the sole purpose of posting the pictures on Friendster. Fortunately, I was never that deep. :-) After a while the novelty kinda wore off, and I hardly logged on my account anymore. Oc...

Check out this link. It's hilarious. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnivTYn-dps

Slowing down things a tad... One of my favorite songs from the 80s. Somebody Depeche Mode I want somebody to share Share the rest of my life Share my innermost thoughts Know my intimate details Someone who'll stand by my side And give me support And in return She'll get my support She will listen to me When I want to speak About the world we live in And life in general Though my views may be wrong They may even be perverted She'll hear me out And won't easily be converted To my way of thinking In fact she'll often disagree But at the end of it all She will understand me Aaaahhhhh.... I want somebody who cares For me passionately With every thought and With every breath Someone who'll help me see things In a different light All the things I detest I will almost like I don't want to be tied To anyone's strings I'm carefully trying to steer clear of Those things But when I'm asleep I want somebody Who will put their arms around me And kiss me tender...

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed: "Dear Lord, I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day. Amen." God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish. The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, Set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills and balanced the checkbook. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. Then it was already 1 P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep...

The last Battlefield 2 patch (v1.2) turned out to be somewhat (make that very ) buggy, prompting Dice and EA to come up with this follow-up patch . It is strongly recommended that you download and install it if you want the best possible Battlefield 2 gaming experience. Hopefully this patch will be more bug-free than the last, and it doesn't introduce any new issues. Somehow, I doubt it. :-) Click here for a full list of bug fixes. As for the v1.21 patch, here's a list of everything new: BUG FIXES Fixed the Hmmwv with TOW crash on Battlefield 2: Special Forces maps Fixed the Battle Recorder crash Fixed the screen capture Fixed the issue with Pixel Shader 1.4 video cards Fixed the issue that caused heat seeking missiles to stick to oil towers Fixed the issue that caused heat seaking missiles to ziz-zag Reduced the maximum number of claymores that can be dropped to 2 Fixed the Server Browser filter to enable search by map name Fixed the error in Client - Server communication...

Amnesty International recently came up with a statement reasserting the need to respect human rights in the Philippines. Here's a brief excerpt: The recent alleged coup attempt prompted the arrest or threatened arrest of left and right-wing politicians, military officers and others accused of “rebellion” or involvement in the reported coup conspiracy. Amnesty International is concerned that this may lead to arbitrary detentions and an erosion of the right of every suspect to due process and a fair trial. In particular AI remains concerned about the application of the charge of “rebellion”, designated as a “continuing crime” under Philippines jurisprudence and therefore allowing for arrests without warrants issued by the courts. Such provisions entail a danger of misuse in politically-motivated detentions. Summary inquest procedures which follow warrantless arrests could lead to prolonged periods of custody before the basis of allegations put forward by the police can be fully and ...

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE ! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch...you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord. The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the !...

Today, March 8, is International Women's Day . It is on this day that we celebrate the achievements of women in various fields all over the world. This date has come to represent equality, justice, peace and development for all women worldwide. The significance of this date has not been lost to us Filipinos, in fact the day has been marked by various activities from different groups commemorating the vital roles and contributions made by women in society. Unfortunately, the importance of this day has been marred by overly apparent violations of various rights and laws by the members of the Philippine National Police (PNP). This afternoon, Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel was taken into custody while participating in a rally spearheaded by the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party and the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) labor organization. The rally was being held at the Mabuhay Rotonda in Quezon City, in celebration of International Women's Day. It allegedly did not ...

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This all-natural tea is supposed to "stoke your fires," if you know what I mean. Highly recommended by an officemate. I guess curiosity got the better of me. The question is, now what? :-) Rhino herbal tea. Hmmm...very interesting.

Mrs. Jenkins comes to visit her son Anthony for dinner...who lives with a female roommate, Vikki. During the course of the meal, his mother couldn't help but notice how pretty Anthony's roommate was. She had long been suspicious of a relationship between the two, and this had only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to onder if there was more between Anthony and his roommate than met the eye. Reading his mom's thoughts, Anthony volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Vikki and I are just roommates." About a week later, Vikki came to Anthony saying, "Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the silver sugar bowl. You don't suppose she took it, do you?" "Well, I doubt it, but I'll email her, just to be sure." So he sat down and wrote: Dear Mama, I'm not saying that you 'did' take the sugar bowl from my house, ...

Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. - Morpheus

I read with interest the March 6 edition of Conrado de Quiros' column There's The Rub , which featured a well-written piece simple entitled Guidelines . It presents some of the well known columnist's thoughts on the declaration and subsequent lifting of the controversial Proclamation No. 1017 . I believe he hit the nail on the head in that column of his. If you want to know why, just read on. It's quite ironic that we as Filipino citizens, particularly those in media, have to pay the price for leadership which apparently does not understand the value of following the rule of law. As I have said a lot in my previous posts, the office of President of the Republic of the Philippines bears with it a sacred responsibility of upholding not only the country's laws, but also the country's values and sense of morality and decency. The Presidency is an institution far higher than the lofty ambitions of any single individual. The office itself, but not the occupant of the...

A guy is browsing in a pet shop and sees a parrot sitting on a little perch. It doesn't have any feet or legs. The guy says aloud, "Jeesh, I wonder what happened to this parrot?" The parrot says, "I was born this way. I'm a defective parrot." "Holy crap," the guy replies. "You actually understood and answered me!" "I got every word," says the parrot. "I happen to be a highly intelligent thoroughly educated bird." Oh yeah?" the guy asks, "Then answer this - how do you hang onto your perch without any feet?" Well," the parrot says, "this is very embarrassing but since you asked, I wrap my weenie around this wooden bar like a little hook. You can't see it because of my feathers." Wow," says the guy. "You really can understand and speak English can't you?" Actually, I speak both Spanish and English, and I can converse with reasonable competence on almost any topi...

A couple of days ago I wrote a post on how my digital camera gave out on me due to a factory defect, and while Canon Philippines has generously offered to fix my camera for free, I have to wait two to three months before getting it back. Of course, in the meantime, I still need a camera. So I went out and bought another. Another Canon. I thought about purchasing another brand, but somehow I've become accustomed to the various controls common to all Canon cameras, and they seem to have it standardized for their entire line. Not wanting to relearn how to use a digital camera, I opted to stick with the same brand. Not having much in the way of camera requirements, I bought their latest entry-level model, the PowerShot A410 . It's a pretty basic camera as far as specifications go (3.2 megapixels, 3.2x optical zoom, 3.2x digital zoom, 10x combined zoom, SD/MMC storage) but it does have an excellent feature set when it comes to picture composition (automatic or manual exposure sett...

A married couple was in a terrible accident where the woman's face was severely burned. The doctor told the husband that they couldn't graft any skin from her body because she was too skinny. So the husband offered to donate some of his own skin. However, the only skin on his body that the doctor felt was suitable would have to come from his buttocks. The husband and wife agreed that they would tell no one about where the skin came from, and requested that the doctor also honor their secret. After all, this was a very delicate matter. After the surgery was completed, everyone was astounded at the woman's new beauty. She looked more beautiful than she ever had before! All her friends and relatives just went on and on about her youthful beauty! One day, she was alone with her husband, and she was overcome with emotion at his sacrifice. She said, "Dear, I just want to thank you for everything you did for me. How can I possibly repay you?" "My darling," he r...

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo finally lifts Proclamation No. 1017 earlier today. She declared a state of emergency a week ago, in response to an alleged averted coup attempt. Supposedly by now, the danger has already passed. Either that, or she wasn't willing to wait until the Supreme Court declares her proclamation unconstitutional. Its about f****** time that she did lift her attempt at a "creeping" martial law. Fundamental rights have been violated. I'm pretty sure this will fuel impeachment proceedings in the very near future. So what happens next? Do we go back to the way it was before? I strongly doubt it.

Found this link through Guy's blog . A group of Americans try out Jollibee fast food with disastrous results: Open Up and Say Yumburger. What can I say? Not everyone likes Jollibee. I'm not too fond of it myself (everything is too sweet ), even though it beat the hell out of McDonald 's in its own game here in the Philippines. In the United States it's a different story, at least as far as Pamie is concerned. Read Guy's blog entries about this topic too: A (Jolli) Bee in a Yank's Bonnet.... A (Jolli) Bee in a Yank's Bonnet....Part 2 Let's try to be openminded people. Not everyone likes the same food.

A month ago I wrote a post on how I won a pair of Killer Loop sunglasses from Globe Telecom 's Gentxt & myGlobe Gamezone Promo . Well, three weeks after that post, my prize was finally delivered to my doorstep. Out of the three models I chose from a catalog they emailed me, I received a pair of KL 4133 Misnap sunglasses. It was a 686/7H variant, which was metal gray with brick red lenses. See the pictures below: Unfortunately, I don't seem to be a wrap around shades kind of guy. I tried it on, but somehow I couldn't help but feel dorky, especially with the red lenses and all. The fact that I wear prescription glasses didn't help either, with most of the world beyond fifteen feet or so nothing but a blurry haze. I tried asking a few optical shops in SM Megamall if Killer Loop offered Rx inserts for their line of sunglasses. Apparently they didn't. I must be getting old. Oh well. I'm grateful for winning, but it doesn't really seem as if I would be able ...

There was a mild earthquake only a few minutes ago, at around 7:05 P.M.

To eat isaw (grilled skewered chicken intestines) in UP . It may sound disgusting, but its actually pretty good. :-) A popular "isawan" inside UP Diliman. Soaking in spiced vinegar. Eating isaw or any other street food for that matter is said to be dangerous, given its potential for carrying dangerous pathogens (see this study ), but somehow these warnings don't seem to detract from this delicacy's popularity. A word of advice though, make sure they're well done, and soak them thoroughly in vinegar. :-) Ilang isaw pa ba ang kakainin, o giliw ko...

This is what brought President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to power more than five years ago. And this is what she is trying to prevent from happening again. Talk about irony. Who would have thought that elevating her to the Presidency would come back to bite us in the ass, through such measures such as EVAT/RVAT, CPR, Executive 0rder No. 464 , and now Proclamation No. 1017 and General Order No. 5 . Next thing you know, blogging would be declared illegal. Just goes to show what a bunch of suckers we all ended up being. Click on the picture for a larger view.