Bar Results: or why 100% feels good...

I woke up with a text message from dear friend joyce, asking me what time we meeting up in KFC, as the day was March 26, 2010, the supposed date of the release of the results of the 2009 bar exams… I went straight to the phone, dialed the Public Information Office number of the Supreme Court and asked, what time would be the release. A girl with her chraming colegiala voice answered that it would be in the evening, I asked “mga 6?” and she hanged up on me. THAT B****!!! But seriously, I have been calling her for the past weeks, I’m already two phone calls short of stalking her… so I understand the bitchiness…

At around three in the afternoon, I started a text blast, which read: “Prayer Brigade: We’ll bombard heaven with our prayers. At exactly 5pm. Please say a little prayer for our barrister friends, let’s help them pray. Pass this message” the goal was to make as many people pray, only a handful replied, but I hope many people prayed and passed on the message.

It turns out that that same day was the beginning of the campaign for the coming election, so it was hell everywhere, traffic and monotonous drumming with ati atihan on the side.

At 5pm, remembering my own text message, I started praying and almost cried (okay, fine! I cried) I was praying to God to make me a bringer of good news…

I arrived at the Supreme Court, there were four guards there, a lady jaguar and three XY chromosomes, who, if they were in a Filipino movie, they would have been played by Max Alavarado (may he rest in peace) and Palito, (may he rest as well, but not yet in peace) The Supreme Court already has the three screens set up. And the flag was eerily in half-mast. Still a mystery to us.

I asked if there was a rest room inside, as my bladder was already the size of a watermelon and was about to explode. They answered in the negative, so I went straight to Robinson’s Place, where I met another friend Marj, who was also meeting her friends.

I got the Supreme Court (again) my friend Doms was already inside, the female guard, upon checking my bag laughingly told me “ang dami niyo baon sir, ah” I would have been insulted but it was in fact full of baon. A bag of tortillos, two buns of Spanish bread, a can of cheese balls from Qatar, (okay! Duty Free) a bottle of 500 liters of Coca-Cola and a bunch of other edibles I’m keeping as my emergency packet in case the apocalypse comes or if I get stranded on an island that is Sampaloc, Manila in case of heavy rains. The guard told us the results will be read by 730pm.
It was only 6 at that time.

There were already a few people there, the early ones were seated in the gutter, while the earlier ones were in the steps of the Department of Justice. (which I find weird, the DOJ office is in the same compound as the Supreme Court, hmmmm… talk about home court advantage) we decided to stay by the barrier and without sounding like a megalomania, I think we started the ripple of people hurrying towards the gates. We decided we could not take the crush of people and to stand there for hours, we decided to go the steps of the DOJ, which was already dirty and wet. The next best thing was the veranda at the left side of the building, amidst the pink and orange boungavillas. We situated ourselves there and waited for another friend, Jean, who was coming from Makati and bladder the size of watermelon as well.

The whole compound was blasted with music, all kinds of music from Lady Gaga to Frosty the Snowman (in bossa nova, by the way) the latter, of course, elicited applause from the crowd. The playlist was weird, it includes Bumpin’ and Grindin’ songs from the 80’s to the present, which we think is Midas Marquez’s Ipod playlist. Midas (Supreme Court’s spokesperson) was in his usual spokesperson-should-look-good self, and wearing a cool-but-i-should-look-dignified crispy white shirt. But it wasn’t him who got the most applause, (the loudest belonged to Justice Nachura) that belonged to the lady in black. Every time she goes out of the building, into the yard, she was welcomed with applause. The Filipina beauty with her Morena skin, and long black, straight hair wearing a black top, black pants and white rubber shoes with (neon) orange laces. She started some commotion (at least on our side) when she went out holding a mysterious object which techies refer to as a USB. The list was finally tested, yup, only tested. We had to wait for two more hours. We were there for a very long time and at that point we were talking amongst ourselves that maybe this is symptomatic to the justice system of our country. Snail paced. We were almost tempted to shout “JUSTICE DELAYED, JUSTICE DENIED” no pun intended, although we were waiting for a justice… Nachura .

We were there for a very long time we decided to call 8-MCDO, while the rest were just drinking water whose microbiology is questionable; we decided to take the matter into our own hands. Call 8-MCDO, and yes with their 40Php flat delivery charge. As doms correctly put it, there is no “I” in the supreme court.

So while we were in the middle of cheeseburger deluxe, McNugget and crispy chicken fillet burger. A stir happened, people inside the building scrambling to get outside. THIS WAS IT! Midas introduced Justice Nachura, who was wearing coat and tie, or at least from my point of V. At this time I was already flooded with questions like “ano balita????” and yes, with multiple question marks, because clearly, one is never enough. Justice Nachura started with “we lowered blah blah blah”, “it has a precedence blah blah blah…” I’m sure you could find a copy of that on youtube, since there were a lot of people pointing their cameras and phones toward justice delayed, I mean, Justice Nachura. He then enumerated the top ten. (by this time, we already heard chismis from marj that the top 1 and 2 were from beda, and that yebra was top 1 –this we heard a long time ago) I was half expecting the top two would go to honey rose. “And without further adieu,” I heard Justice Nachura said, “the list.”

Three screens started showing list of names. And just as we thought we had a great location, we realized from our position, the first screen was covered by Jose Abad Santos… the statue. (It would have been pretty scary if we were covered by the person. May he rest in peace.) The only part of the screen we could see was the top of the head of Jose Abad Santos, and beside his torso. I could not concentrate, I had three screens to look at, and was bombarded with texts messages (do not worry friends, I don’t mind)

And then… I saw –indy Andre, the L was covered by Jose Abad Santos arm, and I shouted YEAH LINDY! WOOOOOHHHHH!!!! I started to text her while still looking at the screens, and then –hommel. (J, obviously covered) WAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! Now it was two for six (7 if masha is included) my eyes went straight to the middle screen where the only things I saw were shapes of different sizes that only has a semblance of letters. I had to stretch my neck, (okay, if you know me I don’t have a neck) I had to stretch each and every vertebra I have just to see clearly. I got scared I thought no Lizano was listed, and then, and then, I saw Legazpi… okay, E is still far from I, so I was about to snap my spinal column when I saw LIZANO, Jenifer. Imagine that in very, very blurred letters, bit I saw what I saw. I immediately texted her. “OK NA” she replied “Anung ok na???” Yes, With multiple question marks as well. (which I thought, jen, mag tetext ba ako sayo ng OKAY NA, kung bagsak ka!” hehehe… (peace, Jen!) at this point I thought I saw MENDOZA, Marco… but I am not too sure this time, I was already crying tears of joy. I could not see the third screen where Paudac was listed, (although, I never doubted that) I knew Mariano was the surname of masha, but her first name could be maria shallani for all I know. so I didn’t bother looking at the screen. BUT.. thankfully, a man gave woman a copy of the list. I told jean and doms to look. But Jean was elbowed by an asshole, who I think failed because he looked at the list twice. I made eye contact with the woman and said “ate, pasilip naman” she said Yes, and we looked. Obiles was there, Paudac was obviously there, Mendoza was also there, so was Mariano (masha pala is her real name…hehe) we told ate thank you and she said “may titingnan pa kayo?” we sheepishly took the list from her. Who said GMRC can’t get you anything? And we looked at the list for names texted to us. We went and looked at the names being flashed on screen, we saw names of our friends and names we knew: Carlo Valeza, Kat Charcos, Deb Santos, Callejo, Cañero, (who by the way was spelled as Ca-ero, along with Nu-ez and a bunch of Spanish sounding surnames) Mimi Genova, Amber Zulueta. We made acquaintances with bedans celebrating and we ran into Pepe and Bec (evangelista) who was taking a picture of her name. We waited for our friends to arrive, shook hands, hugged and… received phone calls. DAMN! 100% Feels GOOD, nay, GREAT!!!

We went home with smile on our faces and one hell of a story to tell.









Not so positive parts were purposefully omitted by the author, as the mood of the narrative is a bit crass. And it would have been insensitive.

taking a bow

How about a round of applause. standing ovation…

Five grueling years, five law school years… is finally coming to a close…

How about a round of applause, standing ovation…

For that one good recit that kept us optimistic, or that bad one that made us suicidal…

For that final five minutes, or the first 175 of pure terror…

For the lengthy assignment, or that good news of “same readings for next meeting”

For the impossibly long list of cases to digest, or that short list of books to read…

For that pop quiz, or that surprise lecture…

For that professor you love, or the one you love to hate…

For that beadle (any beadle for that matter)

For the winter wonderland of a classroom, or for the sixth circle of hell…

How about a round of applause, standing ovation…

The feeling of sheer horror when class cards are shuffled…

The feeling of euphoria about a lecture…

The collective sigh of relief, professor not coming…

The collective gasps, midterm results coming…

The silence, when a door is opened…

The laughter that follows after a false alarm…

And the comfort through a text message- “walang daw pasok sabi ni atty…”

How about a round of applause, standing ovation…

For that smile when you enter the classroom…

For that pat on your shoulder after a bad recit…

For that applause after a great one…

For the classmates who whispered…

Wrote down on paper…

Traced letters on your back…

Used signs and body language…

Pinched your arms…

Kicked your foot…

Passed answers on papers…

Yes, for the friends who always had your back…

And most of all,

For the friends you meet, the one you lost, the one you want to have, the one you feel comfortable with, the one you talk to, the one you laugh with, you cry to, you cry for, the one you tell secrets to, the one who tell secrets to you, the one you trust, the one you despise, the one you once had, the one you will have, the one who made you laugh, the one who made you cry, the one you listen music with, the one you listen lectures with, the one who take pictures of you, take pictures with you, the one who texts you, the one who doesn’t, the one older or younger than you, the one who had most experience, the one who had the least, the old wise man… or woman, the crazy friend, the happy one, the somber or serious one, the wet blanket, the one that shocked you, that offended you, that hurt you, that you love no matter what…the one you shocked, that you offended, that you hurt, the one who you loved just the same… and that love you no matter what…the one you fought with, chat with, shout, eat, get drunk, vomit, dance and go home with… the friends you will remember… and for the friends you will keep…

How about a round of applause… standing ovation…

Come on and take a bow…

to begin

i am a law student... and about to graduate, and the idea excites, as well as thrills me, but not the ritual, nor the celebration, but the end of it, the BAR EXAMS...

The bar exams, is not your typical, run of the mill licensure exam, it is not just an exam, it is an event, a culture in itself, it is like no other... and pardon my legalese, it is Sui Generis.

The four (in my case, five) years of law school is geared toward this... a sort of, um, battle, that an attorney-wanna-be would fight for four Sundays of September... a battle between law schools, between classmates, between friends, between fraternities and cliques, but mostly, a singular battle against one self...

the four years is already a grueling, difficult, hellish of a ride, all with one purpose, to prepare us for this battle, no, to prepare us for THE battle of our lives. And although many survive the boot camp that is law school, not many will come out alive after the battle, all of us will be injured, hurting and probably bleeding, some of us will lose love ones, some their sanity, some would pay with their own lives, all are just collaterals for battle ahead.

And that is why preparation for this battle is extremely important, other armies would choose only the best soldiers, others would hire the best generals, to others, the choice is for the best captains and platoon leaders... providing for trainings and amenities, but it will all boil down to one soldier, one soldier for himself.

And when the battle comes, the armies would be gathering its troops, prayers will be said, trumpets will roar, drums will be hammered, beacons will be lighted, and colors of flags will flutter across the sky, the noise of well wishers will drown out the loud pounding hearts of the soldiers as they step into what might be the biggest fight of their lives...

This is a soldier who would not only be fighting for his life, but for his mentors, his family, friends and even God... and giving all his got for the this one crazy battle...