A day in the life of a lawyer in government service

A few weeks ago, while I was in the RTC (Regional Trial Court) library, I noticed a Soroptimist ( trans: really fuckin' old lady; a rich matron with a whole damn lot of expensive antique jewelry) mestiza making some sort of a ruckus with the librarians asking some stuff about a particular AM (Administrative Matter) SC (Supreme Court) Circular about TROs (Temporary Restraining Orders). I wasn't eavesdropping but I can't help but overhear the clanking of her gold bracelets and their loud hollers at each other even though they were just a couple of feet from each other. Funny how most women talk. They get excited easily over nothing and shout like their conversation partners are a mile or two away. HOY, ALAM MO BA SI ANO...YAKITY-YAKITY-YAK. My mother does it, my mother-in-law does it, and every broad I know does the same when they are above forty years of age. I'm not worried too much if my lovely wife does it too when we get old. I'd probably be partially deaf by then.

In order to enjoy some piece and quiet while I research the latest jurisprudence on a particular kind of estafa, I approached the motley crew consisting of the two librarians and the nice old lady. Turned out that she was indeed looking for a relatively new SC AM/Circular concerning the issuance of TROs. Coincidentally, since I've passed the bar just last year, I still know some of the stuff I studied during my review. So I helped the matron and in effect, the librarians by pointing them to the right direction. At that point, I had no idea on who the old lady was and she was glad that a young lawyer in government service like me could help her get out of the bind she was in, whatever that is, I didn't bother to ask. So I got the books that I needed and headed back to the ratty old building which housed our ratty old office.

Just this morning, that same sparkling old lady opened the office door. She said, "Attorney, you're here pala."

Reflexively, I answered "Good Morning po. What can I do for you ma'am?" While at that particular moment having no goddam clue on who she was.

"You don't remember me no?" she said, looking through my eyes. I was never a good liar. At least to women.

"Of course I do po. We met in the library." That stream of information rushing through my brain serendepitously.

"Yes, thank you. You really helped me back then." It wasn't really much, I told her. I was just glad to help. The truth is, however, I just really wanted to make her shut the hell up back then.

Anyway, she was there, apparently to follow-up on a particular case filed in our sala. A Section 5. (Section 11 of Republic Act No. 9165; trans: drug trafficking) She's got a partial copy of the case record and told me that the accused is one of her care-takers in one of the real estate she owns. She said the man was wrongfully accused. They all think they are, I thought but didn't say. While I was going through the papers she brought along with her, and trying to explain to her in layman's language the status of the case, I noticed that my boss the Judge came out of the chambers and was looking at us.

"Ma'am, the judge is here." Almost instantaneously, she turned her back on me and approached my boss as if they were classmates in Kindergarten school. Relieved, I leaned on my comfortable desk chair and motioned to a stenographer for her to come to me.

"Do you know that old lady?" I asked.

"Attorney, I thought you knew her. You were talking to her as if you do." Answered Rina, one of our highly efficient yet still funny stenographers.

"No I don't. I was just being nice to her since I remember her from the library. You know I'm not good with names and faces." A lie. I wasn't being nice, I just wanted to make a good impression of myself with the library staff and make the old bag STFU.

"Well, she's one of the richest old ladies here in the City lang naman attorney. She's Dona Veronica...Vernie, her friends call her." Said Rina.

"Ohh, really." I answered while pretending not to care.

Then I found myself asking for the case records of that case and reviewed the same for a minute. I went inside the chambers and found the judge sitting in one of the visitor's chairs in front of his huge-assed mahogany desk while Vernie sat across him. The boss never does this unless the visitor is really fuckin' important. He doesn't even do it for the Mayor, other Judges, and even his good old childhood friend the postmaster. The boss was explaining the status of the case as I was trying to do a little while before as I handed him the case records opened to show his last order concerning this particular case. After a few sentences, and a little back-up from me, we conviced her that the accused is guaranteed a fair trial in our sala. Somewhat satisfied, the topic of the conversation was changed. After shooting some bull with the matron, concerning several charitable and social activities she spear-headed, the boss asked her how did she get to know me.

She related the library incident to my boss and made the impression that:

1. I was really nice and helpful; and

2. I am very intelligent.

According to her, other Clerks of Court don't know the law as well as I do. I saw that the judge believed her and I was trying my very best not too look too smug. That's one other thing I'm not too good at: appearing absolutely modest. I think I actually blushed, taking into consideration my unmistakingly kayumanggi skin tone. I was thinking "Not too bad, Jorge, not too bad at all."

Then, after shooting some more bull, and talking nonsense about other people who I don't really know too well or care about, I opened the chamber door as the boss had another appointment he can't afford to miss and it's my job to remind him about everything. She continued talking with the judge as we headed out to the main branch office when the boss surprisingly blurted out so that everyone there could hear, "Ah, you know, your documents are going to be in order, as it's gonna be handled by my Clerk of Court. When Jorge does the job, drafts of orders, resolutions, decisions...I don't even have to check it anymore." Wow.

Suddenly, my head, big as it already is, grew into about the circumference of one of Jupiter's moons. I didn't even know what those documents are going to be. I was just flustered by the fact that not only does my boss thinks I'm the best man he can have for the job, he deemed it wise to announce that fact in front of all my staff. Then I remembered that I haven't lit a cigarette since morning. I got out , escorted the rich old lady towards the building gate exit and had the best puffs I've had since I started this job.

Now I really believe that appearances are almost everything.

Goodfellas

My good friend Armando is the genuine article. I met him on my first day of law school. I didn't know nobody else and I'm not the character who'd start talking to strangers in a strange place the minute I got there. When I started law school, I didn't intend to have new friends or in the coloquial, barkada--I already have a whole bunch of them stashed away. I was hell bent on going to school, studying my ass off, and then going home so that in a few years, I'd be a kick-ass lawyer. Along with this tall, dark guy, whose exact facial features or surname I can't recall at this moment (though I remember his first name and alma mater; Mike and UPLB, respectively), Mandy started talking to me and even though I can't fucking remember the contents of that conversation, or determine if the same was significant or not, that was the beginning of our friendship. Frankly, I have never met someone like Mandy before. He made his bones when I was six (6) years old. He sent himself to high school while working as a greasy gasoline boy at the same time sharing in the support of his family. While baking donuts for donut giant DD, he clawed his way to college. While working for a lawyer as a para-legal cum legal researcher cum Doctor (ng affidavits, etc.) he propulsed himself into law school. Now he's finally on his fourth (4th) year and I know for sure that soon he'll be more of a lawyer than many of those I know who have already taken their own oaths. He could've been my batch-mate if he hadn't taken a LOA (leave of absense) during our first year because he had this health issue back then. What more can you ask, he's already geezer. Hell, he's a college batch-mate of Atty. Espina, out professor of Constitutional Law I. A few years more and he'll be eligible for a discount card in buses, movie houses and drug stores. Nevertheless, the Armando I know won't stoop down to such travesty. He won't ever apply for a senior citizen card, and neither will I--if I live that long. Mandy's bible is The Godfather by Mario Puzo and his National Hero is Nardong Putik. I think he's one of the few who'd actually agree with me if I say "those who eat shit eat shit because they like to eat shit." He's one of the best friends I've made in law school if not the best, and I'll treasure his friendship until San Miguel stops selling beer, or even longer than that. I'm proud of this guy because he's living proof that free will exists. He continously wills himself to become a made man. He's on the way there, I think (and pray--though unlike me, Mandy doesn't believe in prayers, thinking it's foolish). He's alright, he's one of us, he's a good fella.

My good friend Renato is a saint. I've never met a man who's genuinely morally upright who'd want something to do with the likes of me. He's a straight shooter, much like how Chief Justice Puno or Ghandi is a straight shooter. He doesn't shoot the bull too much and he's really an intelligent man, after me, of course. Since he's my batch-mate and co-conspirator with our operation caochings during the exercise of law professors of what is called the Socratic Method, we've grown to be the closest of friends during law school. So close, that some people (those who don't know us too well, and those who are stupid as jars of clay) mistake one for the other. Ato has always been the one who stopped me (or at least tried to) whenever I decided to translate a stupid plan or idea of mine into actuality. And I'm the one who reminded him constantly to be careful with all the girls he flirts with in law school as he and his ex-girlfriend (who's now his wife) Joji were already soon to be married back then. We were partners both in crime and in acquittal. In fact, we already formed our law firm (JALO = Jorge and Ato Law Office "Mura na, Sure win pa") while we were in law school, me and him as partners, and the class valedictorian, Atty. Mary Ann Reyes, as our secretary. LOL. He and I had lots of fun in law school, as much as one could have there, anyway. Seriously, if I'd really have a partner in a law firm someday, he's still number one on my list. Though I seriously doubt if he has the cojones to do the things that have to be done whatever the cost, it's all gonna be fine because he's a person who lived his life so he wouldn't have to sully his hands with blood and dirt. I see him as someone who'd be right there with me when the family finally disappears into the legal fabric of society on the forthcoming retreat to civility. He's alright, he's one of us, he's a good fella.

Ato and Mandy are two very different animals, but they too are friends and I am just a person who's glad to have known them as a friend. After all, friendship is more valuable than most of the things in this world.

Then there's my cousin Carlo Noel, who's more like a brother to us (Me, David, and Marco) than a cousin. He's the second son of the Godfather, Don Marcelino. He's growing up to be a true Qualificato (qualified man). That tells it all though. For the family is the only thing more important than friendship. He's alright, he's one of us, he's a good fella.

A horse-coach's tale

A poor kid I know (from a family who was poor ever since the beginning of time) in my hometown was thrown in jail yesterday. He's 20 years young. He's about the same age as my youngest brother Marco, who in a few years time will become a Doctor. A DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), but a Doctor nonetheless. Anyway, this kid, whose real name I can't remember or do not know at all, goes by the name of Jomar (probably Jose Mari, but I could be wrong). He's one of those kids who saw too many Robin Padilla movies as a young boy. And like all jerk-offs who thinks he's a "Bad Boy," he ends up being a loser, like 75% of all Filipinos think what they are, if you have seen the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Apparently, Jomar together with another young thug @ Brando, beat the shit out of two other kids in broad daylight in front of the Public Market the other day. According to some kids I have talked to this afternoon, Jomar started the hit with a solid asero (alloy knuckles) punch to the face which cracked the face of his opponent. After that first hit, he and @ Brando pummeled and mauled the two other kids until their faces were as plump as tomatoes and their cheeks as fat and red like siopao with hotsauce poured all over. Unlike @ Brando who fled the scene almost instantaneously after the skirmish, Jomar went on to tambay and chit-chat with some other local kids, perhaps to convey the story of his great victory. Sure as hell, he was picked-up by the cops. By the time you read this, and in the words of a PAO (Public Attorney's Office) lawyer I know, "he's still languishing in jail." That's all detention and convicted prisoners do: languish in jail. Funny word, really--languish. I'm guessing its etymology would reveal that such is the by-product of the combination of the two words "long" and "anguish." "Long anguish" has been shortened to become "languish". Truth is, however, languishing may have stemmed from "laughing" and "fishing" for all I know. Who knows these things?

I have only known Jomar when he was a young kid. Since I have studied for most of my life in Manila, I only saw this "mini-goon" during the summers. I have always thought he was an asshole; the type that wouldn't easily obey my commands whenever I gave one. He always kept the change whenever I ask him to buy something for me. At times, when he sees me, he turns away in order to evade the chore he would have to perform for me. He did not refuse me straight out, as no kid in our neighborhood could have outwardly refused to obey me or my brother David, like no man in our shitty little backward town can openly refuse my father or my uncles. As early as then, I realized that I would have very little use of him in the future if he ever grows up.

Last year (or maybe early this year I can't really remember for sure), my mama took pity on the damned kid and asked my father if he can give him a job of sorts, so that Jomar could help out his family even a little bit. Jomar was hired to be a peon in the LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) refilling plant. After two weeks or so, Jomar gave Papa a head-ache. Why? Because Jomar is an asshole. My father can not and does not tolerate assholes, especially in the business. Pa gave the order and Jomar packed his bags and went back home to return to being a small time hood. He might have stayed there at least a little bit longer notwithstanding the fact that he is lazy as a turtle (my apologies to turtles and all other amphibians who might take offense with my statement), but the darn kid even made an enemy of one of Pa's own crew. Pa told me that kid wanted to die so quick, but he wouldn't have it under his watch. There are just some folks who anybody can't make a decent man out of. He is what he is.

Jomar is not in jail now because he cracked that kid's face wide open; nor because unlike his friend @ Brando, he did not go underground a little bit after the hit so the cops wouldn't find him as easily as they did; and neither is he still in jail because the justice system is really tough. Jomar is in jail right now because he's poor and stupid. One cannot afford to be stupid when he's poor. And one cannot suffer to be poor when he's stupid. Being poor and stupid is a lethal mix.

Jomar went to jail because he did the hit against the wrong guys, at the wrong place at the wrong time. That's because he's stupid. If he weren't, he could have known that his "victims" are the nephews of a policeman, while his father is a mere tree-trimmer and ocassional "if-in-the-mood" fisherman; he wouldn't have made the hit in front of the public market, where everyone there saw them; and he wouldn't have scheduled the hit in broad day-light when everyone who saw the melee could easily make them out in a line-up. Jomar is still in jail because he is poor as a rat (this time, my apologies go to the rodent class). His family couldn't afford to even post bail, much more pay that the family of the "victims" what they are asking for. I heard that the sum is in the tune of 80 G's. I know a few guys who pay that much in a night in a posh QC night club, but even if Jomar's father walked the entire length of EDSA using his hands with his feet up in the air, and his mother turn to a whore in a cheap local brothel, they couldn't raise that money. You won't find more than 25C coins in the streets and they don't accept broads whose belly-buttons and nipples are of the same height and level even in the cheapest of all casas.

Being young, and therefore sometimes illogically merciful to the fates of others, I related all of this to my father. He said "Let him be." Without any other word, I understood completely. Jomar wouldn't have any use for us whatsoever as I have feared. His only talent is contained in his fists, and that, we have more than enough of. Que sera sera.

What is the lesson to be learned from all of this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.