Tuesday, March 23, 2010

WHY I'M VOTING FOR ATTY. ALEX LACSON


This is just a re post of Max Soliven's column based on a personal experience of a true Filipino... More than enough reasons why he is worthy to be a SENATOR and that you should vote for him like I would... so READ on


A Filipino of faith
BY THE WAY By Max V. Soliven
The Philippine Star 12-19-2005

We keep on paying lip service to the catchword, “Faith in the Filipino.” In this Christmas season of hope – and also sadness – this faith and confidence in ourselves too often falls short of being justified.

However, here’s one story which I must tell.

This incident took place last Thursday in the late afternoon. I was rushing home in my car, an X-5, from my last meeting in Makati – already far behind schedule, since my next appointment, after a change of clothes, was in Malacanang. My vehicle broke down in
the mounting rush-hour traffic on the Paseo de Roxas, not far from the corner of Buendia. There I was, frantically trying to hail a cab in vain while the avenue was crawled alongside, almost gridlocked. My desperation must have been all over my face. I had
fruitlessly attempted calling my Stargate office on Ayala Avenue, then my associates and friends nearby. I needed a car badly to rescue me from the corner where I had been stranded. But nobody could be contacted.

Then a white Chevrolet Ventura pulled up to the curb. The young man at the wheel leaned over, his window rolled down, and asked: “Can I help you, sir?”

I blurted out, “Yes, my car over there broke down. I must get home in a hurry! Can you bring me somewhere where I can find a taxicab?”

The fellow smiled and said: “Hop in, Sir I will drive you home.”

I scrambled aboard, thankful to the kind stranger, and God – and for my good fortune. In retrospect, I wonder why it had never occurred to me he might be an armed hold-up man. I guess it was the disarming nature of his smile, his earnest approach. Yet now could anyone be so generous as to stop in the middle of traffic, then offer a total stranger a ride all the way to his home? He hadn’t even asked how far away I lived; he’d made the offer without hesitation.

When we were underway, I asked to shake his hand and asked for his name, “My name is Alex,” he simply said. “I’m Max,” I replied, then fished in my pocket and offered him my card. He peered at it, then exclaimed: “Wow. It’s an honor! I read you every day!”

“Now. Alex, you owe me your card in return.” I said.

Stopped at a light, he took out his wallet, got one and politely handed it to me. It read: Alexander L. Lacson, above which was his firm’s title: “Malcolm Law”, underneath that, “A Professional Partnership.” By golly, I had been rescued by a lawyer.

There you are. Somehow, when faith in the Filipino wavers, a Filipino comes along to restore your faith. Restore it? So surprise you with his kindness and generosity. This is an experience – and a shining gesture – I’ll never forget. * * *

I finally told Alex I was headed for Greenhills. He grinned. “By coincidence, since I’m taking you there, my destination happens to lie not far away – I’m headed for Wack-Wack subdivision to give a talk at a Christmas party.”

“Why?” I exclaimed. “In addition to being a lawyer, are you also a preacher?”

He smiled even more merrily and explained that he had written a little book. It was on the car seat beside him, and I picked it up. It was entitled: “12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country.”

Alex had his little volume (108 pages) published earlier this year by the Alay Pinoy Publishing House in Quezon City, and it had sold out in its first printing within three weeks. The second and third printings were about to sell out, too.

No, he wasn’t selling it through any bookshop, the biggest book shop (unnamed here) wanted too big a portion of its possible earnings, but I told them I wanted the proceeds to go to a scholarship foundation for the needy.”

So, Lacson has been selling his book out of his office and out of his home.

The dedication of the slim tome reveals his sincerity. It says: “To my Creator, who has blessed me with so much, and to my Country, which yearns for love from its people.”

As we drove up EDSA, Alex said: “I read your mother’s book, `A Woman So Valiant,’ too, and I loved it!”

Can you beat that?

My mama had written that book of hers in longhand, on yellow pad paper not long before she died at the age of 81 on October 16, 1990, and belatedly, we had published it last year. Astoundingly, it had been a runaway bestseller, without publicity, and had sold
out in the National Bookstores.

My sister, Mrs. Mercy S. David messaged me when she arrived from New York that the Japanese were now planning to transcribe the autobiography into Japanese and publish it in Tokyo, as a chronicle of what happened to a Filipino family in the war years (and during Japanese military occupation). The proposed Japanese title, “A Valiant Mother and Her Nine Children.”

But that’s another story, far removed from today’s inspiring tale about Alex Lacson’s Christian spirit and generosity. One thing Alex said demonstrated he had really read Mom’s book. He remarked that the thing he vividly remembered in Mama’s memoirs was that, in spite of our poverty, she had determined: “I don’t want my children to feel poor.” Thus, one of us or two of us in turn had been taken by her, on her meager earnings as a seamstress, to eat at a good restaurant. The “classy” restaurant of the time, Alex recalled
from its mention in mama’s book, was The Aristocrat. How lives intersect in this spinning world.

To get to the end of the “rescue” saga, Alex Lacson drove me to my home in Greenhills, and I noticed he never broke a traffic rule. I was tempted, in my selfish agitation to get home and get my tuxedo for the State dinner in the Palace, then dash over to
Malacanang, to cut corners, such as push into the opposite lane when stuck not far from the Buchanan Gate, in order to sneak into the Gate. But Lacson calmly awaited his turn in traffic. Obey the law and obey the rules were obviously the bedrock of his “12 Things” credo.

In any event, getting to Malacanang in the end was only the bonus. Meeting someone like Alex Lacson was the real miracle. * * *

Alexander Ledesma Lacson, it turned out, modest as he was in bearing, was a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law, 1996, and took up graduate studies at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass. (Good old Harvard Yard, by gosh). His
wife, Pia Pena – it turned out even more amazingly – is the daughter of an old friend, Teddy Pena from Palawan! She, too, is a lawyer – U.P. 1993 – a legal counsel for Citibank. They established a foundation together to help underprivileged children through school, and are now subsidizing 27 young scholars in different public schools in Alex’s native Negros Occidental.

The reason Alex had been headed for Wack-Wack was the fact that the officers and employees of a company named Resins Inc., after buying 1,000 copies of his book had invited him to give the “homily” at their Christmas party. This was not a small group ? the
company had 600 employees, waiting for his “word” that night.

Alex, it struck me from our conversation, is an eloquent and devout Catholic. He believes God must have destined our people for some great role; why, in all history, he reasoned, were we Filipinos the “only Christian nation in Asia?” One thing is certain: He and his wife Pia practice their Christianity – and live it.

Four years ago, he and his wife had a serious discussion about migrating to the US or Canada because the Philippines, as a country appeared hopeless since things only got worse year after year. They wanted to know if their children (they have three, one boy and two girls) would be better off staying in our country or abroad in the next 20 years.

Pia and Alex had asked themselves the question: “Is there hope for the Philippines to progress in the next 20 years?”

They reasoned: If the answer is Yes, then they would stay. If it was No, they would leave and relocate abroad while they were still young and energetic. There were long discussions. One day, the realization, Alex recalls, struck them: the answer to that question was in themselves. The country would improve, Pia and Alex finally understood, if they and every other Filipino did something about it. Leaving the Philippines was not the solution. As Lacson put it in his book: “The answer is in us as a people; that hope is in us as a people.” * * *

When I read the book afterwards, I discovered that many important people had endorsed it.

But these encomiums are not needed. Alex laughed when I quipped that he must be one of the wealthy Lacsons from Negros Occidental, like my classmates and schoolmates in the Ateneo. He cheerfully, and proudly, said that he was “a poor Lacson.” His mother, he
pointed out, had been a public school teacher in Cabangcalan.

No, he’s not poor – his richness are in his friends, and in the heart.

Here are, in outline, his 12 commandments:

1) Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.
2) Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.
3) Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino.
(Or, if you read the book, he suggests: 50-50).
4) When you talk to others, especially foreigners speak positively about us and our country.
5) Respect your traffic officer, policeman and soldier.
6) Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.
7) Support your church.
8.) During elections, do your solemn duty.
9) Pay your employees well.
10) Pay your taxes.
11) Adopt a scholar or a poor child.
12) Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and love our country.

These are the 12 things every Filipino can do to help our country. At first blush, they seem simple. When you study them more closely, they are difficult to do. But all of us, together can do them.

12 Little Things website – click here.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH.... OF EACH OTHER

....and can you blame us? It has after all been 20 years since we last saw each other and now it seems like we've been seeing each other everyday of every week, at least for some who can

oh but i do try my best to be present in most gatherings whenever my sked permits because these people make me forget a tiring day and its always fun being with old friends... amazing how we got to discover that our charm could still buy us free Bailey's at times or Tequila, i heard..bummer i wasn't around for a shot



except for some little bulges and tummies here and there, us girls look pretty much the same..yeah, we're PRETTY that is.. LOL

and so we decided last January that we shall be meeting once a month for the pay up of our dues and some planning. February was at Celso's Talaba farm..hmmm i actually can't recall if we were actually able to plan on something that day, if we did, I'm sure it's been amended or revoked already. As to when is the next gathering? i really don't know, duh we've been seeing each other everyday of every week well, almost..


and this one's from last night, like I said..we just can't get enough of each other, can't really blame us can you? :)

Friday, March 19, 2010

SoAR HigH my DEaR GRADUATES


As bright as my morning has started, later today it will even go brighter as my students, the School of Law Class of 2010 will proudly march and receive their degree and title, Bachelor of Laws.

Studying law is never a walk in the park, i keep telling my students that. And now that they were able to hurdle 4-5 long years of study, is an achievement in itself. And I am truly proud of them. I believe in all my students' potential and I can't wait for them to be lawyers.

To my dear graduates, you are a step closer towards your dream and it is definitely within your reach. Never for a moment think that you can not make it, because you can. Keep your goal close to your heart. Fly and soar high my dear class of 2010 and let the sky be your limit.... ADELANTE!


Sunday, March 7, 2010

LiviN' and LoviN the vocAtIoN of TeacHiNG

Contrary to most of my colleagues, I don't get to have "ME" time after five. My job at the School of Law has tied my sked even way up to the wee hours of the night. While the rest of my friends are either at home, shopping at the mall, working it out at the gym, dating or simply doing whatever with their free time, i on the other hand have to face my student's and their concerns with school.

Admittedly, it is taking up soooooo much of my time even when im supposed to work and attend to my cases or spend it with family.

Since the year began, i have been in school every day of the week and it has to some point exhausted me. It has taken so much of my time that by the end of February, i was so drained that i really did not want to go to school anymore. During those times i started to ask my self whether it is still worth it?

Forcing myself to class last Sunday, i found the answer to my question.. As i was calling a student to do the Lawyer's oath in my Ethics class, he seem nervous and mentioned a case. Confused, i asked what was wrong with him.. and he answered, "Sorry mam, i cant concentrate becoz you are exceptionally pretty today" (LOLz) I almost fell off my seat while being tongue tied.. Either i emphasized too much on the "honesty of a lawyer" or my constant recitation has taught them to be witty :)

Same night, i opened an email from the lex prexy for a bunch of requests that the incoming 4th year class is proposing to the office. As i was reading it, i was slowly bidding farewell to my summer break. But as I reached the end of the proposal a line has somehow put me back to my senses, "Atty. Bathan, thank you so much for giving us time, our batch appreciates you so much xxx"

Teaching and the academe will never be a walk in the park.. it will not even be financially compensating either. But it is because of simple moments like this that tells me, I am doing the right thing and this is where i should be.. So now i'm off to school.. L)