Good Morning Judge: Tussles for Thought

YEARS back when I was actively engaged in private law practice and as then president of the Camarines Sur Trial Lawyers League (CASTLE), I initiated the publication of the IBP/CASTLE Newsletter where activities and important events involving the law profession were reported and published. I likewise ran a column in said newsletter entitled “TUSSLES FOR THOUGHT.” While going over my files I ran across the November-December l999 issue of the newsletter and I am quoting hereunder my write-up for that issue entitled “LIFE GOES ON” which I still feel relevant today in the light of the events happening in our country: “As we struggle for thought for this column, the soft melody of a song is wafting in the air from an FM station conveying message of hope, cheers and joy. Songs are the language of the soul, they say and poems are the song of angels. But can we Filipinos, we in the poorer segment of society ever appreciate the beauty of a song (as the language of the soul) as we face the plunging value of the peso and the rising prices of basic commodities? Perhaps, in the privacy of our own thoughts we can just fantasize imported apples and oranges for good luck on our tables and at the same time look at reality with jaded eye. With money one can buy everything. That’s what they say. Indeed, with money one can buy food, but can it buy appetite? With money one can buy medicine, but not health; ‘knowledge but not wisdom; glitter but not joy; acquaintances but not friends; servants but not faithfulness; pleasure but not peace’. So I’d rather recite my favorite poem and listen to the song of angels! Or run home to my native place, a town guarded by a mountain and a sea, where I can seek solitude and where all is quite except the beating of my heart. Indeed, life is not a laughing matter especially at hard times like these. But can you ever imagine having to live without laughing? After all, life goes on, no matter how much time we have ahead of us. And as someone has put it, “in the end there is only one person in this world who can drag you down or left you up, and that person is you.” So keep on and let your reach go beyond your grasp otherwise what’s heaven for? And as one Filipino poet has said: Not yet Rizal, not yet; Sleep not in peace; There are a thousand water to be spanned There are a thousand bridges to be crossed; There are a thousand crosses to be borne. TRIVIA: Through this column I wish to express in my own behalf and that of my wife Minda our sincere and deepest condolence to the family of former MTCC Judge Ricky Begino who was shot near his residence in Lagonoy, this province. Judge Begino was under my supervision when I was the executivejudge of the Regional Trial Court in San Jose, Camarines Sur. Honest and dedicated, his demise is an irreparable loss to the judiciary and the cause of justice in this province. While having breakfast last Monday at Avenue Plaza together with my daughter Gigi and spouse Minda we chanced upon former Senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad. It has been quite some time since we last saw him. He used to come to our residence when Atty. Nitoy Sibulo and I were rooting for him when he ran for a seat in the Senate years back. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: “THE STRONGEST PRINCIPLE OF GROWTH LIES IN THE HUMAN CHOICE.” GEORGE ELLIOT FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE: “WOE TO HIM WHO BUILDS HIS HOUSE ON WRONG, HIS TERRACES ON INJUSTICE.” JEREMIAH 22:13