Vol. II No. 66 • ISSN 2094-4098 September 12-18, 2011 • P15.00

IF I were to propose a bill for the Senate and the House of Repre-sentatives to pass into a law, I would push for the passage of a law propos-ing an amendment to the Constitution to make it as a fundamental right of every person to be tried first by their fellow men sitting as a jury before they would be deprived of the right to life, lib-erty and property.

In so doing, we will now assure fair justice to all persons, rich or poor, powerful or powerless.

In this proposal, there shall be two kinds of juries: (a) the Investi-gating Jury; and (b) the Trial Jury.

Under the jury sys-tem, we can assure bet-ter chances for the poor and small entrepreneurs to compete in every business or every pub-lic bidding because the jury system naturally weeds out corruption due to the fact that its stiffness instills fears in the minds of the corrupt to discourage them from

Page 4Anti-globalization activists should disconnect from Facebook

PRESSIS DEADIN DIPOLOG!WHAT BILL WILL I PUSH?

If I were a congressman

continuing their wicked and greedy ways.

With the juries in place, we will be taking from the judges the power to judge the guilt or inno-cence and from the fiscals/prosecutors/ombudsmen the power to know who shall be charged in court.

Under this justice scheme, a jury that will act as Investigating or Inquest Jury to know whether a per-son being charged should be tried in court or not.

Now, why can fairness be assured under a jury as prosecutors instead of the present fiscal/prosecutor system?

Fairness can be as-sured because an inves-tigating or inquest jury shall be composed of 23 persons chosen from the community by raffle and screened further to know who has the capacity to discern and the capacity to be fair.

The names and faces of these jurors shall be kept secret from the public to avoid them getting death

threats or getting bribed. For every criminal

case to be brought to them, these investigative jurors will vote among themselves if ever a per-son being charged should be issued a warrant of ar-rest and be tried in court.

If a powerful person like First Gentleman Mike Arroyo or Chavit Singson is charged, these jurors cannot be influenced just so powerful criminals es-cape punishment. Take note that a son of Chavit, Ronald Allan Singson, was forced to plead guilty in Hong Kong because Hong Kong Jury is too strict; just compare if the case of this scion were in the Philippines and know how he can escape punish-ment.

These investigating jurors will serve only for six months until they are replaced by another group of jurors, assuring that there will be no familiari-zation that breeds corrup-tion.

Then, why can fairness

in trial be assured under a jury as the judge?

Fairness is assured in trials of the accused un-der a jury as the judges because it will be too difficult to bribe or threaten the trial jury.

If in the present Phil-ippine justice system it is easy to buy the deci-sions of the judge who is only one person, it will be difficult to do the same on 12 jurors who will sit as trial jurors.

If the cases to be tried by trial jurors are too dangerous or too risky, like the Ampatuan Mas-sacre Trial, then these trial jurors can be placed in a secluded place until after the trial is complet-ed and after the jurors have voted for the guilt or innocence of the ac-cused.

If the jury system is put in place, it is easy to see that our politicians and abusive policemen will behave. Only then we can give true mean-ing to the phrase “the long arm of the law will catch you.”

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ISULONG MO No onecan put

anMSUan

downPage 8

KAIBIGAN,HUKOM NGMAMAMAYAN!

THREE radio broadcasters are now in the City Jail of Dipolog in Zamboanga

del Norte and they cannot go out even if they would have money because they were charged with cases of selling shabu, an of-fense that does not allow bail for temporary free-dom.

Now, these three me-diamen lost not only their freedom of the press: they also lost their freedom to be physically free.

These three radiomen are Ryan D. Uy, Joseph Herrera and Genesis Ajero.

With these, other than the act of murdering 33 journalists in Maguin-danao on November 23, 2011, perhaps nothing can beat Dipolog City in com-mitting crimes against the press.

All these revolting acts were pinpointed by the three radio press men to have been the work of art of Dipolog City police chief Supt. Reynaldo Ma-clang.

To top it all, Maclang may have been the most untouchable cop. He has been overstaying in Dipo-log. It was said that at one time he would be assigned

HEAVENS CRY FOR RASAY! Page3

Dipolog City Mayor Evelyn Uy

‘Drug-planting Chief of Police’ protected by Robredo, Dipolog Mayor?By

BERTENI “TOTO”CATALUÑACAUSING

to another place in Zambo-anga but was immediately placed back to the helm of Dipolog City PNP. If the normal tour of duty of any chief of police is three years to the maximum, Maclang stayed in the post for almost six years.

Lately, Mayor Evelyn Uy and DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo apparently stand in the way, obvi-ously to circumvent the May 16, 2011 order of the Office of the Ombudsman suspending Maclang for one month without pay.

Maclang was found guilty of lying in his af-fidavit executed on 31 December 2008 for the purpose of his application for promotion. The Om-budsman also found prob-able cause that Maclang committed the crime of perjury.

On May 5, 2011, fel-low broadcasters relayed to this writer that Ma-clang’s men implanted four plastic sachets of sha-bu on Herrera and the lat-ter’s live-in partner Mary Jane Gomez.

Prior to this, or in the evening of October 29, 2010, Maclang and his men also claimed they arrested Ryan for selling shabu.

But Ryan’s case was vehemently insisted to by journalists critical of Mayor Uy and Maclang that there was no drug selling that occurred but that it was implanted to stop Ryan from broadcast-ing exposes about illegal gambling, illegal drugs and oppression done against a Lumad family.

The mediamen of Di-polog insisted it was a fabricated arrest citing the following circumstances:

1. the pictures of Ryan showing he was beaten black and blue, an indica-tion that it was not a drug operation because experi-ence shows that there have been no physical violence that has happened in any shabu buy-bust operation;

2. the blotter record showing that Ryan was arrested at 11:30 p.m. but he was not brought to a hospital despite the severe injuries, an indication that Maclang and his police-men were hiding the fact of arrest and that if it was hidden there must be a material thing that must be hidden;

3. the fact that Atty. Cres Palpagan, the lawyer of Ryan, and Mariano Uy Sr., Ryan’s father, were

By BERTENI “TOTO” CATALUÑA CAUSING

2 Vol. II No. 66 Sept. 12-18, 2011

Publisher:RONALDO E. RENTA

Editorial:TOTO C. CAUSING

Editor-In-ChiefDesign & Layout:

RONALDO B. HERICODisclaimer: All news articles and opinions expressed by the writers are entirely their own and do not reflect the opinion of the publisher, the management or the editor of this publication.All Rights Reserved: No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced nor translated in any language or form for commercial pur-poses without prior written permission from the publisher and its writers or columnists.

MAGDIWANGPUBLICATIONS

not allowed to see Ryan inside the police detention cell until 7:30 a.m. when they sought the interven-tion of Zamboanga del Norte Gov. Rolando E. Yebes;

4. the fact that Ryan has been hitting Mayor Uy and Maclang everyday over radio station dxFL fm; and

5. the fact that it took Maclang and his men more than the maximum 36 hours allowed for de-tention just to submit Ryan to the judicial authority where in fact it took also more than 36 hours for them to submit Ryan to the inquest proceedings of the City Prosecutor of Dipolog, an indication that they must be hiding a circumstance or evidence material to the negation of

to seek a reinvestigation, a fatal mistake because the Office of the City Pros-ecutor sat on the motion to inhibit that until now the reinvestigation has not been decided upon.

This circumstance com-pelled Palpagan to switch tactics by calling for imme-diate trial of Ryan.

What was more dev-astating to Ryan is that his fate caused his brother

Mariano Jr. to die by se-vere depression in Decem-ber 2010.

Proving further the planting of evidence is the findings of the CHR in its July 14, 2011 reso-lution, stating that it tends to agree with its inves-tigators that Ryan was a victim of human rights violation, noting also the fact that Ryan has been so vocal in his criticisms

against Maclang and city administrators.

Supporting the obvi-ous tendency of Maclang to commit human rights violations just to get his ends are the two more res-olutions of the CHR find-ing him likely guilty.

In the case of Norman Jaynogen, who was ar-rested without a warrant, and co-detainees Mau-reen Dagpin and Mark

Dipolog City Chief of Police Supt. Reynaldo Maclang is flanked by broadcasters Ryan Uy (left) and Genesis Ajero (right). These two mediamen were unlawfully arrested and detained by Maclang and his men for alleged possession and selling of illegal drugs. However, human rights commission investigators has proven that these charges were made to keep them from criticizing Maclang and the city administrators as stated in their July 14, 2011 resolution.

Anthony Gutierrez, the CHR found that Maclang ordered them to climb up and down the iron bars of their detention cell 50 times. While doing this, their hands were smashed with a rattan stick by Ma-clang.

Thereafter, they were ordered to cling high on the grills for half an hour. Thereafter, they were or-dered by Maclang to do 50 pushups each. When they failed to complete, they were ordered to lay their hands in front of them and these were hit again with the rattan stick.

Thereafter, they were ordered to do 50 pushups again and they were able to complete the pushups. The ordeal lasted for two hours. They thanked when they were able to post bail.

The CHR found Ma-clang guilty of the Torture Law, otherwise known as Republic Act 9745.

In the second case of torture, Maclang was guilty of expulsion for driving Rogelio Gumanas and Cristina Gumanas and their family members away from their ancestral lands.

The Gumanases be-long to the Subanen tribe, the indigenous people of Zamboanga. The land was awarded to them by the National Commission for the Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

And on September 4, 2011, Maclang’s men struck again, for the third time against the media.

They arrested another critical mediaman, Gen-esis Ajero, was again ar-rested by them in an al-leged drug selling. The mediamen critical to Ma-clang and the mayor are again insisting it was an-

Press is dead in Dipolog From page 1

IS it proper for a former judge of the prestigious Don Carlos Palanca Me-morial Awards for Litera-ture to allow a contestant in a category where the judge in the 2011 edition was the contestant’s co-judge in the 2010 edition of the same category?

The answer lies more on propriety issue or if the Palanca organizers care to keep the solid credibility and integrity built for over 50 years by the award-giving body.

In the announcement of the 2011 Palanca Lit-erary awards winners released this week, it shows that Dr. Rosa-rio Torres Yu won the

PROPRIETY ISSUEIN “PALANCA PRIZE”

Ex-judge and winner in Palanca prize for the same categorysecond prize in Sanaysay (Filipino essay category) with her piece “Nagbibihis na si Nanay.”

The Palanca web-site, however, shows that Torres-Yu, a professor in Filipino at the University of the Philippines, was one of the three judges in the said category for the pre-vious year’s edition of the contest.

In the 2010 contest, Torres-Yu was a co-judge of Dr. Pamela C. Constan-tino and Reuel Molina Aguila was the chairman. All of them are members of the UP Filipino department faculty.

In the 2011 contest, Dr. Constantino acted as the

chairman. The first prize in the

Sanaysay category, which covers informal and per-sonal essays written in Fili-pino, went to Bernadette V. Neri for her entry “Ang Pag-uwi ng Alibughang Anak ng Lupa.” The 3rd prize went to Nancy Kim-uell-Gabriel for “Kubeta.”

The prizes were P15,000, P10,000 and P8,000, respectively.

Moreover, contest rules call for the authors to use pseudonyms, a circum-stance that would make easy for Dr. Constantino to know which of the en-tries was the one submit-ted by her former co-judge Torres-Yu. While nothing

Prize of the country.” “Pseudonyms or pen

names are used by con-testants in their entries but the Palanca Awards Foundation should forbid judges from joining a cer-tain category if she is an entry contestant herself out of delicadeza.

This is not to ques-tion the integrity of the literary award-giving body but it should exer-cise proper scruples in its choice for the judges, otherwise the name of the foundation, untainted for six decade now, can be caught up rumpled and messed up in a conflict of interest,” a noted literary figure opined.

drug selling.National Press Club

aggressively supported Ryan by filing complaints and letters to then PNP chief Raul M. Bacalzo, then Ombudswoman Mer-ceditas Gutierrez, Robre-do, and Commission on Human Rights.

The NPC even went to the extent of lead-ing the call of provincial press clubs for justice and press freedom in Dipolog City as they converged in Dapitan City for a nation-al convention. The Club also led a rally in front of the DILG to press Robre-do to punish Maclang.

All these went to the deaf ears of Robredo and Bacalzo.

Insisting that he has not even become a drug user, Ryan and his lawyer chose

other case of planting of evidence.

Speaking in Cebuano through a video footage posted on his Facebook wall “Genesis Ajero,” his heart is protesting that he never did the crime being accused him of doing and that he is firmly believ-ing that Mayor Evelyn Uy was behind.

This prompted their colleagues to say that in Dipolog, there is Arma-geddon: “GENESIS vs. EVEL.” Where Genesis stands for Genesis and Evel stands for the first name of the mayor.

In the same video foot-age, Gloria, the mother of Ajero, cried a river while seeing the son behind bars. Thereafter, the mother de-livered a fiery and highly-emotional speech asking if the persons behind the arrest of the son were “gods” of Dipolog.

Officers of Zamboanga del Norte United Cor-respondent revealed that two of their group are now being eyed to be the next to be planted with shabu evidence.

They revealed that the group of the mayor, Maclang and the mayor’s para-military group called “Team David” have so many stocks of shabu con-fiscated from “legitimate” drug users and sellers that they would use these to plant on their enemy press.

Thus, it looks clear enough that there is an agenda to get rid of all mediamen critical to the mayor, Maclang and her cronies.

Indeed, for Evel to tri-umph is for Robredo to do nothing.

And if this is the case, “press is dead in Dipo-log.”

prevents Palanca Awards from doing what it wants, it would be better if it would bar former judges from submitting entries and much better if it would require raffled numbers in-stead of pseudonyms to be placed as the identities of the authors.

Established in 1950 to inspire Filipino writers to improve their literary works, the Palanca Awards is considered the longest-running award-giving body in the country as it is marks its 61st year today.

It is also regarded by literary circles as the most prestigious and most en-during literary awards dubbed as the “Pulitzer

The outstretched arms of three persons are not enough to match the length of Lolong, the largest saltwater crocodile captured alive in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. This 20-foot monster is thought to be the largest in the world. Although sus-pected to be a maneater, the locals spared the animal and kept it from harm’s way. In the Big City, crocodiles or “buwaya” in the local dialect abound. They can be found everywhere especially at night where they prowl and pounce on their help-less victims at every conceivable situation. What is more scary about these “buwayas” in the city is that they are clad in a greyish-blue uniform, brandishing a 9mm pistol and often has a big belly. RBH

Sept. 12-18, 2011 3 Vol. II No. 66

Family and friends served as pallbearers during the burial of Mikael Troy Rasay

HEAVENSCRY FORRASAY!

2011 from Oslo, Norway for a two-week vacation and to visit his ailing grandfather.

Heavens cried

The remains of Rasay were flown to Oslo City, Norway where he was laid to rest on August 10, 2011.

Rasay’s untimely death shocked his family, friends, and classmates in Norway.

While mourning, Ra-say’s loved ones were outraged. But it was not enough to win justice:

mous tip that can lead to the arrest of PO1 Men-eses.

Despite the order of

By HERNZCUARE‘Killer’ cop betrays PNP is a rot;

P200,000 reward up forarrest of PO1 Meneses

The young man with the gun in the photo is the suspected killer-cop Harold Meneses, who is at-large now. Memorize his face and share this to all to ensure he is tried in court and convicted if guilty.

ITS mission is “to serve and protect.” But its vi-sion appears to be “to kill and collect.” The very reason it was founded is lost in a bewildering wil-derness. If the Philippine National Police cannot find its very own crimi-nal, how can it comply with its mandate to catch all criminals?

Its member, Police Officer 1 (PO1) Harold Meneses, was pinpointed as having shot dead a Fili-pino-Norwegian just after

sult in the case and when the families gave up hope of arrest for PO1 Men-eses, the justice sysem in the Philippines will be another subject matter of wastebasket: no thanks to the PNP.

The tragedy of making peace

The criminal instinct among police officers was displayed by PO1 Mene-ses when Filipino-Norwe-gean student Mikael Troy

woman being beaten by a man.

Rasay, witnesses con-tinued, approached the woman beater to peace-fully stop the violence but the beater turned the ire on the Fil-Norwegian with fists and kicks.

A blackbelt in martial arts and a foorball player, witnesses said the six-foot Rasay fought back knock-ing down the man.

Witnesses said that an-other man attacked Rasay but just the same: the sec-

the latter tried to pacify as the cop’s companion was punching a young woman in front of Excess Super Club on Timog Avenue, Quezon City.

Until now, PO1 Men-eses is still in hiding, so coward to face the charge of murder against him. It turned out that this sup-posed peacemaker was a peacebreaker.

And as this cop re-mains not arrested, heav-ens cry for Rasay. His parents, classmates, rela-tives and friends in Nor-way are all shedding tears of blood until today: with their hearts shouting to high heavens: JUSTICE!

While the hiding of the policeman continues the reputation of the Phil-ippines as to its capacity to dispense justice goes worse each day.

And if nothing will re-

Johanssen Rasay spoke of peace to stop a man from beating a woman in the red district of Quezon City.

PO1 Meneses of Ma-nila Police District Sta-tion 1 was seen by wit-nesses to have pumped three 9-mm bullets in the back of Rasay.

Witnesses said that Rasay, 18, of San Fran-cisco Street, Kapitolyo, Pasig City, fell on the cemented pedestrian lane in front of the nightclub just after the three bullets were fired.

Witnesses said that the crime occurred at dawn of September 31, 2011, after the send-off party of friends for Rasay who was set to return to Nor-way the next day.

Witnesses added that Rasay was about to leave the club when he saw the

ond man was knocked to the ground.

Witnesses further said that PO1 Meneses who was in the company of Rasay’s attackers stole the scene and shouted: “‘Hu-wag niyong papaalisin ‘yan, pulis ako.”(Don’t let him go, I am a cop.)

Witnesses said that Rasay immediately turned his back and at this junc-ture successive gunshots were fired by PO1 Men-eses all hitting the victim in the back.

Witnesses added that a bystander named Arjay Lagdameo was also hit by a stray bullet, adding that PO1 Meneses es-caped aboard a Mazda car while Rasay was rushed to Capitol Medical Center where the young man was declared dead on arrival.

Rasay arrived in the Philippines last July 15,

PO1Meneses remains in hiding.

As his family, friends, and classmates were viewing his remains for the last time on August 10 at Grefsen cemetery, the rain poured down so heavy as if the heavens cried.

His biological mother, Charlotte Johansen, wept quietly during the burial. His father, Joseph Troy Rasay and his wife sadly looked on.

The grounds were wept too with rainwaters and tears.

Bidding farewell be-fore kissing her hand and laying on her son’s coffin, Johansen whispered to her son: “I love you, my dear son.”

In their pursuit of jus-tice, the family of Rasay offered a cash reward of P200,000 for any anony-

TUMINGIN ka sa lan-git, kaibigan. Ang kapal at itim ng ulap. Kung babagsak yan, babaha ng napakalaki, kayang talunin Ondoy man o Pepeng.

Gumawa ka na ng paraan. Lumayo ka sa iyong kinatatayuan. Tu-makbo ka sa matataas na lugar, doon ka maisa-salba.

Iyan ang ulap ng korapsyon, ulap ng pagnanakaw, ulap ng mga ninanakaw, ulap ng kawalan ng katarungan, ulap ng kasakiman, ulap ng pandaraya, ulap ng maitim na kapangyari-han.

Lumisan ka kai-bigan. Isalba mo ang iyong sarili. Hikayatin mo ang iyong kapitba-hay, kaibigan at kamag-anak. Umakyat kayo sa mataas na lugar, doon kayo lamahok sa galaw ng pagbabago.

Lubog na ang ating bayan. Lubog na ang ating mamamayan. Lu-bog na ang lahat sa atin. Pero nakakatawa pa rin ang mga buwaya. Mag-isip ka kung kaya pa ba, ang ating bayan mais-alba?

Ako’y may dalang balita, balitang pwe-deng magbangon sa atin mula sa putik ng baha, balitang siya lamang ang sagot sa ating mga suliranin, balitang unti-unting aayos sa ating lipunan, balitang siyang tanging lutas sa lahat ng ating suliranin. Iyon ay kung ating pakikinggan.

Hinihikayat ko kay-ong pirmahan, itong petisyon para sa kina-bukasan, petisyong magbabago ng Konsti-tusyon, petisyong mag-papatayo ng Hukuman ng Mamamayan.

Ito ay tinatawag na Trial Jury, ito ay buuin ng mga ordinaryong

mamamayan, para hatu-lan ang nasasakdal kung may sala man, kahit sino pa man.

Ang mga ordinaryong mamamayan, ang tunay nilang lakas sa Trial Jury makikita, hindi matatakot kahit sa anong sakuna, hindi matatakot kahit sino pa sila.

Ang Trial Jury na ak-ing inaadhika, ay siyang buuin ng magbubukid man o magkakariton, jeepney driver o tricycle driver o padyak driver man, kung saan dala nila ang kapang-yarihan, kapangyarihan ng buong sambayanan, laban sa mapang-api maging sino pa man.

Ang Trial Jury ay hahatulan, kahit si Mike o Mikey Arroyo man, hahat-ulan kahit si Ping Lacson, hahatulan kahit si Glorya, hahatulan kahit maya-man man, hahatulan kahit makapangyarihan man.

Itong Trial Jury ay buuin ng mga tao, sa lis-tahan ng mga botante sila magmumula, kukunin sila sa pamamagitan ng bu-nutan, itatago mukha nila at pangalan, para kapakan-an nila at ng kanilang pam-ilya, ay mapapangalagaan, sa anumang pananakot at pananambang, ng mga akusadong may kapang-yarihan o kayamanan.

Panahon na kaibigan, ating ibangon ang ating bayan, mawala ang mga kurakot at pananakot, sa halip ang mga lingkod bayan ay matatakot, dahil sila ay mahahatulan, kung silay ay magpatuloy na mangungurakot.

Panahon na isulong ang malaking pagbabago, para ang ating bayan ay magbabago.

Isulong mo kaibigan, ang aking panawagan, na tayong lahat ay lalagda, sa isang petisyong isasaba-tas, ang pagtatayo ng Trial Jury sa Pilipinas.

Idagdag mo pa riyan

kaibigan, pagtatayo ng Grand Jury sa ating li-punan, para kunin mula sa kurakot na piskalya o prosekyutor o taga-usig ang kapangyarihan, ang kapangyarihan sa pagsa-sabi kung sino ang dapat kasuhan, at dinigin sa Hukuman ng Mamama-yan.

Ang Grand Jury kai-bigan, buuin ng mga ordinaryo ring mama-mayan, mula sa listahan ng botante sila bubunu-tin, kanilang pangalan at mukha ay babalutin, para hindi makilala ng sina mang kurakot at mayayaman, para hindi sila mabibili o matata-kot magins sino pa man.

Ang Grand Jury ang syang maghahatol, ang maghahatol kung sino ang isasakdal, kahit sino pa man basta’t may kasalanan, kasalananan sa bayan at mamama-yan.

At kung meron nang Grand Jury kaibigan, wala kang dapat pan-gangambahan, sa lahat ng hinahanap mong katarungan, para maka-suhan ang sino na dapat kasuhan, maging si Joc-joc Bolante o Mike Arroyo man, maging si Mikey Arroyo o nanay nya man, maging si Merceditas Gutierrez man.

Isulong, mo kaibi-gan. Isulong mo ang Trial Jury, na siyang Hu-kuman ng Mamamayan.

Isulong mo kaibigan. Isulong mo ang Grand Jury, na siyang hahatol na kasuhan at isasakdal ang dapat isasakdal, maging si Gloria Arroyo man, maging si P-Noy man, maging sinuman.

Isulong ang Trial Jury! Isulong ang Hu-kum ng Mamamayan!

Isulong ang Grand Jury! Isulong ang Taga-using ng Mamamayan!

ISULONG MO KAIBIGAN,HUKOM NG MAMAMAYAN!

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, a former police gen-eral who rose from the lowest rank with the fame

of “Dirty Harry” owing to his likeness to actor Clint Eastwood, PO1 Meneses remained in hiding.

Hernz quarry

By Hernani Cuare

4 Vol. II No. 66 Sept. 12-18, 2011

What’s in Cesar PurisimaWHO really is Finance Secretary Cesar Puri-sima? What’s in him to be the trusted man of President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III?

These questions embraced my person since the very day Purisima was ap-pointed by the Presi-dent to head his eco-nomic team.

I was vocal on these questions dur-ing a trip to Batangas with a friend and with the President’s man.

True to myself, I openly expressed disapproval to Puri-sima perceiving that he has no color of the President’s slogan: “Kung walang kurap, walang mahirap.”

I was answered that there’s no man to surpass Purisima when talking about the country’s economy.

It is undeniable that Purisima is a learned man in aca-

deme and trade servic-es being a graduate of De la Salle University with Accounting and Management degree (1979), MBA degree in Management, Finance and Economics at the United States-based JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Northwestern Uni-versity (1983), topping the Certified Public Accountant Board Ex-amination in 1979, and a top-notch business and technical expert of SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.) affiliated with Ernst & Young.

However, public service is not all about a learned man.

The slogan: “Kapag walang kurap, walang mahirap,” in public service, talks about a man of clean hands.

We’re not saying that Purisima lacks pu-rity in public service for he has never been implicated in corrup-

tion when he served the cabinet of the former regime.

He resigned from his post in July 2005 with nine (9) other cabinet members. They were coined: “Hyatt 10.”

Purisima’s person is under fire because of men in his company, especially Customs Commissioner Angeli-to Alvarez and business tycoon Lucio Tan.

An elementary adage goes: “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.”

Purisima is the per-son who recommended Alvarez to head the BOC. Alvarez lorded over Air 21, a door-to-door private courier of FedEx carrying balik-bayan boxes, before

setting his feet at the BOC.

When Allan Lyn-nard Bigcas was ac-cused of smuggling in May 2011, he divulged that the smuggled lux-ury vehicles that were found at his residence in Talacag, Bukidnon, Cagayan De Oro from the United States of America were brought into the country via door-to-door private couriers sealed in balikbayan boxes.

Purisima’s business buddy Alvarez was un-fazed by the balikbayan boxes scandal. But his silence and hand-wash-ing, like Pontius Pilate was tested by another controversy: the 1,910 container vans that went missing, depriv-

ing the government from collecting over P3 billion in taxes.

This controversy rocks Alvarez. But Purisima has been be-side him as his adviser. Despite calls for deli-cadeza Alvarez refused to resign, claiming he is clean.

Another man in Purisima’s company is the man who had been accused of cheating the government P25 billion in tax, the man in the corridors of power – business tycoon Lucio Tan, owner of Fortune Tobacco Co.

Purisima’s closed association with Lucio Tan was perceived to have started when he served Sycip Gores and Velayo (SGV).

Unwittingly, Purisi-ma reportedly worked for the passage of Re-public Act 9337 that reduced corporate in-come taxes from 35 to 30 per cent. This law benefited Lucio Tan and the conglomerates.

In serving the ad-ministration of PNoy, it is worth noting Puri-sima’s determination for progress by just im-proving the implemen-tation of the current taxes without tax hikes.

But unknown to oth-ers, Purisima was the chief advocate of the Expanded Value Added Tax (E-VAT) and ru-mors are going around that the 12 per cent E-VAT is to be further ex-panded to 15 per cent.

Disgusting!The rumors on push-

ing for additional tax came to the offing as the Philippine Institute of Development Stud-ies claimed that the government might not have enough funds to

meet the Millennium Development Goals.

There is no argu-ment as to the exper-tise of Purisima. But his reported P10-million donation to the campaign kitty of the President in 2010 ignited a ques-tion: “Was the DOF kingdom a prize he deserved, or, was it a payment of politi-cal debt or “utang na loob?”

We must bear in mind it is impossible for any man to throw away P10 million without considering the reaping.

Don’t judge a per-son by his cover of education and ex-pertise when we talk of government slo-gan: “Kapag walang kurap, walang mahi-rap.”

Let us fathom the purity of a man in government service by his association and deeds.

The story of a heroRick Rescorla

MOMENTS after the first airliner slammed into the North Tower, Rick Rescorla threw on his suit jacket, and left his office on the 44th floor of 2 World Trade Center, bullhorn, walkie-talkie and cell phone in hand. It was shortly after 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11,

2001, and an otherwise cloudless sky was filling with thick black smoke that now poured from the North Tower. The Port Authority of New York, the World Trade Center’s owner and operator, urged South Tower occupants to stay at their desks – an urging Rescorla promptly cast aside.

One could argue that Rescorla’s life had led to this point in time. Origi-nally from the seaport town of Hayle, Cornwall, England, he’d spent his life leading and serving – as a British paratrooper, a military intelligence officer in Cyprus, a commando in Rhodesia, and a detective for Scotland Yard’s famous “Flying Squad”.

In 1963, he took the advice of his best friend Dan Hill and came to the United States. He attended basic training, applied to and later graduated from Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Ga., before heading over-

9/11 Remembered By Beth Underwood

seas again – this time as an officer in the U.S. Army, where he fought in the legendary Battle of Ia Drang, his bravery and courage earning him the nickname of “Hard Core.”

A soldier of honor to be certain, he was also a man of great humor and striking intellect, un-dying compassion and loyalty, Rescorla held dying soldiers in his arms, comforting them, telling them they’d be fine, no matter their condition.

He sang songs he’d learned as a young boy in his native town of Hayle, his baritone voice bringing a sense of reassurance when all hope seemed lost in

that valley in Vietnam. And he vowed to never leave a soldier behind.

When his deploy-ment was over, Rescor-la returned to the U.S., and became an Ameri-can citizen. He believed that America was the place where anyone could accomplish any-thing they wanted to.

He was only 28 years old, but his character was already admired by all who knew him. For Rescorla, there was no other way to live, but with honor. Such was the life he continued to create for himself over the next 30 years.

In 1984, Rescorla was hired as director of security by Dean Wit-ter Securities, where he

implemented various safeguards, including evacuation plans and drills. His security staff numbered almost 200, and each man was ex-pected to dress in a suit and tie.

Rescorla pulled money from his own pocket for those who couldn’t afford to abide by the dress code. Simi-larly, he rewarded those for a job well done – again, out of his own pocket.

When Pan Am flight 103 was bombed, his concerns centered on the safety of the em-ployees. He warned the Port Authority that radical Islam would now set its sights on the United States of

America, and the World Trade Center would be the perfect target. But his warnings were ig-nored, even after the 1993 bombing that left six people dead.

He knew another hit would come, and pre-dicted it would come from the air. Again, his warnings were left un-heeded.

In 1998, Dean Witter merged with Morgan Stanley and Rescorla was promoted to vice president of security. While the Port Author-ity seemed to take a cavalier attitude where the threat of terrorism was concerned, Morgan Stanley did not, allow-ing Rescorla to develop and execute his own

evacuation training. Under his direc-

tion, two guards would patrol each of the 21 floors occupied by the firm. Employees also served as fire marshals. Visitors were not al-lowed unless accompa-nied by a Morgan Stan-ley escort.

Deliveries were not brought into the office until they’d been in-spected on the ground floor. The treads of the

stairwell steps were marked with fluores-cent tape

Mandatory - and un-announced - evacuation drills began immedi-ately.

That same year, Re-scorla met the love of his life, Susan, who he married in February of 1999. Although he’d been a highly decorated officer, he rarely talked about his days in the military. He focused on

his life with Susan, and their plans and goals for the future. They even discussed his retire-ment.

But on that Septem-ber morning in 2001, fate had other plans.

Rescorla was al-ready evacuating his people when he called Dan Hill. Both suspect-ed the first hit had been the act of terrorists. At one point, Rescorla

To page 5

Privileged spits

By Toto C. Causing

Sept. 12-18, 2011 5 Vol. II No. 66

Let those against globalizationdisconnect from Facebook forever!

WHO must be afraid of globalization, cor-poratist agenda and credit-based econo-mies?

What are the cred-ibility of those who claim to be right in in-sisting that globaliza-tion threatens “author-ity” and “sovereignty” of states?

I dissent.These are very

heavy topics. Ev-ery side one takes is more of an opinion of things or events that may come. But as we speak, no one is right until all see what happens when these things or events hap-pen.

If we engage in discussions of these topics we will be fall-ing into traps of opin-ions after opinions, oftentimes solidifying in the mind of most and the opinions that would linger depend on what minds that lis-ten to them. The bias will never be avoided.

For example, dur-ing my heydays at Mindanao State Uni-versity (MSU) as a student of engineer-ing, we often heard those LFS buddies (I was among them) de-nouncing capitalism, feudalism and what-ever kind of “isms” one can think of, ex-cept communism and socialism.

But mind you, business cannot start without capital. With-out business, there will be no jobs. With-out jobs there will be no employment. SO WHAT’S WRONG

WITH CAPITALISM?But I premise that

pure capitalism, as it shows over the years, is not good.

It has to be tempered with the principles of socialism to ensure that in matters where the underprivileged will always be underprivi-leged and that the fact of being underprivi-leged is a matter that is almost life or death, there has to be positive regulation actions.

You can see this in “health care” for all in the US that is still being opposed by the conser-vative capitalist minds for being suspected as a color of communism.

So that it is actually now clearer to see and to say that it is not cor-rect to say: “All are born equal.” Think alone of the fact that there are morons or abnormally-minded persons. I can-not think of a way or an argument on how we can be justified to say that people who are born imbecile are equal with normal persons.

If they grow to-gether, the abnormal persons’ minds remain childish; the normal becomes educated and discerning adults.

Indeed, inequality is reality. Equality is my-thology.

In the face of the truth that there is no such thing as equality amongst all men, the principle of capitalism or meritocracy loses its meaning.

So that from this, I can infer that in the never-ending search for better kind of gov-

ernment, it will always be based on perfor-mance economic-wise. So that eventually all classes of economies will converge in the middle: SOCIAL DE-MOCRACY.

To my mind, social democracy can be better called “social equality.”

This is so because my concept of truth about the kind of econo-mies that will be accept-able to all is one charac-terized by an economy that is based on capital and tempered with the principles of equity where the objective is to make all playing fields level.

Remember the key word: it is making the playing fields equal.

Now, compare the activists against capital-ism to the ACTIVISTS AGAINST GLOBAL-IZATION.

To my mind, these activists against glo-balization are actu-ally people who are still opposed to the US economic play. Yester-day, they were activists against capitalism. To-day when this activity has lost substantial ap-peal, they are now shift-ing to a new paradigm.

To believe in these “activists against glo-balization” or not, I concede, is neither cor-rect nor incorrect. Only time can tell someday who are right.

Upon the other hand, in case of doubt or con-fusion, I would always lean on the principle that says: “No man is an island.”

One country can never claim it wants no interference on its eco-nomic activities so that they would curse its people from inter-com-merce affairs with peo-ple from other countries through the internet.

One more thing that leads me to lean on globalization in case of doubt is the fact that all economic activities de-pend on environmental challenges.

IF CHINA PRO-DUCES SMUG AND SMOKES, IT WILL SPREAD TO OTHER COUNTRIES. If that is so, China cannot insist that it must continue its economic activity even if its activities poison the human life in other places.

The examples are many. But if those ac-tivists insist opposi-tion to globalization: LET THEM DISCON-NECT FROM THE IN-TERNET FIRST. UN-LESS THIS IS DONE BY THEM THERE IS NO REAL AND NO LITERAL MEANING TO THEIR “ADVO-CACY.”

Now, every coun-try has its own cor-porations. So why be afraid of any corporat-

ist agenda?To tell you the truth,

there are so many wars that were prevented from occurring because of corporatist agenda.

Notice that many corporations now are “multinationals.” This means the stockholders are composed of people from different countries or of various nationali-ties.

The friendship and the intimately-related business interests that are binding them plus the fact these are lead-ers in their respective economic empires pre-vent war from happen-ing amongst countries of these stockholders.

To the contrary, this corporate idea nurtures peace. And there can be no progress if there is war.

Now, talk about credits, they are not bad!

The bad thing with credits comes only when the creditor is taking advantage of the debtors or the debtors are defrauding the cred-itors.

Look at China: it holds trillions of dol-lars of credits against America. This fact pre-vents China from war-ring with any country being protected by the USA or America will have a reason to default on payment by way of economic blockade.

We small people cannot start business if we have no capital. But if there are credit lines available, we can gamble on the risks and try to succeed based on our respective formula of success.

So that if we ask if ever there is an effect on the sovereignty if the credit-based financial system is strong, let me answer this after defin-ing the basic definition of “sovereignty” or “au-thority” of any state.

Sovereignty simply means “the capacity of one state to do what it wants.” Authority also means the same thing but the latter is more emphatic for the word itself reflects the true source of powers or sovereignty, the people.

Take note that “au-thority” comes from the word “author”, the originator. And the originator of power in every state is the group of majority of people in that state.

Now, after knowing what is sovereignty and authority, we ask again: “WILL THIS GLO-BALIZATION AF-FECT SOVEREIGNTY OR AUTHORITY?”

Globalization, limit-ing it on economy, will certainly affect the ca-pacity of any state to decide what to do.

For instance, the credit that China holds in the US affects Chi-na’s ability to impose its will to take “Spratlys” by force or the US will declare an economic blockade and will not pay its trillions of dol-lars in debts.

So that if we look at small nations, like PHL, of course it will affect the capacity of little governments to decide to impose their will.

The credit PHL owes from Japan, IMF and World Bank control our ac-tions. BUT BEHIND THESE CONTROLS BRIGHT MINDS SHOULD NOT CRY: THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY OF MAK-ING THE CIRCUM-STANCES INTO BENEFITS FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE.

The entire effect, therefore, of a global-ized economy, is a creation of an unseen “SAFETY GUARD” against bloody wars between nations.

Under this regime, let the GENIUS AND THE BRIGHTEST AMONGST MEN SHINE.

And if the best and the brightest do shine, don’t worry because there is always that “unseen safety guard.”

Created by the ob-ligations that bound all members of a global economy due to already interlock-ing business interests, this safety guard will always be there to defeat the most ambi-tious of men.

I hope, without elaborating further, you get my NATIVE IDEA about globaliza-tion.

So let those activ-ists against globaliza-tion disconnect from Facebook forever.

briefly broke away from their conversa-tion. Dan heard him singing again, just as he had in Vietnam:

Men of Cornwall, stand ye ready;

It cannot be ever said ye

For the battle were not ready;

Stand and never yield!

By 9:03 a.m., under Rescorla’s leadership, many of his people had gotten out of the tower

– or were at least on their way down – when United Airlines Flight 175 took a sharp left turn in the lower Man-hattan sky and plowed into 2 World Trade Center, causing it to sway from side to side like a piece of tin foil on impact.

As the building snapped back to verti-cal, people made a run for the nearest stair-well. It was filled with smoke and panic was setting in.

The comforting

Story of a hero From page 4

sound of Rescorla’s voice over his bull-horn, urging them to be calm - there was another staircase. Once he verified that the sec-ond stairwell was clear, he reminded everyone to follow what they’d practiced during count-less prior drills - to stay calm, get a partner, and move down stairs and out of the building as quickly as possible.

As they streamed into the stairwell, Re-scorla’s voice belted out the songs he’d sung

many times before. Some often wondered why he was always singing.

Today, they were grateful to hear his fa-miliar baritone voice belting out, “God Bless America.”

Shortly after, Re-scorla paused momen-tarily to call his bride, who was sobbing al-most uncontrollably.

His voice was con-fident and comforting. “I have to get all of my people out, and if something happens to me, I want you to know you made my life.”

The call had been short, but long enough

for Susan to hear a cer-tain finality in his voice just before the line went dead.

Dan Hill reached Rescorla one more time, pleading with him to get out of the build-ing. When the second plane hit, any notion that this had been an accident was shattered. The United States of America was under at-tack.

“I’ve got people to take care of,” he said, asking his best friend to call Susan and calm her down. The connection was lost when the line went dead again.

Rescorla persisted in

evacuating the building as the heat continued to build in the stair well. But he never removed his jacket. Never quit singing. And never quit comforting all who were weary, scared, tired and without hope.

“Today is a day to be proud to be an Ameri-can, tomorrow the world will be looking at you,” he said.

Fellow co-workers pleaded with him to leave the tower. He obliged them all, add-ing but one condition:

I’ll get out – after I’m sure everyone else is out.

Rescorla headed

back up the stairwell with his deputy Wesley Mercer and two secu-rity guards. He may not have talked much about his days as a soldier, but in his heart, he was still a warrior, willing to sacrifice his own life if it meant no one would be left behind.

Rescorla was con-tinuing his ascent in the stairwell at 9:59 a.m., when 2 World Trade Center imploded.

Rick Rescorla’s re-mains were never locat-ed. But 10 years later, he lives on in the hearts of all who remember him. We will never for-get.

6 Vol. II No. 66 Sept. 12-18, 2011

Republic of the PhilippinesREGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF CAVITE

Fourth Judicial RegionBranch 18

Tagaytay City

REYNALDO C. PASCUAL, Plaintiff,

-versus- Civil Case No. TG-06-2547

REYNALDO TIRONA and the REGISTER OF DEEDS OF TAGAYTAY CITY, Defendants.x-----------------------------------x

DECISION

ON May 12, 2006, plaintiff, Reynaldo C. Pascual filed the instant complaint against Reynaldo Tirona and Register of Deeds of Tagaytay City, as nominal party.

In his Complaint, he alleges that he is the owner of the real property located at Tagaytay City, formerly covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. (T-260935) 35447, with an assessed value of Thirty Seven Thousand Five Hundred Pesos (37,500.00), more particularly described as follows:

“A parcel of land (Lot 19, Blk. 34, (Sheet 3) of the subd. plan (LRC) Psd-38612, being a portion of Lot 1-A-3-F, described on plan (LRC) Psd-17972, LRC (GLRO) Rec. No. 35157, situated in the Sitios of Amuyong, and Hauilia, Barrios of Matabac, Sinaliw and Kaytitinga, Mun. of Alfonso, Prov. Of Cavite, Is. of Luzon.Xxx containing an area of THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE (375) SQUARE METERS, more or less xxx.”

Plaintiff further alleges that he bought the subject parcel of land from Buck Estate Inc. on February 9, 1989, as evidenced by Entry No. 1460-39 annotated at the back of Certificate of Title No. T-218363, wherein it shows that a Deed of Absolute Sale dated February 9, 1989 was executed in favor of the plaintiff. That sometime on August 4, 1994, a Deed of Absolute Sale was allegedly executed by the plaintiff in favor of defendant Reynaldo Tirona. As alleged by the plaintiff, said Deed of Absolute Sale allegedly executed by him in favor of the defendant is a total nullity because it was forged, as shown by the Document Examination Report No. 068-98, prepared by the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory. That the portion of Document Examination Report No. 068-98, read as follows: “The questioned signatures of REYNALDO C. PASCUAL, marked “Q-1” and “Q-2”, appearing in two (2) pages Deed of Absolute Sale dated 04 August 1994 and the submitted signatures of Reynaldo C. Pascual marked “S-1” to “S-7” inclusive, WERE WRITTEN BY TWO DIFFERENT PERSONS.” That as a consequence of the execution of the alleged forged Deed of Absolute Sale, plaintiff’s title was cancelled and a new one was issued in favor of the defendant Reynaldo Tirona. Plaintiff prays that there is a need to declare the Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 4, 1994 as null and void and of no force and effect for being absolutely simulated and fictitious, pursuant to Article 1409 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. Likewise, plaintiff prays that there is also a need to nullify Transfer Certificate of Title (T-484613) 32173 of the Registry of Deeds of Cavite for having been issued pursuant to a forged Deed of Absolute Sale. Plaintiff further prays that there is also a need to reinstate Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-260935 of the Registry of Deeds of Province of Cavite, which is the title of plaintiff Reynaldo Pascual over the subject property. That as a consequence of the unlawful act of the defendant, plaintiff suffered sleepless nights, mental anguish, social humiliation and besmirched reputation and for which the defendant must be made liable to plaintiff in the amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00). Further, in order to project plaintiff’s rights and interest over the subject property, he was constrained to engage the services of counsel at an agreed fee of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00).

As Sheriff’s Return of Summons was filed by the Acting Sheriff of this Court on June 13, 2006 stating amongst other that the copies of Summons and Complaints were duly served upon the Register of Deeds, however, the same documents were not duly served upon defendant Reynaldo Tirona of P. Espiritu Street, Bacoor, Cavite for the reason that as per information given by the residents of P. Espiritu Street, Bacoor, Cavite to the Acting Sheriff do not know of any person by the name of Reynaldo Tirona residing at said barangay. Thus, the Acting Sheriff verified the real identity of defendant Reynaldo Tirona, in view thereof, the Barangay Chairman of P. Espiritu 1, Bacoor, Cavite and the Barangay Kagawad of P. Espiritu II, Bacoor, Cavite, issued certifications that no resident by the name of Reynaldo Tirona resides on their respective barangays.

A Motion to Serve Summons by Publication dated June 21, 2006 was filed by the plaintiff, through this counsel on June 29, 2006 praying that an order be issued, directing that summons be served on the defendant by publication in accordance with Section 14, Rule 14 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Court. On July 14, 2006, the Court grants plaintiff’s motion to Serve summons by publication and to make a report to the Court within thirty (30) days. In relation to the Court’s Order dated July 14, 2006, the Officer-In-Charge of the Court issued Summons on July 25, 2005 to be published by the plaintiff at his own expenses. A Motion for extension of Time to Serve Summons by Publication was filed by the plaintiff on September 13, 2006. On September 25, 2006, plaintiff filed through his counsel filed his Compliance manifesting that plaintiff has already caused the publication of the Summons in the instant case with People’s Balita, a newspaper of general circulation. Plaintiff further manifests that it has already sent a copy of the July 14, 2006 Order, Summons and a copy of the Complaint, together with its Annexes to the defendant Reynaldo Tirona at his last known address.

On November 15, 2006, a Manifestation Re: Service of Summons by Publication with Motion to Declare Defendant Reynaldo Tirona in Default dated November 8, 2006 , was filed by the plaintiff, through his counsel. However, on November 17, 2006, plaintiff and his counsel failed to appear on the scheduled hearing for his motion. This, the Court declared plaintiff’s Motion to declare Reynaldo Tirona in Default deemed abandoned.

A Second Manifestation RE: Service of Summons by Publication with Motion to Declare Defendant Reynaldo Tirona in Default dated January 2, 2007 was filed by the plaintiff on January 10, 2007. On March 30, 2007, the Court granted plaintiff’s Second Motion to Declare Defendant Reynaldo Tirona in Default for his failure to file any responsive pleading within the reglementary period as prescribed by law. Thus, plaintiff is allowed to present his evidence ex-parte.

The ex-parte reception of evidence for the plaintiff conducted on February 22, 2008. To establish the facts of the case, the plaintiff presented its witness, Reynaldo Pascual, of legal age, married and a resident of No. 2, Mt. Williamson Street, Finlinvest I, Batasan Hills, Quezon City, who testified that he is the plaintiff in the instant case. That he is the registered owner of a parcel of Land located at Sitios of Amuyong and Hauilis, Barrios if Matabac, Sinaliw and Kaytitinga Alfonso, Cavite covered

by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-260935 (Exhibit “A: and “A-1”). That said parcel of land was previously owned by Buck Estate, Inc., as evidenced by Transfer Certificate of Title T-218363 (Exhibit “B”). That as a gift for him, the subject lot was bought by his father from Buck Estate, Inc., as evidenced by a Deed of Absolute Sale dated February 9, 1989, executed in his favor by Buck Estate, Inc. annotated as Entry No. 1460-39 at dorsal portion of Exhibit “B” (Exhibit “B-1”). He further testified that he came to know the defendant, Reynaldo Tirona, sometime in 1998, when his father, Col. Lope Q. Pascual informed him that the subject lot (Exhibit “A”) was transferred in the name of said defendant. Upon learning said circumstances, he and his father went to the Register of Deeds of Trece Martirez City to verify the authenticity of said transfer, when in fact, he did not sell the subject land to the defendant. While in RD, Trece Martirez City, they were able to discover that Exhibit “A” was already cancelled and a new one title was issued under the name of the defendant. Thus, they asked from RD, Trece Martirez City a photocopy of the new title under the name of the defendant and the Deed of Absoltue Sale dated August 4, 1994 (Exhibits “C” and “C-1”), allegedly executed by him in favor of the said defendant and used by the latter as his basis for transferring the title under his name. When he saw Exhibits “C” and “C-1” he immediately noticed that his signature allegedly affixed on it does not belong to him and he pointed it to his father. When his father saw the forged signature on Exhibits “C” and “C-1”, his father advised to go to the then Criminal Investigation Service of the Philippine National Police to have the matter investigated. While at the Criminal Investigation Service of the Philippine National Police, it advised them to have his signature on Exhibits “C” and “C-1” be subject to a handwriting examination. Thus, on March 31, 1998, he and his father went to the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory and arranged for the examination of Exhibits “C” and “C-1” by its document examiner. They brought the document examiner of PNP Crime Laboratory to RD, Trece Martirez City in order to photograph the alleged forged signature on Exhibits “C”, “C-1” and “C-2”. In relation to the examination conducted by the document examiner of PNP Crime Laboratory, he executed Document Examination Report No. 068-98 on April 13, 1998 (Exhibits “D”, “D-1”, and “D-2”). The Document Examination Officer arrived in a Conclusion which states that : “CONCLUSION: 1. The question signatures REYNALDO C. PASCUAL marked “Q-1”pages Deed of Absolute Sale dated 04 August 1994 and the submitted standard signatures of Reynaldo C. Pascual marked “S-1” to “S-7” inclusive, WERE WRITTEN BY TWO DIFFERENT PERSONS (Exhibit “D-2”).

On clarificatory question posed by the duly designated commissioner, Reynaldo Pascual testified that his father was the one who purchased the subject parcel of land from Buck Estate, Inc. That said parcel of land was given to him by his father as a gift. That his father has caused the transfer of the subject title under his name. That as far as he knows, it was his cousin who facilitated the transfer of the subject title under his name. That it was his father who asked his cousin if the latter gave to somebody’s possession the subject title.

February 6, 2009, by Leave of Court, plaintiff, through his counsel filed a Motion to Take Deposition dated January 29, 2009, praying that the testimony of Col. Lope Q. Pascual, who at that time is in United States of America, be taken through deposition upon written interrogatories pursuant to Rule 23 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure. In an Order dated February 13, 2009, plaintiff’s Motion to Take Deposition was granted considering that there was no opposition coming from the defendant who was already declared in default for his failure to file any answer within the period required by law.

On October 21, 2009, the plaintiff presented ex-parte its second witness, Col. Lope Q. Pascual, of legal age, retiree and a resident of No. 7, Mt. Williamson Street, Filinvest I, Quezon City who testified that plaintiff Reynaldo C. Pascual, is his son. That he does not know personally the defendant Reynaldo C. Tirona, he came to know him between the year 1997 to 1998 when they discovered that the parcel of land owned by his son, Reynaldo Pascual, was transferred under said defendant’s name. He further testified that he bought a parcel of land located at Sitios Amuyong and Hauilis, Barrios Matabac, Sinaliw and Kaytitinga, Alfonso, Cavite covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-218363 from Buck Estate, Inc. (Exhibit “B”), as evidenced by a Deed of Absolute Sale dated February 9, 1989, executed by Buck Estate, Inc. in favor of his son, annotated at the dorsal portion Exhibit “B: as Entry No. 1460-39 (Exhibit “B-1”). Although he was the one who bought and paid the subject parcel of land, he gave it to his son as a gift to him, thus, he asked Buck Estate, Inc. to execute the Deed of Absolute Sale directly in favor of his son. He had an arrangement with Buck Estate, Inc. to pay the subject parcel of land in installment for a period of five (5) years. After purchasing the subject parcel of land, the first cousin of his wife, Elias Isidro, volunteered himself to work on the transfer of the subject title under the name of his son. Considering the Isidro Elias is the first cousin of his wife, he fully entrusted to him the facilitation of the transfer of the title’s name under his son. As a result, Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-260935 was issued under the name of his son (Exhibits “A” and “A-1”). After the facilitation of the transfer of the subject title to his son, Elias Isidro failed to turn over to him all the documents related to the subject title. Unfortunately, he forgot already to get all the documents related to the subject title from Elias Isidro, until Atty. Avaceña, the lawyer of Elias Isidro, confessed to him that Elias caused the transfer of the title from his son to another person, while Elias mortgaged his other property in favor of the bank. After learning it, he informed his son, Reynaldo Pascual, and accompanied him to the Register of Deeds of Trece Martiez City. While at RD, Trece Martirez City, they discovered that the title under the name of his son was already cancelled and transferred to another person’s name, thus they asked the RD, Trece Martirez City for a photocopy of the title that replaced his son’s title. After knowing that the transferee is a certain Reynaldo C. Tirona, they asked the RD, Trece Martirez City for a photocopy of the Deed of Absolute Sale which was used as bases for transferring his son’s title in the name of the defendant. After obtaining the Deed of Absolute Sale, his son called his attention with regards to the signature appearing on top of his signature. According to his son, the signature which is supposed to be his is allegedly forged, thus, he suggested his son to refer such alleged forgery to a document investigator. In connection thereto, he and his son went to Criminal Investigation Service of the Philippine National Police, the latter agency advised them to have the signature of his son be subjected to a handwriting examination. Thus, on March 31, 1998, he accompanied his son to Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory and arranged for the examination of the subject Deed of Absolute Sale by the document examiner. Afterwhich, they brought the document examiner of PNP Crime Laboratory to RD, Trece Martirez City. The document examiner took photographs of the signature which appeared at the alleged Deed of Absolute Sale in favor of the defendant (Exhibit “C”) for handwriting examination. The findings of the document examiner showed that the alleged signature of his son appearing in Exhibit “C” was forged, as evidenced by Document Examination Report No. 068-98 on April 13, 1998 (Exhibits “D”, “D-1”, and “D-2”). Moreover, after learning that indeed the signature of his son on Exhibit “C” was forged, they also investigated the identity of defendant, Reynaldo C. Tirona by going to the address of the sad defendant as indicated on the Deed of Absolute Sale, allegedly executed by the plaintiff in favor of said defendant (Exhibit “C”), which is P. Espiritu Street, Bacoor, Cavite. When they reached the place, the Barangay Captain of P. Espiritu Street, Bacoor, Cavite informed them that the entire time he has been residing in said place, no person by the name of Reynaldo C. Tirona ever lived on their place. Furthermore, the Acting Sheriff of the court made a Return dated June 13, 2006, stating that all his verifications with Barangay P.

Espiritu I, Barangay P. Espiritu II, and Barangay P. Espiritu III, no such person by the name of Reynaldo C. Tirona ever lived in said three (3) barangays (Exhibit “E”and “E-1”).

On August 6, 2010, the last witness for the plaintiff was presented ex-parte, Steve Lacap, of legal age, police officer of Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory and a resident of Camp Crame, Quezon City testified that he appeared before the court by virtue of a subpoena dated October 28, 2009 issued by the Court requiring him to bring with him Document Examination Report No. 068-98 (Exhibit “F”). That he has been connected with the PNP Crime Laboratory Document Examination as Evidence Custodian for more than a year already. As Evidence Custodian, the originals of documents to be used as evidence in court proceedings are in his custody. That in connection with Exhibit “F” he brought along with him Document Examination Report No. 068-98 (Exhibits “D” and “D-1”). That Police Inspector Leonito Manipol Cantollas, the Document Examination Officer who conducted the examination is already retired from service but at the time he examined Exhibit “D”, he is still connected with the PNP Crime Laboratory. That Police Inspector Teresita Espartero Mendoza and Police Chief Superintendent Victor Batac were authorized signatories of the document examination division.

After the ex-parte presentation of plaintiff’s evidence, the latter through his counsel, formally offered the following exhibits:

Exhibit “A” – Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-260935 in the name of Reynaldo C. Pascual;

Exhibit “A-1” – Page 2 of TCT No. T-260935 Reynaldo C. Pascual;

Exhibit “B” – Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-218363 in the name

of Buck Estate, Inc.;

Exhibit “B-1” – Entry No. 1460-39 inscribed at the back of TCT No. No. T-218363;

Exhibit “B-2” - Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-484613 in the name of Reynaldo Tirona;

Exhibit “B-3” – Page 2 of TCT No. 484613;

Exhibit “C” – Forged Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 4, 1994;

Exhibit “C-1” – Page 2 of the Deed of Absolute Sale

Exhibit “C-2” – Name and the alleged signature of Reynaldo Pascual appearing on the forged Deed of Absolute Sale with his Tax Account Number;

Exhibit “D” – PNP Crime Laboratory Examination Report No. 068-98;

Exhibit “D-1” – Page 2 of Exhibit “D”;

Exhibit “D-2” – Conclusion as found on Page 1 of Exhibit “D”;

Exhibit “E” – Sheriff’s Return of the Summons dated June 13, 2006;

Exhibit “E-1” – Second Paragraph of Exhibit “E”; and

Exhibit “F” – Subpoena dated October 28, 2009 issued by the Honorable Court.

On August 10, 2010, all exhibits which were offered by the petitioner’s counsel were admitted for the purpose for which they were being offered. Consequently, the plaintiff rested his case and submitted the case for decision.

Based on the facts and circumstances of the case and the evidences adduced by the plaintiff, the following issues are to be resolved by the Court:

1. Whether or not the evidence presented by the plaintiff against the subject Deed of Absolute Sale is clear, convincing and more than merely preponderant to overcome both the presumption of regularity attached to public documents and to meet the stringent requirements to prove perjury?

2. Whether or not the Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 4, 1994 allegedly executed by plaintiff, Reynaldo C. Pascual, in favor of defendant, Reynaldo C. Tirona, should be declared null and void, pursuant to the Article 1409 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines?

3. Whether or not Transfer Certificate of Title o. (T-484613) 32173 of the Registry of Deeds for the Province of Cavite be nullified for having been issued pursuant to forged Deed of Absolute sale?

4. Whether or not Transfer Certificate of Title No. T- 260935 of the Registry of Deeds for the Province of Cavite under the name of plaintiff, Reynaldo S. Pascual, should be reinstated?

5. Whether or not, plaintiff, Reynaldo S. Pascual, is entitled to all the damages being of claimed against the defendant?

As a rule, forgery cannot be presumed and must be proved by clear, positive and convincing evidence and the burden of proof lies on the party alleging forgery (Heirs of Gregorio v. Court of Appeals, 300 SCRA 565; 1998).

To determine forgery, it was held in Cesar v. Sandiganbayan (G.R. Nos. 54719-50, 17 January 1985 (quoting Osborn, The Problem of Proof) that:

“The process of identification, therefore, must include the determination of the extent, kind, and significance of this resemblance as well as of the variation. It then becomes necessary to determine whether the variation is due to the operation of a different personality, or is only the expected and inevitable variation found in the genuine writing of the same writer. It is also necessary to decide whether the resemblance is the result of a more or less skillful imitation or is the habitual and characteristic resemblance which naturally appears in a genuine writing. When these two questions are correctly answered the whole problem of identification is solved.”

A perusal of records reveal that indeed there is a significant difference between the signatures of the plaintiff in the questioned Deed of Absolute Sale (Exhibit “C-2”) from his signatures appearing on the Verification, on his Community Tax Certificate No. CCI2005 12745180 and hi Driver’s License No. N06-79-032377, attached on the Complaint. Even a cursory examination of Reynaldo C. Pascual’s questioned signature from the specimen signatures in the Deed of Absolute Sale would show that it needs no expert witness to notice the wide difference in stroke. Moreover, said discrepancy was corroborated by the result of the examination conducted by the PNP Crime Laboratory, as evidenced by Document Examination Report No. 068-98 (Exhibits “D”, “D-1” and “D-2”). An accurate examination to determine forgery should dwell on both the differences

Sept. 12-18, 2011 7 Vol. II No. 66

and the similarities between the questioned signatures (Causapin v. Court of Appeals , G.R. No. 107432, 4 July 1994, 233 SCRA 613, 623). Defendant, Reynaldo C. Tinorio, presented no evidence to overcome the plaintiff’s allegation that indeed his signature on the question Deed of Absolute Sale was forged. As the record reveals, the defendant failed to file his answer within the reglementary period, thus, declaring him in default.

It is significant to stress that the main thrust in the case at bar is the regularity and validity of the assailed Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 4, 1994 (Exhibits “C”, “C-1” and “C-2”) allegedly executed by plaintiff, Reynaldo C. Pascual, in favor of the defendant, Reynaldo C. Tirona. As such, we must not confuse the issue at hand by averring that other documents should be considered in determining the validity of the deed of absolute sale. The reason is simple: the valid execution of the Deed of Absolute Sale will convey and transfer ownership in favor of defendant’s title based on the rule that by the contract of sale one of the contracting parties obligates himself to transfer ownership of and to deliver determinate thing, and the other to pay therefor a sum certain in money or its equivalent (Coronel vs. Court of Appeals, 263 SCRA 15). The fact that in the assailed Deed of Absolute Sale the signature of the plaintiff, Reynaldo C. Pascual was forged per findings of Police Inspector Leonito Manipol Cantiollas, Document Examination Officer of PNP Crime Laboratory, it can therefore be inferred that the subsequent issuance of Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-484613 has no basis at all since ownership was not conveyed to defendant by reason of the forged Deed.

At the outset, the Court entertains no doubt that the questioned Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 4, 1994, allegedly signed by plaintiff, Reynaldo C. Pascual, in favor of defendant, Reynaldo C. Tirona, is void because plaintiff’s signature therein is a patent forgery. Records show

that a discrepancy between the signatures of the plaintiff on the ques-tioned Deed of Absolute Sale from his signatures appearing on the Veri-fication, Community Tax Certificate and Driver’s License, attached on the Complaint, exist. Moreover, said discrepancy was corroborated by the result of the examination conducted by the PNP Crime Laboratory

Article 1409 of the Civil Code of the Philippines states:

Article 1409. The following contracts are inexistent and void from the beginning:

1. Those who cause, object or purpose is contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order, or public policy;

2. Those which are absolutely simulated or fictitious;

3. Those whose cause or object did not exist at the time of the trans-action;

4. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;

5. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;

6. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;

Those expressly prohibited or declared void by law.These contracts cannot be ratified. Neither can the right to set up the defense of illegally be waived. (italics provided)

Under the provisions of the Civil Code governing contracts, a void or inexistent contract has no force and effect from the very beginning. And this rule applies to contracts that are declared void by positive provision

of law (Civil Code of the Philippines, Art. 1409) as in the case of a sale of property with the forged signature of its registered owner. A void con-tract is equivalent to nothing and is absolutely wanting in civil effects. It cannot be validated either by ratification or prescription (Id., Vol. IV (1990-1991 Edition) Arturo M. Tolentino, pp. 629 & 613).

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the plaintiff was able to establish a strong preponderance of evidence in his favor. Accordingly, Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-484613 is hereby declared NULL AND VOID, and is hereby CANCELLED.

1. The Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 4, 1994 that plaintiff, Reynaldo S. Pascual, allegedly executed in favor of defendant, Reynaldo C. Tirona, as well as the Transfer Certificate of Title T-484613- that the Register of Deeds for the Province of Cavite issued in the name of the defendant pursuant to that Deed of Ab-solute Sale are DECLARED void;

2. The Register of Deeds for Tagaytay City is DIRECTED to rein-state Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-260935 in the name of REYNALDO S. PASCUAL, of legal age, Filipino, single; and

3. Defendant is further ordered to pay damages in favor of the plain-tiff the amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00), as well as attorney’s fees in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00).

SO ORDERED.Tagaytay City, September 22, 2010.

EMMA S. YOUNG Acting Presiding Judge

2011 World Chess Cup

THE 2011 World Chess Cup has opened its doors to welcome 128 topnotch play-

ers from 46 countries to compete who will reign supreme among the cream of the crop at the newly-built Ugra Cultural Center in Khanty-Mansiysk, Rus-sia recently.

GMs Wesley So and Mark Paragua, both capa-ble of pulling the rug from under the heavy favorites, represent the charge for Team Philippines in this seven-round, knock-out style tournament that offers a guaranteed US$1.6 mil-lion cash prize.

Wesley So, who rose to prominence by becoming the world’s seventh young-est player to earn a GM title in December 2007, is looking to duplicate, if not surpass, his success-ful 2009 World Chess Cup campaign.

The Filipino grandmas-ter opened up his winning run by defeating GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, 3-1, in the first round be-fore shocking the world chess realm by smashing the former world cham-pionship candidate GM Vassily Ivanchuk in the second round.

In the third round, So again weaved his wizardry over the 64-squared board by outplaying the 2007 World Chess champion GM Gata Kamsky of the US via 53-moves of the Steinitz-Boleslavsky varia-tion of the French Defense.

However, So’s impres-sive run was spoiled by

GM Vladimir Malakhov of Russia, 4-1, in their rapid tiebreak showdown in the fourth round.

GM So’s round-of-16 finish was considered the best showing by a Filipino in the World Cup, surpass-ing the feats of GMs Rog-elio Antonio Jr and Mark Paragua who reached as far as the second round.

Asia’s first GM Eu-gene Torre qualified as far as the quarterfinal stage but in a different world championship elimination format. Torre could have vied for the world chess crown against GM Anatoly Karpov had it not been for Zoltan Ribli of Hungary who had other things in mind and spoiled Torre’s aspiration for a world chess recognition.

The road to this year’s World Chess Cup has not been served to So (ELO 2658) on a silver platter as he became among the play-ers to watch for following his impressively strong showing in this same event two years ago.

There was GM Ding Liren (ELO 2656), the two-time Chinese national open champion, who defeated So in a competition while they were only 12 years old. However, Ding lost to So, 1.5-2.5, that came in as a sweet revenge and a bet-ter time for So to advance to the next round.

In the second round, GM Sergey Karjakin (ELO 2788) of Russia narrowly escaped the threats of So and came up with two consecutive draws in their standard match and in the

first game of the tiebreak in the second round.

Living up to his bill-ing as the top-seed of the tournament, GM Karjakin brought the ax down on the Filipino champ as So failed to stop his fancied rival’s attack and resigned on the 38th move of their Caro-Kann advanced variation game.

“The match was dif-ficult… Wesley employed the line recently used by

Yuri Drozdovsky against my second Alexander Motylev to add some psy-chological pressure but I already knew where to move my pieces and had some ideas. The opponent didn’t handle the position right and lost the game,” GM Karjakin said during the post-game conference.

So agreed with what his opponent said. “Perhaps I should have selected an-other line,” Wesley added.

FREEZING TOWNHEATS UP AGAIN!

By RONALDO B. HERICO

GM Mark Paragua, the other Filipino participant, earned his third World Cup appearance by virtue of a runner-up finish to GM Susanto Megaranto of In-donesia in the Asian Zone 3.3 championship held in Tagaytay City last month.

Paragua, who qualified for the 2004 World Cham-pionship in Tripoli, Libya, but was eliminated by GM Viktor Bologan of Moldo-va, 1-3, in the first round.

Filipino chess champ GM Wesley So ponders for his

move against the tournament top seed GM Sergey Karjakin

of Russia in their second round match of the 2011 World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansisysk, Rus-

sia. So was later booted out and failed in his bid to dupli-cate his round-of-16 finish in

the 2009 edition.

The pride of Meycauy-an, Bulacan also quali-fied for 2005 World Cup, where he upset GM Sergei Movsesian of Armenia in the first round before narrowly losing in the tie breaker to GM Alexey Dreev of Russia in the sec-ond round.

Paragua, the first ever Filipino to breach the 2600 mark, faced a tough first round assignment against GM Michael Adams.

Adams, England’s top player and currently hold-ing the number 28 spot in the world ranking, became Paragua’s first round op-ponent after pairing revi-sion was made by FIDE. The world chess governing body did not explain why such revision was made.

The change, how-ever, hardly mattered as Paragua succumbed after 37 moves of a classical Nimzo-Indian game.

8 Vol. II No. 66 Sept. 12-18, 2011

By BERTENI “TOTO” CATALUÑA CAUSING

THE best answer I could give on this 1st of Septem-ber 2011 is: "A man MSU built."

If a graduate of University of the Philippines or Ateneo or La Salle is proud to tell the whole world they are a product of his or her school, perhaps I am much prouder when I would sum up myself:

"No man can put an MSUan down. I am a man Mindanao State University built--out of nothing."

I was a young man of nothing because my par-ents had nothing to pull out of their pockets if only to spend for my college education.

Lucky for me, aside from graduating with hon-ors (Second Honorable Mention, Best in Math, Best in English Writing, Model Student of the Year, and Gerry Roxas Leadership Award) from Koronadal Na-tional Comprehensive High School in 1982, my Dad Remo Centeno Causing and Mom Marianita Cataluña Causing would not be burdened: I got many college scholarship awards to choose from.

Two of those scholarships were full scholarship awards from MSU in Marawi and MSU-Iligan Insti-tute of Technology. At that time, the MSU campus in General Santos City was the nearest to me but its courses were only up to high school. I had also full scholarship offers from the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato and Univer-sity of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City.

Of the three elite schools I mentioned above, only Ateneo had campuses in Mindanao: one in Davao City and another in Zamboanga City.

While my parents were thinking about celebrating a thanksgiving in our house in Baldostamon Subdivi-sion, I was clueless on what was lying ahead of me. I cannot stop them from enjoying in their feeling of being so proud of their eldest son who graduated with the most medals.

My dad and mom were not oblivious of the fact that my mind was disturbed by the thought that during my last two years in high school, our house never had any electrical connection to South Cotabato Electric Cooperative. I admit, everyday my father would steal electricity from lines passing through a “kamuntiel” tree beside our house and he would dutifully beat the sun to remove the hooks or linesmen would put us in terrible public shame as electricity thieves. I cannot forget the words of my father: “Maskin mangutang ako ipatumba ko isa ka baboy para sa bata ko. Ti, libre na sa college e.” I was smiling with a grin while hearing those.

When summer of ’82 was about to complete, I was asking friends on which school to study. I was consid-

Soliloquy of a man MSU built – out of nothing:

No one can put an MSUan down!

Who am I?ering MSU in Marawi and in Iligan but I was afraid of the stories of deaths and brutalities lurking there. But the story of poverty in our family was compelling: I ended up choosing MSU Marawi.

Upon entering the campus, accompanied by my mother, I was confused. Luckily, we met elder students who came from South Cotabato and they entertained us. Among them, I specially mention Isidro Planto (now a high school principal) and Feldion Tupas (now a mu-nicipal officer in Lake Sebu doing big business out of tilapia).

On that very same day, my mother left me and I cried a river in the company of these newfound friends: it was the first time for me to be separated from her. Never-theless, homesickness diminished little by little: Thanks to the golf course (where I would usually study and let student's stresses out and do some bonding with my frat brothers and sisters). When classes began, I found my-self shocked by the way of teaching although I easily adjusted to the regimen.

The rest of the stories there inside the campus showed me making a name for myself. Many thanks to those dean’s lists posted on bulletin boards. I found myself excelling in Math, English, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. I also enjoyed the company of Alpha Cosine Theta, a fraternity of engineering students and mathematicians doing tutorial lectures to students who seemed like were born to be poor in numbers.

Frankly, I knew I could have graduated a Magna Cum Laude from MSU. But my laziness got the better of me. An incomplete grade lapsed into a 5.0 to disqualify me from becoming one, although my general average made the cut for a “cum laude” honor. Nevertheless, I comforted myself that the honor one got from school does not determine the success or failure of a man.

I graduated only in April of 1988, due to failure to complete some academic requirements. Thereafter, I went to the hometown of my grandfather, Agosto Posa-das Causing, in Ajuy, Iloilo. There, aside from doing community engineering works, I enjoyed the company of my cousins and relatives, almost all of them sported “Causing” as the family name.

In 1989, I left for Manila to go for the proverbial “greener pasture.” I found myself doing first the job of a spinner in a disco house in Quezon City. Thereafter, I got a job that carried with big pride: project engineer although not yet licensed.

Thereafter, I found myself applying to become a sportswriter of People’s Journal Tonight. I was given an examination by Sports Editor Ed Andaya, who then took me in and gave assignment right for the next day.

Thank you so much Pareng Ed: He trained me in the art of sportswriting and it was the learning I got from him that earned me the honor to be offered by Mr. Alfredo Marquez (may his soul watch me from heaven) an appointment to become a copy editor of the news desk.

While covering sports events, I was bringing with me my engineering books to review them after work. Eventually, I took the licensure examination for civil engineers. (During that time, board exam results would come out more than a year from the day of the examination.) While waiting for the result, I was pro-moted to be a senior desk editor. One day, my colleagues in the sportswriting community called up one to surprise me with congratulations. (Noli Cortez was the first to do so.) Times Journal Sports Editor Enrique “Tata Iking” Gonzales put on my sports story this byline, “By Engineer Berteni C. Causing.” Thanks a lot to him. Since I found writing won-derful, I decided to stay put where the news is, so to speak.

Thereafter, I stepped up the ladder of my writing career until I was appointed as news editor by the greatest press free-dom fighter of all time, Joe Burgos (the father of the missing Jonas Burgos).

In 2001, I thought of pursuing a law degree. So I studied, again as a schol-ar, at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) College of Law, which I chose due to its proximity to my office at Port Area, Manila. In 2005, I gradu-ated as the only man in a class. While working as the managing editor of Ka-bayan newspaper, I was doing reviews. Alas, all except for one of us in the PLM Law Class 2005 passed for a 90% pass-ing rate.

In every stage of my life was always a story of struggle. But the survival training and excellent academic regi-

men I hurdled at MSU would always make me a better man after each mis-fortune. That is, although regret would always form a part of each story of fall: thinking that the cause was so simple that I could have not fallen. The bitter and better part of this lesson is: One stands only right where he falls.

Nevertheless, past can never be pres-ent unless one would allow bad history catch up with and trip him or her down.

Now, I am impassioned with the work of pushing for the ultimate justice system that will be the ultimate solution to all socio-political problems of the Filipinos. I am actively doing a cam-paign to educate the people about jury system, a mechanism where it is the people who act as judges instead of the judges and the prosecutors, the ombuds-men and arbiters, most of whom betray the people, consciously or otherwise.

My tears always fall upon see-ing judges and fiscals forget that their power to judge belongs to the people and that it is only entrusted to these sup-posed “men of laws.”

No one can overturn my belief that only when the Philippines is under a jury system that it can truly become a government for the people, by the peo-ple, of the people.

As firm as my belief that no one can put an MSUan down, I will see to it that my graveyard someday will bloom with wreaths of flowers of justice born out of the jury system, which I can accept as a reward or punishment in exchange for my only life.

And as a tribute to the institution that built me to give true meaning to all my dreams and is celebrating its found-ing today, I can boast nothing can pin me down: “No man can put an MSUan down. I am a man MSU built—out of nothing.”

MSU!Line of trees at the golf course of MSU in Marawi, where I studies my lessons.

Berteni “Toto” Cataluña Causing poses for poster-ity inside Room 22, Super New Boys Dormitory, immedi-ately after graduat-ing with a degree of Bachelor of Sci-ence in Civil Engi-neering on April 5, 1988.

HAPPY 5OthBIRTHDAY