Every spouse knows that mutual support is a huge factor in any successful marriage. And I’m not just talking about financial support — I’m talking about emotional, mental, professional and even spiritual support, in whatever context you want to put it. But when a husband loses his chance — again — to fulfill a long-standing ... (more)
Will candidates care about the environment AFTER the elections?
Posted on May 3, 2010 · 17 Comments
We went to the supermarket earlier today and, as we turned the corner to Circumferential Road, Sam noticed a GMA 7 truck in front of us and wondered what event was taking place. The answer became obvious just as few seconds later. As we passed the Yñares Sports Complex along Circumferential Road, there were new ... (more)
Dinner with the U.S. ambassador
Posted on April 30, 2010 · 49 Comments
A day after I handed my notice to Manila Standard Today, there was an e-mail from a member of the paper’s staff with the phone number of someone from the U.S. embassy. Understand that I’ve gotten invitations to U.S. embassy functions before (I never went) and I was familiar with the routine — I was ... (more)
About the newspaper columns
Posted on April 19, 2010 · 27 Comments
In July, 2005, my first opinion column was published in Manila Standard Today. Because it was an offshoot of A sassy lawyer in Philippine suburbia blog, the name “Sassy Lawyer” was retained. Over the next four years and nine months, I would also write feature articles for the paper, mostly travel-related. Once, a photo I ... (more)
Dirty politics
Posted on April 15, 2010 · 12 Comments
Search Google with the key string “smear campaign Philippine elections” and you’ll get a list, about four pages long, of the same Agence France Presse (AFP) report by Maynardo Macaraig entitled “Internet fuels Philippine election smear campaigns.” It reads in part: Philippine politics has plunged to ugly lows ahead of next month’s presidential election as ... (more)
A less than perfect anti-sexual harassment law
Posted on March 30, 2010 · 56 Comments
A reader asks for advice about a male office supervisor who makes her uncomfortable with his excessive praises over her physical appearance. She says that when he says things like “That blouse shows off your curves and cleavage magnificently” especially in the presence of co-workers, she feels that he is undressing her mentally. Worse, she ... (more)
A world of pure imagination
Posted on March 23, 2010 · 18 Comments
If you’re an artist, imagination is a premium asset. If you’re a lawyer, the ability to imagine helps to think out of the box and that can lead to theories and arguments never before heard of nor used that can be helpful not only to a client but to jurisprudence as well. But when you ... (more)
Windmills in my mind
Posted on March 18, 2010 · 32 Comments
A couple of days ago, I was watching a news report about two deaths in the country as a result of the intense summer heat. Imelda Lingan was a resident of Tuguegarao, a middle-aged woman who was already suffering from hypertension, who didn’t take her medication regularly, then died from complications resulting from her condition ... (more)
Where a PTA does not exist
Posted on March 16, 2010 · 10 Comments
Does the school that your child attend have a duly organized Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)? I have a daughter in fourth year high school, she has been studying in the same school since the sixth grade and, in all those years, no PTA existed or was organized. Contrary to what some people think, organizing a PTA ... (more)
Bishops are not kings
Posted on March 11, 2010 · 23 Comments
In a predominantly Catholic country, it takes guts to go around flower shops and give away free condoms on Valentine’s Day – even if it’s part of a campaign of the Department of Health. But Secretary Esperanza Cabral did it anyway and she’s now under fire from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) ... (more)
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