Bar Exam 2020-2021

Last month, I took the bar exam. Again. 

It really says something about the uncertainty of the times when the 2020 and 2021 bar exams were held on the February of 2022. It was originally supposed to be held on November of 2021 but was postponed to January 2022, and then again to February 2022. Frankly, I just wanted the damn thing to be over with. 

The exam was especially stressful for reasons other than the actual exam itself. Aside from the "will they, won't they" postponements, if you tested positive for the China virus, you wouldn't be allowed to enter into the testing centers. Examinees were therefore forced to self-isolate for a long period of time. As you can imagine, this was a terrible pain in the ass, especially for people with jobs and other commitments. People plan their lives around this particular exam, you know. Imagine having the exam postponed three times and then having to arrange for leave just so you won't get the wu-flu. 

A Historic Exam

The 2020-2021 Bar Exam was "historic" for three reasons: it was the first time the exam was held in places outside Manila, it was the first digital exam, and the exam subjects were compressed to two Sundays instead of four. 

It was the digital format of the exam that facilitated the move to alternative venues, really. All we needed were the software and the internet connection. For the most part, the testing centers were necessary only to keep an eye on us. It's amazing that it only took a global pandemic to force the Supreme Court to do what ought to have been done decades ago. The bar exams of yesteryear look antiquated at best and callous at worst. The inconvenience and cost of travelling to Manila to take the exams for four Sundays of a month is clearly no longer reasonable to ask of examinees.

Personally, the move to a digital format made things much easier on the wrist and there was no more fumbling with booklets and little envelopes. All you had to do was to download the exam in the morning or at the testing center and then the password to open the exam file would be given at the testing center once the exam began. The software was easy enough to use. The best part of course, was the ability to easily edit ones answers - no more inky messes from crossing out of errors. 

On the matter of the questions itself, I found them tricky. They were tricky in a sense that if you tended to overthink things, you'd probably make a mistake. Some subjects were cut while others were combined into one. It was very unusual. For example, Taxation Law, the bane of my existence, was cut down to only two questions and combined in one exam to be taken together with Commercial Law and Civil Law. The result of the compression of subjects meant that the pool to draw potential questions was very wide. Therefore, I had to stick to the syllabus diligently and pray there were no curve balls. 

One other thing that I observed in the exam was that there weren't any questions regarding recent landmark jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. For example, I was very confident that KMU vs. Aquino would be asked in Political Law, but it wasn't. But I suppose that would be too predictable. 

The questions were either about the practical application of the laws or indirect problems that required the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of new additions or quirks to the law. As another example, there was a curious question about whether a single proprietor can start a corporation with only himself as the sole officer and shareholder. The concept of single-person corporations is a relatively new addition to our Corporate Law. If you were confronted with that question, your mind would naturally go through the checklist on the requirements to form a single-person corporation, that is, if you remembered the law.

In Conclusion

As if to show that the exams were hip to the times, announcements regarding the exam were tweeted with the hashtag #bestbarever. Best bar ever? Well, I suppose I'm in a better position to judge if it's the best bar exam ever, seeing as how this is the second time I've taken the damn thing. I can say, out of all the bar exams I've taken, this was the best bar exam ever. There, happy?

Would it be odd to say that I enjoyed the bar exams? I guess that's only because the first one was hell. This time, it was in my home court so to speak. I actually got to rest on my own bed beforehand and go to the testing center with a home-cooked meal instead of a crushed burger from some fast food place. These little comforts are advantages that cannot be ignored. The battle is not just about knowledge but of mindset after all. I was in a better "space" and that counts for a lot.

I can't say with confidence that I passed the exam. You never really know with these things. 

All I can do now is just wait.

FFXIV OST Dravanian Forelands Night Theme ( Painted Skies )

1/3 No Junjo Na Kanjo

Election Ramble

 With all the other things going on, I forgot that this is an election year. Hooray. 

I remember reading a Social Studies textbook in grade school wherein democracy was described as "the greatest gift" the Americans gave us. Nowadays, the whole system has lost its lustre and the idea that it was a gift bestowed upon us by Uncle Sam will probably draw vitriol from the anti-colonial chic. 

I learned more from my teacher than from an obviously slanted book. He said something to me which I thought was profound and has stuck with me ever since. To paraphrase, he taught me that it is not the system of government itself that was important but that the ends of the state are achieved. It was an odd statement to tell a grade schooler and certainly runs contrary to prevailing idea that democracy is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Thinking about the "ends" of the state really gets the mind going. To what end is the Philippine ship of state careening toward, I wonder. What's the point of it all? For what reason do we hold this bodabil every four and six years? 

Ask any man on the street what the purpose of the government is and you'll be told it is to provide "services". Ours is a transactional arrangement as befits the history and culture. Forget ideology and principle, Philippine politics is a clash of clans and a clash of interests. The common folk just want the best deal they can carve out for themselves. Nobody talks about what the candidates stand for and nobody cares really. The truth is that they're all interchangeable and all promise fundamentally the same things, if they even deign to promise something specific at all. It's usually motherhood statements about livelihood and more social programs. Say what you will about Duterte but his spiel on crime was at least about an actual specific issue. 

So now we have Leni Robredo and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the choices the hidden hands have decided for us. I refuse to refer to the later as "Bong Bong" as I find that moniker intolerably puerile, even by Philippine standards. I'll just call him Fred. I don't like either of them and these people, along with the other jokers like Pacquiao running around, only reassure me that I'm right in not even participating in the process.

When looking at Leni and Fred, the thought of the People Power revolution comes to mind. Leni is with the "yellow" crowd, for lack of a better classification. The events in EDSA nearly half a century ago casts a long shadow over us from which we may never escape. Playing the part of Cory as humble woman/housewife is Leni. Playing the part of the devil is Freddy, who also cannot escape from his father's shadow.

By the way, calling her supporters the "yellows" is not a lazy term in my opinion. It's not like Philippine musical chair political parties are based on policy platforms. You might as well just use a primary colour to describe them like a kindergartener would. Why not? That's the level of the political discourse.

I don't care much for Leni so I don't have much to say about her.

Fred on the other hand, I find interesting. I find him interesting in the same way I find lead poisoning interesting. After EDSA, the Marcos line and all their cronies should have been lined up and shot like a right and proper revolution should have done. Yet, they stuck around like a lingering poison. Of course Freddy would be in the running for the presidency. It seems destined almost.

So what do I think about Fred? I've already concluded that it's practically impossible to form an opinion about him. It's bad enough that he's ultimately unknowable as is the nature of a politician but there's so much emotional energy swirling about him. He's either Jesus or the devil to people. That people hate him I can understand but why people love him I can't quite.

 I think people like Fred in the same way that people liked Duterte, more as a "fuck you" to the establishment, never mind of course that Freddy is himself the establishment. Really, the problem with the Philippines is all these elite cliques in the upper strata setting the terms for the rest of us. That's Philippine history in a nutshell. Our precious democracy is not one at all. It's top down, not bottom up. What's the point in choosing our leaders when the choice itself is from a small pool of the rich and connected? Politics on the local level are a disappointment but that's a whole other topic.

Freddy is no different from Pnoy. They're privileged scions, cut from the same cloth. Think about it. You know it's true.

Whoever wins, we lose.

The Lotus Eaters - The First Picture Of You

It's a Start

 It's been a while and I suppose I owe the three people who read this blog an explanation.

When I look back to all the things I've written in this blog, I find that a lot of it is gibberish. These past few years have been strange for me. No, it's not politics or the pandemic. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, my view of the world and of life in general has changed. I realized that nothing is what it seems and I don't really know anything.

Nothing is what is seems. The world is full of lies. Even those things which aren't purposely misleading could just be illusions. I am a human being of limited faculties. I only have five senses and they're not even that great. Things I see or hear may not be accurate and even then, it's filtered into a brain with limited intelligence and inherent biases. 

It grieves me to say that people are not who they seem either. As if my trust issues weren't bad enough, I've observed that people are so inconstant. Given the right circumstances, people who you think are above misbehavior will happily do so and justify themselves after the fact. Worse still, this is perfectly normal, I do it myself. People are not who they say they are and virtue-signaling peacocks on social media are fools. Very few people have ever been put to the test.

So what's all this have to do with this blog? To put it simply, I felt discouraged and lost confidence...for the past two to three years apparently. I no longer believed in what I was writing.

But I've decided to try again. Why now? Good question. Why now, especially after a super typhoon wrecked my hometown and I can only get electricity and internet connection three times a day? Why not?

As strange as it sounds, knowing that everything is so unclear brings a certain clarity in one's perspective. Everything seems so light now. I can't describe it very well but it's like not caring so much anymore, you know? And so I am resolved to just write about whatever now, to hell with everything. Even if it's not the absolute truth or some mind-blowing piece of wisdom, you shouldn't be reading this blog for that anyway. I write partly for myself. It's an exorcism.

More to come, hopefully.

Undercover - Never let her slip away (1992 Essential mix)