The Has Beens of 2013

As the new year entered and slowly taking its place in my daily grind, I cannot help but reminisce on the events that turned chapters in my 2013. It's impossible to remember the daily nitty gritty of last year but what stood out are those moments that marked my independence. It was on 22 January 2013 that I was able to purchase my first ever car, a ford fiesta black sedan. Likewise, it was during that time that I first drove in the scary streets of Manila, braved the stubborn traffic of EDSA and Buendia, and patiently rode along with the rude and undisciplined drivers in the streets.

For my career, I  got my second promotion as I was transferred to the corporate center of the company where I work. I was appointed to head the Labor Department and Corporate Secretary of the corporation's Ship Management Division. I also got to handle more diverse cases like tax and corporate matters aside from my usual administrative, labor and some criminal cases.

On the legal side, I won several cases and participated in my first ever deposition. Although not as the counsel taking the deposition, I was the main witness to one case which involves a previous settlement I had in our local labor court. The deposition was had over skype as the case was filed in Florida and the counsels battling it out are lawyers from there. The experience was just interesting. Under the law, deposition is a mode of discovery where you are allowed to perpetuate testimonies from witnesses prior to the actual court trial. In the landmark case of Republic of the Philippines vs. Sandiganbayan (204 SCRA 212, 200) the Court highlighted the significance of the various modes of discovery and stated that “now, if appears to the Court that among far too many lawyers (and not a few judges), there is, if not a regrettable unfamiliarity and even outright ignorance about the nature, purposes and operation of the modes of discovery, at least a strong yet unreasoned and unreasonable disinclination and adequate use of the deposition-discovery mechanism, coupled with pre-trial procedure, could, as the experience of other jurisdictions convincingly demonstrates, effectively shorten the period of litigation and speed up adjudication."Unlike in the US, lawyers in the Philippines rarely use and take advantage of the potential of depositions. I hope someday I can be brave enough to also make use of this mode of discovery in one of the cases I'm handling.

I wish to top those  2013 breakthroughs. More than anything, I want to have positive and celebratory-worthy breakthroughs in all aspects of my life - faith, love, family, good health, career including financial freedom.

Although it may be late, but allow me to send shoutouts of Joyous New Year to All! Cheers!

To God be the Glory!