Midterms, midterms

The bad news is that I still have two more exams this week, apart from the cases that I have to read in Property for tomorrow’s recitation. The good news is I am still alive after last week’s exam, particularly yesterday’s exam in Criminal Procedures.

Bygad! Stupid me! I got confused - RTC will have jurisdiction over criminal cases where the imposable penalty exceeds 6 years. Preliminary investigation is required for offenses where the imposable penalty is at least 4 years, 2 months and 1 day. I messed up the two, and the best I can do at this time is hope and pray (very hard) that Judge Alaras give me "mercy" points. At least for the effort, you know. And I am writing it down here so that I will remember that mistake in case it gets asked in the bar (should I ever get that far).

And for some reasons, I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember what the doctrine of implication - should have been very easy! - was during the exam (administrative law). I can almost hear Sol. Laragan "Leah, I am so disappointed…", the same thing he said when he called me to recite the Villegas vs Subido case. I wasn’t able to read the case - the week before that was the Holidays - law books and cases were not part of the things under our Christmas tree, thank you. That "so disappointed" thing got into me though, and I tried to ingest all the assigned cases for the following week.

Exams for Labor Standards was pretty easy ("sa sobrang dali, ang hirap sagutin!" - Agnes). Next time we ought to know where to concentrate. I was forced to finish the Labor

Standards exams in 45 minutes because I saw ASG Panga earlier to give the exams in Agrarian Reform Law in the earlier class, and we were next. I wasn’t expecting him - he was out of the country since the first week of January, although he had his assigned readings posted on the bulletin board. And because I - and the whole class - wasn’t expecting him, I - we - did not review for the subject. Imagine my horror when I saw him walking down the corridors before my exam for Labor Standards started! Result - crammed for an hour and a half reviewing for Agra, with this question at the back of my mind: "Should I take the exam?". Well, I did. And I’m glad I did. The panic and the fear I felt just dissipated when he gave the question - just one question: In not less than 100 words but not more than 200 words, state whether or not the government should pursue the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. [essay writing contest ba itu? :)]. While most of the class worried about falling below the 100-word limit, Lalaine’s problem was how to cut her 300-word answer so as not to exceed the 200-word ceiling. Me, I think I was able to stop at the 200th word.

Friday’s exam is LTD, and on Saturday, there’s Sales. I hope I can squeeze in everything - in my hands and in my memory - all the work I have to do in the office (I’d be in Cagayan de Oro City for the entire week next week, and I HAVE to finish all the work assigned to me this week) and all those cases and articles for this week’s exam/recit. Plus my duties as a wife and mother.

Oh, one more good news. Our official publication - which I manage/write for/edit (both content and layout) - is one of the four finalists for the 1st Best Publication Award of the Philippine Association of Water Districts. Hurrah!