After one passes the Bar, everything else seems so anti-climactic. Talking to our Managing Partner before leaving for a Testimonial Dinner the firm was tendering for our honor, I told him that passing the Bar seemed like a distant memory. Due perhaps to the humdrum of the work-a-day world, reality is dulled into a routinary rhythm of assignments and tasks, so that any previous elation is reduced to a simple statement of fact: we passed. I guess it's the classic human response to finally getting what we've long worked for. The satisfaction, while admitted, is not exactly what we thought it would be.

And so, while family and friends have suggested that I celebrate the event with a party, I opted to let the moment pass with a Mass and dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants. This was enough.

And so, as the weeks marched on from that fateful day in March, I went about my work and looked forward to living the rest of my life, without nary a thought that something was happening in the background. Perhaps it was because I was too wrapped up in the everyday routine of work and worry, I did not notice things happening around me.

It started one afternoon when a friend, Euge, texted me that he urgently needed to speak to me and whether I was free on the evening of 5 May 2006. I told him that I had a firm badminton tournament in the evening, but that I would gladly meet with him. He was being sued for perjury, after having executed an affidavit in a case he was handling. The complainant was blackmailing him in exchange for dropping the charges.

In the meantime, I overheard my mom talking to someone over the phone one morning, insisting that the person she was talking to attend a party she was throwing that same Friday night. I figured it was her high school friends planning a party. It seemed normal enough.

And so, as 5 May 2006 approached, I got more and more curious about my friend's perjury case. Almost nine months after the Bar, one gets rusty with the details of the law, and so I had to brush up on my penal code provisions, trying to think of possible defenses to his predicament. I was also informed that he would be meeting with the complainant that evening, and appreciated my presence in order to sort things out.

Deciding to skip our badminton tournament, I rushed back to the house intending to make an appearance at my mom's party. However, my friend was insistent: the complainant was already there. And so I drove straight to Seattle's Best along E. Rodriguez to meet with my friend, who promptly narrated to me the facts of his case. For over an hour, we strategized on how to handle the situation, thinking of the possible consequences which a criminal charge would cause.

The complainant, however, was taking such a long time in arriving, and so my friend suggested that we go to my house first to wait for him to arrive. I agreed, thinking that there being my mom's party at home, there would be food to eat anyway.

And so I arrived at the house, seeing all the cars parked along the street. My mom's guests, I thought. I entered the house with my key, with my mom meeting me, shouting “Surprise! Surprise!” I didn't quite get it: why was she shouting, “Surprise!” when it was her party anyway. It was not until I saw my law school classmates in the dining room that I realized that I was had. Big time.

The only thing I could say was, “Teka, anong ginagawa n'yo rito?”

Later on, I realized that even my good friend and classmate at the firm, Cheeky, was in on it. My mom had called her many times in the office trying to orchestrate the conspiracy. She said, later, that it was really hard trying to keep a straight face as I tried to discuss with her (quite seriously) what the elements of perjury are, and how we could mount an adequate defense!

While it was a decidedly tiring day, as it was a decidedly tiring week, it was great seeing people whom I had not seen in a quite a while, people whom I had been missing, people who, indeed, mattered.

I've only had another surprise party in my life (during my 26th birthday), and during both times, I couldn't help but feel the presence of the people that were there, and the good wishes which they brought. It was truly a comfort for the heart.

And so, again, as always, thank you to those who surprised me with their presence and good wishes. To my Mom, Dad and brother who surely instigated the commission of this conspiracy, and who surely found it difficult keeping the details secret; To Eugene, who actively participated in the conspiracy and spread the word of the party; To Cheeky, who tried really hard to keep a straight face at work, as my mom called her to confirm my plans for the day; To my lawschool classmates: Kerwin, Lynette, John, Ting, Perly, Ann, Shalu, Ila and Raffy, and, Gelo and Esel, who have always been there to share celebrations in each other's lives, over the last five years; To my Choirmates, the Rockwell Club, and my Poker Buddies (many of whom are busy preparing for the 2006 Bar): Itin, Leah, Paul, J.A., Gail and Owen, Chris, Simon, Gian and Yumi, who always seem to appear when reminders are desperately needed; To my unlikely law school friends (who stayed until six in the morning!): She and Miong, Xilca, Cayo and Helen, who never seem to have dull moments or heavy silences; and to those who could not attend but were there in spirit, who texted or sent messages, to those who never seem to forget. Maraming salamat!