Robert “Robie” Nubla. Rice Harvest. 1980. #0527. 18X14. Acrylic on canvas. Downloaded with express permission for non-commercial use from www.pinoyarte.com . Maraming salamat po!
To be fair, the government yesterday started filing more than a dozen complaints against suspected rice hoarders — something which its investigative and prosecutorial agencies should have done years ago, and should have been doing everyday years ago (two days ago, this blog stated that the government has not been able to bust the cartel because it has not been able to show the political will, etc.). But that wasn’t the cartel yet.
As everybody knows, legal offices and law offices devoted to a certain area of practice and work are supposed to have developed some kind of efficiency in the filing of cases; for example, law offices and legal offices devoted to collection cases have evolved their own forms and format , for example, for bouncing checks complaints, estafa, damage claims, eviction cases; such that, they literally churn out, EVERYDAY, dozens of demand letters, affidavits, complaints and other initiatory pleadings. You could set one big meeting to theorize all the cases because they’re all the same kind (instead of holding fifty meetings for fifty cases) and then the lawyers are off like clockwork for two months sending the demand letters and filing the complaints. [I had a paralegal once who could write a Motion to Dismiss if you just gave her the format and highlighted the legal provisions, she would finish it up to the signature page and would just leave the section on “Arguments” and “Discussion” blank (of course, those were the important parts, haha. She didn’t budge though if you weren’t around or didn’t tell her you’d be back at this hour and it should be finished; she was really busy with other activities). In other words, the quantity is manageable (well, sometimes) if you could multi-task, attending to one case while someone’s writing a motion it’s much easier to churn it out if a draft is already staring at your face in the computer when you get back.] Even with just a handful of dedicated lawyers, you can break records or set records with your output. Apparently, the government agencies in charge of going after syndicates are really busy everyday for years now with activities other than their job. Yesterday, it started to do its job but for how long and how far and for how big a fish?
Simultaneously with the urgent stop-gap measures to avert an emergency, the government should be making decisive moves for long-term solutions to increase productivity. Right now, it’s putting out fires; story of their lives; story of her administration’s life; story of this nation’s life.
