A Day in the Life

6:00 a.m. - Alarm goes off. Wake up and cook breakfast.

7:00 a.m. - Surf the net or go back to sleep

9:00 a.m. - Eat breakfast, wash the dishes, prepare mom's lunch, take a bath and prepare

10:30 a.m - Leave the hotel. Suroy-suroy with Jeremy

5:00 p.m. - Go back to the hotel. Watch TV or take a nap

6:00 p.m. - Prepare dinner

7:00 p.m. - Dinner time

8:00 p.m. - Wash the dishes

8:30 p.m. - Watch TV or surf the net

11:00 p.m. - Prepare to go to sleep, answer sudoku and read a bit.

12:00 m.n. - Go to Sleep

Automatic Reappropriation

Section 25, Paragraph 7 of Article VI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides:

(7) If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.

In the 1998 Philippine Bar Exam, the following question was asked:

Suppose the President submits a budget which does not contain provisions for CDF (Countrwide Development Funds), popularly known as the pork barrel, and because of this Congress does not pass the budget.
Will that mean paralization of government operations in the next fiscal year for lack of an appropriation law?

SUGGESTED ANSWER FROM UP: No, the failure of Congress to pass the budget will not paralyze the operations of the Government. Section 25(7), Article VI of the Constitution provides: "If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.

To many, this may seem just an ordinary provision under our Constitution. To those who are studying law or who have studied law, this may be just another provision to understand just in case it would be asked in the bar.

However, this is NOT just another provision. It is actually a provision that we Filipinos must be proud of somehow considering that this same provision is not present with that of the United States.

If you are into international news, you may have heard of the looming government shutdown which is possible to happen within 24 hours as of the time I am writing this piece. When I first heard this from the news, the one thing that caught my attention is that the Smithsonian museums, which are free to the public, will be closed. Thousands of tourists are visiting Washington, DC during the spring break and they may likely be welcomed with this government shutdown.

So, I tried to understand what this government shutdown is all about. About.com provides that a government shutdown is a result of the failure of Congress to enact an annual federal budget within the timeframe established by law. The U.S. Constitution requires that all expenditures of federal funds be authorized by Congress with the approval of the President of the United States.

There have been 5 US government shutdowns since 1981. There was a US government shutdown in 1981, 1984, 1990, 1995 and 1996.

A government shutdown will definitely cost taxpayers since they will be paying for federal workers who will not be reporting for work. Government will not be able to process social security and healthcare transactions, among others. And, national parks will be closed.

When I found out what it is all about, the Automatic Reappropriation Law (Section 25, Paragraph 7, Article VI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution). I guess that's one of the things we, Filipinos, have to be grateful to the framers of our Constitution. It may sound such a simple provision but indeed has a great impact.

Of course, I am not saying I know a lot about this government shutdown and how different it is from the Philippines. This is just an opinion on my part based on what I have understood so far.

With that somehow being taken care of and considering that we won't be encountering a government shutdown, our government still has to deal with a gamut of obstacles to hurdle and problems to solve. And that's another story!

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

I guess we started on the wrong foot. There is supposed to be a free shuttle from our hotel to LAX. The problem is we got on the wrong shuttle. We had to be dropped off at another hotel and took the cab from there. Good thing though that our hotel was not that too far.

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The hotel where we stayed in had complimentary continental breakfast, free wi-fi and free shuttle to and from LAX. It was far-off from downtown Los Angeles but we chose for the freebies. It was a blessing in disguise since it was near a post office and my mom had to send an urgent mail.

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Universal Studios – Hollywood! It had a few changes since the last time I was there. They now have that King Kong 3D feature in their Studio Tour, which was cool, and I got to see up close Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives, which was closed the last time I was there since they were taping. I still had fun riding the Jurassic Park! My brother and I decided not to ride the Mummy because we felt that one thrill ride would be enough for us. 3Ds and 4Ds were all over with the Simpsons, Shrek and Terminator – truly a “D” overload with 3Ds and 4Ds. Although, I guess it is really much better when my sisters and my father were with us.

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On our way back from Universal, traffic had to be rerouted because there was a robbery on a jewelry store. The police had to block the street where the bus we will take was supposed to pass. We had to figure out other possible route of the bus and we were lucky we found it.

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Santa Monica! I had fun that day since it was my first time to visit a beach in the US (First time mo? First time jud!). The Santa Monica Beach was pretty cool and I was able to truly appreciate it because the weather was great that day! I was really excited when I got to visit Santa Monica beach. California Girl was really my song for that day!

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Next Target: Hollywood! We had the usual pictorials with the imprints of the stars at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater and I was lucky enough to see Keanu Reeves’ Star on the Walk of Fame. At least, kahit papano .. konswelo kay hindi ko pa siya nakita in person. On the side note, Speed was on TV a few minutes ago. And I was happy watching it since makarelate ako kasi LA yung location and it had scenes featuring some of the places we passed by!

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Commuter on the Go with matching Walking Exercise! Thank you Google maps and the Metro Los Angeles Web Site! We got all to the places because of the directions I got from the said sites and we were never lost! The sites give you the schedule of the bus and train as well as time to walk to the stops. All in all, it was an achievement!

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I get to see different kinds of people in riding public transportation in LA. There was that bus driver who was really kind to me when I asked questions. There was another driver who was sort of rude when, in a bus stop, a passenger who had difficulty walking and was using a walker of some sort was by the bus door and therefore, he had to use the bus ramp. Their conversation went something like this:

Elderly man: Please, please
Lady bus driver: Please what
Elderly man: Please, the ramp .. it’s common sense
Lady bus driver: Well, I ain’t got no common sense

I guess we were just lucky that nobody was that rude to us. Although, when the elderly man got off the bus, I think they exchanged apologies. I am also grateful for a passenger who gave us tips on our way to Santa Monica.

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I am appreciative of how people with disabilities in US can still commute and go to places. They can still visit and enjoy Universal Studios among other destinations.

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Well, that’s it for our LA trip. Until the next update!