JUSTICE

WEDNESDAY MORNING

INSIDE THE COFFEESHOP at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila. Three people were gathered in one table near a corner. One was sipping a hot cappuccino. The two others were having a light breakfast.

“Say, Johnny, how’s your car?” asked one of the seated men while blowing the steam off his cup of cappuccino.

“Drives perfectly. No problems. You’re intending to buy a new Mercedes?” Johnny lifted a table napkin. He started wiping the corners of his mouth.

“I’m still thinking about it,” replied the man with the cappuccino as he raised a hand, gesturing the waiter to approach him. Afterwards, he stood up. “I’ll just get some salad.” He went to the buffet table.

“How can I broach the matter?” asked the man seated beside Johnny. He took off his eyeglasses and placed it on the table.

“Well, once he comes back, I’ll leave you two here. Then, you bring up the case. Tell him your offer. As simple as that.” Johnny was grinning.

“How long have you known him? Is he a close friend of yours?” The man was now fiddling with his eyeglasses.

“Let’s say he’s a close acquaintance. I’ve known him for some time now. I assure you he delivers. But at the right price. You get the drift?” Johnny spoke in lowered tone.

“Hey, Johnny,” the man with a plate of salad said, “check out the gal there in the buffet table. I’m sure she’ll get your attention.” He had returned, giving Johnny a wink.

Johnny gave out a chuckle. “You still have the sharp, keen eye on women, Mon.” Johnny started to rise. “Well, I’ll check out the ‘merchandise’ if it’ll really draw my attention. I’ll be back in a minute.”

The man with eyeglasses was slightly grinning at what Johnny had said. “Sir,” he began slowly, “has Johnny told you about our case?”

“Ah, yes,” Mon drawled. He took another sip of his cappuccino. “A big case.”

“Yes, sir. We really need to get this one.” The man with eyeglasses spoke with caution.

“How much is your offer?” Mon was jabbing the salad leaves with his fork.

The man with eyeglasses took a deep breath. “A million bucks, sir.”

Mon’s face was devoid of reaction. “Quite small, son.”

“Oh, sir. How much would it be then, sir?” The man with eyeglasses was folding his table napkin.

“I’ll let you know soon. Meantime, just proceed with the filing of your petition.” Mon was now almost done with his salad.

“You were right, Mon.” Johnny was nodding his head as he returned to his seat. “One fine, voluptuous lady. Check this out,” Johnny was dangling a small piece of paper. “Her mobile number.”

Mon let out a guffaw. “You’re really my idol, Johnny.”

The man with eyeglasses stood up. “I’ll just go to the bathroom. Where is it, Johnny?”

“It’s over there, Danny, straight ahead, then turn left,” Johnny said.

“You need a bigger amount, son.” Danny heard this just after he stood in front of the urinal. Turning his head to his left, Danny saw Mon standing just beside him, also about to take a pee. Nobody was inside except the two of them.

“How much would it be, sir? So that I can relay the amount to my boss.” Danny has stepped near the sink about to wash his hands.

Mon stood beside him, eyeing Danny in mirror. He slowly draped an arm around Danny’s shoulders, then raised his other hand, with three fingers extended. “Three.”

“Three million, sir?” Danny’s face seemed confused.

“Thirty million.”

“Oh.” Danny suddenly felt like being hit by a sledgehammer.

Mon was already at the door. “Just tell Johnny if you’re fine with the price. Then we have a deal. OK, son?”

“Yes, sir.”

Wednesday Afternoon

JOHNNY WAS DRIVING his car. “Wow!”

“Pretty stiff,” Danny said as he checked the text messages on his cellphone. He was seated in the front passenger seat of Johnny’s 2-door Mercedes sports car.

“Actually, Mon is my wife’s cousin. I got to know him through her. Just only last year. But, really, he does deliver.” Johnny caught sight of a buxom-looking lady standing by a traffic light about to cross the street. “Whew,” he said, eliciting a chuckle from Danny.

“OK, since the money’s already with Mon, then what’s your worry, Danny?” Johnny stopped for a while. “No, no, Danny, we can trust Mon. I assure you. Danny, you’re a practitioner, right? You know the law. Of course, you could not possibly give a check as payment. There’ll be paper trail. Besides, you know about the anti-money laundering laws, right? Checks for huge amounts easily get noticed by the authorities, by the banks, to check if the anti-money laundering laws are violated. All right? OK, we’ll see each other tomorrow. OK? Bye.”

“I’ll be discussing this with my boss. For sure, he’ll blow his top.” Danny was now dialing his mobile phone.

Early Friday Morning

THERE WERE ALREADY a few vehicles parked in the vast parking lot of SM City Southmall. A white beat-up early ‘90s Toyota Corolla model arrived near a malnourished-looking tree. The car’s driver kept looking around. The other occupant was dialing his Blackberry cellphone. After several minutes, another vehicle, a late model Hyundai Starex van, arrived; it slowly parked just beside the Corolla. The Corolla’s occupants looked at each other. One nodded, and the other responded with a nod too. The Corolla driver went out and pulled up the trunk lid of their car. As the Corolla driver grabbed and pulled out more than ten large, bulging duffel bags, an occupant of the Starex climbed out and pulled open the van’s sliding door. With uncommon swiftness, the Corolla driver threw the duffel bags into the van. The van’s occupant quickly got back in and shut the sliding door. In less than ten seconds, the van was already exiting the parking lot.

Monday Morning

THE MAIN HALL was large and high-ceilinged. In the middle was a long narra table which could accommodate fifteen people. Minutes later, the seats around the table began to be filled. Last to seat was a pot-bellied man in his sixties, occupying one end of the table.

“Call the agenda.” The pot-bellied man’s voice was throaty.

“We have only one case up for discussion, sir.” The man in close-neck barong tagalog spoke tremblingly. He was standing beside the pot-bellied man. “This is the injunction petition filed late last Friday afternoon, entitled ‘Quarky Corporation vs. Westorably Bank.’ This is a petition for writ of injunction with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order.” He flipped the pages of the bound file he was holding. “This was raffled to the Third Division.”

Some of those seated were concentrated on the papers in front of them. Some were looking at the man who made the announcement. One was nodding his head. Another was looking at the pot-bellied man.

“All right, Jerti, you’re the division chair. It’s in your hands. The petition is urgent. We have to take action fast.” The pot-bellied man was rubbing his eyes.

“OK, Chief.” Jerti spoke matter-of-factly, ignoring the stares from the others.

“Nothing more?” The Chief’s attention was on the man in barong tagalog.

“None, sir. Session adjourned.” The man in barong tagalog placed the file on the table as he began to assist the Chief rise up from his seat.

Monday Afternoon

“NO, SORRY, MANDY, I can’t do anything,” the throaty voice was saying.

Mandy kept eyeing him. “Chief, the last time around, I gave in when you asked me to. Now, I need your help. I really need this case. Just this one, Chief.”

“Yes, I know, Mandy. But you know how things are with Jerti,” said the Chief as he threw his hands in the air. “The guy’s straight. Nobody can get near him. Really sorry, buddy.”

“OK, OK. Guess I’ll try myself to approach him.” Mandy could not hide his disappointment. He stood up and went out of the room.

SM CITY SOUTHMALL was a large track of land south of Manila. It was one of the largest malls that populated the metropolitan area. Adjoining it, south side, was another track of land—almost double the size of Southmall’s area—unoccupied except for some few crudely built wooden houses where the caretakers lived. Its owner failed to foresee in the late 1980s that in a decade’s time, the area would be commanding a high market value. It was after Southmall was constructed in the early 1990s that the owner realized that his land was a virtual treasure. He then contracted several construction firms purposely to build low-cost housing units and both high-end and low-cost condominiums. To finance his projects, the owner thought of borrowing from several banks on a syndicated scheme. Upon some legal advice, however, he first put up several firms in whose favor he later on transferred all the titles of his numerous properties, including the title of the vast land. Given the handsome financial profile finely spun by his accountants, numbering about a dozen, getting bank financing on his projects proved like a walk in the park—with the massive help, of course, of the account officers of the lender banks who were responsible for the easy approval of his loan applications: he generously expressed his gratitude to these account officers in the form of outright “commissions” in cold cash (already a “standard operating procedure” in the banking industry, this he had said to his accountants and lawyers). Soon, constructions on the land began on his property. However, since the owner was maintaining a high cost of living, what with his womanizing and gambling getting a monopoly of his attention, the proceeds of the huge financing he got went nowhere. The funds were, in other words, diverted. Expectedly, the owner, or rather, his firms who were the borrowers on record, defaulted on the loans. Now, the banks—in whose favor the properties were mortgaged to serve as securities for the syndicated loans—had foreclosed the properties due to the default incurred on the loans. Almost all the properties were now owned and possessed by the lender banks. Only one property was remaining, and this was the vast land that adjoined SM City Southmall where the projects were supposed to be built. The registered owner of the land was Quarky Corporation (the owner got the name “Quarky” from the names of his children, namely, Quirino, Arcangel, Karlo and Yolanda); this was the last remaining firm of the vast land’s owner that had not yet folded up. The lender bank, Westorably Bank, had already initiated foreclosure proceedings. A date had already been set for the auction sale of the vast land. Quarky lost the cases it had filed in both the trial court and the Court of Appeals to stop the foreclosure and auction sale and to annul the loans and mortgages. The last remedy was to go to the Supreme Court, which Quarky had just done. Quarky was seeking for the issuance of an injunction and temporary restraining order to stop the auction sale.

Tuesday morning

“HELLO, SIR?”

“Yes, Mark.” Jerti stopped typing after he took the phone from its cradle.

“Sir, you have a visitor.” Mark, Jerti’s confidential attorney, had motioned the visitor to take a seat on the couch just outside Jerti’s chambers.

“Who is it?” Jerti’s voice sounded irritated.

“It’s Justice Mandy, sir.”

“This is about what?”

“For a while, sir.” Mark covered the phone with his hand. Then, after a few seconds, he said: “Sir, he’d like to talk to you about the Quarky petition.”

“Tell him I’m busy, OK? Didn’t I tell you earlier I would not accept any visitor for this day, except only the Chief Justice?” Jerti slammed the phone back to its cradle.

After a few minutes, Jerti lifted the phone and dialed. “Mark, next time, don’t call me anymore. Just tell any visitor that I’m busy, OK? Dammit.” He slammed down again the phone.

Tuesday Afternoon

MANDY HAD BEEN pacing the expensively carpeted floor in his chambers. He had dialed around a dozen numbers after his failed visit to Jerti. The last number he dialed belonged to a friend who was a dealer in high end cars and SUVs, from whom he would often buy pre-owned Mercedes sedans and BMWs. The last vehicle he had bought from the dealer-friend was a Hummer H3, imported from Dubai, at the discounted price of three million bucks, taxes included.

“OK, OK, nothing to worry, buddy. All things are in place. You’ll get the restraining order on time, as promised.”

After ending the call, Mandy almost threw his mobile phone on the visitor chair in front of his table.

MAKATI WAS THE business capital of the country. It was where one could find the offices of the biggest firms in the country. To be located in Makati was like to be located on Wall Street: prestige was easily attached to any firm that had its office in Makati.

And so it was in the case of law firms. Law firms in Makati soared like eagles in the vast sky. They could command fees larger than those charged by non-Makati law firms. Makati lawyers thus had this edge in terms of high honor and high ranking over those located in other areas. It was thus no wonder why the biggest law firm in the country was located in Makati. Lacosti Aggradito Walan Law Office, or LAWLO for short. LAWLO had around 500 lawyers in its list. It had branches all over the business areas of the country. It had branch offices overseas too, in Singapore, Hongkong, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Beijing, and now most recently, it had opened a branch office in Dubai to invade the field of the now popular Islamic Banking. LAWLO had been joining forces with several known American and English law firms for almost a decade now. Thus, LAWLO bragged in its website that it had been an affiliate of such famous firms as Baker Mackenzie, Allen and Overy, and Linklaters. LAWLO’s present online advertisement boasted that it was the local affiliate of the globally recognized Clifford Chance law firm. It was again no wonder why LAWLO got itself involved in the Quarky case involving multi-billion-peso loans.

Tuesday Evening

 JOHNNY WAS ATTENDING to a customer when he received a call on his cellphone. He motioned his customer to sit down on the receiving area of his office.

“OK, Danny.” Johnny was studying the ceiling of his office, laughing. “Danny, don’t make me laugh. Mon says nothing to worry. I told you the guy delivers. He had done this before. You’ll get the injunction and restraining order as promised. You’ve already given the amount, right?”

The customer suddenly stood up, gesturing to Johnny. Johnny slowly waved him off. The customer then went out of Johnny’s office.

DANNY HAD NOT slept for two days. On the day that they delivered the duffel bags in the parking area of SM City Southmall, Danny was jittery all throughout. He thought it wise to accompany the driver in delivering the amount so that if his boss would ask for details, he knew what to say. His boss in the office would remind him almost every day how the Quarky case was important to the firm. If they failed to get the restraining order in time, it would create a bad image for LAWLO.

Danny got hired by LAWLO just after getting his degree from one of the country’s top law schools. He was a consistently in the dean’s list, graduating with honors. No wonder he topped the bar exams, notching the first place. Which was why LAWLO gave him the best offer a rookie lawyer could not refuse. However, to “immerse” Danny in the murky world of litigation, LAWLO (as the firm’s stringent policy on new hires) gave to Danny some “litigation legwork”, which meant Danny would have to “make connections” with the judges and justices of the various courts to ensure victory in cases—in big cases—handled by LAWLO. For the Quarky case, the firm received around ten million bucks as acceptance fee. Danny got, as his initial participation fee in the case, a cool five hundred grand. Not bad for a rookie lawyer.

Danny could not explain it. He had this awful feeling that something just would not work out right regarding the Quarky case. Though he believed every word of Johnny, he still could not feel confident on just how things would transpire. Sometime the next day, he was going to meet a travel agent whom he had been talking to for over a week.

Wednesday Morning

“JERTI, ABOUT THE Quarky case…” the Chief began as he lit a Marlboro stick. They were in his chambers; he was seated on a reclining chair with his feet perched on a foot stool. Jerti was seated on a couch.

“Yes, Chief.” Jerti already had an inkling about the great interest which a few of his colleagues had shown in the multi-billion-peso case. He knew the reason why he was summoned by the Chief in his chambers.

“You see, Jerti, somebody here has asked me a favor, a favor I just can’t refuse. If you can unload that case to the Second Division … ”

“I know him, Ronnel. Mandy. I know Mandy is interested in this case. Ronnel, I’ve accommodated you in the past, I’ve released quite a number of cases to the other divisions upon your request. I guess, by now, I can afford to deny your request. Ronnel, I have principles. I just can’t allow myself to fling caution to the winds. I’m sorry, Ronnel. Really sorry I can’t give in to your request.” Jerti had already stood up. “I don’t like this Mandy, Ronnel. He has been going around a lot, among our colleagues here, asking favors.”

Ronnel stubbed out his cigarette on the ashtray. “All right, Jerti. I’ll respect your decision. OK, thanks for coming.”

THE BUILDING WAS mid-rise in height, already twenty years old and decaying. Though some portions of the paint were already peeling from the wall outside, from a distance, one could get the impression that the building looked nice and tidy. Once you got inside the building, however, you could not use the elevator, which had been unrepaired for more than a year. The corridors were always dusty and strewn with candy wrappers and cigarette butts. The toilets on every floor reeked of urine as the building had no janitor. The faucet gave out a trickle of water. Flushing the toilet bowl would be a miracle. It was no wonder why the building had no occupants, except those on the second floor.

The building stood just at the border of Makati and Manila; the building occupants, however, maintained that the building’s address was in Makati. And so, upon repeated advice received from the occupants, the post offices of both Makati and Manila recognized that the building was inside Makati area.

On the second floor of the building, a law office could be found. The office occupied the entire floor. Inside were two secretaries in their forties. Two more employees, both male, served as the liaison officers or messengers. They had been working there for the last ten years. The man in command of the firm was a fiftyish mild-mannered man with thick eyeglasses, the one which reminded you of those worn in the seventies. He had been in the business of litigation for over twenty years now. Over the years, he had established a network running from lowly court clerks to clerks of courts of the various trial courts; from lowly employees of the Court of Appeals to the confidential attorneys of the justices of the Court of Appeals; from lowly employees and personnel of the Supreme Court to the court researchers and confidential attorneys of the different justices of the Supreme Court. His prized possessions, though, were the retired magistrates of the trial courts, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court. These retired magistrates received a monthly “retainer fee” from him in exchange for the “services” which they rendered for the firm. He valued his professional liaisons with them. Of course, if he wanted the “service” he needed, these retired magistrates would see to it that the sought “service” was properly discharged.

It was one of these retired magistrates who had given him the file on the Quarky case. In turn, it was one of the clerks of the Supreme Court who had fed the file to the retired magistrate. Of course, this clerk had received some cash for his effort. Once he got hold of the Quarky file, the mild-mannered lawyer lost no time in contacting the law firm of one of the parties to the case. He bragged that he could deliver whatever the wishes of the party were. That he had “the right connections” with the Supreme Court. Just trust him, he added. And so, discussions were had on the phone. After a few days, he met with lawyer of one of the parties in the Quarky case. Tough negotiations ensued. In the end, the mild-mannered lawyer agreed to halve his asking price: now reduced to five million bucks. But this amount did not include the amount to be given to the justice of the Supreme Court to whom the case would be assigned.

As soon as he received half of the five million, the mild-mannered lawyer met with some of the retired magistrates. They spent around four or five hours discussing the case. In the end, one of the retired magistrates was given the tasked of contacting one of the justices of the Supreme Court. Or in legal parlance, the ponente, the Supreme Court justice who would write the decision of the court on the Quarky case.

After the meeting, the retired magistrates left with their pockets filled with cash given to them by the mild-mannered lawyer.

Wednesday Afternoon

“ALL RIGHT, DANNY. Time is flying fast. Any news?” They were inside the room of Danny’s boss. It was already Wednesday, two days remaining before the scheduled auction sale of Quarky’s land. Danny’s boss, a senior lawyer of LAWLO tasked by the firm to supervise the Quarky case, had been calling Danny every night for almost three days now, asking about the status of the case.

“Ah, sir Alfred, Johnny told me that before Friday, we’ll get the restraining order.” Danny could feel his hands tremble furiously.

“Danny boy,” Alfred began as he stood up, rubbing his sweaty palms, “better be sure. We’ll all be dead meat if we screw up on this one.”

The auction sale date fell on Friday, set at 10 am of that day. The place where the auction would be held was at the front or at the main entrance of the city hall of Las Pinas, a city south of Manila. Notices had been posted on the bulletin boards of the city hall and had likewise been published in the newspapers chosen in the raffle conducted by the executive judge of the trial court of Las Pinas. The amount of Quarky’s syndicated loan had now stood at almost six billion pesos. This still did not include the interest and other charges and expenses that would accrue from the date of the auction sale onwards.

Johnny had told Danny that the restraining order would be released by Thursday afternoon, or at the latest, first thing at the start of the office hours of Friday. The plan was as soon as he got hold of the restraining order from the Supreme Court, Danny would race to the city hall of Las Pinas.

Wednesday Evening

DANNY AND JOHNNY were at the coffeeshop of Hotel Intercontinental Manila, just a stone’s throw away from LAWLO in Makati, where Danny had come from.

“Johnny, my job is at stake here.” Danny hadn’t touched his food. It had gotten cold.

Johnny was reading the messages on his mobile phone. “Nothing to worry, Dan.”

“It’s already Wednesday, Johnny. I hope the restraining order will be released tomorrow. Friday morning is just too tight. Travelling from Manila to Las Pinas could take one hour.” Danny was looking intently on Johnny’s face. “What time will you call Mon tomorrow?”

“Just after lunch, Danny. I’ll call you up after talking to him. Once I get a fax copy of the restraining order, I’ll call you so that you can proceed right away to the Supreme Court and get a certified true copy of the order. Better yet, you try to be somewhere near the Supreme Court. Yes, you can go first to the mall nearby, Robinson’s Place. It’s just walking distance to the Supreme Court. Just stay there and wait for my call.” Johnny had placed his mobile phone on the table. He, too, didn’t touch his food; he just drank his coffee. Danny’s attention was drawn to Johnny’s sleek-looking cellphone. It was the latest iPhone model to come out with a 32GB memory. Johnny had just bought his iPhone using part of the money he had received from Mon, a “commission” which Mon had said, amounting to half a million bucks. Danny had received the same sum as his participation fee on the Quarky case. Of course, Johnny never mentioned to Danny about this “commission” given by Mon.

Danny went home feeling disoriented. He failed to sleep the whole night.

THAT SAME WEDNESDAY evening, Mandy was trying to get sleep. He had taken already two tablets of sleeping pills, but still sleep hadn’t come to him. He was in Jerti’s chambers earlier that day, around late afternoon. He was able to talk to Jerti, asking him he could possibly get the case from Jerti’s division.

The Supreme Court, per the country’s constitutional provisions, is composed of fifteen members. If the court is required by the Constitution to hear a case in which all the fifteen members are in attendance, then the court is called an “en banc” court. Under the same constitutional provisions, the court can meet “in division” instead of having an “en banc” session, and by this is meant that instead of fifteen members in attendance, only five members can meet and decide a case. These five justices constitute a “division” of the court. Since there are fifteen justices, then there are three divisions. Now, each division is chaired by the most senior justice. The three divisions are officially known as the “First Division,” the “Second Division,” and the “Third Division.”

The Quarky case was raffled to the Third Division whose chair was Jerti. Mandy belonged to the Second Division. What Mandy had proposed to Jerti on that Wednesday afternoon was for Jerti’s Third Division to “unload” (or to forward) the Quarky case to Mandy’s Second Division, and in turn, Mandy’s Second Division would “unload” another case to Jerti’s division in exchange of the Quarky case. This was, to Mandy, a simple proposal which he had done a number of times in the past with other division chairs without any problems.

But what Mandy got was just a plain “OK, let’s see tomorrow” remark from Jerti, without any definite assurance. Mandy left Jerti’s chambers feeling totally dejected. He had already spent almost half of the thirty million bucks he had received from Danny. He could not possibly return it back. He went to the chambers of Ronnel, the Supreme Court’s chief justice, and spilled out his woes. No, no, Ronnel answered him back. Ronnel added he could not do anything to help Mandy on the Quarky case. Mandy, however, was pinning his hopes on another justice of the Supreme Court, or rather, on the wife of another justice. The wife was a distant cousin of Jerti. She had assured Mandy that she would take care of it, no matter what happened. She had received financial help before from Mandy when she was buying a brand-new BMW 318 sedan. It was now time to return the favor to Mandy. Mandy still had hope. It was around half past two o’clock in the morning when Mandy started snoring.

Thursday

DANNY WAS ALREADY at the entrance of Robinson’s Place about a quarter before ten o’clock in the morning. A small crowd had already gathered at the entrance, waiting for the mall to open. Danny felt weak and dazed; he had not had several days of sleep. He had refused to answer calls on his mobile phone. The list of calls missed showed numerous calls from Alfred and also a call from the travel agent he was supposed to meet the night before.

As soon as he got inside the mall, he began to stroll, then decided to go to Starbucks on the ground floor. He needed to fight off his sleepy, tired eyes. Sipping the latte cappuccino made him feel good a bit, especially upon seeing the pretty college girls that kept walking past his table, admiring the girls’ legs exposed from the knees down to the feet. For more than an hour, he just kept seated on his chair. Then, he turned off his mobile phone.

It was close to noon when he felt hungry. He rose and walked. It was at a local Japanese fast-food, Tokyo-Tokyo, where he decided to have his lunch. After consuming his meal, which consisted of rice, fried tuna and misu soup (a Japanese soup), he turned on his mobile phone as he sipped his iced tea drink. Instantly, it rang nonstop; it was Alfred. He didn’t answer. Once the ringing stopped, he checked on his text messages. A dozen messages had been sent by Alfred. Alfred was already furious, cursing him: “Dammit, Danny, answer your phone” “Don’t you dare ignore me” “What the fuck is wrong with you?” “Sonofabitch” “Bullshit, Danny!”, etc. Danny turned off again. After one minute, he turned it on again, and dialed Johnny’s number.

“Shit,” Danny muttered. Johnny’s mobile phone was turned off.

After thirty minutes, he decided to go to the National Bookstore on the ground floor. He realized he had already been browsing through the books inside for more than an hour. The Supreme Court’s office hours would close by three o’clock. He still had hope.

A quarter before three, he turned on his cellphone again. He was already out of the bookstore. Three dozen more messages had been sent by Alfred. He ignored them. Instead, he dialed again Johnny’s number.

It rang!

“Good grief, Johnny! What’s wrong? Any update?” Danny was already shouting.

“Mon said the restraining order will be released tomorrow. He assured me. Nothing to worry, Danny.” Johnny’s voice could barely be heard by Danny.

“Oh, please, Johnny, I’m begging you. Please do it! Tell Mon to please release it! Please!” The attention of some people nearby was drawn to the loud voice of Danny. Danny ignored their stares.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said, Danny? Mon said the restraining order will be issued first thing tomorrow morning. He added that he’s ready to return back the money to you in case no restraining order comes out tomorrow.”

Danny pumped his fist in the air when he heard this. “Great, Johnny, great!” It was as if he had just been pulled out of a deep ravine. “OK, Johnny, I’ll be there at the Supreme Court first thing tomorrow. Really, Johnny, thank you! You’re my savior!”

It was almost ten o’clock in the evening when Danny left the mall. He had gone to see the movie Avatar. It gave him immense enjoyment watching the movie. Now, he told himself, he could have a whole night’s sleep.

Friday

THE CLERK OF court of the Las Pinas trial court was shouting on top of his voice. “Westorably Bank vs. Quarky Corporation, Foreclosure Case No. 9543, for auction sale. Anybody wishing to participate in the auction sale?” This was a little over ten o’clock in the morning. He was at the entrance of the city hall of Las Pinas.

Those who heard the announcement glanced fleetingly at the clerk of court. Nobody approached him. Beside the clerk of court a man in barong tagalog stood. He was the in-house lawyer of Westorably Bank. He just signed the papers he was holding, among which was the minutes of the auction sale, which was the documentary proof that the auction sale had been conducted. The highest bidder was Westorably Bank which had submitted a bid of five billion nine hundred fifty million pesos and fifty centavos. Needless to say, the auction sale had pushed through. Westorably Bank was declared as the highest bidder and, thus, the new owner of the vast land that adjoined SM City Southmall.

The proceeding took no more than fifteen minutes.

AT THIS VERY moment, Alfred was in his office. He had just met the name partners of LAWLO at a close-door meeting. Alfred was seething. He could not contact Danny. He had called a dozen times Danny. But Danny’s mobile phone was off. He had sent somebody to Danny’s residence. Nobody’s home, Alfred was told. “You’re history, Danny boy, fuck you,” Alfred said to himself.

“BRAVO, JERTI, BRAVO!” Jerti could hear this from his mobile phone which was on a loudspeaker mode. He was at home, resting. The previous day was his last day in office. He turned seventy years old this day, the mandatory retirement age for justices of the Supreme Court.

“All right, Gerry, cut it out. When will you give the other half?” Jerti walked near the table where his mobile phone was resting.

“Later this day, Jerti, I’ll deliver it there.”

“What about the bonus?” Jerti scratched his nose.

“What bonus?”

“Didn’t you say you’ll give me a bonus of one million bucks? I’m retired today, Gerry. I’m jobless. That amount is for my pension.” Jerti was smiling to himself.

“I didn’t say that. Our agreement was only for fifteen million bucks, buddy.”

Jerti gave out a chuckle. “I was just kidding, Gerry.” He picked up the phone and stepped near the couch.

“Nice try, Jerti. All right, see you later.”

“Bye.”

INSIDE THE LAW firm on the second floor of the decaying mid-rise building near the Makati-Manila border, the fiftyish mild-mannered man was instructing his two messengers to hurry up their task. Seven and a half million bucks, all in one-thousand-peso bills, would take a lot of minutes to stuff inside two large suitcases. An hour earlier, two men from Westorably Bank had arrived; they were the ones who had delivered several duffel bags bulging with cash.

“Sir Gerry,” one of the messengers lifted his head, looking at the fiftyish mild-mannered man, “the zipper on this one is busted.” He was pointing a finger at the zipper of one of the suitcases.

“Just wrap a large tape on it and tie it up. We don’t have much time.” Gerry took off his thick eyeglasses and wiped the lens on the lapel of his shirt.

“MON, NOW WHAT’S the remedy?” Johnny voice was almost high-pitched. His secretary craned her neck, glancing at him.

“That fucking bastard. He retired yesterday. He just ignored me, my pleas.” Mon was also shouting. He was furious.

“So, now what?”

“Tell your lawyer to file a motion for reconsideration. I have already talked to Chief Justice Ronnel. The Quarky case will be unloaded to our division come Monday. Once the motion for reconsideration is filed, our division will act on it the next day. Nothing to worry, Johnny. I’ll handle this with prompt action. The resolution issued by the Jerti’s Third Division will be set aside. Trust me on this, Johnny. Trust me.”

“OK, Mon, OK, I’ll trust your word. I’ve already spent the commission you gave me before. The girl I met back there at the Hotel Intercon, remember? She’s now mine, buddy.” Johnny was grinning.

“You really are my idol, Johnny.”

“All right, I’ll get back to you. I’ll call the Quarky lawyer. Bye.”

“Sir?”

Johnny turned his head. It was his secretary.

“Sir,” the secretary repeated, “you have two calls before you arrived, from a certain Normandi Ramon Bagonghari. He said he is a justice of the Supreme Court.”

“Yes, yes, Roselle, I just talked to him.”

“Oh, OK, Sir.”

Johnny walked out of his office. Outside, a dozen high-end vehicles were parked. Two people were crowding the top down 2-door Mercedes parked at a corner of Johnny’s large parking space. Johnny’s men had finished cleaning the other cars, the Mercedes, BMW and Audi sedans. Two Hummer SUVs, one H2 and the other H3, were being polished clean by Johnny’s men. All were second-hand vehicles being offered for sale by Johnny.

Friday Afternoon

DANNY HAD JUST gone out of the toilet. He was now at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. He had with him a backpack. He was holding a plane ticket and a boarding pass. His flight would be in three hours’ time. He had conditioned his mind on the life he would have in Canada. Heck, he was prepared to work even as a bar tender or a waiter. He had filed his application for migrate to Canada three years earlier. Finally, it was approved early this year. He owed a lot to his travel agent who had facilitated and speeded up the process of his application. It was only two weeks ago when the visa was released by the Canadian Embassy at Makati. The travel agent was able to book a flight for Danny immediately the next day. Danny had thought of delaying his flight, but his travel agent had said the sooner he left, the better. It was the travel agent who had brought him to the airport earlier. Before they parted ways, he gave to his travel agent a certified check payable to LAWLO in the amount of five hundred thousand pesos.

“What’s this for?” the travel agent had asked.

“Well, I’m just returning the money to the firm. It’s not mine.” He briefly explained everything to Roy, asking the travel agent if he could personally hand the check to the firm.

The travel agent was inquisitive. “But you still have money with you? Remember, once you land in Canada, you need to have something like ‘show money’ before they could let you get past the immigration people at the airport there.”

“Of course, I have. You told me that, remember?” Danny let out a wan smile. He showed dollar bills stuffed inside a clutch bag he was holding. Danny had used the fee he got from the Quarky case in dollar trading, with the valuable help of a childhood friend whose job was to trade dollars internationally. For two or three nights, Danny had stayed awake to monitor the dollar trading. The effort paid him back nicely: he got back his money with huge dollar earnings.

“That’s good. All right, bye, Danny. And good luck.” The travel agent firmly shook Danny’s hand.

“Thank you, Roy. We’ll just get in touch via email.”

Roy stood for a moment. Danny had just entered the airport building entrance after being frisked by the security guards. After placing the check inside his breast pocket, Roy got inside his car and drove off. Later that day, in his office, Roy was dialing a number in the Blackberry phone he was holding. It was Danny’s; Danny had given it to him the Blackberry as a gift. Roy was now calling Johnny to break the news of Danny’s departure.

Come Monday, Roy would be going to LAWLO in Makati, the biggest law firm in the country.

From:

50 COLLECTED STORIES, by Amador F. Brioso, Jr., A.F. Brioso, Jr. Publishing, Copyright 2026