Laqyer's Mumbo Jumbo - Motu Propio

We are not lawyers ... but we need to understand their lexicon (lawyers always have their own lingo only they can understand. Same with doctors, nurses, and engineers) 

We spend our waking hours on YouTube, and we are always exposed to hearings and debates—and also their private conversations. All we do is scratch our heads because they use legal terminologies that sound too foreign and alien to our virgin ears, and our mind wonders what they are talking about.

Let's start decoding and decrypting these words and phrases (it is irreverent for us to enter the sanctum of the in ... but desperate times need desperate measures) so the next time they use these terms again ... we are on the same page with them.  Not in limbo.

We will try to dissect and define them in simpler language so ordinary mortals and laymen (the amateur and the non-experts) can actively participate in the discussion ... and at the same time broaden their legal and paralegal stock knowledge,

So our word or phrase that is hitting the headlines today is: MOTU PROPIO.

PHRASE: Motu Propio

MEANING:  In law, motu proprio is a Latin word which means 'on his own impulse' or on its own initiative. It describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party.

Motu Proprio - refers to an action taken by the LEB (Legal Education Board) on its own initiative, without the need of a complaint being filed, pursuant to the powers vested in it under R.A. 7662 and its amendments.

EXAMPLE:

1. A MOTU PROPIO investigation in the Philippines flood control scandal refers to a probe launched by the office of the ombudsman ON ITS OWN INITIATIVE that is without any referral from anybody.

This was exemplified by the Ombudsman creating a special panel to investigate alleged anomalies in the flood control project, with the investigators examining the alleged involvement of contractors and government officials, including politicians.

2. There is no example of a motu proprio action in the Sara Duterte impeachment case because the process began with formal, initiated complaints from individuals and was followed by the House of Representatives acting on those complaints. 

Motu proprio refers to an act taken "on one's own initiative," meaning without a formal request from another party. In this case, the complaints were formally filed, and the House's subsequent actions were in response to those filings, not taken spontaneously.

3. In Philippine politics, a motu proprio example is the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) investigating and canceling a certificate of candidacy "on its own initiative" to determine if the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) was filed for a malicious purpose, such as to cause confusion or put the election process in disrepute.

Pageant Result: Miss Grand International 2025

The winners of Miss Grand International 2025 from left to right: Faith Maria Porter - Ghana - Third Runner Up, Sarunrat Puagpipat - Thailand - First Runner Up, Emma Tiglao - Philippines - Miss Grand International 2025- Winner, Aitana Carolina Jimenez - Spain - Second Runner Up, and Nariman Vattikha - Venezuela - Fourth Runner Up.  The pageant was held at MGI Hall in Bangkok, Thailand, last October 18, 2021.

A Question Needing An Answer

In Batobato Pick at It's Showtime ... host Jong Hilario posed the P450,000.00 question to the contestant ... "Sa kasalukuyang mga pangalan ng mga bansa ... bukod sa Zimbabwe ... ano pa ang nagsimula sa letter Z.

Halos mapatid and litid ko sa kasisigaw ng ZAIRE ... na ikinagulat naman nina Fred, David, Katong and Bonjo. I know it for a fact that Zaire is a country, and there was no doubt in my mind na mali ako.

In the last final jackpot questions in the same segment in the previous week, I have a 100 percent batting average, and I can't afford to miss this one ... so much so that there are four Doubting Thomases in my company who looked at me doubtfully and unconvinced ... I have to prove them wrong.

And now the 64 dollar question ... what happen kung ako ang candidate doon ... will they consider my answer ... dahil kung sasabihin nila na mali ang sagot ko ... magrereklamo ako talaga kung hindi nila ibigay sa akin ang almost half a million pesos. (Kaso eh hindi pala ako yon .... hehehe.)

Well, it turned out that the only answer they will accept is Zambia. Which is a "mood downer". I felt like my balloon popped. My answer is correct and I am sure I am right ... so where did my answer go wrong?

I tried to examine how the question was formed ... and then I checked the CONTEXT and scrutinized the words one by one. 

To the uninformed, CONTEXT is important because it provides the surrounding circumstances and background information so we can correctly interpret the question and its meaning.

Not understanding the CONTEXT ... the question can be misunderstood. And questions at times in games show like this ... were meant to confuse and mislead contestants. 

And answers like ZAIRE can be wrong (even if it is right) ... because the message sent was not clear (because I was in a hurry to answer the question and I have forgotten the other variables that also need consideration), and in my case, the nuances in the question were vaguely inferred.

Going back to Jong Hilario's question, I found out that the culprit was in the word KASALUKUYAN. As I said before, I was confident that Zaire was one of the right answers... but with the pesky word kasalukuyan, I was misled to arrive at the wrong conclusion or answers.

Zaire is the old name of the Democratic Republic of Congo ... and the name was changed in 1997. So in the context of the way the question was formed, Zaire is not the kasalukuyan or the present ... it was a thing in the past.

Going back to my original question knowing that the money in question here is almost half a million peso (I know I am not a contestant here and I am not the winner ... but let's just play pretense duuuh) ... just in case the situation comes in real life ... will It's Showtime ever consider my answer ... or they will insist that my answer was out of context. Like what I said?

The reason why I am bringing this up is because (I am not really sure if it's Rainbow Rumble of Luis Manzano) the host considered the candidate's answer when he replied SIAM instead of Thailand.

And in America, another host considered the answers like Persia instead of Iran ... Burma instead of Myanmar ... Holland instead of the Netherlands ... and Ceylon instead of Sri Lanka.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Or this is a fair question. What do you think, guys?

Paging the producer and the hosts of It's Showtime.

More Placements And Wins

Another Unexpected Move

Another Unexpected Move From VP

"I don't deserve the attacks ... by the administration." reklamo ni Inday Sara.

So ano ba ang gagawin mo gaganti? Na parang isang bata na hindi na pinagisipan ang mga sasabihin ... di bale nang pagtawanan basta makasagot lang? Ganoon ba?

Sa isang press conference sa isang BAKERY CAFE sa Kamuning ... hindi talaga maiwasan na hindi magpatutsada si Inday Sara sa kanyang mga political foes na si BBM, si Speaker Martin Romualdez at si Zaldy Co. Basta pag itong tatlo ang topic ... ratsada na.

At dahil sa loob sila ng isang CONFECTIONERY ... she served her latest ma-INIT-INIT pang one-two-three punch fresh from an OVEN. Lifting the foil of CARAMELIZED CREAMERY released a rush of TANGY steam. Still WARM ... BUTTERY ... but GREASY.

At dahil BONDAT at may KABAG siya sa galit sa tatlo ... DUMIDIGHAY pa ng MASABAW at SPICY flavor ang kanyang lenguahe. Para siyang PATISSERIE CHEF hindi raw TINAPAY ang tatlo ... at hindi raw MAKAIN ang kanilang mga ugali.

Si Inday talaga kung magsalita para siya yong babaeng hindi man lang nanalamin. Tingin niya sa sarili ... she was like Somebody ... conceived without sin. And incapable to sin.

If you are on the opposite side of the political spectrum ... she can COOK a bizarre RECIPE for you. She can add all the unusual CONDIMENTS ... to give you a SOUR or a BITTER taste ... enough to make the unsuspecting netizens VOMIT.

And without batting an eyelash ... she can say things unflattering to herself like: "Kung siya daw ang tinapay ... siya daw ay ENSAYMADA. Ano ba yan, Inday ... that remark coming from a Vice President?

Nagpiesta tuloy ang mga taong galit sa kanya. Ano pa ba aasahan at i-expect natin kundi pagandahan ng mga witty at amusing kantiyaws ang mga netizens.

The best one so far ay nagsabing hindi siya ENSAYMADA ... PAN DE MONYA raw.

Sabi ng isa: "Bagay na bagay ... wala kasing laman sa loob."

See ... where did that get you? Imbes na siya ang nang-a-ALASKA ... ginigisa siya ngayon sa sariling MANTIKA.

You don't deserve the attacks? ... well, the way things are going ... you brought the attacks right at your doorstep!

Caption That

Nasaan ba ang nanay o yaya ng batang ire? Naku natutulog yata. Ipagdasal sana nating hindi lilipad si Spiderman. Sigurado ako lilipad din yan. Huwag po!

Was She Being Patriotic?

Alejandro Ortega of Spain is Mr. Global 2025. Kirk Bondad of the Philippines is Mr. International 2025.

They are almost like two peas in a pod ... almost like a twin ... or brothers from a different father. They look every inch similar ... bearing a close resemblance.

Is this now the new prototype for winning pageants? A new paradigm? Are we back to the machismo-guapissimo standard in male pageantry?

Sa kaguapohan ni Kirk Bondad nagrereklamo pa ang isang Ariska Putri from Indonesia at coocking show daw and Mister International. Bakit kasi pinaghost pa si Ahtisa Manalo pati tuloy ang maliwanag na pagkapanalo ni Kirk ay nabigyan pa ng ibang kulay? 

Why was she complaining about Kirk ... and she "moved on" that quick with Alejandro, with nary a sign of protest or grievance when they almost look alike. Or it was just one of those pathological envy or jealousy, a lot of her countrymen feel every time the Philippines wins, and they did not.

And she still insists that Oliver Edward Prasetyo of Indonesia should be the winner ... eh kung hindi ka ba naman timang ... mananalo ba ang kandidato niya eh hindi nga nakaabot siya sa Top Ten? How pushy she can be?

Ironically, Kirk and Oliver are close friends, and here she is putting a wedge in their friendship? Why does she have to go to the extent of downplaying the significance of Kirk's victory ... discredit him by pointing out his flaws or accuse him of unfair circumstances, or refute it by arguing against the win's validity or cause?

Was she delusional? Or was she just one of those loyal, patriotic extremist who loves nothing but her own and are capable of ranting and displaying juvenile temper tantrums if the result did not match what she expected?

The sad thing about Ariska is that she lies and concocts fake news just so she can continue to discredit Kirk ... fabricate stories to make his win less important ... and disparage or belittle the value of his win. 

And while we are at it ... I just want to verify if Ariska Putri is the same person as Ariska Putri Pertiwi - Miss Grand International 2016 from Indonesia?

Just in case they are nothing but one person ... it is just a shame that for somebody whose advocacy is to stop war and bloodshed, here she is magnifying the exact opposite of her cause. Sowing intrigues and lies is just a no-no, especially if she doesn't want her name dragged into the quagmire of gossip and innuendos.

And there's more ... if they are just one person ... people will question her win with the way she butchered the English language, and her spelling makes one doubt how she managed to win the crown and the title herself. See how she besmirched her name dahil lang sa magkatukayo kayo?

Now the big question ... with Alejandro Ortega winning Mr. Global 2025 (and having the same facial qualities as Kirk), how come everything is quiet in Ariska's front? She doesn't even raise her arms for justice when Venezuela walked home very sad, knowing that his answer to the Q and A round is far better than Alejandro's.

How come she was not going to the ballistics when Indonesia's Mr. Global 2025 Arrie Octrain clapped his way going home?

See ... I hate being rude ... but these questions need to be asked. Why only Kirk and not Alejandro?

And thank heavens she was not a judge ... otherwise everybody would be writhing in pain knowing how biased and prejudiced she was