Chasing Justice #1

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESIDENCY

CHAPTER FOUR 

BACK UP

"Saan ang libing Mister?" Sunset chuckled and moved sideways to face me.

Inabot niya ang neck tie ko. She untied it before fixing it herself. I'm a guy myself but I don't know how to do it. I just asked Justine to do it for me while we're changing clothes inside the men's comfort room.

"Nasaan ang reception, Miss?" I asked back, smiling.

She's wearing a black top, which she partnered with beige coat and slacks. She doesn't like wearing the usual black and white attire for a defense, so she chose a different color. Mukha tuloy siyang manager ng isang hotel imbis na waitress.

She laughed at my remarks before slapping my arm. Napatingin sila Christine at ang iba naming ka-grupo dito sa loob ng function room. They're busy reviewing the papers we are going to defend, and here I am with Sunset, exchanging banters with her.

"Aren't you nervous?" I asked after she was finished with my tie. I also fixed her hair. Kababaeng tao, ayaw magtali ng buhok kaya mabilis tuloy magulo, and Sunset being Sunset, she doesn't care what she looked like.

"Tao pa 'rin ako uy. Dini-distract ko lang ang sarili ko." She chuckled before heaving a deep breath. I just shook my head, and after a few minutes, we found ourselves, standing in front of our professor, together with the other panelists.

Well, today is our title defense for our thesis project. I'm confident that we could defend this since I'm with Sunset, Christine and Justine...so basically... We can do this.

Or not.

"Women's Bill? This is it?" the panelist asked.

"Yes, Ma'am." I answered. The panelist looked at me before looking at Sunset, specifically to her name tag.

"Ms. Huxley, can you explain your proposed title?" The panelist asked.

Sunset smiled before answering. "Gladly, Ma'am." She paused a bit. "Women's bill is basically the research gap my team and I found in the Republic Act 9262: Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children, as well as for Republic Act No. 8353. Anti-Rape law—well. Actually, my team had found the same mole from all of the law that was connected to women."

"And your point is?" mukhang nakulangan ang panelist but she didn't wait for Sunset's answer but she raised her forefinger to Justine. Motioning him to answer.

Luh. Bakit hindi ako? Kaya ko namang sagutin.

"Every Law that was connected to women has the same moles, and by that, we mean by moles is, we found out that women under them should be a rape victim—or rather a victim in general."

"Laws are basically made to combat any form of illegal violence." Sagot ng professor namin.

Sunset chuckled. A laugh that caught all of our attention even the panelists. It sounded sarcastic. "Yes, Ms. Huxley?"

"Sorry." She cleared her throat. "Which comes first? The law or the crime?" She smiled.

What the hell?

"The Law." Our professor answered.

"Right." Sunset smiled wider. "Basically, violence is a crime. Do we have to wait for the crime, before we should come up with a Law that could prevent such crime? I hope you get my team's point. Law should come first."