Autumn Season One (Las Rozas Series #1)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I ate my dinner sa malapit na restaurant para pag-uwi ko matutulog nalang ako. I'm physically and mentally tired because of my finals.

Habang nag-dri-drive ay nakita kong tumatawag si Aries sa akin. Sinagot ko ito at saka niloudspeaker.

"Bakit?"

"Hindi ko kasi nakita na nag-se-seen ka sa GC. May announcement ang beadle natin na may recit daw tayo bukas."

"Tangina? Seryoso ba 'yan?" Iritado kong tanong. Bad trip na nga yung exams ko may pa recit pa si Sir? Akala ko ba tapos na?

"Oo nga. Magbasa ka kasi sa GC. Sisisihin mo nanaman kami ni Eros kapag 'di mo alam kung ano announcement do'n. Master ka ba namin, huh?"

"Saang subject ba?"

"Tax."

"Friday na may pahabol pa siya? Baka nga bumagsak pa ko sa exams ko tapos may pahabol pa siyang recit?"

"Ayaw mo no'n? Kapag bumagsak ka hindi kana muna babalik ng Pilipinas kasi babalikan mo yung subject na binagsak mo." Sabi niya habang tumatawa.

"Tangina mo." Inis kong sabi saka binabaan siya ng tawag. Kailan kaya dadating sila Dawn nang may matinong pinsan naman akong nakakausap... o baka naman sa Pilipinas na kami magkita?

Dawn, Cleon's older brother is in the Philippines with Sam, kapatid din nila. Si Cleo lang ang naiwan dito sa Spain kasama ang magulang nila habang yung dalawang kapatid ni Cleo ay nasa Pilipinas nagtratrabaho na.

"Son," my mom greeted and kissed me on my cheek. "You look tired."

"Yeah... I'm tired Mom." I said tiredly. "I want to rest."

"But aren't you going to eat first before resting?" She asked worriedly. She's looking at me softly while touching my left cheek.

"I already ate my dinner at Casa Alberto. I just want to rest. I still need to review for my recit tomorrow."

"Oh... Okay... please stop clubbing."

"I'm fine, mom," I said to assured her. "And yes, I'm going to stop," She smiled at me. I kissed her forehead and say goodnight before going upstairs.

Pagod kong hinubad ang damit ko saka pumasok ng bathroom. I relaxed in the bathtub. After one hour, umahon na ako. I wore a simple white shirt and grey shorts. I dried my hair using a blower para mabilis matuyo ang buhok ko because I want to sleep already.

Pagkatuyo ng buhok ko, pumunta na kaagad ako sa kama ko at nahiga... I closed my eyes to sleep.

Nagising ako sa alarm ng cellphone ko.

Bumangon ako saka nagpuntang bathroom. I take a bath... After taking a bath I wore my usual outfit. I don't have class now because my finals are done pero may pasok pa din kami wala nga lang professor sa iba pero may recit kami mamayang 12 pm. So I decided to review my codal around 5 am until 8:30 am. Pagkatapos ko mag review sa Tax ay bumaba na ako para kumain. Pupunta ako sa firm namin mamaya para tignan yung ginagawang project malapit sa building namin.

I sat on my usual spot at our dining table. Tahimik kaming kumakain hanggang sa magsalita si Daddy. "Make sure na pupunta ka ng Pilipinas after your graduation."

"Yeah," I said. And continue eating my food because I'm not in the mood to listen to all his expectations of me.

"I heard that you're having a hard time on your exams. Why?" He asked seriously.

"So, that's the reason why you're not in the mood last night." My mom sadly said.

"I did my best." That's the only thing that I can say. Dad sighed. Is he disappointed? Maybe... my best is wasn't good enough for him. Pero bakit si Renzo, okay lang na may konting mali siya? Bakit sakin hindi okay? I just feel like the pressure is all on me.

Pumasok ako sa company namin ng wala sa mood. My Dad is such a perfectionist. Hindi man lang ba niya nakikita na ginagawa ko naman ang best ko para maabot ang mga expectations niya sa 'kin? Puro mali ko nalang ba talaga ang titignan niya?

Ibinaling ko nalang ang atensyon ko sa pag-aaral sa company namin. Para mamaya makapag review ulit ako.

"Hello, Raze." Engineer Cruz greeted me. She's a Filipina. Nakabased siya sa Pilipinas. Pinapunta lang dito ni Dad dahil nasa hospital ang Engineer na dapat naka based dito sa Madrid. I turned to her to greet her back.

We have an Engineering firm. My father is an Engineer and my mother is a lawyer. I want to be like my Mom but Dad won't let me... My father didn't argue with me when I took Accountancy and proceed to Law School instead of Engineering... At first, I thought that he's okay with my decision pero narealize ko, hinayaan nya lang pala akong makuha muna yung degree na gusto ko, bago nya kong sapilitan na pag-aralin kung ano man ang meron sa firm nya. Engineering is not my thing, and I don't have any idea about it. I just hope na ilalagay nya ako sa internal businesses, not the external ones.

"Hello," I said. She smiled at me shyly. She looked around and sighed before saying something.

"Uhm... Did you... already ate your lunch?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah," Actually hindi pa 'ko kumakain. I just don't want to eat with her.

"Oh..." She laughed awkwardly. "Okay... then aalis na 'ko." She said and walk away. Napabuntong hininga nalang ako dahil mukang napahiya ko siya. Hindi ko naman sinasadya. Ayoko lang talaga kumain kasama siya o kahit sino sa nagkakagusto sa akin because I find it creepy when they're just looking at me when I'm eating with them. Hindi lang ako makakakain ng maayos.

"La rechazaste de nuevo." (You rejected her again) One of our workers said.

"Simplemente no me gusta comer con ella." (I just don't like to eat with her.) I answered him habang naglalakad kami pabalik kung saan kami nagpapahinga.

"Creo que ella te gustas. El ingeniero es hermoso." (I think she likes you. The Engineer is beautiful.)

"No me importa si ella es hermosa." (I don't care if she's beautiful.)

Pagkatapos ng trabaho ay dumeretso na ako sa law school. Nasa labas lang ako dahil wala pa naman yung Professor. Nagbasa nalang ako sa labas dahil nakakapressure sa loob. Mga seryoso kasi sila mag review at sobrang tahimik. Ramdam na ramdam mo yung kaba nila sa loob kaya kinakabahan din tuloy ako.

Kaya mas pinili ko nalang na dito sa labas mag review para hindi ko maramdaman yung kaba nila at makapagfocus ako sa pag-review ko.

Nang matanaw ko si Atty. Agustin, pumasok na ako sa room. Nagpunta ako sa tabi ni Eros dito sa bandang likuran saka umupo. Noong pumasok siya ay sabay-sabay kaming tumayo para batiin siya.

Nag-shuffle siya ng index card na hawak niya para sa recit namin. Ramdam na ramdam ko yung kaba ng mga kaklase ko habang nagshushuffle si Attorney Agustine ng index card.

"Esquire." Tawag ng Prof namin. Nagkatinginan kaming tatlo dahil tatlo kaming Esquire. "Eros Alastair." Dagdag niya. Bumuntong hininga si Eros at saka tumayo. He just looked at our prof calmly na akala mo hindi kinakabahan pero sa loob nito halos mamatay na siya sa kaba.

"Differentiate between double taxation in the strict sense and a broad sense and give an example of each."

"Double taxation in the strict sense pertains to the direct double taxation. This means that the taxpayer is taxed twice by the same taxing authority, within the same taxing jurisdiction, for the same property and same purpose." He said I looked at my notes. Tama lahat ng sinabi niya.

"On the other hand, double taxation in broad sense pertains to indirect double taxation. This extends to all cases in which there is a burden of two or more impositions. It is the double taxation other than those covered by direct double taxation." Dagdag niya. Tumango lang si Sir kaya naman umupo na siya. Nagtawag pa ng ilan si Sir hanggang sa matawag ako.

"Esquire, Raze Gedeon."

"The current Socialist (PSOE) government in Spain has claimed in different occasions that the low fiscal pressure that Spain has experienced in 2008 and 2009, gives policy-makers a large leeway to raise taxes. Besides, this measure has been supported as necessary to maintain –or improve- the current government-run social safety net and the level of public infrastructures. Explain why raising taxes in Spain is not a good idea?"

"The financial and economic crisis in Europe has brought about a series of severe interdependent problems. The fragile health of public finances has been one of the most worrying issues, especially in countries like Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, because of soaring public deficits and a growing cost of sovereign debt. Now, fiscal consolidation measures have been approved but substantial problems remain. In this paper, we deal with the fiscal situation of Spain, one of the most badly hit countries in the downturn in Europe. We focus our attention on the revenue side: Do we need more taxes to maintain the current social benefits and level of infrastructures?" Mahabang salaysay ko habang yung Professor sa harap ay may sinusulat sa papel habang nakikinig sa mga sagot ko.

"The current Socialist (PSOE) government has claimed in different occasions that the low fiscal pressure (measured as the tax-to-GDP ratio) that Spain has experienced in 2008 and 2009, gives policy-makers a large leeway to raise taxes. Besides, this measure has been supported as necessary to maintain –or improve- the current government-run social safety net and the level of public infrastructures. It has also been presented as a means towards approaching our European neighbors in terms of welfare benefits." Dagdag ko pa. Tumango naman yung professor sakin pagkatapos kong sagutin at nagtawag ng bagong pangalan.

Pagkatapos ng recit namin, tinakasan ko na sila Eros at Aries dahil narinig kong nag-uusap sila tungkol sa pagpunta nila ng club.

Some of my friends and cousins keep on calling me. They want me to join them in their gimmick. They're now going to Serrano 41. I'm tired so I refused but they're so persistent.

"What?" I said annoyingly. I am now driving my car pauwi sa bahay. Dahil pagod na pagod ako ngayong araw.

"You're not coming with us?" Iritadong tanong ni Eros.

"I'm tired. Kagagaling ko lang sa firm namin tapos nag recit pa tayo kanina." Iritado ko ding sagot. "Saka pupunta ako ngayon sa Las Rozas Mansion dahil doon ata kami magdidinner. May pinag-uusapan sila Lola at Daddy."

He sighed. "Fine. Reasonable naman. Next time sumama kana." Iritado pa din siya.

"Siraulo. Ano ka jowa? Kailangan magsabi ng reasonable reason para pumayag na di makakapunta?" Pinagtawanan niya lang naman ako. Naririnig ko pa yung segway ni Dice. Kabangayan nanaman yata si Cleo. "Alright," I said and ended the call.

Sa sumunod na araw ay sumama na ako sa mga kaibigan kong mag club. We went to Penélope club. Halos nalibot na namin ang lahat ng club dito sa Madrid.

Alam kong sinabi ko kay Mommy na hindi na ako magclu-club pero dinedemonyo kasi ako ng mga pinsan ko.

Pagkatapos makipagbody shot ni Dice sa isang babae ay nagsigawan kami. This is what we are always doing in our free time. Playing games. Having fun. Get drunk. Find a girl who's willing to get f****d.

I need to enjoy it now because, after my graduation, I'm going to focus on studying our goddamn business and for my review. I cannot do this more often, dahil pare-parehas na kaming busy sa trabaho namin pagkatapos ng bar exam.

Adult life is hella damn no fun...

—

Atty Agustin, Question and Eros answer:

https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/7dcde495/files/uploaded/2010-2015%20TAX%20BAR%20BASED%20ON%20THE%202015%20BAR%20SYLLABUS.pdf

Raze answer:

https://en.irefeurope.org/Publications/Online-Articles/The-fallacy-of-low-taxes-in-Spain-A-comparative-study-of-taxation