Day 19: Where the River Used to Be
In the mediation room of a courthouse in Santa Cruz, Laguna, Emil (A) and Jaime (B), opposing lawyers and old law school classmates, read again the 1958 deed of sale at the heart of their clients' land case.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Tagalog. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio for this lesson is coming soon. For now, read the dialogue and its translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day
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A
Basahin mo ulit, Jaime: "Ang nasabing lupa ay nahahangganan sa dakong hilaga ng ilog."
Read it again, Jaime: "The said parcel is bounded on the north by the river."
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B
Ilog noong 1958 iyan, Emil. Noong 1972, inilipat ito ng baha nang tatlumpung metro pahilaga.
That's the river of 1958, Emil. In 1972 a flood moved it thirty meters north.
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A
Kahit na. Ilog pa rin iyon, at sumusunod sa ilog ang hangganan.
Even so. It's still the river, and the boundary follows the river.
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B
Kung unti-unti, oo, accretion iyon. Pero biglaan ang baha, kaya naiwan ang hangganan sa dating daluyan.
If it had been gradual, yes, that's accretion. But the flood was sudden, so the boundary stayed in the old channel.
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A
Bakit "ng ilog" ang isinulat, hindi "ng lupa ni Ginoong Reyes"? Gusto ng bumili na abot niya ang tubig.
Why did they write "by the river," and not "by the land of Mr. Reyes"? The buyer wanted his land to reach the water.
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B
Hula mo lang iyan. Ang tiyak: "mula sa mohon bilang isa, tatlong daang metro hanggang sa pampang."
That's just your guess. What's certain is this: "from monument number one, three hundred meters to the bank."
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A
Tatlong daang metro... at ngayon, tatlong daan at tatlumpu na bago umabot sa tubig.
Three hundred meters... and now it's three hundred and thirty before you reach the water.
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B
Kaya ang tatlumpung metrong iyan ay hindi kailanman naipagbili, kaibigan.
So those thirty meters were never sold, my friend.
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A
Pero mahigit limampung taon nang sinasaka iyan ng mga kliyente ko, nang walang reklamo ninyo.
But my clients have farmed that strip for more than fifty years, without a word of complaint from your side.
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B
Kaya nga tayo nasa mediation. Hatiin natin, at ipaliwanag sa kanila sa Tagalog na naiintindihan nila.
That's exactly why we're in mediation. Let's split it, and explain it to them in Tagalog they can understand.
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