Sobrang dalawang linggo at tayo ay boboto na, 18 araw eksakto bago ang Mayo a-10. Siguro kinakabahan ang maraming kandidato kasi hanggang ngayon, hindi pa nila kabisado talaga ang mga Pinoy at Pinay na botante. Masyadong malihim, maaaring palipat-lipat, wala pang napipili, o kaya ay sigurado nang boboto pero depende sa pondo na maibibigay.
Kanina lang, may lumapit sa isang babae sa jeep at namigay ng kalendaryo. Sinabi ng babae ang kandidato niya, si Noy2, pero ang sagot ng lalaki, "at sabi ng lalaki, "Ano, maraming namasacre sa Hacienda Luisita si Cory." Ang sagot ng babae, "Makakapagsalita ka ba ng malaya ngayon kung hindi pumasok si Cory sa pulitika?"
Tumahimik ang lalaki at tatawatawa.
Ang isang makasaysayang pananaw sa pulitika ay napakahalaga. Kung wala nito, masisira ang ating kinabukasan. Lahat magiging materyalistiko, iisipin lamang kung ano ang gana, ang kikitain.
Sana bigyan ng Department of Education na mariing pagpapasya na ang kasaysayan bilang isang subject at kurso ay mahalagang bahagi mula elementarya hanggang kolehyo.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Dear Folks, Everytime I post in my blog I am so scared that my thoughts would be interrupted -- like the page suddenly getting lost from the screen, someone tampering with the messages I write down, and my not being able to access my blog at all. The latter particularly happens after I have posted a highly politicized opinion article.
Hence, I think that a really well-developed, democratic and liberated country is one where there is free exchange of ideas, where the State does not meddle into the affairs of the citizens save when some groups are already using arms.
But me? Why pick my blogs for intrusions? This is the very big question in my life. I am just inserting ideas here in my blog and I suffer most of all from not being able to access it right away. It takes ages, sometimes days.
Not only that, I was at Coffee Bean in the heart of Makati yesterday but I could not open my email. Then somebody passed by with a very strong jamming device that he or she was able to turn off my laptop.
You see? Under this administration they have been able to use the most high tech devices to intrude into the privacy of people, the privacy of communication.
So when we change this administration, I hope that the first item in the agenda is to clean up the cyber space so that we can freely communicate with all peoples of the world.
I wrote Barack O. in 2008 about that but it seems the US does not want any form of intervention in Philippine politics.
So we have to do this ourselves.
***
Campaign jeepneys with blaring loudspeakers drive by in front of our homes. One time, one stopped by a corner and the blaring was so irritating that I called up the barangay and told the OIC -- "please don't allow these vehicles to stop by. They are only supposed to drive through and not make any corner or any place a terminal, with their radios blaring non-stop."
In terms of decent campaigning we are still in that primitive stage, where the corrupt class can dictate to the people their way of campaigning to get voted upon.
What we should do also is overhaul the whole system of electoral campaigning starting with making the government pay for the campaign funds of the candidates so that they would not be beholdened to anyone especially after they get their posts.
Also we should make the Comelec answerable for every candidate that they reject and they better be plausible. Then once the Supreme Court accedes to the Comelec decision although a very just protest had been lodged against the rejection, then the Supreme Court should also make public why they agree with the rejection.
I am so shocked to read that the Supreme Court approved hastily the Ang Ladlad party when our own, the Democratic Party of the Philippines was not. Bias, discrimination, favoritism are hallmarks of a corrupt system of implementation of laws. Sad to say but the Supreme Court has sunk to its lowest under this administration.
I wonder highly why some of the justices that gma appointed feel that they owe her a lot and so they accede to all her requests. Don't they believe that their credentials can stand on their own? Walang bilib sa mga sarili nila? Nakakahiya. They make decisions based on what she thinks. And I had always thought that Lady Justice is blindfolded.
Folks, it's time to go to the sea and ponder on the future of our country. That's what I always do, except that Manila Bay is so polluted that I can hardly start meditating without thinking of the degradation of our environment.
Am so glad, so many of our compatriots have the opportunity to go and stay abroad now. You don't have to contend with the nitty-gritty details of how our country's patrimony is being destroyed and the people being turned into robots.
Have a nice day, just the same.
Hence, I think that a really well-developed, democratic and liberated country is one where there is free exchange of ideas, where the State does not meddle into the affairs of the citizens save when some groups are already using arms.
But me? Why pick my blogs for intrusions? This is the very big question in my life. I am just inserting ideas here in my blog and I suffer most of all from not being able to access it right away. It takes ages, sometimes days.
Not only that, I was at Coffee Bean in the heart of Makati yesterday but I could not open my email. Then somebody passed by with a very strong jamming device that he or she was able to turn off my laptop.
You see? Under this administration they have been able to use the most high tech devices to intrude into the privacy of people, the privacy of communication.
So when we change this administration, I hope that the first item in the agenda is to clean up the cyber space so that we can freely communicate with all peoples of the world.
I wrote Barack O. in 2008 about that but it seems the US does not want any form of intervention in Philippine politics.
So we have to do this ourselves.
***
Campaign jeepneys with blaring loudspeakers drive by in front of our homes. One time, one stopped by a corner and the blaring was so irritating that I called up the barangay and told the OIC -- "please don't allow these vehicles to stop by. They are only supposed to drive through and not make any corner or any place a terminal, with their radios blaring non-stop."
In terms of decent campaigning we are still in that primitive stage, where the corrupt class can dictate to the people their way of campaigning to get voted upon.
What we should do also is overhaul the whole system of electoral campaigning starting with making the government pay for the campaign funds of the candidates so that they would not be beholdened to anyone especially after they get their posts.
Also we should make the Comelec answerable for every candidate that they reject and they better be plausible. Then once the Supreme Court accedes to the Comelec decision although a very just protest had been lodged against the rejection, then the Supreme Court should also make public why they agree with the rejection.
I am so shocked to read that the Supreme Court approved hastily the Ang Ladlad party when our own, the Democratic Party of the Philippines was not. Bias, discrimination, favoritism are hallmarks of a corrupt system of implementation of laws. Sad to say but the Supreme Court has sunk to its lowest under this administration.
I wonder highly why some of the justices that gma appointed feel that they owe her a lot and so they accede to all her requests. Don't they believe that their credentials can stand on their own? Walang bilib sa mga sarili nila? Nakakahiya. They make decisions based on what she thinks. And I had always thought that Lady Justice is blindfolded.
Folks, it's time to go to the sea and ponder on the future of our country. That's what I always do, except that Manila Bay is so polluted that I can hardly start meditating without thinking of the degradation of our environment.
Am so glad, so many of our compatriots have the opportunity to go and stay abroad now. You don't have to contend with the nitty-gritty details of how our country's patrimony is being destroyed and the people being turned into robots.
Have a nice day, just the same.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
LEAVING A POLITICAL LEGACY
Leaving a Legacy of Clean Politics
The race for national and local positions is on and getting fiercer and fiercer producing a very stressful condition in our country today. The networks are vying for attention in providing the latest, most accurate and relevant analyses of issues that each candidate and party tackles. Every single event is blown up to get the public to react to even a simple case of Kris Aquino and Ruffa Gutierrez’s spat on tv where the former’s behavior became the cause of the latter’s resignation from the program. Individual biodata of candidates are being unearthed to serve as fodder for campaign smearing of reputation.
Along the same vein, relatives are being drawn into the fray, with mothers, cousins, uncles giving their own views about how the campaigns should be conducted. Although their views could be viable, the total picture that emerges is that only a few families really control the political field in the country as their acts are easily handled by media.
Worse yet, those so-called stalwarts of the radical movement have completely made a somersault into the side of those they used to chide for being bourgeois, they used to denounce for being human rights violators, and they used to charge with corruptible practices. Thus their true colors have now emerged – that they are not really hero and heroine of the nationalist movement but rather opportunists out to reach the top at all costs. Maybe their rationale is: “When I get up there, I will revert to my former political standpoint.” But the question is will they every be able to do so, when by that time, they will have been sucked by the system already?
To compensate for the dreary situation, we can say at least that now in this period, everybody is awake. Even the spiritual leaders have entered the picture, running for a position as Bro. Eddie Villanueva, and others endorsing this and that candidate. However, the public has to be discerning as to who has their interest in mind, as some could just be there to have the necessary connections with whoever wins so that their financial takes would not be pried open by the BIR later on.
It cannot be denied anymore that we are sunk into an electoral system that makes the candidates lose their self-dignity. I heard one local candidate pleading in a hoarse voice to the crowd to give her a chance to carry out her platform of government. Still another had to endure being called names because of her affinity to a Comelec Commissioner who is secretly being bandied about as a taker of bribes to get partylists and parties accredited.
Then we see how much a huge warchest a candidate has prepared for in the presidential campaign – in billions for the highest position but is not being interrogated for misusing children to become his objects for propagandizing about himself.
We disagree heavily in using children in political propaganda. Children are very easy to manipulate especially those coming from the urban poor. With a few coins, they could be made to do acrobatics, and this time, sing jingles without knowing the import of the lyrics- si………ay nangarap… etc or without having read the issues against the very person they are campaigning for. Perhaps all organizations working for children’s welfare should band together and condemn this malpractice.
Here is where the Comelec is quite remiss in its job of keeping suffrage a dignified and respectable field. It is just too preoccupied with the technical (and probably others of the financial profit from every transaction) aspects of voting, especially automated voting this coming elections.
Meanwhile, our streets are littered with campaign paraphernalia which might stay up there in the lampposts, the trees and every flat wall where they can be posted, even after the day of voting since the candidates, especially the losers, are not pressured to clean them up.
But the “worst of worsts” is the lack of clearcut standards for accrediting organizations – parties, partylists, and accepting the candidacies of individuals, with or without a party. The Comelec is simply providing a brickwall against any kind of prying open of their positions. Instead, we just have to keep our ears open and learn from the grapevine that this and that org had paid millions, or this partylist was being asked to cough up 20 million to get accredited but which they had turned down in order to remain true to their philosophy of good governance.
So whoever said that we belong to the new millennium? This is the millennium of the same corrupt and violative acts of human rights as before – during the martial law regime. We saw these then – but on a lesser scale, with Marcos dominating the elections and making sure that his party would be the only one winning. By the way, he even got Racuyal or some other person who was willing to be a stooge to his political manipulations -- to compete with him every time to give a semblance of democratic practice.
Finally, do we expect neat and honest results from the machines or the usual brouhaha – of numbers being juggled to increase or decrease; to increase those of candidates who have been able to fatten the pockets of Comelec officials; and to decrease those of candidates who would choose to play fairly.
“Pity naman our country. Why have we become this way?” said one colegiala. Every religious who stayed blind to the true meaning of EDSA 2 and the “hello Garci” tapes could probably provide the answers.
Hopefully, the 2010 results would induce everyone to think up of ways to make the Comelec veer away from its corrupt practices and to truly serve the interest of the public. It is high time for us to hold on to the idea that the power to choose our leaders under the most honest circumstances is sacrosanct and should not be tampered with by any official, nor by any individual at all. Otherwise, we are destroying not only our socio-political institutions but the lives of the future generations after us.
Our children and children’s children deserve a clean legacy of politics – especially in terms of transfer of powers and leadership roles.
The race for national and local positions is on and getting fiercer and fiercer producing a very stressful condition in our country today. The networks are vying for attention in providing the latest, most accurate and relevant analyses of issues that each candidate and party tackles. Every single event is blown up to get the public to react to even a simple case of Kris Aquino and Ruffa Gutierrez’s spat on tv where the former’s behavior became the cause of the latter’s resignation from the program. Individual biodata of candidates are being unearthed to serve as fodder for campaign smearing of reputation.
Along the same vein, relatives are being drawn into the fray, with mothers, cousins, uncles giving their own views about how the campaigns should be conducted. Although their views could be viable, the total picture that emerges is that only a few families really control the political field in the country as their acts are easily handled by media.
Worse yet, those so-called stalwarts of the radical movement have completely made a somersault into the side of those they used to chide for being bourgeois, they used to denounce for being human rights violators, and they used to charge with corruptible practices. Thus their true colors have now emerged – that they are not really hero and heroine of the nationalist movement but rather opportunists out to reach the top at all costs. Maybe their rationale is: “When I get up there, I will revert to my former political standpoint.” But the question is will they every be able to do so, when by that time, they will have been sucked by the system already?
To compensate for the dreary situation, we can say at least that now in this period, everybody is awake. Even the spiritual leaders have entered the picture, running for a position as Bro. Eddie Villanueva, and others endorsing this and that candidate. However, the public has to be discerning as to who has their interest in mind, as some could just be there to have the necessary connections with whoever wins so that their financial takes would not be pried open by the BIR later on.
It cannot be denied anymore that we are sunk into an electoral system that makes the candidates lose their self-dignity. I heard one local candidate pleading in a hoarse voice to the crowd to give her a chance to carry out her platform of government. Still another had to endure being called names because of her affinity to a Comelec Commissioner who is secretly being bandied about as a taker of bribes to get partylists and parties accredited.
Then we see how much a huge warchest a candidate has prepared for in the presidential campaign – in billions for the highest position but is not being interrogated for misusing children to become his objects for propagandizing about himself.
We disagree heavily in using children in political propaganda. Children are very easy to manipulate especially those coming from the urban poor. With a few coins, they could be made to do acrobatics, and this time, sing jingles without knowing the import of the lyrics- si………ay nangarap… etc or without having read the issues against the very person they are campaigning for. Perhaps all organizations working for children’s welfare should band together and condemn this malpractice.
Here is where the Comelec is quite remiss in its job of keeping suffrage a dignified and respectable field. It is just too preoccupied with the technical (and probably others of the financial profit from every transaction) aspects of voting, especially automated voting this coming elections.
Meanwhile, our streets are littered with campaign paraphernalia which might stay up there in the lampposts, the trees and every flat wall where they can be posted, even after the day of voting since the candidates, especially the losers, are not pressured to clean them up.
But the “worst of worsts” is the lack of clearcut standards for accrediting organizations – parties, partylists, and accepting the candidacies of individuals, with or without a party. The Comelec is simply providing a brickwall against any kind of prying open of their positions. Instead, we just have to keep our ears open and learn from the grapevine that this and that org had paid millions, or this partylist was being asked to cough up 20 million to get accredited but which they had turned down in order to remain true to their philosophy of good governance.
So whoever said that we belong to the new millennium? This is the millennium of the same corrupt and violative acts of human rights as before – during the martial law regime. We saw these then – but on a lesser scale, with Marcos dominating the elections and making sure that his party would be the only one winning. By the way, he even got Racuyal or some other person who was willing to be a stooge to his political manipulations -- to compete with him every time to give a semblance of democratic practice.
Finally, do we expect neat and honest results from the machines or the usual brouhaha – of numbers being juggled to increase or decrease; to increase those of candidates who have been able to fatten the pockets of Comelec officials; and to decrease those of candidates who would choose to play fairly.
“Pity naman our country. Why have we become this way?” said one colegiala. Every religious who stayed blind to the true meaning of EDSA 2 and the “hello Garci” tapes could probably provide the answers.
Hopefully, the 2010 results would induce everyone to think up of ways to make the Comelec veer away from its corrupt practices and to truly serve the interest of the public. It is high time for us to hold on to the idea that the power to choose our leaders under the most honest circumstances is sacrosanct and should not be tampered with by any official, nor by any individual at all. Otherwise, we are destroying not only our socio-political institutions but the lives of the future generations after us.
Our children and children’s children deserve a clean legacy of politics – especially in terms of transfer of powers and leadership roles.
SUNDAY REFLECTION
By Wilhelmina S. Orozco
Many colors of religions exist in our midst. We are being deluged with different views of life, of the spirit. The Catholic Church which is too rigid in her approach to one’s being religious and that is attending its rituals every Sunday, reciting prayers monotonously and in routine, and talking to God indirectly through priests has caused many people to seek other paths. So now we have so many nativistic-style worship: Ang Dating Daan, Oras ng Himala, Mike Velarde’s El Shaddai, Brother Eddie Villanueva’s Jesus is Lord Movement, and many, many more. A foreign-inspired group is The Evangelical Ark Mission International headed by a Nigerian, Tony Marioghae. They have drawn many Filipino women and men to their wings because of their down-to-earth treatment of problems, both individual and social. In every group whose worship I have attended I always find a reference to political leaders, for them to care for the people’s welfare and not their own. Thus relevance to the times is the underlying theme of the latter groups.
Yet I cannot help but be shocked that sometimes the Bible can be used by some pastors to hit at those who have staunch political beliefs, who have their own views of society. Instead of making the worship place pristine, free from political clutter, they bring in the scams of politics, make them go up the stage and try to appear as religious as the people attending there. This is I think a desecration of the meaning of worship.
Worship means service to God, a time for reflection on one’s existence on earth and how relations with oneself, with others, and with the earth is according to the wisdom and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible. Instead, sometimes, we have been treated to a political feast, a kind of cursillo of these politicians whose stints can hardly be called spiritual but even be labeled anti-human.
Look at this former MMDA chairman now running for vice president. What did he do during his time? He polluted the streets with his ill-designed foul-smelling toilets for men and made the men feel grand that they could still urinate in public but in style. Instead of building toilets underground where people, both women and men could go down and urinate in clinically clean toilets, he put up urinals for everyone to see in pink colors.
What else did he do? He put up signs on the streets, “Bawal tumawid dito, nakamamatay.” Thus now, the Commonwealth Avenue is declared a death zone because of so many road accidents occurring then. Ironically, the victims are the ones being charged and labeled ignorant of the laws. Why, in the sixties, the signs we would see are: “Pedestrians crossing, slow down,” or “Children crossing, slow down.” Now the people have to race with the cars and vehicles whose drivers drive with impunity. I was nearly run over one time by an oncoming jeep while crossing a pedestrian lane, imagine! That concept that vehicle drivers are the kings of the roads has seeped into the minds of the under-educated drivers that they have the only right to the use of the roads and in their sweet time.
Now tell me, does this candidate deserve a minute of my attention after what he had done to bastardize metroManila? No, Sir, no Madam. He deserves to take a sabbatical leave and give more love to his overly self-sacrificing and intelligent wife. Or maybe give her a break and let her be with a more people-oriented partner.
In a former worship place I had attended, a pastor even started mentioning dogs in his homily – in allusion probably to media watchdogs – as I am from media and used to have a column then, criticizing election cheating. While reciting the homily, he would look down, probably feeling guilty that he is misusing the place of worship for something earthly, even hellish, instead of divine.
The worst I have heard is this reference to a Biblical woman so called unclean because she was menstruating and had touched Jesus Christ as a wish to have her sins washed away. Of all situations about sinning, a reference had to be made of this particular section of the Bible making it highly suspect that the one giving the sermon was hitting at someone in the audience. In effect it became a judgment time for one’s “sins” of choosing to protect one’s freedom in political thinking.
Now where is that soulful character of attendees of worship? Where are the so-called sons and daughters of God there? No, criticism of the powers-that-be is a no-no in religious organizations.
A place of worship where there is no freedom to think, speak and act for all – both women and men – is bound to fail and would lose its attendees. It will only gather the conservatives, those who favour the status quo, of being recognized in the worship place, albeit how narrow, for fear of expanding their spheres of influence, of treading new grounds where they would wager for chances for social recognition,.
Yet members of the group suffer from individual problems not taken care of by the worship leader– like one having an alcoholic husband, another having a domineering and oppressive employer, and others from spouses who hardly have time to give them that caring and loving attention so necessary for keeping the relationship alive because of their businesses or other concerns. The personal is only touched upon in reference to sins that are mostly for cleansing the souls of men – like going to prostitution dens, etc.
Yes, despite the proliferation of these religious groups, there is a corresponding bigger presence of nightclubs with young women offering their physical bodies as come-ons to customers by the doors. It is as if worship could always be done every Sunday and then Monday to Friday is freedom from the spiritual shackles of the Biblical teachings.
No, worship has to be something else. Worship should remain as worship, as a study and reflection on the teachings of the Bible, specifically of Christ, as they relate to one’s life, without being judgmental. Worship should gather people in order to celebrate life that God has given us and point to the way we must give order and joy to every minute of it while interacting with other travelers in this life. May be this is all very cerebral, but then, if I can experience it and others I know can, why can’t worship organizations do the same?
No one, no organization has the sole prerogative to speak about how life should be led, nor to be judged of one’s acts. Everyone has the right to judge only oneself, and not others unless the situation were legal in character, meaning to say there has been a violation of societal order. But I accept prophecies – showing how life should be, how everyone should become, in order that the eyes and hands of God shall remain more kindly at us all throughout our lifetime, in order that God may continue to protect us from those who would harm us, help and guide us in our day-to-day lives so that we may reflect and live according to Christian teachings, and thus guarantee our place in heaven among angels and non-sinners all.
Now the question: should all political leaders be spiritually-attuned? Can an atheist not be a good leader? Must one be a theist in order to be leader? At the moment, many are saying that due to the highly corrupt situation we are in, then a need arises to have spiritual leaders, those who are sensitive to the physical life and the inner life, or the other-worldly. In other words, leaders must be geared towards being reflective all the time if their acts conform to Christian and other spiritual values that glorify God and humanity.
We must remember that the People’s Republic of China shuns all talks of religion, yet it is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. The Soviet Union was also one before it broke up and yet it achieved its objective of raising with the west in modernizing her society. In other words, religion has and had nothing to do with how society was being run.
We could probably leave this hanging and let the people provide their own opinions on this matter. As for now, I prefer having a small space wherever I can and reflect on my own life, without anyone telling me, “Hey I am holier than you are.”
By Wilhelmina S. Orozco
Many colors of religions exist in our midst. We are being deluged with different views of life, of the spirit. The Catholic Church which is too rigid in her approach to one’s being religious and that is attending its rituals every Sunday, reciting prayers monotonously and in routine, and talking to God indirectly through priests has caused many people to seek other paths. So now we have so many nativistic-style worship: Ang Dating Daan, Oras ng Himala, Mike Velarde’s El Shaddai, Brother Eddie Villanueva’s Jesus is Lord Movement, and many, many more. A foreign-inspired group is The Evangelical Ark Mission International headed by a Nigerian, Tony Marioghae. They have drawn many Filipino women and men to their wings because of their down-to-earth treatment of problems, both individual and social. In every group whose worship I have attended I always find a reference to political leaders, for them to care for the people’s welfare and not their own. Thus relevance to the times is the underlying theme of the latter groups.
Yet I cannot help but be shocked that sometimes the Bible can be used by some pastors to hit at those who have staunch political beliefs, who have their own views of society. Instead of making the worship place pristine, free from political clutter, they bring in the scams of politics, make them go up the stage and try to appear as religious as the people attending there. This is I think a desecration of the meaning of worship.
Worship means service to God, a time for reflection on one’s existence on earth and how relations with oneself, with others, and with the earth is according to the wisdom and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible. Instead, sometimes, we have been treated to a political feast, a kind of cursillo of these politicians whose stints can hardly be called spiritual but even be labeled anti-human.
Look at this former MMDA chairman now running for vice president. What did he do during his time? He polluted the streets with his ill-designed foul-smelling toilets for men and made the men feel grand that they could still urinate in public but in style. Instead of building toilets underground where people, both women and men could go down and urinate in clinically clean toilets, he put up urinals for everyone to see in pink colors.
What else did he do? He put up signs on the streets, “Bawal tumawid dito, nakamamatay.” Thus now, the Commonwealth Avenue is declared a death zone because of so many road accidents occurring then. Ironically, the victims are the ones being charged and labeled ignorant of the laws. Why, in the sixties, the signs we would see are: “Pedestrians crossing, slow down,” or “Children crossing, slow down.” Now the people have to race with the cars and vehicles whose drivers drive with impunity. I was nearly run over one time by an oncoming jeep while crossing a pedestrian lane, imagine! That concept that vehicle drivers are the kings of the roads has seeped into the minds of the under-educated drivers that they have the only right to the use of the roads and in their sweet time.
Now tell me, does this candidate deserve a minute of my attention after what he had done to bastardize metroManila? No, Sir, no Madam. He deserves to take a sabbatical leave and give more love to his overly self-sacrificing and intelligent wife. Or maybe give her a break and let her be with a more people-oriented partner.
In a former worship place I had attended, a pastor even started mentioning dogs in his homily – in allusion probably to media watchdogs – as I am from media and used to have a column then, criticizing election cheating. While reciting the homily, he would look down, probably feeling guilty that he is misusing the place of worship for something earthly, even hellish, instead of divine.
The worst I have heard is this reference to a Biblical woman so called unclean because she was menstruating and had touched Jesus Christ as a wish to have her sins washed away. Of all situations about sinning, a reference had to be made of this particular section of the Bible making it highly suspect that the one giving the sermon was hitting at someone in the audience. In effect it became a judgment time for one’s “sins” of choosing to protect one’s freedom in political thinking.
Now where is that soulful character of attendees of worship? Where are the so-called sons and daughters of God there? No, criticism of the powers-that-be is a no-no in religious organizations.
A place of worship where there is no freedom to think, speak and act for all – both women and men – is bound to fail and would lose its attendees. It will only gather the conservatives, those who favour the status quo, of being recognized in the worship place, albeit how narrow, for fear of expanding their spheres of influence, of treading new grounds where they would wager for chances for social recognition,.
Yet members of the group suffer from individual problems not taken care of by the worship leader– like one having an alcoholic husband, another having a domineering and oppressive employer, and others from spouses who hardly have time to give them that caring and loving attention so necessary for keeping the relationship alive because of their businesses or other concerns. The personal is only touched upon in reference to sins that are mostly for cleansing the souls of men – like going to prostitution dens, etc.
Yes, despite the proliferation of these religious groups, there is a corresponding bigger presence of nightclubs with young women offering their physical bodies as come-ons to customers by the doors. It is as if worship could always be done every Sunday and then Monday to Friday is freedom from the spiritual shackles of the Biblical teachings.
No, worship has to be something else. Worship should remain as worship, as a study and reflection on the teachings of the Bible, specifically of Christ, as they relate to one’s life, without being judgmental. Worship should gather people in order to celebrate life that God has given us and point to the way we must give order and joy to every minute of it while interacting with other travelers in this life. May be this is all very cerebral, but then, if I can experience it and others I know can, why can’t worship organizations do the same?
No one, no organization has the sole prerogative to speak about how life should be led, nor to be judged of one’s acts. Everyone has the right to judge only oneself, and not others unless the situation were legal in character, meaning to say there has been a violation of societal order. But I accept prophecies – showing how life should be, how everyone should become, in order that the eyes and hands of God shall remain more kindly at us all throughout our lifetime, in order that God may continue to protect us from those who would harm us, help and guide us in our day-to-day lives so that we may reflect and live according to Christian teachings, and thus guarantee our place in heaven among angels and non-sinners all.
Now the question: should all political leaders be spiritually-attuned? Can an atheist not be a good leader? Must one be a theist in order to be leader? At the moment, many are saying that due to the highly corrupt situation we are in, then a need arises to have spiritual leaders, those who are sensitive to the physical life and the inner life, or the other-worldly. In other words, leaders must be geared towards being reflective all the time if their acts conform to Christian and other spiritual values that glorify God and humanity.
We must remember that the People’s Republic of China shuns all talks of religion, yet it is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. The Soviet Union was also one before it broke up and yet it achieved its objective of raising with the west in modernizing her society. In other words, religion has and had nothing to do with how society was being run.
We could probably leave this hanging and let the people provide their own opinions on this matter. As for now, I prefer having a small space wherever I can and reflect on my own life, without anyone telling me, “Hey I am holier than you are.”
LEAVING A LEGACY OF CLEAN POLITICS
by Wilhelmina Orozco
The race for national and local positions is on and getting fiercer and fiercer producing a very stressful condition in our country today. The networks are vying for attention in providing the latest, most accurate and relevant analyses of issues that each candidate and party tackles. Every single event is blown up to get the public to react to even a simple case of Kris Aquino and Ruffa Gutierrez’s spat on tv where the former’s behavior became the cause of the latter’s resignation from the program. Individual biodata of candidates are being unearthed to serve as fodder for campaign smearing of reputation.
Along the same vein, relatives are being drawn into the fray, with mothers, cousins, uncles giving their own views about how the campaigns should be conducted. Although their views could be viable, the total picture that emerges is that only a few families really control the political field in the country as their acts are easily handled by media.
Worse yet, those so-called stalwarts of the radical movement have completely made a somersault into the side of those they used to chide for being bourgeois, they used to denounce for being human rights violators, and they used to charge with corruptible practices. Thus their true colors have now emerged – that they are not really hero and heroine of the nationalist movement but rather opportunists out to reach the top at all costs. Maybe their rationale is: “When I get up there, I will revert to my former political standpoint.” But the question is will they every be able to do so, when by that time, they will have been sucked by the system already?
To compensate for the dreary situation, we can say at least that now in this period, everybody is awake. Even the spiritual leaders have entered the picture, running for positions as Bro. Eddie Villanueva, and others endorsing this and that candidate. However, the public has to be discerning as to who has their interest in mind, as some could just be there to have the necessary connections with whoever wins so that their financial takes would not be pried open by the BIR later on.
It cannot be denied anymore that we are sunk into an electoral system that makes the candidates lose their self-dignity. I heard one local candidate pleading in a hoarse voice to the crowd to give her a chance to carry out her platform of government. Still another had to endure being called names because of her affinity to a Comelec Commissioner who is secretly being bandied about as a taker of bribes to get partylists and parties accredited.
Then we see how much a huge warchest a candidate has prepared for in the presidential campaign – in billions for the highest position but is not being interrogated for misusing children to become his objects for propagandizing about himself.
We disagree heavily in using children in political propaganda. Children are very easy to manipulate especially those coming from the urban poor. With a few coins, they could be made to do acrobatics, and this time, sing jingles without knowing the import of the lyrics- si………ay nangarap… etc or without having read the issues against the very person they are campaigning for. Perhaps all organizations working for children’s welfare should band together and condemn this malpractice.
Here is where the Comelec is quite remiss in its job of keeping suffrage a dignified and respectable field. It is just too preoccupied with the technical (and probably others of the financial profit from every transaction) aspects of voting, especially automated voting this coming elections.
Meanwhile, our streets are littered with campaign paraphernalia which might stay up there in the lampposts, the trees and every flat wall where they can be posted, even after the day of voting since the candidates, especially the losers, are not pressured to clean them up.
But the “worst of worsts” is the lack of clearcut standards for accrediting organizations – parties, partylists, and accepting the candidacies of individuals, with or without a party. The Comelec is simply providing a brickwall against any kind of prying open of their positions. Instead, we just have to keep our ears open and learn from the grapevine that this and that org had paid millions, or this partylist was being asked to cough up 20 million to get accredited but which they had turned down in order to remain true to their philosophy of good governance.
So whoever said that we belong to the new millennium? This is the millennium of the same corrupt and violative acts of human rights as before – during the martial law regime. We saw these then – but on a lesser scale, with Marcos dominating the elections and making sure that his party would be the only one winning. By the way, he even got Racuyal or some other person who was willing to be a stooge to his political manipulations -- to compete with him every time to give a semblance of democratic practice.
Finally, do we expect neat and honest results from the machines or the usual brouhaha – of numbers being juggled to increase or decrease; to increase those of candidates who have been able to fatten the pockets of Comelec officials; and to decrease those of candidates who would choose to play fairly.
“Pity naman our country. Why have we become this way?” said one colegiala. Every religious who stayed blind to the true meaning of EDSA 2 and the “hello Garci” tapes could probably provide the answers.
Hopefully, the 2010 results would induce everyone to think up of ways to make the Comelec veer away from its corrupt practices and to truly serve the interest of the public. It is high time for us to hold on to the idea that the power to choose our leaders under the most honest circumstances is sacrosanct and should not be tampered with by any official, nor by any individual at all. Otherwise, we are destroying not only our socio-political institutions but the lives of the future generations after us.
Our children and children’s children deserve a clean legacy of politics – especially in terms of transfer of powers and leadership roles. .
The race for national and local positions is on and getting fiercer and fiercer producing a very stressful condition in our country today. The networks are vying for attention in providing the latest, most accurate and relevant analyses of issues that each candidate and party tackles. Every single event is blown up to get the public to react to even a simple case of Kris Aquino and Ruffa Gutierrez’s spat on tv where the former’s behavior became the cause of the latter’s resignation from the program. Individual biodata of candidates are being unearthed to serve as fodder for campaign smearing of reputation.
Along the same vein, relatives are being drawn into the fray, with mothers, cousins, uncles giving their own views about how the campaigns should be conducted. Although their views could be viable, the total picture that emerges is that only a few families really control the political field in the country as their acts are easily handled by media.
Worse yet, those so-called stalwarts of the radical movement have completely made a somersault into the side of those they used to chide for being bourgeois, they used to denounce for being human rights violators, and they used to charge with corruptible practices. Thus their true colors have now emerged – that they are not really hero and heroine of the nationalist movement but rather opportunists out to reach the top at all costs. Maybe their rationale is: “When I get up there, I will revert to my former political standpoint.” But the question is will they every be able to do so, when by that time, they will have been sucked by the system already?
To compensate for the dreary situation, we can say at least that now in this period, everybody is awake. Even the spiritual leaders have entered the picture, running for positions as Bro. Eddie Villanueva, and others endorsing this and that candidate. However, the public has to be discerning as to who has their interest in mind, as some could just be there to have the necessary connections with whoever wins so that their financial takes would not be pried open by the BIR later on.
It cannot be denied anymore that we are sunk into an electoral system that makes the candidates lose their self-dignity. I heard one local candidate pleading in a hoarse voice to the crowd to give her a chance to carry out her platform of government. Still another had to endure being called names because of her affinity to a Comelec Commissioner who is secretly being bandied about as a taker of bribes to get partylists and parties accredited.
Then we see how much a huge warchest a candidate has prepared for in the presidential campaign – in billions for the highest position but is not being interrogated for misusing children to become his objects for propagandizing about himself.
We disagree heavily in using children in political propaganda. Children are very easy to manipulate especially those coming from the urban poor. With a few coins, they could be made to do acrobatics, and this time, sing jingles without knowing the import of the lyrics- si………ay nangarap… etc or without having read the issues against the very person they are campaigning for. Perhaps all organizations working for children’s welfare should band together and condemn this malpractice.
Here is where the Comelec is quite remiss in its job of keeping suffrage a dignified and respectable field. It is just too preoccupied with the technical (and probably others of the financial profit from every transaction) aspects of voting, especially automated voting this coming elections.
Meanwhile, our streets are littered with campaign paraphernalia which might stay up there in the lampposts, the trees and every flat wall where they can be posted, even after the day of voting since the candidates, especially the losers, are not pressured to clean them up.
But the “worst of worsts” is the lack of clearcut standards for accrediting organizations – parties, partylists, and accepting the candidacies of individuals, with or without a party. The Comelec is simply providing a brickwall against any kind of prying open of their positions. Instead, we just have to keep our ears open and learn from the grapevine that this and that org had paid millions, or this partylist was being asked to cough up 20 million to get accredited but which they had turned down in order to remain true to their philosophy of good governance.
So whoever said that we belong to the new millennium? This is the millennium of the same corrupt and violative acts of human rights as before – during the martial law regime. We saw these then – but on a lesser scale, with Marcos dominating the elections and making sure that his party would be the only one winning. By the way, he even got Racuyal or some other person who was willing to be a stooge to his political manipulations -- to compete with him every time to give a semblance of democratic practice.
Finally, do we expect neat and honest results from the machines or the usual brouhaha – of numbers being juggled to increase or decrease; to increase those of candidates who have been able to fatten the pockets of Comelec officials; and to decrease those of candidates who would choose to play fairly.
“Pity naman our country. Why have we become this way?” said one colegiala. Every religious who stayed blind to the true meaning of EDSA 2 and the “hello Garci” tapes could probably provide the answers.
Hopefully, the 2010 results would induce everyone to think up of ways to make the Comelec veer away from its corrupt practices and to truly serve the interest of the public. It is high time for us to hold on to the idea that the power to choose our leaders under the most honest circumstances is sacrosanct and should not be tampered with by any official, nor by any individual at all. Otherwise, we are destroying not only our socio-political institutions but the lives of the future generations after us.
Our children and children’s children deserve a clean legacy of politics – especially in terms of transfer of powers and leadership roles. .
Monday, April 5, 2010
PERILOUS SUFFRAGE EXERCISE
FILE your candidacy. Get accredited. Campaign for votes among various sectors, communities, associations, and even religious to insure getting elected. Call up and bus your voters to the precincts. Get watchers to be on alert as votes are shown on screen. Check if your votes were truly counted by the machines -- how? This is the question.
Our right of suffrage gets snagged as soon as the counting process comes. We cannot be sure with the current system as whether a certain candidate truly gets the right number of votes as the voters have cast their ballots.
And so we should brace ourselves for the worst scenario. The electoral process in our country is shot from start to finish -- getting accredited as a party, much more so getting approved as a candidate is controlled, manipulated by parties close to and within the Comelec itself.
It is 2010 already, since women got the right to vote in 1937 and still our voting rights are not protected.
How do we solve this problem? Why, even electoral protests are very difficult to get into -- moneywise and justice-wise.
I do think that the current Philippine situation is really a matter for lawyers, judges and justices to resolve. If there is no justice in our country, that is simply because the sense of justice is low if not nill. We cannot rely on our legal institutions to help us overcome those instances of anti-human rights.
I hope that the bar passers of this year shall be of a different breed. I look forward to 2020 when we shall have had a truly just society. Meanwhile, we have to contend with the fact that the presidential candidate who knows how to conduct a People Power Revolution should be THE CANDIDATE and nobody else.
It is the parliament of the streets that will resolve unjust situations in our country, sad to say, in the long run.
Our right of suffrage gets snagged as soon as the counting process comes. We cannot be sure with the current system as whether a certain candidate truly gets the right number of votes as the voters have cast their ballots.
And so we should brace ourselves for the worst scenario. The electoral process in our country is shot from start to finish -- getting accredited as a party, much more so getting approved as a candidate is controlled, manipulated by parties close to and within the Comelec itself.
It is 2010 already, since women got the right to vote in 1937 and still our voting rights are not protected.
How do we solve this problem? Why, even electoral protests are very difficult to get into -- moneywise and justice-wise.
I do think that the current Philippine situation is really a matter for lawyers, judges and justices to resolve. If there is no justice in our country, that is simply because the sense of justice is low if not nill. We cannot rely on our legal institutions to help us overcome those instances of anti-human rights.
I hope that the bar passers of this year shall be of a different breed. I look forward to 2020 when we shall have had a truly just society. Meanwhile, we have to contend with the fact that the presidential candidate who knows how to conduct a People Power Revolution should be THE CANDIDATE and nobody else.
It is the parliament of the streets that will resolve unjust situations in our country, sad to say, in the long run.
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