I just came from Simbang Gabi and I am enjoying it. It's not just the beautiful church lights and the heavenly singing of the choir that was so inspiring. It's the whole liturgical experience. Perhaps this old age kicking in that I'm more excited about the Simbang Gabi than going to the malls this holiday. I don't truly appreciate the traffic, difficult parking, and the hordes of shoppers in a mall.
I look forward to Simbang Gabi again. Tomorrow, the last of the 9, is the culmination. It should be the most exciting liturgical celebration for Christmas.
But I'm a little bit apprehensive. The last thing I want to hear in what I expect to be an inspiring and spiritual celebration of the Christmas season, is another apologetics against the RH Bill. Be it in homily form, or a pastoral letter, I've had enough hearing about the subject within the Holy Mass. In the Mass I attended, the priest mentioned a little of it. Thank God he did not elaborate.
I think the bishops and some priests are given enough media mileage to be able to say what they believe is needed and necessary against the RH Bill. Let the Mass be for the real spirit of the season, the birth of Christ, which we want to feel in our hears, through the liturgy.
So I am appealing to priests and bishops who will celebrate the Holy Mass tomorrow, Christmas Eve. Please spare us from any mention of the RH Bill, or anything connected to it, the state of our Congress, or what will happen after the law is signed. Your laity watches the news and reads the papers. We are all informed.
Through the liturgy, we feel the Spirit of Newborn Jesus. Please don't corrupt it with the RH Bill issue.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Monday, July 25, 2011
No Crumbs for Good Governance
It is the time where everybody is an expert. It is the time where everybody has an opinion.
Thus is the aftermath of the second State of the Nation address of Pres. Noynoy Aquino. And from top political honchos inside the session hall to the man on the street bracing Commonwealth Avenue, each one has a piece of his mind to give on the address. Positive and negative, passing grade or fail, each one falls on an emotional range from pleased to frustrated.
Nothing's new. This is the same scenario in the last SONA. And this has been the scenario in every SONA of the past presidents. So what's the truth then? Who knows? The media has succeeded in confusing us more than making it clear to us. Like in every other news pertaining to this administration, everybody is playing it safe.
But the true message of Noynoy's SONA is beyond the words spoken. The State of this Nation does not rely on the a speech which we all know are spun off expertly by political writers and advisers. The true State of the Nation is beyond what Noynoy has spoken this afternoon.
We must listen not to words, but to what has been done by this government and what it has committed to achieve. And those certainly go beyond words. What needs to be done to improve this country is a gargantuan feat. And no amount of words spoken the whole afternoon or even the whole day would be enough. But what is the common thread? Sometimes we are only left with a theme.
And the theme for me is good governance. This is the standard that this administration should be evaluated against. It is the standard they set, that Noynoy set, in his campaign when he said, "kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap." So contrary to what most commentators say, yes, this administration has set its standard for effectiveness.
And looking at the programs and achievements of this government in its first year, it has definitely taken to heart its campaign on good governance. It does so with its unflinching campaign to pursue the corrupt politicians and personalities, change corrupt systems, and start an uncorrupt culture. It has teeth to where its mouth spoke. It has not only given crumbs in its prioritization. It is the main course in its agenda.
People sometimes demand so many things from its government. But an administration of 6 years can only do so much. If it pursues its standard of pursuing, stopping corruption, and starting an uncorrupt culture in our country, then it has already done so much, worthy of a place in Philippine history.
Thus is the aftermath of the second State of the Nation address of Pres. Noynoy Aquino. And from top political honchos inside the session hall to the man on the street bracing Commonwealth Avenue, each one has a piece of his mind to give on the address. Positive and negative, passing grade or fail, each one falls on an emotional range from pleased to frustrated.
Nothing's new. This is the same scenario in the last SONA. And this has been the scenario in every SONA of the past presidents. So what's the truth then? Who knows? The media has succeeded in confusing us more than making it clear to us. Like in every other news pertaining to this administration, everybody is playing it safe.
But the true message of Noynoy's SONA is beyond the words spoken. The State of this Nation does not rely on the a speech which we all know are spun off expertly by political writers and advisers. The true State of the Nation is beyond what Noynoy has spoken this afternoon.
We must listen not to words, but to what has been done by this government and what it has committed to achieve. And those certainly go beyond words. What needs to be done to improve this country is a gargantuan feat. And no amount of words spoken the whole afternoon or even the whole day would be enough. But what is the common thread? Sometimes we are only left with a theme.
And the theme for me is good governance. This is the standard that this administration should be evaluated against. It is the standard they set, that Noynoy set, in his campaign when he said, "kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap." So contrary to what most commentators say, yes, this administration has set its standard for effectiveness.
And looking at the programs and achievements of this government in its first year, it has definitely taken to heart its campaign on good governance. It does so with its unflinching campaign to pursue the corrupt politicians and personalities, change corrupt systems, and start an uncorrupt culture. It has teeth to where its mouth spoke. It has not only given crumbs in its prioritization. It is the main course in its agenda.
People sometimes demand so many things from its government. But an administration of 6 years can only do so much. If it pursues its standard of pursuing, stopping corruption, and starting an uncorrupt culture in our country, then it has already done so much, worthy of a place in Philippine history.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
The Friend who is China
Everybody now returns to their usual lives after witnessing the drama of the 3 Filipinos executed in China for drug traficking. As I write this, an episode in Jessica Soho features the lives of these 3 victims. I call them victims because that is what they are. I think nobody among those 3 willingly traficked the drug just for the sake of it or knowing fully well the consequence. A common opinion is that poverty and unemployment pushed them. But that is another topic worth a separate discussion.
The Jessica Soho episode just finished and admittedly, most of us have had enough of its commentary. I don't see the need to go over and over of this tragedy. It may be better to reflect on the future and the implication this incident brought.
For me, it's how the Chinese government acted. Up to the last minute, they stuck to their stand to execute the Filipinos, despite the pleadings of the Philippine government for a clemency. The Noynoy government, I think, took a big diplomatic risk in appealing for a clemency for the victims. But under the guise of law, it fell on deaf ears. Sure, the execution was delayed. But only because a high official, the Vice President himself went to appeal. But technically , nothing changed in the decision.
Sure, they are just following their laws. But it made me wonder, if it happened to an American citizen, hypothetically, will the Chinese follow the same course? The fact is, the Philippines is such a miniature country for them compromise their laws. They can afford to take such a stand.
Even US officials feel that the Chinese action smacked on international diplomacy, considering the risk that the Philippine government took. But of course, the US will not take sides, considering they have their own diplomatic ties with China to manage.
All the lip service that the Chinese are saying about our country, that diplomatic ties will not be affected, redounds to how the Chinese really sees us on how they treated these 3 Filipinos. It's not because these 3 are guiltless with what they did. But the government had made an appeal for clemency, a big risk, and yet nothing has been done to consider it.
It's time Filipinos open their eyes, including Philippine officials themselves, on how other countries treat us. China a friend? Let's think again.
The Jessica Soho episode just finished and admittedly, most of us have had enough of its commentary. I don't see the need to go over and over of this tragedy. It may be better to reflect on the future and the implication this incident brought.
For me, it's how the Chinese government acted. Up to the last minute, they stuck to their stand to execute the Filipinos, despite the pleadings of the Philippine government for a clemency. The Noynoy government, I think, took a big diplomatic risk in appealing for a clemency for the victims. But under the guise of law, it fell on deaf ears. Sure, the execution was delayed. But only because a high official, the Vice President himself went to appeal. But technically , nothing changed in the decision.
Sure, they are just following their laws. But it made me wonder, if it happened to an American citizen, hypothetically, will the Chinese follow the same course? The fact is, the Philippines is such a miniature country for them compromise their laws. They can afford to take such a stand.
Even US officials feel that the Chinese action smacked on international diplomacy, considering the risk that the Philippine government took. But of course, the US will not take sides, considering they have their own diplomatic ties with China to manage.
All the lip service that the Chinese are saying about our country, that diplomatic ties will not be affected, redounds to how the Chinese really sees us on how they treated these 3 Filipinos. It's not because these 3 are guiltless with what they did. But the government had made an appeal for clemency, a big risk, and yet nothing has been done to consider it.
It's time Filipinos open their eyes, including Philippine officials themselves, on how other countries treat us. China a friend? Let's think again.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Quest to Clean up Government
Noynoy Aquino ran for President on the platform of anti-corruption. This is why I believe people voted for him. I for one voted for him because of this belief, the hope that this vision will come to see the light.
Many days have passed after he won. A lot of events have occurred. Many opinions were given on whether the Aquino Presidency is effective or not. But in the end, Noynoy will be judged under the banner in which he laid his campaign, the anti-corruption drive.
The anti-corruption mission in Philippine government is not an easy task. In fact, with how politics in this country is being run, it is close to impossible to attain. However, my belief is that the foundation is being laid out no less by the Noynoy government itself.
The exposure of corruption in the military and the police is one key element. Never in the history of the country that the armed forces been placed in this kind of scandal. I once thought that this expose weakens the defense of the country. Imagine if we have been attacked under these conditions. But it was a necessary risk in order to plant the seed of change and reform. This case should be pursued to its logical conclusion, no matter how many generals commits suicide because of guilt.
The impending Guttierez impeachment is another. No anti-corruption drive in government will succeed if the Ombudsman itself is corrupt. The Ombudsman's iniquities in this case is not what it committed, but in what it ommitted, in terms of urgency of action. I sure hope Guttierrez gets impeached. The evidence of the favors she granted the previous administration of Arroyo is enough to show her guilt. She has corrupted the office of the Ombudsman to the hilt.
Another potential element, in which the handwriting is already seen on the wall, is the possible guilt of Chief Justice Renato Corona over the Visconde case. That, as reported and attested by Lauro Visconde himself, Corona allegedly told the former, that some justices are campaigning for the release of Hubert Webb, a fact that has already occurred months ago. The veracity of such an incident may lead again to an impeachment case for Corona, a possibilty that may clean up and unite the Supreme Court.
That Guttierrez and Corona are being targeted by the Aquino government because they are appointees of the GMA government is not the issue here. The issue is that, for the anti-corruption drive to succeed, all elements against it in key government offices must be removed. It is never personal on the people involved. For once, they should stop thinking about themselves and think of the country.
I agree with this plan. And so will majority of the Filipino population who are sick and tired of corruption in the country. The country needs a major change in culture, in politics, and in government. All those who will not help should step back, stand aside and disappear.
Many days have passed after he won. A lot of events have occurred. Many opinions were given on whether the Aquino Presidency is effective or not. But in the end, Noynoy will be judged under the banner in which he laid his campaign, the anti-corruption drive.
The anti-corruption mission in Philippine government is not an easy task. In fact, with how politics in this country is being run, it is close to impossible to attain. However, my belief is that the foundation is being laid out no less by the Noynoy government itself.
The exposure of corruption in the military and the police is one key element. Never in the history of the country that the armed forces been placed in this kind of scandal. I once thought that this expose weakens the defense of the country. Imagine if we have been attacked under these conditions. But it was a necessary risk in order to plant the seed of change and reform. This case should be pursued to its logical conclusion, no matter how many generals commits suicide because of guilt.
The impending Guttierez impeachment is another. No anti-corruption drive in government will succeed if the Ombudsman itself is corrupt. The Ombudsman's iniquities in this case is not what it committed, but in what it ommitted, in terms of urgency of action. I sure hope Guttierrez gets impeached. The evidence of the favors she granted the previous administration of Arroyo is enough to show her guilt. She has corrupted the office of the Ombudsman to the hilt.
Another potential element, in which the handwriting is already seen on the wall, is the possible guilt of Chief Justice Renato Corona over the Visconde case. That, as reported and attested by Lauro Visconde himself, Corona allegedly told the former, that some justices are campaigning for the release of Hubert Webb, a fact that has already occurred months ago. The veracity of such an incident may lead again to an impeachment case for Corona, a possibilty that may clean up and unite the Supreme Court.
That Guttierrez and Corona are being targeted by the Aquino government because they are appointees of the GMA government is not the issue here. The issue is that, for the anti-corruption drive to succeed, all elements against it in key government offices must be removed. It is never personal on the people involved. For once, they should stop thinking about themselves and think of the country.
I agree with this plan. And so will majority of the Filipino population who are sick and tired of corruption in the country. The country needs a major change in culture, in politics, and in government. All those who will not help should step back, stand aside and disappear.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The Need to be a Hero
Noynoy Aquino needs to be a hero in order to succeed as the President.
Counting the days before the actual proclamation, the papers today reported that foreign ambassadors, the US including, have already sent their congratulatory messages to the presumptive President. In foreign diplomatic parlance, this is already a recognition pending the formalities. They already see Noynoy as the next President of the country.
But Noynoy will not have it easy. Even now, the forces are against his odds. Forces that have been laid out by the previous administration.
A President needs the co-equal branches of government in order to succeed, Congress and the Supreme Court. His recent strong stand against the appointment of Corona as Chief Justice does not help in his relationship with the Supreme Court. He's not to be blamed about this since even past Chief Justices are surprised by how the current Supreme Court decided that Gloria Arroyo can appoint the next Chief Justice despite the unconstitutionality of it. One things for sure though, all of the Justices that comprised the SC now are all Gloria appointees. To say that politics has not penetrated the SC is to still live in a dream world.
As for the Congress, need we say more the motivation of Gloria Arroyo for running, and winning, the Congressional Seat in Pampanga? She will try her best to assert her presence there, making herself Noynoy's Damocles' sword in Congress. The Senate, on the other hand, is not all that friendly either. If Manny Villar gets back leadership, it will not be a walk in the park for Noynoy.
Even Noynoy's agenda of curbing corruption in government is threatened by the presence of another Gloria appointee, who is also close to the Arroyo's, to a position crucial to this cause - the Ombudsman.
Thus, Noynoy needs to be a hero in the sense that he will play against all odds. He will just have to remember one thing - the people have voted for him. The country has spoken and it wants him to be the next leader. Therefore, if he is unsuccessful, the blame will not be on the odds, it will be on him.
Noynoy will thread a difficult path for the next six years as President. He might even be against the government itself. But like all heroes, faith will carry him through. The people will be behind him.
Counting the days before the actual proclamation, the papers today reported that foreign ambassadors, the US including, have already sent their congratulatory messages to the presumptive President. In foreign diplomatic parlance, this is already a recognition pending the formalities. They already see Noynoy as the next President of the country.
But Noynoy will not have it easy. Even now, the forces are against his odds. Forces that have been laid out by the previous administration.
A President needs the co-equal branches of government in order to succeed, Congress and the Supreme Court. His recent strong stand against the appointment of Corona as Chief Justice does not help in his relationship with the Supreme Court. He's not to be blamed about this since even past Chief Justices are surprised by how the current Supreme Court decided that Gloria Arroyo can appoint the next Chief Justice despite the unconstitutionality of it. One things for sure though, all of the Justices that comprised the SC now are all Gloria appointees. To say that politics has not penetrated the SC is to still live in a dream world.
As for the Congress, need we say more the motivation of Gloria Arroyo for running, and winning, the Congressional Seat in Pampanga? She will try her best to assert her presence there, making herself Noynoy's Damocles' sword in Congress. The Senate, on the other hand, is not all that friendly either. If Manny Villar gets back leadership, it will not be a walk in the park for Noynoy.
Even Noynoy's agenda of curbing corruption in government is threatened by the presence of another Gloria appointee, who is also close to the Arroyo's, to a position crucial to this cause - the Ombudsman.
Thus, Noynoy needs to be a hero in the sense that he will play against all odds. He will just have to remember one thing - the people have voted for him. The country has spoken and it wants him to be the next leader. Therefore, if he is unsuccessful, the blame will not be on the odds, it will be on him.
Noynoy will thread a difficult path for the next six years as President. He might even be against the government itself. But like all heroes, faith will carry him through. The people will be behind him.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Starting with Principles
The declaration to take the oath to a baranggay captain instead of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has gotten Noynoy Aquino, the leading presidential bet, in a hot fix. People are saying he's vindictive, inflexible, assumptive of the win, and inexperienced in Presidential politics. They say he is risking a Constitutional crisis, and snubbing the Supreme Court itself.
I beg to differ.
Noynoy Aquino may be off to a good start. Yes. Because he is starting with principles. The Liberal Party ran on a platform of change. Specifically, change from the Arroyo administration. And Noynoy, even before this imminent win in the presidential race, has made it public of his oppostion to the appointment of a Chief Justice by Gloria Arroyo.
Now that the Chief Justice is appointed, Noynoy's reaction come as no surprise. He is being consistent with his stand. And he has every right to be. While the Supreme Court has decided that Gloria can decide to choose the next Chief Justice, and she has done so without hesitation, it also knows that a President-elect is not obliged by law to take his oath before the same Chief Justice.
And Noynoy, like Gloria, can do it as well, without hesitation.
And I think he should. Not because he will follow in the footsteps of Gloria. But because he should, one by one, undo all the shameless actions, policies, and systems that Gloria did, all to serve her own interests.
Its just a matter of principles. Noynoy ran on a platform of anti-corruption and clean government. I think Day One of fulfilling that platform has begun. It was an oath to the people. Better than any oath taken before a doubtful Chief Justice.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Virtue of Conceding
As Noynoy pulls away in the Presidential race, 5 of the competing presidentiables have thrown in the towel and conceded. Such an event only after 24 hours of the actual elections is yet another understated benefit of the new automated election that we just had. Some saw it negatively. I saw it virtuous.
The trust these presidentiables and the other candidates have given the new election process have put at ease the doubts that have paramounted the minds of the electorate days leading to May 10. By conceding, they showed that they trust the results, they trusted the process, despite all the last minute confusion.
Such action is virtuous. These people are true leaders. And by putting the interest of the country first before themselves, they have demonstrated their true nationalism. Hats off to Villar, Gibo, Villanueva, Gordon, JC. Their call for reconciliation is timely, proper, and needed.
After the circus, all should focus on the difficult task at hand of re-building the country - reinforcing good government programs, and changing those that are not.
It's not yet, but it seems it would be up to the hands of Noynoy to bring this country forward.
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