Salutation #131

A Word on the Corona Trial -

It is my hope that
(1) our representative peers in the Senate
obtains for us a fair result from out of this trial and that
(2) the nation unto whose entirety we all ultimately belong
benefits from and grows stronger from having undergone this ordeal,
(3) justice is done to all parties involved, and finally
(4) that this trial does not become a dangerous preoccupation for our Republic
that we forget to duly apply our energies on other matters
just as vital and at times, even more pressing.

Mabuhay! God be with us all.



(We Shall Persevere)

Senator-judges of the Republic,
each of you servants-elect of the nation
and my fellow Filipinos -

It now falls upon your shoulders
the unenviable task to make fair each thy judgments
on this very difficult impeachment trial.

As thy fellow citizen
equally engaged with each of thee
in this, our one Republic of the Philippines,
I only ask that in that coming hour of judgment
you do not lose sight of her vision and longevity;
that you should make your decisions independently
but not as individuals against an individual
even in this case, our very own Chief Justice,
but as instruments within a whole
presently charged with the specific task
of ensuring that the whole perseveres correctly
and in the most efficient way possible.

I have no doubt
that our Republic will persevere
and God-helping, ultimately prevail
regardless of the verdict.

How fast or how far
depends upon each of you
in that hour of judgement
just as how soon and how completely
depends upon all of us working together
as one heart, one people, one Country.

Do justice to thy nation first,
bearing into mind and heart that
we all move forward as one
only according to the weakest,
and most vulnerable elements
within our society.

This trial is unprecedented
in the pain and confusion it has wrought
against each our nationhood within
and while it is not as divisive
as the other rifts that need our concentrated efforts
it has nonetheless been
the most painful to witness
and experience in our lifetimes.

Our Chief Justice
is a public servant
and so is our President.

It was never fair in the first place
to have had to be made
to choose between the two.

The branches of our Republic
of whose Seats of Office they serve
and duly occupy being co-equal
to each thy own, Senators,
you all know without a doubt
what kind of an ordeal our beloved Republic,
replete with her own institutional memories
and collective remembrance
that shall far surpass and exceed us
beyond these times and persons,
has undertaken and undergone
to bring this trial forth into fruition
and now
it is time to reap
what was has been sown.

Your judgments as a whole
must contain - in each themselves -
the necessary provisions
that ensure that the rudiments
of a functional peace is preserved
between the complimentary branches
of the Executive and the Judiciary
as well as the collective wisdom to guide together
the path of these two separate branches
of necessary institutional human governance
within our one Republic whole
so that their co-equal, interdependent, democratic lineages
may in time find themselves perfectly conjoined
in harmony and maximum working order once again
and united with thy own
and in peace with the people
and so ever thus, far into the future!

For these are crucial times.

We should never again
stand so divided in our innermost self
as a Republic.
---<--@



A Personal Retrospective -

Something in me was restored
watching our senators yesterday,
something precious...

It was not the judgment
that I myself hold as remarkable
but the process - wherein -
our representative Senate,
empowered by our Constitution,
created for all a path
where there was previously none.

The final decision to convict
being not at all a judgment of individuals
but a single collegiate act of the Senate body
was delivered in decisive fashion.

The brave minority decision
as well as that of the majority
together form something
unprecedented...

But only if one so chooses to rise above
the persons and personalities of our own times
into the realm of ideals and visions
where dwells the spirit of our Constitution
and the Peace of our Republic.

We are indeed better off
for believing than disbelieving,
in hoping than in despairing,
in being better than in being bitter.
---<--@

Reflection -

If we hate our own institutions within our own Republic,
who shall be left to serve them? 

How can these branches of Republic service bear for us trustworthy fruit
if we who are its stewards forsake to nurture them even in spirit?

How can any Country mature without its institutions?
---<--@

Salutation #87

Judgment is the faculty of our soul - that -

deals with separating truth from untruth;

Light from Darkness.

(Decide)

To remove or to acquit?

Let me tell you this - decide.

Let us decide - and -

let us defend our decision together.

No nation is ruled by random chance.

There will be consequences

for every decision

we take* as a Country - good or bad.

(*Individual citizens make decisions,

our Congress takes them - in the context of this trial,

this means our incumbent citizen-servants

in the Senate, our Senator-Judges.

This is very important to understand.)

But if our immutable will - is -

to be true to the purpose

our God has established us, a nation

- imperfect though we may be -

all these imperfect choices

the LORD shall deign to bless.

And these shall ultimately lead our nation

- from generation to generation -

unto the Dawn!

For it is not we

who leads unto the Dawn, my people,

it is the LORD!

Personally speaking,
as your fellow citizen equally engaged
in this one Republic undertaking of Country,

I am ultimately inclined
to support our President Noy

for it is my conviction - that -
I must always defer to the Office

upon whose necessary authority

- every one of our presidents -

stands before we, the people.

- selah -

(I have other reasons

to support President Noy

- but they are wholly personal -

and so I shall exclude them

here in our consideration.)

But - good or bad - ultimately,

it is your choices we must defend, O my people,

so make these choices well and - decide.

---<--@

Think about it -

(Refer to our 2nd Monthly Exercise)

Whatever happens here, we can not exclude a Filipino from being a Filipino.

We still have to take care of each other.

We are expected to only choose our friends, this is the only correct choice.

So we must - with all peoples and with all nations, abide in peace and good will. Our enemies make themselves.

For our values are the values of peace.

NOTE: A representative democracy does not exclude the participation of the people so make an informed decision and let your representatives know - write them, text them, twitter them, or pm them in facebook - express your opinions through the right channels. Above all, we must stand together as one nation.

On the first day of trial, at the closing - Senator Enrile was right to caution us about who we are - we are a nation, not a mob. (20120116)

- selah -

I will cherish and understand our Republic endeavor - it is the foundation of our democratic processes in the political, social and juridical institutions and representative traditions that maintain the good order of our public peace that shelter and preserve the life of our civil society.

And I shall maintain a constant vigilance over our democracy, participating in the labors that enrich and advance the peace of our Republic, seeking every means available, to pursue the the common good of our people and realize the eternal vision of our nation established in our Constitution.

(excerpted from Citizenship with Fidelity)

(20120123) The uncertainty being braved through by our peers in the senate chamber - our senator-judges, the prosecution, as well as the defense - about this whole impeachment trial is proof of its own significance.

For we are making a path here where there was none.

It is a path that if it is crafted properly and tread justly, with the utmost care about all those concerned (the nation not excepted), shall serve as a comfort and a guide for those generations who yet to stand at the helm of our great and noble Republic undertaking.

Yes, it is important!

Let us pray it concludes decisively.

---<--@

The National Minimum

Salutation #77

Let our Banner be unto thyself a symbol of unity, my people,

and let it fly in thy heart out of love of God and Country.

Yea, let this Banner fly in thy heart of hearts or not at all!

For if this one kind of love is absent in the absent heart of Man,

there shall our Country be found nowhere in creation.

- Salutation #10 (Old Defiant)

(Old Defiant vs. Old Compliant)

Peace, I salute you.

I should like to emphasize in us again,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

the importance of unity over division -

especially in the midst of this brewing crisis

between our President and our Chief Justice.

Remember,

I am not writing here

about the impeachment trial

- or any external event that must also concern us -

I am writing primarily about you (about us) -

the citizen-servant.

For everything that proceeds in our Republic,

proceeds from the concentrated strength of its spirit

in your soul (our souls).

As regards the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona

and the divisions it is sparking in our nation,

if you are in any way interested

in what I have to think about the matter - personally,

please refer to the running commentary

I have opened here.

However,

if you are still sincerely confused about the matter,

you may inhibit yourselves from participating in the public debate

and remain in the safety of your own areas of service.

It is never fair to have to be made to choose

between two co-equal, independent branches

of our one Republic government

in the Responsible State.

Again,

our central focus here

is to make this an exercise in unity

so do not allow your own mind and heart

to become bitterly embroiled in the politics

and the divisions that must surround this event

- without having a clear mind -

as to where your freedom and your independence truly lies.

Completely refrain from adding your own flame

to the many conflagrations that threaten to consume our Country

but rather add it to the unifying light that gives her comfort and warmth,

bolstering her strength to see us all through this long night;

this longest night...

- selah -

(I am reposting this piece from 20110402.)

Something's missing from my Philippines. Something vital.

Who knows her?

These days, everybody seems to be living for themselves alone. It seems no one remembers her.

By this, she is grieved and therefore, draws further and further away into isolation.

For the spirit of Country, my honorable compatriots, is a spirit of self-belonging. It is a self-cognizant, collective sense of self.

And the Republic is a guardian to a people orphaned by war.

Thus, if the people are divided in their hearts against each other, they are scattered.

And the people are scattered because of those distant and faded hearts; hearts that seem to no longer recognize the spirit of this Republic; hearts that have come to accept the rule of War.

Hence, the spirit of Country is diluted.

And when there is no substance left in our remembrance, when there is no peace left to abide in our belonging, when there is no truth left to empower our will of Country, we shall cease to exist as a nation.

But while our history still fills the hunger in our souls, while there is yet a common longing for better days burning in our hearts, while there is yet those who remember and believe, while there is yet even a few who are brave and true, by the grace of Almighty God, war will never have us.

Truly, my nation, this is not a very good time for the spirit of war. For this is exactly why the colors of our own Country is called Old Defiant.

We have a choice. Let it mean something:

Let us defy division, let us defy corruption, let us defy poverty, let us defy evil and prosper, my fellow Filipino compatriots - together this time.

Let us defend where we must, O my nation Philippines, and leave all else to the invulnerable, omnipotent defense of the LORD, our God, the one Sovereign of all nations.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

The Truth

No Comment

To exceed the defense is to become the enemy we claim to fight.

I really have no commentary on the present goings-on in our Country (at least as far as those issues hugging the headlines at the moment).

Sometimes, you have to draw back from these things to see them from perspectives far from the maddening crowd. It all seems so confusing right now.

One thing is for sure though: If it were that the Executive and the Judiciary is indeed carrying out the beginnings of a constitutional crisis - let us be wary.

Let us be wary for our own good sake's.

Let us not be bitter. Let us not be hasty. But let us be prudent.

Let us be solicitous for the people caught in between - both rich and poor alike - let us care about the way they are treated and let it be a reflection of our finer sense of Justice.

Let us be rightly concerned about the plights of both GMA and the farmers of HL - let us be solicitous for their deliverance - the former from an unjust retribution and the latter from further exploitation.

We are after all, one nation - not two, or three, or four - but one.

---<--@

Running Commentary -

20111209: Mind you, I too pine for Justice to come favor our Republic with the full measure of her virtue.

Now, the Justice I thirst for is not in spirit animated by either vengeance or hatred. [Please see the 3rd Cause.]

The Justice I seek for us, my people, is not the crude give and take rule of the wilderness but the virtue that restores the truth to end all injustices.

We should therefore be wary of a false sense of justice in our midst in much the same way we guard against false hope.

This is what I mean when I say we should be wary.

We should not allow ourselves [our hearts and our minds] to be drawn into a meaningless sense of division but stand steadfastly on the strength of first principles.

It is not fair having to have to choose between two co-equal branches of the one government we have entrusted to carry forward the singular vision of our one Republic peace.

While, it is true that the Supreme Court's most recent decisions seem to be leaning somewhere suspect it still remains that those decisions still are decisions of the Supreme Court.

Man can not live without order. Law is necessary, even laws that are broken and evil, because where there is no law, Man can not long endure.

It is to this order, this nascent Constitutional order, that I perceive the real damage of the current divisions engulfing the Executive and the Judiciary is being received - subtly, with consequences that are very difficult to foresee.

I still do not doubt the President's sincerity but his methods of late especially as regards this row with Chief Justice Corona seem to wax less than the nobility of his intentions.

Therefore, may both the Executive and the Judiciary work together to decisively put an end to their disagreements and present to us, the people, a united will and a common vision.

20111212: If it was that the 2004 elections were indeed hi-jacked, we have a lot more soul searching to do as a nation than I previously thought... I think about it and leads me to a place so dark and so deep i don't want to go there just yet.

Does this mean we might still be in denial as a people as regards to how sick and impoverished our one Republic truly is?

Does this mean it hasn't yet completely dawned upon us how far-reaching and broad our responsibilities to each other is to see our nation through this long night?

20111214: I've been reading some really polarizing articles on the impeachment of Chief Justice Corona - minds out there seem split, conflicted between their condemnation of one or the other (President Noy or the Chief Justice).

I think this is why due process should take its place. Because if we do not see this trial to the end, we - the people - will never know.

It is this ignorance that is dangerous.

Furthermore, I sense something is off about they way Chief Justice Corona delivered his most recent speech - it was as if he was digging in for a fight - but a fight with whom?

On the other hand, President Noy is taking great pains to frame his arguments even at great cost to his political capital, working and thinking hard to clarify his position amidst words like dictator, enemies of the court, and Hitler.

It might not be anger or hatred (or revenge) that we are presently seeing from our President but sheer determination and history might recognize it as such.

In any case, due process must take its place...

20111215: Define independence. Independence from what? I think what our Country needs is a new generation of citizen-servants!

---<--@

I want you to bear - into your heart and mind -

that old familiar Flag - our Old Defiant.

- selah -

We can not be the Country we weren't meant to be,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise.

Therefore,

we have to be better than that

if for no other reason than because

we deserve better than that.