The Plight of Mary Jane Veloso

Mary Jane Veloso, a citizen of ours, is currently in death row in Indonesia. 

She along with nine others of different nationalities (Australia, Nigeria, Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia) were convicted of narcotics trafficking. All ten are sentenced to be executed by firing squad soon.

A recent news report about the plight of Mrs. Veloso revealed to a concerned nation that she and her family were clearly from among the poor of our Country. Truly, it feels so wrong for her family to have to be pained in this way... the circumstances surrounding her current plight begs further reflection. 

Therefore, I should also like to express my view as regards the death penalty and in particular the plight of my fellow Filipino, Mary Jane Veloso.

Consider that Mrs. Veloso herself is not an addict. That her own experience on drugs and the trafficking of drugs would be limited. Certainly as a mother and a wife, her life choices based on their present state of life were itself also limited.

What motive did she have if the act was intentional? It is highly probable Mrs. Veloso herself might not have fully apprehended the seriousness of the matter in the first place.

If it were unintentional, imagine the malice of those who exploited her in her poverty. It is a spit in the face of the poor to have to be given over to an evil fate such as that of Mrs' Veloso's.

Everything about it seems a consequence of a choice she didn't have to make but was imposed upon her will either knowingly or unknowingly by the criminality of those who would exploit her by manipulating her hopes.

I truly believe making an example of victims only perpetuates the cycle of victimization by emboldening those who would knowingly and willfully exploit human hope for devious purposes, especially of the poor who are very vulnerable.

What the law prescribes and what justice demands at times require our human discernment. As our own Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago famously said, "not all that is legal is moral".

I have recently read a Time magazine (issue 20141027) article on President Joko Widodo of Indonesia. It gave me the impression that he himself must know all too clearly the evils of poverty.

Here in my own Country, I am opposed to capital punishment. 

I am for a swift and efficient justice system. I am for a justice system that delivers faithfully its duty to my Republic, serving with neither fear nor favor. Loves what the people love, that maketh them good, that preserve them in the good, and sustains them in the life of our national communities.

There is a kind of justice that harms, you see. That which seems aloof, mistakes vengeance for duty, and interprets fear and punishment as the basis of law. It rules over more than serves with. 

I have become wary of this kind of justice. I believe it false. For it appears strange to me that the people should fear justice, is confounded by its presence.

Is not virtue a friend and ally of the human good?

I oppose capital punishment because capital punishment in the hands of a justice system such as the one I have described above seems to make more burdensome that spirit of human oppression justice should serve to alleviate among the people, with the people, most especially in the least of the people
for the sake of its own virtue.

I am not arguing to exonerate the guilt of those convicted, I am making a statement that I firmly believe that those ten convicted do not deserve death but the chance to make proper amends... to change the change they owe society and themselves. 

It is said that the cry of the poor may not always be just but if we do not listen to them, we will never know what justice is. In the case of Mary Jane Veloso, it might profit those who are concerned to listen:

She in particular, I firmly believe do not deserve to die for desiring a better life for herself and her family. 

---<--@

20150417fri 2058h: Sent the letter below through President Widodo's Facebook profile. We continue to pray and watch.

Dear President Widodo,

I am writing to implore your Excellency to grant clemency to Mary Jane Veloso.

I heard from a recent news report she herself is already reconciled to her fate. Though she maintains her innocence to the degree her motives were not malicious but sprang out of her vulnerabilities and the evil intention of others, as with most poor people in my Country, she might feel powerless to resist such an evil fate.

She might undoubtedly fail to protest the severity of her sentence in the same way she failed to duly protect her own rights to due process at the onset of her trial and incarceration. My government have reportedly exhausted most avenues to effect justice for Mary Jane. But sir, many people including myself still hope for a fair conclusion to her ordeal.

I am of the opinion that executing her will not serve to deter such crimes as the one she has been charged of committing. In fact, it might even embolden those who exploit the vulnerabilities of poor people in my Country; those who by their cunning and malice would betray decent folk to an evil fate. This has happened before, your Excellency, in the PRC.

Mary Jane Veloso's family are presently in Manila seeking avenues of reprieve for their kin and I should like to join with them in petitioning your executive grant of clemency.

I am not asking to exonerate guilt. I respect the larger view of the justice that you are sworn to uphold. Her personal ignorance might not be enough to save her from the sanction of your law. But please, President Widodo, consider also her lack of evil intention and humble submissiveness to your justice system and grant our sister Filipino a commuted sentence. She is a decent woman and I am sure she has more good to give to herself, her family, and to human society in general were she allowed the chance.

It would most certainly be greatly accepted by a great many over here in my Country were you to act in behalf of our cumulative efforts to save our Mary Jane. I myself have a lot of praise for your person and your people as a moderate and democratic nation.

May your Republic prosper greatly under your watch. God bless you and the Indonesian people, sir.

To your consideration I humbly submit my petition.

Very sincerely yours,

Eric John San Miguel
concerned citizen

Was it worth it?

Yes, a thousand times over... I share in this timeless moment of love and offer it as praise to the glory and the goodness of God to all our brave and intrepid OFW's who work away from home so we could all have a home... mabuhay po kayong lahat at patuloy na manalig sa diwa nang ating pagkabansa.

Don't we all deserve a better place to call our own home (away from Home)? I think so too.

Together we will build, together this time.

---<--@

A Letter of Protest

To one Chinese nation: I salute you, China, ancient and wise nation of old and Taiwan (ROC) in particular - peace be with you and all your generations:



I condemn in the strongest way possible the continuing violence against my compatriots in your territory. I do not think I can watch idly by while my countrymen and women are presently subjected to the pain and duress of this unjust threat that looms over their citizenship with me.

They have absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand and do not deserve to suffer for its evil - an evil we can only together attempt to address that it may withdraw its foul presence from the peace of our region, sooner than later.

These are our citizens, human beings who have sought in good faith to apply for and to work an honest job within your economy under your nation's patronage and your government's protection.

Rest assured we will honor our obligations to shelter and protect your citizens or any other citizens from any nation who came in peace to the shelter of our Republic, and uphold their human rights within our territory not because it is expedient or "politically correct" to do so right now but because it is only the natural way of things for this nation and so it shall be this way for my Country till the end of time - peace embraced with peace: It is only right and just.

Are we not a democracy? Both of us know the strengths and weaknesses of our chosen system. Right now, the effects of your lack of action to shelter the innocent in your care and protection is weakening what reason now prevails, both in the popular and in the political domain, that preserve those courses of action that will allow us to peaceably and responsibly resolve this unwanted and unneeded sea row, an issue now necessary and vital to our mutual national concerns and freely determining from what is true and what is not, how to effectively proceed.

I do not know the source of your belligerence and am admittedly still confounded by it. I hold no memory in my remembrance of our history of a division like this ever plaguing our peoples.

Yet as I seek to be prudent with what is weak in our systems, I trust also in the strengths of democracy as I must and so should advise you now most urgently that your failure to address the safety concerns of my compatriots in your care is stymieing the process instead of helping it.

None of us can resolve this issue on our own, only together - empowered in our will by the good will of both our peoples - can we run the gauntlet that will bring our Countries back into the fold of the peace our peoples have always steadily and quietly enjoyed.

Let us return again to the root of your passionate protests and know that we are just as passionate a people as you are in loving and protecting our own. I know that in this regard we both agree, we must truly love our peoples. And do so because both our nationhood hold to the truth that all human life, with all its foibles and vulnerabilities is of precious value and unlimited potential, each endowed equally and individually with natural rights and that this is the reason we are both a work of freedom; a democracy - to unleash in our citizenry the creativity, greatness, and nobility of the human potential and to protect and preserve their life and dignity.

I believe if we reflect upon this thinking more deeply, we will understand each other. We will understand as I do now hope we understand - that each human life to us is sacred - that you may feel how we too value our own and so understand the reason I must appeal in this protest to your reciprocal sense of civic solidarity:

Please extend to my people under the shelter of your care, the safety and the respect they deserve.

I am truly sorry for your loss, I truly am. Please, I humbly implore you - let us work now to reverse the tide.
I am just as eager for justice to give adequate redress to your sense of loss - to unveil the truth, properly compensate Hung Shih-cheng's next of kin, and pay the debt of remembrance both our nations now owe your deceased compatriot by recognizing in the living memory of his hope and the pain of his family and friends the present need to strengthen the mechanisms and institutions that work to help prevent similar tragedies from reoccurring, safeguard the integrity and completeness of the laws that serve to govern, protect, and conserve our seas and its riches, and affirm the peace both our sovereign peoples have always enjoyed together.

I believe agreements may only be made from seeds born from common understandings. Furthermore, I believe we are able to reach these understandings because we are simply born from the same spirit and that this seeking to freely allow truth itself to prevail - because truth ultimately will - is simply part of our strength as a democracy. For I do believe in us and desire for both our nations along with all our kindred nations, a future worthy of our common humanity.

Thank you so much for your patience. I am hopeful you will receive with reason and compassion, my most sincere and humble letter. God bless us all.

Mabuhay!
---<--@


UPDATE 20130527: Thank you, Mayor Hau Lung-pin - for being one of the first who stood up for peace and sanity between our peoples - peace be with you - Mabuhay, Taipei!

Salutation #124

In this way
all are made to be strong
and when all are strong,
the nation is ever at peace.

For those who have
and those who doesn't have
give to each other
- according to the freedom of our freedoms -
something that each the other
may not gain
by themselves alone.

Industry thrives,
and all the people thrive
in industry.
---<--@

(Labor Day 2012)

Today is Labor Day 2012.

A Republic is

a particular work of Country

and today is that day of days

we remember the toils of the common man

upon which splendor and virtue - each of us -

must constantly build and rely upon.

The day we remember

the toils of the common man, 

is the moment we shall finally understand 

the endeavors of our own humanity 

to be happy and therefore, free!

For the success of our nation's daily pursuits 

to liberate our generations (as a whole)

from the bondages of this world -

   from illnesses, from pains, from wars,

   from suffering, from corruption, from vices,

   from grief, from decay (both corporal and spiritual)

   and from death, even the final death -

is an unfolding work of a promised reality

we must constantly strive to master and to gain

from the realizations we shall together

profit - from this understanding.

- selah -

Today we reflect

upon the value of our labors -

   (Consider now, if you please,
   my brothers and sisters of the Promise, 
   your present abode - how it became -
   even before you called it a home;
   or the food upon thy table, or the water in thy glass,
   or the road before thy way, or the clothing on thy back -
   trace each their memory forth from thee - and understand -
   how you are made able to reap its blessings
   seemingly without sowing?

   For these are only these
   due to the nationhood in each of us 
   as well as through the nations that are all of us.)

How we cherish it.

How we recognize it.

How we appreciate

its potential, its dignity,

and its lasting contributions

in ourselves, in others like ourselves,

as a nation, and as a Country.

And therefore,

how we, as a nation,

have chosen to reward our laborers
a share of the national wealth -
   (i.e. with and through riches not just monetary
   or merely momentary in their natures.)

from least to great,

especially the least of all.

Mabuhay!

---<--@

An Appeal for Dondon Celestino Lanuza

My national interest can be summed up in one word - you.

When the Providence of the LORD singles out one of our compatriots as in the case of Dondon Celestino Lanuza, our national leaders should listen, in fact, we should all listen.

Because these are the times when our sense of unity is tested not through the threats arrayed against it but through an opportunity to actually benefit from its merits.

For our sense of unity is further strengthened not only by our sense of repulsion from the things of War but also by our sense of attraction to the things of the Light.

To respond to this invitation to assist in obtaining the freedom of one of our own is an exercise of unity. And if we are successful in giving this needful brother of ours his life back, we are indeed further strengthened.

Let us now bear this first principle in mind - we are to love our own - in a hundred thousand ways, direct and indirect, if we become to each other, a keeper and a friend, a citizen though and through, we shall only heap blessings upon our nation.

Justice is not upheld through vengeance, my fellow Filipinos, nor is Justice served by anger.

Justice animated by Justice shall always be solicitous of our individual potential to bring in more good into this world despite the sins one is oft inclined to humanly commit, however grievous they may be.

In the case of the criminal, once the sanction of Law is applied, it is still the domain of Justice to restore the peace of the community and to the individuals concerned - repair and restitution.

With this in mind, I am now formally appealing to each one of you, my brothers and sisters of the Promise, the case of Dondon Celestino Lanuza.

Dondon was convicted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the murder of one of their citizens in 2000 and condemned to die by beheading.

He has always maintained that the act of killing of which he is convicted is an act of self-defense.

Forgiven by the kin of the victim in February of 2011, Dondon is now in need of the customary "blood money" to be paid to the aggrieved family to obtain his freedom and the relief of his own family.

Dondon is a father of two and has been supporting his family in jail through alms given to him by his friends. He has been awaiting execution for the past 11 years.

We need to help him raise the 35 million pesos (USD 800,000) required by the victim's family to secure his freedom. Through each our own gifts, in each our own ways, I want us to contribute toward the welfare of one of our own in the person of Dondon.

This is my formal appeal to you.

I especially would like to see prominent people in our society - politicians, movers and shakers, industry leaders - become more and more interested in the plight of this littlest Filipino. Citizens of other nations with a heart of common humanity are also welcome to help.

Please, I shall leave it to you to find out more about it. The same with everything I post on this blog, I shall likewise be following this issue.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen.

Mabuhay po tayong lahat!

---<--@

Think about it -

They say, my brothers and sisters of the Promise, famously - that a team only goes as fast as its slowest member.

This is not true. (Imagine if it were...)

A team only goes as fast as its willingness to act as a team.

Unit efficiency not individual weaknesses is the constant:

This shall be our mindset as well.

---<--@

NOTE: I usually do not openly disclose my humble material offerings to the LORD (my prayer life is not unlike my almsgiving - a deeply personal and private affair) but in this case, I shall have to make an exception. (20120123)

I am going start with a donation of P500.00 which I shall deposit to -

Account Name: Letty Lanuza

Bank: Metrobank Malolos McArthur Hi-Way Branch

Savings Account No.: 575-3-57501112-9

Bank Swift Code: MBTCPHMM

(20120124) Important: One has to bring up the fact that all Metrobank related fees are to be waived when donating through this channel (per the information on the helpdondon.com website).

The teller system does not automatically bring it up. I deposited my donation today and was asked to pay a fee of P50.00 (as the account opening branch is outside Metro Manila) to the Metrobank branch near SM Southmall - gladly.

I might come back another day to get my P50.00 back though. P50.00 is still P50.00, right? I'll just put it through to the account also and make sure it does not go to the bank.

(20120127) I went back to the branch to inform them of the fee waiver but was - in no uncertain terms - asked to "coordinate" it with the account opening branch. In other words, despite my explanations, the supervisor on duty decided in advance not to help me.

I can see through his poker face as he blew me off and as I am not ignorant of bank procedures this was doubly upsetting to me... so there. No matter, this is not about him. I pray for your freedom, Dondon!

(20121122) Responding to the call to be one of 1,500 donor, I deposited another 1000 today for Dondon's freedom account at the Metrobank near Starmall Las Pinas. I wasn't asked the P50.00 fee this time which was cool. Everything went smoothly. Inshalla, Dondon, God be with you to be your comfort and strength.

20110503

A Man in White

I had a dream last night of a man in white.

I was sitting in a classroom-like environment, distracted. He came up to me like a strong, strong embrace. I instantly came back to focus - feeling embarrassed for a moment. Then I felt this surge of utter amazement upon realizing that this man touched my person. I was dumbfounded.

It was the Pope of my youth - Blessed John Paul II. And he had the indefatigable vitality of a Saint of God!

The Lord Christ is giving the world a new friend, alleluia to the LORD! A new star appears upon the firmament of our heaven, alleluia to God - Amen.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us.

The man in white said to me, "be strong"...

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us.

Son of Poland and Son of Holy Mother Church: Friend of the youth, friend of workers, friend of nations, friend of freedom, friend of peace...

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us.

Glorified be God in all His Holy Angels and in all His Saints!

---<--@

The 3rd Cause: The Cause of Justice - Harmony

Justice would seem as love to those who are familiar with her but to those whose hearts are far away from her, she is their chief terror.

Two things the heart of Mankind needs: Love and Justice.

The original state of Man is one of unadulterated goodness. In this original state, Man knows neither good nor evil but is wholly submissive to the nurture and protection of God, his Creator.

In this original state, the promise (human potential) of Man is completely in harmony with his freedom and his dignity constantly preserved by the golden Presence of the LORD, his Eternal Provider and Holy Sustainer, in all of living creation whether seen or unseen.

The root of all that is evil lies in understanding Man's departure (exile) from this original state since that most primordial of evil was a sin that was inflicted upon him by another.

For the fall of Man was an act initiated by the serpent of Eden.

Man was offered a knowledge to command all things, a knowledge over and beyond God Himself so that Man might become like God and therefore, apart from Him.

By this lie Man was deceived. Because none may offer this knowledge but the LORD God alone.

And no creature whether in heaven or on earth may ask this of the LORD without sin. For the serpent offered Man the knowledge of God Himself.

It was this lie that caused Man to break away from his original lineage of life and of light.

It was this evil that have caused the heart of Man to become divided, necessitating his departure from this original state.

Man came to exile grief and time itself was torn asunder. Heaven was grieved and its gates was shut at the autumnal dusk of faded Eden. S

o began the long march of the nations of Mankind.

Now, that which caused this departure was disobedience of which Man is guilty. But that which caused this disobedience was not of Man. It was of the serpent.

Justice is a result of this first principle.

The creative ideal is an expression of this original state.

It is the timeless expression of the absolute good longed for by every human heart.

It is as an unspoken promise understood by the heart of all Mankind and duly expressed in the Ideals of the States that legally govern the nations to whom this creative ideal is entrusted by God.

Justice primarily concerns itself with the creative ideal. What concerns Justice is the restoration of Man. Therefore, all meritorious acts of Justice as a virtue must be that which serve to restore Man to his original state.

In this way, Spiritual Justice is a pursuit.

For Spiritual Justice must concern itself with the human community as a whole. It is always vigilant, it is always in motion.

It drives the juridical sciences according to the needs of the good in the context of the realities of every present time.

What seeks to banish the evils in human society,

what seeks to redress the legitimate grievances of the community,

what seeks to safeguard the individual good and the common good,

what seeks to fulfill the requirements of the creative ideal expressed by the hopes of every nation and mandated by the ideals vested in each its Responsible States,

all of these are acts of Spiritual Justice.

It is what imparts force of truth to the individual will to preserve through human institutions, the peace and the order of civil society.

From Spiritual Justice spring Temporal Justice.

Now, Temporal Justice is a remedy of law. Its merits are derived from the prevailing judgments of the law courts which are always relative to the needs of the present realities it has been called to serve and redress.

Its proximity to the realities of these needs in time and its efficacy according to Spiritual Justice is always underpinned by its faithfulness to the creative ideal.

Thus, it is never anger nor the spirit of revenge that drives Justice but Justice itself.

Its relationship to the 4th Cause (Benignity, the Cause of Minorities) is not incidental.

For what concerns Justice is the total defense of the good - even the ideal good.

It is law that seeks to bind what evil there is.

---<--@

A Nation in Motion

We are a nation in constant motion.

As a people together, we are travelers.

The open way and the journey whether by air, land or sea, are important considerations in everyday Filipino life.

The Filipino is a traveler. Our soul is a pilgrim soul.

There is no part of the world where we are not represented by our own compatriots in diaspora. These present days, not a lot of Filipinos may express surprise at the fact that we have been to almost every nation on earth.

Mobility is part of our nature. And this is true in more sense than one.

Whether for business, work, family or pleasure, we are a people constantly on the move.

Here in the Philippines, we are beginning to re-discover anew our inherent passion for discovery and exploration.

Whether by air, land, or sea, we are as a nation stretching forth to encompass all 7,107 islands we call home where a thousand destinations await us.

We are a maritime nation. But a

ll our movements as a people together are centered and guided by our attachments to the land.

Therefore, t

he hub that connects all air and sea movement is land movement.

Land movement means roads, traffic and transportation management facilities and similar infrastructure.

When we should build, we should always build outward with this foundation in mind.

My honorable compatriots, how we see the open way and the journey is important. Because through individual perspective, we come to understand what our national mobility require as a means to our own common good.

For the open way and the journey is a kind of freedom. Without it, the Filipino soul will shrink.

Therefore, the more open the way, the freer the journey, the more joyous the Filipino dream.

The way we view the world at large and our own place in this world is influenced by how far and how deeply we are able to imagine ourselves able to penetrate into its regions.

This view must always begin at here at home.

For we are not only opening up to the world, more importantly, we are opening up to each other.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

TRANSPORTATION SECURITY is a right of every Filipino citizen.

I

t is therefore, every Filipino's duty to make sure that our roads remain open and safe for all - both for pedestrians and motorists alike.

Obey the rules of the road!