My two centavos worth...

I believe in the personal sincerity of President Noynoy. I do not think him to be himself in any way corrupt.

I am more concerned about motives concealed by less obvious people around him.

I think motions to impeach him is a waste of time; a political distraction that may cost our Republic more in terms of time qualitatively.

As regards to a term extension, I believe he himself should make up his mind, weigh his own personal and political considerations, and not leave it up to the people to decide.

If the President goes ahead with it, succeeds in convincing Congress to amend the Constitution, and receives in 2016 from the Filipino electorate a second mandate in affirmation of the popular efficacy of his platform and policies, he will come out with a much stronger mandate than allowing us to choose it for him today.

This will at least preserve continuity and momentum in the Republic by giving him much political capital to spend at the beginning of that second term.

Personally, I do not think it advisable to amend the Constitution for reasons short of a moral imperative or an ethical crisis - political dictates and its cohort tendencies must never be allowed to override ANY prevailing Constitutional wisdom - whether we at present fully understand it, somehow understand it, or not at all.

Many things in this Republic is built on trust, if we must know. The food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, even the roofs above our heads are built on trust.

Our Constitution above all we must trust and trust in the Republic to duly interpret: Vigilant Trust.

I myself have fallen in love with its Preamble and often find myself trying to penetrate its words to discover their meaning - arising, seemingly ever new.


---<--@

Independence Day 2014

"I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos than a country run like heaven by the Americans", the second President of our Republic is famously quoted.

Indeed, these present days, further up (or down) the lineage of that prestigious and noble Office, some might convincingly argue this country indeed is being run like hell by us Filipinos.

Was President Quezon being cynical about the budding Republic with which he so diligently served our struggling and anxious nation as our first head of State? Was our second President, after Aguinaldo, being bitter about our chances at actual Independence?

Should we be careful what we wish for? Should we dare not believe again in our hopes of Country?

My brothers and sisters of the Promise, Manuel L. Quezon is one of this Republic's guiding lights. His star is one that shines bright, but only when we care to look at ourselves in the right light.

To do the memory of the man Justice, allow me to finish his quote, "...because however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it."

He knew the learning curve would be steep. He knew the world during his time was consumed by war and our nation was in the thick of it. He knew the way toward maturity for our young lion of a Country was one fraught with much danger and pitfalls, internal as well as external.

But he also knew, Independence was a risk we should always be willing to take.

We are always better served by bravery rather than timidity when it concerns Liberty and Country.

Because however badly we may be going at any time, were we single-hearted enough as he was to dare to believe we can as a free and sovereign people change things around for the better, we can.

We have a lot of heroes, if only we should want to seek them.

There is an entire constellation of them up in the skies above this nation's soul - if only we care to find it. And at nights, if you must know, when our Republic is at rest - it is the forbearant, quicksilver light of their living memory that watches over our way towards every golden sunrise.

Personally, I admire President Quezon for the compassion he showed to the suffering humanity of the elder sons and daughters of Israel, our brother and sister Jews, who during WWII, at one of the darkest times of their nation's life, this President gave free sanctuary among us in our lands.

I would, if I had the clout, likewise provide free sanctuary to the suffering humanity of the people of Syria not because of anything else but because they are suffering and they are human not unlike you or I - just like our second President.

Let me remind us that War is a slavery, and is a master we ought not serve.

We shall never achieve the fullness of the promise our actual Independence is meant to bring for this nation with a spirit divided, dark and confused. Let us carry on with the peace process - unto completion.

May we be blessed with a meaningful Independence Day.

Happy birthday to our citizenship, my fellow Filipinos, mabuhay!
---<--@

President Quezon 
lost his battle against tuberculosis 
away from our home away from Home
but what he never lost was - who he was - 
and in my remembrance - still is -

a leader to his people,

and a friend to his friends.

What War Expects?

If you are familiar with the theme of this blog, you must likewise know how happy I am for this moment. 

Alhamdulillah, Alleluia, Praise God - May all who share in this moment bless the LORD. And may we also bless each other for everything we have achieved so far and appreciate the dignity of the common work of Peace we have together set out to complete. 

Let us gain a fresh perspective on the way ahead from this triumphant vantage - and soldier on. 

Let us persevere in our Peace Process. The successes we achieve thought it I know will most certainly help to feed our families and our generations tomorrow. The Filipino shall be the better off for it.

Let us be more eager then - for more. For the reality of this success must have quickened something in us. Let us also find a way to get the NDFP (CPP-NPA-NDF) back to the peace table. 

Let us as one Nation together - do now what War does not expect. Let us do this in our souls - in behalf of everything we suffered. Much depend on it.

---<--@

Our right of ascent is Peace. Our way of ascent is Goodwill. And proceeds from the prevailing strength and clarity of our Peace. Peace in ourselves. Goodwill to others like ourselves

We renounce war not by policy. But by a free and human choice.

It is in our Constitution that we renounce war as an instrument of the State. It is contingent upon this Nation therefore, to enshrine Peace in our civic spirit and thought - being the Peace of who we are - as a free and sovereign people - and a Nation upon the earth.

The way of Amity between Nations, also in our Constitution, naturally proceeds from this, our Turning Away from War.

The War within the Filipino soul can not defend us.

It can neither feed our children, clothe our human dignity, embrace our human potential, nor may it hope to satiate our profound need for a strong and concentrated sense of national identity as Filipinos - one that reaches into the very soul of the Citizenship that lives in ourselves, a sense of the Truth, much more to us in substance - than just the word itself.

Nation at Prayer

My brothers and sisters of the Promise, today at 5:00 pm, our Nation will pray. We shall pray for those who were lost to us from natural and man-made disasters last year - for indeed there were too many.

They were
our fellow men and women;
fellow citizens the LORD intended
for the great labor of this Country
- human beings not unlike ourselves -

who, male and female, young and old, 

dreamt with us a common Dream 

of a better Republic for all Filipinos.  

Living souls whose fruits we shall never now know or taste  -
Promised lives whose fruition we shall never now see or hear -
whose fullness of good renown this world shall never now enjoy.

All of them we shall now commit to the one God of all Nations - each of them by their name - ever by a space in the heart we shall solemnly recall them - and resolve before the LORD as one Nation that their loss shall not have been in vain.

And as we remember them now, let us be sure to remember them as they were - always. So full of the things we shall today - in prayer before God - commit to the memory of our common humanity - so full of the things of life - so certain of the promise of the Peace which is our Nation's original birthright.

For indeed we shall remember them - we shall ensure their hopes do not remain unheard and their lives do not remain fallen. For we shall indeed bury with the past - the evil of those days.

None shall remain behind us but the dust.

For every thing that is to us everything we shall carry with us - in our hearts - into 2014; and the rest we shall commit before God unto tomorrows we shall as one Nation in Peace continue to reach for - together this time.

We thank you LORD God for this time to pray unto Thee!

We thank you God for the lineage, instrumentality and the unique person of our 15th President Noynoy, we thank you God for our Nation and for our Nation's Republic, we thank you God for family and friends, and for this Family of Friends - united in thy Peace - upon a journey of greater belonging and of learning to know each other in Thee.



Salaam. Shalom. Peace. For Thou art God, above and beyond all things, and there is no other, AMEN.
---<--@

Carry on, Sir

We stop not to argue
- in the shadows - about the Night
and the maddening depths of it.
Lest the Darkness overtake us
with madness.

We stop not
carrying on along the way
for our discourse is about the Morning
walking together as if with Christ
on the Road to Emmaus.

Carry on, sir. 

Remember always your promise (to yourself)
during your inauguration speech, that you are beholden
to the loving remembrance in your own heart - my kuya Noy -
of a memory both personal as well as national in their natures:
Use it to see clearly, and with steadfast faith in God
and diligent attention to His Providence,
continue to express through thy august Office,
the Executive vision that you want for our Country
to particularly possess - in your own time.

The vision of a Government
that is accountable to its own authority,
aware of its responsibility - to the mandate -
it has variously received from the one Nation
on whose life and promise, the Responsible State
derives from the Divine Providence of God,
it's powers to govern - with virtue and wisdom,
within the particular framework of a Republic undertaking of Country,
the greater wealth and the greater good, both spiritual as well as material,
of the common generations of our people - unto the last of our generations
- forever.

I pray your spirit be clear even when all things are not -
that you, dear Sir, in your own solitude may always, always have a recourse
to the Love of the LORD present and ever so near to thy own heart.
And so may God love thee and keep thee and bless thee forever.

May a living Remembrance of these times - kindle in thee, its own virtue -
that all things God may reveal to thee - come necessary to the account of thy heart
that thou in the Sanctuary of the love that you keep in your soul may reach out to the darkness
through a fire born of greater things, and a light forbearing in hope, be ever capable of the embrace
with which God embraces all individual realities - in the Spirit of His abundant Peace
- a seed of the ultimate experience of Country.

You are the center to which there can be no rising nor falling, the center unto which the powers of the Nation must derive their constant measure.

The wings that shelter our Country must continually form and re-form themselves, at the rise and fall of each and every moment, from thy Office. No where else may it rely upon for its life and life's purpose.

There could be no rising nor falling in your commitment to your Office - its lineage, virtue, and authority are all you have to bring down from God and heaven the necessary strength to power the flight of our Republic toward that promised Dawn - and verily, these are all you need.

May they humble you and in God, make you ever persevere.
---<--@

Personal Reflection -

A faithful President over a perfect one - always.

I do not always agree with our President Noy
but I implicitly know we walk in the same direction. 

He may seek to express within our Republic journey,
matters about our National Dialogue that are varied and distinct
or even, at times, seemingly antithetical to my politics, but never will I forget -
that the journey we all must take - under this season of sky - is but one, long march -
from the depths and the darkness of Exile unto the Light and the Promise of an Eden Rebuilt -
for our Nation and its own emergent Republic motion under heaven, and therefore, for all Nations.

Tyrants are not as fortunate to as be blessed with any prevailing sense of a National direction
let alone agree with anybody - with consistency on which way is forward and which way is back.

The Lion of the Sea

I saw a City,
a City by the bay
and the throne of a Lion -
the Lion of the Sea.

I saw you, O City,
all covered in grime
like a widow weeping
the victim of a crime.

Return again, O Lion,
thou great lover of brav'ry,
reclaim again thy City
let thy Justice roam free.

- selah -

I saw a Nation,
a Nation by the sea -
a poor and forlorn people
awaiting for thee.

O saw you, O Nation,
despairing in the darkness
like an orphaned son -
alone amidst the madness.

Awaken then, O Lion,
O ruler of the free -
reclaim again thy spirit
and let thy glory be!
---<--@

(original produced 20110611)

Salutation #179

All true renewal comes from the center, so it is with us:

Our Nation has a center, and it is found in God - our one, true Sovereign.
Our Government has a center, and it is found in the Office and the person of the President.
Our Republic has a center, and it is found at the heart of every citizen who yet believes, We are.

(Rule by Council)

Leaders beget leaders;
true servants beget no slaves.

a President is not a ruler,
a President is chief steward to a Ruler -
a servant of free and human government
and a choice instrument of Divine Providence
being the primary caretaker of a Republic
chosen by freedom to do Liberty Justice

in person and in Office, a Shepherd 

to an orphaned and wounded people -
our humblest Servant, and bravest Defender,

the one most accountable to the Nation

and the one most responsible to God.

So rule by Council,
to the voice of Wisdom, give ear -
give patient ear, listen and learn to listen.
Hear for the sake of hearing and
know for the good of knowing,
ever in the quiet of thy heart -
always discerning a path,
always looking for ways,
always seeking for solace,
always thirsting for answers
- in behalf of thy people
and on their good behalf -
bearing together with many voices
seeking in the number of their counsel
to decisively arrive in freedom and safety
to the Several Pillars that give to thee
thy own strength of understanding
that thou mayest decide
for thyself alone
what is truth
and pray that God
may confirm it for thee.

Remember always
thy service to thy people
is a Calling - not an ambition.

Therefore,
pay good attention to Who calls thee
and Whose pleasure it is that raised thee
to the glorious Calling of thy own election.

Recall to thy heart -
it is a noble thing indeed
to be called a Servant to thy Nation!
For thy calling is to freedom; to the Liberty
that breathes life and hope to all thy generations.

So remember the chains - lead and exhort thy brethren -

and work with all of thy people through thy one Republic
to break the long bondage that keep thy Nation Earth-bound

walking humbly before thy God, our Holy Redeemer,
in the path of those great Liberators of old,
the Peace Bringers and Defenders of the People,
who at many times in the History of Mankind arose
to lead the Nations and to break the Evil which prevents -
for thou art called to walk in faith and grace as one of those
who knew, named or unnamed - leaders beget leaders,
and true servants beget no slaves.

Thus, govern by principle,
and serve the Justice of thy Peace -
Enlighten thy people, speak sparingly
and exemplify thy own truth in thy own life,
however you can, with what Grace you should,
ever in harmony with thy own sufficiency,
ever at peace with thy self and thy God,
standing steadfastly.

Do not rule by dictate.
Do not govern by personality.
Do not pander to base instincts.
Do not seek infamy with the venal.
Do not be filled with pride.
Do not be sorrowful.
   (Cultivate a joy in thy soul
   greater than all the sadness
   this world may inflict)
Do not be envious.
Do not be vain.
Never despair.
---<--@

To humble men and great presidents alike... salamat po.

Stop the Violence in Sabah

I am saddened by the fact that those who have the most responsibility to mitigate with reason and words the entire width and breadth of this conflict have fallen short of it, allowing it to gain from our nations the initiative we have initially possessed.

For it now stares us in the face like a bottomless, shapeless, undefined thirst.

Both the Philippine and Malaysian governments have a responsibility now to regain this initiative and stop the violence in Sabah: Is peace not thy sworn duty to uphold before thy nations?

Peace left undefended slips easily away. But peace defended to excess turns to ashes.

Stop the violence in Sabah in order to pave the way for the creation of the necessary conditions that would decisively favor negotiations that does not - and no longer will - involve bloodshed.

This is what is important now -



Stop the violence in Sabah now.

Let us speak out against the violence, violence against Filipinos and Malaysians alike!

Let us be resolute in our clamor that any course of action that involves violence as a means will not work to avail - for any of us - a meaningful, long term solution to the issue at hand, indeed it will only feed the hunger that relentlessly seeks to devour the life and the promise of both our nations.

For peace is the true craft of our nations!
---<--@

Status quo ante in Sabah

With the initiation of hostilities in Sabah, we are now faced with more questions.

But this much is clear to me -

We are now staring down a steep and rocky decline that leads to a deep and dark ravine.

If we are so reckless, if we are not yet wise, we shall find ourselves hurtling out of control with Malaysia, spiraling together down the gravity of war.

We can not go there without undoing much of the present good and therefore, willingly relinquishing from our own midst, much of the promise of our futures together (in and between our nations).

We must tread carefully.

Work hard to recognize the things that remain - that we truly have in common with Malaysia - as the desire to obtain from the Providence of God, a peaceful resolution - and resolve to hold on to these things harder and stronger now in the ensuing darkness and confusion.

Now, when I say we, I will now include all the Filipinos in Sabah especially those of and with the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo - for they are ours. If we leave them - or any one off, if we remain divided in the course, we only strengthen the spirit of war.

For we are not united for the sake of spreading the fires of this unwanted conflict, we are now uniting for the sake of extinguishing it - not by feeding our souls to fan the conflagration - but through a determined and expeditious return to the safety of the high grounds of peace.

For war will exhaust itself - all by itself - if it is not fed.

We have to resolve to turn away from the descendant darkness that is now working hard to engulf us - all of us with Malaysia - and find our way back up to the safety of the ascent where there is still light.

If you can feel the inter-play of this gravity and counter-gravity, of this light and darkness, in your spirit, then let it be known to thy own heart that it is a thing to guide us, God-helping  -

Therefore, our most immediate goal at this present time in Sabah and one that we - at the level of the Republic - should coordinate in common with Malaysia must be a return to the status quo ante.

Status quo ante in Sabah!

Dear President Noy, I am convinced that that is the most immediate way out of this deepening crisis. It is to stop decisively and take a few determined steps back from the brink.

Once we are back there, God-helping - to the status quo ante - let us then work - together this time - to improve the situation - for all - aided by the retrospective advantage of a clearer vision - keeping in mind and heart what the sultan and his men was reported to have said "honor over lives".

For this is key.

We must understand them in their own term - not ours.

We must accept that fact that they can not come back home deprived of honor; that they must be able to come home clothed - at the very least - with what honor they have left our shores with - this is key.

We must choose our words wisely. And be truthful about it.
---<--@

Do not remember the fallen with anger
the darkness they fell to overcome
can only be served by it.

Do not honor their hope with hatred
the victory they have died to realize
can not be won through it.

We can never now visit their memory
in places where they are not remembered
so get away from us now, you darkness

turn away from us now, o sadness 

come back to us now, o soul
return to us now, o heart 
return us back to family
return us back to friendships
return us back to our homelands
return us back to our places of peace
and ever we shall remember
never again to forget.

Salaam. Shalom. Peace. God be with us all.

Salutation #13

The difference between a monarch and a president is one of election.

The similarity is that both of them still have to make the surrender of kings - an acceptance of a life of service to the nation as a rule above all rules.

(Completing our EDSA)

To all our national communities, Peace -

A significant part of the peace of the times, my people,

as it concerns our nation, the Philippines,

involves bridging the gap between generations

and between administrations.

There are specific moments in our history

that we need to re-examine in light of these times.

And we shall do this not to scatter

either our belongings to each other

or our remembrances together

but to more fully gather them together

in and amidst ourselves.

For if we know ourselves as ourselves,

we can no longer be a nation

swayed hither tither by a dark night.

If we find confusion in our hearts about the past -

especially from 1986,

now is the time to re-examine these pivotal events.

And we shall do this with a view to establish the facts

upon more familiar grounds of fundamental truths

we have now re-discovered about ourselves as a nation

as well as about our nation in the context of its God-given right

to prosper and advance

under the peace of a Republic undertaking of Country.

Look upon these present times yourselves, my honorable compatriots,

and see the coincidences for what they are - signal graces.

My intention here is to guide you -

but you have to let yourself be led.

And not by me.

- selah -

All our Presidents have had something to give to our Country.

It is up to us to discern what good there is

that we have inherited from past Presidencies.

For if we remember only the problems,

we shall fail to build on the strength

of previous administrations.

It is only natural for every generation

to inherit a degree of evil

(to test their strength and commitment to the truth)

but sufficient for this evil - always -

is the good of the prevailing day.

We have come to remember

the faults of our Presidents

and may God allow it to serve our vigilance well.

But to the point that we tend to almost always forget their virtues,

we are consigning ourselves to a labor of unending beginnings.

For it is these virtues that connect our lineages together

and it is by the strength of these connections that we prosper.

If we are wise, my people,

and if the LORD, our God, blesses us,

even what darkness there is may lead us to the light.

Only those who are without remembrance remain in the dark.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

(produced 20110613)

Salutation #109

A scorpion can be rendered harmless BUT only without its sting.

In likewise manner, irreverent humor can be made to be funny BUT only when it is free of direful contempt.

BE MINDFUL of the comings and goings of thy heart!

(Noynoying)

NOYNOYING is nothing more

than a reflection of how harsh we can be

(meaning it is a choice made

and one which can be unmade)

toward each other.

Come alive to it and listen,

those of you with hearts to listen!

We elect a president

so that we can mock our own choice?

If the voice of the people

does not emanate from the heart of the people,

where are we?

Who is this people?

If the voice of the people

is not accepted by the same people

as an able representation

of the will of Divine Providence

in our Country - then -

Who defends our choices?

Instead of building up, we tear down.

Is this how we wish to utilize our hard-won freedoms?

Where is the spirit of our remembrance in all this?

So what if President Noy isn't doing a stellar job at the moment?

Is this entire Country run by just one man?

Does one man sow and reap, pasture and tend,

sew and rend, buy and sell, nurture and raise,

counsel and lead, labor and toil, craft and teach,

paint and color, love and serve, laugh and play -

here in this, our one Republic of the Philippines?

To each of us is entrusted the responsibility

to better govern ourselves as individuals - and -

as citizens to serve each other freely in the nation.

Are we not a nation of millions?

Are we a nation (among nations) truly fit

only for the cruel yoke of a dictatorship?

NO, my beloved people,

we should never again tempt fate!

The person of every President belongs

- to the one Office he or she represents -

do we judge the person with the Office

or do we judge without understanding?

To where or to whom

do we properly owe this irreverence?

Let us ever be aware of ourselves as ourselves!

- selah -

I think those people

who spend their time

crafting clever mischief

- like "Noynoying" -

are lot worse.

In a democracy, we all must pull together!

We must pull together

so that even the most lackadaisical soul

shall feel the fervor of our will of Country

- and feel it so strongly -

so as to be inescapably inclined

to bend to the building of the times!

And what of other nations?

In their eyes,

this "Noynoying" must appear to be

the very judgement we heap on our own selves.

And what of the eyes of heaven and God?

For the LORD requires

compassion and kindness,

and mercy tempering the truth.

Christ Himself spoke of it!

- selah -

Indeed, we have a long way to go.

(But we will get there,

my beloved brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we will reach that promised shore - together this time.)

Mabuhay, God bless the Philippines!

---<--@

Laughter Does Not Defeat

Lion of the Philippines!

Hail to the Lion -

defender of the people,

born and reborn again anew

through the spirit of thy election

resting mightily in thee!

Hail to the Lion -

guardian of the free,

reign over the darkness,

lead us ever unto the Morning

and onward to destiny!

Hail to the Lion -

keeper of the memory,

grant that thou may always remember -

thou art the scion of all our heroes

and faithful forever!

O Lion of the Philippines -

may the timeless glories of our nation;

its life, its love, its faith, its promise -

ever shine its eternal light upon thee

that it may in times of trial

and through deepest darkness

preserve in thee thy vision:

For God and Country!

---<--@

Hail to the Lion!

Salutation #86

Of the Responsible State,

it must be said - there is no state more superior,

regardless of it's present governing framework,

than one that brings peace to the people.

A state must be judged by the people and the people by their peace.

A peaceful nation is a happy people ruled by a just state.

This state (the civilian leadership and its necessary administration),

regardless of its governing framework philosophy (in its present evolution),

is a just state - it is a Responsible State!

As all that is truth

cleave unto each other in the ascent,

so does freedom become ennobled

by the ennobling presence of freedom.

(Crossroads)

Peace, I salute you.

What's really on trial next week?

I want you see behind the externals

and look above the personalities involved,

and to perceive this impeachment in terms national

which extends across the life of our generations -

What's on trial next week

is an old and oppressive system

of selfish elitism and mindless factionalism -

a system which is disloyal to the life of our Republic;

a system we, the people, have allowed to endure

and have now the rare opportunity

to directly check and peaceably correct.

You feel the subtle effects of this system

('tis a rule of War, a mindless paradigm of division)

for it is like a tyranny without a tyrant

and its unfamiliar spirit is here in our midst

because we have allowed it to creep deep into our culture -

right into the very nook and cranny of every Filipino home

the sacredness of which our Constitution

- explicitly protects as inviolate -

because it is from each of our homes

where both our fortunes as well as our futures

as one Republic whole are broken or made.

(And War would have us all undone, my nation -

from weak to strong, and from lie to lie.)

Each home in our Republic is a bastion of Country,

for no matter how it is built - how magnificent or how humble -

each of our homes is dignified and defended by the laws

that we owe to each other equally - to recognize and uphold -

laws kept so that kings and presidents may not enter

any one of our homes - from least to great -

(but especially the least from among all)

without each our express permission -

let alone the spirit of War!

- selah -

My beloved people,

in exactly one week from now,

we shall arrive at a crossroads...

(only one of the many along our straight path)

where we shall each perceive

two paths leading out into the distance.

We shall each invest in a choice - as a nation -

a choice we must make more through our faith

- in the workings of God and of Country -

than through individual knowledge of any kind.

So that if we are still not established upon the truth

of who we are as a people and why we are as a nation,

when the time comes and everything speeds up once again

and the currents become for us turbulent -

we might get swept away - again -

into a place in time

we don't ever want to be.

We have no other home away from Home

- here upon this world of earth and fire -

than our one Republic of the Philippines;

we are but one vessel, one boat, one ship.

My brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we can no longer afford to be complacent.

There is no pulling ourselves back up river

for once it runs down water,

it must eventually reach the sea.

---<--@

Think about it -

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light (spirit).

And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness (judgment).

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (authority).

- Genesis 1: 3-5

Power is what calms the sea, it is what divides the waters, it is what distinguishes the light from the darkness.

Among the nations, power is the presence of authority.

Likewise, lack of authority is the absence of power.

(Please also see - One Song Meow: Power.)

The Paradox of Power

Sheltering Wings

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.

20111009 AM

“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world.

What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Daily Meditations from His Letters, Writings, and Sermons

---<--@

Good morning!

I'm just going to shoot off some quick thoughts here -

I think we should never have removed Spanish from our national curriculum.

I think we should start thinking about the regional good more often - go ASEAN!

I think our President Noy is doing a splendid job. I think it is not fair to be so short-sighted, the work of reversing the tide will take a couple of generations. We are going to need a succession of strong and committed Presidents after him to bring our Country out of the doldrums.

And release Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani!

---<--@

More on the RH Bill -

I saw a struggling young mother with her baby once. She was trying to figure out if she could afford to get her baby a little pack of Bear Brand. The baby had a cleft lip and appeared to be malnourished. They appeared so poor and so desperate but largely unaware...

To me, her plight and that of her months-old baby girl seemed so overwhelming. I contemplated how she could have managed to conceive her baby through a free and human choice to have a baby. A few other questions came naturally after... what of the father, the family, the future?

I wondered if she could really be held completely responsible for bringing a soul into our world largely ignorant and so obviously unprepared to properly receive such a precious endowment from God. If not her, if not the father, certainly not the child. If not them, who?

I also wondered how many more young women like her will go through such an unnecessarily harrowing ordeal before their consciences become fully formed so as to effectively protect the freedom of their choices from the harshness of blind and random chance.

This is not the first time I've seen the hope of the poor burdened by so much weight.

Now, I look back at the debate on the RH bill and I ask myself, "is justice served to allow a condition like this to endure?"

The RH bill is NOT about abortion.

It is about human choice and about human choices freely and responsibly exercised in the context of Filipino society as a national whole.

The focus of the debates should shift more toward conscience formation and proper public (civic) education in the long-term and public safety, health and protection in the near to mid-term (our time frame still stands at 2012-2045).

If every Filipino were born with a properly formed conscience; if all our freedoms as individuals were - without exception - served enough even by human reason alone, then we would as citizens be completely right to immediately dismiss both the points as well as the failures (if any) of reproductive health practices in our Country.

Because if it were the case, human sexuality would not appear to be so beyond our natural power as human beings so as to consume so much of our time and effort in community with each other. We would have no need to debate the RH bill.

If every Filipino existed on the same plane of moral thinking, we would have been justified as a Republic to unanimously vote down the RH bill.

But since we all must as individuals exist on independent planes of spiritual maturity and since our common humanity must never again unburden itself of its duties and responsibilities to Sacred Life, the debate must continue.

We must agonize, we must fight our way toward a solution.

There should be a middle ground somewhere and somehow we have to get there...

---<--@

Finally,

I am proud of apl.d.ap and I know he's proud of me. Why?

Because we're both Filipino. We know it. We wear it. We flaunt it.

Mabuhay ka kapatid ko!

---<--@

So there. Everybody have a great weekend!

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

One Nation

Down with Filipino Crab Mentality!

20110611

The Lion of the Sea

I saw a city,

a city by the bay

and the throne of a Lion -

the Lion of the Sea.

I saw you, O city,

all covered in grime

like a widow weeping

the victim of a crime.

Return again, O Lion,

thou great lover of brav'ry,

reclaim again thy city

let thy justice roam free.

- selah -

I saw a nation,

a nation by the sea -

a poor and forlorn people

awaiting for thee.

O saw you, O nation,

despairing in the darkness

like an orphaned son -

alone amidst the madness.

Awaken then, O Lion,

O ruler of the free -

reclaim again thy spirit

and let thy glory be!

---<--@

The Lion of the Sea is the Office of the President of the one Republic of the Philippines.

The spirit of the Lion is its one whole lineage spread across persons, individual and unique, freely elected by a democratic quorum of the people and therefore by the LORD, the one Sovereign of our nation, across our generations to the last of our generations.

The Throne of the Lion is the Seat of the Office of the President of the one Republic of the Philippines.

The city by the bay is Manila - Premier City of the one Filipino nation, the home of the Lion as Defender of the one Filipino people, and the Capital City of the one Republic of the Philippines.

The nation, of course is - we, the one Filipino people - arrayed according to our generations in time and ordered according to our families, tribes and national communities across dimensional space.

We, the people, united in heart and will as citizens to each other and maintained in our individualities and human distinctions by the choice traditions of our liberal democracy, our dignity preserved by rule of Law and the spirit of Liberty, our promise sustained by the Justice of our Peace, and our common hopes rightfully represented in the forums of our Republic undertaking of Country by our elected peers in the nation and before the Throne of the Eternal God by the living Memory of our generations.

As the enduring strength of the Lion is founded in the presence of its truth in the heart, the roots of Manila is likewise perennially founded in the sea because, we are a maritime nation.

Our destiny is intimately linked to the sea.

And as all of these are part of the Filipino identity as a whole, our one Republic to become nearer to its original lineage must therefore reflect all these in itself that the peace of our people may be better served by it.

For this Lion is for the lambs... a shepherd true and true.

Let this nation therefore, be blessed with many lions (and lionesses).

*Shipbuilding as a heavy industry (recently brought up by PNoy) is something I have also been thinking of for some time now.

This is only possible however, after a durable, meaningful, sustainable peace is obtained as well as absorbed in Mindanao and consequently all across our one Republic whole. A space port is another thing.

These heavy industries are to be strategically built from a tier of pre-requisite industries. But all of these must be built from a sound local agricultural base to make it less vulnerable to undesirable market forces.

This is impossible to begin if we remain unemerged - stillborn, as it were - as a Country in our ages in time.

---<--@

Carry On, President Noy

The Catholic bishop of Butuan was reported in a major newspaper today to have called for the resignation of President Noy. While I must submit myself to the rightful authority of my Holy Mother Church, I must also respectfully disagree with him.

I think it is very irresponsible and reckless to call on our President to resign for any reason other than having openly and irreconcilably turned hostile against his own people - against the very Nation served by the Responsible State. But our PNoy is not a Quadaffi by a long shot.

We can not demand perfection from the State anymore than God can demand perfection from ourselves without His aid and His authority.

The life of the State is derived from the life of Nation.

Its authority is a divine authority granted by will of Providence out of the necessity of the people themselves to be governed either by the original line of their kings and rulers (as in a Monarchy) or by their peers (as in a Republic).

It is therefore, composed of human beings - no more, no less. The real power of the Responsible State lies in its ability to unify its peace with the peace of its own Nation - this synergy builds up the Common Market, preserves the peace of civil society, prospers the people and blesses the generations of the people.

This is the labor of our own particular Republic undertaking of Country and is something we must gradually learn from our own common experience as a people united in time and in eternity under the peace of our Republic vision.

It is something that we gradually grow into like a tree growing under the Light of the LORD, our God, and one Sovereign; Almighty God Whose pruning and guidance we must also pay close attention to as a nation entire.

Furthermore, before the promised time of the LORD, it is an imperfect peace and keeps every nation of our one family of the nations of Mankind walking in humility before God always - and for our own good.

There may be many undertakings of Country upon this earth but there is no one undertaking of Country like our own. Neither can this Country be built by any nation other than ourselves.

Hence short of a mature tyranny, it serves not one of us, my father bishop included, to try and subvert the very laws and processes that hold our Republic undertaking together.

Indeed, I was really shocked about this particular headline about a bishop of the Church no less. It makes me sad just to think about it. I would have expected more from our Catholic leadership especially at this crucial time - when unity above all is wanting in our beloved, suffering nation.

It would not have been a headline worthy article to me, by the way, in the first instance. My own opinion is that it is simply too sensationalist and therefore, counter-intuitive to have allowed this to print as is.

With August coming up, I think it only right for us common folk to expect that tabloid-mentality like this would soon be on the wane especially with our major newspapers like the Manila Times.

With all the other things happening in and around our Country at this particular point in the life of our nation, quite frankly, I would have expected (and with good reason) for more productive material to dominate our national conversation - like the peace process, for one.

---<--@

DOTC

Congratulations to our new DOTC Secretary, Mar Roxas. This vital department is made even more crucial in this present age. To be honest, transportation and communication together seems to me awfully broad for a single department. But then again, maybe not.

Don't be jaded by rumors, Kuya Mar. In the long run, it's not position that counts, it's what you do with it - lateral hierarchy is all about function and precedes horizontal authority: Command can not be demanded, it must be earned.

---<--@

Education as a Source of Prosperity

Of the root sources of poverty in our Country, I have mentioned four - corruption, geography, division, ecological depletion. Some might ask - what about education?

Education, even the most rudimentary of forms, is never a source of poverty - according to how efficiently we develop our own system of education in this Country, we only stand to gain from our efforts.

Learning is a thing that is like starlight, received and therefore, a system of education - properly dedicated - facilitates learning.

There is much to improve on in the realm of learning... always. Because truth be told, learning is forever.

But as regards to those root sources of poverty, all of them have at their heart, a corruption of first principles. This corruption is like a truth which is being obscured - eclipsed as it were, by a darkness that lingers to keep us in confusion.

From this darkness, we must emerge.

My honorable compatriots, let us pause to think and to pray about these things this 113th year of our independence bearing always in mind and heart today that the ages of Country in time are a measure not of the length of intervening years but of the brightness of our remembrance.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Republika ng Pilipinas at mabuhay ring nawa ang ating mahal na Pangulo at Pangalawang Pangulo! May God bless all Filipinos with a peaceful, meaningful, and blessed 113th Independence Day.

Excalibur and the Paradox of Power