Remembering the End of World War II in Europe

Every May 8 is the remembrance event of the defeat and banishment of the greatest single conflict to wrack the soul and soil of Europe and her nations. 

It's a bit belated but I would still like to extend my well wishes to Europe in commemoration of VE Day 2015.

The Cold War that followed just right after WWII was a completely different kind of war than the one that preceded it... no less dangerous but quite in a league of its own. 

Every right remembrance of war in order to profit us whenever we may recall their moments must be rooted where the silence was first broken by gunfire so that their commemoration may oblige us to reflect upon numbers of days since... and also the memory those terrible days contain.

One might remember VE Day by its celebratory nature only but there is little profit in it. 

Were one to take for granted these days the peace that in commemoration is observed by events that mark the end of a war, take as the focus of one's remembrance the divide that had existed between the victorious and the vanquished and forget that commemoration should connect the heart from peace to peace, it would profit one very little nor one's community very much.

One does not remember Armistice Day in that way: T'was from silence to silence contained; the terrible cost of the road that led apart from peace and away into war being from silence to silence observed.

Thus, this day's commemoration should return one to a deeper recollection of those darkest days that led Europe off in seach of VE Day, for days without number they were, days without substance and life - when most of the world was in rubble and most of our humanity were in tears...

That our remembrances may bless and together bear for all of Europe especially on this day, a greater desire for robust unity and a more perfect peace.

The epicenter of my remembrance of VE day is Warsaw.

Love then - to all the nations of Europe. 

Love to Russia and the Ukraine both. 

If the past showed your States anything - it is that all free nations have a right to live their lives and their labors of Country free from war also.

This is a right I believe Russia shares equally with the Ukraine. 

And so may permanent solutions be found. 

I salute Chancellor Merkel for her bravery and humanity, President Putin for his forthrightness and candor, both of whom met on this day in behalf of the hope for a greater peace in Europe.

I salute all the Nations of Europe including Russia for their contributions to the betterment of our world and pray - in commemoration of VE Day - for a greater dawning of peace in Europe - one that might begin in the Ukraine and with Russia - so may the ceasefire hold.

---<--@

Bring Back our Girls

 234 school girls kidnapped from a government school in Chibok. Those poor girls must be terrified and confused. Their families and friends must be heartbroken. Their local community must be in pain.

It was further reported in the news that the Nigerian government response to the incident has been less than the people of Chibok expected. In fact, it was almost outrageously indifferent to their plight. After a while, the contradictory politics of their State also became for them, a source of unnecessary distress.

It is easy to empathize with the humanity of the people of Chibok. Nameless, faceless Chibok - a human community of fellow living souls; of citizens gathered together into their Nation.

They are as we are. They dream the same basic dream of a reasonable freedom from the evils of the human condition. They work for the same ambition to simply be happy - as well as - happy enough in their community to be culturally and economically insulated from the darkness and despair of the world.

The shock of having 230 children forcibly taken from their families from within their own community must be all-consuming for the people of Chibok. I do not think they need more pain that that, especially not from their own government.

I certainly sympathize with my fellow human beings in Chibok who are my fellow citizen of the Nations. But I myself am confused by their government.

My fellow Filipinos, imagine the pain of Chibok's unbelief at the immediate wake of the incident. Imagine their tremendous need to be decisively led out of this confusion by the proper authorities from within their own Nation.

They called out to the Nigerian State and felt more confused by their own government response - or lack thereof. Imagine the pain of their slow realization, and their unbelief turning to grief.

Imagine their grief turn to outrage.

More so, imagine what those kids are feeling right now. I can not imagine those girls at this moment being able to think anything - only to feel. Feel there is some hope.

Hope is one of the main reasons - "we are" in our Nations, so that Justice may be brought to serve hope. And that hope may through Love and Remembrance be progressively realized through the economy of our generations - in behalf of our common humanity - for all our generations.

Truly, their kids right now - are our kids. 

After all, are they not like our own girls here in the Philippines? They need the love of their families and the affirmation of their communities. They are more vulnerable than our boys. They need to be shown they are loved and valued. And it also needs to be said to them - "I love you for you, it's ok to be you".

Girls are born beautiful. They just need to be brought up to understand how they may remember beauty as they grow up. They don't need to be told what beauty is - they know. They don't need to be told in what way they are beautiful as flowers need not be taught how it is in particular, to bloom.

I am sad for what happened in Chibok. I know many in my Nation feel the same way. I know many in other Nations kindred to us in soul also feel what we feel - for those girls, their families, friends, and community.

Let us not forget to pray for Nigeria, for Chibok, and for the stolen children of Chibok.

Let us remember in them also, all children who suffer the same plight - who are displaced from the love that gives them identity and strength by criminals who masquerade behind a cause that is either less than human or completely inhuman.

Let us remember all our Nation's causes are human causes. Justice, Mercy, Love - hope for life and hope of life - happiness, prosperity, peace.

We are different. Yet the same. This is why my Nation feels what the people of Chibok feels.

It is right to feel it. The wonder is why the Nigerian government does not.

May President Goodluck Jonathan set aside politics when it is clear that there is none to be had - Please, sir - cut the Gordian knot and be the leader your people need.

And - to Boko Haram - in behalf of those girls (and their dreams) they stole from us -

Bring back our girls. 
Then bring back their books.

May this incident be brought to its rightful conclusion. 

God bless the Philippines. God bless Nigeria. 

Mabuhay po tayong lahat.
---<--@

A message from my Nation's youth

Happy Independence Day, Malaysia

Happy 56th birthday, Malaysia - MABUHAY - May you and all our ASEAN grow strong in our ages in time and ever nearer to each other in peace and good will...



May all our troubles vanish, may all hatred cease, and may all divisions be overcome - May our politics be glorious and humane, our sovereign will to defend each other as a regional family resolute and noble, and our unity enlightened and strong for being blessed by the one LORD of all human nations Who in diversity makes one and in adversity makes perfect.


Peace. Salaam. Shalom.

Merdeka!

Love for Korea

Listen, starshine -

If you have to love something as big as Korea,
you have to love big... embracing both North and South
saying to thy heart, "peace be unto thee, O Korea".

So lets think Now of all that is lovable in Korea,
let's think of what great wonders ennoble her soul,
let's think of what beautiful dreams inspire her people,
let's think of what great hopes animate her citizenry,
and let's give it all a big, big hug.

"Peace be unto thee, O Korea."
---<--@

Let us pray for peace in Korea, in our Asia, and in our world so needful of peace!

Salutation #157

(Earthrise)

How we perceive each other
- as nations -
whether as potential adversaries
or as potential friends
constantly influence how we prepare
to encounter each other.

In a globalizing world
where we tend to encounter each other
- often and inevitably,
distinguishing between these two perceptions
is becoming increasingly important.

We must be careful not to slide back
into that old way of thinking
that inclines the mind to consider
the old mold of division as the paradigm of the new
for this will multiply our troubles considerably.

Every nation
is a potential friend - of all nations -
because every nation has more in common
with each other than we had
often thought!

Indeed
our peace is allied to each other
more deeply - and - more enduringly
than we had ever considered...

Our spirits are kin!
And our destiny so interwined
that - we are as if we are being constantly led -
into an ever greater unity by our unity
and often even more so by our divisions
unto oneness with each other on earth
as it is in heaven.
---<--@

Conflicted

We hate America

and we love America 

all at the same time - it seems.

Not because of America as herself 

but because we may at times be conflicted.

- selah -

We define our relationships
and we may only define those realities 

that exist within our focus.

When we know ourselves, 

we will also know our friends. 

And the sooner this awakening 

completes itself in our soul as a nation, 

the better.

- selah -

Is it America's fault then,
my fellow Filipino compatriots,
that we're so conflicted about America?

Here is where I personally stand -

I am neither pro-America nor anti-America.

I subscribe to neither schools of thought
for both of these teaches a form of exclusion
that estranges us from the reality of our nationhood.

The truth is
we can not live to be other people
- just the same as -
we can not live without other people.

We may only believe in the best of America,
trust in the best of America, build upon the best of America
- all the while remaining true to ourselves as ourselves -
with each our hearts abiding - as one -
steadfastly here in the land and in the Republic
where we all as one nation
rightly belong.

This is not hard to do
if we know who we are, my people,
and we may only come to know who we are
if we refuse to let our national identity be defined
by hatreds, divisions, and all manner of evil inspirations.
---<--@

Embracing the Times

Salutation #121

The Lord Christ said,

"The poor you will always have with you..." (Matthew 26: 11)

Starshine, there will always be a minority.
---<--@

(The 4th Cause: The Cause of Minorities - Benignity)

BENIGNITY is the practice of goodness.

Now,

goodness

in the company 

of the great, the strong, 

and the powerful, 

is not an extraordinary virtue.

Therefore, 

this Cause must concern itself 

with (1) the preferential treatment and care 

of minorities (i.e. the weak and the vulnerable)

and (2) the just distribution 

of the material goods of this world.

In the person of the stranger, 

the orphan, the widow, the unborn, 

the disabled, the elderly, and the poor 

whether transient, semi-permanent, or permanent, 

there shall always exist within our midst, 

a minority.

Indeed,

at one time or another 

in the lifespan of individual human beings 

as well as in the lifespan of individual human nations, 

we all become part of this minority.

Let us always bear this in mind and heart...

- selah - listen, think.

Have we forgotten our own roots, 

O numberless stars of our Father Abraham,

O ye children of the Peace, of the Light,
promised by the God of old 

to bless the national communities 

of our needful Mankind?

Were we not all 

drawn up by the LORD

from the poverty of the minority?

Were we not all 

uplifted from our lowliness

by the mercy and beneficence of God

to people the nations of the earth?

Let us always bear this 

- in mind and heart -

especially in these present times.

For this is how 

we shall fill the earth 

with living lights.

- selah -

We are by our poverty indistinguishable! 

How we shall each 

- distinguish ourselves -

in the midst of the darkness

is through virtue and the continual refinement 

of each our inherent human nobility.

This is important to remember, 

my brothers and sisters of the Promise, 

because the victimization (by the strong) 

of the marginalized (or the weak) 

will ultimately result in the implosion 

of our national communities 

and in the Last Day, 

it shall also bring about 

its final and irreversible destruction.

The marginalization 

- in any society - 

of any of one of its parts 

is always the effect of divisions 

(overt as well as covert) 

in the one heart of the people.

A social order built on disagreements 

(abiding in prejudices, misconceptions, fear and ignorance) 

is ever like a tyranny without a tyrant -

a culture of national self-destruction!

In this hostile atmosphere, 

the spirit of the nation itself

feels ever trodden underfoot 

until the burden of Justice 

becomes unbearable.

Indeed,

the will or the spirit of War 

always takes the easiest entrance 

into the midst of the people... 

And this it always does 

by subverting the 4th Cause.

- selah -

The one sin 

a nation can not abide by 

is the presence of War in the heart.

Indeed, 

we all shall stand before God 

to account for our gifts of nationhood! 

So let us not forget
to ask ourselves before God in prayer - each day -

what we have done or chosen not to do

to improve the life of our communities

and prosper the native peace 

of each our undertakings of Country.

Because Peace is our only path - 

it is the only choice we can really make

both as human beings and as human nations.

- selah -

The 4th Cause explicitly espouses 

the first principle - that -

the strong exists in defense of the weak.

The entire hierarchy of the Angelic realms 

is ordered by God around this first principle.

And since our nations (as they are) 

are a natural extension of the unseen realms, 

we too are expected by the Providence of God 

to faithfully imitate the heavenly order 

by formally uniting ourselves as a people 

to the will and the governance of the LORD, 

our God - the one Sovereign of all nations.

What the majority does in behalf of the minority 

dictates a nation's fidelity to the 4th Cause!

Wealth generation and long-term national prosperity 

is entirely dependent on the 4th Cause!

It is from the 4th Cause that we enter 

into an understanding of the higher Causes!

---<--@

The Circular Relationship of the Four Causes

Salutation #120

Mazel tov, Israel -

mabuhay at maligayang bati!

Binabati kita bilang tanyag at modernong Sambayanang-Kilusang payapa
nang may buong kaalamang ika'y tunay na matanda pa
at kagalang-galang sa iyong mga taon kesa rito.

Kapayappan sa iyo ang aking alay:

Sana maghari na rin
ang kapayapaan sa Gitnang Silangan
at diwa ng pagkikipagkaibigan sa mga bansa sa puso ng ating Asya
bawa't isa bilang kanya-kanyang Sambayanang-Kilusang payapa
lalo na ang pinaka-mahina at pinaka-nangangailangan sa lahat -
ang mga Palestinong biktima na rin ng lumang diwa ng galit at dibisyon
na magiting na tumatangan sa pag-asa ng kaninlang adhikaing
makilala at makipagugnayan sa atin bilang bansang isa.

Kapayapaan na inyo na ring kanlungan,
mahal naming bayang Israel,
at kanlungan na rin nang lahat ng ating mga bansa
dito sa mundo nating pagod at nanganganib
at kasalukuyang nangangailangan
ng ating pagkalinga at pagmamahal.

Maghari sana
ang diwa ng bagong panahon
at maging liwanag nawa ito
sa pagnanasa nating lahat -

Kapayapaan, Israel,
ang iyong tunay na karunungan!

Mahal kita - nawa'y kupkupin ka ng Diyos
at pagpalain nang Diyos ang lahat nating mga bansa -
maligayang kaarawan!
---<--@



(Free Israel!)

Mazel tov, Israel -
long may thy remembrance serve thee!

I greet thee, Modern Israel, as an undertaking of Country
recognizing that thy age as a nation is far more better in their years.

My hope for thee is peace:

Let there be peace in the Middle East
and goodwill to all the nations at the heart of our Asia
- each arrayed as their own particular undertaking of Country -
not forsaking all, especially the most vulnerable of all:
the Palestinians caught between the poverty of their exile
and the strength of the nationhood they keep in their hearts.

The peace which is to thee 

thy own shelter, beloved people Israel,
as well as to all our kindred nations in this world
so much in need of respite and repair.

May the spirit
of this new season under heaven
reign upon the souls of all our peoples
and may it be as a light unto each of us
that guide our way back to peace -

Peace, Israel,
which is thy real heritage
and the fruit of all thy wisdom.

I love you - God keep you

and God bless us all -
happy birthday!
---<--@



O Israel, can you see what lies just ahead? There is nothing there...

For we have ALL been by the spirit of War deceived.

20110630

The Calm in the Storm

Everything that is happening around us - especially the Spratly issue - is like a vicious typhoon.

You know as well as I do, my fellow Filipino compatriots, that each of us must find that calm in the storm to make sure that we are no longer part of the problem but part of the solution.

When everybody is railing around you in anger about China's aggressiveness, you can not stir in the spirit of that same stirring - you must find the center in the storm.

You know how strong these typhoons get. It is quite easy to be swept away by its howling winds. This is precisely what it does when we act out rashly, judge things with finality, believe falsely or too easily.

Or it may bring to us, my brothers and sisters of the Promise, so great an inundation that the crash of all these realities might unleash currents strong and swift enough to drive us all into inaction or worse, despair.

But if we hold on to the beliefs in our hearts, and if we practice these convictions in everyday life - we shall be secure in the storm.

If each of us makes a conscious effort to make these truths about ourselves as a nation stand out in our awareness strongly enough through daily practice that they form good, strong civic habits in ourselves as citizens to each other - we shall be secure in the storm indeed.

Because no matter how the Spratly issue plays itself out - the reality of it all is that what really, really, matters is how we react to it as a nation.

Defense is a reaction - absolutely speaking.

Therefore, we can not stir with the stirring of the outside world. We can not let external forces dictate our own internal desire for peace amongst ourselves and amongst other nations at any and at all costs.

I tell you now, the best adaptation in these uncertain times is unity and the more timeless the truths invested in this sense of unity, the better we shall be able to withstand those forces of division that seek to tear all nations apart.

Not the Chinese, not any other nation on earth can reach out to God for our own sense of national unity and belonging than we, the Filipino people.

And in a typhoon - let us always remember - a house divided will not last.

Therefore, when you hear those many voices railing against sides to this dispute (voices who do not even have the courage to own up to the perspectives they like to spout) go ahead and listen but always make sure you have presence enough in yourself to be able to make your own considerations about the matter as soundly and as closely to the one heart in each thy selves that you can get or ask those who you know and whose counsel you can trust.

Do not be so easily swayed or unhinged by opinion polls, popular clamor, or any extemporaneous outpourings of sentiments from faceless crowds but rather, always try to have one for yourself and always be open and honest enough to test the strength of your own opinions against these external forces.

Be committed to the truth and not to false pride.

Do not hold on to the darkness that must sink into the void at the passing of every moment lest it carry you down to your grave.

Ascend with the ascent of all true things to the unity of God, the LORD of All.

Represent the national good will in these times but especially in sundry times - in and amidst our national communities and among our kindred nations.

Do good things that are unknown and without fanfare. Love the act of doing good, yea - love the act itself - appreciate deeply in your heart what you receive by your giving away.

Preserve the national good will in sundry times but especially in times of adversity.

Especially, do not creates sides within our Republic whole that may not exist and discriminate against our own citizens of Chinese descent or any other citizen that does not appear common to you because not one of us has the right to do so who belong to this nation - citizenship is a call made by God and not by people (or by angels for that matter).

It is a particular bent in the human soul - a grace no human eye can see but is all too commonly felt in those whose hearts have awakened to their patriotic calling.

It is a splendor we witness by the beauty of those lives we as citizens desire to commonly imitate in our nation's heroes and in the heroes of all nations.

Above all, know and understand that this grace is made to dwell in the hearts of all citizens from every nation - that you may better identify with them in their humanity and better understand also that constant call for good will among our nations that despite the ferocity of our recent past is now being reiterated under this season of Peace, by the one Sovereign of all nations no less.

Let us pray for an equitable solution to the Spratly dispute.

And let us continue to be vigilant and deeply committed to the cause of peace in our nation, in our region, in our continent, and in our world so needful of the responsible and decisive exercise of our most basic of citizenships simply as human beings, one to another.

---<--@

The Angel of the Nations

All the Holy Angels of the LORD serve God and God alone.

Now, the Angel of the Nations beholds the face of the LORD, constantly giving worship to God.

Therefore, when the angel of the nations faces its own nation, it provides light to the generations of its people who in turn accept it.

Its sword is then turned away from its own nation in its defense.

When the people reject the peace of this unifying light, the face of the angel is turned away.

And the sword of the angel is then turned toward its own nation to fight against the darkness that keep it from its own remembrances.

As nations, we can only really either surrender to the peace of our belongings together or fight against the angel that guards the memory of our people from the darkness of War.

Remember this - nationhood is a spiritual endowment. It is therefore, a truth in the heart. You can not see it - it is not just a face, not just a sound, or anything purely material - it is wrought through a particular kind of grace, of peace and the love of the same (good will).

It is a labor, a mission, a vision and a destiny.

You feel it in your being, you know it in your heart because it is an unseen reality that calls out to you and all of your peers in the nation that you may be gathered into your own true belongings in time.

It is your gift of nationhood that fosters you according to the peace of your own citizenship - one to another - as a human being among human beings and as a nation among a family of nations.

It is not a work of War.

---<--@

If you still want to know the name of the Angel of the Philippines, it is this - "Go and be a good citizen".

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas at lahat ng mga bansa ng ating sangkatauhan! May God bless us and all His nations of the one family of the nations of Mankind.

To close, let me (and my Miyang) share this with you -

Country is a Verb

Blindness

20110514

Salutation #9

(Perseverance)

TO EACH OF YOU,

my beloved brothers and sisters of the Promise

who are all my honorable Filipino compatriots -

with one heart, O my nation -

I salute you, peace.

The more we are tried in fire and humiliation,

the more persevering should be our peace -

The more the evil within all evil things

seeks to dominate our common will of hope,

and shatter our belongings with each other,

the more we should strive to become who we are -

a people of peace, strong for our togetherness,

together for our faithfulness in the truth

that we are a nation distinct but not apart

from the one family of the nations of Mankind.

The Republic belongs to those who love it

and the nation to those who take this love to heart.

If the times are dark, it is not because of the true:

As every lion waits for its time, so must you.

So must you preserve the peace within thy selves!

Establish within thy soul

an unyielding firmament of Day,

and preserve in thy hearts a shelter of law -

tolerate no division, no enmity, no chaos -

for in this world there is much evil and lawlessness

but the more this darkness seeks to encroach upon thy will

the more the scandal of evil shall with pleasure entice

the more you shall seek to this shelter as a shield

that you may be guided by reason and faith

and as the Day is separated by God over the Night,

you shall be made to prosper in Justice and in the right.

Let this shelter flourish in thy one heart of hearts,

all of you who hold true to thy love of God and this Country,

and let the evil in all evil things find no safe harbor in thy souls;

let its tongue be confounded in the Sanctuary of thy heart;

let its deceptions wither under the light of the truth;

let its malice and cruelty be brought to naught,

its schemes be turned into dust and ashes,

and its ambitions into nothingness.

For thou shalt will to extend this shelter of law

as a shield to the stranger, to the weak, to the voiceless,

to the dispossessed, the displaced, and the defenseless,

and thereby through thy own willingness,

find favor for this nation of ours

with the LORD of all nations -

the God of all mercy and infinite compassion!

---<--@

The War on the RH Bill

There is a "war" of words going on between the proponents and the opponents of the RH Bill. And its getting downright nasty.

My fellow Filipino compatriots, I am decidedly against the RH Bill.

I have made this position clear in my previous posts.

But I am also against this dividing spirit. In fact, I am more worried by the outcome of this division than by the outcome of the debate itself.

If we should fall, O my people, may we always land on our feet united in heart.

Entire nations have an ability to make mistakes, let there be no doubt about that. For in such a way are entire peoples tested in spirit.

But if our hearts become divided - RH Bill or not - not will we only fall, we will be crushed by its height.

A nation with War in its heart - a people without its peace - feels itself paralyzed for fear that it can not afford to make mistakes and is therefore struck down by God Himself.

There needs to be humility in the fight for the purposes of God will always prevail.

What if the RH law is passed? Shall it serve to make these divisions permanent?

What if the RH bill does not receive quorum in Congress? Shall it serve to also make these divisions permanent?

We should be mindful of our ultimate loyalties to each other as citizens. We should be aware of the humanity in our words - for we are speaking to each other in terms noble and human, being mindful that we all want what is best for this Country.

I fear the shift in our culture that will be brought about by the RH law will eventually serve to shape it into a form that is foreign to our people.

But I am more concerned about the internal divisions that will render this culture irredeemably stony and hard, fragile against any force of truth and unyielding against the will of any form of law at all.

Therefore, if this RH bill is passed into law, I shall endeavor to do my utmost to overturn it. But I will always remain within my loyalty to this Republic undertaking, true to my faith in God, and to the great democracy of our people.

For Man is able to live even under the yoke of evil laws. But without law, Man is unable to live at all.

---<--@

The 2nd Cause: The Cause of Law - Unity

Law in the service of Sacred Life.

A law that serves is one that is observed. One must first observe the law who desire to gain from its original intention. In this way, law is no respecter of persons but is above all persons.

Therefore, if any human community is to benefit from the intention of law, then it must first be willing to apply itself to its prescripts and to ensure that the rule of law both extends to all and applies to all (which is effective promulgation and civic participation founded on effective civic education respectively).

What precedes this necessary observance is an inherent public trust of whose original domain is founded at the very foundations of law.

To be sure, law was something inspired by God in Mankind having variously revealed it to our humanity throughout Salvation History as a sign of our LORD's manifest will to lead all hearts to the truth.

It is an extension of His good will for all nations.

Since the purpose of Justice is the restoration of the original ideal, Justice by its own virtue seeks to preserve and to promote what goodness there is.

We are then left with the reality of evil.

Now, the intention of law is to bind evil - to deter, deflect, deny, and expose it.

Therefore, the purpose of law is to preserve and to promote goodness also but this law achieves by the discouragement of evil acts.

Law is an adaptation of human reason. If gives a necessary form and shape to our reason. It shapes the social consciousness and civic conscience of entire nations.

A law that is unreasonable is not a law but a tyranny of words.

One can make a law against the preservation of life but this is essentially offensive to the spirit of law.

For law in and of itself has its limits. It must first be founded on something limitless to make it meaningful.

In such a way is the 2nd Cause related to the 1st Cause - Sacred Life.

Only in this light can we meaningfully perceive the saying -

"Those who have less in life should have more in law."
---<--@

On Illegal Immigration

In my own view, there can be no such thing as an "illegal immigrant", only the act of illegal immigration may be sanctioned by law.

You can undo the act but not the person: Love the sinner not the sin.

The thinking that inclines the mind to believe that a human person is somehow illegal (given that this entire universe is our one human habitation) is in itself unlawful and leads to those forms of injustices that add to the burden against which law itself must continually guard and fight against.

And this is true not just in the U.S., who is by far the most visible Country presently grappling with the issue, but is true for all nations, including our own.

Every nation to a certain degree must deal with forms of illegal immigration both from within ourselves (e.g. "informal settlers") and with other nations.

The way we, as a nation, treat human beings (especially the weakest and the least) and the way our laws treat human beings are intertwined because of the fact that our laws shape the way in which our society thinks to believe itself to be.

As such, law by itself is not sufficient.
---<--@

Preserving and Representing the National Good Will



My fellow Filipino compatriots, in the midst of all our necessary affairs as a nation - and they are many indeed - let us not forget our common duty of personal and national good will to our other kindred nations of our one family of nations:

Let us pray for peace in Libya and the safety of the Libyan nation.

Let us also pray for peace in Egypt and the safety of the Egyptian nation.

Let us never forget that region in Asia so wanting and needful of peace and that our own peace process is connected to the peace of that region.

For if we desire peace for other nations, we must first possess it.

And if we truly desire peace for ourselves, we must first work to gain it from God - here in our one heart of hearts.

Let us also continue to pray for Japan in her work of healing and rebuilding and for Mexico who is fighting a vicious conflict against drug cartels.
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Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

The Two Questions

20110311

The Frequency of Earthquakes

It seems these days we hear much about many things - earthquakes, natural disasters, wars, rumors of wars... Not that the earth has changed, mind you. Nor has our human nature attained to the perfection that the LORD, our God, continue to desire for each of us.

If today you hear about them, it is primarily because of the shape of our technology - we are now living in that age where we are truly becoming a highly globalized community.

So we hear about these things from around our world through the lightning fast media of social communication and we worry about the perilous state of our nations. And rightly so. We attempt to relate these events to the signs of the times as we ought who are vigilant. But still we fail to locate in ourselves a personal sense of responsibility for these events - these are indeed signs of our times.

You see, my friends, we have an innate tendency to view and interpret these disasters as largely natural, completely apart or even wholly divine. So far as these earthquakes, violent weather, wars and rumors of wars are concerned, it is the earth all around ourselves that is changing or that it is God alone Who is causing all these evil.

But the painful and honest truth of the matter is that they all have man-made roots as well. The world is indeed taking its natural course - but that is because we are letting it happen, we who are not of this world yet who are still in the world, have forgotten our most basic call - that of an authentic human citizenship to all of creation.

Nobody but God knows the hour of the end. But the seasons of the skies above our souls are ever always ours to perceive. These inward seasons correctly perceived allows us to sense and to understand the approach of those things that lead us unto the breaking of the dawn.

And all things towards that great and final Day of the LORD when all true things will receive once again their original beginnings.

For the LORD indeed permits a certain amount of evil in our lives and in our world but only for causes that are consistent with His unchanging nature. When God allows evil, it is only to extract from it a greater, brighter, nobler good.

It should move us to act and overcome inaction.

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A Personal Commentary on Recent Events

I do not understand the needless clamor that was recently raised about Mar Roxas accompanying PNoy to Indonesia and Singapore. Kuya Mar is a Filipino citizen and has an equal obligation to help prosper our national interests - especially in concert with the efforts of our Responsible State i.e. the current administration of our President Noy.

He should be praised for his enthusiasm and effort. He even paid for his own way, mind you.

I commend our Vice President, Jojo Binay, for his great and abiding sense of national community. He has recently manifested a willingness to work with Mar Roxas on some pressing issues of national concern. His manifest willingness to work across political lines leaves a warm smile in my heart of hearts.

I support the efforts of our new AFP Chief, Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban, Jr. A lot of commentators do not perceive the potential of his term. They also neglect to understand that the military victory is a lineage. The AFP vision follows this lineage - Nine months is plenty of time to re-constitute a decisive sense of moral clarity and a culture of victory in our profession of arms. It was already ours to begin with.

It is clear to me that PNoy chose Gen. Oban because of the right things - I trust our C-in-C just as I trust his father before him whose legacy gives me strength.

In contrast with mockers and detractors, I know and I trust that our new AFP Chief will be able to add valuable momentum into our efforts to strengthen and evolve our AFP institution into a 21st Century national military force.

I support the civilian commission of Lt. Gen. Ricardo David as head of our Immigration Bureau. The crime of Human Trafficking is especially abominable. It preys on the authentic hopes of our fellow Filipino compatriots. It is one of the things that keep me up at night. I am glad that a true patriot is on the watch.

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Let us continue to pray for peace in Libya.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.