Should President Arroyo go or stay? That's the questioin that many are asking today. I will purposely skirt answering this question. Rather I will pose some thought-provoking questions.
If Arroyo resigns, are we prepared for a President Noli de Castro?
Some are chanting that both should resign. I'm not advocating that Noli should be the next president. But for the sake of our fledgling democracy, constitutional ascension must be respected and observed. Otherwise, we will open Pandora's political box and let all hell break loose. A mockery will be made of the Constitution.
So I go back to my question: Are we prepared for a President Noli de Castro? Hmmmm. . .
Yes, we can also have him impeached (assuming we find an impeachable offense) after he takes office. But are we prepared to do that? Can our ailing economy withstand another shock wave? I don't think so. I think we need to seriously consider the ramifications of an Arroyo resignation or impeachment.
Should she stay? Should she go? Hmmmm. . . thinnk about it.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Friday, July 08, 2005
Misleading the President
Too many Arroyos are embroiled in one form of corruption or another. The First Gentleman’s “noble” act is dubious. Then there’s the son’s alleged involvement in jueteng. Iggy’s Jose Pidal is a broken record. And then the crime that broke the camel’s back – the phone call. It seems that President Arroyo’s “inappropriate” call has become her undoing – a wound for which there is no cure now except by amputation. In a recent issue of Time magazine, she claimed that God, no less, put her into office. Anyone can claim that. Was she deluded? deceived? duped? hoodwinked? I believe she was misled.
Shortly after then Vice-President Arroyo’s rebellious ascension (biblically speaking, that is) to power in 2001, Christians flocked around her and gave her all sorts of “prophetic” words to comfort and assure her. In truth this was more a political move than anything else. It was, in my opinion, excessively premature. Retrospectively, it is becoming increasingly evident that these “prophecies” were, at best, encouraging misrepresentations. We have misled our President into thinking that there was some divine mandate on her and that her administration would be under God’s hand of blessing. Is it any wonder then that she said what she did in that Time interview? How can there be divine favor when her method of rising to the highest national office is constitutionally questionable? How can anyone think that good can come out of betrayal and treachery? And now the skeletons are coming out. Even her allies have fled. It would be comical, if it weren’t so pathetic, that suddenly several of our legislators are saving their skins by preempting the listening of the tape knowing that their verbal signatures are indelibly etched on the magnetic ribbon. It was predictable that someone would mention that it was normal for candidates to call Comelec officials during elections. Since when did common practice determine morality and ethics?
Even our current roster of Church leaders need to do some serious introspection. Some of those who are most vocal now are the very ones who led a “holy” rebellion. What a contradiction in terms! I recall in November 2000 how a group led a revolt against then President Estrada calling for his resignation before the hallowed halls of the Senate. They were at the time behind Vice-President Arroyo. And now once more they are chanting the same tune but with altered lyrics: ARROYO RESIGN! When are we going to learn to listen to God before we speak to man?
Galatians 6:7 says: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap.” Power was stolen then. We see history repeating itself. And the Church is blinded by the glitz of politics. We desire the king’s favor. But wasn’t this the downfall of the Church in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine instituted religion thus plunging not just the Church but the whole world into the Dark Ages? Must history always repeat itself?
Shortly after then Vice-President Arroyo’s rebellious ascension (biblically speaking, that is) to power in 2001, Christians flocked around her and gave her all sorts of “prophetic” words to comfort and assure her. In truth this was more a political move than anything else. It was, in my opinion, excessively premature. Retrospectively, it is becoming increasingly evident that these “prophecies” were, at best, encouraging misrepresentations. We have misled our President into thinking that there was some divine mandate on her and that her administration would be under God’s hand of blessing. Is it any wonder then that she said what she did in that Time interview? How can there be divine favor when her method of rising to the highest national office is constitutionally questionable? How can anyone think that good can come out of betrayal and treachery? And now the skeletons are coming out. Even her allies have fled. It would be comical, if it weren’t so pathetic, that suddenly several of our legislators are saving their skins by preempting the listening of the tape knowing that their verbal signatures are indelibly etched on the magnetic ribbon. It was predictable that someone would mention that it was normal for candidates to call Comelec officials during elections. Since when did common practice determine morality and ethics?
Even our current roster of Church leaders need to do some serious introspection. Some of those who are most vocal now are the very ones who led a “holy” rebellion. What a contradiction in terms! I recall in November 2000 how a group led a revolt against then President Estrada calling for his resignation before the hallowed halls of the Senate. They were at the time behind Vice-President Arroyo. And now once more they are chanting the same tune but with altered lyrics: ARROYO RESIGN! When are we going to learn to listen to God before we speak to man?
Galatians 6:7 says: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap.” Power was stolen then. We see history repeating itself. And the Church is blinded by the glitz of politics. We desire the king’s favor. But wasn’t this the downfall of the Church in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine instituted religion thus plunging not just the Church but the whole world into the Dark Ages? Must history always repeat itself?
Monday, July 04, 2005
The Philippine Circus
Once again Filipinos have to deal with an absurdly immature display of political soap. Between the presidential snafu of making an inappropriate, ill-timed phone call to a Commission on Elections official and the First Family’s proverbial hand caught in the jueteng jar, we can only wait with bated breath how this circus will turn out. This will perhaps be the beginning of President Arroyo’s undoing. This is not a prediction on the outcome of all this. Then there’s the Opposition waiting like buzzards for anyone to fall by the wayside.
What’s wrong with us? Haven’t we learned anything since toppling a dictator almost two decades ago? We have a democracy that’s about twenty years old and we still refer to it as “fragile”. I believe the problem is not so much the democracy as it is the leaders we elect (even though most win through an ancient political formula called cheating). Filipinos, by and large, lack at least two basic concepts that keep the nation from moving forward. The first of these is the concept of public trust. One needs to be trustworthy with whatever is entrusted to him. More so when we are talking about public office. This is where a Filipino is found wanting. This makes a Filipino almost untrustworthy – a major lapse in character. We possess a knee-jerk reaction to always putting numero uno ahead of everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. We think of ourselves first. “What’s in it for me?” This paradigm will surely bog down any organization – including Philippines, Inc. Rare is the public official that puts country and constituents above personal gain. I am not against personal gain per se, but not at the expense of others.
Second is the concept of public property. We have this attitude of ownership. We own whatever and wherever we find ourselves. That’s why we have no sense of transgression when we litter the streets, urinate or spit in public, and sticking chewing gum under cinema seats. Is it any wonder that our public officials bicker like five-year olds? Help! We are being governed by a bunch of children.
So what now? What will keep this blog from being just an opportunity to air a gripe? Theologically speaking, I believe we, the Church, have the greatest fault in all this. Think about it. We are the ones made in the image and likeness of God for the purpose of exercising dominion over all the earth (Gen 1:26), then we are the ONLY ONES that can truly do something about some of our national issues. Let the changes begin with us. Let us learn to exercise discipline. Stop at red lights (even when there are no cops), dispose of litter properly, learn to use toilets not trees, and a zillion other things to make this a better country to live in. I realize this will not improve our country in the short run. But it should make for a generation with integrity in the future.
What’s wrong with us? Haven’t we learned anything since toppling a dictator almost two decades ago? We have a democracy that’s about twenty years old and we still refer to it as “fragile”. I believe the problem is not so much the democracy as it is the leaders we elect (even though most win through an ancient political formula called cheating). Filipinos, by and large, lack at least two basic concepts that keep the nation from moving forward. The first of these is the concept of public trust. One needs to be trustworthy with whatever is entrusted to him. More so when we are talking about public office. This is where a Filipino is found wanting. This makes a Filipino almost untrustworthy – a major lapse in character. We possess a knee-jerk reaction to always putting numero uno ahead of everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. We think of ourselves first. “What’s in it for me?” This paradigm will surely bog down any organization – including Philippines, Inc. Rare is the public official that puts country and constituents above personal gain. I am not against personal gain per se, but not at the expense of others.
Second is the concept of public property. We have this attitude of ownership. We own whatever and wherever we find ourselves. That’s why we have no sense of transgression when we litter the streets, urinate or spit in public, and sticking chewing gum under cinema seats. Is it any wonder that our public officials bicker like five-year olds? Help! We are being governed by a bunch of children.
So what now? What will keep this blog from being just an opportunity to air a gripe? Theologically speaking, I believe we, the Church, have the greatest fault in all this. Think about it. We are the ones made in the image and likeness of God for the purpose of exercising dominion over all the earth (Gen 1:26), then we are the ONLY ONES that can truly do something about some of our national issues. Let the changes begin with us. Let us learn to exercise discipline. Stop at red lights (even when there are no cops), dispose of litter properly, learn to use toilets not trees, and a zillion other things to make this a better country to live in. I realize this will not improve our country in the short run. But it should make for a generation with integrity in the future.
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