Freedom of Spit: On a Perfect- Intelligent God and a Stupid God

 President Duterte’s concept of a perfect and intelligent God who created the cosmos and holds the heavenly bodies together is a concept  that doesn’t come  from empty space but apparently originate from his exposure to the bible and, perhaps, with  the Quran’s account of creation, the two accounts of which  hardly vary in substance.

When he said” Your God is stupid,” “your” logically refers not just to Catholics but to all his Filipino audience or listeners when he said it, to everyone for that matter who believes in the God of creation as narrated in their holy books.

Mr. Duterte lambasted  the God of  holy-book believers  for this God’s  stupidity in creating man as a perfect being and then making him imperfect by temptation.

The President owes us an account how his perfect God created humans. Did his perfect God create  humans or  did he not at all to avoid imperfection?  Duterte publicly admitted that he is imperfect and only his God is perfect.  His logic in castigating the Abrahamic God , that Jews, Muslims and Christians revere, runs  that a perfect God could not have an imperfect creation, say, in man.

Why not if it’s God’s purpose to remain supreme above everyone.

Is the President not a hard evidence in this regard - his perfect God creating an imperfect Rodrigo Duterte?  Otherwise, if he is not his God’s creation nor of the God of Abraham, whose stupidity and association he abhors, then whose product is he?

 Everybody is entitled to freedom of expression and freedom of religion, to his belief or unbelief; but to glorify one's belief and mock what others believe is uncouth. It is self-righteousness and meanness in the highest order.

Of Making Choices

All of life is about making choices.

What you chose in the past made you what you are today. Do not blame your parents, genetics and the environment nor fault destiny. You are what you decided or not decided to be.

If you are not happy and satisfied with the way you are, you can still make new choices to change things. It is never late to choose wisely and responsively to deserve a rich and meaningful life.

Choose health. Eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and have an ample rest. Do not overindulge in anything you do.

Choose truth. Take time to study, contemplate and discern the truth from lies and appearances. Do not be trampled and be swept away by the conviction of the mob. Stick to the truth however it may inconvenience you at the moment because it will ultimately set you free.

Choose courage. Do not be afraid to take risks because risks are actually opportunities to enrich life. Stand for causes that are moral and noble which affect the people you love, society and the world at large.

Choose freedom. Do not sulk in a corner and let things you do not like happen. Get out from your comfort zone now and then and be counted in making a difference.

Express yourself. Make a statement and never be silenced by the cowardice, the apathy and the indifference of those around you.

Choose love. Free yourself of hatred and vindictiveness; they are a burden to your spiritual journey. Instead, spread love and compassion to all around you, most especially to those who suffer from social injustice and from the tyranny of those in power. If you have not much to share, just listen to their cry. Say some kind and comforting words. The gesture would mean a lot to them.

Show understanding and kindness, too, to those who are lagging behind in the spiritual journey. They might have hurt and caused you pain along the way, but they now are also suffering from the fruit of their choices. Taunting them and ridiculing their plight does not offer anything good to anyone.

I Survived

On this day three years ago at around 9:30 in the morning, I figured in an accident while attending a national church (UCCP) planning conference at the First Pacific Leadership Academy in Antipolo, Rizal. I tripped and I heard people shouting: It’s a stroke! They rushed me to a hospital, and the physicians after some tests confirmed it was, indeed, a stroke -  a cerebro-vascular accident.

 Great Thanks to God, I survived the accident.  My gratitude is beyond words to those around who extended  all possible support and assistance to help me overcome those moments of  helplessness.

The accident, like many other accidents, happened without any signs or warning. I experienced no bodily pain or discomfort before and when it happened. The stroke cut off the power supply to my left extremities to this day. I can’t move my left leg and arm. My vision gets a little blurred, and I lost strength and control in my speech. I notice I talk rather fast and tire immediately.

After three months of physical therapy I was able to rise from bed unassisted and walk with a cane inside the house. In a little while I managed to walk some few meters without a cane. The progress was disrupted by a sudden inability to pee.  My left extremities convulsed in excruciating spasms. I thought my left arm and leg would break and separate from my body. It was torture for some 5-6 days before and after a ureteroscopy to remove a kidney stone from my bladder.

Indeed, when it rains it pours. I was back to square one  in my walking exercise. It was never the same again because the drop foot seems to have worsened. Nonetheless, I am back with a cane. But I weigh 53 kg. Imagine dragging a sack of rice to move a distance with a cane.

The struggle continues with the encouragement and support of my loved ones and friends;  I thank everyone for this.

Life is still good despite some piercing bouts of depression now and then.

I am grateful to the Lord for not repossessing my mind. This frees me from the prison of my body and allows me to move far and wide in time and space.

Life is beautiful.

On Comparison

To maintain a positive outlook in life, I’d been told to count my blessings and have also told others to do  the same. It seemed to work for some moments but at the end of the day, I was back to square one. I’ve been told not compare myself with others, and I told others the same; because if we compare ourselves with others we either become vain or miserable. Compare yourself with yourself and enjoy and take glory of the progress – the difference.  This worked for me for a long, long time until in recent years: I was  terrific in the past, now I’m in a terrible shape.

Lesson: Avoid making any comparison of any kind  to escape misery. Accept people, things or whatever that comes. Live at every moment. Be happy or be sad according to what is called by the situation. Savor what you feel, whether joy or pain, to the last drop;  nothing lasts forever.

If Life were a Race

Birth is a great divider. Some are born with valuable talents and gifts, others are not. Some have already wealth upon birth, others don’t have . If life is a race, the racers are not in the same starting line. It  looks unfair, but in reality is not. Those ahead by a lap or two and those falling far behind, the swift and the slow will all reach the finish line; all will be humbled not glorified by the race.

At the end of the race, nothing really counts. Our dreams and achievements, our failures and pains, our missteps, indecision and regrets, our health and aches, joy, sorrow and suffering do not matter at the end.  Life is fair after all. The finish line is a great equalizer.

Never Mind

What can be better to a foreign policy that develops strong ties and strengthens friendly relations with a giant and powerful neighbour? Where foreign investments are promised to rise sky high to provide employment to the poor, hungry and jobless? And foreign assistance in the building of road and bridges, railways and other transport systems will come like manna from heaven?

Never mind that in exchange of all these promises  is the deafening silence of the vassal-behaving state on  the encroachment of the giant into the latter’s sovereign territory, constructing surreptitiously   military bunkers, and safe havens for the giant’s  naval warships  and air bombers.

Never mind if the  initial billion pesos  of   promised investments came in the form of smuggled  illegal drugs (methamphetamine) that has provided business opportunities to local drug lords and death-courting  employment as drug pushers to the poor and jobless.

Never mind if, as a consequence, millions of   young people’s lives are ruined by addiction.

Never mind if the eradication of the drug menace is one the centerpiece programs of the regime.

Never mind, never mind, as long as the head of the vassal state is assured of his perch in power no matter what.

So what do we get from a never-mind governance?  Nothing but promises and contradictions and more promises of an imagined paradise from its build-and-build  program. But, nothing has been built so far except those friendly Chinese military structures in the country’s Scarborough Shoals and the “eco-friendly” resort hotel  in the midst of the diminishing  forest of Boracay island. Of course in the pipeline is the Chinese Galaxy mega $500M Casino Resort Hotel that can accommodate accordingly 5000 guests at any given time which is to rise in a 26-ha island property in 2019. 

Never mind if the island is ordered closed to undergo massive rehabilitation because it already smells shit, its carrying capacity having been broached long time ago.

With the clear and imminent danger in West Philippine Sea, the worsening economy driven to the drain by the out-of-control rampaging anti-poor TRAIN, and the unsettling political atmosphere, the country is  in bad form, to say the least. But the President is not worried nor is afraid because he had solicited and accordingly got the support and assurance of bosom friend Xin Jianping that he remains in place and that China will never invade the Philippines, as if it has not done it yet.

The future is bleak. It has never been bright anyway, said some. But if our primus leader continues to waggle in the dark and is continuously egged by his millions of blind followers to push through the darkness, how far and how long can we see the glint of hope? 

Ang sabi-sabi sa kalye, my apologies to the UP baby boomer activists for the liberty:

“Kong walang kikibo, sinong kikibo.

Kong walang kikilos sinong kikilos.

Makibaka, huwag UMASA!’

One Year After: Never Again

Reportedly six proposed master plans for the reconstruction of the ravaged city of Marawi with cost estimates ranging from P 30 - 80B, had been on the table for government to choose from, as early as  December 2017, or some two months  after the conclusion of the conflict.

 Six months later, it seems the government has yet to make a choice or has to come up with another plan. Meanwhile, the 350000 displaced residents are accommodated in temporary shelters and evacuation centers exposed to the elements and at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather. Those who were not accommodated by the quick-response projects had no other option but to seek refuge in the kindness of relatives in neighboring communities while waiting for their dwellings  in ground zero and periphery to be liveable again. 

In any case, the exceeded carrying capacity of these temporary measures may spawn, if not yet already, a lot of troubles along sanitation, health, and relationship. The elderly and the infirm, the nursing mothers and their young will be the first to buckle down from poor sanitation and hygiene, inadequate food supplies, water and medicines.

In fairness though, the rebuilding of the city cannot take off until the rubbles are cleared and the hundreds of unexploded bombs that were dropped from the air are recovered from their sink holes. It’s still a long wait,  but in situations like this, safety is the best policy.

How to avoid what happened in Marawi, the decision and strategies that caused it, is something the government should seriously review in the meantime that the clearing and bomb retrieval is still in progress. Congress, both the Senate and the House, is duty-bound to conduct an investigation on the matter. It ought to eschew politics and leave no stone unturned in finding why the fighting to hunt and terminate 100- 500 terrorists (the figure kept on changing during the battle) turned into a war effort that took 153 days to complete and had effectively and outrageously destroyed an entire city.

There are other  cities and urban centers in Mindanao  that are vulnerable to terrorist incursions and propaganda efforts. The Marawi tragedy should be avoided: it should not repeat.  The cost of the war in terms of lives, human suffering and financial and material resources was staggering. If the cost in lives and consequent suffering of the populace is put in the equation, the decision in pursuing the war borders in insanity. It should not be allowed to happen again.

It is, of course, imperative for the government to preserve and promote peace. But any intervention  along this must be thoroughly calculated and put in the balance  to determine the overall cost, particularly in lives and human suffering. Here enters the thorough assessment of the political and  military strategies to employ in pursuit of  war objectives. Without this exercise, a war on terror may become unnecessarily destructive like hitting with a hammer  a scorpion on the head of a person: you crush the scorpion as well as the head of the person you wish to protect from the deadly  arachnid. That is what happened to the Islamic City of Marawi.

The Maute-ISIS  terrorists evidently lost the battles but might have won the war in portraying the government as a giant terrorist in the eyes of the Meranaw, especially in the young.

This should not be allowed to happen once more.

Never again.