Hypocrisy and the Likes of Us

In the news a couple of weeks ago, incoming president Duterte spoke against the leaders of the Catholic Church, calling them hypocrites and 'sons of a whore'. He even declared that he's more influential than the bishops because no matter how they campaigned against him, the people just ignored the warnings and voted for him overwhelmingly. Is it a sign of people's silent protest against the Institution?

Many had lauded Duterte for his bold (most of the time, brazen) stance to go up against the Church. Opinions had been written in all media agreeing to his viewpoint. People seem to unite against the hypocrisy of these so-called religious leaders.  But this is really nothing new. The Bible recorded a lot of instances of hypocrisy. Prophets, upon God's instructions, spoke against leaders, even at the face of death. Jesus himself spoke against the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his time.  Yet the Bible also reminded us not to fall to the same pretensions.

There are people who are quick to equate religiosity with hypocrisy.  I can't really blame them.  They must have experienced hurts or condemnation by religious people once close to them. I also pity those leaders who are earnest and true to their calling. Are the CBCP leaders really hypocrites?  Or maybe they just happen to be on the unpopular side of the issue.  Being judgmental is as bad as hypocrisy.

To those of us who claim to be Christians, let us be discerning and not quick to judge.  I know of some people who grew up in Christian churches, who are now religious rebels.  First, they rebel against their own parents and relatives accusing them of hypocrisy. When you listen to the parents, they say they were just correcting an aberrant behavior. When we expect love begetting love, it does not always happen.  Second, they rebel against their religious leaders.  They are quick to listen to gossips and remember only the bad sides of the story.  So when they talk about hypocrisy, they have tons of information about leaders who have fallen.  Third, they will deny that they are rebelling against God. But their actions speak otherwise.  And when you talk about how good God is, they just give you a condescending look.

There is really this temptation when you go by the tide of public opinion. Who has fully obeyed the ten commandments? Are we actually listening to sermons when we go to church, or just waiting for words tingling our ears?  Or maybe we just sit there at the back for the sake of attendance and then look at the Priests or Pastors with suspecting eyes. At the back of our heads we ask, "How many girlfriends does he have? How many boys has he exploited? How much does he earn by using religion?"

Shouldn't we look beyond the messenger and focus on the message?  Perhaps in these days, moral uprightness is no longer a criteria we look for a political leader, and hypocrisy only applies to the religious. It is a very unfortunate sign of the times!

Goodbye, President Cory!

I learned of her death from the wall messages of my FB friends. I did not bother check the news. It was a sort of expected as her doctors previously said that her time on earth was already limited.

I was still in my elementary school years when she took the power away from the dictator Marcos. I also remembered her battles with coup d'etat plotters and critiques. I don't know much about politics then, but I remembered memorizing the people in her cabinet, because of some school quizzes.

Yesterday I watched on TV her burial procession. It passed right through where I lived in Sucat. Manila memorial was only a kilometer away. But unfortunately, I was in Cebu. I could have witnessed a very important event.

Anyway, may ex-President Cory Aquino rest in peace! May she be installed a hero because I do think she has done a lot for this country. May GMA also learn from her.

The Business Is Finished: Pacquiao Won Over Marquez

National disaster averted. GMA took a breather of relief. Rebels and soldiers braced arms in arms. Churches in the Philippines sing hallelujahs! The Filipino nation can say that they have a hero in their fold. We can now unite and put aside ZTE for a while, at least for a week just for the victory celebration. Bloggers are racing to get on top of SERP. Manny Pacquiao won on a split decision over Marquez. Judges Dwayne Ford and Tom Miller scored it 115-112 and 114-113, respectively, in favor of the Filipino. Jerry Roth scored it 115-112 for the deposed champ.

It was not a knockdown as expected by the Filipinos, but it was very close. Manny floored Marquez on the third round but was able to get up quickly. Both suffered cuts in the middle rounds and exchanged strong and lethal blows till finish. It was a really good fight and a close one. All the other pretenders can just watch in awe.

So what is next for Manny? I hope he won’t reenter politics. It’s a dirtier place and a dive from his lofty hero status. Why doesn’t he consider a fight with de la Hoya instead? It is not impossible and would definitely draw more money.

Pleading For Your Votes

Here's one shameless plugging from me. Vote for BLOGCEBUWORLD as the Filipino Blog of the Week for week 100 there at Talksmart's site.

I copied the code here for your convenience. Vote once a day starting now till the morning of March 22.

Which Filipino blog would you like to be featured for week 100? [please read new rules]
	savetheearth-now
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Thanks Pollhost

Thank you very much my friends!

Oust GMA! GMA Resign!

The above are just some of the messages from the banners I saw at a rally in Fuente Osmeña, Cebu the other day. The local daily says that fewer than 1,000 participants attended the rally.

My friend, the Bystander, posted in his blog a very clear and concise distinction between Edsa1 and Edsa2, which I also think is connected with my title above.

Though I may not like GMA, I don’t want either option. Who is worthy to replace her at this moment? They could all be of the same feathers. Let her clean up her acts and let us wait for 2010. Time flies so fast. We all know how stubborn she and her cohorts are, and how indifferent most people are today. Let us just continue to pray for our nation. We can survive all of this.

Republicans vs Democrats: The Narrow Bend

Obama zoomed ahead over Madamme Hillary with the latest win in Wisconsin and Hawaii, his 9th and 10th successive wins. It would probably take a miracle for a comeback. Hillary needs landslide victories in the remaining states.

John McCain's lead is also getting bigger. He's the most likely winner in the Republican race. I admit that I like Huckabee, probably because of his preacher background. It's the same thing when I voted for a preacher to become the President of the Philippines. I have very high regard for them.

I heard from someone that if it's Obama vs McCain, the latter has a very high chance of winning. A Clinton vs McCain would be favorable for the Democrats. Of course, there is no real basis for that. Everyone would just like to be political analysts everytime there is an election, just like the barbers in Gorordo Avenue.

Republicans vs Democrats

The basic difference between the two is that Democrats follow a liberal philosophy and Republicans follow a conservative philosophy. Example of these differences are: 1) Abortion, Democrats – Yes, Republicans – No 2) Gay Weddings, Democrats – Yes, Republicans – No 3) Prayer at Schools , Democrats – No, Republicans – Yes 4) Death Penalty, Democrats – No, Republicans - Yes 5) Minimum Wage, Democrats – Yes, Republicans – No, and the list goes on an on.

But it’s the Democrats that get most of the headlines these days. For us in the Far East, we get the impression that it’s Hillary Clinton vs Barack Obama. Both are democrats, but only one will go on to become the party standard-bearer. I don’t even know much about the other side of the fence. President Bush seems to get all the attention. I first got a quick glance at the name of Gov. Mike Hukabee, the former Baptist Minister who turned politician, when news came out at the Iowa caucus that he leads the Republicans.

The American party system is very different from the Philippine system. There is no party loyalty among our local politicians. I don’t even think they know their party’s platform of governance.

But if you were to join American politics, which between the two parties would you choose? Maybe I’d follow Mr. Universe (now California Governor) Arnold Schwarzenegger. He once said to a friend, "What party is he?" (referring to Nixon). The friend replied, "He's a Republican." Then Arnold said, "Then I am a Republican." And he has been a Republican ever since. Honestly, I don’t understand the logic of his statement. But I am still for the conservatives' philosophy.

Stronger Peso and the Need for More Dollars

From P56 three years ago, it’s now down to P42.85 a dollar. Good news or bad news?

Is there really a strengthening of the peso? Economists say that the $14.6B OFW remittances in 2006 (and growing more in 2007) buoyed the value of the peso. And they say it’s good for the economy. Thanks to our New Heroes! Along with their families’ improved conditions, needs also increase. With this, they are more likely to pour in more dollars.

But what about inflation and the rising prices of fuel? What about our own export industry?

Imagine if it were at P56 to a dollar rate. Juan’s $500 remittance is equivalent to P28,000. His wife in the Philippines spends it for Junior’s and his siblings’ tuition, food, house maintenance, etc… Then the peso rose to P42.85. To be able to cover the same expenses, Juan needs to remit $653.54 or an increase of 31%. But it’s actually not enough. We all know of the rising prices, inflation, and all the other problems the government tried to downplay.

Now for the exporter, he earns lesser compared to what he earns before. The prices of these export goods are controlled by the market, hence, the exporter doesn’t really have a say on the price. With the increasing costs, margins become thinner and may even be totally eliminated forcing some to close shop.

But what did the government do? Are there any safety nets for who are badly affected by this rise of our currency? Perhaps now, our best exports are our people. Call it brain-drain or whatever. It seems that nobody cares anymore. We have plenty of RNs yet hospitals lack nurses. We have plenty of CPAs yet there seems to be a shortage.

Who among my PwC buddies remained here? Sadly, only a few of us are left here. Almost all of my wife’s classmates in nursing already left the country and found greener pasture abroad. Who’s gonna prevent us from seeking employment outside the country? The government even encourages it. And, yeah, we need more dollars to survive in this country.

Just a Political Newbie

When you don’t have the money, it is better not to run in any elective post, unless, of course, you run unopposed.

It was Tuesday morning already when I got to contact Dad regarding the outcome of the election. He told me that his opponents bought votes for P150 and some kilos of rice. “Even you let a dog run for them, they’ll surely win because of the money” he downheartedly told me. “But life will go on as usual, my son. Probably the people are not ready yet” he added.

“Yeah, maybe next time” I replied. “Do you plan to file a protest?”

“Nope. It would be a waste of time.”

A lot of things swirled in my head. We have not really prepared for this. We left it up to Dad to decide on the last minute. We could have sent people in advance to do charitable deeds like feeding the malnourished kids, giving bundles of joys, distributing used books or maybe conduct some livelihood seminars. We could have also sponsored a basketball tournament, or a benefit dance, which I’m sure, would lure more people. But we didn’t.

Maybe next time, when I have enough money, I’d volunteer as his campaign strategist. It would surely be a fierce match.

Entry Into the Dirt

Today is the last day of campaigning for the SK and baranggay elections. News about filling up the wrong forms were feasted upon by the columnists. It’s funny how an incumbent baranggay captain who is still on his second term, filled up the form for councilors. He will forever regret his blunder. Imagine him as the captain signing the wrong form. Outrageous! Now, he’s busy campaigning for the lower post.

On the other hand, I just wish all the best for my dad who is running for the top post in a baranggay in a town south from where I live. It is an entry into the dirt. He is a neophyte in this sort of politics but it is his desire to help that prompts him to run. We have plenty of relatives in the place, but so are the opponents. There is almost always a connection either by affinity or consanguinity. And sometimes, people give up their votes for simple happiness like money or a tuba drink.

How qualified is he? He used to be a PTA president (6 consecutive years) of our elementary school. Two school buildings and the gym were constructed during his term. He was awarded thrice as the most outstanding employee in the large company he worked for 22 years. He was involved in various cooperatives and livelihood projects. I can really attest to his heart for public service.

With a minimal budget, as against his opponents who sought assistance from the town’s politicos, he is determined to wage his battle. He is up against the son of the incumbent captain, who also happens to be the wife of the former mayor. I will not dare dissuade a man who has a good purpose. If I was only there, I’m sure I will campaign for him. If I only have plenty of money, I may even buy votes for him. Now I'll just have to pray for victory. I'm just kidding about the vote-buying though.

May the best man wins! But moreso, may it be won honorably!

Money, Money, Money

I wasn’t really paying attention to the late night news. I just heard it was about bribery or something. In fact, this morning, the headlines were about the cash congressmen and governors received from the palace. It was only this afternoon that I got to fully read what it was all about. I usually read the sports section first.

Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio, in this report, shows the bundle of money. P500,000 in total. He claimed that another governor handed it to his staff. He declared he accepted the money in good faith and will use the same to fund projects for his province. If he’ll find out that it’s a bribe, he will return it. The others, I believe, are too afraid to come out in the open. The palace denied doling out funds.

One of our cebuano congressmen admitted last week, then retracted, that he received P200,000. He said that he was only joking during the first interview. Now, he’s in the hot seat.

Is it a gift or a bribe? Bribe for what? GMA won’t run next election. But she will do her best to complete her term. The impeachment complaint is a distraction and her cohorts have to kill it asap. Is it safe to say that it’s a gift? An advance Christmas gift? From whom? There are supposed to be rules in proper disbursement of funds.

With a questionable source of money, what would you expect of the disbursements? I just hope they’ll follow Gov. Panlilio’s action: account for those gifts, and account for the expenses.

Winners and Losers

I promise. This will be my last post regarding this election.

I would like to congratulate a friend for winning (still unofficial but he’s leading by a comfortable margin) the vice-mayoralty race in this city where I presently reside. When I was still a freshman in high school and he a senior, I knew the guy would enter politics. It is in his blood.

The first time I heard of his name, I said to my classmates, “He’s a future politician”. Later on in college, he was very active in campus politics. Then he passed the bar and went on to run for a seat in the city council. Now on his last term as councilor, the administration party picked him to run as vice-mayor.

So far, his track record is excellent. I want to see him succeed, be the next mayor, rule for 3 terms, move up to congress, and perhaps become a governor.

Too bad I was registered in another city. That could have been another vote for him. But I was able to persuade my wife to vote for him.

--** -- ** --

I got this text message from a friend.

HEADLINES:
Pichay Pinulot sa Kangkungan
Sotto Nabulaga
Chavit Sumabit
Pacquiao Knocked out
Oreta Naboomtaratarat
Montano na Outshine
Goma na Flat


--** -- ** --

I did not only vote but volunteered in the quick count as well. I took these pictures at 12 midnight the other day. The young volunteers were still very enthusiastic in encoding the election returns. Encode, chika, text, coffee, encode. I'm not sure if they cared about who won or who lost.

I’ll be back there tonight and check how my 12 senate bets are doing.

Election and Mothers' Day

Election is over. I voted for my 6-5-1. Nine of them are inside the magic twelve of most unofficial tallies. I was searching for Tol Defensor’s name. I think he deserves to be in the senate.

I voted for our incumbent Mayor’s opponent, just like I did for the last two elections. He is leading and I am not complaining. I’m sure he’ll win again. So why did I vote for his opponent when Mr. Mayor is doing very well (but not according to his critics)? I hate to answer that.

** -- **

May 13 is Mothers’ Day. I sent an SMS message to my Dad as he was out-of-town with my mom. Dad sent his reply, “Mama needs your voice”. I laughed at myself. I was expecting that reply. I did try to call them but they’re out of reach. Only the text message went through. So I tried and tried again until I contacted them. Happy Mothers’ Day Mama!

May 13 is also the birthday of my late grandmother. I am sure she is very happy in Jesus’ side right now.

5-6-1

I read in the news the other day about 6-5-1. It's the headline in some tabloids in Metro Manila. No, this is not a number for masiao, that numbers game very popular with my neighbors. 6-5-1 is the choice of the highly influential Iglesia ni Kristo. Six from the TU, 5 from GO and 1 independent. That is already equivalent to 2 million votes given their bloc-vote.

It’s 8-4 for the Federation of Evangelical Bishops International. I wonder why they did not choose Pangilinan. But I think majority of its 4 million members will not base their votes on any endorsement.

El Shaddai endorsed 5-5-2. Bro. Mike will not directly name them. They 'll invite 20 candidates on a rally expected to be attended by some 300 thousand. He'll just wave his hand or wiggle when the candidate's name is called out. His members will then know his choice.

Mine is 5-6-1. And that includes the action star Cesar Montano, and the highly-explosive Lt. Trillanes. Don’t ask me why I included these two in my list. This is not an endorsement either. You may or may not vote for them. I am only a single vote. But I am hopeful that they will deliver.

p.s. I'm sorry to the madam I shook hands yesterday. She was introduced as the wife of a senator seeking reelection. I'm not including her husband in my list. But there's a big chance he'll win anyway.

Taxes

"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes."
- Benjamin Franklin

Who among you here loves seeing the withholding tax portion of your payslips? You might say, I could have bought something else with this. Or perhaps feel proud that you gave something to the government. Or maybe your mind is freaking out at the thought that a big chunk of it will go to the pocket of the corrupt government officials.

In early 1996, when I was still a newbie in the audit profession, I was assigned to do inventory-taking in the Tacloban branch of a large pharmaceutical company. On that same day, the warehouseman received his withholding tax certificate.

“I can’t believe the amount of the tax I paid!” he exclaimed, watching the piece of paper.

I took a peek but he willingly showed it to me. “The tax you paid is bigger than the amount of my salary for the whole year!” I told him.

He laughed. “You’re still young. You’ll earn more than I do now.” Then we totally forgot about the tax thing.

What is tax? By definition, it is a charge levied upon groups, businesses, persons or things by a government. It could be a direct tax or an indirect tax. The funds generated from taxes are used to run our government, promote stable economic growth, and lessen inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth. Taxes are supposed to be used in a good way. We may have seen road improvements with banners saying, “This is where your taxes go”. But don’t expect the same message to be bannered in a politician’s mansion.

We live taxed. We die taxed. Your vices are costly because of the sin taxes. Imported goods are heavily taxed. The beggars on the streets are taxed (indirectly). They are also supposed to pay tax on the proceeds from begging (how cruel!). Thieves are supposed to be taxed. Income from legal and illegal (who dares declare?) sources is taxable, unless there is a law exempting a specific income source.

If you don’t want to be taxed, go live in caves and in the mountains. Good thing we’re not yet taxed for blogging. By the way, this Monday (April 16) is the deadline for filing returns and paying taxes. I know accountants are very busy right now.

From The Province

There was this temporary feeling of relief and liberation after I posted something in Cebuano. But somehow, I felt guilty. Plenty of my blog friends could not understand what I was writing. Lost in translation, as Sexy Mom puts it.

I remembered when I was in college my sister had this visitor from Manila. She was staying overnight at our house and we had this lively conversation about many topics.

We called her Ate, as she was 6-8 years older than me, and that’s how the young people at a youth camp called her also. In the middle of our conversation she suddenly asked me, “Ba’t ang galing mong mag tagalog?”

Toink! I was shocked. Right then and there I could no longer find my line. Somewhere across the table my sister was laughing. “Natanga si Manoy.” Ate laughed also.

I told her that we have Filipino subjects at school and we also watch tagalog movies. Cebuanos find it difficult to speak tagalog probably because of the soft tone. Medyo matigas ang dila ng mga cebuano.

Or it could be due to attitude. There is this regionalistic pride. Most of my classmates then hated Filipino subjects. I just don’t know exactly the reason why. Even us cebuanos don’t know much about our own dialect. There are many shortcuts and slang, and the grammar is unstructured. It is really easier to learn tagalog than learn any other dialect.

When I was already working, I had this colleague before na nainis sa speaker who introduced us as from the province. “Why can’t he just say that we’re from Cebu Office or Davao Office?”, she complained. But I kept mum on it. We Filipinos still have that regionalistic attitude. Most of the time, that attitude is a hindrance to our growth as a nation.

When you say that a person is a Bisaya, or Illongo, or Kapampangan, or Tausug, or Waray, or Bicolano, what comes to mind is not really the dialect, but the traits associated to the region they belong. But I just want to see the day when we think of ourselves as Filipinos and as one nation. And the politicians, would not just think of representing their regions or provinces, but uphold nationalism.

The Senate Race

Though I planned to write entries about love this month, I am tempted to write about politics this time. Do I know anything about politics? I honestly don’t know enough about it, just like the rest of the majority. Though at UP High School, our teachers were making political statements here and there. We are also made to relate the two Rizal novels to the present political condition. We all had our heyday relating Spanish rule to the American colonialism. When I was in college, I also joined the party where the student activists were affiliated. I also joined in some EDs. Ok, enough for the shallow introduction.

The list of the administration’s and the united opposition’s line-up is almost in every newspaper today. It’s funny how the wind’s direction changes every election time.

Here is the Administration’s slate:
Michael Defensor
Tess Aquino-Oreta
Vicente Sotto III
Ralph Recto
Joker Arroyo
Edgardo Angara
Miguel Zubiri
Prospero Pichay
Luis Singson
Vicente Magsaysay
Carlos Petilla
Sultan Kiram

If you look closely at the list, you can obviously find the turncoats. What could be their reasons? You could probably hear them say, “We’re putting aside our political differences for our country to move on.” Well, we’ve hear it many many times, and we have not really moved on. And the voters have not learned their lessons.

So what about the opposition?
Loren Legarda
Panfilo Lacson
Francis Escudero
Alan Peter Cayetano
Benigno Aquino
Aquilino Pimentel III
Sonia Roco
Nikki Coseteng
Antonio Trillanes IV
Manuel Villar
Francisco Pangilinan
John Osmeña

What are they opposing to? But hey, this is the Philippines. If they can’t get the administration’s invitation, they run to the opposition. When the administration is stable, most would run shelter in its wings.

I am neither for administration nor for the opposition. I won’t even care about their platforms, if they have any. And here’s my partial 6:
1. Joker Arroyo
2. Edgardo Angara
3. Francis Pangilinan
4. Manuel Villar
5. Michael Defensor
6. Benigno Aquino

I am also inclined to vote for the aspiring young guns. I will choose my next six simply based on gut feel. I’ll wait and see. I hope for credible leaders to run this country.