ANL Nov-Dec 2013
Issue
Special Editorial Issue
Please Pray For The
Philippines!
“Pray
before the fact…not after,” opines
“get real post” blogger “benign0”
on taking a swipe at Luis Antonio
Cardinal Tagle’s consoling homily in a
mass following the onslaught of typhoon Yolanda. Mr. “benign0” [name in lower case, zero @ end] admonishes
Cardinal Tagle in calling the horrible event an “…opportunity for God to listen to His
people…and the victims’ resilience, steadfast and deep-seated vow inspires the
world community and the universal Church…”
But for “benign0” here, he defines “prayer” in a more
philosophical dimension. He considers “prayer” as not a mere chant or uttering
a yearning tendered to one’s God. He considers “learning” as a form of prayer, e.g., learning ahead of the fact in order to anticipate and mitigate things to
come. [Read text of this timely blog at tail-end of this issue for everyone’s
reflection].
Meantime, Asingan NewsLine
joins the nation in praying for
this country of ours. Deliver us, oh,
Lord! from pestilence in the likes of Bohol’s 7.2 magnitude quake; Yolanda’s storm
surge; and the pestering stupidity and ineptness of a government ruled by power
tripping age-old political dynasties and kleptomaniacs!
And as we seek divine intervention for most of the country’s
problems, dear Lord, we realize that much of these “most[s]” are the dire consequences of man’s
indiscretions, of greed and narrow interest as opposed to the wellbeing of the
helpless many and deprived citizens of this banana republic. This we pray,
Father, not after the fact, but as a case we tender to Your “court of judgement”
that the evildoers shall perish with gluttony.
On the ground—unlike in heaven where souls were judged equally
by the Lord—prevails in our midst the proverbial “great divide” where corrupted
power rules in comfort while the destitute pushed further into the precipice. At
the height of the quarrel on the infamous “pork barrel” menu in the Aquino
regime’s cuisine, the long-disguised rice sufficiency posturing of government raised
hell of a panic when a rice shortage instead sets in even before killer storm “Yolanda” came surging ashore. Prices of the staple rose
up sharply and didn’t revert back fully to normal level until now.
Scam-tired and tax-robbed, quake-ravaged and storm-torn, the country
reels every now and then on the heel of weekly hikes in gas prices putting the
burden to commuters and small motor
vehicle owners, including ordinary housewives managing the home. Despoiling any
hope there is for the closing year, announcements were made on impending hikes in
both water and power rates, social security and philhealth premiums, as well as
a raise on fare at the Manila Railway Transit. Mall heists and bus accidents
were a disturbing trend as the year goes for a disquiet end. The country’s
helpless stance on our territorial dispute with a bullying China at West
Philippine Sea proves even more a pitiful economy with nary a teeth to confront
an expansionist enemy.
And no light is in sight at the end of the tunnel. More than
four years after its execution, the
heinous Maguindanao massacre that killed 58 people [mostly mediamen] is observed by legal luminaries as merely 20% gone
through court litigation. The August 2010 infamous Luneta hostage taking has
not been settled until now with the Honkong government whose eight tourist-citizens
died in the shabbily-handled incident. The Zamboanga siege by Moro rebels this
year that killed more than 200 people, wounded hundreds more and imperilled
business by the billions in a month-long standstill will most likely go down
the gutter as another casualty in our double-faced justice system.
The culture of impunity hereabout scares the wit not only of
political activists involuntarily silenced, e.g., killed outright or
mysteriously disappeared, but same true with mediamen killed one after another
while on search for truth or simply espousing vital issues and advocacies. The
New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists ranks the Philippines as third-worst in its “Impunity Index” of
countries that fail to combat violence against the press. For the period
Nov-Dec 2013 alone four attacks on press people were made with three killed
bringing to 75 the total of fatalities since 1992. For 2013, no less than eight
media people were murdered.
UNESCO head Director-General Irina Bokova condemns these media
killings, saying: “Media workers in the Philippines have been paying a heavy price
for exercising their right to free speech and in providing society with
independent news and reports,” she noted. “It was ‘very important’ that those
responsible for these murders be brought to trial,” she stressed. Sadly, hardly
anyone prosecuted and jailed for all these heinous killings.
And after four years and two months after the infamous
Maguindanao massacre where 37 press people were lined up and fired upon
together with 21 ordinary civilians, no one has yet been convicted. Despite
alleged recent moves to speed up trial, the case is seen to drag on for years
in the country’s overburdened court system.
Indeed, 2013 was far more discomforting than previous years as the
inexperienced, less statesman BS Aquino III and his corrupt leadership pushes
further a nation that has long been a laughing stock in these parts. eb-anl . nov-dec 2013
F E A T U R E
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GET REAL POST
We beg to differ.
December 2, 2013
by benign0
Recall
the monstrous earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Japan back in 2011
causing untold death and suffering there. The stoicism and quiet grace with
which the Japanese greeted the unimaginable destruction and loss of life,
mobilised its forces to assess and respond, and reached out to the global
community to receive assistance speaks volumes of the magnificence of Japanese
society. Japan’s prayers are different from our prayers. Being a predominantly
Shinto and Buddhist society, Japanese prayers generally express a profound
respect for nature and an acute mindfulness for one’s surroundings. Emphasis is
on a life led in harmony with nature and recognition that one is but a part in
a vast ecosystem.
In
contrast, Catholics see nature as subject to man, and man subject to the
“mysterious” whims of their wrathful and all-controlling God. As such, a
Catholic’s prayers put emphasis on their subjection to the will of God (to
explain adversity) and their being showered with his graces (to explain good
times). For Catholic Filipinos, prayer is surrender, while for the Japanese,
prayer is expressed as reverence for a system of which one is but a mere part.
A Catholic’s prayer is about deliverance from the physical world, while that of
the average Japanese is about embrace of the physical world.
After-the-fact
reflection is clearly evident in how the Roman Catholic Church is pitching its
case for relevance in the aftermath of the disaster wrought by Typhoon Yolanda
(Haiyan). Former Church media spokesman Monsignor Ramon Aguilos reportedly quoted Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio
Cardinal Tagle in a mass he officiated last week, thus:
“The
eyes of the world and the universal Church are on you, people of Tacloban and
Leyte. Instead of me consoling you, it’s you who are consoling me. Your
resilience, your steadfast, deep-seated vow inspire the world community and the
universal Church,” Tagle said in his homily, as quoted by Aguilos.
Tagle
also urged the faithful to not be afraid to ask God why they were suffering due
to Yolanda. He said that like a child, they had the right to ask this question
from their parent.
“This is an opportunity for God to
listen to His people,” Tagle said.We
should “not be afraid to ask God why [we] suffer[...]“; An “opportinity
for God to listen to His people”…
All
sounds nice and peachy, doesn’t it? That is, if you manage to suspend your
higher thinking faculties indefinitely. But try latching on to such words when
the proverbial brown stuff remains scattered all over the place since it hit
the proverbial fan a couple of weeks ago and doing so will feel more like
trying to hang on to a greasy pole. It’s all so nebulous. You can’t grasp it or
harvest any real meaning out of words like these. All you
really get is a temporary emotional fix. Try and apply these words to the real
work that needs to be done in the coming months? Well, good luck with
that. God listens, perhaps. But chances are, you will have to rely on a really
colourful imagination to work out what his answer is.
You
wonder how not just a handful of people but an entire global organisation can
get away with routinely issuing virtually meaningless words like these. On what
basis, exactly, does Tagle say with this sort of perception of certainty that
the plight of the people of Tacloban “inspire the world community”? What is the
precise nature of this “inspiration”? Which specific sectors in this “world
community” are being inspired? What exactly is the logical and tangible earthly relief
being offered here? Ask the right questions and you will get
shut down, unfortunately.
The
Church does not really promise much to the living. As far as religious “faith”
is concerned, the real party happens after you die. So no problemo,
man. All you get in the world of the living is a God who “listens”. Oh yeah,
and watches too.
Perhaps
what we need more of in the future is a different form of “prayer”. And here,
when I say “prayer”, I don’t mean the sorts of prayer we are encouraged to
chant to ourselves to give ourselves some sort of nebulous assurance that our
future is taken cared of by an omnipotent and omnipresent being. What we can do
better is pay attention to the abundance of real knowledge
that modern technology allows us unprecedented access to that we can learn from.
A start would be applying a more serious effort to studying the way that other
disaster-prone country anticipates adversity and copes with its aftermath when
it does visit — Japan.
Unlike
our prayers, which are generally uttered after the fact of a tragedy, the
Japanese people, in a manner of speaking, “pray” before the fact.
The vast and carefully thought-out measures they had put in place to anticipate
and mitigate the risk of a disaster such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, is
Japan’s “prayer” for its dead and suffering in the aftermath. Such a sort of
prayer, in my opinion, is far superior to the Catholic’s prayer. Being done
before the fact, it frees minds to focus on acting with clarity of purpose when
adversity strikes, rather than imprisoning minds with questions about and
surrender to a god’s “purpose” as the case would be for after the fact prayers.
And
that is what true resilience is and where real inspiration comes from — when
there are convincing results rather than unsubstantial hope,
and where there is clear evidence of self-reliance rather than protracted
neediness.
While
the loss of life in Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 monster earthquake is
staggering, it cannot be said to be one that resulted from any form of reckless
neglect. Because the Japanese had done all it can in life to respect the living
it has little need for prayers — only a focus on action and learning and the
tangible support coming from nations that are, themselves, possessing of
characters consistent with an ethic underpinned by respect for human dignity in
life.
N E W S L I N E
NOTA BENE. Watch out for at least a couple of explosive
Asingan news coming out in the next issue [Jan-Feb 2014] of Asingan NewsLine, titled: “Politics of Patronage; of Accommodation; of Convenience!” For a title, it sounds not a news but a
commentary, or a feature article. But no…two big spanking news under it!
Mandela with another icon
Comandante Fidel Castro of Cuba
MEANWHILE, Asingan NewsLine expressly manifests deep mourning at the passing away early November of Nelson “Madiba” Mandela, 95--a “dear comrade and great father to his people”; “prime leader in the fight against apartheid”; and “iconic leader of freedom and world democracy”.
The world shall surely miss your brand of
leadership: Fierce in your persistence and unwavering in the face of
persecution, hardship and even death. We’ll find solace at the thought that our “discriminated race” and the world’s
oppressed shall emulate your deeds and sacrifices and embolden them to seek
genuine freedom, justice and prosperity that you’ve fought for.
Bye for now, Madiba! Your journey is our
journey.
E D I T O R I A L B O
A R D
MEMBERS:
Rudy D. Antonio [Canada Correspondent]; Engr. Silver
Casilla & RN Merly Grospe-Mayo [U.S. Correspondents]; Ronilo R.
Corpuz [Vienna Correspondent]; Fely Dumaguing-Malgapo [Milan Correspondent]; Engr. Joe
L. Sevilla [Asingan Correspondent]; Col. Lalin Layos-Pascual; Ross C. Diaz; Engr. Lorie
dG. Estrada; CPA Rod A. Layco; Wena Agaton-Balino [Photo & Lay-out Artist]; Ruben “Bencio” Balino [ Editor-In-Chief].
