10 Thought-Provoking #Noynoyparin Tweets

I just opened my Twitter account and was shocked with the number 1 Philippine trend: #Noynoyparin. The yellow zombies went out of their hiding suddenly praising their most “beloved” president.

Many admit PNoy’s failure but one of them doesn’t consider him a failure.

I guess his shortcomings during Yolanda, Mamasapano clash, Pork Barrel scam are not enough. Maybe we need a worse tragedy for Noynoy to be a failure.

Another one believes that the Macabees erred in rebelling against their evil leaders:

Some have inside info on PNoy’s political plans…

…and are very eager to vote him again:

Others are seeing things:

Well, I think she’s correct. I’ve seen things too that was not done by previous presidents like coddling with terrorists and sending policemen to their deaths.

Our #Noynoyparin is the number 1 trend. Your argument is invalid:

I am not sure if some people support PNoy or just being sarcastic:

Riding the political bandwagon is wrong. So, yeah, let’s not ride the bandwagon of personal interests of Abad, Drilon, Roxas, right? Right?

Many are finding it hard to find any person who will equal PNOY…

Well, we’re finding it hard too. PNoy’s lackluster performance and numerous blunders are very difficult to replicate.

 And yes, hindi kumukurasp si PNoy, nakanganga lang.

Do you want more of these excellent tweets? Just go to #Noynoyparin in Twitter.
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The Man Who Hates Valentine’s Day the Most

In year 269, there was a man in the Roman Empire who kept on preaching about Jesus even it is forbidden by the emperor.  That man was eventually caught and then beheaded because he didn’t renounce the Faith.

(Cartoon by Jason Bach)

That man is no other than Saint Valentinus, was a bishop of Terni in Italy. St. Valentine’s life was dedicated to the real Love. He preached about it and even died for it. The Love that he preached is very different from the mushy-romantic-lust-tainted kind of “love” that is celebrated every February 14.

This is the reason that I believe that St. Valentinus will be the very first person who will surely hate the commercialized version of the feast dedicated to him. I bet that he hates it whenever he sees unmarried men and women use his feast day as an excuse to give in to lust.

And yeah, St. Val is so displeased.
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5 Media Shattering Quotes from Pope Francis

The local media had been drumming up on Pope Francis months before his apostolic visit to our country. Media heads told us that the pope once had a girlfriend, that he dances tango, and that he said the top adage of modern men: "Who am I to judge?". I even heard Boy Abunda claim that the Pope is supportive of the LGBT community and same-sex union.

The media tells us that Pope Francis is down-to-earth and a revolutionary, which (they say) the very "opposite" of his predecessor. Pope Francis, the fluffiest pope ever, will "update" the Church's teachings on contraception and marriage.

Well, the local media is wrong. Pope Francis is a Catholic pope and these 5 quotes that he made during his apostolic visit in the Philippines shatter the false image that they made for him.

1. Every Child is a Gift

This can be read as a rebuke to some groups that are pushing for the legalization of abortion in the Philippines. These people treat children as burden and they want them killed in the womb. These pro-abortion folks would rather want poor children die than instead of removing corruption and social inequality.

2. From Conception to Natural Death

The world is so perverted now that some nations have euthanasia. People with twisted minds not only want babies to be aborted but also want people to kill themselves.

3. The Family is Threatened

The Reproductive Health Law (RH Law) promotes the lack to openness to life that Pope Francis warned about. Now, the Filipino family is now being threatened by the redefinition of marriage through legalization of divorce and same-sex unions. The local media is at the front line in promoting these threats to the family and they even made us believe that the Pope is supportive of these. Well, this quote from the Pope proved them wrong.

4. Sexuality, Marriage, and Family are Under Attack

The push for the RH Law gave us the glimpse of the powerful forces that the Pope spoke about. They are powerful because they have the money, political powers, and worldly influence. Yes, they are people and organizations but their intent of promoting evil teachings points us to a more powerful person: Satan. There's no other being that is so motivated to destroy the family and humanity other than the Father of Lies.

5. Advice to Families

So how can Filipinos defend the family? Pope Francis' answer: "say 'no' to all attempts of ideological colonization".

Ideological colonization are ideologies that bring men away from the truth, thus imprisoning them in lies of that destroys the family and humanity. 

Pope Francis made a deep mark to the hearts of the Filipino people during his 4-day apostolic visit to our country.  Pinoys watched his every move and listened to every words her said. I can only hope that we truly listened to his messages and apply them to our lives and society. Finally, I hope that the local media stop in making the pope fit their worldly agenda. Pope Francis is Catholic and he will not deviate from Jesus' teachings regarding the family and sanctity of human life.

(Source: When In Manila)

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Some of the images in this post were obtained from Twitter #RepealRHLaw. Credit goes to those who made these posters.

What's Wrong with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge?

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First of all, I want to say that pouring a bucket of ice cold water over your body is not wrong (unless you have pulmonary illness). There is also nothing wrong with taking video of you being drench with ice cold water. These two activities are harmless (well again, unless you have pulmonary disease).

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was initiated by the ALS Association and caused a worldwide sensation. Even local celebrities, like Kris Aquino, and government officials accepted the challenge. The challenge already generated about $94.3 million since August 27.¹ The collected funds will be used to fund research for cures against ALS.

ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which is a “progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord”.² This means that ALS causes motor neurons to degenerate and die. Motor neurons are nerve cells that links the brain and muscles to initiate voluntary movements.  The mass degeneration of neurons makes the patients with ALS to become paralyzed at the later stages of the disease.

Unfortunately, the ALS Association supports researches that use of embryonic stem cells. This means that the money collected during the ice bucket challenge will be used to those kinds of research.

I read in LifeNews that the stem cells were collected from the spinal cord of an aborted eight-week old fetus.

In short, ALS Association is OK with abortion for the sake of getting a cure. Supporting abortion, which is murder of yet-to-be-born human beings, is a grave crime. And the use of their dead body is also an immoral act against that murdered person.

ALS Association’s support to the use of embryonic stem cells prompted Catholic dioceses in USA to not support the ice bucket challenge. The CBCP president also sounded the alarms about this issue, which is the right thing for them to do.

The conviction of the people to help ALS victims is a good thing. The Church actually encourages all of us to help the sick, including those who have ALS. Remember that our Lord Jesus healed the sick and the Church follows His example.

There’s nothing wrong in raising awareness or to donating for the ALS cure. What’s wrong is ALS Association blatant disregard to human life. What’s wrong with the ice bucket challenge is that people joined the hype without doing a background check on the people who created this event. What’s wrong is these people may have unwittingly gave money that will be used to murder helpless human beings for the sake advancing scientific knowledge.

The end doesn’t justify the means.
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A Plea for My Christian Brothers and Sisters in Iraq

It is saddening to think that thousands of Christians are suffering in Iraq at this very moment. I read in the news and blogs that Muslim extremist members of ISIS are doing terrible things to non-Muslim people.

ISIS militants drove away many Christians from their homes. Those who were captured were given the options of converting to Islam, pay the infidel tax, or die. According to Mark Arabo, a Chaldean-American leader, “children are being beheaded, mothers are being raped and killed, and fathers are being hung.”

Christians are not the only ones who were suffering. The Yazidis, an ethnic group whose religion were influeneced by Zoroastrianism, Islam, and Christianity, were trapped on a mountain. They don’t have food and water and they don’t want to descend because the ISIS militants will kill them. There were even reports of Yazidis throwing their children from the mountain because they don’t want them to suffer in the hands of the terrorists.

The image below shows a screengrab of Yazidi children who died of hunger and thirst on the Sinjar Mountain.

(Source: CNS News)

I was angered by these terrible news. How can this people do such demonic things?

I wanted to do something. I wanted to help these people but they’re just too far away.

So in the end, all I can do is to approach God and pray to Him for the sake of my brothers and sisters in faith.

If you had read this post, I ask you...NO...I beg you, please pray for them.

Manila, the Unloved

Let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing -- say Pimlico. If we think what is really best for Pimlico we shall find the thread of thought leads to the throne or the mystic and the arbitrary. It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico: in that case he will merely cut his throat or move to Chelsea. Nor, certainly, is it enough for a man to approve of Pimlico: for then it will remain Pimlico, which would be awful. The only way out of it seems to be for somebody to love Pimlico: to love it with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason. If there arose a man who loved Pimlico, then Pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles; Pimlico would attire herself as a woman does when she is loved. For decoration is not given to hide horrible things: but to decorate things already adorable.

- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

As a visitor in Thailand, one remarkable thing that I noticed in the capital City of Bangkok is its cleanliness. I'm not saying that Bangkok is squeaky clean but this city is cleaner than my  nation's capital City of Manila.

Bangkok and Manila are relatively similar. Both cities have a big river passing through their centers. Bangkok have pick-ups converted into public utility vehicles while Manila have jeepneys. Bangkok have the tuktuk while Manila have the kuliglig. I can mention plenty of similarities between these cities but what doesn't match is the the way their citizens deal with trash.

I never saw any heap of garbage during my short visits in Bangkok. I passed through their main highway, I checked less luxurious parts of the city, I rode trains at several train stations but there was no garbage heap. In Manila, these disgusting heaps are everywhere. On the highway, near the church, beside the LRT stations, and in front of the palengkes (markets). Plastic bags, cartons, diapers, dog poop, human poop, and many more litter the sidewalks.

The government should be blamed for misnamagement but the much greater blame should be with the residents (and the people who go to Manila to work, study, and shop) because they don't love their city.

A man in-love gives the most precious stones and the most beautiful roses that he can afford to his beloved. His goal is to please her and make her a better, more beautiful person.

The same is true with Manila. If Manileños really love their city, then they will do their best to make their place truly beautiful.

Hatred of Spanish Heritage is Manila's Demise

We are taught to look at the three-century Spanish rule of the Philippines as the Dark Age. We are told, not only by historians but by the media, that our ancestors we're all slaves by the Spaniards. That all friars are harsh and they rape pious women.

Never mind the fact that it is the Spaniards who unified the warring tribes of the archipelago and brought stability. That these colonists gave us the laws, justice system, medical knowledge, engineering expertise, and many more things that improved the lives of many people. That missionaries defended the natives from pirates but also from the evil people of the colonial government.

The continued tirade against our Spanish past affects our identity as Filipinos. We cannot love our identity, and our nation, because we hate a part of ourselves. This lack of love translates on the way we treat the heritage we received our ancestors. It is not surprising, then, that Filipinos simply don't care about Manila or any other towns in the country.

As our Lord said, the truth shall set us free. Let us then face the truth and from there we can learn how to love good part of our identity, and improving the bad parts. Hopefully, from there Manila will rise as the queen that she really is.

Happy 443rd Year Manila, my Manila.

A Lesson from Jayme Jalandoni

(Source: PhilNews.ph)

It seems that Christianity and Philippine showbiz are incompatible with each other. The former uphold the dignity of women while the latter is more concerned about money and fame to the point that women are peddled like commodity.

The recent controversy in ABS-CBN’s show Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) illustrates this fact. In this show, the contestant Jayme Jalandoni was dared to pose nude for a painting in exchange for their weekly budget.

Jayme, a devout Christian from a conservative family, was torn with this challenge since it goes against her faith. She cried (a lot) while trying to explain why she didn’t want to do the challenge. Kuya tried to convince her by showing testimonials from models of nude paintings. Her firm decision only came when her father told her to say “no” to the challenge.

There are plenty of lessons that can be gleaned from the controversy. One is about the dignity of women. Another lesson is about the morality (or the lack of it) in the Philippine showbiz. But one aspect that I found interesting is how a contestant’s faith played (or was played at) during the controversy.

Jayme is admirable for publicly professing her Christian faith but it is a risky move since she is in a show known for its shallowness and gimmicks for the sake of ratings. It should be obvious to her, especially before she entered the house, that the show’s director will shake her faith for the sake of ratings.

Jayme’s religiosity is like a nail sticking out the woodwork and it is very tempting to hammer it down. And the hammer indeed came down and that is the nude painting challenge.

 This incident in the PBB house is a good lesson for those who publicly profess their Christian faith. Saying that you are a follower of our Lord is very easy but doing so gives you more responsibility in standing up for the faith. The Devil hates those who are very public in professing their faith. He will do his best to make you fall and spit out everything you said. Your fall will cause scandal and scandal will shake the faith of many.

Just look at the many “Christian” (specifically “Catholic Christians”) government officials, media personalities, and even priests and bishops who are not ashamed to say that they’re disciples of Jesus Christ but do the opposite of what He teaches. See how many people these public personalities brought to spiritual destruction. I will not be surprised if these “Christians” are the Devil’s favourite crowd.

The lesson from Jayme Jalandoni is this: if you are very public in professing your Christian faith then you have the responsibility to be more firm because the Enemy will come harder against you. Your fall means the fall of many but your victory means being the inspiration for many, and of course the victory of Christ.

Contraceptive Irony: When "Safe" Means "Unsafe"

We are now in the era where decadent things are not just tolerated but even promoted. Take, for example, the case of lying. In theory, lying is still wrong and some people may even be sent to prison because of this sin. However, in practice, lying is promoted, particularity, in the advertising world.

Do you want to increase your sales? Just tell the consumers partial truth or even the total untruth. Show them a burger that looks so yummy and big and then give them the total opposite. Promise them a fast Internet and then make them pay for a pathetic service (and yes I'm speaking from experience).

Manufacturers of modern contraceptive tools lead the way in lying to consumers. To reap multimillion profits, they promote plenty of lies, the worst of which are about the adverse effects of their products to women's health.

I found an empty box of Trust Pill in a trash bin in front of a Mercury Drug branch. As expected, the pill's information sheet was left in the box. What I read in that sheet of paper somewhat amusing, particularly this part:

Spot the contradiction.

It said that “oral contraceptive is the most researched product in the history of modern medicine, and its safety has long been established”. It then narrated the adverse effects of oral contraceptive pills to “some women”, such as headaches, gastric upsets, nausea, vomiting, impaired appetite, breast tenderness, slight changes in body weight, slight changes in libido, depressive moods, and impaired liver functions.

The contradiction is very obvious and that it revealed the manufacturer's great lie.

The mere fact that there are adverse effects makes Trust Pill, and other contraceptive pills, truly unsafe not only for women's health but also to their relationships. Depressive episodes caused by pills may cause a rift between the user of this pill and her husband. Slight change libido, which was not mentioned how slight, may prevent women to have satisfting sex (which was declared by Senator Pia Cayetano as a “right” of Filipinas).

Their defense, of course, is that these adverse effects are only experienced by “some women” only. The problem is that they didn't quantify it. “Some women” may range from two women to one million or more.

There are other precautions for Trust Pill like its contraindications for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and those who have liver disorders, clotting disorders, breast and cervical cancer, sickle-cell anemia, hormone active tumors, hyperlipidemia, severe cardiovascular diseases, previous or existing thromboembolic diseases, and idiopathic jaundice.

Another adverse effect that the Trust Pill manufacturer conveniently ignored is the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (IARC-WHO) considered contraceptive pills, particularly estrogen - progestogen, as Level 1 carcinogens.

According to the IARC monograph for their research on Combined Estrogen–Progestogen Contraceptives:

There is sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of combined estrogen–progestogen oral contraceptives. Combined estrogen–progestogen oral contraceptives cause cancer of the breast, in-situ and invasive cancer of the uterine cervix, and cancer of the liver.

Ethinyl Estradiol is considered as estrogen and Levonorgestrel as, which are the ingredients of Trust Pill, are considered as estrogen & progestin. (see these Wikipedia entries for Ethinyl Estradiol and Levonorgestrel for details) This means that this Trust Pill may cause cancer in the breast, uterine cervix and liver. Even ex-DOH Secretary Esperanza Cabral accidentally admitted in a radio interview that birth control pills cause breast cancer.

I agree that oral contraceptive pill is the most researched medical product. The glaring lie is the claim that this pill's “safety” was established.

Birth control pills are not safe. It is dangerous to women's health. Those who promote its government-funded distribution is bringing plenty of Filipinas in danger.

Yet another Word-twisting from Bishop-haters and Church-bashers

Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles is under attack due to his alleged comment that the destruction brought by Typhoon Yolanda was caused by the RH Law.

Admins and supporters of the One Million Voices Against CBCP Facebook Page (which should actually named as 3000+ little voices against CBCP) are spreading this poster:

Their poster claimed that Archbishop Arguelles said the following:

“Yung nangyayari sa atin, lindol, baha, super typhoon is God's message to people. It is the result of "ungodly" laws such as the Reproductive Health (RH) Law”

I almost believed their poster until I read the news article in ABS-CBNnews.com where they “copied” the quote. The quote in their poster is nowhere to be found in the news article! What they did is to string words in the news article and then present them as one quote.

I gave the poster-makers the benefit of the doubt and googled the made-up quote. This is the result:

It is obvious that they have no other source for their made-up quote. The Google search even exposed their lies.

I even posted my objective research to the  One Million Voices Against CBCP FB Page but this what I got:

It seems like these people are allergic to the truth, especially if the truth is against their hate-filled beliefs.

Well, at least I learned a lesson and that is to be more careful in dealing with Church-haters because they will lie and lie just to justify their hate.

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UPDATE: It seems like the admin of  One Million Voices Against CBCP FB Page blocked my comment. This is another proof that they are lying.

Girl Power #368: Standing Inside a Moving Bus

One wonderful gift that the modern feminists (a.k.a. Femi-nazis) gave to women is the power not be offered by men their seats inside a moving vehicle. Thanks to these feminists, women need not to deal with gentlemen and take the comfort of standing inside the very cramped and zigzagging bus for the whole duration of journey.

A feminist office mate once complained about the rarity of gentlemen in the Philippines. People, or men in particular, already forgot good manners like offering their seat to ladies and waiting for women to offer their hand before the handshake.

What my feminist office mate forgot to note is that the feminism that she trumpets about is the cause of her complaints. Most modern feminists declare that women can do whatever men can do. Some even say that women can do better than men.

It is not only women who have such feminist ideas imprinted on their brains. Men too have the same thoughts, which is the result of the relentless battering of feminism in our minds in the mainstream media. There was time when I told a girl friend not to wish for men to offer their seat for her because she is a strong woman thus she don't need the help of any man.

Men stopped being gentlemen not because their good manners are gone. The real reason is that real ladies, the natural partners of gentlemen, are gone. What we have are women who were told to become like men for the sake of equality.

And because of this “equality” men all over the Philippines (especially in the urban areas) let the women exercise the right to do whatever men can do. So thus we have ladies who are empowered to stand inside the speeding bus.

This is women empowerment and we thank the femi-nazis for this.

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This post was made for Filipinos for Life's October Blogging Event - Girl Power: Upholding the Dignity of Women, Shunning Feminism 

Sunday Reflections: If You Don't Believe in Moses and the Prophets then You Won't Believe in Jesus

Lazarus and the Rich Man by Gustave Dore.

Today's Gospel reading is about two kinds of people. One is an unnamed rich man. The other is the poor man named Lazarus who just filled himself with the scraps coming from the table of the rich man. Lazarus' condition is so bad that dogs come to lick the sores that cover his whole body. The two eventually died and Lazarus was taken to the “bosom of Abraham” and the other was taken to eternal torment.

Of the many things that can be gleaned from this parable, what caught my attention is these words of our Lord: “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”

The parable refers to Lazarus but it can also interpreted to refer to Jesus Christ, he who actually rose from the dead.

Our Church teaches that the Old Testament, which includes the law established by Moses and the writings of the Prophets, “is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 121). That we cannot do away with the “old scripture” because it is Divinely inspired.

In today's Gospel, it can be said that those who don't believe in the teachings found in the Old Testament will find it uneasy to believe in the teachings of the Resurrected One. “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”

Many people, nowadays, want to do away with the teachings found in the Old Testament. These people, in turn, separates Jesus Christ (who they incorrectly label as “very” forgiving, “very” tolerant, peace loving God) from the God in the Old Testament (who they erroneously believe always chastises and punishes people).

Today's Gospel reminds us that Jesus Christ said that he came not to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Let us then be reminded not to diminish the Old Testament nor throw it away. The Law and Prophets are indispensable parts of the Christ's teachings. For what God has taught in the age of the Patriarchs, or of Moses, or the Prophets is still true until today and for eternity.

Aquino and Cabinet Should Quit - Tatad

In connection to the issue of the Pork Barrel Scam that is still raging in our country, let me post the press release of former Senator Francisco Tatad regarding the dare of presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.

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Tatad VS Lacierda

I am extremely flattered by the special attention Malacanang continues to give me for exposing the reported luncheon meeting between President Aquino and Janet Lim Napoles on August 28, hours before she “surrendered” to the President. The presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda has promised to quit if I am able to name my sources and prove what they have revealed. I don’t believe he is offering enough: he should say Aquino himself would quit if Malacanang is unable to disprove my sources.

No threat, coercion, intimidation, cajoling or provocation will tempt me to betray my sources. If my sources decide to come out on their own and tell Mr. Lacierda what they have shared with me in the highest confidence, I will not stand in their way. But I will not ask them to make martyrs of themselves.

The tragedy here is that Mr. Lacierda has failed to deny the story with any demonstrable competence. He never denied that he accompanied Napoles to Malacanang at 10:30 am of August 28, and he never denied that she had lunch with Aquino and other Cabinet members inside the Music Room before he escorted her out at 4:30 pm, and back again at 9:27 pm when she formally “surrendered” to the President.

He tried to show that Aquino was not in Malacanang at 10 am, and at 1:30 pm. Respectively, which is beside the point. This was never in issue, and it does not contradict the story from my sources. Lacierda could have shown a film recording of the Music Room without anybody there from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, but that could not be done, and he did not do it. Instead he chose to call me names while my articles online have since ended being linked to a pornographic website.

Lacierda fails to grasp the fact that the issue has grown far beyond the unexplained and inexplicable reported secret lunch. That is now but one small detail of a much bigger picture that has since emerged.

Given Aquino’s state-guest treatment of Napoles when she “surrendered” and his acting as her chief security officer when she was transferred to Camp Crame, and the recent revelations of her having acted as conduit for the massive transfer of “pork barrel” funds to induce members of Congress to impeach and remove then Chief Justice Renato Corona, and to railroad the widely-opposed anti-Catholic Reproductive Health bill in 2012—which has been partly confirmed by Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.--- the real issue now is what is the actual relationship between Napoles and Aquino and some members of his Cabinet, Lacierda himself included?

Malacanang’s inability to disprove the web of evidence showing a deep and hitherto hidden relationship between Aquino and Napoles calls for something much bigger than the resignation of Malacanang’s mouthpiece. It calls for the resignation of the President and his entire Cabinet, to say the least.

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Image sources:

Francisco Tatad's picture came from his blog, First Things First. Edwin Lacierda's picture came from Philippine Daily Inquirer's website.

Questions for the Brokenhearted

(Image drawn by Fayeuh)

I did not expect that an anime will affect me deeply. It is like a light wind that made the dust in the eerie parts of my mind float. Now I have a hard time thinking of other things until all the little specks are settled.

It was said that if you are to love someone then you should love that person with everything that you've got: all of your strength, all of your heart, and all of  your soul. You are to love your most special someone as you love yourself. It is all or nothing when it comes to love.

But what if your 100% love was ignored or rejected. What will the feeling be? How much pain can it possibly create in the heart of the person who loves?

Is there a person who can still love despite the rejection and the pain? Does he only exist in fiction?

I pondered. I wondered. But the questions rolled and rolled around my head. I asked where are the answers and then I remembered the cross and the man hanging there.

Dressing Them Up into Little Women

There is something that many Filipinos consider to be cute but which I find disconcerting. That something may be summarized by this:

(Source: Safety Web)

It seems like more and more parents are dressing their little girls with grown-up clothes. I've seen little girls dressed in spaghetti straps, or in mini-skirts, or in small shirts that show their belly button. I've even seen some little girls wearing make-up!

Making little girls wear the Sex Bomb outfits is not inherently evil but it shows how their parents think. It shows how modern mothers and fathers value the innocence of their children.

I believe that children should act like children as long as their age allows it. Being a little child is a one time event and it can never be regained once its gone. Thus, it is the duty of parents to protect their children's innocence and keep them away from influences that can poison their minds.

It is hard to keep children away from the poisons of the modern world. The corruption wrought by Sexual Revolution was already ingrained in our society. Thus we have the showbusiness that cheapens love into sexual affairs. Thus we have advertisers who use sexual innuendos to sell products. And on and on and on.

Modesty is the first thing that was thrown away at the onset of Sexual Revolution. The long skirts gave way to ultra-mini skirts. The neckline that is actually set on the neck is now plunging just above the breasts. Even some of the clothes today are made of see-through cloths.

Generation after generation of women were made to believe that wearing clothes that appeal to men's eyes are fashionable – ah yes, SEXy. Generation after generation of women were made to believe that it is good to be fantasized by men and many ladies placed their happines on being desired sexually by men.

The current generation of mothers and fathers already swallowed the corrupt fruits of Sexual Revolution. That's why it is not surprising that they are the first ones to dress their daughters as strippers.

This immodest fashion trend for children's clothing is just the tip of the iceberg. I can still recall my online “fistfight” on Facebook regarding a McDonalds ad that featured two little children in a courting scene. And yes, many people also find the ad very cute.

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This post is an entry for Filipinos for Life July 2013 Blogging Event.

 

Burn All the Chairs!

There is one thing that a kid throwing tantrums will not receive and that is praise. He may get the toys that he demands but he will not be praised by his parents. He may even receive a spanking for his misbehavior.

Apparently, some adults didn't outgrew their habit  of throwing tantrums. Some of them even mixed it with popular ideologies to make it appealing and, in the process, acceptable. I'm referring to the leftist activists who have the habit of throwing tantrums just to send their points across.

I was attacked on Facebook this week because I criticized the “burning of the chairs” done by student activists of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). The activists burned the chairs to protest the alleged “2,000% tuition fee hike”.

The person who attacked me argued that the burning of the chairs is justifiable because they are fighting for a lofty reason, and that is to keep PUP education accessible to the poor. In short, she argued that the “end justifies the means”. 

(Source: Library of Most Controversial File FB page)

My opponent also argued that they (the student activists) have the right to burn the chairs because “they are taxpayers too”.

My reply to her two arguments is “wrong and wrong”.

Burning chairs and destroying public property is wrong because they're owned by the Filipino people as a whole. Each Filipino, including the student activists, has a right for that chair because he paid for it by his taxes. The claim that the activists have the right to burn the chairs because they are taxpayers too is foolish because they trampled upon the right of other taxpayers who don't want the chairs to be destroyed. They unjustly gave themselves sole authority to decide on the fate of those chairs.

The student activists argued that the chairs were already dilapidated and unusable thus suitable for burning. This argument is still baloney. Ownership is not determined by the condition of the property. My shirt is still my shirt even if it is already faded and full of holes. Those chairs that were fed to the fire is still owned by the public even if they are rickety or missing a leg.

Fighting for an ideal doesn't give idealists the license to do everything they want. Our actions are limited by the boundaries set by rights of other people. In the case of public property, my right to use it is limited by the right of other people to use it. I can say that I own the chair (I'm a taxpayer too) but I'm not allowed to carry it home. In the similar sense, I can say that I own the chair but I'm not allowed to burn it. My right to the publicly-owned chair is limited because my actions (carrying it home and burning it) prevented other people to exercise their right to use that publicly-owned chair!

Claiming that the “burning of the chairs” benefited PUP students because it stopped the tuition hike is worrisome not because their claim is questionable (PUP president said that the activists were misinformed because there's no tuition increase for undergraduate courses) but because their act is like that of a kid throwing tantrums. Their “victory” will surely embolden them to use the similar act whenever they demand something. And just like a kid throwing tantrum, their  acts will go wilder and wilder if their elders don't give in to their demands. Perhaps they'll burn a building of PUP when the university admin stopped being threatened by the “burning of the chairs”.

Buhay o Patay?

“Sa buhay ka ba o sa patay?” - ito marahil ang mainit na tanong ngayong panahon ng eleksyon sa ating bansa. Salamat sa Archdiocese ng Bacolod at pumaibabaw muli ang isyu patungkol sa RH Law na pilit ibinabaon ng mga kandidatong pro-RH (pro-patay) na tumatakbo sa Senado at Kongreso. Dahil lang sa iisang tarp na ipinaskil sa katedral ay napapaisip ngayon ang mga tao kung sino ang Team Patay at kung sino ang Team Buhay.

Ang isyu ng RH Law ay parang zombie na nagbalik mula sa hukay. Akala ng mga pro-patay na mga kandidato ay tapos na ang isyu noong kanilang ipinilit ito noong nakaraang taon. Nagkamali sila.

Nakita ko ang paninidigan ng mga tao kontra sa RH Bill noong sumali ako sa prayer rally sa EDSA. Kahit umuulan ay hindi natinag ang mga tao. Kahit ilang oras nakatayo ay walang problema. Ang mahalaga ay maihayag sa mga pinuno ng gobyerno ang saloobin laban sa RH Bill.

(Source: CBCP for Life)

Naisip ko noong araw na iyon na ito ang mga taong na hindi na lang tatahimik kapag naipasa ang RH Bill. At sa tingin ko ay tama ako.

Ang mga taong sumusuporta para sa Team Buhay ay ang mga libo-libong tao na nagtyaga sa prayer rally, ang mga taong nakikipagbakbakan sa Facebook at Twitter, at ang mga simpleng tao na kumilos upang tutulan ang RH Bill sa kanilang paraan.

Hindi pa tapos ang laban ng RH Law at hindi pa kami sumusuko. Kaming mga Pilipinong na tapat pa sa Simbahan at mga pro-lifers na hindi kaanib ng Simbahan, kami ang tatapos sa mga Team Patay. Tuloy ang laban!

Oh ano? Sa buhay ka ba o sa patay?

Farewell Pope Benedict

I saw a flurry of Facebook posts from my Catholic friends that made me tremble the day Pope Benedict XVI announced his abdication.

Some of my friends said that they are crying. Other expressed their disbelief. I expected the worst and almost asked them, “is the Pope dead?”

He is very much alive but the news still struck me hard. Pope Benedict XVI decided to step down of the Petrine Office. He is leaving the Papacy and thus the Church is in to a turbulent times in her history.

Pope Benedict XVI is the pope on the day when I decided to be more serious in professing my Catholic Faith. I look up to him as the father of all Catholics. A steady guide in the reforming the institutions within the Church.

I cried yesterday night as I watched the last papal audience. Something stirred in me while I listen to Pope Benedict's speech. I just noticed that tears are welling up in my eyes.

Ah, Yes! I cried. I cried for this man who I never met personally. I cried for him because I love him.

It is his last day as pope and all I can say is this: “Farewell Pope Benedict. Thank you for everything that you did for the Church!”

All I can do now is to pray for him.

It is also the time to pray for the cardinals that they may elect the man chosen by God to become the next pope.