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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Figure this out
By Antonio C. Abaya Written Sept. 24, 2007 For the Standard Today, September 25 issue See if you can figure this out. On Tuesday, Sept. 18, Joey de Venecia exploded his time bomb about ZTE Corp. and the national broadband network (NBN) project, in a testimony before the Senate committees investigating it. On Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 12:23 in the afternoon, I emailed my article - in reaction to this testimony - entitled A-B-Z-T-E-F-G, to the Manila Standard Today, for publication the next day, Sept. 20 At 6:14 pm on the same date, the Op-Ed editor, Adelle Tulagan, sent me an email: �mr. abaya. fyi. u are mentioned in the intelligence report. we�re running this story. adelle.� She attached the story which read in part as follows: �In the intelligence report that reached the Palace yesterday, de Venecia was reportedly backed up by at least two opposition senators � Panfilo Lacson And Jinggoy Estrada � for his expose. �De Venecia had former opposition senator Sergio Osmena as go-between and was also allegedly talking to newspaper columnist Antonio Abaya to help him destroy the credibility of ZTE which won the contract over his own company, Amsterdam Holdings�.� As I was out of my house when the email reached my computer, Adelle called me later that evening to inform me of the email, which she read together with the attachment. I told Adelle that I completely deny my involvement in the expose, that I have never met Joey de Venecia, even once, in my entire life, that I was not even aware of his existence until I saw him on television the previous day giving his testimony before the Senate committees. I asked Adelle for the contact number of the Malacanang beat reporter, Joyce Panares, who had filed that story. I talked to her on the phone, and she narrated how someone in Malacanang � she declined to name him or her � had divulged the �intelligence report� to her and several other reporters. I asked Joyce at what time this �intelligence report� was passed on to her and several other reporters in Malacanang. She said: �About 1:30 pm.� So, between 12:23 pm when I emailed the article to Manila Standard Today, and 1:30 pm, or a little over an hour later, someone in Malacanang had concocted this story about how Joey de Venecia � whom I had never met in my entire life - had been talking to me to destroy the credibility of the ZTE Corp. This is all the more surprising since this article �A-B-Z-T-E-F-G � did not see print until the next day, Sept. 20. And it was not sent electronically to my distribution list until 8:51 pm of Sept. 19. So the only copy of that article that the Malacanang source could have possibly seen was the copy that was sent by email to Manila Standard Today. Either someone in the newspaper office forwarded it to Malacanang, which I doubt, or �intelligence agents� wire-tapped the cable lines of my computer, which is more likely. (I first became aware of my computer being wire-tapped in July 2005, but that�s another story for another day.) Manila Standard Today ran the story the next day, Sept. 20, with the disclaimer: �Abaya denied the allegations and said he did not know De Venecia III?.� When I sent the article to my distribution list, I added the pre-script: �I completely deny this stupid lie. I have never met Joey de Venecia in my entire life. I was not even aware of his existence until I saw him on television yesterday, Sept. 18, when he testified in a Senate inquiry. (This) article is the first and only article I have ever written about Joey and/or ZTE. Malacanang�s �intelligence source� badly needs a lobotomy.� But this was not the end of the story, as far as I�m concerned. Sen. Jamby Madrigal questioned Joey de Venecia and read the front page story in the Manila Standard Today. I have yet to be given the chance to clear my name in the Senate. In addition, the traffic through my computer has been severely curtailed. I have been distributing my article to my email distribution list since 2002. Usually, after I send out an article, there would be an immediate response, within seconds, of 20 to 30 emails that have bounced back for various reasons: user unknown, account disabled, file too large, over quota, connection refused, etc. This time, there was absolutely no immediate response. Usually, within 24 hours after I send out an article, there would be 120-150 emails in my inbox, including junk mail, spam, get-rich-quick schemes from Africa, notification of my winning lotteries in Europe , other columnists� articles, articles from the international media, personal emails, plus ten to 20 reactions to the article sent. This time, there were only 19 emails in my inbox during the 24-hour period after I sent out A-B-Z-T-E-F-G, and only two were in reaction to it. What�s going on? I surveyed a select sampling of my e-list, asking them if they received this article. More than 50 have confirmed that they did, only two said they did not. Of those who received it, a significant number said they sent reactions to it, but their reactions bounced back to them. What�s going on? See if you can figure it out, and let me know. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org, and in acabaya.blogspot.com. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Figure This Out� On Bouncing Emails More Reactions to �The God of Silence� The Malaysian Miracle Dear Tony, I believe you have been hacked or wire tapped. Malacanang is doing all kinds "pre-emptions" and it has all kinds of resources to do all sort of electronic spying an anyone it chooses. To hell with individual privacy... that's how the constitution and the Bill of Rights had been perverted for the longest time now... Victor A. Sanoy, (by email) Toronto , Ont. , Canada , Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. The powers that be were not able to wrest the speakership from the incumbent JDV so, this could be another means of doing it. Jojo Vicencio, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, Your system may have been hacked! I did send reactions to your articles and they bounced back. You may ask some security experts to have your system evaluated. Ingat po, Grace Santos, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, I did receive your interesting article A-B-Z-T-E-F-G last week while I was in Chile . However, when I tried to reply to your question about if I had received the email, that one bounced back. So perhaps there is really something going-on�. To be honest, a bit scary, in many ways�. BR Simo Hoikka, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony --- I tried to send you something, too, and this is what I got (bounce notice) Boo (Chanco), (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww My email was bounced again using your old address. So I used your new one. Let's see if it goes thru. Oscar Apostol, (by email), Roseville , CA , Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Kuya Tony, I was about to ask you what is happening to the rejections of the responses on your column but you got ahead of me on this. Now, it is clear you are a target because of your quest for the truth. Remember Socrates and Jesus Christ? The two were also bent on the quest for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I guess this is because of your hard-hitting quest for the truth and so also are the great majority of our people who understand! More power to you, Mang Tony. We the people who understand.. Len Passion, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Yes, I received your AB ZTE FG article and replied through your zpdee.net account. However that email was not received by your mailbox for the reason that it was already full! You must really have a lot of mail for your mailbox to be full, in less than a day after asking your readers to confirm having received your article. I must assume that this is what happened, hence the following unsolicited suggestion if you want to prevent email from your readers being returned due to an overflowing mailbox: If you are not doing so right now, you have to use a mail browser such as 'Outlook' from Microsoft in order to automatically download your mail for as long as you are connected to the net and your browser is open. In your browser settings, be sure to select the option which erases the copy of the downloaded mail from your mail server in order that your quota for email is not breached. Send me a note if you need any assistance here. Have a nice day! Tet Gambito, (by email), Cebu City , Sept. 21, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I TRIED TO FORWARD AN EMAIL TO YOU ABOUT Maya Angelou, and this following message came with the refusal to send it to you: The mail system <[email protected]>: permission denied. Command output: maildrop: maildir over quota. Dani Aguila, (by email), Nashville Tennessee , Sept. 24, 2007 Editorial Cartoonist since 1975 for Filipino Reporter NY Weekly. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, I am positive you must already have figured out that ZTE hardware and expertise are not needed to monitor you and your correspondents. The country already has the hardware and expertise to do this. Aren't we in dangerous times? Shouldn't we be more circumspect and watch each other? Someone might stick a knife at us if we don't watch out. Am I being paranoid? Ric de Leon, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 PS: I have not gotten some of your pieces and my reactions to your pieces have been bouncing back. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi! You're already using gmail. In order to avoid wiretapping of your line, use your gmail to send articles securely. http://paetechie.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-secure-gmail-switch-to-https.html Encourage your trusted contacts to also use secure gmail or enable encryption. Another suspect is that your computer might be bugged :( Your zpdee account transmits your email in the clear Tito Basa, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, You're under surveillance. Change ISP. Some thickheaded folks at number 5 V Luna (NIC) and NTC under the direction of people close to FG are monitoring some people, e.g. like yourself. Ibn Khaldun, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww That was really mysterious and hard to figure out. Just curious, sir, could it have been your conversation with former Senator Serge Osmena (I never talked to Serge Osmena. ACA) that triggered the use of your name in the Malacanang sourced article? I have no malicious inference to the former senator but in analyzing the events, his name was linked to yours in the article that appeared on the front page of the Standard. Also, Sen. Jamby Madrigal mentioned your name and tried to make something out of it in the Senate hearing the other day. Aside from those manifestations I have mentioned, at this moment, I have absolutely no idea how your name was linked to that mysterious article. Perhaps, you are right, sir - maybe they are the workings of those "intelligence" people who have been hacking your emails. They could have read your unreleased article on the ZTE project and tried to preempt its effect on your readers. Your fan, Gerry V. Eusebio, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: Your should be honored that you are wiretapped. It's a sure sign that you're not betraying the Filipino's trust when you're included in bitch G's list for call monitoring. What is sad, however, is that those monitoring may not understand what you're writing. I think that the average IQ of the ISAFP minions who do the monitoring isn't very high. If you continue to work for bitch G, you can't be very bright - although I concede that you can become very rich. Even sadder, bitch G can't even bother to read what you're writing. She's too busy trying to figure out how to cover up what you write and/or threaten you into silence. Again, congratulations on being tapped! Tito Osias, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya: Please check your mailbox space from your provider. Your mailbox may have been filled-up already, which may cause other emails to bounce back to senders. Please check also from zpdee.net (your email address domain) if all your incoming and outgoing emails had been configured to forward each copy to someone (like an email address in Malacanan). Your servers in Manila are probably operated from free Linux operating system, with free email servers that could be easily hacked by somebody anywhere around the world (or simply in Manila ). Forwarding command (to multiple email addresses) is just one of the features you may not know had been done on you by an email administrator of zpdee.net (or by a hacker unknown to the email administrator of zpdee.net). It's just another feature like how you addressed your group of recipients for this group as [email protected] , which looks as one single address, but actually intended to hundreds of individual email addresses. I could also presume that one of the members of this group is an insider from Malacanan or any other entity who's watching on you or this group. Then, his email address has an automatic forwarding feature. So that when you send an article to this email address, it also forwards automatically the same article to the "spy's" other email adress or addresses only known to him. Jess Guim, (by email), New York City , Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I tried sending you an email too last week but it came back. I like reading your articles before I start my day in the office. Edgardo Dacpano, (by email), Dallas , Texas , Sept. 24, 2007 3-Tiered Core Specialist Professional Dev't. Dept. - DallasISD "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." --Charles Darwin, English naturalist wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Mobilize your e-mail group and let's flood their computers. Don't get mad , get even. Ray Eced, (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, My replies to your article are bouncing back to me, undeliverable. I just want to let you know. Thanks, Mario L Samoy, (by email), San Diego , CA , Sept. 24, 2007 Gene Therapy Operation - Genzyme Corporation wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I am one of those who regularly read your articles and your readers' reactions. I get a lot of education from it and I hope that you will continue the good work. I am almost sure that your computer cable is being wire-tapped and this should worry each one of us, citizens of a free democratic government. If the government is able to and actually does "listen" to private communications, what happens to our freedom of speech and our right to privacy? Government's practice of wire-tapping could serve as a form of intimidation or even suppression of the freedom of speech. People would be inhibited to express their unhappiness with the government for fear of being branded "terrorists" as an alibi for breaking in to people's privacy. I realize that a similar issue - the "Patriotic Act" is being questioned and debated in America as part of the fight against terrorism. But you certainly do not fall under the definition of a terrorist. This is another reason why I am not in favor of China installing the Broadband network of our country. China is stil a communist country and someday it will perhaps become in conflict with America and the rest of the democratic world. I would rather have America install this technology in our country because of our ideological, historical, commercial, social and cultural ties and mutual interests with that country. We should support America 's stability and progress because many of us are getting social security pension and other benefits from America which could stop with the fall of America . We are grateful for that country for allowing many of us to work and merge with them. Bart Saucelo, MD, (by email), South Bend , Indiana . Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya: I first made a "REPLY TO ALL" from my yahoo mail address on this "Figure this out" article. But the supposed 2 mailboxes (your personal address, and the group's address) that should receive the response, were bounced back to me. That's how I sent my response to your gmail address, which I found at the bottom of your article. Filter out from this group's email addresses who might have link to Malacanan or any group that might be spying on you. Just as I've told you in my previous email, it's easy to forward automatically similar email from an existing email to another email. Meaning, if you have a member who's email address could automatically forward your article to another email address (Malacanan, for example), then, that's the main reason why your article that's supposed to come out in national newspapers the following day is already in the hands of a Malacanan guy or Pinoy "Big Brother." You said in your email that the article you send to the group is emailed earlier to us, before it comes out of the daily newspaper. (The article ABZTEFG was sent to the newspaper at 12:23 pm, and sent to those in our distribution list starting at 8:41 pm of the same day. ACA). Then, it is safe to conclude that the source of the info or article that goes to Malacanan is an email address from within the group. Maybe, you have a member in the list that is a Malacanan insider. In my Global Online Filipino Yahoo Group, for example, there is one senator that is a member, but he clearly stated his name and his link to his own web site. So, I clearly know that one of my members for this group that I am moderating is a Senator. Also, with my other Filipino Yahoo Group, Serbisyo Filipino, a member is from the Philippine Consulate of New York City. I, therefore, clearly know also know that this member is from the Philippine government. So, please check out the profiles of the members of your group. (How can I possibly profile 2,700 persons in my distribution list? ACA) From there, you could probably find the member who's forwarding your articles to Malacanan. Jess Guim, (by email), New York City , Sept.24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Definitely, your account has been hacked! This is my third attempt to reply to your message to confirm receipt of the AB ZTE FG article. The �hijack� of your article is possible. However, the fact that the article was not published as expected points to the bigger possibility of the paper itself or someone inside with access to your emailed article delaying it. Please check the latest article of Jarius Bondoc on another �businessman� linked to ZTE and a �fishy port� project. Perhaps it can offer you further clue into this mysterious behavior of your emails and of course your paper. (I am reminded of your message announcing your resignation that was not accepted.). Tet Gambito, (by email), Cebu City , Sept. 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, I read your column, and there is only one safe conclusion that I can proffer to you. You are under close scrutiny, by who else but those who are severely disadvantaged by the scandal of ZTE. The administration that the paper where you write supports is just too blatant. The only problem is that until now, they have not realised that their pr scheme and tactics don�t sell anymore. In local parlance, bumenta na, hindi na mabili. Style nila, bulok talaga. Well, I still hope that truth will eventually come out. Kawawa naman ang Pilipinas at mga Pilipino, ginagago ng mga nasa poder. My heart bleeds every time I read what is going on in the Philippines . Kaso, there won�t be any solution, except if Gloria and her stinking allies come out clean. Likewise, if she and her cohorts could please stop saying �let�s move on� as it is so nauseating already. What they should do is move out! All the best. Regards, Myrna Contrearas, (by email), New Zealand , Sept. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Re your "Figure This Out". The problem with GMA is she has so many Marcos boys in her administration. Remember that what is involved is ZTE, a big computer company. So what to expect? Thanks again and more power. Bert Celera, (by email), Sept. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya: The Ring was not destroyed. Sauron still lives. He possessed a female body and is now the monster in residence in Malaca�ang. This time, Sauron is deadlier because s/he has several Sarumans at his/her beck and call. To top it all, s/he has an equally vile spouse. (To be fair, the spouse can sing ABZTEFG and we are entertained.) I figured this out in five seconds after reading your column. I miss Frodo and Gandalf already. Cheryl L. Daytec, (by email), Sept. 25, 2007 (Good for you. Unfortunately I am not a Lord of the Rings fan, so I have only a vague idea of what you�re talking about. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi comrade, "Lahat na lang ng paraan ginagawa ng mga corrupt politicians" Every time there are anomalies arose just to hide their wrongdoings and also there's a lot of diversion tactics to mislead the latest hot issues. I heard war in mindanao is one of their diversion tactics (based on the testimonies of some policemen and lower rank military personnel there in mindanao). Can we have still great hope for change for this country? Our government should run after these corrupt politicians in order to erase the speculation of "Middle-class justice system's moro-moro in Erap's trial" We cannot blame some Filipinos to migrate... Thanks, Ceasar O. Lim, (by email), PEZA, Rosario , Cavite , Sept. 25, 2007 Product Development Engineer Ju-Young Electronics Phils. Inc. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww On Bouncing Emails etc Tony, Yes, zpdee.net emails to you bounce back to the sender. Let's hope your gmail does better. Thanks for including me in your email list. Love reading your articles! Rico Rojas, (by email), Sept. 22, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: When I received the mailer rejection notice I somehow felt concerned. Next thing I got was a notice requesting confirmation of receipt of your latest email. I don't really know what the cause of the fiasco, but safe to say I am glad I received this Saturday morning the latest comments on your past and present articles. If you recall at one time I asked if you were planning to visit California , Sacramento or Roseville specifically. And your comment was this, "The last time you visited was with your national republican card carrying relative who acted as your host." I somehow concluded that you have no plans in the near future and that you are not fond of republicans per se. (or was this a rhetorical jest)? (I am not fond of neo-cons, no matter what party they belong to. ACA) I happened to be one and a conservative at that. While things are not going all too well in the US due to the war in Iraq and the extreme left wing ideologues such as the MoveOn.org heavily financed by billionaire George Soros who are in a collision course with our nation's fight with the jihadist-terrorists Islam. Many Americans do not believe there is a war going on simply because it is in Iraq . On denial that Iran is not an enemy (killed many American soldiers) by sending bombs and ammunitions to cause ethnic unrest and killings among the Iraqis; by supporting Hezbolah and by declaring to annihilate Israel from the face of the earth. Callous and heavy threats I'd say. And the president of Iran is now in the US and wants to visit ground zero. The audacity and arrogance of this man. Columbia University has also invited him to speak there. This is free America . Do you think Iran would allow an American, any American who has openly criticized Iran and would be invited to speak to the young Iranians at a University there? I don't think so. I doubt it seriously. This is the difference. Good to talk to you always. Oscar Apostol, (by email), Roseville, CA, Sept. 21, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Please confirm. I sent this several times, but it kept on bouncing. I hope your email is now ok. WE have a mission to continue. God bless. - Ed Good evening! Yes Tony, I got your article on the new alphabet! When I got the text version I also mentioned that �AB� stands for Abalos. But now some people are trying to make it �ABaya�. Ha ha ha! (jok onli!) By the way, I watched the senate vaudeville from start (2:30 pm) to finish (9:00pm). Your ex-future President Lady Miriam gave some really very intriguing info about the two UP guys who made a commentary/study about Broadband and who financed them! Am awaiting your comments. Cheers! Ed Tirona, (by email), BF Homes, Paranaque City , Sept. 20, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, My replies to you have bounced since last month. I thought perhaps you did not like my type of replies - for whatever reasons. I was wrong and I apologize. Some people who disagree with your call-it-as-it-is commentary may be hacking into your email and distribution system and sabotaging it. It could get worse unless you ferret them out and disable them completely. Your email and distribution system is your lifeline. Protect and insulate it from barbarians. Lionel Tierra, (by email), Sacramento , CA , Sept. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ...I do not get your articles anymore, except when forwarded to me by others... Steven Rood, (by email), Sept. 25, 2007 Director, Asia Foundation wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, You do have a problem with your [email protected] email address. My confirmation email that I received the ABZ-ZTE-FG returned as undeliverable. Ruelle Castanos, (by email), Sept. 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Crossing my fingers, eyes, hands, legs, toes that this goes thru - as you will note from the header of the email below, I sent it Monday evening but it immediately bounced. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Antonio B. Elica�o Date: Sep 24, 2007 7:03 PM Subject: Re: Figure This Out To: Antonio Abaya <[email protected]> We don't need the legendary Sherlock Holmes or from a more current genre - Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum or Frederick Forsythe, to figure this non-puzzler out - something is rotten and has been rotten for quite some time, and we know it is not in the state of Denmark. Warm regards. Tony Elica�o, (by email), Sept. 27, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �The God of Silence� (Sept. 11, 2007) Hi Tony, Below are my comments to some friends who forwarded your article to me. I pray that your email will no longer experience exceeding space quota and reactions of your readers bouncing back to them. Cheers. Ricardo de Leon, (by email), Sept. 23, 2007. Ricardo de Manila "The one thing that all of the true saints had in common is that they did not know they were saints." Paulus of Denver "Ordination does not mean canonization." Rector of St. Thomas Seminary, Denver My dear Paul of Denver, In one of the panels of the attached pps, Mother Teresa quotes Mathew 25:35. Had to look it up since I am not a Bible-reading man. What struck me was verse 27. �The chosen ones were surprised to be called to share in the kingdom. Why me, they asked?� They did what they did because of their shared humanity; of their shared woundedness.. They didn't even recognize Christ in others, in the unwashed. Scriptures do not say these chosen ones were Christians or Catholics. A friend, a Catholic monk once told me it is the mystic/monk who seeks to experience God while a priest is one who seeks to know (study and later teach) about God. At a Bangkok interfaith (Christian and non-Christian) conference, the monks of different faiths had no problem understanding one another. The priests (of different faiths) couldn't understand one another. Was it Carl Jung who said that religion is a defense against the experience of God . . . because the "mystery has been reduced to a set of concepts and ideas, and emphasizing these can short-circuit the transcendent? God cannot be reduced to an image or a set of concepts or a definition. He is ineffable. A defined God is a dead God. Cheers!!! Ricardo de Manila, Sept. 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reference your �God of Silence� article and the received replies. The countries that are less religious have a longer life expectancy, for example Norway, Sweden, Denmark, all of which have a lower infant mortality rate, less crime, where welfare, is provided by the government through taxation, without any reference to God, Jesus or the Mother of perpetual help. In contrast the Philippines , if your readers� letters are to be taken seriously, believe that prayers work. Examples, the church�s call for a change in the weather recently to relieve a drought in Luzon, (which apparently were answered with a typhoon leading to several deaths and much destruction, ) the seeking for the answers to matters of state as exemplified by Gloria and Cory who constantly, if they are to be believed, ask for divine intervention and guidance on a regular basis, with no apparent success. There is no evidence that any divine power has any influence on the Philippine climate, the health and well being of its population, or the crime and corruption rate. By all means, Filipinos should, if they so desire, continue their genuflections, crossing themselves, using magic water, magic incense and go through all the other rituals but, might I suggest that at the same time they organize themselves into a group who are prepared to do good for goodness sake, without the bribe of heaven or the threat of eternal torture in hell. Perhaps then the good people of the Philippines , by these means, might catch up with the rest of the advanced industrial countries. Just a thought, Doug Adam, (by email), Sept. 23, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I wrote and you replied: �The question Tony, is, will you go to heaven when you die? If you have any doubts about going to heaven, then you have a problem. All the things you have done on earth would be meaningless. (That�s an arrogant supposition on your part, which I resent. ACA).� Hector Tarrazona, (by email), Sept. 12, 2007 Dear Tony, I am very sorry if I offended you. I wrote that out of concern for a friend. (Even my best friends do not presume to tell me how to live my spiritual life. ACA) Let me tell you an experience just a little over two years ago. I became a close friend of rich man. When I asked him how much he was worth, he told me about P5 billion. Yes, P5 billion. Then I asked him, what would you do with your money when you die? You cannot take your money with you. He could not answer right away. Then he later said, he would leave it to his sons.I did not know that a few months later he got sick because he did not respond to my text messages. He did not want to be visited. Before he was brought to the hospital, he started searching for God. He went to Union Church of Manila where he enjoyed the music and the sermons. When he died in February 2006, his four sons and their mother, his first wife, quarreled over his money. It was a pitiful sight, a bitterly divided family. I could not understand how the sons hated their mother. Only God knows where he went. But I am glad he searched for his God, his Creator before he died. (So? Are you telling me or warning me that I should follow his example? ACA) Catholics and Protestants alike believe in God, in life after death, in the existence of a soul, in heaven and hell. And now there is that converging phenomenon among Christians. They talk about their common beliefs instead of debating or fighting over their doctrinal differences. My daughter was married in Santuario de San Antonio in 2002 with two priests and our pastor officiating the wedding. That was not possible before. (So? Whose fault was it that Catholics and Protestants hated each other to the point of killing each other by the millions? ACA) If I pose the same question below, it is because you are my friend. As Christians, the assurance of going to heaven brings meaning to our life. What we do is all for the honor and glory of our God. It is also a source of inspiration and strength when we are down and hopeless, of persistence to do the right thing all the time despite failures and injustices, of joy in sharing our life with others, of compassion to the poor and needy, etc. (Good for you. Now will you let other people alone? ACA) The message is, a few years of tempory life on earth will be rewarded with eternal happiness with God in heaven, or eternal suffering in hell. Power, wealth, prestige, recognition, acceptance, and to some people the need to be remembered do not matter to me anymore. Life is simply pleasing and serving God. I do not mean to preach. I simply want to share with you as a friend my belief and feeling. Take it or reject it. (But you ARE preaching, in a most obnoxious manner, and I reject it. ACA) More power and the best of health to you, Tony. Sincerly, Hector Tarrazona, ( by email), Sept. 23, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: In one of the reactions to your "The God of Silence," Roy Querol wrote: �I heard from someone that man made God. "He must have heard it from the philosopher Voltaire, who wrote: "If God did not exist, he would have had to be invented." Mariano Patalinjug, (by email), Yonkers , NY , Sept. 23, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Someone who responded to your article "God's Silence" stated that Catholics believe in salvation through good works while Evangelical Protestants believe in faith alone will give one his salvation. I would like to add that Catholics believe that we can have salvation by both faith and good works and not by either one alone. According to St. James, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, faith without deeds is dead. This makes more sense because even demons believe in God. How could a criminal or theft go to heaven even if he has faith? Bart Saucelo, MD, (by email), South Bend , Indiana , Sept. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The Malaysian Miracle Tony --- I thought you might find this article interesting. When I first visited Kuala Lumpur in 1969 with others students from UP, it could have been Davao or Cagayan de Oro. I visited it now and then over the next 20 years and the progress was just amazing. According to this article, they invested in education and technology, encouraged a high savings rate, etc. and didn't follow the IMF. Interesting. Boo (Chanco), (by email), Sept. 24, 2007 The Malaysian Miracle By Joseph E. Stiglitz, former chief economist, World Bank August 31 marked the 50th anniversary of Malaysia 's Merdeka: independence after more than 400 years of colonialism. Malaysia's peaceful, non-violent struggle may not have received the attention that Mahatma Gandhi's did in India, but what Malaysia has accomplished since then is impressive � and has much to teach the world, both about economics, and about how to construct a vibrant multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society. The numbers themselves say a lot. At independence, Malaysia was one of the poorest countries in the world. Though reliable data are hard to come by, its GDP (in purchasing power parity terms) was comparable to that of Haiti , Honduras , and Egypt , and some 5% below that of Ghana . Today, Malaysia 's income is 7.8 times that of Ghana , more than five times that of Honduras , and more than 2.5 times that of Egypt . In the global growth league tables, Malaysia is in the top tier, along with China , Taiwan , South Korea , and Thailand . Moreover, the benefits of the growth have been shared. Hard-core poverty is set to be eliminated by 2010, with the overall poverty rate falling to 2.8%. Malaysia has succeeded in markedly reducing the income divides that separated various ethnic groups, not by bringing the top down, but by bringing the bottom up. Part of the country's success in reducing poverty reflects strong job creation. While unemployment is a problem in most of the world, Malaysia has been importing labor. In the 50 years since independence, 7.24 million jobs have been created, an increase of 261%, which would be equivalent to the creation of 105 million jobs in the United States . There were many reasons not to have expected Malaysia to be a success. Just as Malaysia was gaining its independence, the Nobel Prize winning economist Gunnar Myrdal wrote an influential book called Asian Drama , in which he predicted a bleak future for the region. Malaysia is rich in natural resources. But, with few exceptions, such countries are afflicted with the so-called "natural resource curse": countries with an abundance of resources not only do not do as well as expected, but actually do worse than countries without such benefits. While natural resource wealth should make it easier to create a more equalitarian society, countries with more resources, on average, are marked by greater inequality. Moreover, Malaysia 's multiracial, multi-cultural society made it more vulnerable to civil strife, which has occurred in many other resource-rich countries, as one group tried to seize the wealth for itself. In many cases, minorities work hard to garner the fruits of this wealth for themselves, at the expense of the majority � Bolivia , one of the many rich countries with poor people, comes to mind. At independence, Malaysia also faced a Communist insurgency. The "hearts and minds" of those in the countryside had to be won, and that meant bringing economic benefits and minimizing "collateral" damage to innocent civilians � an important lesson for the Bush administration in Iraq, if it would only listen to someone outside its closed circle. And Malaysia had a third strike against it: for all the talk of the "white man's burden," the European powers did little to improve living standards in the countries they ruled. The dramatic decline in India 's share of global GDP under Britain 's rule, as Britain passed trade laws designed to benefit its textile producers at the expense of those in its colony, is the most visible example. The colonial powers' divide-and-rule tactics enabled small populations in Europe to rule large numbers outside of Europe , pillaging natural resources while investing little in the physical, human capital, and social capital necessary for an economically successful, democratic self-governing society. It has taken many of the former colonies decades to overcome this legacy. How, then, does an economist account for Malaysia 's success? Economically, Malaysia learned from its neighbors. Too many of the ex-colonies, rejecting their colonial heritage, turned to Russia and communism. Malaysia wisely took an alternative course, looking instead to the highly successful countries of East Asia . It invested in education and technology, pushed a high savings rate, enacted a strong and effective affirmative action program, and adopted sound macroeconomic policies. Malaysia also recognized that success required an active role for government. It eschewed ideology, following or rejecting outsiders' advice on a pragmatic basis. Most tellingly, during the financial crisis of 1997, it did not adopt IMF policies � and as a result had the shortest and shallowest downturn of any of the afflicted countries. When it re-emerged, it was not burdened with debt and bankrupt firms like so many of its neighbors. This success was, of course, not only a matter of economics: had Malaysia followed the policies recommended by the IMF, it would have torn apart the social fabric created over the preceding four decades. Malaysia's success thus should be studied both by those looking for economic prosperity and those seeking to understand how our world can live together, not just with toleration, but also with respect, sharing their common humanity and working together to achieve common goals. Project Syndicate www.project-syndicate.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |