 |
 |
| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| GMA Forever? By Antonio C. Abaya Written March 28, 2006 For The Standard Today, March 30 issue In my article Prime Minister Gloria? (May 17, 2005), archived in www.tapatt.org, I wrote that �President Arroyo is laying the groundwork to run for prime minister, to stay in power beyond 2010.� I came to this conclusion after studying some documents related to her miniscule party KAMPI, which held what amounted to a party congress in February (2005). In that party pow-wow, party president then Rep., now DILG Secretary, Ronaldo Puno, exhorted his troops for the coming political battles. Puno was not modest about his goals �on how we can make KAMPI a truly dominant party after the 2007 (congressional) elections�.the objective should be the biggest political party in the political scenery. And to do this, if we quantify it, we have to have at least 120 congressmen�..� Puno claims that KAMPI already has 1,580 municipal mayors, or half the total number, as members. Having half the congressmen as well will truly make KAMPI �the dominant party after 2007.� I asked in May 2005: �The question is why would President Arroyo, halfway through her putative nine-year stay in Malacanang, plan at all to make her miniscule KAMPI party the �dominant party after 2007,� only three years before her constitutional non-extendable term as president expires in 2010?� And I answered my own question in May 2005: �There seems to be only one logical explanation: she plans to remain in power even after 2010, and she can do this legally only if the constitution were amended to allow a shift to the parliamentary system of government�.� Events in the past few months seem to bear out my analysis of this KAMPI game plan. Her potential rivals for either president or prime minister are being neutralized. Senate President Franklin Drilon has been emasculated by pulling the Liberal Party rug from under him. Vice-President Noli de Castro is likely considered a political lightweight who can easily be enticed to accept the ceremonial position of president in the new parliamentary order. Her actual or potential challengers in the Senate � Panfilo Lacson, Mar Roxas, Aquilino Pimentel, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Joker Arroyo � will be rendered mute and inutile when the programmed shift to a unicameral parliamentary system is brought to fruition in 2006 or 2007. They cannot even use the Senate to block this move. They will likely be sidestepped by the people�s initiative, which, by no coincidence, is masterminded by Ronnie Puno, president of KAMPI, whose expressed goal is to make KAMPI the biggest political party by 2007. KAMPI�s stranglehold on the local mayors and governors will be the decisive factor. Neither Lacson nor Roxas nor Pimentel nor Magsaysay nor J. Arroyo has the political network to mount an effective challenge in a unicameral parliament. Only Jose de Venecia�s Lakas NUCD (�the party of thieves,� according to Teddyboy Locsin), Danding Cojuangco�s Nationalist People�s Coalition (NPC), and the noisy front organizations of Joma Sison�s CPP can. But Danding has retired from politics and his NPC party members have been told to fend for themselves by ingratiating themselves into KAMPI. So will the �thieves� in Lakas NUCD. De Venecia can kiss goodbye his dreams of becoming this country�s first prime minister, just as he has abandoned his dreams of becoming one of its last presidents.. There would be nothing illegal or unconstitutional (unless specifically forbidden by the new order, which is highly unlikely) about Gloria Arroyo running for and winning a parliamentary seat in her district in Pampanga), and then being elected and re-elected prime minister, as long as her KAMPI party retains majority control of parliament. Under this system, Lee Kwan Yew was prime minister of Singapore for 30 years, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister of Malaysia for 22 years. By the same token, as I speculated in May 2005, �Prime Minster Gloria will be around for a very long time.� For all practical purposes, forever. So in the post-2007 parliamentary scene, the major contenders will likely be the trapos of KAMPI (its ranks swollen with the usual opportunistic turncoats from the NPC and the Lakas NUCD) and the front organizations of the communist movement. The middle class, as usual, will be the biggest losers since they have no sympathies for either the trapos or the communists. Unless they find someone or something to be believe in and rally behind, the middle class will abstain, as most of them now do, from joining anti-GMA protest actions, especially if economic and business conditions remain favorable to their interests. The Church will likely remain as divided as it is now, with the majority of the bishops opting for an ambiguous and benign cooperation with government, while a vocal minority sides with the front organizations of the communist movement. It is the military that will assume a more crucial role in the unfolding scenario. While the top brass, protective of their careers and retirement options, can be expected to �remain loyal to the constitution and the chain of command,� the same cannot be said of the middle echelon of majors and colonels and brigadiers, some of whom may still retain their sense of idealism. Assuming the Estrada problem is resolved soon � through conviction, pardon and/or self-exile � this sense of idealism will have a chance to assert itself without being corrupted and sullied by mercenary considerations, so that it will have the moral pressure of a pure and selfless sacrifice. But, as with the middle class, without that someone for a critical mass to rally behind, that pure and selfless sacrifice is not going to happen either. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| Reactions to �GMA Forever?� You know, Tony, we had one such fellow (aside from Marcos, of course). His name was Quezon. The Good Lord took him away. That�s why I believed in God for 5 seconds. RossTipon, [email protected] Baguio City, March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I do not think the middle class will stand for a GMA Forever scenario. (They suspect that her heart is not in the "right place" , problem is - they hate the opposition even more.) But they must be made aware that such a thing is in the works. Unfortunately, do you know that a lot of people do not read the news/opinion columns anymore because they want to avoid being angry or depressed? Grace Abella-Zata, [email protected] April 01, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You are a prophet. Ricky Carandang, [email protected] ABS-CBN, March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Ganun? I have no problems with parliamentary shift. As long as the Garci issue is answered. Kung hinde, magagalit kami nyan. Thanks for sending me, my friend. Mike Delgado, [email protected] March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww With due respect to your opinion, I think you�re spinning a yarn this time - out to frighten people who don�t like to go with the protests. You sound like Serge Osmena. I don�t believe that PGMA can do what you�re prophesying because for all our pretense of independence we are ever wary of what Uncle Sam says and of course, the United Nations. We always hear of the U.S. monitoring the political situati on in the country. They provided the exit for President Marcos and it was also in the papers they offered an exit for Estrada. Democracy in the Philippines is a heritage from the U.S. hence, they wouldn�t allow it to be ruined by a U.S. - educated Philippine president. If Gloria stays forever, I think lobbying at the US Congress would achieve more than all the political circus and mud-slinging in the country today. We may all be wasting our energy barking on the wrong tree. I have expressed my favorable comments for your columns before because they were not as manipulative as this one. Your readers are thinking beings, you know. Angie Diaz, [email protected] March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Who cares anyway if GMA will stay forever? As you've said, everyone is out to protect their interest. So long as their interest is promoted, the organized classes and sectors will continue to support the status quo. For a country and nation that has gone flip, probably a shrimp will do for the next decade. I think she has more weight in salt compared to tabako and the others dreaming to lead this country from destitution and poverty. Probably there is a need to really experience the pits for us Filipinos to put our acts together. A season of chaos, insanity and cleansing might be a necessary stage towards redemption. What a fitting role for a diminutive shiva of a shrimp to usher this. Long live (Mabuhay) anarchy for the meantime. Pag nahimasmasan na ang flip na Pinoy, we can again become lucid and purposive; a more strong, visionary, loving, merciful, patriotic, sensitive to others, respectful of the common good, with the basic good manners and right conduct generation of Filipinos will arise from this stage of insanity. The ignominious state we are in is probably a kind of collective karma for a nation with a myopic reading of history, with a pathetic concept of justice brought about by a very short memory of pains and hurts that we allow our obsessive/compulsive leaders to inflict on us, and plain row 4 mental IQ in a class of over-achieving nations. Like the mythical phoenix, a nation of flips can procreate a noble race of Filipinos that will be forgiving but who will not forget the shame, misery, despair of a self-inflicted insanity Felix Zamar, [email protected] March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) Fil: my 'tocayo' Abaya is soooo right. And frankly, it is the fate of the Philippines to have GMA forever. And, I also believe that GMA will do well and better ! than any of these non viable " korakotessssess-pretendientes". I say Mabuhay - GMA! Tony Oposa , [email protected] March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya: The People's Initiative must include the following to "constitutionalize" the ouster of GMA and ALL TRAPOS who have, collectively since 04 July 1946, destroyed this nation and to afford other Filipinos "equal access to opportunities for public service." (Sec. 26, Art. II) ONE TERM/NO RE-ELECTION/NO DYNASTY AMENDMENT 01. No person who has served in any local or national position shall be qualified for election to the same or any other elective office at any time after the ratification of this amendment. 02. This prohibition shall apply to the immediate relatives of the person concerned. Approval of this amendment means that we let TRAPOS serve until the end of their terms (until 2007 or 2010); after that, let us begin--without them--the RENEWAL. I always look forward to reading your articles. Domingo Arong, [email protected] March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Just a minor point, Tony. There are no brigadiers in the Philippine Army, which is patterned after the U.S. Army. But you will find brigadiers in the Brit and commonwealth armies. Mariano Javier, [email protected] March 31, 2006 MY REPLY. Thank you for the correction. But we have brigadier generals, which are really of about the same rank as British brigadiers. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww In 2002, I had the impression that GMA stood for Great Moments Ahead. Now, I lamentably believe that what it now stands for is meant for me and that is Gago Masyado Ako for trusting her. Bombing Moll, [email protected] March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) Tsar Torres: Seriously, the level of intelligence of the Citizens of our Archipelago is such that it measures up to that of the first world countries now, after a century of free education, as well as secular paid-for diploma mill type education, both by the public and private schools within the purvue of the Department of Education/Public Instruction/Education and Culture, from the beginnings of American Territorial government after the ceding of Spain to the United States, through American Civilian Governor General rule and the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the 3rd Republic of the Philippines and its renewals as the 4th and 5th republic, each of the last two having their new versions of a Constitution. As a refresher to you, ex-UP Pub Ad Professor Tsar, the 4th was done under the Marcosian Regime, and the 5th began after the Marcosian Regime was disposed of, due to the generally peaceful uprising in February of 1986, and of course, the intervention of Ronald Reagan of the United States, sending an emissary to the Ilocano President to make it hasty to leave Mal-AkinYan, providing for the helicopters and C-5 Airforce cargo planes, from Clark to Guam/Hawaii. At that time, the whole world was watching and applauded what happened. Now, with a campaign of signatures by supposedly 12% of a voting population to approve a move to have a charter change congress again towards a parliamentary form of governace, a 6th Republic is being dreamt by the current occupant of Mal-AkinYan, with a Little Woman who believes she has the genes of Princess Urduja mixed with Pampangan and Ilocana genes, and classmate of an American President, UP Alumna, and like you, an ex-Professora of a leading secular woman's college at Loyola Heights. Trouble is, the campaign is being conducted by public officials (who may not be constitutionally empowered to be electioneering) who chose those of the citizenry with the least education and understanding of what governments are all about or run, either by corrupting them with payments of cold cash (in PhP of course) and by coercing, as reported here in the Pearl City of Manila (Buhayin ang MayniLA) that certain signatories where were talipapa sellers along a main street of a City Barangay were threatened with eviction, if they do not sign the cha-cha campaign papers (As I am writing this, I was listening to Ms. Ann Bernardino of the DWWW AM Station here in Manila. She was explaining the intricacies of the proposed Charter Change to her listeners. Quite interesting. I suggest that you invite her to join Filam-Forum.) There are peaceful ways of change, like say the JARVIS Initiative of California which succeeded, Arnold Scharzenegger's initiative on public funds of last year which did not make it, and public plebecites and referendums. We must not forget that once Citizens of our Archipelago were given a title "Little Brown Brothers" of the Western Pacific of the American Republic of North America. It may have been demeaning, but no other than Carlos P. Romulo, of Camiling, Tarlac, acknowledged being one - and was President of the United Nations. The "Little Brown Brothers" are now welcome in most of the first world countries, notably Asia, Europe, North America, and the Muslim countries of the Middle East, needing their caring hands, their brawn, their intellect, their contributions to local economy, and even their supple and willing women, firstly because of their fluidity and understanding of the world language, English. And, back to the original train of thought, that the level of intelligence of our peoples, through the means of communications, massive or otherwise, are such that they no longer can be lead, like carabaos, by so called "Traditional Politicians" or be subject to Political Serfdoms, as in the recent and long ago past. So that the buying of votes, as well as canvass results, will soon be over. But there is a need for real, regional leadership. No more of popularity, cinematic leadership as in the last generation. In a Bi-Cameral System of the Legislative Branch of Government. Necessarily, by amending that proviso in the Constitution of the Commonwealth and the 3rd Philippine Republioc. The other evening, I saw a scene I thought would be withnessed only in your favorite place, PAYATAS of the City honoring a Father of a country, its Commonwealth, its 3rd Republic of the 4th of July, 1946. I was walking by a 5 story condo-unit in the Finance Capital City of Makati. I heard rustling by an electric post, which happened not to be one of those with an overhead lamp, and where the rejects of the residents of that condominium. I saw a moving figure; I thought it was a big, black hungry dog. It wasn't. He was a small man, going through the garbage, and helping himself with whatever was edible on from the refuse bags. My Country. An Eden. And that. I walked on, thinking I would write the Tsar Torres, the Samaranon and gifted one of Payatas. Apo Satur, [email protected] Singalong, Manila March 31, 2006 PS: I was at the Commencement Exercises of my Alma Mater, Araullo High School of Manila last Monday late afternoon. The Valedictorian, a young lady, and the Salutatorian, a young man, and the First Honorable Mention, another young lady, delivered their addresses in impecable English. The FHM had the honor of introducing the Commencement Speaker, Hizzoner Joselito L. Atienza, Jr., Mayor of the City of Manila. Hizzoner delivered in Taglish. He was speaking to the parents in attendance, summarizing and extolling his accomplishments as Mayor, since he took over the reins from Mayor Alfredo Lim, ex-General and a Tsinoy. His best advice: Keep your schooling with the public schools of Manila - The City College at Escolta, and the Pamantasan ng Lunsod Ng Maynila at Intramuros. [He is termed out, but good material for becoming a Senator, representing the present Capital Region, together with Freddy Lim.] But I hear that De La Salle University and Santo Tomas are trying to lure the better grads with scholarships to their schools. Those who are not so bright, but gifted: The DLSU College of St. Benilde's program in the Culinary Arts and Hotel Managment & Tourism. Nothing bad about that. Executive Chefs and Hotel Management clerks, who are English speaking, are needed abroad, for a traveling business and tourist clientele. Foreign exchange for a bleeding Eden. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya: Your latest article shows what may be possible. However, that possibility may not necessarily follow as regards President Arroyo's future plans. What seems to be unfolding is the logical groundwork for a new dominant Party as successor to the LAKAS-CMD coalition led by former President Ramos and Speaker de Venecia, both of whom are getting rather advanced in age. Once that leadership and other of its major Lieutenants retires, LAKASS-CMD will disintegrate. PGMA will likely retire at the end of this term, and the torch, palm, cross, or whatever passed on to a selected successor within the KAMPI coalition. It will be political suicide for a Party to use Marcosian tactics to perpetuate one single leader in power. Today's practitioners know not to repeat such mistakes. Term limits is the name of the game. Thinking people should look beyond the GMA horizon. The strategic question is, how many members of Congress, and the proposed new Parliament will join KAMPI? Jose Caedo, [email protected] San Francisco, California, March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir ABAYA: Your analysis and conclusion seems convincing enough, and I don't see anything worse, than it is now, going for the country if ever that's the fact. From where I am, the bleacher, watching the current game is so simple. GMA continuously works very hard to win the game according to the flawed rules of the "Cory Constitution" (and which I think GMA and his clean cut team is using smartly enough to sway things to her favor) while successfully warding off every dirty tricks, elbowing, spitting, bullying, etc., the opposition is applying to bag the trophy. As both team's battle cry says, "in the spirit of democracy", then let democracy reigns and be adult enough to accept defeat. So far, the opposing team's game plan is not working, So far, they don't have a credible and reliable team captain. So far, they seem so confused about the real meaning of the main ingredient of winning a game, "teamwork". Yet so desperate to win (like spoiled brats) at crunch time, their only focus is to master that "Dirty Game Plan" book published by the reds. They are now resorting to a very physical game, and doesn't care if the audience gets hurt in the end. Don't forget, the audience is the "Pinoy Nation" and they will render the final judgement come that final buzzer. Right now, considering the current state of things, the audience can make the following choices. Communist forever, Erap forever, Lacson forever, Drilon forever, Abat forever, Jinggoy forever, Jamby forever, Donkey forever, Gringo forever (the names are getting awful as I go along, better stop), all of the above or GMA FOREVER? How to select? Line them up against the wall, get a 45 caliber pistol, point it to any of these people to indicate your selection (Hmmm, that one rhymes, please repeat). Important reminder!!! Do not point the pistol to yourself to end your selection. MABUHAY ANG MGA FUBARIAN! Ador Ramoso, [email protected] Atlanta, Georgia, March 31, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, There are no serious challenges to GMA. Those who present themselves to the people have skeletons in their closets and have tainted past. Many are celebrities in sports, in the entertainment, or in the broadcast industries whose vision of the future is focused on their wallets but distant from the country. Filipinos who have stayed abroad are the more serious leaders that could save this country if only they could be lured to abandon the comforts, the freedom, and the security of first world countries. The world is replete of foreign leaders who came back to their country of birth and effected the change. Media people like you Tony should be a part of that search party who will find them and offer them to the Filipino people. Dr. Nestor P, Baylan, [email protected] New York City, April 01, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya: This is another one of those thought-provoking articles of yours. From the start, I'm already having this nagging suspicion that all these government promotions and inside manipulations are all just part of a grand design, that is, to let GMA stay in power forever (and ever amen). Now, I think the real question is, why she wants to stay in power forever?We mere mortals can just speculate. Does she believes that, with all her imperfections and frailties, she still is the best person to lead the nation towards economic prosperity? Does she really thinks that she can do to Philippines what Lee Kwan Yew did to Singapore? Does she honestlybelieves that her leadership, with all the allegations of cheating, fraud and corruption, is still the legitimate government tasked to govern and lead the nation. Does she thinks that all her detractors and the rest of the nation are just plain stupid and much worse than her? Certainly, a one-eyed person is king in the land of the blinds. If these are her thoughts, then we should give her credit for her good intentions. If these are due to her strong Narcistic tendencies believing that she is God's gift to our country, then we should not prosecute her but instead feel sorry for her. However, if her real plan is to establish an empire and amass wealth, if her real intention is to protect personal interests, then that's another story. Surely we don't want to have another Marcos. Granting that GMA only has all the good intentions in staying in power forever, questions still remain. What economic prosperity are we talking about? What is the government's definition of the word 'legitimate'? When is a planned takeover a crime? Is it a crime only if it does not succeed? Is amending existing laws for self-serving interests acceptable? When is corruption bad and when it is good? Is cheating, fraud and corruption justifiable if done to preserve the status quo? Questions, questions and a lot more questions - just the right recipe for a 'questionable government'. Now with all honesty, can we really tolerate and live in peace with a questionable government? I really applaud your didactic analysis to some of the most sensitive issues we are having now. The Filipino people really need to be educated, told and warned in advance why things are happening around them. Because at the end of the day, it is the people, it is us, who will decide what is best for our country. Mabuhay tayong mga Filipino! Edwin M. Herrera, [email protected] April 01, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir , good morning. Is it not this was one of the reasons Vicente Paterno resigned from the forming body, for he said that our president would use the parliamentary system to her advantage and to extend her political position and gain, and be prime minister. Please tell me I am wrong. Jaime M. Claparols Jr., [email protected] April 04, 2006 MY REPLY. You and Ting Paterno are right. WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Good evening, sir. I'm glad that you still consider/entertain the idea of 'idealism' within the ranks of Major/Colonel despite the many 'interesting events' that happened in our ranks. Me and my family are glad to hear from you, even just in your column. At present, we are staying here in New South Wales, Australia as I am currently taking up my Master of Management Studies in HRM at University of New South Wales. Hope to hear more from you, sir. Noel Rodriguez, [email protected] University of New South Wales Australia, April 04, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Well said, sir.!!! Richel Sale, [email protected] April 04, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reaction to �Revolutionary Governments� (March 19, 2006) You wrote:: �But, like Gen. Abat, I have neither an armed component nor a civilian mass base behind me. However, unlike Gen. Abat, I am not proclaiming myself head of any revolutionary council and will not designate the Makati Sports Club (or the Starbucks Coffee Shop in Rockwell) as the seat of my revolutionary government.� I like the humor you injected in this particular column! Obviously, your wit is an outlet for your frustration with the current situation. Way to go! I could only empathize with you. What I can't understand about the communist movement in The Philippines is why it proliferates when its founding organization in the former USSR had been dissolved. What's going on?! Are the Philippine commies still clinging to the old adage that "ang taong nagigipit; kahit sa patalim ay kumakapit?" Is the situation in Inang Bayan that desperate? Or could all these be the result of unjustified killings of those who criticize the government that we read about so much? Rome Farol, [email protected] April 05, 2006 MY REPLY. I suggest you read my article �The Defeat of Revolution� (Nov. 15, 2006) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reaction to �Illegal Revolutions� (March 26, 2006) Dear Tony- Very interesting and thoughtful piece. An important reminder. Indeed, "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to break the bonds..." On the other hand, revolutions so often eat their children. And then there is the problem of the majority of Filipinos in the provinces. If the current urban middle class and even the poor are slow to mobilize if at all these days, who is going to bring the revolution (and how) from Metro Manila to the trapos, barons, and warlords who rule the provinces where most Filipinos still live? How will the provincial power figures be broken, and who will replace them? (Did your forefathers have the answers to all similar questions when they decided to make a stand at Concord Bridge? ACA) And how many people will be killed in the process? I well remember Ninoy Aquino at a conference in Boston being asked why he did not return to the Philippines and lead the revolution? I no longer have his exact words, but his response was immediate and to the effect that; "I don't want to be responsible for that bloodbath." (Contrary to stereotype images, not all revolutions are bloody. In 1989, people power revolutions swept communist regimes from power in seven East European countries, and hardly anyone was killed, except in Romania. In 1991, people power revolutions also swept communist regimes from power in the 15 republics of the Soviet Union plus Mongolia, and hardly anyone got killed either. ACA) If the revolution is to happen - and people have been predicting it ever since the late 1940s - it is going to require some stunning leadership, a clear vision of what must follow, and a great deal of planning and coordination. Who can pull that off?? (Revolutionary situations have a way of creating their own leaders. East Europe 1989 did not even have any leaders. ACA) David Szanton, [email protected] Durban, South Africa, April 05, 2006 PS If I am becoming a pest, let me know! It�s just that I care (You�re not being a pest, David, and I am glad that you care. Tony) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... This commencement speech was emailed to us. The Eagle Will Not Fly Without the Poor By Antonio P. Meloto, Gawad Kalinga Ateneo de Manila University Commencement Exercises 25 March 2006 I asked some members of the senior class last week why they chose me as their commencement speaker. I have no business empire. I hold no political power. And I am no academic genius. I am just an ordinary Filipino, a graduate of the Ateneo, who did not even excel as a student� just an ordinary man who loves to tell stories about the extraordinary things that people are doing for our country today. And they told me--- because I represent a movement that presents hope at this time when many in our country are in despair. You are looking for hope in me, but I am here to tell you that this school and the other members of this university have been a source of hope and inspiration for me in the last three years. When Father Ben Nebres and the Ateneo Board of Trustees bestowed the Ozanam Award on Gawad Kalinga through me on July 23, 2003, they triggered A REVOLUTION OF HOPE in the Ateneo�sweeping the Ateneo from grade school, high school, college, to the Alumni... then leading the way for other universities, corporations, government institutions and Filipino organizations abroad to follow their example and joining the bandwagon for nation building. The Ateneo is showing the world that �The eagle will not fly without the poor�. Thank you Father Ben for your great love for our country and for inspiring the young to make a difference in the lives of our people. Caring for the poor and restoring the dignity of the Filipino in his own country have now become an urgent mission for Filipinos here and abroad. This is not just healing for our country�s poor and neglected but it is healing for me and many like me as well. Unknown to most of you, for 32 years it wasn�t easy for me to return to Ateneo. I didn�t come to the reunions and homecomings, simply because of a sense of guilt of a person who grew up with the suffering poor but later forgot them after I got an Ateneo education. I was so focused on repackaging, and building up myself that I forgot the accompanying responsibility that came with the privilege of an Ateneo scholarship. I forgot the poor� I left them behind. I left them like so many others before me. There are many who blame the rich and powerful for the plight of the poor. I know there is basis for the accusations but I cannot bring myself to blame them. How could I expect them to love the poor whom they do not know when I grew up poor and yet forgot to help them, too. I realized my great shortcoming as a Filipino in 1985 when I joined Couples for Christ. It was then that I found my faith and grew a conscience and decided to live a righteous life� to correct the mistakes and the injustice committed to our country and to our people by people like me. Couples for Christ taught me to repent for my sins and to be genuinely sorry for the things I failed to do for my country and for my people. I am really sorry for the state of things, because of my failure to do something about it. And many are now sorry, just like myself because of this state of degradation� But feeling sorry is not enough. Sorry does not restore beauty, sorry does not restore dignity, sorry does not restore the plan of God for man. Sorry begins it, but sorry is not enough. What needs to be done is to bring sorry to action, to convert regret to reform, to lift apathy to compassion and development. We who have not done well by the talents and treasures we have been gifted with, we who have abdicated our responsibility of shepherding the poor and the young to their birthright of enjoying the treasures of a beautiful and abundant country, we who have seen the errors of our ways and are sorry --- we must now restore what we destroyed� or allowed to be destroyed. Because the Ateneo is a Christian university which believes in the mission of forming students to become persons for others, the principle of good over evil goes beyond the fundamental understanding of right and wrong. It is not enough not to do wrong. To battle evil, we must do good. The path of reform and transformation for Ateneans� for Christians, must be one of peace. It must believe that good is more powerful than evil, and only in the exercise of good can evil be eliminated. Thus, the path of reform and transformation, personal and social, must be a path of good works. Build homes. Build communities. Build capacities. Restore dignity. Restore abundance. Restore beauty. Restore peace. Build and restore, build and restore. And you did! The eagle has landed in Payatas. Because you could not bring the poor of Payatas to Ateneo, you brought Ateneo to the poor of Payatas. In this once desolate place, you restored dignity, you have brought back hope! The former squatters now have security in their land. You transformed 200 shanties -- the slum and the garbage have now become a beautiful middle class community. Crime has virtually disappeared. Former streetchildren are now in school. The idle have been motivated to find employment and are now living productive lives. Nawala ang sindikato sa lupa, sa tubig, at sa ilaw. You have transformed hell into a piece of heaven� all because you cared, you shared and you learned to work together. The grade school worked with their parents, the high school students gave up their parties� the college students gave up their weekends. And the Alumni from all over the world also helped. I salute and honor the eagles of Payatas, especially Steph Limuaco, former President of the Ateneo Student Council and now full-time worker of Ateneo for Gawad Kalinga, students, parents, the caretaker team from CFC and Mayor Sonny Belmonte who not only paved the way for the poor to own the land in Payatas but also paved the roads. Again you performed the same miracle in Gabaldon! The surviving flood victims who were once squatters living in dangerous areas now have their own land in sites that have been cleared as environmentally safe and their own sturdy homes. Now the people are growing their own food and planting trees. Land for the landless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry� For this I honor Mark Lawrence Cruz, the 300-strong Team Gabaldon and Mayor Mandia. You washed away the mud of despair and brought out the gold in the poor of Gabaldon. Gabaldon is part of a massive rehabilitation and reconstruction effort called Kalinga Luzon that goes beyond the usual relief operations after the calamity. Malaki ang tulong dito ng 3 Atenista in helping 40,000 survivor families of the Luzon typhoons and floods� Secretary of National Defense and NDCC Chairman Avelino �Nonong� Cruz , Smart-PLDT Chairman Manny Pangilinan and former Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo. This afternoon I invited the proud leaders of Payatas and Gabaldon, together with the mayors of Cabiao, San Isidro, and Gen. Tinio, Nueva Ecija who have also benefited from the help of Ateneo. They are here to witness the graduation of a new breed of Ateneans and Filipinos who not only have the brains but also the heart for our country and our people. The journey to rebuild our country is just beginning and moving towards massive upscaling with the entry of corporations, national government agencies, LGU�s and Filipino organizations abroad. Corporations too are searching for a deeper and better __expression of corporate social responsibility. Rival corporations are rising above business competition to help. P&G and Unilever, Jollibee and McDonalds, Shell and Petron, Pfizer and Wyeth and Smart-PLDT� and over a hundred others. Sabi ng Shell �Kung may layunin, malayo ang inyong mararating�. Sabi ng Smart �We�re not just building homes, we�re building a nation�. Both campaigns are inspired by the spirit of Gawad Kalinga, the spirit of being a person for others � going beyond conventional charity towards helping the poor become better stewards of their families and their communities. Converting our human resource from liability to asset, expanding the market base by empowering the poor make good business sense! This afternoon we have with us the country chairman of Shell Philippines, Mr. Ed Chua, who is from La Salle and the president of Pfizer, Mr. Gerry Bacarro, who is from Ateneo. Both are firm believers of corporate social responsibility geared towards nation-building. It is our hope that the stiff rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle in basketball will be elevated to a higher level of nobility of building the most number of houses and communities and educating the most number of poor children. My fellow Ateneans, when you leave this campus, many of you will join these corporations and will be happy to note that they have a keener sense of social responsibility and a work environment that will nurture your idealism. In the field of governance, more than 300 mayors and governors have chosen the same path of nation-building. Hundreds more will join this year and members of Congress are being inspired to do the same. Many of you will be the future mayors, governors and members of congress� and again will be happy to note that your predecessors have begun the path of building and restoring our country. Even Filipinos abroad have found a reason to hope and a way to concretize their love for the motherland. Many have gone beyond sending resources� they themselves are coming home to help build the nation of their dreams� Bicolanos helping Bicol� The Ilonggos helping Negros and Panay� the Cebuanos helping Cebu� And the Fil-Am doctors are going beyond the usual medical mission and are building healthy communities as a way of giving back to a country that they have never stopped loving. When you care for others, especially the weak and the powerless, you will be amazed at how God will take care of you and the people you love. Today I thank God for my wife and my five children who have joined me in this mission to help restore this beautiful land. This is the best legacy I can give them. I honor my son Jay, who at 22, left his job and an exciting life of fast cars and beautiful girls in L.A. to help the typhoon victims of Bicol� and my son-in-law Dylan Wilk who left his country England, his family and friends, his extravagant lifestyle - his Ferrari, his Porsche and BMW� in exchange for the poor families in this country that he has learned to love and care for. And of course, the nameless and unrecognized workers and heroes of other Ateneo initiatives like Pathways, Tulong Dunong, Jesuit Volunteers of the Philippines, Leaders for Health and other NGOs and cause-oriented groups who love this county� Today there are tens of thousands of them� tomorrow there will be millions. Together we will build a slum-free, squatter-free, crime-free Philippines. And so in the same spirit of heroism, I urge you young Ateneans to do the same. After you leave this campus, there is no doubt that you will soar to great heights but it will all be meaningless if you fly alone. The poor do not have strong wings like you do and they need you to carry them, inspire them to discover their own strength and greatness. Sana eto ang walang iwanan. For the parents, as you have invested in the future of your children by giving them the best education possible� support also your children�s desire to invest in the future of this country. They will honor you even more if you value their aspirations for nobility and their dreams for a better country that will be a source of pride for them and their children. As we go through this defining moment of Philippine history, let us strive never to forget four things: (1) Never stop hoping for our country. (2) Don�t stop caring for our people. (3) Demand greatness of yourself as a Filipino. (4) Inspire greatness in other Filipinos. As you leave the campus to join the real world, let your vision and the power that you have discovered to change the world, define what is real to you. Make your love for this country and our people, especially the poor, your reality and your priority. Make it the foundation of your career plans, your dreams and ambitions for your children and the goal of any political or economic power that you have the privilege to wield. Wherever you are in the world, excel and prosper but remain connected to the motherland and dedicate your success to the fulfillment not just of your dreams but to the many in your country who have lost their capacity to dream. Do not be content in finding artificial security in gated subdivisions when you can provide yourself a buffer of peace by caring for the needy around you. Nor be content with living in first world luxury in a third world environment and contributing to the discontent and the growing threats around the security of your own family. Give value to the land of your birth by sharing with those who for generations have been deprived of its use and abundance. Be a blessing to your children�s future by making it your responsibility to be father or mother to the abandoned and neglected. Be the healing of the soul of this nation and the fulfillment of the dream that we have forgotten. Be the proud Filipino that we are not yet, but soon will be. Be the hero who finds courage and the conviction that this country is worth saving, because it is a gift from God and that your life is meaningless if it is not dedicated to the fulfillment of a divine destiny to be a great people. Let me end this speech and send you off with a prayer. Dear God, pour out your blessing upon our new graduates. Guide them in their journey to greatness. Show your power and majesty to this troubled and sinful nation through these young Filipinos who will strive to live lives of righteousness and excellence. Make them healers of our wounded people and restorers of our broken land. Anoint them as the new generation of living heroes who will bring this country to our destiny of greatness. Mabuhay kayong mga bagong bayani ng bayan! Kayo ang bagong lakas ng pagbabago! Kayo ang magandang mukha ng kinabukasan! ***** wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww This article was emailed to us. THE TRUTH ABOUT OPUS DEI This page is made by the Maria Auxiliadora Prayer Group, whose aim is to make known Opus Dei characteristics. For this purpose we have used serious and documented sources. This idea started on seeing that deceit is a common practice in Opus Dei. This sect works indeed as a secret lodge. Good-willed persons were attracted, and suffered undesirable experiences. Christ is truth and not manipulating secret lodges. So, we start to write about the Opus Dei�s dark sides. ABOUT THE FOUNDER. Here we talk, among other things, about evidence of mental illness of the founder and scandalous aspects of his life and background. The founder of Opus Dei was Jos� Mar�a Escriv� de Balaguer, born in Spain in 1902 in a very poor family. He started his studies for priesthood when in Spain priesthood was the only possibility for professional studies in less important towns or cities like his. People that knew him during his life remember him as a not talented person. One of them, Manuel Mind�n, described him as "an obscure man, introvert and with a very serious lack of keenness... I do not understand how a man with so short an intelligence could go so far". Well, who made him go so far is Franco�s dictatorship. History shows that dictatorships have promoted the mad and the criminals, as long as they work under their objectives; at the same time dictatorships have persecuted the most clever minds, if they did not accepted their abuse. Escriv� was known by his irascible and vulgar personality. Being already a priest, his pathologic personality is evidenced with phrases like: "I would hang the last bishop with his own guts", this is common in psychopaths. Another trait: falsehood or myth-maniac and fraud. His family was very poor, and he supported them with his salary in a modest apartment. When it was destroyed during the civil war, he concocted the story that he lived in a "noble palace". His feeling of being an outcast led him far beyond, and, in spite of being a priest, he bought in 1968 the nobility title of Marquis of Peralta. This is an evidence of his megalomania. This would be ridiculous in a common person but is unforgivable in a religious one. Although, this coarse person used to try to impress people by using a spiked belt, tightened until blood showed through. This denotes another trait of abnormality. During his life he supported Franco�s dictatorship and admired Hitler. One phrase of him: "Hitler against Jews, Hitler against Slavonic, this means Hitler against communism". Escriv� loved the violence of war, and said: "War! War has a supernatural object... But at last, we must love it, the way a religious must love his disciplines" (The Way, maxim 311). The Way is his work; his written production is a mixture of copies of different trends, like Jesuit and Masonry, with no original contribution, except for its vileness. Escriv� had an ill mind and a covetous, vulgar, arrogant and perverse personality. Incredibly, because of Opus Dei�s influence in Vatican, he was beatified. Being requirements for beatification an exemplary life, virtues, etc., it is obvious that his beatification was the result of a fraud of Opus Dei. There are many files of beatification of really exemplary and honorably persons that are not yet beatified since several centuries ago, e.g. Mar�a de Jes�s Agreda (XVIth century), Hildegard von Bingen (XIIIth century), both religious, that lived in holiness; they were devoted to their ministries for almost all of their lives, and wrote beautiful and spiritual works; Bingen had the gifts of prophecy and healing (she healed even blind people). In Agreda�s process there was an objection, because she said that it would be a sin to oppose her book La Ciudad M�stica de Dios (God�s Mystical City). However, it is true that is a sin to oppose or hinder the dissemination of spiritual books. So, there would not be objections against the outrageous nonsense uttered by Escriv�? The cost of those processes are high, but it was not a problem for Opus Dei, because they have a lot of money. The alleged healing miracle (in the process) of Escriv� after his death is another fraud, understandable because of the poor qualification of some doctors in Spain. No reasonably Catholic can believe that such a monster can bring about miracles. These are the next frauds they are preparing: the beatification of Montse Gratses, Miguel D�az del Corral and Isidoro Zorzano Ledesma, they were just common Catholic people. Look out! Opus Dei has already cornered the canonization office in The Vatican! They need desperately to manufacture a saint. According to a biography written by Peter Beglar (it has an Imprimatur and a Nihil Obstat, of the Archbishop of New. York), Escriv� stayed for five months as a mental patient in a psychiatric clinic in order to escape from persecution during the civil war. In the meantime his five disciples remained hidden in several places, they all risked to be jailed. Being Opus Dei (OD) a sham-oriented sect, we can assume that they explain things this way because [Escriv�'s] madness is ashaming for them. It is perfectly logic that Escriv� needed that stay in the hospital to treat his mental illness. If what biographers said were true, we could ask ourselves: 1) How could his disciples survive the persecution in other places, that is, they did not need to hide in a psychiatric clinic? 2) If Escriv� used to say that he was like a father for his disciples, why he did not asked his friend, the purported friend (the director of the clinic), for refuge for his disciples? Being liars the heads of OD, we should also have doubts about that story. On the other hand, his writings, words and behavior are evidence that the treatment of Escriv�'s mental condition was not fully successful, they just managed to somehow alleviate his madness that was completely out of control during his stay in the psychiatric clinic, but he continued with his unbalanced mental condition up to the day he died. About his madness, we can remember some things, according to his official biographers: �In 1928 he said that 'God deigned to illuminate him and that he had had a mystic vision about OD and what the Lord wanted with 'the work' through the centuries, until the end of times' (in reality he had hallucinations, or he created a fantasy to appear great). It is common in mad people to believe that they have a worldwide salvific mission. �Escriv� always said that the real founder of Opus Dei was God himself, and that it has a universal character... -Max. 863 '...children, when you are sincere... you will be omnipotent...' -In a paper he said that, as he was in a bus: '...I felt the work of God in me, in my heart and in my lips and with an overwhelming force it developed the soft cry 'Abba Father...' This is common in schizophrenia, they feel a sudden strength ... ABOUT OPUS DEI. This part talks about methods, history, corruption, their nature: a politic and economic mafia, main representatives in Peru, their fascist nature, their linking with dictatorships in the world and Unidad Nacional in Peru (political group headed by right wing leader Lourdes Flores). Opus Dei predisposes people to mental perturbations. Their activity downgrades education. During their first years they worked in a judicial fraud, in conspiracy with Franco�s dictatorship. They were strengthened because of their adulation and the juncture of the age: Opus Dei was searching to staff positions in the main universities of Spain. Many of the professors were executed during the civil war, others departed to exile. The situation was so serious that these universities could no longer work. This situation was exploited by Escriv�, who had already recruited for Opus Dei mediocre or incompetent province professors, with whom he filled vacancies in Spain�s big universities. Afterwards, he obtained from Franco a privileged budget for the education institutions controlled by Opus Dei, and for all the education, and, because of his powerful influence, he did with it as he pleased. Instead of selecting the best professors, he hired Opus Dei members. It was a disgrace for science in Spain, it is plain to see that in the second half of the XXth century there were not important scientists in Spain, despite the fact that all their efforts were for the education of bourgeoisie. However, Opus Dei was always manufacturing phony fame for middling individuals. Even now, incompetent people can obtain a Ph. D.! Opus Dei also let the needy in the ignorance or semi-ignorance, because they feared that they would become a thinking and vocal rights-claiming class. When students composed verses to protest against favoritism to Opus Dei members, this sect used to respond with violence and destruction. In addition of education, Opus Dei infiltrated all the immense bureaucracy of the Spanish state, in key posts. They built an economic empire due to the favors received during the long decades of Franco�s dictatorship, where they parasitized and became a cyst in power and had even whole minister staffs of Opus Dei members or sympathizers. The latter promulgated laws to support the economical interests of their members, through a technocratic mafia that held Spain�s best paying jobs, and created other new unnecessary and very well paid jobs for their members. The members were involved in corruption and immoral practices. Escriv� made the Opus Dei�s structure copying Jesuits in their organization, but adding the character of secret lodge of masons and a totalitarian quality. As for its nature, it�s Catholic fundamentalist; unfortunately they took the darkest of Catholicism and a fascist political character. This is why they thrived during the Franco, Pinochet and Videla dictatorships; and in Peru they had a great influence under the Fujimori-Montesinos dictatorship, headed by Cardinal Cipriani. Their secret nature makes them deny to others their totalitarian ideology. This is only revealed as the recruit goes up in the lodge�s ranking. Opus Dei is characterized by: �Dishonesty of their high commands. Nowadays Opus Dei manage giant economic capital. Their see in New York is worth $42 millions. �In their early years, their bases served for recruitment of the fascist organization Young Europe, headed by Nazi militants, and linked to Italian and Spanish fascism. �The dishonest and surreptitious recruitment. They do not tell the prospective member that they are Opus Dei, until they believe he is convinced. This is not practiced by any Catholic order, who have neat and clear rules. Look out fathers!: those who are under-aged are induced to sign an allegiance document and are told to hide it from their parents! This sect breaks the link of confidence and communication between parents and children. Our society should be on the alert about this serious fact. Of course, they do not leave written evidence of this procedure; for this they use their lodge secret procedures, to avoid problems. �Their contempt for women or misogyny. Women are inferior and contemptible for Escriv�, he said about them "You should be like a carpet where people can step onto". Woman is considered a being that must not become enlightened: "...It is not necessary that they be learned: it is enough for them to be discreet..." (maxim 946). �(Look out handicapped people!) For Opus Dei people with any physical imperfection are inferior and will never be full members (numerary members). Echevarr�a, Escriv�s successor, said that handicapped children are born due to some sinful sexual practices of their parents! �Brain washing practiced in such a way that the member does not know the border between crime, ethics and moral. Example of Opus Dei�s most outstanding members in Peru: Rafael Rey, even being a congressman, said that he did not repent for having met with Montesinos, in order to free his Opus Dei friend, jailed for kidnapping psychiatrist Mariano Querol. Martha Ch�vez, congresswoman, said that Cuatro Suyos protesters (against dictatorship) should be shot at. Rafael Rey is member of the political group Unidad Nacional, led by Lourdes Flores. Opus Dei says that it does not support any political group, but Rey is head of the support of Opus Dei to this group (Unidad Nacional). Francisco Tudela, another congressman, created a law to acquit Fujimori�s �Grupo Colina� death squad. Fernando de Trazegnies (former foreign relations minister) is accused of defending the usurpation of an important mine; Luisa M. Cuculiza, Fujimori�s most coarse former minister is accused for several charges; Blanca N�lida Col�n, former General Attorney, obeyed Montesinos blindly; Enrique Chirinos, Domingo Palermo, Fernando Dianderas, Juan Hermoza Moya, Federico Salas, who made a mockery of the aspirations of Huancavelican peasants, and tried to stick to the Ministry of Education, to manipulate the minds the way Opus Dei did in Spain. During the dictatorship, Opus Dei members were known for defending openly or covertly the r�gime and the electoral fraud, of which all citizens were aware. Now Tudela needs psychiatric treatment. Other Opus Dei members are important entrepreneurs, like Dionisio Romero, a banker that obtained huge profits from many Fujimori-Montesinos laws (the way Opus Dei used to do in Spain). Until the end he cooperated with the government mafia, giving his airplane to help Montesinos in his escape. We were about to repeat the Spanish history in our country. But we must remain watchful, because they are always waiting an opportunity to strike again, in the same manner they are now trying to do in Spain with Aznar, whose wife is an Opus Dei militant. �Their irrational reaction against modern world values. Normally, Opus Dei stigmatizes as being a Marxist anybody who talks about human rights and social justice (poor Saint Martin of Porres, patron of social justice in Peru!). �Blind intolerance towards other beliefs. Queen Elizabeth (head of the Anglican Church) is stigmatized as being a "demon". They despise other Catholic groups and trample them in a very crude way. �Abuse of information. Recruiters are compelled to write individual reports about each member, that are passed on to their superiors (a full intelligence work). In each country there are always members belonging to intelligence services, such as SIN in Peru, and CIA in USA, ready to perform hideous jobs, according to Escriv�s teachings. �Dehumanization, that makes them see as �the enemy� any person who opposes their ideas, and consider them inferior beings or a subhuman force. This can be a justification to their eradication. This is the way Hitler and Nazis used to think. Escriv� teaches to take away oneself�s heart, senses and emotions (maxims 166, 181, 188); this proves that Escriv� was a psychopath, because psychopaths despise all feelings in order to satisfy their desires. These teachings can produce people so cruel as Nazis. Escriv�s maxim N.o 367 teaches the members that they are beautiful and intelligent people, and must consider others inferior or animals. They are taught to work secretly behind people�s back (Max. 643). Their objective is to hog public posts and become a group having world supremacy. �To teach that priests are superior beings. They practice the irrational cult to Escriv�. �To mutilate the value of fraternity. They maintain fraternity is possible only between Opus Dei members. These ideas are extremely dangerous, they kill the love for fellow men. Other people are seen only as potential members, enemies or even demons. �To practice fraud, they manufacture false fame for their members. Their propaganda machine receives instructions for promoting their members. Escriv� teaches them to fight for a direction post, even if they are silly (Max. 352): "Please reform yourself. Even being silly you can reach senior positions..." They become shameless persons who stick to high posts until they must be sacked because they are not decent enough to admit their limitations. �Once the member reaches a level, he signs a document, in which he/she accepts that Opus Dei will be heir to his properties. �To practice the offence of violation of correspondence, penalized by the law. In groups living in community, members do not have the right of privacy, the director can read all letters, sent or received. �To practice class division, in Indian style, where poor are contemptible and stinking, and the contact of poor people with wealthy members is avoided. When they recruit poor women, they use them as maids. �Opus Dei members learn few about ethics and moral, but they put emphasis on external signs, such as physical punishment: scourging in the buttocks is compulsory (each time they must finish saying Escriv�s words: "Your greatest enemy are yourself, blessed be pain!), spiked belt, fasting and, at times, sleeping on the floor. There are saints that practiced physical penance, but, if there is no ethics nor moral, which is the use of scourging or any other external sign? Could Hitler or Montesinos spiritually impress anybody by scourging themselves? �Members are recommended not to talk with their families about their intent of joining Opus Dei for life. At certain level, it is even recommended not to have pictures of their loved ones. �In their initiation rite their vows are before a cross without Christ, this way they insult our Lord�s Passion. (They say that this performed that way because it is the cross is of the initiated.) �Their greediness. Wealthy members are more valuable, because Opus Dei will obtain more profit from them. They hide to beginners the fact that after the vows, and from certain moment, their salary will not belong to them, but to Opus Dei. �Members are controlled even in what they can read. It causes a mind deterioration, because of the narrowness of ideas in which they act or think. However, they make them believe that they are a superior elite! They often become people having problems with their social relationships. �Members are told that if they leave Opus Dei, they will be damned. Such a lie! Catholics can leave an order and enter another. Example: Saint Anthony of Padua, who was first Augustinian, and after Franciscan. �The theologian Urs von Balthazar said: "No doubt Opus Dei is the stronger power sign of fundamentalism in the Church... they hold high posts in government, banks, publishing houses, magazines, newspapers... It is undeniable that the fact of the foundation of Opus Dei is marked by franquism: this is the law in which it has been formed." The Church asks forgiveness for having being silent in cases of human rights violations, but does not talk expressly about her silence during the bloody Franco�s r�gime, nor about the connivance between Escriv� or Opus Dei and Franco. �Another strange event is Pope John Paul II�s kneeling by the grave of Escriv�. Why did he do that?, is that the result of the consistent lobbying of Opus Dei? According to protocol, a Pope can only kneel by the grave of a cardinal! It is worrying to see that now important departments of The Vatican are hogged by Opus Dei (in addition of the canonization office), for example communications and finance. �This sect is �speaking from the psychological point of view� extremely dangerous, there are many cases of psychiatric perturbation. Personality is deformed because they live under rules produced by the insane mind of Escriv�(1). The Opus Dei bishop Xavier Laurizaca, who prologued Escriv�s The Way, ended in a mental hospital. Father Arrupe thought that the case of Escriv� is inside the psychoanalysis, because Escriva�s sexual obsessions emerged often. Carmen Tapia, former Opus Dei member and authoress of Behind the Treshold-A Life in Opus Dei, relates what Escriv� spoke about a member girl that had brought correspondence to her secretly: "And she has to be spanked throughout. Draw up her skirts, tear down her panties and give it to her in the ass!! In the Ass!!! Until she talks! Make her talk!!!" Another trait of megalomania is that he compared himself to Christ when he recruited 12 cooperators �like the 12 apostles of our Lord� to start his "work of God" (Opus Dei), which he regarded as divine. This is blasphemy, he talks about the product of his depraved mind as if it were work of God. It must be taken into account that Escriv� de Balaguer was a mentally sick man, whose deranged "doctrine" has sent people to the mental hospitals or to the psychiatric examination (like the well known case of Tudela, Peru�s former Foreign Minister). Briefly, they obtained recognition from the Vatican because they wrote only the most acceptable in their constitutions. Their sinister side is handled in the shadow of secrecy. In Peru, the most conspicuous member is Cardinal Cipriani, shameless supporter and accomplice of the Fujimori-Montesinos dictatorship, because Opus Dei received many favors from them, and because of the fascist nature of Opus Dei. About Cipriani, it is important to know (these things are well known in Peru through the media): �That he said that "Human rights are bullshit". �He opposed the work of charity of Cardinal Vargas Alzamora in Hogar de Cristo (an institution working for poor children and old people), using his influence with the dictatorship. The brother of the late cardinal Vargas has accused Cipriani of trying to seize the funds of that institution. Cipriani also opposed the Carmelite nuns of Cajamarca, and closed their charity restaurant. And this happened in an extremely poor place! Whoever opposes charity opposes God! �His speech is impudent, a shallow one, according to what we could prove in a �vladivideo� (one of Montesinos�s many corruption-tinted videos). Cipriani utters tremendous swearwords. �He was a supporter of the death penalty. �He blasphemed by saying that Channel 4 "has a light like the light of God". (Channel 4 is a supporter of the dictatorship controlled by Montesinos, the greatest murderer in Peruvian history, involved too in torture, corruption, drugs and weapons dealing. This TV channel broadcasts immoral television programmes. ) �The British journalist Sally Bowen reports that Cipriani smuggled in microphones concealed in a crucifix, into the Japanese embassy, which ended up in the massacre of MRTA guerrillas that had already surrendered, as is confirmed by the Japanese diplomat Hidataka Ogura. �A letter of late cardinal Vargas Alzamora is a proof to know that Cipriani is a liar. �Cipriani violates the eighth Commandment with his lies; he violates the first one defying God, being a bad example and blaspheming. He violates the second Command of Jesus, despising his fellow neighbors. �In order to defend Montesinos, he asked for "restraint" when the drug trafficker Vaticano unmasked the corrupt advisor as a godfather in that dirty business. �He incited the government to quell the freedom of the press by suggesting a "quality control". � In order to defend the Fujimori electoral fraud in the year 2000, he offended the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights by saying: �I hope you are not coming to raise fantasies, but to verify that there is liberty and respect". He said this when it was very clear for everyone that the Fujimori-Montesinos dictatorship did not respect any institution. �He opposed the mediation of the Church during the serious crisis produced by the electoral fraud (because he knew that the Peruvian Chruch would have helped in order to know the truth). Talking like ignorant people, he and father McGregor said that the Church must not participate in politics. But history shows that the Church did participate in critical cases to avoid violence, for example the Chile-Argentina crisis; Saint Vincent Ferrer was one of the mediators in the crisis of the crown of Aragon. However, Cipriani contradicts himself, and he really did participate scandalously and widely in politics defending the Fujimorist regime, when his duty was to protest against crimes and tortures. After the fall of the dictatorship he called on the nation to forgiveness and reconciliation, instead of asking the judgment of the Fujimori mafia for their murders, drugs and weapons trafficking, terrorism and widespread corruption, so that this would serve as an example for the youth. If Peru performs a right trial, this foremost ideologist of the regime should be condemned, the way Germany did judging the Nazis. �He used the pulpit to attack whoever he has a grudge against. In Ayacucho he used to attack from the pulpit all government officials who were not appointed by him! (With Fujimori he really had political power.) This is an evidence of his immoral thirst for power, learnt from Escriv�. �He annoys homosexuals condemning them, maintaining that they are not in the plan of God, instead of calling them to convert or repent, according to the Holy See. �Despite his grotesque behaviour, he does not stand any criticism. He responds to critics with pride and cynicism, without recognizing his aberration or repentance, saying that this criticism is an attack on the Church. Being an Opus Dei member, he responds this way because in the eyes of Opus Dei members, whoever opposes their ideas is considered a Marxist or inferior people. Brain washing has obstructed Cipriani�s ability for analysis. He has no ethics, morals nor respect for himself and others. No wonder if he will end up in psychiatrist's consulting rooms. WHERE CAN OPUS DEI RECRUIT YOUR SON, YOUR BROTHER OR FRIEND? Among common Catholic parish groups, retreats, schools, universities, working places, etc. (In Peru the educational institutions controlled by Opus Dei are: schools Alpamayo, Salkantay and Santa Margarita, Universidad de Piura, Escuela Montemar, Santa Mar�a high school is too an important place for recruitment). At the start they do not reveal they are Opus Dei members. They just say that they are Catholic, until "the prey falls into the trap". WHICH IS THE BETTER WAY OF GETTING RID OF THEM? You have to be on the lookout, you have to tell them that you have read these things, and that you know that Opus Dei is harmful and that you will never believe their lies mixed with truths. CAUTION. It is good to talk with your children and ask them what the teachings of the persons that talk them about religion are. Specially if your children are under age, they should learn not to hide what they do from their parents. If children learn to hide their behaviour from their parents, the way Opus Dei persuades them, you run the risk that they can hide any serious or depraved fact that an adult person my be planning against them. The percentage of religious people in this sect is very short; most of them perform any job or study in the same way as another person. So, they go unnoticed, and it makes recruitment easier. WHETHER YOU BELIEVE OR NOT IN GOD, YOU WOULD DO GOOD MAKING THIS PAGE KNOWN. Note: |
| (2) Another evidence of the violence and mental illness of Escriv� is this paragraph taken from the book of Carmen Tapia: "Then, monsignor Escriv� began to walk up and down, very anxious, very angry, he was red, furious, while he was saying: "And do not talk about the Work nor about Rome with anybody. Do not set us against your parents, because if I get to know that you say something pejorative about the Work to somebody, I, Jos� Mar�a Escriv� de Balaguer, me, who has the world press in my hands �and he was saying this while with a gesture he confirmed with his hands this idea� I will dishonour you publicly, and your name would appear on the first pages of all the newspapers, because I will personally take charge of that, and this will be your dishonour before men and before your own family!!! (...) -And looking directly to me with a scary anger, moving his arms towards me, as if he was about to strike at me, he added shouting: You are a bad woman. A perfidious woman! Mary Magdalene was a sinner!, but you? You are a corrupter. You are a corrupter with your immoralities and indecencies!!! You are a corrupter!!! I know everything��� EVERYTHING!!! EVEN THAT MATTER OF THE BLACK VENEZUELAN!!! You are terrible! YOU TAKE THE BLACK MEN INTO YOUR HEAD!!!" BIBLIOGRAPHY (read this and much more in these sources, that present serious investigation works): Magno Sosa: Cipriani, el Te�logo de Fujimori, Lima, 2000. Carmen Tapia: Tras el Umbral, una Vida en el Opus Dei, Madrid, 1994, Ediciones Espa�a. Jes�s Ynfante: La prodigiosa aventura del Opus Dei-G�nesis y desarrollo de la Santa Mafia, Par�s, 1996, Ediciones Ruedo Ib�rico. Newspapers: La Rep�blica, Lima, several issues, 2000-2001. Liberaci�n, Lima, several issues, 2000-2001. (The most important newspaper in Peru, El Comercio, avoids to talk against Opus Dei, because this sect placed a religious member as part of the staff for religion news) Interesting sites: www.mond.at/opus.dei. (English) http://www.geocities.com/racozel/opinion/opusdei.html (Spanish) http://stucchi.tripod.com/politica/jlct.htm (Spanish) http://www.sig.egss.ulg.ac.be/fchd/CAPRI/CAPRI_OpusDeiMondDipl.9.95.html (French http://users.skynet.be/sky73819/opusdei.html (English)(English) http://www.webislam.com/07_11_01.htm (Spansih)(Spanish) http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1995/09/NORMAND/1804.html ( (French)French) http://www.reseauvoltaire.net/dossiers/fichiers/ue-autriche.htm ( (French)French) http://www.chez.com/vap/info/debapt/lobby.htm (French)(French) http://www.geocities.com/puntovista/punto3/opdei.html (Spanish)(Spanish) http://www.takingfive.com/opus_dei_1.htm (English)(English) http://www.multimania.com/tussier/opusdei.htm ((French) http://www.jeux-descartes.fr/OpusDei.htm (French)(French) http://www.el-mundo.es/2000/03/14/sociedad/14N0078.html (Spanish)(Spanish) http://www.rebelion.org/opinion/roitman140201.htm (Spanish)(Spanish) http://sudinero.elmundo.es/1997/05/02/sociedad/02N0054.html (Spanish)(Spanish) http://www.worldmissions.org/Clipper/Catholics/ThePapalUnderground.htm (English) Mary help of Christians, pray for us. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |