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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| God�s Chosen Doormat
By Antonio C. Abaya Written April 10, 2007 For the Standard Today, April 12, issue Easter Sunday is not the season for light comedy, but the Philippine Daily Inquirer chose to make it so by giving front page publicity last April 8 to a mawkish and parochial essay by Alex Lacson, who claims to see �12 Signs that convinced me that we (Filipinos) are the Chosen People of God. He chose us to be messengers, to be His ambassadors, to spread His message in other parts of the world�.� What arrant nonsense! Among those 12 signs that Lacson sees, at least four are connected with the fact that the inhabitants of these islands were converted by the Spaniards to Christianity, specifically to Roman Catholicism. These four signs are a.) Magellan died in Mactan in 1521. �If our history stopped there, it means we would never have become a Christian nation.� b) �Filipinos were claimed in the name of God� in a second Spanish expedition led by Legaspi and Fray Urdaneta in 1565; c) �As an offshoot of the spread of Christianity in the islands, the Philippines became the first Christian nation in Asia.�; and d) �The Philippines is the first nation in Asia to have Bibles� for which Lacson credits American (Protestant) missionaries in the 1900s. The ready reply to all four is �So what?� Or �Big deal!� But a little historical background, which I hope Ambeth Ocampo will one day come up with, should cure Lacson of his parochialism. The inhabitants of these islands were not �the first people to be claimed in the name of God� by the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors. That was the formulaic legal incantation uttered by the Iberian conquistadors when they grabbed the lands of the Aztecs in what became Mexico, the Incas in what became Peru, the Mayans in what became Guatemala, the Caribs in what became Cuba and Central America, the Guaranis in what became Paraguay, the native American tribes in what are now Florida, New Mexico, Texas etc and the hundreds of Amazon tribes in what is now Brazil�.decades before Legaspi and Urdaneta. Unlike the other European and American colonial powers whose imperial forays were propelled by lust for raw materials, mineral resources, land, slaves, preferential trade, strategic locations, etc the Iberians were additionally motivated by the self-appointed evangelical mission to �save souls� for the Holy Mother Church. So all the indio tribes whom they conquered were �claimed in the name of God.� Two hundred years before the arrival of Legaspi, the Sulu Sultanate was already in existence and even enjoyed the suzerain patronage of the Chinese Emperor. There was also an established Muslim civilization in western and southern Mindanao . Lacson obviously does not include Muslims among the members of God�s Chosen People. The Jesuit missionary Francisco de Jesus y Azpilcueta of Navarre (in what became Spain ) � who was later canonized as St. Francis Xavier � evangelized southern India , Malacca and the Moluccas in 1542, and Kagoshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1549. The Catholic Christian community that he established in Nagasaki survived for several hundred years despite persecution by the Tokugawa Shoguns. Another Jesuit missionary, the Italian Matteo Ricci, was a valued and trusted advisor in the Chinese imperial court in Peking in 1582, where he introduced Western science, mathematics and astronomy, and converted some Confucian scholars to Christianity. Some even chose to become Jesuits. It is unthinkable that this very significant presence of Catholic Christianity in Japan and China in the 16th century did not result in the Bible, or parts thereof, being translated into Nippongo and/or Mandarin, centuries before the Americans came to the Philippines with their English-language Bibles in the 1900s.. Besides, how many indios in the 1900s could read anything in any language, much less the Bible in English? I spent nine years under the Jesuits in the Ateneo de Manila from 1947 to 1956, and I do not recall ever being made to read the entire Bible, only selected parts thereof, as the Japanese and Chinese Christians must have in the 16th century. One of the signs that Lacson sees is that the Philippines is in the middle of the world. �A small group of tiny islands, but it�s right there in the middle. Is it an accident in history (you mean geography; countries do not move around. ACA) that our Philippines is right there in the middle? Accessible to the north, the south, the east and the west.?� Jesus Christ! Doesn�t Lacson know that Planet Earth is a sphere, and that therefore every point on it is in the middle of it, �accessible to the north, the south, the east and the west?� Every country�s geography textbook (including tiny Liechtenstein �s) has it in the center of the planet. That is just common sense, since every country�s students study and learn the geography of their own country before they study and learn the geography of other countries. It has nothing to do with being God�s Chosen People. Lacson revels in the knowledge that the Philippines is one of the richest countries in the world, that the presence of Filipino overseas workers all over the world is an indication that they �are ambassadors and messengers of God� and that �they breathe life to the churches of the world.� True, we are one of the richest countries in the world, but if we were truly the Chosen People of God, we would have turned this natural wealth into social wealth for the majority of our people, as the Israelis � the original Chosen People � have done of their barren and desolate land. By that measure, the presence of millions of Filipinos workers overseas is actually proof that we have failed to transform that natural wealth into social wealth and thus do not deserve to be called the Chosen People of God. Besides, the Philippines is not the only country with millions of its people living and working overseas. Mexico and Egypt have more OCWs than the Philippines , and not far behind are India , Pakistan and, soon, China . So, more than half the people on the planet are God�s Chosen People, according to Lacson�s standards, a distinction that loses all meaning because of its inflationary embrace. Lacson�s parochialism knows no bounds and overflows into simple-minded word play. The word Pilipino, he writes, is derived from piling-pili (meaning, meticulously chosen) and pinong-pino (meaning, most refined). Jesus Christ! And the editors of the Inquirer considered this childish twaddle front-page material! At the risk of being stripped of my citizenship, I suggest that far from being God�s Chosen People, Filipinos inhabit what could be God�s Chosen Doormat. We have, for example, more than our fair share of natural calamities. We are visited by more typhoons than any other country in this part of the world: an average of 19.1 every year, some of which are killer typhoons that kill dozens, even hundreds, of people and destroy billions of pesos worth of property and crops. A situation compounded by a weather bureau that could not tell 140 kph from 140 mph, as when Milenyo scored a direct hit on Metro Manila last year. Killer typhoons often result in killer floods and killer mudslides in which uncounted thousands disappear in a few seconds of biblical catastrophe. Has the Philippine government or anyone else ever come up with a definitive casualty count in Ormoc or in Real and Infanta, or in St,.Bernard Guinsaugon? As if killer typhoons, killer floods and killer mudslides were not punishment enough, we are also on the seismic belt known as the Pacific Rim of Fire and experience killer earthquakes.. Vietnam has typhoons but virtually no earthquakes. Indonesia has earthquakes, but virtually no typhoons. Only the Philippines , Taiwan , China and Japan are regularly visited by the Four Horsemen of the East Asian Apocalypse, and we, being by far the poorest of the four, experience the worst suffering.. If we are indeed God�s Chosen People, we have been chosen to suffer the most. But it is the man-made disasters that, unique in this part of the world, have devastated this country physically, socially, economically, politically and morally. And these include a run-away population growth rate; a judicial system that takes years, even decades, to render judgment; an American-style liberalism that allows the Communist movement to simultaneously wage both an armed revolution and a �legal� struggle against the government; consistently poor choices in economic strategies for the past 40 years; rampant lawlessness despite � or because of � the presence of 40,000 lawyers; institutionalized fraud in its electoral process; the most corrupt government in East Asia; and a political and media culture that breeds Idiot Candidates and Idiot Voters, and now, Idiot Prophets as well. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Gods Chosen Doormat� More Reactions to �Let Them Eat Statistics� I liked your column today. You are right - It is a wonder how that article got into the front page at all. Such writers take too much liberties with the truth. All the best to you! [email protected], April 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Tony Abaya Just read your article dated today on "God's chosen doormat" and what can I say? Amen to everything. The historical data presented was impressive. You just have to consider this guy Lacson as a product of the ruthless hand of ignorance! Personally, this writer prefers to be saved from stupidity/idiocy than from sins as advocated by the different Christian sects. It's only the Great Architect of the universe who can give salvation...Nobody else! Please continue the good work and your line of thinking is like a Freemason...I hope your are one! (I am not. ACA) I remain, Roberto Cabilao, (by email), April 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You are so pathetic in this piece. Maybe you need a new set of eyepiece. I do not exactly like what is happening to our country but, I, nay many, do not share this kind of trashing one can speak of his country and his people. At the very least, you should be thankful of what is going on in the Philippines , otherwise you will not have an outlet to throw your trash. Looking at oneself in the mirror usually helps the person to have a better view of things. Why don't you try? Who knows it might help you too. Arnel Serrano, (by email), California , April 14, 2007 MY REPLY. One insult deserves another. Why don�t you follow your own advice and look at yourself in the mirror and see if you espy God�s Chosen People in it. Who knows it might help you, too.. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony: The late John F. Kennedy laid an advice on Americans who feel always frustrated when changing their country and the world with it: "And so, my fellow Americans," John F. Kennedy gave his most famous advice, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country!" I think this advice applies mostly to Filipinos when they are frustrated at the continued backwardness of our country and the continual failure of whatever administration to do something about it, even though every Presidential aspirant, from Manuel L. Quezon to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has blandly promised their electorate that if given the chance to be chosen as their President, they would eliminate all of these problems during their incumbency. Isn't it high time that you tell your readers what you could do about those problems that you bemoan at rather than keep harping about those problems without doing anything about it? Tony, I have been praising you to high heavens for writing your thoughts and for choosing me to become one of your listeners which I am very proud to be. But I think its high time that you should be offering more constructive solutions to the problems that you are bemoaning of rather than continually harping on those problems by blaming others which you yourself cannot even present a viable solution. I appreciate your ideas but continually blaming others for the deficiency of our nation is not going to solve anything. Why don't you present constructive ideas instead of giving a long list of excuses why something cannot be done. Thank you very much for being a recipient of your email. I am very proud of it just as I am very proud of you. Very truly yours, Ramon A. del Gallego, (by email), April 14, 2007 MY REPLY. I�m not sure I can recall all the �constructive solutions� I have suggested in this space, but here goes. I have suggested that our electoral rules should be rewritten to require all candidates for public office to pass qualifying exams so as to discourage the stupid and the ignorant from running for public office no matter how popular they may be with the squealing masa. I have also suggested that senators be elected by regions instead of nationally so that all regions are always represented in the Senate. Years before the current French elections, I suggested that we should have a run-off or second-round in our multi-candidate presidential elections, so that the winner always has the support of more than 50% of the electorate. I have also suggested that convicted felons and coup plotters be disqualified from running for public office. I have also suggested that all political ads be banned from radio and TV, to even the playing field for rich and poor candidates alike. Instead government-owned Ch. 9 and Ch 13 and their radio networks should be taken over by a constitutional body during every election campaign period, which will schedule programming with FREE airtime for all registered candidates and parties. I have also proposed that we should not have another election until the entire process has been completely computerized (with paper trail for verification in cases of disputes) to make fraud harder to commit.. I have also suggested that we should dismantle all political dynasties, even if it takes a revolutionary government to do it, since incumbent politicians will never agree to dismantle their dynasties. I have also suggested that an electronic voters� ID card be the basis for an electronic national ID card, to weed out multiple registrants and at the same time systematize government functions such as the issuance of driver�s licenses, passports, police and NBI clearances, gun permits, as well as private sector checks related to bank loans and connections to power, water, cable TV, telephone and internet service providers. I have also suggested that the Philippines follow the example of Iceland and declare a deliberate official policy to wean ourselves from the present carbon economy and move towards a hydrogen economy, including the use of hydrogen fuel cells, as demonstrated to me in Los Angeles . I have also suggested that fuel cells should get their hydrogen, not from methane or natural gas (which still generate carbon dioxide when burned) but from the electrolysis of ordinary water, using electricity produced by wind turbines or solar panels. I have also suggested that Metro Manila�s daily 6,200 tons of solid waste be buried in sanitary landfills and the methane gas produced by the decomposition of organic matter be collected and used to generate electricity, as was shown to me in Australia . I have also suggested that, to reduce road congestion and air (especially diesel exhaust) pollution in Metro Manila, our chaotic jeepney-buses public transport system (?) be scrapped and replaced with an electric tram network inter-connected with the LRT-MRT trunk lines, as in most European cities. I have also suggested that to reduce air (especially diesel exhaust) pollution in Baguio City �s downtown and add to that city�s charms, a modest cable car network, similar to the one in San Francisco , be installed. I have also suggested that a subway be built under the existing PNR right-of-way from Caloocan to Muntinlupa, for a high-speed commuter rail line that will run from 5:00 am to 1:00 am the next day, and for the transport of containers from Port Area to a container yard in FTI in Taguig during the slack hours from 1:00 to 5:00 am, to remove road-hogging container rigs from the metro streets. Years before Gawad Kalinga, in the program of government that Presidential Candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago requested me in 1992 to draft for her, I proposed, and she accepted, that student volunteers be organized into production brigades to build housing for the poorest of the poor, and that the housing beneficiaries be organized into manufacturing co-operatives that will fabricate items for which there is a real demand and need, starting with, but not limited to, the components that go into housing. I have also suggested that Roxas Blvd, from Luneta to the Cavite border, be made into a non-stop freeway by building at most three new interchanges (at Pedro Gil, President Quirino, and MIA Road), and this non-stop Roxas Blvd-Coastal Road be connected by a major interchange near the Chinese Temple to C-5, which should also be made non-stop all the way to Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. In my only one-on-one with President Arroyo, in September 2001, I suggested � and repeated that suggestion several times in my column � that, to generate employment opportunities, especially in the rural areas, each municipality of a certain minimum population size should have a one-hectare manufacturing zone, on the reasoning that one hectare of agricultural land, planted to rice or corn, cannot sustain even only one family, but that one hectare of land, if converted into a manufacturing zone, can sustain several hundred families. When I started writing a column in 1987, I pressed the point that the key to the success of South Korea , Taiwan and that this success formula was being replicated by Malaysia , Thailand and Indonesia , but not by the Philippines . I have also suggested in a meeting with President Ramos in 1995 that the tourism marketing efforts of the Philippines were pathetically inadequate compared to those of Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, etc and I wrote in 2001 or 2002 that the �Wow! Philippines � TV ad should be withdrawn as a waste of money since it was poorly conceived and was not likely to entice tourists to come. I have also suggested that, to defeat our Communist insurgency, we should adopt the legal and constitutional methods used by Malaysia and Singapore to defeat their Communist insurgencies, without the need to kill anyone. I have also suggested that, assuming the government is credible (as it was when I made the suggestion in 1987), it should have a one-hour program everyday, carried simultaneously by all radio and TV stations, without exception, during which the public will directly hear/see what the government is doing for them, and the public can speak directly to the government and air their requests and grievances, without the intervention of commercial media, which often have their own selfish agendas to push. I have also suggested, when GMA foolishly sent 51 Filipino policemen to Iraq as a gesture of support for Bush�s Coalition of the Willing, that the best way to help the Iraqi people was to send shipments of Philippine-made medicines and drugs to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society to help civilian victims of the war, especially the poor, innocent children. I wrote that if this gesture were repeated for other civilian victims of other wars (Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan) as well as victims of natural disasters (earthquakes in Pakistan and Iran, tsunami in Indonesia, famine in Sudan), the Philippines would earn the goodwill of the members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, who would then be in the proper frame of mind to help us solve our own problems with our Muslim community. Islam is especially sensitive to gestures of charity. What have you suggested lately? I do not agree with your proposition that trashing Alex Lacson�s 12 Signs is tantamount to or synonymous with blaming him or others for the deficiencies of this country. . wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir, Thank you so much for furnishing me with an e-copy of your articles. Indeed, I am very much enlightened. More power and good health, SIR! Art Abu '92, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) ASTOUNDING! No wonder we are an "Idiot Nation"! Sylvia, why did you let that slip by? Hihihi! Louie Fernandez, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) I'm innocent, Kuya Louie. I write only my Mixed Media column and edit only Global Nation. The rest I survive, cheering Conrad when he replies to something like this with something like "13 signs." http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=59634 :) Sylvia (Mayuga), (by email), April 14, 2007 Philippine Daily Inquirer wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hahaha! That was funny!, Happy Easter! Mary Ann O�Connor, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww HAPPY (POST) EASTER 'TOKS' TONY ah - " bye" - as we address friends in our Visayan dialect! I THOUGHT WE HAVE ENOUGH OF A LACSON WHO IS NOW "INCARCERATED" BUT RUNNING (AWAY?!) FOR SENA(PREDA)TOR [aW~ pheW] ~ AND LIKE JAL ( HAL!) LOSJOS COULD WIN, BECAUSE OF "IDIOT"VOTERS. I am "maybe" ashamed to tell you, but I am not about to be an idiot voter next month. I intend to become an "idiot" ~ NON ~voter, for the first time in my life. (oh yes, I turned 83 this past April 1. and STILL waiting for you to become my guest at Polo - for breakfast of any kind of BREAK you wish from you. Incidentally my son Tony Jr. will inaugurate a small "School of the Seas" come May 19, but you are welcome anytime on, before or after that date. I assure you, in the environs-ambience of the " moving sea ~ from shore to shore" you will stop writing, and maybe go into some contemplative whatever, or "contextualize" about other things in our beautifulllll country and lovely "smiling" kababayanSSSSS! (kapwa ko , mahal ko!) I know you have a million other books, but I bet you, you have NOT, repeat NOT! read the book by Zalman Schacter Shalomi "From Age-ing to Sage-ing". I will lend you the book, and please read it, instead of the "13th" sign from Alex Lacson.. Maybe, I can even introduce you to the "capitalist" game of golf. I am sure you are "in the know", that it is a game of constant challenge, bigger than the 12 sings or signs!! China has a lot of golf courses already. Russia - the only commune Koontrie that has not given way to the elitist game - yet! Have a nice happy weekend. Tony Oposa, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: How can anybody, let alone a Filipino who is not deaf and blind, assert that Filipinos are "the chosen people of God?" Alex Lacson must be deaf and blind to make such an assertion which has absolutely no factual basis. If he is not that, then he must be delusional. Given the sorry and miserable condition which has afflicted the majority of Filipinos these past several decades, an intelligent and objective observer cannot escape the conclusion that God does not love the Filipino people, that the truth could only be that God has forsaken them. Mariano Patalinjug, (by email), Yonkers , NY , April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Antonio, Thank you very much for your post 'God's Chosen Doormat.� As a visitor to your country I found it very informative and I will save it as a reference tool. Your last paragraph to my mind, and I know I am in a minority of your readers, was a slight blemish on an otherwise perfect article. By the way, as a British subject I must inform you that Trafalgar Square London is the centre of the Universe, I thought you would want to know that. More power to your elbow. Warm regards, Doug Adam, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, You are right. Any part of the world can be considered by its inhabitants as the center of the world, wherever that may be. You are also right, there are many typhoons and natural calamities and worst, even manmade calamities that have devastated all spheres of our national development for decades. However, while Mr. Lacson may be suffering from his own parochial mind and without denigrating him nor you, may I point out that just like any citizen looking at his part of the world as the center of the universe, it is also true that it is in our own way of looking at ourselves, our attitudes, our perceptions of the world around us, our beliefs, that affect our lives and those around us in a big way. Lacson believes despite our follies as a nation and the many problems we face today, that we are a chosen people of God. Let it be. We are who we believe to be, we can become who we perceive ourselves of becoming. For that matter, history is defined by those that are affected by it. Like the center of the world idea, those who want to define their own brand of history in their minds may do so as well from their own perspective. If you say we are God's Chosen Doormat, and succeed in peddling this idea to all the world, well perhaps we (and you) will deserve it. On the other hand, I would rather peddle Lacson's optimistic view of our people, believing we shall rise above whatever follies we have as a people, trusting always in God despite our own misgivings and trials, rather than being one and part of those who look down on an already down and out people. There is nothing to gain in feeling and believing such, so I for one would choose to believe yes indeed we are God's chosen people, and let God bless us for believing as such. As to the "parochialities" of Lacson's mind, let him as well as others enjoy his beliefs, it is a small indiscretion we can allow them to have in these times of negatives. I would not stop them. As to why the Inquirer would publish Lacson's article in such grand manner, I think they have published much less or more negative views than this one, and I for one would not make a mountain out of an anthill. You can probably have coffee with their editors on that, but no one has the right to question publicly their right to put anything parochial or grand in their papers, much in the same manner I would not question your ideas for writing against it. "If we are indeed God�s Chosen People, we have been chosen to suffer the most.", you aver. Well, His Own Son suffered the most for His peoples, there is no reason why we could not suffer too. I could not question His will on sufferings, this is simply beyond me, nor can I fathom His will for all of us. Is Lacson really being parochial, or is his view deeper, broader than ours? That is his view of his world. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!!! Rene Pamintuan, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, A few years ago, a few friends and I traveled to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. Up till then I had only seen pictures in some old edition of National Geographic, one or two newsreels featuring it, and let�s not forget, those immortal scenes from Tomb Raider (hey Angelina Jolie makes any scene, anywhere, immortal). Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the real thing. As I gazed upon this immense marvel, I turned to one of my companions and whispered �God must really love the Filipinos, We are truly his favorites�. Being of a spiritual (?) nature, she and the others with us, also spiritual (?) I suppose, turned to me and asked me why I thought so. I said I figured that if a civilization like this with all the primitively awesome power, architectural prowess, and amazing force of will that went into building a city of this magnitude could be wiped out and disappear without a trace, then, it must be only with the divine indulgence of GOD that the Filipino, with its fragmented and primitive culture and (if I read one of Ambeth Antonio�s piece on early Filipinos correctly) it being so unmotivated and without sense of urgency, had survived at all. Let me just say that for the next few days, life in the Cambodian jungle was colder than Mark Twain�s San Francisco summers. Which leads me to my point. Many Filipinos seem to put a great amount of stock in the various mythologies of Filipino greatness. Whether this is a reaction to a lack of anything really significant to be proud of ( I think the last big thing was EDSA revolution Uno) or a false pride instilled by the Catholic Church in being the only Catholic country in Asia or a hangover from Ferdinand Marcos�s great Filipino myth (remember bogus story of Armando Lite inventor of the ArmaLite? Stuff like that.) I cannot tell. But what I can see that many Pinoys find that it�s easier to revel in the past, whether mythic or real, rather than face the present, and work towards a future. Maybe that�s the key. Don�t shuffle the religious BS or the �Filipino has rejected violence and therefore is destined to progress� press release. And please let�s not be so offended when someone suggests that maybe we�re not as great as we think we are. If one thinks that the Pinoy is so great, then prove it. Let�s not talk about being great, let�s prove it. Personally, as much as I love being a Filipino, I�d be hard pressed to call us great and would be intentionally ironic if I ever said we were CHOSEN. I think were ok as far as cultures and peoples are concerned. And ok is not a bad thing to be. I need a beer. Jaime Garchitorena, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I don�t think that the column by Mr. Lacson at the Inquirer is entirely wrong. Nawala lang yung objectivity of his views. It is true that the Philippines is rich with its natural resources and with the people. You have to understand that the Philippines used to have a solid base with its education system that produced some of the brightest people in the world. Proof is that the food scientists of the progressive countries like Korea , Vietnam , Taiwan were educated here in the Pinas. You also failed to cite the example of the SARS disease that could have wiped out our population, given the lack of facilities and the uncleanliness of Filipinos. The tsunami that killed thousand in our Southeast Asian countries. We were spared of these tragedies. (The SARS disease was prevented from becoming an epidemic/pandemic not only in the Philippines , but also in China , Korea , Japan , Taiwan , Hong Kong , Indonesia , Malaysia , Singapore , Thailand , Vietnam , etc. So, no miracles there. As for the tsunami, it started off the western coast of Sumatra and could not have reached the Philippines even if it tried to. The tsunami waves reached six meters high, not high enough to traverse the land mass of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia , which must be several hundred meters high in parts. Look at an atlas or a geography textbook and tell me how that tsunami could have possibly reached this country. Sorry, no miracles or Pinoy ingenuity there either. ACA) One glaring thing for the downside of our country is our moral standards. As I have written to you before, I will think that our standards have deteriorated. One of the reason why I am not a Catholic anymore because d rin malinaw on what and how they teach the moral education the way Jesus Christ would do it. Catholics never encouraged people to read the Bible. Kung ikaw nga na nag study under the Jesuits, you were not to really able to contemplate on the Bible. You can just imagine how ordinary Catholics lived their lives. " The end justifies the means" ang motto ng karamihan, both the poor and the rich. The most developed countries of the world now like Korea , China , Sweden , Netherlands , Germany , Canada , Belgium , US, England , Finland and other have a common denominator: have solid Bible - based education. (Not quite true. China and North Korea are officially atheist countries. South Korea is predominantly Buddhist. The Netherlands , Germany , Canada , Belgium , England and Finland are nominally Christian but their education systems are essentially secular. Sweden is officially Lutheran � meaning, the citizens pay taxes to support the Lutheran Church � but very few people attend church services, and their education system is also essentially secular. ACA) What I am saying that these countries may not have dominant Protestant members, but the population has a sizable amount of Christians. My point here is not to blame Catholicism as there are also members of Protestant churches na nakakahiya rin. Nawala na kasi yung moral side of our lives eh. Most people I know pag Sunday santo pero pag Monday to Saturday, balik sa dati ang mga demonyo. Although I am not a saint, but I think we should develop the passion of the purpose of living here on earth. We always look at the big picture. Why done we try? Thanks and more power to you, sir! Mike Delgado, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Mr. Tony, I'm a tad annoyed every time I hear people say "Chosen People of God". Even in homilies I hear this thing. Now it's more specific...Filipinos are the "Chosen People of God". Pronouncements like this only create animosities with other people/religions. It's no different from those fundamentalists. I was taught to believe (in Roman Catholicism) that all human beings were created in the image of God. So why does Alex Lacson's God should discriminate? Shouldn't He be all inclusive? No wonder most of the world's troubles were the effect of exclusive religions. We are okay, they are not. We go to heaven, they go to hell. Heck, can we not just practice a more "Universal Religion (UR)"? Your God is my God. We (meaning all people in the whole world) are all chosen people of God. We all go to heaven. No quarrel there, I suppose! But then there are the religious zealots. Regards, Napoleon P. Serrano, (by email), Dhahran , Saudi Arabia , April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) Thanks, Sylvia, for forwarding the url below. And thanks for people like Tony Abaya and Conrad Quiros for deliciously rebutting that incredible article that has now become the butt of jokes of rational people everywhere. Lacson is the product of schools and a culture that teach and rear their children to believe and not to think. Louie Fernandez, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) Dear Louistje, I agree with you absolutely! I don't believe there is such a thing as God's Chosen People - another big Old Testament Delusion. It's a pity many Roman Catholics, including many Church authorities, believe in this mythological Hebrew Bullshit. That's the same as the Islamic camel dung. They believe everybody else outside their religion is an Unbeliever. I believe in God with my whole heart and my whole soul, but I don't believe He has favourites. In the not too distant past, we were made to believe, (even by the Jesuits) as a matter of faith and dogma, that "outside the Catholic Church, there is no salvation." That's the Catholic horse manure! So what happened to all the people who died before the establishment of Christianity? They all went to Hell? (Didn�t the Jesuits tell you? They went to Limbo. Which the Vatican now says does not exist. ACA) Frank Jimenez, (by email), West Orange , New Jersey , April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. God’s Chosen People That the Filipino today is God’s Chosen People says little about the Filipino. In fact, it says a great deal more about God and the ways of his deathless partner – the devil gifted with a more efficient free will than yours or mine. To be God’s Chosen means to be subjected to persecution, if not degradation. Consider the Jews then popular as the Chosen People of God: they were driven from their natural home by the Roman capture of Jerusalem ( 70 AD. ), scattered, persecuted, and decimated by Christianity and Islam – which have been born of their scriptures; barred by the feudal system from owning land; shut up in congested ghettoes; mobbed by people and robbed by kings; outcast and excommunicated, insulted, and injured; and in modern times in Germany, they were isolated, mutilated, decapitated , asphyxiated, cremated, and granulated. These are some of the horrors the Chosen People of God must experience in this world. I said it before, I say it again: - so long as we continue to have faith in divinity, so long as we continue to be frightened of deviltry, so long as we continue saving our stupid souls with prayer and theology, so long as we continue degrading the evolution of our intelligent minds, so long as we continue degrading the power of science and technology, we Filipinos, in the centuries to come, shall surely be even more famous as the Chosen Sick People of a sick God in Asia. Poch Suzara, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, I read with interest your April 10, 2007 article regarding the above subject and frankly speaking I was amused going through all your arguments and views on the matter. If I had gone over Alex Lacson�s essay first hand without reading yours, like most Filipinos, I would welcome it as a very worthwhile diversion from our everyday problems that never seem to leave us. As if I was enjoying a very pleasant dream and somebody woke me up. If I somehow managed to write an essay about the subject of �If Jesus Christ was born today, he would be a Filipino� then I think it would be a hit. The Philippines has struggled with so many problems from time immemorial that the ordinary Pinoy would welcome anything at all to make him or her feel a little better. The truth of the matter is that it would take something short of a miracle to get us out of our present situation. The bottom line is, we can pinpoint all of our problems but the problem is we can�t solve them. Yours very truly, Noe Castanos, (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Quoting you..."a media culture that breeds Idiot Candidates and Idiot Voters, and now, Idiot Prophets as well" .... is my definition of a SOULLESS MEDIA, which our perpetual Philippines has. Keep up the good work and continue to be a good catalyst. Best wishes. Allan Presto, (by email), April 15, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thanks for the emails. I appreciate your updates and fora for us to participate in.. More power to you and may you have an even wider readership. It's people like you and your participants that would inspire others to be more involved in the affairs of our people and country. Let's pray we'll have enough people for the Lord to spare our country from the Sodom-Gomorrah tragedy when Abraham could not present enough after bargaining to reduce the Lord's requirement. Aurora N. Riel, (by email), Murfreesboro , North Carolina , April 15, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Re God's Chosen Doormat, I just wish we could focus on the problems at hand and the possible solutions. Katherine Mayo, authoress of the book The Isles of Fear early last century quipped, the Filipinos are brilliant and articulate but they are strangers to the tools in their hand. Think about that! Lionel Tierra, (by email), April 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I agree 100% with all the enumerated ills and defects of the Philippine culture and its political system. I also agree that to claim we are God's Chosen People is a long, wild shot. But I also remember a line from Miguel de Cervantes� "Man from La Mancha " where he described Dulcinea to the effect that, deep inside her, she is an epitome of goodness and rectitude, despite her being a woman of ill repute. That description changed the life of that woman for the better. Some people call it the Pygmalion Effect. Besides, Biblical and historical materials tell us that those favored by God have been demonstrably of low character and unfit to be chosen due to their incompetence and deplorable qualities. In the process most of them suffered deprivations and ignominable deaths. And these people eventually rose above their wretched reputations to occupy worthy roles and places in history and in the story of salvation. Can we not just close our eyes for a while and suspend disbelief for one moment? Ike Eslao, (by email), April 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Perhaps the Tourism Department should hire Alex Lacson and set him loose with his zany theories to see if he can convince people around the world to visit, invest in and extol the country. He reminds me of Imelda when she went around expounding her wacky "cosmic" theories about the Philippines being the center of the universe. These characters may strike us normal folks as totally nuts, but perhaps they should be humored for their cheery childish optimism in the face of the general prevailing misery. Isabel Escoda , (by e-mail), Hong Kong , April 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww " "12 Signs that convinced me that we (Filipinos) are the Chosen People of God. He chose us to be messengers, to be His ambassadors, to spread His message in other parts of the world.." LOL!!! He forgot the 13th sign--God had given majority of the Pilipino people the gift of "religious gullibility and stupidity"-- makes it easier to accept their miserable lot!!! A little bit of sugar makes the medicine go down ---lah-di-dah!!! Alexander Po, (by email), April 17, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, We have indeed become a nation of "idiots" and the trend is towards even more idiocy as a nation: 1.Majority of the people are poor. And as such, have limited access to nutritious food to grow their brains and their bodies, and furthermore they can hardly get a good education,... but they are the ones that populate the most, creating even more frail bodied uneducated brain-deficient Pinoys. While Pinoys who have some brains and skills and entrepreneurial spirit are leaving the Philippines to instead enrich the economies of other countries, and they are also the ones who tend to have less children. End result: an ever growing number of idiot Pinoys. 2.Add to the above our flawed educational system; weak, irrelevant and outdated religious leaders; and a perverted culture of corruption and self love among the governing classes...End result: an ever entrenching black hole of "idiot citizens" living in the Republic of Idiots . Nonoy Yulo, (by email), April 17, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Sir, if you want to have more readings about the topic on "God's Chosen People", may I suggest Herbert W. Armstrong's book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, in case you haven't read that yet. It can be requested online at thetrumpet.com. The book explains that the Israelis - particularly the Jews now residing in the country of Israel are the remnant of the tribe of Judah - hence the term Jews. The other tribes of Israel originally referred to as God's Chosen People were scattered and eventually lost their identify as a result of their capture and made slaves by their enemies. Driggs Matabaran, (by email), April 17, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Well, it goes to show that militant leftists and aloof fundamentalists go well together under the roof of a communist rag that goes by the name Philippine Daily Inquirer. Vinz, (by email), April 17, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I think Mr. Lacson failed to include one most convincing sign that we Filipinos are the Chosen People of God. It is our run-away population growth, in obedience to His command "Go ye forth and multiply". Allan G. Buyayo, (by email), April 18, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �Let Them Eat Statistics� Mr. Abaya, A Philippine Inquirer article of April 13, 2006, reports "Most Filipinos back artificial birth control -- survey" http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=60240 . From the beginning, the Catholic Church has warned that once birth control is legalized, it will lead to a subsequent "slippery slope" of: legislation for legalized abortion and finally, legislation for legalized euthanasia. Just before I left Hawaii in 2006, legalized euthanasia was on the legislative agenda. The Catholic Church successfully lobbied against it and it was shelved ... then. The Philippines , if she does not heed the Catholic Church and votes to legalize birth control, will follow the pattern and plight of other countries who have initially legalized birth control: subsequent legalized abortion and finally, subsequent legalized euthanasia. (Birth control does not have to be �legalized� since it is not against the law. ACA) Despite so-called polls, surveys and statistics: "Wrong is wrong even when nobody is right. Right is right even when everybody is wrong." The majority vote taken in the first poll/survey taken in history, was proven wrong: "Crucify Him." Pierre Tierra , (by email), April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Greetings to participants in this discussion! Limit population? Every time people think of population control, they really think control of the poor and abortion. Look around you, barring feigned blindness that is much worse than cataracts and astigmatism and physical blindness (for the real sightless learn fast to use their other senses to compensate for a handicap). Now, look again. If you do not like statistics and prefer gut feelings, what percentage of poor children have motivation to succeed and motivation to learn compared to the percentage of the rich children with comparable motivation? What a plan to have a society that will be manned by non-caring, spoiled brats brought up with tantrums rather than a society with such brats (Do I have to name names of those with penchant for crying foul and sue when some people are perceived to share a bit of their self-defined regal space called privacy?) but saved from themselves by those who learn to be human early in life because they did not have to live with Materialism as their God? The children of the poor do not cause poverty. The so-called planners are so pretentious. They are like those who are committed to �conducting� scientific studies, statistics and all, but with flawed designs as they had asked the wrong questions (they are with poor problem definition). The so-called planners know too well that when one asks a silly question, he gets a silly answer. So, solving the problem that is called poverty by family planning for the poor is really begging the question. It does not have to be the Catholics to be the punching bags here. The Catholics are not the problems, either. Catholics or not, if you have respect for life, you will need to face the moral problem: To kill or not to kill. You do not solve poverty by strangling or murdering the poor. The planners would have us believe that we should eliminate poverty by making the poor disappear. Filipinos want GMA and FG out of the palace, but I do not think that the means to do it is just to kill them. GMA in her cheating, lying, stealing, killing policies could on one hand go to Rome to say she had been instrumental in eliminating capital punishment (that is execution of people who had been convicted) and on the other hand encouraged execution of those who oppose her, without due process (with her persecution in place of prosecution). How could the average Filipino even think of murdering those sinless children yet to be born? If as Filipinos, we had been generous not to murder GMA and FG, but rather repeatedly imploring them to just vacate the palace despite such atrocities globally observed, why can�t we re-define the problem as eliminating poverty rather than eliminating the poor of this seemingly God-forsaken country? From my vantage point they are not interested in eliminating or alleviating poverty. They are interested in control of the poor in this land already suffering from GMA�s claws that with impunity destroyed our democracy. As Filipinos, we should reject the misguided agenda of the greedy rich that is growing richer to murder the poor that is growing poorer. Aurora N. Riel (by email), Murfreesboro , North Carolina , April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, I'm interested to have a copy of your booklet "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Communism". If you have an extra copy for me, I would really appreciate it. My address: (withheld) Compostela Valley Province . Thank you so much. Brig. Gen. Chay Holganza, (by email), Compostela Valley , April 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww MY REPLY TO YOUR REPLY No, Mr. Abaya. It's not mind boggling that hundred of millions of Roman Catholics use artificial methods of birth control. It is clear as night and day to me that the moral corruption of our days are so pervasive even among Catholics. So what if these so-called predominantly Catholic countries have below zero, zero or near-zero population growth rates? Does that make artificial contraception morally right? (For the people in those predominantly Catholic countries, the use of artificial methods of birth control IS morally right, and who are you to tell them it is morally wrong? ACA) The end doesn't justify the means. Ah yes, just go with the flow and don't rock the boat right? Let's face it, couples resorting to artificial birth control only want the pleasures of sex and delude themselves into believing that procreation, the main purpose of the sex act, doesn't matter. Selfishness lies at the root of the matter. Now if many Filipinos have this contraceptive mentality, is it any wonder this country is labeled most corrupt? (Paraguay has the highest population growth rate in South America, 2.43%. It is also known to be the most corrupt country in that continent. On the other hand, Sweden and Finland have very low population growth rates (flat zero and 0.06% respectively, ) but they are judged by Transparency International to be the least corrupt countries in the world. There is no connection between contraception and corruption. ACA) Corruption is not the monopoly of politicians, the military or businessmen alone. And we're just scratching the surface. "The many crises shaking the world today - those of the State, family, economy, culture, and so on - are but multiple aspects of a single fundamental crisis whose field of action is man himself. In other words, these crises have their root in the MOST PROFOUND PROBLEMS OF THE SOUL, from whence they spread to the whole personality of present day man and ALL his activities." - Plinio Correa de Oliviera Dr. Jose Maria P. Alcasid, (by email), April 15, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Please send me a copy of your booklet � A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Communism" if still available. Thank you Rollie Villarba, (by email), San Diego , California , April 15, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony -- since you said you'd send a copy of your booklet �A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Communism" to one of your fans, is there any chance of also sending one to this other fan of yours? If so, my address is (withheld). Thanks in advance. Isabel Escoda, (by email), Hong Kong , April 15, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hello Tony, As always another interesting piece. To be honest, I never really pay attention to any SWS or Pulse Asia survey. I do agree with your assessment that our economic malaise is traceable to the blunders of our leaders from Marcos to GMA (and yes except Estrada since he is half drunk during his presidency). But I do not fully agree with your proposal that export oriented manufacturing alone (I never said �alone.� ACA) is the answer. We must pursue a development of our own industry especially in the agriculture, promote tourism and yes improve the manufacturing sector. (Of course. ACA). Call centers and BPO's are a boom today but these are not value adding industry. They can be transferred to any place where labor and infrastructure is cheap. Going back to manufacturing, converting agriculture lands into manufacturing areas is risky. (One hectare out of, say, 1,000 hectares would not put agriculture at risk. ACA). Very risky since our food security is at stake. Even Japan and US are still subsidizing their agriculture. Provinces with strong agriculture output must harness nit just by putting farm to markets roads but food processing plants, canning or ports or anything that will enable our farmers to sell their produce quickly and at competitive prices. Besides manufacturing for exports has its downside. I started my career (I'm in semicon industry) as an electronics technician in a Korean company based in EPZA in Rosario Cavite. Our salary was so low that we virtually had no purchasing power. I've seen our operators struggle to make ends meet with their measly salaries. Over-all, agriculture and manufacturiing have to be developed side by side. Suburban areas can concentrate on manufacturing. Since China and Vietnam have already emerged as the low cost labor hub, we can focus on mid-complex industries. I just hope it is not too late for us. Thanks again and mabuhay kayo. Regards, Marvin Valido, (by email), April 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Garbage In Garbage Out. Probability formulas are scientifically derived and will not lie. However, the trick in surveys is in the choice of interviewers and respondents. Interviewer bias is difficult to avoid. Select your preferred place, time of day, and methodology of survey and you get the answers you want. Pachelo Lao, (by email), April 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Tony Abaya, Good day! As I read the reaction of Shelah Hockman (USA), I can not help but react on it because I firmly believe that one of the aggravating factors that causes poverty on a national level is population growth. Of course there are a lot of causes and policy issues. I agree on Planned Parenthood but not to the extreme of legalizing abortion. I firmly believe that it is more a problem, if not a crime, giving birth to children you can not even afford to give adequate food, shelter, clothing and education. I think raising more hungry, less educated children often leads to more problems in our society. The people, particularly the poor, should be given access to proper knowledge, and resources so they can make informed decision regarding their family life. Planned Parenthood is not saying, we are to kill children. What it is saying is to plan the number of children to a degree where parents can provide them decent and quality life. Now in the religious point of view, is it wrong? I totally disagree that advocating Planned Parenthood is a disrespect to human life. It is more a disrespect to human life when we deprive people the ways and means to improve their condition through deliberate planning the number of their children to a level they can responsibly afford. Population management is one area along with other socio-economic programs such as agricultural development and industrialization this country badly needs. Rodrigo R. Matabaran, (by email), April 16, 2007 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |