The impeachment trial— a time waster?

A friend of mine who has attended a couple of times the ongoing impeachment trial of the Chief Justice says it is “such a time waster”.   I wouldn’t know.  Not having had the good fortune to be there myself for a ringside view of the proceedings, I’d grab every chance to catch it on the radio as I drove between appointments.

There is so much to learn from it, I discovered, that now, whenever I can, I watch the replay while multi-tasking—doing the dishes, mopping the floor, giving myself a pedicure, tidying up closets—doing just about anything including more cerebral work like editing.  Instead of boring me, trying my patience, or distracting me from what I’m doing, watching the impeachment trial strangely satisfies me—because it’s a new experience in the pursuit of truth, a great way to learn about due process, court procedures, laws, and lawmakers!  It is so educational and entertaining that I look forward to it, perhaps in the same way a child anticipates an afternoon at the circus.

Call my sense of humor “warped” but I honestly think—and state with all due respect—that the impeachment trial has many of the elements of a spectacular circus. 

Let’s start with the clown—the darling of every child.  I confess that what spurred me to watch the trial on television was a text message from a priest which said: “The real mystery in the impeachment trial is, Who is the hairdresser of Cuevas?  Even Lady Gaga is asking, ha ha!”  Having come from an 82-year old priest who had never before forwarded a text-joke to me, the message naturally nudged my curiosity.  And when I finally laid eyes on the screen image of the Honorable Justice in a light-colored business suit, my imagination went wild.  The famous hairdo bore a breathtaking resemblance to that of a clown I’d photographed at a children’s party long ago.  Indeed, all he needs to add to complete the likeness is a red button nose and lips painted like Anne Curtis’.

Thus began my “discoveries”.  Truly, a book must never be judged by its cover.  As the trial unfolded the clown turned out to be a major circus star—the trapeze artist!  Sure of his step, perfect timing and astute moves, he defies age and dares perform sans the benefit of a safety net.  Wow!  In a huddle, one “pintasera” colleague, a nitpicker assessing the trial, surprisingly gushed forth, “Nakaka-in love si Cuevas!  Never thought someone so old could be so sharp!  Ang galing-galing niya, who cares about his hairdo!”

The clown could be bald for all I care, but for me—a child at heart—a circus wouldn’t be complete without a magician.  Magic tricks so enthrall me that even though I have cracked a few of them I haven’t given up guessing how the others are done.  Rabbits materializing from empty hats, scarves and coins being pulled out of someone’s ears, a deck of cards disappearing and reappearing in the magician’s hand—all these never fail to entrance me.  So, when classified bank documents materialized out of thin air at a congressman’s driveway, or reached the trial court through a mysterious female dwarf—another circus prop, by the way—I couldn’t help but gasp in awe, OMG, I just looove magicians!  And they amuse me even more when their gags backfire on them, exposing them as the real clowns!

Besides clowns and magicians, what makes the circus such a fascinating experience for me are the big cats—the tigers and the lions.  Seeing these carnivores behave in a manner unnatural to them—such as keeping still on minuscule stools or rolling over like puppies on command, jumping through flaming hoops, and doing other acts in the name of showbiz—convinces me that these beasts do possess an intelligence superior to that of some humans who sometimes behave like beasts.  It behooves me then to question: what is it about an impeachment trial that turns some Honorable Gentlemen into big cats—snarling, growling, and baring their fangs as though going for the kill?

Wherever that feline ferocity is directed, I commiserate with the witnesses who under examination have no choice but to cooperate.  They must be the acrobats and tightrope walkers in the circus, compelled to perform without prior training.

If big cats and acrobats are there to create suspenseful moments in a circus, audience-friendly animals are also employed to relax spectators.  Other Honorables basking in their two minutes of glory in the proceedings strike me as such: chimpanzees that provide laughs (with their clever lines); nimble seals that impress us (with their legal bravado); well-trained dogs that amuse us with human-like skills such as riding bicycles and assisting jugglers.  Incidentally, the canine squad includes pretty poodles dressed like princesses—because they’re bitches, not alpha males—and prancing about on their hind legs.

Can you at this point already put the faces on the members of this entertaining band?  Then your sense of humor is just as warped as mine—vive le cirque!

In the movie “Water for Elephants”, the star in the circus ring is a well-coiffeured lady who alone can gambol with the elephant.  Cross this lady with Shakespeare’s “weird sisters” who foretell Macbeth’s fate and you get a surefire circus attraction: Bearded Lady.  At the impeachment trial court Bearded Lady alone has the temerity to singlehandedly take on a virtual elephant—the collective weight of the honorable bigwigs in the hall.  Was it androgen excess or hypertension that once caused Bearded Lady to hyperventilate on account of “the fake documents that waste the time of the trial court”?  Whatever, Bearded Lady gave the elephant a tongue lashing then, and that David-vs-Goliath act drew chuckles and applause from circus-loving tv audiences and netizens.

Then we have the Circus Master—the man who sees to it that order in the show is kept.  But here he is the antithesis of a showy circus master—he is unassuming, performs without fanfare, and is just there to do his job.  In fact, with his mastery of the situation he prevents the circus from being reduced to a laughable enterprise.  Doubling up as Animal Trainer, he unwittingly entertains us when he cracks his whip to make sure the big cats behave and to put the monkeys and the dogs in their place.  Decades of hard life in circuses past must have given him the poise to preside over this supposedly august menagerie.  His mental agility and keen judgment is a living tribute to the glory of senior citizenship.

So—is the impeachment trial a “time waster”?  It need not be for me.  If I can actually be there at the court, I hope nobody minds if sit in a corner and crochet doilies.  Or maybe work with my laptop.  But if Security confiscates my crochet hook (deadly weapon!) or my laptop (bomb trigger!), I’m absolutely sure I’ll enjoy it just the same, because… circuses are more fun in the Philippines!  And that’s the truth.

+  RWS 479 January 29, 2012

4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel:  Mark 1: 21-28

23 In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; 24 he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?

 I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"

                                                                                                                                      

Unclean spirits at work

By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

The fearful complaint of the presence of Jesus by the man with an unclean spirit in the gospel incident cited above reminds me of a very common and pervasive situation in the world today and even at the work place and among workers—the lack of awareness of God’s presence and His loving will to save everyone, or, the apparent dominance of temporal and material things over those that are spiritual.  There is the so-called “tyranny of relativism” where things are considered not on absolute truths but on what suits personal and/or individual preferences.

Those who consider the workers more like tools and machineries for the production of goods, and who subsequently prefer greater profits than the greater welfare of the workers and their dependents—are like the man with an unclean spirit who fights against what Jesus came to earth for, which is to save mankind from all kinds of bondage, both in body and in spirit.  Likewise, the workers who do not see beyond their work and the material benefits thereof and do not make extra effort to inform and form themselves about the reality of God and their dependence on Him, are “silently”, and perhaps, unconsciously objecting to God’s active concern on His creatures and on the world which He has created.  Extraordinary sighting of demonic presence at the work place or scary manifestations of the evil spirits’ possession of workers may not be reported, but, there are certainly a lot of situations and things which point to the presence of the evil spirit in the world of work.

I believe that every worker should also beware of the presence of evil in the workplace and the various faces or forms it manifests. Recognizing one’s sins, mistakes and wrongdoings—one’s alliance with evil—is the first step to fearing the Lord and eventually crying for His mercy and forgiveness, thus, perfecting not only one’s work, but also one’s life.

Evil spirits in the workplace

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

Some years back I witnessed an exorcism at a construction site—a big hotel near Roxas Boulevard.  The owners of the building asked for it as they believed evil spirits were lurking, victimizing workers in a series of accidents, the worst of which was when a worker walked into a floorless elevator and naturally plunged to a grim death.  The exorcism rite was nothing like we see in the movies involving an exorcist battling the devil possessing a person.  This was an interreligious thing where “prayer warriors” holed out in a glass walled room on the ground floor prayed the rosary the whole night, while a select group of exorcists conducted a kabbala-based ritual several storeys up.

There to observe and write about the ritual, I was allowed to see the preparation, and was given enough information about what was to happen, but for my own protection I was told to stay with the prayer warriors during the ritual itself.  (By the way, the prayer warriors’ room was encircled in salt, a substance believed to shield one against evil spirits, and we inside that room were warned not to look outside the glass walls lest we see someone we know but who’s actually an evil spirit in disguise wanting to come in).  So, the exorcists had Latin prayers written inside a huge circle of salt where the exorcists were to sit during the ritual.  While kabbala is Jewish, the exorcists used some Catholic saints’ images, the crucifix, holy water, and lots of candles burning.

My point in telling you about this is: we need not wait for workers to die mysterious deaths in order to believe that there are evil spirits in the workplace.  Just as benevolent spirits are everywhere, so are malignant ones.  We could even be possessed by an unclean spirit, sad to say, without knowing, or admitting, that we are.  As long as we refuse to know ourselves to recognize that we could be enslaved by evil spirits, we will be cooperating with them in corrupting the workplace.  The spirit of pride, of anger, of lust, of sloth, of envy, et al—are they not present in us?  How are we freed from them?  As the gospel says—Jesus commands the unclean spirits and they obey Him!  Take a hint.   

'Ma, keep out of my bed!'

Quite a number of parents I know who have a good relationship with their children throw their hands up in frustration when it comes to the issue of the RH Bill.  A dear friend sounds weary telling me, “Hay naku, that subject is taboo in our home!  Mia is pro-RH.  She’s 22, studies at UP, and tells me, ‘Ma, you can tell me anything you want except go against RH.  Case closed!’ Imagine!  It makes me sooo sad!”

Another mother who is so passionately against RH Bill declined my offer of a pro-life car sticker, saying, “We have only one family car; my son will never use that sticker!”  She says that her 23-year old single, pro-RH son once and for all squelched her pro-life explanations with, “Ma, keep out of my bed!”  

Both mothers are devoted and practising Catholics, faithful to Church teachings, raised their children well, and have the sympathy and support of their husbands—typical of the happy middle class Filipino family.  And now, in their frustration, both are asking themselves, “Where did we go wrong?  They used to be such nice, obedient kids!” 

When a couple of my own nieces, in their late 20s, openly told me they were for the passage of the RH Bill, all I replied was, “Your are intelligent girls.  If you knew everything about that bill, you yourselves would fight it.”  They countered, “What’s wrong with giving maternal health services to poor people?”  Then the husband of one asked, “What else is there to know?”  I said, “Just think—if that bill were so perfect, why is it taking years to be passed?”  Long story short, he asked that I email him all background information I have about it.

So why would otherwise good and intelligent young people support such a damaging and misleading bill?  How do proponents of the bill lure to their camp well-meaning celebrities like Lea Salonga who herself admitted on TV during a debate that she does not contracept because she’d rather “leave it to God”, nor does she take the pill because “it’s bad for my voice”?  By the way, she was cut off the air at that point.

Young, supposedly smart people who openly and even loudly support the RH bill’s passage do so because they are misinformed—they are given limited information (usually about the “good side” of the bill) to tug at their heartstrings and make them believe they are doing the Filipino people some service by fighting anti-RH folks.

Others who tolerate RH Bill’s passage merely pick up information from the media—where the louder voices, as we know, are more commonly and easily heard and believed.  Few are convinced that the issue is important enough for them to read the bill, to follow the interpellation sessions, or to obtain more information from people in the know.

Worse, there is a malicious misinformation campaign aimed at establishing in the minds of the young that the RH Bill case is simply a Catholic Church vs. State issue: CBCP vs. Noynoy, Old vs. Modern, natural family planning vs. artificial, etc.  As a result many anti-Catholics, Catholics but anti-Church, and those who think themselves “cool” and avant-garde automatically judge the RH bill as commendable and put down the Church as a bunch of old fogeys and narrow-minded hypocrites who are woefully out of touch with reality. 

Enemies of the truth scheme to discredit the Church in the eyes of the young because the Church is the only institution potent enough to expose lies, defend the truth, and perpetuate the good.  The question is: how well are we arming our young people with the love of truth?      

 

UST human cross now Guinness World Records’ largest

It’s now official!  Guinness World Records has certified that indeed, the human cross formed by the Thomasian community at the the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011, is the largest ever formed in the world.

The letter from Guinness, dated August 8, 2011 and addressed to the UST Office of Public Affairs (OPA) says: “We are pleased to confirm that you have successfully set the new Guinness World Records title for ‘Largest Human Cross’.  Guinness World Records congratulates you on your achievement.  Enclosed is your official Guinness World Records certificate confirming your title.  Details of your achievement have been entered into our Records Database.”     

The Guinness World Records Certificate bearing the GWR seal was received by the UST-OPA on August 10, 2011, states: “The largest human cross was achieved by 13,266 participants at an event organised by the University of Santo Tomas (Philippines) in Manila, Philippines, on 9 March 2011.”

The human cross event at the UST was set for Ash Wednesday to highlight the message of the Lenten season, penance—a dramatic offering marking the University’s 400^th foundation anniversary.   Students, faculty members and employees with crosses of ash on their foreheads wore black and white to form the record-breaking human cross—they kept themselves still and in prayerful silence for 15 minutes.

The iconic black and white cross symbolizes the University’s Catholic and Dominican identity which has stamped Philippine history and Christian growth for four centuries now.  The Ash Wednesday event was also meant as the University’s affirmation of life, a timely statement wordlessly issued in the midst of the controversy over the Reproductive Health Bill.

The record of a cross made up of 13,266 people praying for the whole country would be hard to beat.  The Guinness World Records website places  the UST human cross in the “Amazing Feats” and “Mass Participation” categories.  This mass participation at the UST parade grounds is an amazing feat, indeed, and it could only happen in the Philippines! 

To see the official announcement online, go to www.guinnessworldrecords.com, click “Find a record”, write “Largest human cross” in the search field. 

Take 3: Mideo, TBoy, Miriam

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

What would you say if you were asked for comment on these occasions?

Last July 23, I got three emails from friends.  One reacted to a TV coverage of an art exhibit at the CCP where the artist reportedly “disfigured the image of Christ… with obscenities”.  Another suggested that the exhibit be stopped.  The third one enclosed the video coverage of the contentious exhibit.  Coming on the heels of the media-bloated Pajero-bishops brouhaha, this CCP thing understandably infuriated many devout Catholics like my friends who were rallying others to denounce the Church-bashers.  I emailed them my take on it: 

“I'd leave it to others to ‘do something about it’.

As far as I see it, this particular piece is not art; it is graffiti.  Art elevates the soul; graffiti regurgitates all the dirt the artist has swallowed from his environment.

Based on what the artist Mideo Cruz says in the TV interview, it seems his purpose for creating that piece is NOT to elevate the soul but to shock viewers.  He doesn't shock me.  Nothing anyone can do to disfigure an image of Christ can change THE image of Christ He Himself has revealed to me.  Neither can it arouse my indignation towards the vandal.  As an artist, he's free to express himself.  And those who are offended by his act are free to hit him.  Let's hope he learns that he has brought it upon himself due to his less than noble intention.

As for the alleged threats to the artist’s life on account of that work, I wouldn't bite that naively.  For all we know it's coming from anti-Church folks, done purposely to make the Church look bad, and knowing media would pick it up.  You know how such scandal mongers media can be.  A true follower of Christ will never do that (threaten etc...)

I don't know Mideo Cruz from Adam but judging from the handful of his works I have seen online, I think he wants to call attention to his work or to himself (as many artists do) but it could also be his veiled but desperate call for help to understand what the Church teaches.  He is a product of poor catechesis, to say the least.  So is Celdran.  So are the so-called Filipino Free Thinkers.  So there.  It comes back to us who believe we know better.  Do we know better, really?  How are we communicating God to our churchgoers?  To unbelievers?  To "infidels"?   If we see nothing amiss with our witness, then let us prepare to see more Mideo Cruzes rising from our present crop of kindergarteners.

That's all I can say, as I imagine Jesus writing in the sand. 

Shalom!”

Another instance when my comment was sought involved an article written by Teodoro Locsin, Jr. titled “Damn the bishops for taking it lying down”.  The piece extolled Senator Miriam Santiago who at the Senate hearing with the bishops “did what the pathetic bishops had failed to do for themselves, for their Church, and for her dismayed children”.

Allow me to share excerpts from the 1,604-word article:  “This shame cannot be wiped away until the Church pays back the government in the same coin it was dealt at the Senate.  If it doesn’t go on the attack in every pulpit in the land, then should all true Catholics turn their backs on this ridiculous, faithless and timid religion… God damn the bishops for their timidity and abjectness… may they all go to hell for shaming our religion.  In this scandal of lies, the government knocked the crown of glory from the head of the Church; if our bishops will stoop only to bow to their traducers rather than retrieve it, then every right thinking Catholic should pick it up from the gutter and shove it down the throat of the government.”

All I could say to the persons who asked for my comment was, “I don’t personally know Locsin, but I’m imagining Jesus scolding Peter “Get behind me, Satan!  You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

The third “take” was sought by text a few hours after Sen. Miriam Santiago delivered her sponsorship speech at the Senate yesterday.  The texter asked “How will CBCP or the bishops handle this?”  I read Miriam’s speech in her blog.  My semi-tongue-in-cheek reply was: “Why should CBCP or the bishops ‘handle’ it?  This woman totally misses the point.  She is so hell-bent on passing the killer bill that her own sound and fury deafens her to what the bishops and the pro-lifers are trying to say.  Instead of dignifying her flawed treatise with a response, the bishops should chill it.  Let’s pray they focus on inspiring and motivating the priests who would in turn set the pulpits afire with the power of conviction.  The fight for life goes on, the enemy’s cacophony notwithstanding.  (We can even turn the senator’s argument against her.  She insists on primacy of conscience?  Why then should the government legislate a bill that violates conscience?)   If in the process of conveying The Truth to the faithful the priests happen to mow down the senator, c’est la vie, but let not their moves be dictated by the misguided zeal of some.  Rather, let us continue sowing good seeds and doing better deeds. The moral of the story: See what happens when a few units of Theology get into a brilliant student’s head.”

I chuckled as that last sentence came with the image of Jesus telling His disciples, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind…”

See—I may not always satisfy people who ask for comments, but at least I tell the truth.  And that’s the truth.  (This article first came out in the author's column, AND THAT'S THE TRUTH, in the  August 2011 issue of CBCP Monitor, the official publication of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines)

  

One woman's story, as told to...

Following is the story of a public school teacher who went with friends to the Batasan to give moral support to the sponsors of the RH Bill.  Here’s her account, as told to this writer:

 “I am a public school teacher. I grew an interest in the RH Bill because of my friends who work in a Non Government Office (NGO) and are in favor of the bill’s passing.  Ever since I learned that we women would have at last a law dedicated to our health and empowerment, I followed the developments in the news.  I watched ‘Harapan’ and ‘Grand Debate’ on television.  I rooted for the pro-RH side, convinced beyond doubt that I would be among the first to benefit from the RH Bill if passed.  I voted online for the bill’s passing, and although I wondered why the anti-RH gathered more votes,  I thought people voted against the bill because they did not know what I and my friends knew; or maybe they were nuns and society women who do not experience the same problems we lower class women do.

“I am still of reproductive age, I take the pill, and I am married to a brute.  My children are aged 8, 7 and 5.  When talking with my friends about the helplessness of women in our society and under the law, I would get mad and think ours is really a male-dominated society.  Women who get to the top (like women in politics, business or movie stars) do so because they are born rich or beautiful and therefore have the support of men in power.  They have the luck which we other women do not have, but I am not complaining.  At least I finished college and have a good job; however, that does not put me in a much better place than my fellow Filipinas who never even got beyond Grade 6.

My NGO friends

The most beautiful shape  a woman can have

“I first heard about the RH Bill when my NGO friends invited me to their meetings, and that’s where I became convinced that RH would really be good for me and the poor women in our country, the underdogs in our male-dominated society.  I was thankful to have met also big names like Congressman Risa Hontiveros and Janet Garin, and for the first time in my life, I felt those lucky influential women do feel for us ordinary Filipinas after all.  Somehow I felt that among my friends and those women of power I would find support in enduring a bad marriage.

“I was thankful that it was school vacation when my friends invited me to join them at the Batasan to give support to our pro-RH Congressmen during interpellations on May 18, 24 and 25 and on June 1 and 7.  I met again Cong. Janet Garin who willingly posed for a photograph with us.  I saw Congressman Manny Pacquiao but when I suggested we take a snapshot with him, my companions held me back and said ‘sa kabila iyan!’.   I was frustrated but I did not mind.  I was so excited to be there among valiant women pushing the bill to help our poor sisters.

Nothing prepared me

“On my third time at the Batasan, May 25, something happened in me that up to now I cannot understand.  My NGO friends did not notice it but I knew I had begun to be less and less eager to join them, because I realized that nothing in my association or discussions with them prepared me for what I was to hear from ‘sa kabila’, like Congressman Roilo Golez and Pablo Garcia.

“I began to have this feeling that my friends had actually betrayed me although I could not pinpoint how.  As I listened intently to the interpellations of the anti-RH Congressmen and the replies of the RH Bill sponsors, and overheard some remarks of the ‘purple people’ in our gallery, so many questions kept popping up inside of me but I did not have the nerve to ask my friends because I felt they would not know the answers themselves.  Worse, I suspected that even if they did know the answers, they would not tell me the truth.  It was a very strange feeling that came with every discovery.  For example, I did not know about a ‘Magna Carta for Women’ until I heard Congressman Mitos Magsaysay interpellating, and I honestly thought she made sense in saying all RH Bill’s concerns about women’s health are already addressed in the Magna Carta for Women, making RH Bill practically a useless carbon copy.  I also had that strange feeling when the interpellation revealed that the contraceptives to be dispensed freely by the government would be bought with the people’s money.  However, I kept silent and tried to enjoy my time with my NGO friends, the burger meal we would share after each session, and I stuck it out with them up to the last date when the session was suspended.

New knowledge

“When the session resumes in July, I know I will tell them I cannot join them to Batasan anymore since I cannot be absent from my classes.  My unasked questions simmered in my head, leading me to reexamine my own personal situation in the light of the new knowledge I have gained from the arguments of the ‘kabilang side’.  For my own good and for the sake of my children’s future I believe such new knowledge should not be dismissed as propaganda as my friends believe.   

“I take the pill, I told you, but nobody ever told me about the side effects that Congressman Carlo Nograles reported during interpellation.  All I knew was what my doctor said when I asked her if I could take the pill.  She assured me my monthly period would certainly come every 28 days for as long as I’d take them; I heard nothing about how it could ‘regulate my period’ or what the pill did to my insides.  I would recall, however, that my doctor taught me how to examine my own breasts and be alert for lumps or a ‘palpable mass’ but she never mentioned about breast cancer, and I trusted her too much to bother reading the medical literature that came with the pill pack. 

With Aling Marcia

“Then I thought, too, about the poor women who hope to benefit from the passing of the RH Bill.  In one of those Batasan sessions I sat next to Aling Marcia, a woman from a depressed community in Metro Manila.  She said she would welcome the free birth control pills because her common law husband maltreats her and she does not want to add to their three children.   We are on the same boat: a brute of a partner, three children, and but I did not tell her.  I was too ashamed to.  She puts up with her partner because she has nowhere else to go, having reached only Grade 6 and having no skills to be on her own; I stick to my husband because in spite of my college degree I do not know any better.

“On the way home that night, I came upon the truth that yes, I take the pill, but not because I don’t want more children.  I love children and am not really against having more, if only my domestic situation were not so bad.

“I realized that through all those five years I have taken the pill, no child has been added, true, but my husband grew even worse.  He knows I am on the pill, so when he claims his ‘marital rights’ I cannot use the fear of pregnancy as an excuse to turn him away.  He insists on those “marital rights” on demand, and because he has superior strength, I am helpless.  Is that not rape?  When he comes home way past midnight, his breath reeking of beer and cigarettes combined with a strange perfume, and then robs me of sleep as he forces himself upon me, it is hell!  It must be the same hell Aling Marcia goes through, and I seriously doubt now if the RH Bill can really help us women who are poor and powerless and suffering in more ways than its sponsors can ever imagine.

True empowerment for women

‘Do they really believe that just because we’re using contraceptives, it would be right for men to use us when and as long as they want to?  That we would enjoy unlimited sex simply because we are not afraid to get pregnant?  There are many other reasons we would rather not have sex: when we sense infidelity in a husband, as when he takes his cellphone to the bathroom, comes home with lipstick on his collar, locks his account on the family computer, takes on too much ‘overtime’ without any explanations, so many other things.   

“Anyone who wants to really empower women should give us true education, the kind that teaches us how to stand on our own, to esteem ourselves as anybody’s equal.  They should implement programs to equip us to help out with family finances or become economically autonomous if need be.  They should create more opportunities for our husbands to become better providers, and implement laws that teach them a lesson when they have been bad to their wives.  The state should support our efforts at giving our daughters a well-rounded education that will make them explore their potentials and be fulfilled as human beings.

“I have discovered enough from those Batasan sessions to be able to say that life in our country cannot be improved by an extensive sex education program and free contraceptives for the poor.  I have to thank my NGO friends who brought me to Batasan, but if I am fortunate enough to hear more interpellations in the next Congress, I plan do so from the side of the people who wear red.  I may lose my friends in the process, but at least I will be true to the emerging new me.”   (From the author's column, "And that's the truth", in the CBCP Monitor)

     

  

Witnessing, Pacquiao Style

Note: the following article came out in the CBCP Monitor, Feb. 10, 2005. I’m reprinting it here for those who would want to know what makes the Pinoy champ tick. The photos, however, are being published for the first time. That's me with Manny, while in the other photo I'm wearing the robe and holding up the shorts Pacman was to wear for the fight. This was taken at shop of Davao couturier who made the outfit, Boy Guinoo, beside me.—TRT

I'm not a boxing fan. I don't relish fights—cock fights, dog fights, horse fights, salagubang fights—least of all people fights. So I'm not into boxing, really. But it's not everyday one gets the chance to shake hands with a boxer—a world champion at that—who makes the sign of the cross and kisses the rosary before entering the boxing ring. In fact, his posters depict him with arms raised in victory, and proudly wearing a rosary around his neck—so proudly that I'd wish certain priests would do the same with their Roman collar.

So when Manny Pacquiao's path and mine crossed in Davao (where he was to knock out Fahprakof Rakkiatgym and retain the IBF Superbantamweight title in October 2002), I gladly accepted his agent's invitation for me to meet him. My hosts insisted that Pacquiao—or any world champion for that matter—would make good copy anytime. And they're right.

But I wasn't interested in Pacquiao's being a boxer per se, or in his being material for a good story, curious though I was of what makes this diminutive Filipino such a giant in his chosen career. My intent was more "devilish." I was after his soul, so to speak. I aimed to probe his psyche. Why the rosary? Did this world boxing champion know that he's sort of serving the Church by his devotion to it, wearing it in his posters for all the world to see? Or is the rosary something of an amulet for him? I was just curious, dead curious.

And so we met. I was rather disappointed that his handshake was not bone-crushing at all, but a very gentle, almost shy one, like his smile. I had also expected him to be somehow image conscious, taking care what to say to media people, after all he's undoubtedly a celebrity's celebrity now, the Philippines' prime export. But no—this one is not a publicist's creation, and I discovered it doesn't take much to make the guileless Pacquiao open up. Just eyeball-to-eyeball contact and naked goodwill on my part. What I uncovered in my "probe" was an uplifting surprise: boxing can be a very spiritual thing, if done Pacquiao's way. Here, let me share with you a piece of the champion's soul.

TRT: What have been the most important lessons life has taught you?

MP. First, that I should have trust and faith in Him. Una iyan. Tiwala sa kanya, at saka pananalig. Kung wala Siya, wala rin ako. Second, that I must have self-discipline. Boxing is no laughing matter. You never know what awaits you when you climb up the ring. Pagpasok mo sa ring baka mamatay ka na, walang nakakaalam niyan. O kaya malumpo ka. You could come out of it a vegetable, or a corpse. And it calls for intense practice, you cannot take it for granted. Dapat, sa Diyos ka umasa at magtiwala, tapos sabayan mo ng disiplina sa sarili. Always pray. Through my faith in Him, I have been able to lift my family out of poverty.

TRT: What particular areas in life do you most need self-discipline on?

MP: My health. No late nights. Walang puyat-puyat. Walang gimmick. I should be in bed and asleep by 8 or 9; up by 5, rise, run for an hour. I should watch what I eat, too: vegetables, fruits, fish—palagi kong ulam iyan! I hardly eat meat, and when I do it should be fat free, inaalis yung taba bago iluto. Likewise, milk should be low-fat or skimmed. My food should be easy-to-digest because I have to remain alert. I religiously practise at one o'clock noon; I just follow my doctor's advice, he knows best, and I don't cheat. No advice from any expert will work if you don't have self-discipline. Even if somebody's guarding you, if you don't control yourself, all the good advice will amount to nothing.

TRT: Besides food and exercise, where else in your lifestyle would self-discipline prove invaluable?

MP: Sex. Sex is absolutely a no-no when I'm getting ready for a fight, which could run on for two, three months. Walang siping iyan. That's a regulation in boxing. Sex weakens you. In fact, some boxers are done in by their opponents' camp by using women as bait. Pinapainan sila ng kampo ng kalaban ng magandang babae bago sila lumaban They send you an irresistible woman the night before the fight—if you have no self-discipline, if you are weak, kakagat ka sa pain, you'll be easily tempted, and that's the end of you.

TRT: But how can you endure that?

MP: In whatever matter, when sacrifice is called for, one has to be patient. If it's food, I just don't look at it anymore. Our eyes are our Number One source of temptation. Lechon, masarap yun! Rich food? Of course, they all taste good, but if looking at them will just make me drool over them—pag tiningnan ko pa sila, maglalaway lang ako—so why should I look? So I refuse to look. Ganon din sa babae. Sino bang lalaki ang ayaw ng babae? (Same thing with women. What man would not want a woman?) But if looking at them would just make me long for sex, why should I look? Self-control is necessary; I just cover my eyes with blinders, parang sa kabayo. Kaya pag sinabi ng trainer ko, masama, masama. Hindi ko na kinukwestyon yun. Masunurin ako eh. Hindi ko na iniisip yung masarap na mawawala sa akin, dahil magapapahirap lang sa akin dun sa mabuting gusto kong gawin. (If my trainer says it's bad, then it's bad. I don't question that anymore. I'm obedient. I don't think anymore of the pleasure that I'll miss, because it will only make it harder for me to do the good I want to do).

TRT: You're trying to say that when you have a goal in life, you should take care not to put anything between you and that goal. But what about your wife? You're not alone in this, and she's still young…

MP: My wife understands that and is supportive when it comes to sacrifices. She knows that my foremost concern is to excel at what I'm doing. She knows it's for her and my kids that I do it. Para sa pamilya ko. And she sees the results of discipline—it is love in action. Love should be proven with action, not just with words, especially in marriage; actions must be constant proofs of love through years of togetherness. I must admit that sometimes my wife gets jealous of my work, but I'm patient, we both persevere, for our children, the family. I want my family to be proud of me, for my wife and my children to be able to say that I am a good husband and father.

TRT: Now that you've lifted your family comfortably out of poverty and provided for their secure future, is there anybody else you would want to help out?

MP: Oh yes! I help support sports in general, not just boxing. We conduct regular tournaments, like National Manny Pacquiao Cup for billiards… We have "pa-boxing" too, usually on my birthday, in Gen San where we invite boxers from Davao, for example, to participate. There is also the Manny Pacquiao Sports Foundation, established four years ago, to develop youth boxers, to give benefits to retired boxers iyung mga nalaos na tulad ni Navarrete, etc; to provide scholarships to boxers' children; to build a sports center not only for boxing but also for tennis, bowling, track and field, swimming, basketball.

TRT: With all those things you want to do for others, have you considered entering politics?

MP: No, not yet…. I'm not thinking of politics at all. I just want to help, to support sports, because that could help solve the country's problems like drugs, etc. Young people turn to vices because they are not given direction, they are not productively engaged. It's a waste of energy—sayang ang lakas nila, naliligaw sila! In sports you'll definitely forget about vices because your energy will be redirected. When you need to get up early in the morning to run, you'll go to bed early, you will not smoke or drink or do whatever will endanger your health and your life.

TRT: You seem so determined to help your kababayans. Are you that generous?

MP: I just want to help. I support sports because I do not want people to say, upon my retirement, "Ganon lang? Nagpayaman lang?" (That's all? Just made himself rich?) I pray to have the strength to continue being the best until I retire. I want to be able to continue helping even when I am retired. That may not be very far away... You have to be realistic. Boxers don't last very long; They're done at 30…

TRT: I've had glimpses of some of your fights on TV. You make the sign of the cross before each round... Do you do this to conquer some fear? To calm you down? Or do you really trust God that much? You also wear the rosary when you're proclaimed the winner—and this is for all the world to see on TV. You could be setting an example of faith to your fans—are you aware of this?

MP: (Smiling shyly). I have a deep faith in God. I fear no one. Natatakot lang ako kapag may kasalanan ako. (I feel afraid only when I’ve sinned). I practise and pray hard because I want to win to make my countrymen happy. I’m happy to make them happy, but I know I can’t do it on my own. I need God.

Reading between the lies

An open letter to my Congressman

Dear Congressman: you had for so long given us the impression that you were against the RH Bill until one day when you were identified in the papers as one of its supporters. We were shocked; we could hardly believe someone we had trusted and respected could actually espouse what this RH Bill stands for.

Sir, I have tried several times to get through to your office to express concerns aired by some of your constituents, mostly women. I say “some” because we cannot show you a million signatures opposing your stand. We are ordinary mothers, grandmothers, maiden aunts, sisters, professionals and plain housewives who only want the best for our families. And we voted for you. We had simply wanted your ear for a few minutes, but we have not been fortunate, so please understand why we are instead writing this open letter to you. We have a fair knowledge of what the RH Bill is about but none of us is a lawyer, a philosopher, a politician or a theologian, so please bear with us if our thoughts are not as organized we would want them to be. We are merely speaking from our guts.

Sir, we are not aiming to convert you for we still would like to believe that you mean well, but we do pray that the RH Bill may never be passed.

We reject the RH Bill because it is based on the premise that we do not need God to live fruitful lives. To us God-fearing, God-loving Filipinos, that is a lie. Being rooted in a paradigm that takes God out of the equation, how can the RH Bill be good for anyone? It is studded with half-truths, pseudo-truths and truthisms cleverly formulated to mimic the truth. Reading between the lies, we get this picture of the RH Bill:

• It wants us to think that human reason and human intelligence are all we need for everything to be right with the world.

• It coerces everybody else to think that way, and rejects the truth that the God who created and loves us will never abandon us.

• It is maka-hayop, not maka-tao, promoting pleasure without pain, irresponsible sex, dangerous couplings, and a hedonistic mentality that will eventually drag future generations downward to moral incoherence.

• It undermines the worth of human beings by implying that they are what their genitalia define, nothing more.

• It ridicules our faith by offering overly pragmatic solutions to perceived problems.

• It tramples upon the life-giving values—family, sacrifice, hope, compassion—that have kept our nation afloat in spite of history’s tyranny, human greed and natural calamities.

• It intends to mislead people and then uses commendable phrases such as “reproductive health” and “responsible parenthood” to disguise its dark intentions.

• It dishonors fathers and mothers by robbing them of the right and the responsibility to rear their children according to their deeply held religious convictions.

• It reduces the question of reproductive health into a simplistic choice between natural family planning and artificial family planning, labeling natural as unnatural and stupid and equating artificial with modern and smart.

• It spits upon the Constitution—pity that many of our lawmakers themselves would violate the Constitution by pushing this bill! Where are they leading this country to?

• It seduces young people by instilling in them a false sense of independence and sophistication in knowing their parents will be legally helpless about their sex life.

• It anaesthetizes the conscience of the young, saying it’s perfectly okay to experiment with sex as long as they are “protected”; this is contrary to what we teach our children.

• It corrupts children by infusing in them a contraceptive mentality, giving them “sex education” too early in order to abort their maturing in the love of God.

• It deceives the women it claims to inform and empower, praising only the convenience that
contraception offers but not its deadly side effects.

• It is oppressive, maintaining the First World myth of overpopulation at the expense of our poor.

• It imposes an alien lifestyle on Filipinos, seeing children as mere mouths to feed, treating pregnancy as a sickness and unbridled sex as a human right.

• It steals from the people by using tax payers’ money to buy contraceptive devices for people who can’t and won’t control their sexual appetites.

• It tramples upon not only our freedom now, but also the freedom of future generations to raise their children according to their cherished beliefs.

• It wants to scratch out the cross from Christianity, scoffing at self-discipline, the beauty of abstinence, sacrifice for family’s sake, and fidelity to one’s spouse.

• It belittles the capacity of the Filipinos to tap their inner resources, to turn to the God within, to
transcend want and misfortune and become what God wants them to be.

Dear Congressman, this is what saddens us about your support of the RH Bill. You do not seem to see that it is not just a question of Pro-RH vs. Pro-Life, State vs. Church, Antiquated vs. Modern as your media friends would have people believe.

Do you know why we pray hard for you, sir? Because you seem unaware that you yourself are a victim in this battle between good and evil, being used as a pawn by the rich against the poor, by world powers against the impoverished nations—yes, against your own people! They are the authors of the depopulation agenda that is behind the RH Bill. Brilliant decision makers who think they know everything and therefore do not need God. They do not wish to be nudged out of the comfort zones their genius has built. (Or have you never heard of a depopulation agenda?)

Why do the rich and powerful blame us and our children for their imagined shortage in our planet’s resources? Do our poor squander fuel on automobile races, speed boats, air shows, war craft and heaven-knows-what other adult toys they invent in the name of progress? We are the great majority who do not have swimming pools in our backyards and golf lawns to water. Why don’t they turn their guns and golf clubs into ploughshares and pruning hooks for a change?

Sir, we voted for you believing you would protect our interests. Please do not betray us by endorsing a culture of death that will lead us to a national suicide. Your fellow Congressmen look up to you; please enjoin them to have faith in the Filipino, not in those predators posing as our altruistic Big Brothers when all they covet is our land. The RH Bill is coming from a place of fear, the fear of losing their worldly power and wealth. Filipinos have nothing to fear, because we have faith. In our simplicity we believe we are children of a loving Father who knows our needs and guides us to meet them—in His way.

Thank you for having read this far. We assure you of our prayers. And with all due respect, we wish to let you know that we will be giving your mother and your wife a copy of this letter.


___________________________________________

This article by Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS,
came out in the author's column, And that's the truth,
CBCP Monitor, the official publication
of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines,
April 25-May 8, 2011 issue, page 5