The “express” saints from Philippines

I haven’t even barely come to terms with the “super-fast” canonization of Lorenzo Ruiz, and here is the Philippine Catholic Church again, steamrolling the sainthood of Blessed Pedro  Calungsod by declaring “miracle” attributed to him, in the Church’s pursuit to hasten his sainthood..

For the life of me, what is happening to the Catholic Church??

Is the RC Church in the Philippins in such a dire need of funds and membership that it had to resort to “political” and “express” saints??

I can’t believe even that the Church would “fabricate” the life and times of these two people, and forced devotion on them to forcibly generate “miracle” and justify their rapid canoniization…

And Vatican concurs with this news of Calungsod “miracle”.

Wow, Calungsod and Ruiz even beat Saint Eugene De Mazenod, which took 20 years to become a saint…..

With all these “we-need-a-Filipino-saint-fast-or-lose-more-catholics” objective, I wouldn’t be surprised if next to beatified is Cardinal Sin.

If we are looking for martyrs-as-sainthood-candidate, let’s not forget the priest, nun and laity martyred by Abu Sayyaf for refusing to renounce their faith. Guess what, their family background is not that ambigous as the other two (yes, those two) and because their family tree can be traced and lots of living relatives, it can create credibility problems with the Church. And so those poor, martyred faithfuls have to wait a hundred years, when accurate knowledge of their life, relatives and faith can become obscured enough that only “oral knowledge” (read: what the priests tell you about the peron) will be considered official biography of the martyre-to-saint candidate.

And how come the CBCP never endorse Venerable Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo even for beatification?? Is her holiness and faith not as convincing as Ruiz and Calungsod?

Machismo in sainthood process?

Do you ever take notice that for every statue of saints in your church, there is a donation box at the bottom? and have you seen a big portrait of an old man hoding a blue sphere with a signage that says “Father Of All Mankind” — anddddd, a donation box at the portrait’s feet?

If we Catholics should read the Bible, we should take a look at this passage from John 14:6:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Ah, our RC Church in Philippines is truly a “miracle worker”..

Religion … ist das Opium des Volkes”

 

Last Song Syndrome

Do you believe in it?

I was humming this song in my head – Eminem’s “Cleanin’ out my Closet”.

Moments later, one of my staff started singing the song… eerie..

Sometimes, i also find myself suddenly singing a song, prompting another person to say “hey, i was thinking of that song, too.”

And my favorite reaction is when i find myself suddenly singing a silly love song, to whch i would blurt out to nobody in particular, “Who is thinking of that fracking song?!!”

Really, i am quite an unbeliever when it comes to psychic themes or paranormal. Although i have to admit I love watching paranormal-themed movies and TV series.

But in the case of LSS or last song syndrome, i do not want to imagine the idea that I, or other people, can pick up wave thoughts of others and unconsciously synch in with that thought, Is it possible?

Remember those prayer rallies? In the Philippnes, one Catholic told me an anecdote about a strong typhoon due to hit Manila. The Archbishop called for prayer rally (via Radio Veritas?) to all Catholics, beseeching divine providence to spare Manila from the typhoon’s usual wrath. And indeed, the typhoon veered away from Manila.

But then after the sigh of relief from Manilans, the PAG-ASA (weather bureau) chief was sacked for incorrect prediction – not because they want the typhoon to hit Manila, but that the people living in towns hit by the prayer-averse typhoon were caught unprepared resulting to loss of lives and properties.  So the news said.

In my village, i have this story that concerned my late father:
A new religious sect bought the land adjacent to ours. The land actually belonged to my dad’s sister (her part of inheritance) who sold it to the sect without informing him (my dad) and he felt slighted that the family land went to other people instead of selling it to him first (or at least informing him if he can match the price).   It so happened that the back portion of the land going to the riverside belongs to us, thus, they have no access to the river except by going to the barangay road farther down. They tried to negotiate with my dad to buy a strip of the land to serve as their right-of-way. My dad vehemently refused.

Then suddenly, my dad became ill. Neighbors told us that it was because the religious sect had midnight vigils and mass prayers directed to my dad. Whatever their prayer was – for good or bad intention – we never knew.

Since hospital and regular meds did not give relief, my dad consented to sell them the back-land so the sect can have access to the river. And he got well afterwards. Coincidence?

But what has this got to do with LSS?

Well, i’m just saying (silly) that both instances pertains to wave-thoughts that we our brain can pick up – whether it’s the harmless LSS or directed thoughts.

Is it possible then to direct our thoughts to President Noy Aquino? Nope, im not saying we want him to sing “Matud Nila” out of nowhere, but more on giving him “mental” (no pun intended) nudge to be more effective and decisive as our leader. Perhaps?

Om.

 

Strong peso, pasakit sa OFW

(The first draft of this post dates back to Aug 7, 2011. Then I lost my “muse” over dwindling remittance value. Anyway, considering the peso just hit 41, i suddenly got this itch to continue this post..)

Just read the latest forex news in Inquirer.net and my eyebrows crossed on the news that the peso strenthened to 41 – 1 dollar. There goes my hard-earned dollar.

The claim for need of a strong peso is suspect to me, considering that the net positive effect it supposed to bring to the economy is not really felt by the common tao.

Contrary to what Bangko Sentral or government economists say, the rising peso at this point of world financial crisis is actually a “pasakit”, a pain to the hardworking Filipino.

As the peso rises, local exporters (which most of the time are the small and medium enterprises) suffer from the dwindling returns of the dollar earned. The same thing for the dollar-earning Overseas Filipino Workers the world over.

While prices of commodities, transport fares and school tuitions increases every year, an OFW’s salary remains the same.  As each month saw the drop in peso, the lowly paid OFW in Midlle East, who earns 200 USD a month (after agency deduction) , sees his remittance value declining. With that, his family back home suffers a variety of AIDS – Acute Income Deficiency Syndrome…

Why is the Philippine Peso rising while the rest of Asian currencies are dropping?

I am not a banker. Not an economist either. Just another lowly paid OFW. But let me hazard a guess.  — it is because of the 1.5 billion dollars monthly remittance by the OFWs.

Since 2008, the combine OFW remittance has consiistently hit 1.5 Billion dollars a month.

1. 2008 remittances – http://www.ofwngayon.com/2008/08/highest-monthly-remittances-posted-in-june/

2. 2009 remittances – http://www.gmanews.tv/story/179435/ofw-remittances-hit-all-time-monthly-record-in-october

3. 2010 remittances – http://www.gmanews.tv/story/203532/business/ofw-remittances-top-12b-aug-posts-highest-monthly-growth

4. 2011 remittances – http://www.pinoy-ofw.com/news/12545-ofw-remittances-6-62-billion-4-months.html

And the BSP is referring only to OFWs in Middle East and North Africa (Arab countries, kuya.)  The BSP further stated:

Filipinos in the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Italy accounted for 80.2 percent of the total remittances in January and February.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=677405

What this means is that it is the OFW remittances that bouys the forex reserves of the BSP, And because OFW remittances is predictable and regular, unlike foreign investments or domestic profit, the BSP is always assured that when it “boosts” the peso, they can always expect unfailing remittance next month.

But who benefited fom the strong peso? Definitely not the OFW or his family. Not the middle class.

It is the importers, local and foreign. The foreign investors like Koreans and Chinese,

And the rest of us never even taste or feel or see any positive changes in our country’s economy. Same shit on public infrastructure, education, health and, corruption.

Uncontrolled OFW remittance is the government’s drug. That is why everybody  (and everything)  is “high”.

So, what do we OFWs with low dollar salary do?

May I propose that we reduce our bank remittances.

I am sure those in oil and gas, or those receivng 3,000 dollars and above will snub this suggestion.

But really, I think we have to do something drastic before our families go hungry, sink into 5-6, and our children;s education put into peril, caused by this dwindling value of our hard-earned dollars.

Limit your bank remittances.

Send most of your money thru friends. Or carry it when you go for vacation.

Sure, you will still end up exchanging your dollars. But most likely you will do it in the bureau-de-change. And these money-changers do not always remit to the BSP (they hoard the dollars). So i’m sure the government will fell the impact of the drastic drop in OFW remittance passing thru banks.

Strong peso or weak peso, does not really benefit us in the middle- and lower-income bracket.

As the NPA’s used to say in Bisaya: WK – WK.

Way Kalainan. Way Kausaban.

Reduce your thru-bank remittances now!

 

Wala pala tayong maasahan sa Kano sa oras ng kagipitan….

US not coming to PH aid vs China
By Julie M. Aurelio, Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:29 am | Sunday, June 12th, 2011
24 share363

The United States yesterday said it will not side with any party in the Spratlys conflict, which is to say that the Philippines’ most powerful ally will not be coming to its aid should its spat with China escalate into a shooting war.

The US Embassy made this clear yesterday in reaction to a Malacañang statement earlier yesterday expressing confidence that Washington would honor its commitment under the two countries’ Mutual Defense Treaty to come to the aid of a beleaguered ally.

“The US does not take sides in regional territorial disputes,” the US press attaché Rebecca Thompson said in an e-mailed statement when contacted for comment to deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte’s invoking of the 60-year-old MDT.

Thompson said the US was “troubled by incidents in the South China Sea in recent days that have raised tensions in the region” and that Washington opposes “the use or threat of force” by any of the countries with rival claims to the Spratly islands.

The brief statement said the US “shares a number of national interests with the international community in the South China Sea” but did not mention the Philippines or the two countries’ over-a-hundred-year-old ties and mutual defense pact.

In an interview on state-run dzRB radio earlier yesterday, Valte figured the Philippines could count on its superpower ally should the situation with China deteriorate because of the MDT.

“I haven’t seen the terms of the MDT quite recently but I know that as an ally, the United States will help if ever it reaches that point because of the Mutual Defense Treaty,” she said.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t get to that point because, again, we are committed to the resolution of the issue in the most diplomatic and the most peaceful way possible,” she added.

Armed Forces Chief General Eduardo Oban was also earlier quoted as saying that the military remained “hopeful that the Americans will not stand aside should the conflict erupt and that they can invoke the MDT with the US.”

The MDT was signed on Aug. 13, 1951, in Washington, D.C. with both parties declaring “publicly and formally their sense of unity and their common determination to defend themselves against external armed attack.”

Under the eight articles of the treaty, both parties agree to aid and support each other in settling any international disputes by peaceful means, among others.

Sentor Francis Escudero said the Department of Foreign Affairs should be designated as the lead agency to talk about the Spratlys issue in public.

Avoid any mistakes

He said Malacañang should not do so through its spokespersons “in order to avoid any faux pas on our part.”

Escudero said the government should also review the MDT to ascertain if US forces would indeed come to the rescue if the Philippines is attacked because of the Spratlys dispute.

He said Palace officials should carefully review the MDT, read through its fine print and get confirmations from the US government “if indeed this situation is covered.”

But he remained optimistic that US military support would be given in case of an armed conflict as “a gesture of longstanding friendship.”

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the House would leave it to the Department of Foreign Affairs assert the country’s sovereignty claim over the West Philippine Sea.

“The DFA is articulating our position and we’re supporting it,” he said.

Armed Forces spokesperson Commodore Miguel Rodriguez said the AFP leaves it to the DFA to make an official comment on the developments in the Spratlys issue.

Not joining Vietnam

“We submit our reports to the DFA and the DFA crafts the country’s position on KIG [Kalayaan Island Group] affairs,” he said, referring to the portion of the Spratlys claimed by the Philippines.

He also said the military was not joining Vietnam, another Spratlys claimant, in the deepening rift with China over the issue.

“We are not looking at partnering with one country against another country,” he said.

At a Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Independence Day dinner last night, President Aquino came face to face with Chinese Ambassador Liu Jiangchao who only a few days ago had warned claimant states to stop exploring for oil in the Spratlys.

“Like all neighbors, I know we may have our disagreements sometimes,” Mr. Aquino said in his speech, acknowledging Liu’s presence.

“(But) no one can deny the benefits our relationship has brought to both our countries throughout the years,” he added.

Liu adverted to “incidents” that have arisen between the two countries since Mr. Aquino came to power.

“But facts have manifested we are stronger than these tests,” he said.

Liu said the Aug. 23 botched hostage crisis involving Hong Kong tourists had been settled with a “loving and understanding heart.”

“The last thing the Chinese government and people want to see is that the [Spratlys] dispute stands in the way of the progress of our wonderful relations and the friendship and brotherhood of our two peoples,” Liu said, who hinted at a visit to China from Mr. Aquino later this year.

In the past two weeks, the Philippines has accused China of making at least six incursions into Philippine territory in the past four months, a charge that Beijing has dismissed as rumors.

Recently, the Aquino government has made a point of referring to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea to bolster its claim to certain parts of the Spratlys. With Christian V. Esguerra, DJ Yap and Cynthia D. Balana

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/14118/us-not-coming-to-ph-aid-vs-china