KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.28 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.28 JULY 2011

“Children of the devil”

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” (Hebrews 12:1, the Holy Bible).
-ooo-

POLICEMEN AS LOWLY CRIMINALS: And so, what other crimes can our policemen and others in government not do in the name of money or promotion to a higher position?

With the latest disclosures from Senior Supt. Rafael Santiago of the Philippine National Police (PNP) about how the PNP, under orders from its top leaders, stole election returns in an effort to beat an election protest against former President Gloria Arroyo, it is clear Filipinos have brought themselves so low they can commit anything now.

-ooo-

“CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL”: Why has this happened? The answer is simple. While many of us continue to say we have faith in God, this is a faith that is dead, because we really have become children of the devil, doing, thinking and saying what the devil wants, because many of us grew up without the Word of God.

And since many Filipinos grew up without the Word of God, we grew up without God. Because we grew up without God, with whom did we grow up? The devil, that’s who. And that is the reason why we have become capable of acting, talking and thinking like the devil, doing what he wants us to do. Surely, hell will have a special place for many Filipinos.

-ooo-

HELL AWAITS MANY FILIPINOS: For a better understanding of what hell-bound Filipinos are up against, here is what hell is like, as written in Isaiah 66:24 of the Bible: “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

This description of hell was echoed by Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, in His own discourses. In Mark 9:44, 46 and 48, He warned sinners that hell is a place where the worms that eat them will not die, and the fire that will burn them forever is not quenched.

What is more troublesome for those who do not listen to God and who do not obey His commands is that, it is not only them who will go to hell, but even their children to the fourth generation, as Exodus 20:5 is saying. Indeed, there is hell to pay not only for those who disobey God, but even for their descendants.

-ooo-

PANGILINAN LAW AND TEEN CRIMINALITY: It is good that the United States Embassy in Manila is starting to notice the criminality that is afflicting the Filipino youth nowadays, with its warning to American tourists in the Philippines to be wary of teen criminals wherever they will be in this country. Teen criminality is a fact which can no longer ignored.

Perhaps, Sen. Francis Pangilinan can now admit that the law he principally authored, the Juvenile Justice Law, contributed largely to this rise of teen criminality, because this law prohibits the arrest of any criminal 15 years of age or below. The Filipino youth can now steal, sell drugs and do other serious crimes without being arrested, thanks to Pangilinan’s law.

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.25 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.25 JULY 2011

Rotary golf tourney: two cars for winners

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice...” (Psalm 112:5, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

TWO CARS FOR “HOLE IN ONE”: With the kind indulgence of our readers, I am reprinting below an announcement I made as the ChangeMaker President of the Rotary Club of Intramuros of Rotary International District 3810, regarding the two cars the club is intending to give away for golfers who can make “hole in one” shots during a golf tournament on October 8, 2011.

The invitation extends to everyone from Aparri to Jolo who will be interested to join the tournament after reading this column for today: “24 JULY 2011, First announcement from RC Intramuros: Two Cars for `Hole in One’ Shots.

“This early, may I invite all Rotarians from District 3810, especially my Classmates, ChangeMaker and Leader Presidents, to participate in the Golf Tournament that the Rotary Club of Intramuros seeks to hold on October 8, 2011, God willing, at the Club Intramuros Golf Club in Intramuros, Manila.

-ooo-

GOLF TOURNEY TO BENEFIT LITERACY PROJECTS: “RC Intramuros is preparing to give away possibly two Picanto Kia Sedan Cars for `Hole in One’ shots, as well as other valuable items, including trophies and medals.

“The proceeds of the tournament will go to the Club’s scholarship program for PLM’s poor but deserving students, and for our literacy projects for the benefit of Indigenous (Aeta) children, and other public school children from District 3810’s areas of coverage---Manila, Pasay City, Cavite and Occidental Mindoro.

“The price of each ticket is P2,000.00. Interested parties may call me at 0917 984 24 68, 0922 833 43 96 or 0928 438 3022. MELANIO MAURICIO JR., a.k.a. ATTY. BATAS ChangeMaker President, RC Intramuros, RY 2011-2012; Leader President, RC Intramuros, RY 2006-2007, Media Relations Chair, District 3810, RY 2011-2012…”

-ooo-

ON LOVING THE WORLD, AND HATING BROTHERS AND SISTERS: 1 John 2:15-16 of the Bible forbids us from loving the world: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2:9-11 talks about hating his brothers and sisters: “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.24 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.24 JULY 2011

“PNoy must declare revolutionary gov’t”

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “Jesus said, `Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ ” (Matthew 19:14, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

PNOY URGED TO DECLARE REVOLUTIONARY GOV’T: President Aquino’s only chance to effect the changes that will truly improve the lives of Filipinos under his term is to declare a revolutionary government and install himself as the country’s sole undisputed ruler, in much the same way that her mother, the late President Cory Aquino, proclaimed a revolutionary government in 1986, a prominent Mindanao leader said over the weekend.

Lawyer Homobono Adaza, a former Commissioner of Immigration and Deportation, a former governor of Misamis Oriental and a former assemblyman of the defunct Batasang Pambansa during the time of President Marcos, said the Chief Executive must, however, act on or before December 31, 2011.

-ooo-

ADAZA PROPOSES A REVOLUTIONARY GOV’T: The reason for the date, Adaza told me and our viewers at the program “Kakampi Mo Ang Batas” which was aired simultaneously over BATAS INTERNET TV (www.batasmedia.com) and over several cable TV stations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and over three radio stations in the Eastern and Western Visayas and in Central Luzon, is practicality.

“One and a half years in office, which is the significance of December 31, 2011, for a good President is too short, but one a half years for a bad President is too long,” Adaza said.

-ooo-

AFP & PNP AND PINOYS WILL SUPPORT NEW GOV’T: This would require scuttling the 1987 Constitution, which was ironically adopted during the Cory Aquino presidency, and firing and removing all the bad officials around President Aquino, the lawyer noted.

Adaza said, in response to my question, that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, and the Filipino nation in general, will not oppose the establishment of a revolutionary government by President Aquino, especially if he makes it clear that he would be doing to address the urgent problems of the country.

Adaza noted that the present Constitution and the institutions in place at the moment prevent the President from doing something substantial to remedy the many problems of the country, since, he said, restraints and constraints are inherent in the present system of government.

-ooo-

CONDITIONS FOR AN OVERSEEER: Anyone who is appointed as an elder or overseer of a church is required, by Titus 1:6-8 of the Bible, to be spotlessly-clean in character: “… An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

“Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.FILIPINO SYNDICATED COLUMN. 22 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.FILIPINO SYNDICATED COLUMN. 22 JULY 2011

Mali ba ang people power?

INSPIRASYON SA BUHAY: “…Pinili ko ang daan ng katapatan; itinalaga ko ang aking puso sa iyong mga batas…” (Awit 119:30, Bibliya).

-ooo-

PAGPATAY SA PEOPLE POWER PROVISION NG KONSTITUSYON? Marahil ay di alam ni Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, pero ang kanyang opinyon sa panukala ni Marine Col. Generoso Mariano na dapat patalsikin ang mga gobyernong hindi nakakatugon sa pangangailangan ng bayan ay baka pumatay sa people power provision ng Saligang Batas ng 1987, at maaaring magdulot ng problemang legal sa mga gobyernong Cory Aquino at Gloria Arroyo, na naitatag dahil sa pagkilos ng bayan.

Sa totoo lang, ang kasalukuyang Konstitusyon, na ginawa noong panahon ng Pangulong Cory Aquino (ang ina ng Pangulong Benigno Aquino III), ay kumikilala sa karapatan ng “bayan at ng kanilang mga samahan tungo sa epektibo at resonableng partisipasyon sa lahat ng antas ng pagdedesisyong sosyal, political at pang-ekonomiya”, sa kanyang people power provision (Section 16, Art. 13).

-ooo-

MALI BA ANG PEOPLE POWER? Ang probisyong ito ay isiningit sa Saligang Batas upang maging batayang legal ng pagpapatalsik sa gobyerno ni Pangulong Marcos at ang pagluluklok sa gobyerno ni Pangulong Cory Aquino. Maliwanag, batay sa probisyong ito, na ang mga reglamento sa Kodigo Penal ukol sa mga krimen laban sa gobyerno, gaya ng rebelyon, sedisyon at insurreksiyon, ay nawala na, at ang paglaban sa gobyerno ay naging legal.

Ngayon, kung sinasabi ni De Lima na ang mga panukala sa pagpapatalsik ng gobyernong hindi na sinusuportahan ng mamamayan, gaya ng ginawa ni Mariano, ay ilegal dahil maaari itong ituring na rebelyon o sedisyon, ibig bang sabihin eh mali ang people power, at ang mga gobyernong Cory Aquino at Gloria Arroyo ay ilegal din?

-ooo-

GSIS POLICY LABAG SA BATAS: Hindi ko makita ang buti ng alituntunin ng Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) na nagbabawal sa kanyang 25,454 na mga miyembro sa pagkuha ng loans at mga dibidendo dahil lamang sa ang kanilang sariling mga opisina kung saan sila nagtatrabaho ay hindi nakapag-remit ng kanilang mga GSIS contributions---na nakolekta na mula sa kanila.

Ang alituntuning ito ay isang uri ng katiwalian o graft and corruption ng kasalukuyang mga lider ng GSIS, sapagkat nagbibigay ito ng hindi makatwirang pinsala sa mga GSIS members---sa mga hindi nila makuhang loans at mga dibidendo---dahil sa opisyal na pagkilos ng mga GSIS officials.

Ang dapat ginawa dito ay pinabayaan na lamang sana ng GSIS ang mga miyembro nito na makakuha ng loans at makatanggap ng kanilang mga dibidendo---sapagkat ang mga ito ay matagal ng naiutang ng mga miyembro kahit ini-a-apply pa lamang nila ito---at, pagkatapos, ay usigin na lamang ng puspusan ang mga hindi nag-remit ng kanilang mga contributions.

-ooo-

MGA KATOTOHANAN MULA SA BIBLIYA SA PAGLABAN SA MGA LIDER: Naririto ang isang interesanteng katotohanan mula sa Bibliya ukol sa pagpapasakop natin sa ating mga lider at pinuno, at kautusang hindi tayo dapat lumalaban sa kanila: “Dapat magpasakop ang lahat sa mga namamahala, sapagkat walang pamamahalang hindi ang Diyos ang nagtatag.

“Ang mga namamahalang umiiral ay itinatag ng Diyos. Dahil diyan, sinuman ang lumalaban sa mga namamahala ay lumalaban sa mga itinatag ng Diyos, at magkakaroon sila ng kaparusahan…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS. 21 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS. 21 JULY 2011

How about 2010 poll frauds?

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin…” (1 John 1:7, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

CLOSURE ON POLL FRAUDS NOT LIKELY TO HAPPEN: I really don’t know if the promise of a closure made by Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda over the alleged cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections can really happen within the remaining five years of the Noynoy Aquino presidency.

No closure was made of more important cases in the past, and I am sure there is not going to be any such closure likewise on the issue of electoral frauds during the years in question, now or in the near future. Only history will ultimately bring the desired conclusion in all these, and I am willing to bet it is going to be so.

-ooo-

HOW ABOUT 2010 ELECTORAL FRAUDS? And, while we are concerned with electoral cheating, how come we are focusing on alleged frauds for 2004 and 2007 only? How about accusations that even the 2010 elections was marred by massive cheating, with the use of machines? Are we going to close our eyes on these accusations just because President Aquino won?

The fact is that the Philippines seems to have perfected the art of fraudulent elections such that there are really no losers in any given political exercise here---everybody who lost got cheated, one way or the other, with Filipinos themselves participating in the cheating by way of accepting monetary and other bribes to vote or to cheat one way or the other.

-ooo-

DEPED’S FIGHT VS. DENGUE TO FAIL: If Education Secretary Armin Luistro thinks his department’s PASS (Prevention Alert System in Schools) can stop dengue from victimizing school children, he should think again. PASS and any other initiative of the Department of Education to fight dengue will not stop the disease, because they fail to include a basic component to fight it.

What is this basic component? It is the realization that dengue and other deadly diseases inducing high fever is a Biblical disease, a curse promised by God to people who no longer listen to His Word (or read the Bible, in other words) and who no longer obey His commands, so that the only way to fight it is to use the Bible.

I really don’t know why this has escaped Luistro, considering he is someone who is high up in the Catholic Church hierarchy in the Philippines. But if he wants to be informed and to come up with a real solution to dengue, he should read the Bible, especially its Deuteronomy 28:15, 22.

-ooo-

DENGUE AS A GOD’S CURSE: Dengue and other diseases which give rise to deadly and fatal fever and inflammation have been predicted to happen in Deuteronomy 28:15, 22 in this manner: “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you…

“The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS. 21 JULY 2011

How about 2010 poll frauds?

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin…” (1 John 1:7, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

CLOSURE ON POLL FRAUDS NOT LIKELY TO HAPPEN: I really don’t know if the promise of a closure made by Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda over the alleged cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections can really happen within the remaining five years of the Noynoy Aquino presidency.

No closure was made of more important cases in the past, and I am sure there is not going to be any such closure likewise on the issue of electoral frauds during the years in question, now or in the near future. Only history will ultimately bring the desired conclusion in all these, and I am willing to bet it is going to be so.

-ooo-

HOW ABOUT 2010 ELECTORAL FRAUDS? And, while we are concerned with electoral cheating, how come we are focusing on alleged frauds for 2004 and 2007 only? How about accusations that even the 2010 elections was marred by massive cheating, with the use of machines? Are we going to close our eyes on these accusations just because President Aquino won?

The fact is that the Philippines seems to have perfected the art of fraudulent elections such that there are really no losers in any given political exercise here---everybody who lost got cheated, one way or the other, with Filipinos themselves participating in the cheating by way of accepting monetary and other bribes to vote or to cheat one way or the other.

-ooo-

DEPED’S FIGHT VS. DENGUE TO FAIL: If Education Secretary Armin Luistro thinks his department’s PASS (Prevention Alert System in Schools) can stop dengue from victimizing school children, he should think again. PASS and any other initiative of the Department of Education to fight dengue will not stop the disease, because they fail to include a basic component to fight it.

What is this basic component? It is the realization that dengue and other deadly diseases inducing high fever is a Biblical disease, a curse promised by God to people who no longer listen to His Word (or read the Bible, in other words) and who no longer obey His commands, so that the only way to fight it is to use the Bible.

I really don’t know why this has escaped Luistro, considering he is someone who is high up in the Catholic Church hierarchy in the Philippines. But if he wants to be informed and to come up with a real solution to dengue, he should read the Bible, especially its Deuteronomy 28:15, 22.

-ooo-

DENGUE AS A GOD’S CURSE: Dengue and other diseases which give rise to deadly and fatal fever and inflammation have been predicted to happen in Deuteronomy 28:15, 22 in this manner: “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you…

“The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.PERIODICO MINDANAO. 19 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.PERIODICO MINDANAO. 19 JULY 2011

Pinoys need better lives, not political rows

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws…” (Psalm 119:7, the Holy Bible).
-ooo-

POC FUNDING PROBLEMS HURTING PINOY ATHLETES: My heart was bleeding for the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) as I read a news report saying that to enable our athletes to participate in the forthcoming Southeast Asian Games on November 11-22, 2011 in Indonesia, POC would have to literally beg once again from the private sector for funds.

No wonder the Philippines does not produce athletes of international caliber, as a matter of course. There is simply no money for sports development. Of course, many may ask why this should be so, when government agencies like the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) are oozing with billions and billions of money?

Why can’t the PAGCOR and the PCSO find a way to give something substantial for our athletes’ training and participation in competitions here and abroad? I know that the POC is supposed to be an organization independent from any government intervention, but surely, a compromise could be hammered out so that there is a steady source of money for our athletes?

-ooo-

PINOYS STILL NEED MORE MONEY AND FOOD: If I am to believe lawyer and senatorial aspirant Raul Lambino, it would seem that the Aquino government is now spending a great deal of its time and resources firming up its cases against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.

While I concede that prosecuting Arroyo, her family, and her officials for supposed grave crimes during her term is a matter of utmost urgency to fulfill a campaign promise of President Benigno Aquino III, it would be the height of treason on the other hand to be focusing solely on this direction, leaving out the more important work of economic advancement for the Filipino people.

As it is, Filipinos continue to be poor and the trumpeted improving conditions for many of them is still largely unfelt and perceived to be mere propaganda of government. Something has to be done urgently to enable more Filipinos to have better lives, more money and more food, and they couldn’t really care less later if politicians kill one another, figuratively that is.

-ooo-

WOMAN’S REAL BEAUTY: Here is the real gauge of a woman’s beauty, according to 1 Peter 3:1-6 of the Bible: “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

“For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.18 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.18 JULY 2011

“PCSO lied vs. bishops”

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile...” (Romans 1:16, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

THE TRUTH IN THE PCSO-BISHOPS MESS: Now, what Jesus said in John 8: 31-32 of the Holy Bible is being proved true once more in the case of the donations made by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in favor of bishops of the Roman Catholic Church: the truth shall set us free.

First truth, as expounded by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, incoming President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP): there were no Pajeros given to any of the seven bishops who accepted donations from the PCSO, contrary to PCSO’s claims.

-ooo-

“PCSO LIED VS. BISHOPS”: Second truth: the donated vehicles were used not for the bishops’ personal use but for health care, poverty alleviation and developmental projects in the places where they are assigned. Third truth: the donations were covered by written agreements, dispelling insinuations that they were surreptitious gifts from the Arroyo government intended to bribe the Church leaders.

Fourth truth: the PCSO, led by its General Manager Margie Juico, was not truthful in its disclosures about its donation to the bishops, and such untruthful disclosures hurt not the bishops but their parishioners who needed help from the Church.

-ooo-

MARINE COLONEL NOT ALONE? Yes, Marine Col. Generoso Mariano was alone when appeared in a video footage where he called for the ouster of the Aquino government for its alleged failure to make life better for Filipinos, but it is sheer folly to think that he is alone in his sentiments against President Aquino. Did Malacanang think that Mariano could have been so brave as to have done it all alone?

As we already wrote here several days ago, various groups are now openly plotting to remove the President and his government, and Mariano’s video appearance confirms that there are plots being hatched by people already grossly dissatisfied with the administration. While Malacanang may continue to publicly deny or belittle these reports, it cannot deny however that the plotters are getting bolder day by day.

-ooo-

POLL FRAUD PRESENT IN ALL PHL ELECTIONS: Indeed, what can we gain by investigating the alleged irregularities in the elections of 2004 and 2007? Assuming we can prove there were irregularities in those two political exercises, can those who rightfully won still claim their seats or positions?

No more, and that is what makes the suggestion to investigate, prompted by alleged disclosures by supposed participants in the fraud, inutile and unproductive. The truth is that, Filipinos know in their hearts that poll irregularities attend almost all elections in the Philippines, not just in 2004 and 2007, and yet they have not thought it wise to do something about it. We deserve the treatment we get, don’t we?

-ooo-

NOW, IT IS PHL PROVOKING CHINA: I hope the Chinese will not take up the saber-rattling aired by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario Sunday, who said, in so many words, that the Philippines is prepared to go to war over the Spratlys issue. I mean, yes, our country will fight, even with a diminutive Armed Forces, but must we even crow about it as if we are like little children publicly provoking the bully to a fight?

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.17 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.17 JULY 2011

Marine colonel’s call for PNoy ouster legal?

LIFE’S INSPIRATION: “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say `No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…” (Titus 2:11-13, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

1987 CONSTITUTION ENCOURAGES FIGHTING LEADERS: As long as the 1987 Constitution retains its so-called people power provisions and the provision granting members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines the status of being “protectors of the Filipino people”, calls for the ouster of President Aquino and any other president after him for that matter will continue.

The reason is that these people power provisions and the Constitutional recognition of the AFP as protectors of the people actually make it legal for anyone, whether civilian, police, or military, to be seeking the ouster of officers of government, as these parts of the Charter virtually scrapped the crime of rebellion, insurrection and other offenses against the state or its government from our statute books.

-ooo-

MARINE COLONEL’S CALL FOR PNOY OUSTER LEGAL? Even now, in view of these legal mandates, I don’t think any criminal or administrative case can be thrown at, or will stick against, Marine Col. Generoso Mariano with his video-taped and media-distributed footage advocating the ouster of President Aquino in view of what he said as his government’s failure to “save the life of the majority”.

If President Aquino wants to stop future adventurism against his regime from the military, the police or from any other sector, he should call for a Constitutional Convention right away and, among others, delete the foregoing provisions from the Constitution which, by a stroke of irony, his own mother promulgated in 1987.

-ooo-

CAN PCSO EXEC PROVE BRIBERY VS. BISHOPS? I hope that Director Aleta Tolentino of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) knows what she is talking about when she lashed at the “bribery and temptation” of Roman Catholic bishops who received donations of sports utility vehicles during the Arroyo administration. I am also hoping that the PCSO would not be engaging in the same “bribery and temptation” under the Aquino government, with Tolentino as a PSCO director.

Indeed, it is easy enough to say that the bishops engaged in “bribery and temptation”, as Tolentino did before media at that, but proving that “bribery and temptation” attended the donation of the SUVs is another matter---especially because the PCSO has the mandate of donating funds, vehicles and other goodies to anyone it takes fancy of, as it has done in the past.

What Tolentino should study now, to determine if “bribery and temptation” are present, are, first, the media advertisements and other donations under the current PCSO board, and see if they are not being used to bribe and tempt mediamen or other parties to side with Tolentino and the PCSO board now. I hope that six years from now, there will be no disclosures about PCSO wrongdoings during Tolentino’s time.

-ooo-

JESUS CHRIST ON JUDGING OTHERS: Our Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 7:1-5, has this to say on judging other people: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged…Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.14 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.14 JULY 2011

Cong. Peping: “review land reform”

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father…” (Philippians 2:9-11, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

CONG. PEPING: REVIEW LAND REFORM: Former Tarlac Rep. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. is urging a review of the land reform program of the government, saying that the current system of directly giving lands to farmers and other farm workers did not really improve farmers’ lives but actually mired them in more problems, aggravating even the country’s food shortage problem.

“I believe it is about time that our government leaders and economists review the land reform program. Is it really improving the lives of the people tilling the land? Under these conditions of land reform, will the Philippines be able to produce the food necessary to feed the Filipinos?” Cojuangco asked in a press statement furnished BATAS INTERNET TV (www.batasmedia.com).

Cong. Peping is saying that Hacienda Luisita farmers who were given the lands they were tilling before “are now worse off than they were before and many actually lost the land assigned to them because they could not pay the installment (payments)…”

Many of the farmers, after losing the lands given to them by virtue of the government’s land reform program, often had to return to the Hacienda to find work and employment---which work and employment were mercifully made available to them when Hacienda union members were not available to do the work themselves.

-ooo-

“STOCK DISTRIBUTION, INSTEAD OF LAND DISTRIBUTION, IS BETTER”: “Statistics show that over 50% of land reform beneficiaries in the country are worse off after they were sold the land than when they were merely workers of the land. So where does this conclusion come from that selling them the land will make their lives better?” Cojuangco asked.

He also brushed aside insinuations that President Corazon Aquino, his sister and mother of President Benigno Aquino III, failed to implement genuine land reform. “If you read Cory’s statement, she says a genuine land reform. That is exactly what was implemented in Luisita; land to the tiller but in the form of shares of stock,” Cojuangco added.

Cong. Peping explained: “When Cory became President, she was already aware that land distribution alone did not alleviate the plight of the people tilling the land. She already was aware that there were many land reform beneficiaries that ended up being worse off and eventually losing the land they were sold through land reform…

“That is why the law passed under her administration is the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. Incidentally the shares of stock were given for free to the Luisita workers instead of the land being sold. Besides the free shares of stock, each worker was given, again for free, 240 square meter home lots,” he added.

And as to the issue on the Cojuangco family’s alleged refusal to distribute land, Cong. Peping said, “we did not refuse to distribute the land. We did distribute the land in the form of shares of stock given back to the workers, who voted to receive shares of stock instead of physical land…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.12 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.12 JULY 2011

“Luisita bought solely with Cojuangco money”

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” Matthew 4:4

-ooo-

“LUISITA BOUGHT SOLEY WITH COJUANGCO MONEY”-PEPING: Hacienta Luisita was purchased solely with the money of the Cojuangco family and their friends and business associates, and no money of the government was ever used by the Cojuangcos in buying it from its American owners then, former Tarlac Rep. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. clarified the other day.

Cojuangco, or Cong. Peping to his friends and allies, made the clarification in the aftermath of media releases urging his family to comply with its supposed obligation to distribute the Hacienda to its farm workers, allegedly because it was purchased using Central Bank loans and guarantees.

“Luisita was paid entirely with private funds without any financial dole from the government,” Cong. Peping explained, adding that “…the current aspersions still being cast at Luisita is the misleading insinuation that it was originally purchased with `inappropriate’ loan guarantees by the Central Bank.”

Cong. Peping said that the guarantee, in truth, pertained only to assurances to the foreign banks that foreign currency would not be withheld from Luisita in fulfilling its obligations, nothing more, nothing less.

“It is unfortunate that the issues continue to be obfuscated by the self-serving motives of third parties who do not have the true interests of the farmers at heart,” he rued.

-ooo-

CLARIFICATIONS RE LUISITA ROW: Here are other important clarifications on the Hacienda Luisita issue made by the Tarlac lawmaker, who is an uncle of President Aquino: “The Cojuangco family has never, ever been against Land Reform.”

He explained that “at about the time Hacienda Luisita/Tabacalera was purchased by the Cojuangco family, it had subjected more than 6,000 hectares of its original 12,000-hectare holdings to farmers under the Land Tenure Act during President Magsaysay's administration…”

“Tragically,”, Cong. Peping said, “most of these farms no longer belong to the original recipients, because of the absence of a sustainable support system for the small farmers unversed in managing and marketing…”

This is the reason why, he said, many farm workers from the Hacienda, in at least two earlier but very recent referenda conducted by the Department of Agrarian Reform and by volunteer students from UP Diliman, actually chose the stock distribution option instead of land distribution.

Evidently, that is the system by which the interests of the farm workers would best be protected.

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.11 JULY 2011

God’s miracles; campaign vs. Ombudsman bet on

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 1:6, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

GOD’S MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN: Once more, I thank God, in the name of Jesus, for showing compassion and pity to those who truly and sincerely approach Him, proving again and again that He is always ready to help no matter how grave the problems maybe.

Last Saturday, a father whose very young daughter is suffering from leukemia came to my office in Diliman, Quezon City, seeking financial help to buy expensive medicines prescribed by doctors. He was panicky and troubled, and seemed lost, although he showed a strong resolve to fight for her daughter even if he barely knew what to do.

As he was waiting to talk to me, I asked him to join in the regular Saturday praise and worship which my churchmates at the “Anak ng Diyos Kadugo ni Kristo” and I were then holding at my office.

He acceded, settled down, and listened as God’s Word was discussed and expounded upon by several speakers. He even participated in the final prayers of our praise and worship, where we cried and wailed, as we humbled and laid prostrate before the Lord.

As I was writing this column Monday, July 11, 2011, the teacher of the man’s daughter told me in a Facebook chat that, to the surprise of even the child’s doctors, a miracle from God seemed to have happened as, inexplicably, there was a great and marked improvement in her physical condition, which started from the time the father was praying to God with us. Indeed, God’s power and glory comes to those who seek Him truthfully.

-ooo-

MEDIA CAMPAIGN VS. OMBUDSMAN BET ON: Many may not have noticed it, but there is a furious and insidious media campaign going on right now aimed at influencing the decision of President Aquino on who he should appoint as Ombudsman.

The hapless target of the campaign appears to be former Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero, evidently to ease him out of the race in favor of somebody else, by publicly portraying him as having contravened positions of the President in earlier times, and by highlighting his membership with the powerful Iglesia Ni Cristo.

This campaign is a typical style of a Mafia-like group in Philippine politics when they wish to achieve their sinister plans---destroy people and institutions who stand in the way of their dark ambitions through ruthless machinations. To these people, the end always justifies the means. I pray Secretary Tuquero watches his back carefully.

-ooo-

OFWs FROM SAUDI TERMINATED FROM THEIR WORK: The government must help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are literally being terminated from their employments in Saudi Arabia even if their contracts are still subsisting---the Saudi government must be asked to explain why the visas of the OFWs are being stamped “for exit only”, even if they are going to the Philippines only for a vacation, thereby barring their return to Saudi.
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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.06 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.06 JULY 2011

Defects in the P728 agri plunder raps

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator…” (Colossians 3: 9-10, the Holy Bible).
-ooo-

DEFECTS IN THE P728 AGRI FUND PLUNDER RAPS: Do we congratulate Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro for filing plunder charges against former Agriculture Secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo and Undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante and private businessmen in connection with the P728 million agriculture fund scam? The answer is no, we should not. Why?

Because, obviously, the charges that Casimiro filed with the Sandiganbayan are defective, in that the congressmen, governors and mayors who received part of the P728 million from the Arroyo government before the 2044 presidential elections were scandalously not included as accused.

The question is: why were they not included as accused when their participation in the supposed plunder is equal to, if not more than, the participation of Lorenzo, Bolante and the other agriculture executives? If the truth be told, with the non-inclusion of the congressmen, governors and mayors in the plunder charge, the case may even be ultimately dismissed.

-ooo-

WHY WAS GMA NOT INCLUDED IN THE PLUNDER RAPS? And then, again, in view of the evidence that reached Casimiro showing that former President Gloria Arroyo actually wrote marginal notes in the documents covering the release of the P728 million, Gloria should have been automatically included in the plunder charge as well. But why did not Casimiro include her?

In criminal law, there is a principle of conspiracy, whereby the act of one criminal is considered the act of all others who conspired with him. In the case of the agriculture fund scam, it is clear that conspiracy existed, from Gloria to Lorenzo to Bolante and to her political allies. Why then did Casimiro fail to indict Gloria?

-ooo-

DEPED BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE ON GRADE 11: So, the Department of Education needs P45 billion more to pursue its plan to add one more school year to the existing 10-year elementary-high school education system in the country. Wow, where would the government get that kind of money?

My suggestion is: forget adding one more year, forget Grade 11, and, instead strengthen the current 10-year system by requiring schools nationwide to go heavier on spiritual values by an instruction on the Bible for Christians and on the other holy books for other religions. This is the way to push for real progress and development among our people.

-ooo-

MORE RULES FOR DAILY LIVING: Colossians 3:5-9 of the Bible gives an interesting set of rules for believers: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
“You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips…”
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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.05 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.05 JULY 2011

More on Duterte, Pichay & ARMM

LIFE’S INSPIRATION: “…Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance...” (Psalm 33:12, the Holy Bible).
-ooo-

MORE QUESTIONS ON THE DUTERTE-ANDRES SNAFU: Here are more questions on the Davao City Sarah Duterte-Abe Andres snafu: why did Sheriff Abe proceed with the demolition of shanties in the city’s Agdao District despite the two-hour request of Mayor Sarah? Was he ordered to ignore the mayor’s request? Who ordered him to proceed with the demolition despite Sarah’s request?

And, what, really, is the significance of the public advice given to Mayor Sarah by her father, Vice Mayor Rodrigo, for her not to apologize for her having punched Sheriff Abe---was it a mere act of arrogance, or an expression of disgust and his feeling of betrayal that some people really are too much of an ingrate?

-ooo-

PICHAY, VICTIM OF DOUBLE-STANDARD OF JUSTICE: Did Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro really think that his order dismissing Administrator (and former Surigao congressman) Prospero Pichay Jr. of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) would be appreciated by the Filipino people?

He is wrong if he thought so, because, in reality, the dismissal of Pichay is being viewed by many as a double-standard of justice. Not because Pichay is obviously being prosecuted for his ties with former President Gloria Arroyo, but more because he was clearly singled out in the alleged illegal purchase of a rural bank with LWUA funds.

The question for Casimiro is: why prosecute and punish Pichay alone and leave out the bank owners and officers, when, very clearly, the bank owners and officers were the beneficiaries of the LWUA purchase of their dying bank?

-ooo-

ARMM PRAYS FOR SPEEDY RESOLUTION OF POLL PLEAS: People from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are fervently praying that the Supreme Court will act expeditiously on various petitions filed by several groups and personalities questioning the law postponing the August 2011 ARMM elections.

The immediate resolution of the petitions would remove the uncertainties hounding the ARMM and its residents, especially on the vital issue of who should really lead the region at this point in its history---the Malacanang-appointed officers-in-charge or officials directly elected and given the people’s mandate?

-ooo-

WARNING FROM JESUS CHRIST: Here’s a warning from the Lord Jesus Christ, coming from Matthew 7:21-23 of the Holy Bible: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ”
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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.04 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.04 JULY 2011

Mysteries in the Duterte-Andres row

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people...” (Proverbs 14:34, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

MYSTERIES IN THE DUTERTE-ANDRES ROW: After all has been said and done, there are still many mysteries in the Sara Duterte-Abe Andres Davao City face-punching brouhaha. One, why was there a demolition order against the informal settlers, or, better yet, what was the basis of that demolition order? Two, who issued the demolition order?

Third, Sara knew that Abe was supposed to be merely following orders of his superiors---presumably judges from the area---so, Sara’s belligerency was really not against the sheriff per se, but evidently against the judges (or any other government authority) who issued the demolition order. Knowing this, why did Sara dare to be so belligerent---against the judges or any other official who issued the order?

And then, again, that demolition order was later stayed by another order from a Davao City judge---which would indicate that that order suffered from some defect or another (otherwise, why would it be stayed by another judge?).

Was that the reason why the sheriff was in a hurry to carry out the demolition, despite Sara’s urgent pleas? So that, even if it is later on declared to be defective, the demolition has been carried out just the same, rendering moot any declaration against its validity or legality?

-ooo-

DEPED MAKING LIFE DIFFICULT FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: Excuse me please, but I am not impressed with the supposed turn-over of P1 billion by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation(PAGCOR) to the Department of Education so more classrooms can be built across the country. Why? Simply because the simple building of more classrooms does not mean better education for the youth.

I suggest that a significant part of that P1 billion should be devoted to buying Bibles instead and educating our children on God’s Word and commands, or, better yet, helping Christian schools across the country to improve their facilities since they are already engaged in teaching spiritual values to school children.

As it is, however, the DepEd is making life more difficult for these Christian schools by refusing to extend their licenses to operate for some legal mambo-jumbo, forcing many of them to close down, as if the DepEd is manned by people who descended from the arch-enemy of God, not wanting children to study His Word.

-ooo-

RULES FOR HUSBANDS AND WIVES: Ephesians 5:21-30 exhorts husbands and wives: “…Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior…

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word... In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself…”

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KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.01 JULY 2011

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS.01 JULY 2011

Reactions re PNoy and Jesus

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name…” (Zechariah 14:9, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

“JESUS IS GOD”: It always makes me very happy to read reactions to my columns because they indicate that somehow, somewhere, there is someone who is reading what I am writing about. Today, I give way to two such reactions, and the first pertains to our items about Jesus Christ being called “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father”, and He calling Himself “I am”.

Junsting Pizaña wrote: “Sir Mauricio, please allow me to add some verses telling us that Jesus is God. First is Isaiah 9:6: `Unto us a child is born.....The mighty God (not mighty man), The everlasting Father.....’ No one can say that Jesus is just a `mighty God’ because the Father Himself is also called `The mighty God’ (Psalms 50:1, also Isaiah 10:21).

“Second, Titus 2:13: `.....the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.’ In Matthew 28:19, Jesus intimated that the name of God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore if we say God, we are automatically (knowingly or unknowingly) referring to the Trinity (or Elohim, the plural form, as He introduced Himself in Genesis 1:1.

-ooo-

“JESUS IS GOD AND SAVIOR”: “And the Bible tell us that there is no other God and no other Savior (Isaiah 43:10-11), so the phrase `the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ’ in Titus 2:13 particularly refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as both God and Savior and the Trinity as a whole. Otherwise, the Bible is wrong.

“Third, the Father Himself testified that His Son is God (Hebrews 1:8-9). Fourth, John the Beloved testified that we are in the True God, Jesus Christ (I John 5:20). Fifth, in Revelation Chapter 1, we are told that Jesus is The Almighty (Rev. 1: 8).

“Compare this with verses 11, 17-18 of Revelation 1, and also in 4:8 where the Almighty is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ surely. For who is coming? The Father is not coming. It is the Lord Jesus who is coming.......Thank you for publishing your valuable Biblical insights...More blessings and God bless you.”

-ooo-

“DON’T BLAME PNOY, BLAME US”: Edgar Siscar has this to say on our item about people power being readied against President Aquino: “We should not blame, PNoy for his inefficiencies. Instead, we should take up the bucket--- the electorate is the one to blame.

“We only deserve the leaders that we choose. We knew beforehand that PNoy could not carry on the work-- he has no working team, he has no experience at governance, he is not a statesman, etc.

“But these are only the tangible reasons. The intangible reason is the fact that no President can work efficiently in a multi-party system without the support of the majority of the bureaucrats under one tutelage…”

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