.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

San Juan Gossip Mills Outlet

A veritable fanatic of the Internet. His avocation is teaching while his main vocation is practicing the much maligned law profession. Currently teaching Constitutional Law at the FEU Institute of Law and a guest lecturer at the De La Salle University teaching "Freedom and Regulation in Cyberspace" in the Graduate Program of the Department of Communication. He is married to his beautiful Ateneo law school classmate and is blessed with a daughter and a son.

Name:
Location: San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines

Friday, October 21, 2005

The Eagles Have Landed

Finally, for the longest time, the Jesuits have been inordinately silent in the ongoing controversy. And as we say in law: “Silence means consent”. How glad that I was so wrong!

The Atenean lay community, of which I am a part of, was gravely concerned at the stingy silence of the sons of Iñigo. And so, without guidance from the Ignatian fathers, many graduates of Katipunan and Padre Faura have embarked on their own quest to seek for truth and justice in these present events. Until now.

The Jesuit Guidelines are finely worded, very pastoral in tone, as it should, and a product of much thought. While I honestly wondered why it took them so long to fashion this statement (perhaps, they should explain why only now), the Guidelines should stoke the middle class to ponder and move from an apathetic stance that the present crisis is a question of a lesser of two evils, GMA being the lesser, to a more categorical stance that an evil deed thwarting the people’s will has been committed and must be responded to accordingly. Evil must be confronted in all its forms, even if it be an Angel of Light.

To paraphrase the Jesuit guidelines, here is my layman’s take on a finely worded document which is composed of 9 paragraphs. I asked the Jesuits for their indulgence:

1. GMA has not answered the charges against her. She continues to befuddle and obfuscate. The search and struggle for truth must continue. ITULOY ANG LABAN! (Annotation: In the words of Sec. Ermita: "No one can prevent him from saying sorry, pero huli ka pa rin!")

2. To the pro-GMA congressmen who dismissed the impeachment complaint and to sycophants who believed that the rule of law triumphed in Congress, YOU DREAM!

3. E. O. 464 is illegal. The Senate must continue to be a watchdog. To the communists, the military, and ambitious politicians who seek power, LET’S NOT!

4. To the Gloria Resign movement, to the Black and White, to Cory, to Hyatt 10, to the Makati Business Club etc., you are doing the right thing but do not ally yourself with the Erap politicians, the Kampi conspirators, the Lakas lapdogs, or just about anybody who wants to grab power.

5. Dig deeper why we are always moving from one political crisis to another. Imperial Manila must listen to the cries of people who are apathetic as well as those from the countryside and address their problems.

6. People are apathetic because we live in hard times. Corruption and poverty are directly proportional to each other. The greater the corruption, the worse the poverty.

7. Government and the private sector must work hand-in-hand to address the basic needs of the people especially with the looming oil price increases.

8. To FVR, JDV, and GMA, amending the constitution, while it may have merit, is a diversionary tactic and serves to enhance your political ambitions and perpetuate yourselves in power. HINAY HINAY LANG, MGA POLITIKO.

9. Don’t forget the Martial Law years of struggle. Let us remain vigilant in the following ways:

a. Schools, religious organizations and communities must be centers of awareness and conscientization. We should discern and pray that the will of God will prevail.

b. Organize as many groups as possible to make aware to the great number of our people the roots, causes of the present crisis.

c. We should be critical and monitor the following: (1) whether the government programs are still effective; (2) the competence of the political appointees of the president; (3) the vengeful and retributive acts of the president against critical of her; (4) Pork barrel abuses by the legislators; (5) electoral reforms; (6) use of funds for the Mindanao peace agreement

d. A deeper study on the federalism and parliamentary form of government and other institutional reforms should be made by all concerned groups.
----------------

Whether one is satisfied with the distance of the Jesuit guidelines, my point is this: FINALLY, THE EAGLES HAVE LANDED.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Performancing
Google