Trading the barbs

By Rolo B. Cena

Hushed Poppies

Dumaguete Star Informer

22 July 2012

Cebu City, Philippines – Engagingly disturbing, the standoff over Scarborough has been dragging for more than three months now.  What is amazingly irritating is the fact that China stands on its own while the fun-loving country Philippines seeks supports from other ASEAN member countries.  It even sought political and military support from the United States of America before briefly browsing the yellow pages of the ASEAN.

The Shoal, which comes in many names depending on one’s color and race, is believed to be sitting on huge mineral deposits.  The abundance of maritime life boosts its marketability and makes it a fertile ground for disputes, or even war, if this process is not accordingly and humanely addressed to; nestling along the most strategic navigational highway, it offers access to international trade and can in fact become a good naval or military support base. 

First off, I still believe it’s better to push for bilateral talks with China instead of engaging other countries on this issue.  China has been our economic partner for centuries.  The trade that transpired between our countries has contributed to economies, politics, culture, and even social life.  To date, thousands of Filipinos, both skilled and unskilled, are deployed to the mainland and Hong Kong for various economic engagements.  Conversely, we can numerate Chinese nationals working and hanging around in the country; some are even deeply engaged in businesses, and to say the worst, involved in drugs-related crimes and criminalities.

What China wants to articulate in fact is the same:  bilateral talks that could foster enhanced ties.  What they want is economic advantage more than political domination in the Shoal.  Conversely, the Country wants the same:  economic more than political advantage.  The former sounds feasible while the latter is beyond comprehension; the imagination only conspirators of the old war-torn Mesopotamia could have wanted to abort had the ill effects of war aftermath been made known to the fielders. 

Second, involving the US does not mean support at all.  It will place its own interest over the Philippines’.  Do you think Uncle Sam will work on the interests of the Filipinos ahead of theirs?  It would sound too good to be true if they will.  History tells us that the US government was willing to protect Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, Iraq, Afghanistan, et al.  But it was more than that; it was actually protecting their vested economic and socio-political interests in the guise of protecting these subjects.  At the end of day, the superpower would always win. 

Arguably though, statistics put it that where there is US presence, there is war.  Experts should correct me if I am wrong:  Americans wanted to protect Iraq from Iran’s mighty invasion; consequently, the Gulf War ensued.  Americans wanted to protect Afghanistan from the Taliban; consequently, Afghan war was born.  The results: these two most recent wars are not over yet.  Fundamentalists bought war in, Americans earned.

Vietnam is another classic example:  No country as hell to die for! And the Philippines, too!

Third, rather than exchanging unpleasant hullabaloos, why not grab a chair in a boardroom of choice and discuss.  There is more than one benefit in talking than in exchanging word war.  Reciprocating military actions can always trigger another major conflict, and insulting diplomatic relations can always ruin existing ties.

The art of war has always been the game of the greedy and the powerful!  And this standoff, if not managed squarely may lead to something adverse.

Gentlemen got but one word:  they talk and decide between ears.  Let’s stop trading the barbs!

The Carousel

By Rolo B. Cena

Hushed Poppies

Dumaguete Star Informer

July 8, 2012

Cebu City, Philippines - The Judicial and Bar Council of the Philippines (JBC) has finally closed accepting nominations for the chief justice.  So far, the process has registered 65 contenders who voluntarily and involuntarily submitted themselves to scrutiny.  And lately, it’s been narrowed down to 24.

The unique and commendably authentic Philippine made democracy has its unique ways of espousing transparency as in the case of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.  To most believers, the live telecast of the trial made one and absolute good:  Transparency is alive!

The top three bets will be shortlisted soonest in the deliberation that will be covered by the media.  Most people believe that this process is interesting in the sense that it runs almost the same as any talent search show on earth.  Undoubtedly, P-Noy has earned a credit for himself as the most influential talent manager in the country to date sans the magical, starry mirror, outbesting popular talent machineries popularized by the top three terrestrial giants of the country today.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Constitution on the qualification of the next Chief Justice, modern-day Filipinos believe that the Chief Magistrate should have the proven record of independence, character, and firm resolve.

Arguably though, the selection process was done with an ounce of mockery.  Part of it has started from the nomination process that has been liberally opened and made public.  Not only did JBC accord transparency in the selection process, it has also invited a lot of crackpots to crave for the post:  A former Regional Trial Court Judge who was sacked by the Supreme court in 2006 and who claimed “The court will never rise again except upon appointment of a chief justice who is anointed by Christ through Ave Maria;” a certain Leonardo da Vinci nominated via email a certain Antonio Villamor; and a nurse nominating herself.  What on earth can a nurse, an ordinary citizen or a mentally-derailed lawyer can do in the judiciary?

By far, this is the most ridiculed government process I have ever known.  Every citizen has wanted to occupy the post without regard to qualification, experience, and competence, and with each one of them telling the media that they “have the edge.”  The search for the chief magistrate is no laughing matter. Surprisingly, while it democratizes the system, it has actually devalued the position of the Chief Justice, consciously or unconsciously.

The position of the Chief Justice has been assaulted once:  the midnight appointment of a man named Renato Corona, inexperienced, partial and alleged to be a close ally and associate of the now-troubled petite lady of the Congress.  Please, let us stop devaluing it farther more.  Let us respect the way we respect our citizenship.

And Senator Joker Arroyo was right:  The selection has become ridiculous.  Senator Franklin Drilon has a point:  It has become a circus.  The irate Sen. Miriam Santiago has a valid argument:  it has become a devaluation of the position.

The challenge of the Council is to nominate its top three bets from which the President has to intelligently and impartially choose The One.  Nope, not just nominating the top three, but nominating these dramatis personae impartially, consciously, and intelligently.  These candidates should have the proven record of independence, character and firm resolve:  Independence that can outwit political influence, character that can outdo personal and political differences, and firm resolve that cannot be influenced by whatever color of money any “negotiator” has in his pocket.

And while the process has been started with magical spotlights, let’s not make the final round like a circus!  After all, the Supreme Court is not a carousel.

Poppies

By Rolo B. Cena

Hushed Poppies

Dumaguete Star Informer

July 15, 2012

Cebu City, Phils – Dutch post-impressionist Vincent Willem Van Gough died of a gunshot wound.  Investigators believed it was self-inflicted but remained to be a mystery until today because no gun was ever found in the scene of crime.  He was and will be best remembered for his colorful masterpieces especially “Poppies in the Field”.

Lately, Dutch missionary Willem Geertman was murdered in San Fernando.  Police investigators ruled out robbery with homicide; cause-oriented groups claimed extrajudicial killing.  He was and will be best revered for his cause for environmental movements and mission for the famers of Hacienda Luisita.

When Van Gough died in 1890, the post-impressionism movement in Europe wept.  Along with him died the wonderful colors of the canvass: the character imbedded in each stroke of his subject, in each hue of his expression, and in each meaning of his intention.

What purports to remain is the concession Van Gough had for life, which is aptly amplified in all his works:  Concision and grace.  Concision in the sense that his drive to collate all the beauties of the universe into one meaningful piece of canvass deflates the enormous mass of subjects available for his disposal; it demystifies the  mammoth of thoughts into an artwork that speaks of an artist’s prologue to a new dimension.  Grace in the sense that he wanted more strength to probably ease his ailing physique. 

When Geertman died, the cause-oriented groups in the country mourned.  Along with him died the wonderful colors of an ordinary yet purpose-driven life: the character depicted in each stroke of concerns for environment, in the strength unleashed for his worthy cause, and in each meaning for all his moves.

What purports to remain is the concession Geertman had for life, which is appositely magnified in all his works:  Truth and justice.  Truth in the sense that his passion to preserve the environment does not call for rebellion and terrorism; it calls for environmental activism aimed at preserving the dying mother earth and much more, at simply helping those farmers who till these vast lands to produce what we need.

When Geertman died, several other Filipino citizens including concision, grace, truth and justice died:  Concision wants to know the contents of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN)  these mentally-derailed legislators, senators and government officials behold to present; Grace needs the help of these spotlight-conscious men that are supposed to be coming from the nasty domestic animal  butchered into a staple called pork in a barrel; Truth proposes to deliver the white papers unearthed from the shelves of those who are deprived of facts; and Justice wants to acquire fairness despite political differences, equity despite wide disparity between the rich and the poor, the favored and the less-privileged, and the lame and the powerful. 

When former President Corazon Aquino signed CARP into law, the objective was to deliver concision at the shortest possible time, grace under ruining pressure, truth amidst culturally rooted lies, and justice amidst disparity.  When Van Gough painted “Poppies in the field,” he never dreamt of making himself a symbol of post-impressionism; when Geertman caused for environment and the famers of Hacienda Luisita, he never projected to be the Gandhi of Luzon.    

And whether or not the poppies grow in the fields of Italy, Holland, Aurora or Tarlac, no demoniac is ever licensed to uproot and exterminate them from mother earth.  Geertman, just like Van Gough, deserves to blissfully live his multi-purpose-driven life with anybody, anywhere, anytime. 

Every one is a poppy; and poppies deserve to bloom to give color and meaning to life!

Stupid war

By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
7 November 2010

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The US government was once again agitated when bomb-contained parcels bound to Chicago were intercepted in the airports of Dubai and Britain through the intelligence information from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. According to media sources, almost the entire world accused Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) for the foiled terroristic activity.

Recently, the government was perturbed by the heightened travel advisories issued against the Philippines by the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In their respective releases, citizens of these countries were advised to avoid visiting Manila and most of Mindanao cities including shopping malls, places of worships and other public places.

Credibility-torn and elections-troubled Barack Obama called the parcels as “credible terrorist threat” and could have, according to experts, even brought down the plane. The suspect, a Yemeni woman, has been arrested and contained by the Yemeni government. Assumingly, the US government would spare no effort to delve into the matter and sanction the source of the parcels reportedly sent to the two places of Jewish Worship.

Malacanang, on the other hand, assured the public of no possible terrorism stating further that the Office of the President has been provided with intelligence report and that the situation is under control. Terroristic activities in the Philippines are only carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, the militant Islamist faction of the Moro National Liberation Front. The group is the most notorious of all extremists the Philippine government has to deal with.

Al-Qaeda, the militant Islamist group who was responsible for the 9/11 bombing that toppled down New York’s World Trade Center, was engineered by Osama Bin Laden in alliance with other groups including war-torn Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. However, while the world believes that US military offensives killed Saddam Hussein including its dominion or have thrown them out of Iraq, the proximate probability of reunification with other Muslim fundamentalists still looms as it is obviously caught in the spotlight – again!

President Obama’s dream of fixing peace and reconciliation in the Middle East and Arab Peninsula seems to have been derailed or slowed down. With the recent bomb threat addressed to the Jewish nationals residing in his territory, the prospect of instituting peace between and among the conflict-born Arab Kingdoms is apparently turning gloomy.

For as long as the world’s superpower dominates global politics, war shall always be construed as a controlling mechanism by powerful countries and economies against weaker nations like those in oil-rich Middle East and Arab Peninsula. Consequently, the direct proportional relationship between the supply and demand of resources attributable to this ferocious exercise, under the economies of scale, determines the gigantic role of predator and the coerced submission of preys. Obviously, war is a manifestation of interests no matter who or what triggers which.

Perceptibly, the Islam fundamentalists are the only extremists the world has to deal with. Among them are the Al-Qaeda, the Hezbollah, the Taliban and the Abu Sayyaf. Collectively, these groups are Islamic by faith, culture and orientation. Most of them have been known for their terroristic and kidnap-for-ransom activities all over the world. Practically, the only perceived reason for their cause is their ideology positioned at the opposite end of the Islamic faith.

The Taliban is the Islamist group that was launched in early 1990 to end the bitter war in Afghanistan. Backed by Pakistan, the militant group almost succeeded in dominating the country when America then bombarded them from power in 9/11’s feverish aftermath. The Islam fundamentalists of Iraq are believed to be the offspring of Al-Qaeda. The Jewish controlled Israel defied the Arab-controlled Palestine over a strip of land each one claiming territorial control by reason of historical domain. Hezbollah was founded in Lebanon to blockade Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The Abu Sayyaf, while it is thriving in the Muslim countries of the Far East with high profile notoriety particularly in the Philippines, shares a common ideology with them.

Startlingly, historic wars can be traced back to the famous Garden where, through the calculative and precise engineering of the serpent, the Woman tempted the Man to swallow the fruit that allegedly contains the trivia of knowledge. This knowledge propelled the technology of procreation whereby the two beautiful animals conjured their sexual faculties that later brought forward Cain and Abel. The four, to make the long story short, not only championed procreation; they introduced war with the highest degree of stupidity. Undoubtedly, it is the same war that crazed man-made kingdoms fighting against kingdoms of the whole world.

Humans are genetically pre-disposed to inherit the image of the Man and the Woman and that includes among others the intellect, the strength and biases, the whims and caprices, and its culpability and flexibility. Conversely, along with creation, stupid war was born. It was not the result of human conflicts or of its attributes; it was an activity consequential to creation itself.

Man is the masterpiece of all Creation initiated by the Master Creator; war is the masterpiece of procreation designed by the savage of the Garden called Man. Arguably, for as long as the thin red line that demarcates the values and greed or good and evil is completely understood, only then can man intelligently punctuate this stupid war at once.

Remember, even the handsomest of all angels named Lucifer waged war against the Master Creator out of personal business. What more can a superpower do to its subjects?