A Grace of Two Women

A GRACE OF TWO WOMEN
By Rolo B. Cena

Dumaguete Metro Post

14 May 2006

I have two women in my life. Call me a concubine, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Not even the divine creator who could slap me on my face for immoral action neither the weaker law of men that can send me to jail.

She comes from the western part of the island, and she loves me, I knew that. Oftentimes, she would remind me of my health saying health is the most precious resource I could ever have when all else fails. She dictates, but I love her.

And she comes from the east. She loves me, of course. She gives me her best and gives me heaven made on earth. She does remind me of my health more than the westerner does. She watches my diet, reminds me of my health pills, and reminds me of my meals. She reminds me of my appointments and my speaking engagements. She reminds me of God. Wonderful!

She nagged me before, I mean this westerner. She does not encourage me to win; she hates to attend recognition seeing myself receiving plaques or medals. She does not push. To her, there is more to life than medals and honors. She believes after all, fame, just like a glitter of stone, costs a lot.

Once in my life she nagged me, too. She stops nagging me now, for one good reason we both know. She encourages me to win; she likes to attend recognition. She likes to see me receiving plaques or medals. She pushes; but she could patiently wait. This eastern lady endures with me for better or for worse. She loves me more than the westerner does. She swears eternal company, the one with no buts and ifs. She reminds: “Do what you believe is right.” And I love her, too.

The western lady? I seldom see her now, but she’s still there with open arms. She still waits, she watches. She still reminds me of this: “Think. You’re not getting any younger.”

Yes, they are my women. It’s hard to choose. As the old adage goes, “A man is born for a woman.” But not in my case, it’s absolutely different. I cannot live without them both. I really can’t. I mean, I don’t want to choose one from the other. I bet you would agree with me now.

The westerner is my mother, and the easterner is my wife. These two women are doing great things for me, for my family, and for my life. Each one changes me very differently. My mother sings an old song, while my wife sings a new one for me. That’s terrific!

My mother gave me life. It’s a debt no life can repay and something I just can’t drop off in favor of the other. What my mother had done to me is something I can never forget. It’s written in the pages of my book. There’s more of her than a mother. She’s great!

My wife gives me new life. She’s my twenty-four-by-seven guardian angel and co-worker. She risks and gambles with me. She’s my most loyal friend and trusted confidante. She makes me feel complete; she gives me blissful happiness. She’s more than just a woman and a wife to me.

It’s a grace of two women coming in one simple yet amazing package. Not everyone has this kind of grace – wrapped in natural fabric of human kindness, and laced with the glossy values of a meaningful, principle-centered life.

A Bruised Reed

By Rolo B. Cena

Random

Dumaguete Star Informer

November 20, 2016

She’s a bruised reed!

Literally, she’s biologically damaged:  She has a stage four breast cancer and endures the pain alone without the loving comfort of her husband – thanks but no thanks to the till-death-do-us-part and seemingly slip-of-the-tongue contract that becomes unpopular to early marriages today.  She has to sustain her plight sans the aid of chemically generated medicines for the demand for it downplays the need to feed her five children and a granddaughter with scanty meals at least two times a day. 

Essentially, she’s socially neglected:  She has to work alone to maintain a home within the structure she and her kids are trying to call a house of their own.  Her husband left her for no apparent reason; one day, they never saw him coming home.  Some of her biological siblings have unconsciously turned their backs on her.

Without any doubt, she’s physically exhausted:  She works as a freelance beautician knocking at neighbors’ doors in the village offering her services to wives and mothers who are just staying home whole day.  In between services, she launders for young working neighbors who cannot clean their soiled clothes due to the fast-paced working culture of the metropolis.  Literally, she tries to make both ends meet. 

She’s the talk of the town:  Others blame her for not demanding from her husband support for the family; others pity her for her unequalled rendition of struggles to sustain her family.  She could be a candidate for the “best mother of the world” award for making up for her husband’s absence and for pulling up her children together towards this end without fail.  She could have given up – given up her life – but she remained.

Once she told me she’s guilty.  If she were to blame, who’s not to be blamed?  If it were her fault, it would have been different.  She was not a predator; she was in fact a prey.  I told her.

If she were to blame, this care-free society would have to blame several predators, too:  Perverted parents who rape their kids; husbands who push wives over to the edge; superiors who ill-tongue staff and subordinates; employers who violate labor standards; drug traffickers who victimize the vulnerable youths and underprivileged; criminals who discriminately take lives for their pleasure; government officials who greedily amass wealth at the expense of countrymen, and who else?  There are too many to mention.   

And I told her more of these marauders that have to be blamed – if not persecuted - time and again without reservation.

Once she told me she’s ashamed to go on and felt the weight of the whole world on her feeble shoulders.  But shame is no longer a taboo today; shame has become a blue berry cheesecake everywhere:  A senator protecting drug lords she housed inside the National Penitentiary; Justices protecting social offenders in their areas of responsibility; police chiefs protecting pilfers within their localities – all these are in the guise of friendships, social connections or acquaintances.  And why should she be ashamed to earn an honest living for her family when no less than a lady senator having a intimate sexual trysts with an inmate, or the yellow team pinching the Yolanda Funds that leave Leyte folks homeless to date, or the Chief of Police murdering a witness in the guise of serving an arrest warrant with the end in mind of shielding top officials, and of course their cohorts.  There’s a lot more to mention that only time can demand.

Is standing up to the value of working honestly hard, feeding and keeping a family more shameful than those slime, grime and crime these too-good-to-be-true mentally-dehydrated politicians and narco-politicos committed?  Shame has become a marvellous dessert after midnight nowadays; greed a main course full board.  Diners – political, social or not - no longer know how to take a balanced diet.  They have become unconscious and less aware that the concoction they are taking becomes too risky for their guilt-rotting physical and spiritual bodies.

Nevertheless, she’s an inspiration.  She’s surviving and still feeling better today.  She still works, cuddles her granddaughter, hugs her kids and longs for a normal life free from these consumeristic substances that shorten ages or defy human lives.

She deserves a bethzatha where the society can lay down her sick and frail body to rest until the sun sets upon her time to go.  More than that, she deserves elaborately adorned bethzatha to acclaim her life story of lingering pains sustained through time that this post-modern consumeristic society does not care about delivered in various rhetoric and discourses or in a state-of-the-nation address.

Various stories have been told and re-told in those centuries-old bethzatha that witnessed the rise and fall of men, government and civilization through time:  Stories of shame, stories of failure; stories of frustration, or stories of success.  And hers is a story of grace under pressure.

Hers is worthy to note and emulate: After all, when a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years touched the cloak of The One whom ancient and modern civilization called Jesus, the bleeding stopped.  She was healed not because she touched the cloak of Jesus; she was healed because of her tremendous faith in God.

 

Truly, she deserves a story.  She is a sister in faith; she could be your sister, too!

Pitsas de Dama

By Rolo B. Cena

Random

Dumaguete Star Informer

13 November 2016

Albuena Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Sr. was shot dead in his jail cell in Leyte!  Espinosa has been considered one of the strongest witnesses on drug trafficking cases against Senator Leila Delima and even against those high-profile members of the yellow team.

In September this year, another headline became staple of the Philippine media when a riot inside the National Bilibid Prison broke killing Tony Co and leaving Peter Co, Vicente Sy and Jaybee Sebastian wounded.  These personalities were allegedly living in luxury inside the penitentiary under the blanket of feisty Senator Delima.  Sebastian, known to be the king of drug lords was in critical condition though later reports confirmed he was able to recover.  They were tapped to become state witnesses, too.

Back to Espinosa, the issue on CIDG involvement or it masterminding the killing does not come a surprise.  In the affidavit of Espinosa, he narrated that among others, there are seven CIDG officers involved in the illegal drug trade operated by Rolando Espinosa’s son Kerwin, who was lately arrested in Abu Dhabi. 

In hindsight, Senator Lacson claims that Espinosa’s case was an example of extra-judicial killing is an overstatement of the overwhelming phenomenon taking place in the country’s war against drugs.  The yellow camp on the other hand dismissed its own seemingly theatrical indignation blaming the administration; the administration’s stalwart Pres. Duterte however was not surprised about the killing.

Delima and Duterte continue to thrill the more than 100-million Filipino people with their game called “dama,” if “irritate” is a geometric underestimation.  So far, two were down:  these “pitsas” are as important as the others in reaching the “dama stage” when the last of the “pitsas” gets to the last row of the board to win the game.  Take note, the manner by which the last of the “pitsas” reaching the last row critically depends on the schematic maneuvers of the players.  Conversely, the manner depends critically on the players’ ability to tactically position the remaining “pitsas” in the board.  Strategic thinking is key to this game, which undoubtedly each players do posses.

Recall that Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, Police Chief of Albuera, promised Espinosa of safety after naming names of those involved in illegal drug trade in Eastern Visayas.  A month after his transfer to Baybay City police-sub-station, he was killed by CIDG in what they called as shootout.  According to reports, CIDG barged in the station with the search warrant served at 3:00 in the morning.  During the alleged service, Espinosa shot the CIDG Team that resulted to them killing him.  What a dramatic and gripping twist:  a search warrant served in the wee hour of the morning to a prisoner owning a gun and they took with them the hard drive that purportedly contained the footage of the incident.

Oops, another wrong linear movement of the “pitsa” between grids of inconsistent circumstances lately, which the other player wasn’t keen about moving:  President Aquino became suddenly interested and vocal of Espinosa’s death.  Why of all the killings, whether initiated by the team against drugs or otherwise, he became so overwhelmingly interested in the results?  For a former head of the country that chose to keep mum about the operations against drug traffickers to be all of the sudden interested in one personality, this is exasperatingly ridiculous.

Most fishes are caught in their mouths, especially when the bait is horrendously attractive; others through a net whose length and width vary according to the intended catch.

One, two, and who’s next?  I wonder what happened to Kerwin Espinosa now after his arrest?  Has somebody thought of protecting him after his father was killed?   With the affidavit issued by the older Espinosa losing its probative value with his death, although the same can still be used to corroborate testimonies of other witnesses, I wonder if these major players at the other side of the board are exceedingly strategic enough to think and act three steps ahead of the opponent.  Seems like they are not, look what happened to Espinosa.

By the way, “dama” is so easy to play, especially when the players are skilled with the tricks of this old-time siesta board game discovered by the Egyptians.  At the side though, the primitive Egyptians and other Middle Eastern thinkers were among those strategists the world adores today.

The bereaved family of Espinosa mourned for the loss of a father and a husband, no longer a political leader while the entire nation grieved for the loss of two statesmen:  Misters Truth and Justice.  Mister Truth, nowadays, is the specie that is becoming extinct especially with the advent of technology called greed.  Mister Justice on the other hand is another specie that, by its own process, is slowly self-decaying its genetic disposition especially with the rise of group called self-proclaimed righteous predators.

When greed and self-proclaimed righteous predators collaborate, they create chaos called conspiracy whose theory is undoubtedly translated into board game called “dama.”

Those “pitsas” drawn in the “dama” board have been cowed in to take the roles of lambs offered to the altars of the Abrahamic ritual just so to protect relationships with the gods.

More sacrificial lambs are coming.  Beware!

Moderating that Ramos Factor

By Rolo B. Cena

Random

Dumaguete Star Informer

06 November 2016

Juxtaposed with other presidents, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is surely the most colorful.  In contrast and if I may further opine, former president Fidel V. Ramos is the exact opposite.

In 1992, shortly after the Commission on Elections declared Ramos president, he was charged by his opponent then feisty Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago of election fraud, an election protest that was resolved for about six years, shortly before the former’s term ended.  Sen. Santiago, who to date ran for president three times already, was opined by most political analysts and scholars and regarded by many Filipinos as the best President this country never had.

While several morning dailies, local papers, radio and terrestrial giants feasted and placed colors in his resignation as special envoy to China, it would be absurd to put too much hullabaloos in that predictable action from former president Ramos.  For one, it was just decent for him to quit rather than strike his own spikes against his boss.  Two, his approach is different from Duterte’s.  Three, if he talked about misdemeanors, he too has a lot in his registry.

Allegedly, one of the most notorious projects Ramos undertook was Centennial Expo Pilipino in Clark Air Base in Angeles City, Pampanga.  While the project was perceived to be one of his most distinguished contributions to the country, however, charges of massive corruption tarnished the overall results of the projects.  According to reports released by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the Centennial Expo not only revealed the overspending and ineptitude of the (Ramos) administration, but also served as the convenient instrument to effect election fund-raising for his political party at the expense of the tax-paying Filipino people.  The Center also added that while it was intended to be the center of the Country’s Centennial Celebration of freedom from Spain, the Expo earned criticisms for being the White Elephant that disadvantaged the government at the cost of P9.0 Billion or 1.7% of the national budget.  Ramos then had to lobby at the Senate to exonerate his cohorts from the charges.

Tagged as the “grandmother of all scams” by Sen. Ernesto Maceda in his Senate speech in 1996, Ramos entered a deal in 1995 with Amari Coastal Bay Resources and Filinvest Development in the sale and acquisition of 158 hectares of reclaimed land on Manila Bay. The deal displaced over 3,000 fishing and coastal families in Manila Bay just to give way to what activists described as “an immoral, illegal and grossly unconstitutional state venture." The Ramos administration was accused of selling out the government's interests by favoring these developers over higher bidders in various lucrative real estate development schemes. According to Public Estate Authority (PEA), data revealed that the property was sold to Amari for P1.9 billion or P 1,200 pesos per square meter although the value of properties in adjacent areas were pegged at P90,000 per square meter.  Reports said that in 1998, the Senate found a paper trail purportedly representing commissions paid to certain PEA officials amounting to P1.7 billion and benefited party mates, which Ramos denied. This prompted former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez to file a petition nullifying the deal because the government lost billions of pesos in the sale.  Nevertheless, Ramos sealed the deal.

Will Ramos’ resignation as special envoy to China really hurt Duterte’s Administration?

Towards this end, I still maintain my reservation.  During his final years in office, Ramos tried to amend the Country’s 1987 Constitution.  Widespread protests led by Corazon Aquino and the Catholic Church aborted his plan.  An article from The New York Times (September 22, 1997) revealed that during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, a member of his Team testified that during the Centennial Expo preparations, Ramos desperately tried to produce monies and exasperatingly calculated all ways to prevent Estrada from winning the May 1998 elections.  Estrada won and truly, in 2001, he was ousted from Malacanang through the concerted effort of Ramos and his cohorts, granting then Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo the politically unpopular rights to take control of the government.

Why wasn’t Ramos Charged?

It was a sleight of hands of some powerful political actors.  In 2004, Pres. Gloria Arroyo won over popular local actor Fernando Poe, Jr. the presidency.  She was charged with election rigging by Poe whose election protest was resolved shortly after his death.  Affected by widespread protests and calls for her resignation, Arroyo allegedly planned to resign but remained in office after Ramos, who believed in her continued economic progress, good governance, and stability, successfully convinced her. Ramos was vocal in repeatedly stating that the scandal is “nowhere as grave as the stagnant Philippine economy in the final years of the Marcos regime and the allegedly massive corruption of the Estrada administration”. On the advice of Ramos, Arroyo cleared all issues regarding her alleged involvement in the wiretapped conversation with an election official known as “Hello Garci” that made her “mental lapse” dictum cum alibi popular.

Are we truly losing him? As a statesman we may be losing his wisdom and diplomatic connections; as a politician whose interest seemed to be only aligned to his personal vision and mission and not to the Chief Executive, we are not.

Arguably though, while the entire country believed that we gained him when he and Enrile defected from Marcos via the 1986 People Power, we however lost him to his gluttony of fame and power when he allegedly manipulated election results over Santiago, betrayed Cory Aquino over Charter Change, betrayed Estrada through People Power 2 and betrayed Gloria Arroyo in the guise of support to cover his ass towards this end.

He should be careful for what he wished for:  What comes around goes around; what goes around comes around.