By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
02 October 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Surely, taking a business class-seat flight from Riyadh to Manila with a scant two-hour stopover at Hong Kong was just fair enough after three years of being barred from vacation due to massive workloads and pressing project timelines and deliverables. Other than feeling peculiarly different while seated in this classy cabin, the stress associated with traveling has been completely toned down to my advantage.
And I thought it was at all comforting. Welcomed by the melancholic storm rains, the Cathay Pacific Airbus touched down at the tarmac of NAIA 2 at about 5:00 p.m. From the window of the aircraft, I can visibly see the flooded lanes where this steel aviary was taxiing, evident of the storms. When my nephew picked me up at about 6:00 p.m., I knew the perks I enjoyed in the trip have been infringed.
Driving our way out from NAIA 2 to Magallanes Inter-Change was as tactically mazy as proving the most heinous of crimes of the century – the Maguindanao Massacre, or in convicting these annihilators. While all traffic lights are technically working, the humps and bumps along the troubled thoroughfares en route to EDSA are as obvious and dubious as the turns and twists the Ampatuans and their colleagues are crafting, ultimately, to the advantage of the One.
Finding the best way out to Fairview for my overnight accommodation was as horrendous as proving the 2004 electoral fraud lodged against the former petite lady of the Palace now Pampanga Representative. While most of the roads are technically passable, the rain waters deposited in the sewers of the Metropolitan Manila are as dreadful and atmospherically horrible as the twists and turns the first family and its camp are crafting for their advantage.
Plying the historic EDSA was rather suffocating than breathtaking: the billboards donning “skins” of showbiz personalities in the guise of endorsing commercial products sans the metaphoric invites of the flesh trade, massive skyscrapers in the guise of building “homes” sans the rhetoric lures of quick-and-easy life, the metropolitan rails plying the spreads of highways in the guise of economic solution to traffic sans the allegoric invites of corruption in government contracts, and all, and all.
If at all these are the proposed solutions to social stigma at hand, then I hold no qualm against them. While it is true that unprecedented rise of commercialism has gradually eradicated authentic Filipino industry, creativity and value, it has somehow, literally and figuratively, benefited its recipients, if it would be sacrilegious to call them prey. However, I do have one to the plaguing traffic problem in the metropolis because for the same score, the situation has never improved; worse, after a brief period, it has worsen.
Sans the hullabaloos from critics, the government has imposed the “60kph” speed limit in major thoroughfares. For one, discipline has to be imposed to erring motorists; two, lives of the motorists have to be protected.
The sterling question is: For how long can the government sustain to do this?
In Saudi Arabia, CCTV cameras are installed in four areas of the traffic posts. In the absence of traffic lights, AUVs are parked along conspicuous portion of the roads or highways with CCTV cameras installed in them. These CCTVs are controlled by central monitors in the respective police stations, which are then connected to the system network that integrates all agencies of the government. Once a violation is detected, the system automatically captures and records the offense, transmits warning notice to the all concerned including but not limited to the Immigration (for the expatriates), Interiors (for the Driving License and Car registration), the motorist (via SMS) and the bank for automatic deduction from the account of the erring motorist. In the event that the motorist does not have bank account, upon renewal of National ID or Iqama, the system shall automatically retrieve the offense and thus penalize the offenders.
In contrast, speed violation in the Country is detected by a traffic officer who operates manually the speed reader. He then informs another traffic officer who shall apprehend the offender. Once this happens, a traffic violation ticket is issued and the offender has to settle with the Land Transportation Office.
What is the difference between the two systems? Saudi Arabia’s is systematic, effective and less prone to corruption. In contrast, ours is manual, less effective and absolutely a fertile ground for corruption.
And why should Saudi Arabia be any different? Is it because they have money? Is it because they have imposed National ID system?
The answers to these preceding questions are denominated to a big “NO!” Saudi Arabia made it happened because for one, its government has the political will; two, Saudi Arabia maximizes its money; and three, Saudi Arabia has maximized its existing system.
If our government can only define prudent spending or re-tame this animal deduced to“pork in a barrel” in its truest form and meaning, only then novel projects like this can be implemented, or, succeed!
Take it from the petite lady!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
21st of September
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
25 September 2011
Riyadh,Saudi Arabia – There are two major significance this odd number accords the world and the Filipino people: The “International Peace One Day” and the declaration of Martial Law thirty-nine (39) years ago. The former is an advocacy that calls for all citizens of the world to take on peace and cause to be its agent; the latter is a self-serving interest conceptualized to create a stress-contained serenity narrative of dictatorial dominion and brutal rule of the Palace.
The 21st of September reminds us of the belief that we are one community, one citizen and one spirit: a community with the belief that instilling peace within the inner recesses of the hearts and minds creates an asylum of healthy disposition; a citizen with familial objective of advocating and maintaining peace builds an edifice of genuine people’s supremacy and good governance; and a spirit with contagious resolve fashions a sanctuary of immortal tranquility and peaceful community of Filipino people.
The 21st day of September reminds us of the freedom promulgated in the portico of Aguinaldo’s shrine in Cavite; the freedom that gave us the privilege to enjoy democracy in its truest form and meaning, with the absolute application of the rule of the people and the rule of law.
It brings us back to the memoirs of EDSA, where one trumpet was sounded off by one humble Cardinal that gave birth to the People Power that toppled a regime that abused lives, controlled the economy, and fabricated history. The 21st of September equates with the 25th of February that catapulted the rise of true democracy and eventually indisputable peace.
In contrast however, the 21st of September reminds us of the “Marcos Law,” a partisan belief that the Palace is the Law, the Palace is the Rule, and that the Palace is the Force: the law that revealed someone is above the law; the rule that revealed supremacy over its subjects; and the force that controls the community of believed-to-be idiots.
It reminds us of the Martial Law, the Romualdez-Marcos conjugal dictatorship that re-defined freedom, re-orchestrated peace, and re-created atrocities: freedom re-defined in the guise of cronyism and false application of bureaucracy, peace re-orchestrated in the guise of the New Society, and atrocities re-created in the manifestations of New People’s Army, Moro-Islamic Liberation Front, et al. This later gave unprecedented birth of Abu Sayaff propelled by the subsequent demonic Laws of Man that controlled the palace.
The 21st of September reminds us of the 21st century Filipino idolatries: crime, grime and slime. These three, in all aspects, are powered by greed and voracity. It reminds us of the most heinous of all politically-propelled crimes in Maguindanao; it reminds us of the most popular grime concocted by the wittiest of minds: the Poe-arroyo Presidential race; and it reminds us of the most horrendous slime ever actuated: ZTE-NBN deal, the fertilizer scam, etc.
Surely, the two scenarios vividly define contrasting epitomes of peace in one plane of thought: two extremes that demand both harmony and greed: The former being the end product of genuine peace, the latter being the consequence of a fabricated and highly malicious one. But then again, both lie on the same plane of thought.
Under the precepts of true order, where all the elements in the universe are in harmonious adjunct with its other, harmony and greed do not and cannot meet even when peace becomes the focal or central point of order, or in it its truest form and meaning, is enforced. Harmony and greed do not blend; neither does peace with martial law.
But contrast oftentimes provide colors that sooth, pictures that link, and messages that command: soothing colors that clearly demystify the good, the better and the best; linking pictures that exemplify the bad, the worse, and the worst; and commanding messages that magnify the good, the bad and the ugly.
Demystifying the good, the better and the best gives us the full picture of the Aquino administration, a replica of his mother’s, the icon of democracy, where transparency and good governance are two of his most important spices in re-cooking Philippine government. Linking pictures that exemplify the bad, the worse and the worst personifies the administration of the petite lady, now Pampanga Representative, where her greed and voracity ranks second to the former dictator. Magnifying the good, the bad and the ugly reminds us that once the Country was chosen by the good, ruled by the bad, and led to perdition by the ugliest of political souls.
21st of September should remind us of one thing: never do that again! What ever calls for it, be still!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
25 September 2011
Riyadh,Saudi Arabia – There are two major significance this odd number accords the world and the Filipino people: The “International Peace One Day” and the declaration of Martial Law thirty-nine (39) years ago. The former is an advocacy that calls for all citizens of the world to take on peace and cause to be its agent; the latter is a self-serving interest conceptualized to create a stress-contained serenity narrative of dictatorial dominion and brutal rule of the Palace.
The 21st of September reminds us of the belief that we are one community, one citizen and one spirit: a community with the belief that instilling peace within the inner recesses of the hearts and minds creates an asylum of healthy disposition; a citizen with familial objective of advocating and maintaining peace builds an edifice of genuine people’s supremacy and good governance; and a spirit with contagious resolve fashions a sanctuary of immortal tranquility and peaceful community of Filipino people.
The 21st day of September reminds us of the freedom promulgated in the portico of Aguinaldo’s shrine in Cavite; the freedom that gave us the privilege to enjoy democracy in its truest form and meaning, with the absolute application of the rule of the people and the rule of law.
It brings us back to the memoirs of EDSA, where one trumpet was sounded off by one humble Cardinal that gave birth to the People Power that toppled a regime that abused lives, controlled the economy, and fabricated history. The 21st of September equates with the 25th of February that catapulted the rise of true democracy and eventually indisputable peace.
In contrast however, the 21st of September reminds us of the “Marcos Law,” a partisan belief that the Palace is the Law, the Palace is the Rule, and that the Palace is the Force: the law that revealed someone is above the law; the rule that revealed supremacy over its subjects; and the force that controls the community of believed-to-be idiots.
It reminds us of the Martial Law, the Romualdez-Marcos conjugal dictatorship that re-defined freedom, re-orchestrated peace, and re-created atrocities: freedom re-defined in the guise of cronyism and false application of bureaucracy, peace re-orchestrated in the guise of the New Society, and atrocities re-created in the manifestations of New People’s Army, Moro-Islamic Liberation Front, et al. This later gave unprecedented birth of Abu Sayaff propelled by the subsequent demonic Laws of Man that controlled the palace.
The 21st of September reminds us of the 21st century Filipino idolatries: crime, grime and slime. These three, in all aspects, are powered by greed and voracity. It reminds us of the most heinous of all politically-propelled crimes in Maguindanao; it reminds us of the most popular grime concocted by the wittiest of minds: the Poe-arroyo Presidential race; and it reminds us of the most horrendous slime ever actuated: ZTE-NBN deal, the fertilizer scam, etc.
Surely, the two scenarios vividly define contrasting epitomes of peace in one plane of thought: two extremes that demand both harmony and greed: The former being the end product of genuine peace, the latter being the consequence of a fabricated and highly malicious one. But then again, both lie on the same plane of thought.
Under the precepts of true order, where all the elements in the universe are in harmonious adjunct with its other, harmony and greed do not and cannot meet even when peace becomes the focal or central point of order, or in it its truest form and meaning, is enforced. Harmony and greed do not blend; neither does peace with martial law.
But contrast oftentimes provide colors that sooth, pictures that link, and messages that command: soothing colors that clearly demystify the good, the better and the best; linking pictures that exemplify the bad, the worse, and the worst; and commanding messages that magnify the good, the bad and the ugly.
Demystifying the good, the better and the best gives us the full picture of the Aquino administration, a replica of his mother’s, the icon of democracy, where transparency and good governance are two of his most important spices in re-cooking Philippine government. Linking pictures that exemplify the bad, the worse and the worst personifies the administration of the petite lady, now Pampanga Representative, where her greed and voracity ranks second to the former dictator. Magnifying the good, the bad and the ugly reminds us that once the Country was chosen by the good, ruled by the bad, and led to perdition by the ugliest of political souls.
21st of September should remind us of one thing: never do that again! What ever calls for it, be still!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Schizophrenic
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
18 September 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – In his articulation for several days after NATO and National Transition Council (NTC) claimed victory over Tripoli, Moammar Gadhafi denied reports that he fled to Niger, a southern neighboring Islamic state. With the enunciation made by the Organization requesting neighboring countries to close their borders to the members of the fugitive’s regime, the former Libyan leader, now remaining at large, branded all the activities the allied forces have undertaken as “psychological warfare and lies” after his dominion was diffused.
What a paranoia of sort when the world-declared fugitive with whom the Marcoses, especially the former First Lady now Ilocos Representative Imelda Marcos have intimated and shared their own tricks and notes of greed-based supremacy, brandished his own portfolio of anarchy that almost venerated the near-satanic rites of Hitler.
Such was a blatant display of greed for power that is as enormous as the greed and voracity of the petite lady as evidenced by the worst of crimes as the Arroyo-backed killings or as gargantuan as the greed and voracity of the Ampatuans’.
When Gadhafi called the acts of the allied forces as “psych war and lies,” it’s by default a reflection of his own means of deceiving the entire world that he is still in control, that he is still harboring victories; an absolute lie as profane as the mental lapses of the petite lady on the one-million-vote edge over actor Poe, the only and absolute foe she had during the 2004 presidential elections.
When Gadhafi slammed the rumors that he was heading south of Libya with a strong armada, it was by definition a “psych war and lie” to deceive the entire world that his power still exists in the metropolis of Tripoli, a lie similar to the existence of congressional power of the petite lady to desperately protect herself from prosecution and persecution for greed and voracity she and her court mercilessly deliberated during her two anarchical terms.
Similarly, when the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos was lifted from Malacanang and transported to what was mistaken as Hawai instead of Paoay, all his men – relatives and cronies- fabricated all sorts of made-to-order antics in order to derail the transformation process undertaken by the Aquino administration, an activity that was as sadistic as annihilating the Jews during the second global war by the Nazis.
If I may put my two cents in, most leaders are schizophrenic, a post partum behavioral disorder governed by hunger for superfluous; post partum in the sense that it unveils after leaders get the power: Hitler, Mussolini, Marcos, Fidel Castro, Hosni Mubarak, Ben Ali, Bashar al-Saad, Moammar Gadhafi, Gloria Arroyo, et al.
Hitler and Mussolini’s annihilation of the world in an attempt to control the magnitude of creation, Marcos’ unequalled concoction of power and greed, Castro’s defiance to submit, Hosni Mubarak’s interminable military control behind bars, Ben Ali sibling’s political kleptomaniac, Bashar al-Saad’s do-or-die attachment to power, Moamma Gadhafi’s psychological warfare and lies, Gloria Arroyo’s lapses turned denials, and more. Yes, and many more when drilled down to the last of selections.
These leaders have utterly epitomized the commonest of all political fuel: Greed! Conversely, these leaders have epitomized the commonest of all political behavioral disorder: schizophrenia!
Greed is an overwhelming desire to have more of something. Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, and withdrawal into self. It is a state of mind characterized by contradictory or conflicting attitudes, behavior or qualities.
Arguably though, these breed of assailants are living between the border of normalcy and schizophrenia, a state of mind where most narcissistic creatures often dismiss as reality sans the sugar coats and glossy superficial pelts of mental distortion; apparently, they need psychiatric overhauls to anchor them to reality and consequently allow them to survive.
Again if I may opine, behaviors like these muggers epitomize don’t deserve to exist, lest re-condition the mindsets of the youths otherwise the value of true democracy will wane beyond reason: a democracy founded on the principle of the people, by the people and for the people.
What more can the constituents do whenever such behavior persists in a state like ours?
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
18 September 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – In his articulation for several days after NATO and National Transition Council (NTC) claimed victory over Tripoli, Moammar Gadhafi denied reports that he fled to Niger, a southern neighboring Islamic state. With the enunciation made by the Organization requesting neighboring countries to close their borders to the members of the fugitive’s regime, the former Libyan leader, now remaining at large, branded all the activities the allied forces have undertaken as “psychological warfare and lies” after his dominion was diffused.
What a paranoia of sort when the world-declared fugitive with whom the Marcoses, especially the former First Lady now Ilocos Representative Imelda Marcos have intimated and shared their own tricks and notes of greed-based supremacy, brandished his own portfolio of anarchy that almost venerated the near-satanic rites of Hitler.
Such was a blatant display of greed for power that is as enormous as the greed and voracity of the petite lady as evidenced by the worst of crimes as the Arroyo-backed killings or as gargantuan as the greed and voracity of the Ampatuans’.
When Gadhafi called the acts of the allied forces as “psych war and lies,” it’s by default a reflection of his own means of deceiving the entire world that he is still in control, that he is still harboring victories; an absolute lie as profane as the mental lapses of the petite lady on the one-million-vote edge over actor Poe, the only and absolute foe she had during the 2004 presidential elections.
When Gadhafi slammed the rumors that he was heading south of Libya with a strong armada, it was by definition a “psych war and lie” to deceive the entire world that his power still exists in the metropolis of Tripoli, a lie similar to the existence of congressional power of the petite lady to desperately protect herself from prosecution and persecution for greed and voracity she and her court mercilessly deliberated during her two anarchical terms.
Similarly, when the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos was lifted from Malacanang and transported to what was mistaken as Hawai instead of Paoay, all his men – relatives and cronies- fabricated all sorts of made-to-order antics in order to derail the transformation process undertaken by the Aquino administration, an activity that was as sadistic as annihilating the Jews during the second global war by the Nazis.
If I may put my two cents in, most leaders are schizophrenic, a post partum behavioral disorder governed by hunger for superfluous; post partum in the sense that it unveils after leaders get the power: Hitler, Mussolini, Marcos, Fidel Castro, Hosni Mubarak, Ben Ali, Bashar al-Saad, Moammar Gadhafi, Gloria Arroyo, et al.
Hitler and Mussolini’s annihilation of the world in an attempt to control the magnitude of creation, Marcos’ unequalled concoction of power and greed, Castro’s defiance to submit, Hosni Mubarak’s interminable military control behind bars, Ben Ali sibling’s political kleptomaniac, Bashar al-Saad’s do-or-die attachment to power, Moamma Gadhafi’s psychological warfare and lies, Gloria Arroyo’s lapses turned denials, and more. Yes, and many more when drilled down to the last of selections.
These leaders have utterly epitomized the commonest of all political fuel: Greed! Conversely, these leaders have epitomized the commonest of all political behavioral disorder: schizophrenia!
Greed is an overwhelming desire to have more of something. Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, and withdrawal into self. It is a state of mind characterized by contradictory or conflicting attitudes, behavior or qualities.
Arguably though, these breed of assailants are living between the border of normalcy and schizophrenia, a state of mind where most narcissistic creatures often dismiss as reality sans the sugar coats and glossy superficial pelts of mental distortion; apparently, they need psychiatric overhauls to anchor them to reality and consequently allow them to survive.
Again if I may opine, behaviors like these muggers epitomize don’t deserve to exist, lest re-condition the mindsets of the youths otherwise the value of true democracy will wane beyond reason: a democracy founded on the principle of the people, by the people and for the people.
What more can the constituents do whenever such behavior persists in a state like ours?
The rhetoric of Sin
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
04 September 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – It was his trumpet sounded off that concocted the greatest assembly of mankind, which consequently aborted the most horrible dominion of all times; a speechifying that enunciated the freedom defined solely for this act and purpose.
He caused change as he himself is an agent of change; a promulgator of freedom who denounced the most promiscuous of sins. He called forth the abortion of a sin that ruled for more than two decades and disgraced the Filipino people; an oratory manifesting a different passion of greed – a cardinal sin. It was the newest of freedom defined in the oratory of a Cardinal.
If he were alive, he would have sounded once more his rhetoric on the electoral fraud of the former strongwoman of the Palace; articulated an argument on the ZTN deal; verbalized his own way of protest against the most horrifying carnage of the millennium that took place in the remotest of areas in Maguindanao. He would have struck the hullabaloos of the previous administration and that of the son of the icon of democracy, whose political occupation he triggered via the world-acclaimed bloodless revolution at EDSA.
If here were alive, he would have opined on the “pajero bishops” that stirred the Roman Catholics in awe; he would have narrated how the drug lords build the churches in the drug rings of countries of the world, or how the most organized crime syndicates in the world finance foundations and refugee centers.
If he were alive, he would have recited once more his oratory on the “Poleteismo” staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines that blasphemed the faith the more than eighty-million Christian Filipinos behold for centuries now; he would have desecrated Mideo Cruz, et al, the exhibit halls, the minds and spirits of the organizers. All by his powerful prayers that come from his unstained heart and mind, he would have outdone the blasphemy. He would have dared “Kulo” artists to stage the same for Prophet Mohammed to prove to the entire world that the Islamic community would stage the same protest, or to prove that arts is supposed to convey the most beautiful and lasting of all messages and not to instill in the minds and hearts of the followers the most satanic or oddest of all pieces of arts.
If he were alive, he would have opined on the Reproductive Health Bill that sends all groups to the porticos of the Congress and Senate and halls of the academic institutions. He would have stressed the importance of eradicating poverty from the list of social concerns to and before the so called cause-oriented groups protesting against the RH Bill; he would have emphasized that the country has been plagued by population problem, more so, population control problems. He would have emphasized as well that population problem should be addressed by both the people and the government along with the assistance of the Church; he would have emphasized that the only thing that divides the church and the state is the thin red line that is so sensitive and fragile.
If here were alive, he would have recited once more his rhetoric over the first one-hundred days of President Benigno Aquino III, as was in the first one-hundred days of his mother, Corazon Aquino, the icon of democracy with whom he worked with in toppling the strongman and his cronies. He would have advised the son in the name of the father and of the mother to work honestly and conscientiously sans vested interests and future political plans.
His rhetoric is far greater than the rest; far valuable that the Congress and Senate. His rhetoric is beyond imagination, beyond meaning yet vividly visible and completely comprehensible.
Whatever happened to the country today, to the Filipino people – we owe them to Cardinal Sin, the prime mover of the EDSA spirit. Whatever happened to the political arena of the country today is not his cause – it was the peoples’ choice.
EDSA would have been enshrined more than ever; respected more than ever; and revered more than ever. If Cardinal Sin were alive, the spirit he had given birth would have been taken care of, would have been nurtured, and would have been nourished.
Such was the rhetoric of Cardinal Sin, removing sins from mankind. Godspeed, Cardinal!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
04 September 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – It was his trumpet sounded off that concocted the greatest assembly of mankind, which consequently aborted the most horrible dominion of all times; a speechifying that enunciated the freedom defined solely for this act and purpose.
He caused change as he himself is an agent of change; a promulgator of freedom who denounced the most promiscuous of sins. He called forth the abortion of a sin that ruled for more than two decades and disgraced the Filipino people; an oratory manifesting a different passion of greed – a cardinal sin. It was the newest of freedom defined in the oratory of a Cardinal.
If he were alive, he would have sounded once more his rhetoric on the electoral fraud of the former strongwoman of the Palace; articulated an argument on the ZTN deal; verbalized his own way of protest against the most horrifying carnage of the millennium that took place in the remotest of areas in Maguindanao. He would have struck the hullabaloos of the previous administration and that of the son of the icon of democracy, whose political occupation he triggered via the world-acclaimed bloodless revolution at EDSA.
If here were alive, he would have opined on the “pajero bishops” that stirred the Roman Catholics in awe; he would have narrated how the drug lords build the churches in the drug rings of countries of the world, or how the most organized crime syndicates in the world finance foundations and refugee centers.
If he were alive, he would have recited once more his oratory on the “Poleteismo” staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines that blasphemed the faith the more than eighty-million Christian Filipinos behold for centuries now; he would have desecrated Mideo Cruz, et al, the exhibit halls, the minds and spirits of the organizers. All by his powerful prayers that come from his unstained heart and mind, he would have outdone the blasphemy. He would have dared “Kulo” artists to stage the same for Prophet Mohammed to prove to the entire world that the Islamic community would stage the same protest, or to prove that arts is supposed to convey the most beautiful and lasting of all messages and not to instill in the minds and hearts of the followers the most satanic or oddest of all pieces of arts.
If he were alive, he would have opined on the Reproductive Health Bill that sends all groups to the porticos of the Congress and Senate and halls of the academic institutions. He would have stressed the importance of eradicating poverty from the list of social concerns to and before the so called cause-oriented groups protesting against the RH Bill; he would have emphasized that the country has been plagued by population problem, more so, population control problems. He would have emphasized as well that population problem should be addressed by both the people and the government along with the assistance of the Church; he would have emphasized that the only thing that divides the church and the state is the thin red line that is so sensitive and fragile.
If here were alive, he would have recited once more his rhetoric over the first one-hundred days of President Benigno Aquino III, as was in the first one-hundred days of his mother, Corazon Aquino, the icon of democracy with whom he worked with in toppling the strongman and his cronies. He would have advised the son in the name of the father and of the mother to work honestly and conscientiously sans vested interests and future political plans.
His rhetoric is far greater than the rest; far valuable that the Congress and Senate. His rhetoric is beyond imagination, beyond meaning yet vividly visible and completely comprehensible.
Whatever happened to the country today, to the Filipino people – we owe them to Cardinal Sin, the prime mover of the EDSA spirit. Whatever happened to the political arena of the country today is not his cause – it was the peoples’ choice.
EDSA would have been enshrined more than ever; respected more than ever; and revered more than ever. If Cardinal Sin were alive, the spirit he had given birth would have been taken care of, would have been nurtured, and would have been nourished.
Such was the rhetoric of Cardinal Sin, removing sins from mankind. Godspeed, Cardinal!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Ramadan, the world, and the OFWs
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
21 August 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - With Ramadan closing with the celebration of the Eid holidays from 25 August to 02 September 2011, everybody is just as expectant as all Muslims in the world. Ramadan, the Islamic month dedicated for fasting, happens to be celebrated in the month of August, which the world celebrates as the anti-Terrorism month.
As enunciated by their faith, Ramadan month teaches the values of patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting where participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and intimacy with their partners during daylight hours.
To my view, irrespective of faith or religion, submissiveness to God is a continuous commitment where an individual is supposed to actively profess that he is born in the image and likeness of God, the God of peace and freedom. Additionally, fasting should not only happen during this period but although the years as well, and this includes fasting from waging indifferences, or more appropriately, war. I strongly believe that war is not an option.
Ten years ago, the entire world was shocked when Al-Qaeda, Jihadist group of Osama Bin Laden grounded the World Trade Center in New York. Instantly, it claimed lives. To date, it still claims lives as anger and depression still linger in the heart and minds of the victims and those who condemn war.
The notorious effect and consequence of this attack still manifests in the economy of the world’s superpower. Lately the credit rating of the USA declined from AAA to AA+ after seventy years of good standing. While this is America, the decline in the rating adversely affects other countries and kingdoms with whom the “land of milk and honey” deals with.
Unemployment rose in the US mainland; and it creates ripple effect to countries or kingdoms where its economy controls. In the Middle East, several nations or kingdoms forced to implement their own austerity measures to address the status quo. Consequently, unemployment soared.
The 9/11 attack and Al-Qaeda’s subsequent terrorism activities generate newer and bitter approaches to conservative Islamic disposition and faith; these foster factionalism and indifferences. As a result, these create uncontrollable political unrests in the Arab world, more peculiarly in the Middle East and its neighboring nations: Tunisia started the protests that paved the way for its president to flee to Saudi Arabia; the Freedom Square in Cairo paved the way for the re-birth of a new Egypt and thus placed Hosni Mubarak, its president behind bars; Libya’s version of civil defiance still heightens the alert level with Muamar Khadafi defying international laws and attacks; Sudan follows the same suit; Syria’s episode grows worse.
Al-Qaeda’s figure head has been liquidated in an attack in Pakistan. However, as United Nations say, it’s too early to claim victory. While this incident places the group in a weaker stance, Bin Laden’s successor is once again taking control and gaining grounds. The US government and the United Nations anti-Terrorism group are confident that the Muslim extremists group will soon be terminated following these indications.
Recently, riots and unrests were seen in the United Kingdom, another country believed to have a very strong and stable economy and political climate. In Spain, riots, which were triggered by economic depression, are staged.
Consequently, changes in economic and political reforms in these kingdoms and nations usher a new threat to the Filipino workers abroad. For instance, when Bahrain followed the same suit from Egypt, thousands of Filipinos were ferried home and thus landed jobless. Filipino workers in Egypt and Libya were displaced involuntarily. The 17,000 Filipinos in Syria this month were advised to leave the country, which means another story of unemployment.
Conversely, any political unrest, protest, or riot that may take place in countries where expatriates are, particularly Filipinos, will surely bring about personal economic unrest to an individual, regardless of breed or creed.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an abrupt and massive change in employment benefits for its constituents was immediately instituted. The move is aimed at curtailing future political unrests and violence that are similar to its neighboring nations and kingdoms. One major change is the implementation of its re-designed and re-enforced Saudization Law that can effectively bar non-compliant employers from renewing the Iqama of the expatriates, or from hiring expatriates if the required rate of complying with the Law is not met. Incidentally, most employers are not meeting the requirements of the Law, and thus, give millions of OFWs in Saudi Arabia a stern warning.
Arguably though, similar phenomenon will surely come into as the world fights against terrorism and depression. As the month of Ramadan suggests, submissiveness to God brings about newer and better lives. How I wish their world practice what they preach!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
21 August 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - With Ramadan closing with the celebration of the Eid holidays from 25 August to 02 September 2011, everybody is just as expectant as all Muslims in the world. Ramadan, the Islamic month dedicated for fasting, happens to be celebrated in the month of August, which the world celebrates as the anti-Terrorism month.
As enunciated by their faith, Ramadan month teaches the values of patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting where participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and intimacy with their partners during daylight hours.
To my view, irrespective of faith or religion, submissiveness to God is a continuous commitment where an individual is supposed to actively profess that he is born in the image and likeness of God, the God of peace and freedom. Additionally, fasting should not only happen during this period but although the years as well, and this includes fasting from waging indifferences, or more appropriately, war. I strongly believe that war is not an option.
Ten years ago, the entire world was shocked when Al-Qaeda, Jihadist group of Osama Bin Laden grounded the World Trade Center in New York. Instantly, it claimed lives. To date, it still claims lives as anger and depression still linger in the heart and minds of the victims and those who condemn war.
The notorious effect and consequence of this attack still manifests in the economy of the world’s superpower. Lately the credit rating of the USA declined from AAA to AA+ after seventy years of good standing. While this is America, the decline in the rating adversely affects other countries and kingdoms with whom the “land of milk and honey” deals with.
Unemployment rose in the US mainland; and it creates ripple effect to countries or kingdoms where its economy controls. In the Middle East, several nations or kingdoms forced to implement their own austerity measures to address the status quo. Consequently, unemployment soared.
The 9/11 attack and Al-Qaeda’s subsequent terrorism activities generate newer and bitter approaches to conservative Islamic disposition and faith; these foster factionalism and indifferences. As a result, these create uncontrollable political unrests in the Arab world, more peculiarly in the Middle East and its neighboring nations: Tunisia started the protests that paved the way for its president to flee to Saudi Arabia; the Freedom Square in Cairo paved the way for the re-birth of a new Egypt and thus placed Hosni Mubarak, its president behind bars; Libya’s version of civil defiance still heightens the alert level with Muamar Khadafi defying international laws and attacks; Sudan follows the same suit; Syria’s episode grows worse.
Al-Qaeda’s figure head has been liquidated in an attack in Pakistan. However, as United Nations say, it’s too early to claim victory. While this incident places the group in a weaker stance, Bin Laden’s successor is once again taking control and gaining grounds. The US government and the United Nations anti-Terrorism group are confident that the Muslim extremists group will soon be terminated following these indications.
Recently, riots and unrests were seen in the United Kingdom, another country believed to have a very strong and stable economy and political climate. In Spain, riots, which were triggered by economic depression, are staged.
Consequently, changes in economic and political reforms in these kingdoms and nations usher a new threat to the Filipino workers abroad. For instance, when Bahrain followed the same suit from Egypt, thousands of Filipinos were ferried home and thus landed jobless. Filipino workers in Egypt and Libya were displaced involuntarily. The 17,000 Filipinos in Syria this month were advised to leave the country, which means another story of unemployment.
Conversely, any political unrest, protest, or riot that may take place in countries where expatriates are, particularly Filipinos, will surely bring about personal economic unrest to an individual, regardless of breed or creed.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an abrupt and massive change in employment benefits for its constituents was immediately instituted. The move is aimed at curtailing future political unrests and violence that are similar to its neighboring nations and kingdoms. One major change is the implementation of its re-designed and re-enforced Saudization Law that can effectively bar non-compliant employers from renewing the Iqama of the expatriates, or from hiring expatriates if the required rate of complying with the Law is not met. Incidentally, most employers are not meeting the requirements of the Law, and thus, give millions of OFWs in Saudi Arabia a stern warning.
Arguably though, similar phenomenon will surely come into as the world fights against terrorism and depression. As the month of Ramadan suggests, submissiveness to God brings about newer and better lives. How I wish their world practice what they preach!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Wives of the OFWs
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
14 August 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Undoubtedly, if they can only be nominated for life-time achievement awards, they can be winners by unanimous choice. Surely, no amount of major, major achievement can outbest their performance in life.
In search of the classic greener pasture, husbands cross the borders to share with colleagues the adversities in uncharted kingdoms: high seas of immeasurable depth, hectares of badlands and infinite sand dunes, and miles of jungles and undefined territories. Back home, high prices of commodities, soaring unemployment rates, unfavorable political climate and disturbed economy pushed them to the edge.
Let alone risks come to pass, lest, the tough should get going.
When husbands leave their homesteads, several values at the same time slip off the domicile: fatherhood, control, and affection. Presumably, the ordeal begins.
Unquestionably, wives take over the roles husbands vacated. While they cannot forgo their motherhood, by default they should take on fatherhood. Although it’s psychologically manageable, this vacuum grossly becomes a scare to most of them: authority over kids may not be as effective as the way fathers execute. In our culture, fatherhood dictates authority; more so, authority is always associated with masculinity – an orientation most women dispute or argue with. And to some extent, I agree!
Wives have to earnestly perform blue-collar jobs most of the time: cook, driver, janitor, plumber, electro-mechanic, messenger, tea boy, and guard. While these menial jobs husbands execute become irritating and taxing, the requirement to do takes precedence over ire. Quipped one wife close to me: “Superman has no room in this modern-day environment anymore; wives are!”
Wives have to dutifully execute white-collar jobs most of the time: tutor, counselor, entertainer, priest, and king. While these job roles are shared by husbands and wives, most of the time husbands maintain stronger dominance over these roles.
Although there are wives who are more domineering than husbands, this authority figure or control mechanism over family is more associated with the husbands. Literally and figuratively, fathers do have peculiar and innate quality that make them effective controller. Hercules takes superiority over Aphrodite, in this regard.
Over financial matters, wives are better controller than husbands, although to some extent wives can sometimes be imprudent. The obsessive-compulsive behavior of majority of the wives becomes disparaging as this point. While there are husbands who are themselves imprudent by nature, our culture associate this thing with women.
Quite sensibly, wives are emotionally battered. The temporary alienation from husbands is by itself the cause; it is deterrent to psychological composure that is required in achieving and maintaining self-esteem. This alienation obviously becomes a hindrance to emotional stability. It has become a psychological war wives have to seriously deal with in achieving familial and domestic objectives.
This is why, most marriages fail. Nope, this is not absolute; this is a general statement that should be qualified. Venus is more fragile and more prone to temptations; Mars is tougher than thou, though. But the fragility of Venus cannot be taken single-handedly as the reason why most Gardens withered; Eve leaves home to look for a new Adam. Conversely, husbands who are as tough as Hercules and as hot as Mars are also fragile and prone to temptations. This nature husbands cannot deny or preclude.
Seriously, what is more pressing is when evening falls, no Cupid can provide comforting hugs to usher emotional and psychological security. When nights turn cold, no Romeo can accord gentle caress and body contacts to make one sundown calmly relaxing. When the urge comes, no Adam can share with to release warmth and experience the gist of sensuality and sexuality the beautiful Garden of Eden reserves for them. Conversely, the nights are as maddening as when Cupid escapes form Psyche, or Romeo from Juliet, or Adam from Eve.
However, as one OFW noted, when husbands leave, wives become more substantial, more powerful, and more esteemed.
Yes, they become women of substance: Assumption of fatherhood propelled them to release the energy that’s within them in battling pro-actively the concerns ahead. The vacuum that they occupied accorded them the opportunity to work like “one of the guys” sans the masculinity apparent to these roles. Wives taking on the “suit of husbands” elaborate them with the alter-ego.
Yes, they become women of power: Alienation induces them to exude the power anytime of the day, working hard and double time to relieve husbands from these roles. The energy popping out of status quo exemplifies the conviction that by default wives have to do it with gusto. They are the sentinels and rulers equipped with the most sophisticated of arms and dignified with all the majestic powers.
Yes, they become women of esteem: Emptiness and alienation pushed them to maintain the same self-esteem they used to have. They are the beauty icons enthroned to a superlative degree; honoraries professing faithfully the values of life. They are Aphrodite dressed with the gentlest fabric of human kindness and wrapped with lacy values of life called motherhood.
When children top the class or win competitions, mothers are behind them; when husbands are promoted abroad, wives are behind them. When the government hails overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as modern-day heroes, wives are with them.
After all, behind every man’s achievement is a woman. Let’s not talk about failure!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
14 August 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Undoubtedly, if they can only be nominated for life-time achievement awards, they can be winners by unanimous choice. Surely, no amount of major, major achievement can outbest their performance in life.
In search of the classic greener pasture, husbands cross the borders to share with colleagues the adversities in uncharted kingdoms: high seas of immeasurable depth, hectares of badlands and infinite sand dunes, and miles of jungles and undefined territories. Back home, high prices of commodities, soaring unemployment rates, unfavorable political climate and disturbed economy pushed them to the edge.
Let alone risks come to pass, lest, the tough should get going.
When husbands leave their homesteads, several values at the same time slip off the domicile: fatherhood, control, and affection. Presumably, the ordeal begins.
Unquestionably, wives take over the roles husbands vacated. While they cannot forgo their motherhood, by default they should take on fatherhood. Although it’s psychologically manageable, this vacuum grossly becomes a scare to most of them: authority over kids may not be as effective as the way fathers execute. In our culture, fatherhood dictates authority; more so, authority is always associated with masculinity – an orientation most women dispute or argue with. And to some extent, I agree!
Wives have to earnestly perform blue-collar jobs most of the time: cook, driver, janitor, plumber, electro-mechanic, messenger, tea boy, and guard. While these menial jobs husbands execute become irritating and taxing, the requirement to do takes precedence over ire. Quipped one wife close to me: “Superman has no room in this modern-day environment anymore; wives are!”
Wives have to dutifully execute white-collar jobs most of the time: tutor, counselor, entertainer, priest, and king. While these job roles are shared by husbands and wives, most of the time husbands maintain stronger dominance over these roles.
Although there are wives who are more domineering than husbands, this authority figure or control mechanism over family is more associated with the husbands. Literally and figuratively, fathers do have peculiar and innate quality that make them effective controller. Hercules takes superiority over Aphrodite, in this regard.
Over financial matters, wives are better controller than husbands, although to some extent wives can sometimes be imprudent. The obsessive-compulsive behavior of majority of the wives becomes disparaging as this point. While there are husbands who are themselves imprudent by nature, our culture associate this thing with women.
Quite sensibly, wives are emotionally battered. The temporary alienation from husbands is by itself the cause; it is deterrent to psychological composure that is required in achieving and maintaining self-esteem. This alienation obviously becomes a hindrance to emotional stability. It has become a psychological war wives have to seriously deal with in achieving familial and domestic objectives.
This is why, most marriages fail. Nope, this is not absolute; this is a general statement that should be qualified. Venus is more fragile and more prone to temptations; Mars is tougher than thou, though. But the fragility of Venus cannot be taken single-handedly as the reason why most Gardens withered; Eve leaves home to look for a new Adam. Conversely, husbands who are as tough as Hercules and as hot as Mars are also fragile and prone to temptations. This nature husbands cannot deny or preclude.
Seriously, what is more pressing is when evening falls, no Cupid can provide comforting hugs to usher emotional and psychological security. When nights turn cold, no Romeo can accord gentle caress and body contacts to make one sundown calmly relaxing. When the urge comes, no Adam can share with to release warmth and experience the gist of sensuality and sexuality the beautiful Garden of Eden reserves for them. Conversely, the nights are as maddening as when Cupid escapes form Psyche, or Romeo from Juliet, or Adam from Eve.
However, as one OFW noted, when husbands leave, wives become more substantial, more powerful, and more esteemed.
Yes, they become women of substance: Assumption of fatherhood propelled them to release the energy that’s within them in battling pro-actively the concerns ahead. The vacuum that they occupied accorded them the opportunity to work like “one of the guys” sans the masculinity apparent to these roles. Wives taking on the “suit of husbands” elaborate them with the alter-ego.
Yes, they become women of power: Alienation induces them to exude the power anytime of the day, working hard and double time to relieve husbands from these roles. The energy popping out of status quo exemplifies the conviction that by default wives have to do it with gusto. They are the sentinels and rulers equipped with the most sophisticated of arms and dignified with all the majestic powers.
Yes, they become women of esteem: Emptiness and alienation pushed them to maintain the same self-esteem they used to have. They are the beauty icons enthroned to a superlative degree; honoraries professing faithfully the values of life. They are Aphrodite dressed with the gentlest fabric of human kindness and wrapped with lacy values of life called motherhood.
When children top the class or win competitions, mothers are behind them; when husbands are promoted abroad, wives are behind them. When the government hails overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as modern-day heroes, wives are with them.
After all, behind every man’s achievement is a woman. Let’s not talk about failure!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Tenebrae
By Rolo b. Cena
The Gulf Files
07 August 2011
Riyadh , Saudi Arabia – Shortly before the Ramadan started, seven members of the elite Philippine Marines were killed in fierce fighting with the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Sulu; five of them were beheaded. As far as I can recall, in 2007, ten Marines were also beheaded by the same Muslim factionalists.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which lasts for 29 or 30 days. It is the month of fasting in which participating Muslims are expected to refrain from eating, drinking and engaging intimacy with their partners during daylight hours. This month is also intended to teach Muslims about the following virtues: patience, spirituality, humility, forgiveness and submissiveness to God.
For the Islam, beheading is the punishment for committing serious crimes against Qur’an and against the Arabic government. Incidentally though, those Marines were not criminals; they were protectors of the country where they, these bandits, are living and are offered a better life after scavenging for an ideology only they can succumb.
Shortly before Ramadan, five noble Filipinos were beheaded in defense of their country, of their allegiance to the Philippine flag, of their commitment to their family and loved ones. On that very same day, a new breed of hatred and vengeance, frustration and despair, separation and disunity were born.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of patience these breed purport to behold during the month of fasting. It is the same patience those heroes profess to exemplify in the depths of the treacherous jungles of Sulu and Basilan; the same virtue their brothers claim in the badlands of Iraq.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of spirituality these breed claim to practice during the month of fasting. It is the same spirituality those Christians walk that became the living foundation of their service to the Country. It is the same spirituality manifested by Cardinal Sin in calling all the faithful to march to EDSA in the hope of toppling a tyrant without shedding any blood.
It is the same spirituality that brought an Irish priest in the hands of these bandits; the same spirituality that brought American couple missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham to the country and being kidnapped by the same group in 2001; the same spirituality that killed the former and saved the latter.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of humility these factionalists claim in utter disregard. It is the same humility those humble Marines project whose preponderance makes them distinct and elite from all other forces armed to protect the Country. It is the same humility that makes these Muslim factionalists distinct and peculiar from their race; the same humility that their Qur’an and the Holy Bible preach.
It is the same humility that catapulted then former Pres. Corazon Aquino to power; the same virtue that raised her name to be the icon of democracy; the same humility Mahatma Gandhi professed in the height of protests against the aristocratic United Kingdom.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of forgiveness these perpetrators believe they can manifest by way of beheading Christians. It is the same virtue of forgiveness Prophet Mohammad and Jesus Christ walked along the deserts of the chosen lands; the same forgiveness that Christ epitomized before His Roman and Jewish captors.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of submissiveness to God these attackers exude to their fellow Islam that could lead to total world peace. It is the same virtue that has been guiding those heroes despite the order to kill the enemies of the state.
It is the same submissiveness to God that led all Christians in Iraq to a bizarre situation: being hunted or pushed out of their own homestead. It is the same submissiveness to God that puts the Islam in Israel to be discriminated by Christians.
Those Marines couldn’t do more than killing them in pursuit of national peace and unity for the country; those factionalists couldn’t do more than beheading them in defense of their ideology. Each party is trapped: a circumstance that sprung out of an ideological conflict, the same ideological conflict that rocked the Americas via 911, the same conflict that manifests in the badlands of Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is the same ideological conflict that gave rise to the first and the second global war. Can we ever stop this?
For as long as kingdoms rise against kingdoms, nations against nations, race against race, scenarios like this will never cease. Coupled with the same greed that originated from the Garden of Iraq (Mesopotamia) and Persia (Iran), war will always play its uncanny role in controlling the world: the prey tightly squeezed by the claws of its troubled marauders.
War is more than just an expression of ideology; war is greed!
The Gulf Files
07 August 2011
Riyadh , Saudi Arabia – Shortly before the Ramadan started, seven members of the elite Philippine Marines were killed in fierce fighting with the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Sulu; five of them were beheaded. As far as I can recall, in 2007, ten Marines were also beheaded by the same Muslim factionalists.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which lasts for 29 or 30 days. It is the month of fasting in which participating Muslims are expected to refrain from eating, drinking and engaging intimacy with their partners during daylight hours. This month is also intended to teach Muslims about the following virtues: patience, spirituality, humility, forgiveness and submissiveness to God.
For the Islam, beheading is the punishment for committing serious crimes against Qur’an and against the Arabic government. Incidentally though, those Marines were not criminals; they were protectors of the country where they, these bandits, are living and are offered a better life after scavenging for an ideology only they can succumb.
Shortly before Ramadan, five noble Filipinos were beheaded in defense of their country, of their allegiance to the Philippine flag, of their commitment to their family and loved ones. On that very same day, a new breed of hatred and vengeance, frustration and despair, separation and disunity were born.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of patience these breed purport to behold during the month of fasting. It is the same patience those heroes profess to exemplify in the depths of the treacherous jungles of Sulu and Basilan; the same virtue their brothers claim in the badlands of Iraq.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of spirituality these breed claim to practice during the month of fasting. It is the same spirituality those Christians walk that became the living foundation of their service to the Country. It is the same spirituality manifested by Cardinal Sin in calling all the faithful to march to EDSA in the hope of toppling a tyrant without shedding any blood.
It is the same spirituality that brought an Irish priest in the hands of these bandits; the same spirituality that brought American couple missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham to the country and being kidnapped by the same group in 2001; the same spirituality that killed the former and saved the latter.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of humility these factionalists claim in utter disregard. It is the same humility those humble Marines project whose preponderance makes them distinct and elite from all other forces armed to protect the Country. It is the same humility that makes these Muslim factionalists distinct and peculiar from their race; the same humility that their Qur’an and the Holy Bible preach.
It is the same humility that catapulted then former Pres. Corazon Aquino to power; the same virtue that raised her name to be the icon of democracy; the same humility Mahatma Gandhi professed in the height of protests against the aristocratic United Kingdom.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of forgiveness these perpetrators believe they can manifest by way of beheading Christians. It is the same virtue of forgiveness Prophet Mohammad and Jesus Christ walked along the deserts of the chosen lands; the same forgiveness that Christ epitomized before His Roman and Jewish captors.
Along with those five Philippine Marines died the virtue of submissiveness to God these attackers exude to their fellow Islam that could lead to total world peace. It is the same virtue that has been guiding those heroes despite the order to kill the enemies of the state.
It is the same submissiveness to God that led all Christians in Iraq to a bizarre situation: being hunted or pushed out of their own homestead. It is the same submissiveness to God that puts the Islam in Israel to be discriminated by Christians.
Those Marines couldn’t do more than killing them in pursuit of national peace and unity for the country; those factionalists couldn’t do more than beheading them in defense of their ideology. Each party is trapped: a circumstance that sprung out of an ideological conflict, the same ideological conflict that rocked the Americas via 911, the same conflict that manifests in the badlands of Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is the same ideological conflict that gave rise to the first and the second global war. Can we ever stop this?
For as long as kingdoms rise against kingdoms, nations against nations, race against race, scenarios like this will never cease. Coupled with the same greed that originated from the Garden of Iraq (Mesopotamia) and Persia (Iran), war will always play its uncanny role in controlling the world: the prey tightly squeezed by the claws of its troubled marauders.
War is more than just an expression of ideology; war is greed!
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