The State of the Soul of the Nation Delivered at the Congress of the Filipino Faithful Club Filipino, Greenhills,

25 July 2011

Introduction We gather here today in our own name, and in the name of all Filipinos who want to live in truth, justice, freedom, peace and love --- in a country that fully recognizes and respects the inviolable dignity of every human person, the States irrevocable duty to every citizen, and Gods unfailing providence, from which all blessings flow. We come to examine our objective national condition, express our faith and hope in the good things to come and give voice to our just anxieties and fears about the new challenges we face and many recurring ills. We come not only as individuals, but as families and groups of families, as organizations and groups of organizations, as men and women sharing a common present and a common past, and with our hearts and minds set upon a common future. We belong to different faith communities, to different political parties and to no party at all, and to different socio-civic and peoples organizations, and to no organization at all. But we worship and serve the same God, even though some of us may call Him by a different name. We affirm the same truth about man, and profess the same commitment to human life, the family and marriage, which both the Church and the State are totally committed to protect and defend. We swear allegiance and loyalty to the same Constitution, and the same flag, and we claim the same rights and stand by the same duties as citizens. In just a few hours, the President of the Philippines shall be delivering a State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the opening of the Second Regular Session of the Fifteenth Congress. We wish him the very best. May he succeed in rekindling our peoples faith in his ability to inspire and lead them along the right and righteous path? We say this to assure the President that we are not here to preempt his address. We are not here to negate, nullify, dispute or reject in advance what he will say to us.

2 We are not here to say that ours is the true SONA, so listen to us, while the Presidents is not, so dont listen to him. We want to listen to the President. And we want all our countrymen to hang on to his every word. But we ask the President and the entire government to listen to us as well in the true spirit of give-and-take. It was from this hall that Mrs. Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, his late mother, took her oath as revolutionary president after the EDSA revolt of February 1986. From this hall, which now bears her name, we now reach out to her son, President Benigno S. Aquino III, whom many of our countrymen voted for in the last elections on the basis of what they believed the nation owes his parents. Sa inyong kaunaunahang salita bilang Pangulo, sinabi ninyo sa amin, Kayo ang aking boss. Mula noon hanggan ngayon, hindi natin napagusapan kung paano ninyo paglilingkuran ang inyong boss. Malinaw ang Job description. At wala kaming kaduda-duda na alam ninyo ang lahat ng iyon. Kung hindi man malinaw iyon, nakalahad sa kontratang inyong pinirmahan at sinumpaan, na buong husay at katapatan ninyong gagampanan ang inyong mga tungkulin bilang Pangulo ng Pilipinas, na pakaiingatan at ipagtatanggol ninyo ang ating Saligang Batas, tutuparin at ipatutupad ang mga batas, bibigyang katarungan ang bawat isa, at iaalay ang inyong sarili sa paglingkod sa bansa. Kasihan nawa kayo ng Diyos. Pagkaraan ng isang taon, maaari na marahil kaming magtanong: Masaya ba ang ating Pangulo sa kanyang kinalalagyan? Mayroon pa ba kaming maaaring gawin upang higit na makatulong sa kanyang pagugit ng ating pamahalaan? At marahil, maaari naman siyang magtanong: Happy ba kayo sa aking performance bilang inyong lingkod-bayan? Mayroon ba akong dapat gawin at ginawa, na di ko nagawa? At mayroon ba akong mga nagawa na di ko dapat ginawa? Papano ko ba lalong mapasasaya ang aking Boss? Lubhang mahalaga na tayoy naguusap. Sapagkat mayroong ilang bagay na bumabagabag sa aming isip at damdamin. At kailangang itoy mapagusapan ng maaayos at tapat. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit narito tayong lahat. This is the reason for this Congress. What we say here, we shall say it with charity and respect, but we shall say it with candor, without any double-speak. We shall not speak at the top of our voice, but we shall speak from the bottom of our hearts.

3 We ask the President and his administration to listen to us in the same spirit in which we shall speak to them---with open minds and hearts. We shall try to examine the state of the nation in all its aspects---the economy, peace and order, education, health, environment, agrarian reform, foreign affairs, the response of government to various issues. But beyond that, we shall try to examine the state of the soul of our nation. By that phrase, the soul of our nation, we mean the transcendental, moral, intellectual, spiritual and religious qualities that define our being as one people, that bind us together and make each one of us a part of the other in a covenant with the same Providence, and assure us that God was speaking to us when he said, Hearken to my voice, for I will be your God, and you shall be my people (jer 7: 23). We need a strong sense of right and wrong, of good and bad to function as human beings. Above all we need God to help us rise above ourselves and transform this nation. We must trust in God, so he will continue to put his trust in us. To the best of our knowledge, nothing like this has been done before. It is an awesome and audacious undertaking. We need both humility and courage to look at ourselves at some depth, both as individuals and as a people, and inquire into the state of good and bad and of right and wrong about us, without any prior assurance that what we shall see will all be pleasant and comforting to our self-esteem. Yet if we humble ourselves enough and find courage enough to want to see the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about ourselves, then we stand a fair chance of possessing the truth, by means of which alone we could transform ourselves and finally our nation. Let us then pray for that humility and that courage to look at our inner selves, and see for ourselves the true state of our own souls and that of the nation. So let us begin. The State of the Economy. We are told that the economy grew by 7.6 percent last year, that our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) remitted $18.8 billion, and helped to push our Gross International Reserves up to a record $63 billion, and that the foreign credit ratings agencies, namely, Standard and Poor, Moodys and Fitch have all upgraded our credit rating.

4 We are further told that fewer Filipinos today consider themselves poor, that the government is doing everything to create jobs, ensure self-sufficiency in food, and reduce the cost of doing business in the country through large infrastructure projects under its Public-Private Sector Participation program (PPP). That has been good to hear. But what are the facts? Last years growth was mainly due to unregulated election spending, rather than to any economic program. And the credit for it, if any, would have to belong to the previous administration. The growth target has since been pared down to 4.9 percent. Do we have any new sources of economic growth? Apart from the OFW remittances, the call centers and other IT-related services, we virtually have none. Manufacturing is dead, agriculture is flat or down, the government has been importing rice while promising to support the farmers, and the smuggling of rice, sugar and other food products continues unchecked. We have been converting agricultural areas to commercial and residential, and we have not been irrigating idle lands. Some P1.2 billion appears to have been lost to ghost farm-to-market roads, and has not been replaced. Unemployment is up at 11.1 million, and counting. Millions of those employed are on contracts that end after every five months. No new jobs have been created to replace those that had been lost in Libya, Japan, the countries visited by the Arab spring, and Saudi Arabia, which recently suspended the hiring of Filipino domestic workers. Last year, more Chinese Filipinos made it to Forbes Magazines listing of the worlds dollar billionaires. And a number of unlisted, undocumented and untaxed billionaires seem to be waiting in the wings. But from 2003 to 2009, poverty incidence rose from 24.9 percent to 26.5 percent, despite the fact that the average GDP growth rate of 5.4 percent from 2003 to 2006, and 4.3 percent from 2006 to 2009, had long surpassed the population growth rate of 1.9 percent. No major investors have come in. Government efforts to attract foreign investments have had to contend with the negative effects of the cancellation of big contracts involving foreign parties. The most glaring example is the Lake Laguna Development Authority project, which has resulted in a multi-billion peso legal claim against the government filed by the Belgian partners. Tourism has been targeted as a major money-maker. Thus, the President declared an Open Skies policy, even without full reciprocal rights for the Philippine Flag carrier.

5 But the international aviation downgrade on Ninoy Aquino International Airport continues, while NAIA III remains the subject of an unresolved legal dispute and has not been made fully operational. There are even no decent lavatories and lounges for arriving or departing passengers. The support system for world-class tourism is simply not there. And Hong Kong, the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand have not cancelled their travel advisories against the Philippines. For the first time in memory, a new government appropriated nothing for infrastructure. It wanted to report savings. So not a single infrastructure project was undertaken during the year. Many frontline departments, like the Department of Foreign Affairs, suffered arbitrary cuts. The highly favored DSWD alone got a bloated largesse of P21.9 billion, in conditional cash transfer. Then all departments were told to withhold 20 percent of their respective budgets as savings. So economic activity contracted. And while some economies were trying to cope with the recession exported from the trans-Atlantic crisis, our economic planners seemed to be trying to create one for the Philippines. Not a single project under the much-ballyhooed PPP was awarded either. The TPLEX---Tarlac, Pampanga and La Union Expressway---project could end up being counted as a PPP project. But it was begun three and a half years ago, before the PPP program was announced. The poverty picture The nations wealth may have grown in real terms. But new forms of poverty have appeared, and the inequalities have grown sharper. Between the super-rich and the dirt poor is a yawning gap and nothing is at work to make the poverty more bearable. And many of those who have turned politics into a lucrative family business are as rich as the poorest of the poor are poor. According to one research firm, the gap between the rich and the poor is wider in the Philippines than that in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. In Metro Manila, the scavengers who once found a haven in Smokey Mountain before it was transformed into a settlement had reappeared in Payatas and other places. But even scavenging seems no longer as lucrative as before.

6 Sabi ng isang mangangalakal o mangakalkal ng basura ---noon, ang buhay ay isang kahig, isang tuka. Ngayon, sa hirap ng panahon, kahig kami nang kahig, bago makatuka. Kahit sa mga namamasukan, hindi gaanong naiiba ang kanilang kalagayan. Altanghap pa rin ang kanilang pantawid gutomang pinagsamang almusal, tanghalian at hapunan. buto ng isda ang kanilang mainit na sabaw, kung silay mayroong sabaw na espesyal. Dati itinatapon ito ng mga tindera sa palengke sa mga pusa at asong naghihintay. Pero ngayon itoy ipinagbibili na sa mahihirap nating mga kababayan. Ang kawawang aso at pusa ang magugutom pagdating ng araw. Isang nanay sa Isabela na nasiraan ng bait matapos malipasan ng gutom. pinatay ang sariling sanggol at kinain ang laman. Ang halos ganitong pangyayari ay nabasa lang natin sa nobela ni Gat Jose Rizal . Inulit ni Gat Amado Hernandez sa kanyang tula, nang kanyang sabihin: Tulad mo ay si Hule, inaliping bayad-utang, tulad mo ay si Sisa, binaliw ng kahirapan. Pero kahit si Sisa walang pinatay na sanggol upang kanin ang laman. Hindi natin sinisisi dito ang pamahalaan. Subalit nangyari kaya ito kung ang naturang nanay ay narating at nabahaginan ng P21.9 billion conditional cash transfer? Saan na ba nakarating ang perang iyan? At iyan nga ba ang gamot sa ating kahirapan? Punishing the OFWs Balikan natin sandali ang ating mga Overseas Filipino workers (OFWS). Sila diumano ang mga bagong bayani ng ating bayan. Tuwang-tuwa ang ating bangko sentral na mayroon silang naimbag na $18.8 billion nitong nakaraang taon sa kaban ng bayan. Subalit, tama kaya na silang kumikita ng dolyar para sa bangko sentral ay silang una ring nalulugi sa palitan ng piso at dolyar? Sa halip na maraming piso ang matanggap nila sa bawat dolyar, maliit na lamang ito sapagkat lumakas daw ang piso sa pagpasok ng naparami nilang dolyar. Para bagang nagkasala pa sila, at dapat parusahan sa pagpasok ng maraming dolyar.

7 Makatarungan ba ito? Maipaliliwanag ba natin ito sa tinaguriang mga bayani ng bayan? Sasabihin sa atin ng Bangko Sentral: ang dollar-peso exchange rate ay sumusunod lamang sa malayang galaw ng mga pwersyang kalakal, at di maaaring pakialaman ng pamahalaan. Ngunit, bakit kayang-kayang kontrolahin ng China ang palitan nang hindi nababawasan ang halaga ng kanilang kinikitang dolyar sa kanilang kalakal? Bakit hindi kailangang ipakita nilang mas malakas ang kanilang yuan o renminbi kaysa dolyar, kahit na mas malakas nga ang kanilang ekonomiya kaysa europa at amerika? Samantalang tayo hindi naman ganon kalakas ang ekonomiya. Bakit kailangang ipakita nating mas malakas ang ating piso kaysa dolyar? Gusto ba nating tulungan o pahirapan ang ating mga kababayang lumikas sa ibayong dagat upang maghanap-buhay? Dumako tayo sa kaayusan at kapayapaan. Nagumpisa ang problema ng administrasyon sa seguridad noong tourist bus hostage crisis sa luneta, 23 ng Agosto 2010. Isang bus na may lulang 25 tao ang na-hijack ng isang dating pulis. Walong (8) turistang taga-Hong Kong ang napatay. At hindi kapanipaniwala ang kawalang kakayahang ipinakita ng mga maykapangyarihan. Pinaimbestiga ng pangulo ang naganap na hijacking. Subalit pagkatos ng imbestigasyon, binago ng Malacanang ang rekomendasyon ng mga imbestigador upang iligtas ang ilang opisyal sa kanilang pananagutan. Batid kaya natin lahat na hanggan ngayon, itoy ating pinagbabayaran sa ibat ibang bagay? Minana ng administrasyon ang problema ng Maguindanao massacre. Itoy naganap noong 23 ng Nobyembre 2009 sa Maguindanao, kung saan 58 ang pinaslang, kabilang ang 34 peryodista---ang pinakamalaking bilang ng mga mamamahayag na napatay nang sabaysabay sa isang lugar na walang digmaan. Hanggang ngayon, wala pang solusyon ang krimen. Papano kaya maiiwasan natin ang hakahaka na mas malapit sa mga maykapangyarihan ang mga suspect sa kaso, kaysa ang pamilya ng mga napaslang? Sa ibat ibang dako ng Pilipinas, walang tigil ang patayan. Mulang Enero hanggang Abril, halos 300 ang pinatay ng mga salaring naka-motorsyklo. Kabilang diyan ang ilan pang brodkaster at periodistang napatay. Walang balita kung mayroon mang nahulit naparusahan sa mga pumatay.

8 Sa mga gubat, parang at kung minsan sa luob ng mga bayan-bayan, patuloy ang pagambush ng NPA sa kanilang mga kalaban. At walang sumisigaw na itoy isang paglabag ng karapatang pantao ng mga napapaslang. Sa kaMaynilaan, patuloy ang carjacking, kung minsan kasama ang kidnap, pagsakit o pagpatay sa mayari ng sasakyan. Nahaluan na ito ng isang armed bank robbery sa Quezon City kailan lang. Tila hindi mahirap magbenta ng sasakyang nakaw. Humigit kumulang na isang milyong sasakyan, mula sa motorsyklo, ang tumatakbo sa ating mga lansangan na walang rehistro mula sa pamahala. Sa Muslim Mindanao, walang katigil-tigil ang kidnapping at panggugulo ng Abu Sayaf. Samantala, ang peace negotiation ng pamahalaan at ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ay di maidaos ng tuloy tuloy. Bukod dito, lalong lumaganap ang sugal, legal man o illegal. Sa umpisa, pinayagan ng pamahalaan ang casino, pero sa luob ng malaking sasakyang dagat, at para sa mga turistang dayuhan lamang. Bawal ang sinumang opisyal ng pamahalaan na pumasok sa luob ng casino upang magsugal. At lalong bawal ang masangkot sa jueteng o anumang sugal na illegal. Lahat ng iyan ay ang nakaraan. Sa ngayon, halos wala ng pinagbabawal. Kahit saang sulok, may pasugalan. At kasama nito ang ibat ibang bisyot libangan. Nakapagtataka na sa Moscow, ang dating kabisera ng pinakamalaking bansang komunista sa Europa, bawal ang casino sa luob ng siyudad. Lahat ng pasugalan ay nasa labas at malayo sa Moscow. Higit sa sugal, ang problema ng droga ay laganap na sa buong bansa. Maliban sa tatlong Pilipinong binitay sa China dahil sa droga kailan lang, mayroon pang 200 OFWs ang nakapiit sa China dahil sa droga. Ayon sa impormasyong hango sa Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), aabot sa limang milyon ang nasasangkot sa drug-dealing at drug use sa buong bansa. Sa Kalakhang Maynila lamang, lahat ng barangay ay mukhang napasok na ng droga. Kasali sa mga biktima nito ang maraming magaaral sa ibat ibang paaralan, mula sa mababang paaralan hanggang sa high school at kolehiyo. At madalas, hindi alam ng titser at ng mga magulang.

Anong kinabukasan ang maaari nating asahan, kung dahil sa droga masisira ang ating kabataan----na tinagurian ni Gat Jose Rizal na pagasa ng ating Inang bayan? Hindi malayo na nakapasok na rin ito sa ating pulitika. Narco-politics, kung tawagin. Masdan natin kung anong klaseng pera ang itinatapon ng ilan sa ating mga pulitiko araw-araw, lalung lalo na kapag may halalan. Daan daang milyon---masyadong napakalalaking halaga upang masabing galing lang sa kanilang pangungulimbat sa kaban ng bayan. Sa lahat ng krimen, karaniwang mabagal ang tugon ng pulis sa daing ng mga biktima, o ng kanilang mga pamilya, at sa reklamo ng bayan. Kung minsan ang pulis o dating pulis pa ang kasapakat o kasama ng mga kriminal. Napakalungkot na problema, at napakabigat na pasanin. Subalit lalong naging malungkot at higit na bumigat ito noong ipinakita ng ating mahal na Pangulo na ang tanging solusyon sa krimen ay turuan ang lahat na humawak at magpaputok ng baril. Pati tuloy matatanda at malalaking tiyan na mga mahestrado ay nagumpisa ng magtarget shooting, kahit na pam-press release lamang. Edukasyon Pababa nang pababa ang kalidad ng ating edukasyon. Sa kabila nito, hindi pa rin natutupad ang utos ng ating Saligang batas, na ibigay ang pinakamalahing bahagdan ng ating budget taon-taon sa edukasyon. Sa halip, napupunta pa rin ito sa automatic debt service, o kaya pambayad ng utang. Di pa rin natutugunan ang kakulangan ng eskwelahan at guro sa ating mga paaralan. K ulang pa rin tayo ng 113,000 guro at 124,000 silid aralan sa kasalukuyan. At maaaring madagdagan pa ito sa paghaba ng pagaaral ng bata dahil sa K-12 program ng ating Kalihim ng Edukasyon. Hindi kaya maaaring tupdin na natin ang utos ng Konstitusyon at ibigay sa Edukasyon ang pinakamalaking bahagdan ng ating budget? At bukod sa mga kinasanayan na, maaari kayang pagaral nating masusi ang ibat ibang pagbabago sa larangan ng edukasyon? Magumpisa tayo sa Home Schooling, tungo sa dual tech, o cooperative education na nagiging popular sa ibat ibang parte ng mundo.

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Ngunit una sa lahat, maaari kayang pagukulan natin ng masidhing pagsusuri ang laman ng ating edukasyon upang maihanda natin ang kabataan sa kanilang pagiging ganap na mamamayan at magulang pagdating ng araw? Bakit ba ipinipilit nilang magkaroon ng sex education para sa lahat, mula sa Grade V hanggang fourth year High School, na walang pahintulot o pakialam ang mga magulang? Di ba patungo sa bangin iyan? KALUSUGAN O HEALTH CARE Ayon sa Department of Health ang mga pangunahing sakit na pumapatay sa pinakamaring pilipino, babae at lalaki, ay ang sumusunod: 1) Sakit sa Puso; 2) sakit sa mga ugat; 3) cancer; 4) ibat ibang aksidente; 5)pneumonia; 6) tuberculosis o tb; 7) sakit na mahirap isalin sa pilipino----signs, symptoms, abnormal clinical laboratory findings, necrotizing entercolitis (NEC); 8) mga sakit sa baga kaugnay ng paninigarilyo at iba pa; 9) diabetes; 10) perinatal conditions (ibat ibang sakit ng bagong silang na sanggol). Paminsanminsan nadadagdagan ito ng ibat ibang epidemya. halimbawa ngayon mayroong 34,000 kaso ng dengue sa bansa, 900 sa maliit na probinsya ng batanes lamang. Kapwa pinapatay ng mga ito ang mayaman at mahirap. Subalit walang anumang programa ang nagsasaad na ipagamot ang lahat na maysakit ng libre, lalong lalo na ang mahihirap na kababaihan. At walang congressman o Senador na nagkakaroon ng ganoong panukala. Inamin kamakailang ng D.O.H. na hindi umaandar ang kanilang mga rural health units at district hospitals . Marami dito ang ni walang alcohol o bulak man lamang para linisin ang sugat ng isang sugatan. Pero ang nakatambak diyan ay mga gabundok na pilduras laban sa pagbuntis at mga condom. Sa kabila ng kahihiyang ito, ang tanging ipinipilit ng ilang mga pulitiko ay punduhan ng mga mamamayan ang pamumudmud ng mga condom at pilduras upang gamutin at pigilin ang pagbubuntis at panganganak, kahit na itoy di pa naging sakit kailanman. -Environment Seven cities in Metro Manila are among the worlds 50 most crowded cities. Old Manila leads the 49 others with a population density of over 43,000 per square

11 km. the countrys density is 317 per square km. So the level of water and air pollution is high. The absence of law and the misuse of power have caused the nearly total destruction of our environment. In his time, President Marcos issued Presidential Decree 1153 which required every citizen to plant ten trees in consultation with the barangay captain. When Marcos fell, the revolutionary president repealed this decree, along with the abolition of the Department of Energy, which exposed the country to the brutal effects of skyrocketing oil prices and to ten to twelve-hour daily power blackouts. In 1995, Congress passed a new mining law to save the dying mining industry and reform antiquated mining practices. It was widely acclaimed as one of the best mining laws in the world. . But it has not been implemented as intended. The award of mining rights has become part of patronage politics. And the result has been the wanton exploitation of our natural resources without adequate care for the preservation of the environment. Unchecked illegal logging and mining have added to this menace. We need to bring back the tree-planting law and revisit the mining law to preserve the ecological balance while serving the just needs of commerce and social progress. Agrarian reform Agrarian reform is a social justice issue that will continue to hound the conscience of the nation for as long as real justice is not served. The best way to do this is to implement the law as written, without fear or favor to any vested interest. The President could provide a rare example by making his mothers familys Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac a showcase of real land reform. This means land distribution to the famers, rather than merely giving them shares of stocks. Foreign Affairs Despite the Presidents studied avoidance of foreign policy in his first SONA, the administration had a baptism of fire in international relations. The death of Hong Kong tourists during the Luneta Park bus hijacking was the first rude awakening.

12 Then came Chinas execution of three OFWs for drug-dealing. Despite Vice President Binays successful effort to win a temporary stay of the execution, they were finally executed a month later. The government had earlier tried to curry favor with Beijing by not sending a representative to the Nobel Peace Prize awards honoring the Chinese political dissident, who was not allowed to leave China at all. The government also deported to Beijing some Taiwanese fishermen caught in Philippine waters. This set off angry words from Taiwan and a threat to end the work contracts of OFWs in Taiwan. But when the time came for Beijing to execute the convicts, it did so without so much as replying to the Vice Presidents last-minute written appeal. But the most serious challenge was triggered by the Spratly Islands. Pumutok ang Kalayaan o Spratly Islands. Ipinadala natin kaagad sa laot ang ating kaisaisa at kaluma-lumang bapor. Pagkatapos, lumipad ang ating secretary of Foreign Affairs doon sa Washington, D.C., upang magpalimos ng mga sandata at sasakyang dagat na pagmumulan ng ating military buildup na matagal ng pinabayaan ng sunod-sunod na pamunuan. Bago naganap ito, dumating sa ating karagatan ang US Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. Ito ang ginamit ng mga Amerikano upang itapon sa dagat ang bangkay ni Osama bin Laden, ang dating pinuno ng Al Qaeda, matapos na siyay mapatay ng US navy seals sa kanyang taguan sa Pakistan. Kasama ni Pangulong Aquino ang kanyang Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Finance at Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Sumakay sila sa isang eroplanong militar ng Amerikano at lumapag sa naturang aircraft carrier habang itoy nasa karagatang international. Tila walang nakapagsabi sa Pangulo sa kanyang mga kasama na labag sa soberanyang dangal ng isang malayang bansa na ang kanyang presidente o pinuno ay sumakay sa isang eroplanong militar o buki de gyerang dayuhan, at ipailalim ang kanyang sarili sa autoridad at kapangyarihan ng pamahalaang dayuhan na nagmamayari ng naturang sasakyan, lalong lalo na kung siyay nasa luob ng kanyang bayan. At walang senador, congressman, kolumnista o aktibista ang pumuna noon. Subalit, hanggan ngayon mistulang nagdurugo ang ating bayan, kahit di nito nararamdaman ang sugat sa katawan. Subalit, nararamdaman kaya ng ating mahal na Pangulo ang sugat ng ating militar at kapulisan dahil sa paghirang niya sa kanyang pamahalaan ng ilang progresibo na malapit kung hindi man dating kasama ng mga pwersang hanggan ngayon pumapatay sa ating mga kawal?

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Tapos na ang Cold War. At iyan di natin gustong muling buhayin. Subalit malinaw kaya sa lahat na sa buong Europa natalo ang Komunismo at nawasak ang Soviet Union. Samantala, ang China at Vietnam naman ay nananatiling komunista sa pulitika lamang, pero kapitalista sa ekonomiya at pangangalakal? Tama kaya na dito sa Pilipinas, lilitaw na ang nanalo sa Cold War ay ang mga Marksista nating kababayan? Pinawalang bisa natin ang dating Anti-Subversion Law, na siyang nagdeklarang illegal ang Communist Party of the Philippines, upang hikayating pumasok sa political mainstream ang mga myembro nito at iwaksi nila ang armadong pakikibaka. Sa pamamagitan nito pumasok sila sa mainstream. At nagkaroon tayo ng mga party-list congressmen at mga kandidato sa Senado na galing sa kanilang grupo. Subalit hanggan ngayon, hindi pa nila iniwawaksi at tinatalikdan ang armed struggle. Buhay na buhay pa ang kanilang army, at kumukolekta pa sila ng revolutionary tax sa mga negosyante, mayari ng lupa, naghahanap-buhay, at sa mga kandidato pagdating ng halalan. Tama kaya na ang ilan sa kanilang dating kasama o kaibigan ay kasama na sa pagpalakad ng ating seguridad at panguluhan, samantalang marami sa kanilang dating kasama at katuto ay patuloy na nakikipaggera sa ating mga kawal? Ito bay isang anino lamang? O mayroon kayang panganib na dapat harapin ang pamunuan? Ang laban sa corruption Kapuri-puri ang ating Pangulo sa kanyang hangaring linisin ang buong pamahalaan at parusahan ang lahat ng mga kawatan at mandarambong na nagkamal sa salaping nakaw at nakabalot ang sarili sa kapangyarihang di makatarungan. At lalong kahanga-hanga na ni munting bahid ng corruption ang maaaring iparatang sa ating pangulo hanggan ngayon. Subalit, maaari kayang ipamahala na lang niya sa husgado ang pagusig sa mga makasalanan, nang sa ganoon walang sinumang makapagsabi na ang ganitong pagusig sa mga kalaban ang siyang tanging programa ng kanyang panguluhan? Hindi naman kailangang ang Pangulo ang nakasugal sa lahat, at gumagawa ng lahat. Kaya nga mayroon siyang Gabinete, upang magkaroon siya ng katulong. Subalit hanggang ngayon hindi niya ginagamit ito. Hanggan ngayon wala pang regular na Cabinet meeting. Pinaghati-hati ito sa mga cluster. Nagkaroon ng cluster, nawala ang Cabinet.

14 Para naman sa Kongreso. Maaari bang iwasan ang anumang imbestigasyon na walang patutunguhan kundi bigyan lang ng isang mumurahing plataporma ang mga pulitikong naghahanap ng headline, at bigyan ang media ng malaking pagkakakitaan habang nililibang nila ang bayan? Maiiwasan din kaya ang paggamit ng pork barrel para bilhin ang suporta ng mga Congressmen at Senador tuwing nakataya sa anumang isyu ang interes ng Malacanang? Ayaw naming masabi ng sinumang kalaban na ang pamimili ng suporta ay isang uri din ng moral corruption na dapat sanang nilabanan. Gayundin, ayaw naming masabi ninuman na corruption din ang mabilis na pagkondena sa isang dako ng isang kalaban nang walang sapat na katibayan, at sa kabilang dako ang pagpawalang sala sa isang kaklase, kalaro, o kaibigan, nang hindi man lang sinusuri ang kaso o katibayan. Magiging ganap ang ating laban kontra sa corruption kung magkakasundo tayo na ang corruption ay hindi lamang tungkol sa pagnakaw ng salapi ng bayan. Mas malaking corruption ang magnakaw ng kapangyarihan ng may kapangyarihan. Higit na malaking corruption ang pagtakwil ng batas ng Diyos at baliktarin ang mabutit matuwid masunod lamang ang gusto at layaw ng katawan. Higit na makamandag ang gamitin ang hiram na kapangyarihan upang ipagkanulo ang katotohan tungkol sa ating pagkatao at kabanalan ng buhay, pamilya at matrimonyo, anuman ang dahilan. Aming dalangin na maging malinaw sana sa ating Pangulo ang kanyang tungkulin na ipagtanggol ang buong katotohanan tungkol sa kabanalan ng pamilya, pagaasawa at buhay. Aming dalangin na huwag sana siyang maligaw. Malaki ang pressure na dumarating sa kanya galing sa mga nagbibigay o nangangakong magbigay ng tulong sa pamahalaan. Subalit sana lagi niyang alalahanin ang santong sulat Anong mapapala ninuman kung mapasakanya ang buong mundo ngunit mawala naman ang kanyang kaluluwa? (Mat 16:26) Kaya kami nananalangin na tatangihan at tutulan niya ang population control cum reproductive health bill. Lubhang mahalaga para sa ating lahat ang araw na ito. Sapagkat bukod sa lahat, pinagdiriwang ng lahat na mga Kristyano at naniniwala sa buhay ang ika-43 anibersaryo ng Humanae Vitae---ang kasulatan ni Papa Paulo VI (Sexto) na siyang unang nagbabala kung anong kasamaan ang darating sa mga pamilya at sa buong mundo kung lalabagin ang natural na paraan ng paglilihi, pagbubuntis at panganganak ng kababaihan sa pamamagitan ng contraception.

15

noong taong iyon, 1968, mayroon pang isang tao, Paulo din ang pangalan---Paul Erlich---na sumulat ng isang libro, Population bomb, kung saan sinabi niya na dahil sa nagsisilakihang populasyon ng mga bansa, milyon milyong mga Amerikano, Ingles, at ibat ibang rasa ang mamamatay sa gutom, sapagkat kukulangin sila ng pagkain di lilipas ang 25 taon. Naunang di hamak si Erlich sa ating mga kaibigang nagtutulak ng RH bill. Lumipas ang panahon, ang hulang gutom ni Erlich ay hindi dumating. Ang dumating ay ang Green Revolution, na nagdala ng malaking biyaya sa agrikultur and umaapaw na pagkain sa buong mundo. At napatotohanan din ang lahat na sinabi ng Santo Papa tungkol sa magiging bunga ng contraception. Lahat ng kanyang babala ay nagkatutuo. All his prophecies were fulfilled. Paul VI said, the widespread use of contraception would lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality. He also said that because of contraception the man would lose respect for the woman and no longer (care) for her physical and psychological equilibrium and would come to the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as a respected and beloved companion. He also said that the widespread use of contraception would place a dangerous weaponin the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies. He warned that it would lead man to think that he had limitless dominion over his own body. All these prophecies have been fulfilled. And the result has been the destruction of the family in countless homes around the world, the reduction of women into pure sexual objects, and the attempt of public authorities, as evidenced by the present RH bill, to stamp the boot of the totalitarian state upon the face of every family and every marriage. We call on President Aquino, his Cabinet and his political allies to join us in celebrating the 43rd anniversary of these great prophecies by committing to junk the RH bill. The bill is totally unnecessary, totally unconstitutional and completely oppressive. Even now, it has already divided the nation.

16 It is null and void ab initio. Even if passed, it has no way of binding anyone. But its mere passage, should a majority succeed in ramming it through, would further divide the nation. No government enacts any law to divide the nation. There is no exception to this iron rule. If the purpose of this bill is to guarantee the right of women to contraception and sterilization, its proponents should know there is no need for it at all. First of all, there is no law that prohibits contraception or sterilization. Everyone is free to do it. The Department of Health and the Population Commission have been running what is now called the RH program since the 70s. The national contraceptive prevalence rate is already 51 percent. But the real purpose of the bill is to require all couples to make contraception and sterilization an essential compoment of marriage, and to make the State the provider of contraception and sterilization. This is to legislate an intrinsic evil as part of our family life, in violation of the religious freedom of the overwhelming majority of our population, and in violation of many other provisions of the Constitution. The Constitution provides: The family is the foundation of the nation. Marriage is the foundation of the family and is an inviolable social institution. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. The State shall defend the right of spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of responsible parenthood. The State shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The shall support the right and duty of parents as the natural and primary educators of their children. All these provisions are violated by the RH bill. How can anyone in the world possibly think of making a valid law out of it, even if in a case of mass hypnosis and amnesia the entire Congress should vote for it, 100%? It has been a waste of time and peoples money, not to mention the massive corporate lobby, trying to ram this bill through Congress for months. And it has been a gross disservice to our people trying to make them believe that their poverty could be solved, without they or their government having to do anything productive, simply by allowing the big foreign multinationals to dump all their contraceptives and sterilization agents on the lap of our poor women.

17

We ask President Aquino, his Cabinet and Congress allies to believe with us that the intrinsic and inviolable dignity of the human person starts from the moment of conception and this should be protected in both policy and law. We ask them to believe with us that if we fail to uphold the right of life from the moment of conception, there is very little chance we could protect and uphold any other right proceeding from the same basic right. We ask them to affirm with us that the family is a school of deeper humanity within which each member learns best what it means to be a human person. In a country where poverty is only the first of many grave challenges to the family, we ask them to assure us that they will do everything to help establish a stable and enduring moral order where the youth can grow up to be the real pillars of society. Even without the RH bill, from the unceasing onslaught of the mass media alone, the Filipino youth are already in danger of being led to believe that contraceptives will protect them from every kind of sexually transmitted disease, when the only real protection is self-control and chastity. From the literature coming out of some U.N. treaty bodies and foreign donor agencies alone, the youth are already in danger of being led to believe that they have no control over their sexual urges, when in fact the human being has been so designed as to control his/her concupiscence. We cannot allow that to happen. We were so designed that the head is placed above the heart, and the heart above our genitals, so that the mind could sway the heart, and the mind and the heart could control ones sexual appetite. And we were so structured that as we grow up into maturity, we develop selfknowledge, self-control and self-giving, so that we could take our rightful place in the hierarchy of all living beings as the noblest of Gods creation. We cannot allow ourselves to see the next generations of Filipinos believing that they are made for sexual pleasure alone and that nothing exists outside their ego or higher than themselves. Today, in New York, members of the International Youth Commission will be presenting a Youth Statement to the United Nations and the World signed by 120,000 people, 57,000 of whom are under 30, and rejecting a document produced by governments for a U.N. High-Level Meeting on the Youth, which seeks to write off the right of parents to provide moral guidance to their children.

18 We call on President Aquino, his Cabinet and Congress allies to join us in associating ourselves with that voice of hope and faith in the future of our planet and in rejecting the dark counsel of a failed and ignoble past. It is sad to see all those credentialed progressives trying to push the failed population policies of racial imperialists, like those men and women at the UN. The facts are not on their side, and they have nothing to teach our President. Last June 30, in Moscow, demographic experts from 65 countries, assembled in a demographic summit, noted that 42 percent of mankind today live in countries where the replacement of old generations is no longer taking place. They identified depopulation as the worlds next serious crisis, and called on governments to stop interfering with the private life of families under the pretext of family planning, protection of the rights of the child, gender equality, etc. We call on President Aquino, his Cabinet and Congress allies to take note of this life-changing development, and to provide the leadership and the common sense that would jolt all our pro-RH supporters from their state of drugged sleep. We are a young nation with a robust and vibrant population. This is our primary and ultimate resource, our basic and abiding strength. We only need to invest in it and develop it. We are a nation of believers, and that is a source of an even greater strength. Contrary to the error insisted upon by the dogma of political correctness, faith and democracy can coexist, without one harming the other. For as Alexis de Tocqueville points out, despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. As a predominantly Christian and partly Islamic nation, we must resist the temptation of following everything that moves. We must reject the proposition that we could enact a law---any law---that removes the most fundamental area of human behavior, such as the intimate exercise of the procreative and unitive aspect of every marriage, from regulation of the moral law. We cannot reduce the noblest human act into a mere act of man, devoid of any sense of right or wrong. If the purpose of the law be to promote virtue, we cannot have a law whose purpose and certain effect is to promote the exact opposite of virtue. The RH bill, in the raw and rather bold language of its principal author, seeks to guarantee to everyone a safe and satisfying sex life without any consequence that would create any kind of parental responsibility.

19 That would render the virtue of chastity and continence completely superluous and unnecessary. It would abolish the most important distinction between man and dog, between man and monkey. Such a law can come only from a totalitarian state, but not from a constitutional democracy. Therefore, rather than continue wasting time, money, and effort on this bill, Congress should now devote its time and energy to crafting laws that would eradicate poverty, strengthen education, health care, workers rights, broaden democratic space and ensure the longterm peace and stability of our society. It is time to enact the Freedom of Information Act. This will fulfill a campaign promise of the President, help the fight against corruption and broaden democratic space for everybody. It is time to enact a meaningful and effective gun control law. the proliferation of loose firearms and the licensing of firearms to irresponsible individuals have contributed to the increase of crime. We must stop the rise of criminality. It is time to enact a kasambahay law. We must protect the small people who help our families run the household and bring up the children and who become virtual members of our families. If we want foreign employers to treat our OFW domestic workers with dignity and respect, we must show them the way. It is time to create an Overseas Filipino workers Bank. This is a long held dream and vision of our OFWs. Vice President Binay is reported to have forwarded this to the President, and the latter has no objection to it. But Congress must now work on it. It is time to revive the tree-planting law and cover the whole country with trees. The DENR has a greening program that aims to green 1,500,000 hectares of tenured land, at the cost of P14,000 per hectare. The old Marcos decree was cost-free to the government. It is time to revisit the mining law. Congress must plug the loopholes that had been used by certain parties to frustrate the original intentions of the law. It is time to enact an honest-to-goodness healthcare program that will address the leading causes of mortality, upgrade all health services and facilities, and make it easy for the poor to enjoy free hospitalization and medical care anywhere in the country. It is time to enact a law that would encourage alternative systems of education, such as home schooling, distance education, dual-tech, cooperative education, and family-run schools, etc. The law must upgrade the governments support for all schools, but revisit the standards for the creation of state colleges and universities.

20 It is time to enact real electoral reforms to restore the integrity of the ballot; limit a candidates election expenses to not more than the equivalent of his/her salary and allowances during his/her term of office; allow a system of recall for all elected officials, outside of those who may be removed only by impeachment; permanently bar from public office anyone proved to have won his/her position by fraud; require the ousted official to return all monies he/she had received plus interest while in office, and pay the aggrieved party his/her foregone salaries and other emoluments plus interest. Electoral reform should prohibit both spouses, parent and offspring, or any two siblings from running in the same election together or even under different parties, where one could be elected mayor and the other vice mayor of the same city or municipality, or one could be elected governor and the other vice governor of the same province, or where one could be elected mayor or vice mayor and the other member of the city or municipal council, or where one could be elected governor or vice-governor and the other amember of the provincial board. No two such individuals may run simultaneously for the Senate. No spouse, parent, son, daughter or sibling of a sitting Senator shall run in a midterm where, if elected, he/she would be serving simultaneously with the incumbent relative. Electoral reform should provide for the disqualification or removal from office of any person promoting a service, product or advocacy funded wholly or in part, directly or indirectly, by a foreign party and which violates the Constitution, customs and mores of the Filipinos. It should further provide that except for aid to victims of calamities and conflict, no money for any advocacy work shall be transmitted to any private party in the Philippines by any foreign source, without the prior knowledge of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which shall certify that the fund being transmitted will not be used to undermine or subvert the Constitution, the laws and customs of the Philippines. It is time to enact a law that will restructure and strengthen the Department of Foreign Affairs as the governments primary arm in defending its sovereign interests abroad, the interests of Overseas Filipinos, and as principal campaigner for foreign trade and investments. Under this proposal, the international trade function of the Department of Trade and Industry shall be absorbed by the DFA along with its trade experts and the relevant support services. Our diplomats abroad could then have a more meaningful engagement while the DTI could concentrate on domestic trade. As part of this reform, the Foreign Service Act should be amended to allow retired ambassadors to be rehired after the lapse of one year from retirement, and non-career individuals who are 70 years and above could be named ambassadors, without offending the Act.

21 A number of Presidents had been violating this Act, to the embarrassment of those who have read the law but have no power to compel compliance with it. The remedy is to remove the bar to appointment, since it is not being complied with. It is time to enact a law that would limit any persons shares in any media organization to a certain percentage as may be determined by Congress, provided such shares shall be limited to not more than one form or class of media. It is time to enact a law prohibiting direct sterilization, the distribution and sale of abortifacients, except upon a doctors prescription to carry out a procedure having nothing to do with the termination of a pregnancy, and prescribing the strictly factual labeling of contraceptives and indicating their possible side effects. It is time to enact a law prohibiting the operation of any gambling establishment in any city, municipality or barangay within a 25-km radius of a populated section of that city, municipality or barangay, and prohibiting the direct or indirect participation or involvement of any government official, office or agency in any gambling firm or activity. We have advanced these proposals as an earnest of our effort to help the President succeed. We shall do everything within our power to ensure that success. But we would ask the President to share our conviction that we can only do even the impossible, if everything we do is grounded on what is right and good, and not on what may be fashionable or politically correct. We are not a lost atom in a random universe, Benedict XVI reminds us. But a storm is raging and the ship of state is caught in the high seas. Our captain needs a compass. The good news is that compass exists. He only needs to use it. We dont need to tell him he should. He must bring the ship safely to port. And the nation will be there to celebrate with him.