Japan, You Are Not Alone!

I have seen the terrifying and heart-rending footages of the big quake and tsunami that hit your country and your people. I share with your grief and suffering and fervently pray to the Almighty that you can quickly recover from the  cataclysmic devastation. May the world community pinch in to help for a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Japan, you are not alone!

Tsunami and 8.9 Quake Message: "I'm Omnipotent"

This blog condoles the Japanese government and the Japanese people for the devastation and lose of lives and properties they suffer from the effects of a massive earthquake and tsunami.

While monitoring the global community and our archipelago when tsunami warning was in effect, the world stood still and I am sure many prayed.

I must be honest and I do apologize.

While spending time before the internet and television, I laughed sarcastically not because of the devastation and human suffering of our Japanese neighbor but the deep lethargy of man who is only awaken when God “speaks”.

It is Lent, a time to reflect the Paschal mysteries in which our Lord proved that he truly love us by dying on the cross unconditionally and willingly with open arms. If the Lord is really a loving God, why the 8.9 destructive quake and tsunami?

I am not a Theologian and I don’t assume to be one but our finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite will of God. The Lord surely has a message. And the message reminds us how powerful He is that no one can stop Him. At the same time He  invites us to go back to Him.

Our country, still fresh from Ondoy and Pepeng nightmares know what flood is. Together in the last 12 hours or so, as a people and as a nation chaining together through Prayer Power, once more, we were one. We deep gratitude, the Philippines is spared.

Prayer works and is so powerful.

Going back to my sarcastic laugh which I again apologize, it is foolish to only know God when  danger is at the tip of the nose. In good times in bad., we take refuge in Him. Christ alone can listen and act to our needs (forget the government and government officials) with mercy and compassion.

How would one, accused of stealing millions of pesos and properties, murder and other grievous sins again man feel when a seven-foot tsunami is just several meters away from his mansion that he stole and has nowhere to go? Would he think first how to safeguard his stolen wealth or ask God’s forgiveness? In that hypothetical scene, in a matter of minutes if not seconds, everything that he worked for hardly through graft and corruption; his life and of his family are to be called history.

The moral is that one should be always ready to face an incorruptible Justice and material wealth cannot save anyone.

This is the first Friday of Lent. As a brotherly reminder to our corrupt officials and those living as if there is no more God, please do an examination of conscience and search your soul (if you believe in soul) that life is short compared with an infinite glory or damnation.

As we walk on our Lenten Journey, we Filipinos must be contented that Christ knows the meaning of suffering. He was homeless; he was rejected, falsely accused and murdered. His closest friends were the poor --- simple fishermen --- one of them ask Him, “Where do we go? You have the words of eternal life?”

“Despite our lukewarm attitude and sinfulness, thank you very much for sparing our country and please continue to do so from the hands of our fellow Filipinos.”

To Japan and our Japanese friends, all we can share is our prayers. We are a third world country.

Maria Aragon, A Canadian With Filipino Roots

It is only now that I came across with this 10-year old Canadian with Filipino descent. This video with 18-million hits and still counting has pushed her into the the limelight of the international entertainment industry. Thanks for her recent duet with Lady Gaga who was moved into tears by the talent of the young Canadian --- it adds a punch to the headlines.

Comparing with another talent, my personal opinion is that Maria is much better in her expressions and "stage presence". She is kiddy because of her age but there is no doubt that she has an enormous talent, most of which are still dormant. In comparing Maria,  language issue out of the topic but strictly her "presence" while singing and in dealing with the press.

Filipinos must be happy that Maria Aragon is of Filipino descent. She has never been to the Philippines. Accolades and honor she receives are strictly hers and for Canada.

But sometimes, we, Filipinos are in dire need of heroes and on an unending quest looking for someone who could raise the Philippine flag to show that despite the graft and corruption the government endures, Filipinos are still proud with their talents.

Let us be contented that the roots of Maria are from the Philippines.

She has a long way to go and has much yet to be reaped and be proud of!

Imelda Marcos Urges Gadhafi to Step Down?

The former flamboyant First Lady, Imelda Marcos advices the Libyan dictator to step down and urges him to follow the example of her husband to avoid bloodshed.

I am not sure if the octogenarian Ilocos Norte House representative’s memory is failing or the news story is accurate.

Ninety per cent of the story delves with the current unrest in Libya and related international stories but there is no direct quote from Imelda (House representative from Ilocos Norte and not Ilocos Sur) urging Gadhafi to step down.

Ferdinand Marcos did not step down. The world knows that. He was ousted by the Filipino people he oppressed in an almost bloodless People Power. He clung to power till the end for like any dictator, Marcos planned to be president for life with her immediate family members as successors in a botched dynasty-institution attempt. When told to "cut it and cut it clean", Mr. Marcos said that he was so "frustrated".  Said differently but with the same meaning, he did not want to leave office.

If Marcos was not indeed interested in bloodshed as his wife now claims; the contrary proves correct.  Victims of his brutal rule now starts collecting $1,000 compensation per head for the suffering and bestiality they endured.

They are 7000 plus souls of young and  old; rich and poor; senators and common tao. Some of them were summarily executed, tortured, imprisoned without due process, disappeared from the face of the earth, raped and treated worse than a dog.

But what else is new for a revisionist who wants to rewrite history?
 

Filipinos are not dumb.

They know the real score.

And so the world does.

_______________
Photo Credit:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Marcos_Clark_Air_Base_cropped.jpg