Walang Bigas si Juan

Rice Shortage.

This two words has been bugging the local news for the past weeks now. And honestly I find it boring to watch, you know why? Because it has no excitement at all. I enjoyed the news last january-march especially the Lozada Expose on the NBN-ZTE Deal Scandal and the Inter-Faith Prayer Rally in Makati which I thought would put an end to the corrupt and bogus regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But it didnt. People once again wasted the opportunity all because of one reason. Who will take over? I remember during a Symposium at the University of St. La Salle here in Bacolod that invited then Congressman now Senator Chiz Escudero, former DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman and former presidential candidate and evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva.

A very old lawyer but a former top caliber in the law courts here in Negros and a respected lawyer nationwide, Atty. Arsenio Acuña. He answered that question saying "out of 84 million Filipinos, don't tell me their is no one more worthy and capable to run the country?"
And I agree with him, a wrong or evil done should not be tolerated just because there is a lack of alternative. Actually their are a lot of alternatives.

Now, going back to the Rice shortage, is there really a rice shortage in the country? or too much exported high quality rice in the Philippines? We have the best rice in the world but sadly it is exported to other countries for profit and what is left for "Juan" to eat is the lowest quality rice that goes by the name "NFA" that is packed with all the chemicals and smells so bad too. Very unhealthy to eat. But does the poor have a choice? Of course not, they choose to buy this cheap rice or die of hunger. And yet in Malacañang almost everyday there is a feast for the countries leaders and government officials allied with GMA.

Once again sad too say, we, the common tao is victimized by corruption. Unless corruption and the corrupt will be wiped out in the government, Juan dela Cruz will never achieve freedom and emancipation from poverty, hunger, homelessness, etc.

Let us continue to do what should be done and continue to fight for what should be fought.

REMOVE GMA AND HER COHORTS IN GOVERNMENT!

REPLACE IT WITH A RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT CENTERED ON GOD AND THE FILIPINO PEOPLE!!!

Summer Heat...

Last friday, I finally finished all my final exams at the CAS Office. I took it there since I am not yet allowed to go up the stairs due to my recent appendectomy. I would like to extend my thanks to Dr. Chula Maalat for her consideration to my request and also my uncle, Mr. Roberto Llantada for informing Dr. Maalat of my condition.

Now, summer break is officially open. And i wonder, what would i do for the summer? Well, for sure no more rallies except for another unexpected scandal to take place in our government. By the way next week we will be moving to a new house, all things are already packed as of now. We are all ready to move!

Oh, we also had a blast for one week since my younger cousins from Manila arrived. They are Lorenzo and Enrique together with their parents Tito Butch and Tita Carla Escober. I love you guys! See you next summer!

Going back to the NBN-ZTE Scandal, I hope that our crusade for truth and GMA's removal would not stop amidst the Summer Heat. Let us make this heat more hotter for truth, justice and change. Let us show the world that we can make a difference if all of us would do something towards national righteousness ans transformation. May GOD bless the Philippines! Bangon Pilipinas!

Im also quite excited because by June I will officially be a 3rd year Political Science student of USLS. Another challenge to face and another fun to enjoy. All I can say, Bring it on! Animo La Salle!

Bloggers unite! Shout for truth with the nation’s youth!

If you want the truth and want an accountable government, and if you want the President to resign for the sake of the country, please post the visual below on your blog (with the blog post title as above) and join the youth-led communal action on March 14, 2:00 pm at Liwasang Bonifacio.

The event is led by Youth Act Now!, the newly-formed youth alliance for truth and accountability.

“Come, take up your flag and follow me”

By Willy E. Arcilla

In answer to the clarion call of the country's Church officials for “communal action” and the public clamor for a new brand of people power amidst the unfolding ZTE bribery and corruption scandal, the social-realist painter Joey Velasco, whose famous work “Hapag ng Pag-Asa” moved millions in the country and around the world, has responded with his newest creation entitled, “Take Up Your Flag”. The oil-on-canvass painting depicts Jesus Christ, who is no longer dead on the cross nor meek as a lamb as usually projected, but grim-faced and defiant. Jesus has taken up the role as the country's paramount leader, to symbolize the need for a reunification -- not a separation -- of religious beliefs and temporal affairs. It is a message to all our leaders in government, the church and civil society to live a “unity-of-life” in communion with Jesus Christ and in consonance with his teachings -- as real-life disciples, and not merely nominal Sunday churchgoers.

Jesus Christ is boldly depicted raising a tattered Philippine flag, a poignant symbolism of the countless upheavals the country has been through – from the Cry of Pugad Lawin in 1896 to the volley of musketry in Bagumbayan in 1898; from the Fall of Bataan to the infamous Death March in 1942, from the anguish of 1983 to the euphoria of 1986, and then again in 2001. But now, after all the time consumed and the energy spent, we find ourselves once again caught in a turbulent maelstrom. Many already show signs of frustration and weariness, hopelessness and despair as a tattered nation. So Velasco has decided the only real way to move forward is if we anoint Jesus our paramount leader.

Velasco shares his thoughts and feelings, “The face of Jesus beckons; the eyes challenge us; the tough stance tells us there is no way to lose. We will definitely win this war. And the battle cry is love. He is offering his life in the frontlines of the battlefield. His Eucharistic action of life giving is extended to social action. Hence, it is a call to action”.

What makes Velasco's painting even more gripping is Jesus has not only picked up the tattered flag – which in fact resembles many flags around the country – faded and torn – but He has inverted the flag showing the red band atop the blue, declaring that the nation is in a state of war. Jesus seems to rally His people for the final conflict in the saga of the Filipino nation. Jesus is urging all Filipinos to join an uprising He will personally lead – not only against graft and corruption – but against all forms of human wrongdoing – yet not through violent means, but by pursuing the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, reinforced by the human virtues of courage and confidence, infused with the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity, powered by prayer and brought to life in action and leadership by example. Jesus issues a “call to arms” in the war of the good over the evil. Indeed, amidst all the seemingly intractable challenges and crises that continue to bedevil the country, we must all agree that our nation is not at peacetime. Our nation is at war.

We continue to fight the massive and protracted war against graft and corruption; against the vicious cycle of poverty and destitution; hunger and malnutrition; landlessness and homelessness; poor health and high mortality; the war against illiteracy and inferior education; the war against unemployment and underemployment; labor exploitation and low productivity; the war against the lack of opportunities causing the Filipino diaspora; against selfish gratification and ostentatious hedonism; the war against a widening rich-poor gap and undue concentration of wealth; the war against alcoholism and illegal gambling; drug abuse and prostitution; and all forms of crime and violence; the war against pride and hubris; greed and avarice; the war against colonial mentality and crab mentality; the war against nominal Christianity and religious intolerance vs. our Muslim brothers; the war against all physical and armed conflict – extrajudicial killings and communist insurgency, terrorist attacks and secession; abuses by the armed forces and abuses against the armed forces; the war against marital infidelity and broken families; against indecency and immorality; lust and licentiousness; the war against apathy and indifference; negativism and pessimism; the war against treachery and hypocrisy; the war against “Bahala Na” fatalism, “Pwede na” mediocrity and “Pasensiya Na” excuses; the war against excessive politics and an obsession over intrigues; the war against bureaucratic red tape in government and a culture of privilege among oligarchs, the war against a lack of competitiveness and inertia to change in the face of an increasingly competitive global market; and the war against environmental degradation and climate change – indeed, this is an all-out war we need to wage against all forms of evil in the country and across multiple fronts -- not only in government but in civil society, at work and at home, not only against the evil in others but more so, the evil within ourselves.

Velasco muses, “These were the same issues before the Shepherd was slaughtered; before He died a poor man's death. Before the cross became a religious icon, it was, in His time, a punishment for slaves and rebels. 'Take up your cross,' spoken before Jesus died on the cross and before it took on a religious meaning, in the ears of Jesus' listeners, meant 'commit yourself to those principles and actions which will bring you to the cross.' For Jesus, taking up the cross meant committing Himself to liberating His people, especially the poor over the authorities, tradition and laws, and the corrupt state of His time”.

Even after 110 years of independence, our country remains in disunity, not only from a culture of regionalism imbibed over more than 400 years of western colonization, but what is more insidious is the deep division between the forces of good against evil. Yet history also shows how Filipinos have galvanized themselves as one nation in times of adversity to put up a valiant fight against common enemies, such as the revolt of the first 8 provinces against Spain, and the whole country against the Japanese occupation; our victory against the tyranny of a despot in 1986 and the immorality of a drunkard in 2001. This must be the inspiration for Jesus Christ to call upon all Filipinos to fight the final battle against all enemies of the common good so we may enjoy true and lasting freedom.

“Thus for the followers of Jesus, 'take up your cross,' means to stretch out one's arm and to 'take up the flag,' and to commit oneself in word and deed to protest the cheating and lying, to put a stop to the extrajudicial killings of activists, journalists, and members of pro-poor movements, to bring justice to the victims and their families”, adds Velasco.

To dramatize this declaration of war and remind ourselves of the need to remain vigilant at all times, Joey Velasco seems to recapture a dramatic moment in our nation's history when Andres Bonifacio, founder of the “Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-kagalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan” led the Filipino revolutionaries to tear up the Spanish cedula in the Cry of Balintawak. Our nation may not be at war in the traditional definition of armed conflict, but it can be argued that we are engaged in a war no less daunting or real because the outcome of this war will dictate whether we can win the true freedom we cherish from all human oppression on earth – material and spiritual. Velasco is hopeful his latest painting can motivate each province, city, town, municipality and barangay; each diocese and each parish; each factory and each office; each school and each family to follow Jesus Christ and invert the Philippine flag to display and keep the red band on top until such time that we achieve our common mission of defeating all forces of evil and oppression. Then and only then can we achieve real victory for prosperity and peace. Then and only then can we deserve to fly the Philippine flag with the blue atop the red.

There is no doubt in Velasco's heart this is a war we can win because it is our destiny – but only if we fight this war together as one people -- in the name of God and Country -- to transform what has been a “nation run like hell by Filipinos” to a “nation run like heaven by Filipinos”. We will win this war because we will follow our one true and only leader, Jesus Christ, so that filled by God the Holy Spirit, we may all renew the face of our nation, and ultimately fulfill our God-given mission; help renew the face of the earth.

Velasco says, “Jesus calls to each and every Filipino today, “Come, take up your flag, and follow me usque ad staturam Christi.” (until we reach the stature of Christ).”

The author is a business graduate from the UP and an industrial economist from the UA&P-CRC. He has a 25 year career in various roles in Corporate Planning, Marketing, Sales, and General Management across Asia-Pacific, and a recipient of the Agora Award for Marketing Excellence. He is now President of Business Mentors, Inc., a newly-formed management consultancy firm and Regional Director of ZMG Ward Howell, Inc.

Clamor for Truth, Justice, Accountability and Beyond

Once again the present government led by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is tainted with a new scandal namely the "ZTE-NBN Scandal" that involves the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and the 130 Million kickback from the project that is supposed to go to the pocket of former COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos, which obviously he denies.

The Filipino people was informed of this latest anomaly and corruption in the government thru the whistle blower Mr. Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada, who is one of the consultants for the project. He was allegedly abducted upon his arrival in the Philippines from Hong Kong then went to the De La Salle Brother's Residence in La Salle Greenhills where he made a press conference to expose this unimaginable corruption and wickedness in the present government.

For the past weeks that Filipino people all over the country have joined hands to air their clamor for truth and justice. They are urging Sec. Romulo Neri to come out in the open and expose all that he knows of the anomalies in the project. It is his duty to the Filipino people because we have all the right to know.

The clamor has reached its peek, because different sectors of society have joined the call for truth, namely the different universities in the country, Makati Business Club, Catholic Bishops, and the Jesus is Lord Movement of Bro. Eddie Villanueva. Last February 29, 2008 a very massive crowd went to Ayala Avenue in Makati for an Inter-Faith Prayer Rally which gathered a crowd of 75, 000. This is so far the biggest protest action since the scandal was exposed.

I believe that rally was just a spark for a much bigger and mammoth rally in the days or weeks to come to call for GMA's removal from office. Because the people are sick and tired of all this corruptions in government that has been there since time in memorial.

I appeal to all of you, never to go weary with the clamor for truth and justice.

And lastly, if you ask me who will replace GMA. My answer is: Remove GMA, Noli de Castro and the speaker of the house from office and let Chief Justice Reynato Puno lead the country for awhile and call for snap elections after 60 days.

And let us elect and rally behind two righteous personalities who are not "TRAPOS" yet has the capacity to lead this nation towards transformation. Let us support BRO. EDDIE VILLANUEVA for President and AMONG ED PANLILIO for Vice-President.

What do you think?