PROPHECY OF CHINA’S INVASION NOW HAPPENING

Both Military and Economic Invasions

eastwind journals
By Bernie V. Lopez
eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com

Share via link – http://www.sisterraquel.com/2018/12/prophecy-of

Lady of Fatima

As you read this article, the Marian prophecy is actually being fulfilled by many ongoing events, both military and economic invasions.

God-given prophecies, especially of future disasters, are not absolute. They may or may not be fulfilled, depending on how we pray and atone for sins. The Lord can reverse or ‘cancel’ a prophecy of doom. He can change His mind when He sees us repent. Our prayers can thus avert future disasters.

Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace told the prophecy to visionary Sister Teresing Castillo, a postulant in the Carmelite Order in Lipa City, of a looming ‘invasion’ of the Philippines by China, announced by Cardinal Vidal, former Archbishop of Lipa.. The message to Sr. Teresing was given on the 33rd year anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima, October 17, 1949, establishing the link between Fatima and the Mediatrix. The message read –

In October 17, 1949, Our Lady Mediatrix said, quoting Sister Teresing, “Pray hard, for China’s dream is to invade the whole world. The Philippines is one of its favorites.” (Source – Inquirer, July 13, 2014).

The economic invasion became visible with the infamous ZTE controversy in 2007. The government’s Philippine National Broadband Network forged the US$330 million (Php16.5 billion) NBN-ZTE deal. ZTE is a Chinese multinational telecom equipment giant. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) was forced to suspend the deal due to the bribery scandal.

The bigger global issue with ZTE and Huawei, another giant, was not over corruption but over cyber attacks and espionage. In 2012, the US banned trade with ZTE and Huawei due to violations of trade sanctions against Iran. (Source – huawei-zte-incur-wrath-washington). Australia, New Zealand, and Britain also banned the use of Huawai equipment in its 5G, 4G, and 3G programs. In December 2018, Japan announced the ban on government purchase contracts with ZTE and Huawei, due to “fears of intelligence leaks and cyber attacks” (Source – japan-tipped-to-ban-huawei-zte).

The State Grid Corporation of China is the majority stockholder of our National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which funds, manages and distribute power nationwide. This private firm may affect national security if controlled by foreigners.

There is now a move to bring a third Telco provider is to break the Smart-Globe duopoly. The ongoing (December 2018) billion-peso bid for the third Telco is feared by many as another potential Chinese ‘invasion’. China Telecom, reputed to have the blessings of Duterte, has partnered with local corporations as one of six bidders, a wrestling match among giants. China Telecom is part of the State-owned China Telecommunications Corp., which has a staggering 153 million internet customers. The third Telco is viewed by many as a giant that can easily overshadow Smart and Globe combined, who are accused of having one of the slowest broadband speed in Asia.

The third Telco has both advantages and disadvantages. It can dramatically improve broadband speed and quality and bring down prices. It may also be a venue for cyber attacks and espionage from the outside. The Telcos are strategic areas of political and national security importance.

It must be clarified that the US and other rich nations have been invading the Philippines economically in the last 5 decades. China the new player can, however, trigger an economic tsunami never before seen.

On the aspect of a military ‘invasion’, this is actually an ongoing affair in the South China Sea, with China’s occupation of islets and shoals claimed by the Philippine, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan. These occupations are military in nature because they involve the building of airports and seaports capable of hosting warplanes, warships, missile siloes and rapid troop movements. These facilities are a form of military invasion because they are unilateral and confiscatory, without dialogues or agreements with the other claimant nations.

Prayer for Peace

The Carmelite Sisters of Lipa have been praying for China ever since that Marian prophecy, for they believe peace can still be attained through prayers. Marian Devotees are asking Pope Francis to consecrate China to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, just as St. John Paul II, the first Fatima Pope, consecrated Russia in 1984, which led to the first-ever visit of a Russian leader (Gorbachev) to the Vatican, to the restoration of religious freedom in Russia, and to the end of the Cold War after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The consecration of China by Pope Francis, the ‘second Fatima Pope’, will hopefully lead to an era of peace in the Asia Pacific Region.

China’s ‘Nine-Dash’ initiative, claiming 80% of South China Sea, hugging the entire western flank of the Philippine coastline, affirms the prophecy’s statement, “the Philippines (as) one of (China’s) favorites”.

Learning lessons from the dialogue of St. John Paul II and Gorbachev, strategic diplomatic moves of the Philippines in dealing with China must be balanced with prayers, spiritual and temporal wisdoms. What the shrewdest diplomatic strategies cannot attain, simple prayers may be able to. For nothing is impossible for the Lord.

(eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com)

MILLION PEOPLE MARCH

By REY O. ARCILLA
MALAYA

(I believe it is time for President Duterte who says he “hates corruption” to rally the people to stage once again another Million People March of 26 August 2013.)

Judging from the exchanges between the members of the executive and the legislative branches of the government, it is pretty obvious that pork barrel is alive and well despite the Supreme Court ruling that it is unconstitutional.

We are fortunate we have Senator Panfilo Lacson who has drawn our attention to the feeble attempts and excuses advanced by members of the House of Representatives (many Filipinos call it House of Representathieves) to continue enjoying pork barrel.

However, Lacson’s valiant efforts to rid the budget of pork barrel will not succeed without the support of the administration and, above all, the Filipino people.

I believe it is time for the people to stage once again the so-called Million People March of 26 August 2013 (I was there with many of my former students in tow) which resulted in the Supreme Court declaration that pork barrel is illegal. The high court should endeavor this time to plug the loopholes that our lawmakers (lawbreakers?) are now using to circumvent its ruling.

To refresh their memory about the Million People March, readers may wish to click on this weblink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_People_March.

Who could rally the people to stage another Million People March?

Who else but President Rodrigo Roa Duterte aka Digong himself? One of his three main battle cries is “My God, I hate corruption!”, the other two being his campaign against illegal drugs/criminality and getting rid of foreign troops in the country.

THE BALANGIGA BELLS

At first, his spokesman said Digong will attend the turnover rites of the Balangiga bells at Villamor Air Base. Then Digong changed his mind.

Subsequently, the spokesman said Digong will go to Balangiga when the bells are delivered there – only to change his mind again.

Finally, the spokesman said Digong was persuaded to go to Balangiga due to the townsfolks’ clamor for his presence. (He did go but with the US represented only by the deputy chief of mission of its embassy in Manila.)

It is evident Digong wasn’t really keen on gracing any occasion meant to give the bells’ return more importance than needed. He has done his job. He didn’t have to “bask in glory” for the bells’ long-delayed return.

My own sentiment: “Mabuti naman at isinauli n’yo na! Salamat.”

In contrast, Digong’s spokesman, his foreign secretary and his ambassador to Washington were quite extravagant in their utterances on the bells’ return, e.g., that it shows the US is a “true friend” of the Philippines; that “it marks an important milestone in and gives new meaning to the shared history” between the two countries.

It took a “true friend” seven decades to return what, in the words of Digong, “belong to the Philippines” and “part of our national heritage”?!

Quite expectedly, US Ambassador Sung Kim was no less profuse in his platitudes about the bells’ return.

Still on this matter, a reader wrote: “I understand, before the return of the Balangiga bells, they were first shipped to Philadelphia. Let us make sure we got the genuine ones, not replicas. Those bells can be carbon dated and let us see.”

Incidentally, why do Digong’s foreign secretary Teodoro “Tweeter” Locsin and his ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez appear so eager to have him visit Washington? Have the Americans been egging them? Just asking.

PURCHASE OF US HELICOPTERS

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said we are buying 16 Black Hawk helicopters for US$240 million from the US instead of the cheaper ones from Russia “due to US sanctions on Russian military exports”.

He added that it would be “very difficult to pay them (Russians) because of the U.S. sanctions”.

We have the US$240 million, don’t we? Won’t the Russians accept dollars as payment? Shouldn’t we ask them first? We’ll be saving a lot of money. And better quality choppers?

Or have we been told US sanctions will definitely be imposed on us if we bought Russian helicopters or other military equipment? I thought she’s a “true friend”, a trusted ally?

Another question is are we assured of US Congress’ approval of the sale?

LORENZANA’S NAIVETE

When asked at a recent forum what his take is on Digong’s statement that we could not go to war with China over the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea, Lorenzana said we have two “options” that we could bank on, namely, our “alliances with other Asean nations and the Philippines’ mutual defense treaty with the United States.”

Duh?

First, we do not have any sort of military alliance with any ASEAN member. Nor is the Association a military alliance. It is mainly economic in nature although it has inexorably taken on political and security matters that affect the region. But a military alliance it is not and never will be.

Second, the mutual defense treaty with the US already failed miserably its first test, i.e., when the US did not help us stop China from seizing Panatag Shoal, saying she is “neutral” on territorial disputes.

She wouldn’t even defend her own interests when she did not make a serious attempt to stop China from reclaiming isles and reefs in the disputed areas of the South China Sea and constructing military installations on them. She did demand that China put an “immediate and lasting halt” to the reclamation activity, but that was it! That alone should tell us that the US values her relations with China more than her relations with us.

And Lorenzana believes the US will defend us from possible Chinese armed aggression on account of the mutual defense treaty with the US? That is the height of naivete!

To begin with, I do not for one moment believe that China will want to go to war with us over what she already took from us. Nor would we, definitely, for obvious reasons.

It seems Lorenzana chose to forget that the treaty does not call for instant retaliation by the US against any power that attacks us. Such retaliation has to go through the US Congress for approval which conceivably could come too late for us.

We should likewise always bear in mind that in case of an armed conflict between China and the US, we become a primary target of the former (aside from South Korea, Japan and possibly Australia) due to the presence of US troops, bases and prepositioned military arsenal here on account of the VFA and the EDCA.

This, I like to believe, is the principal reason Digong uttered his famous words on the US military presence in the country, to wit: “I really hate it. I don’t want it. We don’t need it. The US should not treat the Philippines like a ‘dog with a leash’.”

The P64-question now is when will Digong give substance and meaning to his unforgettable words?

REMINDERS

This segment is intended to remind the Duterte administration of some of its yet unfulfilled promises and matters that need attention and/or follow-up action. More importantly, the people are entitled to know what’s being done about them.

1. Digong’s promise to rid the country of foreign troops. This, of course,
necessitates abrogating the lopsided and constitutionally infirm VFA and the EDCA.

2. Reciprocal visa arrangements with the US and other countries. (What is the DFA doing about this? Our embassy in Washington?)

3. The return of the Canadian waste. Sources say the DOJ has filed a motion before the proper court for the importer to return the waste to Canada. Apparently no decision yet. In the meantime, I think it is incumbent upon the DFA to issue a statement on the status of this matter.

Also, if Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu could order the return of the South Korean waste to that country, why couldn’t he do the same with respect to the Canadian garbage?

******

Today is the 234th day of the twelfth year of the enforced disappearance of Jonas Burgos, son of the late press icon and founder of this newspaper, Joe Burgos.

After the acquittal of Major Harry Baliaga, Jr., the only person formally charged with Jonas’ kidnapping, I guess what happens next is now up to Divine Providence.

******

From an internet friend:

Q: Why are politicians proof of reincarnation?

A: You just can’t get that screwed up in one lifetime.

******

https://malaya.com.ph/business-news/opinion/million-people-march

The Greatest Christmas Gift for Children

Reflections 
By Fr. Shay Cullen
Preda Foundation, Inc.

Christmas is the celebration of the wonder and great value we have in children. We celebrate their rights and dignity. Every family ought to protect and care for their children, not to pamper and spoil them as objects and even victims of crass commercialization and exaggerated gift-giving. No gift can ever buy the love of a child. No gift is more valuable than the genuine love and appreciation of parents for their children.

Great gifts that are much better than toys that will be thrown aside in time is to give to children gifts that will last a lifetime. They are the gifts of knowledge, truth, honesty, integrity and straight talk. They are priceless and spiritual. As they grow older, children will develop an awareness of the world and society around them and realize the gap between them and the poor. They will need the roots of social inequality to be explained to them one day as soon as they are intelligent enough to understand.

Children understand greed and selfishness from an early age in the kindergarten play room where children interact and some covet the toys of others and can be aggressive to get them. That is where they learn how the more aggressive can dominate and exploit the non-aggressive.

With the positive example of caring parents with social concern and action for the downtrodden, children will develop social awareness and deep, intelligent understanding and compassion at an early age. This will blossom into that greatest love of all: love of the poor children who do not have the benefits that they have. They will quickly learn to share with and help others in need once given the good example and the opportunity and encouragement to help and share with them. The greatest gift of all is perhaps the good example of parents who have concern that turns to action to help the poor children of this unjust and unequal world. Children will learn from their parents, the good and the bad.

What can children learn from the Christmas nativity story? There are some beautiful, traditional customs of Christmas that remind us of our childhood. The Christmas “Belen” or manger scene depicts the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and surrounded by the adoring parents Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and animals. However, the meaning and significance of that image of the most revered person in history being born into the world is not explained or widely understood. It has no message about who Jesus was and what his mission would be to the world. Sadly, it is a sanitized version of a harsh, unwelcome truth. It does not depict the reality of what historically happened or what the Gospel story is telling us.

The reality of the birth, if historically true, is that it was a painful dangerous birth of a child of impoverished parents that could not get a place in the Bethlehem Inn. There was no experienced mid-wife, clean cloths, hot water, light in the darkness or sanitary surroundings. Infection was likely in the dirty stable surrounded by animal dung, the air filled with the stench. It was the painful dangerous birth that about 1.1 billion impoverished children endure in the world today. A million newborn babies die annually on the day they are born. More than 11,000 newborns die on their first day in the USA, the highest of 68 countries.

One message is clear from the Gospel- that this specially gifted person, who would describe himself as the Son of Man, was and is a representative of all impoverished humanity. He speaks for all men, women and children who are hungry, deprived of a decent life and suffered torture and an unjust death. But not only was it a day fraught with danger from the weakness of his mother, the lack of clean surroundings, the effects of crude hardship and poverty but there was more- the death squads and murderous military, sent out by a manic ruler searching to kill all who opposed and criticized him, even impoverished children. They were, he believed, a threat to his power. (Matthew 2: 16)

The death squads and military slaughtered every newborn child up to the age of two years old in the district of Bethlehem. Thousands were slaughtered. If he had been found, Jesus of Nazareth would have been among them. Cruel and evil humans would have once again altered the destiny of the world and deprived humanity of infinite goodness and love personified. The parents of Jesus like millions of refugees and migrants fleeing hunger and poverty and death threats today fled into Egypt. There, they found a welcome and what a lesson it is for the world today.

It is a story by which parents can explain to the children the truth and realities of the world we live in. Yet the people of the rich world have closed their hearts and doors to them as they continue to flee Syria, Iraq, and Africa. If we see Christmas as a challenge for us to embrace the words and example of Jesus of Nazareth and teach it to our children, what a different world it would be. What a lasting Christmas gift for life if that spirit of giving and sharing and working for a more just, loving world came to be in the minds and hearts of our children? It would be heaven on earth as Jesus also intended.

www.preda.org

A prayer for Pax Mundi

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

Friends for a day? Why not friends forever?

Every year, people around the world, regardless of their religious beliefs or affiliation, celebrate Christmas. For one day of the year, December 25, people reach out to each other and to friends they haven’t seen or heard from since last year or many years ago. Oftentimes, they send Christmas cards with family pictures and short notes.

Christmas is a day that Christians renew their faith in Jesus Christ. On Christmas Day, families gather and have a feast and enjoy each other’s company and exchange gifts. The festivity lasts till late at night singing their favorite karaoke songs and line dancing until they’re exhausted. And then it’s time to say goodbye, hug each other and say, “Peace be with you.”

Christmas Truce

Which reminds me of the “Christmas Truce” during the First World War 104 years ago. On Christmas Eve, the British and French armies were manning the 27-mile Western Front fiercely defending French territory from the advancing German Army. Across the British and French trenches, as near as 200 feet away, the Germans were dug in. What separated the opposing armies was a place called “No Man’s Land.”

On Christmas Eve, one of the most incredible — and unusual — events in human history took place: the Germans started placing candles on trees on “No Man’s Land.” Lit with candles, the “Christmas” trees looked awesome. The Germans began singing Christmas songs and the British and French troops responded by singing too. Soon the entire “No Man’s Land” turned into a symphonic Christmas celebration. The Germans proposed a “Christmas truce” and the French and British troops accepted.

By Christmas morning, “No Man’s Land” was filled with fraternizing soldiers, sharing rations and gifts, singing and more solemnly burying their dead. Soon they were even playing soccer, mostly with improvised balls. According to one account, “proper burials took place as soldiers from both sides mourned together and paid their respect.”

When the generals heard about the “Christmas truce,” they were aghast and ordered their soldiers to start shooting at each other. The soldiers resumed shooting but most of them — for several days — aimed their rifles at the sky and the stars. In some sectors, the truce continued until New Year’s Day. After all, how can “friends” shoot at each other?

It happened again in the Korean Peninsula in 1953 when China and North Korea signed the Korean War Truce with the United Nations and South Korea, which begs the question: Why can’t it happen in the Philippines today? What is so difficult that we Filipinos cannot settle our own differences? We need a truce with the communist insurgents and Muslim separatists. It’s brother against brother and nobody is winning. What’s keeping us apart?

Periods of peace in history

Pax Romana

The Pax Romana (Roman Peace) was the first period of peace that endured for 206 years from 27 BC to AD 180. During this period, the Roman Empire achieved its greatest territorial expansion and its population reached 70 million people — a third of the world’s population at that time. The decline of the empire began during the dictatorial reign of Commodus. It marked the descent “from the kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.”

Genghis Khan

The Pax Mongolica (Mongol Peace) was the relative peace that followed the conquests of Genghis Khan and his successors in the 13th and 14th centuries. It stabilized the social, cultural, and economic life of the people of the vast Eurasian territory under the Mongol Empire. It spanned from Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe, effectively connecting the Eastern World with the Western World. The famous Silk Road that linked the trade centers in Asia and Europe came under the rule of the Mongols. The end of Pax Mongolica was marked with the outbreak of the Black Death, which was spread along the Silk Road in the mid-14th century.

Pax Britannica

The Pax Britannica (British Peace) was the longest period of peace during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries when the British Empire became the sole global power. The empire’s navy controlled most of the trade routes and enjoyed unchallenged sea domination. The outbreak of World War I marked the end of Pax Britannica; however, some historians said that it was the Suez Canal crisis in 1956 that ended Pax Britannica.

Pax Americana

Pax Americana (American Peace) refers to the period after the end of the Cold War in 1989 with the fall of the Soviet Empire. However, some historians pegged the beginning of Pax Americana at the end of World War II at which time the United States gained military and economic power unmatched by other nations. With the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the end of the Cold War, the US became the sole superpower. The US navy ruled the seas with 11 supercarrier battle groups and around 70 nuclear-powered submarines.

The U.S. has airbases around the world and large numbers of troops deployed to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries as well as Japan and South Korea.

U.S. vs. China.

Today, America’s two geopolitical rivals – Russia and China – are jockeying for position to become the next world hegemon. Indeed, China is vying to be the next world empire, Pax Sinica (Chinese Peace). Currently, China is building the new Silk Road known as “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) that would link Asia, Europe, and Africa. OBOR is the answer to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “China Dream,” which is to reshape global trade with Beijing at its core. China would then become the world’s new imperial power.

Meanwhile, Russia is competing for world dominance, too. Although not considered an economic power, Russia’s military prowess is catching up with the U.S.’s military capability. Would a Pax Russica (Russian Peace) period emerge in the future? In a post-Putin era, the U.S. and Russia could become strategic allies to counter Pax Sinica. Then what?

Pax Mundi

But why not Pax Mundi(World Peace)? The foundation for world peace was laid down when 51 countries established the United Nations (UN) in 1945 for the purpose of maintaining international peace. The UN and its 15-member Security Council operated with the goal of resolving conflicts without wars or declarations of war. But oftentimes, the Security Council failed to pass resolutions that would resolve conflicts because of the veto power vested on each of the five permanent members, to wit: United States, United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union exercised its veto power 107 times out of the total number of 220 vetoes cast. Needless to say, a Security Council permanent member can cast a veto whenever the “national interest” of that country is threatened.

With any one of the five permanent members casting a “No” vote against a peace resolution in the Security Council, world peace is imperiled. And that’s the reason why we will never achieve Pax Mundi, which makes one wonder: While there are pros and cons about it, shouldn’t the five permanent members be stripped of their “veto” power to make the UN a truly democratic institution for world peace? Or would it lead to more global conflicts?

At the end of the day, as we celebrate Christmas, let’s give a prayer for Pax Mundi. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May peace be with you all.

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

Pork twist: Illegal parking

ON DISTANT SHORE
By Val G. Abelgas

It used to be just pork barrel. But because the Supreme Court has declared the pork barrel, formally called the Priority Development Assistance Fund, unconstitutional, favored lawmakers are now resorting to what Senator Ping Lacson and Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. call “parking” of huge amount of funds inserted into the proposed national budget to get around the prohibition.

Parked funds are included in the proposed National Expenditure Program before it is submitted to Congress, as opposed to insertions or amendments made by senators and congressmen to the national budget.
gloria
Lacson, who obviously opened a can of worms when he exposed the existence of pork barrel funds in the proposed general appropriations act, revealed that big amounts of pork are parked in a legislative district of a well-connected congressman.

“Then he/she offers to share portions of that parked pork to other congressmen with very little or no pork allocations with the understanding that the choice of contractor remains with the former,” Lacson said.

By doing so, the favored congressman strengthens his hold over the region while earning huge commissions from the favored contractor. That bodes well for his reelection campaign and the winning chances of politicians favored by the administration in the region.

Imagine that scenario repeated in various regions of the country and you’ll know how tilted in favor of administration candidates the coming midterm elections would be. That’s exactly how then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ensured victory for her and her allies in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

During Arroyo’s time, though, budget officials and lawmakers earmarked funds for supposed agricultural productivity. Thus, they earmarked P728-million fund for the purchase of fertilizers and P2 billion prior to the 2004 elections for the purchase of pigs purportedly for distribution to farmers to increase agricultural productivity. The release raised an uproar, however, when it was discovered that even congressmen in Metro Manila, where it was hard to find a farm or a pigpen, got their share of the agricultural funds.

Just before the 2007 elections, the Arroyo administration was again able to squeeze into the national budget a P3.1-billion fund supposedly to build irrigation canals throughout the country to, again, improve agricultural productivity. It would be interesting to see how many kilometers of irrigation canals were built with the billions of pesos released that year.

I would hasten to say there were probably very few built because until now, our good friend Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol continues to complain of lack of irrigation for farmlands.

And then probably in preparation for the 2010 elections, Arroyo gave away P2.6 billion to favored senators and congressmen supposedly to build farm-to-market roads in their respective districts. Again, how many kilometers of farm-to-market roads were built? I surmise not even worth half of the amount released.

No wonder Philippine agriculture has remained stagnant for decades. Administrations after administrations allot billions of pesos to improve food production, but most of the money goes to ghost projects and pockets of politicians.

With the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program the supposed centerpiece agenda of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, it is not difficult to deduce that pork barrel funds would be hidden in infrastructure projects of various government agencies, notably the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Andaya, who is the most likely to know the ins and outs of pork barrel having been a longtime congressman of Camarines Sur and a budget secretary during the term of Arroyo, recently confirmed this.

Following up on Lacson’s earlier expose, Andaya said a mayor told him that a former Cabinet official who is seeking an elective seat in the coming May elections “parked” at least P300 million in infrastructure projects in the proposed 2019 national budget. He said the unnamed mayor disclosed that the Cabinet member parked the allocation in flood-mitigation projects for the region.

Andaya said the supposed “parking scheme” may eventually explain the huge spike allocated to flood mitigation projects from 2017 to 2018, adding that the budget for flood mitigation projects increased to up to P133 billion compared to the P79 billion worth of funds in 2017.

“Out of the proposed P544.5-billion budget of the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) for 2019, P114.4 billion is for flood control projects. Almost 24 percent,” Andaya said, adding that the DPWH may even be unaware of these insertions. Public Works Secretary Mark Villar was indeed reportedly unaware of the fund.

Similarly, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon earlier discovered around P16.18 billion in lump-sum appropriation supposedly for assisting local government units that he said was “parked” in the proposed budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The DILG, during budget deliberations at the Senate last week, however, disowned the fund, claiming no knowledge of how the outlay will be implemented.
So, how many more of these parked pork will be discovered by the Senate? Also, how will the Senate know the truth about reports that a small construction company, CT Leoncio Trading and Construction, whose owner is reportedly connected to Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno has cornered 30 infrastructure projects worth billions of pesos, after Malacanang prohibited him from attending the House investigation on the alleged pork insertions?
The Congress probe on the pork barrel insertions, if not averted, could split the Duterte administration’s supermajority in both houses, especially in the House where the faction of Arroyo and Andaya, on one hand, and that of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and former Majority Leader Rudy Farinas, are locking horns on the distribution of the pork barrel funds.

It has become a “circus” and a “royal rumble” indeed, as described by detained Sen. Leila de Lima, over two actions that are both illegal and one and the same – pork barrel and pork parking.

(valabelgas@aol.com)

Yearning for Philippine Christmas

ON DISTANT SHORE
By Val G. Abelgas

For Filipinos who have been outside of the Philippines for years, Christmas is both a time for rejoicing and a time for remembering. Even as the Filipino in America begins to feel the holiday mood immediately after Thanksgiving when people start shopping for gifts and Christmas decors, he feels at the same time a longing for home. For nothing beats Christmas in the Philippines!

After living on a distant shore all these years, I can truly say that nothing beats the way Filipinos celebrate Christmas. The genuine joy that the season brings to millions of Filipinos in the Philippines is the same reason why the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos living outside the Philippines yearn for home at this time of the year.

For even just during those few days that Christmas is celebrated in the Philippines, many Filipinos feel they can share the blessings that the world brings. Because of the mandatory 13th month pay and the bonuses paid by nearly all companies, big and small alike, many people are able to afford what they can only dream about the rest of the year.

For the children of the poor, the Christmas season is only one of two instances when their parents can afford to buy them new sets of clothes and new pairs of shoes, the other being the school opening. Christmas is also the only time for many of these children to own a brand new toy, often as a gift from their parents or from their ninong or ninang.

The Christmas season is also their chance to earn some money to buy candies or toys. In the days of yore, as early as December, young boys and girls prepared their instruments for their traditional carolling, making drums out of empty cans covered by plastic, tambourine out of bottle caps, and even just a pair of sticks to provide percussion. At dusk, they formed into groups of three or four, and made their rounds starting on the night of Dec. 16 until Christmas eve. At the end of each night, the carolers counted their earnings and divided them equally among themselves.

Although I had been in the Philippines close to the Christmas season a few times since I left 27 years ago, I haven’t really had the chance to experience being serenaded by young boys and girls with Christmas carols so I’m not sure if these carollers still make the rounds of the neighborhood at night.

While the kids looked forward to the advent of dusk during those nine days to earn some money, the teenagers awaited with anticipation the coming of dawn during that same period. For these teenagers, it was a chance to be with their crushes, girlfriends or boyfriends as they walked to the church in the biting cold. As early as three in the morning, from Dec. 16 to Dec. 24, they woke up and wore their best sweaters or jackets, had fun with their barkadas on the way to church, only to sleep while the mass was going on.

After the mass, they bounced back to life to join their friends again, feasted on bibingkas and puto bungbong on their way home, and hanged around a bit before being called home by their parents.

Towards midnight on Christmas Eve, parents and their children donned their Christmas clothes and trekked back to church for the Midnight Mass. The church becomes a venue for both solemn celebration of Christmas and a chance to mingle with friends again.

From the church, families retreated to their homes for the traditional noche buena, a minor preview of the grand celebration at lunchtime the next day. The noche buena often consisted of pan amerikano (bread loaf) or pan de sal, keso (queso de bola for those who can afford), hot dog, coffee or hot chocolate, etc. Noche buenas are usually only for the family.

But the grand Christmas celebration, usually at midday of Christmas Day, was for the entire clan. It was an occasion for children and grandchildren to gather together in the house of the patriarch or matriarch of the clan. Family members exchanged gifts, caught up on each other’s lives, and partook of the sumptuous meal. Children played games, the male family members drank beer or liquor, everybody participated in a singing session (using karaoke or otherwise), and the female members engaged in endless banter.

Towards the afternoon, children, accompanied by their parents, visited their ninong and ninang to get their Christmas presents. Others visited friends, watched movies, and drank with friends. The merrymaking went on till late at night. But the fun did not end there, because in six days, everybody geared up for a noisy New Year’s Eve revelry.

At least once a year, during the Christmas season, Filipinos are able to let off steam from the pressures of trying to survive, the poor are able to enjoy a bit of material happiness, families renew their bonds, and everyone has fun.

Christmas brings pure and genuine happiness to many Filipinos. It is this kind of joy that a Filipino living in a foreign land misses sorely about Christmas. It is this kind of Christmas celebration that Filipinos living on distant shores can only reminisce about.

(valabelgas@aol.com)

Reviving ROTC and Organizing Sparrows are Duterte Paranoid Ideas

As the Bamboos Sway
By Rudy D. Liporada

The option to revive the ROTC is a desperate move by President Rodrigo ‘Digong’ Duterte to beef up his battalions of fascist troops to counter the New People’s Army (NPA). However, his more or most desperate current move is to “create” his “own Sparrow.” Both ideas of his are actually signs of his paranoia that he will not be able to quash the NPA at the least or be ousted from the presidency at the worst.

In spite of a 2017 report stating that the Philippine Armed Forces (AFP) has 172,500 active personnel with a reserve of 325,000 (totaling 498,250), Digong’s plan of quashing the NPA by the end of 2018 is not happening and the goal had been extended to the middle of 2019. Beefing up Digong’s forces to achieve his operations on finishing the NPAs, he now wants to revive the ROTC, not only to train kids early (militarily saving money on training) but also to dissuade them from “joining the NPA.” He justifies the revival by saying that we need more personnel imbued with patriotism to defend the motherland when the need arises.

What? Patriotism against China? But he has already sold the Islands to China.

And what a hypocrite when he boasts at how he dodged the ROTC by presenting a medical report that he had tuberculosis. He was able to get this report by bribing one among those in the medical clinic waiting for his x-ray and results to use Digong’s name instead.

However, what Filipinos now should be concerned about is his idea of organizing Sparrow Units (derived from SPARU or Special Partisan Units) to counter Sparrow Units of the New Peoples Army (NPA). This is in spite of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana saying that said units of the NPA that used to target members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the urban areas are long time gone since the 1980s. Nonetheless, Lorenzana says that although Digong’s Sparrow units could be wrong and deserve deep study as it could be implemented erroneously like for vengeance or just upon whims, they could still set them up with proper guidelines.

Duterte Sparrow hit squads concept is to assassinate deemed communist rebels or sympathizers thinking of joining the rebellion against the government. The dangerous word is ‘thinking’.

The death squads are supposed to know what you are thinking. “They will do nothing but look for idlers who are prospective New People’s Army (NPA) members and take them out,” the President said. “If they resist violently. If you believe your life is in danger, shoot. If you believe in good faith that you might be one-upped in pulling out your gun, then shoot… If you are behind that animal, then shoot him in the back.” the President added.

So, if they think that you are merely thinking to join the NPA and you are just loitering around, you could be a target of Digong’s Sparrow death squads. This means it can be anybody. This is a super escalation preluded by Operation Tokhang and Operation Istambay. The extra judicial killings of thousands of these said operations will definitely be dwarf compared to the number of killings anticipated from these Sparrow units.

After all, the killings of advocates for workers and peasants and the poor, priests, government officials against Digong, indigenous people, and others, are already happening. What is just new is that the killers will be called Duterte’s Sparrows or simply Duterte’s Death Squads like his Davao’s DDS on a national scale.

These ROTC and Sparrow moves, however, are just admittances of Duterte that Operation Kapayapaan, like the other past operations against the NPA, has failed to quell the insurgents. The situations prevailing in the Islands – high prices of goods and services, killings of peasants, dismantling of urban poor’s shanties, etc.; the selling of the archipelago to China driving the Filipinos further into foreign debt are pushing more Filipinos of the lower strata to consider joining the revolutionary movement.

Thus, Duterte’s paranoia.

Like the butangero that he is, he flexes his muscle like he is strong when he is actually setting up his Sparrows from a position of weakness. If he is winning against the insurgents, there would be no need for the ROTC revival nor the Sparrows. His fentanyl-marijuana twisted mind cannot even digest the fact that the NPA is entering its 50th year of struggle by March 2019. Past administrations were not able to quash the movement. How could he? And what could Sparrows do in the urban areas when the main battlefields are in the country sides? The most they would actually do is to push more advocates to really realize that there is no sense in doing legal battles in the streets of the urban areas and that the only way to change the system is through armed struggle.

So, true, we must be wary because Digong has become more dangerous. But then again, a cornered dog barks its loudest.