Monthly Archives: December 2013
LET US ALL SALUTE MADIBA!
HE WAS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING MORAL FIGURES. HIS LIFE SHOWS HOW ONE MAN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD! WE’LL MISS HIM. BUT LET’S HOPE HIS SPIRITUAL SUCCESSORS ARE ALREADY IN THE WINGS. WE NEED THEM.
Watching the outpouring of grief mingled with celebration at the news of Mandela’s passing, made me recall poignant stories, including personal ones, telling me how much Mandela achieved :
Johannesburg, South Africa, 1979: In 1979, I was working for the World Bank and was on mission in Kenya. I was asked unexpectedly to re-route to do another assignment in Congo – then Zaire – before returning to Washington D.C. To get to Kinshasa from Nairobi, I had to fly first to Johannesburg, South Africa, stay overnight, then catch an onward flight to Kinshasa. Arriving in Johannesburg, I booked in to an airport hotel. But it was midday. So I decided to take a bus in to downtown to see the city. Continue reading
The Disastrous Appointment of Czar Lacson
At an Aquino family reunion just before the 2004 presidential elections, the Ninoy Aquino sister who actively campaigned for the incumbent, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), chided her brother for supporting a “killer” – Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. The brother snapped back, “Doesn’t matter if he’s a killer, at least he’s not a thief.” Continue reading
Is Alzheimer’s Type 3 diabetes?
Almost everyone has heard of Type 2 diabetes, a metabolic disease that is linked to increased risk of multi-organ damage, involving the arteries, eyes, kidneys, heart, liver and brain. Continue reading
Resilyens ng mga Filipino
Malagim ang naganap sa Leyte. Ikinumpara ang pananalasa rito ng superbagyong Yolanda sa pagbagsak ng bomba-atomika sa Nagasaki at Hiroshima. May paglalarawan na nabura sa mapa ang Tacloban. Sa isinagawang paghahambing, halos doble pa ang lakas ni Yolanda sa Hurricane Katrina na pinakamatinding likas na kalamidad sa mundo noong 2005. Ang pananalasa ni Yolanda ang pinakamatinding likas na kalamidad sa mundo sa 2013. Continue reading
Christophobia* Community of Strangers or How to keep ‘em in the pews -Part Two
During the mid-1960’s America’s Christian majority have been cowed into a frightened whimpering shell of its’ former self. Christianity in the United States aforementioned in part one has lost its hold on the American mind despite a small statistical upswing in attendance since 2008. Church attendance always increases during economic hard times; the inverse is also true. Continue reading
Last Days and New Beginnings
“If you had one chance, just one chance to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it? And if you did, would you be big enough to stand it?”
– Chuck Benetto Continue reading
The Mother’s Christmas Story
The Mother sat by herself before the fireplace as she waited for her family to come down for mass on Christmas eve. To the side of their fireplace was their Christmas tree. It was an artificial tree which had been in and out of the same box for the past ten years. “Old, but it still looks good,” she told herself. Continue reading
Ping faces his toughest challenge
Is anyone surprised that President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III picked former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson as the “rehabilitation czar” to help the victims of Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan? And it probably surprised Lacson, too. Why? Well, who would take this “rehab czar” job and expect to rebuild more than a million homes? Continue reading
Ramblings… and a Christmas Wish
Do we ever run out of wishes, particularly on Christmas? If you say “No,” I’m with you. But if you say “Yes,” consider pondering on that thought a while longer.
Wishing for something never goes out of season, style or age. However young or old, rich or poor, successful, lucky, gifted, blessed or not we are, there’s always something else we want to have or wish for as long as we live. Life always leaves us something to be desired. It’s our raison d’etre, without which our life is meaningless. Continue reading
Immigration relief for Pinoys
December 16, 2013
Exactly one month after super typhoon Yolanda wrought unprecedented havoc in the Philippines, leaving 6,000 people dead, some 2,000 still missing and some 12 million displaced with some four million houses destroyed, many survivors are still reeling in hardship with thousands without shelter and still hundreds having not received enough relief assistance to tide them through the difficult times. Continue reading