Yt Framework

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…`You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom’…” (Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, in Matthew 24:6-7, the Holy Bible).

SURE RECIPE FOR WHITEWASH: There is something wrong in the statement of Undersecretary Austere Panadero of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that the DILG will conduct its investigations first, before acting on reports that local executives---governors, mayors and even congressmen---are involved in illegal logging. Excuse me, but this is a sure recipe for a whitewash!

All that she and the DILG have to do to jumpstart their investigations is log on to Facebook, and they will see photos and photos of illegally-cut logs already loaded in trucks, ready for transport. Now, if these photos are being splashed in Facebook, this means someone cut the logs, loaded them in the trucks, and will thereafter earn millions from them. Did the farmer do this? Did the driver do this?

These photos are evidence enough of illegal logging, by the rich and the powerful conspiring with the mischievous in the areas where the photos were taken. No need for protracted investigations that will produce no results. Surely, this kind of an activity will not go unnoticed, at least by the mayor, the governor, the congressmen, the environmental officers, and by the police, right?

TRAGEDY OF GIRL, 16, COMMITTING SUICIDE: To me, the suicide committed by a 16 year old girl in Cagayan De Oro City to avoid censure on her having become pregnant by her boyfriend is a triple tragedy. First, it is tragic enough that she committed suicide, for no one has the right to take his or her own life. This life that we have came from God, not from us, and so it is only God who can take it back.

Second, it is also tragic that she managed to enter into a relationship with a man at such a tender age. Why, instead of that relationship, she should have been enjoying herself, her family, and her friends, as a young girl. The interesting sidebar to this story is: what made her decide to become amorously entangled? Where was her family all this time?

Third, it is likewise a tragedy of the highest order that while she is only 16 years old, she already gave her body away, probably in a fit of passion and careless abandon which only an unguided, unlearned, and untutored child can muster. Indeed, as Ephesians 6:4 of the Bible requires every parent to do to their children: “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

POEA DEBACLE: NO OTHER OPTIONS FOR OFWs: With due respect, it is not enough that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) would be announcing that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could no longer be deployed for employment to 15 countries which cannot guarantee the safety of our working countrymen. POEA chief Hans Cacdac owes it to our OFWs to give alternative destinations. Don’t we have other options, Hans? How are OFWs and their families going to eat now?

PROBE ON PARTY LIST ROW MUST BEGIN: The on-going public debate on party list groups between officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and party list congressmen is a healthy exercise which will ultimately establish guidelines to make the party list system of representation truly beneficial to the poor and the marginalized. My suggestion is this: let Congress begin its investigations, but let Comelec act on the basis of existing rules.

WHY IS SCARBOROUGH DISPUTE NOT YET BROUGHT TO UN? So, why is the Scarborough Shoal dispute not yet brought to the United Nations for its proper resolution? This dilly-dallying in bringing this conflict to the proper international body is, as we are witnessing, only bringing us nearer to a shooting war, and not just with belligerent words, mind you.

The presence of US spy planes in the disputed territory, upon the invitation of the Philippines, can only be interpreted as an act of aggression by an already restive and trigger-itching China, and which may prompt it to be bolder in its subsequent actions, to leave its present-day posture of merely sending Chinese warships. I will not be surprised if a shooting war, with real bullets and canons and even nuclear warheads, could happen sooner.

REACTIONS? Please call me at 0917 984 24 68, 0918 574 0193 or 0922 833 43 96. Email me at batasmauricio@yahoo.com.