CDM LEADERSHIP AND TRAINERS TRAINING SEMINAR

The 3rd CDM Leadership and Trainers Training Seminar (A Short Course on Centrist Democratic Leadership, Organizational Development, and rEcruitment) is being ocnducted 8-11 June 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galeria, ADB Avenue, Quezon City.

Silence

Completing my 8-days silent retreat. Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City

PANGINOON NG KWENTONG-BUHAY

ni Renne F. Gumba
3/30/2011

Ako’y isinilang di man lang nagkulang kalinga’t alaga ng mga magulang.
Kahit kahirapan hindi naging hadlang upang makapag-aral, di maging mangmang!
Hinubog ang buhay ng mga kapatid na sa karanasan mas nakakabatid.
At ang mga pagsubok o daang makitid, sa pala-kaibigan di naging balakid!

Namulat sa buhay, saka napagmasdan: madalas sa lipunan mga tunggalian,
laganap na hirap at katiwalian, malaking kawalan ng pagmamahalan!
Nayanig, nawala ang katiwasayan. Lumahok pumanig sa mga digmaan
ng mga konspeto at mga kilusan, mga pamayanan at ng pagawaan!

Minsan ding umigpaw sa daang di-tuwid, sumabay sa daloy saka naging manhid!
Sa ginhawa’t sarap minsan ding nabulid. Pero di rin sapat pag dangal may bahid!
Ngayong nagkaedad at pumuting buhok, ako”y natigilan at nais matarok:
Saan patungo at ano ang tuktok tinahak kong landas at inakyat na bundok?!

Ngayong binalikan at muling sinuri karanasang mali at mga papuri,
Nakita lumitaw saking pakiwari ang buhay na ito’y di ko pag-aari!
Kapag nadadapa ako’y binubuhat! Mayroong katuwang pag pasan bumigat!
Gabay sa matuwid kapag nalilingat! Kuwentong-buhay ko, Diyos palang sumulat!

MADALAS MALIMOT, IPAGPAUMANHIN! ANG MGA GAWA MO PALAGING DI PANSIN!
NGUNIT ALAM MO NA ANG LAHAT SAAKIN. AKO PO’Y GABAYAN, SAMAHAN, AKAYIN!
IKAW PANGINOON NAGBIGAY NG BUHAY, NARARAPAT LAMANG NA SAIYO IALAY
BUONG KASAYSAYAN, KATAWAN, AT MALAY NITONG ABANG BUHAY NA IKAW ANG PANDAY!

Death penalty in China

Three Filipino citizens separately arrested in China and convicted of drug trafficking will be meted the death penalty today. Elizabeth Batain, 38, Ramon Credo, 42, and Sally Villanueva, 33 will face China's harsh punishment for drug trafficking.

Unfortunately, the Philippine government cannot intervene in the judicial process of a sovereign state.

And worse, the lessons implied by the fate of these Filipinos reflect the state of poverty of our countrymen, the extent of drug syndicates' operations in and out of the country, and the quality of protection our government provides for the Filipino people.

Apalling dimensions of poverty continue to haunt our people, both in the urban and rural areas. Lack of food, shelter, education, and livelihood are some of the most common experiences. In this situation, hundreds of thousands Filipinos have opted to work abroad in the hope of a better life. Unfortunately, it is also at this point when predators such as trafficking syndicates descend upon our impoverished people. And so many of our poor people indeed become captive preys, devoured and torn to pieces.

At the same time, we realize the extent of drug abuse problem in this situation. It is not a problem that is localized in the Philippines. It goes beyond borders. In fact some drug syndicates may even parallel perhaps the leading transnational corporations in the scope and extent of their operations. It is not also a problem that is concentrated on one sector. It transcends social stratification.

And even the government is affected when you have a lawmaker caught overseas with illegal drugs!It is not surprising then that "narco-politics" and even the prospects of a "narco-state" is becoming a very clear, alarming scenario for the Philippines.

The fate of Credo, Batain, and Villanueva reflects the quality of protection the government provide our citizens. In the Philippines, we cannot prevent drug syndicates from smuggling drug mules out thru our airports and sea ports. And when the Filipino citizens exploited by these syndicates are trapped in other countries, we go begging for mercy!

When will this cruel cycle end? How many more will have to die in foreign soil before we become more competent in protecting our citizens?

Impeachment Trial

The Senate again! This time acting as a tribunal to decide on the impeachment case (which the lower house overwhelmingly endorsed) against the Ombudsman!

Im tempted to say I have seen this before and I have heard this before - in the impeachment trial of former President Estrada. But maybe that will be very simplistic and sweeping. After all, this is a different senate in terms of composition.

But still, I am apprehensive about the process. The simple process of deciding on the rules may take forever. There are also many possibilities for a deadlock in the trial process, like what happened to the "envelope issue" in the Estrada trial. Will this case warrant a popular mobilization if it gets to that?

Or will President Aquino's alleged popularity and influence again come to play, as it did in securing positive votes for the impeachment in the Lower House? This I will be monitoring closely as the trial nears.

Many analysts are now starting to scrutinize each senator and examine the prospects of a conviction. Including that of Senator Lacson. But everyone seems to be wary at this point and no concrete pattern is discernible.

What can be perceived from this predicament is the prominent divide between the allies of and former President GMA herself on one hand, and that of the incumbent President Noynoy Aquino on the other.

Who will prevail?

Senate Investigation

As the daily media coverage of the on-going Senate investigation into alleged anomalies in the military bombarded my senses, I cant help but get a certain feeling of dejavu. Been there, seen that...?

Consequently, these questions pop up in my head: Where is this investigation, with all the media hype, taking us? What legislative measures, if any, will be enacted after this investigation is completed? What will be the predicament of the personalities involved, both the accused and the witnesses?

And relating these questions to previous senate investigations,where have those investigations taken us, aside from the daily media attention generating public opinion? What legislative measures had been enacted, upon being "aided" by those investigations? What has become of the witnesses and personalities paraded in front of the television cameras and splashed into the newspaper frontpages?

Thinking aloud now, I believe we should be a little bit more critical of the processes being undertaken in the legislature, and a little bit more demanding on the accountabilities of senators and congressmen to the Filipino people.

After all, these democratic institutions (such as the legislature) are supposed to be the agencies through which our will as a people is expressed, formulated, and carried out.

The Lacson "Strategy"

Philippine Senator Lacson's action, wherein upon learning of an arrest warrant issued against him, went "underground" and "resurfaced" only when the said warrant has been quashed, provoked mixed reactions from citizens of the Philippines.

But to my mind, this is a painful illustration of how even the country's justice system can be perceived as subjects of politician interests and maneuvers. As Lacson himself, a senator of the republic, competently demonstrated by his actions.

Lacson refused to be subjected to the legal process in a context wherein the political leadership is an opponent. Does it imply that the court can be used by malacanang, or whoever is in power?

Lacson resurfaces after the warrant has been quashed, and a new political leadership is in place. Does it imply that the court then can be used by malacanang, or whoever is in power?

This scenario has left me wondering: How do we really insulate the country's legal system from partisan politics?

If we cannot do that immediately, the Lacson "strategy" may very well be a popular "legal" strategy.