“Urgent need: Restore honesty into our lives”

Title kini sa column ni Federico Pascual Jr. sa Philippine Star, dated February 20, 2011 (dugay na no, apan, it seems current). Matud niya, “Milieu of lies. Watching the televised legislative inquiries into large-scale diversion of public funds (familiar di ba?), one is appalled by the lies being allowed to pollute the air and be inserted into congressional record.” Familiar gyud kaayo.

Ug unsa may sutli sa Bibiliya mahitungod sa pagpamakak? Matud sa google: “The Bible condemns lying as a sin that displeases God. It instructs people to tell the truth and not to bear false witness against others.”

Simple ra gyud kaayo ang awhag sa Bibliya. Sulti sa tinuod ug ayaw pamakak.

Mao ni ang giingon nga it is easier said than done.  

Anyway aniay mga Bible verses about lying: Exodus 20:16: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor; Leviticus 19:11: You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another; Proverbs 12:22: "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are his delight;

Psalms 5:6: "You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man; Psalms 34:12–13: Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies;

Revelation 21:8: Liars will be among those judged in the end. Kuyaw ni, usahay mokalit lang kini pag-abot nganhi kanato. Let’s not wait for it … repent now. Kadaghan natong nanga-igo’ niini uy! Motuo ka pa sa Bibliya, niingon ra ba si Satanas nga the Bible doesn’t exist.

Maghisgot kita og honesty ug lying, related kini sa corruption. Naputos na ba ang kalibotan sa corruption? Aduna bay nasud nga zero o less corrupt? Duna, gi-identify kini sa google: Denmark, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden — ranking consistently high among international financial transparency.

Kinahanglan masayod ang katawhan sa kahimtang-pinansiyal sa nasud, after all, sila man ang tag-iya niini. 

Padayon kita uban ni Pasacual, bahin sa mga legislative investigations: “The audience and the interrogators cannot immediately discern the lies from the truth, so we are sometimes mislead into making conclusions based on wrong information. Names are ruined and lives sometimes offered in surrender.”

Paita no, ang tuyo sa ra ba unta sa mga imbistigayson (in aid of legislation?), mao ang pag-ugkat ug pag-extract sa kamatuoran. Apan, ‘the person/s testifying are sworn to ‘tell the truth and nothing but the truth,’ does not help, because all of us operate in a milieu that has forgotten about good old honesty. It seems that a Filipino now, now has to lie, to survive and get ahead in this cruel world.

“There is an urgent need to drill back to honesty into our heads as Filipinos.” Sa atong bahin,  atong hinumdoman, sa mga ‘bata’ pa kita, gitudloan kita sa atong mga ginikanan ug mga tunghaan, ‘not to lie, not to cheat, not to steal,’ nakalimot na kita niini.

Of course, daghan pa kanato ang nagpabilin sa katarong ug kaligdong. Are you?