In pursuit of Easter miracles

Did the weekend just glide benignly by, with nothing more urgent than to ponder on such bagatelles as what else can be served for merienda in the insufferable heat, or should leftover bacalao be paired with breakfast ensaymada? Or, is it possible to delectate in Johnny Depp’s camp performance in Pirates of the Caribbean on the Disney Channel and not be smitten with such guilt that all of Good Friday wasn’t spent in silent, solemn reflection?

Then along came Easter, bringing thickened folds of Sunday newspapers after an enforced absence, an overwhelming rush of e-mail and text messages that fairly screamed for immediate acknowledgment, a late-afternoon church service with its extra-long lines of once-yearly communicants, and meat on the dinner table.

Despite Monday’s exigencies, Sunday’s salvific, feel-good homily still rings in the ears. A pleasant buzz that won’t be shushed by the cacophony created by politicians, pundits, and one impeached ex-president, who with renewed, theatrical brio, are hogging the headlines criticizing the incumbent, questioning her motives for commuting all Death Row sentences, attacking the "alleged’ (their quotes, not mine) People’s Initiative aboard the Cha-cha train as foul, flimsy, false, unverifiable, expensive.

It’s as if Easter never happened.

It’s as if the Judas Gospel should have made it to the New Testament if only some 4th century rogue bishop hadn’t condemned it as heresy.

It’s as if the Da Vinci Code were non-fiction.

Our friendly neighborly Monsignor hit the nail on the head when he focused on the lessons of Easter, and then added just one admonition. "Treat each Sunday as if it were Easter," he said. Let it extend beyond the Lenten season and let it guide our lives accordingly. Last Sunday’s was a beautiful service, where the Renewal of Baptismal Promises replaced the Creed, and the Prayers of the Faithful asked that "our political, civil and military authorities die to selfish interests and work for the common good, so that our nation can rise from poverty and oppression," and that "we live our baptismal promises and help create conditions that will enable us to celebrate Easter as the time of salvation to be shared by all, freed from bitterness, division and unhappiness. Let us pray."

"Happy are they who are called to His supper," pronounced the Monsignor in the midst of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Why it brought me to thinking in that particular moment that happy are we to be called upon to participate in nation-building, I can only lift my eyes heavenward. "This is the best time to be a Filipino," exclaimed one broadsheet’s Easter Sunday front page, quoting Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga, the driving force behind the phenomenal Couples-for-Christ movement towards a squatter-free, slum-free, crime-free Philippines. Oh, the wonders the Gawad Kalinga has wrought: all from faith, love, care (kalinga) and their 777 vision. Imagine 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in 7 years. What better time than now to add one’s voice to the clamor, "Tama Na!" against counterproductive moves to oust the president.

Against the backdrop of strong macro-economic fundamentals effected by the administration, can we not demand that her political foes "die to selfish interests and work for the common good, freed from bitterness, division, unhappiness?" See how the economy has strengthened, despite near-insuperable odds: a robust peso headed below the P48 mark vis-à-vis the US dollar before year-end; a bullish stock market bolstered by the influx of portfolio investments; a lower-than-predicted budget deficit for the first two months of 2006; a decline in the foreign debt burden; upbeat country assessments by the World Bank, the IMF, rating agencies, donor agencies, the New York Times editorial notwithstanding – sustainable if sweeping economic reforms by way of Charter change are instituted.

Some of the benefits of the bold, unpopular measures put in place by the country’s economic managers are starting to trickle down to the households, the continuing drop in the price of LPG, which pegs the cost of an 11-kilogram tank below P500, for instance. We Filipinas are fixated on prices and on jobs, countless surveys should bear this out. Connect the dots here: strong economic fundamentals lead to the entry of foreign direct investment lead to jobs lead to poverty alleviation.

What better time than now to send a signal to all and sundry that we accept the invitation to join the more rational heads in public policy and in private business on board the aircraft of Charter change.

It may have been at the recent Asian Spirit launching that President GMA first used the airplane as a metaphor for Charter change. Thus, the choo-choo has now morphed into "a new aircraft, refurbished and overhauled for the long flight of the new century." Patently calculated to delay take-off is the latest opposition cavil: that a plebiscite on constitutional amendments could very well be illegal and costly.

The law requires that 60 to 90 days after signatures are gathered for a People’s Initiative, this should undergo a verification process by Comelec. The plebiscite would take place around June or July, compelling government to cough up P2 billion for the exercise. House appropriations committee chairman Rep. Joey Salceda says funding may be drawn from the following: P5 billion savings from the lower-than-expected budget deficit in early-2006, P800 million in contingency funds at government’s disposal, and an additional P7.7 billion savings under the reenacted 2005 budget law that could be allocated as contingency funds of the President.

As to the legality of the use of funds, the opposition must explain why they are protesting now when the same contingency funds were used for the 2004 local and national elections. In short, why is it illegal in 2006 when it was legal in 2004? Because then, they thought FPJ was a shoo-in?

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel grouses about P2 billion for a People’s Initiative, but does not balk about the P8 billion tab for a Constitutional Convention (the Senate’s preferred mode for amending the Charter), plus another P2 billion for the necessary plebiscite to ratify those amendments! Have our legislators been also called on to account for the yearly P6 billion of taxpayers’ money spent on privilege speeches and investigations that last year culminated in a total of 7 laws passed?

But if this Sunday’s message is about redemption, then let us remember Christ’s disciples on the road to Emmaus, grieving over His death when the two are unexpectedly joined by the risen Lord. "We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel," they confide. And Jesus replied, "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" After which they recognize Him and are overjoyed. So in this time of national pain and sacrifice, let us remain hopeful that this country may, still and yet, rise from poverty and oppression and fly, full throttle, towards glory. Witness Gawad Kalinga’s miracles, fuelled by faith and compassion. Witness Easter.

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