Have things really changed under P.Noy?

First of all, allow me to congratulate our dear friend, Ambassador Frank Benedicto on his reappointment as Ambassador to China. Frank is probably one of the longest serving ambassadors having been chosen from the time of Tita Cory as Ambassador to Singapore, then during Pres. Fidel V. Ramos’ time as Ambassador to Brazil and later to Korea, Canada and then to China. I visited Amb. Frank in Singapore and in Brazil, but failed to see him in the other places he was assigned. So once more congratulations to Frank on his important reappointment. Methinks I need to visit him in Beijing next year.

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Last Monday evening, I was able to meet with a few businessmen from Zamboanga City led by my good friend Edward Chiong, Mr. Joven Monsanto, a close friend of my brod-in-law Allan Rosello during their Merck days and Mr. Edgar Atillano, a roommate of former mayor Alvin Garcia in their Ateneo days. They were supposed to hear two Atenean businessmen, Mr. Aton Atillano, who originally came from Zamboanga and Mr. Gerry Reyes of the UFC Group, makers of Datu Puti and Mang Tomas. After they spoke, without warning, they asked me to speak before the group.

Of course, I touched on the controversy at hand, the raging issue of the RH. Since all of them were Catholics, I explained why the Catholic Church was unchanging when it comes to its doctrines, simply because they are not the doctrines promulgated by cardinals, bishops or popes, but rather all of these teachings come from God.

Truth to tell, I expected my audience to be bored but since I talked on the subject of whether we are overpopulated or not, I used the arguments of my good friend Fr. Gregory Gaston, who did not use Catholic church statistics, but United Nations (UN) statistics where nations that went to control their population growth are now suffering. I meant, Japan, Singapore, Denmark and many European nations.

I also discussed the church teaching (especially by Opus Dei) on Divine Filiations that we are all sons of God and the body of Christ. So when Catholics question our doctrines, it only reveals how little that person questioning our doctrines knows about his church. I explained to them what are “Cafeteria Catholics.” It was the first time they heard of this. My visit to Zamboanga for the birthday of Mrs. Pilar Rojo-Tan was not only successful, but meaningful, as I didn’t waste time there.

Incidentally, I asked my friend Edward Chiong to bring me to the famous Pasonangca Park. It hasn’t changed much. The famous Tree house was still there, but something I didn’t see before was the Zamboanga Convention Center, which was built by then Imelda Marcos. It’s been in a state of disrepair as the officials after the downfall of Marcos did not use this facility. Filipinos ought to understand that the monies used to build that structure is taxpayer’s money. Hence, we should use these facilities even if the previous dispensation constructed it.

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Last week, Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III declared, “Perhaps the biggest challenge in my 100 days has to deal with the fact that we’re trying to replace the system that has been in the country. Worst, in fact, for the last 10 years. In 100 days or in three months time, how do you really change the attitude of everybody? That things are different now and that things have to really change?” Come now, have things really changed under P.Noy?

I can’t say that I sympathize with P.Noy because he too showed us that he wasn’t about to change the system under his watch. A case in point is the infamous way that he and his minions allowed the appointment of Mr. Angelito Alvarez in the Bureau of Customs (BoC) despite prior knowledge that he and his golf partner cheated their golf scores during the Mango Tee golf tournament in Ayala Alabang.

The public didn’t know this until the day prior to the appointment of Alvarez when the text brigade went into high gear. Despite all the negative publicity, he still allowed the appointment of Alvarez, which sent the signal to the Filipino people (whom he calls “boss”) that things under this administration would still tolerate cheaters.

P.Noy shouldn’t expect changes in just 100 days, because Filipinos are so used to their ways. But if P.Noy truly wants genuine change in the attitude of Filipinos, he should start with charter changes where we can exact a genuine change in our nation’s politics. Let’s face it, the politicians in this country have only enriched themselves claiming that they would serve the poor people. The Filipino people have remained poor, but the rich and the powerful politicians have kept a stranglehold of their political fiefdoms, refusing to relinquish political power to others.