The controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill already has its champion in the person of no less than President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, so why should those supporting the RH bill get sore when Rep. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is against it? Both Senators Edgardo Angara and Miriam Defensor Santiago took potshots at Pacman for his anti-RH stand. Angara and Santiago have belittled Pacman’s statements because they believe that boxers like Pacman have no brains. They are wrong!
Well, it’s turning out that Pacman is a better Catholic than many of our senators and congressmen as he has shown to the world that he is a true Catholic who openly declares his faith even in the boxing ring, where before and after every boxing match he kneels on the canvas and prays while billions of people watch him on satellite television.
If there is anyone who knows what life in abject poverty is all about, it is Pacman, not you Angara or Santiago. But it is his faith in God that Pacman made it to the top. This is why Pacman doesn’t want to disappoint God and declared to fight any measure that would offend God.
My good friend, Task Force for Life president Douglas Gacasan sent me this scriptural passage to characterize what Pacman is doing: “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God… 1 Cor. 1:27”
Senators Angara and Santiago were already famous and powerful figures in Philippine politics long before we knew a poor man named Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao existed at all. But God who is watching us knows that the RH bill would be controversial, hence He has sent a poor, humble man from GenSan to rise up to be world-famous so he could fight the rich and the powerfully arrogant politicians of this sick country!
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Last Monday, US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said the United States would stand by the side of the Philippines in times of war. He issued this statement after the US government had President Aquino flown on board the USS Carl Vinson and play with the aircraft carrier. Yep, he looked like a kid watching those Hornets take off from the carrier deck. I submit that I was a bit jealous that P-Noy was able to see this carrier.
I do not doubt the sincerity of the US ambassador when he said that the US would honor their military treaties in case the Philippines gets attacked by a foreign invader. However, we must call a spade a spade. Pakistan gets billions in US foreign aid, while the Philippines is getting a pittance. In short, Mr. Thomas, the US government is still punishing the Philippines for kicking out the US military bases in the early 90s.
I was one of the many Filipinos who were totally against the removal of US bases on Philippine soil simply because whether we like it or not, we are somehow linked with an unseen umbilical cord with our former colonizers. It was the communists and their leftist organizations that wanted the US bases out, of course with the concurrence of the Philippine senators who voted the US bases out of our country.
In removing the US bases, the leftists proclaimed a huge victory that we were no longer linked to the United States and we could proudly say that we are totally independent from the United States. The removal of the US bases also meant that Filipino women would no longer be prostituted by US servicemen. Well, I visited the former Clark Air Base last year and toured downtown Angeles City and the bars and the brothels were still there and yes, even the Americans who had already retired from military service have returned. In the end, we Filipinos lost by removing the US bases. We only gained our pride.
When President P-Noy was playing on board the USS Carl Vinson, talk about the return of US military bases surfaced again. But I don’t believe that such talk would gain ground. However, the reality today is that the Philippine government is still lawyering for US interest. Just take a good look at the controversial RH bill and you will see that this is what US State Secretary Hillary Clinton asked the Philippine government to accept during her last visit to Manila, and President P-Noy is embracing it hook, line and sinker!
Meanwhile, thanks to US aid to Pakistan, they have developed their nuclear weapons. Yet, the majority of Pakistanis hate Americans, while a huge majority of Filipinos are pro-American. Indeed, majority of Filipinos still dream that elusive American dream of getting that US green card. Hence, logic dictates that the US should give the Philippines more aid, especially military aid… like front-line defense fighter aircraft or naval vessels.
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For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. Avila’s columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.