Cha-cha will solve many of our nation’s ills!

First off, a congratulatory greetings to Vigan Parish Priest Fr. Vicente “Vet” Avila (no we are not related, but he’s a good friend) on his formal investiture as Papal Chaplain today in Vigan Cathedral. Call this a promotion from Archbishop Ernesto Salgado of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia where Fr. Avila manages all the parishes. He was once the parish priest of Candon when I first met him. It was in Vigan during one of my big bike tours that he approached me…and asked if we were related. We have been good friends and textmates since and a good source of information about Ilocos Sur.

When he was still in Candon and later in Vigan, he was in charge with renovating parishes that needed to be fixed. But above all, his main task was to organize Basic Eccesial Communities, saying mass for them regularly and above all, giving the sacrament of reconciliation… which is the main job of priests. So in his small way, Fr. Vet has done two things… build the Church people by building the Church structures as their place of worship. Again, congratulations to you Fr. Vet for God has rewarded your sacrifices.

*  *  *

When Senate Pres. Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) pushed for Charter Changes (cha-cha) it didn’t make an impact simply because belongs to the opposition . . . although we still supported him because it would have been a great valedictory and an even greater legacy if he were to create a constitution that promotes Filipino culture and values and remove all the elements that have allowed the political oligarchy to rule this nation since EDSA. Alas that did not take off.

Enter that report in The Philippine STAR last Sunday that blared, “Belmonte renews Cha-cha push.” Now this piece of news comes from House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. who is part and parcel of the ruling Liberal Party (LP). I’m sure that House Speaker Belmonte too wants to live a lasting legacy, which is why he is pushing for Cha-Cha. We’ve written volumes of columns about the defects of the 1987 constitution and have grown weary that 25 years after the EDSA Revolt our democracy is still in its infancy.

Incidentally, a few days ago I got a call a good friend, Gunless Society advocate Nandy Pacheco who asked me to join the movement against Political Dynasties. But I told Nandy that while I’m with them in spirit, I refuse to fight small pitch battles like this one against Political dynasties. I would rather go for the jugular and fight one big battle to change our constitution and constitutionally remove the pork barrel which breeds political dynasties and set up real term limits for public servants. So the big question for our dear friend Speaker Belmonte is, “Will  PNoy buy in his proposal?”

*  *  *

Last Saturday we wrote about that Pro-Life Congress dubbed the “National “Philippines for Life” Congress at the Circle Summit Hotel (formerly Midtown Hotel) with the theme “Do or Die for 2013 and Beyond”. Call it timely that this National Pro-Life Congress was going on in Cebu whilst there was a “Manifest of Support” for the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill from the various business organizations that apparently embraced the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which told them “Family planning is a good investment that can yield “unprecedented reward for economic development.”

It is obvious to me that the officials of these Chambers blindly signed that manifesto not realizing that the economy of Japan has stagflated in the last 10 years, while Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has already warned Asia that the decline of their population was affecting their economic growth where now they have to rely on expats to run their economy.

But while we’re still in the midst of the fight against the RH Bill, last Friday, one of the speakers during the Pro-Life Congress, Dr. Ligaya Acota, Executive Director for Asia-Oceania of Human Life International gave her nationwide audience a chilling report… the Philippine government has opened a new front, when last June, Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III signed Republic At. No. 101521 “An Act Providing for Mandatory Basic Immunization Services for Infants and Children, Repealing for the Purpose Presidential Decree No.996 as amended.”

This new law sounds innocent enough, which is why there was no howl when the President signed it… after all, most of us were immunized when we were kids. But little did we know that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a founding member of the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunization (GAVI). If you want to know, Bill and Melinda Gates of Microsoft fame came up with a foundation that provides vaccines to 3rd world countries to reduce their populations. More of this on Thursday.

*    *    *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.