Proud to be Catholic these days!
While I submit that we Filipinos are starstruck with Pope Francis and that these are times that we are proud to shout to the world that we are Catholic. However we must never forget that it was just a short one year ago when Catholics were divided in the fight against the evils of modernism, Liberalism, same sex marriage, divorce, artificial contraception and abortion. All of these issues brought about a division within the Filipino people, especially Catholics and, mind you, these issues would resurface once more if someone introduces these again in Congress.
At the height of the battle against the Reproductive Health Bill, there was even a group of people who boasted that they were Catholics supporting the RH Bill. I learned later that the group (I even recognize one of them as a friend) was paid by supporters from Malacañang. My group, the Task Force for Life and Family, was literally in the trenches in the battle against the RH where we lost because in the end -- on Dec. 8,2013 -- Pres. Benigno Aquino III signed this bill into law. A final slap to the Blessed Virgin Mary whose feast, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, falls on Dec. 8.
After Pres. Aquino signed the RH Bill into law, Cebu and Bohol were struck by a huge earthquake in Oct. 15, 2013, then 24 days later, the greatest typhoon to hit planet Earth, super typhoon "Yolanda" (International code name Haiyan) struck Central Philippines, destroying the towns of Guiuan, Samar, Tacloban City, Ormoc, Northern Cebu, and northern Panay. For God fearing people, these natural disasters that struck the Philippines was a divine wrath. After all, God too can be angry with us!
Now it can be told that the original plan for the papal visit to the Philippines was supposed to be done next year during the 51st International Eucharistic Congress that is slated to be held in Cebu by January next year. Then all of a sudden, Pope Francis couldn't wait to come to the Philippines. An insider told me that people close to the Vatican (I guess they are Jesuits) told the Holy Father that after a year, the people of Tacloban and Palo have been suffering because of lack of government support for them. This is not to mention that local and domestic aid was linked to politics!
It's bad enough that the people in Leyte have lost their kind at the height of the typhoon, but when Anderson Cooper of CNN went to Tacloban a day after the typhoon struck, the world knew that the Philippine government under Pres. Aquino III failed miserably to help the typhoon victims. Then out of the blue, Pope Francis announced his intention to visit the Philippines, especially to Tacloban City to commiserate with the typhoon victims.
This sent the Aquino Regime into a panic mode and all of a sudden, work in finishing the houses in Tacloban City was underway. I rode with my biker friends to Tacloban a few months ago and we saw that the airport construction was underway. Tacloban despite the ravages of the typhoon has become a bustling city with construction left and right… many by foreign NGOs that are helping reconstruct homes for the typhoon victims. Even South Korea had a huge camp with soldiers helping out in Tacloban City.
With the Holy Father arriving this evening in Manila, it is time to ponder and think on the most basic issue of all… how is it that Asia's most Catholic country is also considered one of the most corrupt nations on earth? Mind you… some pundits often blame our Catholicism to corruption saying that even the Catholic Church has corrupt leaders. Perhaps these people heard the news that Catholic bishops were caught asking former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for SUV's or Pajeros, an issue that was bloated and exploded out of proportion when the Aquino Regime took office.
But in the end, these reports could not be validated. But the die has been cast and the Aquino Regime has drawn the line: it would show no respect to the Catholic Church. This is why he could easily convince Congress and the Senate to approve the RH Bill into law, of course, by using the now unconstitutional Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program. If Pres. Aquino did not use the PDAF and DAP, I doubt if Congress would have approved the RH Bill that Pres. Aquino eventually signed into law.
Incidentally the pope always has a huge bunch of foreign media that tails him whenever he goes. This is why Pres. Aquino made an appeal to all Filipinos to show some kind of discipline during the pope's visit. Of course, Pres. Aquino and Palace sycophants are uneasy that the foreign media would be reporting what they would see during the Pope's visit. So hold on tight as Pope Francis begins his visit to the Philippines today!
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