What’s Team Pinoy or UNA’s stand on Sabah?

First of all, allow me to greet my elder brother Archt. Benjamin “Bing” Avila on his 63rd birthday today. Of my brothers, he is the closest to me because we’re only a year apart in age. Like me, he also rides a motorcycle and cars and has been very active in social circles in the Cebu Chamber and their architects’ organization. May God bless and keep you and give you blessings and long life.

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 In the midst of this election season, the frauds…err pollsters, Social Weather Station (SWS) and False… err Pulse Asia are back at their old “trending game” again… propping up yellow propaganda saying that 9 out of the 12 seeking a Senate seat comes from Team Pinoy. But is this really true… or are we seeing the repeat of the 2010 elections where these same pollsters were part and parcel of the yellow propaganda machinery in order to condition the mind of the voters?

This kind of Nazi style propaganda is done so as to prepare and condition the minds of an unwary Filipino people that these pollsters were right on the nail when the election results come in… thanks to the pre-programming of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS). This is why despite all our protestations, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes insists on using the PCOS machines even without a source code, which is a violation of Comelec laws.

On another huge issue, like it or not, the two-week standoff in Sabah is now on the election table. We the voters would like to know from the senatoriables in Team Pinoy or UNA where they stand on the Sabah issue. So far, not a single senatoriable from both camps have issued statements that they are for or against the Philippine claim on Sabah.

 This is a time for leadership and not fence sitters. If they want to solve the Mindanao question… now is the time to take sides. So let’s hear it from our senatoriables… or are these people pretending that there is nothing happening in Sabah? Speak up now you senatoriables or lose the elections!

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During his last public address, Pope Bendictus XVI told the huge audience assembled in St. Peter’s Square that he called for the Year of Faith because Christians must never forget that God loves all of us, which is why we must also learn to love God with a childlike faith. Indeed, even at the end of his Petrine Ministry, Pope Benedict continues to be a pastor, preaching the love of God as the centerpiece of his public ministry. He also said, “I’m not abandoning the cause, but I will be at the foot of the cross.”

Today, Pope Benedict XVI is no longer the Supreme Pontiff. His ring, as in tradition for many centuries, was broken but he has made history, as he is the only Supreme Pontiff whose ring was broken while he is still alive. From henceforth, he shall be known as “Pope Emeritus” and while he will stay in the Vatican in deep hermit-life prayer, for sure, the new Supreme Pontiff who will be elected in the conclave would certainly seek his advise on how to steer the Catholic Church in the right path.

At this point, we can only continue praying not only for our first Pope Emeritus, but also for the up and coming Supreme Pontiff that the conclave will soon elect into the Petrine office. Most important of all, we Catholics must pray for our Catholic Church because if you didn’t know it… the Catholic Church doesn’t belong to the clergy only… it belongs to all of us, the lay faithful because we are the Body of Christ.

One of the books I’m reading right now is Pope Benedict’s “The Father’s”, published in 2008 where Pope Benedict gives us a short background of the early fathers of the Catholic Church after the end of the Apostolic era. He talks about St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Tertullian, St. Irenaus of Lyons, Origen of Alexandria, St. Cyprian, Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom and St. Augustine of Hippo.

Allow me to quote what Pope Benedict XVI said about St. Cyprian, “The numerous treatises and letters that Cyprian wrote were always connected with his pastoral ministry. Little inclined to theological speculation, he wrote above all for the edification of the community and to encourage the good conduct of the faithful. Indeed, the Church was easily his favorite subject. Cyprian distinguished between the “Visible”, hierarchical Church and the “Invisible” mystical Church, but forcefully affirmed that the Church is one, founded on Peter. He never wearied of repeating, “If a man deserts the Chair of Peter upon whom the Church was build, does he think that he is in the Church?”

Yes, few people realize that the Catholic Church has two facets, the visible church that we can see with our own eyes… the bishops, priests and the churches and the invisible church that we can only see from the eyes of faith, which is why she has a divine character. Just remember, as our Lord Jesus Christ told St. Peter, “The gates of Hell shall not prevail against her.”

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