How not to vote

Art by Aaron Felizmenio.

I just came across this interesting article in Tapat, an online news publication (soon to be print tabloid). It talks about how to be a good voter by describing the bad habits of a bad voter ("bobotante").

Here's one that must be reiterated:

3. “Di ko kilala mga kandidato. Bahala na sa makikita ko sa balota.”
Napakaraming mga web pages tulad nito na nagpapakilala sa mga kandidato. Pag bibili ka ng cellphone, nag-re-research ka pa ng sandamukal at nagtatanong-tanong ka kung ano ang okey na bilhin. Naghahanap ka pa kung san ka makakamura. Andami mong oras na naka-log in sa Facebook pero yung pagbasa man lang ng profile at list ng mga kandidato online, di mo magawa. Tapos rereklamo ka ng kung sino-sino ang nananalo.

It's true that before we go vote, we have to do our homework! It sucks that it seems many are more willing to do enough (or too much) homework on a gadget that they want to buy, but think so little of the candidate they will vote. Remember, this is they guy who will represent YOU in the next few years of your life as citizen.

I like this one too:

6. “Di na ko boboto, wala rin naman magbabago.”Ok lang yan, pero huwag ka ring masyadong mag-reklamo. Dahil ang di mo pagboto, katulad na rin ‘yan ng pagsuporta mo sa taong ayaw mong manalo. Ang di mo pagboto, ay hindi direktang pagboto sa kandidatong di mo gusto.

Your non-vote is an indirect vote cast for the person you do not wish to put in office. When you vote and your candidate doesn't win, well, at least that gives you the right to say "I didn't vote for that guy" when his term turns out to be an epic fail. 

But seriously, if there is a candidate you deem worthy of the position, don't hesitate to cast your vote for him or her. More than a right, voting is a RESPONSIBILITY. It's the role you fulfill to help chart the course of the country. I use a nautical idiom purposefully: because in seafaring terms, err just one degree off course and your direction completely changes in time. Before you know it, your ship does not find port and you are lost.

So, study... and vote wisely.

Some interesting reads

As a book lover and reader I advocate study. And I don't mean ABCs and Do Re Mis, I mean really looking at issues inside and out before forming an educated opinion on things. That's why lately I've been very dismayed when people take so much stock in their own logic and not bother to dig deeper into the real story. Then they criticize those who study the facts as if all this boils down to is feelings. It's so unscholarly, so shameful.

So, quick post here to give some interesting reads some spotlight.

Going extinct is no fun
This is about the effects of the strict population measures Singapore implemented in the 1970s.

Sotto bares foreign agenda behind RH bill.
It's unfair that Sotto is getting all this flak lately. Instead of picking on him, try listening to what he has to say first, please?

Freedom from Catholicism
Let's promote true freedom :-)


"There is no excuse for those who could be scholars and are not."-St. Josemaria Escriva

Can I just say I love Pope Benedict XVI???

I was not there, but the World Youth Day in Madrid this year has strengthened my hope in the world. Two million young people, went off to Spain to... listen to an octogenarian? Believe it.

Here are excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI's WYD 2011 Message:

'In every period of history, including our own, many young people experience a deep desire for personal relationships marked by truth and solidarity. Many of them yearn to build authentic friendships, to know true love, to start a family that will remain united, to achieve personal fulfillment and real security, all of which are the guarantee of a serene and happy future. In thinking of my own youth, I realize that stability and security are not the questions that most occupy the minds of young people. True enough, it is important to have a job and thus to have firm ground beneath our feet, yet the years of our youth are also a time when we are seeking to get the most out of life. When I think back on that time, I remember above all that we were not willing to settle for a conventional middle-class life. We wanted something great, something new. We wanted to discover life itself, in all its grandeur and beauty. Naturally, part of that was due to the times we lived in. During the Nazi dictatorship and the war, we were, so to speak, "hemmed in" by the dominant power structure. So we wanted to break out into the open, to experience the whole range of human possibilities. I think that, to some extent, this urge to break out of the ordinary is present in every generation. Part of being young is desiring something beyond everyday life and a secure job, a yearning for something really truly greater. Is this simply an empty dream that fades away as we become older? No! Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. Nothing else will ever be enough. Saint Augustine was right when he said "our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you". The desire for a more meaningful life is a sign that God created us and that we bear his "imprint". God is life, and that is why every creature reaches out towards life. Because human beings are made in the image of God, we do this in a unique and special way. We reach out for love, joy and peace. So we can see how absurd it is to think that we can truly live by removing God from the picture! God is the source of life. To set God aside is to separate ourselves from that source and, inevitably, to deprive ourselves of fulfilment and joy: "without the Creator, the creature fades into nothingness" (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, 36). In some parts of the world, particularly in the West, today's culture tends to exclude God, and to consider faith a purely private issue with no relevance for the life of society. Even though the set of values underpinning society comes from the Gospel - values like the sense of the dignity of the person, of solidarity, of work and of the family -, we see a certain "eclipse of God" taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity.

'For this reason, dear friends, I encourage you to strengthen your faith in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the future of society and of the Church! As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Colossae, it is vital to have roots, a solid foundation! This is particularly true today. Many people have no stable points of reference on which to build their lives, and so they end up deeply insecure. There is a growing mentality of relativism, which holds that everything is equally valid, that truth and absolute points of reference do not exist. But this way of thinking does not lead to true freedom, but rather to instability, confusion and blind conformity to the fads of the moment. As young people, you are entitled to receive from previous generations solid points of reference to help you to make choices and on which to build your lives: like a young plant which needs solid support until it can sink deep roots and become a sturdy tree capable of bearing fruit...'

(Emphasis is mine. Read the whole thing here.)

Today, I notice so much anti-Catholicism. Media reporters quite easily quote a bishop on some issue and voila--you have an instant the-Church-is-ever-so-strict-and-unfair impression. There are people who proudly announce that they "think for themselves," as if having guidance from our teachers and our elders is something wrong and shameful; as if they need no guidance at all. A culture of accepting just any kind of opposition as "the smart thing to do" has worked into us Filipinos so deeply that the only political parties we have now are "Administration" and "Opposition."

Aren't people getting tired of all this aimless opposing and and all that feeling intellectually superior? They glorify the "freedom to do anything I want," but what is freedom without truth, respect, guidance and love?

The World Youth Day has strengthened my resolve to be a witness to a better way of living--the way that is firmly planted in Christ. Just a while ago, a friend told me she was called a "Christian writer" by one of her interviewees who read a piece she wrote--and she said she was "kilig to the bones"! I thought, what a compliment! Perhaps it's the best compliment a person striving to live the life of Christ could ever receive. :-)

Lastly, here's another thought I want to share which I read from Mercatornet, "7 Reasons for good cheer after Madrid" written by Michael Cook:

'The biggest stories are the hidden stories. Benedict XVI knows this. As he told journalists, “God's sowing is always silent; it does not appear in the statistics, and the seed that the Lord sows with World Youth Day is like the seed of which the Gospel speaks: part falls on the road and is lost; part falls on stone and is lost; part falls on thorns and is lost; but a part falls on good earth and gives much fruit.”

'Unnoticed by the media, 2 million young people have embarked upon a journey which will lead many of them to infuse their home countries with their deeply held Christian beliefs. Slowly the world is going to change. Thirty years from now, the media is going to have one hell of a surprise.'

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Don't you see? We're the youth that will change this world!

Don't be ignorant!

"Ignorance is boring," so says a National Geographic shirt. A few months ago, I wrote a piece on why the RH bill is not good for Filipinos, and since that article came out already in The You, Inc. Chronicles, a newsletter for women young professionals, I can now share it here.

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When ignorance becomes deadly

Ever heard of the term “reproductive rights”? It sounds very nice, doesn’t it? In fact, it is a very nice concept, on the condition that by “nice” you mean “foolish” as the word meant in Old English.

Why is that? “Reproductive rights” basically points to the right to do anything with one’s fertility and body because it is one’s own. A woman with reproductive rights can kill her unborn child without being called a murderer. A husband with reproductive rights can get a vasectomy without informing his wife. A teenager with reproductive rights can have an IUD inserted without telling her parents. The big deal is, it’s their body; let them do with it as they please.

The Reproductive Health Bill, now known as the “Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011,” stems from this concept of reproductive rights. Don’t be fooled by the “Responsible Parenthood” in the title; if anything, this bill promotes irresponsible parenthood. Why?

1. It encourages married couples to forget how their body works and just use the contraceptives the government will give for free. “Modern” (read: artificial) family planning methods are to be considered “essential medicines” (Sec. 10) bought using taxpayer’s money, which will amount to about 3 billion pesos. Besides that, the bill provides a plan to integrate an artificial family planning component in the government’s “anti-poverty programs” (Sec. 12), so, after our country spends 3B, we can be sure we’ll have fewer folks under the poverty line. (How do you lessen poverty? The RH bill answer is: Cut down on poor people!)

2. It takes away the parent’s responsibility to teach their children about love, sex and marriage. Mandatory sex education programs (Sec. 16) as dictated by the government will be implemented in schools. If you disagree with any of the lessons in it, you cannot bring your children to another school because all schools will use the same government-issued sex ed manual. What could these lessons be? One list provided in the sex ed manual clumps “Relihiyon” and “Pakikialam ng Pamilya” under one heading: List of obstacles to rights.

3. It insists upon an ideal family size. The bill esteems two children to be the ideal family size. This number is “neither mandatory nor compulsory,” which makes one wonder what it’s doing in Sec. 20 in the first place.


Not only parents, but every citizen will be affected by the RH bill. Besides the fact that your income tax goes to condoms no one will put to good use, you (Sec. 28):

1. Shall be forced to provide access to the full range of reproductive health care services to your employees, if you are an employer. Never mind if you don’t believe in the use of artificial contraceptives (condoms, injectables, IUDs, patches, emergency contraception, etc.), or the need for surgical sterilization when there are better alternatives. What’s more, legislators are saying the bill is anti-abortion, but the term “reproductive health,” as feminist and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defines it, “includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion.” If this bill gets passed, what’s to stop pro-abortion groups from getting “safe” abortion included in the law? After all, it is part of reproductive healthcare. Employers then will not only be providing rubber balloons, but will also be participating in the murder of innocent people.

2. Shall not be allowed to refuse a patient his reproductive healthcare services on account of religion, if you are a healthcare service provider. If a kid asks you for a gun, you don’t refer him to someone else if you don’t believe that guns are the solution. But this bill will make you refer someone to another healthcare service provider if you don’t provide reproductive healthcare. Whatever happened to helping people find better alternatives? Any healthcare service provider will know of more health-friendly and environment-friendly alternatives to stroke-inducing, breast cancer-causing, ecosystem-disrupting oral contraceptive pills.

3. Shall not be allowed to criticize the bill. It says “malicious disinformation” but that can easily mean “anything that rubs the bill the wrong way.” Whoever heard of getting jailed for protesting to something written on a piece of paper?

There are people who may say that the RH bill has some good provisions like maternity and good pre-natal care. Those provisions deserve to be in a bill of their own, not lumped together with provisions on birth control, which is—to say the least—ironic. How can a piece of legislation focus on providing good maternal healthcare when it’s already so bent on not having to handle cases of pregnancy in the first place?


Going back to reproductive rights—while rights are good and wonderful, they go hand in hand with responsibility. That means our freedom to do what we want with our fertility and body ends where the rights of others begin. What’s wrong with the so-called reproductive rights is it oversteps a child’s right to be born, a parent’s right to educate and guide the children, and a husband’s right to know about (and be involved in) his wife’s fertility concerns, and vice versa. What’s wrong with this particular RH bill, in addition to those three already mentioned, is that it also oversteps every citizen’s freedom to practice his religion, to speak up against something he believes is wrong, and to choose without having to hear all that hogwash about the convenience of contraceptives and the need for instant self-gratification.

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Photos of the UP Against RH silent protest courtesy of Sunnyday. Isn't it nice to see the youth (even just a few of them!) standing up for the truth? :-)

True freedom

Image from i write to believe.

"Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."-Blessed John Paul II