Thursday, April 30, 2009

Philppine Elections 2010:ERAP Reelection

The definition of a TRAPO in Filipino is a piece of cloth used to wipe dirt off something. It may also be described as a dirty piece of cloth used to clean floors, dishes, bath tubs and toilet seats. Personally I do not know if the word TRAPO has an equivalent in the English language or any other language for that matter, but whenever I go home and clean my dirty shoes, I use my handy and age old Philippine TRAPO. Thus, to describe a Filipino politician as a TRAPO is no doubt unchristian and insulting. And though it is true that Filipinos have wittingly coined the word TRAPO as an acronym for TRADITIONAL POLITICIANS, it is still obviously a very shrewd way of calling politicans who have served our country for five or more years DOWNRIGHT DIRTY !
So much for the Christian virtue of respect!
Do we see the Amercian media and American Christian churches call their congressmen, senators, and president TRAPOS?
Never.
That's because Americans know the value of respecting their leaders, even if they do not support the occupation of Iraq and even if they have lost confidence in some of their leaders. In my opinion, this is what makes them a great nation.
Is this what we Filipinos would want teach our children - how to insult our duly elected public officials? We live in a democracy, and no matter how you look at it - democracy, being merely a creation of man, will never be a perfect system, where popular leaders, regardless of their educational backround or social status, will be surely and duly elected.
Look for the giant concrete bust of former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos which was built on a mountainside in Tuba, Benguet. It's not there anymore. It was dynamited two years ago by suspected Filipino rebels and now stands as a memorial to Filipino fickle-mindedness and disrespect. What will they dynamite next - the Marcos Highway? Haydee Yorac's grave perhaps? Regardless of how evil many Filipinos claim the former President to be, (His guilt was never proven in courts both here and abroad) respect is still a value we should teach our children not just because we are a Christian nation but also because it is the right thing to do.
So, before we begin to teach our gradeschool and highschool students that former President Marcos is this and that, let us first look at the good things he had contributed to our country - things that we now benefit from.
And before we begin insulting the intelligence and integrity of former President Erap Estrada for possibly running for President in the Philippine 2010 elections, let us remember that we were taught to respect even the worst of our enemies.
For like many public servants, both Marcos and Estrada are still men - created in the image and likeness of God. They, therefore, deserve our respect - thesame respect that we are obliged to give to the least of our brethren.
How then can we expect our children to respect us, if we teach them to call our leaders DUMB and DIRTY TRAPOS?
God bless our Philippine Presidents!



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My wife and I decided to bring our four year old child, Rochelle Marie, to Baguio last Saturday, and as expected, she enjoyed the city, the climate, the horses, and most especially the people. We hope to teach her much about Filipino culture, especially the Ifugao and Igorot cultures, before their customs and traditions fade away into history and are replaced by television, video games, and rock and roll. These senior citizens charged us Php 130 pesos (10 pesos each) for the photo because they really needed money, as they have no other sources of income. Their ancestral lands were either sold or taken away from them many years ago and I doubt if our government is doing anything to help them out today. They really need our help. So, go to Baguio whenever you can and visit them. - Baguio City, May 2, 2009

Snippets: Sports and Children

Any sport teaches kids the values of discipline, perseverance, courage, humility, obedience, patience, and most of all, cooperation and love, values that take a longer time to develop within the four walls of a university classroom.

This is why schools and universities all over the world have already recognized Olympic Sports as more effective ways to develop a child's Bodily-Kinesthetic, Spatial, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal intelligences. (There are seven multiple intelligences known to man.)

Perhaps, this is the reason why many child athletes tend to be great leaders when they grow up. Primary Examples: 1.U.S. President Obama plays basketball; 2. Russian President Vladimir Putin plays Judo. He holds an advanced blackbelt degree in this martial art and sport; 3. England's Margaret Thatcher played hockey and swimming earlier in her life; 4. Governor Arnold Swarzenneger is a competitive bodybuilder; 5. And Saint John Paul II, the late Pope and Holy Father of the Holy Catholic Church, played skiing, swimming, cayaking, boxing and mountaineering.

So, introduce your kids to sports. It is worth it.
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