Friday, April 28, 2017

Death Penalty Debate in the Philippines Part 2

In a previous post I wrote about the on-going death penalty debate happening in the Philippines.  The gist of the article remains true: one cannot use the Bible to speak against the death penalty.  The Bible calls for, nay demands, the death penalty in certain cases and above all, murder.  

That brings me to this:

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/03/07/1678869/house-passes-death-penalty-bill-third-reading
From an initial list of 21 crimes that included rape, treason and plunder, the House leadership decided to limit death penalty to drug-related crimes and offenses. 
It reasoned that the move was meant to ensure the consensus of House members belonging to the majority. 
"We agreed that yung bill will only be limited to drug-related heinous crimes," Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chair of the House Justice committee, said in a televised interview last week.
In order to pass this bill the they removed the death penalty from heinous crimes such as murder to only drug-related crimes.  But no worries this was just to get the measure passed in the House and moved on to the Senate.
Speaker Alvarez however did not discount the possibility that the crimes originally stipulated in the bill he proposed months ago could be restored in the bill in the bicameral conference committee. 
On the possibility that the bill will be amended during the bicameral conference committee hearings, he said: “Lahat po naman posibleng mangyari yan. Depende na po sa bicam yun. Halimbawa napagkasunduan dun na ibalik yung mga natanggal, depende na po sa bicam yun. Meron namang proseso para dun.”
The whole charade is absurd and disgusting.  The House passes one bill and the Senate may add amendments and pass a completely different one? How is that not fraud.

No one can guarantee those "crimes originally stipulated in the bill" that was "proposed months ago" will "be restored in the bill in the bicameral conference committee."  It's merely a "possibility."

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/878117/new-death-penalty-bill-to-include-plunder-rape
After getting drug-related offenses out of the way, the House of Representatives may just expand the death penalty to include more crimes on a piecemeal basis down the road. 
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Monday raised the possibility of filing a new death penalty bill to include plunder and rape, which were dropped to speed up consensus and fast-track the passage of the administration measure. 
For the past few months, the House exerted efforts to fast-track the passage of the death penalty bill, even agreeing to limit it to just drug-related offenses to avoid running into more debate regarding which crimes are heinous. 
“Because it’s controversial, we made the punishable offenses few. What we’ll do is pass it one by one,” Alvarez told reporters in an interview. 
“We don’t need all of it at once. But, we might pass the others maybe at the end,” he said. 
While this move ensures that at least one crime is punishable by death penalty, Alvarez acknowledged that the inclusion of other offenses might be “somewhat slow” because these would have to be debated one by one. 
Yet, he said tackling the original bill that reinstates the death penalty for several heinous crimes at once would have taken more time to debate.
“We have to be realistic,” Alvarez said.
Filipinos are often caricatured as being lazy and politically inept.  This fiasco leaves out neither one of those stereotypes. Politics takes time.  Debating bills and getting the wording right and making sure a proper law is enacted takes time. Does Speaker Alvarez not realise this?  You cannot simply railroad a bill through congress and hope you are getting the right thing. 

This is exactly what the Democrats in the USA did in 2009 with the passage of the ACA. Nancy Pelosi famously said, "We have to pass the bill so we can see what's in it."  Now Speaker Alvarez is saying, "We have to pass the bill so we can amend it later." 

How can Speaker Alvarez admit that amending the bill will take time but deny that same time to debating the bill up for consideration without coming across as one of the most double-tounged and double-minded of men?

Not only was the text of the bill itself deceitful but the method of passage was deceitful as well.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday threatened to remove those opposed to the death penalty bill from plum posts in the Duterte-controlled supermajority in Congress. 
“If you are deputy speaker, it doesn’t look good if you won’t support the administration-sponsored bill, and if you’re chairman of a committee,” Alvarez said in an interview. 
“We will replace deputy speakers who won’t support the administration bill, because it’s awkward if you’re a deputy speaker and you don’t agree with the leadership,” he said.
The House railroaded this bill through to a yes vote by threatening all who voted no with removal from their posts.  That is bullying plain and simple.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/603381/gloria-arroyo-ousted-as-deputy-speaker-11-chairmen-lose-committees/story
The sole purpose for having the death penalty is to punish heinous crimes, particularly and especially murder in all its manifold shapes and forms.  A death penalty bill without death as the penalty for murder is a twisted bit of legislation that has no basis in either the Bible or in reason and common sense.

The newly passed and amended death penalty bill which only lists:
  1. importation of drugs 
  2. sale of drugs 
  3. maintaining a drug den 
  4. manufacturing of drugs 
  5. committing certain crimes under the influence of drugs
  6. misappropriation of confiscated drugs by an officer
  7. planting drugs as evidence
as crimes worthy of death can be read here:
https://issuu.com/inquirerdotnet/docs/substitute_bill_death_penalty_-_as__29fc444c448267


Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Christian Philippines to be Represented at Pervert Pageant

Meet John Raspado.  He is the current "Mr. Gay World Philippines." And now he is off to Madrid, Spain to represent the Philippines in the international "Mr. Gay World" pageant.


Mister Gay World Philippines John Respado is off to Madrid to represent the country in the 2017 Mister Gay World pageant. 
With the pageant fast approaching, Respado vowed to do his best and apply everything he learned from his rigorous trainings. 
http://news.abs-cbn.com/life/04/25/17/former-its-showtime-winner-to-represent-ph-in-mr-gay-world
"Apply everything he learned from his rigours trainings."  What does that even mean?  The thought is horrendous. Being gay is not about looking pretty or posing well or having good diction and smarts. Being gay, for a man, is solely about having sexual desire for another man. A man is only gay if he desires to have sex with other men. There are no other qualifiers for being gay. So what rigorous training will he be applying to become "Mr. Gay World?"

Unlike the West, homosexuality in Asia, especially in Thailand, is not so cut and dry as men lusting after men and women lusting after women.  Asian cultures have a "third gender" which is basically gay men affecting the habits of women: dress, mannerisms, speech, employment. In the Philippines they are known and Bakla.  
Bakla are sometimes considered a third sex. 
Nowadays, in almost every city and town across the culturally diverse islands of the Philippines there is at least one bakla (in general many baklas) living a normal life, accepted (at least by some) as a member of the third sex
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakla
But so what?  So what if this acceptance of homosexuals as a "third sex" has been accepted long before the Spaniards came?  Are Filipinos going to go back to sacrificing to and worshipping false idols and living the way they did before the West came?  Doubtful.

The fact that the Philippines, which prides itself on being Asia's only Christian nation and is in fact the 4th largest Christian country on earth with about 90% of the population being adherents, has a culture which is thoroughly imbued with and accepting of homosexuality is confounding.

Every Sunday the Catholic priests carry out their marching orders and rail against the corruptions of the Duterte administration.  


The strong dissent of the Philippine Catholic Church against Duterte’s “executioner” methods is now known. Many and various were the pronouncements of cardinals, bishops and priests, while last ’march for life’, held a month ago in Manila, turned into a lively protest march with 10 thousand faithful marching against the president, promoter of a “reign of terror” similar to the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. 
http://www.lastampa.it/2017/03/06/vaticaninsider/eng/world-news/philippines-priests-defy-dutertes-war-on-drugs-3kmKlNDYLOm6qTDKiChHlM/pagina.html

Where is the Church's voice to speak out against and condemn the shameful perversion of homosexuality which permeates every level of Filipino culture?  From homosexuals prancing on TV to ladyboys selling their bodies on the street or living normal lives accepted by everyone else sodomy is tolerated throughout the country.


“I am gay,” declared Father RJ*. "Homosexuality it is not an issue anymore within the Catholic clergy.” 
Together with his friends and hundreds other members of the LGBT community, the priest joined the parade with pride and confidence. 
"This represents my sexuality and religiosity," the 36-year-old priest said, pointing to his rainbow-colored bracelet of crosses. "Why should I be ashamed? My sexual preference never hindered my mission as a Catholic priest." 
RJ observed that "homosexuality is common within the organization of the priests."
“We crack jokes about it. We talk serious matters concerning sexuality and there are a lot of priests who are vocal they are homosexuals,” he added. 
He said there are members of the clergy who were still "hiding inside the closet because of fear or confusion or guilt.” 
Then the priest recited Pope Francis’ statement – his favorite line of the pontiff: “If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, well who am I to judge?” 
There you have it!  The Church welcomes homosexuals into its midst and many of its priests are even homosexuals.  Why would they speak up against this abominable perversion for which God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and demands the punishment of death when they are partakers of this deadly sin?
Jude 1:7: Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Leviticus 20:13: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
The idea that as long as a homosexual is celibate then everything is ok and he is not in sin is deceitful, negates the deep-seated nature of sin, and contradicts the very words of Jesus who equates the thought with the act.
Matthew 5:28: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 
II Corinthians 10:5: Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
It is not enough for a man to be celibate and abstain from the outward act. He must be cleansed from within and made a new creature. Paul writes to the Corinthians making mention that some of them were homosexuals but now they were washed and sanctified in the name of Jesus.

I Corinthians 6:9: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 
I Corinthians 6:10: Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 
I Corinthians 6:11: And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Being sanctified and justified and washed in Christ makes men new creatures.
II Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
This being a new creature in Christ is the Gospel of God's grace of which the Roman Catholic Church knows nothing and is therefore leading its members straight to hell.

Priests who identify as homosexuals while claiming to be abstinent yet who also parade with and celebrate active homosexuals and the entire LGBT spectrum are liars and frauds and no priests of God. They are liars because they call homosexuality a sin for which abstinence is the cure while parading with and celebrating active homosexuals.  They are frauds because though they are celibate in their heart they long for and identify with the sin of homosexuality. They are no priests of God because no priest of God embraces, celebrates, and identifies with sin.

Roman Catholicism and not Christianity is the religion of the Philippines. This religion is a rejection of God's grace as revealed in Jesus Christ for a worshipping of Saints and relics and the Virgin. It substitutes simple faith in Christ with a labyrinth of penances and prayers and works to earn God's forgiveness.

Filipinos claim to worship God but the truth is they worship the false idols of Sto. NiƱo and the Black Nazarene. They crucify and scourge themselves as a sacrifice instead of trusting in the once for all sacrifice of Christ. They parade idols through the streets of their cities and celebrate events that never happened such as the Salubong

It's no wonder that homosexuality is acceptable in the Philippines.  Filipinos have rejected the God they claim to worship and He has given them up to this reprehensible sin.
Romans 1:24: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 
Romans 1:25: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Who Stole all the Fighting Cocks?


A few days  ago a tale was told me about the fowlest robbery you ever did hear!

Friday night / Saturday morning an anonymous thief or group of thieves stole a neighbour's seven fighting cocks. They left his his two turkeys and his two goats behind.

How did this happen?  We have a guard at the gate. In fact there are three guards every night! One watches the gate and the other two roam the neighbourhood. Were they around?  Did they just wave these guys right in?

Did they even come through the front gate?  There is a river bordering our gated community which is wide open and thieves constantly cross the waters looking to steal. But how would you transport seven cocks across the river? You would need several conspirators. I can't imagine holding each bird close to the chest and running through the woods and across the river.  No.  Its obvious they had a get away vehicle.

Oh well. It is too sad.  Maybe try not raising fighting cocks in a gated community. There are already four other large game farms in this place. Why???  This is a gated community for people!  Not a place to raise farm animals!

Once a family a few houses down slaughtered a pig on its premises! As I sat in my room I heard the blood-curdling and nearly human scream as they sliced its throat. 

Fighting chickens is not only morally reprehensible it is also not profitable. The ratio of money spent on raising fighting cocks to actually making a profit is slim to none. It's just not worth the hassle.  The money is better spent on food and clothes and medicine. 

This is a picture of what his game farm looked like a few months ago.



Now it's all quiet and there are no fowl noises to be heard.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Filipino Cuisine: Eater beware?

Some people think Filipino cuisine is horrible. "It's the worst food in the world," they say.  Too oily, too salty, too gross. Balut, anyone?  

https://etramping.com/rather-go-hungry-eat-filipino-food-again/

I think a lot of the hate for Filipino food is because foreigners are looking for the adventure that comes from eating street food.  Eating from a cart can be cheap and delicious.  You won't be finding banana cue at a fancy sit-down restaurant.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_cue

The problem with some street food is that it has been sitting out all day and gets to losing its lustre and flavour.  This is a big problem at sari-sari store and roadside restaurants more than anywhere else.  Food will be cooked in the morning and left out all day.  Gross!

The best way to experience Filipino food is to purchase the ingredients fresh from the market and have a Filipino prepare them.  Admittedly this is not easy for tourists but for those who live here and still complain about the horrible food, this is the perfect solution.

Here below is what I ate on Sunday, April 23, 2017.  

First breakfast is always a large cup of Batangas coffee mixed with honey from Mindanao. This is much tastier than any of those nescafe sachets.




Second breakfast is sliced ampalaya (or bitter gourd) fried with chopped onions, diced garlic, and eggs.  Served with rice.



For lunch I ate fried chicken from a street vendor and a vegetable stew called laswa. Also served with rice. In the Philippines all fried chicken is referred to as chickenjoy which is what Jollibees calls their fried chicken. Filipinos tend to call things by brand names.  For instance they call "toothpaste" "Colgate."



For dinner there was chicken adobo and Nido Oriental Soup poured over the rice.


What a delicious day.  Filipino food isn't so bad if you prepare it from fresh ingredients.  And if you give strict instructions to not use so much oil and salt.

There is one thing more. Rice for all three meals?  Yes.  Rice three meals a day everyday. It's a lot of rice I admit.  I do not pile it on like others but use just enough to act like a sponge and absorb the juices and flavour of the food.  The only time rice is ever a problem is when you bite down and there is a rock!


See that tiny black speck on the spoon?  That is a rock and many, many times I have almost cracked a tooth by biting down unawares on one.

Eater beware!

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Noise: Fiestas

Filipinos love to party.  They love to party all day and all night.  Every city has an annual fiesta.  Every barangay within the city has an annual fiesta.  Every purok within the barangay has an annual fiesta.  Every neighbourhood and subdivision within the barangay and purok has an annual fiesta.  Besides these annual fiestas there are also other fiestas which happen on holidays or other special occasions like if someone wants to rent the barangay hall for a wedding or birthday party.

Around 3pm - 5pm you might hear, in the distance, the sound of very loud bass. 

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!

This will jar you right out of whatever you were doing. Of course its just someone inconsiderate person playing loud music. Right? WRONG!  It's a fiesta.  And this fiesta will not stop until six in the morning.  


All night                   and                     All day

This monster right here is blaring bass and techno so loud that it can be heard 3 miles away.  And it's going all day and all night long.  Some Filipinos are so rude they will party all day and all night all the while making sure anyone miles away trying to get a good nights sleep will not be able to do so.

But it's all over at 6 am so you can get a good nights sleep during the day and then the next night everything will be back to norm....

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!

Not again!!!???

Yes.  Again.  For three days usually. Starting Thursday night, going on Friday night, and finishing up early on Sunday morning.

Of course if it's a barangay fiesta you can count on it lasting a whole seven days.  Seven days of BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM day and night.  And if you talk to the barangay captain and ask him to turn it down because it can be heard miles away at your house and you can't sleep, he will just laugh at you and say, "No one here is complaining about loud noise. How can you even be hearing it at your house if these people can't even hear any loud noise?"


Keep up the good work guys!  No one wants to sleep anyway. 

Friday, April 21, 2017

Time Refuses to Celebrate Duterte

Thanks to the help of netizens across the globe Duterte won the vaunted Time's 100 Most Influential People online poll for 2017.

What a cause for celebration! 

Only Time doesn't think so.  Instead of celebrating Duterte they have decided to rebuke him for his war against drugs.

Hilariously Time has dumped cold ice all over the heads and shoulders of Duterte's supporters by enlisting former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria to pen a missive reprimanding Duterte for his war on drugs.
Since Duterte's inauguration last year, some 7,000 people have been killed. His ironfisted strategy alarms governments, human-rights organizations and faith-based groups while winning high approval ratings at home.
http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4736340/rodrigo-duterte/
This is the same man who penned an op-ed in the NY Times which provoked the ire of Duterte just two months ago.
http://www.businessinsider.com/rodrigo-duterte-calls-colombia-president-idiot-over-drug-war-op-ed-2017-2

Leila De Lima also secured a spot in the top 100 but instead of celebrating her Time used the opportunity to offer a second rebuke to Duterte.
Leila de Lima knew with whom she was dealing. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (dubbed "Duterte Harry") has insulted Pope Francis, told U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and expressed regret he did not go "first" in a gang rape. Since last June, when Duterte took office, some 7,000 people have been killed in his merciless anti­drug campaign. Most opposition politicians have kept their heads down, knowing Duterte is both terrifyingly brutal and massively popular.
In February she was jailed. 
It is a disturbing testament to the current solidarity among strongmen and the global surge in impunity that de Lima's cause has not been more embraced. 
http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4736274/leila-de-lima/

All in all its a triple threat.  Duterte is twice condemned and alleged to have been the cause of the death of 7,000 people and De Lima is posed as his righteous opposition who has been jailed not for running drugs out of Bilibid Prison but for being "Duterte's most vocal critic—a role her friends call suicidal."

Even 4chan founder "moot" got a positive write-up when he won the 2009 poll and the users of his site hacked the results to shoot him all the way to the top.  Time took it all in good stride and had Rick Astley pen the article on "moot."  If you don't remember Rickrolling was popular at that time and all thanks to 4chan which made having Rick Astley write his article both appropriate and humorous.

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893837_1894180,00.html

Not so for Duterte. The author, Cesar Gaviria, is appropriate but the subject matter is grim.

There are two things Filipinos can learn from all this.

1. The Time 100 Most Influential People online poll is meaningless.  Anyone can win if enough votes are cast.  In the case of "moot" anyone can win if they know how to hack the system.

Besides do you really think the most influential people in the world are on this list?  Is Samantha Bee more influential than financier and banker Nathaniel Rothschild? Never forget the words of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli:
“The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.”
2. The world does not want to celebrate Duterte. They want to rebuke him.

If the whole world keeps telling you everything is wrong perhaps you had better start considering the possibility that they may be on to something. Don't let pride blind you to reality.