Death Penalty Debate in the Philippines

One of Duterte's most controversial and popular campaign promises was the reinstatement of the death penalty.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36297583

This promise reflects his "get tough on crime" policy and now it is one step closer to becoming a reality.

http://time.com/4694718/philippines-death-penalty-congress/

Death penalty for drug-related and other crimes?  Which crimes?

1. Treason
2. Qualified piracy (including firing upon the vessel, abandoning victims, and murder)
3. Qualified bribery (demanding a bribe from anyone facing the death penalty or life imprisonment)
4. Parricide
5. Murder
6. Infanticide
7. Rape (various circumstances)
8. Kidnapping and serious illegal detention 
9. Robbery with violence
10. Arson
11. Plunder (at least 50 million pesos)
12. Importation of drugs
13. Selling, trading, dispensing, delivering drugs
14. Maintenance of a den, dive, or resort (a drug house)
15. Manufacturing drugs
16. Possession of drugs
17. Cultivating plants classified as drugs or that are sources of drugs
18. Unlawful prescription of drugs
19. Misappropriation of confiscated drugs, paraphernalia, and proceeds by a public officer
20. Planting evidence
21. Carnapping (when rape or murder occurs)

http://www.congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/basic_17/HB00001.pdf

That seems like a lot of crimes but mostly the death penalty is being reinstated for the crime of murder.  For example carnapping.  Unless its accompanied by murder or rape then it does not qualify the criminal for the death penalty.

This bill still has to be approved by the Seante before Duterte can sign it into law.  In the meantime there are many voices being raised to oppose it. No voice is as loud as that of the Conference of Bishops.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/03/20/1682920/church-rallies-faithful-vs-death-penalty

“Dear sisters and brothers in Christ – let us not allow our wells to be poisoned by bitter water; let us uphold the sanctity of life and make a stand against death penalty,” the pastoral letter, signed by CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, read in masses nationwide on the third Sunday of Lent stated. 

The prelates stressed that while victims of heinous crimes deserve justice and reparations, criminals remain “children of God” who should be given a chance to repent and reform.

Its quite funny that there is an Archbishop named Socrates and he is against the death penalty. 

I don't want to take the time and space to analyse his full statement but this:

Jesus was never an advocate of any form of “legal killing”. He defended the adulterous woman against those who demanded her blood and challenged those who were without sin among them to be the first to cast a stone on her (John 8:7).

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/03/19/1682659/full-text-cbcps-pastoral-statement-vs-death-penalty 

is just plain wrong.  If this woman had been stoned it would not have been legal at all. Where was the man?  It takes two to tango and God commands the death of both.

Leviticus 20:10: ¶And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Also this statement:

Even with the best of intentions, capital punishment has never been proven effective as a deterrent to crime.

The death penalty is first and foremost a penalty, a punishment.  It is not a deterrent. It can act as a deterrent but the heart of man is persuaded by nothing when he is intent on doing evil. Plainly Archbishop Socrates does not know what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

There are many solid reasons to be anti-death penalty. The fact that corrupt prosecutors looking for a conviction have caused many innocent men to be put on death row is the most compelling argument.

However you cannot be a Christian or a Catholic and oppose the death penalty on the basis of the Scriptures. God proscribes the death penalty.

Genesis 9:6: Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Exodus 21:16: ¶And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:17: ¶And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

Leviticus 20:9: ¶For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.

Leviticus 20:11: And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Leviticus 20:12: And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.

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.

Those are just a few verses where the Lord commands that men be put to death for certain crimes. There is no chance to repent or reform.  There is only a swift putting away of the sin from their midst.

"But that's the Old Testament.  We are under grace and not under the law anymore." A good objection and a large subject that will not be covered in the blogpost.  

However here are some verses from the New Testament where the death penalty is also proscribed.

Acts 25:11: For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cæsar.

Paul acknowledges there are crimes worthy of death and he does not refuse the death penalty if he were guilty of such crimes.

I Peter 4:15: But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.

I Peter 4:16: Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

The suffering Peter speaks of is imprisonment and death. He recognises that murderers and thieves suffer death.  He also recognises that Christians suffer death too.  Peter tells us we should shun being put to death as wicked men but rejoice in martyrdom for Christ.

Romans 13:4: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Paul recognises that the state has the power to execute criminals.  He does not refute this.

We see that the Bible does not refuse to assign death as the lot of certain criminals.  Don't be fooled by the Catholic Bishops Conference.  Signs like this one are lies that twist scripture.

Exodus 20:13: Thou shalt not kill.

When you quote this verse in order to prove that war and the death penalty are evils that God forbids you are making a fool of yourself and making God out to be evil since he commands men but put to death for certain crimes and he commanded the Israelites to kill all the heathen in the land of Canaan.

Deuteronomy 2:33: And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

Deuteronomy 2:34: And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

I Samuel 15:3: Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

You can be a Christian and be anti-death penalty.  Just don't bring the Scriptures in to the argument because they oppose that view.  It's better if a Christian believes what the Bible teaches rather than oppose it.

II Timothy 2:15: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Duterte to the Middle East: Use our Troops, Shoot Any Corrupt Officials

From "I will jet ski to the Spratly Islands and plant the flag" to "Kill me if I don't resolve crime and corruption in six months" President Duterte is a man given to making pompous overstatements to prove his sincerity. 

Now he has done it again.  This time he is promising to send troops to the Middle East in case they are needed.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/04/16/1690862/duterte-ready-deploy-philippine-troops-help-gulf-allies

“I said that if you need us, you just call and if you want even, if things break lose, I hope it will not. I pray to God that it will remain fundamentally on the side of the Middle East this time. But there’s a violent activity going on. But we are ready to help you,” the president said.

“If you need troops here, just in the borders for show, just put it in writing that they are here for training, but they can stay here if you want. If you want us to stay for a moment, fine. If you want to deploy us here, we will agree because of our national interest and the lives of the Filipinos,” he added.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/04/16/1690862/duterte-ready-deploy-philippine-troops-help-gulf-allies

"Just in the borders for show?"  So they wouldn't even be there to fight?  They would only be there for show?  And then he goes on to tell the crowd that they can file false papers saying the Philippine army is only in the country for training but they can stay anyway if the host nation wants.

What the heck is even trying to say? Why would any nation want foreign troops inside its borders under false pretences? Why would any nation accept foreign troops especially if they can't even feed themselves?

"If you are in trouble, if you are short with manpower, I have a very disciplined military and I can send them here. You will not have any trouble with them. They are law abiding, well-disciplined and they can stay here, just to send them to the borders," Duterte told businessmen in Qatar on Saturday. 

"But I would like to ask you to just feed them because we don't have the money to spend to --- for their food. But give them shelters and they will fight for you. I said we will stand by you," he added.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/16/17/ph-to-send-troops-to-gulf-states-for-training-esperon

Why would Saudi Arabia and Qatar even take him up on the offer to use Philippine troops?  Saudi Arabia and Qatar support ISIS both financially and ideologically.  ISIS is in the Philippines. Any reasonable person would conclude that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are therefore supporting terrorism in the Philippines. And Duterte offers them the use of the Philippine Army?

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/11/leaked-hillary-clinton-emails-show-u-s-allies-saudi-arabia-and-qatar-supported-isis/

Any troops free to be sent to the Middle East should instead be sent to where the areas of terrorist activity are occurring in order to destroy them and bring peace to the Philippines.

But wait!  There's more.  

http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/04/16/17/duterte-assures-businessmen-in-qatar-of-corruption-free-deals-in-ph

QATAR-President Rodrigo Duterte assured businessmen here that he will not tolerate corruption in government and among investors in the Philippines. 

"We will honor contracts. We will honor our obligations. That is in the Constitution itself that there shall be no impairment of the obligation of contracts. So insofar as trade is concerned I can assure you, what we sign and I agree with you will be done even if we lose in the transaction, we will honor what we have promised," Duterte said. 

He also told his audience to "shoot" any corrupt officials from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs that will take advantage of them when they do business in the Philippines. 

"I give you the authority to… If somebody from the Internal Revenues, Customs would ask you even P10, shoot him." the President said before a large contingent from the Qatar business sector 

"Everything will be all right. Everything will be followed. There will be no harassment. There will be no asking of money. It will be a truly honest to goodness transaction," he added.

Duterte is so confident that Qatari businessmen will have a corrupt free time doing business in the Philippines that he has given them permission to shoot any corrupt official who tries to take advantage of them.

Instead of giving facts and figures and showing a systematic reduction of corruption and a flourishing economy and giving them every economic incentive to invest in the Philippines Duterte gives these businessmen his blessing to murder any corrupt official they come in contact with.  

Is that really going to encourage anyone to invest in the Philippines?  No. It's not.  

Much of what he has said this week in the Middle East, not to mention his entire presidency, has not made a bit of sense except in his mind.

What Duterte says reflects on the Filipino people.  When he advocates murder that makes Filipinos look like a violent nation of thugs.  When he says its ok to use Philippines troops under false pretences, that impugns the entire nation and makes everyone look corrupt.  

Who wants to to business with a nation of corrupt murderers?

The Salubong is Based on A Lie

What do you get when your celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Chirst is dictated by the the phases of the moon?

A lot of blasphemy and ridiculous ceremonies that's what.  

Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, March 21. Jesus was crucified on Passover which is always the 14th of Nisan or around the beginning of April in our modern calendar.  There was a sect of early Christians called the Quartodecimians who followed the tradition of the Apostle John and celebrated the Resurrection of Christ on the date of Passover.  After all the scripture says:

I Corinthians 5:7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Not content to commit sacrilege by crucifying themselves in imitation of Jesus Christ, Filipinos go a step further and add sin to sin by attributing lies to the Scriptures.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/16/17/filipino-catholics-celebrate-easter-sunday-with-salubong

Catholics all over the Philippines celebrated Easter Sunday with the traditional 'Salubong,' or the reenactment of the Biblical account of the meeting of the Virgin Mary and the resurrected Jesus Christ.

There is no Biblical account of Jesus meeting with his mother immediately after the resurrection. Surely they met later on.  He did show himself to 500 people. But his mother is not specifically mentioned.

I Corinthians 15:4: And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

I Corinthians 15:5: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

I Corinthians 15:6: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

I Corinthians 15:7: After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

I Corinthians 15:8: And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of 

As for who is the first person Jesus met the Gospel states unambiguously:

Mark 16:9: ¶Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

 Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. End of story. Salubong is a lie.

So where does this idea the Jesus appeared to his mother first?  Tradition. It comes from the traditions surrounding the growing worship of the Virgin Mary.  The many accolades and events attributed to her (the immaculate conception, Queen of Heaven, Co-Redepmtrix, the assumption and dormition, her perpetual virginity, her presentation in the temple) are all based on traditions related to her worship and have no basis in the Bible whatsoever.

The rooting of these doctrines in tradition is wholly acknowledged by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Gospels relate that our Lord appeared first of all to St. Mary Magdalene (cf. Mark 16:9), but there is a tradition among many saints and theologians that prior to this apparition, the good Jesus had appeared to his Mother Mary.

http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2011/05/did-jesus-appear-first-to-his-mother.html

The theologians of the Church know the scriptures because they read and study them.  Sadly the laity of the church does not read and study the scripture and is discouraged from doing so.  

The problem with religion in the Philippines is total lack of Bible knowledge. 

I encourage everyone to read the scriptures and to reject these man-made traditions.  Jesus himself told us to read the scriptures.

John 5:39: ¶Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Let us hear the testimony of the transformative power of the Scriptures, the Word of God, from the greatest of all  Catholic Saints, St. Augustine.

So was I speaking and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when, lo! I heard from a neighbouring house a voice, as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting, and oft repeating. ‘Take up and read; Take up and read.’ [’Tolle, lege! Tolle, lege!’] Instantly, my countenance altered, I began to think most intently whether children were wont in any kind of play to sing such words: nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So checking the torrent of my tears, I arose; interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book, and read the first chapter I should find… 

Eagerly then I returned to the place where Alypius was sitting; for there had I laid the volume of the Apostle when I arose thence. I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: ‘Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, in concupiscence.’ [Romans 13:14-15] No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.”

https://aureliusaugustinus.wordpress.com/2007/12/04/tolle-lege-take-and-read/

When will AFP Chief Eduardo Año Apologise or Resign?

When will the Chief of the AFP, Eduardo Año, apologise to the public and the families of those who were killed in the firefight with Abu Sayyaf?  

The AFP Chief claimed after the fight was over that he saw no terror threat beforehand.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/888414/afp-chief-saw-no-terror-threat-day-before-bohol-clash

The Bohol fighting between government troops and suspected Abu Sayyaf men erupted on Tuesday a day after Armed Forces Chief Eduardo Año said that the military did not see any terror threat in the Philippines despite the recent warning by the US Embassy in Manila to Americans to avoid going to Central Visayas. 

“We have to be vigilant. We would like to encourage the public to report suspicious people, suspicious objects or circumstances so the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) can take immediate, fast counter actions,” Año told reporters during a pre-departure press briefing of President Duterte at the Davao International Airport on Monday. 

“But right now, we don’t see any terror threat,” the military chief added.

Eduardo Año is lying.  He was aware of a terror threat.  We know this because according to a timeline of events provide by ABS-CBN we see that the AFP was monitoring the movements of this group of Abu Sayyaf terrorists days before the clash in Bohol.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/12/17/timeline-abu-sayyaf-in-bohol

April 6 to 7: The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) monitors a group of Abu Sayyaf in Indanan, Sulu. The group leaves Sulu bound for central Visayas, prompting the AFP to alert its intelligence community nationwide.

Are we supposed to believe that Eduardo Año was really speaking from a place of ignorance being unaware of this information when based on this same information not only the US Embassy but also the PNP issued threat warnings for the Central Visayas?

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/606521/news/nation/bato-dela-rosa-confirms-threat-in-central-visayas-but-says-pnp-ready-for-it

The very idea that the Chief of the AFP has no knowledge of the movements of this group which was being observed by the AFP is preposterous and if true is an amazing spectacle of gross negligence.

And now since Eduardo Año refuses to take the terror threat posed by Abu Sayyaf seriously we see that another group of armed men has been spotted at different location in the Central Visays.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/15/17/authorities-not-sure-yet-if-armed-group-in-cauayan-were-abu-sayyaf

Granted reports of what was seen and heard are contradictory and unconfirmed but given the grave threat that ISIS poses to the Philippines it would be absolutely foolish to dismiss them without a thorough investigation.

Does Eduardo Año have any words for the fallen AFP soldiers?

“I congratulate our troops and law enforcers for a job well done. I also pass on our sincerest condolences to families of our soldiers. We mourn the loss of our member of the uniformed services including a very young officer… May this be a fine example of bayanihan in a true example of the word,” Año said. 

“We are gaining important headway in our fight with the Abu Sayyaf Group… We assess that they are no longer threats to the citizens there, and we can say that the community in Inabanga, Bohol is already back to normal. Our main campaign to decimate the Abu Sayyaf will continue and it is making headway,” he said, adding that the military was expecting more Abu Sayyaf members to surrender after 11 “notorious” members conceded in Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/888704/afp-says-its-gaining-headway-in-defeating-abu-sayyaf

Even in the midst of praising the troops he manages to stick his foot in his mouth. They are no longer threats?  Bohol is back to normal?

IS HE CRAZY????

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/13/17/cagayan-de-oro-tightens-security-after-abu-sayyaf-clash-in-bohol

http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/04/12/security-tightened-in-boracay-guimaras/

TIGHT SECURITY IN BORACAY—With the terror attack in Bohol, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is on heightened security at world-famous Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan province for the Holy Week. (Tara Yap/Manila Bulletin) 

“There is no terror threat in Western Visayas,” assured Supt. Gilbert Gorero, PRO-spokesman. 

Senior Police Officer 1 Christopher Mendoza, Boracay PNP community relations officer, said cops have been conducting foot and bike patrol all over the island.

No terror threat?  Then why is the PNP tightening security and conducting patrols all over the island?

Abu Sayyaf, along with the NPA, BIFF, Maute Group, and others, remain a threat and to say otherwise is to put the whole nation in danger.  Every island of the Philippines is at risk for getting a visit from terrorists. That's why security is being tightened.

Those in charge of the security of the Philippines, the AFP and the PNP, must stop telling the public there is no threat.  There absolutely is a threat.  The degree of the threat may vary but it is there.

For decades the Philippines has been at war with various militant and terrorist groups. Bombs have exploded, ships have sunk, innocent men have been kidnapped and beheaded.  The threat persists and the AFP and PNP needs to get its head out of the sand and start treating the threat seriously.

The public is not fooled by the obfuscations of Eduardo Año.

http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/166855-abu-sayyaf-philippines-bohol-military-intelligence

30 Pesos of Sliver

China is a belligerent nation.  Not content with its already large landmass China wants to break free and stretch her arms into the Sea.  Specifically China has laid a claim to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.  These islands are well within the bounds of the Philippines and are the Philippines territory.  

China's brash act prompted much heat from the Aquino administration which filed a case with the UN. The UN ruled in favour of the Philippines.  During the presidetial election campaign the Spratly Island situation was also a topic of much debate.  Duterte's solution was bold and forthright. He vowed to jet ski to the islands and plant the flag of the Philippines.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/rodrigo-duterte-pledges-to-jet-ski-to-a-disputed-south-china-sea-island-20160503-goknao.html

Shortly after winning the election Duterte visited China. It is during this visit that he made his famous "Good-bye America" remarks and began strengthening the Philippines ties to China.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from the United States on Thursday, declaring he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks. 

Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he is visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate. 

"In this venue, your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States," Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people, to applause, at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. 

"I've realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines and Russia. It's the only way," Duterte told his Beijing audience.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-philippines-idUSKCN12K0AS

Now this week he has reversed course completely regarding the Spratly Islands.  From this:

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/08/24/1616870/duterte-there-will-be-reckoning-over-south-china-sea-ruling

to this:

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/150837/duterte-set-aside-un-tribunal-ruling-maritime-dispute

and now to this:

https://www.rt.com/news/384560-duterte-philippines-flag-china-friendship/

So much for that campaign promise.

The decision to not raise the flag isn't necessarily a sign of weakness or betrayal to Philippines.  After all China is sensitive and would see such an action as aggressive. It could be interpreted as a shrewd diplomatic move.  Why upset a new friend?

But this move combined with his decision to negotiate with the NPA rebels rather than wipe them out, to seek the help from ISIS financiers Saudi Arabia in securing peace in Mindanao, and his blindness to the threat of ISIS in the Philippines it looks like a betrayal.

Or stupidity of the worst kind.

Why should anyone trust Duterte in the first place?  He has said he is on the road to perdition.  He has admitted to killing men. He says good-bye America and then he asks for their help fighting terrorism while ignoring the US Embassy's terror alert for the Central Visayas. He claims to want to do what's best for the Philippines yet he declares that Abu Sayaf  are not criminals.

Men who kidnap and behead innocent people aren't criminals?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/795092/duterte-abu-sayyaf-are-not-criminals

It's hard to draw any solid conclusions from all this.  Duterte is a loose cannon who does what he wants and says what he wants.  If he wants to change his mind then so be it. Let's just hope that he hasn't decided to sell out the Philippines to China for 30 pesos of silver.

The Passion Play at Pampanga is a Magical Mystery Show

The following article is five years old but is definitely worth revisiting.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/174011/photos-of-tourists-posing-with-crosses-on-good-friday-anger-netizens

Anger and ridicule among netizens on Monday were targeted against women in skimpy shorts, believed to be tourists, posing with wooden crosses erected during the long Lenten break meant to remember the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. 

Both incidents, as confirmed by Domingo and Javier, happened on Good Friday in Angeles City, Pampanga, which, for years has been the site of various re-enactment of the Crucifixion. Some devotees went as far as having themselves nailed on the cross like Christ as part of their yearly penitence. 

Even Javier was disgusted over the blasphemous acts of these tourists. In his Facebook account, his caption for the jump shot: “Angeles Pampanga. Good Friday 3.30pm. The site of a Passion Play and the reading of the ‘Siete Palabras’. Kailangan talagang gawin ito? Even non-believers will cringe at the sight of this blatant show of disrespect and impropriety.”

Where to begin?  Let's start with Javier, the man who took those photos, accusing the tourists of blasphemy.

The whole of what happens during Easter throughout the entire Christian world, but especially in the Philippines, is a horrendous blasphemy. I say especially in the Philippines because throughout the country on Good Friday devotees scourge themselves with whips and crucify themselves in a national ritual of sympathetic magic. 

Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence.

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

The crucifixions at Pampanga are not part of  a simple "Passion Play" where the events of the Passion are reenacted so that the onlookers can see the Gospel before them.  It is a "Passion Play" like the passion plays of Osiris which reenact religious mysteries with the hope of accruing a benefit from God.

Devotees undergo the hardships in the belief that such extreme sacrifices are a way to atone for their sins, attain miracle cures for illnesses or give thanks to God. 

“I am used to it already,” said Alex Laranang, 58, who was nailed up for the 14th time. 

Laranang, a short, sunburnt man who sells baked buns to bus passengers, said: “It is just like a needle going through my hand. After two days, I am ready to go back to work again.” 

So far, he told Agence France-Presse, his suffering has been rewarded as his wife and children enjoy good health and he continues to make a decent living. 

“I am doing this for my family, so that no one will get sick and that my livelihood will continue. I am just a poor man. But I don’t ask God to make me rich,” he said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/381571/filipino-devotees-reenact-crucifixion-of-christ

That is pure and simple blasphemy more than tourists getting up on a cross and striking a Jesus Christ pose for Facebook.  

"It's just like a needle going through my hand. After two days, I am ready to go back to work." What a way to negate the horror of the cross that Jesus Christ endured.  "Ah man it was nothing. I've been crucified 14 times." Alex Laranang is deluded and blinded by Satan.  Like all of us he needs to embrace the simple Gospel of faith in Jesus Christ.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ was crucified once for all and that he rose from the dead for remission of our sins.  To commemorate this event we don't crucify ourselves or reenact the events of the Passion.

I Corinthians 11:24: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 

I Corinthians 11:25: After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 

I Corinthians 11:26: For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

The Lord's Supper, the breaking of bread symbolising His body and the pouring out of the wine symbolising His blood, are the ONLY means Jesus Christ gave us for remembering his passion. Anything else, especially crucifying yourself, is blasphemy. 

That's really enough.  Why even mention more?  This display is blasphemous.  End it. Don't participate in it.  Don't even look at it.  But there is one more thing. That thing is the commodification of the Passion from the one and only event in history that secures the salvation of mankind into a play, a spectacle.

It was the 27th crucifixion for sign painter Ruben Enaje, 52, one of the most popular penitents from San Pedro Cutud village. He began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building. 

Enaje screamed in pain as men dressed as Roman soldiers hammered stainless steel nails into his palms and feet. A wireless microphone carried his voice to loudspeakers for everyone watching to hear.

A wireless microphone carries his voice, his screams,  over loudspeakers for all to hear. This guy is the star of the show. He's up on the cross screaming and everyone is looking at him. Waiting to see if he will bleed and struggle.  Watching to see how he will endure the pain of the cross. Listening to hear if he will call out "My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?"  

Enaje is not Jesus.  He is not saving the men watching him. The onlookers are separate from him. In contrast Christ was on the cross in our place. Those who watched Jesus on the cross were either objects of his love for whom his death secured salvation or objects of his wrath for him his death meant nothing but condemnation. Those who watch Enaje being crucified are simply an audience with no stake in what is happening to him. The crucifixion of Enaje has no cosmic significance and means nothing.

The Passion Play at Pampanga is a show plain and simple and those people posing on the cross for Facebook are merely standing in the place their favourite actor played out his part.  People all over the world visit the sites where famous films were shot.  You can go to North Africa and see the film sets of the original Star Wars.

It's a show.  Plain and simple.  You could broadcast this on television and save a lot of people from making a trip to Pamapanga. I guarantee high ratings. 

The Difference Between USA and the Philippines Responses to ISIS

This has been one very active week for terrorists in the Philippines.  ISIS affiliated group Abu Sayyaf was caught on the island of Bohol looking for tourists to kidnap.  It is clear that ISIS is neither stopping nor slowing its operations in the Philippines.

Meanwhile Duterte is off to Saudi Arabia looking for help in the peace process in Mindanao.  Never mind the fact that Saudi Arabia supports ISIS and its ideology. He is out of the country looking like a fool asking for help to stop ISIS from the very people who finance ISIS while the Chief of the AFP is at home looking like a fool denying that there is any terror threat. 

If only the Philippines would follow the lead of the USA, and earlier in the week Duterte called on them to help fight terrorism, then maybe ISIS would be eliminated and Philippines could begin the slow and steady climb to first world status. Imagine if in the USA there were still rebellious Indian tribes raiding towns and scalping innocent people once in a while. This is what's going on in the Philippines.  Rebellious Muslims looking for a piece of land to call their own are raiding towns and kidnapping and killing innocent people.  

It is way past time for the Philippines to do something about its Muslim problem. And the only way to handle that problem is to kill them all.

Addhttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/795092/duterte-abu-sayyaf-are-not-criminals caption

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/888414/afp-chief-saw-no-terror-threat-day-before-bohol-clash

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/740646/Donald-Trump-president-US-ISIS-destroy-military-policy-mattis-army-Islamic-State

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/889069/us-hits-is-with-largest-non-nuclear-bomb-ever-used

The Philippines must get on the ball.  They must wake up.  They must get their heads out of the sand and realise there is no negotiating with ISIS.  They are here and they are ready to kill and be killed for their cause of establishing a worldwide Islamic Caliphate.

God help us all if the leaders of the Philippines think this is all a joke.