The God Culture: Soul and Spirit: Where Do We Go When We Die Part 3

Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture's series about the afterlife is pretty massive and cannot really be distilled into a few articles but I shall do my best. The last article dismissed three of the videos in his series as totally irrelevant. In this article I want to look at his definition of soul and spirit. Spoiler alert: they are the same. But are they really? 

Tim is very straightforward about the nature of man. Man is composed of body and spirit only.

What Is The Soul? Where Do We Go? Part 6 Answers In 2nd Esdras 23F 

10:11 We are not triune beings in either sense. We are made of really a body and a spirit which is the soul in many scriptures equated and we're going to show you so don't worry. The two are interchanged and we'll show you.

20:34 So, the spirit and soul cannot be separated into a definition of a triune being nor can they be separated in any way. They are the same in representation, see? The soul as an essence, well, that's direct new age occult, uh, basically, uh, it, it, I mean it could be better than that because it's the breath of life, okay? You could, you know, you could go there but even the word as an essence, I mean that's it just sounds so new agey it's just weird to look at that in the middle of a definition here. 

What an incredibly stupid statement. Tim has no idea what accidents and essences are. They have nothing to do with the new age or the occult. This is incredibly dumb. 

What is the soul? It is our life force.

22:40 Our soul is our being, our life force, our spirit, indeed.

Tim's main argument is that the term translated soul and spirit is general and means a multitude of things. Therefore you cannot pin down any one definition. While that is not necessarily false the fact is that simply because the word translated heart, soul, mind, spirit, and understanding can mean a wide variety of things does not mean the that they are all the same and interchangeable. It's really odd that Tim, in this video only covers ONE GREEK WORD which is G5990, psyche.

Actually it's not odd because Tim's modus operandi is to throw a lot at his listeners to make it seem as if he has covered everything when in fact he has barely scratched the surface and twisted the information he is using. There are three other words he did not cover, dianoia, nous, and cardia. They are translated mind, understanding, and heart respectively. Matthew 22:37 would then read as follows:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy KARDIA, and with all thy PSYCHE, and with all thy DIANOIA.

Why does Jesus use three different words if they all mean the same thing? It would be as silly as saying, "I am going for a drive in my car, horseless carriage, and automobile." You only need one word. 

As important as getting the definition of words correct is, I don't want to quibble over that here and I will not be ferreting out Greek definitions. There are two ways to show what Tim is saying is absolutely wrong and that the spirt/mind/heart is not the same thing as the soul.

The first way to show that Tim is wrong is by analyzing what he says in video 9 about spiritual death. Tim vehemently disagrees with the standard interpretation of God threatening death upon eating from the tree of knowledge to mean that Adam died spiritually. One cannot die spiritually except on the day of judgement says Tim. 

What Is Hell? Is It Real? Part 9 Answers In 2nd Esdras 23I

13:27 Your spirit can't die because you sin. Now, you can eternally set your position that you will be in hell, that you will die, yes, but that's not what the Bible does here. It's not playing these word games of dumb scholars that just don't get it. It doesn't do it. So, spirits don't die not unless they are consumed with eternal fire period. That is the only measure in scripture for so-called spiritual death. We do not die spiritually when we sin. Our spirits can't die. It can set it up sure but the Bible doesn't do that there and that is not what Yahuah is saying to Adam. They have rephrased Yahuah's words changing the Bible. It is a lie.

There are problems with that interpretation. First of all the Bible does say Adam would die in "the day" he ate from the tree."  

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

But it is only in Jubilees that we read an interpretation about dying in the day you eat from the tree.  Any story that comes from Jubilees is apocryphal nonsense that is rightfully ignored. That book is not and never will be scripture.  But even so Jubilees says this:

4:29 And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth. 

30  And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: 'On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.' For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.

Are we really supposed to believe that when God said you will die the day you eat from the tree he really meant you will die within a thousand years? What kind of threat or punishment is that? How does it apply to the rest of humanity who fell in Adam and are subject to the same penalty? The punishment happened then and there. Adam died. He became spiritually dead and separated from communion with God and so are we.

Secondly, the Bible says we are all spiritually dead in numerous passages. I will only list a few.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Obviously our soul is not dead as in lifeless. We are alive. But as the Bible says, we are dead in our sins while we live until Jesus Christ quickens us by the Holy Spirit. What exactly about us is dead? What did Jesus mean when he said let the dead bury their dead?

Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

How can someone dead do anything? Because Jesus means they are spiritually dead and are walking after the things of this world rather than seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The spirt and mind are not the same as the soul. Tim says the soul is the life force. Everyone has a soul, a life force. 

If the soul is our life force and there is no unique spirit or mind then all men would be the same. A force is not personal. A force is an impersonal power like combustion which powers an engine which makes a car go. Not all cars and engines are the same. But combustion is a principle which never changes. In the case of humanity the life is in the blood.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

The word translated life is the Hebrew word nepes which is translated elsewhere as soul. Obviously our blood is not our soul. But there is power in our blood which gives us life. There is a life force inside us that makes our heart beat, that powers our autonomic nervous system. Is the force that regulates our body the same as our mind, will, and emotions. Obviously not! Yet in Tim's system it would have to be because man is only body and soul.

What makes each man different is his unique spirit or mind or heart. It is clear that spirit, soul, mind, and heart are not the same thing which is why there are different words for them. In fact the Bible tells us that we were once dead in our sins and fulfilling the lusts of the body and the mind.

Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

The word in this verse translated mind is dianoia and not psyche which shows they are not the same thing. It's a shame that Tim did not discuss the meaning of dianoia and only focused on psyche. But it is only a Youtube video after all.  Maybe he will write a book on the subject?

Another word Tim did not discuss in his video is the Hebrew word translated heart or mind.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3820/kjv/wlc/0-1/

This word, leb, translates as heart, mind, or understanding as in the following verses:

Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Exodus 7:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

From the context we can see that heart does not mean breath of life or nepes which is the only Hebrew word Tim analyzes. Going through the usage it is painfully obvious that nepes is not at all the same as leb. Leb always means something immaterial. Nepes can mean the immaterial soul but it can also mean the entire person.

Genesis 14:21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

Exodus 16:16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

The fact is Timothy Jay Schwab has not proven a single thing except that the words psyche and nepes can mean many things. But so what? Looking at the context of how these words are used shows that man does have a spirt as well as a soul and a body. The soul is what gives us life and the spirit is who we are. It is what makes us unique. It is our mind and heart. It is a lot of things. Can one harden the soul? Is the life force of man deceitful as Jeremiah says? No. That is the spirit. 

Tim's analysis of these two Greek and Hebrew words for soul is very poor. It's as bad as the first two videos where, instead of giving any context, he simply points to the word sleep and says, "See? It plainly says we go to sleep when we die." 

The second way to show Timothy Jay Schwab is completely wrong in denying that man has a spirit which is distinct from a soul is to look at the nature of Jesus Christ or Christology.

To really understand man we must first understand that we are created in the image of God and that God, in the Person of Jesus Christ who is the Son, took on human flesh. Properly understanding the incarnation is essential to understanding ourselves. Jesus, the divine Second Person of the Trinity, united Himself to human flesh, and had a human soul and a human mind. 

We must understand that while Christ is not a human Person but a Divine Person, that does not mean it is the divinity that empowers the body without a soul. That is akin to the heresy known as Apollinarianism which denies that Jesus had a rational human mind.

A Christological theory, according to which Christ had a human body and a human sensitive soul, but no human rational mind, the Divine Logos taking the place of this last.

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01615b.htm

According to Apollinaris Jesus had a body and soul but the Person of Christ, the Logos, took the place of the rational mind. 

Looking at this from the dichotomy that is Tim's perspective means that Apollinaris would have taught that Jesus did not have a human soul. Instead he would have taught the Jesus had a human body but the soul, the life force, was the Logos. Kind of like God using a body as a puppet. In both schemes Jesus would not have been fully human. Every man has a soul. Every man has a rational mind or spirit. The mind is not the soul.

The Church teaches in no uncertain terms that Jesus Christ was fully man without sin. That means he had a body, soul, and mind. There is a principle taught by Gregory of Nazianzus.

If anyone has put his trust in Him as a Man without a human mind, he is really bereft of mind, and quite unworthy of salvation. For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole. Let them not, then, begrudge us our complete salvation, or clothe the Saviour only with bones and nerves and the portraiture of humanity. 

https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/gregoryofnaz_critique_of_apolliniarianism.htm

Now, I know Tim won't give a fig for what the "Synagogue of Satan" has to say unless it aids his defcient worldview but Christology is very important. It is not enough to say Jesus is God. Many heretics have said the same thing. The church spent 700 years formulating its Christology against those heretics. Jesus Christ is the Logos who became man. He united Himself to a human body, soul, and mind or spirit all while retaining his divine nature and personhood. Jesus is not a human person he is a divine person with a human nature and a divine nature. This is why we can say God was born of Mary and God died on the cross.

This was just a brief analysis and rebuttal of Tim's doctrine of the soul and spirit. As we have seen Tim's discussion of the issue is as shallow as ever. He only discussed TWO WORDS in the whole Bible which can be translated a number of ways. He did not bother to discuss all the other words which can be translated mind, spirit, or heart or analyze the contexts in which they are used. If he did he would have to come to the conclusion that man is a tripartite being made of body, soul, and spirit/mind. Did the Pharaoh harden his soul? Of course not.

Insurgency: Outlaw CPP-NPA and Front Organizations

In last week's look at the insurgency I ended with the fact that the CHED Chairman's sister was arrested for being a high ranking member of the NPA. I asked the following question:

How long until he is red-tagged by the authorities? 

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2022/08/insurgency-crush-insurgency-within.html 

Turns out not long at all!

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1182522

Senator Francis Tolentino on Tuesday said it may be time to require a full disclosure of relatives of government employees who, in one way or another, are connected with terrorist groups or criminal syndicates.

In his privilege speech on Tuesday, Tolentino said amendments must be introduced to the filing of Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) to expand queries on relatives and family relations.

“I think it is right that when one enters the government to perhaps declare that you have a relative who is a member of a terrorist organization or criminal syndicate up to the fourth degree of consanguinity,” he said.

The senator's speech was in reaction to the involvement with communists of an elder sister of Prospero de Vera III, chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Adora Faye de Vera was arrested by the police in Teacher’s Village East, Quezon City on August 24.

She is wanted for multiple murder (with the use of explosives) and multiple frustrated murder charges filed at the Iloilo City Regional Trial Court Branch 22. She also has a separate criminal case for rebellion.

“I have not seen her and I have not spoken to her for more than 25 years since she decided to rejoin the underground movement. I do not share her views nor support her actions,” the CHED chief said, but added she wished her sister is safe and in good condition while in detention.

The sister, according to Tolentino, is accused of masterminding the killing of military and police personnel in the Visayas and is a ranking officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).

“In the other branches of the government, appointed or elected, there are still some in power who have siblings connected with the CPP-NPA or a kidnap-for-ransom gang, Abu Sayyaf Group or any terrorist organization,” Tolentino said.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa supported Tolentino's proposal not to pressure government officials but for the law enforcement groups to know how to manage information.

"Like for example, a Cabinet member is given the highest level of security clearance. But then again, ‘pag malaman ng security community na may kapatid pala ito na nasa kabila (if the security community finds out that the Cabinet member has a sibling on the other side), then they know how to treat [the person]," Dela Rosa said in his manifestation of support.

Dela Rosa, who headed the Philippine National Police during the Duterte administration, said a government official may also "unknowingly" share top secret information to a relative belonging to a terror group and which can be used against the government.

He said he knows of a high-ranking officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines whose sibling is an NPA member.

"It's beyond his control. Pero (But) at least, alam ng security community na meron siyang (the security community knows that he has a) brother na nasa kabila (on the other side)," he said.

Dela Rosa was referring to Brig. Gen. Jim Zumel, who was a superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy during the Marcos Sr. administration, while his journalist brother, Tony, was the first chair of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and later became its senior adviser.

Tony died in Utrecht, the Netherlands in 2001 and Jim in 2019 shortly after coming home from the United States.

There are two things to notice here. Number one despite Prospero de Vera disavowing his sister's activities this man is being connected to those activities because of his blood relation. Second of all who does the vetting process for these people? Are we to believe that the NBI or the CA or whoever is tasked with investigating political appointees have no idea what the relatives of appointees are up to? That is appalling and just goes to show how inept the government really is. 

It reminds of the fact that even the NICA, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, says there are 300,000 to 400,000 known and named CPP-NPA-NDF members or allies working for the government!

“We know who they are, that they are even party members, supporters of the CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines]. But pinapaalam din natin sa kanila na alam natin. Alam nila na alam namin, alam ng security forces, alam ng gobyerno kung sino sila at binabantayan natin sila (We have informed them that we know. They know that we know, the security forces know, the government knows them, and we are watching them),” Monteagudo said.

As per NICA’s latest estimate, there are about 300,000 to 400,000 who are allies of different CPP-NPA-NDF front organizations.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2021/02/insurgency-military-should-learn-from.html  

If these people pose a threat then stop watching and remove them from office! The intelligence apparatus of the Philippines is so fraught with holes it is incredible. From having prior knowledge of the Marawi siege and doing nothing to prevent it to not properly vetting political appointees the holes are big and because no one wants to investigate and fix the problem they have no doubt gotten bigger over the years. 

The AFP and Department of Education has signed an agreement to prevent CPP-NPA infiltration in schools. This is an initiative VP Sara Duterte says she welcomes.  

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1182616

The Department of Education (DepEd)-Schools Division Office (SDO) of Aurora and the Army’s 91st Infantry Battalion (91IB) have teamed up for an information awareness campaign against the recruitment and infiltration of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army among students in the province.

The target of the campaign are the students in Grades 9, 10, and senior high schools.

The memorandum of agreement was signed Tuesday at the SDO-Aurora in Barangay Bacong, San Luis town between Schools Division Superintendent of Aurora Dr. Catalina Paez and 91IB commander Lt. Col. Julito Recto Jr., and witnessed by DepEd–Aurora and 91IB officials.

Paez said on Wednesday the DepEd family is fortunate for having a partnership with the Philippine Army.

“There is a saying that it takes a village to take a child. Our department is looking for partners who will provide and help us. We are continuing to negotiate with our partners with a good heart that will help our youth and the community. Every centavo, time and efforts that our partners gave are important to our department,” she said in an interview.

Under the partnership, the DepEd will support the efforts of the 91IB in lawfully reaching out to students who shall receive education from the DepEd about ending local communist armed conflict.

The DepEd will allow the youth information awareness campaign in the vicinity of pre-identified schools provided that the plan of instruction (POI), consisting of the subject/topic of the education campaigns, the medium/methodology of instruction, duration of instruction, shall have been evaluated and approved by the regional task force.

Meanwhile, the 91IB will commit to implementing a youth information awareness campaign, giving due consideration to gender-sensitive, child-friendly, and safe environments in the schools.

The 91IB will also maintain coordinative linkage with the DepEd by providing the department and the head of the school with information on where the program shall be held, with the proposal of the program and the plan of instruction before its conduct.

“Our objective is to communicate with the students on matters about the local communist armed conflict through the implementation of the program youth information awareness campaign wherein it is part of the DepEd’s vision of producing Filipinos who passionately love their country and whose values and competencies enable them to realize their full potential and contribute meaningfully to building the nation,” Recto said.

That is a whole lot of nothing. How exactly is the CPP-NPA infiltrating grade 9, 10, and 11 students? They don't say. How will such infiltration be stopped? Through a youth information awareness campaign? That is very broad. As should be well known by now the AFP has red tagged all the alleged CPP fronts so they should come out and say they will be teaching students to stay away from those groups but they don't even say that. 

In fact one member of the House wants to revive the subversion law and make membership in the CPP-NPA-NDF or one of their front organizations a criminal offense. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1182724

A party-list lawmaker on Thursday filed a measure proposing to outlaw the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and all other organizations supporting them in their recruitment, operations, and financial transactions.

Duterte Youth Party-List Representative Drixie Mae Cardema filed House Bill 4324, which seeks to declare the CPP-NPA-NDF and all organizations supporting them as "illegal" and "outlawed".

"For the defense of our Republic and protection of the Filipino youth from being recruited as terrorist fighters, it is imperative that we provide this strong legal measure to support our government, our government troops, and the millions of peace-loving Filipinos in securing our society from the said terrorist activities," Cardema said.

The bill states that anyone who becomes or remains a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF or any organization supporting them shall be punished by the penalty of prision mayor and shall be disqualified permanently from holding any public office, appointive or elective, and his/her real and personal properties shall be confiscated.

In case of a second conviction, the principal penalty shall be reclusion temporal, and in all subsequent convictions, the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be imposed.

This bill is similar to and likely is the same bill Cardema filed in December 2020. That would be House Bill 8231.

https://hrep-website.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/legisdocs/basic_18/HB08231.pdf

Neither bill 8231 or 4324 define which groups are front groups or support groups of the CPP-NPA-NDF. Such an omission is crucial as it is an admission that despite labeling the Makabayan Bloc a front group when it comes down to it they are not sure enough to put it into law. Without that definition this bill is dangerous and would transform innocent people into criminals. 

Human rights workers are routinely accused of being CPP fronts. This week one activist claims he was abducted and forced to admit being a Communist. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1655780/activist-forced-to-admit-hes-a-rebel-says-group

In a statement, CPA said Stephen Tauli, 63, was taken by five men on Aug. 20 and was detained for hours in Tabuk City before he was released a day later.

“We equally expect resolute investigation by the local authorities and the PNP (Philippine National Police) to ascertain truth and accountability on this latest violation against a staunch advocate of IP (indigenous people) and human rights,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said in a statement.

Tauli’s abduction happened weeks after CPA petitioned the Court of Appeals to grant them a writ of amparo to protect its members from threats posed by Red-tagging allegedly committed by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), other law enforcement agencies, and the government intelligence community.

According to CPA, social media posts portrayed their members as “communist terrorists,” which made them easy targets of aggression by elements of the police in the entire region.In the group’s petition for a writ of amparo, CPA counsel Francesca Macli-ing-Claver said these online posts were “repeated, or repackaged with [the same] content, and reposted” within the network of policemen and the military.

Tauli, who is not party to the petition, was buying provisions at a small grocery in Tabuk near the CPA office in the Kalinga provincial capital when five masked men dragged him into a van at 6:45 p.m., according to CPA’s account.

The group said Tauli, brother of former United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues chair Victoria Tauli Corpuz, was beaten up, handcuffed and blindfolded while he was pressing his abductors to reveal their identities or their ranks, believing they were policemen or soldiers.

According to CPA, Tauli later “pleaded that [his abductors] should use legal means by filing a case through the courts, and [had demanded that they] bring him to the police station or military camp instead of bringing him to an unknown location.”Tauli’s abductors responded by talking about the NTF-Elcac “and its objective of stopping the insurgency problem in the country,” CPA said.

It added: “They interrogated him about his work … [and] wanted him to confirm the identities of [individuals] tied to the CPP-NPA (the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed revolutionary wing, the New People’s Army).”

Tauli was reportedly transferred to another vehicle and taken to a secluded house two hours later.

After further interrogation, CPA said the masked men allegedly forced Tauli to “sign a sworn statement admitting the supposed position he was alleged to be holding in the CPP-NPA leadership,” which he was made to read while being recorded.

Tauli was released on the night of Aug. 21 and was found dazed and in shock by CPA members who had been searching for him.

If it was government officials who abducted this man that is appalling. It is appalling either way. It would not be surprising if it were AFP or PNP agents who abducted Tauli seeing as the government has been doing its level best to pin his sister as a being a rebel.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-rights-un-idUSKCN1GM0HO

The Philippine justice ministry last month filed a petition in a Manila court seeking the declaration of more than 600 alleged communist guerrillas as “terrorists”, according to the document seen by Reuters.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, was listed as a member of the Maoist rebel group. She has denied the allegations.

“The charges are entirely baseless and malicious,” Tauli-Corpuz told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

“The government sees this as an opportunity to pursue people they don’t like. I am worried for my safety and the safety of others on the list, including several rights activists.”

Hounding innocent people is not the way to win the fight against the insurgency. But that seems to be the path the Philippines has chosen.

Senator Loren Legarda says peace talks should resume. 

https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/loren-legarda-defends-cpp-ndf-ideologies-a00203-20220831

Legarda, likewise, expressed concern over the attacks on ideologies that deviate from the mainstream. These comments come during an epidemic of "red-tagging" and the banning of "subversive" books in the country.

"Believing in an ideology which may be different from the majority, in layman's term believing in philosophies that may left-center so to speak, does not make anyone subversive...  I hope that the peace talks can be revived so that we...  can work together towards peace, equity, and authentic, real reforms in the countryside," she said.

Legarda then declared: ''All I can say is that having celebrated National Heroes' Day yesterday, there are many heroes in our midst whom we see and who we do not see and know. Even heroes who may be associated with the CPP. I declare that I have worked with the NDF, and I am not ashamed of it.''

She also explained that there isn't any law or pronouncement from the government that has stated that the "CPP or similar organizations, movements, beliefs, associations" are enemies of the state. "If we see and study what they actually believe and want, it is social justice," she emphasized.

The four-time senator added: "I would not pass judgement and label certain organizations whose beliefs may be different from the general majority... When we look at it, we bear similar objectives, visions, dreams for our people.''

Legarda has been a long-time advocate of peace talks. In 1999, Legarda helped facilitate the safe releases of late General Victor Obillo, then Captain Eduardo Montealto, and then Sergeant Alpio Lozada, among others, who were then held captive by rebel groups.

CPP members can be heroes? Legarda has gotten a lot of flack for these statements but it should never be forgotten that Duterte said the same things while he was Mayor of Davao.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/704460/duterte-defends-allowing-heros-burial-for-slain-npa-leader

Anti-communist leader Pastor Alcover even wrote on his Facebook page that Duterte should be condemned.

“Parago is dead. Death is permanent. But to me when the person is dead it is all even,” Duterte retorted.

He said while Parago was a communist leader, he should be respected for his ideology.

“After all, that guy is not an ugly guy. He was not a robber. He did not sell drugs. He was there dreaming of a different setup for the Philippines. That is all his sin,” the feisty mayor said.

Duterte said there was nothing wrong in his talks with the NPA either because as a mayor, one of his jobs is to ensure the city was peaceful and free from communist-led violence.

“I cannot seal my door. I need a window to talk to the CPP-NPA,” he said.

Duterte also openly admitted that he was not against the NPA and its ideology of social equality.

“I am not against you. I will not fight against you. We have the same view of the government and politics,” he said.

Duterte said he had "the same view of government and politics" as the NPA and was never condemned by the nation for saying that. Those condemning Legarda are probably so ignorant that they don't even know Duterte uttered such treason. 

The Philippines Has No National Heroes

National Heroes Day has come and gone but the naysaying of the naysayers still lingers. Let's take a look at what Rigoberto Tiglao has written about this auspicious day. 

https://twitter.com/bobitiglao/status/1563998890910949376

There is so much to unpack in Tiglao's tweet and headline but let's go straight to his column where he buttresses these claims.

TODAY is National Heroes' Day. What is strange about this holiday, so important that the country gives up a full day of working, that workers paid daily suffer, is the law that ordered it. Commonwealth Act 3827 of Oct. 28, 1931 did not specify who were the heroes the day was celebrating.

However, this day doesn't honor anybody, as we have no law declaring who are our national heroes.

We have simply assumed that Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo and six others are our national heroes. President Ramos organized in 1995 the Philippine National Heroes Committee that officially recommended those who were to be officially recognized as national heroes, other than the first three mentioned above. These were Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo H. del Pilar. Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat, Juan Luna, Melchora Aquino and Gabriela Silang.

However, no law has been passed to implement the committee's findings.

We are a republic of laws, no matter how many books and historians claim that Rizal and company are heroes, these are not worth the retail price of those books.

Take note that at no point in this opinion piece does Tiglao ever justify the need of a law to dictate who is and who is not a Philippine National Hero. That is a glaring omission on his part. He just assumes a law is needed. Though he mentions the 1995 Philippine National Heroes Committee he does not really get into the nitty gritty of why such a committee was needed and why anyone should pay attention to their findings. 

There is no law declaring Rizal et al. as heroes. The laws instituting holidays celebrating Rizal (December 30, his execution) and Bonifacio (November 30, his birth) do not declare them as heroes. The one for Rizal for instance was originally in mourning for his execution.

Is it a big deal that we don't even have an official list of our heroes, but we celebrate a National Heroes' Day? Certainly.

It reflects our very weak sense of nationalism. The concept of heroes is an essential part of the concept of a nation. Why would somebody devote his life, and even sacrifice it, for a ghostly "nation," an entity most of whose members he has never really met, which the renowned historian Benedict Anderson called an "imagined community." In Rizal and Bonifacio's case — as well as those for the leaders of the revolution — there wasn't even an "imagined community" but a community that was in the process of being imagined.

Still, we believe in this imagined community as a nation which is in this era of humanity the most important organization we will ever be part of. But how can our people identify with this association if there are no heroes emblematic of the nation?

I said that Tiglao does not justify the need for a law declaring who are national heroes but here he does give a lame excuse. "It reflects our weak sense of nationalism." How? He does not say. Therefore this is not a justification but a begging of the question. Are there not plenty of stalwart nationalists in the Philippines without such a list? It is interesting that he calls the Philippines an "imagined community." I said as much when I wrote that the Philippines does not exist. 

The fact is the Philippines is a collection of various people groups who, against their will, have been forged into one political entity but otherwise maintain their distinct cultures be it Visayan, Cebuano, Illocano, Tagalog, or Igorot. The Philippines only exists as a political fiction. 

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2022/08/top-10-lies-about-philippines.html 

Tiglao's reasoning that the recommendations of the 1995 Philippine National Heroes Committee were never enshrined in law comes down to this: the Yellows!

Why did Ramos balk at declaring our national heroes, whose list was painstakingly and rigorously arrived at by a committee of distinguished historians.

One explanation is that the Yellow forces — even Corazon Aquino himself — demanded that the roster of heroes include Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. Ramos, the practical man and still dependent on Cory for his political strength, abandoned the project, with succeeding presidents following his successful tack.

The Yellows actually had tried to revive that project during President Noynoy Aquino's regime, as columnist Randy David inadvertently in effect reminded me in his column on Sunday.

Obviously trying to say that Ninoy Aquino should be declared a hero, David wrote; "It is remarkable that in a 2011 Social Weather Stations opinion poll on the personalities that Filipinos regard as genuine Filipino heroes, Ninoy ranked No. 3 — after Rizal and Bonifacio. (Thanks to Mahar Mangahas for bringing this out in his column the other day.) Together with Cory Aquino at No. 4, Apolinario Mabini at No. 5 and Emilio Aguinaldo at No. 6 — these names were the only ones that received double-digit percentage mentions."

What David didn't report is that the Aquinos — through Noynoy — were back in total power by July 2010 and had been undertaking two years before the poll a huge propaganda project to revive the Ninoy-Cory myth. This was undertaken as they saw such myth was the only factor to propel the unqualified, lackluster Noynoy's bid for the presidency in 2010. As I have pointed out in several columns, the Yellow-leaning SWS has demonstrated in several instances sophisticated techniques through their questionnaires and poll timing to produce results that are what the financiers surveys want for their propaganda aims.

There was one problem with that poll though, so that the Yellows couldn't go to town with it. Reflecting their intellectual dishonesty, David and Mangahas did not mention at all an amazing finding of the poll: Ferdinand Marcos was ranked seventh as a national hero, beating Ramon Magsaysay, Lapulapu, Marcelo del Pilar and 13 others who would be candidates as Philippine heroes.

The Yellow leaning SWS?  Does he mean the same poll group that showed Bongbong Marcos had a substantial lead over Robredo and that Duterte had the highest approval rating of any politician in the entire world?  Excuse me, what!??  Tiglao is so disingenuous it is unbelievable. He cannot even keep his conspiracy theories straight. 

Look how he talks about the Aquinos being back in power due to propaganda "to revive the Ninoy-Cory myth!"  How does he think Bongbong got elected? Is he totally unaware of the decades long revisionism campagin to clear the Marcos' family name? This man's political myopia is incredible! And it is deliberate.

His rumination that Cory demanded her husband be on the list of national heroes is unfounded and he offers no proof for that charge. Likewise his analysis of the SWS survey from 2011 is sorely lacking. He says we should take note that Ferdinand Marcos came in seventh place as if that meant something.  Here are the results. 

http://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20151211164506

Not only did Marcos fail to get double digit support, he is sitting at 5.1%, but Manny Pacquiao is also on this list!! Does Tiglao think that Manny is a national hero? Well, he should if he takes this list as Gospel truth. 

Now for the coup de grace.

That we don't have official heroes has made us a pathetic country, and we have even debased its meaning to a ridiculous one and to a more dangerous level of propaganda. It is hypocritical or patronizing to call our overseas workers the new heroes, "bagong bayani." It is not true that OFWs have chosen to work abroad because they can't find work here or have chosen to serve the country by working in foreign lands so they can send dollars to her so it can beef up its international reserves.

They've chosen to work abroad because the pay is much better overseas, of course, since those countries have a higher level of development. How can they be heroes? Half or even more of my middle-class classmates at Ateneo have chosen to work abroad — and live there as citizens.

The more dangerous consequence of our failure to declare our real heroes is that the Left in conspiracy with the Yellows have defined as heroes those who fought, or even remotely were against martial law.

And these forces have been undertaking a well-funded and intense project to do so. Take it from me as I was part of that project. The Bantayog ng mga Bayani has been run by the Left, funded since Cory's time by the Lopezes.

Not having a list of official heroes makes the Philippines pathetic?  Does this man even live here?  The Philippines is pathetic for so many reasons and it's not because there is no official list of heroes. Just read this blog because tat is what I cover five days a week! The hubris of this guy!

I can agree that that concept of hero has certainly been degraded as now everyone who does thier job and duty is called a hero. But maybe OFW's are heroes. They have no obligation to go abroad and send all their pay back home. Let us not forget that OFW remittances prop up the nation and are an important source of  the GDP. 

Duterte himself has even lauded OFWs as heroes!

https://pia.gov.ph/news/2021/12/31/duterte-lauds-heroism-of-ofws-amid-rizal-day-rites

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Thursday lauded the heroism of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), which coincided with the 125th anniversary of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal.

The Chief Executive urged everyone to emulate the heroism and courage of Dr. Jose Rizal through his service to the country with dedication and integrity.

Apart from the 2022 National Budget, President Duterte also signed the Department of Migrant Workers Act.

Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go had earlier said that the creation and establishment of the said department is one of the priorities of President Duterte.

It can be recalled that the Chief Executive certified such a proposal as urgent in March.

With the signing of the Department of Migrant Workers Act, an estimated 2.2 million Filipinos working abroad are expected to benefit based on the 2019 Survey on Overseas Filipinos released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2020.

With the establishment of the department, President Duterte once again recognized the heroism of the considered ‘modern day heroes’, the OFWs.

Is Duterte a Red or a Yellow?  Has he been duped by them? Well, perhaps. He did allow a hero's burial to an NPA leader back when he was Mayor of Davao.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/704460/duterte-defends-allowing-heros-burial-for-slain-npa-leader

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has continued to defend his decision to allow a hero’s burial for slain New People’s Army (NPA) leader Leoncio Pitao here on Friday, saying there was nothing wrong with it.

Criticisms against Duterte flooded the social media and accused him of being a communist too after he allowed the NPA to hold a funeral march for Pitao, also known as Parago, here.

“Parago is dead. Death is permanent. But to me when the person is dead it is all even,” Duterte retorted.

He said while Parago was a communist leader, he should be respected for his ideology.

“After all, that guy is not an ugly guy. He was not a robber. He did not sell drugs. He was there dreaming of a different setup for the Philippines. That is all his sin,” the feisty mayor said.

Duterte said there was nothing wrong in his talks with the NPA either because as a mayor, one of his jobs is to ensure the city was peaceful and free from communist-led violence.

“I cannot seal my door. I need a window to talk to the CPP-NPA,” he said.

Still on allowing the funeral march for the slain NPA leader, during which, red-shirted NPA supporters and suspected members waved communist flags on the streets of the city, Duterte said he told security officials to allow it.

“We should not be contrasting on death. I’m your mayor. It’s not my job to do the fighting,” he said.

Duterte also openly admitted that he was not against the NPA and its ideology of social equality.

“I am not against you. I will not fight against you. We have the same view of the government and politics,” he said.

Duterte said he was not against the NPA but shared their view of government and politics. Not a peep from Tiglao about that during the last six years. 

What about President Bongbong?  

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1182854

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. guaranteed that his administration would give importance, support and protection to the country's modern heroes.

Marcos called health care workers, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), teachers, and athletes as among the country’s "present-day" heroes.

"(All of them will help make our country a 'new' Philippines)," he said in his weekly vlog uploaded on his official Facebook page on Saturday.

"(My dream for our modern heroes is to give them the importance, support, and protection they need to enable them to continue fulfilling their missions)," he added.

Has Bongbong been duped by the Yellows and Reds into thinking athletes, teachers, and OFWs are heroes? 

That Tiglao could overlook the proclamations of both Duterte and Bongbong and blame Reds and Yellows ALONE for debasing the concept of a hero is infuriating. This man is a propagandist and not an honest opinion writer!

Tiglao's assertion that with no official national heroes the Left and the Yellows have conspired to define "as heroes those who fought, or even remotely were against martial law" is unfounded and he offers no proof except "dude trust me."

The Bantayog ng mga Bayani is not unlike the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. It is a wall with a list of names of those who fought against and resisted the brutal dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Some of then even died.

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

The central element of the Bantayog memorial is the granite "Wall of Remembrance" on which are inscribed the names of the martyrs and heroes who were the victims of the abuses of the Marcos dictatorship.

Individuals honored on the wall are nominated by victims' families, civic organization members, or the general public. These nominations are reviewed under a set of criteria by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Memorial Foundation's Research and Documentation Committee, which makes recommendations to its executive committee for further review. The Foundation's Board of Trustees then gives the final approval.

The initial intent had been to honor victims who had been martyred during the dictatorship period, but after extensive deliberations, the foundation decided to also honor people who advocated freedom, justice, and democracy during the Marcos administration who lived beyond the People Power Revolution.

As of 2019, 316 names have been enshrined on the Wall of Remembrance.

Ang Mamatay ng Dahil sa 'Yo: Heroes and Martyrs of the Filipino People in the Struggle Against Dictatorship 1972-1986 published in 2015 by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, features short biographies of the "heroes and martyrs of the... resistance against the martial law dictatorship."

Look at that. Not only are these names chosen by a diverse committee but even the Historical Commission of the Philippines is involved in this project. Are they in cahoots with the Left and the Yellows to honor fake heroes? Tiglao does not say. More importantly why does Tiglao continue to defend the brutal and bloody dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos when he himself was a victim having been arrested by the constabulary for being a Communist!

I can speak of only five Marcos detention centers where I was incarcerated, together with my late wife Raquel, from 1973 to 1974: the Philippine Constabulary’s (PC) 5th Constabulary Unit in Camp Crame; that of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in Camp Aguinaldo; that of the National Intelligence Coordinating Authority in its headquarters at V. Luna Road in Quezon City (where it still is); as well as the Ipil Youth Rehabilitation Center and the maximum security Youth Rehabilitation Center, both in Fort Bonifacio—these latter two being the biggest during the Martial Law period.

I was arrested in July 1973, together with nearly all of the Communist Party’s Manila-Rizal Regional Committee, which I headed.

https://rigobertotiglao.com/2016/09/25/what-marcos-prisons-were-really-like/

Not only a Communist but the leader of a regional committee!!  

Maybe we should get rid of Heores Day altogether. After all, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. All the founding fathers of the Philippines were Masons who fought not for the people but for the principles of Freemasonry. The Philippine Revolution was by no means a revolution of the people.

https://grandlodge.ph/sites/default/files/cabletow/Cabletow1955-7.pdf

“I HAVE FREQUENTLY wondered why so many of my associates were Freemasons during those days in which we fought for the independence of the Philippines during the last decades of Spanish sovereignty, and I always reached the same conclusion as our Bro. George Washington probably did during the Revolutionary War in America; all these men, at the time of being initiated in Masonry, had been submitted to a minute investigation, and their obligations, taken before the altar of Freemasonry, were a guarantee of the trust to be put in them. It was very seldom in those days that our judgment as to the mettle of those men was wrong. The list of honor of our leaders at that time of relentless struggle is equivalent to a list of the prominent Brethren in Freemasonry. They were Filipinos of whom even then we were already proud, and who became immortals. There is not a child in our schools who does not feel elated on hearing the names of those patriot Masons—Brothers Rizal, Del Pilar, Lopez Jaena, Mabini, Bonifacio, Candido Tirona, the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite, and many others who offered their lives for the independence of their country.

It cannot be denied that the Filipino Revolution against Spain was the work and glory of Freemasonry in the Philippines. 

The Catholic Church condemns Masonry in no uncertain terms. 

Let no one think that for any reason whatsoever he is permitted to join the Masonic sect, if his profession of Catholicism and his salvation is worth as much to him as it ought to be. Let no pretended probity deceive one; for it can seem to some that the Freemasons demand nothing which is openly contrary to the sanctity of religion and morals, but since the entire reasoning and aim of the sect itself rest in viciousness and shame, it is not proper to permit association with them, or to assist them in any way.

https://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/dxp.htm

Why should the devoutly Catholic Philippine nation revere as heroes Masons condemned by the Church? Those who condemn the 1986 EDSA revolution as not being a true "people power" movement should also condemn the 1898 revolution which was planned in the secret halls of the Freemasons and had nothing to do with the people. But they won't. Men like Rigoberto Tiglao are too obtuse to be consistent in their bellicose and ultimately intellectually bankrupt opinions. 

Manny Pacquiao is on the SWS list of heroes along with the Aquinos and Ferdinand Marcos. What does that say about the people? Manny is an excellent boxer but how does that make him a hero? Is Hildilyn Diaz, the Philippines' first gold winning Olympic Champion a hero? How about Tony Tan Cakitong the founder of Jollibee's? Jollibee's Chicken has been declared the best fried chicken in the USA.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/8/16/Jollibee-Chickenjoy-best-chicken.html?fb

Eater’s special projects editor Lesley Suter explained why Chickenjoy has been hailed as the best fried chicken in the United States.

"The subtly seasoned skin is as tectonically crunchy as advertised, if loosely attached in such a way as to be able to slide off an entire hunk with one bite,” she said.

“But the real surprise here was the chicken itself: satisfyingly light, flavorful in a tastes like chicken sort of way, and supremely moist," she added.

Suter also praised Jollibee’s gravy, saying it “completes the dish, proudly showing its Filipino colors with a hefty dose of sugar.”

Does heroism equal national pride? If so then all those just listed are certainly heroes. 

If the Philippines does not exist except as an imaginary community, as Rigoberto Tiglao writes, how can it have any heroes!? How can it have anything at all?

Antique Veterinary Office Tells Dog Owners to Provide Anesthesia and Antibiotics for Free Dog Castration

Without a doubt stray dogs are a public safety hazard. Here is the most recent case of a stray dog causing the death of a person. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/461681/club-employee-killed-in-accident-in-lapu-after-trying-to-avoid-stray-dog

A club employee did not make it home after he died due to a road accident in Lapu-Lapu City on Thursday morning, September 1.

Local police from Lapu-Lapu City confirmed that a 33-year-old man was killed in a freak accident along Brgy. Basak there. 

The victim was identified as Mark Caballero, a resident of A. Lopez Street, Cebu City. Caballero, according to police, was an employee of a club located also in Brgy. Basak.

Police Staff Sergeant Junell Mayola of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO) said Caballero was on his way home around 6 a.m. on Thursday.

While traversing the southbound lane of the highway, a stray dog crossed the road, prompting him to swerve the motorcycle he was driving. As a result, Caballero crashed onto the center island, head first. 

Mayola also clarified that the victim was wearing his helmet, contrary to reports circulating on social media. He added that the helmet flew off due to the impact of the crash.

This man was not killed in a freak accident. He was killed when he swerved his motorcycle to avoid hitting a stray dog. An accident to be sure but not a freak one like frozen human waste falling into your house from an airplane. 

The solution is simple: get rid of stray dogs. However, seeing as street dogs, known as aspins, are the national breed it is not as easy as destroying them and there would be a huge public outcry if that happened. Remember the fiasco over Oplan Dog Hang?

"Wag nang manlaban, isuko na ang alagang hayop! Upang hindi na makapinsala at makadumi sa kapaligiran."

This phrase translates roughly to:

"Don't resist, surrender your pet dog. In order not to harm and pollute the environment."

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2018/09/oplan-dog-hang.html 

Castration and sterilization are the more humane ways to end the stray problem.  Antique is seeking to reduce its dog population by offering free castration. There is only one catch.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1182725

Antique’s Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) Office will conduct mass dog castration this whole month of September to limit the dog population and deter possible cases of rabies in the province.

 

“The ProVet staff will be going to the different municipalities of the province for the activity, depending on the schedule given by the municipal agriculture officers,” Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil, chief of ProVet’s public health division, said in an interview on Thursday.

 

Ardamil said three veterinarians of the office would conduct the castration but dog owners would be the ones to provide the anesthetic, antibiotic, and other needs.

How in the world will dog owners be able to procure anesthesia and antibiotics? You have to be a doctor to get your hands on those things. This is ridiculous. Perhaps they mean the owners has to pay for those things but then that makes the castration not free at all. And are they really going to go house to house castrating dogs?  You need to do that in a sterile environment. You can't just do it anywhere without risking infection or worse. Maybe they have a truck where they perform the operation? Who knows? I do know no owners are going to be able to provide anesthesia or antibiotics.