Act of God: Defending God

Whoever invented the phrase “act of God” must hate God.
The inventor refers the phrase “act of God” to natural calamities, disasters, mayhem, perils, damages.
This is unfair because it creates a mis-impression that everytime there is a natural disaster, it is a result from God’s intervention.
We--- as Christians--- believe that God does not desire to harm His own children.
Besides, if there is a natural calamity, there is no evidence, nay eyewitness, that God really was principal by direct participation in causing such calamity.
Neither can there be evidence that God masterminded the perpetration of such calamity.
So by blaming natural disasters, and human sufferings to “acts of God” is a product of human imagination.
It is hearsay.
It is a conclusion that has no basis.
So I do not know why human sufferings resulting from natural causes like volcanic eruption, lightning, landslides, flooding, are attributable to “acts of God”.
The phrase “acts of God” is even accepted as part legal language.
The Supreme Court recognizes the phrase acts of God.
For example, the case Philippine Bar Association versus Court of Appeals (October 3, 1986) defines an act of God this way:
“An act of God has been defined as an accident, due directly and exclusively to natural causes without human intervention, which by no amount of foresight, pains or care, reasonably to have been expected, could have been prevented”.
I disagree with this.
In the first place, if it is an accident, then how could it be an act of God?
To legally recognize the phrase “act of God” is, to my mind, illegal.
Even the Bible clearly states that God's plans are not for man to suffer but to prosper.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11)
On the other and, and to be fair, I think reference to an “act of God” is equated with an event caused by natural causes, as opposed to events attributable to acts of man.
But this is no excuse.
We should not bring God into the picture as a cause, when natural disasters occur.
There are other more appropriate words like “force majeure” (fuerza mayor) for “fortuitous events”.
Kawawa naman si Lord.
The Supreme Court should be the one to remove the phrase “acts of God” from the annals of jurisprudence.
God must be rolling in anger everytime a natural disaster happens, and people refer to it as an “act of God”
It’s unfair to God.

Jabez' prayer

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of acquainting with a person named Jabez.
Fr. Mario Bije, SVD introduced me to Jabez’ prayer.
Fr. Mario told me, he thinks he has been given the gift of prayer-healing.
Jabez, the priest says, is peculiarly special.
Among his brothers, Jabez was more honorable.
Yet, Jabez was born from pain.
I don’t know how many mothers would name a son, Jabez.
Jabez means giving birth to a child in pain.
I am not sure if the “pain” that Jabez brought was labor pain at the time of his birth that his mother suffered.
Or it could have been the pain of shame brought about by his birth, perhaps due to having been born without a known father, or out of wedlock.
Jabez is special because he petitioned the Lord in a prayer.
And the Lord granted his petitions.
If the Lord grants your prayer, you must be special.
The prayer of Jabez has become a model prayer for many.
To many, the prayer has done wonders.
As a matter of fact, Jabez’ simple prayer was even subject of a book that became a best seller.
The prayer of Jabez goes this way:
“Oh, that you would bless me, and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.”
In this two-sentence prayer of twenty nine words, Jabez prays for four things, that the Lord generously granted.
First: prayer for blessing. Jabez asked the Lord to bless him.
“Oh that you would bless me,” asked Jabez in his prayer.
Second: prayer for influence.
Jabez then asked the Lord to “enlarge my territory”
This is not a request for physical territory like expanding land ownership, for that is the work of land-grabbers.
Jabez’ request was that the Lord grant him greater influence among others.
Third: prayer for power.
Then Jabez asked the Lord “Let your hand be with me”.
This is a prayer seeking God’s hand that is all-powerful.
Fourth: prayer for protection.
Jabez asked the Lord for protection by asking, “keep me from harm so I will be free from pain”
So Jabez’ short prayer is a prayer for blessing, influence, power and protection.
The Lord granted these requests to Jabez.
I like the prayer of Jabez.
Its simple, crisp, direct, frank, straight-forward.
Why don’t you make Jabez’ prayer, your prayer too?
(The prayer of Jabez is found in 1 Chronicles chapter 4 verse 9).

Easter reflections: Celebrate life

Happy Easter!
For many of us in the Christian world, Easter is a celebration of life.
On Easter, Christians commemorate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Easter marks the defeat of death, and the victory of life.
In my personal reflections of Easter, I hope continually, that life, precious as it is, will continually be celebrated and upheld.
Those who aim to defeat life should be condemned.
Unfortunately, reality paints a different picture.
It seems there are quarters who aim to defeat life, instead of upholding it.
For instance in Davao City, the mayor there appears to be on the defensive in the wake of a string of condemnations by human rights institutions against the so-called Davao Death Squads (DDS).
Nobody has directly accused the Davao mayor of being behind these death squads in Davao, which has been tagged as responsible for more than eight hundred extrajudicial killings in Davao since 1998.
There are now unavoidable calls for a thorough investigation into these mysterious killings in Davao.
Leading the calls is the Commission on Human Rights, and even international human rights groups like the New York-based Human Rigths Watch.
Even before Holy Week, the Roman Catholic church urged prayers, and enlightenment against the continued extrajudicial killings, which aim to defeat life.
Sadly, there are sectors who condone extrajudicial killings.
Even politicians see salvaging as a convenient way of complying with their legal mandate to "maintain peace and order."
It is not surprising that local politicians---for their political and personal reasons---turn a blind eye to summary executions.
Dumaguete City is not far behind Davao City, when it comes to the proliferation of extrajudicial killings.
The Commission on Human Rights should also investigate the summary killings in Dumaguete City, if only to do justice to those who have been summarily killed.
There is no need to stress that extrajudicial killings, summary executions, salvagings---no matter how they are called---are illegal.
The legality of summary executions is not debatable.
It should not have any room in a civilized society.
But why do local politicians turn blind and deaf when it comes to summary executions?
The reason is obvious.
It covers their inability and incompetence to maintain peace and order in a lawful manner.
It is to the politicians' political (and personal) advantage to "see-no-evil and hear-no-evil" when it comes to extrajudicial killings.
Their principle is: If someone else sweeps the streets of dirt, why stop it?
The big problem is that salvagings, summary executions always target the poor.
Haven't you noticed?
These so-called drug pushers, criminals (already pre-judged as such) made targets of summary killings, always belong to the economically disadvantaged.
Many of them are people driven or forced to illegal activities because government has failed to provide them decent jobs to feed their families.
"Kapit sa patalim", in other words.
Have you ever heard of a millionaire drug lord being targeted for summary killing?
In the city of Manila, those salvaged are small-time snatchers, petty thieves.
But the big-time, white-collar criminals are never targeted.
Why is that so?
Those involved in big-time swindling of hard-earned peoples' money invested in educational, pension plans are never targets of summary killings.
Those corrupt government officials, who bleed our public coffers dry by exacting fat commissions from government contracts, are spared.
Government officials who incur millions of pesos of unliquidated cash advances are never targets of summary executions.
Instead, they are heralded as "honorable".
My opposition to summary killings is not only based on legalities.
For that would be a no-brainer.
My opposition is based on social considerations.
Extrajudicialy killings only manifest and magnify our social inequities.
I oppose summary killings because it is always aimed at the poor.
I condemn summary killings because they aim to defeat life.
As we mark Easter, please pray for the continued celebration of life, like we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Christmas reflections

Christmas, for me has always been a time for reflection.
Christmas is special because I truly believe in salvation through Jesus Christ.
I also believe in my heart that we are saved by God’s grace, not by our deeds. That is how good the Lord is to us, His children.
All the Lord wants from us is to obey His commandment, that is to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our strength.
So since Christmas is at the end of the year, I usually spend time to reflect whether or not I have fulfilled His commandment.
For me, the genuine measure of success in life is to determine how we have fared in obeying God’s simple commandment.
I try looking back at the significant things that I have done this past year.
Then I find out whether or not these things were in obedience to Gods commandment.
Many times, I must admit, in my reflections, I have failed Him.
I look back what happened this year and I think many times, rather than loving God, I have loved myself with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength.
I think that is called selfishness.
Many times, I have taken the easy road, rather than that bumpy road less traveled.
Many times, I have not been honest.
What a tragedy, I must say.
What a failure, I must add.
I recall attending a lecture in Legal Ethics, recently.
The speaker began the lecture by asking how many of the lawyers in attendance have asked for a postponement of a court hearing.
Everyone raised their hands.
The speaker asked, were you honest in your reasons for asking for postponement?
No one answered.
The truth is, there is a host of colorful reasons for skipping court hearings: having diarrhea, the witness has high blood pressure, stomach ache, conflict of schedule, etc.
Lawyers have a reputation of being liars because even in the simplest of things (asking for postponements), they cannot be honest.
Not surprisingly, they become the butt of jokes.
Bato bato sa langit, ang taman huwag magalit.
I have to be “lawyer enough” to admit this.
Guilty.
What is relieving and consoling, is God’s faithful assurance that despite my failures, God will save me out of His grace.
After reflecting, I try to look forward and do better next year.
I hope that we will have time to reflect about our sins this past year, and avoid them next year.
If everyone does this, I think the world will become a better place to live.
Merry Christmas!

Shake Off, Stand over

Today Sunday I attended mass.
The homily was the parable of the "shake-off, stand-over" carabao.
Once there was a carabao that fell onto a dried up well.
When the villagers living in the area learned about this, they tried to kill the carabao.
What they did was to bury the carabao alive in the dry well.
So the villagers threw soil, garbage, dirt, and everything to bury the carabao with.
Each time they threw the soil, garbage and dirt, it settled on the carabao's back.
And each time it settled on the carabao's back, the carabao would shake off its back and remove it, and the soil, garbage and dirt settled to the ground.
Thus, it would allow the carabao to stand over the soil, garbage and dirt.
this happened continuously until the soil, garbage and dirt piled up and the carabao was gradually elevated until it reached the surface.
Instead of burying alive the carabao with soil, garbage and dirt, the carabao used it to stand over after shaking it off.
The morale of the story?
Each time you feel down, when soil, garbage and dirt are thrown upon you.
Just shake it off, and stand over it.

Searching for Christ the King

It is not difficult to search for Christ the King.
Unfortunately, it is we ourselves, who make it difficult to search and find Christ the King.
We open our eyes, yet we do not see.
There is an anecdote by Fr. Jerry Orbos, about the search for Christ the King.
Fr. Jerry relates the story about an elderly woman who asked him where Christ the King is.
Fr. Jerry said it just along E. Rodriguez Avenue, not far away from St. Luke’s Hospital in Quezon City.
Christ the King seminary, run by the SVD’s, is where Fr. Jerry Orbos holds office.
After a while, the elderly woman called Fr. Jerry again via cell phone to tell him that she searched, but still couldn’t find Christ the King.
The woman said, “Father, what I saw were Burger-King, Tapa King, Goto King, and Chow King. But I can’t find Christ the King.”
Fr. Jerry retorted, “Manang, in your sojourn, you seem to find all sorts of “kings” but you cannot find Christ the King, when it is just right there.”
Fr. Jerry added: “After you find all these “kings” there is a gate there with a man in white uniform. He is the security guard named Mang Pa-king. That, for sure is Christ the King.”
There is a parallelism about this anecdote with what happens in real life.
Father Jerry says, many of us living our lives, easily find different kinds of “kings.”
There are money-kings, material-kings, worldly-kings, vice-kings.
Yet it is so difficult to find the real “King” who is Christ the King.
Many of us are looking for the wrong “king.”
It is time to search the right King---Christ the King.

Death stalks

Death is a silent, invisible stalker.
It stalks you and me everyday.
The only question is, when will death strike?
It is only a question of when.
This is what engulfed me, and perhaps many minds when a blast at the Glorietta Makati killed more than ten innocent people.
The close relatives of those who were killed never ever thought that death was about to strike their loved ones.
Imagine, my partner Ted said he had a scheduled meeting at Gerry's Grill which is only less than thirty meters from the site of the explosion.
He said his meeting was at three p.m., and he could have used idle time at the Glorietta before the meeting, and he could have been one of those killed.
My wife just twenty four hours earlier from the blast passed by the Glorietta itself at the exact time, 1:30 p.m. of Thursday.
She said she passed by the site of the blast last Wednesday at around 12 noon. That's two days before the blast.
Me too. I go to Glorietta lunch time to buy some things like ink printer, office supplies, accessories.
The last time I was near the site of the explosion was just two days before, Wednesday.
I went to Park Square to have my computer adaptor fixed.
Park Square is about fifty meters away from the blast site.
Death is a cheat.
Many of those who were killed were young, healthy, full of energy, and even were still looking at better days or years ahead.
You could hardly meet any person terminally ill in that place.
Yet, death snatched these young innocent lives away in a single blast...like a thief in the night.

Life, death in the street

Its past 10 p.m. I just came from a funeral home in Makati.

If you have been reading my blog I wrote about one lesbian client-friend of mine who adopted a little girl. It was not long ago. She was a co-worker when I was working full time at the office of Senator Nene Pimentel. She passed away yesterday.

It was a rather violent death. She was driving her scooter along Roxas Boulevard near MIA road. She was ran over by a passenger bus. Her head was crushed by the rear-right tire of the bus.

It came as a shock because the last time I met her a few weeks ago I briefly discussed with her the progress of the adoption papers with the Office of the Civil Registry of Makati. After her adoption petition was granted, she still had to work out changing the birth certificate of her adopted child and all.

It was really unexpected.

Her name was Chedeng Gaylord. 47 years old adoptiver mother of a four-year old girl named ImelChed. She worked as a political officer in the office of Senator Nene Pimentel.

I never came close with Chedeng until I handled her adoption case. She related much of her past life in my professional conversations with her.

Chedeng was worked the streets. Before landing a job in the Senate, she sold cigarrettes for a living. In the streets still, Chedeng spent much of her time as a Senate worker. In her scooter, she would deliver documents from Senate everyday. That was until she met the fatal accident.

In the streets she had a life. It is just a tragedy that in the streets, she met her death.

Farewell, friend. God bless you.