“Evil often triumphs, but never conquers.” – Joseph Roux DO you know that according to Washington, the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief, is gaming? Precisely because of this belief by many, in his time, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was quoted as saying: “There’s enough for the needy, but not for the greedy.” And if only we, the poor, will always bear in mind that the better path of life is to be contented with what we have rather than seek for more gold in the hope that it is in having more of it that happiness abound, peace and posterity will be at hand. The truth is that those who have more gold have more problems than those who have less in life. Contentment, not happiness, is the best way of life because satisfaction is attainable; but, happiness is but a dream only to be attained in heaven, not on earth. Look around and you will find and see that peace has become even more unreachable because many of us are made to believe that it is in having material wealth that we attain peace and happiness. But, the opposite is what is happening to those who have more wealth. And the reason is simple. Greed knows no boundaries and is the father of all evils in the world; hence it is those who have more money that is suffering and having endless nightmares even during the days of their lives. In fact, while many of those who have money to spend think of vacations in far-away places around the world, there’s are no better than gold-filled coffins, nice only on the outside but not on the inside. Gets mo? As we are inching the filing of the certificates of candidacy for the May 9, 2016 elections, let us, Mindanaoans all, show the world once again that we, the poor, have what it takes to make the next president of our country come from voteich Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi. Or we shall inaugurate the birth of the Independent Federal Republic of Mindanao group of islands with Hon. City Mayor Rodrigo “Super Digong” Duterte as our first President. Sobra ka na, Imperial Manila. Sa Mindanao na sab ta. Tsada, di ba? •• “By gaming we lose both our time and pleasure – two things most precious to the life of man.” – Felltham The main reason why our country is going to the dogs, as a matter of speaking, is because we have been unwittingly trained and made to believe by Imperial Manila that it is in having more easy money that our country will progress and attain lasting peace and posterity. Ergo, instead of making full use of our borrowed little time, we go gambling in the hope of winning easy money, forgetting that “money is the root of all evil” Before the proliferation of the casinos and big-time gambling, our country was doing well in world affairs. But because gambling can never be “Daang matuwid,” we, the poor, were led to believe that we have to gamble to attain happiness, no matter how; hence, we have lost our bearing. But it is not yet too late. With little faith in ourselves as Mindanaoans, we have the power to make the necessary systemic change in our lives and in our country. Easier said than done, many would say. But the truth is, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” In the years during Martial Law and prior to the 1986 snap elections, no one but us, Mindanaoans, dared to challenge the seeming unbeatable might and power of the conjugal dictatorship. But when our very own young and talented PACmen – Pimentel, Adaza and Canoy – showed us the way with no money and machinery but uncommon valor and love of country, the poor stood up, the world was awed with the tenacity of Mindanao leaders and the rest is history. They are still around and full of wisdom. Need I say, history is to repeat come May 9, 2015 elections? Be that as it may, allow me to remind one and all that the surest way to have a crime-free and drug-free country is to have Mayor Rodrigo “Super Digon” Duterte as our next president of our country on May 9, 2016, or the Independent Federal Republic of Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi will be a reality with “Super Digong” Duterte as our first ever President. So, there is the strong challenge! So, what shall it be, Imperial Manila? Constitutional Convention? Or the installation of the Independent Federal Republic of Mindanao, an armed neutral country of religious pluralism and equity between capital and labor, where profits and losses are equally shared by labor and capital. After all, both capital and labor equally need each other. Useless is capital without labor, vice versa! This is what we, Mindanaoans, have all been dreaming of for a lifetime. Is it not? Tsada, di ba! •• “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can to do me.” –Psalms LVI. 11 Thank you Lord for everything. And Lord God, kindly implant in our leaders honesty, humility and transparency in their solemn task as our servants-leaders because those who have less in life are the sovereign and very source of their borrowed power and wealth. Finally, Lord, enlighten our leaders to see the light that greed is a flawed way of life. For truly, there is more profit in giving than in taking. For it is in giving that we receive. Truly, love begets love. Amen! (Call or text 09188030197, e-mail to bagabuyos@yahoo.com, and check out the blog iluvmindanao.net)