Neutrality: no fear

“Fear is debilitating, destructive emotion in the human heart. Where faith strengthens, fear weakens. Where faith liberates, fear imprisons. Where faith empowers, fear paralyzes. Where faith encourages, fear disheartens. Where faith rejoices in its God, fear fills the heart with despair.” – Dr. James Kennedy, author, Turn it to Gold.

YOU can lose a friend but not a neighbor, but it is better to have a friend from a far like Big Brother America than a war freak neighbor like China. This was the gist of what a good friend and very successful and innovative businessman told me the other day.

My friend told me that perhaps it is best that I should explain why we should be an armed neutral country even if China is a war-freak neighbor.

Aside from my aforementioned Christian friend, I would like to believe that the rest of the free yet equally greedy world frown at what China is feverishly doing within the disputed west Philippine sea.

Honestly and at the risk of being misunderstood, as usual, I dare say, our myopic and elitist political leaders need a lot of self-flagellation and a continuing mea culpas to our literally giant yet soft-hearted neighbor––China, the emerging topnotch superpower of the World. Believe you me, Imperial Manila’s nearsighted mentality unwittingly ignited our literally giant neighbor’s penchant for fireworks, all sound but no fury. And guess what happened? Imperial Manila with its debilitating greed overreacted and like all cry babies who are suddenly awakened by the sound of thunder or a rushing flood waters tremble with uncontrollable fear usually experienced by those lost in the dead of night. As a consequence both our overpowering giant neighbor and our greedy trapos and the filthy rich, the modern day outspoken cry babies, engage in rumormongering coupled with vicious sound of fury. And of course, Big Brother America, like a hungry croc, joins the fray by sending in their props designed to retake the lost Subic Naval Base and the Clark Air base: America’s once symbol of firepower supremacy in all of the wide Pacific.

In the confusion, we, the teeming poor, are completely lost and wonder what would happen to our continuing calvary imposed by Imperial Manila since time immemorial.

But as I’ve repeatedly written in this column, the time has come for Mindanao to take a united stand. Slowly but surely, let us prove to the world that our time has come to run the country with finesse and true freedom with equality for all Pinoys with tough-talking and most respected Davao Mayor Rodrigo “Super Digong” Duterte as our President on May 9, 2016 or the first ever President of the Independent Federal Republic of Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan-Tawi-Tawi.

So what shall it be, Imperial Manila? A simultaneous Constitutional Convention with the national and local elections on May 9, 2016 or People Power only in the paradise-like islands of Mindanao?  Sobra ka na, Imperial Manila. Sa Mindanao na sa sab ta! Tsada, di ba?
••
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” – Emerson, Of Friendship
In my time as a small boy, there were no nursery schools or kindergarten and the like. But now, looking back, I found those days to be most informative times of my life. Only because, at that time, Burgos Street was like a ghetto where all sorts of petty crimes and vandalism were the order of day. But luckily for me, my one and only late brother Boy and one and only sister Angging were raised by our Tatay and Maling, who were both practically unschooled but were our source of strength in hard work and friendliness among our neighbors who were mostly poor Muslims and other minorities trying to make a living near the slaughterhouse and its vicinity. We, three, were trained to work hard daily and be friendly to all. And all three of us grew up physically and mentally strong, brave but friendly to everyone and ever ready to extend a helping hand especially to those who were much poorer than us. The ghetto-like environment that my siblings and I were exposed to made us even friendlier to everyone.

It is for this reason and more that I grew up believing that to be strong and brave, one does not have to be a bully and we also believe that friendliness is empowering and much more preferable that bravado and war-mongering. It is a Christian way of life, even if one rarely visits his church.

With what our country is experiencing now with our giant neighbor, China, I can only hope and pray that our leaders learn that it is a folly be friendly to those far from us, like the US, but warmongers with our own neighbor who has always been with us since time immemorial. And long before our ancestors were born, China had friendly trade relations with us. They are unlike the US who even fought us after we were freed from the clutches of Spain and its imperialism cum colonialism ways.

I would like to believe that disputes with our neighbors could come to its welcome end the moment we aspire for neutrality between the warring giants of the east and the west. Partisanship would only invite hardships and more. Giants will never invade a friendly tiny country. It is against human nature. We should promote friendly relations with all of our neighbors and the world. It is the only way to lasting peace and posterity.
••
“In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do to me.” –Psalms LVI. 11
Thank you Lord for everything. And Lord God, kindly implant in us especially in our leaders, honesty, humility, transparency and hard work 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 us all 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 iluvmindanao.net.)

“Fear is debilitating, destructive emotion in the human heart. Where faith strengthens, fear weakens. Where faith liberates, fear imprisons. Where faith empowers, fear paralyzes. Where faith encourages, fear disheartens. Where faith rejoices in its God, fear fills the heart with despair.” – Dr. James Kennedy, author, Turn it to Gold.

YOU can lose a friend but not a neighbor, but it is better to have a friend from a far like Big Brother America than a war freak neighbor like China. This was the gist of what a good friend and very successful and innovative businessman told me the other day.

My friend told me that perhaps it is best that I should explain why we should be an armed neutral country even if China is a war-freak neighbor.

Aside from my aforementioned Christian friend, I would like to believe that the rest of the free yet equally greedy world frown at what China is feverishly doing within the disputed west Philippine sea.

Honestly and at the risk of being misunderstood, as usual, I dare say, our myopic and elitist political leaders need a lot of self-flagellation and a continuing mea culpas to our literally giant yet soft-hearted neighbor––China, the emerging topnotch superpower of the World. Believe you me, Imperial Manila’s nearsighted mentality unwittingly ignited our literally giant neighbor’s penchant for fireworks, all sound but no fury. And guess what happened? Imperial Manila with its debilitating greed overreacted and like all cry babies who are suddenly awakened by the sound of thunder or a rushing flood waters tremble with uncontrollable fear usually experienced by those lost in the dead of night. As a consequence both our overpowering giant neighbor and our greedy trapos and the filthy rich, the modern day outspoken cry babies, engage in rumor mongering coupled with vicious sound of fury. And of course, Big Brother America, like a hungry croc, joins the fray by sending in their props designed to retake the lost Subic Naval Base and the Clark Air base: America’s once symbol of firepower supremacy in all of the wide Pacific.
In the confusion, we, the teeming poor, are completely lost and wonder what would happen to our continuing calvary imposed by Imperial Manila since time immemorial.

But as I’ve repeatedly written in this column, the time has come for Mindanao to take a united stand. Slowly but surely, let us prove to the world that our time has come to run the country with finesse and true freedom with equality for all Pinoys with tough-talking and most respected Davao Mayor Rodrigo “Super Digong” Duterte as our President on May 9, 2016 or the first ever President of the Independent Federal Republic of Mindanao-Sulu Palawan-Tawi-Tawi.

So what shall it be, Imperial Manila? A simultaneous Constitutional Convention with the national and local elections on May 9, 2016 or People Power only in the paradise-like islands of Mindanao?  Sobra ka na, Imperial Manila. Sa Mindanao na sa sab ta! Tsada, di ba?
••
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” – Emerson, Of Friendship
In my time as a small boy, there were no nursery schools or kindergarten and the like. But now, looking back, I found those days to be most informative times of my life. Only because, at that time, Burgos Street was like a ghetto where all sorts of petty crimes and vandalism were the order of day. But luckily for me, my one and only late brother Boy and one and only sister Angging were raised by our Tatay and Maling, who were both practically unschooled but were our source of strength in hard work and friendliness among our neighbors who were mostly poor Muslims and other minorities trying to make a living near the slaughterhouse and its vicinity. We, three, were trained to work hard daily and be friendly to all. And all three of us grew up physically and mentally strong, brave but friendly to everyone and ever ready to extend a helping hand especially to those who were much poorer than us. The ghetto-like environment that my siblings and I were exposed to made us even friendlier to everyone.

It is for this reason and more that I grew up believing that to be strong and brave, one does not have to be a bully and we also believe that friendliness is empowering and much more preferable that bravado and war-mongering. It is a Christian way of life, even if one rarely visits his church.

With what our country is experiencing now with our giant neighbor, China, I can only hope and pray that our leaders learn that it is a folly be friendly to those far from us, like the US, but warmongers with our own neighbor who has always been with us since time immemorial. And long before our ancestors were born, China had friendly trade relations with us. They are unlike the US who even fought us after we were freed from the clutches of Spain and its imperialism cum colonialism ways.

I would like to believe that disputes with our neighbors could come to its welcome end the moment we aspire for neutrality between the warring giants of the east and the west. Partisanship would only invite hardships and more. Giants will never invade a friendly tiny country. It is against human nature. We should promote friendly relations with all of our neighbors and the world. It is the only way to lasting peace and posterity.
••
“In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do to me.” –Psalms LVI. 11
Thank you Lord for everything. And Lord God, kindly implant in us especially in our leaders, honesty, humility, transparency and hard work 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 us all 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 iluvmindanao.net.)