Sound of silence

“And, silence, like a poultice, comes to heal the blows of sound.”- Oliver Wendell Holmes

IN the beginning of PNoy’s “Tuwid na daan” mantra, he appointed activists if not, leftists to man his legislative, human rights and justice agenda. But it did not take long for Imperial Manila and the status quo.

Without our knowledge or behind our back, PNoy’s “Big Brother” started slowly but surely the drums of war by coming out with alleged “gospel truths” like the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq prior to the “Desert Storm.” This time around, the self-appointed police of the world whispered aloud the heinous plan of religious radicals from the Middle East by penetrating the poorest of the poor among armed rebels in the jungles of Mindanao.

Because our most progressively affluent neighbor, China, salivates at the thought of being known as the superpower to watch in the region, if not the world theater, she begun with what “Big Brother” calls the “great wall of sands” feverishly built by China in the disputed territorial waters west of our archipelago. But, perhaps, unknown to China, what they were hurrying up was the sound of music to the ears of a waning superpower, our “Big Brother,” in the Middle East, and even in Europe.

The violent rhetoric between two giants are creating jitters among the small countries having territorial disputes with China. And what is worst is that Superpower US has found a way to bring back her awesome guns of nuclear holocaust in their former military bases in our country, almost without a whimpering sound of protest. Now, the drums of war are getting louder as warmongers eagerly watch the build-up of an unimaginable inferno.

Thus, what the world needs now is “love, sweet love” starting with a poultice to heal the blows of sound. Right now, nothing can stop China from continuing with what she has started, knowing full well that in Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” China, at this time and place, has all the luxury of waiting in ambush the pawns of her enemy.

Of course, the US believes otherwise, and with good reason. She believes she has perfected the art of war by all, not just Sun Tzu’s but the world’s best minds in warfare of whatever design and size.

Otherwise stated, all the small countries now in territorial dispute with China over one of the world’s heaviest sea traffic, are in harm’s way and therefore ought to play the cooling sound of silence. Because right now, only a fool would dare make noise at this precarious stage in the game of the generals.

But, God is good, He will lead us the way out of harm’s way.

All too suddenly, the BBL has unwittingly created a great divide between the majority who are Christians and have always been at peace with their fellowmen and the insignificant few yet arrogant armed rebels who have found a foreign ally that has massacred a group of rag-tag army loyal to the Sultanate of Sulu. Hence, Imperial Manila and the filthy rich are in the middle of a debilitating cross fire and in difficult bind: wealth or their very own and family security?

Because of the glaring arrogance by the so-called peace panel of our government, who are now facing criminal charges of rebellion against our own government and people, more and more are convinced that the only peaceful solution to the creeping drums of war is a constitutional change from the presidential unitary government to a federal government where every state, not just the Muslim Filipino, but all including the Cordilleras, Cebu, Bohol, Iloilo, Zamboanga and even Sulu each become truly independent states within the federal republic of the Philippines.

So what shall it be, Imperial Manila? Constitutional convention simultaneously with the national and local elections or the Independent Federal States of Mindanao, an armed neutrality like Switzerland, 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. And in the old lyrics of the late Frank Sinatra: “Like horse and carriage, you can’t have one without the other.”
••
“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 teach our leaders to practice 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, please make our leaders see the glaring light that greed is a flawed way of life. 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)