Sendong
December 19, 2011 10 Comments
I can still remember how Ondoy spat at the streets of Cainta with unimaginable amounts of water. The rains, which have been non-stop for one full day, began filling the streets and sank one-third of our municipality in deep and murky water. There was no electricity for days in Cainta, and it took my mother two days to go home from Central Market in Manila to Valley Golf in Cainta.
Our mayor and Vice Mayor, Mon Ilagan and Atoy Sicat, were quick to respond to the needs of their people. The local government was quick to organize civil defense personnel to respond to residents on the roofs of their homes, while the rest of the employees began packing relief packages for the hardest-hit. Our mayor and Vice Mayor, whose homes were in the lowlands of Cainta, were there to respond in spite of the damage to their own home.
Due to the heavy rains in Metro Manila and the floods that came with it during “Ondoy”, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took the MRT to get to Camp Aguinaldo, where she directly coordinated civil defense efforts in most, if not all, of the provinces hit. Not long after, she went to Cainta and presided the NDCC meeting in Cainta’s Municipal Council Session Hall with Vice President de Castro, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Rizal Governor Junjun Ynares, then Rizal 1st District Congressman Jack Duavit, and Cainta Mayor Mon Ilagan.
If Ondoy taught something to the people of Cainta, Marikina, and the rest of Ondoy victim places, it’s that the mere presence of the Chief Executive serves as a big moral boost in the direst situation. The Chief Executive is our source of strength and our source of hope in the worst of disasters.
Which leads us to the question: Where was President Noynoy Aquino on the night when Sendong was pounding on Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and the rest of the Visayas? Answer: In a party.
The President has all the right to go to a party, more so, in the party of his closest guards, the PSG. But at such a time that a storm is approaching, the President can do better. As the servant of his “boss”, he should’ve ensured that Northern and Western Mindanao, as well as the entire Visayas, are cushioned to withstand the impact of Sendong.
The true character and strength of a leader is measured on the manner and speed to which he responds to the worst tragedies. In this case, we have seen the President with almost conscious non-desire to respond to the disaster in the South.
As of this writing, Cagayan de Oro and Ilagan City have 600 people dead, with funeral parlors not having the sufficient capabilities to service the bodies all at the same time. The Secretary of Social Welfare, Dinky Soliman, was a guest at DZRH this morning. Meaning, most of the officials are still in Imperial Manila when the disaster happened 800 kms. down south. They said they’re letting the Army do the work. So does this mean that they’re left here to go finish the parties in the President’s schedule?
The funny part is that the Aquino sisters tried to defend their brother’s action. That’s easy to say for people living in the secured abodes within Forbes Park, Valle Verde, and Times Street.
If there’s one thing that Sendong left us as a lesson, it’s the reality that our President is incapable to govern, and that he is out of touch with his boss, the people.
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I Support the RH Bill: A Speech I Would’ve Delivered if I were a Legislator
December 20, 2011 4 Comments
(NOTE: This is a speech I would’ve delivered if I was a member of the House of Representatives. I just wanted to share what’s on my mind.)
Mr. Speaker,
As a Centrist Democrat, my world view tells me that I should craft legislation to provide people with equal opportunities; opportunities for them to live, work, and be contributors to nation-building. I am obliged by my world view to legislate with the end goal of providing my constituents not only with choices, but with opportunities as a result of their choice, however it may swing. It’s not only my obligation to my belief but to constituency which I serve.
For more than a decade, this Congress has attempted to pass legislation that provides women with choices, and the opportunities that shall bring fullness to their choice. For more than a decade, we have been attempting to pass legislation that shall provide women with choices on how to control family-size based on their physiological and economic contexts; and to support their choice with state-sponsored opportunities to back their choice.
Mr. Speaker, let it not be believed that I am against the divine and natural obligation of birthing children. I believe that children are the hope and the future of our nation. Let it not be believed as well that I am in favor of curtailing the freedom of choice for Filipino families. I am in favor of them; thus, my support for this legislation.
Our constitution has vowed to protect the interests of women by making it a matter of principle to recognize women’s role in nation-building. And true nation-building can only be achieved if a state makes itself a conducive seedbed of free choice and opportunity. The state has an obligation, under a democratic system, to ensure that women are actively involved in affairs of the state; and with that said, I’m sure the Constitution wants our active women to be healthy.
Mr. Speaker, I am one with the anti-RH supporters in the view of their right to life. I share their view that life begins with conception, and that abortion is a crime. I am a Catholic, a believer in the Judeao-Christian concept of life.
In my view, I see no provision on the measure supporting or condoning abortion. In fact, the RH Bill does not only protect one life, but two. The RH Bill protects the life of the child and the mother. Through the assurance of pre-natal and post-natal health services to mothers, the RH Bill is one with our cause and obligation to protect life.
As to the allegations of the bill promoting abortion, I ask this back: since when did free choice lead to abortion, Mr. Speaker? Since when did informed and educated choices lead to death? Since when did empowerment and education led to an immoral decision? Mr. Speaker, our legislative duty to provide alternatives and choices must not be misconstrued to lead a certain type of life or lead towards a certain type of decision. I oppose abortion, Mr. Speaker. But I also support the RH Bill. Who can tell me I cannot support both at once?
The RH Bill presents a medical approach to contraception, which welcomes the aid of artificial contraceptives such as condoms, pills, and injectibles. But the bill does not outlaw the calendar method, to which I personally believe on. The bill provides the people with choices, and opportunities to undertake their choice. The issue of how the family should be controlled is a personal and familial issue. Many may opt to use calendar method, but that does not eliminate our obligation to provide other choices. A democracy values the presence of several alternatives; there is no single way out all the time.
Mr. Speaker, if we ask our conscience to weigh in on the matter of reproductive health legislation, should we not also consult reason and facts? If we were to make choices for our constituents, as I believe we are empowered to make, will we not give our constituents the choice to control the way they put gaps between births in search of a comfortable, decent life? Will we not give our youth the opportunity to learn that sex is a natural phenomenon that entails responsibility? Will we not give the poorest Filipino women a fighting chance to live and rear for their newly-born children? Will we deprive our constituents with the constitutional guarantee of their right to life, their right to living, and their right to choose?
My conscience, my belief, and my object reality is one, Mr. Speaker. I believe in the right to live. And I believe that I am obliged to protect it against any element that will prevent it from its fullness.
I support the RH Bill.
Filed under COMMENTARY, Education, National Politics, PERSONAL, POLITICAL, SOCIAL, YOUTH ISSUES Tagged with Catholic, congress, filipino, Legislation, Reproductive Health, Reproductive Health Bill, RH Bill, Speakers