Odds and Ends - 10/12

6 cops hurt in hostage-taking drill

MANILA, Philippines -- Six cops were slightly hurt when an accident marred a hostage-taking drill of the Manila Police District (MPD) late Monday afternoon...

As part of the scenario, a team of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) was supposed to conduct an assault on a group of hostage takers holed up inside the building. He explained that the SWAT team set off a flash bomb to start the assault but unfortunately, the explosive was blasted inside the building which had all its windows shut...

...but the MPD director, Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, maintained that nobody was hurt in the mishap...

“The windows of the building should have been left open to lessen the impact and the flash bomb should not have been set off inside the building,” Magtibay remarked.
...
[First, it is good to know that nobody was really hurt, according to Supt. Magtibay. Well, just maybe a little red-faced. Hahaha.]
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Don't pocket relief funds, officials told

MANILA, Philippines - Rep. Satur Ocampo of the party-list group Bayan Muna appealed to corrupt officials and politicians involved in relief and rehabilitation efforts not to pocket funds intended for typhoon victims.
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[Siyenga naman. To all the corrupt officials and politicians, at least sit out the rehab efforts before you resume your corrupt ways. *sigh*]
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‘Across-the-board’ passing mark urged for typhoon-hit students

MANILA, Philippines – An "across-the-board" passing grade for all students affected by recent typhoons has been proposed by a senator on Monday.

Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero said this should be given to affected students in elementary, high school, and college levels since their schools were no longer "usable" and they could no longer catch up with their lessons.
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[Fair enough for the students. But what grade to we give to the government officials responsible for their calamitous acts of negligence and corruption that fed this tragedy? How about an "across-the-board" failing grade to the entire government?]
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Now I lay me down to... zzzzz

A Catholic Answers Forum poster asks:

Is it a sin to fall asleep during prayer?

Here are some of the responses:

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...It's also a pious tradition that if you fall asleep while saying the Rosary your Guardian Angel finishes it for you. I'd imagine they do so with other prayers as well.

So I doubt it's a real problem. On the other hand, it's preferable to remain conscious while you're praying, if you can. If you know that praying in bed = falling asleep, for example, sit up in a chair or kneel at your bedside instead.
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No, not at all!! Jesus says himself: "Come to me you who are weary and heavy-laden and I shall give you rest." ;-)
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Is there a better way to fall asleep than with a prayer on your lips?
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Not saying it's a sin, but not ideal either, if your main prayer time every day ends up with you falling asleep.
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If your child fell asleep in your arms while she was telling you about the joys an anxieties of her day would you take it as an affront? If the analogy holds that God is our heavenly father, then falling asleep while in prayer cannot be sinful. It sound like you keep busy and are tired at the end of day and find peace in prayer. Good for you.
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St. Jerome said that we should read the Bible until our head nods and touches the pages... Also didn't a young man fall asleep and fall out of a window while St. Paul was preaching? They [also the apostles] fell asleep in the garden with Jesus right in front of them...
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And here is my response:

"Is it a sin to fall asleep during prayer?"

Yes, but only if you're driving a car...otherwise, it might be a good thing too, as you can't commit sin while sleeping ;-)
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To lack in one thing is to lack everything

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time –Year B
October 11, 2009
(Wisdom 7.7-11:Hebrews 4.12-13:Mark 10.17-30 )

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?...
… all of these [commandments] I have observed from my youth."

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions...
/

This Sunday's Gospel takes on more significance as we commiserate with our compatriots who lost all their possessions in the recent massive floods. Investments that took a lifetime to build were lost in just a fleeting, ill-fated moment. For the very rich who can easily replace their possessions, the burden of sadness is almost nil. For the ordinary worker who labored everyday to invest in modest material possessions, the burden of despair may be very difficult to bear.

One cannot be faulted for longing for and building up material possessions through honest hard work. In the Old Testament, it was acceptable to possess riches as long as one shares it with the community, especially the poor. In the New Testament, Jesus simply commands: Love God above all, and love your neighbor as yourself. It is not forbidden to attain material goods, what is forbidden is to prioritize material goods above God and neighbor. The well-intentioned questioner in today’s gospel misses this point. He may be sincere, but he must realize the grave danger of a wrong attitude towards possessions.

Indeed as Jesus says in Mat 6: 20-21:"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.".

Material goods will come and go, but in the end it will be just our bare selves before God. When the wheat is separated from the tares, no amount of prior material possessions or lack thereof will matter.

This reminds me of the Christian who used to tease his Taoist friend about their funeral customs. In playful banter, he asked the Taoist: "When do you think your dead will rise up and eat all those food you offer?" The Taoist gamely replied: "At about the same time when your dead rises up to smell your flowers.".

Honesty is such a lonely word

Pope: RP needs ‘honest’ political leaders

MANILA, Oct. 7, 2009— Pope Benedict XVI said the Philippines’ continuing struggle from poverty signals the imperative need for upright political leaders.

Speaking to new Philippines Ambassador to the Vatican Mercedes Arrasitia Tuason, the pope urged public officials to rediscover the real ethical foundation of their political authority.

“The struggle against poverty in the Philippines calls for honesty, integrity and an unwavering fidelity to the principles of justice, especially on the part of those entrusted with positions of governance and public administration,” Benedict XVI said...

Honesty, integrity and an unwavering fidelity to the principles of justice. Got it.
The Pope calls for those qualities in our political leaders and I cannot agree more.
Note that he didn't mention the need for a Law degree, a Masters degree, PHD, a Harvard education, or an IQ of 130++. Our sad history shows we've had an overdose of these lofty qualities in our political leadership while we've had an underdose of honesty, and look where we are now: flooded with poverty. Likewise, American businessmen cannot agree more. Their biggest concern is... you guessed it right: corruption.

Meanwhile, the four prominent presidentiables figured out in a presidential forum lately.
The four laid bare their ideas on pork barrel, the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), Charter change, peace in Mindanao and other issues concerning local autonomy. All four of them delivered intelligent responses, but then again - who among them is being honest? Remember, ALL political leaders in the past looked very good while delivering their political promises. Planning is one thing, acting honestly on it is another.

Speaking of plans, urban-planning expert Felino Palafox Jr. says there is this Metroplan - or the Metro Manila Transport, Land Use and Development Planning Project. This was conceived more than 40 years ago to prevent -- what else but destructive flooding. It seems that National government agencies have been shall we say, less than honest, in approving subdivision plans that conform to land use criteria. And to think that there are about 32 (!) signatures to obtain just to have a development project approved! Read it here.

So it appears we blame "acts of God" too much.

On a different note, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman still sings the same boring tune.
He said that aside from climate change, uncontrolled population growth is equally to blame for last week’s floods in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

Yeah, right. Blame uncontrolled population growth for ALL of our problems: lack of education, healthcare, corruption, trade deficits, heavy debt servicing, unemployment, inflation, global crisis, typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and yes - massive floods.

Maybe Lagman is right after all, as there really is an uncontrolled population growth... of dishonest politicians.

As Billy Joel used to sing: Honesty, is such a lonely word...and mostly what I need from you.
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On catastrophic floods and the Good Samaritan

...Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

That is the last verse in todays Gospel of the Good Samaritan.

Much exegesis has been done on this parable, but it still bears emphasizing - especially at these unfortunate times - that the good Samaritan took the extra mile after he had already helped the victim.

Notice:

" The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ "

We have heard of the heroics and selfless sacrifice that many good-hearted people have extended to the victims of the recent catastrophic flood. This post does not intend in any way to downplay those acts of charity. These good-hearted people can only be the same people who can see beyond momentary relief. Long after relief goods have been given to these poor victims, there will still be the next day, and the next, and the next.

Will there be adequate food, clothing and shelter - long after the floodwaters have receded?

Will the next catastrophic flood be averted?

Will our poor countrymen remain living dangerously?

On hindsight, the robbers' victim in the parable may have escaped harm if adequate law enforcement on the road to Jericho were in place.
On the same note, people devastated in NCR may have escaped harm if the environment were respected and immaterialistic urban planning were in place.

Sure, good-hearted people will always be there to lend a helping hand when disaster strikes, but we have to remember that our tropical country is prone to more than twenty (!) typhoons each year. With this in mind, it appears that the good Samaritans might be waging a losing battle against the more plentiful and powerful robbers, false priests and levites. If those three questions are not answered and acted upon, our poor people will always be stripped, beaten, and left half-dead - like the robbers' victim on the road to Jericho.

It is a time for conversion.

It is a time to “Go and do likewise.”
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Peace amidst the storm

First of all, we give praises and thanks to the Lord for steering super-typhoon "Peping" away from the still grief-stricken Metro Manila.
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The German Jesuit Alfred Delp, who was executed by the Nazis, once wrote:

"Bread is important, freedom is more important, but more important of all is unbroken fidelity and faithful adoration".




There was this story of a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace.
Many artists tried.
The king looked at all the pictures.
But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace.

Which picture won the prize?

The king chose the second picture.

Why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all these things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”






Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amidst the storm.






...When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God...

Living dangerously

Year, after year, after year.

RP to evacuate by force those in storm's path
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MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine police said Thursday they will forcibly evacuate residents refusing to leave their homes in the direct path of an approaching strong typhoon.

The order for a "pre-emptive evacuation" was handed down by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro "in line with our zero casualty target", said national police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil....

"We will first appeal on them to leave but if we see that they are in immediate danger, we will forcibly carry them to evacuation centers," he said.
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I caught the explanation of Secretary Teodoro on TV Patrol earlier tonight. He said the government will pre-emptively evacuate families especially the children to avoid further casualties. The adults who won't cooperate and elect to remain in vulnerable areas will be warned that the government could not guarantee succor when the storm comes, because of the extreme difficulty of conducting rescue operations that than cope with the expected super typhoon.

The move of Sec. Teodoro is definitely reasonable enough and deserves to be pursued in the interest of preventing another round of massive loss of lives.

At first glance one would easily deride the crazy stubbornness of people who refuse "pre-emptive evacuation", until you realize that these people choose to gamble their very lives to protect properties that took lifetimes to build. The term "washed-out" takes a new meaning these days, and it not only refers to the material aspect. Most of these people live near creeks, waterways and riverbanks that pose a clear and present danger to life and property every time typhoon comes, yet choices are severely limited for the very poor. Extremely dangerous, yes, but the daily lives of the poor are already precariously dangerous - with or without typhoons. There is always the daily epic struggle with hunger, sickness, neglect, and acts of nature. Among these, the acts of nature maybe the least feared by these poor people. One would hope that these poor people should be "forcibly carried" from grinding poverty to a life of basic decency, because they are living dangerously - year, after year, after year.