Quo vadis Pinoys?

The Sinulog Week and Festival is over… and yes, Pope Francis has returned to the Vatican in Rome. It’s back to the old grind for all of us who have work to do. But as we’re having lunch and dinner with friends and having coffee in coffee houses, you can listen  to the people’s conversations and it’s still about the remarkable visit of Pope Francis.

Call it the inertia of the Papal visit, but it is visible proof that the entire nation has been touched by this mega superstar of a Pope. Frankly speaking I wouldn’t address Pope Francis as having a Rock Star status for the simple reason that no rock star drew a crowd of a million in their concerts. The presence of Pope Francis drew at least six million at the Luneta, which is a world record of sorts.

But now that this Papal visit is over it is time to ponder, reflect and ask ourselves… quo vadis Pinoys? In the year I was born, there was an epic movie entitled “Quo Vadis” starring Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr and it was based on the legend where according to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, who was fleeing the Christian persecution of Rome, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in the Appian Way and Peter asked our Lord, “Quo Vadis?” which in English means, “Where are you going Lord?” Our Lord Jesus replied to Peter, “I’m going to Rome to be crucified again.” It was then that Peter gained the courage to go back to Rome so he too could be crucified.

One of the most touching and heart rendering moment of Pope Francis’ visit was during his Encounter with the Youth, when a former street child, Glyzelle Palomar, spoke in front of the Pope and tearfully asked that question that so many people often asked, “Why does God allow this to happen?” Glyzelle in her young age saw drug addiction and prostitution happening in our streets, which is why she asked that question. 

Pope Francis’ reply to her question was, “She is the only who has put a question for which there is no answer. And she wasn’t able to express it in words but rather in tears.” Earlier, Pope Francis had an unscheduled stop at the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation to meet with the friends of Glyzelle. This 12-year-old girl was rescued from the streets of northern Manila, neglected by their parents. Only God knows why… but he is always watching us.

In last Tuesday’s editorial in The Philippine STAR entitled, “Children’s Hour,” it was clearly pointed out to our readers “There are Filipino children who continue to suffer from domestic violence despite tough laws against it. In impoverished households, parents themselves sometimes sell their children for sex or cheap labor. In conflict areas, young boys are recruited as child soldiers.

Pope Francis showed the importance he attaches to the plight of children. His visit should inspire the implementation of more measures to promote children’s welfare.”

Before the arrival of Pope Francis, we wrote about that report that the Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD) in Pasay City were rounding up street children to keep them away from syndicates that used children to beg and would therefore take advantage of the Pope’s visit. Again I reiterate my call that if DSWD knew about such syndicates they should have informed the police to stop this racket.

I have no doubt that the message of Pope Francis struck a deep chord in the hearts and minds of Filipinos from all over the country, and I would dare say that Pope Francis himself also learned more about the Filipino people in his four-day visit. More importantly, this visit has shown that Pope Francis while very unique in his ways…never changed the doctrines of the Catholic Church on all the issues about modernism and liberalism.

So back to the question, Quo vadis Pinoys? Where do we go from here? Surely we cannot just go back to our old ways as if the message of Pope Francis never touched out hearts? In my book we cannot allow the status quo to continue. When Pope Francis told us to reject all forms of corruption, it means we should no longer remain silent when corruption stares us in the face. We must now move forward to change Filipino society for the better!

Meanwhile, the Malacañang sycophants are once more in the damage control mode as this portion of the speech of P-Noy had gone viral. “There was a true test of faith when many members of the Church, once advocates for the poor, the marginalized, and the helpless, suddenly became silent in the face of the previous administration’s abuses, which we are still trying to rectify to this very day.”

Engr. Rick Ramos, my Facebook friend who writes for Manila Times sent me a message reminding me that the Aquinos too were silent during the days of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, especially when they got paid for the road right of way for the SCTEX. They only broke away after the 2004 elections. This should remind P-Noy that whenever he points a finger at someone…his four other fingers are pointed back at him!

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