Love, peace, faith and hope for 2018

Happy New Year to everyone! Yes, 2017 has come to pass and now we look forward to the New Year 2018. Well, 2017 proved to be a really crazy, wacky, and raging year. All I can wish for is a calmer year for us where love, peace, faith and hope will reign in our hearts, mind and soul.

As Alfred Tennyson simply put it: Ring out the old, ring in the new; Ring, happy bells, across the snow. The year is going, let him go! Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, for those that here we see no more. Ring out the feud of rich and poor. Ring in redress to all mankind.

As the world is getting older, people seem to be getting darker. No, I don’t mean physically dark. You know what I mean. Our positive vibe, our spirit seems to be eaten up by the negative forces around us. If only ‘good’ can prevail, then we would easily achieve harmony.

Today, even as the President promised to achieve peace and prosperity throughout the land during his SONA, we continue to be sieged with a plague of corruption and crime. Public officials haven’t truly committed themselves to cut clean. There continues to be more bribery and crookedness happening in many sectors of government. Another equally provoking problem to corruption is incompetence. But many wise guys with no honor and principle in life use this to get away with things. In other words, nag tatanga tangahan (just acting stupid). Sanamagan!

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Ang Larawan: I’m so happy that Ang Larawan, the movie won Best Picture, Best Actress (Joanna Ampil), Best Musical Score, Best Production Design and the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award at the 43rd Metro Manila Film Festival. Congratulations to the cast, producers and production staff for a beautiful film!

During the first day of screening, many theaters pulled out the movie, Ang Larawan due to the lack of audience. The cinemas couldn’t fill-up even half of their theaters. The money-driven cinemas pulled out right away, not even giving a chance to the film’s worthiness. My heart broke knowing that this well-produced film celebrating and preserving our culture and history may not make it against the commercially-oriented ones. The mass population easily succumbed to corny films not giving a chance to appreciate “alternative” films that can teach a lesson or two.

If you have not seen the movie, I urge you to watch it. It is a precious gem. It will enrich and reawaken the Filipino spirit and pride in you. It will touch your heart and bring you back to the yesteryears. Ang Larawan is a film adapted from the play, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino written by Nick Joaquin (National Artist for Literature). The libretto was written by Rolando Tinio (National Artist for Theater and Literature).

We should thank the people behind this movie who have poured pure love for the preservation of our history, culture and heritage. We must appreciate people like them. They are willing to take the risk of facing the giants in the industry and gamble their time, money and energy to strengthen and eventually help rebuild the superstructures of our country.

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Marawi and the rebels: Peace on earth, good will to men. The President has continued to impose martial law in Mindanao until the end of 2018. The lingering terror threat in Mindanao and the recent attacks made by the New People’s Army has prolonged this agony. Well, I’m not so sure about the NPA. They seem to have factions within the group and right now you really don’t know who is who and what they really want.

We need tranquility. We need inner peace among men. What are all these people fighting for? Nowadays, the wars are not only created by rebels but also by greedy individual men and women who do not seem to be satisfied with the money and power they already have – politicians and businessmen alike.

If we encourage and promote kindness and understanding towards one another, then the ‘wars’ will surely stop. Peace be with you!

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Here’s hoping for a prosperous New Year for the citizens. It’s about time our government workers professionalize themselves and become committed to service.

My friend Rick Ramos, Managing Director of Pilipinas Sandiwa Heritage Foundation estimated that the total loss of public funds in 2018 will reach P1.0 Trillion. He said, “An estimated 20 percent of public funds could be lost to corruption and waste. Hence, out of the P3.8 Trillion for the 2018 National Budget (General Appropriations Act or GAA), some P760 Billion may be stolen and wasted. Or just make that P700 Billion or 20 percent of P3.5 Trillion since there may be repayments for our government borrowings to finance the budget deficit and loans from ODA and others. Then there are the separate budgets of local government units (LGUs) all over the Philippines. There are hundreds of provinces and cities in the country. Then the thousands of municipalities spread across the archipelago. Easily, the total budget of all the LGUs should exceed P500 Billion. Hence, another P100 Billion may be lost in public funds from the 20 percent loss from P500 Billion. Finally, the alleged leakage from the losses of uncollected revenues due to corruption at the BIR, BOC and other revenue-generating agencies of the national government. Not to mention the losses or leakage from foreign loans to fund government projects. This includes the grant component of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) from foreign governments.”

The recent controversy of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is a crystal clear example of this and what many of us suspect is happening under our very noses. But this is a long story that may just ruin our New Year fervor. Abangan!

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Against the despairing hope of our country’s future comes our strong faith in God. As we bear the hardships of life and the sorrow and pain caused by our public officials, we ask the Lord to sustain us in our hour of bitterness. We have been living in pain with the anguish and burdens we experience in the country we so much love. But as my dad would always quip, “don’t fret and don’t lose hope we should always have faith in ourselves and faith in the Filipinos.”

As we celebrate Jesus’ birth, we should always be reminded that every child born is a savior in his own right. So, here’s hoping and praying that one day we shall be saved and the ‘good’ ones will win over the bad.