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Aquino, sister in tow, begs for forgiveness

rbadmin2 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:33:16 +0000

Well sure I am overstating. But you can’t help but think that it is a “begging expedition”. Given it was unannounced and he left his security outside the door, I’d say it was groveling

Aquino woos INC

Published : Wednesday, March 14, 2012 00:00

Article Views : 2,820

Written by : Jomar Canlas, Reporter

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/top-stories/19173-aquino-woos-inc

IT was a cordial meeting capped by a hearty lunch that the visitor thought could save what was left of their alliance. In the end, all he got was a “lecture” on poverty alleviation and judicious land distribution.

This was how an insider described a recent meeting between President Benigno Aquino 3rd and Iglesia ni Cristo (INC or Church of Christ) spiritual leader Eduardo Manalo after the former paid an unannounced visit to the latter recently in a bid to win back the group’s waning support.

An unimpeachable source of The Manila Times said that Aquino was accompanied by his youngest sister Kris when he went to see Manalo at the Sentral, the group’s headquarters in Quezon City (Metro Manila).

The Aquinos received a warm welcome from the host and left only after they had lunch. Members of the Presidential Security Group tasked to secure the President were kept outside the meeting area since it was deemed highly confidential.

The Times’ source claimed that Aquino decided to try to make amends with the INC after the group organized a big rally in front of the Supreme Court on February 21 to show support for impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.

On February 28, the group held a Bible exposition at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila that was attended by close to a million members.

Many saw the supposed evangelical mission as a message to the President and a show of force against Malacañang, which has been working for the conviction of Corona by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.

Agenda
Initially, the source said that Mr. Aquino congratulated Manalo on the success of the prayer rally at Luneta and thanked him for the INC’s support during his stint as representative of Tarlac province and senator, as well as when he ran for President.

Later, the Chief Executive brought up the issue on Corona’s impeachment, which the INC is opposing. He supposedly explained that he is pushing for the conviction of Corona only to pursue his principle of “daang matuwid [straight path].”

He told Manalo that he considers Corona as a stumbling block to his programs against corruption and good governance.

But the source claimed that Aquino’s explanations fell on deaf ears and got no positive response from the INC chief. Instead, Manalo stressed that Aquino should focus on improving the lives of poor Filipinos.

Manalo also urged Aquino to give his government a clear direction, arguing that the real problems right now are poverty and landlessness.

“Dapat siguro magkaroon ng direksiyon ang gobyerno para matugunan ang kahirapan. ‘Yan ang problema ngayon. Maraming walang lupa at maraming mahihirap [Maybe the right direction is for government to address poverty. That is the problem right now. Many are landless and many are poor],” the source quoted Manalo as telling Aquino.

The Aquinos are sensitive to the issue of land because they own the 6,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac that was recently ordered distributed to its tillers by the High Tribunal.

Corona, in recent interviews and speeches, pointed out that the reason why the President was very eager to have him replaced was because he supported the decision to distribute the sugar estate.

Rift
Aquino’s visit to INC headquarters, particularly to Manalo, was very significant following a perceived rift that was stirred by several controversies, including the impeachment of Corona and the sacking of INC members from the Aquino government.

Aquino, who was still a candidate for president in 2010, visited the Sentral along with his sisters to get the support of the group that commands the votes of some three million members.

The relationship became sour after Aquino won the presidency. He allegedly ignored the INC and the appointments in government of prominent INC members such as retired Justice Artemio Tuquero as Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) representative for the academe were junked.

Tuquero also gunned for the Office of the Ombudsman, but the post was instead given to retired High Court Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Only recently, former police general Magtanggol Gatdula was relieved as chief of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Like Tuquero, Gatdula is an active INC member.

Mr. Aquino further drew the ire of the INC when he allegedly bragged that he could have easily won the presidency even without the group’s backing.

Gatdula was deemed to be the first casualty of war between Aquino and the INC since the impeachment of Corona, whose lead counsel is retired Justice Serafin Cuevas, also an active INC member.

The Times source pointed out that Gatdula earlier tendered his resignation to Aquino as a “graceful exit.” However, Gatdula was humiliated after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima held a press conference where she announced that Gatdula was sacked and that criminal and administrative charges were being readied against him in connection with the alleged extortion on Japanese woman Noriyo Ohara by NBI agents late last year.

Pressure
The INC leadership was reportedly pressured by Malacañang to ask Cuevas to withdraw from the case but when he refused, Gatdula was sacked.

Controversial Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Ronald Llamas allegedly approached a Spiritual Minister of the INC to talk to Cuevas to withdraw from his appearance as defense lawyer for Corona.

Llamas reportedly had a conversation with INC Minister Erano Codera to convince Cuevas to withdraw from the case. Codera is the chief liaison officer of the INC, replacing Resty Lazaro.

When Codera talked to Cuevas, the 83-year old lawyer refused by saying that he was already committed to defend Corona. He argued that as a lawyer, he should defend his client and not abandon him.

Philippines: Catholic, and Corrupt

rbadmin2 — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:06:05 +0000

Two things common in the Philippines and in Filipinos: Catholicism and Corruption. Each the reason and the excuse for the other. A survey conducted among expatriate executives exposed what has been a common knowledge to the average Filipino.

Philippines most corrupt, survey says

By Carlos H. Conde
Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2007

MANILA — Expatriate businessmen in Asia perceive the Philippines as the most corrupt country in the region, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Singapore was ranked as the least corrupt of the 13 economies surveyed, followed by Hong Kong and Japan, according to the annual corruption survey conducted by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, based in Hong Kong.

“The Philippines has the distinction of being perceived in the worst light this year,” the survey stated. “People are just growing tired of the inaction and insincerity of leading officials when they promise to fight corruption.”

The survey, conducted in January and February, queried 1,476 expatriate executives in 13 countries and territories in Asia. The Philippines scored 9.40, where a score of zero is the least corrupt and 10 is the most corrupt.

source:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/business/worldbusiness/13iht-peso.4891792.html

Third largest number of Catholics in a country

According to the CIA Factbook, the five countries with the largest number of Catholics are Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, United States and Italy. The country with the largest Catholic percentage of the population is Vatican City, at 100%.

source: CIA Factbook

Draw your own conclusion.

Burning the house to kill a rat

rbadmin2 — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:33:09 +0000

Hating a person is like burning a house to kill a rat. That is what is happening to the Philippines today with President Aquino determined to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona. He hates him because of the SC Hacienda Luisita collegial decision that would finally give the Cojuangco-owned land to the poor farmers who till the land. One would think that as the “elected” leader of this democratic country, he would have welcomed such a move.

reprint from philstar.com

FROM A DISTANCE

By Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star)

Updated February 11, 2012 12:00 AM

The complete aphorism reads: Hating a person is like burning a house to kill a rat. That is what is happening to the Philippines today with President Aquino determined to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona. He hates him because of the SC Hacienda Luisita collegial decision that would finally give the Cojuangco-owned land to the poor farmers who till the land. One would think that as the “elected” leader of this democratic country, he would have welcomed such a move.

For the second Cojuangco-Aquino president, as it was with the first, land reform and uplifting the poor is merely lip service and was never meant to be seriously undertaken.

The sin of SC Chief Justice Renato Corona and the other Macapagal Arroyo appointed justices is their decision to end the charade. They unanimously decided in favor of the farmers, which is as it should be. The decision has social and political implications of epic proportions. It is a breakthrough in our long history of the exploitation of farmer-peasants.

Therefore one can expect ruffled feathers, some form of resistance from oligarchs who are used to having decisions and policies in their favor. By holding the reins of government, they decide the fate and fortune of our country.

We did not expect there would be such a shameless display of the arrogance of power by ignoring laws and dangling all sorts of bribes. It seems the oligarchic government would not even be subtle. It has gone hammer and tongs against the decision by using the bogey of “corruption” because it does not want to give up its political and economic advantages so easily to mere farmers.

It is very much a case of burning the Philippine house to make sure that the Hacienda Luisita decision is not implemented or at least not without an exorbitant price tag (the last time I heard) the demand has now gone up from P5 billion to P10 billion to the Cojuangcos.

If this is not corruption, then what is? It is the worst kind because it is a deliberate assault (some of them have already been killed) on helpless poor citizens by their own government. With the aid of media and politicians, gullible Filipinos are being misled that the Aquino government’s fight against Corona is a fight against corruption. It isn’t and if we were to take time to think, we will recognize that the intent yet again is to protect the status quo and privilege of the wealthy few against the many poor.

One on One brought to you by INC Media Services (incmedia.org)

rbadmin2 — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:38:41 +0000

One on One: People telling their personal stories on finding the truth in the Iglesia ni Cristo enlightened them and set them free from spiritual confusion and uncertainty.

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Pacquiao-Marquez 3: Pacman decapitates the waste drinker!

rbadmin2 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:00:32 +0000

Sad news coming out of the boxing world today as the biggest fight this year ended up in tragedy. Juan Manuel Marquez, in his bid to get his retirement bonus by fighting the pound-4-pound king Manny Pacquiao was decapitated by an uppercut from the Pacman. It was a perfectly timed shot reminiscent of the humdinger of a punch that retired Ricky Hatton, the punch come a few seconds after the opening bell as Dinamita unwitting walked right into the freight train of a left by the pride of Sarangani. It was so quick that referee didn’t know who to count out whether the sulking head or the twitching body of Marquez. After the fight, the Pacman was seen leaving Marquez’s hospital room after a successful reattachment of the severed head. Ask what Marquez told him, Pacquiao said Dinamita was robbed again.

That’s all folks.

Celibacy: a Christian doctrine?

rbadmin2 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:52:37 +0000

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Even casual readers of the bible probably at one time came across a particular verse which some religion find offensive. I’m talking of 1 Timothy 4:3 of course, and the church in particular that finds it offensive to them is the Roman Catholic Church. They are numerous blogs which talks about this and yet Catholic still deny that they’re at least one of the churches whose practice are written in the bible but not in a good way. What is in the verse anyway and what’s the big deal? Here’s the verse:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Forbidding to marry, to abstain from meats,

The verse was talking about two particular rules which a church will implement and enforce on it’s adherents. What’s wrong with the rules anyway, one may ask? If we read the verses preceeding this, one would quickly understand that these rules are not rules of God, nor of Jesus Christ and his Apostles.

Douay-Rheims Bible
1 Now the Spirit manifestly saith, that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils,

Who’s rules are these two of? The adversary of God! So it would serve us well to understand this and take action and avoid or leave any religion which practices these doctrines because these are not of God.

What major church and religion practices these doctrines?

The Law of Celibacy Confirmed

14. Hence We consider that the present law of celibacy should today continue to be linked to the ecclesiastical ministry.

SACERDOTALIS CAELIBATUS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PAUL VI
ON THE CELIBACY OF THE PRIEST
JUNE 24, 1967

and

Canon 277 – Clerics are obliged to observe perpetural continence (control of sexual desires) and are bound to celibacy.

Some Catholics complained on my use of the term doctrine, emphasizing it is a law. Whether law or doctrine does not matter. It is enforced on Catholic adherents and as is recorded in the bible such a law or doctrine is of the devil.

Roman Catholicism: convert or die

rbadmin2 — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:26:41 +0000

I was going to respond to the homosexual prostitute AKA catholicdefender2000 piece about conversion but then I ran into this youtube video. It’s more entertaining than what I would have written while delivering a similar message. So here it is

I said it first!

rbadmin2 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:27:20 +0000

“sometimes a joke think he’s not”

there, I have a record on when I thought of it and I’m sure I said it first!

Manny Pacquiao's downfall? Chavit 'Sabit' Singson

rbadmin2 — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:00:57 +0000

I have this sick feeling in my stomach that Manny Pacquiao’s eventual downfall will not be any boxer, or any political adversary. It would be the sneaky, dirty politician by the name of Chavit Singson. He’s been working on his angle since he first inserted himself into the life of Manny Pacquiao and not he’s making his move. Watch out everyone around Manny. Watch out Manny. Sabit Singson is no friend to anybody but himself. Just look at what he did to Erap Estrada. Watch out!

Pacquiao – Marquez III. Goodnight Juan Manuel, sleep tight.

rbadmin2 — Thu, 19 May 2011 04:36:13 +0000

Apparently, Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez signed a contract to fight Manny Pacquiao for a third time Nov. 12 and it’s now up to Manny if he will sign too. His advises said that it all depends if the purse is good enough for Manny to take the fight. It will be a good fight, at least better than the last one with Mosley.

And funny man Marquez is not even saying he will beat Pacquiao. Now remember the last times they met was in the lower weights. While Marquez reigned (I’d say lanquish) in the lower weights, Manny moved up chasing the big money. He won that bet. After decimating the welterweights and above he has become the biggest start in boxing. I digress. Going back to Marquez beating Pacquiao, Juan Manuel must remember that he got floored by a less experienced and less conditioned Pacquiao. Since then, Manny grew and traded punches with bigger opponents. And not just bigger in size but big punchers too! Just recently Shane Mosley said he blacked-out when Manny knocked him down and that he did not remember the last three rounds that passed. Remember too that Mosley is a bonafide welterweight. And so good luck to you Juan Manuel Marquez. and goodnight.

Who wants to join the party?