"God is Radical"

In the first chapter of the book of EXODUS, the Bible gives us the first instance of organized worker resistance to the authority of the Boss. The midwives Shiphrah and Puah are ordered by Pharaoh to kill all the male Hebrew children born to Jewish women. They don’t, because as the story says,

“The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.” (Exodus 1:17-18)

But my favorite part of the story is when Pharaoh discovered the midwives were allowing male children to live he summoned Shiphrah and Puah before him to explain themselves. Shiphrah and Puah flat out lie to him. “Pharaoh, listen,” they say too the King (in my words), “these Hebrew woman, they’re tough….the babies are born before we get there. There is just nothing we can do!” HA!

Now imagine the scene: Pharaoh is the most powerful man in the world. He is sitting on his throne probably surrounded by sycophants, advisers, yes-men, and most certainly armed guards. Nobody tells him NO. He can have anyone he wants tortured and killed for the pettiest insolence and here come these two slave women….. nobodies and nothings….property in every sense of the word….. before him after defying an order…..and they lie straight to his face. What does God think of this lie? He loves it! He rewards the women workers with the blessings of large families…..the most valuable reward possible to a people living under oppression. He gave them people to love them…to protect them…and to carry on their struggle!

What do I learn from this story?

1. The power of authority seeks to serve only the power of authority. Remember why Pharaoh wanted the boys killed: he was protecting his own power over the Jewish slaves. He needed a compliant workforce and he needed fear to keep his workers in order.

2. Freedom is born through the power of organized workers. They are called midwives, but Shiphrah and Puah are “just” workers. Their organized act of defiance, the first such act against the earthly authority of a Boss in the Bible, gives freedom a chance to survive among oppression. And their action is supported through their solidarity. Either one of them could have ratted out the other one when they were standing their before the King but they stuck together and through their defiance saved their people.

3. God loves people who stand up to the Boss. God rewarded the defiant act…and the lie told to cover it up….with the best blessing a slave people could have on earth…families.

Could Shiphrah or Puah been so defiant if they had acted alone? Maybe…but would one of them alone been as successful? Who knows, but I doubt it. What I do know is the power of organized women workers is something to be celebrated because it is the pathway to freedom and justice. It is organized women workers standing up and defying their Boss that God loves, not the power of the Boss to decide for all what is right and wrong.

Balay sa Dato (House of the Rich)

When I was a child, I would always marvel on the beautiful houses at the nearby village. My parents would call them "balay sa dato."

What does it feel to be in that kind of house? How did they got that kind of house? These run my young mind. My mom then told me, "You study well. Excel in your class and someday we will have that house." My mother is my first mentor. She mold me to be competitive like her. I am her ace. The source of her pride. And one word that leaves a legacy to me from her is the word PLAN. 

Planning became a habit to me that I would do it even while walking or talking to a person. It proved to be effective. Nevertheless, I am not mindful of giving it a big importance not until I saw the very big difference from a family that doesn't plan.

These are their principles:
1. Come what may. 
2. Living a day without tomorrow. 
3. The next day would be the same as the other day. 
4. If you can eat, its good. If not, well maybe we could wait for somebody to bring food.
5. Today's my salary, let's buy all food that we want. Tomorrow, we'll eat air.

I was culture-shocked, very disappointed and angry. I never thought such people really exist until I know it's a common Filipino culture.

Alas! I found it! I finally discovered the secrets on how to be poor forever. On why Filipinos remain to be in poverty.

Now, do I have the right to say that you are poor because you don't plan?




contributor: Eric Tunacao
image: google.com

Filipinos are Poor: Because, "Poor keep on Producing BABIES"

Filipinos are Poor: Because, “Poor keep on producing BABIES”
Ano ba yan! Such an arrogant and irrational reaction amongst in the middle class society , and reinforced the incompetent government leaders. Tuwing nakakakita ng mga pulubi sa kalsada o tuwing dumadaan sa mga “squatters’ area” madalas ‘yang sabihin ng ilan.
Kailan pa naging dahilan ng kahirapan ang pagkakaroon ng mga anak? ‘Pag wala bang anak ang isang mahirap na mag-asawa giginhawa ang buhay nila nang ganun-ganon lang?
Conceding that the number of children and dependents has an effect on the economic condition of a family , but it is merely incidental. The way the government and some reproductive health advocates invoke family size and overpopulation as a problem, granting without admitting but, giginhawa ang buhay sa Pilipinas ‘pag may population control. It is a favorite scapegoat for the government. A convenient excuse not to address the root causes of poverty in the Philippines. .
Looking at it in another way, did developed countries become rich because they controlled the growth of their population? NO. They became rich because they’re industrialized and their government developed a national economy.
I believe that with all the natural resources in the country, the Philippines can accommodate and support a population many times its current size. Granted, there is a limit to everything. But why are we singling out the poor?
Ang mamamayan, kahit pigilan mong magkaroon ng anak, hindi giginhawa ang buhay hanggat walang oportunidad at trabaho. Ang manggagawa hindi giginhawa ang buhay kahit pigilan mo siyang magka-anak hanggat hindi itinataas ang sahod. Ang magsasaka hindi giginhawa ang buhay kahit pigilan mo siyang magka-anak hanggat hindi binibigyan ng sariling lupang sasakahin. The reason why the Philippines continues to be mired in poverty is not because we are “overpopulated”. The Philippines continues to be poor because of socio-economic and political injustices prevail over our national life. Unless such root causes of poverty is eliminated, we shall continue to be poor and exploited, no matter how many contraceptives the government distribute to the masses, no matter how you stop them from making babies.


contributor: cion
image: google.com

The Pope, The Beast & Vatican

"Vatican To Influence World Financial Laws To Curb Terrorism." This is the news i just read from the FB post of GMANews. As I read it, my heart started pumping fast. "Is this the sign?" This runs my head as I continue reading. To help you understand, I would like to share these very important things which you may just know here. 

When I was 17, I started questioning my religious faith and the foundations of it. The search led me to the depths of all known world religions and even the cults. For a year, I started bringing home books i got from all sorts of places. I took most time in studying the history of the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations. Aftr a very long search, I end up believing and thanking God that He has led me to the right path.

Ok that was the background. Now lets go further. Let's talk about the beast and 666 which i mentioned on the title of this article. These are mentioned in 2 prophetic books in the Bible which is Daniel & Revelation which illustrates the last battle between good & evil. I don't want to sound a preacher here. I just want to share beliefs which you might just know now.. just to have an addition on your knowledge box. 

You see there are a lot of interpretations about it. I had known quite a few but i'm not convinced on their basis. You see, I love history. And because the Bible is intertwined with history. I would prefer that you talk with historical basis. 

Let's proceed deeper. As I say, I'm not preaching. And I'm not telling you I am right. This is just a sharing of knowledge. So here's the new input I'm going to tell you.

A Christian denomination called the Seventh-day Adventist Church has a very intriguing belief about 666. And by the way, the historical & Biblical evidence is quite strong. Here are the beliefs:
1. The Beast is the Papal seat/ Vatican.
2. At the last days, the beast will take control of world economy.
3. The beast will join power with US to implement a global law.
4. The beast would force a religious doctrine disguised as a law to benefit mankind.
5. The last Christian persecution would start. Even worst than the Reformation /Dark Ages, where priests burned people together with their Bibles.

I myself is intrigued with this. If this is the right interpretation. But as I see, the domino of events start falling one by one.

Now,it's up to you to believe it or not. One thing I'm very sure about. That those wearing the robes through history have shown themselves that they are not reflecting the face of Christ.




contributor: Eric Tuñacao
http://www.facebook.com/notes/eric-tunacao/the-pope-the-beast-vatican/185938654750630
image: canadastreetnews.com

SK, Prove Your Worth

With the aim of giving a voice for the youth on our political system, SK was inserted in our LGUs. Paving way for teenagers to participate in voting, in electoral candidacy and eventually giving political power to the elected youth representatives. 

However, let's assess how SK had performed on the past years. Has SK been effective to be called the Voice of the Youth? What are the programs implemented? If there are programs, is it really what the youth need? Or can SK really identify the issues? 

What transpired is actually not what is thought about. Sometimes ideas are just too idealistic without considering inevitable factors. These are the things I have observed:
1. SK is a puppet of the adult politicians because those who run are backed by political machinery or are relatives of the politicians.
2. They are helpless and can't assert the things they want. Without political networks and enough skills and knowledge to run programs, SK is an unsharpened sword put in a battle of guns.
3. They just know what the youth wants but not what the youth needs.

Not unless you prove your worth, I & several youth leaders & advisers would remain to be an advocate of abolishing SK.

Prove your worth SK! Don't give us another sportsfest for the sake of having a program.


contributor: Eric Tuñacao
http://www.facebook.com/notes/eric-tunacao/sk-prove-your-worth/185598501451312
image by: jetoxicated

The Dilemna of An OFW

Many parents nowadays are pushing their children to work abroad in the hope of a better future. And so nursing courses where flooded by students, skills training centers with apprentices, recruitment agencies with applicants. And its real tough to get out. Besides luck, we need the enduring heart.

It might be harsh to say this but as I contemplate, I would say OFWs are the "sacrificial lambs of their families." Here's why:
1. WHAT'S FOR ME? We push them there because we can get something. O come on, lets not be pretentious. We may say its for their future bt we also have benefits from it, right?
2. THE GREAT PROVIDER. Once out, OFWs forget about what they want. It's what the family wants now. And also the former family..how about the family of the spouse?..the cousins..the cousins of the spouse..and all kinds of relatives here, there and evrywhere. 
3. MISSING PERSONAL MOMENTS. Our time with family and friends are our comfort zone. These are the most important part of our lives as human being. And for work, we let it pass by. As OFWs get back for a very short vacation, fathers became strangers to their kids. A grand home we see but it seems empty from within.
4. CONFUSION OF WHAT & WHERE I WANT. Long been gone, now its time to get back. Get back where? To Philippines, where there was a family but no work? Or abroad where there's work bt no family? What do I really want? Is it to b a provider without a family beside? Or having a family that I can't provide?
5. LOST FAMILIES. Without a father/ mother for so long, how can we expect kids to feel being loved? Without spouses, how can we expect faithfulness? The core unit of our society, the family, how can we expect it to be strong?

This is a call that we should not be happy that our people are getting out because we can't find anything good here. Gov't, NGOs, business sector and all other groups, let us join hands in protecting our Filipino families.


contributed by: Eric Tunacao
http://www.facebook.com/notes/eric-tunacao/the-dilemna-of-an-ofw/185484451462717
image: gmanews.tv

Oh God! Why are we Poor?

1.       The most common cry of all Filipinos – Corrupt Government officials. Much has been said about this subject matter. And do I still have to say something about it? Punyetang mga baboy na yan, wala pa akong nakitang politikong hindi baboy, hindi gago, hindi sakim at higit sa lahat hindi mukhang pera.

2.       Too much hospitality. Love your neighbors as you love yourself. Yeah right, we love them much that we’re willing to be their slaves even in our own country. But anyways, what I meant for too much hospitality is that the Philippine government spends an overwhelming amount of funds to accommodate these foreign dicks. I am not against the idea of entertaining and accommodating our guests properly, but can we just spend based on our ability to spend? Spend what you can only spend without sacrificing other services. There are lots of our poor countrymen that are in need of these funds. We spend much to show these foreign dicks that we aren’t poor? That we are capable of accommodating them like a five-star hotel? The reality is, the Philippines is a slum-area. The dirty, mud-filled, stinky-smell of the rivers, people sleeping on the streets, people killing other people to survive, people begging from  other people in order to eat, people enslaving themselves to foreign bastards just to have money. This is the Philippines, take it or leave it.

3.       Our love for imports. Now who does not want to own imported products? (I cannot name imported brands because, I don’t know them heck). The mentality of all imports is of good quality and all Philippine-made products are of lesser quality without thinking that when we buy locally-made products we are helping our dying economy. Helping our fellow pinoy businessmen. But do we care? Heck if we do. This problem is connected with Politics. We’ll talk about that later on.

4.       Education System. The present educational system we had teaches and urges us to be employees. Courses offered in different schools are somewhat not meant for our country. Courses that isn’t suited for our country. The Philippines in the first place is an agricultural country. But ask yourselves, anung patok na mga kuros ngayon? Engineering, IT, Nursing and etc. Are we giving a damn with agricultural courses? You may say, Oh c’mon who doesn’t wanna be an engineer? Who doesn’t wanna be a doctor? Or etcetera, gusto mo bang maging magsasaka?  What’s wrong with being a farmer? Who do you think planted the rice you’re eating on your plates?huh? The point is, of course we need these professions in order to progress but please let’s not forget agriculture. This is what’s missing for our progress. Why do I say so? About 20-30 years ago, Southeast Asian countries send their brightest scholars to study agriculture here in the Philippines, during that time we are one of that major rice exporters in the region. After studying, the scholars went back to their countries to apply what they had learned and focus more on agriculture and during that time also Philippines adapted and embraced western culture prematurely. Look at our Southeast Asian neighbors right now compared to us, any difference?

5.       Government System. Democracy. Freedom. Things that we shouldn’t have. Why do I say so? Look at your community, look at our country. We are infested with abusive, opportunist and selfish people. Mga punyetang abusadong gago. Parte na ng kulturang pinoy ang pagiging abusado, ang pagiging kulang sa disiplina.  We shouldn’t be enjoying this freedom. If this problem won’t be cured. Then we’re destined to be doomed.

6.       This is related to number 5. Attitude, Culture, Mentality and Religion. I will just cite some examples for this. One day millionaire. Crab-mentality. Pa-utang. Barrio Fiestas.

If you have something to add, feel free to comment. If you want to disagree, it’s ok we are entitled with our opinion. After all these are just my opinions. :3