20-years after Edsa: Nothing's changed!

CNN reported yesterday that there's a group of husbands in Japan that call themselves, "The Devoted Husbands Club" and amongst the tips that they give out to their club members is... "Go home early... listen to your wife" while another one was quite funny..."Call your wife by her name". I'm sure that many husbands here who refuse to be identified with that group that Manong Max Soliven (I suspect that he is a charter president of one of them) always referred to as "Takosa" (Takot sa Asawa) or "Uhaw" (United Husbands Afraid of Wife) do call their wives by their names or even better. Perhaps in Japan they call their wives differently.

For those who didn't celebrate Valentine's Day because they had no one to love them... they should have realized that God loves them to the point that he has counted the hairs on each and everyone of us. For their comfort, you can read the Newsletter from the Sacred Heart Parish about Pope Benedict XVI's 1st Encyclical. In it the Pope mentions about the Practice of love by the Church as a Community of Love.

Pope Benedict says, "The Church is one of those living forces; she is alive with the love kindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does no simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than material support." I say amen to this! Well, I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day celebration.

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It's just a week before the 20th anniversary of the EDSA Revolt and it seems that people have grown tired and weary in celebrating EDSA for the simple reason that while we drove out of Malacañang, a well-entrenched dictator, things are very much the same 20 years later. Worse perhaps is that, Tita Cory who carried the yellow flag that the opposition waved for Justice for Ninoy, Justice for All has been seen locking arms with the remnants of the tentacles of the Marcos Dictatorship.

It could be that the Filipino people are fed up with the results of EDSA. For instance the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) barely recovered much of the so-called Marcos loot, except for what the late Haydee Yorac bagged US$ 683-Million, which the Supreme Court gave in favor of the Philippine Government. The problem with that decision is, we did found part of that fabled loot, but where are the looters? Helloow, they're even back in political power! If you ask me, that's the reality with EDSA 20 years later.

Just when the Filipino people thought that we have finally gotten rid of the politicians who took advantage of the poverty of our people, we end up with more politicians who now even use the name of the "masa" in vain. So what have we achieved in the last 20 years? To be perfectly honest with you, as we've been saying... nothing much has changed. As the old sage would say, "the rich has gotten richer, while the poor have become poorer". But in the Philippines, even the rich have become poorer!

To give you a better answer to that question, ask yourself what was the Pinoy's dream 20 years ago? That's to get a Green Card to go to the US. Now isn't this the same kind of dream that a lot of people still wish today? Just look at the long lines of people at the US Embassy, lining up to seek a better future? But why do people like to go and live in the United States? Because it is the land of the free? Better think again! Nuthin's free in America and don't be fooled by the song by the great Trini Lopez entitled "America" whose lyrics goes, "Everything is free in America!"

No sir, America is an expensive place to live, unless you have a job. But even then, you cannot get away with many things in America. For instance, if you get caught passing a red traffic light, the police will handcuff the offending motorist because this crime is not a simple violation of a traffic rule, but it is endangering the lives of other motorists.

The same is true when you make a simple traffic violation, which will cost you some US$300 dollars. Sure, you can pay that fine, but after paying your fine, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will ask you whether you will do certain hours of community service or if you won't do that, the DMV will report your traffic violation to your insurance so that your premium will increase the next time you get a car insurance.

These are just simple examples that I'm giving our readers so that they will understand that America isn't really a place you can easily live with unless you have some kind of self-discipline, which most people don't have. This is why 20 years later, we are still in the doldrums despite EDSA Revolt.

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