I dare say... there is a Catholic vote!

Last Saturday, The Philippine STAR came up with a front page report entitled “Miriam: Don’t Fear the Catholic Vote.” This was her way of urging her colleagues in the Senate and those running for re-election to continue pushing for the Reproductive Health (RH) bill even if they’re seeking re-election. Is this Sen. Miriam’s way of challenging the incumbents? I dare those seeking re-election to court the various parish priests and let’s see if they can get votes from them. Let me point out… the further you are from the urban centers… the closer are the people to their parish priests and consequently to Catholic doctrines.

Perhaps, it is time to put this theory to the test whether or not there is a Catholic vote. Coincidentally, I got a forwarded e-mail from Roilo Golez who said, “Some say don’t fear the Catholic vote? Perhaps the Catholics are not solid? They should review their arithmetic. Catholics account for at least 80% of the population. The second largest group accounts for only around 5%. If only 20% of the Catholics are solid, that’s still 16% of the population, more than three times the size of 100% of the second largest religious group. But of course we all know that Catholics, faced with a just and compelling moral issue, can mobilize much, much more than 20%.”

Let me add my ten centavos worth to this fact… after all numbers do not lie. There is no doubt that we Filipinos are a very patient people. We had the Marcos Dictatorship for a long time, because we allowed him to dictate upon us, otherwise we would have revolted already. But when Marcos went overboard to destroy Sen. Ninoy Aquino, he was now playing into that old adage which goes “Power corrupts… absolute power corrupts absolutely” so out went the Marcos Dictatorship. But the succeeding Presidents didn’t help alleviate the poverty of our nation… and it has only gotten worse.

Enter the new political aggrupation that controlled the country after one man rule… where we removed a solitary strongman and replaced him with 24 mini-dictators… this has resulted to the same “Business as usual” for the Philippines where nothing has moved forward, while the political establishment enrich themselves from the kitty of the government. If you ask me, they are the new enemies of the people… and those of them who are pushing for the RH bill… will certainly be targeted for extinction by the Catholic vote. Of course, there is still a chance they would win… if the PCOS machines are used and tweaked to allow the LP candidates to win!

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Last Sunday, The Philippine STAR came up with a headline, “Phl evades FATF Blacklist.” To the great number of STAR readers, only a handful understood that headline news because really, few Filipinos are into money laundering. 99.9% of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sends their meager income back home in proper banking or lending institutions that operate where most of the OFWs are found. Only a handful of rich and powerful Filipinos like in the case of the wife of Sen. Lito Lapid who was caught smuggling $50,000 into the US. No sir, the ordinary OFWs do not have that cash. But our rich Senators certainly have lots and lots of this money.

But it doesn’t mean that the signing of Republic Act. No. 10167 or “An Act to further Strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering Law” or RA 10168 “The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012” isn’t doing the country any good… it does and I’m glad that Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III signed these two bills into law so that those corrupt government officials can no longer hide the money they stole in our banks.

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The blackbox:

I would like to express my family’s heartfelt condolences to the Tequillo Family on the passing of my compare’ Jesus “Dodong” Tequillo last Tuesday during the Feast of St. Josemaria Escriva’ who succumbed to complications of pneumonia and his failed kidneys. He is survived by Dr. Eve Hortelao Tequillo and children Dr. Max & Jasmine, Atty. Jennoh & Fara, Bimbo & Sheila, Andrew & Bernice, Pancho & Bambet and his grandchildren.

Pareng Dodong shares with me our three grandchildren Mico, Keena and Jenna (though he has many more from his other children), as he is the father of my son-in-law Atty. Jennoh and Dr. Fara Tequillo. While he was having his dialysis, he found the situation quite depressing at the Asian Renal Center so he organized his fellow patients into a group called the Kidney Failure Club (KFC) which has been going on for 2 years now… and somehow in their misery, they found an outlet to still have fun and songs despite their situation.

His remain lie in state at the St. Matthew Chapel in St. Peter’s Mortuary in Cebu City. Interment will be at the Angelicum Memorial Park after the 2:00PM mass on July 1st. May I request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of his soul.

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