Disturbing uncertainties
From May 9 till now, we are not yet fully over with the election results. The winners among the senators have been confirmed, Roxas and Poe have conceded to Duterte, but the results of the vice presidency is still being contested.
If the same ballots canvassed confirmed the winners for the President and the Senators, why cannot Bongbong Marcos accept the clear results of the same ballots for the vice-presidency? He is demanding an audit of the same ballots before these are officially canvassed and confirmed by Congress. Leni Robredo's side is asserting the legal procedure of confirmation first and then let the protests and audit be done.
Until Robredo's confirmation, there remains a disturbing uncertainty about what will happen next. If Robredo is officially confirmed, will Marcos Jr. accept the result and concede? Or will other unruly scenarios follow? We continue to pray for peace in our country.
There are also many possibilities until all the candidates are officially sworn into office. We continue to pray some more for peaceful transition. We hope the obsession for power will not result in violence and chaos.
Recent pronouncements from Duterte have also been disturbing. His initial selection of cabinet members seems to suggest the return of Marcos and GMA people in top government positions. We wonder if many of Duterte's supporters accept Salvador Panelo who is the lawyer for those clearly involved in the Ampatuan massacre. Panelo and Duterte also promised the Filipinos that they will publicly present the truth about Duterte's BPI peso and dollar accounts. We are still awaiting that moment of truth and transparency about Duterte's bank accounts. We call on all Filipinos to demand this truth soonest. Even Duterte's supporters should join in demanding the truth of these alleged BPI accounts so that they will be assured that they truly voted for an honest candidate.
We also wonder if Representative Mark Villar should head the DPWH. Why not retain Secretary Singson who has done a very remarkable and honest job, getting so much done with huge savings to boot! At the rate Duterte is changing his mind and statements, however, perhaps it may be best to wait for his final confirmed choices after he has been officially sworn into office.
His severe attack on the "hypocritical" Catholic Church is, to say the least, unfair and uncalled for. If he was molested by a bishop, let Duterte be man and honest enough to expose this erring bishop. He mentioned Archbishop Cruz but did not include in his critic the corrupt government that offered bribes to church officials.
Certainly, like the imperfect Duterte, there are imperfect beings as well in the Catholic Church but certainly, there are good and genuine servants of the Lord in our Catholic Church in our country and all throughout the world. We wonder whether the Catholic voters among his supporters will accept his charge that the Catholic Church, composed of the leaders and the laity, is the most hypocritical institution. As we are all Catholic believers and part of the Catholic Church, we definitely feel offended by this biased, narrow view of this mayor from Davao and we continue to pray for God to appropriately deal with him in His time and way. All is possible with God and June is still a month and some more days from now. We joyfully praise our God for His miracles for our country which He will manifest in His time.
We worry about Duterte's health that he has not truthfully shared with his voters. Will his mental and psychological health be affected by his physical health situation? Like our public demand for Miriam Santiago to reveal her health condition, we pray Duterte will be man and brave enough to inform the Filipinos soonest about his true health condition now.
He may yet change his mind about where he will officially reside. Also, he will not officially be president yet until June. We pray though that when he is president, he may want to consider the enormous expense and inconveniences if he wants to hold daily cabinet and other official meetings in Davao.
Duterte may also wish to spend more time to ponder and reflect, learn and understand that a president does not make a nation, that true leadership involves partnership, team work, diligence, humility, and, servanthood. The president is only the leader and representative of the Philippines, a nation beyond one city and a member of a global world. A president is also mortal, definitely not a god.
- Latest
