Separation Of Church And State? We Have That?

At least it says so in our constitution.

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declares: The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable. (Article II, Section 6), and, No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights. (Article III, Section 5).

That's what I got from Wikipedia (I so love that site).

So there is a separation of church and state. At least in theory. But in our case it seems that religion has more to say on our country than you might think.

The Catholic Bishops Conference is one of those influential religious groups that can turn the tide against any politician. Woe be to any politician that goes against the DON'Ts of the Catholic Church.

That's like political suicide right there.

Why? Because even if it's a policy that is beneficial to the people, if it's covered by one of the don'ts of the Catholic Church it's a big NO. And let me emphasize: EVEN IF IT'S FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE.

Which makes me wonder: how come the church only has don'ts. Don't they have any do's? Are they so wrapped up against not doing anything that they forgot to do anything?

What is there solution? Do they even have one? I bet if you ask them what you should do to feed your family because you have 12 kids and the reason you have 12 kids is because your weren't allowed to do family planning by using contraceptives they won't have a clue.

I suppose it's because they are celibate - that explains all those sex cases against the church - ooops that's a topic for another day.

But back to the point - religion, in this case the church, is not really separate from the the state.

And we only delude ourselves if we believe that bullshit.

So come this election the church will be out in full force to destroy those politicians who are honestly trying to do what's good for the people even if it means going against the church's don'ts.

I say good luck to them and I hope they win despite that.

The Holy Week Break - Repent Your Sins And Sin Again?!

For some a 4 day weekend - the long weekend. For others a time to renew the faith and repent for our sins.

Our faith calls for that.

The thing is we repent our sins and then we go out and sin again and again and again. As if repenting our sins allow us to start anew and sin again.

Politicians will show their faith by going to church and pray deeply as a sign of contrition yet come Monday they will be back to stealing from the country again. As if nothing happened.

What's this? A revolving door for sinning? Enter a sinner exit free to sin again? That's not right?

Yes GOD is ever loving and ever forgiving but there has to be a point where he says to himself "I can't take it anymore!" and we will feel his wrath like Sodom and Gomorrah.

You know, Sodom and Gomorrah the two cities along with Admah and Zeboim that were destroyed by "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven" for the sins of their inhabitants.

At the time GOD had had enough. In Christianity and Islam, their names have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of GOD's wrath.

At least here we do repent our sins. BUT how long do you think before GOD gets tired of this whole charade?

You don't want to find out and neither do I. So why do we go through all this play bullshit then.

If you're serious then repent and don't do anything sinful again. And for those who say it's impossible I say Jesus did it.

(In observance of the Holy Weekend I will not be posting until Monday)

And The Midnight Appointments Continue

Well that shouldn't be the case according to the Supreme Court. In a statement by court spokesperson Midas Marques, the Supreme Court said that Malacañang cannot use their recent decision allowing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to appoint the next Chief Justice to justify the recent spree of so-called midnight appointments.

A little to late for that now I would say. Arroyo’s flurry of recent appointments, which were disclosed last week, drew criticisms that these were midnight appointments - and of course it doesn't help that Malacañang would not say when each appointment was signed.

Very fishy indeed. If they wanted to clear matters up they should outright say that these appointments were made prior to the ban or something to that effect. Of course whether the people believe them or not is another thing entirely.

And look she appointed her college classmate Cynthia Carreon as head of the Tourism Promotions Board. She sure made a lot of last minute appointments, changing our Ambassador to Germany who only learned she was being replaced when she got an award from the president.

Wow, did not even have the decency to tell them they were being replaced until the last minute and during an awards ceremony at that. What a slap in the face.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Gary Olivar said that the appointments made “over an extended period of time” were all legal and was only now being reported.

Well if they were only now being reported then doesn't it go without saying that they were only now being made. I don't think the replacement of an ambassador to a major European country and the sacking and replacement of a lot of people at the same time will not constitute news if they were indeed made the time frame they said it was made.

If nothing else show proof so it will all come to rest.

Of course it will not remove the fact that it is all highly questionable. But then again since they are presidential appointees the incoming new president should just replace them all as is usually the norm.

Oh wait, what am I saying, there will not be any new president because we will be having a failed election. My bad I forgot about that - DUH!

Earth Hour - Why Only For One Hour Once A Year?

For one hour this Saturday night, 8:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. the country will be plunged in darkness.

No it will not be another nationwide blackout - I hope - but rather a planned simultaneous turning off of all non-essential lights and electric appliances from the tip of northern Luzon all the way down to Tawi Tawi.

This is part of the Earth Hour, an international movement to save Mother Earth. By the simple act of turning off the lights it supposedly sends a powerful message to everyone that we are all united to saving our planet.

And we are proud of our record. We were tops last year with over 10 million of us Filipinos participating.

Tonight it will be 15 million - at least that's the pledged number of participants.

Ah the hypocrisy of it all.

I have no problem with Earth Hour. I support it 100% and I will also be turning off non-essentials tonight for one hour.

That being said why turn off non-essential electric use for only one hour once a year? Why not make a pledge to turn it off everyday when it is not needed or in use?

Isn't that a better statement other than this promise to not use electricity for one hour but once it's over we go back to have everything running even when no one is using it.

Saving on electricity is all well and good but that's not all.

Why not go for less vehicles on the road?

Why not plant more trees and make sure the punishment for illegal logging is tough - I would like the death penalty but that's just me.

Earth Hour is needed but it doesn't mean much if we make up for the one hour of not using electricity by doubling our consumption the following hour.

We really need to conserve energy because as we all have experienced our power supply isn't exactly up to par.

Do we need to have the 12 hour blackouts like we did during the nineties to wake up and do something? After all isn't it human nature to do something when we feel the loss but it's already too late to do anything.

Let's not wait for that to happen. Do Earth Hour everyday. We only have one planet. Let's do everything we can to save it. Politics be damned.

From No Balls Supreme Court To A Revolt - Elections Are Warming Up

Who ever said the our Supreme Court had any balls!? Yes they are the bulwark of our so called democracy but the problem with that is they can change their ruling from one week to the next.

I remember they said before that government officials who wanted to run for an office were ok - that they did not have to resign from their current office. Then lo and behold a week later they said that the officials who were running for office were automatically resigned.

So which is it really? I'm confused. And here I thought the job of the Supreme Court was to make everything clear. Reminded me of the reports that came out about eggs.

First they were good, then they were bad, then the whites were good but the yolk was bad - my breakfast was confused that whole time. And of course the report was based upon who was paying for the research.

So is that the case here? Nah it can't be. Why pay when you can simply pad the court. At least the president did not copy U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937.

You know, the one with the controversial provision that would have granted the President Roosevelt the power to appoint an additional Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court for every sitting member over the age of 70½, up to a maximum of six. That would have resulted in a supreme court with members loyal to Roosevelt.

So we should be happy that she's only doing midnight appointments. And of course the SC has given itself the clearance to accept those appointments. So what if Section 15, Article VII prohibits the President from making appointments two months before the May 10 elections and until the end of her term on June 30.

Yes Section 4 and 9 of Article VIII, does require the President to fill up the vacancies in the judiciary within 90 days. But the thing is Chief Justice Reynato Puno will retire May 17 which is a week after the May 10 elections.

The president's term will end June 30. She doesn't have to appoint anyone because technically 90 days after May 17 is August 17. Let the next president do the appointment. Only to remove the picture of impropriety in the selection process.

It won't help if it seems she's doing it so she can have a back-up for her run as congresswoman. Wow a soon to be former president running for a lower position. I guess she's really going for that Prime Minister position.

Oooooh was I hinting on a charter change? That's bullshit. Instead of having only 6 years of disaster it's going to b extended indefinitely? Hell no.

And they say vote for the best candidate so that things like this will never happen again. But there is not best candidate. There's only the lesser between similar evil candidates.

Promises of stopping corruption? Hah! I'm sure the candidate will not be corrupt but it will not stop his supporters and power broker backers from being corrupt.

And if you go against them suddenly there's a revolt and you get replaced. A coup threat is in the air courtesy of former Brig. General Danilo Lim who, while in detention, is running for senator.

See this is what I don't get. Why is the Comelec allowing people who have a record of trying to topple the Philippine government the ability to represent the people that they disregarded when they rebelled.

I'm all for giving people second chances but if you fought against the government which is the people of this country, then you have no right to represent the very same people you were trying to destroy.

But then again that's just me. We'll see as the election heats up some more. Who knows, I may have more to say about it.