The Senate and Live Coverages

Truly the age of information and technology is a boon and a bane.

When we can see in real time how our elected leaders spend their time inside their august halls, it profits us to know if we made the right choices or not. And here the benefits of technology are only too clear.

But when these same leaders begin to act like little children wrestling for control of the schoolyard, we see only a bunch of power-hungry persons trying to play to the emotions of their electorate.

Because, really, all these honorable Senators were doing were grandstanding in an effort to be recognized and hopefully get re-elected in May.

In the old days when it was only necessary to deliver a good speech and hope that your message was brought across successfully to the reporters who were going to write their story, the Senators only needed to give a good pose for the photographers to snap at.

Those were the days when formality and proper decorum were observed inside the halls of congress and profanity and insults were a part of the real world not theirs.

In those days, honorable men would walk up to the lectern and at least pretend that, for a brief period in their lives, they had the honor to represent their constituents and acted in a manner befitting a true representative, with honor and dignity.

But television and live coverages changed all these. When the first congressional hearings went live and the actors, because that is what they have turned into today, found out they garnered more viewers by being dramatic, everything just went haywire.

We see today the Senate and Congress hearing just like we would watch a noontime teleserye or Kris Aquino and her expose’s. And they all contain the same thing, drama without substance, all played out for our entertainment.

Senator Nene Pimentel makes a rude and base aside to Senator Mar Roxas who in turn makes a (bad acting) reaction. Then the whole proceeding explodes into chaos.

Isn’t this something we would see in a tele-novela, when two opposing beings first insult each other and then end up scratching each other up?

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile making an expose’ attacking Manny Villar looks too much like Kris Aquino charging Ayen Austria on SNN.

And mind you, all these examples are on national TV,  espoused and even prayed for by the big networks to milk the ratings. And where do they get the ratings? The same place where the politicos get their votes, from us!

So our lives have fallen to nothing but an act, a big script that needs to be played out, with these politicians as the stars and we are the fans.

I can actually feel for Senator Mirriam Santiago and her decision to just walk out of the proceedings this afternoon if I did not know that she was also playing the audience.

We are now victims of our own technology and the only way out of it is if we can force ourselves from watching these kind of shows and demand for a more substantial content driven programming.

But as it is, we do not direct programming, even if we are the target of these shows. Sad to say we are at the mercy of the programming gurus who decide what we should watch and actually tell’s us so.

And the sadder part is that we enjoy these farce and slapstick. We actually want to see more of these. So here we are, at the receiving end of what should be a wonderful technology but is used as an entertainment tool.

And believe it when we say that that  is all our national leaders are good for. We pay them in the billions of our personal and tax money to entertain us. And they say politics is boring!

GMA Buying the Vote (or doing the right thing for the wrong reasons)

Representative Riza Hontiveros bared that President Gloria Arroyo spent almost 500 million pesos on infrastructure projects in the Pampanga district she intends run for congresswoman.

While politicians are gnashing their teeth in frustration that GMA seem to keep finding ways to confound them, residents of Pampanga are actually jumping with joy that the President is their cabalen!

Really, if you think about it, there is no perfect example of vote buying than presenting public projects to your constituents. Roads, school building, government offices, drainage canals, irrigation canals, agriculture based infrastructures, these are what the people need and GMA is delivering it to her voters.

Maybe to her convoluted mind buying the votes with the right projects will keep her out of prison after her term of office. And I cannot fault her for wanting to survive. In fact the only fault I can find in all this expenditures is that it is for an immoral and illegal gain.

But if she were any other politician, she would be lauded for spending so much for the benefit of her constituents. What frustrates all her enemies is the fact that she is probably doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

Now, if only every other politician would do the right thing for the right reasons, maybe we can all end up with a better life even with Gloria.

Welcome 2010

PRAYER (1939)
by Francisco Arcellana

Close all open things, Lord
Open all closed things.

All those who have long received, let them give.
All those who have long given, let them receive.
All those too long apart, let them come together.
All those too long together, sunder them.

Let the wise be fools for once, Lord
And let the fools speak their minds.
Affirm the long-denied, Lord
Fulfill the unfulfilled.

I received this Prayer from an old classmate, Allan Refuerzo, in Facebook. Not that I lack for prayers coming from a very devout Roman Catholic family, but this one struck close to my heart. It is a message of change.

I have relinquished the hold of the Roman Catholic Church and converted to a more dynamic church, a Christian church called Victory. It has no denomination, no political affiliation and the Pastors are very alive and dynamic.

Why, some of my more conservative friends ask? And I answer simply this, that we all have to move on in our lives, let go of the past and face the future of possibilities, change what has to change, put on a new raiment and discard the old clothes.

Because some of the old clothes we have  just hold us back from what we truly need to do. Forever? I have always believed that Forever is only as long as my most recent yesterday.

Don’t get me wrong, Victory Christian Fellowship does not veer away from any of the teachings of the Bible or our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, strange as it may seem to conservatives, this church affirms everything I have learned from every bible school I ever went to since my childhood.

The real difference can be found in the representation of the Lord. Priests are generally self-centered servants of God. No offense but a simple observation. I have yet to see a priest who will willingly relinquish the podium to allow someone else to take centerstage.

Priests also deliver their sermons mainly to themselves. I have probably gone through a whole college of mumbling priests whose words cannot be distinguished all throughout their speech. In fact, I have gone to masses that have foreign priests who can barely speak proper English or Filipino take charge of the mass.

Really, they are supposed to explain the Word of God, and they do it in a manner incomprehensible except to themselves. And finally, I have had my fill of priests using the pulpit to promote their own agenda and political direction.

When the priest from Pampanga decided to “temporarily” discard his robe and run for Governorship and eventually win it, I decided this was too much. In the end of the middle ages, the concept of separation of church and state was developed for good reason, political leaders who can call on the Grace of God for power are very scary people.

My new Pastor is very personal. He does not preach from a pulpit 15 feet high in a cathedral of six thousand persons. He talks to us from a platform a foot high and two feet away. He walks around us and makes sure we understand every word he says. He is a teacher and not a special envoy from God. That role he reserves for Jesus Christ and our faith.

So I go back to the prayer above. Lord close all open things and open all things closed…isn’t it so close to the saying “when the Lord closes a door He opens a new one? But the prayer does not wait, it asks outright.

“All those who have long received, let them give. All those who have long given, let them receive.” An active call for change, for something to be done in our behalf.

“All those too long apart, let them come together. All those too long together, sunder them.” An active call for action, for resolution of a situation.

“Let the wise be fools for once, Lord, And let the fools speak their minds. Affirm the long-denied, Lord, Fulfill the unfulfilled.”

An active call for our lives to move to the better and shake us out of our complacency. This prayer calls for something we always refuse to do, it calls for things to be done, even if it means doing things away from our comfort.

The reason for the prayer? Because when we forget Him, God will always shake us out of our beautiful lives. We ask that the Lord shake us now so we do not forget where all our joy come from. We ask for change now so when change comes we are thankful and not destroyed.

In the New Year to come this is my prayer, for myself and for everyone, that we may actively ask for the change God has planned for us and expect them every day, while continually believing that The Lord will bless us with everything.

A Blessed and Happy New Year to all

Welcome to 2010.