Feb 24th 10 Posted by Arnold in Too Personal

Bro. Eddie broke my heart

Watch this, then let me tell you why Bro. Eddie just broke my heart.

Let me lay out the ground work.

1. I’m an evangelical Christian.

2. Bro. Eddie is a leader of one of the biggest evangelical groups here in the Philippines.

3. While I’m not part of the Jesus is Lord Church which he founded, I look up to him as a brother and a great leader of the Church.

4. Apolo Quiboloy’s “Kingdom…”, on the other hand, is NOT an evangelical church. In fact, his church is largely considered a cult of Christianity among evangelical apologists. Reason for this includes his claim of being the Son of God (in Gentile body, blasphemous in my opinion), their works-oriented salvation doctrine, Oneness (as against Trinitarianism), and exclusivity (even claiming that Davao — where their headquarters is located — is the new Jerusalem). He has all the characteristics to be tagged by evangelicals as a dangerous cult.

5. I can respect Quiboloy as a citizen of the Philippines and truly a leader with many followers. But I will never call him a “preacher of righteousness”.

Bro. Eddie, as most of you know, is campaigning for the presidency.

Seeing this man of God compromise his belief, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to which this man from Davao has adulterated, breaks my heart. He is not only loosing his witness, he is also loosing the witness of the entire evangelical Christianity in the Philippines.

What else can Bro. Eddie do just to win the votes of the people?

I’m calling on Bro. Eddie to repent of this lie, hunger for power and for bringing shame to the name of Jesus Christ, the true Son of God.

Feb 8th 10 Posted by Arnold in Too Personal

The “I am poor, therefore I should win” mentality

A Twit from @jovefrancisco caught my attention.

I’m a big fan of the PBB franchise. Pero kailan kaya matitigil ang pag gamit ng HMs ng “i am poor card”? Just play the game well please.

That short, 140 or less character line has defined exactly what I have in mind — not just with the state of Philippine television, because I hardly watch these days, but with the Filipino mindset in general.

Politics. Take a look at Manny Villar, Erap and Jojo Binay. “I am/was poor, therefore you should vote for me”

Workplace. I have erroneously given “on top of the others” favor to some employees not because they were deserving, but because they said, and claimed at least, that they are poor. I’m sure this happens all the time in the workplace.

Game shows and Philippine TV. You see this everyday. People go on TV and proclaim that they are poor, therefore should deserve some sort of alms or privilege.

Jove called this “I am poor card”. I call this emotional ambush.

My heart goes to the poor. I was raised in a relatively poor family.

What I’m so pissed is the “I am poor, therefore…” mentality of us Filipinos. We thought that being poor is the end of it all. People dwell on it. Politicians exploit it.

If you think you are poor and has nothing on earth to help you get out of it — aside from joining TV shows, receiving financial “help” from politicians or betting on lotto, then you’ll be poor for the rest of your life.

I’m not writing this for the poor — heck, they are poor, how can they have internet access! I’m writing this for us in the middle class. Please stop exploiting this Filipino poor mentality. Let us help them get out of the curse of poverty and not wallow on it. Politicians — let not the people vote for you because you are/were poor but because you have an actual plan to help them get out of the mess and not just to temporarily relieve the pain.

But that would be a long shot, wouldn’t it?

Nov 30th 09 Posted by Arnold in Politics

Philippine politics is fun

And here’s why:

• Convicted plunder former president Joseph Estrada, at age 70+ wants to be president again. For fun and ego, he wants to prove others wrong about his wrong doings.
• Current president and very UNpopular at that, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, will run as representative. So her plate number will now be 8 and not 1, eh! If she wins, how will her colleagues in Congress call her — Madame. President, er… Madame Speaker?
• Ah, Joey de Venecia. Aside from promising “free cellphones” when he win the senate, what else do he want to do? Is the senate now the ultimate target of “whistle blowers”?

These and a lot more.

So, what do you think makes Philippine politics fun?  

Oct 30th 09 Posted by Arnold in Politics

Noynoy Aquino first TV ad

Emotionally charged, star-studded, 3.5 minute ad — that’s Noynoy Aquino’s first assault.

If he’s going to unite the Philippines as a president, he must have given us the first crack by uniting the Kapuso and Kapamilya network stars. The music video is sang by Regine Velasquez. Other Kapuso stars include Dingdong Dantes, Marian Rivera and Ogie Alcasid. Kapamilya stars include Boy Abunda, Bea Alonzo, Sharon Cuneta, Anne Curtis, Mariel Rodriguez, Bianca Gonzales, Ai Ai delas Alas, Eric Santos and of course, Noynoy’s sister Kris Aquino. And I think I saw James Yap with Team Philippines.

This TV ad made the others looked like the real trapos.

Sep 21st 09 Posted by Arnold in All in a days work, Politics

Mar Roxas: “Cynicism has already lifted from our hearts”

Today, Sen. Mar Roxas has officially accepted the challenge of being Noynoy Aquino’s running mate. A very interesting tandem, they are going to be the team to beat. While I still am undecided on who to vote, I have to admit that Sen. Roxas has won my heart for the sacrifices he made for the sake, well, at least the Liberal Party. Bu then, even in a smaller think such as that, you can see character.

Here’s the acceptance speech he delivered.

Maraming maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat. Magandang tanghali po. Happy Holidays to our Muslim brothers.

Salamat, Noynoy, sa tiwalang ipinagkaloob mo sa akin. Salamat sa karangalang maging kasama mo sa paglilingkod sa bayan. Thank you for this opportunity to work with you as we raise the banner of reform. Thank you for the privilege of joining you and all our kababayans in the fight for decency and integrity in public service, and for a government that puts the people’s interest first.

Taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang hamon na isulong ang tunay na reporma sa ating bansa.

Taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang responsibilidad na maging kabalikat ni Noynoy sa kanyang laban para sa pagbabago.

Taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang maging katambal ni Noynoy Aquino.

But this fight is not just about Noynoy and me. It’s bigger than the two of us, it is bigger than the Liberal Party. It is about our collective thirst for change.

It is about our thirst for change finally overcoming those who want to continue the tayu-tayo system, the horse-trading, the greed, the self-interest, the transactional politics that has been the biggest roadblock to progress and prosperity for all.

Tungkol ito sa matuwid laban sa baluktot. Tungkol ito sa tapat laban sa tiwali. Tungkol ito sa tama laban sa mali.

Noy, you have raised the banner. Ito ang bandila ng reporma at pag-asa. Ito ang maglalagay ng pagkain sa mesa, dahil hindi na nanakawin ang pondo ng mga magsasaka. Ito ang magbibigay ng trabaho sa taumbayan, dahil hindi na kokotangan ang mga namumuhunan. Ito ang magpapaabot-kaya sa presyo ng gamot, dahil hindi na makikipagsabwatan sa mga abusadong pharmaceutical companies.

My friends, this is going to be a tough battle. We should not be lulled into complacency. We are up against forces who will fight tooth and nail, fair and unfair, legal and illegal, against us. Sa kanila yata, tuloy ang ligaya; sa atin naman, tuloy ang laban.

Kailangan nating isulong ang bandila ni Noy at ng reporma. Mahirap ang laban na ito, pero nasa kamay natin ang ating kapalaran.

Kung bawat araw, ang bawat isa sa atin ay makahimok ng isa pang kasangga natin, tiyak ang ating tagumpay.

Our opponents will exhaust all avenues in order to win. They have been robbing us for so long, and they want to continue robbing us. Pero hindi tayo papayag na manakaw din nila ang ating pag-asa.

Taglay ni Noynoy ang susi ng pagbabago: matapat na puso, malasakit sa kapwa, at pinakamahalaga, pagmamahal sa bayan. Buong-loob kong isinusulong si Noynoy Aquino. I am honored to join him in this field of battle.

To all of us here in this hall and all across this great nation, who are fighting alongside him, make no mistake about it: We will not back down from this fight, not now, not ever.

The fog of cynicism has already lifted from our hearts. Ngayon, puwede na muling mangarap.

Sama-sama tayo. Hindi namin kayo pababayaan. Lalaban tayo!