The Marcos years and martial law as a novel of multiple characters, multiple actions, multiple settings, multiple themes.

The Marcos years and martial law is not a kind of sudden fiction that can be compressed in a 2-3 pages of narrative, with few scenes, characters, action and a single theme.

EDSA1 is not what the Yellow Army-Aquino Oligarchy Media try to portray as glorifying achievement of the Aquinos--father, the talkative politician Benigno Aquino, Jr. and her wife Corazon and son Benigno III. Cory was not even at EDSA when the 2-day so-called Bloodless Revolution took place--she was in Cebu. So why was she proclaimed as icon of democracy?

Benigno, Jr. ,Benigno III and Corazon were creations of this media--the paid hacks promoted shamelessly that Aquino, Jr. is a hero, when, in fact and in truth, he was a traitor to this country as was his father before him who collaborated with the Japanese Imperial Forces in World War II.

With the above cold bloody facts as part of Philippine history and the Marcos-martial law narrative, it would be unfair if we only have two contending forces in this sudden fiction--Marcos as the antagonist and the father-mother-son as the heroes, defenders and protectors of the oppressed Filipinos. The Aquinos leading the  entire Filipino nation against the evil Ferdinand Marcos?

The Marcos years and martial is a long, long narrative of heroes and anti-heroes, traitors like Juan Ponce Enrile, Fidel Ramos, Gregorio Honasan, the Aquinos and the paid hacks of the Yellow Media.

Shall we make use of hyperbole and other tools of fiction to exaggerate the pain and suffering of the victims, who have been paid, at least some of them, for their "heroic" roles in opposing Marcos and his martial law whose administrators and enforcers were the so-called living heroes of Edsa 1? By the way, why was Corazon Aquino not in Edsa during the two-day February 1986 that toppled Ferdinand Marcos?

The false dichotomy reflects egoistic delusions of individuals that don't believe in possibilities and transformations the way Saul, the number one persecutor of Jesus Christ, underwent when he saw the light on his way to Damascus.

ON MR. PACQUIAO'S DIATRIBE AGAINST GAYS

"Hearts are breakable," Isabelle said. "And I think even when you heal, you're never what you were before." --Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels.
***
The problem of the Filipino mind, at least that of the 2 percent of the population that toppled Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, is that it is too analytic and does not deal with possibilities and inner transformations. It is more aware of the past than that of the present moment--the here and there of what they call the "peoples' victory" that kept Filipinos bondage until now.

This analytical mind says, Ferdinand Marcos was a Hitler; therefore, his son is a Hitler. Look, Sergio Osmena: This is a false logic because it has a false premise. 

Who is Hitler? Does this puerile Filipino mind know him or his first name or what he did to 6 million Jews in World War II? Does this mind knows Hitler's ideology?  

It could not be that hundreds of professors in that Christian university have one captive, sterile mind that, like Mr. Pacquiao, has no room for the values of their supposed spiritual path:  love, charity and understanding. It could not be that they, too,  fell prey to the obsolete refrain, the Anti-Marcos Monologue of  Hate and Anger,  that the Yellow Media have been playing for the past 30 years.

*** Who was the writer who said that we must translate our psychic wounds into significant art or thought?

Multiple issues can be connected to the Honorable Emmanuel Pacquiao's diatribe against gays in his 30-second statement regarding them. The Philippine boxing legend, a member of Congress, left the Roman Catholic Church and joined another Christian group. His mentors in the latter must have succeeded in indoctrinating him certain beliefs that he must also preach to others to gain adherents.

But Mr.Pacquiao's faith as a Christian does not give him the license to crucify gays, for they, too, are created, like him, in the image of God.  And, who knows, these gays are also Christians like him. Was it necessary to describe them as "worse than animals" with respect to their sexual orientation?

Given his stature as a boxing icon and representative of the, people in the Philippine Congress, would he have not used a more civilized language to drive home his point? We speak here of prudence, tact, savoir faire in dealing with sensitive issues like homosexuality.

As a boxing hero to Filipinos and the world, would he have been more heroic in defending the rights of gays because, they, too, have rights like any other children of God?

Instead of denigrating them, would he have been more generous--not with his riches--but with the values of the spiritual path, he said, he has been treading?

"Worse than animals." Words are things and sharp, as sharp as the sharpest kitchen knife, and cut deep inside. I hope that my nephew Gerry understand my issue against Mr. Pacquiao. It's not about marriage between man and woman. It's not about same sex marriage. It's about name-calling that takes away the person's dignity whether he is gay or straight, or whether she is a lesbian or a real woman.

Mr. Pacquiao's homophobic rhetoric before and after is wilting as he goes berserk with Bible verses to defend his cause. It appears he has a weak Bible background and there is a need for him to seek experts on the Scriptures in his Bible-preaching.

For the Bible-quoting boxer:

"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
   so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." (New International Version of the Bible)

In a more confrontational rendition, the verse says: One fly destroys a bottle of perfume.

Also, Mr. Pacquiao's Romanized name Emmanuel means in Hebrew, "God with us" (Immanuel).

As foretold:

Isaiah 7:14-16 says: So the Lord Himself will give you a special thing to see: A young woman who had never had a man will give birth to a son. She will give him the name Immanuel. He will eat milk and honey when he knows enough to have nothing to do with wrong-doing and chooses good....

Cross reference: Matthew 1:22-23--This happened as the Lord said it would happen through the early preacher. He said, "The young woman, who has never had a man, will give birth to a Son. They will give him the name Immanuel. This means God with us."

POWER OF MINDFULNESS OR BEING IN THE PRESENT

How do we carry ourselves in high-pressure moments when our behavior is put to the test in a life-changing situation? Are the forces within harnessed properly and we emerge with flying colors? Or we just fold up, lose our mind despite preparations and go away and on our way out, this idea that could have saved us from the tight situation suddenly appears, but it's too late.

Books by inspirational authors give methods and illustrate ideas that give you the confidence to achieve your goals and be in control of the situation instead of the situation taking control of you. 

Just like that? As easy as eating an apple pie? We also speak of bad habits here in the way Jack Canfield, the co-creator of "Chicken Soup for the Soul," perceive and get rid of them. So can we get rid of a habit overnight? Not all the time. It takes at least a hundred days to change a habit, he said.

Personal transformation takes time and discipline. And it is not a hit-and-run affair.

But let's go back to that precious present when we are supposed to be in our best elements, or, shall we say are our best selves. There is a book here, recently published, by Amy Cuddy, one of the best speakers of a forum of spreading ideas. 

The title of the book is "Presence," a well-researched presentation on the subject, which the blogger purchased at a Wal-mart store in Lake Elsinore at the discounted price of $19.58. In the jacket, Jane McGonigal, author of "Reality Is Broken,"says about the book, "Reading this book will forever change how you carry yourself, and in doing so, it will make you braver, bolder, and better able to show up for all of your life's greatest opportunities."

However, the quotation below is not from the "Presence" but from the book by Lama Surya Das entitled "Letting Go of the Person You Used To Be." The quotation is by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese spiritual teacher:

"Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you can not live the moment of your daily life deeply. That is why those who are not capable of being there in the present moment, they don't really live their lives--they live like dead people, like the French writer Camus used to say. That is why if you know the techniques of mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful smiling, you can bring your mind back to your body and you become truly alive at every moment and that can be described as the practice of resurrection. Resurrection can be at every moment for life to be possible."