Authority is now placed in your hands; don't abuse it!

I am an avid fan of Ka Freddie's songs -- though I'm not quite a fan of the singer.

Every time I heard the song "Para Sa Tunay Na Pagbabago" (which has a melody cannibalized from the song "Ipaglalaban Ko"), it twitched my lower eyelids and made my beard stand -- and I'm not exactly sure why. Demagoguery perhaps?

But I have discovered that simply straightening out my left and right pinky fingers helps relax my lower eyelids and beard -- and particularly when I stick my pinkies in my ears.

Other than the song, the simple but exemplary inauguration ceremony and the signals communicated by the newly-inaugurated President, at the least, may be perceived as fairly inspiring that could perhaps help change the perception of some fair-minded critics and cautious pessimists (skeptics, if you prefer) into guarded optimism and into seeing at least a semblance of concrete hope for the kind of reform and real change that the people are longing for for our country.

Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, sir, authority is now placed in your hands, a God-given authority. As you have invoked the Almighty's help by touching His word with your hand as you took your oath of office, may you keep His word in your heart so that you may not veer away from His ways. Starting today, by virtue of your oath before the nation and more importantly before God, the next six years of your life are now consecrated to the task the Lord God has given you. And by the virtue and power of the oath, everything you do and every decision you make will also bear the honor of the Lord. Thus, for this very reason, whatever things you do that puts the name of the Lord God in vain shall cause you the Father's divine chastening.

Among other things, these the Lord God abhors:

* Substituting the Lord God with things that have become other gods. Attributing to God the outcome of actions as a result of following strange gods.

* Dishonoring rightful agreements and not fulfilling righteous promises and vows. Breaking oaths and covenants.

* Scheming, secret deals, and planning things that are evil.

Whatever is/are purposed, consecrated, or dedicated to the Lord God (living people or non-living objects) bears the name of God, and in accordance to His holy name He shall surely act to protect them and His name.

Here is practical hint of wisdom: As you carry out your task as an oath-bound leader of the land, this you shall bear in mind: Whenever you've done anything that is against the three primary categories of things listed above that the Lord God abhors, there will surely come a divine chastening because you have asked the Father for His help when you took your oath with your hands on His word. Most of the time, the divine chastening is in the form of unexpected conflict or trouble.

When you took your oath, everything that you will be using -- all the resources of the country, your office, government projects, the people who are around you to help, and even your own family (because your daughter held the Bible) -- all of them are also covered by the oath you have made. When any of these things are used or are involved in anything that dishonors the holy name of the Lord God, He shall surely destroy it or render it unusable for some time or permanently. If it is people that are involved, the involved people shall experience divine chastening in the form of unexpected conflict or trouble.

Therefore, when unexpected conflict or trouble comes your way, pause to examine and discern whether something has been committed (by you, or by your people serving in government, or by your own family) that may have violated your oath before the Lord God.

Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in God's name we accept you as our new president. We vow to help you accomplish the task the Lord God has given you. We will be praying for your success. Your success is our country's success.

God be with you always. God bless our country, our beloved Philippines.

       

Obsolescence by Irrelevance

In today's gadget-preoccupied and internet-focused young generation, there is a growing danger in the relevance of history to their sense of nationalism. With the advent of HTG (High-Tech Gadgetry) and EOD (Entertainment On Demand), their awareness and concept of our national hero Rizal and the other of our past Filipino heroes is fast becoming irrelevant to them -- as fast as they change SIM cards and memory cards in their gadgets.

Their concept of real people heroes with only natural human abilities has been rendered obsolete by their entertainment-style exposure to fictitious superheroes with supernatural powers in the films they watch and in the video games they play. Unless there are more creative efforts done to reverse this trend -- such as the creation of the 2015 Filipino historical biopic film "Heneral Luna" -- perhaps heroes such as Rizal would only be remembered every time we strike a match.

(June 19 is Rizal's birthday. I did not even remember that!)

          

Concerns to ponder

Author: Anonymous

I once considered voting for Duterte. For all his flaws and missteps, I considered him to be a viable Presidential candidate due to being ‘a man of action’. I never really believed that he could eradicate crime in 6 months as he promised, but what’s important is that it’s a priority for him. And him being a ‘man of action’, he would get something done.

However, as things have come to light, I found myself finding reasons having to justify Duterte’s behavior. Yes, he grew up ‘with the poor’ and so his speech may not be refined. Yes, we have all made distasteful jokes at least once. But enough is enough, and his platform of being a ‘man of action’ is no longer reason enough to accept him as my presidential candidate.

Here are the reasons why:...

Read the full article at: 4 Reasons Why I No Longer Support Duterte

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The article I link-shared above has sparked in me an interest to respond to the valid serious concerns being pointed out by the author. I promise myself to spare me a good time and muster the inspiration I would be needing for this intention.

The article's anonymous author claimed that he/she was a former Duterte supporter. But in spite of his/her claim, by calculating the "tone" of his/her article, I would rather think that the author is just another non-Duterte supporter who is simply using the usual "former-supporter-turned-non-supporter" political opinion writer's trick to try to bring more weight to the idea he/she is expressing.

The last sentence of the article which says, "I do not support Rodrigo Duterte as a presidential candidate." would indicate that the article was written prior to the elections. Things about the Philippines and Rodrigo Duterte's rising to power are developing very fast particularly now that he is the president-elect. And yet I have yet to read any latest writing from this article's author.

Having simply considered the article's anonymous author as a non-Duterte supporter who is just disguising as a former Duterte supporter, I would like to recall that out of more than about 50 million voters who voted in the May 2016 presidential election, [only] about 16 million voted for Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the rest 34 million of the voters did not opted for him. There may be a lot of people who did not preferred Duterte as their next president, but since Duterte won and is now the president-elect, that does not mean that they (the non-Duterte voters) would not want him to succeed. So, while it is wise for the president-elect to listen to the good counsels of his supporters, it would add wisdom to his leadership if he considers and ponders on the valid genuine concerns of those people who did not voted for him.

May the president-elect find time to read and consider the article. With godly wisdom, may he and his inner circle of counsels ponder on the concerns being raised by the author because these serious concerns are not just the concerns of one author, but also of the silent majority of the citizenry.

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At the appropriate time Lord, as your usual way of calling the attention of my wondering wandering thoughts, hit once more my at-times-cranky ways of thinking with a 3" x 3" blow of a word from You.

Perlas Ng Silanganan (Pearl of the Orient)

Before God formed you, He blessed and consecrated you.

Your are the beads of pearls nestled in the orient sea.
Like the colors of Eleazar's vestment you were clothed.
Deep blue sky and white clouds are colors in your firmament.
Colors of crimson and of gold your robe is adorned with.
With the sun and the stars, your cloth is woven.
With the Covenant you were sealed; making you His own.

You are greatly blessed; and your season is drawing near.
In and out, near and far, your seeds shall flourish.
Their fruits shall replenish and restore barren lands.
And when nations shall have seen your luster,
Eyes will see and ears will hear the Lord's glory.
       

Unsolicited reminder, in case the president-elect might have forgotten

When you are a president-elect of a country, and you easily blow your top every time something or someone gets under your skin, you cannot get away with the consequences of your obvious anger problem by trying afterward to make appear what you have rudely said as if some kind of a [lunatic] strategy. The mainstream national media and the silent majority of the national citizenry are not as coward or timid as what you might have thought to be cowered by your thoughtless intimidation and threats. Your antics, instead of helping project yourself as a strong president, it only makes you appear as an irritable leader who can easily be manipulated by playing on your anger problem.

In the national jungle of leadership crisis and in the global labyrinth of [hypocritical] diplomacy, this false-projected image of your strength (which is actually a weakness) is an undesirable inner enemy that must be defeated firsthand by you and by/with the help of the people who want you to succeed. A leader who is irritable is emotionally manipulable, causing the critical task of making decisions highly susceptible to errors.

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The following copied online article might be of help.

Getting angry too easily is unhealthy. It increases stress levels and negatively impacts your relationships with family and friends.

All of us get angry occasionally; we yell, we swear, we may even punch a wall in extreme situations. But if you lose your temper frequently, perhaps you have a short fuse. Recognizing an anger management problem is a giant step in controlling it.

Understanding anger

When judging other people, it's easy to attribute their short fuse to their character, personality or upbringing. Looking at ourselves, however, we see that despite family history, circumstances of birth or life experiences, anger is simply a learned behavior that can be un-learned. You can take action against your anger issues and become healthier and happier in the process. Here are some tips that might help.

1.) Recognize your "hot buttons"

Ask people what makes them really angry and you'll get different answers. For some, it's entirely situational: being stuck in traffic, facing long lineups at the checkout, being on hold for 20 minutes and then being cut off.

Other people's stupidity is a trigger for some men — a bank clerk who consistently makes errors with your account transfers or the fast food employee who ignores your request to hold the mustard. Others are irritated by people with belligerent, in-your-face attitudes.

Racial or ethnic slurs are an understandable "hot button" for many people. Some men find their blood pressure rising when a customer questions their integrity, criticizes their company, product or service, or threatens to lodge an unfounded complaint.

What sets you off? It's important to assess your own "hot buttons" and recognize what triggers your anger.

2.) Understand your reactions

Once you know what makes you angry, try to analyze why. Your frustration at traffic delays may actually be disappointment with yourself for leaving late or annoyance at having to run that errand. Your anger with your wife or girlfriend may be more about unmet expectations and miscommunications than actual wrongdoings. Furthermore, criticism may shake your self-confidence or bring back memories of schoolyard taunts.

The best advice on dealing with anger — and on handling interpersonal relationships in general — is that you cannot control other people's actions. You can only control your own.

3.) Eliminate risks

There's a major difference between being passionate about some things and snapping at everything. If you're under pressure at home or work, steer clear of situations or people that might push you to the brink. Drinking may also contribute to the problem and cause an inappropriate reaction.

Air travel rage has been attributed to overindulgence with liquor, reduced oxygen levels on a commercial aircraft, nicotine deprivation, and a strong feeling of anger and helplessness over flight delays and service failures.

Road travel rage often has very little to do with the actual traffic incident. It is usually the result of totally unrelated stressors and circumstances.

Try to eliminate the types of problems that might put you at risk of an over-the-top reaction.

4.) Get a grip

Try to be objective. When you find yourself tensing up and angry words and actions seem imminent, refocus on the big picture. Whether you're attending your son's Little League game or watching football on TV, remember it's just a game.

Unless you really enjoy being a control freak, lighten up on your expectations about how other people should behave. If someone cuts you off in traffic or does some other idiotic thing that makes you really angry, let it go.

Ask yourself if it's really worth getting worked up over; chances are that it's not.

5.) Communicate

If you continually try to overlook behavior and actions that irritate you, your frustration level will build up over time and you may find yourself blowing your top at a seemingly inconsequential comment or situation. Talk with your partner, friend or colleague before the problems or issues push you to the limit.

Share your frustrations (and fears), as calmly and rationally as you can, with your "go-to guy" (that best buddy who'll listen and not judge).

6.) Be patient

Put yourself in the other person's shoes. You cannot know the circumstances that preceded your encounter with the obnoxious flight attendant and you don't know why the phone company rep was doing such a perfect imitation of Freddy Krueger. Take the high road, be a gentleman and try to be patient.

7.) Be flexible

Allow yourself more time to do things; leave earlier for the airport or the office, and avoid scheduling things too close together. Create a "Plan B" for situations that might not work out the way you expect.

8.) Exercise

Be active, go to the gym, play some sports — do anything that increases your physical activity and oxygen intake. It will lower your stress and reduce the risk of irrational rage.

9.) Take a break

Give yourself a few minutes to calm down and de-stress. Like the old saying goes: "when angry, count to 10; when very angry, count to 100." Breathe. Laugh. Take a walk. Listen to music. Instead of freely allowing yourself to be drifted away by negative emotions, channel your energy positively by concentrating on your action plan for your priority goals.

Take a chill pill

The next time you find yourself getting worked up over something, understand what's behind your anger. Gain perspective, distance yourself and be objective.

Even if you have a short fuse, you can teach yourself how to extinguish it and even learn how to avoid igniting it. Maintain control of your angry reactions and you'll reduce your stress and improve your health and well-being.