Mora: Being an advocate

DURING the graduation ceremony of our youngest daughter, their commencement speaker, Cardinal Tagle, related an incident where newly elected Pope Francis after waving at the crowd below, the group started to walk back inside St Peter’s. Cardinal Tagle however, saw one Cardinal still standing by the balcony and gazing towards the city of Rome. Cardinal Tagle then went up to the other Cardinal and asked what he was looking at and why. The other Cardinal replied, “I am looking at the ruins of the Coliseum and wondering where the mighty Roman Empire is now.”

Blessed are the persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.

I am one of those very vocal about my views in social media. And here are some of the few:

1. Extra-judicial killing kills an addict, but not addiction. Killing an addict produces widows and orphans who will now have to live with the stigma and shame. Addiction is a disease and just like any other health issue it is to be approached with compassion, care and love.

2. We raided one of more than 10 barges upriver which dredges the sand, soil and rocks after they liquefy portions of the hills with hydraulic machines and let it flow to Iponan river to mine for gold. We found 2 Chinese nationals, with passports on expired tourist visas. One got away while the other whom we filed a case against was set free by the prosecutor’s office. One Higaonon chief, Datu Sandigan who was one of our supporters died in an ambush and the case remains unresolved. We however won our case before the Court of Appeals against our local government and environment officials, by the issuance of the Writ of Kalikasan, where anyone will now risk the contempt of Court if found guilty of destroying the ecosystem of Iponan River.

3. When some private individuals wanted to put up a casino in our city with the support of some local government officials, we once again voiced out our opposition, led by our very own Archbishop. The World Health Organization has already declared gambling as another form of addiction. And our city hosts all forms of gambling, both illegal and legal. And we all know that no gambler can ever win against the house or the gambling lord. Gambling will take 70% of our hard-earned money out of our city. Just take a look at the financial reports of PCSO and Pagcor.

4. Here comes a proposal from our local government to tax every household and business, to be collected by the water district for the city government to use for the restoration of our watersheds. I am one of those who have said that it should be the water district and the private companies who have been making money out of nature’s resource to pay for it instead.

I would sometimes wonder about the charmed life of my relatives and friends who just go with the flow and mind their own business. I have been subject to many idle and loose talk, unfriended, isolated and insulted. A friend who heads the biggest construction company in the country was here and expressed his personal concern that what I was doing is hurting our small travel agency business. And he is correct. I seemed to have made others problems my concerns when I and others like myself, can just leave governance to those who were elected.

But there can never be good governance when elections are won through vote-buying and even cheating like premature campaigning as we see it now and before. When we continue to vote for officials because they are our relatives, neighbors, schoolmates or even lovers. And I wonder how our choices address the rise in depression and suicide among the youth, alcoholism, drug abuse, trafficking for sex and body organs and other issues we would rather close our eyes to, escape from and even deny. We focus on the messenger instead of the message, yet we go to Church worshipping the God who was exchanged for a thief.

And I do agonize when conscience strikes when my words seem to focus more on the person instead of the act. After all, how can I condemn another who is as human as I am. And I remain aware and conscious that one can easily cross the line between righteousness and self-righteousness, and the temptation for vain-glory.

When my wife asked me once if I was scared for my life, I told her that being an advocate is my coffee. And if this is my cross, I have long and have gladly embraced it for the love and glory of God.

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