MY PERSONAL REFLECTIONS THIS CHRISTMAS

 

Dear ATABAY Readers, this is my last article for this year. By the grace of God, I look forward to writing my next article come January of the New Year 2022.

In my writing finale, I would like to seize this rare occasion to pay tribute to two notable persons in my life: my father and my mother, and to pay homage to our birthday celebrant this Christmas: Jesus.

FATHER

Nowadays, amid the pandemic, each time we hear or read the words “shortness of breath” we know full well what those grim words imply. Personally, there’s more to those words than meets the eye.

Looking back, six decades ago, our two-floor ancestral house, designed by my father, a mechanic, was typical: a dining area, a storeroom, & a “dirty kitchen” on the ground floor, while on the second floor, a receiving area & two bedrooms. Just as “dirty kitchen” was the exact term because our kitchen looked “dirty” (due to soot and smokes brought about by burning firewood), so too, “ground floor,” because we stepped on earth’s real surface – the un-concreted ground.

The most unique feature of our house amazed me -- the main door to the second floor -- it was horizontal. A visitor would first come up a steep wooden stair and then knock on the horizontal door. Someone on the second floor would pull the horizontal door up and fix it on a special hook. The set-up was tricky and dangerous. Thankfully, not a single accident took place during our whole stay in that house – except for one incident I couldn’t forget.

One day, I was going down the stairs rashly when I slipped and lost my balance. I fell and heard a thud sound – my chest hit the ground hard. It was not just “shortness of breath,” I felt, but I could hardly breathe. I panicked. All of a sudden, I felt two strong hands pick me up like a pillow and massage intensely my breast. I saw my father’s face – cool but concerned. A few minutes later, I found myself breathing again normally and felt relieved.

Right after that incident, I could still recall my father, known to many for his “precious and few” words, said nothing at all. He just smiled at me – a cool and quiet persona he projected in our family, characterized by the lyrics of a song:

“The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me whenever I fall

You say it best when you say nothing at all.”

MOTHER

My mother was a dressmaker and she turned me into one of the best-dressed students on a college campus. The 70s fad: Golden Award short sleeve polo shirt, tucked in Levi’s maong pants, fitted with Hickok belt and buckle, and matched up well with brown cowboy leather boots. Golden Award shirts were limited to large, medium, and small standard sizes. Only when you exactly fit the standard size would you be looking great; otherwise, you’d get a tucking-in hassle every day. Some friends wondered where I had bought my Golden Award shirts. Never would they know my secret: my mother remodeled a stack of my Golden Award shirts in a variety of colors and stripes to fit me perfectly.

After college, I got my first job and sent money to my mother during paydays. When I took the plunge to settle down, I cut off my monthly remittance. One day, I took vacation leave and got home. In one unguarded moment, my mother mentioned to me in passing my cutting off the remittance. Deep inside me, I was upset – with myself. I didn’t realize the small amount had mattered so much to her.

Sensing my ruffled reaction, she calmly said in the local dialect, “Don’t get upset. It just feels good each time I receive something from my successful children.”

I love to cook. Today, how I wish I could cook for my mother a pinakbet -- one of her favorite food. To top off our Christmas Noche Buena, how I wish I could grill for her baby back ribs -- one food she never tasted owing to her life’s hardship. Each moment I look at my happy family, our modest house, our ten-year-old car in the garage – how I wish my mother were still around to see her smile.

JESUS

Many years ago, a few days after Christmas, someone knocked at the gate of our house. A kid who did menial jobs around our house in the past asked me if I had any job for him to do that day. Nothing needful at all, really, so I just told him to cut the tall bushes in an adjacent vacant lot. Just before noontime, after more than three hours of tough cutting work, he came up sweating, gasping for breaths, looking starved, and telling me he had already got through the job. I paid him and served him a snack – Christmas leftovers – a huge chunk of cake, an apple, a native dessert, and a glass of pineapple juice.

Just then, he said in the local dialect, “I’m not yet hungry. Can I bring this home?”

In no time at all, he was gone. I was left reflecting on what I had just gone through. I knew full well he’s starved. The selfless act of taking home and sharing his little food with her family at home pierced my heart like a two-edged sword on my perception of the poor.

God loves the poor. That’s why Jesus was born through a poor family in a manger.

The Covid-19 Omicron variant “is going to take over” the US winter season and very likely “to increase Europe’s death toll” according to the latest update. In PH, the Omicron variant’s advent was preempted by Typhoon Odette that left behind over two hundred lives lost and vast destruction.

More than five million seats will be empty at the dinner tables around the world come Christmas. What can we say to those families who lost one or more loved ones to Covid-19 or a natural disaster?  Amid the traumatic suffering, do they even know it’s Christmas? This last question inspired the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” written in 1984 in reaction to the Ethiopia famine. Its soul-stirring message is very relevant today.

“It’s Christmas time

There’s no need to be afraid

At Christmas time

We let light and we banish shade

And in our world of plenty

We can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world

At Christmas time

But say a prayer

Pray for the other ones

At Christmas time it’s hard

But when you’re having fun

There’s a world outside your window

And it’s a world of dread and fear

Where the only water flowing

Is the bitter sting of tears

And the Christmas bells that ring there

Are the clanging chimes of doom

Well tonight we're reaching out

Instead to you.

And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time

The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life

Where nothing ever grows, no rain or river flows

Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?"

I would like to conclude my last article this year on a high note with “my idea of a perfect Christmas” as Jose Mari Chan’s line goes. Looking at the essence of Christmas today through Dr. Stephen Covey’s proactive way, we should create within us internal conditions of joy which external circumstances cannot affect. Hence, we should carry our weather around with us anytime, anyplace, and with anyone. This hopeful line of the Christmas song says it all: “May the spirit of Christmas be always in our hearts.”

            A Blessed Christmas To Everyone!

PRRD HAS TAKEN THE RIGHT ROAD. DOES THE MARCOS REBRANDING WORK?

 

October 2, 2021: “Today, I announced my retirement from politics.” (PRRD)

Right after PRRD’s announcement, I wrote in my ATABAY blog entitled “Looking at PH Political landscape With Management Analytical Eyeglasses” my insight which I am reposting below. This is valuable to those in the same boat today with PRRD, age-wise, health-wise, and career-wise, who finally have taken the lofty road to retirement.

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE

When Steve Jobs died 10 years ago, tributes poured, and here’s one by Forbes:

“A visionary. A designer. An exacting CEO. An entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. The greatest businessman of the century. The man who redefined the Digital Age. The man who understood what politicians didn’t. One of the most important American leaders of his generation. The man who changed industries, redefined business models, fused technology and art. The Thomas Edison of the 21^st century. A genius.”

 

Most of us, for sure, pale in comparison to Steve Jobs. But for a 76 years old leader [PRRD] of more than 100 million people, leaving a legacy is a fitting yearning, by the right person, at this appropriate time. Psychologist Erik Erikson called the 65-years-old-and-above bracket’s final stage of psychological development – the “age of integrity or wisdom.” The other side of the coin is called the “age of despair.”

 

Amid the global pandemic deaths closing to the 5 million mark, Erikson challenges us to not only find the gift in the death of a loved one but also to find the gift as we face our death and the diminishment that old age brings. Have you ever asked yourself, “What do I need to do before I die?” M. Scott Peck, M.D. author of “The Road Less Traveled” suggested:

 

“If you are suffering from a sense of meaninglessness or ennui, there is nothing better I can suggest to you than that you strike up a serious relationship with the end of your existence … Because as you struggle with the mystery of your death, you will discover the meaning of your life.”

 

Alfred Nobel became rich by inventing dynamite and explosives. A newspaper mistakenly printed his obituary instead of his brother who had died. Alfred was shocked in reading his obituary that would leave his legacy for making a fortune out of weapons of mass destruction. He had changed his life before he died by using his fortune in rewarding endeavors that benefit humanity. Alfred’s legacy is known today as the Nobel Prize.

 

To leave a legacy, PRRD seems to make his way in the final stage of his life’s journey as an “age of integrity and wisdom” by these latest twin moves:

1. He said he would be ready to face charges against him before the ICC.

2. He announced that her daughter Sara will not run for president in 2022 indicating he may “get out of the way” to bring about a level-playing-field election.

It is never too late to change life’s direction. Only the sky is the limit to God’s second chances.

 

A pertinent excerpt from my article “Three Converging Opportunities to Transform PH In 2022 Elections” I am reposting below.

 

The last two minutes in Leadership is defined by the words of the former world No.1 tennis player Billie Jean King who said, “Create your legacy and pass the baton” – a profound metaphor for legacy-making and leadership succession. John C. Maxwell in his book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” stressed, “A legacy is created only when a person puts his organization into the position to do great things WITHOUT HIM” (Underscoring mine). As to the leadership succession, although passing the baton makes or breaks the races that take just a blink of an eye, it is the HEART of the passer that matters in the fullness of time.

But, a fast-paced circus-like juggling of events followed.

November 13, 2021: PRRD to file his COC for VP.

November 16, 2021: PRRD joined the Senate race.

Finally;

December 14, 2021: PRRD dropped the Senate bid.

“My administration will ensure an honest, peaceful, credible, and free elections in May. It will be my highest honor to turn over the reins of power to my successor knowing that in the exercise of my mandate I did my best to serve the Filipino nation.” (PRRD)

I’m glad to know PRRD has taken the right road to retirement I had envisioned in my ATABAY blog article.

CRUCIAL QUESTION: DOES THE MARCOS REBRANDING WORK?

            Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, Brittany Kaiser exposed:

“When I joined Cambridge Analytica in 2014 we had already worked in the Philippines. There was a national campaign where my former company had gone in and undertaken national research to figure out what was the type of persona that would resonate best with voters...

“We had a request straight from BONG BONG MARCOS to do a FAMILY REBRANDING [Underscoring mine]. This was brought in through internal staff at Cambridge Analytica and was debated. Some people didn’t want to touch it and there were others like our CEO Alexander Nix that saw it as a MASSIVE FINANCIAL OPPORTUNITY and asked us to write the proposal anyway. So, as you call it HISTORICAL REVISIONISM [Underscoring mine].”

Rebranding is the process of changing the image of a company or product. For seven years now, Marcos Jr. has been rebranded since 2014 obviously in laying the groundwork for his vice-presidency run then, and ultimately for his presidency run today.

Surveys are unreliable. US Real Clear Politics, one survey source, gets its average figure from the top 10 of droves of surveys by averaging pollsters like Reuters, Rasmussen, Economist, Politico, Gallup, GU Politics, IBD/TIPP, The Hill, NBC/Wall Street Journal, and NPR/PBS/Marist, among others.

 

Yet, right after the US 2020 election, New York Times headlined: “A Black Eye: Why Political Polling Missed the Mark Again.” Why did sophisticated US election surveys miss the mark? Pew Research Center found the culprit: “Nonresponse bias” -- generated by an “unrepresentative sample” – a flawed survey condition – in both 2016 and 2020 US elections.

 

Election surveys do more harm than good. A survey is a device that influences public opinion, Peter Hitchens asserted in his book “The Broken Compass” that results in voters “jumping on the bandwagon” for the “winning horse.” To the bitter end, surveys could impact the whole election landscape. Though unreliable, most people believe the surveys. That’s why, for election campaign operatives, topping the survey is a prize catch -- at all costs – three words that can pervert the whole electoral process.

 

Now, let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that our local latest surveys (old-timer SWS & Pulse Asia and new arrivals Publicus & Laylo) are correct. Since Marcos topped them, it means, Marcos rebranding is working pretty well. Here’s a two-cent countermeasure for the opposition campaign.

 

British Petroleum (BP) rebranded itself, in 2000, with a new logo and a slogan “Beyond Petroleum” with a rumored price tag of $211 million plus $125 million annual improvement executed by brand consulting firm Landor Associates. Portrayed to be more eco-friendly creating a sense of trust and loyalty, BP’s claim was a complete hoax with its new green logo dishonestly reflecting the rebranded company. There’s nothing ecofriendly about drilling oil – a shoddy attempt to pull the wool over people’s eyes. Ten years later, BP set off the largest marine oil spill in petroleum history. The oil spill thrust BP back into the media spotlight for the wrong reason. Paying millions of dollars in penalties, the rebranded BP became a symbol of environmental disaster.

 

Let’s set Marcos rebranding side by side with BP rebranding

1. Both has taken years of rebranding process:

    BP since 2000

    Marcos since 2014

2. Both paid off a bulk of money:

    BP -- $211 M plus $125 M annually

    Marcos – “massive financial opportunity”

3. Both hired a rebranding consultant

    BP – Landor Associates

    Marcos – Cambridge Analytica (dissolved by scandal)

4. Both claims: a hoax

     BP oil drilling is not ecofriendly

     Marcos Martial Law Years is not the “golden age”

5.  Both thrust back to media

      BP – Oil spill

      Marcos – COC cancellation

6. Both infamous symbols

      BP – a symbol of environmental disaster

      Marcos – a symbol of the dark legacy of corruption and abuses.

7. Both rebranding must fail.

     BP – a notorious example of rebranding failure.

      Marcos – in parallel MUST be a notorious example of rebranding failure.

 

BP Lesson Learned: You can’t put perfume on a pig. Don’t try to make your brand look like what it is not.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND POLITICS

 “I believe you [Catholic Church] would be my very able partner…”

(VP Robredo)

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) published online a catechism on the Church and Politics to provide in an easy question-and-answer format some of the more important church teachings relevant to our political situation today and signed by its President, the late Oscar V. Cruz, D.D., Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan. Excerpted below is one crucial issue:

Catechism Question:

Is there any case when the Bishops can authoritatively order the lay faithful to vote for one particular and concrete option?

CBCP Answer:

Yes, there is, and the case would certainly be extraordinary. This happens when a political option is clearly the only one demanded by the Gospel. An example is when a presidential candidate is clearly bent to destroy the Church and its mission of salvation and has all the resources to win while hiding his malevolent intentions behind political promises. In this case, the Church may authoritatively demand the faithful, even under pain of sin, to vote against this particular candidate.  But such situations are understandably very rare.

My question: Was the 1986 EDSA Revolution fit into such an “extraordinary case” and “very rare situation”?

During that momentous event, what happened then may shed some light based on the following three spiritual phenomena as excerpted from the book “Kingdoms in Conflict: An Insider’s Challenging View of Politics, Power, And The Pulpit” by Charles Colson.

1. NINOY AQUINO’S CHRISTIAN CONVERSION AND SELF-SACRIFICE

“It was 1972. Moments before, the door had crashed shut on [Aquino] with metallic finality…With [Marcos Sr.] two-term limit as president due to expire in 1973, [he] had declared martial law, granting himself almost unlimited powers. He had thrown Aquino and other political opponents into prison. Marcos intended never to leave office – and so was determined never to let a popular Aquino challenge him… [Aquino] lost forty pounds. He suffered two heart attacks. When he was not longing for revenge, he wanted to die.

“His mother, deeply concerned, sent him a book. The memoirs of another prisoner. It was my story – Born Again… One night Aquino knelt in his jail cell and gave his life to Jesus Christ. Overcome with grief for his anger toward God, he begged forgiveness. His viewpoints, his life, most of all his bitterness – all changed. He had a sense that his life had suddenly moved into a different channel with another purpose.

“’You’re Mr. Colson,’ he exclaimed. ‘I must talk with you.’ Since we were blocking the aisle I offered him the empty seat next to mine. ‘I can’t believe I am meeting you,’ he said. ‘I wanted to die in prison until I read your book.’ I know when we had completed our flight, I had another Christian brother.

“After eight years in prison, Aquino had been released by Marcos under then-President Carter’s prodding... he needed triple-bypass surgery. Marcos would not let him return to his own country.

“Shortly before leaving [to return home in the Philippines], Aquino testified at a [US] congressional subcommittee:

“‘It is true, one can fight hatred with a greater hatred, but… it is more effective to fight hatred with greater Christian love… I have decided to pursue my freedom struggle through the path of nonviolence… Only I will suffer solitary confinement once again, and possibly death… But by taking the road of revolution, how many lives, other than mine, will have to be sacrificed?’”

Ninoy could have just stayed comfortably in the US, had he not converted – the phenomenon which kindled the EDSA revolution in the spiritual realm.

2. CARDINAL SIN’S “CROSSING THE LINE”

Cardinal Sin’s Meeting with Marcos.

Sin (S): The reason I have come is this, Mr. President. Your term of office is due to end next year. Why are you calling for a snap election?

Marcos (M): I want to have a fresh mandate from the people.

S: It is very dangerous for you to call a snap election. You may lose. You will be forced to step down.

M: You think that you understand politics, which they never taught you in seminary. So you interfere. When you should support your government in its struggle against Communists, you instead disturb the peace by criticizing. But you do not understand the way things are done. I cannot lose an election to an opposition that is hopelessly divided. They will tear each other to pieces.

S: Sir, I will unite the opposition in order that there may be a fair election. Goodbye. And may the Lord come down to protect our people.”

Cardinal Sin’s Meeting with Cory Aquino.

Sin (S): Why are you here?

Cory (C): I have decided to run.

S: Cory, under what political party? Who will be your running mate?

C: I will run alone.

S: Don’t do that. You cannot organize a political party now. There is too little time. You run under UNIDO, with Laurel as your vice-president. Will you do that?

C: But Laurel is planning to run himself.

S: I will get him to agree if you accept him first.

C: Yes, yes, I will run with him.

S: God bless you. Out of your weakness, this great man [Marcos Sr.] will come down. He has been insulting you, saying that women are only good for the bedroom. So you will win. I bless you and you will win.”

3. 1986 EDSA REVOLUTION’S MIRACLE

PLOT: Ouster of Marcos & his martial law dictatorship

THEME: Restoration of democracy

CHARACTERS: Pro-Cory opposition, Marcos regime, Rebels (Ramos & Enrile), the US, and over 2 million Filipinos on EDSA

SUSPENSE:

1. Ramos to join Enrile’s breakaway only if Cory installed as President with Sin & peoples’ support

2. US marines stationed in PH to be fielded if violence breaks out “to prevent a slaughter.”

3. The US worried about disaffected Ver’s military loyalists to preempt Marcos’ stepping down with desperate measure.

CONFLICTS:

1. Cory didn’t trust Enrile; thru his wife he asked Sin for support

2. Opposition didn’t trust the military.

3. The US was still vexed by Shah’s overthrow turning Iran from an Imperial state to Khomeini’s Islamic republic.

4. Marcos exile in Hawaii or Paoay-Ilocos? US officials worried Marcos to become a symbol in Paoay of military loyalists that may lead to civil war.

5. Cory oath-taking in Camp Crame or Club Filipino? Such was the early sign of military disunity that would stir up a lot of coups d’etat later during Cory’s presidency.

CLIMAX:

(Excerpted from the book “Impossible Dream: The Marcoses, The Aquinos, and the Unfinished Revolution” by Sandra Burton)

“Screenwriter Amado Lacuesta, who was among the people blocking the tanks, later recounted: ‘Panic sweeps over us all. Unthinking, I drop to my knees. Looking up I see only the general [Commander Tadiar] and his marines, disciplined, hard-eyed.’ As the armored vehicles lurched forward, Lacuesta described his emotions:

“‘I shout and raise my hands, daring them: ‘Go on, kill us!’ I am only dimly aware of angry booing and hissing, from the thousands on the streets, walls, and buses, of camera clicking, motor-winders whirring furiously. The metal mountain jerks forward. Defiant, nervous shouts all around. The praying voices rise another key. “’I wonder what it is like to be crushed under tons of metals. Then the engine stops. There is an astounding split second of silence. The crowd erupts into wild cheers and applause.’”

Marcos fled. It’s over.

Three years later, one million democracy-seeking and peace-loving youth occupied Tiananmen Square in 1989 and made a grave attempt to use people power versus the Chinese authoritarian government. Sadly, what had happened in EDSA didn’t happen. People’s Liberation Army massacred their own – the bloodiest crackdown in modern political history. While the world took its hat off to EDSA revolution, the Tiananmen massacre sent waves of shock across the globe.

The juxtaposition of the two monumental events above has unveiled the sum and substance of why EDSA revolution – a bittersweet story of a bunch of fiery characters and volatile plots sitting on a powder keg -- was a miracle: bloodless it was.

PROVOKING QUESTIONS FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH:

What if Cardinal Sin was not around then?

What if it’s no longer the same bloodless revolution the next time around?

           What can the Catholic Church do today to forestall such kind of revolution?

LENI KAKAMPINKS' PASSION OF SPIRIT VS. BONGBONG-SARA TANDEM'S POWER OF MAMMON

 

Many years ago, being one of the newly-designated leaders in our Couples for Christ (CFC) community, I led a team that held a Christian Life Program (CLP) in our barangay. Intended to lead married couples into a renewed Christian understanding of God’s call, the program laid down the following major tasks: select and arrange a venue complete with a sound system and whiteboard, prepare snacks, invite couples, and arrange for a guest speaker. Being a civil engineer in the corporate world at that time, my specialty was project management whose basic functions I drew on earnestly in my groundwork: planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.

Much the same as managing any project intently, everything went well -- until the moment of truth came. On the day of the scheduled event, sad to say, only a handful of couples turned up out of more than two dozen we had invited and expected to attend. To fully make use of what we had diligently prepared -- especially the high-end restaurant venue topped off with a man-made waterfall -- we decided, right then and there, in inviting couples living near our venue: owners and workers of a welding shop, junkyard, auto repair shop, vulcanizing shop, and the like.

What happened then was like the wedding feast of a king’s son in the Bible:

“This story throws light on the kingdom of Heaven. A king celebrated the wedding of his son. He sent his servants to call the invited guests to the wedding feast, but the guests refused to come… Then he said to his servants: ‘The wedding banquet is prepared but the invited guests were not worthy. Go, then, to the exits of the ways and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast.’ The servants went out at once into the streets and gathered everyone they found, good and bad alike so that the hall was filled with guests.” (Mt 22:2-10)

Three lessons my team learned from such experience:

1. We were renewing lives. The power of the mind was not enough. We realized we needed the love of the heart.

“It is only in the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” (The Little Prince)

2. We were building a community: is and must be inclusive.

“The great enemy of community is exclusivity. Groups that exclude others because they are poor or doubters or divorced or sinners or of some different race or nationality are not communities; they are cliques – actually defensive bastions against the community.” (M. Scott Peck, M.D., “The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace”

3. We were uplifting the plight of the poor. In our CLP program, we invited mostly our friends and colleagues in the corporate world. God loves the poor and would always call our attention not to leave them behind.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” (Lk 4:18)

As we matured in our renewed life in our community, subsequently, our service also came of age through our works in Gawad Kalinga, our CFC’s army on its work with the poor: building houses. Without expecting anything in return, we shared our time, talents, money, and other resources in building houses for the poor. At times, I put on the line my family’s lives by going to far-flung high-risk depressed areas in the province. It was during those provincial trips that I met and worked with a publicly dreaded character who I learned later to be Aldong Parojinog.

Far too often, my wife carried our small baby during our provincial trips. We usually made our way back home at night riding in an overcrowded bus. During the night trip, imagine a scene where a crowd of male passengers staring at my wife with our small baby on her lap. Strange to say, not a bit of fear did I feel at any moment during those periods of our building houses for the poor. Those daring experiences reminded me of this passage about God’s love for the poor -- that was instilled within us then.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…” (1 John 4:18)

Loving the poor without fear – could be the spirit of my experience in working with the poor. This could be the same spirit of the “bayanihan” that has inspired VP Leni’s  Kakampinks movement. Former Senator Bam Aquino, the campaign manager of VP Robredo, nailed this truth on its head by expressing confidence that Leni’s supporters are ready to fight it out for the May 2022 elections:

“For me, this caravan is a sign of courage. Before, many are afraid to show support, speak up, and bet. Now, as VP Leni always says, our strength has awakened.”

It is Advent season in the Catholic Church and the PH nation is hopeful that the 2022 election will be the “advent” of a whole culture change.

While Leni’s Kakampinks has the passion of the Spirit, on the other hand, Bongbong-Sara’s tandem has the power of the Mammon -- driven the crowd, the surveys, the social media to promote family rebranding and history revisionism. Brittany Kaiser, a whistleblower of Cambridge Analytica revealed:

“When I joined Cambridge Analytica in 2014 we had already worked in the Philippines. There was a national campaign where my former company had gone in and undertaken national research to figure out what was the type of persona that would resonate best with voters...

“We had a request straight from Bongbong Marcos to do a family rebranding. This was brought in through internal staff at Cambridge Analytica and was debated. Some people didn’t want to touch it and there were others like our CEO Alexander Nix that saw it as a massive financial opportunity and asked us to write the proposal anyway. So, as you call it: historical revisionism.”

PH as “Patient Zero” of organized political disinformation through troll farms elected PRRD in 2016, many experts believed. Meta (formerly FB) failed to curb such disinformation operations and recently conceded that political disinformation has continued to be the most prevalent and hardest to suppress.

Question: Will Leni Kakampinks’ passion of the Spirit overcome Bongbong-Sara tandem’s power of the Mammon?

KALAYAAN SA COVID PLAN: LENI'S DISTINCTION FROM THE REST OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS

“Is the world overreacting to the Omicron variant?”

Randy David bannered the question above in his PDI column “Public Lives.” Here’s the latest New York Times article “Omicron: What We Know About the New Corona Variant” that could shed some light in matching up to the question.

“Intense research into the new coronavirus…just begun. World leaders have urged people not to panic -- and to get vaccinated if they can.

“First identified in Botswana and Africa, this new iteration of the coronavirus has prompted concern among scientists and public health officials because of an unusually high number of mutations that have the potential to make the virus more transmissible and less susceptible to existing vaccines.

“The World Health Organization has called Omicron a “variant of concern” and warned that the global risks posed by it were “very high,” despite what officials described as a multitude of uncertainties. Cases have been identified in dozens of countries on every continent except Antarctica.”

Quick on the draw, as always, showbiz Isko’s reaction grabbed the headline: “Isko Moreno urges national government to prepare for Omicron.” He said:

“We should be buying Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Baricitinib, and Molnupiravir. Let’s stock on oxygen, build facilities. If used, then thank you. If not, we’d still be thanking. At least we are prepared.” (Translated from Filipino)

Not to be outscored, Pacman’s reaction grabbed the headline too: “Pacquiao wants free medical services for seniors, modernized barangay health system.” After pledging a bag of freebies that will become this Christmas’ most sought-after Santa’s wish list, he said:

“We have to shower our senior citizens with all the love that we can give. They have done their part as citizens of the republic and as parents to their children so it’s time that we honor them by making life more comfortable for them.”

Leni’s response: Cool, calm and collected plus a blueprint – Kalayaan sa COVID Plan -- turning Isko and Manny’s verbalized reactions into a piece of “scratch paper.”

What makes a great difference? Leni is a proactive leader; Isko and Manny only react. Leni embodies proactivity: a product of values and decisions; Isko and Manny, reactivity: depends on feelings, moods, and impulses.

Leni is a visionary leader. “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his [or her] vision comes from passion, not position,” said John C. Maxwell, author. Very true, for we know full well, Leni as a VP, is a powerless spare tire. Where does Leni’s vision come from? Maxwell provided four sources:

1. The Inner Voice

Vision starts within. Only when a vision comes from your desire within – from the very depths of who you are and what you believe – will you be able to accomplish such vision.

“My description for it is, empathy is like your spiritual muscle. The more you use that muscle, the more you feel the suffering experienced by your countrymen.” (VP Robredo)

2. The Unhappy Voice

A great idea whose time has come sparks off from something that fails to work anymore. Discontent with the status quo is a great catalyst for a vision.

“The overriding imperative right now is to reverse the trajectory of governance in the country. We want to put an end to this brand of governance that is anti-democratic, anti-rights, corrupt, and self-serving, which is the root cause of the suffering and deaths of so many Filipinos.” (VP Robredo)

3. The Successful Voice

No such thing as a lone ranger leader. To fulfill a vision you need a good team – united in mission and diverse in talents and skills --- unity in diversity in action.

“The past days have been filled with deep discernment, and I have been reaching out to many people to build the broadest possible alliance to achieve our goals.” (VP Robredo)

4. The Higher Voice

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18)

“While supporting VP Leni, we should also pray for her, because if we put ourselves in her position, it would be difficult for us too. There’s a lot at stake here and the fight will be long.” (Rev. Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, SJ)

Interestingly, the Obama administration through its National Security Council developed a guidebook titled “Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease.” The goal was to coordinate a complex US government response to threats anywhere in the world. It outlined questions to ask, who should be asked to get answers, and what key decisions should be made. It had a list of types of infectious disease threats that could emerge. “Novel coronavirus” were among the pathogens flagged as having the potential to cause heightened concern. Tabletop exercises included planning for a pandemic-like situation during the Obama-Trump administrations’ transition and sharing of lessons learned during the Ebola and Zika outbreaks.

During the transition, one Obama official said, “Our job was to set up the Trump political staff for success, and we took that mandate very seriously.” After having written memos to inform the Trump team, he wound up, “But nobody called me…” Ultimately, Trump dismissed the Obama guidebook. The rest is history.

Like those sorry words, we know full well VP Robredo could have expressed these heart-rending words: “But I was brushed aside.” Sad to say, her Kalayaan sa COVID Plan could have been PRRD’s flagship response to the pandemic. It could have taken steps forward and subsequently picked up PH from the bottom of the list among 121 countries.in Nikkei Asia’s latest COVID-19 Recovery Index. It could have been a good legacy too for PRRD to the nation.

There are things we cannot recover in life:

1. Word after it is said.

2. Trust after it is lost

3. Opportunity after it is missed.

4. Time after it is wasted

5. Life after it is gone.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” (Thomas A. Edison)