MIRACLE: THAT'S THE WORD!

 

The Manila Times (MT), the not-so-fond-of-VP-Leni newspaper out-scooped its competitors in its recent headline: “Leni Needs A Miracle To Win.” A little bit belated scoop since the so-called “miracle” has already been happening since the beginning of VP Leni’s campaign.

Besides, what MT might be getting in the field, figuratively, is the picture of a lame “miracle” that is “natural” – a miracle of sharing – like the story in the Bible in which one interpretation is that the crowd of 5,000 people that had gathered to hear Jesus simply shared their bread and fish together.  Such a lame idea of a “miracle of sharing” that MT has sized up in VP Leni’s campaign would surely be bound to fail -- for though the selflessness of sharing is free-flowing, the actual quantity of “bread and fish” available is wanting.

Quite the contrary, VP Leni’s campaign is more than that -- not only is it “natural,” but it transcends for it is “supernatural.” Let’s go over the Bible story briefly. It was evening in a lonely place, and Jesus’ disciples told him to send the crowd away so they could go to the village and buy something for themselves to eat. But Jesus said: “You give them something to eat.” His disciples said they had nothing but five loaves and two fishes. Jesus said: “Bring them here to me.” And the rest is His story.

RADIKAL MAGMAHAL                                                           

The key: Entrust to God the little we have, and let Him do the rest. VP Leni in her campaign has been entrusting to God the little she has – her volunteers – going house to house in sharing with the Filipino people, especially the poor and the marginalized (mga nasa laylayan), the “bread and fish” which symbolizes the essence of Love that has inspired VP Leni’s rallying cry: Radikal Magmahal. “Instead of quarreling with others,” she said, “go feed the hungry.”  Peeved by the heightened trolling, her camp has been dealing with ever since she made her presidential bid, her frenzied supporters responded: “Ma’am we’re really annoyed, but we remembered what you said. So we just channeled our energy to somewhere else.”

As spelled out in the Bible, Love is “patient, kind… not ill-mannered… withstands anger… does not delight in the wrong, but rejoices with the truth.” Taking along with them such fragrances of Love in their house-to-house campaign, surely, they could “endure all things” with faith and hope.

This refreshing FB post tells of such expression: “Radikal Magmahal”.

“Volunteers from Robredo People’s Council (RPC) – Leyte deployed their vehicles to ferry some supporters of UniTeam BBM-Sara campaign rally in Tacloban City after the latter were stranded Saturday evening, April 9, 2022, due to heavy rains brought about by tropical depression Agaton.

“’Helping regardless of color. Thanks to the volunteers!’ wrote EJ Pongos, one of the RPC –Leyte volunteers, in an FB post.

“After the rally, the volunteers also offered snacks and accommodations to other attendees who were stranded in the city.”

Another FB post by Kikay Booba in the wake of VP Leni’s Pasig rally I mentioned in my past article “The Pink Awakening” has been so uplifting that it will never fail to relieve any doubts of dashed hopes in our country’s future each time I read it.

“Ang bait ng mga tao, tunay na pagkakaisa. Five times ko na witness na during the whole program may tatlo na cellphones, isang wallet, isang shades, may IPhone 13 pa na bukal na isinoli sa event team para dalhin sa lost and found so that they can announce kung sinong owners. Sa dinamidami ng tao sa rally sa Pasig, walang nagnakaw ng mga yon at maayos pang naibalik sa owners. Amazing!”

(People are kind, real unity. Five times I witnessed during the program: 3 cellphones (1 iPhone 13), a wallet, a sunglasses, were honestly turned over to the event team’s lost and found so they could be announced. Amid the Pasig rally mammoth crowd, no one stole them and were properly returned to their rightful owners. Amazing!)

SERENDIPITY

Rather than a “miracle,” I would like to call this following phenomenon a “serendipity.” Dr. M. Scott Peck, author of the book “The Road Less Traveled” wrote:

“However hard we may try, the reality is that we humans can never will miracles into being. This fact, this lack of control, is one of the reasons the secular generally turn a blind eye to the miraculous in life. They fail to see the grace – and hence the proof – of God and God’s love.

“I know that grace is real. There is a pattern to these highly improbable events: almost all seemed to have a beneficial outcome. I had stumbled upon a synonym for grace: serendipity.”

Mr. Webster defines “serendipity” as “the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” Dr. Peck noted that such a definition “has several intriguing features. One is that serendipity is termed a gift, which implies that some people possess it while others don’t, that some people are lucky and others are not.” The following excerpted story will showcase the essence of serendipity.

“Imelda Marcos Is Sentenced to Decades in Prison for Corruption” (New York Times, Nov. 9, 2018)

“Manila – A Philippine court on Friday sentenced Imelda R. Marcos, the country’s flamboyant former first lady, to a minimum of 42 years in prison for creating private foundations to hide her unexplained wealth.

“But it is unlikely that Mrs. Marcos, an 89-year-old widow, will see any jail time. The court, which handles graft and public corruption cases, said the ruling could be appealed, and legal experts have said Mrs. Marcos could fight a prison sentence because of her advanced age.

“The sentence comes as Mrs. Marcos and her family have seen a political resurgence in the Philippines, having gained favor under the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. The court found her guilty of seven counts of graft, with each count punishable by a minimum of six years in prison.

“The charges were filed in 1991 when state prosecutors accused Mrs. Marcos of creating private foundations in Switzerland and having financial interests in several companies when she was governor of Manila between 1978 and 1984. Prosecutors said the fake firms hid money that her family stole from the government.

“The government successfully recovered some $658 million that the Marcoses held in Swiss financial institutions. But officials believe that is just a fraction of the roughly $10 billion they say the Marcoses stole from the Philippines.”

Former PCGG Commissioner Ruben Carranza in his FB video explained that the Supreme Court in convicting Mrs. Marcos applied the Republic Act 1379 – An act declaring forfeiture in favor of the state of any property found to have been unlawfully acquired by any public officer or employee. Mr. Carranza looked back to the beginning of RA 1379: it was a House Bill 479 that was filed in 1954 (serendipitously the year I was born) by, ta-da, Congressman Ferdinand Marcos Sr.!

Right there and then, Carranza’s viewers commented “Karma” – meted out, by the gift of “serendipity,” to “unlucky” people who don’t possess such a gift. Mr. Carranza wrapped up his narrative by quoting Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

By contrast, as a “miracle,” is such a gift of “serendipity” intended to fulfill “lucky” VP Leni’s presidency?