Friday, 6 May 2022

THE ELECTION BATTLE: GOOD VS. EVIL


 

August of last year, my friend thought most FB readers deemed as “naïve” my insight I laid out in my ATABAY blog “What Do I See? Looking at Things Differently with Spiritual Eyeglasses” as excerpted below:

The Future

Question: Why did God give PH, the “Light of Asia” (Pope John Paul II prayer) a ruler who insulted Pope Francis and called God stupid?

Answer: “[God] PUNISHED [His people] by delivering them to their attackers…” (2 Kings 17:20, emphasis mine); “When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” (John Calvin). Cardinal Sin affirmed Calvin’s assertion with Marcos [Sr.] and his Martial Law as Exhibit A. Thus, to punish, God has given PH such kind of ruler today.

Why? 1 in 4 Pinoys is below the poverty line. PH, for being the “Light of Asia,” has angered God as He was with Sodom that “DID NOT HELP THE POOR.” (Ezekiel 16:49, emphasis mine)

What will happen in the next election? If God is still angry, He will give us another Punisher. Time Magazine’s cover of our [present] ruler’s image labeled as “The Punisher” has captured the whole essence of this insight.

Covid-19 as Catalyst

The Covid-19 pandemic has been purifying Pinoys as God’s people. If God’s anger turns into mercy, on the day of the election, with Pinoys blaming our [present] ruler for their pandemic suffering, PH will have a new ruler, not another punisher, but a restorer.

Let’s figure this out based on the present situation.

Question 1: On May 9, will God be still angry, or will his anger turn into mercy?

Scriptural Basis: “If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and I will heal their land.” (2 Chronicle 7:14)

Question 2: On May 9, will Filipinos have humbled themselves, prayed and sought His face, and turned from their wicked ways?

If so, on May 9, how will this happen? Filipino voters, at least the majority, will have received the Holy Spirit Gift of Discernment that graces them with the ability to recognize what comes from the good or evil spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10).

            What comes from the evil spirit? The Most Reverend Antonio J. Ledesma, archbishop emeritus of Cagayan de Oro enumerated the following major moral issues against Marcos Jr.

1. PLUNDER AND CORRUPTION CHARGES. “$683 Million (or P34 billion) worth of assets in various Swiss banks declared as ill-gotten wealth, based on a July 2003 Supreme Court decision.” (Inquirer.net)

2. UNPAID ESTATE TAXES. “In 1991, the BIR assessed the amount of P23.3 billion in estate taxes on the estate left by the dictator Marcos. Marcos Jr. is the administrator of the estate of his father. He has ignored the collection notices since then. The total now due of the estate taxes and the interest and surcharges thereon is P203.8 billion.” (Ex-Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.)

3. TAX EVASION AND MORAL TURPITUDE. “I find that the Respondent’s repeated and persistent non-filing of income tax returns in 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985, which resulted in his conviction, constitutes an offense involving moral turpitude;… the fact that these omissions were repeated, persistent and consistent, is reflective already of a conscious design and intent to avoid a positive duty under the law and intent to evade the taxes due.” (Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon)

4. NO REMORSE FOR MARTIAL LAW ATROCITIES. “Marcos Jr. has shown no remorse for all the atrocities, evils, and iniquities Marcos Sr. committed during Martial Law years. He repeatedly said that he will not apologize for these because he was still very young then to know them. This is not true. Upon the proclamation of Martial Law, he was already a bright man of 15 years.” (Ex-Chief Justice Davide Jr.)

5. DELIBERATE AND WIDESPREAD DISINFORMATION. “We are appalled by the blatant and subtle distortion, manipulation, cover-up, repression, and abuse of the truth, like historical revisionism, the proliferation of fake news and false stories; disinformation.” (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines)

6. TROLL ARMY. “[Marcos Jr.] has engaged the services of consultants and social media experts on the ‘brand rehabilitation’ of the Marcos name. Aided by an army of paid trolls, he has conducted his electoral campaign, in large part, on a strategy of misinformation that seeks to mislead rather than clarify.” (Prof. E. Garcia)

Add to the above: the ineptitude of PRRD’s rule – the father of Marcos Jr.’s running mate.


“Why did Covid-19 affect our country so much compared to our neighbors? Because we were very late in imposing a travel ban on China… We have no mass testing and effective contact tracing. We incurred the highest foreign loans among Asian countries, but we have nothing much to show for it except the record for having the longest lockdown in the world. Meanwhile, the number of infected and dead continue to rise. And many people are out of work as more businesses are closing. Many countrymen are struggling just to put food on the table.” (Ed Dames, Letters to the Editor, Inquirer)

            So, on May 9, having received the Holy Spirit Gift of Discernment that graces with the ability in recognizing what comes from the good or evil spirit, subsequently recognizing the above Marcos Jr. moral issues as coming from the evil spirit while blaming PRRD as the cause of their pandemic suffering, the Filipino voters, at least the majority, will reject Marcos Jr. – another punisher – and vote instead for his antithesis VP Leni – the new restorer – who will restore good governance, decency, integrity, transparency, and accountability, among others.

            On the contrary, surveys showing Marcos Jr. as a frontrunner and predicting his win on May 9, imply that majority of Filipinos will not humble themselves, will not pray and seek His face, and will not turn from their wicked ways. Subsequently, God will not hear from heaven, He will not forgive their sins and He will not heal their land. Having not received the Holy Spirit Gift of Discernment, the majority of Filipino voters will not be graced with the ability to recognize what comes from the good or evil spirit. Marcos Jr.’s moral issues will not matter to them. They will vote for him.

            Then, the Philippines will come full circle bringing to fruition John Calvin’s forewarning about God, in wanting to judge a nation, He will give them wicked rulers. Cardinal Sin’s affirmation may hit two birds with one stone: “When God wants to punish a people, He gives them unjust rulers. Like Marcos [Sr.].” This time, that may be the dictator’s son.

            Just as FB readers, eight months ago, referred to my above insight as “naïve,” so too the world has deemed God’s mysterious ways as foolish, as cited in this Bible passage:

“God has chosen what the world considers foolish to shame the wise; He has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the strong. God has chosen common and unimportant people, making use of what is nothing to nullify the things that are, so that no mortal may boast before God.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Let us pray for free, honest, and peaceful elections. May God bless us all! May God heal our land!


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