R's in politics too

REDUCE. REUSE. Recycle. The three R’s of environmental preservation are not exclusive to green warriors. The operative terms have their own good use in politics too. Especially Pampanga politics, this from an astute(?) politician’s perspective.
Reduce. From being President of the Republic, Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is reportedly eyeing the much-reduced position of representative of Pampanga’s second district.
So it followed – so reportedly he himself reasoned out – that Senator Lito Lapid is now bent in running for the reduced post of Pampanga governor. This, after the senator utterly failed to reduce himself to Makati mayor. No thanks to Jejomar “Obama” Binay now puffing himself up for the presidential post.
His own mommie dearest easing him out of his niche, Congressman Mikey Macapagal-Arroyo can reduce himself to the vice gubernatorial post, tandemming with Lapid, but of course. A repeat of 2001 – ah, there is your recycle – so what else is new?
Vice Governor Yeng Guiao will have to reduce himself to first district board member, again a redux of 2001.
And where will that leave gubernatorial timber, three-term Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda? Well, he can reduce himself to second district board member. The way Sta. Rita’s Art Salalila and Sasmuan’s Cinderella, Catalina Bagasina, did in 2007.
Vice-governor can-be, three term Bacolor Mayor Buddy Dungca can do the same reduction with a sangguniang panlalawigan slot for the third district.
Reuse. City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez, who is being strongly pushed to go for the governorship, will have better use staying in his post. If only to guarantee the continuity of the very, very, very good things he has done, he is still doing, and will still do for the capital city.
Ditto Congressman Dong Gonzales, also a very viable gubernatorial timber. If only to guarantee the billion-peso mini-Marshall Plan for Bacolor will be fully implemented and the lahar-devastated town fully restored to its old glory as the “Athens of Pampanga.”
If ain’t broke why fix it? So shall be politically reused too are 1st District Congressman Tarzan Lazatin and the 4th District’s Anna York P. Bondoc-Sagum. Weep, Mr. Shooli’s Kuhol. Wail, BM Ric Yabut.
Recycle. Pampanga’s Beloved Baby, Lilia G. Pineda will be recycled to her previous post of Lubao mayor.
Absolutely, no opposition there.
So how do you deal with the most critical point in the Pampanga political equilibrium?
Governor Eddie T. Panlilio can be recycled to the priesthood, a full recycling even as parish priest of Betis.
Absolutely no opposition there from Archbishop Paciano B. Aniceto and Bishops Pablo Virgilio David and Roberto Mallari who – in the words of Panlilio – have been earnestly asking for his recycling, er, return to the ministry.
Possible opposition there though from putative administrator Atty. Vivian Dabu. Who may be forced to run for governor – as she said in the Galing Pook Awards interviews – if only to sustain the quarry collection, no matter how dwindled.
Vehement opposition there from tapa and tocino magnate Madame Lolita Hizon who has deemed Panlilio “unfit” for the priesthood – pending his taking some DNA test for some paternity issues, the Madame holds – as well as the governorship – for reasons given in the petition for his recall.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. So it’s all there, for the political peace and quiet of Pampanga. At least In the scenario of a movie in the mind of the Bida ng Masa. So his factotum, and he himself, supposedly intimated to a number of political leaders lately.
A scheme so grand in bida-centered fantasy that it can only be dealt with most definitively – in keeping with our R’s – one more environmental term – Refuse. In all its dictionary meanings: (n) discarded as useless and worthless, garbage, trash; (v) to decline, to reject, to negate.

The omen

SIGNS, FROM heaven most presumptuously, er, presumably.
Pampanga Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio said he would be open to the idea of running for president if he saw “signs.” So reported his favorite newspaper.
So what sign is the still-reluctant pretender to the presidency yearning for?
As it is a battle Panlilio would be engaged in, perhaps a most appropriate sign for him would be that which Constantine I saw in the heavens just before the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D.: a chi rho -- ☧ -- formed with the superimposition of the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word Christ.
In hoc signo vinces – in this sign you will conquer – so Constantine I did, defeating his rival to the throne Maxentius.
Signs like these would have been easier to decipher. Too bad they don’t happen anymore. So what is there left for Panlilio?
“One of the indications of this kind of discernment is that whether I decide to run or not, I would feel peace within myself, there won't be any turmoil within me. It should be a decision based upon the will of God.” Again, the favorite newspaper quoting Panlilio there.
Discernment. We find in Panlilio’s meaning something deeper than the mere faculty of the human mind to discriminate among sets of options what is apprehensible, relevant or worthwhile.
A quick referral to Scripture on discernment leads to 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, to wit: “7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
Finding full complement there is Psalm 119:66, “Teach me knowledge and good judgment.” Clearly indicative here, as an evangelical group puts it, is discernment as “the ability to make discriminating judgments, to distinguish between, and recognize the moral implications of, different situations and courses of action. It includes, apparently, the ability to “weigh up” and assess the moral and spiritual status of individuals, groups and even movements.”
The same evangelical group finds a most remarkable example of such discernment described in John 2:24-25: “Jesus would not entrust himself to them . . . for he knew what was in a man.”
Now, it is not Panlilio that I see there but the other Eddie – Villanueva, the Jesus Is Lord big brother.
Brother Eddie would not entrust himself to the selection process – for the so-called reform candidate – proffered before him by the Kaya Natin! movement.
“Ini-invite ninyo iba-ibang grupo, ang nakalagay sa dyaryo, Liberal Party at Kaya Natin. Paano kami papasok kung nagbigay na kayo ng previous endorsement kay Padaca at Panlilio (You invited many groups (to join the selection process) but you have previously endorsed Padaca and Panlilio)…So your invitation is a question mark to the leadership of Bagong Pilipinas, Bagong Pilipino Movement.” So Villanueva – discerning deception in the offer – was quoted as saying.
Learning to “think God’s thoughts after him,” practically and spiritually; having a sense of how things look in God’s eyes, and seeing them in some measure “uncovered and laid bare.” That is true discernment. So we agree fully with the evangelicals there.
Now back to Panlilio’s wishing for a sign.
My hope – and prayer – that it comes sooner than later. And that it would not be the Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin in the Book of Daniel.
Yes, the handwriting on the wall that appeared before King Belshazzar of Babylon during a drunken feast. That which the prophet interpreted thus: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; Pharsin, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. And that very night King Belshazzar was killed.
Truly frightening omen there.

The messiah

“I AM no messiah.”
So was Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio quoted as saying in the newspaper that is prime pimping him for the presidency. This, even as the suspended priest expressed his willingness to “heed the call of the people for a new leader.”
"Changes in Pampanga and the country will take a long, long time and I don't have any delusion of a messiah that I will crush the enemies and I will institute all the changes in a three-year period...that I will bring peace and prosperity, no way."
So Panlilio said to dispel any messianic complex appended to his desire to be Philippine president.
Don Luisito, my seminary elder, was quick to pick on Panlilio’s words and note some rather interesting “slips” there. Even as he picked sparingly on the sumptuous delight laid down on a table at Fortune Seafood resto in the City of San Fernando
“Your compadre speaks from the Judaic tradition, not from a Christian perspective there.”
From suspended priest, Pareng Ed has turned rabbi? So I thought he was just warming up as a Jesus Is Lord fellow.
“Bobo, that’s not it.”
That’s rather heavy, so enlighten me.
“Note his words: ‘a messiah that … will crush the enemies.’ That is the Jewish concept of the messiah, a warrior to defeat all the enemies of the Jews. Hence, the rejection of Jesus Christ as He did not fit their bill for the messiah. Hence, the Jews until now are still awaiting their messiah, beleaguered as they are by enemies from all sides.”
So okay, no shalom in Israel so long as its Arab neighbors cry Allahu akbar!
Back to home base now, at least Panlilio got to clear he has no grand messianic delusions.
“You believe him? For all the nasty things you write about your compadre, he still has a firm hold in your heart of hearts.”
I always give him – as all others – the benefit of the doubt.
“Dispel your doubts. Go into deeper analysis, exegesis, as we say in the seminary, of his words and actions.”
Okay, go on.
“Panlilio says he would run as a ‘last resort.’ That is if there’s no one more competent and willing. So, what do you make of that? He has made himself as the standard upon which all other so-called ‘reform candidates’ are to be measured. Ain’t that messianic?”
No, that comes to me as being sacrificing of Panlilio.
“Sacrificing, you say? As the sacrificial lamb offered in the altar of deliverance which, in the Christian tradition, is the messiah.”
Got me there, Don Luisito.
“The messianic drama of Panlilio is coming into full play, complete with all the requisite characters of a Lenten cenaculo.”
Okay, indulge my fascination. The Holy Week anyway is only a few days away.
“The messiah must suffer. So Panlilio is suffering. Persecuted as he is by his own people. As the crowds that sang hosanna to Jesus on his way to Jerusalem were the same as those that cried ‘Crucify him!’ so Panlilio’s own supporters in his gubernatorial bid were the same as those crying ‘Recall him.’
Caiaphas and the high priests castigated Jesus for breaking the Judaic Law. The bishops suspended Panlilio for disobeying Canon Law.”
Now, now, leave Apu Ceto out of this.
“Bobo, I am just doing an analogy here. Jesus was condemned for saying he would tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days, or some such -- my bible studies sometimes are jumbled up. That is a direct threat on the established order. As was Panlilio saying he would prosecute President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for plunder if and when he becomes president. For that he is being denounced.”
Good parallelisms there.
“And I saved the best for last. Agonizing in the Garden, Jesus asked the Father to let the cup pass, but if it is His will, then, he submitted: ‘Thy will be done.’ Panlilio is professing reluctance to give the presidency a go. But if it is ‘God’s will,’ then His will be done. There is your messiah.”
But how would he know if it is God’s will for him to run?
“Discernment.”
Discernment, Panlilio’s very own buzzword deserving of another column.

Panlilio wants to run for president

“MAGBUGO KU mu, ngeni aku nang kakasal da (I am just being the go-between (in the selection of the candidates) but now I am being chosen as the groom (the candidate))."
So said Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio in the newspaper that has long been prime pimping him to national prominence.
In yesterday’s Punto! Panlilio reiterated his “preference” to play the role of convenor. This, he buttressed with the disclosure of his being part of a group of civic and religious leaders initiating primaries to select the “reform candidates” for national positions in the 2010 polls.
“We’re not starting with personalities,” Panlilio said of the proposed primaries.
So, what’s all the buzz about him eyeing the presidency – as bannered in his favorite paper – if not about his personality?
Yeah, right. So, of the hostile reactions to his possible presidential run, Panlilio had this to say: “It’s a repeat of the 2007 elections on a larger scale this time.”
Yeah, right again. Panlilio could well be saying this with the so-called primaries for the “reform candidates” in mind.
A repeat of 2007. When Panlilio was one of the convenors of a group of civil society and religious leaders self-tasked to select the “moral alternative” in an election being contested by the so-called twin scourges of Pampanga – jueteng and the quarry plunderers.
Yeah, right. A visioning of Pampanga freed of evil provided the base from which sprang all considerations of possible candidates with the moral backbone, integrity, and record of accomplishments.
The names that came up the convenors’ list: UP Professor Randy David, former Public Works Secretary and Manila North Tollways Corp. President Ping de Jesus, and Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Rene Romero, being the most prominent.
So what happened?
Panlilio, the convenor, became the candidate. Panlilio, the bugo (go-between), turned out to be the groom.
A repeat of 2007. Yeah, right. Only Panlilio will meet the man-profile of the “reform candidate” for president. The odds are heavily tilted to his favor. What with the country’s most influential newspaper as his prime pimp.
“Lunto ya mu rin (The candidate will surface in time).” Again, Panlilio was quoted as saying.
Linto ne. (He has already surfaced.) Panlilio himself said over Radio Veritas: “If people will say that I can do it, if they will say I can make it, yes (I will run.)”
So there. 2007 déjà vu. Panlilio will run for president. That is pre-destined, er, pre-determined.
So Section 3 of Canon 285 of the Code of Canon law (1983) commands: “Clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power.”
So Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz carped: “How therefore could a priest be a politician at the same time after no less than two separate, official, and categorical Church prohibitions to be such?”
So the Canon Law doctor and former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines carped more: “There is no such thing in the Church as a ‘priest on leave’… The insinuation of such a phrase is that the priest can be anybody or anything as long as he pleases, until such time when he finds it convenient, helpful or secure to minister as a priest again.”
And therefore, Cruz said, Panlilio should first secure a dispensation from all his clerical obligations “definitively and permanently.”
“Then he is free to be and to do whatever he pleases. But to be a hyphenated priest-politician is a big anomaly in the Church and a dilemma, if not a scandal, for many lay people.” Capped the prelate in the media.
So what?
Canon Law failed to inhibit Panlilio from pursuing the governorship in 2007. Canon Law will fail to dissuade Panlilio from pursuing his higher political ambitions.
So sanction him now? Panlilio himself said over TV Patrol he would protest and contest any move by the Church to defrock him should he persisted in his political persona.
Yeah, right. For who would vote for Panlilio devoid of the honorific Among?