An appeal to bishops and priests

I just came from Simbang Gabi and I am enjoying it. It's not just the beautiful church lights and the heavenly singing of the choir that was so inspiring. It's the whole liturgical experience. Perhaps this old age kicking in that I'm more excited about the Simbang Gabi than going to the malls this holiday. I don't truly appreciate the traffic, difficult parking, and the hordes of shoppers in a mall.

I look forward to Simbang Gabi again. Tomorrow, the last of the 9, is the culmination. It should be the most exciting liturgical celebration for Christmas.

But I'm a little bit apprehensive. The last thing I want to hear in what I expect to be an inspiring and spiritual celebration of the Christmas season, is another apologetics against the RH Bill. Be it in homily form, or a pastoral letter, I've had enough hearing about the subject within the Holy Mass. In the Mass I attended, the priest mentioned a little of it. Thank God he did not elaborate.

I think the bishops and some priests are given enough media mileage to be able to say what they believe is needed and necessary against the RH Bill. Let the Mass be for the real spirit of the season, the birth of Christ, which we want to feel in our hears, through the liturgy.

So I am appealing to priests and bishops who will celebrate the Holy Mass tomorrow, Christmas Eve. Please spare us from any mention of the RH Bill, or anything connected to it, the state of our Congress, or what will happen after the law is signed. Your laity watches the news and reads the papers. We are all informed.

Through the liturgy, we feel the Spirit of Newborn Jesus. Please don't corrupt it with the RH Bill issue.

The 40th Chirstmas

This year, I will have 40 Christmases. And how time flies to see that the world now is different from where it was back then. A lot of things has happened in my life. I can look back at it with eyes of nostalgia. So many what ifs. So many should have beens. So many…

Regrets?

Probably. Having regrets are part of being human. All of us have so many. But dealing with it… Now that's where your humanity comes in. Humanity with spirit.

Attitude towards regret is a choice. It can either lead to despair, or push you to maximize every moment the future will bring.

I choose the latter. For our time is so short and the world needs us to be better. We can build the world 40 years from now and see it as different. Just like how I see the world today in reference to 40 years back.

And when that time comes, I can look back at this moment and smile.

No more regrets. I made the right choice.

Let go of the rope as Bruce Wayne did

Just when I thought that "The Dark Knight Rises" is just another Friday night relaxing movie event, I came out of the movie house shaking my head. Christopher Nolan has did it again. It's a great movie. I even thought it's not one for the kids. The plot is too profound that you wouldn't understand it if you're just there to enjoy. Comparably, The Avengers movie became like a cartoon after this.

One thing great about Nolan's portrayal of the Dark Knight is it's sheer realism. It's like it's happening in real life. No matter how action packed it is, it puts the audience in the middle until you feel the emotions. The hate of Bane, the sympathy for Bruce Wayne, the curiosity for Catwoman, even understanding where Alfred is coming from with his departure. But of all the great scenes of the movie, one that left its mark is when Bruce is in the prison pit.

To say that Bruce's coming back to life, after being broken by Bane, is dramatic is an understatement. But the struggle is nevertheless inspiring, culminated by his finally coming out of the mouth of the pit to escape. Before his success, he attempted many times to climb, but repeatedly he failed. He was almost at the end of his hopes when a prisoner-sage told him one final secret: let go of the rope.

Climbing with the rope as done repeatedly by Bruce in his attempts seems the "normal" thing to do. But it was not the element to succeed. Before him only one successfully escaped the pit, a child, who climbed without the rope. And when Bruce Wayne did climb the mouth of the pit without the rope, he succeeded.

Trainers and consultants can have a field day relating this lesson to a lot of dimension in real life. But for me, it's simple. A rope represents all your security and comfort zones. If you want to achieve something great, you have to let it go. So much so that you have put your very life on the line for the success of your goal. And if you don't, the only option is death. When you let go of the rope, there are no comfort zones. You either succeed or die. This was Bruce Wayne's only choices. And when he learned to embrace that, he succeeded.

Simple lesson, but darkly profound in real life like the Batman is.

Mourning Dolphy's Death

Mourning Dolphy's Death


We all saw it coming. Weeks and even months back when all found out about his failing health, all had, at the back of their minds, a certain acceptance that he would leave soon. That he would die. That he would soon end his suffering. But how come the great sadness when the news of his passing on came. How come the surprise? I was driving home at 9 in the evening when the news of his death was heard on the radio. You would think I would say that's expected. But no. My reaction was, "What?, Why?" And so the same reaction of a lot of people.

And even if I keep thinking that what happened to Dolphy is just a natural course of things, somehow, somewhere, I know deep inside that a void was created. Such is the phenomenon when a great man dies. A void in the hearts of people is felt. And from it came sadness and surprise. Why the void? Because everybody knows that no one can fill that easily. The man who died is so unique and one of its kind. No other replacement can suffice. That is why a great loss is felt.

Dolphy, the King of Philippine Comedy, is known to most only through the medium of entertainment. But most feel that he is close, so close that they felt the great sadness on his passing on. Most feel that he belongs. Most feel that he has a special place in their hearts. He didn't do a lot. Only made people laugh. But it's not in his performance that he is remembered. It's not even the number of Best Actor awards he collected or the movies he produced that mattered.

To many, Dolphy is an icon of a true common Filipino. The image he created in the movies was so close to what a true Filipino is, the one that the common Juan relates to. This is the reason why people mourn greatly his passing on. A part of this Filipino psyche died with him. But this could not have been effective if his personality is not consistent with it. In typical Filipino culture, what appears in the movies is as close that what is real in everyday life. In real life, Dolphy lived like a true Filipino, humble, jolly, principled, family oriented, generous, caring, and helpful to his fellowman. This is the true Dolphy that the Filipinos will miss. This is the true Dolphy that people loves. That is why we mourn on his passing on.

Like all great men, Dolphy will be missed. And as all great men, people will learn from his life. Rest in Peace, the only King of Philippine Comedy.

The Stunning Pacquiao Lost?

For the Filipinos, everything stops whenever there's a Pacquiao fight. But on June 10, nothing less than the heartbeats of those watching the Pacquiao-Bradley bout halted, when the winner of the split decision was announced. It's not Pacquiao. It was Bradley. A result most people were not used to. Manny Pacquiao was stripped of the WBO Welterweight crown. Filipinos were stunned with disbelief.

Then followed the reactions in Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, which is not surprising. The negative comments that ensued are not unique to the crowd reaction in Las Vegas. The Bradley win is not convincing. Manny should've won. The fight was rigged.

Most Pacquiao fans missed those times when Manny would bring down his opponents kissing the floor with his power punches, and then it's game over. It has been quite a while that that has happened, the last one being with Hatton. There would be, obviously, no controversy, no doubt, in wins such as that one. In those kinds of matches, the judges were irrelevant. The winner is as clear as day.

That was the last time I saw Pacquiao as a real fighter. After that, his wins came by way of points. Of course he still won. But not wins worth of remembrance in my book. Sports analyst said Manny has matured into a technical fighter. And winning by points is really what boxing is about, not destroying your opponent. A super philosophy, that has apparently bit Pacquiao in the end.

Today, the world saw a Pacquiao lost. But did he really? I have a feeling that the Pacquiao lost is not a lost in boxing. And if Pacquiao is synonymous with boxing, then it's really not a lost.
Because of his unprecedented success, Manny's opponents had become less and less. Everyone wants to challenge him on paper. But no one would really dare to be in that ring when Pacquiao is in his best. And because of this trend, boxing has started to become boring. Fans started to fall and switched to UFC, with Manny having no worthy opponent to fight. The one that the fans would wish, chose instead to be placed behind bars.

Thus, logic dictates that to save the boxing industry, Manny has to lose. Manny has to become human. A "re-match" has to be set in November, to keep the fans in tune to what will happen. If Manny conquers Bradley like the rest of them, he would've won, but boxing would've lost, due to predictability and to fan boredom.
It's not a surprise that a re-match clause was included in Bradley's contract. It's not surprising that even with a lost, Manny is still skipping happily to the bank with an assured 26 million dollar purse, not counting pay per view earnings. It's not surprising that a "mistaken" poster from the Bradley camp came out weeks before fight date announcing a re-match in November. It's not surprising that in the actual fight, Manny "slowed down" after convincingly winning the first 6 rounds. Boxing is not just about sports. It's about business.

The masses may mourn a Pacquiao lost today. But that is part of the drama so we can keep watching, cheering, and keep on paying for watching matches in the boxing ring.

I guess Manny Pacquiao took one for the industry. Besides, the crown is just metal. What is more important is the purse.