Pinoy Pilgrim Feedbackan

By: Minyong Ordoñez

            In the Birth Control Bill the devil is in the details.

            In Humanae Vitae God is in the details.

            That’s why Catholic men and women who follow the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church are up in arms against the Birth Control Bill.    In essence the bill puts on the chopping block two fundamental rights, human and divine: the dignity of women and the sanctity of life.

            The title of the Birth Control Bill is an oxymoron: “Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008.”

KILL BILL

The bill is unequivocal about its true intent:  the extermination of a living fetus in the womb of a mother through aborticide using abortifacients in order to reduce birthrate. The oxymoron: How the hell can health result when killing is an integral part of the birth- control plan?  How can development happen when the scheme is premised on the predestined failure of a future member of the population and therefore exterminated at fetal stage? This is technocracy of absolute skepticism.

The Bill is surreptitiously anti-democracy, because it violates the right to live.  Let’s say if to-be-butchered creatures, a fetus and a piglet can express their true sentiments on their imminent deaths, the fetus will say, “You can’t kill me.  When I grow up I want to be the first incorruptible congressman in the Philippines.”  And the piglet will say, “Great! It’s OK to kill me on my fifth month.  My ambition is to be the most succulent melt-in-the-mouth lechon de leche available in La Loma.”  The fetus has rights.  The piglet has none.

WOMAN AS VICTIM

Central to birth-control managers is their clever idea labeled as: The Woman with “Unwanted Pregnancy.”  Who decides whether the pregnancy is unwanted or not? Herself?  Birth-control managers? Dark-alley abortionists? Critics of Humanae Vitae? Indifferentist demographers and social engineers at IMF World Bank who incentivize their loans to poor nations by tacking on birth-control funding?

It can’t be the Francis of Assisi type of priest. Or the Mother Teresa type of nun. Or the God who is in the hearts of men. 

It must be the devil disguised as a do-gooder.

Since a huge inventory of condoms (the modern version of onanism), abortifacients, inclusive of easy access to invasive birth-control technologies such as intrauterine device, ligation, sterilization, etc. are well funded, surely the educational campaign directed to the “woman with unwanted pregnancy” will be slanted in favor of aborticide using abortifacients.  The much ridiculed but Church-approved rhythm method, sex abstinence and celibacy, has a poor chance, because to most birth-control managers those methods are prone to failure, medieval and a big killjoy.  Abortifacients are safer and more effective.  Safer for the killer.  Fatal to the fetus.  Isn’t it satanic?

The real villain here is Satan’s semen ejaculated by heartless rapists, brutish abusers, happy-go-lucky fornicators, jilting boyfriends, two-timing husbands, slippery lotharios, predatory DOMs and other closet perverts.  It makes more sense for the government to go after ejaculators of Satan’s semen than to warp a woman’s good conscience. 

Unwanted pregnancy does not belong to our mainstream life.  It’s an oversimplification and overexaggeration.  Unwanted pregnancy is usually self-corrective through the innate capacity of a woman to feel compunction, to learn from her mistake.

WOMAN AS LOVE

The concept of unwanted pregnancy is a slur on authentic feminism. 

Consider the Filipina.  Her spiritual, intellectual, physiological and physical make-up contravenes the rejection of a baby (or fetus) in her womb.  To verify, let congressmen ask their grandmothers, mothers, sisters and daughters if their natural instinct is to commit aborticide because pregnancy is hazardous, money is short and raising their children sucks.  If the answer is yes, there goes the honorable congressman, a rotting fetus cadaver in a garbage pile.  If no, there goes a congressman going great guns and aspiring to be the next Speaker of the House.

Consider maternal instincts: to breastfeed, to hug, to cradle, to change diapers, to bathe, to sing a lullaby.  Consider her miraculous milk.  Even by the law of physiology a mother’s womb is an authentic and truthful organ for nurturing life, not a vehicle for death.  Genetic!

ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

The Birth Control Bill attacks our Christian culture. 

Our woman culture cannot regard the Filipina as a utilitarian object, a machine for retooling social engineering as Herod, Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot did. 

For centuries Catholicism nurtured a culture of respect, admiration, honor and love for the Filipina.  This lofty woman positioning has roots going back to Sacred Scripture when God chose a humble woman, Virgin Mary of Nazareth, to be the mother of Jesus Christ.  The Magnificat is God’s ultimate honor accorded to feminism. 

Our regard for womanhood is holistic.  Body and soul.  Mind and heart.  Mystery and reality.  Mortality on earth.  Immortality in the after-life.  She is worth all the blessings and commitments only the sacrament of matrimony can give on the day when she’s the most beautiful bride in the world: “to have and to hold, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in pain till death do us part.”

MOTHERHOOD AS AGAPE

Motherhood is her crowning glory.  Motherhood.  This is the earthly spirit of Agape.  It means high truths of love, care, sacrifice, bliss, peace and joy directed to others specially children.  Even the greatest painters of the Renaissance marvel at this unselfish kind of love.  Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael painted awe-inspiring mother and child Madonnas. 

The task of fatherhood is for all men to safeguard and nurture motherhood.  Primordial!

Family.  The basic cell that is formative for children is family.  To acquire virtues and values for excellent constituent of his country, and spiritual values as heirs of God’s kingdom.

Procreation.  The miracle and mystery of life creation whereby a mother in a unitive act with her husband and God as author of life.  A logical reason why Filipino parents instinctively call their children gifts from God.

POPE SWIMS AGAINST THE CURRENT

With confidence and courage, Pope Paul VI in 1968 promulgated Humanae Vitae, the encyclical on the transmission of life, condemning aborticide for birth control.  In spite of contrarian opinions inside and outside the Vatican circles.  The good Pope swam against the current of practical materialism.  He chose the biblical and truth-based route.  He used his excathedra power, “the bind and loose power” given by Christ to St. Peter and his successors.  Today the widespread social malaise encouraged by state-crafted immoral law vindicates Pope Paul VI’s promulgation of Humanae Vitae.

Fidelity to the Church is fidelity to Christ.  For Catholics, the bottom line is obedience to the teachings of the Magisterium.  A difficult thing to do for those who disagree with the supreme pontiff and vicar of Christ on earth.  Without humility, obedience is impossible.  To be humble a Catholic should always strive to be in a state of grace, by means of daily prayers, frequent confession and communion. Accepting God’s will in the spirit of Agape. 

Fr. James B. Reuter’s favorite advice is, “God draws straight with crooked lines.”  Hilaire Belloc, the Catholic historian who wrote books on the major role of Christianity in building Western civilization, says, “Without authority, there is no life.”

THE PILL AS MOTHER EVIL

The Pill entered the scene in the sixties and it became the icon of the much touted Sexual Revolution.  My old and witty golfer friend laughs at the term Sexual Revolution.  He calls it irresponsible fucking!  Hahahaha!

            The Pill turned out to be a “mother evil” whose multiplier effects disabled the moral compass of glitzy lifestyle in modernistic centers of the world.  Multiplier effects such as the increase in numbers of divorced couples, broken homes, loveless children, unwed mothers, teen suicides, child abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and drug addiction among others.  Empirical data abound in the files of city police blotters, vice-squad arrests, city morgue forensic files, psychiatric asylums, post-trauma rehab centers, psychiatric couches and of course the cemetery. 

Our late and beloved Pope John Paul II called the Pill’s domino effect a “culture of death.”

ENLIGHTENED SELF-CONFIDENCE

To bring life of a human being into this world is not a pure science technocracy, nor political governance.  The miracle and mystery of faith is involved, therefore life creation is supernatural and God-caused.  Consequently the taking of life is not for man to decide.  Only God the author/creator of life can define the purpose and integrity of death.  We simply cannot play God.  The Church is the duly appointed (Tu es petrus) interpreter/teacher of the word of God. 

Catholics, whether congressmen or constituents, are duty bound to continuously enrich and deepen their understanding of the fundamentals of faith so that they can be competent in judging morality issues that crop up as civilization marches on. 

On the controversial points of birth control the following books will be helpful in combining faith with reason in evaluating the Birth Control Bill, which raises issues on the Sanctity of Life and Dignity of Women, issues that will affect our future as a Christian and democratic society:

Brave New Family by G.K. CHESTERTON

Edited by Alvaro de Silva.  Published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco

The God Who Loves You by PETER KREEFT

Published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco

The Essential Pope Benedict XVI edited by JOHN THORNTON and SUSAN VARENE

Harper San Francisco

The Vindication of Humanae Vitae by MARY EBERSTADT

Copyright © First Things (August/September 2008)

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church

(Minyong Ordoñez is a retired chairman of the Paris-based Publicis Communications Group.  He is a free-lance journalist and member of the Manila Overseas Press Club. He is also a co-founder of Pinoy Pilgrim Global Foundation Inc.  Email: encarbordonez@yahoo.com.ph)

Contact: Minyong Ordoñez

Residence: + 62 2 842-8272

Mobile: + 63 918-923-7745

Part Eight: The Meat of the Meeting

One thing he wanted to do was to meet Tony Meloto, the proponent of Gawad Kalinga. Erap wanted to hear his views and listen to his advice. Nando promised to arrange a meeting with Tony, one of the leaders of Couples for Christ, a Church group that went against Erap during EDSA 2.

Despite their political differences, Erap admired what Tony is doing for the poor. This shows that Erap’s strong passion to help the poor goes beyond politics and emotional disagreements.

We were all moved when Erap said: “I want to meet Tony Meloto so we can work together for the poor…”

Then, the discussion went to population control, another controversial issue during his term. He began by declaring that he was against abortion and forms of artificial birth control; he opposed the first because it is a crime, and the second because it had many social effects that are the result of the moral corruption of the youth and families.

He seemed knowledgeable about what has happened in most countries where artificial birth control was pushed by giant pharmaceutical companies with the excuse that this would cut down on so-called unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortions, and HIV/AIDS. On the contrary, however, he has learned that the negative effects of broken families, increased promiscuity, and corrupted morals seem to outweigh the benefits.

“Ako nga, di gumagamit niyan…” and with a loud laugh all around, we all agreed and realized a deeper dimension of Erap the man. Yes, he loved women, and he had several children with several of them, but he supported and continues to support them all. His “knowledge” of women went beyond the merely animal aspect, because he saw women not only as biological and emotional “outlets” but as part of his desire to “complete” himself, a man who is an amalgam of a rich, complex, and simple personality.

However, where Erap and the others disagreed was on whether the government had a role in population management and, if it did, what its role should be. Erap mouthed the common technocrat-speak that government had to manage population growth rates to match economic growth rates so that everyone would progress together. And therein lies an important insight of which Erap was aware: what right does a government have to claim that it could manage the multi-billion dollar economy and tens of millions of Filipinos if it could not even manage a few thousand corrupt officials and a few thousand corrupt businessmen?

In truth, there are many good people in government who don’t want to dip their hands in corrupt practices, but the few who are corrupt happen to occupy high positions, and they are the ones calling the shots. As Bernie, my Dad, and Nando pointed out to Erap, our economy manages to survive with a few good decisions, like opening markets, bringing down tariffs, allowing uncompetitive industries to either shape up or die.

Part Seven: Bamboo Reflections

Then our conversation turned to bamboo. Bernie suggested that a project to commercially grow bamboo would do the country a lot of good. Erap agreed and said that he also wanted a Coconut project, but he added: “Mahirap ang coconut, masyadong mapulitika.”

They batted one idea after another about making bamboo more profitable for the people, and the ways bamboo could be used for food, shelter, and many other things. By then, my mind had already gotten so overwhelmed that all I remembered were some personal insights into this amazing grass species.

Like the coconut, bamboo has many benefits. There are over 1,000 species of bamboo that could be used in a variety of ways. There are even species that grow as fast as one meter a week. In Hong Kong, bamboo is still used for construction scaffoldings because they are cheaper than steel. Bamboo shoots are gourmet delicacies in Japan. In most Asian countries, bamboo continues to be used for building houses, furniture, kitchen utensils, containers, rafts, boats, and even carved into a device to clean the ears.

Bamboo grows easily in the Philippines. Even our native creation mythology of Malakas and Maganda includes it. Research would find more uses for bamboo and ways to produce it more efficiently. It would generate livelihood sources in the countryside, help in the use of idle land, and improve our food supply. Bamboo doesn’t have to be watered; it just grows in the wild and doesn’t need fertilizers.

I knew a poem about the bamboo which we read in school many years ago. It was about the pliant characteristic of the bamboo that sways with the winds while the bigger and stronger trees broke their branches and were eventually destroyed. The bamboo is typically Asian and has become part of our region’s culture. We see how flexible people are in this part of the world, so much so that western cultures think we lack a solid set of principles. In this they are seriously mistaken.

Like other Asians, we Filipinos are flexible and pliant, able to survive and get by. Although more than other Asians, we Filipinos seem to be more open to other cultures. But like the other Asian peoples, we enjoy making rules along the way.

“Lahat may paraan, pwedeng pakiusapan.”

We seem to have an instinctive feel whether a rule is counter-productive to the greater good of family and social relationships and responsibilities. Many rules we completely ignore because we find their assumptions of lack of trust in the goodness of others completely absurd and impractical.

Take a look at how our overseas workers adapt to their foreign environments. They come home and regale us with stories of how they assimilate foreign cultures without losing their Filipino heritage. In the process, they stamp the places where they are with the Pinoy brand of living joy and a relaxed and carefree lifestyle.

At this stage, my imagination and the conversation around the dining table converged, as I heard Erap talk about the Pinoy OFWs. He values their efforts and sacrifices, and acknowledged that they are the real heroes saving the country.

He defended their decision to work abroad: “Eh wala naman silang trabaho dito…”

Looking at Erap as he said these words, I sensed his love for country and his care for the poor. I saw how focused he was to help the poor by creating jobs and building affordable housing, giving them water and electricity, and helping in the education of their children.

And then it hit me: Erap called the meeting to talk about his pro-poor projects with his trusted friends like Bernie, Nando, and my Dad. We were supposed to exchange ideas on what Erap could do to help the poor, and he wanted his friends to help him finetune these ideas so he could work on them in the remaining years he had on this earth.

Part Six: What Makes a President?

Erap was booted out of power in 2001 because he was accused of incompetence and corruption. Now, six years later, we know better, and I hope, we have become wiser.

Was he incompetent?

What makes a good President is, first, the ability to win an election without cheating and, second, the ability to implement a good program of government. Many candidates have good “theoretical” programs but do not have the ability to win, so they resort to cheating (as someone did, in 1992 and 2004). Until my lunch meeting with Erap, I thought he had the first ability but not the second. He certainly won by a landslide, and he didn’t have to cheat. His popularity sealed his victory.

Now, after listening to him for over an hour, I realized that he did have an operational plan that could have been successfully implemented. Those were simple plans, but they would have worked if only he knew how to temper his wild side, and this is where I think he failed, because he created powerful enemies in the process.

At this time, Linggoy Alcuaz, another Erap friend, entered from the back of the house, carrying a bunch of folders and documents. As Linggoy entered the dining area, Erap introduced us, then he told Linggoy to grab a bite and to wait until we finished our meeting.

Erap then began talking about how he planned to help the poor. When he was still San Juan’s Mayor, he helped the poor by giving them sources of income, jobs, and opportunities. It was a lesson he learned early on during his term.

One day, he rounded up the kubradors and kabos of jueteng, catching 60 of them in one day. He sent them to the municipal jail, and since there was no room, they all had to stand up as they spent overnight inside their cell.

The next day, the municipal office was jammed with the wives and children of the prisoners, pleading to Erap to set their husbands free and claiming that jueteng was their only means of livelihood. They asked Erap to give their husbands any job, even that of garbage collector.

Erap scratched his head and smiling, he said: “San Juan only had 6 garbage trucks, so we could not employ all the 60 kubradors and kabos. So the only solution I saw was to legalize jueteng.” He started the Bingo 2 Ball, which eradicated jueteng in San Juan and provided jobs to all the former jueteng workers.

After he became President, Erap test marketed Bingo 2 Ball successfully in Bulacan, generating P36 million a week. Legalized gambling became an issue used against him and led to his falling out with Chavit Singson, who wanted to keep his control of jueteng because that was how the country’s political machinery was partly financed. When Erap would have none of it, Chavit went against him.

By this time, Linggoy had joined us again and started talking about Lotto. Linggoy was a PCSO director for two years before he was ousted for political reasons. My Dad, who was also a PCSO director when Lotto was introduced, added that lottery is a form of soft taxation used by most countries in the world to raise funds in a way that was easy for people to pay.

He told Erap: “Tama ang ginawa mo doon sa Bingo 2 Ball.”

Bernie and my Dad then said that in Spain, 40% of the infrastructure was built with lotto money. Both have lived in Spain for years, so they knew about the “Kinyelas” and “El Gordo”, the most popular lottery draws in Spain. Lotto or legalized gambling generates income for the government and gives jobs to people.

Erap agreed wholeheartedly and said that he even had plans for government to improve employee benefits such as social security using lotto funds, but those who benefited the most from keeping gambling illegal made life difficult for Erap and wanted him out, and they succeeded. They became his fifth enemy after the insurgents, the MILF, church officials, and the rich.

Erap also wanted to fight crime and made as his anti-crime czar Gen. Panfilo Lacson, whose Machiavellian crime prevention strategy was successful. According to Erap, cases of kidnapping and carnapping were drastically reduced and undesirable personalities in the police and military were removed from power.

I beg to disagree. Many of my colleagues, friends and peers would disagree with Erap’s assumption that crime levels went down during his term. Allegations of Lacson’s involvement with other crimes like drug-trafficking and summary executions were pronounced all over the media.

Many people in government and private citizens did fear Lacson’s ways, his style of being daring, bold, fearless and cold blooded. He was focused and did not mind being criticized as long as he got the job done. I think many would agree that this is not the way to run a country, and that there are better ways to bring down crime than by fighting it with crime.

Part Five: My Dad’s Pipe

In December 2006, a few days after Christmas, my sister and her husband Martin decided to take all their 11 children for a vacation in Hong Kong. As you could imagine, it was a logistical nightmare. There were 18 of us: 11 children, Leah and Martin, Leah’s good friend Dindin, Tita Alice (Martin’s mother), one yaya, my mom, and me. My Dad decided to stay, but he requested only one thing for us to buy: a Davidoff pipe.

He gave clear instructions where to buy it, at the ground floor of Landmark Shopping Center, the first store on the right using the side entrance. So everyone knew about this bilin from my Dad, and we talked everyday about when we would find the time to look for it. On the fourth day, we finally got to the Landmark, and sure enough, the Davidoff store was where my Dad said it would be.

I was with Diego, Mateo, and Lucas, the three oldest kids in the group. As we entered the shop, we were shocked to find hundreds of pipe models. I selected one that looked like what my Dad had been using for the last thirty years. Then I called him on my cell and described it to him.

“Ok yan, bilhin mo na. Yan ang pinakamahal dyan.”

Sure enough, at $590, it was the most expensive model available. The kids couldn’t understand why, as Diego said, their grandfather would spend that much money for a piece of wood. They burst out laughing! Soon, Martin called and asked where we were, and I told him that we had finally bought the pipe.

That pipe became an icon of the trip: scandalous at first, seemingly insignificant, but full of value, especially if one thinks of the joys that only an excellent pipe could give for the next few decades. I thought that, looking now at my Dad’s Davidoff pipe, it’s just like Erap, an icon of Philippine history. One has to experience it to savor its hidden richness.

Like the piece of wood called a pipe that is elegantly wrapped in a velvet-lined box, Erap with his taste for the finest things in life and his simple masa slogan “Erap, para sa mahirap” is simple yet full of enigma, a certain mystique.

Why do people like him? How does the masa understand a complex character like Erap, someone whom they know is comfortable with the trappings of power and luxury and yet so close to the hearts of the poor?

They know that he is rich beyond his wildest dreams, that he loves women, and that he seems to flaunt his weaknesses. Perhaps, they also know that among all the previous Presidents of our country, he was the richest who ever came into office. Certainly, they knew that as a box office actor, Erap earned more than the Congressmen, housewife, and Constabulary general in office before him, and the ex-professor of Economics and Vice President who bumped him out of power.

Like my Dad’s special pipe, which transformed itself from an object of curiosity into an article of admiration once its character and value were revealed, Erap’s magnetic charisma was difficult to shake off once it came out in the open. Erap attracts not only his constituents but also regular guys like me, and the more we know him, the better we get to appreciate his value.

The mass of Pinoys voted Erap into the Presidency by a landslide, the first really rich politician who came into power. Living in scandalous luxury and surrounded by beautiful women, some of whose children he proudly fathered and openly admitted, Erap was allowed his showbiz lifestyle, and the voters did not seem to mind. They knew Erap earned his millions making movies they loved to watch because it entertained them and gave them hope. And you have to admit that he was one damn good actor.

The masa loved him, but the rich did not. For the first time in the country’s history, a rich man who became President was not beholden to the political elite, so the minority rich tried their best to bring him down, with the middle class as their allies.

And look what the country got itself into.

Are we better off now than if Erap finished his term? Hindsight, as they say, is always 20/20, but had we not been fools, we should have learned from the lessons of history staring us in the eye.

Part Four: Making Enemies

First, he identified his business enemies.

Early on during his term, Erap was asked by the Ayala and Lopez groups to approve the increase in water rates by 80%, but he refused because it went directly against his campaign platform of “Erap para sa Mahirap.” If he approved it, “baka sabihin ng mga bumoto sa akin: Erap, mas mahirap! Ipit ako, so mga Ayala kalaban ko na, tapos pangalawa mga Lopez, kalaban ko rin…” Erap used his fingers to graphically demonstrate in simple terms how his enemies rose up against him.

As Erap talked, Mercy interrupted on the radio that a certain Captain was at the gate. When Erap heard the name, he quietly said: “Papasukin yan!”

Within seconds, a military officer in uniform came in and greeted Erap, who invited him to take lunch. The officer sat beside me, and Erap told him: “O, Kapitan ka na?”

The officer answered: “Yes, sir!”

Erap looked at my Dad and told him that the officer was his former Chief of Security when he was still President. Then, without skipping a beat, he reminded his secretary: “O, pakainin mo ang mga driver.”

After this brief interruption, Erap went back to his story.

He said that when the Church approached him to order a 40-day ceasefire with the MILF, he tried to convince the Bishop representing Cardinal Sin why he should not order a ceasefire. Erap wanted lasting peace and the only way he could achieve that was to eradicate the MILF.

Instead of using the same argument that the MILF was a major obstacle to economic development, Erap showed the Bishop videos of what the MILF did to soldiers and Christians. He showed the Bishop a graphic footage of a Christian being asked by an MILF soldier to pray. As the Christian prayed the “Our Father”, the MILF chopped off his head.

Erap showed the barbaric ways of the MILF to the good Bishop, but the latter was not convinced and ended the discussion by saying: “Well, if you don’t want to declare a ceasefire, then we have nothing more to discuss.”

Erap continued: “So tatlo na ang kalaban ko.” Aside from the MILF and the NPA, he now added the Church and Cardinal Sin.

So early in his Presidency, he suddenly had to deal with three enemies, and it did not stop there.

One day, Senate president Franklin Drilon gave him a call, telling him the Senate has to investigate the alleged corruption in the Philippine Centennial Project. Erap agreed to the investigation in aid of legislation.

Soon after, Senator Nikki Coseteng insisted that a special committee be put up to investigate this scandal. This added pressure and irked Erap’s predecessor, President Fidel V. Ramos. It was not intentional, but: “Doon siya (FVR) nagalit. So apat na ang kalaban ko. Yung mga Lopez, Ayala, Cardinal Sin at si Ramos.”

As we enjoyed Erap’s monologue, we were served cappuccino coffee while Erap smoked Lucky Strike. My Dad is a pipe smoker, so he lit up his pipe and an ashtray was placed in front of him. Speaking of my Dad’s pipe, there is quite a long story behind it, and which makes for a good intermission.

Part Three: Talking Politics

Erap rested his back on his chair, and then after his eyes scanned each one of us, he nodded down, looked up again, and said: “Napilitan lang ako sa pardon na yan…”

He claimed that he had no choice, that it was the best option for him because, historically, all special courts were organized to convict, so why should our special court be different…? He emphasized that although there was no evidence to convict him, he still had to accept the pardon without admission of guilt.

Erap sighed: “Freedom…It’s a nice feeling to be free after six and a half years…”

Like breathing fresh air, Erap expressed relief at being a free man. He felt so happy, and we felt it too. I could see that his moral imagination was being triggered to do something more for the poor using simple resources that are already available in the country. No bells and whistles, no fancy economic and global strategies…just simple ideas.

So, I thought, we’re here to talk about Carabao milk, his pardon, his political life, and plans for the future. I braced myself, but little did I know that these would only be the tip of the iceberg. What followed was an important lesson in Philippine power politics.

Erap began by narrating his program of government when he became President in 1998. He pushed forward an ashtray adjacent to his cell phone and said: “These are the insurgents, and they’ve been there for fifty years.”

And then, beside it, he placed a pack of Lucky Strike: “This is the MILF problem, and it has been there for thirty years.”

Erap pulls out his Dunhill gold lighter and places it between the ashtray and the pack of cigarettes: “This is the central government, so how can you do anything if you have a problem here (pointing to the ashtray) and a problem there (pointing to the Lucky Strike)?

Then, Erap pointed to his glass that was full of water. “Foreign direct investments in other countries like China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. are at this level” as he indicated points near the top of the glass. Then, he drinks it until there was barely any water left, and pointing at the contents, he exclaimed: “In the Philippines, this is the level of investments we have.”

Erap continued: “Why? Eh, why will they invest in a country if it has these kinds of problems?” as he pointed to the ashtray and the cigarettes once again. “So, that’s the problem, and that’s why I had to fix the problem first. Simple lang, di ba?” That is what he set out to do when he became President.

First, he waged an all-out war against the MILF, using his Generals and allocating a war budget from then-Secretary Benjamin Diokno, using P900 million to eradicate the MILF Camp Abu Bakar. He symbolized victory by bringing down their flag. He added that in an earlier visit to Mindanao, he said the Philippines had only one flag, one government, and is one state. He succeeded and offered the Army officers and soldiers an incentive of P10,000 for each MILF rebel who either surrendered or was killed. He justified this as an efficient way to achieve a goal through enlightened self-interest.

He did the same thing with the insurgents. He quashed them. “Kayang-kaya naman eh…” Why his solution did not last shows that a President had more than insurgents and separatists as his main enemies. It also shows that anyone who does what he thinks is good for the country would not succeed if he accumulates enemies in the process.

Part Two: Erap in Person

In less than a minute, we got there. It was exactly 12 noon, and since the guards knew Nando, we were all ushered in. Mercy, Erap’s secretary, escorted us to the courtyard, where we sat staring at the tall condominiums just beyond the property walls. I thought, “Isn’t this a security breach and a lack of privacy?” Probably not, because Erap wouldn’t have been allowed by his security people to stay there had there been any problems. After all, who would want to assassinate the ex-President? I remembered that he stayed there when he was still the President, and there were no security problems at all.

As we waited, Mr. Herman Tiu Laurel, a writer for The Daily Tribune, joined us and shared some insights on Erap’s Carabao Milk Bill when he was still the Senator. Milk is an important component in a food supply, so addressing this problem and making us self-sufficient in milk production would be good for the country. Mr. Laurel claimed that we had only 22,800 dairy cows in the country, compared to Australia and New Zealand which had over 3 million each. He also told us that India is using Carabao milk to feed their large population, and that their industry is protected with higher tariffs on milk imports compared to ours.

This got me thinking why we don’t have more dairy Carabaos in the country when imported cows have a hard time surviving in the tropical heat. All we need is some grazing land and a few cattlemen to focus on Carabao milk production, but I guess we prefer to import from abroad, or foreigners have more balls to sell us their milk while killing our domestic production. Perhaps, this is one more reason Erap was hated by hidden business interests because his proposals were meant to make us more self-sufficient.

Then, suddenly, Erap walked into the room. He was moving fast, his arms swinging on his side. He looked healthy and full of energy, or maybe like me he was also hungry. Suddenly he stopped, pointed at all of us, and with a wide smile and deep voice bellowed: “Make my day!”

As we all started laughing heartily, we stood up and shook hands, and then sat down once again after exchanging the usual greetings. My Dad introduced me as Erap grabbed my hand with a strong grip, slapped me on the shoulder, and asked everyone to sit down. Thinking that he had interrupted our conversation, he asked what we had just been discussing. Bernie told him: “Your Carabao milk project…”

Even before Bernie finished his sentence, Erap picked up where we had just left off and started talking about the project. I was aghast, because contrary to what the Erap jokes portrayed, he sounded and looked smart. Without using notes, he did the math, rattling off research information on Carabao milk production worldwide, touching on biotech developments in cloning the breed or species that would yield more milk. He estimated that the project would add at least P10,000 per year to poor households.

At this point, I thought we were meeting Erap to talk about Carabaos, but lunch was ready, so everyone moved to a buffet table loaded with various dishes, including stuffed turkey, since it was only two days after Thanksgiving Day. We all ate in moderation, talking as we munched on the sumptuous fare. I noticed that though Erap had a taste for good food, he was controlling his intake.

We all exchanged ideas about Carabao milk, and as Erap listened to Bernie, my Dad, Nando, and Herman, he would glance at me with a welcoming smile and invite me to eat some more. I felt relaxed, and I noticed what other people saw in Erap: his charisma. Once you are in his presence, he makes you feel that you are his friend. He acted so naturally relaxed, so I felt quite relaxed too.

Erap was the first to finish his lunch. His plate was cleared, and then he started to shift gear. First serious topic: his pardon.

Part One: The Invitation

I was planning to go sailing with my friends at the Yacht Club that Saturday morning, the 24^th of November, but Typhoon “Mina” was hovering in the horizon and threatening to wreak havoc on our plans to hold an inshore race. I was about to call my team to check if the race would push through when my Dad called and asked me: “Are you free for lunch?”

I asked: “Why?”

My Dad answered casually: “Join me for lunch with Erap. He just invited me…”

Erap. I haven’t met him in person, even though he was almost our next door neighbor along Polk Street in Greenhills. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, so without giving it much thought, I said “Yes.”

What do I wear to a friendly lunch meeting with a neighbor? What if he happens to be one of the most colorful Presidents the Philippines ever had? I had just bought a new branded shirt, so I thought with my old jeans and black shoes that should do it. I stayed in my room to get some work done while I waited for the call to walk over for the lunch meeting.

A half hour before noon, I heard some people entering through our front door, which was surprising because our friends usually entered through the kitchen door. I rushed downstairs to see Dr. Bernie Villegas, an economist now on a sabbatical leave to teach in Barcelona, Spain and Nando Camus, a friend of my Dad who also happened to be a childhood barkada of Erap and who arranged the lunch meeting. The plot was thickening, so I did what I usually do best: shut up, listen, and think.

As sat down at the veranda, my Dad talked to Bernie and Nando about his three new book ideas. Having just published his autobiography, my Dad claimed that once you write your first book, it’s easy to write the next one. The next book, he said, would be about my sister, the mother of 11 children and the wife of a business tycoon, and the title would be something like “Transparent Woman.” He-he-he…I hope she doesn’t appear indecent on the cover, although knowing how daring she is she just might surprise all of us.

Another book my Dad wants to write is “Pondering Theology” about the Catholic faith as explained by a wizened grandpa in ways that a 7-year old kid would understand. The third book is “Done Deal: A Clean-cut Job” that would be his final legacy to our country’s millions of budding entrepreneurs, where he plans to show how his successful billionaire friends made it big in the business world.

We showed Bernie and Nando the cover design of each book and a brief outline of the contents. Their feedback was positive, but knowing that they are family friends, I thought they were just being nice, but I also felt they were sincere about it, and since I did the cover design and the titles, deep inside I felt good. Ever since I resigned from my job running a call center to start working with my Dad, I had plunged deep into making my Dad’s dreams a reality.

Then, it was time to go. We all bundled into the Black Camry driven by Jun, our family driver. I could tell that he was happy to bring us to the home of Erap, who is Jun’s idol, but unlike him, I was still wondering why we were going at all.

Dear Manoling:

I can’t tell what a pleasant surprise it was to receive your book. Not only did I soak up every word, but Helen read it as well.

I enjoyed every bit from strategy you used to pass the typing test on Guam to the interchanges you have giving sound advise to the powers that were, which quite naturally was never taken. That is almost always the sad lot of the consultant, you can propose but have no real say in the outcome.

A close friend of my father was ambassador to the Philippines in the 30s so I was particularly interested in the few paragraphs on Quezon- especially your father’s sticking to his principles.

Most of all Helen took note of your pages on handling of close friends who gotten involved in dope. Unfortunately, several friends have children who have gone off the deep end, and took the liberty of making several copies of the section you devoted to it. The recommendations have already been put into practice although it is too early to determine the outcome.

I also visited your website. Which is truly impressive.

Your son was kind enough to include his card, and I will get in touch with him soon.

Thanks again for the exciting gift, but most of all for the friendship.

All the best

Don S. Friedkin

310 Highland Rd.
Rye NewYork
NY 10580-1844
U.S.A.