Latest Philippine-Taiwan issue a wake-up call

Now that the midterm elections are over and the 9-3 win for Team PNoy in the senatorial race an indication of the people’s trust in President Benigno Aquino and the way he is managing the country, there is no better way to do now, even among the opposition groups, than to support the vision and mission of the Aquino administration.

The country is at a very critical juncture now in the sense that President Aquino has taken the Philippines economy to new highs. The Filipinos are seeing it and the world community is recognizing it.

“Among the biggest contributors to this growth were trade, renting and business activities, real estate, construction activities, and on the demand side, household consumption, and net exports. These indicate increased private sector activity and capacity, signs that growth has become more sustainable,” Mr. Aquino said.

He said economic growth benefited from his government’s “commitment to good governance — ensuring that integrity, transparency, and accountability guide government operations.”

“Restoring faith in systems eroded by corruption also means holding each public servant and institution up to the standard of integrity,” Mr. Aquino added.

Aquino’s battle cry of “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahira (No corruption, no poverty)” is now paying dividends and the need to sustain it cannot be overemphasized enough.

Sustaining it and those of the programs and policies of Aquino’s good governance means continuing the momentum of economic growth which will redound to more local and foreign investments, more jobs, better pays, healthier and stable nation and, hopefully, militarily stronger.

This is not wishful thinking at all, if we know what is best for us, as a nation. And what is best for us is to finally put a stop at other nations from bullying us.

Taiwan citizens burning the Philippine flag in protest over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman

The unfortunate controversy the country is having with Taiwan over the death of its fisherman, when the coast guard opened fire at Taiwanese fishing vessel trying to ram at the coast guard boat that caught it in Philippine waters is, indeed, a wake-up call for our politicians.

Let us stop playing politics and bringing each other down. It is time for cooperation and edifying one another regardless of party affiliation if it is for the good of the country.

Our politician’s folly has brought us to a situation where, because of our being poor and weak as a nation, our own citizens working in Taiwan, among the many countries they have ventured, are being bullied and harmed.

The worst thing about this is that our government could not and does not have the means to protect them.

Isn’t that pathetic? And, to think that it is not their fault that they joined the throng of what is now known as the oversea Filipino workers (OFWs).

What makes it even more heartrending is that their collective remittances is what forms the greater part of the money that is propping up the country’s economy.

It has been reported that in 2012, overseas remittances coming from Taiwan totaled $167.98 million.


Isn’t that shameful for government?

This is now the time for our politicians and leaders in the national level to wake up and work together.

The reality is that we cannot be poor and weak and be the door mat of our Asian neighbors all the time.

The interest of the country and its people should now be given the utmost concern and attention so that not too many Filipinos will be forced to leave and risk working abroad because of necessity.

Election results stun Osmeña, Young

Osmeña and Young

It has been nearly a week now since Cebu City rejected the Osmeña-Young tandem in favor of the Rama-Labella ticket for mayor and vice mayor, respectively, and the result continues to stun Tommy and Joy that to this day they haven’t conceded defeat yet.

In the first place, the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) candidates still do not know what hit them after believing of their partnership as invincible in a place where they thought was an Osmeña country.

In the second place, having been in power for so long, defeat could only come if there was cheating in the polls, and since defeat is an embarrassment and hard to swallow for the presumptuous, the only way to show that you still have face is to contest the result, which both losers are doing.

To claim that they were defrauded or that the glitches of the Precinct Count Optical Scanner (PCOS) machine did them in is a lame excuse in an election exercise where every stakeholder made sure that it was going to be peaceful, orderly and transparent.

For Osmeña and Young, who think highly of themselves, but whose political antics, arrogance, sycophancy and conspiracy for their own and their party’s interests have earned them the antipathy of the people, defeat is a bitter pill to swallow.

Rama and Labella

Sympathy went to Rama and Labella because the city electorate saw that despite the obstruction and the hard time the Osmeña-dominated council was giving them, they were sincere in their efforts to carry on their programs of good governance, which had the interest of the people and the city foremost in their minds.

The city electorate also found Rama and Labella pleasant, friendly and approachable and very much unlike the pugnacious attitude of Osmeña that has started to rub on his sidekick, Joy Young.

At the end it was more a choice of whose tandem had greater promise of better servant-leaders:

-          Those who will work for the interest of Cebu City first and the South Road Properties (SRP) second, or

-          Those who will work for the interest of SRP first and Cebu City second.

Clearly, Cebu City residents has handed the verdict.

Comelec’s hasty proclamation of 6 senators

 

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has so many post elections problem confronting them that they still had the wherewithal to make a hasty proclamation of the first 6 winning senators.

Naturally, it created an amount of fuss, even to one of those to be proclaimed, Nancy Binay.

One of those who also denounced the early proclamation is Senator Aquilino Pimentel III himself, who is among those in the winning circle, calling it “premature” and “wrong.”

Pimentel, who is known as stickler of rules and procedures, said that “partial proclamation should be done only if the total uncanvassed votes would theoretically no longer affect the results.”

“Yes, that is the doctrine! That is the rule based on logic, common sense and fairness,” he added.

For some reason Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes sounded and acted so autocratic in ordering the proclamation Thursday, May 16^th.

“We will proceed with the partial proclamation tonight. And hopefully, we will be able to proclaim all winning senatorial candidates by Saturday,” he said in a press conference at the PICC where the national canvassing is being conducted.

This, even as a petition from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) was filed Wednesday night, seeking to suspend the proclamation and questioning the slow-paced canvassing procedure.

At the time it was reported that only 72 of the 304 certificates of canvass (COC) had been officially tabulated by the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) at the Philippine International Convention Center. The 72 COCs represented just about 13 million votes out of the 52 million registered voters or about 25 % only of all the votes.

So, why make a hasty proclamation and invite controversy when the nation could wait for a later proclamation if only to avoid controversial petty issues and bickering. We have had enough of the latter already.

Continuing with Brillantes’ imperious move, despite the negative, reactions from some public official, the NBOC again proclaimed the following day 3 more senators-elect, namely, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Antonio Trillanes IV,based on 117 certificates of canvass (COCs) transmitted to the NBOC. Note that the latter is composed of Comelec commissioners. Of the 3, only Aquino attended the proclamation.

All this time Brillantes was daring the public that he would resign if any one of those proclaimed earlier will be dislodge from the magic 12 after the last count has been made.

It is not about the result of being dislodged that people have been saying negative words about the hasty proclamation, because there is no way, shape and form that the trend could change any more. Each of the senators-elect has enough buffer votes to protect their rankings, except perhaps the tail-enders.

The question is: Could it really have made a hell lot more of a difference if the NBOC just waited for most of the COCs to come in and proclaim the 12 senators-elect in one go thereby saving money, time, effort…. and most especially, controversy?

It is about the right and the best thing to do and not about who the boss is at Comelec, though I still have high regard for Chairman Brillantes for a job well done – generally.

A letter for Senator-elect Nancy Binay

Senator-elect Nancy Binay

This letter has been circulating around, presumably, and was sent to me by one following my blog. I don’t know if a Dr. Patrick Moral exists, but whether or not he exist is immaterial. What is essential is the lesson imparted by this profoundly cerebral letter to those  following the path of their parent’s vocation, either by design or by their own free-will, and believing they could be equally apt for the job and come out successful as their parents are simply because they have the same family name.

In fairness to Nancy Binay, she ought not to be singled out here just because, by her own admission, her greatest qualification to hold public office is her 20 years on-the-job training with her parents.

This incisive or ‘diagnostic’ letter, mind you, also applies to the many movie, radio, media, etc., personalities who have been joining politics and taking advantage of the fact that their popularity and name recall will surely catapult them to that lofty and equally profitable position they are aspiring for, despite their lack of adequate credentials. Within this purview are also the members of the scandalous political dynasties.

This is yet the best analogy and analysis I have read about those personalities I had been skeptical about that are, regrettably, in politics now or have plans of throwing their hats in the political arena.

Dearest Senator Binay,

By the time this letter is done, you would have probably become elected Senator of my beloved country. I will not say that you were elected because the majority of our electorate are illiterates who cast their ballots simply on name recognition. I will assume the best in that they see in you, someone who can do her best in the legislative body of our land.

I would like to review with you though what you said was your greatest qualification to hold public office: that you had 20 years on-the-job training with your parents. I will not question how important this may have been, but I question whether it is truly enough.

As a physician born into a family of physicians, I too had over 20 years on-the-job training before I entered medical school. I requested for a medical toy set early in my years to learn to examine inanimate objects in the house masquerading as human replicas. In my elementary years, I would sit in my mother’s clinic, writing prescriptions for her many patients. In my high school years, my grandmother became frail, requiring my parents to provide more medical care to which I was witness to. By the time I applied for medical school, I had probably seen more patients than some fourth year medical students in their lifetime.

I always had a question whether I should pursue my dream in a school where my parents were better known as it was a double-edged sword. If you did well, they would say your parents and your name helped you out. If you did poorly, they would ask how it was possible that you could be so stupid when you had brilliant parents. So believe me when I say, I can understand your predicament.

Our pathways diverge however, as I had to apply for my position. You might say that being elected is also a form of application but I had to defend myself. My interviewer for my application asked me this question, which still rings in my ears today, even after twenty-two years: “Do you think that you deserve to be admitted to this medical school just because of your family name?” I could have taken offense but I understood where this was coming from. There were numerous applicants for such limited slots, some probably definitely more deserving but my name was calling out to feel more deserved. If you removed your surname, would you still feel you have enough qualifications for the office you applied for? I rattled off my achievements, never once quoting my association with my surname. I felt I deserved it. What we truly feel however, will be left to us and our conscience.

I was accepted into medical school and I went through classroom activities, where I was held responsible by my professors. I went through clerkship and internship where I was held responsible by my residents and mentors. I went though residency where I was held responsible by my attendings and my hospital. Someone held me to my actions at every point in my desire to be a doctor. I know you have held a position as a personal assistant to your parents. Unfortunately, I do not know how much our parents will hold us responsible for our actions. To my mother, I was the most intelligent and handsome son anyone could have. My superiors and mentors made me realize that I was not. I am sure that to your parents, you are the most able and beautiful daughter anyone could have. That is how parents should treat us, but that is not the way a boss or superior would.

I have been a physician now for nineteen years. I am always held responsible by my patients. I have been held responsible, by someone else aside from my family for over twenty-two years. I have been responsible for the lives of a few thousands of our countrymen. Your OJT is actually Opening Just Today. You will be held responsible for the lives of almost a hundred million Filipinos. They will not be as kind as your parents, as I am sure you have had a taste of. You have said that this was a calling. I hope you have prepared well for it as I certainly prepared for mine.

You might say that your voice in the Senate is only one of twenty-four. If that voice remains silent in crucial moments, it may spell the difference for our country. If that voice cannot defend the legislation it aims to pass, you might as well leave the lawmaking to someone else. If that voice will only serve as the speaker from which emanates the voice of another, then the voice at the microphone should have been the one to get the electorate’s votes.

I did not vote for you as I believed and I believe you do not deserve my vote. But the beauty of democracy is that I should learn to abide by the voice of the majority, no matter how uninformed I feel it may be. My choices have not always won elections. If they do, I pray that their path follows the way my conscience and my mind convinced me to vote for them. When people like you win, I only have one prayer: to be proven wrong.

Mine is a voice that you may never hear but I have never stifled it with the fear of creating waves in the calm waters. The ripples I make will hopefully make you gather your oars and work your way back to shore. You are not perfect and neither am I. I sincerely hope though that you work towards it and I will happily see how much more imperfect I am.

A citizen of the republic.

Patrick Moral, MD

Cebu election results

We Cebuanos should congratulate ourselves for a job well done!

We have shown the rest of the country that we are no longer run-of-the-mill electorate.

We are starting to evolve, becoming more insightful or intelligent, if you may, in our choices of candidates that should manage the affairs of out towns, cities and province.

We have manifested through our ballots our resolve to try and take the risk of electing new names and new faces as our leaders and giving them the chance to prove their worth.

At last we have learned to discern appropriately, who are those worthy of our trust and confidence, who should give us back in return their utmost concern and selfless service.

This is what happened when Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama got the city resident’s support and majority of the votes to beat his erstwhile political ally and mentor, Rep. Tomas Osmeña, who has not lost an election since he entered politics in 1988. The same thing happened to Osmeña’s lackey, incumbent Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, who was beaten by Councilor Edgardo Labella.

This is what happened when the Cebuano electorate repudiated the leadership of the Garcias, when the patriarch, Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia, a veteran politician, lost to Provincial Board Member Wilfredo Caminero for congressman in Cebu’s second district. His son, Rep. Pablo John Garcia, failed to win the gubernatorial race against lawyer Hilario Davide III.

This is what happened when Talisay City residents decisively decided that they had had enough of Rep. Eduardo Gullas and made sure that businessman Johnny de los Reyes, who previously ran for mayor six times, would win this time, and he won, ending the former’s 38-year winning streak.

This is what happened when Cebuanos in the north district decided to go for former congressman Raul del Mar instead of having a talent manager like Anabelle Rama to represent them in Congress.

These are just some of the glaring upsets that I consider well deserved.

Some call it the slaying of the titans.

Others call it the trouncing of the gods.

I call it end of arrogance, greed and excesses in the guise of public service.

I describe it as heeding the call for a positive change.

Election result dismays Catholic Church officials

 

Some Catholic Church officials are expressing dismay over the result of the elections, specifically concerning the senatorial race.

Good for them!

If you ask me, the result should silence them and should make them realize that their concern is in the affairs of the church and it should stop, when beyond that the affairs of the state begin.

I am not saying that they should not get involve in the political process of the country, for more than being priests they are citizens of the republic.

Their participation and role, however, should be on an individual basis and should not include the church in meddling in the affairs of the state.

Like government officials responsible for the earthly welfare of the people, the church officials also have heavenly responsibilities for their flock.

Both responsibilities, mind you, are far-reaching such that if one interferes with the business of the other, it creates animosity and divisiveness that not only mars the relationship between the state and the church, but also hinders the growth and progress programs of both institutions.

Such was the result of the acrimonious discord over the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill that went on to be the tool used by some high Catholic officials in identifying whom to vote for senator during the election.

They put up large tarpaulins in church surroundings bearing the names of candidates who opposed the RH law, branding them as “Team Buhay” and those who voted for the measure as “Team Patay.”

Note that the controversial measure was signed into law by President Aquino last December to provide poor people with information and access to various forms of family planning or birth control methods, including the use of condoms and other contraceptives, in order to save lives and improve the quality of life for those living and about to be born.

Believing that there is such thing as ‘Catholic votes’, the church went full bore on this idea, only to find out after the elections that those whom they black-balled for supporting the measure landed as clear winners in the senatorial race.

This is what dismayed them. But, what should dismay them more is the backlash it has generated among some of their followers who used reason and sensibleness in going against the wishes of the ranking church officials. They found the church’s advocacy on this matter suffocating, if not irrational, and are beginning to distance themselves from the church.

One consoling and encouraging reflection of the election results is that the Catholics are beginning to speak their own minds in matters relating to the affairs of the state and not be influenced by the dictates of ranking church officials whose myopic stand on such an important issue as health and responsible parenthood is senseless, at best, and deplorable, at worst.

Of election winners and losers

Poe-Llamanzares, Legarda, Escudero

Glad to wake up that elections are over and that as far as the Social Weather Station (SWS) poll survey predictions of senatorial winners are concern, it is coming out realistically true.

But, just the same it is giving me the post-election blues knowing that, both in the national and local levels, there are winners that should have been losers and losers that should have been winners.

The misgiving one has about the election process really differs during the pre-election and post-election events.

At the time when the political parties start forming up their slate, ones concern is about the competency of the candidates.

We pose questions like:

It is fare for the electorate that somebody influential and in power could just thrust his son or daughter to be a candidate in the senate and expect them to win,not because of their capability and capacity to perform the job ably, but rather because of the ‘magical’ name of a Binay, Estrada and Enrile they carry?

Why has the party chosen someone to run for election or re-election, when he or she hasn’t done anything exceptional?

Is electing the notorious, the rich, the famous, the good-name recall, the new norm now for those crafting the laws of the land and leading the local and national governments, and to be educated and brilliant, with an outstanding track record, an exception to the rule?

Nancy Binay

We see Nancy Binay up there among the winners, who has now the gall to say that she wishes Risa Hontiveros would win so she can debate with her at the senate, when she knows very well that the latter could not make it. Note that Hontiveros was challenging Binay to a debate in the heat of their campaigns.

JV Ejercito Estrada, the son of Erap, made it, too, thanks for the name.

Not too lucky is Jack Enrile, the son of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who I don’t think has the astute mind of the father, and, therefore, not a big loss to the country.

But, you have Gringo Honasan holding tightly in the 12^th position joining Antonio Trillanes, both military renegades turned lawmakers, completing the list of winners in the senatorial race.

Lim, Estrada

In the local level, alas, we have Joseph “Erap” Estrada back in harness as Mayor of Manila. Only in the Philippines can you see a convicted plunderer turning the table against a well known crime-buster in the person of Alfredo Lim.

Having said the above, this brings me now to my post-election misgiving.

If we have winners that should have been losers and losers that should have been winners, it is simply because most Filipinos continue to be sentimental, subjective, and inane in choosing whom they want to be their leaders.

Look where Grace Poe-Llamanzares has landed in the senatorial race?

Her topping the race defied surveys and exceeded expectations. Not that she is incompetent because for sure she is better than Nancy Binay, but for a neophyte to clobber even the old reliable ones speak volumes of how we are as an electorate.The Poe name surely made a big difference.

Hontiveros, Magsaysay

Ramon Magsaysay Jr., a competent former senator, got lost in the shuffle.

And, look where Jinkee Pacquiao is heading, for crying out loud!

The way we vote in some areas sadly describes what has become of some us – losers.

2013 elections and days after

 

Today, May 13, 2013, the Filipino people marched to their respective polling places to exercise their freedom and right of suffrage in choosing government official, both local and national, that would serve best the interest of the country and its citizens.

Tomorrow and days after, we will start knowing who the preferences were of the Filipino electorate in the national and local levels.

Today’s election is very important as it is not only a prelude to the presidential election in 2016, but more significantly it will determine whether or not the candidates who will come out winners will continue carrying the torch of progress by supporting and sustaining the momentum of economic growth the nation has attained under President Benigno Aquino (PNoy), which is being acknowledged by the world community.

Suffice to say that unless majority of the winners will possess the frame of mind that Aquino has in his governance of the country then I am afraid today’s election shall have been a failure.

It is simply normal, therefore, that the day after elections there are so many questions cropping up about our future as a nation and people.

Will the result of today’s elections fortify the opposition party UNA more than the administration’s LP?

Have UNA’s candidates, led by the foxy triumvirate of Vice President Jejomar Binay, former President Joseph Estrada and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, fared well and gained more adherents in both Houses to give PNoy’s LP presidential nominee a stiff battle against Binay in 2016 presidential elections?

What can the nation expect of the descendants of UNA’s 3 Kings, namely, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito and Jack Enrile – if they win as senators of the realm?

Has this elections created more political dynasties?

Will the composition of the senate change for the better, especially on reliability and competency, with the election of new members or is it going to be worse than today’s?

Will we be seeing a change in leadership in the senate this time that will be sympathetic to Malacañang?

Will PNoy be assured of support from both Houses to successfully implement his policies, programs and projects for the rest of his term and onward?

Will we be seeing more grandstanding done in the senate among the new members?

Will Chiz Escudero throw his hat in the ring for the presidency in 2016 so he could strut in front of people with Heart Evengelista holding his arm?

These are just few of the many, many questions that I am sure concerned citizens all over the country wants answered.

Anyway, good luck to us all!

Shale revolution: the game-changer in energy source

When most of the progressive western nations thought that it was about time to start looking for an alternative, renewable sources of energy that are not only environment friendly, but one that would make them less dependent on the fossil fuel supply of unstable Middle East and an unreliable Russia, the resurgence of extracting gas and oil from shale is exciting the world and making the realization of it a game-changer in energy source.

We were thinking that the energy revolution will revolve around the technology of solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, geothermal and ocean energies, but we were all wrong.

In fact the idea never took off as fast and as much as the whole world wanted it implemented. The researchers were probably concern about the vagaries of the renewable energies listed below:

• solar — panels are expensive. Most Governments are not all willing to buy home generated electricity. Not all climates are suitable for solar panels.
• wind — turbines are expensive. Wind doesn’t blow all the time, so they have to be part of a larger plan.
• waves — different technologies are being tried around the world. Scientists are still waiting for the ultimate development.
• tides — barrages (dams) across river mouths are expensive to build and disrupt shipping. Smaller turbines are cheaper and easier to install.
• rivers — Dams are expensive to build and disrupt the environment. Smaller turbines are cheaper and easier to install.
• geothermal — Difficult to drill two or three kilometers down into the earth.
• biofuel — often uses crop land or crops (like corn) to produce biofuel so the price of cheap food goes up.

So, why not explore again what you have in abundance, develop and exploit it for your own good?

In fact that is exactly what the US government is doing and they have never been as bullish with their gas and oil production from the country’s shale deposit as they are now.

Oil shale

Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that forms from the compaction of silt and clay-size mineral particles that we commonly call “mud”. Some shales have special properties that make them important resources. Black organic shales are the source rock for many of the world’s most important oil and natural gas deposits. These black shales obtain their black color from tiny particles of organic matter that were deposited with the mud from which the shale formed. As the mud was buried and warmed within the earth some of the organic material was transformed into oil and natural gas.

As sedimentary rock, oil shale is found all over the world, including China, Israel, and Russia. But, the US, however, has the most shale resources.

It is said that the US is already the world’s largest natural gas producer, and it is estimated that, by 2035, almost 90 per cent of Middle East oil and gas exports will go to Asia, with the U.S. importing virtually none.

It has also been predicted that the U.S. will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer in 2017.

Studies have shown that for the world as a whole, technically recoverable gas resources are now conservatively reckoned to amount to around 16,000 trillion cubic feet. In short, as a result of the shale revolution, the Earth can now provide us with about 250 years’ worth of gas supplies.

The fear of the so-called ‘peak oil’ theory, which suggests that within the foreseeable future the world will run out of fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — has just been debunked by the shale revolution. The reason is that the solid bituminous materials called kerogen that is contained in the oil shale is like the traditional petroleum, where all of its components – coal, oil and gas – are also considered fossil fuels. Only, the extreme heat and pressure it was being subjected to eons of years ago were not as great.

The consequence of being able to extract gas not only from drilling vertical holes, but also from an innovative horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which is the application of water, chemicals and sand into the hole under enormous pressure until the rock cracks, allowing gas locked up in the shale to escape and flow upwards into the well, is already making an impact on the US economy and its geopolitical front.

Oil shale can be mined using one of two methods: underground mining using the room-and-pillar method or surface mining.

 Shale oil is similar to petroleum, and can be refined into many different substances, including diesel fuel, gasoline, and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Companies can also refine shale oil to produce other commercial products, such as ammonia and sulfur. The spent rock can be used in cement.

The economic and political repercussions of such discoveries cannot be understated. The cheap energy brought about by the shale gas revolution, for example, is already boosting the U.S. economy.

New jobs are now being created and manufacturing jobs that are being presently outsourced outside the US, like those in China, can now be repatriated back to the US as production cost are most likely to rise in China, as it is starting to go up now. This will put back the US in competitive footing viz-a-viz with China.

Above all, the world will no longer be held hostage by the biggest oil producers for whimsical and political reasons.

In a world of two popes

 

Emeritus Pope Benedict and Pope Francis now both living in the Vatican compound.

It hasn’t been that way ever since I can remember, and so I consider it momentous that in my lifetime I am witnessing two living popes in the Vatican – one retired, the other reigning.

What could be the consequence of this?

It sure sounds intimidating to God, Who will now have an earful of incessant prayers from Emeritus Pope Benedict and Pope Francis for the salvation of not just the 1.2 billion Catholics, but the whole of mankind and the peaceful co-existence among nations.

Is the world going to be a better place, henceforth?

Will there be fostered a better understanding between peoples of different religions and creed?

Will the destruction of Syria and the massacre of its people stop now?

Could we expect better life and future for those in the refugee camps all over the world that have been displaced – all victims of atrocities committed by despots, war between nations, famine and natural calamities?

Will Iraq and Afghanistan discover again its past glories?

Will China be contented with being an economic and military might without flexing its muscle and claiming historic rights/sovereignty over areas, regions or seas that clearly belong to other nations already?

Could we expect North Korea to start using its resources to feed its people instead of amassing arsenal of weapons for mass destruction?

Will the Church have now less or be free of pedophile priests?

Will the Church now stop meddling in the affairs of the state and allow the people to be educated in the reproductive health or responsible parenthood program of the government?

Oh, there are so many, many more to be wished upon!

I am not praying for a perfect world.

But, with two godly popes incessantly praying, combined with the rest of well-meaning religious leaders, what I expect, at least, is divine intervention that would right most of the wrongs that some politically recalcitrant leaders are committing.