BY ATY. BATAS MAURICIO

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice…” (Psalm 95:6-7, the Holy Bible).

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IS RAFANAN WORTH CRYING FOR? Is lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan, the ousted legal chief of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), worth crying for? Apparently yes, if I am to base my answer on the tears publicly and copiously shed by lawyer Noy Macatangay while he was pleading for a more just treatment by the poll body of Rafanan, in the presence of Commissioner Lucenito Tagle last Tuesday, August 30, 2011.

Tagle, one of the senior officers of Comelec, was the guest speaker of the Capitol Christian Leadership (CCL) during its regular Tuesday breakfast fellowship at the Faith Baptist Church in Quezon City, upon the invitation of CCL Chairman Pastor Jose “Jojo” Lagunzad Gonzales. CCL is a 43-year old association of Christian churches in the Philippines.

Macatangay said the whole Christian community in the country are crying and praying for Rafanan, a Christian whose faithfulness to his faith has made him uncompromising in the discharge of his duties, first as a regional director for Metro Manila and, until his ouster this week, as chief of the Comelec legal department, and which has made him unpopular even among the poll body’s bosses.

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THE PRIMACY OF THE CHINESE: The primacy of the Chinese is what I am seeing in the on-going state visit of President Aquino to China. First, it is very clear that Aquino’s delegation, though legally called the Philippine contingent, is actually composed of big Chinese businessmen who have successfully established themselves in Manila.

Second, it is also obvious, of course, that Aquino and company are now talking to Chinese political and economic big wigs in China, enticing them to come to the Philippines and invest. If the truth be told, the Chinese are talking to their fellow  Chinese!

This would seem to be a fulfillment of what the Bible, in Deuteronomy 28:15, in relation to Deuteronomy 28:43-44, is saying: If you do not listen to God and do not obey Him, the foreigners who live among you shall rise higher and higher while you sink lower and lower, they will lend to you and you will not lend to them, they will be your leaders and you will be their followers, in your own land.

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WHY THE RUSH IN GLOBE ASIATIQUE CASES, PASIG RTC ASKS: It must have been very embarrassing for Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to be told that the syndicated estafa cases filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the owners of scandal-ridden Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. have been blocked by Pasig City Regional Trial Court Judge Rolando Mislang, a former DOJ prosecutor himself.

I mean, Mislang’s order was saying something that the DOJ should have known and followed beforehand: that it could not proceed with the prosecution of Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee and company because there is a civil case that is already pending in court, involving the allegedly anomalous loan of P12 billion given to the company.

The question is: if the DOJ was aware that it could not prosecute Delfin Lee yet at this time because of the pendency of the civil case, and Judge Mislang was aware of this inability, how come the DOJ insisted on filing the non-bailable cases against Delfin Lee and company? Why the apparent hurry? That is the clear query of the Pasig City RTC.

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Dapat bang umiyak para sa Comelec legal chief?

INSPIRASYON SA BUHAY: “… Halina at yumukod tayo sa pagsamba, lumuhod tayo sa harap ng Panginoong Lumikha; sapagkat Siya ang ating Diyos at tayo ang kanyang sambayanang inaalagan, ang mga tupang kanyang kinakalinga. Sa araw na ito, kung pakikinggan lamang sana ninyo ang Kanyang tinig… (Awit 95:6-7, Bibliya).

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DAPAT BANG PAG-UKULAN NG PAGTANGIS SI RAFANAN? Dapat bang pag-ukulan ng pagtangis si Atty. Ferdinand Rafanan, ang napatalsik na hepe ng legal department ng Commission on Elections (Comelec)? Oo, kung ibabatay ko ang aking sagot sa mga luhang bumalong sa mga mata ni Atty. Noy Macatangay, sa harap ng maraming tao at sa harap pa mandin ni Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, habang isinasamo niya ang parehas na trato kay Rafanan noong Martes, Agosto 30, 2011.

Panauhin ng Capitol Christian Leadership si Tagle, isa sa mga pangunahing opisyales ng Comelec, sa regular nitong pang-Martes na breakfast fellowship sa Faith Baptist Church sa Quezon City. Inanyayahan si Tagle ni CCL Chairman Pastor Jose “Jojo” Lagunzad Gonzales. Ang CCL ay isang 43-anyos na asosasyon ng mga Christian churches sa bansa.

Ayon kay Macatangay, tumatangis at nanalangin ang buong Kristiyanong komunidad sa Pilipinas para kay Rafanan, isang Kristiyanong dahil sa katapatan sa kanyang pananampalataya ay diretso sa kanyang mga tungkulin, noong una bilang regional director para sa Metro Manila, at bilang hepe ng Comelec legal department bago siya napatalsik ngayong linggong ito, daan upang marami siyang hindi nakakasundo.

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ANG PAMAMAYAGPAG NG CHINO: Ang pamamayagpag ng mga Chino ang aking nakikita sa nagaganap na opisyal na pagbisita ng Pangulong Aquino sa bansa. Una, maliwanag na ang delegasyon ni Aquino, bagamat tinatawag na Philippine contingent, ay tunay namang kinabibilangan ng mga malalaking negosyanteng Chino na naging matagumpay sa Manila.

Pangalawa, maliwanag din, siyempre, na sina Aquino at ang kanyang mga kasama ay nakikipag-usap ngayon sa mga Chinong lider sa pulitika at negosyo sa China, na hinihikayat nilang mag-negosyo o mamuhunan sa Pilipinas. Sa totoo lang, nakikipag-usap ang mga Chino sa kanilang kapwa Chino!

Tila patotoo ito sa sinasabi ng Bibliya, sa Deuteronomio 28:15 at 43-44: Kung di na kayo makikinig sa Diyos at hindi na susunod sa Kanyang mga utos, ang dayuhang makikipamayan sa inyo ay yayaman ng yayaman, habang naghihirap naman kayo, sila ang magpapautang sa inyo, hindi kayo ang magpapautang sa kanila, at sila ang mamumuno sa inyo habang tagasunod lamang nila kayo, sa sarili ninyong bayan.

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BAKIT MINAMADALI ANG GLOBE ASIATIQUE CASES, TANONG NG PASIG RTC: Tunay namang nakakahiya para kay Justice Secretary Leila de Lima na ang mga kasong syndicated estafa na isinampa ng Department of Justice (DOJ) laban sa mga may-ari ng Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. ay hinarang ni Pasig City Regional Trial Court Judge Rolando Mislang, isang dating DOJ prosecutor pa mandin.

I mean, Mislang’s order was saying something that the DOJ should have known and followed beforehand: that it could not proceed with the prosecution of Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee and company because there is a civil case that is already pending in court, involving the allegedly anomalous loan of P12 billion given to the company.

Kasi, ang utos ni Mislang ay nagsasabi ng isang bagay na dapat ay alam at sinunod ng DOJ noon pa man: na hindi ito pupuwedeng magpatuloy sa pag-uusig kay Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee at sa kanyang mga kasama sapagkat may nakabimbing kasong sibil sa mga hukuman, kung saan sangkot na nga ang sinasabing maanomalyang utang sa halagang P12 bilyon na nakuha ng kompanya.

Ang tanong ay ito: kung alam ng DOJ na hindi nito dapat inuusig muna si Delfin Lee sa ngayon dahil sa nakabimbing kasong sibil, at alam ito ni Judge Mislang, bakit naman ipinagpilitan pa ng DOJ na magsampa ng mga kasong wala pa manding piyansa laban kay Delfin Lee at sa kanyang mga kapanalig? Bakit tila yata may nagmamadali? Iyan ang malinaw na tanong ng RTC ng Pasig City.