'Tis the Season to be Thankful!

As I write this piece, family and friends across the pond are celebrating Thanksgiving Day, an annual national holiday to give thanks for the harvest and for the preceding year.  The Albanos in Staten Island, New York have been holding a football game during this celebration since 2007. 

Apart from the harvest and the blessings of the previous year, the gifts of life and love are to be remembered, celebrated, and be grateful for.  Just a day after this year's Thanksgiving, 2 members of our clan are celebrating their birthday.

First on the list is my uncle and godfather, Dr Paulino "Sonny" V Albano Jr.  Ninong Sonny (picture here on the left with his youngest son Manong Paul and grandson Christopher Paul) is the eldest in his brood.  A successful cardiologist in New York, there is no dull moment with him.  I remember the happy times we've spent during our vacations in Ilocos Norte.  Christmas 1998 was really memorable.  After having breakfast, we were supposed to go straight to Bacarra where then Mayor Pacing Velasco was expecting us. He suddenly decided to change the itinerary as he wanted to see relative who was not in speaking terms with our family.  I felt rather nervous at the prospect of going to their place, but was surprised that we were graciously welcomed for lunch.  After exchanging some pleasantries, Ninong Sonny (who was sat between me and this relative) went straight to the point: he wanted to mend the fence.  I felt relieved - not because of the food (Yes, there were lots of them!), but because of the peace that came forth from that event.

With Lolo Paul and Lola Piling now gone, Ninong Sonny has assumed the patriarchate of the clan.  As he once told me, he is the takbuhan (center) of his siblings as well as his nephews and nieces. Personally, there have been instances in the past when he became our kasangga (protector), standing up for our defence.  

It was nice to see him again during my visit to the States last year.  He expressed satisfaction with how Nidz and I are doing.  Before we bid adieu, he told me how the clan has kept itself together, the way his parents have wanted it.

Many happy returns on your 74th birthday, Ninong Sonny!  Thank you for all your kindness.  Keep up the good work of nurturing our clan.  May the good Lord bless you!  We love you!

Next on the list is my cousin, Alexis Albano (pictured here on the left with her sisters Pinky and Ate  Ritzie and cousins Ate Dia and Ate Mia). Ate Leli, as I would call her, is the second daughter of Tito Alex and Tita Peachie Albano.  When we were kids way back in the early 80s, they were our next door neighbors.  We often played and sometimes fight (Kids that we were then!).  Later they moved back to the States, however we kept in touch with them every now and then. I heard that she studied at the West Point in the mid 90s.  Knowing how prestigious this institution is, I felt proud of my cousin!  The last time I saw her was in 1999. It's a shame that we didn't see each other last year.  

Ate Leli got married this 24th (same day as her Dad's birthday).  I'm sure this event gives more reason for celebration on her natal day.

Wishing you all the best on your birthday, Ate Leli!  Congratulations to you and Jessica as you begin a new life together.  God bless you both! See you soon! 

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Kudos to Representative Manny Pacquiao for winning the match against Brandon Rios!  There have been many moments when the Philippines is at its low and then you'll hear news of a Pinoy boxer winning!  What a saving moment indeed for Pinoys! This is something to be thankful for!

But what if you hear things such as those politicizing the relief operations for Typhoon Yolanda victims?  Remember those bags with the seal of the Vice President of the Philippines on it?  The VP's excuse: it was his friends' doing. Tell it to the Marines!

Or how about the allegation that the Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD) has left relief goods to rot?

Or how about these men, disguised as airport staff at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), who would help tourists and balikbayans move their baggage only to extort money on their hapless victims? I heard that they are protected by airport police.

To these and other people of the same ilk, you deserve our kutos (a knuckle blow on the head)!

***

The Virgin Mary, under the title of Immaculate Conception, is the Patroness of the Philippines. In preparation for her feast day on Monday December 9 (the actual feast is December 8, but because it fell on a Sunday, it's moved on the following day), I would like to invite all Catholic Pinoys to recite at least a decade of the Rosary from Saturday November 30 up to Sunday December 8.  Let's ask her help that our country would rise again from the many challenges it has faced or is currently facing this year.

Stupid Proposal

Dear President Aquino,

I vehemently oppose Vice President Binay’s recommendation to accord the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos military honours. Although he proposed that Marcos be buried in Ilocos Norte, his suggestion is flawed because Marcos does not deserve even to be accorded military honours.

The medals that Marcos used to flaunt with have been found a bogus. His despotic rule has demoralized the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines – it only got back to its senses when it abandoned him in February 1986. How could one be honoured when that individual brought shame to that institution? Have we become like the Jews of old who preferred the murderer Barabbas over the innocent Jesus? Do we reward a mediocre student over a hard working one? Do we favour someone who may have started with a sterling performance, but in the end failed miserably? Even in showbiz, these people are thrown into oblivion!

Where is our sense of propriety and justice here? Obviously, Binay’s proposal, which reeks more of political expediency than moral soundness, is incompatible with the ‘daang matuwid’ that has been your battle cry since assuming the presidency.

Nowhere in the world would we be seeing a country honouring a president responsible for its downfall. Needless to say the likes of Hitler and Mussolini where never given military honours let alone interred in graveyard for heroes. Nowhere, except in our country!

When your mother was president, she was fully aware of this issue and did the right thing by denying state burial and military honours for her predecessor. She acted not because she was biased, but because she was the leader of a nation in need of justice. I hope you would also follow the same mind-set, not because Mrs Aquino was your mother, but because it is the only sensible thing to do.

If you intend justice and peace to truly reign in our land, if you endeavour to lead us all in that straight path, if you aim to regain this country’s dignity which has been stolen by the evil designs of Marcos and his minions, if you rise up from being a politician into a statesman, if you assert your role as Father of this nation, I strongly make this appeal to you: No to military honors for Marcos! No to a Marcos burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani!

Yours sincerely,

Pietro S Albano

Yes, Daddy!

At this point, Chiara is learning how to say those words and, hopefully veer away from saying “No”. I could now understand why kids could easily pick up this word. More often than not, we parents give them instructions in the negative form – “No, it’s hot outside!”; “Don’t do that!” etc.

Hearing my daughter say “Yes, Daddy!” makes me feel that she is going to do what I told her and that she fully trusts me. Obedience and confidence are two things we expect from our children, right?

Speaking about these two fine qualities, I’m suddenly reminded of how one son obeyed and trusted his father in spite of the many hardships he has to face in order to fulfil his father’s wishes. In the desert without food or drink for 40 days and nights, he became too weak making him an easy target for the devil. What did he do? He confronted the devil head-on, upholding the importance of God.

His ministry seemed full of happiness – the sick were healed, the loaves multiplied, the dead came back to life. Yet towards the end of that three-year ministry, he was betrayed by a close friend. While praying in the garden, he would have imagined what kind of suffering he would be enduring. He was in anguish; an opportunity which the devil didn’t want to miss. And yet, what did he tell his Dad? “Your will be done!”

Having been arrested by the Jews and then sentenced to death by a kangaroo court, he was led to Calvary. Nailed to the cross, exposed to the scorching heat, hungry, writhing in pain his detractors asked him to come down from the cross. I bet the devil too was there, waiting eagerly for this man to be swayed by the crowd. To his enemies’ dismay, before he breathed his last, he said to his father “Into your hands, I commend my spirit”.

Unfortunately, not all would want to travel the path that Jesus took. Take for example Pontius Pilate who found Jesus not guilty of any crime, but feared the mob if he would side with him. Instead, he delegated that power to that hakot crowd.

Until now we could still see people who, although in power, could not make a decision on vital issues. The proposal to bury the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani should have been shot down by President Aquino from the day it reared its ugly head. Instead, he asked Vice President Binay to study the matter. Now Binay (dubbed as Pontius Binay in an editorial of Philippine Daily Inquirer) has asked the public to send his office their views on Marcos burial through e-mail or text messages. I actually sent him an e-mail message expressing my negative vote. I would encourage you to do the same. Send him a e-mail message in: blog@ovp.gov.ph or text through 0926-7468212 (for Globe subscribers) and 0949-6295575 (for Smart subscribers).

It’s very obvious that Marcos ruled the country with untold injustice and corruption. That his regime was evil and burying his remains at the Libingan would be tantamount to say that EDSA Uno is a farce and the likes of Ninoy and Cory Aquino (the President’s parents), Jovito Salonga, Rene Saguisag, Jejomar Binay (the Vice President himself who used to be a human rights lawyer) and the many Martial Law victims are fools (Saguisag, in an interview, was saying that if Marcos is buried there, his grandchildren would brand him a fool for fighting a hero.).

The President admitted he was partial to the issue. The Vice President confessed that if his personal answer were to be sought, there is no more need for any discussion on the matter. Being partial to an issue shouldn’t bar us from making a decision. At the end of the day, we have to make an option. If leaders can’t do it then there is no reason for them to stay in authority. If my heroine Cory Aquino were still alive, she would lead in protesting our leaders’ indecision.

This vacillation is not found in Jesus whose conviction was made clear to his followers. He may at times speak in veiled languages, but people around him know where he was coming from, that he would call a spade a spade even if it would cost him his life.

This is the challenge for us Christians especially as we enter the Holy Week. From being disobedient and doubtful, let us put on Christ’s obedience and trust. For the many times we said “No” to God, let Christ’s “Yes” to his Father be ours from now on!