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THE champion, Manny Pacquiao, has won an exemption
from the Comelec gun ban and was allowed to have 20 guns for his
bodyguards.
Pac-Man and other distinguished
Filipinos can look forward to arming themselves during the campaign
season. They join the politicians who either have hired private
bodyguards or are provided police protection by the government.
They’re not alone in claiming
privilege. In India, the government extends protection to private
citizens and officials. About 16,500 police and paramilitary troops
provide security.
According to an article by Peter
Wonacott in The Asian Wall Street Journal, the privilege is extended
to athletes, movie stars, retired judges, billionaires and other
celebrities.
Hiring your private bodyguards is
easy. But getting security courtesy of the government gives one
status. Four levels exist for the beneficiaries.
If you are rated X, you get two
constables. Ys receive 11. Zs get 22. “The highest rating, Z+,
comes with 36 guards bristling with weapons and a fleet of escort
vehicles,” Mr. Wonacott writes.
Don’t envy the Pinoy VIP with
security if you see one. He’s lucky to be a Y.
Sweating in
January
OUR mornings and evenings have
not been as chilly and breezy as in previous years. Blame it on
climate change.
Winter makes December to February
the coldest months of the year. This is the time when we bring out
our colorful jackets, sweaters and overcoats. We bundle up in
blankets and bathe in warm water. Getting up in the morning is the
hardest thing to do.
The world was warmer in 2006 than
in earlier years. Scientists say the culprit is global warming.
Climate change is caused by many things, but the Pagasa weather
bureau is not one of them.
Scientists say that if we stop
polluting the air, we could make the Doomsday Clock stop at 7
minutes to midnight. That means we could buy another 7,000 years
before the earth self-destructs.
Think about that when you burn
trash in your yard.
‘Monsi’ or
‘Prosti’
FILIPINOS have a way of
abbreviating official titles or of calling their superiors by a more
endearing name.
They are likely to call a bureau
director “direk” and an undersecretary as “usec.”
“Admin,” of course, is the administrator and you may refer to
your favorite suspended governor as “gov.”
Monsignor Crisanto de la Cruz has
been suspended by the Archdiocese of Zamboanga for resigning from
the priesthood and organizing his own political party. But what
puzzles de la Cruz is why the diocese wants him to stop using the
honorary title “monsignor” or “monsi.”
His spokesman, Carl Rubio,
agrees. “What is to stop people from calling him ‘monsi’?”
Rubio asks. “If you are a colonel in the military, people still
call you colonel even after retirement.”
Right.
Which reminds us of a scene in
the musical, Evita, where the first lady Evita Peron, while visiting
a neighborhood with a senior aide, is aghast when some locals start
calling her prostitute.
Did you hear that? She asks her
aide. Those people are calling me a prostitute!
I can quite understand, the old
man replies. I retired from the navy 20 years ago but people still
call me admiral.
Bible Week
THE observance of Bible Week,
which ends today, reminds us how people approach and make use of the
Holy Book.
Most read the Bible daily as part
of their faith, which says that reading the Scriptures—like
prayers, fasting or hearing Mass—is a Christian duty.
Others read the book as
literature, for graphic and dramatic stories of love, sacrifice,
vengeance, punishment or moral triumph.
The Parables are a great source
of wisdom. The Proverbs are fit for framing. The story of Job is a
thoughtful meditation on punishment and salvation. In-laws
relationship is celebrated in The Book of Ruth. The Song of Solomon
has provoked clashing interpretations: is it about sex or spiritual
love?
And the wealth of timeless
phrases and passages! How they flavor prose and conversation. The
struggling writer makes great use of them. We quote them to impress
listeners. Authors use them for titles of their books. Where but in
the Bible would you come across the following gems:
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself.
God save the king.
A man after his own heart.
I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, the first and the last.
The love of money is the root of
all evil.
The day of the Lord so cometh as
a thief in the night.
A thorn in the flesh.
O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory?
For now, we see through a glass,
darkly.
The truth shall make you free.
Keep me as the apple of the eye.
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