abashet/

Reflections of Fr. Guido Arguelles SJ who passed away today, Sunday the 30th of October, 2011.

Celebrities

Advice to celebrities: Don’t run on your
publicity; you will only add to our problems’ complexity
They promise with their lips what they
reject in their hearts
They sign autographs when what they should do is get fingerprinted
They dream of living in Malacañang when they deserve a cell in Muntinlupa. (more
appropriate)
They aim at power with crooked arrows.
They buy themselves into power, then sell
the nation to maintain power.
Where did they get the money for reelection?
By stealing from the nation.
WORSE: They have the temerity to offer
Masses of thanksgiving after they are elected.
A religious act for such an irreligious reason. However, it is good for the collection.
They point us (speak of) to the right
direction, then take the opposite direction.
A few thousands of them caused millions
to suffer.
They lament the state of public education while they fail to educate their hearts.
“They donate to charity with money
they stole through their lack of charity.”
They reflect their own pork barrel: Pigs!
They are cannibals who chew on the flesh
of the poor.
ALLELUIA—the cry of the nation when
a corrupt dies.
Merciless in life, in death they ask for God’s mercy. I dare not venture on the finality of their judgment since I myself am in need of mercy.
POLITICAL RALLIES—an increase of hot air
in the atmosphere.

Split personality

Voting is an exercise of trial and error.
Later, we are tried by our errors.
A politician’s dream often ends
in a nightmare for the nation.
They are like drums—full of sound, empty within
They are like ferris wheels which keep
turning around
They reach the pinnacle of pride resulting
in the nation’s shame.
It is hard to swallow a politician’s words;
they are bottled in vice.
It is hard to unmask a politician; his face
is a mask.
They view the valley of opportunity standing on people’s heads. They climb the heights
on poor people’s backs.
They have split personalities:
One for public display,
another behind the scenes.
The corrupt are chained to their vice.
Unfortunately for us—the chain is too long.
Like Nero, they play the harp while
the nations burn.
If we allow the politicians to swallow
the medicine they offer for our well-being,
they will die of poisoning.
Some politicians are broadminded:
They surround themselves with
beautiful women.
They hope to help the poor;
when they are full.
Sadly, they never seem to have their fill.
Their favorite key: The key to the money vault.
Political news—one that spoils your appetite.
The nation cannot cross the bridge
of prosperity because the politicians have
dismantled it.
They varnish their words from
tarnished souls.
Between two evils, they choose both.
They bask in the limelight
while casting shadows over the nation.
They rage against hunger on bloated stomachs.
They reach and stay at the peak of power
from the depths of their depravity.
Political parties—parties where the nation foots the bill.
Politicians are unusual surgeons:
They can cut up an entire nation.

Drunk

Drunk with power, they reel through life.
The high cost of living
can only come down through their dying.
When politicians die, people will not mourn for them; they will mourn because of the havoc they left behind.
They are the cause of our mourning.
POLITICAL RALLIES—the wake before the nation
is buried
The highways of their lives are mostly detours
into the byways of corruption and dishonesty.
They believe life is worth living
while the nation is left grieving.
Their vision is clouded
by the fog of greed.
They talk, talk, talk
while the poor walk on a tight rope
without a net to catch their fall.
What they live for
is what the nation dies from.
Their lifestyle becomes
the less stylish death of the poor.
While the poor elect them,
they while away their time in the company of the rich.
The nearest the poor can get to them is a photo ad.
They careen through the highways of life
to avoid the byways of truth.
Like Pilate, they ask, “What is truth?”
They consider the wrong they attain
as the right thing to maintain.
Cheating tastes as honey,
honesty as vinegar.
They fear to be robbed
of what they have stolen.
They expect to be eulogized in death
after they have demonized us in life.
“Here lies the shell; the nut has gone away.”
They pass laws, yet live lawless lives.
When they say “rule of law” they exempt themselves.
It is readily applied to their enemies.
They fertilize their pockets
with fertilizer stolen from farmers;
their bloated bank accounts are fertilized by stolen money.

Nowhere to run

Our democratic system
has become unaffordable
because politicians find it comfortable.
The lifestyle of the rich
makes a bright future beyond
a poor man’s reach.
Our future will consist
of a return to a bitter past.
Thus, our political situation.
Our country is not run by politicians;
they overrun it.
Poor RP, when politicians run
we have nowhere to run.
Poor OFWs: They will have to return someday
and face the cruel reality they try
to run away from.

Promises

Money that passes under the table
often ends up in Congress or Malacañang.
Politicians are like the quarterback
in American football:
They keep passing the blame around.
They fumble the ball if it is not
leathered in cash. The guy who catches the ball
in football is called the receiver.
The nation is choked by politicians’ promises;
may they choke on their words!
An honest politician cannot be bought
because he is not for sale.
A dishonest politician often sells himself
to the highest bidder.
The outcome of the bidding
is the death of the nation.
Favorite bank of politicians: The Central Bank

POLITICIANS’ NIGHTMARE—Running out
of money a week before a close election.
Politicians’ hands are freezing;
they are filled with cold cash.
Money is the curse of politicians
who do not have it.
Once they have the money,
they become immune to its curse.
As charity covers a multitude of sins,
so money covers up their duplicity.
They take our money
to deliver us from its curse.
Outstanding book on politics:
HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITHOUT
EARNING IT.
MONEY TALKS—the higher the position
in office, the more you talk.
If not, just choke.
Politicians buy themselves to power
by selling the nation.
In Theology, I could not fathom the meaning
of original sin until I attended a session
in Congress.
Favorite TV program of politicians:
“The Price is Right.”
Then they stretch out their hands.

Dynasties

Politicians should not be elected;
they should just be rented.
If the rent gets too high,
we can move elsewhere.
As it is, we become the overstaying victim.

Miracle farmers—they harvest what
they never planted.
Their warehouses are small: bank vaults.
They fly around the world on taxpayers’ wings.
No wonder, the nation crawls on the ground.
Their greatest pleasure is to amass a treasure.
Their favorite island: Treasure Island.
He starts with one or no car;
he ends with ten. He must be
a stockholder in Toyota and BMW.
Political dynasties are our assurance
that we will get more of the same and shame.
Remember: All the great empires
of the past are now all dust.
How puny these dynasties.
The fire of political speeches
often sear in the heart of the nation.
When politicians make a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land, the Land becomes tarnished.
Some politicians commute to work.
Later, they are driven in a limousine.
And the poor cry: ‘‘Limos nga po!”
Some political speeches are delivered
in a wake with the nation in the coffin.
One time, they exhumed the coffin of a politician
and found the city’s payroll inside.
It came from an inside job.
He imagined Peter is susceptible to bribe.
Good politician: Enters office poor,
comes out poor.
Exceptional—enters poor, comes out poorer.
Crooked: He enters empty and comes out full.
The problem with good politicians is that they are rarely in the headlines.
Dishonest politicians look at the honest
as bad news.