We are thankful that the much-ballyhooed anti-Charter change (Cha-cha) rally, said to have been spearheaded and encouraged by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, did not result in violent street actions. No less than the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, together with responsible Church leaders, had appealed for peaceful
protest marches and demonstrations. Of course, the appeals are always our best hope, considering that there are always hotheads and agents provocateur in such rallies who are not content with simply mouthing slogans but often resort to more rash activities to drive home their point.

I always find it strange that many of the usual protesters have no clear idea why they are marching or why they are protesting, except that they have been reportedly paid or brainwashed by false prophets from the ranks of the opposition. The sad part is that from a peaceful march usually come violent actions which often result in  forced dispersals, usually to the delight of the media. In many past instances, opposition leaders who instigate these demonstrations are simply after publicity, but because no one can predict the unpredictable, these leaders place demonstrators in harm’s way. When things go wrong, these agitators are the first to cry violations of human rights the loudest, and by their overt acts of instigating people to violence and vandalism, they are actually the ones who want to burn the house down.

As tempting as ice cream to a dieter, many “presidentiables” took advantage of the situation and fielded their gofers bearing leaflets, flyers and campaign materials, which got the goat of some of the rally organizers, who pointedly shooed away these early campaigners, warning them to take politics out of the anti-Cha-cha rally. In all, the rally was peaceful and orderly, a gathering of politically mature citizens out to express their opinions and their thoughts in a democratic manner. This is democracy in action. This is what we have been fighting for in our lifetime.

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Our people are now so engrossed with politics that I believe we, especially our leaders, should pay a little more attention to the developing crisis in the Korean Peninsula, where North Korea has been saber-rattling for the past several months. The North’s recent launch of ballistic missiles and the reported detonation of a nuclear bomb should be an event of the gravest concern for the whole world, and especially for Asia. We must remember that Seoul is less than four hours from Manila, and as weapons of war become more and more sophisticated, any conflagration in the Korean Peninsula will surely engulf Japan, China and Southeast Asian countries. Faced with this dilemma, it is of utmost importance that we should not be complacent in our attitude toward the events in North Korea. As far as I am concerned, the dogs of war are there, except that they have not been unleashed. We must all pray that they will never be unleashed, and that peace will continue to reign during our lifetime.

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As of this writing, the Department of Health  has admitted that more than a hundred swine-flu cases in the Philippines have already been recorded. In fact, there could be more. But assuming the statistics are accurate, this does not mean that we can be comfortable with it because the figures show that swine flu has continued to grow in intensity and reach in the past few weeks. It appears that we may not be so lucky this time around compared with all reported epidemics in the past. We went through the bird-flu attack, Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome, foot-and-mouth disease, and other similar scares, but were spared. But this time, we have been contaminated, meaning that no matter how good the precautions we have imposed, this kind of virus is difficult to contain, although beyond the continuing threat, we can confidently claim that because of the dedicated efforts of government health workers, the country remains relatively safe.

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A monument to the “courage, hospitality and determination of the Philippine government,” in what is known as President Manuel L. Quezon’s “open door” policy to allow thousands of Jews who escaped the Holocaust during World War II to seek refuge in our country, will be inaugurated on June 21 in Rishon Lezion, the fourth-largest city in Israel. This project was made possible through the efforts of our former Ambassador to Tel Aviv Antonio C. Modena. The trek to Manila by European Jews was documented by Frank Ephraim in his book Escape to Manila. Indeed, it brings to light once more the Filipino’s innate compassion and generosity toward his fellowman, respecting the value of human life, especially those who are distressed and persecuted, and I believe that Filipinos who participated in this wartime saga were mindless of the risk to their lives for the sake of other human beings. This is the Filipino spirit that even the well-equipped foreign invader could not conquer with cannons and guns, because while they were intent on killing and conquest, Filipinos were intent on nurturing life and helping others survive.