Filipino

Who is a Filipino?
But the heart that lives
to love the Filipino
and the Republic
of the Filipino people.

How is the Filipino?
But through faith that seeks
to find itself alive
in the eternal remembrance
of God and our people.

Where is the Filipino?
But in the will that accepts
the trust that embrace
our lives and our fortunes
together as one nation.

Why is the Filipino?
But with every dream that begins
ever like a single breath
to become our breathing together
of the many into one hope.

When is the Filipino?
But at every present rising
from the deep of eternity
in the every moment that breaks
upon the awakening reality
of the dawn of a new Philippines.
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On Preserving the National Good Will

We should, as citizens of our inhabited earth, as thoroughly as it is humanly possible, hold to an eternal sense of remembrance, each individual good that is done to us by the people of other nations and accord this and every good to that particular nation itself as a whole.
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For goodness is an absolute truth and is compatible in application to our nations - each of which also have natures that are also as absolute as the absolute good - for each our nation is a timeless vessel of life and life in and of itself is an absolute form of good.

And while we must also seek justice for the evils inflicted to our citizenry by the criminal will of individuals or individual groups, or by the belligerent will of rouge states, we must dutifully avoid attributing any of those same evils entirely to any nation in particular.

For any evil being a particular deviation from greater and pre-existent forms of the good can never be attributed to the absolute reality of our nations but may only be applied to the particular reality of those who willfully perpetrate harm upon the sacred life of common creation.

In doing so, we shall help preserve our own sense of national good will, as one nation distinct from among the one family of the nations of Mankind.

For the good will that must be commonly exercised by our nations are significant realities. These realities are evidence of the fundamental relations that also exist between our nations. And these fundamental relations between our nations are established both by those common human needs that build into common national interests and also by the Noahide Covenant.

Therefore, my dear friends, knowing now that the exercise of good will is an act that is proper to our nations, we may now build upon this truth.

And seek to preserve and advance our national good will that we may always be enabled to reach out with trust and understanding to other nations as a step forward towards greater and greater realizations of the necessary labor of building up of those fundamental relations between our nations into those kindred bonds that unify our nations into the one family of the nations of Mankind.
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Prosper the Peace. Prosper the People.

Sancta Sanctis!

Glory to God in the highest
Adoration to Jesus Christ
Peace to men of good will.

Citizenship with Fidelity

I believe in our people - We, the Philippines, every ethnic tribe that make us into one common community; one lineage of hope, 7,107 islands strong.

And I recognize in myself and in each of my compatriots, the strength and the spirit that bind us together as one Filipino nation.
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I shall be obedient to my parents and faithful to my God that I may learn to love virtue and the good of others.

For I shall strive to be useful to my nation and shall work hard to bring honor and joy to my family, to my school, to my teachers and to my community.
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I shall always remember the experiences of our history that forged for our people, one common destiny.

And I shall walk forever in this remembrance, deriving from the sacred memory of our heroes, one common identity.
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I shall keep true to my common identity, it is the reality upon which is established the sacred trust that binds the lives, the labors and the fortunes of all Filipinos together into one lineage of hope; one common citizenry.

And I will honor this sacred trust and work to fulfill this hope in myself as a citizen of our Republic endeavor, drawing from the same unyielding strength that have empowered the labors of every Filipino of every generation.
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I will cherish and understand our Republic endeavor - it is the foundation of our democratic processes in the political, social and juridical institutions and representative traditions that maintain the good order of our public peace that shelter and preserve the life of our civil society.

And I shall maintain a constant vigilance over our democracy, participating in the labors that enrich and advance the peace of our Republic, seeking every means available, to pursue the the common good of our people and realize the eternal vision of our nation established in our Constitution.
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I shall be brave in the defense of our Republic peace and to preserve with my honor and my life, the truth of our Constitution and the life of our generations.

And I shall embrace forever all of these duties that I owe to that undying dream of freedom for myself and for all Filipinos being willing to freely and humanly carry them out, with much faith in God and steadfast trust in Country, kindled forever like a flame in my heart and in the hearts of all my Filipino compatriots -

from always to always.
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Prosper the Peace. Prosper the People.

Sancta Sanctis!

Glory to God in the highest
Adoration to Jesus Christ
Peace to men of good will.

To the People of Mindanao of the one Republic of the Philippines

Peace, I salute you -

Let me confirm in all of you,
my dear people of Mindanao,
what I know is already instilled
within each of your heart of hearts -

We are a nation, my dear people,
by pain of battle born and bred
but we shall never attain to victory
if we allow war to rule our way.

Believe with conviction of faith
that there is no hope in war.

For in war is division
and the end of community.

In war is the seeds of discord
and the end of all understanding.

In war is the darkness of deception
and the shadow that keep us in confusion.

In war is the despair of dissolution
and the destruction of our every hope.

So let the stirring in our hearts
awaken us unto sacred remembrance
at every present and from every past
unto those freedoms cherished
unto that prosperity dreamed about
under the waving of that banner
that Old Defiant -
of this, our one Republic,
our home away from Home.

So raise that Old Defiant -
rally to the calling of peace!

We shall never suffer loss
without our longing for Justice
but Justice which leads into hope
and an understanding of peace.

Let that longing within each of us
recall our hearts to the promise of peace
my dear people of Mindanao,
let that longing that for centuries
beckoned to the will of our people
enable us to know once again,
O my one Filipino nation,
O beloved people of Mindanao
of our one Republic of the Philippines
and let us know once again
what it means to labor
from hope to hope
and to build
from strength to strength
and let us do this together -
here and now,
O my one Filipino nation,
at this present time,
and in every present time
for all of time.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas,
long may our remembrance serve us!
---<--@

Prosper the Peace. Prosper the People.

Sancta Sanctis!

Glory to God in the highest
Adoration to Jesus Christ
Peace to men of good will.

On Colonial Mentality

Colonial mentality where it is really present is a weakening of that self-cognizant sense of national self-identity as a spirit derived from each our particular nations as itself.

It has direct recourse not upon our dwelling on past things but on the ever present and abiding truth of each of our own particular belongings to each other as nations distinct from all the other nations of the one family of the nations of Mankind.
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Hatred of the past where the past itself can neither receive our hate nor hold itself together is not the way in sacred remembrance ensures the present - there is no looking back into any past - nor is there distance trailing in any form or measure behind time itself - eternal must be our sense of remembrances - never temporal - love of our heroes does not entail hatred of what evil has already passed from their love which is ever present in ourselves -

But colonial mentality when it becomes an excuse to dwell upon the non-existent past over and above the sufferings of the present time - in any nation and in any place and time - is an insufferable indulgence that is universally offensive to the natural reason of common citizens.

To be sure, I have already completely worked out in myself my own personal troubles with colonial mentality - how can one not who have come to a conviction and faith in the will of Divine Providence? Spain to me is not a hated past but a living present and a kindred nation. And I would that Spanish be returned in our curriculum as our third language - for good things are real and can be held on to but to hold on to evil things will more likely result in the evil in all evil things holding on to us - for I recognize the good and act upon the good in order to overcome, by grace of God, what evil I see in myself as well as in my community. Nor have I diluted myself to the remembrance of our heroes - it is not for hate that I remember them but for virtues great and magnificent - for if our remembrance resorts to hate, where shall it lead us and how shall it affect our heart of hearts? Shall it make our hearts brighter or less than what other hearts expect from us?

Colonial mentality, if we rectify our own sense of eternal remembrances - really has no roots - it is the dwelling upon of the dwelling upon of a past-past - that must be broken by a return to our belongings to each other as nations - to be here in the now, here and now. Recall to mind our sense of Just Equality and know that this also applies to nations -

All men, women and children are common peers and beheld by one common Creator, upon Whose justice we derive our equality of a divine dignity and potential for good, by which at the rising of every moment, we are to each other - ABSOLUTELY EQUAL in every way - as human beings and as human nations.

Equal in dignity and potential for good - at any moment - if we shall observe it in ourselves, this is an absolute form of equality - always true to our truth and always present to our presence.

We are only by our virtues made distinct - not in order to lord it over each other - in the words of my Lord Jesus Christ - but to serve others and be enabled to serve others more, loving each other as keeper and friend.

Our belongings to each other is more real than any past, more imminent than any moment rising - it is always here, if we should ever wish to recollect ourselves it is to Ourselves we must return.

How we reach our futures depend entirely on how we live out our present and not on how we dwell upon our past, evil and terrible though it may have been, it shall never do any of us any good to judge our LORD's creation by any of those evils that absolutely does not belong here.

Forgetfulness of the past is an ignorance of the present - For what is to forget in the past? What in our present make us ignorant of the cumulative wake of our history? Is this not evil? And an evil neither intended nor purposed by any of us here and now - so it must lead us back into truth - for evil serve no other purpose.

Because to forget the past is to die to our common memory and to ignore the present is to withdraw from our common destiny.

Now, "Mabuhay" - means long life - and this life, must be more than just each our individual lives - for this salutation is a salutation not of individuals but of a nation - and so I have thought, this life is the life of our sacred remembrance - it means - "long may our remembrances serve us" - to keep us always alive to the memory of our nation and to the life of our people.

So when I say or hear "Mabuhay", I know now to be aware enough for this national salutation to always wax meaningful to my heart - and to keep me there, here where We, the People, forever belong.

So please ponder on this in your own hearts as well, my dear compatriots -

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Let us continue to work to complete our remembrances.
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Prosper the Peace. Prosper the People.

Sancta Sanctis!

Glory to God in the highest
Adoration to Jesus Christ
Peace to men of good will.

The Surrender of Kings

My dear friends, let us ponder on the sword, Excalibur, as a similitude of power:
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That power, above all the power to rule the people - that divine right to govern thy peers which is a sovereign right that by Justice belongs to God alone - once gripped by selfish hands ultimately makes the wielder impotent in the sight of Men, angels and of God.

But that same power wielded by a heart that is free and willing to make the surrender of kings become completely capable of fulfilling its inherent promise of good for the people and on behalf of the nations of needful Mankind, ultimately unleashes in that person, by the grace of our God, the great nobility of a true sovereign of Mankind.

Because it is that free and willing surrender to service brought upon by a sacred spirit of true and loving sacrifice that is the hallmark of the greatest of our kings and rulers of old, elect from eternity.

Like Arthur of legend, these great and noble leaders of Men, in spite of each their own human brokenness and imperfections, have won the acclaim of history, as souls worthy of the remembrance of our nations.

This enduring sense of nobility is the victory to which they have each been called by God to share; a heritage from which the spirit of our humanity at all times and at all places may always draw strength.

Their royal legend is a gift of God, true for all time, and its promise is one that lends its strength to our present good, a promise born of a surrender embraced from among themselves each in their own time and each in their own way on behalf of all the generations of needful Mankind.

And as their lines of spiritual ascent converge unto every present time - let us be mindful, my honorable Filipino compatriots, that it is always the native hope of kings, though these regental lines of executive descent have for us long faded away, to remind our orphaned people of what is and what can be great in ourselves as human beings - and by this sense of sacred remembrance therefore, be as a Republic everywhere guided out of the waning of the past and into the promise of every present hope.

My friends, how power is wielded defines the way in which a ruler is forever remembered by our nations. And we may understand this from every telling of that story of Excalibur of old and of Arthur king who though imperfect is everywhere well received by the human heart.

Let us be mindful that every nation in its own time and in its own place under the sun has been established by our one, peerless Creator to last forever - to march, shoulder to shoulder, across the vast reaches of exile time, emerging, and then maturing into those mature nations, shepherding other nations in the free course of our native human hopes and be perfected in, of and by God through Country, into eternity as ascended nations forever.

Mabuhay! Long may our remembrance serve us!

Long may our remembrance serve our own sake as one nation, my fellow Filipinos, each one of you who share in the conviction that we are truly a nation distinct from all the other nations of the one family of the nations of Mankind; that we are, in spite of our imperfections, a noble undertaking of Country that indeed, does and can dare to be great.
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Peace. Prosper the People.

Sancta Sanctis!

Glory to God in the highest
Adoration to Jesus Christ
Peace to men of good will.

To the one Majority: A Country that Dares to be Great -

NO NATION in this world is meant to be mediocre. For a mediocre nation is a nation without a vision; born to a people left without their dreaming.
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Dark may our recent history been for the last two thousand years as the ebb and flow tides of war and peace gave us witness to the rise of the most cruel tyrannies and the most abominable acts of inhumanity that caused the demise of entire civilizations not entirely evil in themselves not because our humanity as a whole is evil but because war itself as a whole is an evil beast.

The spirit of war and the gravity of its descent has defined for our inhabited earth, the landscape of our sacred remembrances and from the ashes of those many fallen of our nations, kindred to our shared humanity, and the memory of those nations themselves who have become lost to us, the nations of every present time have like the Phoenix arisen, one by one, born and bred in the pains of battle, crying out to the one Sovereign of all nations for a freedom that is necessary, each one dreaming that persistent dream within our native humanity; of a happiness that is lasting, even one that is everlasting; a vision of happiness gathered from a freedom that binds unto peace and unto the prosperity of peace; a freedom born from those choices distinct from that freedom which binds unto war and unto the oppression of war.

For it is not the ambition of Mankind to be happy. This happiness is the ambition of God and the divine mandate of all of heaven. For that happiness which is the ancient pursuit of Mankind is never a happiness which is within our reach in this present world.

Happiness being one of the highest motives that our humanity possess, must be a happiness defined by the greatest of all human ambition which is freedom and freedom being the noblest of all human causes is not false which leads the seeking in our humanity to the realization of freedom itself along the way of truth that is sought and the remembrance of true things.

This freedom IS the central cause of our nations and this cause is never a mediocre cause.

For upon this cause of freedom, we find at every present time, our nations and their responsible states, singularly engaged in each their vital undertaking of Country, striving with blood, sweat and tears to build up the earth, as commanded by our LORD and enrich our common markets by defining through the experience of common community, the bonds of sacred trust that makes each of us belong to each other as nations distinct from each other within and amongst the one family of the nations of Mankind.

And as these nations, each with our own responsible limits and boundaries, lineages of Country, and particular vision and path toward common destiny, we have been established since the cause of our freedom was from the gates of our faded Eden established by the changeless will of Almighty God, our one common Creator.

Therefore, it is truth indeed that each of our nations, inaugurated as one covenant whole through the holy Patriarch Noah, have but one eternal ambition: To make all men, women and children of needful Mankind free.

This is our necessary freedom. It defines the path of each our nations as a covenant family of Mankind joined together as a community of wholes upon wholes, each as their own particular undertaking of Country moving in time in the now, from present to present hope, and fighting from outcome to outcome, across the lines and the lineages of our generations towards the awakening of that dream of happiness that makes the heart of our humanity truly free.

And as citizens so that we may understand to love more brightly our Republic endeavor, we must know that it is love and the things that belong to love (kindness, compassion and virtue) that is the cause by which we, as individual human beings, are made free.

For in embracing what is in love sought, we are come to a remembrance of the truth of ourselves as human beings and so learn to give and to share in God's giving that our hearts may come to an individual understanding that it is in the giving that we truly become free.

For all our nations, and for two thousand years, we have in the shadow of those preceding ages seen in our collective history the stark contrast between darkness and light, war and peace and like the sharp relief between stars and the night sky, if we realize in ourselves the importance of placing ourselves in the landscape of each our own sacred remembrances of Country knowing now that what we choose this day, and every day, as individual citizens, no matter how little it may all seem to us, matters much to help make the dreaming in our nations great - if not for the first time, yet again and even more so this time around.

For no nation in this world is meant to be mediocre and we are a nation entrusted with a vision; born to a people who dares in our dreaming greatly, to defy the beast of war.

Now, please refer to this entry: The Electorate and the Force of Free Choice.
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Prosper the Peace. Prosper the People.

Sancta Sanctis!

Glory to God in the highest
Adoration to Jesus Christ
Peace to men of good will.