Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Iglesia Ni Cristo,s King Maker Role

Behind the Iglesia Ni Cristo's King Maker Role: A Chain of Crimes and Mythical Numbers

Phillip Garcia

Manila, Philippines – Unlike Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s long, heated rivalry in the 2008 US presidential campaign, there are politicians in other countries who choose to take the short cut to political power by wooing the kingmaker. Instead of patiently reaching out to the electorate, these politicians seek the person or group of people who has the capacity to influence the conclusion of a political run, a method that assures the former’s promise of the future in exchange for the latter’s favor.

On a different perspective, however, a kingmaker isn’t a kingmaker for nothing. Take for example Kakuei Tanaka, the most prominent political kingmaker in Japan. He served as Japan’s Prime Minister during 1972-74. But even after his term, he remained dominant and influential. Even though he got involved in political scandals, he was able to choke the Prime Minister at will without holding a position in the cabinet.

Monetary, arms, and politics are common players in a kingmaker scenario. More often than not, these factors entail negative effects to the government. In the Philippines, however, there is another player: religion. And the effect of this kingmaker, as far as records are concerned, is unexpectedly catastrophic. It is a chain of crimes and power - behind mythical numbers yet.

Detailed here by prominent newspapers, the Supreme Court and a television station are random reports of the criminal and related activities of one such religious group, the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) or Church of Christ, considered to be the kingmaker in the Philippine political arena. It spans contemporary times but leads back to 1954 where the founder, Felix Manalo, is featured as a rapist. Finally, it ends with Eraño Manalo’s own words about the nature of their mythical membership. Eraño, now in his early 80s, is the son of Felix Manalo.

read on please

Tarsiers comment:- The bible tells us that Gods true followers will be no part of this world.. have no part in the worlds politics.. why because they have already voted for Gods kingdom and are already part of this kingdom, the kingdom we pray for each day in the Lords prayer:-
Our father who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name (think about his name do you even know it)
Thy kingdom come, they will be done
On earth as it is in heaven

We pray for gods kingdom to come on earth.. that if you like is a true christians politics.. Gods Kingdom.. The bible also tells us that tithing was also abolished, so we do not as Christians need to give a percentage of our wage to any so called church
God loves a cheerful giver, we give out of love and from our hearts because we WANT TO, not because we have too.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Mocha....go on go vote for them!!



Their website is at:-.."MOCHA"

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Hotel for sale

This is a link that will take you to our flicker stream, the hotel is for sale, due to ill health of the present owner, it is a wonderful opportunity to obtain a very nice hotel in one of the Philippines prime tourism locations
Sports Hotel and restaurant

More details are on our Bahay.com website.. this is just a photostream of the hotel.. just to give you a flavour, it is in a beautiful area, and a visit is recommended.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

IRS Genie

The IRS Genie...

A modern day cowboy has spent many days crossing the desert without water.

His horse has already died of thirst. He's crawling through the sand, certain that he has breathed his last breath, when all of a sudden, he sees an object sticking out of the sand several yards ahead of him.

He crawls to the object, pulls it out of the sand, and discovers what looks to be an old brief case. He opens it and out pops a genie.

But this is no ordinary genie. She is wearing an Internal Revenue Service ID badge and a dull gray dress.. There's a calculator in her pocketbook.

She has a pencil tucked behind one ear. "Well, cowboy," says the genie... "You know how I work. You have three wishes."

"I'm not falling for this." Says the man. "I'm not going to trust an IRS auditor genie."

"What do you have to lose? You've got no transportation, and it looks like you're a goner anyway!"

The man thinks about this for a minute, and decides that the genie is right. "OK, I wish I were in a lush oasis with plenty of food and drink."

********POOF******

The cowboy finds himself in the most beautiful oasis he has ever seen and he is surrounded with jugs of wine and platters of delicacies.

"OK, cowpoke, what's your second wish." "My second wish is that I were rich beyond my wildest dreams.

*******POOF*******

The man finds himself surrounded by treasure chests filled with rare gold coins and precious gems. OK, cowpuncher, you have just one more wish. Better make it a good one!"

After thinking for a few minutes, the man says.. "I wish that no matter where I go, beautiful women will want and need me."

******POOF******

He is turned into a tampon.

The moral of the story: If the IRS offers you anything, there's going to be a string attached.

The IRS is the same as the BIR in the Philippines, the dreaded tax man!!!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Milk products safe to use, free from Melamine

Milk products deemed safe to drink in the Philippines as off 10/03/2008

* Anchor Lite Milk
* Anlene High Calcium Low Fat Milk U.H.T.
* Bear Brand Instant
* Chichok Milk Chocolate
* Farmland Skim Milk
* Jinwei Drink
* Jolly Cow Pure Fresh Milk
* Kiddie Soya Milk Egg Delight
* Lactogen 1 DHA Infant Formula
* M&M’s Milk Chocolate Candies
* M&M’s Peanut Chocolate Candies
* Milk Boy
* Nestogen 2 DHA Follow-up Formula
* Nestogen 3 DHA Follow-up Formula
* Nido 3+ Prebio with DHA
* Nido Full Cream Milk Powder
* Nido Junior
* No-Sugar Chocolate of Isomaltooligosaccharide (Cocoa Butter Substitute)
* Nutri-Express Milk Drink
* PURA UHT Fresh Milk
* Snickers Fresh Roasted in Caramel & Soft Nougat in Thick Milk Chocolate
* Vitasoy Soya Bean Milk
* Wahaha Orange
* Wahaha Yellow
* Want-Want Milk Drink (Red Can)
* Windmill Skim Milk Powder
* Yinlu Milk Peanut
* Yogee Yoghurt Flavor Milk Drink

These products are safe to drink and contained no Melamine. two products did contain Melamine and have been removed from shelfs in Philippines stores...
Political leaders: Can they be hope dealers?
IN A NUTSHELL By Samantha King
The Philippine Star
Friday, October 3, 2008

Ah, the things we're compelled to do when inspiration hits. Ideally, I should be attempting to finish the overdue term paper that has been haunting my waking hours for weeks — rather than be attempting to start a witty, zany and entertaining column about a forum on good governance and ethical leadership. Unfortunately, I have yet to figure out how an article on governance can be witty, zany and entertaining when most people become dyslexic from simply looking at the word. Indeed, Filipinos look at the government and start praying for the country. It can't be helped; we have an uncanny ability for producing political leaders just waiting to get a face-full of rotten tomatoes. However, there's always an exception to every rule — and these exceptional (dare I use the word?) politicians prove it.

Admittedly, it was not out of some deeply rooted sense of nationalism that I deigned to attend this forum. Under the pretense of seriously wanting to listen to government officials (heaven forbid!), I, along with my other classmates, joined forces in convincing our professor to substitute her lesson with this. And so, it was in the air-conditioned heaven of UP's NISMED Auditorium where I found myself sitting at exactly 9:20 a.m., cooling off from the abnormally hot Tuesday morning of Sept. 23. I now vaguely remember our prof telling us beforehand to sit at the back if we were to leave early. For some unfathomable reason that escapes me, I found myself strategically seated near the front, almost dead center, with about 50 chairs between me and the nearest exit. Apparently, this was a sign. Sleeping through the forum? Not an option. In any case, even if the speakers weren't brilliant I wouldn't have been able to fall asleep anyway. The forum's moderator was too hilarious. And by hilarious, I mean totally inept, tactless and completely oblivious to her own nitwitted-ness. But that's just me. As the five speakers stepped out onto the stage, it was with shame that I realized that I had absolutely no idea who any of them were. Except maybe for Gov. Ed Panlilio — though that's beside the point.

These five officials, along with Mr. Harvey Keh from the Ateneo School of Government, are members of a movement called Kaya Natin! who campaign for Genuine Change and Ethical Leadership. In our country? Talk about biting off more than you can chew. And yet chewing was what they did anyway.

After a careless introduction by the moderator — calling him an Igorot (the politically-correct term is "Ifugao") — Gov. Teodoro Baguilat took the mic as the forum's first speaker. I found Baguilat to be the coolest of the lot. Maybe it was because he graduated from UP… or because he sported a mullet hairdo. The fact that he left the big city as a teen to "trace back his roots" in Ifugao, was so "I-thought-this-only-happened-in-movies" that it was actually cool. But it was the way Baguilat spoke of Philippine culture — of his passion to preserve and promote it, of how we had our very own UNESCO-proclaimed oral masterpiece in the Ifugao "Hudhud Chants," of how we didn't have to "look to the West" to experience great works — that made him infinitely cool in my book.

Next up was polio-survivor Gov. Grace Padaca of Isabela, whose diminutive size was clearly meant to fool listeners into thinking she had a diminutive voice. I found the talk she gave so candid, wholehearted and open; for a second I almost forgot she was a politician. How can you not be fascinated by an official who, straight-faced, talks about the millions she can siphon off taxpayers with a single signature? Who discloses to listeners the full amount of her salary? Padaca spoke about prioritizing, and it was clear from her eloquent speech where her own priorities lay: in the service of the people that put her into office.

It was funny how the moderator turned into a giddy schoolgirl as she introduced Gov. Ed Panlilio. Who knew that a priest-turned-politician had that much appeal? Okay, I'm kidding — apparently, our moderator was from Pampanga as well. In any case, my curiosity was piqued due to Panlilio's status as an ex-priest. He certainly didn't look the part (the man is huge; reminded me of those biker-gang types), although his voice was a dead giveaway. Priests or ex-priests, they will forever have that soft-spoken, homily-ready undertone to their voice. But again, that's just me. What really struck a chord was Panlilio's narration of how he came to leave his comfort zone. Twenty-seven years of priesthood and the appeal of an early retirement… all given up for the sake of fellow Kapampangans who needed him to serve in a different way. Amen.

Last but not the least, we have the two mayors: Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija; and Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City, Camarines Sur. Lorenzo was, hands down, the most serious of the speakers. She reminded me of Prof. McGonagall from Harry P: no-nonsense, severe, quietly intimidating… you get the point. With the video presentation of citizen-empowerment programs she had established in San Isidro, Lorenzo drove home the point that she was leader of a fourth-class town that could.

Finally, it was Robredo's turn to speak. I guess it's only through multi-awarded mayors like him that one can witness articulate speeches delivered in a span of five minutes. He made two very simple, yet powerful points: with great power comes great responsibility; and not all politicians are the useless, blood-sucking ingrates we think they are — though not in so many words.

I believe that the effectiveness of a forum is measured by the number of people that step up to the mike to ask questions. Unlike other forums I've attended where a whole venue could seem empty (or simply asleep), this one actually had people racing to the mic. Imagine that. These five officials are solid proof that leadership should go beyond position, since, in the end, it's all about action. And as a budding sociologist, I come to the conclusion that Philippine society could evolve into a surprisingly better place if we put more people like them into office… and start acting instead of merely reacting.
* * *

(The title was inspired from a quote by Napoleon Bonaparte: "Leaders are dealers in hope.")

Kaya Natin! is a national movement that aims to support and elect effective and ethical government leaders. To join and support Kaya Natin, you can contact Kai Pastores at (02) 426-5657 or send an email to kayanatin@yahoo.com