The return of Philippine monasticism, the Catholic Church and Origen’s sacrifice for GOD
Analysis and Opinion
By Lance Corporal X
The famous Harlow’s infant monkeys experiment was some dude’s sick idea of kidnapping baby monkeys from their mothers to answer the age old question of whether or not moms are important. Or if theres no moms around, if love is important for development. Thanks for confirming the obvious. But if you pan out wider though, the whole world is kinda this experiment in a nutshell. Of justice and injustice, and of ambition and no ambitions. In support of Joe’s proposal to empower the Catholic Church in the Philippines, I’m going to argue for justice through no ambition. But first let’s figure out injustice. If you watch the news or read the newspapers or scroll through Twitter or videos on youtube, and you feel like banging your head on the wall. Then you already know injustice.
When a tarsier in Bohol senses injustice or a disturbance in the force, it bangs its head onto something hard thus cracking its tiny skull. A tarsier really has no ambition except to be left in peace to enjoy what God has given it through nature. But when we start molesting it, it just says forget all this and ends its life. Suicide. Either it has too much consciousness or too little, I’m thinking it has too much. It probably knows some how that theres either reincarnation or regeneration in another dimension, and just goes there. But we humans over rationalize things thus are less committed as tarsiers. There’s times though when injustice can only be answered by ritualized suicide, to show enough is enough. Also we kinda have thicker skulls, so harder to bang our heads dead. Plus immolation is more dramatic. Tarsiers have no accelerants.
Here’s a great quote from Smedley Butler in this War is a Racket:
“I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster of capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.”
Esso is Standard Oil, and that’s the Buddhist monk that burned himself in Vietnam.
Monasticism started in India. Jainists and Hindus have them, but the whole monk thing was more organized under Buddhists. If you Google Greco-Buddhism, Alexander the Great opened up India to the West and so Buddhism also made its way there. The Therapeutae/Therapeutides were probably remnants of these Greco-Buddhists who settled in Egypt. And probably where Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus went after fleeing Jerusalem. Christian desert theology, the Eremitic hermits, probably directly connect to Buddhism. That part I’m really not sure about academically. But for sure Buddhism (and Hinduism) went as far as the Philippines. I’m thinking it all comes full circle in the Philippines.
So just as ambition in the modern world is a great driving force, like greed it’s just so much harder to regulate. No ambition on the other hand is untapped potential. And probably more powerful. It also perfectly goes together with De-Growth Economics. Where less is more, and doing more with less is key. Nothing new here really, I wrote this in 2015: https://joeam.com/2015/09/15/salvation-by-austerity/ The only new variable here is can we do this within empowering the Catholic Church in the Philippines. I think we can. But we need to reinstate and expand monasticism over there, but in line with the source, to be more like Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism. And emulate their lay people to monk/nuns dynamic, which I think is still present in Western monasticism. But not really in the Philippines. So either it never took root in the Philippines or it was deleted, as Ireneo says. Or both. There is a resurgence in monasticism around the world though. How can we tap into this?
Aside from youtube videos and Googling this stuff, I have 4 books at my disposal to try to figure this out.
Joe thinks the Catholic Church automatically means a shift to the right, I think its more a shift to the left.
Father Niall O’Brien set up these ‘basic Christian communities’, kinda like Israeli kibbutz, see map above of Negros. Like CAP Marines in Vietnam, his towns and villages were also molested by Philippine army and constabulary. So what I’m proposing here is very similar to my CAP Marines in the Philippines blog: https://joeam.com/2024/11/04/maritime-policing-in-the-philippines-with-cap-marines-international-affairs-and-civil-affairs-combined-with-some-psyops-too/ But instead of connecting CAP Marine village via satellite communications and drones, we’ll connect and string up the Philippines by monasteries and monks. Anathem and From the Holy Mountain are about monasteries and monks, but Meditations is about the philosophical basis of Christian monasticism which was Stoicism. But maybe Stoicism also came from Monasticism, like chicken and egg. But who cares, let’s set these monks up now across the Philippines.
The Tarlac State University Lucinda Campus was gifted by the David family. Similar to University of Southern Mindanao campus being carved out of land from datus and the National Fibers Corporation by the Plang family, specifically Bai Fatima Matabay Plang. Those are just two examples, but there’s a mechanism for datus, dynasts and hacienderos to gift lots to the gov’t. So maybe CHED, DEPED and/or TESDA can take these gifted land and then have the Catholic Church populate them with monks (and nuns). This ensures a clear state and church relationship. I asked Ireneo if the fire sale can be reversed, he answered it would be difficult. The question now is how to convince or compel rich families to part with their land, I think here the Catholic Church again can play a role, and tell the rich that LCPL_X has this great idea to revive monasticism in the Philippines, please consider being part of it. There might be some tax incentives.
The Sikhs and Muslims are not into monasticism and are very wary of it. And rightly so, I’ve read a bunch of horror stories of monks and monasteries in Cambodia or Thailand, even in the Middle Ages in Europe this was prevalent. But the fact monks and monasteries are still around, means they must be doing something right regardless of the aberrations. But I say Philippine monasticism and monks should go one step further and really separate itself from Eastern and Western monastic traditions and go all in with Matthew 19:12, “For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. ” My favorite saint, not saint, hands down is Origen because he cut his own balls off.
I envy Origen. Especially, now with news about the prevalence of micro plastics inside testicles. If the VA were to announce castration as preemptive treatment for possible testicular cancer, I might have to take them up on it. And karl will never have to worry about Mango Ave. ever again. But, seriously now, JP is correct in that we need to be “careful not to be eaten by the system we are trying to get rid of”, and castration is one guarantee of this. I’m also banking that this will also become fashionable not only because of Origen and micro plastics but also like trans surgery, people just like to identify with this and that fad, so becoming eunuchs can be a thing too. It’s a cheaper operation I’m sure, one that can be done pro-bono even by Catholic doctors, hell make a ritual, rite of passage out of it with feasting to boot. Celebrate it.
If that’s too much at once, I suggest we look to Anathem‘s example of a concent (monastery). 1, 10, 100, 1000 monks. 1 year monks are just that, they are monks for a year just to try it out. If they like it and other monks accept them, then they go in for 10 years, after 10 years then leave or they can stay for 100 years (its fiction), then for the really powerful monks they stay for 1000 years. My point is maybe there can be a trial period first, then castration. And make potential monks really think that this is a good idea, make them choose it not just because its mandatory but because its how you get closer to God. while also averting testicular cancer and other nuisance your testicles make of your life. I think this will be an easy sell. Once we populate the monasteries, we’ll need to really hone in and figure out what their purpose is. We already know the benefits for the individual, but how do they benefit the nation as a whole.
Like all monasteries, in the Philippines they’ll be self sufficient or be part of a wider monastic ecosystem. But their biggest value to the nation is in hospitality. This was part of their original mandate, to house pilgrims and travelers. In From the Holy Mountain, William Dalrymple in 1994 retraced the steps of two sixth-century Greek Orthodox monks, John Moschos and his companion, Sophronios. The monks had traveled from Greece’s Mount Athos through eastern Anatolia into Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and finally Egypt to visit the Christian community in that region. By the time Dalrymple visited the same monasteries they were already at least a thousand years old. So also similar to Camino de Santiago, if you can connect these Philippine monasteries into a network of pilgrimages, you’ll have effectively connected the Philippines.
So in conclusion, there’s a lot of Filipinos and Filipinas now feeling like tarsiers and feeling like they’re one of Harry Harlow’s baby monkeys. They’ve been told to join the rat race, to acquire this and that, status and beauty, consume! consume!, buy everything they tell you to buy. Smedley Butler wrote his tell all book, Thích Quảng Đức set himself ablaze. Like Harlow’s baby monkeys, they want to hug the Church. Like Bohol tarsiers, they want to bang their heads into oblivion. There’s injustice and we’re told the answer is in ambition. What if that’s wrong too. What if the answer is in no ambition. What if the answer is in monasteries, in a contemplative life without the nuisance of your testicles which more than likely because of micro plastics will just kill you in the long run. There’s no need to require any female monks to do any surgery, because if there is pregnancy that ensues, the Catholic Church can promote this as another immaculate conception. Thus promoting more pilgrimage. Which will only solidify the network of monasteries. More pilgrims and more monks.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Okay, Lance Corporal. Terrific read. On the edge of poetic genius. I cracked up at “Also we kinda have thicker skulls, so harder to bang our heads dead” and by two-thirds done, tears were oozing out. I remember the Hari Krishna movement in LA, west side, of course. And peace as a theme of my hippie deep state.
There is wisdom in your proposal. Stop being greedy and eating the planet and other people. Join the monastic order set up by the Catholic Church, and build your happiness, and ours. I of course internalize the lesson here and see the folly of being angry at Twitter trolls and leftists, and the beauty of smiling inwardly at them, instead. Indeed, I can step back from the angers that gave us Trump and find the peace that exists in any Catholic cathedral. I’ll edge in that direction.
But no, no, I will not cut off my chingaderos even if they have completed their mission, here on earth. They are wholly at peace with their snug place in my briefs.
I’d love to see a network of monasteries in the Philippines. Like the California missions, wonderful places to visit, they would fit just right here.
Thanks, Joe!!! I for one loved how it all connected all 3 blogs seamlessly (starting with your Catholic blog). as for the missions. I think only Mission San Antonio de Padua has rooms to stay (for retreats or just for passers-by). Hearst kept it in tact, and now its under or part of an Army base.
https://www.missionsanantonio.net/retreats
I imagined types of monasteries that would work in the Philippines, my go to was Concent St. Edhar:
done by some reddit fan and the other is Russian edition of Anathem
But I could totally envision monasteries built on islands in the Philippines, like Mont St. Michel. and Filipinos as spiritual pilgrims going to and fro.
Oh, absolutely terrific.
But no, no, I will not cut off my chingaderos even if they have completed their mission, here on earth. They are wholly at peace with their snug place in my briefs.
Micro-plastics have been a constant and persistent night mare ever since I read the news articles about it, Joe. The spirit of Origen beckons.
I think about Zheng He too, he was w/out balls and look how much he’d accomplish, so I’m more and more convinced that my nuts is whats stopping me, and or causing me to always have all these debates with Joey.
Oh, I’m sure manhood is contrary to serenity and peace, the peculiar need to dominate popping up in debates here and the Philippine House. Plastics are a modern horror, but Filipinos keep dumping it in the ocean, so no end in sight. Maybe monks could get that stopped. I’m somewhat of a fatalist about it, having lived downwind of Rocky Flats Atomic Plant for all of my youth, and bathed in the sun so much that I glow in the dark at night, a feature that my wife finds odd, but then, so is a beard. No to knives.
corporal, much appreciated if you warn your readers that some segments of your article may cause distress!
Sorry, kb. i did in the original title.
Do you know much about Negros, am trying to research those communities that Fr. O’Brien set up in the 60s and 70s if they are still around and if they survived or thrived.
p.s.— is castration an easy and inexpensive surgery? how quickly do you recover from it? and what are the known side-effects, aside from instant wisdom and /or clarification? thanks!
there are chemical castration meted out to sex offenders in the sex offenders list, this sort of castration is legal.
you must have heard of the lorena bobbits case in estados unidos where she castrated her erring husband. she served time in jail. her husband survived the ordeal and lived to tell the tale.
p.s. there are people with mental health problems that hated the sight of their body parts and ask that they be removed, i, e, their genitals, a limb, an arm, a leg or an ear (the painter van gogh cut off his own ear!) doctors dont removed healthy body parts, only the diseased parts.
says the whole procedure’s around $5,000 bucks. whether a pro-bono Catholic doctor can do this , i think its do-able, kb. tiny incision too.
You, you . . . blameshifter you. 😂🤣😂
I said nothing, Joe. lol.
That would be a great way to design monasteries here in the Philippines, a courtyard and a few rooms for guests. I bet demand would be sky high.
monasteries aside, we have many airbnbs in the philippines that families and tourists can rent at affordable prices. very convenient too, with swimming pools, close to shops and other amenities. billeting at monasteries is really not my cuppa tea, there are bells that ring at odd hours of the day and night and may keep you awake and there are chants that causes ear worms.
But it could become the cuppa tea for a revived Philippines.
sonny, i7sharp, Joe, et al.
I would just add that there’s more apparently stored in the Vatican library covering the Philippines prior to becoming the Philippines and island by island.
So in Fr. Niall O’Brien’s book, he outlines how the Columbans were first focused on China but after Mao won it, they got kicked out so they focused their efforts in the Philippines (and S. Korea). seems to me these Columbans are like modern day Jesuits really adventurous not yet really established at least in the 60s to 70s time frame he paints his work in Negros as being.
When they pivoted to the Philippines, they did their research, and instead of Google they went to the Vatican library. and turns out the Jesuits have been on the island of Negros since late 1500s. and Jesuits had records and individual diaries. mostly coastal area where Fr. O’Brien worked was covered in his book. inland was still thick jungle so most of the Jesuits set up shops on the coast.
Where they described not only local issues, but also continuous Moro raids kidnapping and killing locals. his whole book couldve been about this. I’m curious if the Jesuits around this time got to go farther inland and if they met Negritos.
Then Jesuits got kicked out and I guess after some long absence it was the Recollects that took over that area, then Spanish-American war, and it was the whole of Spanish christendom that got booted out. then some American Catholic missions came which again stopped during Japans occupation and in the 60s, it was the Columban’s turn.
So they came up with a plan especially post Vatican II that would guarantee continuity instead of what happened thru history. since they realized the rituals were too much dependent on the priest, when the priests were booted out, communities of Catholic believers just melted away. so they encouraged people in Negros i guess as part of Vatican II to do the 1st half of the mass. i didn’t get that. but these communities they were setting up in the area, would eventually land Fr. O’Brien in prison.
sonny,
I’m curious what the process for this would be say for kids who grew up w/out parents in Catholic orphanages and they decide this is for them. Or say those kids that sell sampaguita necklaces in the streets, if they decide to go into monasteries to become monks, can you do so at a young age? or moms with too many kids and she volunteers 1 or 2 into a convent?
Can you talk more about postulancy formation? and if theres a timeline? and what needs to be done w/in said timeline? at what point do you get “tenured” like become part of said monastery? or brotherhood.
here’s an interview with Fr. O’Brien w/ Terry Gross. listen:
https://freshairarchive.org/segments/father-niall-obriens-revolution-heart
Postulancy (2-3 yrs) –> Novitiate (1 yr) –> Temporary vows (3 yrs) –> Solemn Vows (for life) –> option 1 (remain in solemn vows only) or option 2 (take added track to priestly ordination w/solemn vows); options 1 & 2 are for life;
-Postulants & Novices must pass Basic & Advanced Catholic Catechism
-Temporary vows are Chastity, Poverty, Obedience; (passing Philosophy studies mandatory)
-Solemn vows Chastity, Poverty, Obedience, Stability; (passing Theology studies mandatory)
When solemn vows are professed One is a tenured monk for life; or an ordained cleric & monk for life; Solemn vows are not dispensed with lightly
–
Off-street vocations are highly unlikely. It is possible from the principle: “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies those whom He calls.”e I surmise that He unencumbers the object of a vocation by removing first the obstacle such as a parent or family in need.
thanks, sonny! in this book, Fr. O’Brien talks about Nicodemos principle (i think that’s his own principle not to write off anyone). eg., being open to rich folks coming down to the side of poor folks. are you familiar with him or of Columbans?
this is from a review of the book Fr. O’Brien wrote by a Jesuit.
If you can’t see what i’ve underlined, here:
“Little is he aware that he set foot on a social volcano.”
“… he is disturbed by a lack of response from the Church.”
“spirit of Populorum Progressio.” ???
“People oriented. Not rite-oriented.”
“there is a non-violent way to work for a radical social revolution.”
ooooops… missed one:
“five-pointed star. Sharing. Group decision-making. No injustice. Reconciliation. Prayer together.” In one word, community. This is the liberating reality which O’Brien points to.
have to give this some time for a proper read. what I scanned I love. thanks lance
Thanks, gian. I do have some questions for you vis a vis the blog. I shouldve title d it Salvation by Castration, but i think theres something more here than just a part 2 of that old blog. Ambition and Ambulance etymologically are the same. making ambulance chasing a thing here, thus redundant in meaning or just ironic, not sure. lawyers there aren’t suppose to advertise so not sure if theres a similar phrase same in conotation as ambulance chasing.
thus political ambition is for sure redundant, cuz the root of said ambition is just that too canvase for votes similar to what Joey did in NV and AZ. walking to ask for votes, thats the root of that word.
So the opposite of ambition is monasticism, eg. staying put and doing work spiritual or otherwise in that same place. castration is just a subset of that act, or potential subset. my theory here is that , its how you physically get rid of said ambition. cuz ambition is also part of instinct, the same reason a tom cat walks all the way across town to oblige a female cat’s calls. like what rappers use to say, first you get the money, then you get power, then you get respect. well, just cut the first two out of the equation.
Monks though perform pilgrimage, but thats not ambition, more like what Buddhists call walking meditation. thus pilgrims and monks, and pilgrimage to monasteries are connected, literally and figuratively, gian.
So that alone that closed network of monks and pilgrims is enough. that’s those books Meditations and From the Holy Mountain. all the books you’ll need as instuction manuals to affect said plan really.
but those 2 books also talk about justice and injustice. and thats the stuff that yanks us back to the ground. and my questions specific to you, gian. Joe’s written about embracing Catholic identity, and i’m in agreement with him and have written this blog in support of that idea.
Joe: “My approach is really not political. It is not a political act to give the people a voice in the face of dynastic abandonment of the Constitution’s banning of dynasties. It is an opposition to blatant abuse of the Constitution…”
but I’m saying go political, go external as well as internal. push that embrace into its logical end.
Does this necessarily put INC and US protestan churches as well as Buddhist/Muslims in the Philippines in harms way (to include lumad/negritos beliefs and traditions)? And what’s the update on those INC towns here in the USA east coast and i believe one of the Dakotas. cuz a lot of this is also about design, eg. Christopher Alexander‘s work (UC Berkely Architecture). designing monasteries, designing pilgrimage roads, designing communities…
Anathem and Revolution from the Heart is about that. fighting injustice thru design. thus the 4 books.
Fr. O’Brien opens up his book as such, he just arrived in Manila in the mid-1960s with fellow Columbans from Ireland. the first night they went to see a movie, on the way there. he walked by common street where he saw a kid of about 3 or 4 yrs old sleeping on the sidewalk. and it shook him and seared into his memory.
Well I had something similar off Fuente Osmena circle late night coming from Mango ave. walked by a similar seen. now since I ‘m not a priest nor ever in a position to do anything that would do anything to that condition, i sort of just forgot about that feeling. but when I read that openning part of his book, i did remember that feeling all over again.
In Anathem, here’s mention of injustice extramuros but their concent is so insulated the avouts (monks) only talk about it as abstraction. Raz comes from sline family (DE folks), whilst Jesry (is A), while Arsibalt (i guess is AB cuz he came from high ranks in Church) and Lio (vlor, is more like Raz). So the concent (monastery) is a place where all ABCDE folks come together.
But germane to that boy on the street, in Anathem concents are open to orphans and street children, parents and orphanages drop them off and they grow up to be avouts (monks & nuns, female monks). I’ll talk more about Fr. O’Brien, cuz I think thats what ‘ll support Joe’s position the most, but monastery as solution to what Fr. O’Brien and I (and I’m sure everyone else here) saw is the main idea here, gian.
If there’s so many churches in the Philippines, not just Catholics but counting all, why is poverty and injustice so prevalent still. the answer has to be that they are not doing enough. sure gov’t and civic organization and businesses have their part to play, but for Joe’s idea to work, churches in general have to do more.
union.
hacienda.
plane.
For one parish assignment, Fr. O’Brien ended up living inside a hacienda. where he lived in a shack. near where sugar plantation workers lived both permanent and temporary (sacadas , extra hand to cut sugar). he ended up becoming the go between for union officials and hacienda owner and foreman. the owner Doña so and so would always defer to her foreman/manager. totally unaware of the conditions of her workers and servants. Fr. O’Brien described her marble floors and vehicles and armada of fishing boats. Luxury. and all her workers/servants were in rags on premises.
In the hacienda, he talked about how a mother and her daughers had to run seek shelter in his shack, because her eldest with her Tina who was deaf/mute was swinging a machete trying to attack them. the father/husband was drunk in town. Fr. O’Brien would later learn that Tina was being sexual abused by her dad. and that she’d run amok every now and then. Nora (mother) had TB, eventually her other daughter in Manila, Lily, picked her up and took her to Manila with her. but that was the condition of workers/servants in the hacienda, they were basically indentured servants/slaves, every little thing that happened they’d be in debt to the hacienda, thus to Doña so and so.
On his 2nd furlough, upon boarding the plane he read two letters from Baby and Meding. Two married women who supported the Columbans, mainly their job was to shooo away women who tried to seduce the priests, but for Fr. O’Brien it was mostly to warn him not to keep giving hand outs to people, to make them earn it or work for it. He encouraged one woman for example who was awarded a settlement due to her husbands death in a sugar mill to use that money how ever little to buy a sewing machine or sari-sari store, and usually debtors or relatives would end up making that tiny amount disappear. he kept on making the same mistakes. encouraging for business and livelihood.
So when he’s on the plane above, Fr. O’Brien is actually contemplating better solutions. And that Meding and Baby were right all along, and that he needs to start listening to Filipinos. In that plane ride, he stops in Israel to observe how a kibbutz works but i guess he got sent to an IDF military kibbutz instead so although he saw how efficient and optimized the farming in the desert operation was (he was near the Dead Sea) he was not able to interact with the people. after that he stopped in Rome to deliver the Ilongo translation of the Bible. then back to Ireland for a few months furlough. He’d then return to Manila, studied Tagalog there, then again back to Negros.
Below is what they’d later come up with…
so Peter and Gerson were Filipino priets (i think Columbans also),
and in their brain storming session they came up with an outline of how to do these Christian communities. much later on, they’d fine tune and come up with a sweet spot for the number of people in said communities, not too little and not too much, just right wherein people knew each other closely and able to help each other when needed. in a town they’d set up a number of these Christian communities. and just keep multiplying them.
where people won’t have to be dependent on a Doña or Don, and families would better coalesced helped or regulated by other families to ensure what happened to Nora’s family will not continue. or at least diminished somewhat. kept abated. thru community.
Totally human development or THD.
This one’s more about the Catholic Church, papal side above ground vs. priests on the ground. and these papal awards to rich Filipinos. and of symbolic gestures and injustice.
But what struck me about this story is how similar it was to Wind River (movie). there’s the social stratification , then theres the crime itself, and police and court case playing out. and how screwed up everything is there. And the papal nuncio.
And cowboys…. cowboys forchrissakes!!!
I wonder how many priests joined the NPA.
OT:
current events.
Zuleika Lopez was gonna be transferred to Women’s correctional.
I guess cuz Inday Sara was on premises and they wanted to separate them.
So Inday Sara leaves the premises.
Then their cell phones were confiscated.
The transfer imminent, Lopez suffers a medical emergency.
I’m thinking women’s correctional is a bad place and she didn’t wanna go.
Or medical emergency is drama.
But I saw Lopez being wheeled out and she does look serious. not drama.
Earlier VP Sara had a zoom press conference in her brothers office where she intended to stay (til next year even).
That was really professional. no yelling. seemed like it was gonna be uneventful night.
Then the transfer order and you can tell Inday Sara’s demeanor changed. Lopez was stressing out.
Inday Sara was yelling at Martin Romualdez and Liza Araneta (and PBBM). like saying this has gone too far. in the ad hoc press conference in Lopez’s room.
There was even a dead man’s switch mentioned. if Lopez dies, all bets are off.
This is getting hairy now.
Question: could this be EDSA IV? (or am I not understanding whats going on here)
So i’ve watched a bunch of OVP press conferences now, and Inday Sara keeps on saying I’m not taking the oath, cuz i’m just there as a resource person, not as a witness or accused. and then says they (committee hearings) don’t differentiate between inquiry (resource person) and investigation (accused or witness). So Inday Sara sees it as a trap, but she allows her OVP personnel to make their own decision whether to attend or not.
Lopez attended and was found in contempt, but she said it in her above ad hoc press conference in her room (cell), she went to the hearing in good faith, then when found in contempt, she went to her detention in good faith again, til the next hearing on Monday. so she’s really distressed like really crying to the point of blowing her nose, with snot and all, then wiping her eyes with her snot. if thats acting, she needs to get an Oscar for it. i think its a legit breakdown.
Cuz inday Sara is stressing out for real too.
Granted Lopez was transfered cuz Inday Sara was in the same premises, she was essentially giving the finger to Congress, invading their space. its an alpha move for sure. So Martin or Liza or PBBM (i don’t think he’s able to play this game ) they make a counter move and their counter move is to move Lopez to a prison. Thus the press conference above, where she cries and says, I’m not a criminal. I’m here in good faith because you found me in contempt, essentially she’s saying I’m playing in your kangaroo court here.
I’m not leaving my room, she pleads.
But now shit just got real cuz she’s being sent to actual prison. So I’m thinking its an actually medical emergency. if she’s fine and recovers then for sure, there’s another round of tit for tot, but I don’t think Lopez is a good pawn, cuz she’s stressed out too easily. Inday Sara’s strategy seems to be to wait it out, play their game til next elections where she’s sure all those folks attacking her now will be gone.
So there might be another tug of war at St. Luke’s where Lopez is now (per latest report), once she’s up and about. cuz if there is then I’m sure a bunch of people will come over to support and EDSA all over again. that or Martin/Liza /PBBM have to back off. but i don’t think they will. Inday Sara has disrespected them all too much. especially last night.
Lopez explains this in the video and clearly too, her lawyer was detained at the gate not allowed to go inside. VP Sara was there on premises thus became her lawyer ad hoc de facto. then transfer order was affected by police , then medical emergency ensued, then to one hospital, then again moved to another with VP Sara’s insistence (there was a stand off with PNP over this). St. Luke’s i believe is the final hospital. where they are now.
The stage is set for an EDSA situation, if PBBM/Liza/Martin don’t back off. but for sure, the budget hearings are now done.
DE folks I’m sure are watching this, and scratching their heads why a resource person can get detained then transferred to prison. like How did that aid legislation?
I doubt they draw conclusions. It is a power struggle, for sure. The House cannot let hostile witnesses determine how the struggle is carried out. All the VP needs to do is agree to be a resource person under oath and help the Committee understand things. She won’t. So the House has little choice but to use the processes available to it.
But what is the root of the problem? The VP is likely entangled in misuse of funds and her staff are stressed because they can’t tell the truth? The VP wants to make the House the bad guys on a procedural mess that is the VP’s fault.
true, her staff is allegedly in the bind, telling the truth will set her free! and the vp can’t have that so she sticks to the staff like a pot of glue maybe to ensure the staff can never be free and the truth never be set free. the staff is apparently not dumb and knows that her day of reckoning has come, but not if the vp can help it.
it is alleged the staff has panic attack. and as anyone knows, panic attack can mimic heart attack, both nearly have similar symptoms: short of breath, chest pain, and what not. and if she collapsed and blacks out, she’ll be revived. and if all her vitals are normal including ecg, (electro cardio gram), blood test to ensure no heart enzymes are leaking into her blood stream. if it is stress that is causing her panic attack, that’s understandable: the vp has put her in that position and the inquiry is not helping.
it’s like stage fright, there’s a lot of undue stress and attention with the media present, and performers are often paralyzed and hyperventilating, but both fright and stress can be overcome.
panic attack can mimic heart attack, both nearly have similar symptoms: short of breath, chest pain, and what not.
kb, how about the hugging Inday Sara part when Ms. Lopez was getting moved from St. Lukes to Veterans? I’m assuming the House had a separate place for her set-up at Womens Correctional, but I think Ms. Lopez really thought she was gonna end up in general population sleeping on the floor with hundreds of other women. thus the panic attack.
kb, I didn’t know how to rebutt this analysis, which is actually pretty good. so I just posted a .gif in response.
an ounce of humility wouldn’t harm the staff, after all so many of our people sleep on the floor too. even the real son of god was born in the manger.
rebuttal is never far from you, corporal. and given time, you’re good as, if not more, is all.
thank you, kb. (i think… )
No, because Lopez/Duterte do not have national gravitas and are not considered heroes or brave. No EDSA IV. My guess.
here’s this morning’s developments:
I agree with MLQIII , the House should not have let Inday Sara visit in the first place. she herself was the Trojan Horse. she visited , went inside her brother’s office and holed up in there, did her press conference via Zoom.
Initially she planned to stay with Mr. Lopez , in her cell.
At the same time though– and this is to your point about agreeing to be a resource person, Joe– the House should not have detained Ms. Lopez for “contempt“ , and i wanna stress the air quotes on that.
Inday Sara has said I’ll answer questions as a resource person, but i’ll not take the oath (because the oath triggers the detention for them, its a trap), because I’m not an accused she says. hinting at the kangaroo court nature, or gotcha politicking in these hearings, which proved true, cuz Ms. Lopez was detained on premises. then sent to prison. big question mark still for that.
So Inday Sara is correct.
And she’s again correct that she’s complying with COA, if she’s complying to COA, why answer the hearings when COA is doing its audit? in aid of legislation means or should mean that no one gets arrested. that would be like all the military and gov’t personnel appearing in the UFO Disclosure hearings here and they get detained by the Sgt. At Arms over here. it would be silly.
I don’t think the House could have anticipated
what would happen when they decided to transfer Ms. Lopez to the Women’s Correction. now they are having to tap dance. when all they had to do was not detain Ms. Lopez for “contempt”, I can’t stress those air quotes enough. now there’s prayer vigil/rallies. the House has to back off. by the House, Inday Sara means Liza/Martin/PBBM.
DE folks I’m sure are using air quotes now when talking about this “contempt” charge.
Pat’s right.
Am reading but have yet something to say.
karl, i kinda feel for ms. Lopez, I know Filipinos fake this and that ailment to get out of prison or set themselves up for a better venue. But she seems to actually be breaking down. i know its political gamesmanship. but this feels differen with Lopez. i hope she’s okay. cuz Inday Sara seems to be genuinely stressed out over Lopez as well as now gunning for those 3 by name.
oooooops… I thought your comment was under the Lopez stuff, karl. sorry.
If you were asked to rat out your boss who seems to have made off with taxpayer money, would you not be stressed?
I would agree with Joe that anyone who would used to rat on their boss would be soooo stressed our.
Ms. Lopez wasn’t stressed over that. She was actually prepared to testify again on Monday. and with Inday Sara camped in her brother’s office. both women before midnight seemed be fine with the arrangement and ready to wait out the kangaroo court, even until next year Inday Sara hinted.
But it was the transfer to Women’s Correctional thats when Ms. Lopez started to lose it. I think she understood the gamemanship at the theoretically level, and their strategy with Inday Sara seems to have been just to wait it out. but the House by midnight had other plans to counter Inday Sara’s being in House premises.
From detention, arbitrarily it turned into arrest and prison sentence without court. that’s so wrong. so she’s a lawyer, Inday Sara’s a lawyer, they’ve been playing along, but now its gone too far, both of them say this. So their bluff was called by the House. but at the same time the charades eg. hearings played by the House is now over.
If I were Ms. Lopez though, I’ll go to Women’s Correctional, cuz that’s another huge voting bloc of DE folks i’m sure. Filipina women in prison you don’t really hear much about. so I’m thinking she should go provided she bring cameras and is able to do live podcasts there of women’s plight, she’ll be a saint when all this is over.
Ireneo, this reads exactly like today’s events w/out the hospitals. lol.
here’s the dead man’s switch, but their looks in this photo is perfection. PBBM’s like What?!! Inday Sara (with big audible gulp) let me backtrack that it was a long night you see… lol.
Then I’m sure, PBBM will call Martin and Liza, and say Let’s stop this now guys, its gone too far now.
Its no good for PBBM cuz the attention on Inday Sara is backfiring. he’s gotta turn off the spot light on her. thats the only way forward to 2028. at least for him.
look at the pic! they’re so complementary! so attuned to each other, so contemptible of each other too, watch their hands. while sara’s in position of protecting her family’s jewels, pbbm’s protection is ipso lateral, got my drift? the strike wont come from him. but his left hand is splayed in judgement, countermanding sara’s raised big L (loser?).
sara’s stance is rigid, pbbm’s is negotiable. his full torso moved towards sara while sara, only her head is moved towards pbbm, her eyes avoiding direct contact. mayhap she dont want to see what he is going through, or see the pain she is causing him.
this is better than any art criticism I’ve ever read, kb! I was just looking at their facial expressions, but you got the legs and hands and even ipso lateral!!! thanks for this.
Boy, I agree. Tremendous reading of body language. I’m never letting any of my photos get in kb’s hands.
lopez ought to bring kulambo with her, a fave of ex pres duterte who used to sleep under one. lopez has duterte to thank for the overcrowding of womens correctional. for the 6yrs duterte was president, his drug war netted nearly 3x more prisoners. and if lopez is to sample life in prison, she ought to bear and grin, and be grateful for it. savor the once in a lifetime experience. may even make her a better person for it.
I know the men’s prisons up and down the Philippines got bloated due mostly to addicts surrendering themselves to them, but I’ve never read much on women’s prisons. assuming here more men are addicted to shabu, compared to women, though I knew Mango ave girls who were doing shabu (80% of them were). i’d be interested to see statistics on mens vs womens prisons.
But I believe pre-DU30 womens (and mens) prison would look similar. overcrowding.
As for Ms. Lopez serving time in Women’s Correctional. I would totally recommend it too Iagree with you, if only to get more DE votes. but at the end of the day, the only wrong she did was “contempt”, again big air quotes there, so she really did not deserve even detention, cuz how do you prove a lie (if you don’t have the truth ), eg. I don’t know… yes , you know… “contempt”!!! detention!!! it’s silly. you have to prove she’s lying.
So it would be wrong to send her into prison, w/out trial. that’s the principle we have to agree upon. here, at least that, kb.
In the Philippines, there are laws that can be used for about anything. An example is the Anti-terrorism law that allows imprisonment for 14 days without a warrant. So it won’t be argued on a legal basis I suspect. It could be for her own protection, who knows. You are way ahead of me on readings. Why did House Reps say she should go to jail?
Why did House Reps say she should go to jail?
Becuz Inday Sara was holed up in her bro’s office, Joe. So I guess to teach the VP a lesson in respect, they went to move Lopez to Women’s Correction. punitive indirectly, like okay VP is here, lets make the reason she’s here disappear which is Lopez. thus transfer.
I ‘m sure House had space readied specifically for Lopez at Women’s Cor, cuz that would suck if Lopez was attacked in prison.
House miscalculated here, Joe. they shoulda just let them stay both til Monday. Now VP Sara has this and she’s running with it.
as to the official reason, there was a Sgt At Arms press statement, in English, citing security concerns due to VP’s presence. thus transfer.
which doesn’t add up.
The problem always cycles back to Duterte who does not want further investigation into her misuse of confidential funds. The Sgt of Arms decided to protect a very valuable witness. I’d say that’s his job. It adds up to me. The problem is Duterte. She has initiated a power struggle to try to get public sympathy. It seems to me the sympathy comes only from DDS, Duterte allies, and yourself. ABC are clearly anti-Duterte. DE are buying popcorn.
the sympathy comes only from DDS, Duterte allies, and yourself.
I can’t gauge all that from where I’m at just Googling. but if you remember Joe I got back into Inday Sara when we were arguing about something else and Inday Sara came up and I Googled 2024 polling and said, See my beloved is still popular; and you said, That’s not the most recent! and you showed me the one where her polling dropped drastically. And I was sad.
So since then I’ve been researching on Inday Sara. and seemed like that dropped in polling coincided with these hearings. But where and when all this hearings stuff came about I don’t really know how to Google cuz I don’t know what to Google. but seems to have stemmed from Liza rendering Sara persona non grata, she PNG’ed her. then all this stuff started happening.
As for Lopez, i’ve been reading up on why she got the “contempt” thus detention (til Monday) in the House compound.
And it was very silly, Joe. Rep. France Castro threw the book at her, “contempt”!!!, then Lopez apologized, essentially saying I don’t know what I’m apologizing for, but I’m sorry. and France Castro of Makabayan said, I accept your apology so instead of the full 10 days, your detention will lift on Monday. so it was just a weekend detention.
But the arbitrariness of such a detention for “contempt” is really hard for me to swallow as American here , Joe. how they can just willy nilly do this. and over a word, JOE!!!!!!!! a dang word was the basis of her contempt (air quotes).
Word: “should”
should, Joe, not could or would, but should. and Lopez was held in contempt, seconded and finalled. til Monday. its the stupidest use of lawfare really.
“Should” implies a moral basis different than Philippine laws and legislative practices, and accountability different, and data better, than that of the Sgt of Arms.
I guess sometime in August 2024, Lopez wrote to COA as chief of staff to not share with the committee that s doing the hearing the details of the audit until its completed, citing whatever provisions she cited to justify said request to COA. and this letter was what the congressmen/women used against her to hold her in contempt, because she wrote the word “should” which is tantamount to an order, and not a request, was the reasoning. thus impinging with the investigation. so Lopez tries to reason with them, and say that’s not an order because we OVP cannot complel COA to do anything, so that’s an official request only, your honors. and then Castro was like, but you used the word should which means it was an order. So I was thinking what other words could she have used that would have made said interpretation of the word should semantically pragmatically even syntactically more neutral. then I realized its language/word games they are playing at. so it was like that “patriotism” debate me and Joey had. and me putting him in detention for using it, since the word carried so much meaning implied or otherwise.
So my conclusion here, Joe, is DE voters aren’t stupid. they’ll understand language games and word games. as it relates to Lopez DE voters I’m sure DE voters will be doubly sympathetic to her. cuz this isn’t right what they are doing. how all this relates to polling and popularity of Inday Sara we’ll have to wait til the next polling for end of 2024 and then on for 2025. then 2026, and 2027, then finally 2028. the final polling.
DE know that politics is games. It has nothing at all to do with their interests. Popcorn perspective.
The Sgt of Arms decided to protect a very valuable witness.
And Lopez was safer in her detention room where she had already settled for the weekend. Ready for Monday’s hearing, Joe. it s the weekend, there was really no added “security risks”. that parts all made up.
Water under the bridge, spilt milk etc. etc.
Oh well, whats happened happened already. I think Lopez is still in Veterans hospital and I think they’ll just keep her there til Monday. If she testifies again, if I were the House committee I’ll just let her go. she obviously has mental issues and cannot handle stress will.
She’s a dead end, she’s already said she doesn’t know. So move on to the other staffers. But I think, OVP staffers for sure will stay away now from anymore hearings, they’ll just say you’ll just send us to prison for nothing!!! we won’t play in this reindeer games anymore.
The Sgt of Arms disagrees with your reading, lol.
I just realized its Monday morning now there. The hearing must be on now. be back…
seems also, in Twitter at least, AB podcasters are making fun of Inday Sara for saying “ATTEMPTED HOMICIDE”, Inday Sara said this to describe what Ms. Lopez thought was happening. when she already shut her lights and was already in bed, and a bunch of people barged in to tell her that she was going to Women’s Correctional. cuz the locks are outside her room.
so that barging in Ms. Lopez really thought homicide was about to go down. I’d probably feel the same way too.
Then when everything calmed down, the Sgt. At Arms personnel with PNP were talking to Ms. Lopez and she was saying I want my lawyers here present. And she kept on adding, I am not leaving this room. I am not leaving this room. I want my lawyers.
then one of the Sgt. At Arms folks said Where are your lawyers, are they here? and she said Of course they’re not here , you guys just barged into my room (or something to that effect). And to add insult to injury, the Sgt. At Arms personnel said, Ma’am you can use our lawyer here.
Short of asking them, Are you retarded? I can tell thats what Ms. Lopez was thinking… she said, But that’s not my lawyer.
This is before Inday Sara’s arrival (she was in her brother’s office).
I think the best development is this.
Of course , that assassin has be really good like Benicio del Toro ‘s Alejandro Gillick, a former Colombian Mexican prosecutor turned assassin in Sicario. if its just her husband she’s contracted then thats just laughable.
So we ‘re assuming this is a world class assassin like Carlos the Jackal.
But the legal question of whether this is a threat or just simply a statement of fact will be interesting. Cuz Inday Sara did lay out the conditional, if and then. and she said it wasn’t a joke. so it has to be treated as fact that has to be proven.
Which means DOJ has to find that assassin. but i’m just speaking here as a barracks lawyer. I’m sure theres incitement or terrorist threats, etc. other crimes you can prosecute for.
But the next question is , is the juice worth the squeeze, will prosecuting Inday Sara make her 2028 chances better or worst. lots of calculus for sure. The best play for PBBM is to make friends with Inday Sara again, say Liza was wrong.
Inday Sara was better as a quiet and submissive VP always bowing to PBBM, than loud defiant. Liza should’ve kept it status quo. now its a hornets nest. put the toothpaste back in the tube, Liza!
then there’s this too, Joe.
but then I also found this: https://verafiles.org/articles/whats-up-with-sara-dutertes-confidential-funds
“Confidential funds are spent confidentially. They can also be misused confidentially. And the people are not confident.
For her first year in office alone, Sara will have a total of P650 million in funds that need no receipts to liquidate, no financial reports to submit to the Commission on Audit, nothing. And we will never know how she spends it.
What’s with the special desire for secrecy? Listen to her talk: basic education has a direct link to national security.
But swiftly, the Committee on Appropriations terminated the deliberations on Sara’s budget as a matter of courtesy to her office. Except for Brosas, Castro and Manuel — who we should be proud of as genuine and disinterested fiscalizers — the rest of the legislators succumbed as members of the Committee on Silence or the more infamous Comite de Absuelto. No serious interpellation from them were heard.
There better not be, they figured.
In six years, they will elect Sara Duterte as the next president of the Philippines and vengeance from her – part of her trademark — is the last thing these lawmakers need to get re-elected and hold on to their pork-filled purse strings. Forget checks and balances.”
================================
So I’m thinking Rep. France Castro is really actually fighting the good fight and she just happened smacked right in the middle of this King Kong and Godzilla fight while doing her thing. Hopefully she’s ready. But that’s good reading Sept 2022 written. I ‘m guessing pre- Liza vs. Sara. then post- Liza vs. Sara, everyones scurrying to pick the winning side now. Even flying in by helicopter, Joe!!!
My impression of Rep Castro is that she is smart and tough. And anti-corruption. So she is a hunter here, nothing more or less.
That makes sense. I’m just now reading up on her.
Are these two in Joey’s “unpatriotic” list then, like Santa’s naughty list?
Yes, I suppose so. But Castro is not on mine.
“The best play for PBBM is to make friends with Inday Sara again, say Liza was wrong.” Clearly you are not married to a Filipina, or really don’t mind being castrated.
LOL! there is a big cultural aspect to this that I’m missing. this probably being the biggest one, Joe!!! lol.
p.s. —-
Joe, I did read a thread on Twitter saying my beloved Inday Sara and Ms. Lopez were in fact lovers? is there any truth to this? I don’t know if I should be sad or excited about this revelation. but it does explain why Inday Sara was so flustered during this whole incident.
I have no idea and pay it no attention.
This was probably the best summary of what’s going on I found, Joe. 90% in English.
Karen Davila, asks why did the Congress give VP Sara the confidential fund in the first place. but she didn’t ask the most important follow up which would be and when did Congress decide to take it back (via these hearings). like when or at which point the winds changed direction for VP Sara.
I’m not into videos. The “why” question is a good one, and there is probably a public answer and a secret answer. The public one is “because the VP requested it and we complied in good faith”. The secret one is, I pat your back and you pat mine. As I recollect, things turned bad when anomalies turned up regarding audit of 2022 or 2023 expense records during review of the budget for 2025. Duterte turned hostile against primary House inquisitors, made a bad showing when she appeared, then refused to come back for more questions.
The anomalies were always there Joe. thats why its important to differentiate who was talking anomalies pre – Liza and post – Liza. like France Castro, so she’s not part of this witch-hunt, though now like a surfer whos caught a big wave now France is enjoying the ride. but the rest were turned recently this year thus these hearings. all because Liza was bad-shotted by VP Sara this is the only seed i’ve found. unless all that is psyops and its actually the USA orchestrating all this cuz of China which i’ve not discounted out am open to that scenario too. but for now the start is Liza earlier this year. the moment she threw in, it snowballed. but now IMHO its not these hearings anymore, its sedition. so they’ll have to wrap up hearings cuz lawmakers are actually making themselves look worst. not helping themselves politically.
the Sedition case is better, and i think that’s where the battle will be.
The monks of medieval Europe were a good example of what I call a “counter-elite,” providing some sort of check and balance against rulers, similar to that of prophets in Israel and philosophers in Greece. While prophets in Israel were probably as wild and unshaven as Simon the zealot in the Jesus Christ Superstar scene below and Greek philosophers were at first men with a lot of property and too much time on their hands, Catholic orders are highly organized. They had to be to survive the Dark Ages and their Game of Thrones like political families.
Being voluntary celibates had two benefits: 1) no family to prioritize over the order 2) they were not sexual competitors to the sons of lords or a danger to their sisters. The martyrdom of St. Emmeram is probably highly embellished but is an instructive tale on that aspect.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeram_of_Regensburg
The book Name of The Rose upon which the movie starring Sean Connery was based mentions the midday demon as the stirrings of lust monks had to fight with. There is, of course, the conflict that the young monk has after his one sexual encounter with a young peasant lady. She is, of course, key as she gives it up to a kitchen monk for access to meat, gives it to the young monk for free, and struggles when the idiot monk Salvatore tries to rape her. But note that even Rizal was shocked about Padre Damaso raping Maria Clara’s mother and Padre Salvi lusting after Maria Clara, both elite women. There is a short aside in the fiesta part of the Noli where the town gossips about a poor kid calling the priest father as they know he is his father, but that is more on the funny side. But St. Origen types were certainly less than 1% of monks..
Back on topic, there are two benefits of monasteries being revived in the Philippines. The first is a sense of institutions as opposed to personalism, familism, and dynasties.
The second is a sense of reflection. Vow of silence may as sonny noted be too much for the Philippines, but a culture of focus as opposed to just fleeting distractions might do the country good. The intellectual depth that the West has was founded by monks, who also chronicled what happened in the outside world over centuries and developed a longer-term perspective.
Later secular scholars built on that, though they have by now often succumbed to showboating, differences between Slavoj Zizek, Jordan Peterson, and Heydarian are just nuances I guess.
Though a counter elite that becomes too entrenched can become reactionary like the Pharisees in Jesus Christ Superstar shown below.
Or like the Spanish monks who killed Governor Bustamante for trying to audit their funds.
Governor Bustamante had no House Quadcomm on his side. That was a fatal political mistake. And no Youtube videos that people in Madrid could watch.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Manuel_de_Bustillo_Bustamante_y_Rueda#Relationship_with_the_Church
“..Several individuals with pending charges had taken church asylum. Bustamante adopted very stringent measures to counteract excessive claims to immunity by Archbishop of Manila Francisco de la Cuesta. Archbishop De la Cuesta was appealed to either hand them over to the civil authorities or allow them to be taken. He refused to do either, supporting the claim of immunity of sanctuary. At the same time it came to the knowledge of the governor that a movement had been set on foot against him by those citizens who favoured the Archbishop’s views.
José Torralba, the late acting-governor, was released from confinement by the governor, and reinstated by him as judge in the Supreme Court, although he was under an accusation of embezzlement to the extent of ₱700,000. The Archbishop energetically opposed Torralba’s appointment, notifying the latter of his excommunication and ecclesiastical censures. With sword and shield in hand, Torralba expelled the Archbishop’s messenger by force, then as judge in the Supreme Court, hastened to avenge himself by issuing warrants against his enemies. Torralba’s opponents sought church asylum, and, with the moral support of the Archbishop, laughed at the magistrates.
Tensions climaxed when the governor’s soldiers stormed Manila Cathedral, thereby violating the right of sanctuary. The violation was due to the governor’s orders to recover the government inventories and official records held by a notary public who was then taking refuge in the Cathedral. Upon consultation with the Archbishop, Dominican canon law experts from the Real Universidad de Santo Tomás declared that “under no circumstances or conditions could civil authorities exercise jurisdiction within sacred places, even under the orders of the governor and of the audiencia.
The series of troubles with ecclesiastical authorities led to the arrest and imprisonment of Archbishop De la Cuesta, along with the Dominican friars and other clerics in league with the Archbishop.
In reaction to the Archbishop’s imprisonment and to the government’s total disregard of the church as a sanctuary, a mob of the Archbishop’s supporters stormed the Palacio del Gobernador and killed Governor Bustamante. Archbishop De la Cuesta was released from prison and appointed acting Governor-General.
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo’s The Assassination of Governor Bustamante at the National Art Gallery of the National Museum depicts the incident, showing a mob of Dominican friars dragging the governor down the Palacio’s staircase.
However, according to Spanish historian, theologian, and former archivist at the a University of Santo Tomás Fr. Fidel Villarroel, Ph.D., Hidalgo was misled by some advisers to wrongly portray the Spanish missionaries as the promoters of the murder. Antonio Regidor, a Freemason noted for his anticlerical sentiments, was the painter’s adviser. Villarroel goes further by concluding that all the friars were far away from the scene at the moment of the assassination, imprisoned together with the Archbishop..”
The intellectual depth that the West has was founded by monks, who also chronicled what happened in the outside world over centuries and developed a longer-term perspective.
agree with this 100%, Ireneo. I’m now reading about Columban order from Ireland, and now a big fan of them.
She is, of course, key as she gives it up to a kitchen monk for access to meat, gives it to the young monk for free,
In the book, Fr. O’Brien and other Columbans who were from Ireland, Australia and USA were guarded by lay leaders Meding and Baby, cuz according to them Filipino women were the ones who wanted to rape these priests. in a good way of course. thru seduction.
And this connects to this thought:
Being voluntary celibates had two benefits: 1) no family to prioritize over the order 2) they were not sexual competitors to the sons of lords or a danger to their sisters.
3) is that it will give monks clarity (thus wisdom) without these unnecessary appendages that only brinks heartache, but also too much joy. so celibacy thru actually not having the tools for 1) and 2).
Immune from seduction.
you really think so? many of those celibate church beings are perpetrator of sex crimes, and are being sued for sexually abusing children in their care. and some of them are moved from one diocese to another and so dodge the long arm of the law, but not quite.
Have you seen Spotlight, kb?
I’m totally with you on this. on top of child abuse, I think it’ll will also keep the monks behaved. I know many seminarians and priests go to Mango ave. cuz that’s the girls favorite customers as well as Japanese. so there is a problem.
The monks of medieval Europe were a good example of what I call a “counter-elite,” providing some sort of check and balance against rulers, similar to that of prophets in Israel and philosophers in Greece.
Have you read this Revolution from the Heart, Ireneo? in that small area of Negros in the 60s and 70s, then 70s and 80s when it really heated up. that’s exactly what the Columbans/priests and NPA were doing. and the rulers in Negros were crazy rich and Marcos his army/constabulary fought back. I’m really curious how the communities that the priests set up are fairing today. if it took thrived, or just evaporated 40 or 50 years after.
here’s more pages, these i found on Google books but not complete book sample first 30 pages available, i hope you find a copy and read the whole book. its so good. it’s sad.
Have you read about the Franciscan monks, LCX?
https://ofmphil.com/the-franciscan-order
Or this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Philippines_Trappist_Monastery?wprov=sfla1
that wiki article I found Googling, that Franciscan in the Philippines is new info to me, karl. thanks! so unless theres other orders that stayed like Franciscans they would be the longest continuously operating order monastery in the Philippines then. i think. assuming there’s no gap at all where that arrow is, karl.
So now I’m wondering what their connection was to the Franciscan missions over here. If am remembering correctly from elementary days learning these dang missions, I think Franciscans took over for the Jesuits who did all these missions in Baja California and west coast of Mexico, whence time came to expand to Alta California (over here) the Jesuits were booted out so Franciscans took over for them.
Have you heard of Loretta chapel staircase, karl?
I’m wondering if theres similar stories, structual like this, in the Philippines. I know theres a bunch of stories of statues walking around or of statues doing this and that. but structural, are there?
(supposedly the banister is later addition, i guess to make the stairs safe for people going up and down, so imagine it w/out banisters and that was the original, so the design itself is out of this world if you imagine the original, karl)
I thought they had activities in San Francisco but it was in Santa Barabara that they were or are active.
https://www.stfranciscenterla.org/franciscan-friars/
I don’t really know how the Franciscans are set up now, karl. I just know about them cuz in CA they teach about the missions they built up and down the state when you’re in elementary. that and the Pony Express and the Gold Rush.
But aside from European tradition (Benedictines, Franciscans, etc. etc.) and Indian tradition (Jainists, Hindu and Buddhist monks), the Chinese shaolin monk tradition is also interesting. though i think these also came from India.
Here’s Shaolin monks from Africa. so maybe Filipino Shoalin monasteries too, Karl.
https://palyulph.org/
But we have Tibetan monks.
A Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Manila, Philippines.
We organize prayers, Buddhist classes, meditation retreats and other activities to uphold Buddhist knowledge to the people of Manila and the rest of the Philippines. We also do charity works for disaster relief and support.
Shaolin kung fu foo.
https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/31/shaolin-kungfu-other-chinese-cultural-heritage-to-be-performed-in-ph
Catholic Universities like UST and Letran have monks.
Letran has Dominicans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_San_Juan_de_Letran?wprov=sfla1
So does UST
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Santo_Tomas?wprov=sfla1
Origen was condemned as a heretic.
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/origen-friend-or-foe#:~:text=Eventually%2C%20Origen%20was%20formally%20condemned,church%2C%20particularly%20in%20the%20West.
i think the Catholics have come to grips with Origen now, karl.
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/church-fathers-origens-life-and-legacy/
“according to Origen the highest degree of knowledge of God stems from love. Therefore, this also applies to man: only if there is love, if hearts are opened, can one person truly know the other.”
― Pope Benedict XVI, Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine
Many thanks. We never run out of things to learn.
agreed, karl. here’s a good video on Origen. time stamp 2:01 minutes is the key.
Thanks