Stand up for #zerodiscrimination!

Discrimination is a violation of human rights. It is illegal, immoral, hurtful and dehumanizing. Too many people around the world face unequal treatment because of their race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or identity, disability, gender or age. 

Edsa 28 years after

Edsa was a lot of missed opportunities. Agree ako diyan. Pero, iyung “Edsa was a failure” at ” No reason to celebrate Edsa”, ibang bagay na iyun. Hindi sa Edsa nagtatapos ang lahat. Agree din ako diyan. Pero iyung mga nagsasabing “after Edsa walang nangyaring pagbabago sa Pilipinas” or “mas humirap ang buhay ngayon”, karamihan sa mga iyun nakinabang marahil noong diktadura.

#Puso

What is something you are most proud of about yourself? 

This I could say without fear of successful contradiction and without sounding mayabang that I have more heart than almost anybody else. Some might be smarter, physically stronger….. I might even grudgingly admit that some might be better-looking than me. Pero ang mga pinagdaanan kong unos sa buhay, maaaring never pang naranasan ng karamihan. Naranasan ko ‘yung inaamoy-amoy ng mga asong kalye ang aking mga paa habang pinipilit kong matulog sa jeepney stop na itinayo ng MMDA.

I’ve been bullied a lot. I was a homeless, completely orphaned, out-of-school youth with disability. Pero nandito pa rin ako, patuloy na lumalaban sa hamon ng buhay. I also get depressed sometimes, but I never give up!

Benedict XVI paved the way for the Francis revolution

A year ago today, Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy, paving the way for Pope Francis: the first Jesuit pope , the first Pope from Latin America, and the first to take on the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of the poor who is especially loved by partisans of leftist causes.

 

Trivia: I always wanted to be a Franciscan,  I have been a fan of St. Francis of Assisi since I was a little boy.

Reflections on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes/ World Day of the Sick

Tomorrow is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes/ World Day of the Sick.

It might be said that focus would again be made on the medical model on disability, on a person’s physical, sensory and mental impairment rather than on a person’s potential, talent and skills. But then again, each and everyone of us has a wound that needs healing.

Of course, we could point out that the Catholic Church sad to say, still view “disabled people” as different, and “special” and in need of cures and charity. To their credit, however, we should also recognize that the Church through its charitable institutions has also done so much good for the world.

I would like to believe that maski na magkaiba ang ating terminolohiya na ginagamit (development NGO work vis-a-vis the Catholic church), our goal – betterment in the lives of the marginalized sectors – is one and the same.

I might have my differences with the Servants of Charity, based on perspective. But then again, I would be a total ingrate kung sasabihin kong wala silang naitulong sa akin o wala akong natutunan sa kanila. I don’t regret that I once aspired to become a Religious Brother. The Servants contributed to who I am today.

I have decided however to go beyond charity and to work for social justice and human rights for all. No more No turning back for me. 

 

“I want him dead- maybe more than I’ve ever wanted anything. But if I do that, if I allow myself to go down into that place… I’ll never come back.” ~ Batman

Personally, honestly, I would love to see plunderers who abused their position in order to pillage the national treasury….dead. But then the death penalty would cheapen the value of all human life. Who has the right to decide whether another human being, even if he is a sad excuse for a human being, deserves to live or die? And once we decide that a particular group doesn’t deserve to live, could we “ever come back”? The death penalty makes killers of us all – no different from the criminals we condemn.

When I was younger and I’d like to now think less wise, I used to assume that plunder was a lot worse than rape. “What is the rape of one girl compared to the rape of an entire nation?” But now that I’m a few years older and I’d love to think wiser, I understand that I must not belittle the psychological trauma being endured by a rape victim or survivor. 

Now, if we are going to execute plunderers and rapists…. what about murderers? What about drug pushers? What about rice smugglers? And yes, you might laugh, what about those high school bullies who had made me try suicide? They nearly destroyed my entire life. Are they less criminal?

And if we take vengeance on those people for their crimes against society, where will we stop? Death penalty just continues an endless cycle of violence.

Hmmm, it is quite interesting to know ….. many Catholics on “the right wing of the church,” are following me on Twitter. Almost all are personally unfamiliar to me. I hope that I could convince a few of my brethren that speaking up for social justice and human rights is the Church’s immediate responsibility and should be its primary concern. . Social justice empowers disadvantaged and marginalized sectors in society to realize their full potential. Again, as I’ve repeatedly said, human rights are not a matter of charity.

For example, bullying is wrong not because “Kawawa naman siya, disabled siya.( disability as pity and “disabled people are inferior”.) Rather, “Bakit, kumag? Gusto mo bang ma-bully? Huwag mong gawin sa iba ang ayaw mong gawin nila sa iyo. Magkapantay lang kayo sa dignidad ng pagkatao.” (On the other hand, most likely, my friends the Servants of Charity who are pretty reactionary would apologize to the bullies: “Pagpasensiyahan ninyo (Bear with him), disabled siya (he is disabled).”

And instead of “kawawa naman si manong, walang trabaho”, “karapatan ng bawat isa na makapagtrabaho.”

Disability terms with negative connotations

Terms such as “special” or “disabled” often have negative connotations, because they emphasize classification based on the disability rather than emphasizing the person, before his or her disability. Disabilities are not persons and they do not define persons, they’re just part of who they are. Same with “normal person,”with reference to persons without disabilities, which imply that persons with disabilities are not normal (abnormal).

What was the most stupid question somebody asked you?

 

“May sweldo ba kayo?”

Approaching a crossroad. Time to reread “The Purpose Driven Life”.