“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” This is the Christian Bible saying in Matthew, Chapter 5, Verse 9, which every believer of the Christian faith should follow.
But not to Former Manila mayor and now Buhay Party-list Representative Lito Atienza — along with Representatives Michael Velarde Jr., Irwin Tieng, and Jonathan de la Cruz of Partylist Abakada. They accused government and MILF peace-makers or negotiators of committing sedition and treason, which are very serious crimes. If capital punishment were still enforced in this country today and the accused will be found guilty, death sentences are the sure recompense.
Why did the petitioners defy this fundamental Christian teaching? For what motivation, we don’t know. Will the case succeed, we don’t know either. It is up for the court to decide that. But we believe the judge, if ever the case reaches the court, will use his sound mind to hear an extra-ordinary case, which, perhaps, the first such case in this country.
Clearly, the petitioners are not ordinary personalities. Representative Atienza was mayor of Manila. Representative Michael Velarde Jr. is the son of Mariano "Mike" Zuniega Velarde, better known as Bro. Mike Velarde, who is the founder and "Servant Leader" of a Philippines-based Catholic Charismatic religious group called El Shaddai which has estimated following of three to seven million. He is also the owner of Amvel Land Development Corporation, a real estate company, and DWXI-TV, a UHF television station. Representative Irwin Tieng’s family owns the Solar Group of Companies. How the three congressmen, whom we believe are Christians, came to terms with the Bible’s teachings when they contemplated on filing the case. We have no way at present to know it.
The case of Jonathan de la Cruz can be seen in another perspective. Reportedly a “former member” of the communist underground movement, this perhaps explains why he seems dismissive of the Bible’s passage, although we are not saying here that all communists are non-believers of god.
In his argument, Atienza also belittled the various administrations from President Fidel Ramos in 1997 to President Benigno Aquino III by accusing government of acquiescing to all the demands of the MILF, to the detriment of the country's interests and that of other indigenous groups in Mindanao. This is a gross ignorance of the facts of the 17-year negotiations or for any negotiation for that matter. A weaker party in a negotiation cannot force a stronger party to agree to its terms or demands. That is farfetched. The only strengths of the MILF in these negotiations are the legitimacy of its cause which is being supported by the vast majority of the Bangsamoro people and its consistency with all signed agreements, which it stands pat to it no matter the consequence is.
He is also not aware of the fact (or he refused to understand) that the purpose of this negotiation is solving the Bangsamoro Problem or Question. This has been the sole agenda of the peace talks since 1997, which the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) seek to address as contained in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). Stripped the BBL of the essential elements of the FAB and CAB, the consequence would be virtually returning to the state of armed conflict in Mindanao. To the MILF, a no BBL is better than a bad BBL.
Is this the motive of the four congressmen when they filed a treason and sedition case against the peace-makers of government and MILF? Or they simply want instant publicity stunt out of an extraordinary case.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/480-blessed-are-the-peace-makers
Why did the petitioners defy this fundamental Christian teaching? For what motivation, we don’t know. Will the case succeed, we don’t know either. It is up for the court to decide that. But we believe the judge, if ever the case reaches the court, will use his sound mind to hear an extra-ordinary case, which, perhaps, the first such case in this country.
Clearly, the petitioners are not ordinary personalities. Representative Atienza was mayor of Manila. Representative Michael Velarde Jr. is the son of Mariano "Mike" Zuniega Velarde, better known as Bro. Mike Velarde, who is the founder and "Servant Leader" of a Philippines-based Catholic Charismatic religious group called El Shaddai which has estimated following of three to seven million. He is also the owner of Amvel Land Development Corporation, a real estate company, and DWXI-TV, a UHF television station. Representative Irwin Tieng’s family owns the Solar Group of Companies. How the three congressmen, whom we believe are Christians, came to terms with the Bible’s teachings when they contemplated on filing the case. We have no way at present to know it.
The case of Jonathan de la Cruz can be seen in another perspective. Reportedly a “former member” of the communist underground movement, this perhaps explains why he seems dismissive of the Bible’s passage, although we are not saying here that all communists are non-believers of god.
In his argument, Atienza also belittled the various administrations from President Fidel Ramos in 1997 to President Benigno Aquino III by accusing government of acquiescing to all the demands of the MILF, to the detriment of the country's interests and that of other indigenous groups in Mindanao. This is a gross ignorance of the facts of the 17-year negotiations or for any negotiation for that matter. A weaker party in a negotiation cannot force a stronger party to agree to its terms or demands. That is farfetched. The only strengths of the MILF in these negotiations are the legitimacy of its cause which is being supported by the vast majority of the Bangsamoro people and its consistency with all signed agreements, which it stands pat to it no matter the consequence is.
He is also not aware of the fact (or he refused to understand) that the purpose of this negotiation is solving the Bangsamoro Problem or Question. This has been the sole agenda of the peace talks since 1997, which the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) seek to address as contained in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). Stripped the BBL of the essential elements of the FAB and CAB, the consequence would be virtually returning to the state of armed conflict in Mindanao. To the MILF, a no BBL is better than a bad BBL.
Is this the motive of the four congressmen when they filed a treason and sedition case against the peace-makers of government and MILF? Or they simply want instant publicity stunt out of an extraordinary case.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/480-blessed-are-the-peace-makers
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