KALAYAAN o Kaalipinan? Ang mga Bayang nilita-wan ng mga Bayani ay walang kamatayan (Freedom or slavery? Countries where heroes emerge will live on)" – these were the noble words uttered by Gat Andres Bonifacio, the Soul of the Katipunan, when he rallied his countrymen and launched the Philippine revolution in August, 1896.

TODAY, many of us are cursing – using profane language without even thinking. The culture of swearing, profanity, and obscenity has really spread like a virus. Even children swear, cuss, and profane our Lord’s name and the Lord’s words. Yes, this cussing habit, using profane language and provocative insults, is in fashion nowadays. One of Satan’s popular deceptive ploys to distance us from our Lord God. There are many verses in the Holy Bible on the use of profane language. One Biblical verse says: "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." (James 3:10)

IT’S not uncommon for chatelaines to complain about household help who try to justify their laziness or incompetence by specious reasoning. But as more patient people tell them, "If so-and-so were bright, they wouldn’t be drivers or maids." This is a snobbish way of looking at it, for the art of sophistry is not confined to the so-called lower classes.

IN the past three days, the cost of oil swung from US$66 to $68 per barrel. At this price range, our daily oil requirement of 320,000 barrels translates to a staggering $20.5 to $21.4 million or more than R1 billion a day.

TODAY is National Heroes’ Day, officially proclaimed as such on the last Sunday of August each year, to enable every Filipino to recall the courageous deeds, unselfish sacrifice and daring patriotism of our heroic forebears of the Philippine Revolution. This commemoration also serves to rekindle our national spirit and pride as a people who won their freedom through years of struggle and pain.

EARLY in my career as a college teacher, I was involved as Dean of Student Affairs from 1965 to 1966 at my college, then De La Salle College. We were a small college then, no more than 1,600 students. The Dean of Student Affairs handled almost everything from discipline, student co-curricular activities, liaison with the student government, retreats and recollections, monitoring at games.

"The young men float on their backs,

OVER the past weeks, we have been treated with various events that call for explanations, that require more questions, answers, and more questions on the answers:

AUGUST 28 is Silliman University’s Founder’s Day. It is a special day for the university’s officials, faculty, students, and alumni, with the theme "Serving with Compassion: The Silliman Way."

IT should not be a surprise that the Social Weather Station survey reported that almost half of the country’s lawyers know of judges that are accepting bribes. Survey results in the past have shown that graft has been going on among the judges with no end to it. The lawyers interviewed in the surveys gave the SWS 11 main reasons why so. Among those reasons are the difficulty of proof, fear of reprisal, nothing would be done. it’s a "standard practice," whistle blowing on it entails much expenses in the ensuing legal battle, not knowing where to report to, not being involved in the matter is not their personal concern, etc. But what’s unethical is to include bribe money in charging fees to clients, on grounds that to win a case, grease money has to change hands.

IN her article published in the February 28, 2005 issue of Time magazine, University of California psychologist Sonja Lybomirsky cites the following practical suggestions on how to lift your level of happiness:

JESUS began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to You." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

IN the Philippines, for over two decades now, the seeds for greater autonomy and responsibility for local government units (LGUs) have been planted, chiefly through the landmark Local Government Code.

IN deference to National Heroes Day, which falls on the last Sunday of August, Malacañang declared yesterday a non-working holiday after saying earlier that it would be a working day. Thus oppositionists suspected that the reversal was meant to delay the scheduled congressional hearings.

"These are the times that try men’s souls. He that stands now deserves the love and thanks of men and women." — Thomas Paine

FINALLY, I went to see "The Great Raid," that American production about how a battalion of untested, inexperienced young men from agricultural areas of the United States, against all odds, raided a POW camp in Cabanatuan in January, 1945. The raid would have been a total disaster with both saviors and prisoners perishing ignominiously had not a Filipino guerrilla leader, Captain Pontajo (Cesar Montano) risked his life and that of his men to help the Americans. The American general was dismissive and arrogant and was ready to attack a superior Japanese force without vital geopolitical intelligence and a fool-proof plan. Yet to this day, the Filipino guerrilla captain remains obscure and unsung, even in this movie where, at the end, nothing was said about what happened to Pontajo after the war. Did he receive some kind of award or decoration? Was his guerrilla unit one of those the USA refused to recognize?

THE deadline (Aug. 15th) came and went and the Iraqi political leaders were not able to come up with a new constitution (which will be offered to the people for a referendum in October). The two major sticking points have boiled down to whether or not the government should be Federalist (the Philippines may learn a lot in watching how this plays out) and the role of Islam. The three groups – Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis – cannot come to a conclusive agreement. Shiite fundamentalists hold out for Islam being the "primary source" for the constitution, while more secular minds want it merely "a main source." One of the ironies of this new constitution, dictated by the Iraqis themselves, is that it is liable to end up less secular than that under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Under his rule, according to an Iraqi political leader who was interviewed on BBC, women could drive cars, they could vote, they did not have to cover their heads in public. But the new constitution is being written "by men for men" who are primarily fundamentalists. The few women delegates do not want an Islamic state dictated by Shariah laws. They want respect for women’s rights, respect for human rights. Although initially the US chose not to interfere with the Iraqis in creating their new constitution, the new ambassador from the US to Iraq, Zalmay Khalizid, who served in Afghanistan when that war-torn country was trying to create a viable government, has taken the position on the side of the women, and urged delegates that the constitution avoid setting up what would be a theocratic state like Iran if the fundamentalists prevail. The US ambassador also exerted pressure that the Sunni Arabs, who are a minority, although they were in power under Saddam, give up their original plans to boycott the creation of the constitution and participate to protect their own interests. There are basically three groups to share the government: The Kurds, who insist on federalism and relative autonomy, the Shiites and the Sunnis.

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo must be taking a chance in reaching out when she called the other day for a truce from politicking, regardless of party, sector or persuasion in the face of the looming crisis brought about by the unabated buildup of oil prices in the world market.

LET us take that much needed respite from our regular dose of politics and focus on news that would rather give us brighter hopes and keener aspirations, either as individual citizens or as a nation collectively.

MARCELO H. del Pilar led the Reform Movement preceding the Philippine Revolution of 1898 and thus began nourishing his countrymen’s nationalism.

ASKED by investigators if the popular "Garci," former Comelec official who was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments, was a passenger of a Subic Air Learjet on July 14, the pilot’s answer was a quick DENIAL.

SINCE Rep. Arthur Defensor and Rep. Luis Villafuerte said that 180 House members are against the amended impeachment complaint against President Arroyo on grounds of the prohibition by the Constitution and the law against more than one impeachment complaint within one year, the administration solons can be optimistic that the amended complaint will eventually be rejected. The House Committee on Justice could, in the House plenary session, have its votes against the amended complaint added to the 180 votes of the House members who Rep. Defensor and Villafuerte expect to support the anti-stance on the amended complaint and altogether reject it. If so, the opposition should resort to damage control.Via the Supreme Court perhaps?

Luke 4:31-37