I think I know why our good friend, the Philippine hero Rene Saguisag, thinks the way he does. At 76, he is really old. Old because of his medical condition. A lot of us who are in our 70s still think we are young because we don't feel any major medical handicaps. We can climb stairs. We can drive fast. We can dance. Some of us still play tennis and chase after balls. My 75-year-old friend here in Vegas does all that on the tennis courts.
I have a friend who is 79 years old and he's still chasing single, young women. Now back to ex-Senator Rene Saguisag. Because he is a decidedly old man, he tends to live in the past, reliving what he perceives as his old glory. He can't live in the future because of his medical condition. We should sympathize with him rather than condemn him. I was wrong when I wrote "shame, shame, shame" while addressing him. I apologize for that. He talks about the ghosts of Tanada and others long gone as well as others who are as old or older than him as though those people were still relevant today. Does this mean Rene lives in the past? I can't say that for sure, but he does have the tendency. Why do I say that he tends to live in the past? He is still fighting the fights of the 19th and 20th centuries. To him, one of the most important duties of the Senate is to get rid of imperialist forces on our land, such as Spain, Japan and the U.S. He doesn't seem as concerned about the imperialist Chinese - our enemy or rival, depending on one's perspective - in our Exclusive Economic Zone here in the 21st century. Part of the reason is that he has physical ailments, which limit his ability to confront China. That may be the primary reason, so we must give him a pass. The fact remains however, and no sane man can argue this, the Chinese are now sitting in our EEZ and when he joined the other members of the so-called Magnificent Twelve in 1991 to kick out the Americans, he either didn't care that a resurgent power, the Chinese, could easily fill in the vacuum left by the Americans, or he never considered that possibility. If he and the others never saw that possibility, that would be even more damning because he was blinded by his visceral distaste for foreign troops on Philippine soil. And he voted to expel the Americans despite the fact that a majority of his countrymen wanted the Americans to remain. In other words, he voted to kick the Americans out to please himself and his 11 cohort instead of pleasing the majority of his countrymen. He even went against his president, Cory Aquino, who had treated him as either a younger brother or a son. On balance, the Senator's life has been exemplary because of his work for people and their families who were either tortured, murdered, or unjustly imprisoned by the dictator Marcos and his scandal-free stint in the Philippine Senate. Cesar L On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 6:30 AM, Yahoo Account [email protected] [Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance] <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > * Siguro po because of prudence. O dahil mga inutil na po kami. > Hanggang demo na lang sa tapat ng Chinese Embassy. May mga kabataan na > naglayag sa disputed area. Ayun, stranded sa Palawan kuno.* > > * I am 76 and can hardly walk or move about. Hanggang demo na lang. > Peaceful.* > > * But when martial law was inflicted, Bobby Tanada, Tito Guingona > and Nene Pimentel, and I, were at the forefront, arrested and detained, > shot at, teargassed, truncheoned, water-cannoned, in innumerable rallies, > when we confronted the dictator. Ngayon, mga laos na. We smelled gunpowder > and saw blood spilled.* > > > > * Siguro po kayo bata at malakas pa. This is a forum for > fraternal exchange of ideas, not childish taunting or pataasan ng jingle, > in case of disagreement, not an excuse I think to be disagreeable. It > took Ninoy's sacrifice to arouse the fighting spirit of millions, > otherwise, we could see the timidity that explains why for centuries > foreign troops were here, until we ended it in 1991. * > > * I support your many good advocacies but made the mistake of having > reservations as to one and it seems I remain unforgiven.* > > * TY and good nite.* > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 9:48 PM, Marcelo Tecson [email protected] > [Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance] <[email protected] > > wrote: > >> >> >> So, why don't the remaining magnificent 12 initiate a CALL TO ARMS to >> drive away the Chinese invaders from our sea territory? What is so hard >> about that? >> >> Isn't the task easy for those who are not going to do it? Isn't fighting >> and dying easy for those who are not going to fight and die? >> >> MLT >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* "Yahoo Account [email protected] [Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance]" < >> [email protected]> >> *To:* "[email protected]" < >> [email protected]> >> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 20, 2016 5:44 PM >> *Subject:* Re: [Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance] "America's Last Plantation" >> Re:: EDCA: A new strategic partnership >> >> >> *We rally in both U.S. and Chinese Embassies, to leave us alone.* >> *We should be like Vietnam.* >> >> *We should not forget Balangiga and Bud Dajo.* >> >> *We should see what Cuba has done, and what Yugoslavia and Albania did.* >> >> *China has not conquered Vietnam and Taiwan, the U.S. could not conquer >> Cuba, and created a mess in Iraq.* >> >> *Pinoy si! Kano, no! Tsina, no!* >> >> On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 12:05 PM, omega is one [email protected] >> [Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance] <Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance@yahoogroups >> .com> wrote: >> >> >> >> If we go by Ravslaw, the Las Islas de los Ladrones would be the very >> first Red Chinese plantation to acquire. >> >> <https://mail.aol.com/IM/?sn=omegaisone&locale=en_US&pd=0> >> *Omega* >> Life is like a melody, only the lyrics are messed up. >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] [Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance] < >> [email protected]> >> To: Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance < >> [email protected]> >> Sent: Tue, Jan 19, 2016 12:54 pm >> Subject: [Worldwide-Filipino-Alliance] "America's Last Plantation" Re:: >> EDCA: A new strategic partnership >> >> >> >> Sen. Rene wrote: >> x- >> *Prez Cory needed 16 votes, for the 2/3 requirement. A qualified, not a >> simple, majority, was required to keep America's Last Plantation.* >> -x >> >> *"America's Last Plantation"* >> A curious choice of phrase. >> >> Am not necessarily saying Sen. Rene is wrong. >> Just taking note - with the hope I can understand more/better. >> >> i7sharp >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Saguisag & Associates Lawyers >> 4045 Bigasan Street, Palanan >> 1235 Makati >> Office Nos. (+632) 551-6350/833-4140 >> Fax No. (+632) 831-2276 >> >> >> >> > > > -- > Saguisag & Associates Lawyers > 4045 Bigasan Street, Palanan > 1235 Makati > Office Nos. 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