For God, Country, and Calories

By JOSE BAYANI BAYLON

‘I think the Chief Justice was saying that everything that was happening was according to God’s plan, but I do not know if Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will be consoled.’

YESTERDAY I was unnerved by reports that Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno attributed her rising to the highest position in the Judiciary not to politics, not to lobbying, but to God.

I found this unnerving, because it instantly brought back memories of a president who claimed that a Pope (now dead) had told her that it was God who wanted her to be where she was. Unnerving, also because it also brought back memories of crackpots (from Hitler to Jim Jones) who attributed their actions to Someone On High; now how could you debate that? I have not known God to respond to media inquiries, nor to confirm or deny such claims. So anyone who claims “God was with us” when they were doing something naughty easily gets away with it. Because unless you were there yourself -- or you have a video you can upload on YouTube -- how could you rebut that claim or prove that God was NOT with them?

Maybe I just am not comfortable with making God the ultimate Person to thank or to blame when things go right or wrong – or wrong or right, depending on who is on the receiving end (hehe). And I am definitely not comfortable when people say that their actions were spurred by God because, frankly, it is easier to hang a general for claiming he was just following orders than to hang someone who says he was following instructions from God.

Then again, I think the Chief Justice was saying that everything that was happening was according to God’s plan, who knows what is best for our country. That sounds a little bit better, but I do not know if Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will be more consoled knowing that it was God who didn’t want her to get past the JBC in the first place and not her critics really, who were just doing God’s work anyway. Maybe the Justice Secretary should issue a hold departure order for God to make sure he can explain himself before scooting away to Singapore, Burma, the Mall of Asia or wherever it is those who wish to hide from our justice system run to so that the sheriffs bearing arrest warrants couldn’t find them.

Anyway I hope the CJ’s remarks do not cause a stampede of “God made me do it” or “God was with us” defenses at every level of our judicial system, because our judges will be hard pressed to pass on that. I for one wouldn’t want to risk being hit by lightning if indeed I passed the wrong judgment on someone whose actions, while apparently illegal to us, was with God’s blessings! Now if you’ll say “How can something that is apparently illegal be with God’s blessings?” then I quote you in return Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”.

Uh oh…is that thunder I hear?

If, however, all these references to God simply mean that our CJ is guided by strict moral and ethical standards that being God-fearing brings, then Amen I say to that.

“Hindi ako si Jesse Robredo” was how Secretary Mar Roxas referred to himself in part when he delivered brief remarks in accepting the appointment as DILG secretary. Of course Secretary Mar was just saying something we already know.: Robredo is Robredo and Mar is Mar, Mr. Tsinelas is Mr. Tsinelas and Mr. Palengke is Mr. Palengke.

But the new DILG Secretary obviously felt he had to make reference to his predecessor, because the public outpouring of sadness following the accident that claimed Secretary Robredo’s life changed the dynamics considerably, dynamics which had to be acknowledged. Overnight, anyone who was to succeed Robredo would be measured against Robredo; can he fill in the shoes left empty?

My answer would have been that the late secretary’s shoes were indeed large, but it would be foolish for anyone to try to fill it. The new Secretary brings his own shoes and will (hopefully) leave as big a mark, if not bigger, because Robredo in death more than in life would make that possible – the dynamics of his death being the momentum to achieve more.

And there are historical examples, though pardon the one I will use as it is a foreign one. After John Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon Johnson used the political dynamics created by the martyrdom of Kennedy to pass legislation that was otherwise languishing in Congress, specifically the Civil Rights Act. The moment its passage was tagged as the proper legacy to Kennedy, how could anyone oppose?

Secretary Mar should be thinking along the same lines as he ponders how best he could contribute to the country in his new post.

Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo, a classmate in Political Science at UP, is following the footsteps of some American political leaders and is proposing that the sale of certain beverages above a certain size of serving should be prohibited.

I am sure the good congressman is motivated by statistics showing an increase in certain lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, etc., some of which are attributed to a growing consumption of certain beverages.

The problem is, a cup of rice with about 200 calories is just as much (if not more so) a source of most Filipinos’ unwanted calories than certain beverages, which, mind you, come in the sugar free version! So will we also ban extra rice? Or limit the size of cake slices and the number of doughnuts or Hershey’s Kisses that one can buy?

Better yet, why don’t we all just realize that unless we burn most if not all the calories we consume, we will add pounds over the days, months and years of our lives and before we know it, we are dead because we chose to rely on prescription medicines rather than on a healthy and active lifestyle to stay out of doctors’ clinics and hospitals.

This is why, as I move into my fifth decade, I am back to the gym 3x a day. I don’t want diabetes (which runs in the family) to get me. But I need to be active so that I don’t have to give up my Hershey’s Kisses while enjoying my zero-calorie beverages!