His sins, their sins

Queen Elizabeth of England marked her diamond jubilee recently as head of one of the most powerful countries in the world. That means she has been on the throne for 60 years now, and even if she has served that long, her people continue to love and respect her, and, as far as the world knows, are still willing to have her there so long as she is alive and able.

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There had been a time when there were stirrings of discontentment with the form of government there, with many, especially the young ones, wondering why their country has not gone the way of most others, with duly elected officials, and adhering to the so-called democratic processes. This was, I am inclined to think, at the time when speculations about her retirement and ceding the seat of power to her eldest but not very popular son, Prince Charles. The prince, now probably in his 60s, has been marking time for quite a long time but, as they say, Mother knows best, so the likelihood of his taking over has only faded further with the years.

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And he has not made himself lovable by cheating on the woman he married who was the beloved, not only of his own people, but virtually of the entire world, and then made matters worse by marrying his mistress not too long after her death. I don’t think his countrymen have forgiven him for that, and any indication that his mother will yield the throne to him, will probably revive the agitations against the continuation of the monarchy in that country. By the way, I noted that Queen Elizabeth, who looked quite plain and unattractive in her younger days, has developed a quiet charm and beauty in her octogenarian years. Hail to the Queen!

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It sounds very strange, indeed, that the defense in the trial of the Chief Justice, seems bent on raking up the statement of assets, liabilities and networth, or SALN, of other members of the cabinet, and even of congressmen. Maybe they should be scrutinized, but what does it have to do with the charges against CJ Renato Corona? If he had lied, and if the others did, too, shouldn’t they be tried in another venue? Will the guilt of the others mitigate that of the top man of our highest court? I can’t see the logic at all.

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It really takes so little to elate the Filipino. Note how our officials are cheering at the third place finish of the Azkals in the AFC Challenge Cup. The win does not even qualify us for the finals, but my! Even Malacañang is gushing over it. I wonder how we will all react if ever – cross your fingers – we get another bronze in the Olympics. For sure, a gold will send some of us into conniptions, or even heart attacks like what happened to some elderly men during the fights of Manny Pacquiao.

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Speaking of Manny, he has reportedly declared that he is thinking of retiring already because the Lord told him in a dream that he should do so. That is worrying, because he has a fight coming up, and his opponent, Tim Bradley reputed to be a not-so-clean fighter, might take advantage of this and heckle him during the fight that he should remember what the Lord told him, and not punch him so hard. And then where will all those eight world titles go?

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Meanwhile, it is alarming to know that there are now 77 Filipinos who have been sentenced to death in several countries abroad, and almost all of them were convicted for drug trafficking. The Foreign Affair Department has its hands full trying to help with their appeals, or at least get their sentences commuted. Most of those on death row are in China, where four of them had already been executed last year. In no case did the Chinese government give way to the appeals for leniency, or commutation of their sentences. A strange note about the Pinoy convicts is that those in the Middle East are mostly murder convict, and those in China, Malaysia and Indonesia were sentenced for drug-related cases.

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By the way, another alarming report is that about the growing number of smokers among teenagers. The latest ones show that many of them, especially in the 13 to 17-year-old bracket, are already deep into smoking. Have their schools and parents not adequately warned them about its dangers? So far, many young people have already been reported to be suffering from strange deterioration of their health and body functions, caused by the smoke in their lungs, and the nicotine in their system. Schools and parents should work out ways to stop this dangerous trend among the young.*

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