Pagbabago, according to Bro. Eddie Villanueva, part : Breaking the Syndicates of Government

Let me tell you a story of a great man.

When darkness was slowly enveloping this nation, a young man by the name of Eddie Villanueva stood up and preached the light of Socialism. " You have nothing to lose but your chains", Eddie shouted. People believed that young Bulakeno, because his words spoke of the misery of their situation, one of oppression, hunger and poverty. Socialism, for Bro. Eddie, was the answer. Revolution, says Bro. Eddie, is the key towards true liberation.

Bro. Eddie was still a student when he successfully managed to break the tight grip of a land syndicate in Bulacan. Eddie Villanueva fought them thru the strength of his Marxist reason and they all landed in jail.

Twice did the security agencies of this country imprisoned him and they tried to break his will. Yet, they did not succeed. It was only through the intercession of the Holy Spirit thru Christ that Eddie realized the futility of his struggle.

" It was Christ that arrested me", says Eddie before a group of Pinoy Bloggers last Saturday. " ...And I was not the same again."

Eddie realized that human liberation, for it to be complete, must involved the liberation of the soul. Liberation from wants is temporal. Freedom of the soul is everlasting.

From preaching Socialist revolution to break the chains of human bondage, to the revolution preached by Christ which centered on breaking the chains of spiritual bondage, that completes the man, Bro. Eddie Villanueva.

People listened to him and thru his Jesus is Lord Ministry, thousands, even millions of people were liberated from their bondages. Now, JIL is a worldwide ministry with over 47 chapters around the world.

Now, the Holy Spirit has stirred Bro. Eddie Villanueva's spirit once again. Through the proddings of his fellow believers composed of those in the Bangon Pilipinas Movement, Eddie Villanueva is running for president, for the second time.

And people say, that's a wrong decision. Why? Because many people thought that religion and the affairs of the state are two totally different and conflicting concepts.

But, as a Christian, you are taught to love your fellow human being, you are taught to help the widows in their affliction, the orphans in their solitary and the poor in their misery, how would you do just that?

As a Christian, God wants you to fight for freedom of your fellow man, of justice for those who have none and democracy for those oppressed. Jesus Christ did that in so many instances in the Bible. And as a Christian, one must emulate the workings of Christ when he was still on this earth.

No, says Bro. Eddie Villanueva. A Christian must do the will of God which is not only preach or convert people to the true path but also try to illuminate them of their situation and unite them to fight against those who oppress the land.

That's the reason why Bro. Eddie Villanueva is running for the presidency, because he believes that if he wins, he will be used by God as an instrument for change.

If Eddie wins the presidency, he will change things.

He will smash the syndicates that rule this land. He will use the enormous powers of the Office of the President to arrest and incarcerate those who steal the monies of the Filipino People.

He will implement a no-nonsense peace and order drive. He will make peace possible by bringing together all insurgent groups for a dialogue.

He will break the syndicate inside the Department of Education so that they will not eat up the budget given to the department. He will prioritize education.

Bro. Eddie Villanueva will re-launch the moral recovery program and see to it that the bureaucracy improves.

Bro. Eddie Villanueva will marshall all reform-minded Filipinos and unite them under the banner of True Filipino Pagbabago.

The question is---is the Filipino People really ready for such a change? With a republican mindset, Filipinos will find it hard to accept real change.

And Bro. Eddie Villanueva represents that true Filipino concept of change.

Pagbabago---Bro. Eddie Villanueva style, part 1

Dear friends and readers,

A few days ago, I wrote about how our presidentiables view the concept of "pagbabago" and how different our interpretation of this Filipino term with that of the Western paradigm.

For those who love things Western, "change" means "bartering something" or quite simply, the transposition of a thing over another.

The Tagalog concept of "pagbabago" means metastasis or literally, transposing the old with the new. There is no exchange involved. Filipinos view "pagbabago" as the process whereby systems or things are literally changed. Transformation is more akin to pagbabago than change.

Anyway, the reason why I wrote that seminal piece is simply introduce you to the very core of Bangon Pilipinas presidential bet Bro. Eddie Villanueva's political ideology.

Bro. Eddie is running for the top post based on the assumption that all political power emanates from the Office of the President. Villanueva believes that someone who wants change should use the enormous resources and influence of this Office to effect real, substantive change in society. And why does Bro. Eddie want to change things?

Because he is a Christian. Bro. Eddie Villanueva is a believer of Christ, who preached for the salvation of souls when he was still on earth.

I was fortunate to meet the guy when Blogwatch.ph invited me to a blogger event with Bro. Eddie last Saturday. I was horribly late, about thirty minutes, but when I arrived, my fellow bloggers were asking him with questions left and right that initially it was confusing. Later, however, discussions centered most on his platform, which, surprisingly, is inspiring, to say the least.

Most people believe that Bro. Eddie Villanueva should not run, under the false assumption that the "separation of the Church and State" applies to him. Like what people say about Pampanga governor Ed Panlilio when he decided to run, people also saw that in Villanueva. Seems like we have this mindset that if you're a priest or a pastor, your job is proselytization, not political work.

I agree with Bro. Eddie that if you see widespread corruption, poverty and hunger infecting the people, the Holy Spirit in you would definitely be stirred up. Villanueva has a soft spot for the poor and oppressed, and since he knows that he has the moral and pseudo-political influence as well, Villanueva wants to use this to help his fellow Filipinos.

Anyway, Bro. Villanueva sees "change" as something revolutionary. He sees it as equipping people with power when there is none. He sees change as a transformative process that involves equalization of opportunities. He sees a society as one having the domination of the masses of people instead of the rule and domination of a few.

(to be continued. I need to attend to my roast chickens...)