Marvin Isidore "Sid" Macatol Weblog

There's a nasty exchange between President Duterte and Bishop Bacani lately. You must have read about it already, so let me go straight to my thoughts. As a Catholic who avidly supports Duterte, I can see where each of them comes from. But who's right? or who's wrong? We can argue all day long about that. One thing for sure, such a debate won't help the country reach its goals. Neither will it help the Church. Jesus argued with Scribes and Pharisees, never with local authorities who lived during His time. I'd rather keep my eyes on Jesus on this issue.

Logic is good (we see this in arguments all the time) . . . but we need a greater appreciation of human nature. How are we designed by our Creator, really? It's an unending question, for who can fathom the mind of our God? To me, at the end of every argument, is the question, does this please God? We don't like the answer most of the time. Still, it's a question I ask every time I pause and watch whatever is in front of me... and, trust me, it reduces me, each time, to a round-eyed toddler.

I'm writing this as a reaction to this article, which I saw float in my Facebook Newsfeed... For many Catholics there is no conflict between their faith and their support for President Duterte. Prove me wrong.

It's easy to say be a Filipino by choice, but what's the price to pay? To me, being a Filipino by choice does not have to mean staying here in the Philippines and remain a Filipino citizen til you rot. The reality for a lot of Filipinos is, some of us just have to leave either to maintain their existence, or at least their sanity. You work your brains out here and what do you get in return for the 20-32% the government takes away from your salary? Indeed, what do we get in return for what gets deducted from our profits, dividends or take home pay? How I wish I see statesmanship, unity in purpose, strong and principled leadership worthy of respect and admiration in the annals of our country's history.

You want to be "IN"? Blame Catholicism for our country's woes. This post is a response to the post of (almost) the same title at PinoyBlog.com . In that post, Jerome Nadal makes five arguments as to why the Philippines is poor, and somehow attributes those arguments to Catholicism. This post isn't going to be long (hopefully), but let me summarize Jerome's arguments as follows: 1. Filipinos are taught (by the Church) to "hate himself and the world." I cannot relate with this statement. A Catholic, and every so-called Christian for this matter, is taught about Faith and Repentance. Faith in God, first, then repentance. The purpose of repentance is to reconcile one's self with God, whom one has faith in. So, faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. It's about union with God who creates man and the world. One can't reconcile one's self with himself and the world if he is taught to "hate himself and the world." Is it bec...