Of stealing from airports, working as OFWs

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them…” (Psalm 62:10, the Holy Bible).

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STEALING HAS BECOME A WAY OF LIFE FOR FILIPINOS: The theft of baggage and other plane travellers’ properties, goods, or belongings at our airports is reprehensible, but it is merely a symptom of the malady that now severely afflicts Filipinos of all classes and status: our countrymen now appear to be brutally desperate in acquiring money or other financial benefits through means fair and foul, largely because of extreme poverty or extreme greed.

The prevailing thought now appears to be, steal while you can, as big as you can, from anything or anyone that you can, for every other Filipino in this country now seems to be stealing something, one way or the other anyway, from the billions of government funds diverted to the pockets of politicians and government leaders to the steel railings in overpasses, to coupon bonds and paper clips in private and government offices.

Many are encouraged to steal likewise by the fact that retributive justice does not appear to be working here, since money, power, and influence, or outright pleas for mercy, can be made to bear on who gets to be charged, prosecuted, and later on convicted, or acquitted, of criminal charges. Where are we as a nation headed with this kind of massive thievery?

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WORKING ABROAD IS A CURSE FROM GOD: I am terribly bothered by text messages I have been receiving from my listeners from Region 2, particularly Isabela, Cagayan, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya, and from the Cordillera Administrative Region, like the provinces of Kiagan and Ifugao, dealing with broken families and rebellious children of parents who are working abroad as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The general complaint is that, yes, economic prosperity is being experienced by these families, with plenty of money to be spent for education and other basic needs. Yet, it is undeniable that families of OFWs are breaking up, either because the parent who went abroad or the parent who was left here got tempted to philander or become an adulterer.

As a consequence of the parting of the husbands and the wives, the children become wayward, and are hooked into drugs, criminality, prostitution, and rebellion against their family. This is sad because while the government is being kept afloat by the dollars remitted by these OFWs to the country, it is not doing anything to help our countrymen.

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WHAT WOULD PROFIT A MAN TO GAIN THE WORLD? For those who have no qualms stealing either to sustain their daily needs or amass more ill-gotten wealth, let me tell you that the Bible, in its Psalm 62:10, has a warning which says “Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them”.

For our OFWs and the government that greatly profits from them, please be reminded that the Bible considers working abroad as a curse from God. Deuteronomy 28:32 says: “Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand…”

Indeed, as Jesus, our God and Savior says, in Matthew 16:26, for what would profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his soul in his pursuit of profit? Yes, it is true, what can man give in exchange for his soul which will be burned and eaten by millions of worms in hell?

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PLEASE LISTEN: DZEC1062 kHz Manila, 1080 kHz Dagupan City, 711 kHz Naga City, 1260 kHz Lucena City, 1224 kHz Davao City, and www.eaglenews.ph Mondays to Fridays, 6 a.m.; DYKA 801 kHz Panay Island, Yes Radio 88.3 FM, Barobo City, Surigao del Sur, Yes Radio 93.9 FM, Cagwait, Surigao del Sur, Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m.; 92.7 Smile FM, San Francisco, Agusan Del Sur, Kiss 101.1 FM, Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte, Mondays to Fridays, 12 noon; 107.5 Win 107.5 FM, Roxas, Isabela, Saturday, 5:30 a.m., Sunday, 7 a.m.

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