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Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. The little unknown, who never played before, was doing everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked and tackled like a star. His team began to triumph. The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown. The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders.

Such cheering you’ve never heard.

Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed that the young man was sitting quietly in the corner all alone. The coach came to him and said, “Kid, I can’t believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?”

Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well. In the third quarter, when the team was 10 points behind, a silent young man quietly entered the locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines the coach and his players were astounded to see their faithful teammate back so soon.

“Coach, please let me play. I’ve just got to play today,” said the young man.

The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in. “All right,” said the coach, “You can go in.”

It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big playoff game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent.

Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, “My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?”

The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, “Take the rest of the week off son. And don’t even plan to come back to the game on Saturday.”

His faithful father was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him. When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the team as a “walk-on.” Everyone was sure that he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the roster because he always puts his heart and soul into every practice and at the same time, provided the other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed.

The news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games. This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in the game.

Aspiring Athlete Never Got To Play. But When His Father Died, Everything Changed

By ANONYMOUS USER

This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game.

This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn’t want to. But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps he’d get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game, but remained a benchwarmer all four years.

they beat johnny depp in terms of looks.

Inside the Clementinum, Old Town, Prague. (Aktron / Wikimedia Commons)

Prague Clementinum seen from top floor, where Slavic library is situated. (Aktron / Wikimedia Commons)

Astronomical tower. (Øyvind Holmstad)

Entrance to the building from Křižovnická street. (Daniel Baránek)

Curiosities


Baroque library hall

At one time the Clementinum was known as the third largest Jesuit college in the world.

The oldest weather recording in the area of the Czech lands started in Clementinum in the year 1775. The recording continues through the present day.

The Clementinum is mentioned in "The Secret Miracle" by Jorge Luis Borges. The main character has a dream of the library of Clementinum where the librarians look for God in the books of the library. One of the librarians says:

God is in one of the letters of one of the pages of one of the four hundred thousand books of Clementinum. My fathers and the fathers of my fathers have looked for this letter; I myself have gone blind looking for it. So, a reader enters and delivers an atlas for the main character, saying that this atlas is useless. The main character opens the book at random, and find a map of India, touching one of its minimum letters and, then, finds God.

The Baroque library hall inside Clementinum is known for its beautiful interior, including ceiling artwork by Jan Hiebl.

wikipedia/

History


View of Prague from Clementinum

Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.

The National Library was founded in 1781 and from 1782 the Clementinum was a legal deposit library. In 1918 the newly established Czecho-Slovak state took over the library. Since 1990, it has been the National Library. It contains a collection of Mozartiana, material pertaining to Tycho Brahe and Comenius, as well as historic examples of Czech literature.

The architecture is a notable example of Baroque architecture and Clementinum, covering 20,000 square metres, is the second largest complex of buildings in Prague after the Prague Castle. For several years before 2006, there was an ongoing debate on the possibilities of expanding the space for future library collections, as space in the current Clementinum buildings was expected to reach its limit by 2010.

On Jan 10, 2006, the Prague authorities decided to sell the city-owned property located in the area of Letná near the Prague center, to the National Library. In Spring 2006, an international architectural design competition for the new building was put up. An architect who won the competition is Jan Kaplický, but his winning was infirmed, so the Czech National Library is still waiting for its final project.

The Clementinum (Klementinum in Czech) is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009.[1] It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic. In 2005, the Czech National Library received the UNESCO Jikji prize (Memory of the World).


East entrance of the Clementinum

from Shen Mei Hua's Album

aw, kun adik...

Any cat that doesn’t find a home is free to live at the sanctuary for the rest of its life.

One man flew all the way from Japan just to spend a single day with the cats!

People are free to visit between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day.

All the cats are available for either foster or adoption and you can also sponsor one of them.

People Come From All Over The World To Cuddle 500 Kitties At This Cat Sanctuary In Hawaii

by​ James Gould-Bourn

If you like cats and you’re going to Hawaii then you might want to add the Lanai Cat Sanctuary to your itinerary. People travel from all over the world to visit it, and it’s easy to see why when you look at the pictures.

The sanctuary is home to almost 500 cats (495 to be precise) and visitors are free to pet them all, providing they have a long enough vacation of course! Located on the small Hawaiian island of Lanai, the sanctuary covers 25,000 square foot, and because the cats aren’t confined to cages, the free-range felines can roam and explore at their leisure. No wonder the sanctuary’s executive director refers to it as the “Furr” Seasons! The cats are available for either foster or adoption, and any cat that doesn’t find a home is free to spend the rest of its life at the sanctuary. It’s open to the public between 10 a.m. to 3.p.m every day, and our bags are already packed.

more at http://www.boredpanda.com/lanai-cat-sanctuary-hawaii/

The Lāna`i Cat Sanctuary’s original mission was spaying and neutering stray cats while subsequently providing compassionate care for them in an outdoor, cageless sanctuary. The cats are free to live out their lives within the sanctuary’s 15,000-square-foot space surrounded by a perimeter fence, though the cats are also available to be adopted out. The fence provides protection for the cats while at the same time protects native birds by reducing the number of roaming cats.

more at http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2015/09/08/hawaiian-lions-roam-at-lanai-cat-sanctuary/

You can learn more about this study and about the effects of untreated obstructive sleep apnea at www.aadsm.org. If you or your partner suffer from loud and frequent snoring, visit a sleep physician to get tested for sleep apnea, and then visit www.LocalSleepDentist.com to find a dentist who offers oral appliance therapy in your area.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

This revealing study shines a light on the importance of education about sleep apnea. We now know that one reason why obstructive sleep apnea patients do not keep up with their treatment is that they could be either unaware of or unconcerned about the related consequences that sleep apnea can have on their health. Placing an emphasis on patient education about the consequences of this disease will be an important step to help physicians and dentists increase follow-through with sleep apnea treatment plans and ensure a healthy night’s rest for thousands of troubled sleepers.

While there was no large difference between the two groups’ knowledge about obstructive sleep apnea, there was a major difference in the reported concern about the consequences of untreated sleep apnea. The respondents in the group that were not using oral appliance therapy reported a lower level of concern than those in the adherent group. The lack of concern was even greater in the 10 respondents who were not using any treatment at all.

Getting in the Head of a Snorer

Researchers are finding that a major obstacle to treating sleep apnea actually lies in the mind - and not the bed - of the patient. In a new study presented in June at the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine’s (AADSM) 25th Anniversary Meeting, researchers discovered that a key to helping patients adhere to their sleep apnea treatment plan could lie in convincing the patient of the real and long-term effects of the disease if left untreated.

The study from Columbia University asked 80 people if they adhere to their oral appliance therapy. Fifty-eight patients responded that they are adherent to treatment, and 22 responded that they no longer use their oral appliance. Of these 22 respondents, 10 were not using any treatment at all. Respondents in both groups were also asked to rank on a scale of 0-10 their level of knowledge about the consequences of untreated obstructive sleep apnea and their level of concern about these consequences.

Sleep Apnea Treatment Options

Obstructive sleep apnea is caused when the tongue and soft palate collapse onto the back of the throat during sleep, blocking the upper airway. The traditional treatment for obstructive sleep apnea is CPAP therapy, which consists of wearing a mask hooked up to a constantly-running machine that provides air to patients while they sleep, helping to keep the airway open. Patients can find the treatment to be uncomfortable and cumbersome, and up to 50 percent of patients do not continue to use CPAP treatment long-term.

An alternative to this treatment is oral appliance therapy. Custom-fit by a dentist knowledgeable in dental sleep medicine, this treatment - which uses a mouth-guard like device to hold the jaw forward and keep the airway open - is easy to use and quieter than CPAP.

Research Reveals That Increased Education About Sleep Apnea Leads to Better Outcomes

08/08/2016

Harold A. Smith, DDS
Harold A. Smith, DDS, is the president of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM).

Sleep-disordered breathing is a problem that should not be taken lightly. In addition to leaving you feeling groggy during the day, untreated sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea can lead to several other health problems, including high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and heart disease. Effective treatments such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy and oral appliance therapy are available to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

He also oversaw the passage and implementation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act in order to ensure the Philippines moves closer to achieving a minimum deterrence capability on its own. For almost two decades, from 1995 to 2012, the Philippines and China were able to oversee expansion in bilateral ties, while practically freezing their territorial conflict in the broader South China Sea. And Ramos, the most-traveled Philippine leader, was partly its architect.

As far as international perception is concerned, President Ramos â€" who managed to recast the Philippines’ image as the new tiger cub in the town until the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis wrecked havoc across regional economies â€" enjoys almost universal respect outside the country. Ramos is largely seen as one of the great statesmen in Asia. Some even dubbed him as the Lee Kuan Yew of the Philippines. During a short chat with him last month, he quipped, it is instead the other way around: the legendary Singaporean leader was the “Ramos of Singapore.”

Now, Duterte is placing his eggs in the Ramos basket, hoping the former president has the wherewithal to once against solve the China puzzle in the South China Sea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Ramos, however, wasn’t fully convinced by Jiang’s charm-offensive. He also pushed for greater regional diplomacy, which culminated in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) concerted pressure on China to sign the historic Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in 2002 during the Gloria Arroyo administration. Without a doubt, Ramos’ successors benefited from his earlier diplomatic efforts.

Recognizing the power vacuum left by the exit of American bases, Ramos also sought greater American assistance by overseeing the negotiation and eventual ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). The new agreement not only augmented America’s diminished military presence in the area, but also facilitated greater assistance to the Philippines’ armed forces. Yet, Ramos was not putting all his eggs in the American basket.

At the same time, Ramos realized that it was important to ensure overall bilateral relations with China are not defined by territorial disputes â€" in this case, a quarrel over a rock. Booming China was gradually transforming it into a major economic partner for other Asian countries. With China emerging out of the shadow of Mao, it was also important to ‘socialize’ the juggernaut along regionally accepted norms. Direct confrontation ran the risk of altering China’s broadly peaceful trajectory along more troubling trends.

Instead of opting for either bilateral or multilateral approach, Ramos adopted what I call “bi-multilateralism”. On one hand, he immediately activated high-level dialogue to, at the very least, de-escalate tensions. War was not an option. And it was important to prevent China from further expanding its presence in Philippine-claimed waters or close to Philippine-occupied land features in the Spratlys (Kalayaan Island Group). The following year, no less than the Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the Philippines to discuss ways to manage territorial disputes and preserve a blossoming bilateral relationship. The flamboyant Chinese leader never lost a chance to win his host’s good will: Jiang even got to dance ‘Cha-Cha’ and sing Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” during the visit.

Unlike the Scarborough Shoal, which is a high-tide-elevation (rock), the Mischief Reef is only a low-tide elevation. But still, the Philippines felt that this was nothing short of territorial aggression by Beijing. So how did the Ramos administration respond? It considered neither confrontation nor capitulation Instead, Ramos adopted for a four-pronged strategic response to dent Chinese territorial ambitions, communicate the Philippines’ resolve, and alter the trajectory of the maritime disputes.

Initially, Ramos adopted a strong posture, considering various military options to check Chinese ambitions. The problem, however, was that he inherited an emaciated, insurgency-focused armed forces, which lacked the requisite military capability to ensure a swift and decisive victory. America also refused to extend any explicit assistance, since it adopted a neutral position on the territorial claim. After all, the reef was a low-tide elevation, which can’t even generate any sovereignty claim.

With America and its allies focused on the Middle East, and (prematurely) touting a peace dividend in Asia, a dangerous power vacuum emerged in the region: American bases were out; Japan was stuck in a dangerous economic stagnation, while the Soviet Union fell apart, with a whimpering Russia emerging out of its ashes. This was the perfect opportunity for China to regain its ancient glory.

Bi-Multilateralist Approach

No wonder then, three years into office, the Ramos administration confronted the prospect of Chinese incursion into Philippine-claimed waters. In February 1995, the Philippines, which even lacked domain awareness, was cruelly jolted out of its strategic stupor when it discovered Chinese flags and rudimentary construction activities on the Mischief Reef (Panganiban).

By the time Fidel V. Ramos took over the Philippines, the country was a shadow of its mid-20th century days of glory, which peaked in the late-1960s. Ramos had to oversee the recovery of an emaciated nation, with a much-weakened military and a fragile economy racked by brownouts and collapsing basic services.

To make matters more challenging, for the first time in almost a century, a Filipino leader had to protect the country without American bases on Philippine soil. Ramos’ strategic conundrum was exacerbated by the fact that newly-prosperous post-Deng Xiaoping China was beginning to re-evaluate its position in the Asian pecking order.

As far as America was concerned, what mattered was not the territorial ambitions of its allies, but instead Freedom of Navigation (FON) in international waters. For this reason, America was always equivocal vis-à-vis the extent of its commitments to the Philippines in disputed waters of South China Sea. The 1970s, however, were the height of Philippines’ relative power ascendancy in the region. The following decade, a once-promising nation, after years of unsustainable borrowing and chronic bureaucratic corruption, fell into long-term decline.

By the early-1980s, Southeast Asia’s powerhouse fell victim to an economic breakdown, precipitating massive bail out by international financial institutions, and a political crisis, as opposition forces galvanized into a coherent revolutionary movement. The rest of the decade was dedicated to cleaning up the post-Marcos mayhem, as a combustible combination of coups, foreign debt, and insurgency almost torn the Philippines asunder.

Marcos, a trained lawyer with a keen strategic mindset, realized that actual occupation of contested land features was the best way for the Philippines to stake its claim and maintain meaningful presence in one of the world’s most important waterways. Marcos, who also had his sights on the Philippine-claimed (though Malaysia-occupied) Sabah, was so relentless in his maritime ambitions that folks at Washington began to worry about the late dictator using the long shadow of American military support as a carte blanche in adjacent waters.

As legendary American Foreign Secretary Henry Kissinger argued, in absence of international settlement, what matters is “[c]ontinuous, effective, and uncontested occupation and administration of territory”, but “[Philippine] occupation could hardly be termed uncontested in face of claims and protests of Chinese and Vietnamese.” Americans feared that the Philippines would aggressively push the boundaries of its claims, precipitating armed clashes with neighboring countries, including American allies such as South Vietnam and Taiwan, and drag Washington into a region-wide maritime conflict.

Under the Marcos regime, the Philippines occupied even land features that laid way outside its 200-nautical-miles s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The most precious one was the Thitu (Pag-Asa) island: It was occupied by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and soon turned into the first modern airbase in the contested waters. Obviously, this was not done without controversy or opposition.

Neighboring Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Vietnam, which have overlapping EEZs and/or continental shelves with the Philippines, were unhappy. Yet, they were too internally divided and too underdeveloped to challenge Marcos, who boasted the region’s most advanced armed forces, not to mention a colossus ally in America.

Before delving into the grim strategic reality of the past three decades, however, let’s first discuss the time when the Philippines was among the most pro-active and ambitious claimant states. Then unpack Ramos’ own strategy to deal with the South China Sea disputes in the mid-1990s, and how this could serve as a model for the Duterte administration.

Good Old Days

Throughout the latter half of the Cold War period, President Ferdinand Marcos leveraged robust American military presence in Subic and Clark to push the boundaries of Philippine claims in the disputed waters.

WORLDPOST

Karaoke Diplomacy: Can Ramos Restore Philippine-China Relations?

08/07/2016

Richard Javad Heydarian
Academic, policy adviser, and author of “Asia’s New Battlefield: US, China, and the Struggle for Western Pacific”



The year 2012 was not the first time that the Philippines lost a land feature in the South China Sea. The shock of creeping Chinese intrusion into Philippine-claimed waters came much earlier, specifically during the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos.

With President Rodrigo Duterte appointing him as a special envoy to China, it is important to understand why he is perhaps the perfect person to oversee a reconfiguration in bilateral relations. In fact, Ramos is set to visit China today in order to restart high-level negotiations, hoping to restore a level of normality in one of Asia’s most toxic bilateral relations.

 
It is the powerless and the helpless who most need our love and protection, not the powerful.

In the campaign against criminality, we cannot applaud criminal methods merely because we are left unaffected. Life has more value than an accusation written on a piece of cardboard, whether you are rich, or a scum of the earth.

My fellow Senators, that is what we are in power for.

Kaya po tayo binigyan ng kapangyarihan bilang mga Senador, para mahalin ang mga walang kapangyarihan at tulungan sila na sagipin ang kanilang sarili, mula man sa pag-abuso ng droga, o sa pangkalahatang paghihirap sa buhay. Ang ating kapangyarihan ay para sa mga walang kapangyarihan. Ang ating pag-aruga ay para sa mga nangangailangan ng ating tulong at pag-unawa.

Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat.


[PDI Source: Office of Sen. Leila de Lima.]
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

In the campaign against criminality, we cannot applaud criminal methods merely because we are left unaffected. Life has more value than an accusation written on a piece of cardboard, whether you are rich, or a scum of the earth.

Mr. President, needless to say, ALL LIVES MATTER.

Katulad po ng pagmamahal ko sa aking dalawang anak at sa dalawa kong apo, mahal ko po ang bayang ito. Katulad po ninyo mga kapwa ko Senador, mga kababayan, mahal ko ang bayang ito. Katulad po ninyo Mahal na Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, mahal ko po ang bayang ito.

Hayaan ninyo akong mahalin ang bayan natin sa pamamaraan na naaayon sa aking damdamin at sa aking tungkulin. Hayaan ninyo akong maging boses ng mga hampaslupang walang kapangyarihan, dahil marami na sa atin ang boses ng mga nasa kapangyarihan.

Malinaw na ang laban na ito ay hindi lamang pansariling laban ni Leila de Lima. Ito ay laban ng mga karaniwang Pilipino para sa pagbabago, para sa pagyabong ng buhay, para sa kaginhawaan ng pamilya, para sa katiwasayan ng pamayananan, para sa kaayusan ng pamahalaan, at para sa kabutihan ng lahat.

If this Administration is sincerely concerned about the spate of killings of suspected criminals, as it pronounced once before the media, then it should welcome this Senate inquiry. However, even before any Senate Resolution was filed, the Solicitor General and the PNP Chief have already made pronouncements that they will not attend any Senate inquiry, even when invited or summoned. This premature position of some Administration officials is regrettable.

The bloody drug war advocates are fomenting a hate campaign against those in the media, civil society, the religious and private sectors, and the academe. Despite this hate campaign, we have to continue opposing the murder of the innocents as well as that of the suspects. We must call for the accountability of state actors responsible for this terrifying trend in law enforcement, and the investigation of killings perpetrated by the vigilante assassins.

Drugs destroy lives, but we need not destroy lives to destroy drugs.

The international community declares the inviolability of the right to life, of whatever race, color, creed, religion, age, status, gender or circumstance. The civilized nations of the world keep watch on any country that shows a disregard for the right to life, especially systemic violations that indicate government inaction, or worse, statesanctioned abuses. We have to show the world that the Philippines continues to stand with the rest of humanity in condemning and putting a stop to any and all forms of systemic and widespread extra-judicial killings, whether perpetrated by the State or by non-state actors.

Mr. President, in this light, I filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 9, calling for a congressional inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the spate of extrajudicial killings and summary executions.

Ito ang aking pakay: Palakasin ang gyera laban sa droga at kriminalidad sa pamamagitan ng pagsawata sa mga iligal na pagpatay. Magpanukala ng mga nararapat na batas at alituntunin upang tulungan ang ating kapulisan sa kanilang tamang pagtupad ng tungkulin. At higit sa lahat, palakasin pa ang sistema ng ating mga batas para matiyak ang pag-iral ng batas at paggalang sa karapatang pantao.

If we are to shirk from our natural, moral and legal duty to condemn the abuses of power, to condemn any and all wrongdoings, the victims of our silence are not only the summarily killed, but values that are sacred and universal: the very right to life, the rule of law, due process, and justice for all.

Mr. President, drugs destroy lives, but we need not destroy lives to destroy drugs. Ang paggalang sa buhay ay hindi balakid sa pagsugpo ng droga at mga krimen. May mga paraan at mekanismo sa ilalim ng ating mga batas upang maisagawa ang gyera laban sa droga habang itinataguyod ang pangingibabaw ng batas at pag-iral ng karapatang pantao. Our legal arsenal is equipped. It should be strengthened to carry out the objectives of this war on drugs. The war on drugs can be waged without sacrificing the sacredness of life, obedience to the rule of law, and adherence to human rights.

Freddie Aguilar once sang: “Higit sa lahat ay tao.”

This is the biggest truth: “Higit sa lahat ay tao. Higit sa lahat ay buhay.”

The right to life is the most ancient and most basic of all human rights. It is the source of all human rights. The UN Declaration on Human Rights proclaims that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) declares that “every human being has the inherent right to life” and that “this right shall be protected by law.” “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” Our Bill of Rights commands that “no person shall be deprived of life … without due process of law.” Section 11 of Article II of our Constitution proclaims that “[t]he State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”

The statement of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines reminds us that the murder of drug suspects is still murder under the rule of law. My own former office, the Commission on Human Rights led by Chairperson Chito Gascon, has already taken steps to investigate cases of mistaken identity and collateral damage, aside from cases where families of drug suspects had courage enough to file complaints. The relatives of the collateral damage victims are the indignant voices that tell us of the extent this bloody purge has spilled over to the innocent commuter and ordinary civilian.

The Sunday before the State of the Nation Address, the Inquirer’s headline was God’s Fifth Commandment: THOU SHALL NOT KILL. The Church is speaking to us. “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”

Mr. President, these are the voices trying to wake up a person sound asleep while his house is burning. But he is in a hallucinating dream of a country’s redemption by bloodletting. It is just that the fire has not yet seared his flesh, and the blood has not yet reached his doorsteps. The Roman poet Dante said: “[t]he hottest place in hell is reserved to those, who, in times of moral crisis, refuse to take a stand.”

We cannot base our reactions to these killings on the popularity of the President.

Last Friday, the Ateneo de Manila University, through its President Fr. Jet Villarin, issued a statement condemning the nation’s acceptance of these killings as the new normal. Before that, De La Salle University President, Br. Jose Mari Jimenez, urged the La Sallian community in a pastoral letter to make a stand against the culture of death.

Ateneo has reason to cry. Its Math teacher, Emmanuel Jose Pavia, was killed while on his way home. The motive for his murder is lost in the hundreds of street assassinations now taking place. Impunity, once unleashed, has no limits. It simply does not care about the nuances of who gets killed, and why.

The message is this: Let us not wait until another Atenean on his way home is killed. Let us not wait until a La Sallian is killed. Let us not wait until another student or teacher from any other school, or a worker or commuter or motorist, is killed.

I must admit, the public reaction to these executions is not in favor of those who oppose it. A 91-percent approval rating for the President and what he stands for is a formidable record. But we cannot base our reactions to these killings on the popularity of the President. Popular or not, MURDER MUST STOP. S-T-O-P. STOP. Stop the killings now!

There might not be a manifest public outcry, but there is definitely a seething undercurrent of remonstration against the disregard for human life.

Students armed with nothing but courage and conviction have started to act. They are protesting with cardboards on their chests, telling us that no one is safe. If these students, who do not have the protection of position or power, raise their voice against these daily assassinations and rub-outs, what does that make of me, an elected senator, if I keep silent?

As for the killings carried out supposedly in pursuit of police work, there is the usual explanation that the executions were done in the course of legitimate law enforcement operations. Nanlaban daw. Nakipagbarilan daw. Nang-agaw daw ng baril habang naka-posas. Pero alam naman natin na minsan ay style bulok na yang mga paliwanag na yan. We are aware of incidents of police rub-outs. We know about the shortcuts taken by some law enforcers in the guise of self-defense. The use of force, it appears in some cases, may not be necessary, or, if necessary, was not proportional.

We still have a system of law that processes and punishes wrongdoers. We have our Bill of Rights that accord the right to be presumed innocent. What is worrisome in this situation is that the war on drugs is becoming a convenient pretext for misguided or utterly corrupt law enforcers to kill just any one.

Ang magagandang layunin ng gyera laban sa droga ay nasisira nitong mga karumal-dumal na pagpatay. Tandaan sana natin na ang pagpatay na walang katwiran at walang legal na basehan ay krimeng malinaw. Ito ay iligal. Ito ay imoral.

The killings have become so common the mass media has settled for fill-in-theblank template news reports, differing only in the place, time and name of the victim. If the victim even has a name. The “What” and the “How” remain the same. News write-ups carry the standard explanation for cardboard justice. But how are we exactly to know if the killings were simply cover-ups for the involvement of members of the police in the drug trade, or just simple cases of personal vendetta?

Mr. President, TRUTH now, in this country, are lines of acrylic marker on a cardboard. Kahit ano na lang isulat sa cardboard ay pinapaniwalaan na kaagad. This is just a variation of the MEME in social media. Get a photo, get a cardboard, write words, 11 and the people will believe anything. Both the vigilantes and the social media operators take this nation as a nation of MEME believers.

We must force ourselves to be reminded that the victims are always flesh and blood to their families and loved ones. Hindi sila suman o dinuguan.

Tama na po ang mga MEME. Tama na po ang Cardboard. Mas malalim po ang katotohanan.

While the social media operators introduced to us DIY Truth, the vigilantes have introduced to us DIY Justice. Never mind the police investigation, never mind the public prosecutor, never mind the courts and judges. This is DO-IT-YOURSELF Justice at work. All you need is an acrylic marker, a cardboard, some packing tape, and of course, something to stab or shoot the victim with. And there is no filing fee.

On July 3, five (5) men were shot dead in what the police said was a follow-up antidrug operation in the Golden Mosque compound in Quiapo, Manila. The wife of one of the five deceased claimed there was no shootout. “My husband was only trying to fix our water supply that morning when he was shot. He was unarmed,” the wife explained. “We are so poor that we can barely afford to buy food. How can we even buy a gun?”

And so the gorefest continues.

The fact that our attention span has waned as I enumerated only a fraction of these killings already shows how desensitized we have grown to the killings as mere numbers and statistics. We now casually eat our breakfast watching human beings wrapped in packing tape, or lying in pools of blood. Sa araw-araw na lang na ginawa ng Diyos mula nang naging malinaw ang resulta ng nakaraang eleksyon, nasanay na tayo na ang ating almusal ay suman na bangkay at dinuguan.

We must force ourselves to be reminded that the victims are always flesh and blood to their families and loved ones. Hindi sila suman o dinuguan.

From July 8 to 9, three (3) bodies were found separately in Manila with cardboards attached to them saying “Pusher, holdaper ako. Huwag tularan.” The first body was found under a bridge in Sta. Cruz; the second in front of the Metropolitan Theater; the third in front of a golf course on Bonifacio Drive. Their bodies were wrapped in packing tape and bore stab wounds.

On July 6, two (2) women and a man were found dead at an irrigation canal in Llanera, Nueva Ecija. They were found floating in the waterway, blindfolded and hogtied. They were claimed to be part of the municipal drug watch list.

At around 3 in the morning of July 5, in Muntinlupa City, two (2) brothers were killed by the police. They were on their way to a hospital for a medical exam following their arrest when they allegedly tried to grab the gun of their police escort. While their mother admitted that his older son was a small-time drug pusher, her younger son was innocent and was never involved in illegal drugs.

My concern is not only the killings tallied by the PNP as the formal law enforcement agency … My gravest concern lies with the vigilantes of the night now operating almost all over the country, those harbingers of death spreading the apocalypse of our dehumanization.

At late night of July 21, in a Malabon City public cemetery, shot dead were five (5), including a mother and her son who were then celebrating his birthday. The unidentified men who sprayed bullets on the group left a cardboard sign that tagged them collectively as “drug pushers.” The local police, whose outpost stood only about 30 meters from the massacre site, later came up with an incident report linking only two of the victims to the drug trade.

On July 19, an 18-year-old student was just in front of his house in Pangasinan, feeding his dog, when motorcycle-riding gunmen approached him and asked for his father. When he was unable to reply, they just shot him dead.

On July 9, anti-drug operations had turned Barangay Purok Islam, in Matalam, North Cotabato into a virtual ghost town, as many residents left for their safety. One raid produced eight ( 8 ) deaths. At 2 a.m., heavily armed policemen barged into a house of drug suspects while they were asleep. Some residents claimed that the victims were summarily executed in their bedrooms. A mother of the two (2) victims said: “[It was an] overkill. My sons were unarmed. We were treated like animals.”

My concern is not only the killings tallied by the PNP as the formal law enforcement agency. At least we can put the PNP to task in our official legislative investigations. My gravest concern lies with the vigilantes of the night now operating almost all over the country, those harbingers of death spreading the apocalypse of our dehumanization. They match with vigor the killings carried out by the official PNP. These people we cannot serve with the Summons of the Senate. They are faceless, as they are unaccountable.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) reported 395 alleged drug offenders killed in alleged police operations from July 1 to August 1. The daily average is as high as 13 dead during the past one month of the current administration. Higher figures are even reported by certain media outlets. I am not saying that all of the killings are summary executions. But there are telltale signs that several are. A number of complaints were already filed with the Commission on Human Rights.

On top of these are the vigilantes carrying out an ersatz kind of justice: CARDBOARD JUSTICE. It is reported that as of July 29, 2016, 259 human beings were killed in the hands of these assassins, several of them bystanders or victims of mistaken identity.

Mr. President, IMPUNITY, ONCE UNLEASHED, HAS NO BOUNDARIES. It does not care who dies. It does not care who suffers. It does not care who the victims are. Impunity has no sense of right or wrong. It is as amoral as it is immoral.

As a human rights advocate and human being, I plead to the government, this Administration, and to the President. There must be another way. There has to be another way.

WE MUST FIND ANOTHER WAY.

Yes, Mr. President, indeed, we must wage this war against drugs. But there must be another way. There HAS to be another way. There must be a way other than this method that brings us to our collective descent into impunity, fear, and ultimately, utter and complete inhumanity.

I fully support the war on drugs, and I sincerely desire its success. I am one with the President in his relentless and sustained campaign to rid our country of the drug menace. Nais ko lang na ang ating mga pulis at iba pang law enforcement agents ay maging totoong mga alagad ng batas, na sumusunod sila sa batas habang pinaiiral ito, na tumatalima sila sa mga patakaran at pamantayan sa pagsugpo ng krimen at pagdakip sa mga nagkasala, na isinasaalang-alang nila ang pangingibabaw ng batas sa kanilang pagtupad sa tungkulin.

Of course, we must face this drug crisis as a nation. So many have already fallen as victims, both in the number of drug users, and in the number of ruined families.

Yes, Mr. President, indeed, we must wage this war against drugs.

But there must be another way. There HAS to be another way. There must be a way other than this method that brings us to our collective descent into impunity, fear, and ultimately, utter and complete inhumanity. We cannot wage the war against drugs with blood. We will only be trading drug addiction with another more malevolent kind of addiction. This is the compulsion for more killing, killings that have now included the innocent. There are now more mistaken identities and collateral damage. And the proportion is rising. Why is the proportion of collateral damage rising?

Mr. President, they are doing this to a sitting Senator. This is not only an attack against me, but against any senator who dares to be outspoken. Pagkatapos ko, sino ang isusunod sa inyo na mangahas na tumiwalag sa kanilang martsa, na hindi sasayaw sa kanilang musika? That is why ultimately, this is an attack on the Senate as an independent institution.

I will not fall without a fight. I will not go into that good night without nary a whimper, while all these misguided men use the President’s war against drugs as their platform to destroy any elected public official who dares question the methods by which this war is waged.

We cannot let anyone use the misfortune of this nation in this drug crisis to advance personal or political agendas. We cannot let anyone use the drug crisis we are now facing to silence all dissenting voices. If we let anyone do these, there will be no single voice left to warn us of our backslide to the depths of barbarity. We do not want a situation where not a single dissenter is left to remind the people that they have just traded the drug crisis with another one: THE CRISIS OF OUR FAILED HUMANITY AS A NATION.

We cannot go on being indifferent to the daily executions, without ultimately becoming a nation bound by a collective sociopathy. The day has already come when we can no longer tell who is morally wrong among us: the nine-year old street child sniffing rugby, or the policeman who shoots the child in the head for sniffing rugby. This is our descent as a nation into the darkness that these men have created for us.