Wednesday, March 28, 2018

It’s the President’s Birthday Today


It’s the 73rd birthday today of President Rodrigo R. Duterte. According to his special assistant Bong Go, simple prayer would make the president "very happy" on his natal day. Certainly, the Philippine’s most powerful human equally needs a powerful prayer from a holy person like St. Theresa of Avila.

Theresa is a controversial figure, not unlike Digong. The people of her time thought that the Spanish nun is crazy because of her visions and locutions. Theresa tried to ward it off for she was frightened she could be truly under an evil spell or something diabolical in nature.

Digong is brave and despite of his usual cursing and indecency he is a prayerful man. In fact, he is a product of Catholic education. When he won the presidency, the first thing he did was to pray near the tomb of his late mother. It was a very solemn, thankful and earnest prayer.  Truth to tell, over Facebook, the president has its own prayer warriors.

When Theresa of Avila was so disturbed, she put herself under spiritual guidance of the Dominican and the Jesuit priests who eventually discerned that all of her graphic or felt experiences were coming from God. She had a vision of hell and made her realize that she had to save souls.

Whenever he is criticized, Digong is verbally countering. He put himself away from International Criminal Court or ICC after the Court receives cases alleging that Philippine security forces have committed crimes against humanity but still believing that God is behind him in this deadly campaign. He had a vision of heaven: a crime free society where drug personalities are all annihilated.

Teresa wrote a remarkable credible spiritual autobiography of her experiences. Digong remarkably and incredibly jokes about everything in the presidential podium. They both have extraordinary visions in very a contrasting way. But he dipped his hand into the dish (Today's gospel, Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday, by the way is Matthew 26: 14-25) while she didn't.  

While she is the patron saint of Sta. Teresa in Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro, he is the worldly patron of the DDS.

And one of the rare things in common between President Rodrigo Duterte and St. Theresa of Avila is their birthday which is today, March 28.

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(Photo: hidayatullah.com

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