Straight From Pastor Ey

[Note: This is my personal opinion and does not in any way represent Makati Gospel Church.] How come there are people who find telling the truth much harder than weaving a lie? This came to my mind when I saw on the news that former Agriculture undersecretary Joselyn “Joc-joc” Bolante had set foot at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday night after fighting his deportation from the USA for two years while in detention there. Joc-Joc is accused of top-level involvement in a P728-million fertilizer fund scam in 2004. When the Ombudsman found as “sufficient in form and substance” the graft complaint filed against him and when the Senate committee on agriculture launched an investigation into the scam, Joc-Joc run away. He claimed though that he hid and sought asylum in the US because he feared for his life and that of his family. (Source: http://inquirer. net/) In a press statement, Joc-Joc claimed that, “ Many baseless accusations have been thrown against me t...

Believe it or not, I got confined again in the hospital over the weekend. As they say, when it pours it rains hahahahaha again, when it rains, it's four! oops hahahahaha You know what I meant... :-) Last Friday, I woke up with a severe stomach ache. It was a steady pain. It is not gurgling within (otherwise, it would have been just another loose bowel movement episode) or a sharp, cutting pain (then it would have been amoebiasis, which I got during my media days). I also vomited twice. Experience with this kind of pain taught me not to drink any pain reliever or any medication. I had close calls with appendicitis and diverticulitis before. When I could not bear the pain anymore, my wife and I rushed to the hospital. I drove to the hospital, can you imagine? We live near a mall here so taxis are hard to get. The ER people suspected either gallstones or appendicitis (my WBC count is 16,000 while the normal max level is 10,000 indicating an infection). The pain is also in the right si...

Allow me to share an e-mail a pastor-friend sent to me which, at the risk of oversimplification, graphically illustrated through a funny monkey parable how the global financial crisis came about: “There was a village near a forest teeming with monkeys. Then a businessman visited them to announce that he would buy monkeys for US$10 per head. The villagers went out to the forest and started catching monkeys. The man bought thousands. But, as the supply started to dwindle, the villagers’ enthusiasm waned. The man then announced that he would now buy monkeys at double the price. Thus, with fresh gusto, the villagers started catching monkeys again for $20 apiece. Soon the monkey population diminished even further. The offer increased to $25. But it was really an effort to even catch a glimpse of a monkey, let alone catch it! Again, the man announced that he would double the price. Each monkey would now be worth $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistan...

Thank you for your prayers. I wrote this blog while resting at home after being released from the hospital last Saturday. Last Wednesday, October 8, my wife Ellen and I checked in at the hospital in preparation for my ear surgery early next day. My best friend, Rev. Jesse Dedel, and his wife Rose kept us company till almost midnight. We ate chicken burgers and salad from Wendy’s, sort of a “last meal.” :-) The anesthesiologist informed that he made available for me a sleeping tablet that I could take just in case I would feel anxious and couldn’t sleep. I admit I dread the surgery. (I heard enough horror stories about people ending up comatose due to allergic reaction to anesthesia or waking up in the middle of the surgery.) But that night, by the grace of God I slept soundly. By 5AM I was awake. The nurse inserted the IV. I changed into the hospital gown. Then they wheeled me to operating room. I was even joking with the doctor about taking video footages of my operation and posting i...

More than a week ago, 16 small scale miners crept inside an abandoned mine of the Antamok gold field in Benguet, scrounging for “paltek” or left-over gold veins inside a labyrinth of tunnels. But floodwaters due to typhoon “Nina” (International codename: “Hagupit” ) rushed through the shafts and immediately flooded the tunnels. It became a death trap. The miners at that time were working 700 feet underground. When they noticed the fast-rising muddy waters, they immediately scrambled towards higher shafts and ledges. But they did not make it to the surface. Six miners drowned. One of them even tied himself to a rope to keep the rushing water from sweeping him away. But he still perished. Ten survived to share their story. To survive, they drank the dripping water from the roof of the tunnel. When they could no longer bear the hunger pangs, they started eating strips of their clothing. They kept their hopes buoyed up by swapping stories and jokes with each other. That kept them sane, e...