Babe's Eye View article

Today is Rizal Day, but unfortunately, many Filipinos take this day for granted, not reflecting on what Jose Rizal has done for this country.

Rizal was a genius whose life and death continues to inspire many Filipinos. His Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo were sensational bestsellers that exposed the excesses and abuses especially of the Spanish priests. But his satirical writings turned him into "Public Enemy Number One" by the Spanish authorities for which he was sentenced to die by musketry 111 years ago today.

Rizal believed that liberty cannot be obtained at the point of a sword, but by making ourselves deserving of it. He did not espouse armed struggle as a means to achieve independence, arguing that people must first be free of the shackles of ignorance and superstition.

One of the most controversial issues surrounding Rizal was his so-called "retraction." He had been critical of the Catholic faith and the priests who use religion to perpetuate ignorance and poverty. Having been educated by Jesuits at the Ateneo, Rizal came to know of God and acknowledged His existence.

In his correspondence with Father Pastells, he wrote, "We are entirely in accord in admitting the existence of God. How can I doubt his (existence) when I am convinced of mine... To doubt God is to doubt one's own conscience, and in consequence, it would be to doubt everything; and then what is life for?"

Clearly, he was not against God, but the abuses committed by priests under the guise of religiosity. Rizal had proved his heroism when he gave his life for this country. But perhaps the most important thing is that in the end, he made his peace with God.

Five years ago, I wrote about "Peace with God" reflecting on famous people whom I had the opportunity to meet, and how they were able to face the inevitability of death after they made their peace with their Creator. I recalled in 1983 my interview with Ninoy Aquino at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo a few months before August. I was a TV news reporter then, and I asked him why he insisted on going back to Manila knowing very well he would be arrested. His answer made my hairs stand on end: "I have long ago made my peace with God. I am going home. Tell them (the soldiers) to start cleaning their guns."

Richard Nixon's life was a rollercoaster ride of fame and misfortune. I joined the late vice president Doy Laurel during a call on Nixon in 1989 at his home in Saddle River, New Jersey. While he was signing his book In the Arena for us, I asked him about the source of his strength. He looked me in the eye, and in his famous hunchbacked posture said, "My unswerving faith in God was the power that gave me the strength, that always led me out of the darkness of the deepest valley to the magnificence of being on the highest mountain."

My friend, the late Enrique Zobel, suffered for 13 years on a wheelchair, having fallen off his horse during a polo practice session. Knowing that his appointment with death was coming soon, EZ established a bank for the poor, gave funds for the construction of schools, and built a church in Calatagan in Batangas evidently to make his peace with God.

In that same column, I also wrote about my father—the biggest influence in my life. Like him, I learned from the Jesuits the promise of the Sacred Heart that if you go to communion for nine consecutive first Friday masses, you will be given a chance to atone for your sins before death. Shortly before my father died of cancer, he wrote to us, his children, that that promise was in fact fulfilled, for he was able to make his peace and face his Creator.

A person doesn't have to do extraordinary things to be a hero. In the end, what is important is that you have made your peace with God—something which we will all have to face in the end. That is the kind of peace one wishes for everyone, including one's enemies, especially this coming New Year.

I was told about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto shortly after I left the traditional Garden Party hosted by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney at the US Embassy Residence in Baguio. It was rather uncanny that Benazir's last word was "Allah," obviously, referring to her Creator. Here is another example of a person whose faith in Allah gave her the strength to face death.

Pakistan is going to be a major problem for the US with the death of Ms. Bhutto. The fundamentalists have succeeded once again in dividing this strife-torn country, with the Taliban fighters in neighboring Afghanistan turning it into a safe haven, and with the al-Qaeda's base of operations expanding from remote mountain villages to cities like Karachi.

The Philippines is not immune to this kind of situation if the unrest in the South is not contained. There is no question that strong leadership is a key element in fighting fundamentalists and turning the tide against terrorism.

With this assassination, the US now has no choice but to support an increasingly unpopular president like Pervez Musharraf—another Catch-22 for the United States. While they want to have a democratic system in place in Pakistan, the situation is much like in Iraq where enmity between tribes and religious sects run deep, and where an autocratic ruler is necessary to make everyone toe the line. This is another problem the US will have to contend with for years to come.