Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Why Doesn’t Evil Get Punished?
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Psalm 91:8, KJV
Question: Why does the guilty one seem to get away with wrongdoing? Ever ask yourself that? There are times when it appears that the real winner is the liar, the cheat, the scoundrel—at least at the onset. Take, for example, the woman who asks the penetrating question about the betrayal of her husband. She writes, “Why isn’t he suffering, why is he getting away without any pain. He sinned, he caused the pain and yet I’m the one walking through the fire, and I’m the one carrying around the scars from the burns.”
Long ago the psalmist affirmed: “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked” (Psalm 91:8, KJV). What appears to be their reward is short-lived.
David was also troubled by the issue of the bad guy seeming to win. In Psalm 37 he talks at length about the wicked. Fourteen times he alludes to them in one way or another—how they take advantage of the poor, how they seem to amass wealth, and how they appear to get ahead of the person with integrity and honor. Yet, says David, their gain is short-lived. They die and face judgment while the righteous not only lie down at night with a clear conscience but will have peace and inherit the land. “Better the little that the righteous have,” he says, “than the wealth of many wicked” (Psalm 37:16).
Does the individual who does wrong get away with no apparent pain or guilt–say, for example, the man who walks out on his wife and children for a younger woman—”What I’ve always wanted!” he boasts, rejecting the tears and pleas of his wife and children not to leave? Sometimes—at least so it appears. Short term gains with long term consequences, however, eventually crumble and decay.
OK, then, why does God allow sinful men to take advantage of their families? Why doesn’t He stop them from doing this? That’s the old question of why does God allow evil in the world?
Why didn’t God keep Adam and Eve from taking the forbidden fruit? The simple but not completely satisfying answer is because He made us in His image, giving us a will to choose right or wrong, and thus making our love for Him and our choices for right and good meaningful.
God gave you a choice: do right or do wrong. Choose good or evil. But He taught us that with every choice come consequences, and though at the end of the day, the gavel may not be slammed down on evil, there comes the eventual judgment of God when the dead, both small and great, stand before Him and are judged according to their deeds.
Pain and heartache take your mind from the whole and focuses it only on your immediate loss, much like a toothache that hurts but isn’t as serious as if you had chest pains signaling a heart attack.
Forgiving the person who has wronged you takes you beyond that pain and helps you find healing. To forgive isn’t saying, “What you did is OK,” rather it is saying, “I put the wrong you have done in God’s hands. He can deal with you. I’m getting on with my life.” And when you do that, whether or not the person who wronged you is getting off without punishment, it pales. And He is far more capable of meting out judgement than we are. Remember, God will have His payday someday.
Resource reading: Psalm 37
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/why-doesnt-evil-get-punished/
Lolo sa Iloilo natagpuang patay, pinagbabaril sa loob ng bahay
AJUY, Iloilo — Patay na nang matagpuan ang isang lalaki sa loob ng kanyang bahay sa Barangay Badiangan sa bayan na ito noong Martes ng hapon.
Nakilala ang biktima na si Hendry Debaja, 62.
Sa imbestigasyon ng Ajuy police, nakita na lamang ng kapitbahay ang biktima na nakahandusay sa sahig at wala ng buhay.
May mga nakitang tama ng baril sa ulo at leeg ng biktima matapos suriin ng Scene of Crime Operatives (SOCO).
Narekober din sa lugar ang 2 basyo ng bala na pinaniniwalaang nanggaling sa 9mm caliber pistol.
Patuloy pa ang pagtukoy ng awtoridad sa salarin at motibo sa krimen.
—Ulat ni Rolen Escaniel
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/31/21/lolo-sa-iloilo-natagpuang-patay-pinagbabaril-sa-loob-ng-bahay
2 suspek sa pagpatay ng guro sa Oriental Mindoro arestado
Arestado ang 2 lalaki na sinasabing responsable sa pagpatay sa isang 29 anyos na guro sa Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro gabi ng Martes.
Ayon kay Lt. Col. Timoteo Esperitu, hepe ng Calapan police, nahuli sa follow-up operation sa Barangay Lumangbayan sa bayan ng Baco ang 2 suspek na may edad 30 at 33 anyos.
Narekober sa mga suspek ang isang kalibre .45 na baril, rifle, mga bala at motorsiklo.
Ayon kay Esperitu, nakilala ng ina ng biktimang si Mark Linniel Balita ang mga suspek dahil nakababa ang mga face mask nila nang barilin ang biktima.
Tumangging magbigay ng pahayag ang mga suspek kaya hindi pa rin matukoy ang motibo sa pagpatay kay Balita, na guro sa Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology.
Bago mag-alas-7 ng gabi noong Martes, tinambangan ng riding-in-tandem ang kotseng sinasakyan nina Balita.
Dead on the spot ang guro habang nakaligtas ang kaniyang ina at kapatid.
Ang biktima ay pinsan din ng radio anchor at negosyanteng si Carl Balita.
-- Ulat ni Dennis Datu, ABS-CBN News
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/31/21/2-suspek-sa-pagpatay-ng-guro-sa-oriental-mindoro-arestado
Cagayan town logs 1st COVID-19 case after a year without infection
(UPDATE) Santa Praxedes town in Cagayan recorded its first COVID-19 case after avoiding an infection for a year.
The town's health unit said in its Facebook page that an overseas Filipino worker who arrived from Saudi Arabia tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, after undergoing a swab test on Saturday, March 27.
The female migrant worker reportedly tested negative for the virus in Manila so she was allowed to go home to Santa Praxedes. According to the rural health unit, she was exposed to the COVID-19 infected van driver.
She also had co-passengers in the van, but they went home to the towns of Abulug and Claveria.
The Santa Praxedes local government said no other resident in the town was exposed to the OFW since she was immediately sent to an isolation unit.
She is asymptomatic, the rural health unit said, and has been transferred to the DOH Community Isolation Unit in Tuguegarao City.
Santa Praxedes officials said they would be implementing strict quarantine protocols in the following days to avoid further COVID-19 transmission. — Report from Harris Julio
Gov. Hernandez: Laguna hospitals ‘getting full’ as COVID-19 cases surge
Hospitals in Laguna are "getting full" due to rising COVID-19 cases, the provincial governor said Wednesday.
Laguna is included in the NCR Plus bubble, along with Metro Manila, Cavite, and Bulacan, which was placed under enhanced community quarantine until Easter Sunday.
"Medyo napupuno na po ang mga ospital natin. We have 9 provincial hospitals at continuous po ang monitoring dahil marami po talagang pasyente ang pumapasok," Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.
(Our hospitals are getting full. We have 9 provincial hospitals that we continuously monitor because there are many patients coming in.)
Some 2.7 million low-income families in the province will receive assistance from government for the weeklong strict lockdown, he added.
"Wala pa pong eksaktong petsa. Kailangan matanggap muna ng LGUs (local government units) ang pera. Ang local government handa iimplement agad yan," Hernandez said.
(There's no exact date yet. LGUs just need to receive the money. They are ready to hand them out immediately.)
"Bukod sa assistance na matatagap sa national government . . . Meron pa naman po tayong pondo na pwedeng i-suspend, pondo sa ibang programa ilipat sa mas urgent na bagay."
(Besides assistance from national government, we have funds we can suspend and transfer to more urgent measures.)
Hospitals in Metro Manila are projected to reach full capacity by the first week of April if government fails to slow down COVID-19 transmission.
Patients will then be referred to hospitals outside the capital region, officials earlier said.
Ika-500 anibersaryo ng unang Easter Mass sa Pilipinas, ipagdiriwang
Inanyayahan ng Archdiocese of Manila ang lahat ng Katoliko na ipagdiwamg ngayong Miyerkoles ang ika-500 anibersaryo ng unang Easter Mass sa Pilipinas.
Ang selebrasyon ng isa sa mga mahalagang parte ng kasaysayan ng bansa ay pwedeng panoorin sa pamamagitan ng pagdalo sa online mass live sa Limasawa sa Southern Leyte.
Alas-10 ng umaga ang misa at inaasahan na pupunta ang Apostolic Nuncio o ang representative ng Santo Papa sa Pilipinas.
Todo paghahanda na ang ginagawa ng Diocese of Maasin para sa selebrasyon. Ang pilgrim image ng Santo Niño de Cebu ay dumating na sa lungsod ng Maasin at dadalhin ito sa Limasawa Island para sa misa. Magkakaroon din ng fluvial procession mula sa mainland ng Southern Leyte papunta sa isla.
Naging kontrobersyal ang pagpili sa Limasawa bilang lugar kung saan naganap ang unang Easter Mass sa Pilipinas. Pero matapos ang ilang taong research, aprubado ng gobyerno at ng Simbahan na noong March 31, 1521, nangyari ang misa sa Limasawa.
Bahagi ito ng Quincentennal Commemorations sa Pilipinas at ng 500 taon ng Kristiyanismo sa bansa.--Ulat ni Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News
Pulis na nagpaputok ng baril dahil sa 'sama ng loob', arestado sa Isabela
Arestado ang isang pulis matapos itong ireklamo ng pagpapaputok ng baril sa Barangay Labinab, Cauayan City, Isabela nitong Lunes ng gabi.
Kinilala ang naaresto na si Police Master Sergeant Ambrocio Albano, 34, na residente rin sa nasabing lugar at kasapi ngayon ng Luna Police Station.
Ayon sa Cauayan City Police, nakatanggap sila ng sumbong mula sa isang concerned citizen tungkol sa narinig nilang magkakasunod na putok ng baril.
Agad rumesponde ang mga pulis sa lugar na nagresulta sa pagkakadakip sa suspek.
Narekober sa pag-iingat niya ang kalibre 9mm service firearm na inisyu sa kaniya ng pamahalaan.
Nakuha rin sa pinangyarihan ng insidente ang pitong basyo ng bala.
Wala naman napaulat na nasaktan o nasugtan sa pangyayari.
Ayon sa Cauayan City Police, inamin ng suspek ang kaniyang ginawa na naging paraan lang umano niya para maglabas ng sama ng loob matapos silang magkaroon ng pagtatalo ng kaniyang ama.
Posibleng maharap sa kasong administratibo ang naarestong pulis na napag-alamang galing ng National Capital Region at isang taon pa lamang na nadestino sa Luna Police Station.
- ulat ni Harris Julio
Locsin, 3 other ASEAN foreign ministers to visit China, says China’s foreign ministry
The Philippines' chief diplomat and 3 other Southeast Asian foreign ministers will be visiting China from March 31 to April 2, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Locsin's trip comes amid the continuing presence of Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying, during her regular press conference on Tuesday, said Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Locsin will be visiting China at the invitation of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Locsin has yet to confirm the development.
Hua said the visit is expected to strengthen the ties between China and the member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN relations.
The Philippines has protested the presence of around 200 Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) since March 7, and demanded that China withdraw them.
Retired Philippine Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warned it could lead to occupation and building of a naval base on the reef as China did on Mischief Reef in 1995.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila denied allegations the vessels are part of Beijing's militia, describing them as fishing vessels taking shelter due to “rough sea conditions.” It also insisted that the reef is part of their territory.
The United States, Japan, Australia, Canada and United Kingdom have expressed their concern over the Chinese incursion in the West Philippine Sea.
China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea, of which the West Philippine Sea is a part, had been invalidated by a United Nations-backed arbitration court in 2016.
China has been criticized for aggressively asserting its claims in the marine resources- and energy-rich waterways, and militarizing features there.
China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei all claim parts of the South China Sea.