Punchline
Barangay officials still on drugs
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
JUST as I feared, the lull in the war on drugs campaign, when President Duterte decided to pull out the PNP from the war on drugs, the drug syndicates did not waste time in fielding their street pushers back to the neighborhoods.
The recent arrest of a Calasiao barangay kagawad is enough indication that the drug syndicates continue to enjoy regular support from barangay officials in major towns and cities in Pangasinan.
The reality on the ground is: Nothing happens or gets past barangay officials, especially illegal drug trade.
It is for this reason that I urge PDEA, Guv Pogi, mayors and police chiefs to make kapitans responsible and accountable for the presence of pushers in their communities unless it is they themselves who ask for assistance to entrap and arrest known active pushers in their areas.
Knowing Mr. Duterte’s ‘no-mercy’ war on drugs, the drug syndicates are fully aware of the risks they are taking, so one wonders why they are still emboldened as to operate in many barangays.
Of course, the answer is obvious – they continue to get protection from corrupt barangay kapitans and some corrupt cops.
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NATURE’S WRATH. It’s payback time for the way we mistreated our environment.
We are not only seeing swarms of pests attacking our farms leaving our farmers completely vulnerable but we are seeing more diseases that have no cure killing children.
I sense that the worst is yet to come if our government authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the way we waste our surroundings. There are a hundred and one laws seeking to protect our environment, obviously, we are not even strictly enforcing even 5% of such laws.
Tolerating unsanitary conditions in our rivers, streets, schools, etc. is enough guarantee that, indeed, the worst is yet to come.
In this regard, our communities appear to have acquired a fatalistic view of this problem, that they think any effort to mitigate pollution would be futile since the neighbor, or our relatives and friends don’t care themselves.
Geez, in time, use of illegal drugs might just be the least of our communities’ problems
* * * * *
NUMBERS IN THE BIBLE. May I interest you in a trivia in the Holy Bible that our sports columnist Jess Garcia had me intrigued last month.
Jess asked me during our presswork: What is the favorite number of God?
I said: “Seven” (I thought about the 7 days of creation of our world, wouldn’t you?)
He said: “I may be mistaken but I think it is “40” because I remember reading the number “40” in four instances in the Bible. He named them. I was impressed.
He went on. “With this number in God’s mind, I think the end of the world will be in 40th century!” Wow! That’d be in 2,000 years!!
But of course, that’s Jess’ interpretation. But wait, he may be on to something.
I searched Google! Lo and behold! Number 40 was mentioned in the Holy Bible 146 times! Not four as Jess initially thought!
Here’s what Google recorded:
“Mentioning 146 times in Scripture, the number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation. During Moses’ life he lived forty years in Egypt and forty years in the desert before God selected him to lead his people out of slavery. Moses was also on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights, on two separate occasions (Exodus 24:18, 34:1 – 28), receiving God’s laws. He also sent spies, for forty days, to investigate the land God promised the Israelites as an inheritance (Numbers 13:25, 14:34).
“The prophet Jonah powerfully warned ancient Nineveh, for forty days, that its destruction would come because of its many sins. The prophet Ezekiel laid on His right side for 40 days to symbolize Judah’s sins (Ezekiel 4:6). Elijah went 40 days without food or water at Mount Horeb. Jesus was tempted by the devil not just three times, but MANY times during the 40 days and nights he fasted just before his ministry began. He also appeared to his disciples and others for 40 days after his resurrection from the dead.
“The number forty can also represent a generation of man. Because of their sins after leaving Egypt, God swore that the generation of Israelites who left Egyptian bondage would not enter their inheritance in Canaan (Deuteronomy 1). The children of Israel were punished by wandering the wilderness for 40 years before a new generation was allowed to possess the promised land. Jesus, just days before his crucifixion, prophesied the total destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:1 – 2, Mark 13:1 – 2). Forty years after his crucifixion in 30 A.D., the mighty Roman Empire destroyed the city and burned its beloved temple to the ground.”
Hmmm…the spirituality of our friend Jess is unquestionable.
So I wondered about my initial reply to his question. I said “7”. I returned to Google!
Whoa! Number “7” was “Used 735 times (54 times in the book of Revelation alone), the number 7 is the foundation of God’s word. If we include with this count how many times ‘sevenfold’ (6) and ‘seventh’ (119) is used, our total jumps to 860 references.”
“Seven is the number of completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). It derives much of its meaning from being tied directly to God’s creation of all things. According to some Jewish traditions, the creation of Adam occurred on September 26, 3760 B.C. (or the first day of Tishri, which is the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar). The word ‘created’ is used 7 times describing God’s creative work (Genesis 1:1, 21, 27 three times; 2:3; 2:4). There are 7 days in a week and God’s Sabbath is on the 7th day.
“The Bible, as a whole, was originally divided into 7 major divisions. They are 1) the Law; 2) the Prophets; 3) the Writings, or Psalms; 4) the Gospels and Acts; 5) the General Epistles; 6) the Epistles of Paul; and 7) the book of Revelation. The total number of originally inspired books was forty-nine, or 7 x 7, demonstrating the absolute perfection of the Word of God.
“There are at least seven men in the Old Testament who are specifically mentioned as a man of God. They are Moses (Joshua 14:6), David (2Chronicles 8:14), Samuel (1Samuel 9:6, 14), Shemaiah (1Kings 12:22), Elijah (1Kings 17:18), Elisha (2Kings 5:8) and Igdaliah (Jeremiah 35:4).
“In the book of Hebrews, written by the apostle Paul, he uses seven titles to refer to Christ. The titles are ‘Heir of all things’ (Hebrews 1:2), ‘Captain of our salvation’ (2:10), ‘Apostle’ (3:1), ‘Author of salvation’ (5:9), ‘Forerunner’ (6:20), ‘High Priest’ (10:21) and the ‘Author and finisher of our faith’ (12:2).”
Now, going back to Jess prediction about the end of the world in the 40th century that it will happen in the 40th century. Where might number “7” matter in his equation?
Better still, what might be your prognosis based on biblical revelations and calculations?
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