Think about it
World teeters on a nuclear war
By Jun Velasco
“Disobedience to revealed light is sin and makes God shut His ears to our prayers ” — Psalm 66:18
AS we go to press, the world’s cynosure of eyes is that irritating country, North Korea, for provoking its neighbor and the United States to a nuclear war.
As of Friday, North Korea’s military under a “boy” and inexperienced leader, Kim Jong-un, issued a statement that it was going to attack the US with nuclear weapons. This has prompted Americans reinforce its defense system in Japan and Guam, in face of a “real and clear danger.”
Although the Philippines is not involved in the ongoing bellicose rhetoric, an ongoing US-backed balikatan military exercise in Camp Aguinaldo could draw North Korea’s irresponsible war games into the islands.
Meanwhile, our foreign relations expert, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., says North Korea’s war rhetoric would only endanger that small peninsula to being wiped out if its provocations got out of hand. He waxed nostalgic in a speech in Cambodia citing the wisdom of the late North Korean founder Kim IL-Sung who has told him that a war between the two Koreas would be suicidal.
JdV talked about his meeting with Kim Il Sung in his speech at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Cambodia last Wednesday. It’s a war that nobody would win, he said, quoting the late Korean leader.
Whatever world war analysts say, the possibility — if not probability — of a nuclear war between N. Korea and South Korea and US allies could happen and affect us horribly. God forbid!
It’s true we have sober heads working for world peace, but the boy North Korean leader is dangerously clothed with power that could blow up the world. Let’s pray that God would spare the world from harm.
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We wrote this column at a UP Diliman computer shop. Earlier, our friend PUP political professor Pepe de Vera told us he had met in Beijing political and military analysts with low regard for North Korea.
China can’t trust North Korea, he said, echoing the impressions of his Chinese hosts. Pepe rules out any likelihood the bully would be drawn by North Korea to a war with the US and its allies.
The other time we were at UP, Pepe and this columnist were treated to brewed coffee by UP vice president Popoy de Vera.
Pangasinenses recently saw Popoy on TV discussing the unsettling gubernatorial politics in Pangasinan. Observations by Popoy and our city high school pal, the former Perla Elinzano, who once ruled UP’s graduate studies department, on the gubernatorial race gave re-electionist Gov. Espino an edge citing his concrete achievements.
Voters and the general public are in suspense mode though after President Pnoy came to Dagupan and Alaminos and campaigned for Mayor Nani Braganza.
A Bayambang native, Popoy topped the evaluation test for PSU president a few years back, but later events proved he has, after all, no regrets about it.
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You will feel the sting and heartbreak of columnist Gonzalo Duque in his Playing With Fire column deploring broadcasts that impugned his person and his school, the Lyceum Northwestern University.
It is ironic that being the president of the local press club, he would be at the receiving end of libel.
The subject should bring up a reminder that the exercise of freedom especially press freedom is never absolute, and that it carries with it great responsibility.
In our free and democratic way of life, it’s not true that we can swing our hands as we please. They stop when the nose of our neighbor begins.
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Every day, we encounter situations that test our faith in our democratic way of life.
When some one discussed the “prosperous” lives of Chinese in the mainland, some of us in the democracies wondered how China which is under a Communist system are reportedly happy than we are. Are they?
We can’t tell because we are not communist.
In fact, down here, we value freedom more than anything else. Freedom is like the air we breath. Take it away, and we die. But we have no right to abuse it.
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NOTES: We were saddened by the passing of a friend, well-known public relations and communications exec Rey Datu, 67, of Tarlac and Manila. His remains were interred at the Manila Memorial in Sukat Paranaque yesterday. His sister Tita D. Puanco was a top official of the National Media Production Center under who Behn Hortaleza and this writer studied devcom.
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