BY THE WAY By Max V. Soliven
The Philippine Star 04/25/2006
The President will be going on a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday next week (May 7 to 9). In the light of the oil crisis, with the price of crude soaring over $75 per barrel perhaps even higher as I write it's obvious why such a visit to the Kingdom is important, even imperative.
Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized this by speeding to Riyadh straight from his visit to the United States – where he had declined to commit himself to certain measures being pushed by US President George W. Bush regarding the situation in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.
In fact, addressing the Shoura Council in Riyadh last Sunday, Mr. Hu underscored that Beijing was eager to "help bring stability to the Middle East . . . a vital region in the world." In his keynote address to that consultative body transmitted to me by Saudi Ambassador Mohammed Ameen Wali, he vowed to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries "to build a world of peace, stability and prosperity."
Saudi Arabia was China’s top supplier of oil in 2005, representing 17.5 percent of its imports with 443,600 barrels per day. The Chinese President even took an indirect swipe at his host of last week, President Bush, by saying in Riyadh that in the Middle East – aside from "many hot issues (which) remained without resolution after the end of the Cold War, . . . new conflicts have caused more instability." The Saudi press release said this was "in an apparent reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the US-led invasion of Iraq."
There is another conflict which went unmentioned. This is the recent series of violent clashes in the Palestinian Authority between the adherents of the now-dominant Hamas and the supporters of Fatah, the party of the incumbent President Mahmoud Abbas and of the late Yasser Arafat. Since Hamas won a sweeping victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections last February 21, 2006, the new Prime Minister is Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.
Hamas controls 74 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, while Fatah which was predominant for half a century was whittled down to only 45 seats.
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Foreign Affairs Secretary Bert Romulo assured me yesterday when I checked with him that the President told him she intends to nominate Davide anew when Congress resumes its session in mid-May. Most quarters in the know believe his confirmation by the COA will not find hard-sledding.
Mabuhay to Davide, for he’ll make an excellent spokesman for our country in the UN!
From 20th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to one of our leading diplomats is a career move well-deserved for a man who was born on December 20, 1935, in the remote barangay of Colawin, in Argao, Cebu. His father, Hilario P. Davide Sr. was a Schools Division Superintendent and his mother, Josefa L. Gelbolingo, was a public school teacher – he’s the son of two teachers who made it veritably to the top.
I guess that when Davide is confirmed (I didn’t even inject "if" as a caveat) our incumbent Ambassador to the UN, Lauro Baja, will be retiring. Ambassador Baja was, indeed, set to retire in January last year (2005), but his term was "extended" up to the present. He may, however, be named a Special Presidential envoy. Yet, in this topsy-turvy country there’s never such a thing as a sure thing.
A timely biography of Justice (soon Ambassador?) Davide is now in the press. It was ably written by our friend, Dean of the College of Law of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). Tony Tupaz was also Dean of the College of Law of the University of the East (UE) from May 20, 2001 to May 1, 2003. He is Executive Director of Chief Justice Davide’s Jurisprudential Forum and was Lead Counsel of the Defense Panel of Chief Justice Davide when Davide was vindicated in a foiled try at "impeaching" him.
The volume is simply entitled: DAVIDE.
I can’t "praise" the forthcoming book overmuch, I confess, since the reason it’s been delayed is the fact, mea culpa, that I was late in writing its Foreword.
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The details are being formalized by our envoy to Madrid, Ambassador Joseph Delano "Lani" Bernardo. La Presidenta will, of course, call on their Majesties, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia. Did you think – for all her political problems – GMA would pass up an opportunity to use her excellent Spanish, which she speaks as fluently as she does Cebuano? Here at home, GMA is being tossed about in a sea of political troubles, some of her headaches her own doing.
The serendipity of the visit to Madre España is that Foreign Affairs Secretary Bert Romulo also speaks fluent (and courtly) Spanish, having earned his Ph.D. in law sobre saliente from the Universidad Central de Madrid.
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George graduated BS and Master’s in Chemistry from the Ateneo – but he writes better than most Bachelor of Arts graduates and lawyers.
He was part of the effort to put up EDSA LRT Line 3, now known as MRT along EDSA, and he and his partners are now working to put in another line to alleviate the traffic in the north of Metro Manila, namely Line 7, which goes from SM North through Commonwealth Avenue to Fairview, Novaliches, Araneta Avenue, La Mesa Dam area to the proposed Depot in San Jose del Monte. A new satellite city is envisioned over there, to be developed – hopefully – with fast, safe and efficient rail transport to Manila.
Line 7 will be connected to Line 3 and Line 2 to provide access to all the LRT systems in Metro Manila. The project itself is composed of 22 kilometers of rail and a further 23 km. of high speed highway connecting the Depot in San Jose del Monte to the NLEX and further on to North Rail through Bocaue (Bulacan), thus offering the provincial buses a quicker turn-around time and at the same time "preventing" them from entering the city to add to the traffic mess in the main arteries of Manila.
George informed me that the "visionary" is another old friend, Eli Levin ("may his tribe increase"). The firm is Universal LRT Corporation. After six years of discussions, the government has approved Line 7 for Swiss Challenge just before Holy Week, which objective is to make certain the project is not overpriced.
"The last step after those is financial closing," George told me "Inshallah!"
Anyway, the above information was solicited by me by telephone after I had rung him up in response to his letter.
George Uy’s letter was about another matter altogether, and it said:
"The following may interest you. About four years ago I was invited to speak before the graduating scholars of the Ateneo, because my scholar was the valedictorian for the year. In the speech I touched on the sensitive subject of religion, specially Islam and Judeo-Christianity, mainly because I know my scholar will spurn all the good jobs thrown his way by big companies, and will be opting to serve among the Jesuit Volunteers, which he did indeed. I was concerned he may be sent to the Muslim dominated areas. My old speech is enclosed for your reference, grammatical errors, warts and all.
Anyway, in the speech I made reference to the incident where the monks of St. Catherine monastery saved the life of the Prophet Mohammed. But before doing so I made a little research on the subject. In the course of the research, guess what I found: an excerpt from the book of Dr. Zahoor and Dr. Haq entitled "Muslim History 570-1950 C.E." It contains the Charter of Privileges to Christians by no less than the Prophet Mohammed. I am enclosing a copy for your perusal. The pronouncements in the charter are self explanatory.
"According to Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq:
"In 628 C.E. Prophet Muhammad (s) granted a Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai. It consisted of several clauses covering all aspects of human rights including such topics as the protection of Christians, freedom of worship and movement, freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property, exemption from military service, and the right to protection in war.
"An English translation of that document is presented below.
This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them.
Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.
No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight.
The Muslims are to fight for them.
If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.
Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).
Don’t you think this text published by Dr. Zahoor and Dr. Haq in their volume, "MUSLIM HISTORY: 570-1950 C.E." is interesting in the light of all the hatred being peddled by fanatics who seek to pit Islam against Christianity and other religions?
The above are the words of the Prophet Muhammad and, the authors said, "the charter of privileges has been honored and faithfully applied by Muslims throughout the centuries in all the lands they ruled."
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However, one paragraph in it deserves retelling in this month of graduations and commencement exercises.
"Some years (ago) a story relevant to our decision to fund two scholarships was told during a sermon by Fr. Jean Desautels, founder and former Rector of Xavier School. It was the story of a little girl picking up starfish littering the shoreline after the tide receded and throwing them one by one into the sea lest they dry up when the sun comes up. A wise old man who was walking along the shore noticed this apparently inconsequential act and asked the little girl if she thinks what she is doing really would make a difference, since there are hundreds of starfish stranded on the shore, and she can pick up only a few before the sun comes up and kills the rest of them. The little girl replied that she does not know about the rest of the starfish, but for this one in her hand, it would make all the difference in the world and threw it back into the sea."
Explained George: "I think everyone gets the drift. Every commitment counts, no matter how small."
In his conclusion, George reminded the graduates: "Remember to be ‘Men for Others’ . . . and remember the starfish."
Save a starfish today – and make a difference.
-anben-
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