In the coming days we will witness the rebirth of the Philippines–our prayers for our country will determine whether the outcome will be for good or for evil. I have been in a church service this past week and had seen a vision of what is coming upon our country. I felt that this is real and true, I saw the Philippines bathed with a great light, the radiance and the expanse of it covers the entire island in yellowish tinge coming from the heavens above and animated by wavelit light. Proverbs 4:18 seems to specifically speak of this saying, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” I believe the yellow tinge speaks of triumphant jubilation that will follow because the people will be happy.

Their exultant joy and happiness will be the result of having elected a righteous leader who will rule this nation and provide new direction for the people. It will be a jubilation that finally the term of a wicked ruler has finally ended, Proverbs 11:10-11 continues, “The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the wicked die. Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart (NLT). In another translation it says, “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation. By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked (NKJV).

Our people are tired of the veiled darkness that this present administration had been trying to hide but was much exposed from the Hello Garci tapes, the fertilizer scam, and to the ZTE deal. They want to throw off the restraint that it has yoke the people with for a long time. It will be a breath of relief just to get rid of this mess.

Economic issues

The battle these days will not be about social issues although that is important such as medicare or pension plans but more importantly it will be an economic issue that would be the hinge of all that we are fighting for across this country. Corruption hinders, stops and derails any economic gains and it has been the giant that we have been battling in the past 40 years. To be successful in this war does not only mean economic re-education but more of transformation, a renewal and rebirth that we all need.

To make a case in point, we are today a generation that have many dysfunctional families created by the mass exodus of Filipinos in other countries. While we bewail to see this happen under our watch, we loathe also to change our ways which primarily brought this curse upon us. Satan comes in to oppress the people only when he has a legal foothold to stay and accuse us before the Lord. Until we have confessed and repented of our greed, he has a reason to stay. House cleansing from corruption starts through confession but ends in a heart that is transformed to His nature.

Sin is a reproach to any people

As it is written, no country will get elevated, exalted and promoted by God which has not repented of its sins in the past. This is made more clear in Proverbs 14:34 which says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.” The righteousness that God has been looking to our nation is not our personal righteousness rooted in our goodness or kindness to others. That is the righteousness classified as filthy rags in Isaiah 64:6. No one can be righteous because he is good or he is working for the good of others. The righteousness God has been looking is a perfect righteousness without spot or blemish, do you know anyone who was and who is blameless in this world from birth to death? I know not one, nor have met anyone who has this kind of righteousness except for One.

He came to fulfill this righteousness which God has been looking as the payment of obligation for the sins committed by men. He said, “as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). And it says further, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We have all fallen short of the standard of God as individuals and as a people. No one would even be found seeking the Lord voluntarily, unless He drew that person to Himself.

Righteousness then is not only the issue but it is the biggest issue for everyone who is running and trying to make amends for where we have fallen short. If there was none who could satisfy this requirement of perfect righteousness among us, who could then, satisfied this requirement of God? The only answer is Jesus Christ, the Son of Man who came to fulfil all the requirement of the law for someone who is blameless in all things, without fault and without sin.

For “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2-3). Jesus Christ became like us, flesh and blood, so that He can become the sacrifice for our sins. Without this sacrifice, there would have been no redemption and there would have been no justification for all. We would have all been still living in sin but thanks be to God who has led us in His triumph in Christ.

Unrighteousness is rooted in sin

The root of all unrighteousness is sin and the power of unrighteousness is rooted in the law. We could not have known sin unless there was a law which shows us what is right and what is wrong. Moreover, we all tend to do the wrong things because in the first place we are not born righteous. The past 40 years is significant for our nation because it shows to us that in spite of the most gifted and able leaders elected, as well as the most foolish of all, none of them had been able to blot out the reproach that our nation had ran into.

The word reproach means shame, disgrace, dishonour, and debasement. All of these words have derogatory meanings and have been applied to describe us. . All because we have chosen to walk in the way of Balaam, we chose to compromise to call what is unrighteous as righteous and to call what is honourable as dishonourable which is the last state which we want to fall into. Is this not what is happening to our justice system? To our senators and congressmen, elected leaders who use their authorities to extort and crush the hopes of the poor?

Singapore, Taiwan, China and South Korea, all hardworking people had been transformed from poverty to riches and glory in the last 20 years. Countries which may not have been blessed with as much resources as we have been endowed from fishing grounds, minerals, scenic forests and mountains, literacy and above all Christian heritage had all become industrialized with a justice system that could even be more righteous than us in implementing the law of their land. Where have we gone wrong down the road 40 years ago? What things have we done to move ahead and overcome our past failures? What are the steps to take and the practical solution we need for this problem?

As I have been meditating on these issues in the past 10 years, I find that there are also three answers to these questions. We have been treating the same problem for 40 years by using the same solution without getting any results. Second, this problem has two main aspects, the spiritual and the practical part. To answer only one of these aspects will not only be dangerous but will bring even worse than not having answered it after all. Third, we have been looking for solution in the wrong places.

The definition of insanity

Einstein probably wrote a maxim that has more value for us than his theory of relativity, he said, the basic definition of insanity is using the same solution twice and expecting a different result. We have been looking for the qualified men and women to take and drive our nation out of the darkness that has enveloped it since time of Marcos. More than 40 years had since elapsed, but in spite of the intellectual brightness of our elected leaders. No one seemed to have been elected as the solution to our problem.

We were expecting that after every election we will find our leaders the hope that they are for our country only to fail one after the other in breaking the neck of poverty in this country. Countless studies have been made about why the Philippines is poor with all the calculations and data and the think tanks who became the consultants of our country, none of them were able to have a breakthrough. We even elected a woman president who had a doctorate in economics but it seems that in spite of her knowledge, we barely made a move from where we are stuck in the mud. It seems that we are in the times when the wisdom of the wise God called it foolish and those who seems to be obviously dependent on their works and knowledge are not truly attaining to anything.

For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,  And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1 Corinthians 1:19-21

It is truly an insanity that during the past 40 years, neither the church nor the people had been able to discern what God does want to do in the midst of all these things. None were seeking the Lord for the reason of these things and most we already satisfied of their preconceived notions of God bringing His chastening over the Philippines. But is it so? This conventional wisdom removes from it our responsibility, our part of what we should be found doing for our country. Rather, all these things that happened to us is a testament to His grace, that for the past 40 years God has been awakening us to our senses, that only God is the real and genuine answer to all our problems.

Jesus is the Savior of the Philippines from sin and reproach, not the leaders. But for every elected official, they have the grave responsibility to look and shepherd over this great people of God. As true leaders, God commands righteousness as the foremost definition and pillar of any governance, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne” (Psalms 89:14).

Jesus is not only a personal Savior but also a national one

Because most of us have first put the intellect more than the heart issues, we were deceived and found that the results of managing our government through our own wisdom and strength is only death and greed. Not learning enough from this, we thought that because the worldly wise failed in their presidency, we elected an adulterer, a husband of many wives and a patron of jueteng and casinos.

The result was despondency and further loss of vision among the people. Our people failed to listed to the raging message from heaven, that as one who has been called from heaven to fulfil her destiny, we are to look towards God for the wisdom and strength to move our nation from the state of bankruptcy and failure to one which is from glory to glory, and faith to faith. Like the biblical Israel, only during these times have we become more sensitive to what the Lord is really pointing to us,

“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

He delights to use the foolish, those who are dependent to Him to bring mighty miracles. He did not call the wise and the intellectuals to change our nation. None can do that. Only Jesus is the Savior of this nation and He too is the only provision given for the fulfilment of the call of this nation. If we are to be a truly committed sheep nation, we have to walk in the strict and narrow way of God; we are to call upon Him as a nation repenting of our idolatry. We are to give up compromising, with one foot in darkness enjoying sin and the other one stepping into the doors of heaven. This is what we are doing when we profess to worship God but our hands or deeds deny this confession. We have to give up our idolatry.

We have to stop looking at man as our savior and instead start turning our gaze upon the glory of the Son of Man so that we can be transformed. Our nation is different; it is unique and we cannot simply take our economic models from Japan or the United States though these too are good nations. Every nation must fulfil their own destinies and the fastest way to do that is to look to God who alone can decide on the fate of every nation. Could this be the reason for our hardships and trials? Is God speaking in our midst and pointing us to gaze above and not to our prosperous neighbors?

This idolatry which manifests in greed and corruption is the sin of our people. We have failed to love our neighbour and instead despised them. Wealth and riches were not given to be spent for our conceits but to have an abundance to readily supply the needs of others. We are not to hoard or hide what God has given us. The following Scriptures give us a prophetic outline of what a nation that looks to God should be doing.

The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. Psalms 33:10-12

Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Psalms 37:4-6

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1
As Einstein had said, if we do not change the direction where we are headed, we will end up in the asylum of the insane. We cannot keep on expecting a different result while using the same formula and equation to solve the problem. That brings us to the next issue, which is the nature of our problem. We are not only facing our sin, but also the consequences of our sins.

We need supernatural help

The problem is spiritual in nature but the solution is first the spiritual commitment and second this commitment brings practical fruit that addresses all the negative impacts of the problem. We cannot attack this problem by first treating only the symptoms of the disease. The only way to solve this problem is identify where we are sick or of what we are sick of, then use medicine to bring healing to our bodies.  Many times in the past we have been labelled as the sickman of Asia with Bangladesh. And though we have made some astrides past this negative statement, we have not been completely healed yet.

Every sick person will go to a doctor to get prescriptions or to have himself diagnosed of a disease. But before we go on to a morbid introspection of what went wrong, God sent the Holy Spirit as His finger and light to expose our disease and convict us of where we are failing. To do that fast, God has already made clear to us all that no amount of human genius and training could actually lift the Philippines off from where it is stuck. How do I know? 40 years in the wilderness of using our own strength to attempt to solve our chronic problem is enough to conclude that we need supernatural help. It will take a miracle for our country to achieve its destiny to become a missionary sending country, a bastion of light to Asia and the world and as messengers to the nations. For that to happen, we need a lot of changing. We need to have:

1)     Zero national debt

2)     The manufacturing base and hub of companies in South East Asia

3)     A health insurance system that is sustainable, pro-poor and elderly

4)     The best science and educational system in Asia and the envy of the world

5)     The best military system in Asia

6)     No unemployment

7)     No outstanding pollution debts

8)     A balanced trade and national budget

9)     A foreign policy that helps Israel and the democratic world

10)  Energy independent

11)  A Social Security System that allows the seniors to live with dignity

Sounds impossible? Only if we fail to live by faith and to look at the object of our faith; we resolve that we will not allow any more failures to overtake us. The most remarkable thing with Hitler is that he was able to turn Germany around which have an estimated 50% of unemployment and an economy that is already in the worst possible state. We can reason out that it happened because of the rapid military mobilization of Hitler but this is debunked by what happened just after World War II. Germany did it again in peace time to become the third biggest economy just after being destroyed in World War II by Allied bombers. Germans are some of the most remarkable people worth studying; it is indeed a land of ideas and culture but whose resources seem to be dwarfed by what we have now.

The answer to the practical aspect of our problem is commitment for economic expansion and a vision to turn the Philippines into a first world status by providing a stable and peaceful business environment for investors to come in, development and funding for small and medium enterprises and clear provisions of help and incentives for those who will stay and chose the Philippines as their hub for manufacturing. This can only be accomplished when we have leaders who are righteous, they honor their words and every written policy is implemented and not misaligned or tabled. Integrity is the foundation for greatness whether in any field of human endeavor. The first test of integrity is to be proven faithful in even the smallest of things or issues. When we are, then God can entrust us with more. Every time we break our word, we are only showing our unfaithfulness and the lack of integrity that we are. Choose leaders whose aim is to live for what is right and whose only cover is the blood of Christ, not the skin of another human being.

Looking for answers from above

To make matters worst, we have also been looking for solution in the wrong places. We took in the Egyptian masters, we consulted with the magicians of the world to hope to bring magic and trick our economy into moving in the right direction. Every time we try to solve our problems by our own strength, we will fail. For those who have made covenants with God, the Lord, our covenant partner is the only real Solution and Partner to our redemption. Because we have been dedicated to the Lord, our destiny is to be the servant of the Lord, a light that shines to this world. As a light, we are called to discover, to enlighten and show the world what right living is under God and what the benefits are.

But because we tried to do things singlehandedly without even asking the Lord to help us and bring a turn around in our country, we dishonored our Partner in progress. If there is conclusion to the 40 year project of how to run the economy in failure, it is this, no human intellect, will power and strength can turn around an engine bigger than its actual capacity is. To move this heavy object, the only way is to humbly bring to God our petition that no amount of human genius can help us remove the burden that we have been carrying except by His grace. God gives grace which is His provision, but only to the humble. Let us therefore repent of our sins as a nation and humble ourselves before the Lord for choosing weak leaders who does not have discernment of the times we are in.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5-7

The blueprint for progress

What may take a thousand years for man to accomplish; God can do in one day. That is the power of His grace. No one deserves it. No one needs it as much as we do now. The election period has come and the time for us to choose has also come for its fulfilment. Let us therefore vote for the righteous leaders, those who are able to discern the times that we are in, those who understand that no amount of human genius and will power can change us or bring economic miracle except the hand that is in heaven. He still speaks the same to us, “The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.” It is just logical that if He frustrates the counsel of nations, it is because He wants to give us His counsel and for us to work on that pattern for our own good. The blueprint for this economic development in the Philippines had already been shown by Gov. Joey Lina in Laguna. Its wider application however is yet to be realized.

When he assumed the governorship in 1995, the provincial capitol was bankrupt and with no means to finance any project at hand. He had inherited a province which was noted for corruption, unsafe places, drugs and poverty. From a seed account of just 61 million pesos, Gov. Joey Lina finished his term in 2001 with a balanced account and annual revenue of 1.8 billion pesos. For only six years, he was able to turn around the province to become the number one province among all the provincial governments and the first to surpass the 1 billion tax revenue mark. It was even noted that Laguna’s agricultural produce surpassed that of Benguet during his term. This was nothing short of an economic miracle if only at smaller scale.

He attributes the key to his success, not to his genius but to his integrity and godly fear. The Word of God is clear on this matter, those who honor Him, He will honor them (1 Samuel 2:30). In the Bible, Israel attained its greatest height of power and influence under the reigns of King David and Solomon, leaderships which were punctuated with godly fear and defined by a moral integrity.  Integrity is a moral force that cannot be faked and it produces righteousness that is of great value to everyone. This allows businessmen to trust the words of a leader as his honor at stake. Because of this, Laguna has been honored as one of the top grossing provinces in tax and investment revenues. This can be duplicated elsewhere by leaders who not only fears God but also provides honest things before men; those who are committed for right living. Check out the following accomplishments of Gov. Joey Lina which is worth emulating by all provincial governments.

• Made Laguna the Number one Province in the country during his term and the first Province to surpass the P 1 Billion income level in 1999, i.e. Increased income of the province from P61 Million in 1990 to P 1.8 Billion in 2001. Laguna earned a total of P6.5 Billion (1995-2001).
• Laguna was also number one in 1999 (*BLGF-Department of Finance Report (DOF) Financial Statement of Income and Expenditures of Provinces) in terms tax collections from:

Real Property

Business

Other taxes

Service Charges

Economic Enterprises

• Laguna was also the number one province in terms of expenditures spent on providing quality basic services to ensure the general welfare of the people under the principles of transparency, accountability and good governance.
• Laguna was also the number one Province in terms of having the lowest IRA dependency rate at 41.9% in 1991, where the average IRA dependency rate then for Provinces was at 77%.
• Province became #1 in manufactured exports.
• Instituted and implemented a 21-Point Development Program for Laguna in partnership with the Kapatirang Lingap sa Nayon, business sector and other stakeholders, to wit:

Moral Recovery

Livelihood and Cooperative

Employment & Manpower Dev’t.

Environment Protection

Peace and Order

Education

Tourism

Land Use and Urban Planning

Youth Welfare

Sports

Science and Technology

Agricultural Productivity

Trade and Commerce

Infrastructure

Program for Children, Women and Family

Program for Elderly and Senior Citizens

Solid Waste Management

Traffic Engineering and Management

Telecommunications, Water and Energy

Finance, Ways and Means

• Laguna’s Awards and Recognitions received during Lina’s Tenure

Most Outstanding Province in the Philippines (National Press Club, KBP), 1998

Most Outstanding Province in Southern Tagalog Region “for its implementation of Community development programs, as well as improving the quality of life of the people” (PACD, DILG), 1998.

Outstanding in Real Property Tax Collection in Region IV, for 3 years, 1995 -1997

Highest in Real Property Tax Collection among 78 provinces, 1995- 2000

Highest Job Generation in the country, 1995 – 2000

Highest Investment in Light and Medium Industry, 1995 – 2000

Nutrition Green Banner Award, Outstanding Province in Region IV (National Nutrition Council, Department of Agriculture), 1996

Outstanding Province in Agriculture – won 41 of 41 categories, Regional Search (Dept. of Agriculture, Lipa City), 1998

Outstanding Province in Agriculture – won 34 out of 37 categories, Regional Search (Dept. of Agriculture, Lipa City), 1997.

Most Outstanding Local Government Unit of Region IV (Dr. Jesus C. Azurin Award) by the Department of Health, 1997

Champion, – DILG-LGUlympics (Iloilo City) July 1997

Champion, Philippine National Games (Cebu City) December 1997

Champion, Timex Triathlon (Cebu City) July 1997

Champion (Secondary & Elementary Division) Southern Tagalog

Champion, Regional Athletic Association (Cavite City), 1999 and 2000

Batang Pinoy Champion, 1999 and 2000