WORLDWIDE: Abortion

THE DARK FORCES against life through abortion continue its unremitting effort to penetrate the laws of nations, often deceptively, and destroy any protection that their laws have on the life of the unborn child.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Since the US Supreme Court handed their decision on 22 January 1973 in Roe v. Wade, abortion becomes legal in every American state. The High Court believed that the right of the mother to privacy--to decide on whether or not to cary a child to full term--has legal priority over the right of the unborn child to life.

PHILIPPINES

The life of unborn Filipino children receive protection from the 1986 Constitution and the Bill of Rights, making enactment of laws favorable to abortion as near impossible.

But the ingenuity of the Enemy knows no bound. Recently, abortion proponents sought to slowly try to make laws that skirt around the Philippine Constitution through the much-debated and controversial Reproductive Health Bill, a priority law of the Aquino administration.

On 5 September 2011 (Monday), as the Senate resumed debates over SB 2865, that Sen. Pia Cayetano sponsored, antiabortion Senator Vicente Sotto III uncovered the abortion forces behind the RH bill thrust to law. Cayetano admitted that the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP), the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), and Likhaan have been campaigning for legalized abortion.

And these groups receive foreign funding to muscle Philippine laws into submission. FPOP received in 2010 US$617,000 (P26 million) in funding from the world's largest abortion provider, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). IPPF has lobbied worldwide for the repeal of all anti-abortion laws.

Likhaan published in 2010 a Filipino translation of the book Where Women Have No Doctor, which in Chapter 15 had a section detailing means to perform abortion, "Mga Ligtas na Paraan ng Pagpapalaglag. It puses for abortion despite the fact that in the country abortion is unlawful.

WGNRR also represents a worldwide campaign for abortion, based in Amsterdam, with office in Manila.

Sotto pointed out that the RH bill provides the door that opens into abortion. In Section 3 paragraph 1, the bill provides that: "While this Act does not amend the penal law on abortion, the government shall ensure that all women needing care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner." It is like saying save mothers who went through an abortion so that they can be encouraged to do it again. Or, be compassionate to the criminal, but do not arrest the criminal for her crime.

Evil Quotes
Margaret Sanger, late founder of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF): "The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."

WORLDWIDE: Divorce

ALWAYS AN EXCUSE for spouse selection mistakes, divorce came to be seen as the final solution for marital problems, from losing the sparks of romance in courtship to the slow separation of ways resulting from the unyielding demands of career and professional pursuits. A pagan practice in ancient Athens long before Christianity came, divorce has since then threatened the unity of families even among Christians.

The forces that sought to break down families have finally defeated one of the last of two countries that stood its ground against legalizing divorce--Malta and the Philippines.

1971 to 1996

Four of the last six nations which steadfastly stood its ground against legalized divorce fell--SPAIN (1981), ITALY (1974), PORTUGAL (1995), and IRELAND (1996).

Since then divorce rates climb sharply each year. In Spain, a year after the enactment of its new express divorce law, divorces reach 126,952, 74.3% higher than the previous year's, as the rate of legal separation dropped by 70.7%. In 1975, 71% Spaniards expressed favor over divorce, which became legal in June 1981.

In Italy, people voted on 12 May 1974 to abrogate its anti-divorce law of 1970. Less than  half, 40.74%, voted for the dissolution of marriage in the referendum (59.26% voted against divorce). It however remained the lowest in divorce rates worldwide.

Earlier divorce law got abrogated when Portugal signed the Concorday with the Vatican on 7 May 1940. But after the Revolution of 1974, the Portugeuse people criticized the insolubility of Catholic marriages, which resulted to allowing divorce filed at the civil registry through the Decree Law 131 of 6 June 1995.

Since the scrapping of divorce in Ireland through its 1937 Constitution, divorce came back through the euphemistically entitled divorce law, the Family Law Act of 1996. And its court received its first case in 1997.

MALTA

On 28 May 2011, the last of the two Roman Catholic bastions of unbroken families fell. Maltans voted in favor of dissolving marriage after four years of separation, in a non-binding referendum that will direct the congress in introducing Divorce law in an overwhelmingly Catholic country.

PHILIPPINES

With Maltan Catholics succumbing to the pressure of marital problems, only the Catholic Philippines stands alone against legalizing divorce. However, partylist group Gabriela submitted to the House of Representatives House Bill 1799 in order to introduce divorce to the country. And the Committee on the Revision of Laws will tackle it on June 1 (Wednesday). Will the Catholic Philippines survive this onslaught?

The country however has Constitutional protection for the family. Section 12 of Article II (Declaration of Principles and State Policies) makes it clear that "The State recognizes the sanctity of family life..." If the framers of the 1987 Constitution are clear on their intention and interpretation of this provision, the Filipinos will be protected against the onslaught on the family from pro-divorce forces.
Every nation except the Philippines and the Vatican City now allows some form of divorce.

Never the Solution
Noting on how many of the same people took their marriages to the divorce courts show how the legal remedy had not provided the right solution for marital problems. Here are some of those who got divorced many times in their lifetime (is that how difficult to learn the reason for choosing a mate for life?):
                  Elizabeth Taylor married and divorced EIGHT times.
                  Larry King married eight times and divorced SEVEN times.
                  Zsa Zsa Gabor married nine times and divorced EIGHT times.

WORLDWIDE: Incestuous Rape

WHILE THESE HELLISH WORKS occur sporadically around the world, incentuous rapes are one of the most ugly infernal business that man can get himself into when responding to the call from hell. It repulsed every decent soul in the community, and betrayed the very foundation of trust in the victims. And when it happened the outcome often can dwarf literary tragedies.

ASIA

Philippines

Barangay Cutcut, Angeles City--Sometime at midnight a 14-year-old girl hanged herself from the ceiling of their home after having been raped by her own father, Romero Perez. An autopsy showed that she was pregnant at the time of her death. She lost her life, and the child inside her also lost its life. Her mother Dominga Perez admitted that her daughter told her about the rapes, but she did not act on it. [Trisha Mostoles, "Pregnant 14-year-old rape victim kills self," ABS-CBN Pampanga 17 May 2011]

Thailand

Bangkok--She's 12 years old. She has three older brothers--27, 18, and 15 years old. The heinous act started with the middle brother who raped her first. The oldest brother eventually found out. Instead of putting a stop to it, he too raped her. One day, by chance, the youngest brother saw her being raped. She too raped her. For three years she suffered in silence until she got a viral infection, and the doctor found the truth. The authorities were informed. The brothers were arrested. What her parents did was kick her out of their home because she told on her brothers, and brought shame to the family. [Voranaiv Vanijaka: "Tortured by tradition," Bangkok Post 24 April 2011]

WORLDWIDE: Pedophilia

PEDOPHILES SHARE NO specific profile. Peter Davies of Great Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center said, "There is no particular rule about the age. There is no particular rule about the walk of life they are in. There is no particular profile of someone who is a threat to children in this way." And these sick people victimize children in their closest environment, in their friends or neighbors, even in their families.

EUROPE

In April 2002, Article 197 was introduced into the Swiss Penal Code, penalizing the possession of pornographic material depicting sexual acts with children, excrement, animals and violent sexual intercourse as illegal.

In 2008, the European Police (Europol) started arresting pedophile suspects after many months of surviellance yielded suspects. In an operation dubbed as Operation Rescue, it targeted an online network that used a Netherlands-based server with almost 70,000 members worldwide at its height. The server involved had since been taken down and its operator faced trial in a Durch court on 14 March 2011 (Tuesday).

The webside, boylover.net, operated in public as a discussion-only forum where people could share their sexual interest in young boys without committing any specific offenses and operate below police radar. However when contacts had been made, many members moved on to more private channels (such as email) to exchange and share illegal immages and films of children being abused. (Computers that Europol seized yeield huge quantities of child abuse images and videos.) Europol experts cracked the Dutch-based server's sophisticated security features in 2010 to uncover this huge networl. It then issued more than 4,200 intelligence reports about the activities of teh network to more than 30 countries, mostly in Europe, enableing them to track down offenders and their victims.

As of 17 March 2011, Europol disclosed having rescued 230 children and arrested 184 of 670 suspects identified. A third of these arrests happened in Great Britain. The oldest of the suspects arrested so far was 84. One suspect arrested in Spain, worked with children at summer camps and is believed to have abused more than 100 in five years.

Countries involved in the probe have included Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Greece, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the United States.

ASIA

Philippines
In Cebu City, operatives of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau of the Cebu City Police Office, with the help of tanods from San Nicolas village, arrested 28 March 2010 motorcycle dealer Romeo Lim Rañola inside a room in Prince Court Motel in Mabolo Village together with a 13-year-old girl who later sued him for child pornography and human trafficking.

Rañola frequented a fast food in San Nicolas where he pick up virgin girls for sex, and pay them P5,000 plus a cell phone. Investigation further revealed that victim families shut up after he paid them P100,000 each.

Authorities believed that Rañola belongs to a ring of pedophiles operating in the city.

Japan
The Internet Content Security Association, a group of internet providers established in March with 21 member companies, started blocking on April 21 access to child porn sites. Its nine member companies who did it include NEC Biglobe, NTT Communications, and KDDI, and accounts for about 50-70 percent of online households in Japan. Four major internet search sites, including Google and Yahoo! Japan, are ensuring that blocked sites will not appear in their search results.

More than 100 websites are subject to the block.

Law enforcers took action in 1,342 child porn cases in 2010, 43.2 percent up in previous year. 

Sources

AFP: "Japan internet providers block child porn," AFP News 21 April 2011
LCR: "Pedophile syndicate operating in Cebu: official," SunStar Cebu 30 March 2011
Mariette le Roux: "Police smash 'biggest' online pedophile ring," Agence France-Presse 17 March 2011
A Burke, S Sowerbutts, B Blundell, M Sherry: "Child Pornography and the Internet: Policing and Treatment Issues," Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 2002; 9:79-84

HAWAII: Same-Sex Civil Marriage

Contributing to the Western trend of subverting the natural purpose of marriage and conjugal union, the State of Hawaii took the final step towards legalizing same-sex civil union on 17 February 2011 as the State Senate voted 18-5. Governor Neil Abercrombie, who also supports same-sex civil marriage, will have 10 days to approve the bill, which "extends the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union."

The Abercrombie justification is respect for diversity, protection of people's privacy, and equality. 

Other States

Hawaii is the seventh state to adopt gay marriage legally. The other states include Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington District of Columbia.

(Photo courtesy of NNDB)

Sources

Agence France-Presse: "Hawaii lawmakers vote to legalize same-sex unions," MSN News 17 February 2011 

PAKISTAN: Infanticide Rising

The numbers tell of the worsening situation in Pakistan against newly born babies. In 2010 alone, 1,200 infants died of infanticide or abandoned to die for unknown reasons. Observers believe that this rise resulted from Islamic laws that condemn children born outside marriage and criminalize adultery. It reflects a 20 percent rise from the 2009 count of 999 cases, and 34.8 percent from 2008, which recorded 890 infant deaths.

Most children found had less than a week old.  

Tragic Tales

An infant (age 6) was discovered with burnt body and strangled to death. Another child had been stoned to death  on orders of an extremist imam, and found on the steps of a mosque.  

IRAQ: Muslim Extremists Seek to Drive Christians Out

Three days before the special Synod for Bishos for the Middle East ends, Jordanian priest Father Raymond Moussalli, Protosyncellus of teh Patriarchate of Bablyon of the Chaldeans, said the Catholic Church in Iraq is under attack. 

"There is a deliberate campaign to drive Christians out of the country," he said.

In addition to that, Father Moussalli continued: "There are satanic plans by fundamentalist extremist groups that are not only against Christians in Iraq, but Christians throughout the Middle East."

Patriarch Antonios Naguib of Alexandria reported that the real threat came from an increasingly political for of Islam, which seeks to impose totalitarianism, and "to impose an Islamic way of life on all citizens, sometimes by violence." The "fundamentalists" or extremists though are the minority in the Middle East,w ith the peaceful majority that sees no problem in living serenely with non-Muslims.

Source

CNA (2010): "Vatican synod sees growing concern over Islam," Catholic News Agency 21 October 2010