LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them…” (Proverbs 13:24, the Holy Bible).
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WHY DID SILAWAN IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO MEET WITH HER KILLER? One question is hounding my mind relative to the statement of Renato Payuman Llenes, the 42-year old man who confessed to having killed 16-year old Christine Lee Silawan on March 10, 2019 in Cebu: have the Filipino youth become so irresponsible that even if it was only through social media that they got to know of a total stranger, they could already agree to meeting that stranger?
This was the story given by Llenes, a resident of Bgy. Bangkal, Lapu-lapu City, when he described before police officers how he met the hapless Silawan. Allegedly, just after a few days of exchanging messages with the girl through social media, she already agreed to meet him, even if he was a man totally unknown to her previously, and even if she had never seen him before.
When they finally met, Llenes was in stupor because of illegal drugs. He claimed he got incensed by Silawan’s admission that she was no longer a virgin, and, according to him, this prompted him to repeatedly stab her with a scissor which he also used to lop off the skin of her face. The killing was truly heinous and gruesome, but as far as I am concerned, the failure of the girl’s parents to exert control as to what she had been doing was more heinous and gruesome than the killing.
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ACK OF CARE AND CONCERN OF PARENTS OVER THEIR CHILDREN NOW WIDESPREAD IN RP: News reports have it that Silawan was only 16 years old when she was killed. Indeed, she was too young to be communicating or meeting with just about anybody, especially with a man who was completely unknown to her, through social media yet. She was too young to even accept the offer of friendship from a man whom she didn’t know from Adam nor to accept an invitation from him for the two of them to meet.
How did Silawan manage to do otherwise? It is clear to me that her parents greatly failed in their duties as such parents, assuming they are still alive. It clearly appears that they failed to teach their child good manners and right conduct, particularly the necessity of consulting with their elders on meeting or even becoming friends with total strangers. We cannot deny that Silawan’s lack of instruction from her elders ultimately proved her undoing.
I believe that this kind of a family malady, where the parents have been failing to guide and instruct their very young children on the rudiments of good manners and right conduct, already obtains in almost all parts of the country today. Whether the child comes from a well-to-do family, or from poor parents, they have been displaying one uniform trait: they have not been trained to do good, and to have faith and love of God. The truth is that, parents can not teach these things to their children because they themselves have no instruction on those matters.
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FROM APARRI TO JOLO, FILIPINO CHILDREN HAVE TRANSFORMED FOR THE WORSE: If we look closely around us, from Aparri to Jolo, from the east, and to the western parts of the Philippines, a grossly different kind of children has emerged, right before our eyes: what we have now are children who have become “feeling entitled”, believing that the world owes to give them everything they desire or they fancy about, certainly a far cry from the children of our own generation where even just a mere stare from our parents can make us toe the line. We can see this disturbing transformation of our youth in almost all Filipino children these days.
What is gravely bothersome in all these I that, these kinds of “feeling entitled” children are growing real fast. In just a few years’ time, they would replace our generation, becoming the citizens of this country. What kind of future awaits them, our people, and our country, if a great number of them are rude, self-seeking, and are concerned only with their own interests?
Can we still do something? Well, if you are a believer who truly relies on the Word of God, the Bible, there is still something we can do. We must endeavor to remain strong in the power of the Word of God for ourselves. We must insist, in our minds, hearts, souls and spirits, the relentless study of the Word of God, and the faithful obedience to Hi commands. One soul at a time, indeed, starting with ourselves, because this is the kind of truly beneficial change we need—a change rooted in the Word of God, not on the change promised by others, especially politicians.
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NUMBERS TO CALL, EMAIL ADDRESS: I can be reached through my numbers: 0977 805 9058, 0917 984 2468, 0918 5740193 and 0933 825 1308. You can also email me at batasmauricio@yahoo.com, or send messages to my Facebook Messenger (Melanio Lazo Mauricio Jr.). Thank God in the Name of Jesus, Amen.
