LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Luke 1:39-41, the Holy Bible).
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VISITATION AS PROOF OF JESUS AS GOD AND SAVIOR: In Luke 1 of the Bible, it appears that after Mary, the virgin who was to conceive and give birth to God the Father as Jesus, was visited by the angel Gabriel, she rushed to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth in Judea. Called Visitation by some believers, this event confirms once more that Jesus is God and Savior, and is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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MEDIA KILLINGS FROM 2001 NOW BEING PROBED: Former reporter Joel M. SyEgco is making history in Philippine media with his appointment as executive director of the Philippine Task Force on Media Security, an agency attached to the Office of the President whose principal task is to undertake measures to unearth evidence against all those who conspired and killed media persons in the past.
As of January 18, 2017, Joel’s task force managed to issue the “Operational Guidelines of Administrative Order No. 01”, detailing the duties, responsibilities, and courses of action he and his colleagues will pursue to look into who were behind media killings from 2001 up to the present and, if the evidence warrants, to prosecute and have them punished.
Administrative Order No. 01 (AO 1), signed by President Duterte last October 2016, created the task force, in response to many calls for more punitive action against those who plotted and carried out the murder of media personalities, for one reason or another. The secretaries of justice, communications, local government, national defense, and the chiefs of the AFP and the national police, were made members of the task force.
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PRODUCE RESULTS, NOT EXCUSES, EGCO SAYS: In his Facebook account, Joel made clear that: “My instructions are 1) to produce results, not excuses and 2) to treat cases of threats, intimidation and/or killing as if I was the victim. These guidelines are the result of several consultations and discussions with various stakeholders from government, and media partners.
“The salient features of the guidelines include the following: 1) creation of local PTFoMS(Presidential Task Force on Media Security) councils in all 81 provinces; 2) requirement to provide us with their respective strategic plans pursuant to AO1 mandates.
“3) Designation of local police chiefs as point-persons; 4) a one-strike policy against malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance etc.; and 5) red-flagging and watchlisting of persons of interests who may be behind threats versus media workers.
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MARY’S VISITATION DIVINELY ORCHESTRATED: What prompted Mary to go to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth after she talked to the angel Gabriel? Luke 1:36-37 of the Bible gives the reason why—to confirm Gabriel’s disclosure that Elizabeth, her supposed cousin, was six-months pregnant, even if she and Zechariah were already very old. Apparently, Mary wanted to see whether the pregnancy was true.
That visit however appeared divinely orchestrated, to show God’s plan of being born as a baby boy. Fact is, when Mary reached the old couple’s house and she made her greeting, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, then exclaimed that Mary was the mother the Lord, making her, Mary, blessed among women, and the fruit of her womb, Jesus, blessed as well. More about this next!
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PLEASE LISTEN: “Ang Tanging Daan” (The Sole Way): a Bible Exposition and prayer session online, could now be heard 24/7 (24 hours a day), in the Philippines and the world at www.facebook.com/angtangingdaan. Phone: 0917 984 24 68, 0918 574 0193, 0977 805 9058. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.