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Sinopharm vaccinees must look out for 73 side effects

Sinopharm vaccinees must look out for 73 side effects

by | Jan 13, 2021 | Gotcha

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Sinopharm vaccinees must look out for 73 side effects

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

73 side effects of Sinopharm vaccines

  • Chinese vaccine’s user guide lists high blood pressure, vision loss
  • Shanghai expert posts list, then retracts comments in CCP organ
  • Phl FDA chief says complete list is needed for “free, informed choice”

            Cabinet men and presidential guards vaccinated with Sinopharm must watch out for 73 side effects. Among those listed in its user guide are hypertension, loss of vision and taste, delayed menstruation, and urinary incontinence.

            Common “systemic adverse reactions” include headache, fever, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, and diarrhea. “Occasional effects”: anorexia and vomiting. “Very rare”: asthma, tonsillitis, eye pain, and earache. Usual are pain, swelling, and itchiness in the injected area.

            Details have been published in Chinese and English newspapers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. State-owned Sinopharm (China National Pharmaceutical Corp.) is one of three Chinese developers of jabs against COVID-19 that sprang from Wuhan.

            A Shanghai vaccine expert posted the Mandarin user manual on social media Weibo last week. Days later Dr. Tao Lina’s post was deleted for alleged violations. He retracted his opinions, but not the enumerated after-effects.

            The retraction was published by Global Times, the English edition of People’s Daily, official organ of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. By then Tao’s vaunted 4.5 million followers had read his post.

All COVID-19 vaccines so far took only six months to develop, when the process normally stretches at least two years

Dr. Eric Domingo

FDA - Director General

73 side effects of Sinopharm vaccines

            Though unregistered in the Philippines, Sinopharm’s inoculant has been used on unnamed high officials and the Presidential Security Group. PSG chief Maj. Gen. Jesus Durante would not confirm the brand. But he said they injected each other in Sep.-Oct. after reviewing available studies. Sinopharm at the time was still in late-stage clinical trials in China, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain. Tests in Peru were suspended in early Dec. when a volunteer suffered severe side effects.

            Health Secretary Francisco Duque advises vaccinees to report any adverse effects to doctors. The PSG committed to periodic checks. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to authorize any COVID-19 inoculant for emergency use. Sinopharm has not applied for such EUA in the Philippines.

            On Dec. 30 China’s National Medical Products Administration approved for general domestic use Sinopharm’s injectable BBIBP-CorV. Claimed efficacy of the inactivated-virus vaccine: 79.34 percent. Test results of new products need to be published for peer review, but Chinese pharmaceutical firms are criticized for spotty compliance.

            Makers must submit all test findings in applying for authorization, FDA director general Eric Domingo told The STAR. All known side effects must be documented and stated in product information inserts. That’s crucial for patients’ free and informed choice.

            Some makers list not only known but also potential side effects. Reports cite varying reasons, like hedging against damage suits. All COVID-19 vaccines so far took only six months to develop, when the process normally stretches at least two years, Dr. Domingo said.

            The CCP’s Global Times blamed the confusion over Sinopharm on Voice of America. VOA purportedly twisted Dr. Tao’s satirical comment on the 73 listed side effects to mean the opposite. Tao had said the lengthy and overly cautious user guide made it look like Sinopharm is the most unsafe vaccine in the world. To the CCP organ the former Shanghai disease prevention and control employee affirmed his trust in Chinese vaccines. He has been jabbed with Sinopharm and was to have his second shot eleven days later last Saturday. Sinopharm prescribes 28 days’ interval.

            “It is possible that some irresponsible temporary employee made this user guide, which could have been wrongly written,” Tao speculated. “The user guide was dated Dec. 30 and may not be the final version; Sinopharm may improve it later,” the organ added. No comment from Sinopharm itself. Global Times and People’s Daily have claimed that COVID-19 did not originate but was brought into China.

            Controversy swirled last month when President Rody Duterte said soldiers have been jabbed with Sinopharm. People asked why medical frontlines, the elderly, sickly, and pregnant were not prioritized. Interior Sec. Ed Año averred that at least one cabinet member was injected, plus the PSG. Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana said the jabs were smuggled for a good cause: protect the Commander-in-Chief.

            Customs and NBI are investigating who illicitly supplied and dispensed the doses. Vials reportedly are black-marketed in Manila for as high as P12,000 apiece. Chinese-Filipino NGO leader Teresita Ang See revealed that about a hundred thousand Chinoys and Chinese workers in online gaming operations have been injected. Beijing has reported the injecting of 1.5 million Chinese volunteers.

            Senators are reviewing the government’s procurement and mass immunization plan. Duterte has barred the PSG from attending.

 

* * *

 

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Purchase details when you subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Subscribers get a FREE copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”.

73 side effects of Sinopharm vaccines

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Sacrificing not just for him but also for the motherland

Sacrificing not just for him but also for the motherland

by | Jan 8, 2021 | Gotcha

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Sacrificing not just for him but also for the motherland

Sacrificing the motherland to China

            Smuggling and unauthorized COVID-19 vaccinating was wrong. Still Rody Duterte and aides commend the presidential guards for it. In their view, the soldiers braved likely adverse effects to protect fully the highest official — a heroic sacrifice.

            The nobler sacrifice by our fighting men is for the motherland. Our seas are being invaded. As our people cry out, the aggression heightens.  Our troops must train and equip to defend our sovereignty.

            Everyone knows who the aggressor is. China is taking advantage of our distraction by the pandemic that spread from Wuhan. While we struggle with deadly infections and economic slump, Beijing tightens its hold on reefs stolen from us. That is the way of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Mao Tse-tung Thought draws from Sun Tzu: “When the enemy rests, attack; when the enemy retreats, pursue.”

            Last Christmas day China landed its biggest warplane on Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef. Satellite monitors were inconclusive on what the Y-20 transported. But the South China Morning Post quoted experts as saying the airlifter can carry armored vehicles and missile launchers.

            Clearly Beijing continues to militarize the West Philippine Sea, said international maritime lawyer Jay Batongbacal, PhD. In 2015 Chinese president and CCP secretary general Xi Jinping had vowed to not warmonger in the region. The following year the People’s Liberation Army landed fighters and troop transports on Kagitingan. Xi also chairs the CCP Central Military Commission, to which the PLA reports.

Philippine ships and aircraft passing through the WPS will be required to seek PLA permission.

Sacrificing the motherland to China

            Days after the Y-20 mission, the PLA Southern Theater Command began three simultaneous practices in Hainan waters 648 nm away.  The show of force ended last Monday. In a recent visit to the PLA unit, Xi told the generals to “polish their commanding.” Since 2018 the Command has been offering exchanges and exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Its “friendliness” is part of propaganda and united-front work of CCP commissars in the PLA.

            Kagitingan is outside China’s 200-nm exclusive economic zone. The Hague arbitral court outlawed in 2016 Beijing’s spurious “nine-dash line” claim over EEZs of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

            The reef is within the Philippines’ extended continental shelf. China grabbed it in 1988 along with five others in the Philippine EEZ: Zamora (Subi), Calderon (Cuarteron), McKennan (Hughes), Burgos (Gaven), and Mabini (Johnson South). Beijing concreted them into island-fortresses starting 2014. Panganiban (Mischief) Reef was taken and fortified in 1995. Missile pads and signal-jammers have been installed in Kagitingan, Zamora, and Panganiban reefs.

            Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal was occupied in 2012. Chinese gunboats machine-gun and water cannon Filipino boats that venture to our traditional fishing grounds. Chinese coastguards protect Hainanese maritime militia that poach fish, sea turtles, giant clams, and fan corals. Beijing has announced to soon build air and naval bases, and thereafter enforce an air defense identification zone. Philippine ships and aircraft passing through the WPS will be required to seek PLA permission.

            From the island-outposts, the PLA-Navy harasses sealifts to Filipino marines in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and civilians in Pagasa Island. Chinese buoys regularly are dropped off at Sabina Shoal near Palawan preparatory to takeover. Chinese exploration vessels are escorted to oil- and gas-rich Recto (Reed) Bank. In April a Chinese destroyer aimed weapons at a Philippine patrol near Malampaya gas field. Months before a Chinese armada trespassed and provocatively zigzagged in Sibutu Strait, Tawi-Tawi.

            All this is happening in the midst of ASEAN, China talks for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. Crucial in the CoC is status quo of forces. The pandemic has delayed the drafting. The CCP is using the lull to escalate PLA presence in the WPS and Vietnam’s Paracel archipelago. That way, status quo would cover Beijing’s new encroachments. The PLA continues to land bombers in the Paracels’ Woody Island.

            China’s sea aggression aims not only to steal small neighbors’ marine wealth. It is also a stage-off to retake Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province. The CCP’s target is between the 70th anniversary of its rise to power in 2019 and its centenary in 2021.

Chinese companies and citizens are obligated to support overseas and domestic espionage, and to keep such participation secret.

            PLA squadrons routinely trespass the waters off Batanes and Babuyan islands near Taiwan. Chinese companies are applying to lease Fuga island there, and Grande and Chiquita islands at the mouth of Subic Bay near Panatag. A foothold on Fuga will afford China access to Benham Rise, east of Luzon. Ostensibly to build an international airport, the state firm that reclaimed the seven Philippine reefs is striving to dislodge the Philippine Navy from Sangley Base at the entrance to Manila Bay. Another state firm, through its Filipino partner, has been allowed to put up cell sites inside AFP camps, exposing those to potential eavesdropping and cyber-sabotage.

            Chinese companies and citizens are obligated to support overseas and domestic espionage, and to keep such participation secret. Even Duterte, though friendly to Beijing, can be targeted. Presumably state firm Sinopharm sized up the strengths and weaknesses of the Presidential Security Group to which, Duterte indicated, it supplied the unregistered vaccines.

 

* * *

 

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government”, is available as e-book and paperback. To order, simply click HERE.

            Plus, get a FREE copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity” when you subscribe to my newsletter.

Sacrificing the motherland to China

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So you think phishing won’t happen to you

So you think phishing won’t happen to you

by | Jan 6, 2021 | Gotcha

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So you think phishing won’t happen to you

Image by vicky gharat from Pixabay

So you think phishing won’t happen to you

            This COVID-19 pandemic is a prolonged feast for cyberscammers. For them the massive shift to online shopping created an ocean of potential victims. Easy migration of everyday activities to the Web has kept us safe at home. But it also enticed conmen to diversify their schemes.

            Figures from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas dramatize the situation. During the strict ECQ lockdown of Mar. 15-May 18, 2020, an overwhelming 98.4 percent of all crimes reported were cyber in nature.

            In all P60.6 million were lost to online criminals. That’s more than half, 54.5 percent, of total bank losses from various causes during the two months.

            The BSP culled from banks’ Reports on Crimes and Losses:

  • Four in five incidents, 80.5 percent, were related to credit cards and internet banking;
  • Majority of cases were via phishing emails and malicious websites, some even disguised as COVID-19 campaigns.

            Emerging soon after emails did, phishing continues to evolve with technology. Phishers used to be amateurish; abundant grammatical errors in emails and crude websites gave them away. Eg., the Nigerian prince scam.

            Not anymore, warns Jonathan Paz, Bank of the Philippine Islands data protection and enterprise jnformation security officer. Phishing emails these days are tailored for specific audiences and leverage on real-world events. New schemes constantly are concocted.

            Banks and telcos combat phishing sites. Texts and other correspondence drum up awareness and advise on latest scams. Globe and Smart Telecoms frequently remind customers against impostors offering to replace SIM cards, fake surveys and raffle rewards, and unverified callers asking for one-time PINs (OTPs). At the peak of the lockdown from March to August 2020, BPI detected and helped take down almost 2,000 phishing sites.

Complacency is a pitfall. Those who readily agree and trust are scammed.

Jonathan Paz

Data Protection and Enterprise Information Security Officer - BPI

So you think phishing won’t happen to you

            The BSP recently announced to tighten its digital financial supervision. New technologies and regulations are to be adopted for digital banking, cloud computing, and virtual asset servicing.

            Banks continually invest in new processes, Paz says. He exemplifies BPI’s Mobile Key. Clients can transact using mobiles keyed specifically to their accounts. Biometrics, either fingerprint or face scan, enable logins. OTPs are texted and emails alert them upon login for extra security.

            Who are the common victims of phishing?

            A study profiled them. Less likely to fall prey are those who encountered and took time to understand awareness drives. As well, those who are more conscious of cybercrimes and skeptical of unusual promos.

            Those who readily agree and trust are scammed.

            Complacency is a pitfall, says Paz. People mistakenly believe that “it will not happen to me” or “this is something that happens only to others”. Then, wham!

            How to detect phishing emails? One, make it a habit to look at the sender’s email address. A legit email usually comes from a familiar domain. For instance, Paz says, official BPI electronic correspondence use the domain “@bpi.com.ph”. Two, most banks will not ask for sensitive info, such as online banking login name and password, credit card details, and OTPs. Anyone who asks for those is a fraudster.

            Vigilance is key to self-protection, since online shopping is here to stay.

* * *

            With the continuing lockdown, government is practically making all citizens go online. Not only techno-nervous adults are forced to learn the basics. Schoolchildren too must attend online classes or be left behind. Some oldsters can’t get the hang of transacting via the Net, but they at least know how to video-call family and friends.

            Yet the government itself is not fully digitalized. Many agencies still require face-to-face, window-by-window filing for even the simplest clearances. In renewing a driving license or securing a permit to travel home from stranding, only appointments can be set online. What more with complex dealings from which the government stands to earn big but the citizen or company is unable to transact safely from in-place.

            Bureaucrats complain that connectivity is so bad that it doesn’t pay to digitize. On the other hand Internet service providers invest and expand based only on market prospects.

            Since it’s the duty of government to ensure ease in doing business, it should break the impasse. Wire itself, and watch the industry grow.

            Studies show that economies thrive when governments digitize. GDP per person permanently increases by one percent. Meaning, if the Philippines’ 2018 GDP were constant, each of the 108 million Filipinos would be producing P1,552 more per year. In short, prosperity.

 

* * *

 

            My book, “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government”, is available as e-book and paperback. To order, simply click HERE.

            Plus, get a FREE copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity” when you subscribe to my newsletter.

So you think phishing won’t happen to you

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Who are the Sinopharm vaccinees in the Cabinet?

Who are the Sinopharm vaccinees in the Cabinet?

by | Jan 1, 2021 | Gotcha

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Who are the Sinopharm vaccinees in the Cabinet?

Sinopharm vaccinees in the Cabinet

            It’s the turn of cabinet members to come clean. Who among them surreptitiously got unlicensed COVID-19 vaccinations a month ago? Interior Sec. Ed Año avows to know at least one but won’t name who for privacy’s sake. Yet privacy can’t be invoked when laws appear to have been broken. Omerta is only for those missing some fingers.

            A hundred million Filipinos patiently are awaiting an inoculant from the deadly coronavirus. The cabinet vaccinees must answer people’s questions. Why did they jump the queue ahead of the medical frontlines, the sickly, elderly and pregnant? Do they think themselves exempt from the vaccination rules of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases? If so, there are subtler ways to flaunt it. Try karaoke-ing in enclosed bars or dolphin-watching in tourist resorts while everyone else is on lockdown and curfew.

            The vaccines came from China’s state-owned Sinopharm. President Rody Duterte said so. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed it. Sinopharm has no direct dealings with the Philippine government. Unlike in other countries, it has not applied for clinical trials on Filipinos. It has still to publish test results for peer review.

            Yet Chinese President Xi Jinping in a telephone call to Malacañang last June promised to prioritize Manila when a vaccine is developed. Could the doses for the cabinet vaccinees have come via diplomatic pouch? China aggressively has been employing “vaccine diplomacy” to showcase advances in medical technology. As well, to live down the fact that the global pandemic came from Wuhan, that it tried to keep the outbreak a secret at first, and that it let five million Wuhanese fly out before banning travel.

The Food and Drug Administration has yet to authorize any vaccine for emergency use. The Bureau of Customs has no record of any vaccine import.

Sinopharm vaccinees in the Cabinet

            The Malacañang spokesman claims that the Sinopharm vaccines were donated. That does not exculpate the cabinet vaccinees. Whether from foreign or domestic donors, cash or kind, donations must be declared to the Department of Finance.

            The spokesman called the donation a “token”. Likening it to cake given by government officemates, he said acceptance broke no law. Yet Sinopharm’s chairman has priced its double doses at $145, or P7,250. The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act limits to P5,000 the amount of a gift a public official may accept. Anything above that is unlawful.

            A COVID-19 inoculant is far from being a token. It is the most sought-after commodity in the world today, notes Dr. Tony Leachon. “Every nation is fighting for stocks and access to end the pandemic,” says the former chief medical adviser to the national COVID task force. “We know it’s urgently needed but let’s do it the right way to ensure safety of recipients.”

            The Presidential Security Group has admitted being recipient of the vaccines. PSG chief Major Gen. Jesus Durante III said they injected each other in September then in October. Without mentioning Sinopharm, he stressed that PSG studied the product thoroughly. In December Sinopharm clinical trials in Peru were halted when a volunteer suffered severe side effects.

            The PSG’s mission is to protect the President at all costs. Durante cleared Duterte of any role in the vaccinations. “He was surprised… when we told him about it,” he said. That departs from Army Chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana’s line. Asked earlier if the vaccination order came from Malacañang, Sobejana told CNN Philippines: “Of course, our President is our Commander-in-Chief. I should say it’s from the chain of command of the Armed Forces.” Army spokesman Col. Demy Zagala also stated: “The vaccination occurred by the direction of the chain of command, headed by our Commander-in-Chief, the President.”

Lorenzana, Año, Sobejana, Durante, and Zagala are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy. There they were indoctrinated that “a cadet does not lie, cheat, or steal.”

The cabinet vaccinees would do best to speak up. Prolonging their silence only complicates matters. The Health department warns of possible adverse effects of unauthorized immunization. Their noses might grow longer every time they speak.

Not only the IATF, of which Año is vice chairman, was slighted. Two other regulators were ignored. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to authorize any vaccine for emergency use. The Bureau of Customs has no record of any vaccine import. Lorenzana said it was smuggled but “for a good cause” of avoiding infecting the President.

The National Bureau of Investigation sees potential breaches of the FDA Act, the Consumer Act, and the Medical Practice Act.

The spokesman claims there’s no more to be said about the unlicensed vaccination. But can he stop Duterte from dropping another New Year bombshell?

 

* * *

 

My latest book, “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government”, is available as e-book and paperback. To order, simply click HERE.

Plus, get a FREE copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity” when you subscribe to my newsletter.

Sinopharm vaccinees in the Cabinet

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50% vaccine efficacy is like ‘cara y cruz’

50% vaccine efficacy is like ‘cara y cruz’

by | Dec 30, 2020 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

50% vaccine efficacy is like ‘cara y cruz’

Malacañang controversies over unlicensed COVID-19 vaccines

            Controversies swirl in Malacañang over unlicensed COVID-19 vaccines. Latest is President Rody Duterte’s disclosure of Sinopharm injections of soldiers. Questions hound the rush to purchase doses from Sinovac. Both are state-controlled China firms; neither have completed clinical trials, nor applied with Philippine authorities for domestic use.

            “Halos lahat ng sundalo natusukan na,” Duterte bared in a televised meeting with health officials Saturday night. “I have to be frank, I have to tell the truth… marami nang nagpatusok and lahat up to now wala akong narinig for the select few, not all soldiers hindi pa kasi policy eh.”

            Under various development stages worldwide are 96 vaccines and 135 drugs against COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to issue any Emergency Use Authority. Only Pfizer-USA has applied for such EUA. Evaluation can take till Jan. 2021. Sinovac is seeking permission to include the Philippines in clinical trials. Sinopharm has no official dealings with Filipino regulators. No import, distribution, and dispensing can be made until FDA’s go-signal. Duterte reiterated that early this month.

            A vaccinee’s informed choice is a must, says the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. Under its mass inoculation plan, doctors, nurses, and technicians directly fighting COVID-19 are to be first. Vulnerable sectors, including the sickly and elderly, are next. Uniformed servicemen and other frontline workers come later.

They are going to inject my fellow health workers. We have a right to know more.

Dr. Tony Leachon

Ex-Chief Medical Adviser, National anti-COVID task force

Malacañang controversies over unlicensed COVID-19 vaccines

            Presidential spokesman Harry Roque initially disavowed knowledge of the Sinopharm inoculations. But Interior Secretary Ed Año clarified that the jabs were administered on soldiers and policemen in the Presidential Security Group. Some Cabinet members also were vaccinated, said Año, vice-chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Army chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana confirmed that some troops were vaccinated but was unsure of the number. Asked if Duterte allowed the vaccinations, Sobejana reportedly said, “Of course, our president is our Commander-in-Chief.”

            Then Roque tried to douse hot comments of rule violations. “Let’s just say that our military who guards our security is now safe from COVID when they can do their job,” he said. Denying that Duterte authorized the shots, he added: “It must have been the decision of the commanders and the soldiers. It’s not illegal to be vaccinated with an unregistered vaccine. What is prohibited is the distribution and sale.”

            FDA director general Eric Domingo disagreed. His agency is to investigate whoever imported and dispensed the unlicensed doses. The Health department advised vaccinees to consult doctors at once in case of adverse effects.

            Sinopharm has advertised 80-percent vaccine efficacy. But its studies have yet to be published and subjected to peer review.

            Similar preference for Chinese Sinovac’s inoculant is touchy. Why purchase a vaccine with unpublished studies, and no official examination, blogged Dr. Tony Leachon. At once, Roque berated the former chief medical adviser of the national anti-COVID task force. Leachon persisted: “They are going to inject my fellow health workers. We have a right to know more.”

            Sinovac’s product rated 50-percent efficacy in initial trials. Meaning, it can prevent contagion of half a population previously uninfected and to be injected, medical journals explain. The World Health Organization came out in April with such 50-percent minimum acceptability, but preferred 70 percent. Most FDAs followed suit.

            That was before Pfizer notched 95-percent efficacy; Moderna of USA, 94; and AstraZeneca of Britain, 70. Those results, reported in Oct. and Nov., promise far more people to be saved from infection and death. Even China has ordered 100 million doses from Pfizer. That company is so far the only one green-lighted in America and Europe to distribute COVID vaccines.

            In comparison, Sinovac’s 50 percent is like “cara y cruz” or toss coin, a tweet spread. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who has twice contracted COVID-19, remarked: “That means there’s a 50-50 chance of you getting COVID even after being vaccinated, (which is) a joke.”

Malacañang controversies over unlicensed COVID-19 vaccines

There’s a 50-50 chance of you getting COVID even after being vaccinated, (which is) a joke.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri

Senate Majority Leader

Sinovac isn’t cheap either. Two doses, 28 days apart, will cost P3,629.50, Sen. Sonny Angara estimates. Double doses from AstraZeneca come to P610; Pfizer, P2,379; Moderna, P3,904 – P4,504. Other upcoming alternatives: Novavax, P366; Johnson & Johnson, P480; Gamaleya, P1,220; and COVAX facility with WHO, P854.

The government needs to maximize the number of vaccinees with its budget of P82.5 billion. Mass inoculation includes other costs, Angara says: training per vaccinator of 350 persons, P1,200; peripherals, including facemask, shield, alcohol, cotton balls per vaccinator, P962 per dose, or P1,924 for two doses.

 

* * *

 

            My latest book, “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government”, is available as e-book and paperback. To order, simply click https://jariusbondoc.com/#subscribe

            Plus, get a FREE copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity” when you subscribe to my newsletter.

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Venerating the Mother of the Child born today

Venerating the Mother of the Child born today

by | Dec 25, 2020 | Gotcha

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Venerating the Mother of the Child born today

Image by Vickie McCarty from Pixabay

The birth of any child exalts the mother

            The birth of any child exalts the mother. Christians hold Mary high for bringing forth Jesus, God the Son. Muslims call her the most pious of all women who mothered one of their great prophets.

            Not a goddess to be adored, Mary is venerated as a saint. Catholics revere her as Mediatrix to her Divine Son to avert grave misfortune. As Jesus “ascended” and was enthroned, Mary was “assumed” into and crowned Queen of Heaven. Yet she is not coequal of Christ, for she was human.

            Immaculately conceived, Mary was one of only five persons born without Original Sin, Catholic Mariology holds. The first two were Adam and Eve, whose Fall led to the marking of all men thence. Jesus was unblemished because the Son of God by miraculous virgin birth. John the Baptist was freed of Original Sin as soon as Mary acknowledged him in the womb of cousin Elizabeth during the Visitation. Mary was spared of Original Sin because God’s chosen handmaiden.

            Orthodox churches have gigantic icons of Mother Mary that dwarf the Holy Child. Orthodox Greeks and Russians mark as a special day her presentation at age 3 to the temple, the holiest of places, reserved only for males.

            As the Anglican and Roman churches patch up old rifts, joint restudies of Mary are being held. Henry VIII’s loyalists had seized and smashed statues of St. Mary, but a shrine recently was built in her honor in London. While it caused some murmurs among Anglicans, one bishop acknowledged the Marian apparitions that Catholics officially celebrate.

Mother Mariam is the only woman mentioned by name in the Muslim holy book.

Cihangir Arslan, PhD

Turkish interfaith scholar

The birth of any child exalts the mother

            Muslims regard Mary (Mariam) as most special. Islam teaches that only she and son Jesus were untouched by Satan before birth. Meryemana, the house where Mary lived in the care of the apostle John in Ephesus, Asia Minor (now part of Turkey), is administered by Catholic friars and nuns, but most visitors are Muslims.

            The Quran features Mary extensively. Excerpts from a lecture by Turkish interfaith scholar Cihangir Arslan, PhD:

  • Mother Mariam is the only woman mentioned by name in the Muslim holy book. Her name directly is stated or she is referred to in 35 verses in 12 chapters. Chapter 19 is named after Mother Mariam, and Chapter 3 is about the Family of ‘Imran, father of Mariam.
  • One verse (3:42) is equivalent to the Christians’ Annunciation: “And (in due time came the moment) when the angels said: ‘Mariam, God has chosen you and made you pure, and exalted you above all the women in the world.’”
  • “Allah’s Messenger said, ‘Many amongst men attained perfection but amongst women none attained perfection except Mariam, the daughter of ‘Imran, and Asiva, the wife of Fir’aun (Pharaoh).’” Note, the Messenger here is Archangel Jibrail, or Gabriel to Christians.
  • In Chapter 3, Al ‘Imran (The Family of ‘Imran), is a verse (3:33) that traces Mary’s special lineage: “They refuse faith in you and some of the Prophets because you did not appear among them, but Allah favors whomever He wishes with Messengership, and Allah made pure Adam and Noah and the House of Abraham and the House of ‘Imran, choosing them above all humankind.”
  • Two verses follow about the offering of Mariam by her mother to God: “Remember when the wife of ‘Imran entreated: ‘My Lord, I have dedicated that which is in my womb to Your exclusive service. Accept it, then, from me. Surely You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.’” (3:35)
  • “When she delivered of it she said: ‘My Lord, I have given birth to a female.’ – Allah knew best of what she was delivered, so she did not need to be sorry, because the male child she expected could not be the same as the female child (whom We bestowed on her and would honor with great favor). – ‘I have named her Mariam and commend her and her offspring to You for protection from Satan eternally rejected from Allah’s mercy.’” (3:36)
  • And then the equivalent of the Christian dogma of the Birth of Mary’s Son without Original Sin: “The Prophet said, ‘When any human being is born, Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mariam, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead.’”

Filipinos particularly are Marianists.

            Some historians theorize that Christianity and Islam picked up the Madonna concept from the Egyptians’ Isis and the Romans’ Diana. Others say “the female near-deity” draws from the fellow-Abrahamic religion, Judaism. To the ancient Hebrews the source of faith and will, acting as Mediatrix between God and man, was “wisdom,” with a female gender. Eventually it evolved as a human mother, the natural and total nurturer and protector.

            Filipinos particularly are Marianists. Dozens of images depict Mary in apparitions, mediations, and miraculous healings. Catholic bishops consecrated Filipinos to her as part of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines in March 2021.

 

* * *

 

            Paperback orders can be made for my latest book, “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government.” Just fill up the form at: https://bit.ly/2Ja571r.

The birth of any child exalts the mother/h2>

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