So Long, PNoy

As one of your bosses, I will not say goodbye—just “So long.”   

Today is a sad day for those who respected you for modelling the values we hold dear: decency, honesty, and transparency as the 15th president of our republic.

While I deeply grieve with them, I prefer to celebrate your life. For your legacy—strict adherence to the rules of law for the greater good, no matter how unpopular, and done with humility and sincerity—I am deeply grateful.  

You brought dignity and civility to the position with your statesmanship. You gave us space to call you out for decisions we thought were wrong, over which you were never defensive nor angry. Many have maligned you, often falsely and mercilessly, but God must have given you the grace of restraint for keeping your silence . . . until your last breath.  

Maraming salamat, PNoy. Salute! 

o o o 

Someday, there will be a day of reckoning, a time when our transgressions are finally laid bare before the great Judge who sees every heart. 

“ . . . when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: 

‘Death is swallowed up in victory. 
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?’

“For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:53-56 NLT)