MY COVENANT WITH GOD

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

BECAUSE of the unforeseen pandemic and lockdown, I had celebrated my 66th birthday without fanfare. But I’ve made it a point to pray hard and renew my earlier covenant with God, which is to dedicate the rest of my life to the cause of freedom and democracy in our country. That I would use my pen to write and communicate with our people to strengthen democracy and freedom in our country.

I am an old man, although I would insist I am healthy and energetic to advance the cause of freedom and democracy in our country. This is committed journalism for you, dear fellow netizens. I would join other advocates for freedom and democracy, good governance, and clean government. This is part of my covenant.

I am most grateful to the people who have greeted me. Thank you.

Over 1,000 friends, actual and virtual have greeted me on my natal day. Relatives from my mother and father sides, visible and long-lost, mostly younger than me, have posted birthday greetings. High school batchmates and co-alumni, and even contemporaries from the other high schools, here and abroad, have come to greet me too. Of course, It would be incomplete without mentioning my college contemporaries and friends, again here and abroad, have sent their greetings and best wishes.

I have received greetings and wishes from people whom I broke bread and toasted with bottles of beer and glasses of wine and other liquor (I've been a hard-drinking journalist all my life). Public officials, past and present, business executives, and professionals from the journalism community and other fields of endeavor are among my coterie of friends I have developed since I started walking on this planet. There were also a number of teenage friends and acquaintances with whom I shared secrets, among other things. Even my ex-gfs were around to greet me. A big number are virtual friends, or FB friends, with whom I've shared beliefs and advocacy. They are a bunch of wonderful people.

Their messages are most outstanding, reassuring, and reinvigorating. They are full of humor – divine and humanly. Some guys assuage my feeling of combined inadequacy and insecurity as I reach old age. 66? "Ah, numero lang iyan," said a netizen friend. "Bata ka pa," said another. Bata pa nga ba ako? I mused to myself. My back aches a lot, I must confess. Some friends thanked me for my "sacrifices." I began to wonder if I deserve those words, although a lawmaker friend noted I have stood in the fight when I should be relaxing at this stage in my life.

Quite a number of friends, particularly my regular readers, have egged me to continue the fight through my writings. I am no public official, albeit an elective one. I’m not elected to do the hard work, so to speak. But those words of encouragement could also be viewed as sort of mandate to complement what I strongly believe the mandate from Heaven. I see no way of saying no.

It's noteworthy to say that at 66, I still harbor existential questions. What's the point of standing out there when I could do some other things to the extent of having a more pleasure-oriented or epicurean lifestyle? That I would be standing there like an angry young man I was once four or five decades ago could baffle the peace in me.

We are all governed by our sense of values. We pursue our values. Hence, the answer is simple. I want to be with God. I want to be at peace with my God. That I would do things for the least of my brothers and sisters has always been the answer. That has always been part of my values.

Today at 66, I dedicate the rest of my life to freedom and democracy. I seek to enhance my committed journalism to the cause of our people. I seek to make my life more meaningful. I am with you, guys... Maraming salamat sa mga pagbati at papuri...