For almost 900 days--from Sept. 8, 1941 to Jan. 27, 1944--the city of Leningrad (known today as St. Petersburg) was blockaded by the Germans and Finns under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb, as part of Operation Barbarossa. The city is so important to Hitler for it was once the capital of Russia before it was moved to Moscow. Furthermore, the city also houses the Baltic Fleet, a heavy tank factory, and some of its most important treasures; and to top it all off, it was the spiritual capital of the Soviet Union, being the cradle of the Russian Revolution. The Third Reich also prioritized this city bearing the name of Vladimir Lenin, the great leader of the Soviets, along with Moscow (the capital) and Stalingrad (the city named after Joseph Stalin, its most influential leader; also functioned as its industrial center; now named Volgagrad).
In this span of time, the defenders and the citizens of Leningrad experienced an ordeal not yet repeated in recent history: about four million of its citizens and defenders were killed, wounded, captured, or got sick after the siege was lifted; food became scarce and its quality degraded; bombardments and barrages became common; sickness and hunger reduced the population; their physical and mental health also deteriorated. In short, Leningrad was the most destructive siege of the war and in history in terms of casualties and economical downfall, with Stalingrad still being the bloodiest battle and turning point of the Great Patriotic War.
But what kept the city alive is the courage to live for their city, even if it means neglecting one's self. The children of Leningrad was committed to fight for their mother-city to the last man. They have held off the besieger more than what they could imagine. Death never conquered Leningrad; instead, Leningrad defeated death.
Though the ferocity and peril of the Second World War has long gone, there seems to be an ideological Leningrad in the Philippines, with the forces of death looming its shores.
For years, the Philippines was left untouched by a legal upcoming dedicated on contraception, population control, and reproductive rights...
...until recently.
Carlos Celdran, the infamous tourist guide who unethically desecrated the Holy Mass at the Manila Cathedral almost a year ago, emphasized on national television that the Church, and by that he means the Catholic Church, is involving itself in politics, but in reality, they are just doing their role as society's
Mater et Magistra--Mother and Teacher. Besides, it is possible that he perceives mothers as meddlers to their children while ironically protecting their health from complications and, ultimately, childbirth ailments when in doublespeak. Furthermore, he also proclaimed that they are doing this struggle for 16 years.
These are also the sentiments of Celdran's allies, who happened to be supporters of House Bill 4244, commonly known as the Reproductive Health Bill. Most of them also emphasize that the passage of this bill does not mean that it will lead into abortion; yet in study and experience, passing an act on contraception will eventually lead to an act legalizing abortions, divorce, same-sex marriage, and even prostitution at the worst. What's worse about this is that though there are some who admitted that they push for it sooner or later, there are others who are still insisting that through education, abortion will not happen, though they wanted it at the back of their minds. In short:
buking na nga, nagtatago pa.
This editorial is timed to the celebration of the Month of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Month of Matrimony; and specifically, Independence Day, and the Solemnity of Pentecost last Sunday because the bill on contraception (RH Bill), and the recent looming of a Divorce Bill (which could be compared to Finland in the Siege of Leningrad) are threats to Filipino living as we know it. All laws and proposed laws shape societies, but these bills are doing so all for the wrong reasons. In every angle, the RH and Divorce Bills clearly threaten the Filipino family, our economy, our workforce, even the way we see morality and freedom.
But these groups are but accessories to the real enemies of life and development. Basically, the contraceptive mentality is a foreign concept--an import, to simplify. In short, if these bills will be passed, God forbid, we are opening our doors to aliens and our society will be like the Spanish era--enslaved by foreign minds while retaining our Filipino identity, which is a contradiction to what true nationality is. These bills are given as anti-life, atheistically made, and specifically anti-Catholic; but since we should relate it to our June 12 celebration, we should also emphasize that these legal courses are anti-patriotic; anti-nationalistic; anti-Filipino.
The person responsible for all of this is Margaret Sanger, the founder of the American Birth Control League, the predecessor of Planned Parenthood. Aside from pushing for the legalization of abortion, she also proposes the legalization of birth control methods and promotes negative eugenics, which Adolf Hitler applied during the Third Reich, not just to the Jews, but virtually to everyone who opposes Germany. Now we see the connection of the Siege of Leningrad and to what is called as the "Siege of Filipino Life".
Now let us Filipinize the experience of "The 900 Days". Assuming that the contraceptive mentality and its proponents are struggling for sixteen years, they have long lobbied at the first line of defense. By 2010, they have broke out of the "Luga Line" through the Manila Cathedral incident, and started to isolate the Philippines from the rest of the pro-life world in terms of the contraceptive trend with the compromise of Malta to divorce. Just as Hitler delayed the total destruction of Leningrad in order to kill the populace by hunger, so does the condom-brained people try to make delaying tactics like pushing for a "Divorce Bill" as a red herring to contraception. But it turns out that the Russians have struggled all the more; by creating a "Road of Life" through the frozen Lake Ladoga, the Leningraders were somehow supplied by its basic needs--food, clothing, and fuel. Day in and day out, Pro-lifers based on religion keep on praying, believing in the power of prayer; and those based on secular arguments and facts, keep on researching and studying as much data as they could supply the frontliners.
But still, deaths in Leningrad were of cataclysmic proportions every day of the siege. If "the pill" will be legalized, this may lead to death counts far greater than that of the Japanese Invasion, the Martial Law era, the Pinatubo eruption, and the death tolls of natural disasters combined. Basically, the contraceptive mentality is a death sentence that will bring chaos to society if no one is dedicated to combat it off and force it to our shores once and for all.
After almost 900 days of blockade and misery, Leningrad's siege was lifted. Russia, the very inspiration of this spirit of hope called the Siege of Leningrad, through the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government, are taking steps in making abortion illegal and the prohibition of contraceptive use without a physician's prescription. We Filipinos are hoping that this siege brought about by the Culture of Death will be lifted by the Gospel of Life; and that we may destroy the Hitler that is threatening the family.
For now, the Philippines must survive this Leningrad in the making.
Now is the time to play "The Sacred War" in medley with "Bayan Ko".
