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This week Reny Ornado Aguilar earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Technology at the University of Southeastern Philippines and is currently working at the Cariaga Law Office. Because Reny’s parents separated when he was a child, he never saw his father. From the time of that separation everything became completely unsettled and dysfunctional for him. The only reactions he could muster were confusion, anger and fear, so he took those emotions and tried to use them as a form of power, resulting in the perfect formula for getting in trouble, going down the wrong path, and landing him in the Davao City Jail where he was sentenced for and to misspending his time and squandering his life. It did not take much time in jail for Reny to realize that his actions were hurting not only himself, but also other people he loved the most, his children. He also realized that he needed to radically change his life if he wanted to be a proud father again.When outside, Reny lacked access to acceptable education, but inside he enrolled in College Education Behind Bars in Davao City that gave him a chance to obtain a quality education. When Reny graduated from college at age forty-two, he proved once again that education cannot be limited by age. He also discredited skeptics who hold that individuals areconfined by their past. If given the right chance, Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) can reform and become productive members of society, a transformation that seems impossible until it is done. For Reny his failure was not fatal, nor was his success final; but his courage to continue counted then and now. This undergraduate degree was his first major academic achievement. In tandem with College Education Behind Bars (CEBB), the program offered Celebrate Recovery. While incarcerated at the Davao City Jail, Reny took rehabilitation classes, and through these classes he realized that he is bigger than his problems and that he could understand and overcome his habits and hang-ups. Continue reading →

Ukraine To Be Given an Accelerate Path to Joining the European Union. Ukraine currently has an association agreement with the EU, signed in 2014.But it is not among the five countries Turkey, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. That are official candidates to join the EU, and which have all begun accession negotiation. Many Ukrainians wanted to be free to choose the future of their country. They believe and sovereign. This was their only crime. Today, as Putin is invading the entire territory of Ukraine, it is once again, for this crime that many Ukrainians are going to be killed. Putin has invaded Ukraine. If the West especially Germany and France had not looked away in 2014 and stop buying gas and doing business with the Putin, this war might have been averted. For now, all those who love freedom are Ukrainians. There will be bloodshed, Putin might occupy Ukraine, and Ukraine will lose many of its best sons and daughters. But President Putin will not win this war of choice. Vladimir Putin wants to return to the cold war, a time when the superpowers divided the world among themselves to dominate as a global power; however, that era has passed. Dictators do not listen to reason, which is why they often go to war. Dictators, in this case Putin, send young men to die because of a fear of losing power to a democracy, even one desired by the will of their own people. Therefore, the former KGB leader decided to declare war on Ukraine, a war waged against a brother but one he will not win. Instead, Putin is going to make Ukraine his Iraq and Afghanistan. Continue reading →

The West failed present a united front in the face of a Russian power grab in the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. Putin thinks he can get what he wants by showing off his muscles because that is how strongmen did things in the last century with their authoritative political rule, such as Mao Zedong or Fidel Castro. Under Putin’s leadership Russia has expanded from the Baltic states through Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Syria, the Middle East, Venezuela, and now Ukraine  Known primarily for its Kremlin, vodka, rich literature, and Matryoshka dolls, Russia has been rallied to a point where the country has effectively challenged Western and American leadership. This is all happening because of the absence of good leadership in the West,including in the United States. As the United States itself has withdrawn its historical role from some of these regions in the years under the administrations of both Barak Obama and Donald Trump, now Putin is essentially telling the West and NATO that these regions are under his sphere of influence so others should keep their hands off; in other words, I have full authority and capability to intervene here in whatever way I want. President Obama’s pivot to Asia policy and his leaving the Middle East were geopolitical gifts to President Putin. By withdrawing its influence from these areas, Obama left a power vacuum. Continue reading →