By Teodoro Bacani Jr.

The inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama on Jan. 20 was certainly a world spectacle. I doubt whether any event in recent years has been as widely watched by people all over the world as this event. The only event that could rival or surpass it in viewership was the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Even watching the Obama inauguration on TV gave me a sense of excitement and expectation for this man who would not have been thought of as a serious presidential hopeful in the US three years ago. But there he was, going up the stairs of the US Capitol with his wife Michelle with the easy confidence of a man who seemed to feel himself born to be president of the most powerful country on earth. And there he was, taking the oath of office and then delivering his inaugural address so much hyped about by some commentators and awaited by an adoring crowd. The ripples of celebration were contagious and reached even our country.

A visiting US bishop (sympathetic to Obama) told me that almost anyone could have beaten the Republican candidate because of the mess that the Bush administration had put the US in and from which it would take years to extricate itself. The Americans needed someone on whom they could pin their hope for a better future. And in came Barack Obama, with hardly any notable accomplishment as a politician, but with plenty of charisma and an uncommon rhetorical prowess (which certainly both Bush and Mc Cain lacked). He purveyed hope with audacity, and found a ready hearing among a people who needed some reasons for hoping in a very critical situation. I am happy for the American people.

But I look upon Obama, through, with a sense of caution. His words decrying the gap between US security and US ideals encouraged me, and I am happy that he decided to order the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison. My heart applauded when I heard him declare, “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history.” (I thought, “Are President Arroyo, her husband Mike and their allies listening?”) And I was happy not only for the Americans but for the world as well as he assured his people that there would be government oversight to prevent economic abuses that have made so many people suffer.

Yes, there were many things he said that give people not only in the USA but all over the world reasons for rejoicing and hoping.

But there is a dark side to Obama as well. He has been an ardent supporter of abortion. He has reportedly pledged to nominate to the Supreme Court only judges who supported Roe V. Wade. He voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion. He certainly is not a pro-life man according to the vocabulary of most pro-lifers. It was regrettable indeed that Senator McCain could not be qualified as pro-life himself because of his support for the Iraq war. I was told that during the inauguration itself, there was also a rally of pro-lifers somewhere in Washington.

I do not think that Barack Obama can save his country unless he changes his anti-life stance.

Will there be other objectionable qualities of this new US President that would be revealed in his first 100 days in office or after the honeymoon with the press? For the sake of America and the rest of world, I hope that no fatal flaws surface. This will make the American people sorry for their choice.

If I may add an unsolicited piece of advice, I hope that while remaining firm in his pursuit of peace, he would continue to show himself a humble man and put more trust in God and in dialog than in the power of arms and money. Hubris and greed have put America down economically and in the eyes of the world. It would be good for the president of the most powerful nation on earth to remember that God humbles the proud and exalts the humble.