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ISSN 0300-4155Asian Magazine for Human Transformation

Through Education, Social Advocacy and Evangelization

P.O. Box 2481, 1099 Manila, Philippines©Copyright 1974 by Social Impact Foundation, Inc.

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IMPACT

Published monthly byAREOPAGUS SOCIAL MEDIA fOR ASIA, InC.

PEDRO QUITORIO IIIEditor

nIRvA'AnA DELACRUzAssociate Editor

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“At present, the status quo is confusion.”

Albert Ho, a prominent Hong Kong lawyer, who is a member of the city's Legislative Council and the Democratic Party; on the deadlock with pro-democracy demonstrators who have occupied key parts of Hong Kong for several days, as the student-led movement which is blockading roads

and government offices struggled with exhaustion and discord.

“In practical terms, that means he should stop butting heads with the court and gracefully step

down when his term is up.”

New York Times, in its editorial last Aug. 28 with the title "Political mischief in the Philippines"; saying further "Mr. Aquino should uphold the Constitution of a fragile democracy if only out of respect for his father, who was assassinated in the struggle against Marcos, and for his mother, who died in 2009 after leading the 'people power' that triumphed over the excesses and abuses of the presidency."

“This is not a state; this is a terrorist organization.”

Ahmet Ogras, vice president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith; he led a protest of hundreds of Muslim on Sept. 26 outside the Great Mosque of Paris in France to express revulsion over the brutality of ISIS whose name and ideology, they said, is an insult to

Muslims everywhere.

“If mining is inevitable, let it bring peace, justice and development to the people, both today and

tomorrow, as a sign of its real progress.”

Emmanual Dumagad, president of the clergy of the diocese of Tandag in Mindanao; in a recent pastoral statement on mining that challenged the mining industry to subject itself to the monitoring of Extractive Industry Transparency International (EITI) which is "under the watchful eye of Bantay Kita (BK)."; saying further that "if the mining industry will truly be valuable, then it must first be beneficial

to the people to whom the minerals belong."

“President Aquino has not only turned a deaf ear to the people's clamor to abolish pork, but he has

made a mockery of our democracy.”

Nardy Sabino, convenor of Church People's Alliance to Abolish Pork; in a recent statement that called for a signature campaign "for the abolition of lump-sum discretionary funds in government through the Constitutional process of a People's Initiative," and "to strengthen the people's sovereign will to push for a significant change in governance."

3VOLUME 48 • NUMBER 9

EDITORIAL

Looking for Logic ............................................... 27COVER STORY

Moral Leaders Demand Aquino's Resignation ...16ARTICLES

Policies and Sanctions in Basic Ecclesial Communities ........................................ 4Syria - Choosing the Lesser Evil ............................. 8Cooperatives Antidote to Rugged Capitalism ....... 9Climate Change, Its Impact and Challenge for the Church ................................. 10A Silsilah Way to Promote Dialogue and Peace in Basilan ................................... 11

Typhoon Victims in the Philippines Regain Hope and Employment through the Order's Livelihood Project .......................... 21

DEPARTMENTS

Quote in the Act ................................................. 2News Features ................................................... 12Statements .......................................................... 23From the Blogs ................................................... 26From the Inbox .................................................. 28Book Reviews .................................................... 29Entertainment ................................................... 30Asia Briefing ...................................................... 31

IMPACT September 2014 / Vol 48 • No. 9CONTENTS

Editor's Note

ON October 4, the feast of St. Fran-cis of Assisi, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines will be issuing a pastoral exhortation on Climate Change. This follows a line of pastoral statements of Philippine bishops on the environ-ment which started in 1988 with the release of a landmark pastoral letter on ecology entitled "What is happening to our beautiful land."

This comes in the wake of a mas-sive global campaign to reverse climate change that was recently capped with a "People's Climate March" in New York City on Sep-tember 21 and the United Nations' Climate Summit that was held also in New York two days after. The marchers which, according to New York Times surged to 311,000 coming from different parts of the world, were environment ad-vocates and individuals who are frustrated by international inaction on global warming. They were as diverse as their messages and advocacies: "There Is No Planet B," "Forest Not for Sale" and "Jobs, Justice, Clean Energy."

A Filipino contingent was seen at the march. Most prominent was Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive secre-

tary of CBCP's National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), who was also a resource speaker at the Religions for the Earth Conference that was held a day before the march at the Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan. Philippine President Aquino was in New York, too, to attend the UN's climate change summit. But during the people's march, he was in Boston to retrace his family's exile during Martial Law; after the summit he was in Columbia University only to be shouted at by Filipino Americans for corruption and human rights abuses. It would have been an exercise of relevance had he (instead of causing traffic at San Francisco's Haight Street due to his penchant for eating McDonalds' hamburger and doing other peripheral things) issued a statement that provided his firm resolve to pursue policy on climate change or environmental protection--like other leaders did, notably the mayor of New York and several world leaders. But this is reaching for a star, because all that one can do now is just sulk because of his government's inability to address even the minutest issues of typhoon Yolanda.

In the forthcoming CBCP pasto-

ral exhortation on climate change entitled "All Creation...Bless the Lord!," the bishops exhort every Filipino to combat the onslaught of global warming and climate which starts at the personal level. "In our parishes, basic ecclesial communi-ties, Church based groups, as well as in our work and civic organiza-tions, we are called to explore ways to protect our environment as well as to propagate this environmental awareness. When necessary we should lobby our government for legislation and advocate causes that will help curb environmental degradation caused by the excesses of industry."

This issue opens with Fr. Amado Picardal's "Policies and Sanctions in Basic Ecclesials Communities." Staff writer Charles Avila writes the cover story about the growing senti-ment especially from moral leaders against the Aquino ad-ministration. Read on.

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policies and sanctions in basic ecclesial communities

IMPACT • SEPTEMBER 2014

Policies and Sanctions in Basic Ecclesial CommunitiesBy Fr. Amado L. Picardal, CSsR, SThD

FOR the last forty-five years, as part of the renewal promoted by Vatican II, Ba-sic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) have sprouted all over the country. The PCP

II in 1991, formally adopted the forma-tion of BECs as a pastoral priority and since then, more and more dioceses have vigorously promoted BECs. Forming sustainable BECs is not easy. Thus, BEC practitioners came up with various meth-ods. One of these was the introduction of policies with corresponding sanctions.

There are some dioceses and par-ishes that have adopted the so-called “policies and sanctions” that would deny the sacraments to those who are not ac-tively involved in BECs. This means that active membership in these communities is a pre-requisite for receiving the sacra-ments. For example, parents are required

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VOLUME 48 • NUMBER 9

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to get a signed certification from their BEC leaders that they are active members of their family groupings and BECs. This means, regularly attending their neighborhood Bible-sharing sessions, weekly community Bible-Service in the chapel, monthly Mass and other BEC activities. This also means paying their monthly or annual dues. In one diocese, the signatures of the heads of the various BEC/chapel ministries (worship, education, service, temporalities, family & life, youth) are needed for certification.

If they are not active members, the leaders won’t give them a certification. No certification means no baptism. Some parishes require BEC certification for those intending to get married. Some parishes refuse to conduct funeral masses for those

who have not been actively involved in BECs and have not paid their dues. Other parishes have a policy that no fiesta Mass will be celebrated for BECs if there is gambling going on during the fiesta. Some parishes have a policy that a Mass in the BEC can only be celebrated after the community has paid the dues in full or have paid a quota for construction of the cathedral. Other parishes have a policy that BECs without a full line up of officers be suspended and no BEC Mass will be celebrated unless they are able to elect a complete set of officers.

The number of dioceses and parishes that have adopted such policies and sanc-tions may be few--only less than 15 percent (mostly in the South). This has become part

of the BEC culture in these places. Due to negative feedbacks, some have already abandoned this and replaced “certification” with “information” emphasizing that those who are not active members be made to understand and encouraged to participate in their BEC activities so that reception of the sacraments becomes meaningful. But others continue the practice which is also being introduced in a few dioceses in the Visayas and Luzon, although some bishops have cautioned against it or refused to adopt it.

The justification of those who adopt these policies and sanctions is that this is a good way of instilling discipline among the lay faithful. Those who want to avail of the sacraments must have already lived



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failed to pay his dues? How would the lay faithful feel if they are already gathered in the chapel for the fiesta mass but the priest who has just arrived decide to cancel the Mass and go home because he saw several people violating the policies by gambling outside? There are some priests who are more lenient and compassionate and who allow those without certification to avail of the sacraments. For not strictly following the policies, they get the ire of other priests and also of their own lay leaders who get discouraged and think of resigning.

Some bishops and many canon lawyers have commented that these policies and sanctions are even stricter than canon law. Indeed, there is no canonical basis for them and they are not in accordance with Church law. Canon 213 states: “Christ’s faithful have the right to be assisted by their pastors from the spiritual riches of the Church, especially by the word of God and the sacraments.” According to canon 843 no. 1 “sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them, are properly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them.” Canon 1184 no.1 lists down those to be denied Church funeral rites and funeral mass. This list does not include those who are not active members of BECs. These three canon law provisions tell us that the faithful cannot be denied of the sacraments just because they are not active members of the BEC. What is required as stipulated in canon 843 no. 2 is that “pastors and other members of Christ’s faithful have a duty to ensure those who ask for the sacraments are prepared for their reception. This should be done through proper evangelization and catechetical instruction…” Thus, what is important is the preparation for the reception of the sacraments through evangelization and catechesis.

A paper presented by Msgr. Rey Mon-santo during the 2013 annual convention of the Canon Law Society of the Philippines and which was endorsed by the body and submitted to the CBCP states: “Hence, the BECs, while being strongly made a paro-chial or diocesan thrust, should never be imposed on the faithful. Attraction should be the strategy… Therefore, while the faithful should be educated on the BECs and kindly invited and encouraged to be active members, no one should be “forced” nor inactive membership threatened with penalty, like deprivation of a sacrament for oneself or for any member of the family… The right of the faithful to the sacraments and to the spiritual assistance from their pastors must always be respected (c.843

and c.213). Hence, active membership in the BECs can never be made an absolute condition, or “conditio sine qua non”, for participating in the celebration and/or reception of the sacraments and sacra-mentals… Hence, BECs and Parish Priests should avoid making “penal policies” that will sound more like threats, and thus turn people off. It is enough that they follow and implement the laws of the Code, and the laws of the diocese to which they belong. Too many minute laws will make them sound like the Pharisees of old. “

These policies and sanctions present a negative image of the BECs as a new way of being Church. This image of the Church is contrary to the Vatican II and PCP II vision of a renewed Church. It presents an image of the Church that is highly institutionalized, and bureaucratic, with a leadership style that is authoritarian. It is based on the strict observance of rules and policies which the Pharisees promoted and which Jesus criticized because they lacked mercy and compassion.

There is a need to come up with more creative and effective ways of promot-ing, forming and revitalizing BECs. This requires a lot of patience and compassion. This also requires new ardor and methods of evangelization that lead to personal conversion and communion with Christ and the community. Active membership in BECs should never depend on coercive policies and sanctions. This requires, ac-cording to the 2012 Synod of Bishops, abandoning a strategy of maintenance and adopting a more missionary strategy--that is, of reaching out to the vast majority of our members who are nominal, and many of whom are hurting or alienated from the Church. The BECs must incarnate the im-age of a Church of mercy and compassion. As Pope Francis reminds us: “the Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” (Evangelii Gaudium 114).

Pope Francis has something to say to those who are obsessed with policies and sanctions: “Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself “the door”: baptism. The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” (Evangelii Gaudium 47).

as genuine Christians and active members of the Christian community (the BEC). They believe that this is an effective way of forming and strengthening the BEC.

On the other hand, this has caused a lot of hurt, anger and resentment among many who have been denied the sacraments. Consequently, this has alienated them from the Church or even drove them away from the Church. The joy of parents and relatives over the birth of a child has been replaced by anger and hurt when told they could not be given a certification to have the child baptized because they were not active in their BECs. How do you console the bereaved when their loved one who just died cannot have a funeral mass because he was not an active member of his BEC or

CBCPNews


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Syria – choosing the lesser evilBy Fr. Shay Cullen

The attention of the international news media is focused on what the United States will do to prevent the Assad

regime from using abhorrent chemical weapons again. The US Senate has given the go-signal to President Obama. The alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that Assad and his followers are accused of committing by using poison gas to kill as many as 1,429 people, four hundred of them children, are shocking and must be condemned.

The evidence that has been presented so far by the Western governments, while still waiting for the report from the UN inspec-tors, gives a very strong case that the Assad government did indeed commit a heinous war crime against its own people, most of them civilians, women and children. We have to speak out and denounce such evil act if indeed true, as it appears to be so.

The use of poison gas has been inter-nationally outlawed since the First World War as a weapon of mass destruction, the evidence so far indicates that sarin, a deadly gas that brings an agonizing and painful death to its victims was used in the attack. There have been other reported incidents of smaller attacks with video evidence of dying and dead people and flocks of birds downed in rebel-held areas due to a suspected gas attacks.

According to Wikipedia, “Syria is one of five states that have not signed and one of seven that have not ratified the Chemi-cal Weapons Convention, which prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons. However, in 1968, Syria acceded to the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poi-sonous or Other Gases. In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Syria denied that it had chemical weapons, but admitted it possessed such weapons in 2012. The Syrian President had earlier alluded to a chemical weapon capability in public statements, in 1990 and 1997”.

In desperation and fear of a possible defeat and subsequent wipe out of his fam-ily and his tribe, Assad and his military are apparently resorting to chemical warfare. This is a horrendous crime and can cause terrible deaths among civilians. If the wind suddenly changes then it can be carried into the center of Damascus and kill many

more, including diplomats and the many Filipinos there who refuse to leave their well-paying jobs.

The British parliament has voted against any military strike to degrade the capabil-ity of Assad to use these terrible weapons. The French President is waiting to support the decision of the United States when the US congress finally decides whether to authorize a strike or not.

President Obama Is caught between a rock and a hard place. He has implacable enemies among the fanatical members of the Republican Party who have blocked his many positive initiatives in other areas in the past.

If he orders a limited strike against Syria, his Republican Congressional enemies will lambaste him. If he does not strike, they will question his leadership ability and practically call him a do-nothing President, blaming him if the Assad regime commits more war crimes.

Besides, if Obama had ordered a strike, the Assad regime would possibly retaliate by striking back against Israel with chemi-cal weapons. Obama would be blamed for that too. The Israeli government has distributed thousands of gas masks to a panicky nation just in case. In a politically smart move, he wisely deferred to the US

congress to make the decision.The ball is now in their court. If they

don’t approve a strike they can be accused of ignoring a horrendous war crime and giving encouragement to the enemy of the Syrian people allowing them to be gassed to death for their opposition to his oppressive regime. It will be as if the US Congress is condoning a modern day Nazi death chamber.

This is anathema to the Jewish race; mil-lions of them were gassed to death under the Nazi genocide of WWII. They have had enough of gas chambers, one Scud missile into their territory and all hell will break loose. Israel could very well strike against the palace and person of Assad and his mother who is the power behind the Assad throne. May all out war never happen.

There has to be a choice as to which is the greatest good, to strike or not to strike. And a choice as to which is the greatest evil, to allow Assad to tyrannically gas thousands more of his people or try to pre-vent it by destroying his delivery vehicles such as the scud and other missiles; and their command and control centers. We are morally bound to choose the lesser evil in such situations. That is the choice facing the US Congress.

Vatican City - September, 7, 2013: Pope Francis led a prayer vigil for peace in Syria in St. Peter's Square on September 7, 2013. CNA

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Cooperatives antidote to rugged capitalism

By Bernardo M. Villegas

By sheer coincidence, I addressed a national conference of top officials

of successful cooperatives from all over the Philippines on the day Argentina won over the Netherlands in the semi-final of the World Cup last July 10. It gave me the opportunity to relate my favorite sport, football, to the contribution that successful cooperatives, especially in the agribusiness sector, can make to combat the excesses of market capitalism in the Philippines. I took off from the oft-repeated criticism by Pope Francis of the "absolute autonomy of the market": "We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market. Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presuppos-ing such growth: it requires decisions, programmes, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribu-tion of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality..."

Since I sensed that a good number of the people in the audience followed the games of the World Cup closely, I reminded them that the teams of both Argentina and Netherlands were masters of the tiki-taka style of playing football, i.e. the constant precision passing of the ball from one player to another until it reaches the person who is in the best position to score. There is no superstar or prima donna mentality. Each player's talents and skills are at the service of the whole team. The values in-culcated in the players are solidarity, team play, passing and speed of movement. In fact, the two other semi-finalists, Germany and Brazil also adopted the tiki-taka style to one degree or another.

This way of playing football, in contrast with the long balls followed by scramble and hustle, originated from the Dutch and was perfected by Johan Cruyff who coached the FC Barcelona (Barca) Club from 1988 to 1996. Cruyff, in turn, learned it from Rinus Michels, also a Dutch coach. Since then, Barca has become famous for this way of playing football, which produced the greatest victories for Barca under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, who was a disciple of Cruyff, from 2008 to 2012 during which this Catalan team broke all records in the number of trophies they won in a given season. Arguably, Barca during this winning streak was dubbed as the "greatest team in the world," and its star player Argentine Leo Messi as the best foot-ball player ever. Messi is the second player in history, after Michel Platini, to win three consecutive Balons d'Or, the World's Most Valuable Player.

It is no coincidence that tiki-taka was invented in the Netherlands, which is a nation built on the foundation of coopera-tives. In fact, an outstanding example of the strength of cooperatives in the Netherlands is one of the largest milk companies in the world, Friesland Campino that is now the owner of the Alaska Milk Corporation in the Philippines. Friesland Campino is owned by thousands of small dairy farmers in the Netherlands. The widespread pres-ence of cooperatives in the various sectors of Dutch economic life, especially in agri-business, has minimized the excesses of market capitalism in that European country famous for dikes and windmills. As I told the leaders of the cooperative movement in the Philippines, they should promote the playing of football in their respective regions in the Philippines because the sport is an effective means of inculcating in Filipino children from the age of five or six the spirit of cooperation, something

direly needed by our culture. Although we proudly speak of the "bayanihan" spirit, it is unfortunately limited to a very small circle of relatives or at best, a clan. The sense of the common good is generally absent in Filipino communities. Most cooperatives in the Philippines have failed miserably. The leaders I addressed come from the exceptional ones.

A successful cooperative is in a better position to look beyond the economic di-mension of human existence. As mentioned above, it can address the cultural defect of individualism or a clannish mentality among many Filipinos. It can heighten the social consciousness of people in business by making them more aware of how interlinked are their varied activities in the supply chain, as in agri-business where farming, post-harvest, processing, wholesaling, transport, and retailing have to be closely coordinated for efficiency and cost effectiveness. Cooperatives can play a major, if not exclusive role, in every link of this supply chain. From the sad experiences of many cooperatives in the Philippines, the successful ones realize how important moral integrity is among their members since dishonesty has been a very common cause of the failure of cooperatives, with the treasurer running away with the money.

Finally, cooperatives cannot afford to ig-nore the political dimension of their mem-bers. They have to be active in dialoguing with government officials at all levels, from the LGU unit all the way up to Congress whose members they must enlighten so that the right laws affecting cooperatives (as in the innovative workers’ cooperative movement) will be passed. It was provi-dential that Congressman Cresente Paez, who represents the cooperative sector in the Lower House, was among those in the audience. For comments, my email address is [email protected].

CBCPNews


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Climate change, its impact and challenge for the Church

(Address delivered by Fr. Edwin Gariguez, Executive Secretary of the National Sec-retariat for Social Action (NASSA) and Caritas Philippines, at the Plenary Session of the Religions for the Earth Conference at Union Theological Seminary in New York City on September 20, 2014, a day before the People's Climate March in Manhattan where he, too, was a participant together with some Filipinos)

I AM Edwin Gariguez, and I come from the Philippines. In terms of climate change vul-nerability, my country ranks as the 7th most vulnerable to climatic extreme weather events in the world (2014 Global Climate Risk Index). The recent catastrophic super typhoon Haiyan that devastated the central region of our country attests to this level of vulnerability.

On record, Haiyan is the strongest tropi-cal cyclone to make landfall. The damage from Haiyan is catastrophic, resulting to an estimated 8,000 casualties,affecting 16 mil-lion people in 10 provinces, while over 1.1 million homes were damaged, about half of them completely destroyed. The livelihoods of an estimated 5.6 million poor people were damaged. And the total cost of destructionis estimated at around 700M Euros.

Our office, Caritas Philippines, is pres-ently doing emergency rehabilitation work in typhoon-ravaged areas in the central Philippines. The misery of the people should not hide behind mere statistics. Climate change induced disasters spell indescrib-able miseries to our people--the sorrow of a surviving father who lost all members of his family, the harrowing ordeal of watching your children go hungry for several days, the perennial feeling of insecurity for losing everything that you have, the paralyzing fear of hopelessness and despair. When we talk of climate change, we need to see real faces of suffering of people and feel the urgency of addressing the crisis.

Extreme weather event is occurring more frequently in my country. The Phil-ippines, being an archipelago, is prone to climate induced disasters brought about by sea level rise, storm surges, prolonged drought, flash floods, notwithstanding dis-eases and infestations caused by dramatic changes in climatic temperatures.

Clearly, climate change and its ensuing extreme weather impact is hurting the most vulnerable countries, like the Philippines. In terms of social groups, small farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, women and children are identified as the most vulner-able sectors affected by climate change as it threatens both their lives and livelihood.

Aside from onslaught of disasters, cli-mate change also wreck extensive damage to agriculture, with repeated crop failures. In effect, it threatens food security of the poor communities.

The impacts of climate change to the poor are also experienced by other countries in Asia. The Catholic Church is alarmed of climate change as an “un-precedented threat to humanity.” The Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) clearly decries how climate is hurting the developing countries in Asia: “But tragically, ours is a continent of massive poverty, where few enjoy great progress and prosperity while the many suffer in abject deprivation. And it is the poor and the needy who suffer most from the consequences of climate change. We are experiencing dramatic changes of season, extreme changes of weather, more fre-quently recurring and stronger typhoons, destructive flooding, drying up of whole areas, decrease in food production and spread of climate change related diseases.”

For the Church, climate change is an urgent issue that is clearly related to our Christian responsibility to care for the earth and to care for the poor and vulner-able in our midst. The social teaching of the Church is repleted with pastoral exhortations invoking for environmental stewardship, social and inter-generational

justice, the use of earth’s resources for common good, authentic development, and service for the poor and the vulnerable. All those principles are at stake of being violated when we do not avert or address the causes of climate change.

As early as 1988, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had already articulated need the urgency for our faith to take on the ecological challenge: “At this point in the history of our coun-try it is crucial that people motivated by religious faith develop a deep appreciation for the fragility of our islands’ life system and take steps to defend the earth. It is a matter of life and death.”

Clearly, climate change is a moral issue that we in the Church cannot remain pas-sive bystanders. It is for this reason that the Bishops Conference in Asia categorically admits: “As Church we are challenged by this grave situation, since climate change is an ethical, moral and religious issue.”

Thus, the issue of climate change is not only about reducing carbon emission, expansion of carbon markets or transition-ing to low carbon economies.Over and above the campaign to provide technical or political solutions, we need to recover the wider ethical context underlying the climate change discourse.

And this is precisely the reason for this conference.

Fr. Edwin Gariguez was among the Filipinos who joined the People’s Climate March held in Manhattan, New York on September 21, 2014 which gathered hundreds of thousands of environment advocates all over the world; with a strong message of alarm for world leaders set to gather this week at the United Nations for a summit meeting on climate change. Fr. Gariguez, the executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action of the CBCP, was a panel speaker at the Religions for the Earth Conference at the Union Theological Seminary held the day before the March. CAritAs PiliPiNAs


A Silsilah Way to Promote Dialogue and Peace in Basilan

By Silsilah Dialogue Movement

IN the midst of so much alarming news of radicalism and terrorism in Mindanao and other parts of the world, Silsilah invites all to move with determination in promoting dialogue and peace through education and formation and share our lives in solidarity with those who suffer most. With this spirit, the Movement maintains groups and centers in many parts of Mindanao and Manila through the Silsilah Forums formed by Muslim and Christian Silsilah Alumni and others who wish to be part of this experi-ence that is articulated in different forms.

In Basilan, Silsilah has a special presence with a Center and a group of respected Mus-lims and Christian leaders who, together, form the Inter Faith Council of Leaders ( IFCL) Basilan. The leaders of IFCL are the top religious leaders of Basilan among the Catholics, the Protestant pastors and the Muslims. The last experience of the activi-ties of Silsilah in Basilan was a formation program for teachers of Islamic schools called “Madaris Gurus”. This program is not new in Silsilah. From time to time Silsilah invites madaris gurus and catechists together to build friendship, to know more about dialogue and the Culture of Dialogue and encourage them to teach according to their own religion and program, but in a dialogical way. Considering that there are many prejudices among our people, Mus-lims and Christians, the religious teachers can help either to remove prejudices or aggravate them. It is in their way of teach-ing that the students can become people of peace or perpetuate the prejudices that are the entry points to violence.

From September 10 to 13, a group of madaris gurus, men and women, were with us in Harmony Village in Zamboanga to attend a formation program. It was only for them because this was the request of the IFCL Basilan who observed that in some Islamic schools in Basilan some

Muslims try to contact the madaris gurus in order to present to them the radical ways of teaching that is often the entry point of violence. At this time when the “fever” of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) coming from Iraq was being circulated also in Basilan and other parts of Mindanao, a good number of leaders, including Muslim religious leaders, were alarmed and tried to find ways to promote peace through the correct way of teaching Islam. For this reason, Silsilah was invited to help.

The group arrived in Harmony Village in the morning of September 10. Most of the teachers were sent by the DepEd (Depart-ment of Education) of Basilan because the teachers/madaris gurus are part of a DepEd program. The seminar workshop was orga-nized by Ustadh Garson A. Hamja, teacher of the Silsilah Madrasa, with the help of other resource persons: Ustadh Abdulla Ibrahim, Director of the Silsilah Madrasa; Prof. Sid-dique Abdel Azcem Muhammad, teacher of the College of Asian and Islamic Stud-ies of Western Mindanao State University (WMSU); and Aminda E. Sano, President of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement.

The sharing was open and friendly. Gradually, the participants were introduced to the concept of the Culture of Dialogue, Path to Peace and the dialogical teach-ing in madaris schools. These inputs helped them understand the importance of harmonizing the curriculum and the methodology in order to form good Mus-lims and good citizens. The participants were also informed about the curriculum and methodology of Islamic teaching in WMSU. A special topic was the presenta-tion of the Culture of Dialogue that Silsilah promotes, the presentation of the open letter “the Common Word” of 138 Muslim scholars of the world who wrote in 2007 to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders of the world. In this letter, the im-portance for Muslims and Christians to work together for peace in the world is

emphasized--starting from the concept of the Love of God and the love of neighbor in Islam and Christianity. Another special topic was a presentation of the concept of the “great Jihad” that promotes the spiritual journey of purification, a concept quite dif-ferent from the fundamentalist concept of the word “Jihad”. The sharing was open and friendly and the participants returned to Basilan determined to apply what they learned in Silsilah.

There are those who have a very negative perception of Basilan that is often considered the place of the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group well known around the world. Meanwhile, we know the reality of violence, kidnapping and other forms of criminality in Basilan. We reaffirm that there are many respected Mus-lims and Christian leaders in Basilan who are sincere in their commitment for peace. And the group of madaris gurus who were invited to Harmony Village was a sign of hope. We salute them and we pray that with other good Muslim and Christian leaders of Basilan they can overcome “fear” -- a fear expressed often with silence. In spite of the fear observable in the sharing of the madaris gurus activity done in Harmony Village, there is so much hope in Basilan. The experience of the last September madaris gurus activity is an affirmation of this hope.

Silsilah is in solidarity with those who suffer violence in the world, particularly now in Iraq and Syria. But we do not forget the violence in our midst, includ-ing the painful experiences of violence in Basilan suffered by all, especially against the Christians. We know that violence begets more violence. Indeed, the road towards dialogue is long, but there is hope if such dialogue is sincere and not used as a “strategy”. Dialogue is the way of peace only when it becomes a deeper experience of love and respect of different cultures and religions giving special attention to the less privileged. This is the Silsilah way of solidarity, peace and development.

articles

Muslim women express their support of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) at a Thanksgiving Rally in Pinkit, Cotabato. Many believe the will be instru-mental in forging lasting peace in Mindanao. OPAPP


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Gov’t urged to expedite rehab of ‘Yolanda’-damaged coconut farms

MANILA, Sept. 6, 2014 — A Catholic priest pressed the government to fast track its rehabilitation of storm-ravaged coconut farms and provide farmers with alternative livelihood sources.

Fr. EduGariguez of the CBCP’s National Secretariat for Social Action- Justice and Peace (Nassa) said farmers from areas which have been affected by typhoon Yolanda and other calamities have yet to receive any rehabilitation from the government.

Idle lands

Despite the P2.8 billion fund released several months ago to the Philippine Co-conut Authority for the rehabilitation of coconut farms hardest hit by typhoon Yolanda, coconut lands remain idle, he said.

Gariguez said farmers complain that up to now, they have not received any assistance from the PCA after successive

typhoons that have left them jobless, home-less, and starving.

“It’s very high time for President Aquino to give us a very clear direction as to what the Aquino government is planning to do with the intended fund for rehabilitation of coconut farms. There are around 3.5 million coconut farmers in the country, while 25 percent of rural folks depend on copra earn-ings for their sustenance,” Gariguez said.Coco Levy Fund question

The Eastern Visayas region, in particu-lar, accounts for no less than 12% of total coconut hectarage in the country, meaning 434 thousand hectares out of the estimated 3.5 million hectares, planted with some 46 million trees.

It is estimated that some 300,000 families were affected directly and indirectly by the devastation of coconut farms, mostly located along the shorelines, particularly by typhoon

Yolanda which made its first landfall in Guiuan, Borongan, Eastern Samar last year.

“We can use the fund for the livelihood and rehabilitation of the coconut areas in all typhoon affected areas. Farmers can intercrop while waiting for the coconut trees to grow. It could alleviate the mis-erable condition of coconut farmers,” Fr. Gariguez said.

“Poor coconut farmers should be the ones benefitting from every single cen-tavo of the public fund, not only a few,” he added.

Nassa also challenged President Be-nigno Aquino III to do something about the escrowed P73-billion Coconut Levy Fund. Ever since the Supreme Court (SC) ruled with finality that the coco-levy funds belong to the government, the administra-tion “has been mute” on its plans for its use. (CBCPNews)

Coconut crops remain a main source of livelihood for many farmers who were affected by typhoon Yolanda last year. The Eastern Visayas region accounts for no less than 12% of total coconut hectarage in the country. roy lagarde


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Bishop warns of mining-related violence in E. Samar

MANILA, Sept. 5, 2014—Local Church authorities warn of renewed violence if the government will continue to allow a mining company to transport nickel ore stockpiles off an island in the southernmost tip of Eastern Samar.

On Wednesday, tension erupted after residents of Manicani Island in Guiuan town formed a human barricade to stop Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) from loading ore stockpiles.

Borongan Bishop Crispin Varquez ap-pealed to both the government and the mining firm to prevent a situation where life will be lost because of mining.

“I am vehemently against the violence that has happened upon loading of stock-piles, and the accidents it brought to the residents of the island and I fear that it may happen again should the loading persist,” Varquez said.

The struggle against mining has been among the concerns of the diocese after a mining engineer was killed by angry residents after a heated argument in 2000. A year later, the son of an anti-mining leader also died after being hit by the mining company’s dump truck during a demonstration.

The diocese also kept an eye on the military and local police amid reports of harassment allegedly committed in the past against anti-mining residents whose sustainable livelihood from farming and

fishing is threatened.For more than two decades now, the

mining issue also continues to serve as a living symbol of divided Manicani.

“It also pains us to witness the current division of the island upon the entry of mining and we wish for the residents to move on from opposing each other,” Varquez said.

The operation of Hinatuan Mining Corp., NAC’s subsidiary, has been sus-pended since 2001 for causing aquatic and soil erosion. It has since then sought permit to haul and load more than 150,000 tons of ore stockpiles.

This suspension includes the cessation of exploration, operation, extraction, and disposal, except for care and maintenance by the company. According to the bishop, the permit to transport, therefore, goes against the suspension.

Environmental hazardsIn July this year, the Department of En-

vironment and Natural Resources and the Mines of Geosciences Bureau released an authorization for hauling and loading to the company based on an endorsement from Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery PanfiloLacson. The suspen-sion, however, remains to be in effect.

On Tuesday, Varquez and some clergy met with Lacson in Manila to discuss how the mining firm got the authority to load

nickel ore stockpiles now that it is still suspended.

Borongan’s Diocesan Social Action Center chair Fr. Juderick Paul Calumpiano, who was privy to the meeting, said Lacson requested NAC to haul and load ore stock-piles as part of the agency’s rehabilitation and recovery efforts.

According to OPARR’s endorsement letter, the disposal of stockpiles is a mitigating measure against any possible adverse environmental effect that may worsen calamities.

However, a test conducted by the En-vironmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Manicani’s bodies of water turned out negative from the hazard posed by siltation.

This sparked the questioning of the va-lidity of the endorsement and authorization by the local church and anti-mining groups.

ViolationsThe Borongan diocese said the HMC

also violated the Interim Mines Permit (IMP) allowing the company to extract only up to a maximum of 250,000 metric tons of nickel ore as it exceeded the re-quired extraction cap volume, amounting to roughly a million metric tons.

He said this led to yet another problem on how the mining firm to stockpile much more than what is required by the IMP.

“To add to this, the said company was a able to load more than the prescribed

Civil society groups protest outside the DENR main office in Quezon City the Nickel Asia Corp.’s permit to load nickel ore stockpiles off Manicani Island in Eastern Samar, 4 Sept 2014. Alyansa tigil Mina


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cap volume of ore reaching to about 300 metric tons, which is another violation of IMP,” the diocese said in a petition letter to MGB Director Leo Jasareno dated August 4.

“Upon extraction and given the said conditions, this is illegal ore and should not be loaded by the company or anyone. More so, the company bases its operation on IMP which is currently expired, and that the company’s operation is not covered by MPSA to date,” they said.

The clergy also said that they do not desire that the vulnerabilities of typhoon Yolanda survivors be taken advantage of.

“Not only did the conspicuous timing of loading happened right the after typhoon when people were most vulnerable, the said company also began providing relief assistance to the victims for, and we dare say, it to win favor among the people as if to be an exchange for the company’s assistance,” they added.

‘Adding insult to injury’Various civil society organizations,

including residents of Manicani, staged a rally yesterday outside the DENR in Que-zon City to press the agency to withdraw the permit they issued to the NAC.

“This move is adding insult to injury,” said MarcialGomooc, President of Save Manicani Movement (SaMaMo).

“We are still reeling from the destruction caused by Yolanda to our lives and home and here comes the government taunting us with yet another disaster,” he said.

From DENR, the demonstrators marched to the MGB main office, while another group picketed in front of NAC office in Taguig City. A simultaneous rally was also held outside the MGB regional office in Tacloban City.

Fr. Oli Castor of the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI) condemned the action taken by DENR-MGB “because we all know that HMC’s intention has always been run by capitalistic greed and not by concern for the environment.”

“It seems like MGB is creating a trend here that empowers mining companies to do their business-as-usual thing under the guise of concern for the environment,” Castor said.

“First they lifted the suspension of Marcventures Mining Development Cor-poration in Surigao del Sur, second Philex was steered clear and now HMC? It’s horrifying to think about what tricks they are going to pull next just to cater to the cold-blooded capitalistic intentions of the mining industry.” he said. (CBCPNews)

Manicani Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar remains at the center of drawn out tension between anti-mining leaders and supporters and mining companies. File PhOtO

Anti-gambling prelate calls P3.5k casino entrance fee ‘ridiculous’MANILA, Sept. 12, 2014—Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar V. Cruz, who is known for his crusade against gambling, denounced a bill filed recently by Misamis Oriental Representative Peter Unabia, which allegedly seeks to raise casino entrance fees to P3,500, dismissing it as “ridicu-lously small”.

“It is better than nothing. But I think somebody else should file a bill with ten times or 25 times that amount … that amount is ridiculous compared to the money that goes in and out of the casinos. Besides, casino goers won’t mind spending P3,500,” said Cruz in an interview over Church-run Radyo Veritas.

According to him, patrons of casinos have hundreds of thou-sands, sometimes millions, in their pockets, which they are prepared to

lose, so a P3,500 entrance fee will not do much to deter them from the said vice.

The archbishop believes the pro-posed law is just Malacañang’s way of showing the Filipino public it is serious about eradicating the “culture of gambling” in the country.

He noted, “That entrance fee is merely for show that will have no effect on casino regulars, most of them millionaires, particularly those who come from abroad and so think in terms of foreign cur-rency.”

Cruz shared that the harm inflicted by gambling outweighs its supposed economic benefits.

“Gambling addicts live day-in day-out only for the thrill gambling gives them. Untold number of families, relationships, and livelihoods has

been ruined because of it. It’s a vicious circle that makes a gambler win a game once, and lose much more often later,” explained he.

The prelate fears that gambling conditions the mind of people who engage in it to believe that dishonesty is normal.

Cruz asked, “Why make gambling a source of revenue and livelihood in the first place””

He said casinos in Las Vegas fold up one by one, realizing people there are becoming wiser with their money, and so what used to be gam-bling houses have been converted to theaters.

“The problem is these gambling lords move to our shores to set up shop here, and our government welcomes them,” laments Cruz. (Raymond A. Sebastián)


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Caritas Nepal: witnessing to Christ, 25 years at the service of the poor and marginalizedKATHMANDU, Sept. 17, 2014–Caritas Nepal, established in 1989, is celebrating 25 years of life and service to the poor and needy in the country, according to the rules set out by the Gospel. Speaking at the celebrations for the Silver Jubilee of the apostolic vicar of Nepal Msgr. Simick Paul spoke of ” is a time of sanctification, liberation and radical returning to God, of rejoicing for the grace received, of assess-ment of the past and of the renewal of all activities for the future”.

The prelate, who is also patron of the Catholic institution, added that “this jubilee celebration” is an opportunity to ” appreciate the wonderful journey through the last 25 years in establishing God’s presence in this beautiful country of Nepal by serving the Church and the society especially poor and marginalized” in agreement “with the teachings of the Church’s social doctrine”.

The Vicar Emeritus Msgr. Anthony Sharma recalled the prayer of St. Francis

of Assisi, in which the saint asked the Lord to make him “an instrument of peace”, to give faith, hope, joy and light. The Executive Director of Caritas Nepal Fr. Pius Perumana urges growth in the name of “solidarity” and recalls their “grow-ing presence” in terms of social service. “Caritas Nepal – he says – will never fail when it comes to responding to the needs of the poor and marginalized”.

In all these years, the Catholic or-ganization has operated throughout the country, in diverse areas gaining respect and recognition among social institutions, from its response to emer-gency activities to the realization of long-term programs. Their work was already applauded by the late king Bi-rendraBirBikramShahDev, who granted Caritas recognition in 1997.

The main sectors in which it operates are agriculture and adaptation to climate change, cooperation and business, socio-economic projects, the building of peace

in the country, the prevention of gender-based violence and human trafficking . It also works in providing assistance and aid in cases of natural disasters, projects in schools and support for migrant workers returning to their country of origin. Their projects have benefited millions of people.

About 150 thousand Christians (0.4%) live in Nepal--a nation of 26.6 million people--of which 8 thousand are Catholics. Before the fall of the monarchy (2006) Hinduism was the State religion and ruled the lives of every citizen. The proclamation of a secular state guaranteed religious freedom, but the minorities--especially Christianity--still suf-fer harassment and threats from the majority community. The Hindu population is often at the center of incidents of discrimination and violence against women and marginalization of the poor. There are also allegations--by Hindus, and sometimes even Buddhists--that Catholics and Christians try to convert people by force or by offering them money. (AsiaNews)

Chinese authorities demolish two churches on same dayCHINA, Sept. 19, 2014–Two Catholic churches in two neighboring provinces in China were demolished this week while a third in Zhejiang province had its cross removed.

On Monday, Jinxi Catholic Church in Hunan province was forcibly de-stroyed. When the priest tried to block the demolition, he was handcuffed and taken away.

The government said it needed the land for a development project and promised to build a new church in the same township ahead of the demolition, Bishop Metho-dius QuAilin of Changsha (Hunan) told ucanews.com.

“Though the new one is now built, we haven’t renovated the rectory and the wor-shipping area is still not ready for use. The authority promised to provide temporary shelter for us and asked our priest to sign an agreement on August 1. But before things materialized, the authority broke its promise and demolished the old church,” he said.

Bishop Qu, who was notified that his priest had been detained, managed to se-cure his release the following day. “The officials have apologized. The priest is

now staying in a hostel but we still haven’t received a temporary worshipping place as promised.”

In Jiangxi province, east of Hunan, the Our Lady Church in Jingdezhen was demolished just ater midnight on Monday.

The incident was shared in a pair of anonymous reports that have since gone viral online.

A Church source in Jiangxi who spoke on condition anonymity confirmed both reports were true.

One, signed by “Catholic Church of the city,” reported that parish priest Father Dong Guohua was tricked by Religious Affairs officials into leaving the church on September 14 in order to discuss a reconstruction.

After dining with five officials, Father Dong stayed overnight in a room they reserved for him. At midnight, he received a call from his neighbor that the church had been leveled.

Some religious articles and furniture were moved out before the demolition but “the tabernacle was damaged by the bulldozer and buried among the debris,” the report stated.

The other report was undersigned by the “door guard of the Church”. He said a mob abducted him that night, forcing him into a vehicle.

The mob leader told him that he would be safe if he cooperated and that he would be freed when the time came. The vehicle then drove around the city and dropped him off around 6:30am on Monday. When he returned to the church site, he found only ruins.

In a third incident also on Monday, Jingtou Church of Wenzhou diocese in Zhejiang had its cross removed.

“Laypeople came to protect the church since the parish received a removal no-tice in late July. They even damaged the bridge that leads to the church to prevent bulldozers approaching,” said a Wenzhou Church source.

The government then installed surveil-lance cameras in the area to wait for an appropriate time to take action.

After some negotiations, the parish finally agreed to let the authorities take down the existing cross, which was judged illegal; they were allowed to install a smaller one afterwards, he said. (UCAN)


Moral leaders demand Aquino's resignation


cover story

Moral leaders demand Aquino's resignationBy ChArles AvilA

Fr. leONidO dOlOr


We had heard it up and down this beleaguered archipelago. Our moral leaders were about

to make a pronouncement on the current political situation, as they did back in 1986 (Edsa I), then in 2001(Edsa II), and of a different kind in 2005.

In 1986 and 2001, as a result of their moral pronouncement, regime change became a moral necessity.

When they cautioned against regime change in 2005, such change did not occur despite Cory Aquino’s taking to the streets to demand that change. With her then were son Noynoy (now President), good friends Butch Abad (now DBM Secretary), Franklin Drilon (now Senate President), Cesar Purisima (now Finance Secretary), Dinky Soliman (now DSWD Secretary), Ging Deles (now OPAPP Secretary) and a few others then and now known as the “Hyatt Ten” but without Cardinal Sin (prime spokesman of moral leaders)who had already died.

The Hyatt Ten (so-called from their number and the name of the hotel of their meetings) needed to be “Thirteen” to apply the Constitutional provision for a “cabinet coup.” In Article VII, Section 11 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution it says:

“Whenever a majority of all the mem-bers of the cabinet transmit to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his of-fice, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the Office as Acting President….”

“A majority of all the members of the cabinet” meant thirteen, not just ten.

But though the Hyatt ten failed in 2005, they “made it back to power” five years later--after Cory’s passage to the Great Beyond enabled her to pass on to her son

“Therefore, faithful to the objective moral law and to the universally honored constitutional principle that sovereignty resides in the people and all government

authority emanates from them, we declare that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has lost the moral right to lead the nation, and has become a danger to the Philippine democratic and republican state and to the peace, freedom, security and moral and

spiritual well-being of the Filipino people.

“We further declare that we have lost all trust and confidence in President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, and we call upon him to immediately relinquish his position.”

-- From the August 27th “Lipa Declaration”

a surge of popularity in the wake particu-larly of corruption charges then flying uncontrolled against the Arroyo couple.

With the rumours regarding an im-pending moral judgment on the PNoy government, people were now also asking what principles guide, say, the Catholic bishops of this country to make or not to make regime-changing types of moral pronouncements. Do they have a “book” to go by? In fact, some theologians replied, they do, and it is called the Church’s Social Doctrine.

Basic Pointers from the Church’s Social Doctrine on Politics

Many years ago, the Vatican’s Pontifi-cal Council for Justice and Peace made a “brief” 600-page “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” that touched on the whole gamut of topics relative to integral and solidarity humanism, complete

with notes from the Bible and tradition and into the updates from Leo XIII to St. John Paul II, through St. John XXIII and Vatican II.

For instance, what does this book say regarding Jesus’ ”take” on political power? Jesus refused the oppressive and despotic power wielded by the rulers of the nations (cf. Mk 10:42) and rejected their pretension in having themselves called benefactors (cf. Lk 22:25), but he did not oppose politi-cal authority as such. In his pronouncement on the paying of taxes to Caesar (cf. Mk 12:13-17; Mt 22:15-22; Lk 20:20-26), he affirmed that we must give to God what is God's, implicitly condemning every attempt at making temporal power divine or absolute. At the same time, temporal power has the right to its due: Jesus did not consider it unjust to pay taxes to Caesar. [See par. 379.]

Christian moral leaders have always

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considered political authority to have been founded on the social nature of the person. “Since God made human beings social by nature, and since no society can hold together unless someone is over all in charge, directing all to strive earnestly for the common good, every civilized commu-nity must have a ruling authority, and this authority, no less than society itself, has its source in nature, and has, consequently, God for its author”. [See par. 393]

Political authority is therefore neces-sary as an instrument of coordination and direction by means of which the many individuals and intermediate bodies must move towards an order in which relation-ships, institutions and procedures are put at the service of integral human growth.

Political authority, in fact, “whether in the community as such or in institutions representing the State, must always be exercised within the limits of morality and on behalf of the dynamically conceived common good, according to a juridical order enjoying legal status” [See para 394.]

Moral leaders always prefer a “demo-cratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate.” Authentic democracy, however, is “possible only in a State ruled by law.” [See para 406.]

In this regard they uphold “the validity of the principle concerning the division of powers in a State: it is preferable that each power be balanced by other powers and by other spheres of responsibility which keep it within proper bounds. This is the principle of the ‘rule of law', in which the law is sovereign, and not the arbitrary will of individuals”. [See para 408.]

For example, for the Executive to ha-bitually buy out and run roughshod over the legislative and the judicial branches of government is indubitably to be out of bounds and in contempt of the rule of law. No matter how allegedly noble the ends, the means of merely following the tantrums or “arbitrary will of individuals” in the executive branch bodes ill for society as a whole.

The Philippine situation is quite a moral challenge: “hocus PCOS” to start with; the most audacious appropriation of more than a trillion pesos a year with neither authority nor transparency, uncontrite and holier-than-thou; a business community in full support so long as the top guy will just let them be, laissez faire. How about

the people, the majority populace who get poorer amid the historic economic growth?

Going to LipaAt first the rumours were that some 300

geographic and sectoral delegates nation-wide were travelling in the direction of Lipa City, Batangas upon the invitation of the Catholic Archbishop of that area to hear and discuss important moral pronounce-ments on the political order.

It turned out, however, that not 300 but four times more -- some 1,200 such delegates, including more than 50 from Muslim Mindanao -- made it on 27th Au-gust to the Archdiocesan gym in the prem-ises of the Archbishop’s residence. With Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles were Cardinal Emeritus Ricardo Vidal of Cebu, Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla of Davao, Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Ber-nardino Cortes, Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, Evangelical Bishop Arthur Corpus, Muslim Ulamas and Ustadzes, Datu Benjie Mao Andong, and several other moral leaders.

It was definitely a multi-sectoral gath-ering with the bigger numbers coming from the peasant and worker sectors and representatives of people’s or community organizations. The civilians formed the broad majority but there were as well prominent retired members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines peacefully chat-ting with equally retired freedom fighters of not-so-long ago.

As they said in their “Lipa Declara-tion: An Urgent Call for National Trans-formation,” to which they affixed their signatures:

“We are Filipino citizens of different personal, professional, social and econom-ic backgrounds and political persuasions and religious beliefs. We have gathered here in Lipa city on this 27th day of August A.D.2014/2nd day of Dhu Al-qa’da A.H. 1435, under the auspices of the National Transformation Council, to reaffirm our deeply held convictions and beliefs about the common good and our highest national interests, in the face of the most pressing challenges.”

Did they spell out these pressing chal-lenges? Yes, they said:

“Unbridled and unpunished corruption and widespread misuse of political and economic power in all layers of society have not only destroyed our common conception of right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust, legal and illegal, but also put our people, especially the poor,

at the mercy of those who have the power to dictate the course and conduct of our development for their own selfish ends.”

They had earlier stated:"A crisis of unprecedented proportions

has befallen our nation. The life of the na-tion is in grave peril from the very political forces that are primarily ordained to pro-tect, promote and advance its well-being, but which are aggressively undermining its moral, religious, social, cultural, con-stitutional and legal foundations.”

Not mincing words, the signers of the declaration went to the heart of the mat-ter by accusing President Aquino no less:

“Far from preserving and defending the constitution, as he swore to do when he assumed office, the incumbent president Benigno Simeon Aquino III has subverted and violated it by corrupting the congress, intimidating the judiciary, taking over the treasury, manipulating the automated voting system, and perverting the consti-tutional impeachment process;

“President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has also damaged the moral fabric of Philippine society by bribing members of congress not only to impeach and remove a sitting supreme court chief justice but also to enact a law which disrespects the right to life of human beings at the earliest and most vulnerable stages of their lives, in defiance not only of the constitution but above all of the law, the customs, culture, and conscience of Filipinos.”

Logically exploding the bombshell, the signatories said:

“Therefore, faithful to the objective moral law and to the universally honored constitutional principle that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them, we declare that president Benigno Simeon Aquino III has lost the moral right to lead the nation, and has become a danger to the Philippine democratic and republican state and to the peace, freedom, security and moral and spiritual well-being of the Filipino people.

“We further declare that we have lost all trust and confidence in President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, and we call upon him to immediately relinquish his position.”

Then they talked about the National Transformation Council. What is this? What are its functions? Most certainly there was no talk here of one single per-sonality being groomed to replace the erring President; no talk of politicians and political parties; and yet the subject matter was unquestionably political.

The National Transformation Council is that which must:

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“Assume the urgent and necessary task of restoring our damaged political institutions to their original status and form before we begin to consider electing a new government under normal political conditions. The role of the council will not be to succeed President Aquino, but solely to prevent the total destruction of our political system, and to rebuild and nourish its institutions back to health so that all those interested could join the political competition later, without the dice being loaded in anyone’s favor."

“Like a crew whose task is to put everything in order before a commercial carrier, which had earlier developed some problems in midair, is cleared again for take-off, the council’s duty will be only to repair the battered tripartite system [legislative-executive-judicial] and to make sure that the people are once again able to freely and intelligently elect their own leaders.”

The signatories therefore declared that the Council should:

“Open broad public consultations on the need either to modify or strengthen the presidential system or to shift from the unitary/presidential system to a federal/parliamentary system--endowing such structure with:

1) A totally independent judicial de-partment, free from any kind of intimida-tion or bullying by either the executive or the legislative department, and with the sufficient wherewithal to clear the backlog of the courts and fast-track all cases;

2) A merit-driven, professional civil and military service;

3) Totally transparent government budgeting, procurement, disbursement, accounting and auditing systems and procedures; and

4) An irreproachably independent and completely dependable electoral system, free from the virus that has corrupted the automated voting system since 2010.

“Whatever the final form of government the citizenry decide to adopt, absolutely indispensable are the integrity and inde-pendence of the courts, and the existence of an incorrupt electoral system by means of which we, the people, are able to freely and intelligently choose our own leaders in free and honest elections. Without these we cannot speak of a normally functioning democratic and republican government.”

There was no doubt among those pres-ent regarding the deceitful and fraudulent character of the 2010 and 2013 elections due to the “hocus-PCOS” electoral cheat-ing machines. A presentation by a CPA-

Lawyer of the abundant evidence in this regard refreshed everyone’s memory of so much they had been fighting against the past few years.

Hence, they emphasized that:“Whatever the final form of government

the citizenry decide to adopt, absolutely indispensable are the integrity and inde-pendence of the courts, and the existence of an incorrupt electoral system by means of which we, the people, are able to freely and intelligently choose our own leaders in free and honest elections. Without these we cannot speak of a normally functioning democratic and republican government.

“Thus we fully support the council’s position that until we have such a fraud-free electoral system, we should refrain from holding any farcical election. But once we have it, we should encourage the best qualified men and women in the country to participate in the open electoral process so that together we could put an end to the stranglehold exercised by the corrupt and incompetent political dynasties upon our elections.”

Then, of course, the transformation they sought was not merely one-dimensional but total; not merely political but, as well, socio-economic and religious-cultural. They were committed both to working on personal conversion and achieving social transformation:

“With political reform there must go hand in hand comprehensive economic re-form. With one strong voice, we must now say a vigorous “no,” as Pope Francis has suggested, to an economics of exclusion and inequality, coming from a misguided vision of the human being and of society harmfully acted upon through myopic laws, policies and programs.”

Clearly, then, the National Transforma-tion Council--a revolutionary council initi-ated by the moral leaders of this country in response to a moral crisis whose effects

if not stanched in time would certainly lead to national destruction--is an effort of a non-violent nature, neither illegal nor unconstitutional in character but creatively restorative of a severely damaged consti-tutional order abetted by an administration chemically clean of any sincere regard for the rule of law.

It is a time of trouble; it is also a time of great opportunity for genuine reform. The movement for national transforma-tion must be protected, defended, warmly welcomed and fostered.

“As the council prepares to embark upon the necessary reforms, we call upon the armed forces of the Philippines, as the constitutional ‘protector of the people and the state,’ to extend its protective shield to the council, and not to allow itself to be used in any manner to undermine the council’s purely transitional and non-partisan role, nor to allow any armed group to sow violence, disorder or discord into its peaceful ranks.

“Adopted in Lipa City, this 27th day of August A.D. 2014/2nd day of Dhu Al-qa’da A.H.1435.”

Is this the beginning of the end for an administration that has habitually made short shrift of the Constitution and the rule of law, that gloried in high economic growth for the benefit of a very few at the expense of the very many, that corrupted Congress, intimidated the judiciary, took over the treasury, manipulated the auto-mated voting system, and perverted the Constitutional impeachment process? Or will all this merely lead to an iron-fisted response from the state? Unquestionably, however, in the end weeks or months from now the only relevant question is: how did the rest of the populace respond? Would they merely say, “Don’t bother us, we’re okay!” or would they not rather ask their moral leaders, “What can we do together?”

Fr. leONidO dOlOr

VOLUME 48 • NUMBER 9 2121VOLUME 48 • NUMBER 8

articles

Fr. leONidO dOlOr

Typhoon victims in the Philippines regain hope and employment through

the Order’s Livelihood Project

By Brian Caulfield

WITH an innovative program based on neighbor helping neighbor, the Knights of Columbus is helping people in the Philip-pines get back to work after the devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan. When the storm swept through the central portion of the archipelago in November 2013, more than 6,000 people were killed and millions more were forced to flee their homes.

Under the Knights of Columbus Liveli-hood Project, sponsored by the Supreme Council, laborers who lost their businesses due to the storm are being paid to construct motorized boats for fishermen whose ves-sels and equipment were washed away by the 195-mph winds and 20-foot storm surges. The first boats were delivered in late March, and periodic deliveries since then will bring the total number of boats to more than 100 by the end of the sum-

mer. Along with the boats, the fishermen receive fishing gear such as nets, hooks, lures, nylon string and heavy-duty rope.

The Livelihood Project also includes the delivery of seeds to farmers whose topsoil was washed away by the floods and whose land was covered by toppled trees. With financial assistance from the Supreme Council, local Knights purchased and distributed 10,000 coconut seedlings to help farmers replant and provided chain-saws so that they could clear their land of trees, which could also be used for wood to rebuild their homes.

A network of support The Diocese of Borongan and the

Archdiocese of Palo, the two hardest-hit areas, received more than $50,000 in emergency relief funds from the Supreme Council late last year, as Knights worked to get emergency food and water supplies

to storm victims in remote areas that had not yet been reached by international relief agencies. Drawing on reports from Knights in local councils throughout the affected areas, the Visayas State Council began delivering canned food and bottled water shortly after the storm hit, and continued relief efforts for months with funds from the Supreme Council (see Columbia, February 2014). In total, more than 30,000 food packs were prepared and distributed, in addition to other necessities such as used clothes, tarpaulins, corrugated metal for temporary roofing, and handheld tools.

Now, the Livelihood Project is designed to go beyond these basic relief efforts to provide storm victims with the means to return to work so that they can support themselves and their families. The project is being funded by the Order’s Philip-pine Disaster Relief Fund, which grew to more than $800,000 with donations from

The Knights of Columbus Livelihood Project provides motorized boats to fishermen who lost the main source of their livelihood to typhoon Yolanda in November 2013. rOy lAgArde


Knights and other donors. The Supreme Council made an initial grant of $250,000 when the storm first hit on Nov. 8, 2013.

The fishermen chosen as beneficiaries were identified through a network of Filipino Knights who walked through the devastated neighborhoods to assess the needs of survivors. There are more than 300,000 Knights in the Philippines, where the typhoon was given the local name of Yolanda. Key organizers of the project include Supreme Director Alonso Tan, Visayas Deputy Rodrigo Sorongon, Visayas Secretary Anthony Nazario, and regional deputy Fred Lagria, whose home in Tacloban was damaged in the storm.

“The damage to the area has been enormous; I estimate that it will take at least three years for things to get back to normal,” Lagria said. “Everyone has worked hard to help, with those who have something sharing with those who lost everything, and people looking out for their neighbors. The Knights have been here all along, and I am very blessed to be part of this effort.”

Hilario Ando, a team leader of the boat builders in Borongan City, said, “All of us here in this fishing village are involved in the work. Now that we have this project, we can buy food for our families and send our children to school.”

Coming to the rescue A delivery of 40 new motorized boats

was made in Basey, Western Samar, in early June, with Filipino K of C leaders taking part in a boat blessing and a ceremony for transferring the boats to the fishermen and their families.

“Typhoon Yolanda damaged our house. A big tree fell on the roof, and I had a small boat that was also destroyed,” said Danilo Abayan, a fisherman in Eastern Samar, near the center of the storm. “I wasn’t able to save it because the wind was so strong.”

He added, “I feel happy and thankful for this help from the Knights of Columbus. With my age and our current situation, I never thought I could afford to have my own boat because I lost my source of income.”

Likewise, Danilo Bihas of Samar was able to get back to fishing to support his wife and their two young children.

“Our situation was difficult after Yolan-da,” said Bihas, who received a motorized boat from the Livelihood Project. “I don’t know how many coconut trees fell on our house. Through God’s mercy, we were able to survive. My family is still intact. But we lost everything — my fishing equipment and our house. We saved nothing except some clothes. The rest was swept away by the typhoon. I thought I would never

find work again.”Gerardo Casilides lives on an island

off the coast of Eastern Samar that was completely flooded in the storm.

“Our house was right in the path of the storm and was destroyed, so I went to my neighbor’s with one of my children,” he recalled. “But that house was also de-stroyed. We were right inside the house at the time and two persons were washed out by the storm surge. They were a married couple. But I was also able to rescue another couple and three more individuals. We had to hold on to anything we could find. We couldn’t cross to safer ground because the water level was too high, so we waited till the water subsided.”

After receiving a boat, Casilides said, “This boat is our main source of income because we are on an island and have nowhere to go but to the sea. I thank the people of the Knights of Columbus for this big help to our family, and not just to us but to all the other recipients.”

(BRIAN CAULFIELD is editor of Fathers for Good and vice postulator for the canonization cause of Venerable Father Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. This article was sourced from Columbia, a monthly magazine of the Knights of Columbus.)

Typhoon survivors are also lent chainsaws to help them in the process of rebuilding and restoration. rOy lAgArde

23

STATEMENTS

Holy and heroic teachers in the Year of the Laity

Tribute to Teachers during World Teachers’ Day October 5, 2014DEAR People of God:

If you wish, you can be taught; if you are willing to listen, you will learn; if you give heed, you will be wise. Frequent the company of the elders; whoever is wise, stay close to him. Be eager to hear every godly discourse; let no wise saying escape you. If you see a man of prudence, seek him out; let your feet wear away his doorstep! Reflect on the precepts of the LORD, let his commandments be your constant meditation; then he will enlighten your mind, and the wisdom you desire he will grant. (Sirach 6:32-37)

Parents as first teachersParents are the primary teachers of

faith and morals. “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this respon-sibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2223)

And when they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wis-dom: and the grace of God was upon him. (Luke 2:39-40)

Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child’s earliest years… Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vo-cation as children of God (CCC, 2226). Jesus grew up in the city of Nazareth where there was no formal schooling, Nazareth became his first school with Mary and Joseph his first teachers. Even without formal schooling, just from the lives of witnessing by his parents, Jesus was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. After all, children learn from what they see.

We do know that the education of a child does not end in the home. It has always been said that it takes a village to raise a child. Thus, the parents must exercise their right to choose a school for their children that will best help them in their task as Christian educators (CCC, 2229).

Teachers as formators of character and competence

Children grow in faith and wisdom when nurtured by proper education. Proper education as a supplement for the formation in the home must be given well in the schools. This includes having the best possible teachers. “The nobility of the task to which teachers are called demands that, in imitation of Christ, they reveal the Christian message not only by word, but also by every gesture of their behaviour.” (The Catholic School, 43) These teachers educate not only the mind but also the heart.

Teachers are shapers of competence and character. They never deliver medioc-rity, only excellence. They come to class prepared and on time. In so doing, they model for the students what is expected from each of them. Thus, pushing their students to become responsible and help-ing them develop their full potentials.

Teachers draw out what is best in stu-dents. They are patient in dealing with those who are discipline-challenged and as well as the academically-challenged. They try to find the unique giftedness in each person, drawing out the Christ in them.

Moreover, as formators of competence and character they are witnesses of faith. They take learning beyond the four walls of the classroom. Teachers open the eyes of the students to the realities and problems of the world. They show how each we are connected with nature and with one another. “If one part is hurt, all the parts share its pain. And if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Teachers then encourage each student to contemplate on how she or he can contribute to the betterment of the world. When they teach, they “bring the experience of their own lives to this social development and social awareness, so that students can be prepared to take their place in society …” (LCIS, 19)

We owe much to teachers. They mold and inspire the young to work for social transformation. The current situation that we have in our country, however, presents a rather bleak condition for those engaged in the teaching profession.

Plight of teachersTime and again we would hear stories

of teachers going abroad for better pay as caregivers or domestic helpers. We have private school teachers migrating to public schools for higher pay because some private school salaries are so low cannot even afford raise a family. Yet even the public school system with a relatively higher salary scale has its share of challenges for teachers. There is the challenge of multi-grade teach-ing especially in schools located in the hinterlands. Teachers are faced with the difficulty of managing their time handling two classes inside the same classroom divided only by a blackboard to allow the teacher to monitor activities happening on the other side of the room. The tedious task of preparing lessons and the additional task of checking for two grade levels would be very taxing for these teachers. Sometimes, those hired to do multi-grade teaching are even new graduates without any teaching experi-ence and yet, they persevere in with their work. There are also principals who even use part of their salaries just to improve the conditions of the schools under their care – true stewards in the service of the providing education for the nation. We have volunteer catechists who give religious instruction in the public schools without any pay at all.

There are also teachers, both in the public and private sector (those in small mission schools), who travel hours on end to scale mountains and cross rivers before they can reach the schools. Some schools do not have the proper amenities, with buildings that are ready to collapse in the next natural disaster. Some do not have electricity and therefore are not conducive to learning but the teachers continue to persevere anyway and make do with the available resources. There are those who have dedicated themselves for the education of the Indigenous People away from the cities. This would mean that they would be away from their fami-lies for days just so they could deliver education.

24 IMPACT • SEPTEMBER 2014

statements

CBCPNews

Teachers as heroes and saintsTeachers prepare for class, undergo

ongoing training for their discipline, build community with other teachers, and con-tinue to be formed by the church. Outside the school, they have amilies to raise on their own and sometimes their salaries are not enough to support their families. Even in the face of the seemingly dire situations that we find these educators in, they persist in their vocation because they believe in the cause of education, because they know that education gives hope and leads to social transformation. These educators are the true missionaries who “fully respond to all of its demands, se-cure in the knowledge that their response is vital for the construction and ongoing renewal of the earthly city, and for the evangelization of the world.” (LCIS, 37)

Teachers are challenged to be brave amidst the turbulent times. They are called to holiness and heroism. They look to the teacher par excellence, Jesus Christ. Jesus

never rejected the title teacher. “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.” [John 13:13]. He spoke with authority. He was a great communicator of the vision of the Kingdom. Teachers then look to Christ as example. By their witness of the faith and through their ex-ample, they make saints and heroes out of their students. They use the discipline of love to lead them to holiness and heroism.

There is no retirement for teachers. Even as employment ends, teachers de-vote their time as volunteer catechists in public schools, they lead in forming the basic ecclesial communities in parishes. They take active part in their dioceses. They take part in the building of the Kingdom.

Gratitude to TeachersFor this reason, we would like to

thank all those who have committed their lives in the teaching profession. We thank them for the service they

deliver to our nation by their excellent teaching. They are our heroes. They are the true missionaries. They give with-out counting the cost. They “develop in themselves, and cultivate in their students, a keen social awareness and a profound sense of civic and political responsibility… committed to the task of forming men and women who will make the ” civilization of love ” a real-ity.” (LCIS, 19)

We also thank all those who help in one way or another in making the cir-cumstances for our teachers a little better. We thank the Department of Education for trying to close the gap in teacher and student ratio and providing better salaries for the public school teachers. We thank all the school administrators for always looking after the interest of our teachers. We thank parish priests who encourage volunteer catechists to go to public schools and deliver religious instruction.

25VOLUME 48 • NUMBER 9

statements

CBCPNews

IN as much as we feel the support of government, we ask you to go the extra mile. We call on our legislators and budget personnel to continue to support our educa-tion system.

We also call on our brother priests to strengthen catechetical instruction in the public schools within your parishes. Moreover, make your parishes youth friend-ly. As pastors of souls you are teachers of the faith. Visit the public schools and be present in the youth of the schools, en-courage and inspire the young people to choose education as a vocation.

We admonish the young people to love and respect their teachers. They have sacrificed much of their lives to make you responsible members of society. It is our prayer that the best ones among you will find it in your hearts to be teachers.

We appeal to the administra-tors of the schools to ensure that schools are places of encounter with God; that your students and teachers experience God in your campus. Continue to give your teachers support they need so they can deliver quality education to the students.

Finally, we thank the teachers for your generosity of spirit. We pray that you persevere in the good work that you are doing. Continue to let the face of God shine on you. “May the Lord who began his good work in you will see it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:9).

May Mary mother of all teach-ers bring us closer to Jesus our only Teacher!

For the Catholic Bishops’ Con-ference of the Philippines, October 5, 2014, World Teachers’ Day

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGASArchbishop of Lingayen DagupanCBCP President

References:*TCS – The Catholic School, Con-gregation for Catholic Education, March 19, 1977*LCIS – Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, CONGREGA-TION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCA-TION, October 15, 1982

Feast of the Exaltation of the Crossas National Day of Prayer for Peace in Iraq and Syria

YOUR Eminences, Your Excellencies:The Gospel of peace, love and brotherhood

is under siege in many parts of the world especially in Iraq and Syria. Helpless and defenseless persons are victims of a brutal imposition of a rigid and unforgiving ver-sion of faith. Religion is as much a victim, for those who kill and slaughter, wound and maim, destroy and burn in the name of God send the world the awful message that religion divides, that faith is oppressive, that belief can engender so much unkindness!

In the Philippines, we are invited by the same Gospel of brotherhood and peace to respond first and foremost by prayer accom-panied by charity and solidarity

At the permanent Council meeting last September 2, it was unanimously resolved to declare September 14, 2014, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, as National Day of Prayer for Peace in Iraq and Syria.

We request the Most Reverend Archbishops and Bishops to oblige all priests to celebrate all Masses that day for the special intentions of the persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq.

In all our Masses on the feast of the Holy Cross let us unite ourselves with our suffering brothers and sisters, commending to the God who is our hope their pains, their shattered lives and dreams, their bereavement and their loss. We pray that even as many of them now see no way out of the misery that has been visited on them, the God who opens paths

through the sea and ways in the desert, may make a way for them to the future that can only be His gift!

Secondly, you are requested to call for a charity collection on September 14 for the victims in Iraq and Syria. It is Christ in Iraq and Syria who has been evicted from his home. Places of worship—many of them, thousands of years old—have been razed to the ground by a godless rage with which no genuine religion can ever identify! For many, the food and drink that sustain life are daily issues. They rise from sleep each day to struggle just to keep themselves alive. We must be generous, and the fact that we have our own needs here in the Philippines does not excuse us from the Christian obligation of sharing with our suffering brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria from our own need.

The collections must be remitted to the CBCP Secretariat by September 30, 2014. We will immediately transmit the charity aid to the Apostolic Nunciatures in Iraq and Syria.

‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40).

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, September 5, 2014.

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGASArchbishop of Lingayen-DagupanPresident, CBCP

Refugees who have fled from ISIS arrive in Ankawa, in the northern part of Erbil, Iraq. www.ankawa.com


From tHe bloGs

Conditional Cash Transfer

A NOVEL way of making the poor as downright mendicants or beggars, a creative way of the administration playing Santa Claus by generously giving away public funds to its chosen private recipients, an ultimately ingenious means of buying political patronage specially at the supposed advent of elections--all these and other indefensible factors are behind the so-called “CCT” funded by a truly generous capital of 108.881 billion for 2015! This dubious invention--though at first perceived as love incar-nate and care unlimited by the present administration through the now likewise dubious DSWD--actually raises more and more reasonable questions in all sincerity and candor.

Following then are some of the more relevant and serious ques-tions asked and heard behind the allegedly brilliant yet actually dubious idea of freely giving away public funds to supposedly poor families: In the first place, why is a family poor--because of indolence, due to vice, on account of irresponsibility? How poor should a family be in order to receive CCT? How regularly really do the poor families get their CCT? Who says or determines that a family is really poor and why? How long may a family remain poor in order to continue receiving the CCT? How sure is it that every poor family really gets the whole CCT amount although all the required receipts are signed? Who is really watching if the recipient is actually and faithfully living up to the conditions required by the Cash Transfer? How long may a family remain poor, all month after month Cash Transfers notwithstanding? When the present government is gone, will CCT vanish therewith?

The impeachment drama ended as expected. The concerned citizens are exasperated. The oust

movement formally started.THE above-said successive realities constitute a truly dis-turbing and lamentable triad that is gradually pushing the main character therein to the corner--with or without him knowing it either, out of incompetence, hardheadedness or plain insensitivity. He blindly followed the supposedly creative agenda of his allies against the Constitution itself. He was duly censured by the Supreme Court. Now he wants to castigate the said highest judicial entity in the country with puerile vengeance at heart plus a juvenile quest for a second term in office plus the boyish desire to have the Constitution amended. So it is that the same figure continuously invoking his tiring and tired mantra that he consulted his “boss” which in fact is the KKK. If the pitiful man is confused and confusing, much more disturbed and suffering are the People of the Philippines.

The impeachment drama has ended as expected. It is not a secret that impeachment is a political play, a number's game. It is not a question of what is right but what is politically profitable. Much less is it a matter of justice but who has the greater number of duly enriched followers. Majority of the members of the House and of the Senate are in the pocket of their Chief-in-Command. So it is that none of even a hundred and one impeachment complaints against such a big spender of public funds for political motives would be ever “sufficient in form and substance”. Remember the last impeachment case desired and designed by the same Malacañang figure? A “White Lady” was the clincher!

The concerned citizens are exasperated. So much public funds go to private pockets in the same way that so much private funds pay for so many public utilities--all of which are the incarnations of gross graft and corrupt practices. So many people suffering from want of food, shelter and clothing. So much taxes for so many things under so many reasons are paid from birth to death. So many heinous crimes committed day in and day out. So many men and women willing to expose the lives and limbs to danger just to earn a living overseas. So many women and girls become buy-and-sell materials. Marijuana, gambling, thievery have become part of life.

The oust movement has formally started. This is bad news! Be it successful or a failure, it says one and the same thing: many people are tired of the present Admin-istration. They want it out of their life. They are either well-prepared or still preparing. They go under different titles like “RAN” (Resign Aquino Now), “ARM” (Aquino Resign Movement), etc., etc. with various constituents of the civil and other societies. Irrespective of whether they succeed or not in their option, no one really knows. One thing though is certain: More and more people are tired and disgusted with the incumbent national leadership.

www.ovc.blogspot.com

There are more and more poor people in the country--not-withstanding all claims and allegations of Malacañang to the contrary. The poor have the need and the right to get financial help from Malacañang that, in effect, has the “Power of the Purse” and that in truth also aims at holding the “Power of the Pen”. But there must be a much better way of helping the poor instead of giving dole-outs or mere limos to them. Not all poor people are beggars--all contrary ideas and demeaning perceptions of Malacañang to the contrary notwithstanding.

There are basic livelihood programs, which are rather easy to teach, to learn and to put up. There are little cooperative ventures that are not difficult to study and operate. There are modest manufacturing enterprises that need but practical knowledge and skills. This is but converting the limos into trabaho, thus making the poor regain their legitimate dignity and pride.

www.ovc.blogspot.com

The poor have the need and the right to get financial help from Malacañang that,

in effect, has the “Power of the Purse” and that in truth also aims at holding the “Power

of the Pen”. But there must be a much better way of helping the poor instead of giving dole-outs or mere limos to them.


editorial

illus

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Bro

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IT is not a secret that as time passes by, more and more people are getting disillusioned if not quite disgusted by the way the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the Chief Executive in the country, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has been badly doing his job. He has been fooling around with public funds, subjugating the Legislature and desirous even of putting the Judiciary under its mandate, not to say anything about his queer declaration of availability for a second term of office. This is why more and more phone-in angry statements, plus really negative text messages are sent to different radio programs or are posted on social media.

The truth is unless otherwise strongly manipulated, even the sup-posedly “friendly” surveys come out with plummeting approval ratings for Mr. Aquino. This is not to say that he has not done anything good at all.

But he has also done and continues to do so many strange, dubious if not downright reprehensible things--all at the expense and misery of more and more Filipinos. Among many other signal negative realities in the country are: the Philippines has the highest cost of energy compared to many other poor countries; Filipinos pay the highest taxes in Asia at least; the country is becoming increasingly owned by foreign investments.

“It is the stupidity of President Aquino and his negotiators, border-ing on treason, to agree with the creation of an artificial nation for the 'Moors” on Mindanao.” Thus wrote a well-known and respected columnist in a well-known newspaper of late. At about the same time, there was also a TV program that focused on addressing the subject matter under the title of “Bangasamoro Law-kohan”. This is saying nothing about

the supposedly abbreviated version of the said Mindanao Agreement--published in a broadsheet about the same time--which can be considered as “doctored” in terms of its loud silence about the highly dubious and questionable provisions therein.

Under the assumption that the Legislature would not pass the Bill or that the people of Mindanao as a whole would not agree with the Bill or that the Supreme Court would declare the Bill as unconstitutional, any of these possibilities is fatal: there would be disunity in place of unity, war instead of peace, more misery rather than development. There are no less than four well-armed and warring groups in Mindanao. There is the Sabah question. There is the ISIS concern.

It is seemingly getting harder and harder to find any logic in the mind of the Chief Executive.

Looking for logic


From tHe inbox

The BrickA YOUNG and successful execu-tive was traveling down a neigh-borhood street, going a bit too fast in his new car. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children ap-peared. Instead, a brick smashed into the car’s side door!

He slammed on the brakes and backed the car to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. “Please, mister… please, I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to do,” He pleaded. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop…” With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.

“It’s my brother,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Now sobbing, the boy asked

the stunned executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driv-er tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts.

A quick look told him every-thing was going to be okay.

“Thank you and may God bless you,” the grateful child told the stranger.

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the car.

The damage was very notice-able, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message.

“Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!” God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It’s our choice to listen or not.

God and The Spider

DURING World War II, a US ma-rine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direc-tion. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, “Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen.”

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, “Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one.” Then he

saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.”Hah, he thought. “What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.”

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them search-ing one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

“Lord, forgive me,” prayed the young man. “I had forgotten that in you a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall.”

TWO men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans

played on the water while children sailed the model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in

his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of see-ing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

The View

Jamie day


booK revieWs

Nothing Short of a MiraclePatricia Treece

WHAT are miracles but love notes--often mailed in stunning, concrete details--from the saints. This book gives the reader countless narratives of modern miracles won through the intercession of the saints. Nothing Short of a Miracle includes the story of the instantaneous healing of the Phila-delphia schoolteacher with an inoperable malignant tumor. Hardly able to walk, she was healed after praying at the tomb of St. John Neumann. Joseph Jette also gives a testimony of his healing after fracturing his spinal column when the scaffolding he was climbing gave way. Br. Andre Bes-sett simply tells him to put down his crutches and walk. Jette, who was 22 years old at the time, obeyed and was instantly cured. The book also tells of how a certain "Jim" sustains massive brain injury after his motorcycle crashes into a car, sending him flying thirty feet into the air. The surgeon operating on him called Jim a "dead man." But his parents would call on St. Elizabeth Seton, who had five children of her own. Jim not only fully recovered from the accident, but still lives today, 35 years after. Aside from inspiring a sense of awe, Msgr. Richard Soseman of the Congregation for the Clergy says the book will serve as an "inspiration" for a "life of faith".

When God Is SilentArchbishop Luis M. Martinez

YOUR next door neighbor, the bus driver, your parish priest and even the saints. They've all experienced the silence of God. What is really happening when God seems, not just without words, but distant and disinterested? Even in the Gospels, Jesus exhibited this seeming obliviousness to the disciples' despair, specifically during the storm that rocked their fishing boat and Jesus lay peacefully asleep. The book calls to mind a verse from the Song of Songs, “I sleep, but my heart is awake.” As Archbishop Marti-nez explains, God may seem far away, but His heart never stops watching us. His love is ever awake in all the circumstances and events of our life. This book, which another spiritual writer, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, calls a "great gem of Catholic spirituality”, is not just for the young Christian, but also for the veteran believer who needs a reminder that God's love never changes.

Roses Among ThornsSt. Francis De Sales / Translated by Christopher O. Blum

"THE unexamined life is not worth living." This sweeping statement by Socrates centuries ago, seems to hold true today -- even more so -- ina world that is always connected to others, but is distant to the self, only hearing its muffled longings and truths.Ingenious inventions, massive physical structures, genius in music and art all testify to a higher intelligence and creativity unique to man, but it is the more exalted quality of self-knowledge, the person's capacity to look at himself looking at himself, that has become the impetus for paradigm shifts in entire civilizations. Modern thinking has always placed a premium on so-called "self-determination", and choices, but often, the entity who carries out these empowered actions is often left in the dark. Who is he? Who is she? As arguably the only creature on the planet capable of self-awareness, the human self demands a different form of exploration and discovery. Looking at twentieth century thinkers such as Buber and Heidegger, this book presents a vista into the rich dimensions of the self.

One-Minute Aquinas Kevin VostPsy. D.

HIS elegantly simple line of reasoning to defend the existence of God has survived centuries, becoming a fail-safe anchor of logic for Catholic apologists and theologians. But let's admit it, not every Catholic will read Aquinas or even muster the courage to wade through his 3,000-page Summa Theologica and this is where One-Minute Aquinas comes in handy. Condensing the best of Aquinas in easy to understand language--all in a digestible 304-page tome. It is ten times shorter than Aquinas' most famous work, but nonetheless as enlightening and intelligent. The sincere seekerwill have a field day with this book, which delves into questions like: “Why do souls need the sacraments?”; “What is heaven, and what is it not?”; “Why did Jesus allow himself to be tempted?”; and “Who are the angels and what are their powers?”, among others. It's Aquinas at your fingertips.


entertainment

THE GIVER

Director: Phillip Noyce Cast: Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Bren-ton Thwaites, Alexander Skars-gard, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, Cameron Monaghan Screen-play: Michael Mitnick and Robert B. Weide, based on the book by Lois Lowry Cinematography: Ross Emery Music: Marco Beltrami Genre: Science fiction U.S. Distributor: The Weinstein Company

Technical assessment: 3.5Moral assessment: 3.5CINEMA rating: V 14

FRIENDS since child-hood Jonas (Bren-ton Thwaites), Fiona

(Odeya Rush), and Asher (Cameron Monaghan), graduates-to-be, are look-ing forward to adult life in a futuristic society that knows no suffering, hunger, injustice, pain, and violence. Presiding at the gradua-tion ceremony is Chief Elder (Meryl Streep), present in hologram form, who as-signs each graduate differ-ent functions that will shape their adult lives. Citizens in this sanitized society inject themselves daily with a se-rum that erases memories and suppresses their emo-tions, individuality, choice, freedom, temptation, and religion. Jonas is the last to be given an assignment, but he gets the heaviest one—as the community’s new “Receiver”, the reposi-tory of historical memories that average citizens are not

allowed to access. For this position he learns the ropes from the current Receiver, known as the “Giver” (Jeff Bridges), who is weary from bearing all the past memo-ries and who must pass on the knowledge of this “real world” to his trainee Jonas. Jonas soon real-izes emotions enrich life, and discovers the Elders’ secrets as well.

The Giver is based on a 1993 bestseller by Lois Lowry, and in the hands of adept director Philip Noyce (Salt) it faithfully translates the message of the book into memorable moving im-ages. The prestige cast delivers solid acting but it almost plays a supporting role to Emery’s powerful images. It is the look of The Giver that gives a sense of realness to the otherwise fictitious story. The cre-ative interspersing of color visuals in a predominantly black and white film aids in advancing the story and drawing a well-defined line between rich and impov-erished emotional states. Scenes which are devoid of emotion are depicted in black and white; those that are rife with feeling are gently and gradually awash with color. In receiving past memories, Jonas’ percep-tion of things is portrayed by the camera through exag-geratedly vivid hues.

With its well-developed themes, The Giver serves meaty issues for young adults to ponder and dis-cuss—all related to life. Happily, the film does not preach, yet everything about it underscores the value

and sanctity of life. This supposedly Utopian soci-ety, deemed ideal by mere human standards, equates perfection with confor-mity to the rule. People wear virtual uniforms—no fashionistas allowed; each family is allowed two chil-dren, one boy and one girl, who are genetically engi-neered “replacements” for their parents. Even their homes are identical—the opening scene is an aerial shot of the community’s residential district, and the all-white houses at first glance strongly resemble the crosses on a cemetery’s

green lawn. We suspect this is intentional, as though to denote lifelessness in uniformity.

What is most heartening in this film is its unequivo-cal pro-life message that people of faith will definitely resonate with. There’s a point when Jonas begins to believe that the knowledge he receives must also be shared with others—that is when he discovers that the community’s Elders, in their dogged determination to maintain a perfect society, eliminate flawed babies and old people too fragile to keep alive.

C atholiC iNitiative for eNlighteNed Movie appreCiatioN


asia brieFinG

SRI LANKA. Buddhist composes symphony to mark Pope's visit

In an effort for religious reconcilia-tion, the Sri Lankan government has commissioned a symphony from a Bud-dhist composer to commemorate Pope Francis' voyage to the nation which will take place in January. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo presided over a Sept. 17 performance of the Soul of Christ Symphony, composed and directed by the nation's renowed composer Vajira Indika Karunasena, who is a Buddhist. The symphony was commissioned by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, the nation's public radio network. The idea for the symphony was that of the SLBC's chairman, Hudson Samarasinghe. The symphony has also been released as a CD in Sri Lanka in preparation for Pope Francis' Jan. 13-14 visit, which will be the third time a Roman Pontiff has made an apostolic voyage to the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean.” (CNA)

PHILIPPINES. Pope's visit will change Philippines, Cardinal Tagle hopes

Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines in January will be an opportunity to lead the Church in the country down “new roads in the faith and in the mission,” said Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila. “Pope Francis’ pastoral visit, centered on mercy and compassion, will undoubtedly offer great opportunities to experience grace, to hear a call, to question our comfortable surroundings, to value the poor, renew society, care for creation and live honorably,” the cardinal said in a letter to Catholics of the Philippines. The Philippines will host Pope Francis early next year, January 15-19. The country hosted visits by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and St. John Paul II in 1981 and 1995. (CNA)

CHINA. First parish dedicated to JP2 in Chinese-speaking world

The Diocese of Kaohsiung in Taiwan has become the first in the Chinese-speaking world to have a parish dedi-cated to St. John Paul II, where a first-class relic of the Polish saint’s blood is kept. Archbishop Peter Chen-Chung Liu of Kaohsiung presided at the Mass of Inauguration and Consecration on Sept. 6, with 20 priests concelebrating and more than 1,200 faithful in attendance.

According to Fides, the pastor of the parish, Father Calogero Orifiamma, an Italian missionary and architect of the new church, traveled to Italy to obtain the relic of St. John Paul II. “The big-gest and most beautiful news was the celebration of four baptisms during the Mass,” Father Orifiamma said. Two of the baptized were babies who took the name of John Paul, he added. (CNA)

HONG KONG. Cardinals urge gov’t to break political deadlock

The two cardinals in Hong Kong urged the government to solve the present political deadlock after police used force to disperse thousands of unarmed protesters who struggled for full democracy in the city. Cardinal John Tong Hon of Hong Kong called upon the government to ensure the personal safety of people and "exercise restraint in the deployment of force with a view of listening to the voice of the younger generation and citizens from all walks of life." He issued a statement Sept. 29, the day after police used 87 pieces of tear gas to disperse students and the protesters who were concerned with Chinese restrictions on elections. On Oct. 1, as China celebrated its national day, Cardinal Joseph Zen ke-kiun, re-tired bishop of Hong Kong, suggested Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying step down "for a while" and the government relaunch its political reform consultation. (CNS)

SYRIA. Refugees' reactions mixed to airstrikes against Islamic State

Ask Syrian refugees sheltering in neighboring Jordan about the advent of U.S.-led strikes against Islamic State militants in their homeland, and the re-actions will be mixed. Some welcome the surprise military intervention, say-ing it could lead to ending the nearly 4-year-old war in Syria and diminish the power of Islamic State fighters and other terrorist groups operating in the country. "We guarantee that the war would come to a close in Syria with such involvement led by the American military," said a Syrian refugee woman, Maysoon, while cradling her 2-year-old daughter. The toddler was born in the Jordanian capital soon after she and her family fled the spiraling violence in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Maysoon

and some other refugees, all of whom asked to be identified without their full names, blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad for turning a "blind eye" to infiltra-tion over the border by foreign militants who make up some of the membership of Islamic State and other extremists. (CNS)

INDIA. Bleak winter awaits Kashmir's flood victims, say church workers

The hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been devastated by recent floods in northern Jammu and Kashmir State -- the coldest region in the country -- will have to face a very bleak winter, caution church aid work-ers. "One-third of the houses have collapsed in the floods. Many more are on the verge of collapse as they have been under water for several days. The people have lost everything and winter is at hand," Anjan Bag, coordinator the relief work of the Caritas India, social action wing of the Indian church, told Catholic News Service Sept. 23 from Srinagar. While more than 280 deaths have been confirmed by government officials on the Indian side of Kashmir in the foothills of the snow-capped Himalayas, flash floods resulting from the torrents of water from the Kashmir Valley have claimed more than 200 lives in Pakistan. (CNS)

MYANMAR. Nation ‘must remain’ on UN rights council’s agenda

Activists in Myanmar say it is far too soon to drop the country from the agenda of the United Nations’ human rights body, citing continuing military abuses in ethnic areas, a surge in land grabs and the troubling rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the country. Many advocacy groups say the human rights situation in Myanmar remains urgent — contradict-ing claims made by Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin this week, who told leaders at the UN General Assem-bly that the country has addressed “all major concerns related to human rights” and should no longer remain on the UN Human Rights Council’s agenda. Khon Ja, a coordinator with the Kachin Peace Network in Yangon, said severe cases of human rights abuses persist, despite the country’s much-heralded change from a military-led government to quasi-civilian one. (UCAN)

impact vol 48 no 9

Documents

Transcript of impact vol 48 no 9