Araw ni Maria Ngayon

“Papaano naging national holiday ang isang selebrasyon na para lamang sa mga Katoliko?,” tanong ito ni Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla ayon sa isang panayam sa UCANews. Sinabi rin ng dating arsobispo ng Davao na sa ganitong mga pagtatakda, napupulitika ang isang panrelihiyong gawain. Nasaan dito ang sinasabi ng iba na may Separation of Church and the State? Pero “welcome and commendable” naman daw ang mga deklarasyon na ganito na nagtatalaga na gawing holiday ang ilang Marian celebration. Sa katotohanan, kahit sa ibang bansa gaya ng Mexico, Puerto Rico at iba pa ay may mga Marian national holiday observance din.

Simula ngayong araw ngayon ring taon, special working holiday na sa buong bansa ang kapanganakan ng Birheng Maria o ang Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. Nilagdaan ng pangulo noong ika-8 ng Agosto, 2019 ang RA 11370 na nagtatakda ng nasabing pambansang selebrasyon.

Nag-ugat ito sa isang panukalang batas sa Mababang Kapulungan na akda ni First District of  Ilocos Norte Congressman Rodolfo Fariñas. Ito na ang ikalawang kautusan na gawing pista opisyal ang isang araw na pagpaparangal kay Maria. Una ay noong taong 2017, pinagtibay ang RA 10966 na si Fariñas rin ang awtor na nagtatakda na holiday din ang Disyembre 8, Pista ng Imaculada Concepcion. Samakatuwid, dalawang batas na ang nilalagdaan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte para opisyal na kilalanin ng estado ang kabanalan ni Maria. Una ay ang Immaculate Conception at ito ngang Nativity of Mary.

Malakas ang debosyon ng mga Pinoy kay Maria at sa katotohanan, naniniwala kaming mga Katoliko na si Maria ay patronesa ng bansa. Ito rin ang paniniwala ni Congressman Fariñas na umano ay isang Marian devotee. Pero ang ironic dito, ang mambabatas na nagtulak ng dalawang batas na ito ay inakusahan na nambubugbog ng asawa. Bagamat hindi napatunayan sa hukuman, maraming mga personalities sa showbiz at political circles na wife batter nga daw ito. Malayong-malayo ito kay Jose na kabiyak ni Maria.

Si Congressman Fariñas ay kasal sa dating modelo at artistang si Maria (pansinin ito) Teresa Carlson ng Zambales at ina ng walo niyang mga anak. Nagpatiwakal si Carlson noong 2004. Ang kaso ng pagkamatay ni Carlson ay isa sa mga naging panulukang kaso o kadahilanan kung bakit naisa-batas ang RA 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act. Itinanggi ni Fariñas na biktima ng domestic violence ang kanyang asawa. Itinaggi niya na ang kanyang pambubugbog ang dahilan ng suicide ng magandang dating komedyante sa pelikula.

Papaigting ang kagutumang dama ngayon ng mga magsasaka. Ito ay sanhi ng Rice Tariffication Law na nararanasan ngayo ng nasabing sektor. Kagutuman sa kanayunan na parang panlipunang bulkan na maaring sumabog anumang sandali simula ngayon. Isang socio-political situation na halos walang pinag-iba sa sitwasyon ng pamumuno ng mapaniil na si Herodes nang ang sanggol na si Maria ay ipaglihi at isilang.

Tiyak ko na mas magiging masaya si Maria kung sa kanyang kaarawan at nang siya ay ipaglihi ay kasabay na maaksyunan ng gobyerno ang krisis sa bigas kaysa sa itakda na national holiday ang araw na ito. Kapag ang pamahalaan ay nanindigan laban sa panghihimasok ng World Trade Organization (WTO) sa bansa at kung ititigil ang deregulasyon at pribatisasyon ng National Food Authority of NFA. Kasabay ng pagtutuon sa suportang serbisyo sa mga magsasaka tulad ng libreng irigasyon, binhi at ilan pang mga pangunahing pangangailangan sa pagtatanim. Kasama rin ang pagbili ng gobyerno sa inaning palay ng mga magsasaka sa tamang presyo nang sa gayo’y maiwasan ang pagsasamantala sa kanila ng malalaking rice traders na siyang kumokontrol at nagtatakda sa suplay at presyo ng bigas na pinapasan ng kapwa magsasaka at mamimili.

Ito ang isa sa mga katulad na sitwasyong sa kanyang paglaki ay kamumulatan ng bagong silang na si Maria. Ang sanggol na sa kanyang paglaki ay aawitin ang kanyang Magnificat sa ganitong mga salita, “Mapadadakila ninyo kahit ang pinakaaba, mahahango sa kahirapan kahit ang pinakadukha. Maihahanay ninyo sila sa mga maharlika, mabibigyan ng karangalan kahit na ang dustang-dusta.” Huwag na nating pansinin kung totoong ito nga ang araw ng pagsilang ni Maria. Alalahanin na lang natin na ang bawat pagsilang ng tao ay dapat nagpapabago sa mundo at sa lipunang kanyang ginagalawan. Ang bawat katungkulang ating tinatamasa ay dapat nagpapabago sa ga lumang kalakaran. Ito ang isasamo natin sa araw na ito sa banal na Ina ni Hesus. Ito ang mas makabuluhang sangkap ng ating pananalangin, pagsamba at pamamanata sa araw na ito.

Mas magandang pa-birthday ito sa kanya ng gobyerno sa papalapit nating pagsalubong sa ika-500 anibersaryo ng pagdatal ng Kristiyanismo sa bansa sa taong 2021 na sakop pa rin ng termino ng kasalukuyang pangulo, kahit sabi niya hindi dapat itong ipagdiwang.

Ave Maria!

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Reperensya: https://www.ucanews.com/news/philippines-declares-virgin-marys-birthday-a-holiday/85232

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1780146

https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/12/29/feast-of-immaculate-conception-of-mary-celebrated-on-december-8-now-special-nonworking-holiday/

When Discipleship is Seditious

To those who serve tyrants, discipleship is seditious and a product, not of faith, but of brainwashing. Discipleship in the eyes of the devil is sedition and persecution is his most devilish way. 

In Adolf Hitler’s Germany, Nazism, which was a state ideology, could not accept an autonomous establishment whose legitimacy did not spring from the government so they desired the subordination of the church to the state and they were persecuted.  An estimated one third of German priests faced some form of reprisal in Nazi Germany and 400 of them were sent to concentration camps and was tortured. The Gestapo, abbreviation of Geheime Staatspolizei (German: “Secret State Police”), the political police of Nazi Germany, is the state’s main implementor in such an oppression. This reminds us of the PNP-CIDG’s cases against some disciples of Christ, priests and bishops, filed recently. The police officials believed more on the statement of a hooded swindler named Bikoy than their pastors who are just inclined to do their prophetic roles totally discerning as witnesses in the senseless killings around them.

Hitler, according to author Richard Weikart, is, “a religious chameleon, a quintessential religious hypocrite,” by the way. Not unlike someone you know well.

If we have “War on Drugs” in the Philippines today, Hitler had “War on the Church” in Germany then. The fate of the Catholic bishops accused of plotting to oust Duterte been in the headlines recently, as I have said. Let me repeat, discipleship in the eyes of the devil is sedition and persecution is his most devilish way. Their accusations are mostly baseless.

Taking your cross could mean that the police officers for instance, can carry their cross by defying the unjust and persecuting orders from their superiors, a thing that Hitler’s police didn't do.  Taking our cross could also mean resisting the evils of totalitarianism. Carrying our cross is also a way of saying “no” to those who make the legal processes weapons against their rivals.  Lifting our cross may be a staunch adherence to law of men and of God, to humanity versus barbarism.

But that is not enough. Such discipleship is focused only on performance. A true disciple aims how to reform and not much how to perform. This is the most “seditious” discipleship Jesus has taught us. Prophets and  Christian witnesses do pray and reflect before the judge and act. Just like in Germany during Hitler.

This discipleship is genuine for it is about spiritual discernment and only through these we can be a self-denying, cross-carrying Christ follower…

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Photo: global-politics.eu

References:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_persecution_of_the_Catholic_Church_in_Germany

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/10/26/was-hitler-a-christian-an-atheist-or-neither/

Palaspas at Pulitika

Ang pagwawagayway ng palaspas ay isang pampulitikang protesta noong panahon ni Hesus. Ang palaspas ay simbolo ng tagumpay ng pakikidigma at hindi lamang pantaboy ng aswang o kaya ay para may masunog tayo para sa Miyerkules ng Abo sa isang taon, kagaya ng alam natin ngayon dito sa Pilipinas.

Sinakop noon ng mga Romano ang mga Hudyo. Inalipin sila, pinahirapan, inabuso at inalipusta. Brutalidad ang naranasan ng mga mamamayang Hudyo sa kamay ng mga mananakop. Ang palaspas ay simbolo ng tagumpay ng madirigma. Ang pagwawagayway ng palaspas din ay isang paghamon, isang protesta o banta ng insureksyon noong panahong iyon. Sabi nga ni Bo Sanders sa kanyang sulatin noong 2013 sa Tripfuller.com na may titulong Palm Sunday is the Most Political Sunday, “Laying down palm branches ahead of a man riding a donkey was an act of defiance and an aggressive political statement.”  Sa Pilipinas, ang kaisipan at historikal na katotohanang ito ay hindi gaanong napag-ukulan ng pansin at pagninilay. Dangan kasi naman, tayo man ay bansang sinakop din ng mga Kastila na siyang nagdala sa atin ng Kristiyanismo.

Papaano natin aasahan na ipamulat nila sa atin na ang orihinal na Linggo ng Palapas ay maituturing na isang kilos-bayan o aksyong pulitikal. Dagdag pa ni Sanders, “Palm Sunday might be the most flagrant example of ignorance and misappropriation. Palm Sunday is call for revolution against the powers of oppression, the systems and institutions that occupy foreign lands and repress its citizens with unjust practices and economic policies.” Sinong pari kaya ang mangangahas na iugnay ang tunay na diwa ng Linggo ng Palaspas sa mga aksyong panlipunan?

Pero hindi ko sinasabi na dapat gumamit tayo ng mga bagay na labag sa batas para tayo makalaya. Pang-aabuso, pananakot at panlilinlang ang gamit ng pamahalaang Romano noon para mapanatili ang kanilang paghahari. Ang pulitika ng matandang Roma ay nakatuntong nang labis sa otoridad at kapangyarihan.

Iba ang pulitika ni Hesus sa Pulitika ng Roma. Opo, si Hesus ay hindi pang-espiritwal lang. May pulitika sa Kanya, maniwala man kayo o hindi.

Halos lahat ng antas ng kanyang buhay, simula sa pagsilang Niya sa sabsaban hanggang sa pagkamatay Niya sa krus ay may pampulitikang kaugnayan at kahalagahan noon at ngayon. Ipinanganak Siya sa malayong lugar dahil sa kailangang silang masensus para mabuwisan at ipinako Siya sa krus, na parusa noon sa mga kumakalaban sa gobyerno. Ang pagbabayad ng buwis at pagsasalita, pag-aalsa kagaya nang ginawa Niya sa templo ay pawang mga pampulitikang gawain. Ang pulitika ay nasa sentro ng buhay ng Salitang Nagkatawang Tao.

Ang mga turo Niya tungkol sa pagdatal ng Kaharian ng Diyos ay maituturing na isang adyendang pulitikal. Ang Diyos ang totoong hari at ang kanyang kaharian ang siyang lulupig sa mga kaharian o mga terminong pulitikal  na gawa lamang ng tao.

Ayon kay Isaac Morehouse sa kanyang blog post noong Agosto 10, 2009 na Palm Sunday and Politics, “Physical freedom is a worthy goal. Defending oneself from violence and oppression is not immoral. But as a Christian, to use government to enforce the morality you believe in through law, backed up by the agents of the state, is to contradict Christ Himself.”  Ganyan ang sitwasyon ng lipunan ni Hesus noon. Ganyang din ang sitwasyon ng lipunan natin ngayon. Sinong tagasunod ni Kristo ang mananahimik sa mga pagpatay sa tungki mismo ng kanyang ilong? Sinong Kristiyano ang hindi kikibo kung ang kanyang Diyos mismo ay minumura? Sinong Kristiyano ang hindi magagalit sa panibagong pananakop ng mga dayuhan sa ating bansa kagaya nang naranasan noon ng mga Hudyo sa mga Romano noong unang Linggo ng Palaspas?

Sa pulitika ni Hesus ay una ang paglilingkod kaysa sa anumang kapangyarihan. Ang pulitika ni Hesus ay may kababaang-loob, may paggalang sa paniniwala ng iba, hindi makasarili, nagbibigay ng pagkakataon sa iba pang ibig mag-lingkod. Hindi kumukuyapit sa pwesto. May totoong pagmamahal kahit hindi paulit-ulit na bigkasin.

Ang masaklap, hindi pulitika ni Hesus ang ating salalayan sa pagboto at pagwawagayway ng pampulitikang palaspas kundi pulitikang Romano. Pulitikang Romano na ang mga hari ay kapit-tuko sa kapangyarihan, marahas, mapanlinlang o kaya naman ay abusado.

Ang mga taong palaspas, malamang sa hindi, sa halalan ang ibuboto ay mga makabagong Hestas!

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Sources :

Photo: Imagenesmi.com

https://trippfuller.com/2013/03/25/palm-sunday-is-the-most-political-sunday/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/teachingnonviolentatonement/2016/03/the-subversive-politics-of-palm-sunday/

https://isaacmorehouse.com/2009/08/10/palm-sunday-and-politics/

On the Resignation of Bishop Palang

The news on Pope Francis’ recent acceptance of Bishop Antonio P. Palang’s resignation came to my knowledge last Sunday, 5^th Sunday of Lent. The official Pontifical action was released by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) and though I am now away from organized religion, the news made me reflect for a while and uttered a prayer for the spiritually-confined 71-year old and sickly prelate who is my employer since he was ordained bishop in May 2002 until my separation from the diocese’s social action apostolate in 2012.  

In John 12:20-23, the gospel that day, Jesus speaks about the grain of wheat that must fall (resign?) to the ground for its eventual fruition. The almost rotten seeds kept in a jar for a very long time ought to reach its true destination, which is the soil, to be truly productive and relevant. With this latest development in our Local Church, big social challenge is ahead of her.

Complete. The road we aim to tread must be complete as the important and divine events of the Holy Week: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and Easter Sunday. We cannot allow one occasion of holiness and mystery be left behind. It is written, “When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world. The old order has gone and a new order has already begun” (2 Cor. 5:17) for God is not a God of burned things and ashes but of renewed things, as I have written some years back.

Bishop David William V. Antonio was officially installed February 12, 2016 as administrator of Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose and now reappointed by Pope Francis to take full charge of the local church as mandated by the Roman Pontiff until the seat for the Vicar Apostolic is occupied.

Three years ago, Bishop Palang gained attention in the US when he issued an official statement in defense of his priest, Fr. Fernando Suarez, from a memorandum of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or USCCB alarming their local dioceses over Suarez’ healing masses there. The prelate protected him against the alleged “damaged caused to the reputation” of Fr. Suarez by the Conference in a statement he released April 20, 2015.

The vicariate’s pastoral nets must again cast into the deep sea of pressing needs, immediate concerns and urgent social questions via her pastoral and administrative thrusts. The seed’s falling is just a transition to a new life as emphasized in yesterday’s gospel. God aspire for a truly complete new life for our Church, His seed.

The Swiss critic and theologian Alexandre Rodolphe Vinet said centuries ago: “Resignation is the courage of Christian sorrow.” It is, indeed in this case...

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(Photo: Roderick Ignacio FB Account)

References:

http://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/pope-accepts-resignation-bishop-palang-appoints-administrator/

https://twitter.com/frfsuarez/status/590394822248169474

Bishop Francisco Claver and Martial Law

The Philippine Catholic Church indeed suffered under Martial Law. Priests and nuns were arrested, jailed and tortured by the Marcos’ military and even convents and seminaries administered by religious congregations were raided and ransacked. The Church greatly suffered from harsh government repression and harassment, though many priests and bishops at the time were not bothered by these occurrences.

President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972 and its principal goal was to preserve the old order and consequently, the oligarch’s throttlehold of the economy and to perpetuate himself to political power. This resulted to massive violation of civil and political rights of the people especially the basic masses, the anawim or God’s people. As the oppressive regime blatantly suppress the people, some priests and nuns opted to join the Communist movements, both open and clandestine, and resorted to or sponsored armed struggle.

As the horror of PD 1081 unfolds, most bishops did not speak against Marcos and the injustices suffered by the people under martial law that is why the 17 bishops who signed the document “Ut Omnes Unum Sint”, the “silent” bishops, who are composed of the majority, were criticized with these words: “Any criticism of government is then, perforce, criticism of President Marcos, something most bishops are loathe to do. Cultural Reasons could be adduced – deeply personal reasons too of friendship for and indebtedness to the First Family.”  Not only the First Family, the bishops and priests then dined with the oligarchs and the elite. Not unlike today.

A certain bishop bravely stood against Marcos dictatorship truly internalizing the prophetic role of the Church and her social teachings. His name is Bishop Francisco F. Claver, SJ of then Prelature of Malaybalay. Through his writings and pastoral works, he exemplary showed his being champion for the cause of human rights. His voice rang loud against all abuses happening under his diocese and the whole country. In his Pastoral Letter in 1976, 4 years after the declaration of Martial Law, titled “A Prophet to the Nations”, the bishop from Bontoc and an indigenous people himself, affirmed that all must preach the Gospel in words and in deeds and as a community and the Church must be genuinely critical, whether in support of or in opposition to the martial law government of Marcos. 

Bishop Francisco F. Claver is long gone and all we can do is to wonder what if he is still young and alive today under the same circumstances?

In the midst of the recent killings brought about by the government’s supposed War on Drug where innocent lives were lost and the victims denied of due process, where Catholics are killing fellow Catholics, this excerpt from Bishop Claver’s “The Blessing and the Curse” remains thunderously relevant: “I would especially invoke God’s wrath on those who inflict actual physical harm on defenseless people in the name of “government security”. People flagrantly and publicly guilty of this sin against our common humanity and dignity have their own cut themselves off from the Church.”  Tough words, aren’t they? Bishop Claver believes that change must be built on God-given dignity and not on force and armed might, that the Church has the right and the obligation to speak out, even in so-called political matters, when and insofar as they have moral implications, when they violate the laws of morality. To me, Marcos’ Martial Law is not to be forgotten so the faithful must declare in unison, “Never Again!”

Last Sunday, during the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King at the Sain Joseph the Worker Cathedral, Bishop Antonio P. Palang, SVD, DD of Occidental Mindoro stressed in his homily that we should forgive Marcos. Well, I took the good prelate’s words as an expression of fatherly concern but I am certain, and the good bishop knows for sure, that he could not make a decision for his flock. Those who oppose the burial could not abandon their judgment in this present historical issue more so since what was at stake is the carefulness of their actions as actors of history.

Now that we are told to “move on” by some quarters and personalities even inside the Church and forget all the injustices and horror of Martial Law but many of us won’t heed to the call. I wish that in the future, if same declaration is imposed by whoever president, may the pastoral actions and writings of Bishop Francisco F. Claver challenge our priests and bishops in the whole Philippines to stand against state repression and not be gratified with the comfort of their air-conditioned room in the company of their altar boys and counting their millions from the donating thieves in barong tagalog…

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(Photo: Catholic News Asia

Reference : Pasquale T. Giordano, SJ, “Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church 1965-1981”, New Day Publishers, January 1987, p. 155-159.)

                                              

Two Bishops for Occidental Mindoro

“Apostolic Administrator lang,” without further elaboration, a diocesan priest reportedly told his parishioners about Pope Francis’ appointment of Bishop David William V. Antonio of Nueva Segovia as Apostolic Administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose sometime November last year. The appointment was reported over the Vatican Radio.

Since I am only backed up by my little understanding about this position or title in the Roman Catholic Church, I have to admit that I am not an authority on the subject and was merely supplied by the lessons I’ve learned from conversations with some of my priests mentor during my more than 20 years of being a Church lay worker, reinforced by reading my copy of Code of Canon Law that had a special place in our shelf and through browsing some Catholic webpages. Also, I am in no way pretending to be an expert on this but someone who merely loves to read and to share anything about my religious conviction. True enough, little learning is a dangerous thing but as a lay man holding on to my faith and learning about my religion, I am taking this dangerous act of saying something about this subject without pre-empting the reactions coming from the authorities from our local Church on the matter. Having mentioned that, comments coming from concerned authorities are very much welcome, especially as I have said, from those who are knowledgeable on my Church’s governing law. But if one has to reason that this subject or anything about the Canon Law shouldn’t be discussed by a layman, I am guilty as charged!  

An apostolic administrator is a bishop appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration. The apostolic administration per se can either be an area that is not yet a diocese (a stable apostolic administration) or for a diocese that either has no bishop (an apostolic administrator sede vacante) or, in very rare cases, has an incapacitated bishop (apostolic administrator sede plena). From the looks of it, Bishop David William V. Antonio’s appointment is through sede plena since Bishop Antonio P. Palang, SVD, DD is still around and the seat is not vacant. In general, the apostolic administrator maintains the necessary daily functioning of a diocese but he is not allowed to make any structural changes or important innovations in the particular diocese where he is assigned. With this truth in mind, the priest I have mentioned is right when he quipped, “Apostolic administrator lang.”

But according to Canon 371.2, “[A]postolic administration is a portion of the people of God erected on a stable basis but not as a diocese due to special and grave reasons. The pastoral administrator is legally equivalent to the diocesan bishop.” When the term “apostolic administrator” is used today, it means that a prelate is appointed by the Pope, in our case, to a diocese with a filled or sitting vicar apostolic or bishop either temporarily or permanently. Usually, a bishop is appointed sede plena when the resident bishop is incapacitated by illness or advanced age. If that is the case, the jurisdiction of the resident bishop would be suspended. In this sense, the priest erroneously placed the position as inferior in saying, “Apostolic administrator lang.”

Apostolic administrators of stable administrations are equivalent in canon law with diocesan bishops, meaning they have essentially and fundamentally with the same authority as a diocesan bishop. This type of apostolic administrator is usually the bishop of a titular see. Thus the remark, “Apostolic administrator lang,” somewhat goes to emphasize that the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose is administered by the present bishop with stability. No serious administrative or pastoral program been neglected or usurped. No violation of the Canon Law been made whatsoever. Is this generally true? Without answering at point-blank this important question, the head-shaven priest’s remark “Apostolic administrator lang,” is an understatement!

Bishop David William V. Antonio, I was told will officially be installed this Friday, February 12, 2016 and a Eucharistic Celebration or his first Mass here is expected. Aside from the clergy, religious organizations and the Basic Ecclesial Communities from all over Occidental Mindoro, for sure, will be coming to greet and welcome him, regardless if he’s the apostolic administrator lang or not.

What will happen apparently is this: Bishop Antonio P. Palang, SVD, DD would still be the Apostolic Vicar and the in-coming Apostolic Administrator Bishop David William V. Antonio will work together until such time that the former, in a not so distant future, retires due to age or health reason or both.

Nevertheless, the coming of Bishop William David V. Antonio is a time of celebration for certainly Jesus is with us all in this especial occasion and beyond. Just like the point emphasized in Matthew 9:14-15, which is coincidentally the gospel this Friday:  Jesus' presence conditions the time; it changes everything; it determines our joy.

In a moment, I am returning the book to its place in the shelf and leave it there. I am leaving, again, everything to its proper handlers with their anointed hands and prayerfully wait for the shadow’s final fading in God’s time.

But what was left in me is this equally dangerous conviction: The more I am firm about my religion, the more I am doubtful of my priests…

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(Photo: AVSJ File)

The Silence of a Church and Mindoro Mining

Instead of issuing statement regarding the recent reinstatement of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) of Intex Resources for the Mindoro Nickel Project (MNP), the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose (AVSJ) issued a pastoral (?) letter that has little to do with social or public concern but more of an internal administrative matter.

The letter I was told was signed by Bishop Antonio P. Palang, SVD, DD of AVSJ and read in a Mass at the San Jose Cathedral last Sunday, June 14, 2015. It carried something that has very little to do with the Catholic faith and divinity in general but about an Estafa Case filed only last February this year against priests Ruben S. Villanueva and Rodrigo A. Salazar, Jr., SVD. The alleged pastoral stood firm to the conviction of the local Church to pursue said case in civil law instead of her own tribunal system. Both Fathers Villanueva and Salazar in their capacity before as heads of the Social Services Commission (SSC) and the Vicarial Indigenous People’s Coordinating Office (VIPACO), respectively, are staunch anti-mining advocates.

In Oriental Mindoro during a mammoth rally against the Norwegian mining firm last June 12, 2015 conjoining with the 117^th Anniversary of Philippine Independence, thousands of participants coming from various religious organizations, priests, nuns and seminarians signified their disgust of said mining project in whole Mindoro island. Though Calapan Bishop Warlito Cajandig was not around, the involvement of his flock has the good prelate’s blessing. Nobody from the AVSJ, priest and laity alike, came to attend the historic gathering. Not even their shadows. All of the formators and seminarians of Saint Augustine Minor Seminary in Calapan joined the mass action, as I have witnessed.

Incidentally, among religious organizations based in Calapan, the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP) been the most visible during the June 12, rally. The BCBP Chapter there fully animated the theme, “Be Brave. Be Bold”, anchored from BCBP’s 35^th NAC in Pasay only last May 1-2, 2015. This is what I also expect from same organization in Occidental Mindoro to be brave and bold amidst injustice and abuses in our midst. This deafening silence of our local Church made her lost her relevance in this burning call towards protecting Mother Nature and promoting social justice.

Bishop Palang some months back issued an official statement in defense of his priest, Fr. Fernando Suarez, from a memorandum of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or USCC alarming their local dioceses over Suarez’ healing masses in the United States. The prelate fully protected him against the alleged “damaged caused to the reputation” of Fr. Suarez in said statement released last April 20, 2015. But in the recent call to protect the environment against mentioned destructive industry, nothing, as in nada, was heard of from the Church’s officials of the island’s other half.

When Fr. Villanueva and Fr. Salazar are still occupying their previous positions in AVSJ, they had been key persons in staging a rally against Intex. Foremost was the one held in May 2009 in Mamburao which was mandated and participated by Bishop Palang himself. But in May 1, 2012, Intex offered a Mass celebrated by Bishop Palang in commemoration with Philippine Labor Day, the Fiesta Celebration of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Brgy. Pag-Asa (Sablayan) to mark the mining company’s launching of its Livelihood Enhancement through Agro-Forestry (LEAF) Project. Well, I have no qualms about such gesture from my bishop for such is an avowed duty of every priest. Priestly blessings, like sacraments, indeed should be apolitical.

But since Villanueva and Salazar, and other anti-mining clergy,- both diocesan or otherwise, left the vicariate, nothing was heard of about matters pertaining to Intex from the present leadership of my local Church. Its diocesan social action arm closed shop, not unlike her seminary, and never been re-opened since.

On Thursday, June 18, 2015, Pope Francis is about to release his encyclical on care for environment and for creation called Laudato Sii or “Praised Be”. That day, the Vatican will release the first comprehensive Catholic moral statement on creation care and climate change to the faithful around the world. How wonderful and timely it could have been if the Church leaders of my diocese came up with a letter signifying and presenting their stand on Integrity of Creation anchored on deepest defiance against the Mindoro Nickel Project. As I have said earlier, they used the divine authority of the Catholic Church to herald something that concerns not of faith and teachings in general. They wield and use it against individuals (priests, for that matter) and not in contradiction of bigger and systemic foes like mining companies and the prevailing unjust mining policies of the land!

Eduardo Balamiento, a cyberspace friend, correctly stated, "They (the AVSJ officials) should have resolved that conflict with the priests within the Church in silence. But in mining issue, it should be heard." I couldn't agree for more.

But at least, AVSJ’s present “pastoral” direction that my Church is heading is now clear to me after this personal reflection and I am sad. Very sad...

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(Photo; CybermovementagainstMindoroNickelProject)

References:

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/02/09/two-catholic-priests-face-estafa-charges/

http://fatherfernando.com/pdf/Official%20response%20of%20Bishop%20Antonio%20Palang%20regarding%20Unites%20States%20Conference%20of%20Catholic%20Bishops%20(USCCB)%20memorandum%20concerning%20Fr.%20Fernando%20Suarez.pdf

http://anaknimaria.blogspot.com/2009/06/anti-mining.html

SVD Priests’ Long Journey with the Mangyans

Since 1936, the Catholic missionary Society of the Divine Word or SVD been officially in-charge of the ecclesial responsibility for the whole Mindoro island and in 1950’s, the SVDs been active to support the Mangyans in many ways. Jurg Helbling and Volker Schult wrote, “The [SVD] missionaries helped the Mangyans with credit and medical care and they supported them in dealing with settlers, traders and provincial officials as well.” (p.156; “Mangyan Survival Strategies”; 2004; New Day Publishers). This blog entry is my humble tribute to pioneering SVD missionaries who worked utterly with the Mangyans of Mindoro particularly former SVD priest Antoon Postma, the time-tested clerics in Fr. Ewald Dinter, SVD and Fr. Dennis Flynn, SVD, to cite just three. Here’s a rejoinder: This lowly blogger is not an alumnus of a SVD-run school or in any way connected to the congregation. That is for the record.

Well, Postma is known for his various works about the Hanunuo (an ethno-linguistic group of the) Mangyans especially their distinct culture with his all-inclusive documentation. He is no doubt a world- renowned authority on the subject for he lived with them for more than 50 years and he is an anthropologist. On the other hand, Fr. Dinter is best known for his charismata in dialogue and “inculturation”. He is a recipient of Saint Joseph Freinademtz Award, one of the six categories of the SVD Mission Awards bestowed some years ago during the Centennial Celebration of SVDs presence in the Philippines. Fr. Flynn, a Filipino-American, as a little boy, spent the most of his youth in the Philippines, including the war years 1942-45 and later entered an SVD seminary in the US and eventually ordained a priest in October 1961. A year later, he was assigned to the Mindoro missions. Fr. Postma left priesthood in 1989 and Fr. Dinter came to Mindoro in 1966, while Fr. Flynn established Mangyan, Inc., an NGO, in 2003 focusing on modern upland agriculture and all of them are still connected with our brethren in the mountains.

When Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose (AVSJ) was created January 27, 1983, her Mangyan Mission, later known as the Vicarial Indigenous People’s Coordinating Office or VIPACO, together with religious congregations of nuns, holding dear to their mandate, facilitated programs and projects towards gaining equal opportunities and treatment, right to self-determination, protection of indigenous culture and arts, ancestral domain and sustainable human development of said indigenous peoples or IPs. The late Bishop Vicente C. Manuel, SVD, DD, having a degree in Sociology and a big heart for the Mangyans, who described them as the ”poorest of the poor in this forgotten half of the [Mindoro] island”  was into conviction that such ministry need not be confined to band aid solutions and dole outs like scholarships and mercy missions. Bp. Manuel’s SVD brothers struggled with the Mangyans against aggressive activities detrimental to the upland ecosystems. The Mangyans are the proximate stewards of God for our forests and mountains, as what the cleric often reminded us lay faithful.

Bp. Manuel, during his tenure has appointed three SVDs to said diocesan ministry. First was Fr. Wim Leijendekker, SVD, followed by Fr. Ramon “Monet” Bosch, SVD and later, Fr. Rodrigo Salazar, Jr, SVD. Fr. Salazar, a personal friend, believes that that large-scale mining is a threat to the livelihood and environment of the Mangyans. True enough, for all its seven sub-tribes, land is life.

The present Episcopal Vicar for the Indigenous Peoples of AVSJ is Fr. Fernando Suarez, MMMP who was appointed by another SVD prelate, the Most Rev. Antonio P. Palang, SVD, DD,- his bishop protector, to the position sometime in 2014. This was years after Suarez was incardinated to the vicariate. But we are still about to hear Suarez’ and/or his local ordinary’s official position on the recent reinstatement of Mindoro Nickel Project’s (MNP) Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC by the DENR reportedly upon instruction of President BS Aquino III.

Despite the fact that the SVD missionaries I have mentioned differ in so many ways, in their approaches, programs, strategies and ways of evangelizing towards their mission for the Mangyans, they are true to their prophetic role, to say the least, in bringing The Word to the (Mangyan) world. The Catholic principle of Unity in Diversity is fully animated by and in them.

As I have told you, I am in no way connected with the SVD, though, now it can be told, I once tried to enter SVD’s Christ the King Seminary in 1978. I passed the entrance exam but for “quasi- secular and semi-worldly” reasons, I did not return to enroll (further elaboration is immaterial!).  

Seriously, like them, I work with the Mangyans and a missionary in my own right. We all are, actually..

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(Photo: Mangyan Inc.)

Sources:

http://www.inquirer.net/specialreports/education/view.php?db=1&article=20100207-251816

http://expatph.nowplanet.tv/issue18/2013/04/25/antoon-postma-mangyan-at-heart/

http://www.philstar.com/education-and-home/2014/06/26/1339102/ccp-endows-scholarship-grants-mmmp

https://mangyanincdraft.wordpress.com/about/

Priests on Trial: Gomburza

The notorious Dámaso Verdolagas or plainly Padre Dámaso in José Rizal’s novel “Noli Me Tangere,” became the epitome of priestly abuses and hypocrisy to this very day. No doubt, there are still a lot of Dámasos in our midst. We hate the modern-day Damasos but  have forgotten the martyrdom of three secular priests in Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, known collectively as Gomburza.

Today is the 143rd anniversary of the February 17, 1872 execution of Gomburza as per records of the Spanish government, but according to the La Solidaridad and French newsman Edmund Plauchut, it took place on February 16, 1872. Philippine history has it that the aftermath of the so-called Cavite mutiny was a mass purging of people who have been suspected of having led or supported it. On the day the news of the uprising reached the central government in Manila, the Governor-General immediately caused the arrest of prominent priests and civilians as conspirators of the mutiny, among them, the Gomburza.  

In an article written by Philippine historian Ambeth Ocampo, he said that during the trial, the principal witness was a certain Francisco Saldua who testified that the mutiny was a conspiracy, and confessed that he was a part of it. He wished to be pardoned in exchange for his testimony. He narrated on the trial that for three times he delivered messages to Fr. Jacinto Zamora, who had then gone to Burgos’ abode. Saldua said that the conspirators met at the home of certain Lorenzana.

Some military witnesses testified that they were told that should the uprising succeed, the president of the republic would be Fr. Burgos, parish priest of the Manila Cathedral but all were just hearsay. A fellow priest, Fray Norvel, testified that the Creoles were inciting the people to rise up in arms against Spain, and that he saw Burgos passing subversive pamphlets. Lies and unfounded information subdued the trial.

Fr. Burgos’ landlady testified as a sort of character witness. She vouched that Fr. Burgos was a peaceful man and with no liking for gossip. She said that Fr. Burgos would even advise the insurgents to seek reforms without spilling of blood or the recourse to violent means. He was the most distinguished among the three, having earned two doctorates one in theology and another in canon law.   He was a prolific writer and was connected with the Manila Cathedral, a good swordsman and boxer.  Burgos got into a quarrel more than once with his superior, Archbishop of Manila Gregorio Martinez, regarding the right of native secular clergy over those newly-arrived priests from Spain.

After eight hours of trial, according to Ocampo, the Council of War condemned to die in the garrote the three priests Don Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora. Padre Burgos’ last words are as follows:"But I haven't committed any crime!" Reportedly one of the friars holding him down hissed, "Even Christ was innocent!" It was only then, it is said, when Padre Burgos freely accepted his death.

There are present-day idiots like Francisco Saldua who, in order to save their neck, point at fellow human being with his far-fetched accusations.

There are also the likes of Fray Norvel who has the bad feeling and implicate and accuse his brother priests.

And there are still Archbishop Martinezes among us who favor friars (priests) from other places than the homegrown clergy.

They are, too, the Padre Dámasos of our time…

Poncho-ed Pilates?

The Papal Visit to the Philippines is over and we are back to normal. For days, people practically from all walks of life, non-Catholics included, had a very wonderful experience of being blessed by God and momentarily feel moments of holiness. But how can we sustain the lessons we get from this historic and memorable faith experience as a nation?

The Philippines once again caught global attention. Images of Filipinos braving Typhoon Amang’s (Yuto) Signal Number 2 strength captured the attention of the world. The word “Amang”, by the way, in Tagalog means “Male Child”. But to Ilocanos, though in different enunciation, “Amang” means “Father”.  Coincidentally, Pope Francis said his Culminating Mass in celebration of the Holy Child Sunday at the Luneta. Sto. Niño for Filipinos is truly a Child and a Father (read: Lord)!

Many of well-to-do individuals and central figures of faith from my place went to Manila and wear ponchos all the way to meet the Pope. Of all people, our bishop was not there to meet the Holy Father. I do not know why our priests left their local ordinary behind while the momentous event is unfolding.

Pope Francis’ visit has ended and the disposable ponchos have dried (I am sure that the disposable yellow ponchos were not disposed for it would serve as a symbolic souvenir from the event). We are again back in being a worldly man like Pontius Pilate. We are returning to our normal ways of yielding easily to pressure from those people who are superior to us in many aspects and social structures that are making us hostage of. The systemic corruption, the dangers of the electronic media, the subtle attacks on the family, the prevailing social ills, subhuman conditions, moral decadence and yes, environmental degradation are still a reality. Like Pontius Pilate, we surely again easily give way to something that we do not like when our position and comfort, life and limbs are at stake or threatened.  

Pilates we all are in this sense.

‘

In Tacloban, the Holy Pontiff, perhaps, had his first experience of saying the Holy Mass in the middle of the storm and driving rain which is held in an open space. What a wonderful symbol of solidarity with the agony of the victims and survivors of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) right there at the middle of ground zero. This would bring us to the issue of climate change and ecological challenge, its causes and the impending disaster that it would bring.

By way of a joke, Pope Francis asked two requests from his audience at Palo Cathedral the other day: “First, pray for me, and second, be silent.” People in my place are praying for the Pope, no doubt, but amid threats of all those structural problems, many men and women of faith, both the clergy and laypeople, fell silent. Perhaps, like Pilate, we are afraid of pressures coming from those who make this evil structure continue to exist. These are the pressing problems of the poor in our midst that many of us Catholics do not seem to care or understand.

As such, we are but a collage of photos of Poncho-ed Pilates….

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(Photo :scmp.com)

Is Pope Francis Leftist?

Right after his visit to the Philippines and meet the thousands of still agonizing Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) victims in Leyte last 2013, Pope Francis is bound work on with his first ever encyclical on environment hinged on environmental issues such as climate change. It is expected to be released by June or July this year. Environmentalists are hopeful that Francis' encyclical will jump-start the next talks of the United Nation (UN)-initiated climate change negotiation after the last round of in Lima, Peru, failed to reach an agreement. The pope is scheduled to deliver a speech at the United Nations in New York in September and expected to take the global stage taking off from his upcoming encyclical. Please read THIS report coming from his mini presscon while on board going to the Philippines yesterday afternoon.

Lolo Kiko pledged on his installation as Vicar of Christ to make environment a priority. Firmly Francis once said, "The monopolizing of lands, deforestation, the appropriation of water, inadequate agro-toxics are some of the evils that tear man from the land of his birth. Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and deforestation are already showing their devastating effects in the great cataclysms we witness." This stand of the Pope irked the rightists all over the globe saying that climate change is essentially a fraud.

They do not believe that climate change is man-made. Frank Walker writing for pewsitter.com said that, “This [Pope’s stand] is the essence of Socialism. It’s just simple oppression imposed in the name of justice and it has nothing to do with the charitable teachings of Jesus and his Church.”  Another writer, Gerard Caplan wrote that, “Pope Francis is the most prominent leftist in the world.” True, he recently reinstated Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a practitioner of Liberation Theology who later joined the revolutionary, left-wing government of Nicaragua's Sandinistas in the 80s’. d' Escoto is criticized by the Vatican for allegedly importing Marxist values into the church. Nobody asked me but my first taste of such theology came from the book “Ang Kristiyanismo ay Rebolusyunaryo” by Fr. Pedro Salgado, OP way back in college.

If indeed the accusation is true that the Pope is the “most prominent leftist” in the world today, he cannot be compared to his Argentine compatriot in Che Guevara. Guevara blasphemed Jesus when he said, “In fact, if Christ himself stood in my way, I, like Nietzsche, would not hesitate to squish him like a worm,”  while Francis endlessly reminded that Christ is the center of this visit and not him. That is why personally, Che is not my “rockstar”. It’s Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, a Latin-American like Che and Francis.

Speaking of Bishop Romero, in August last year, Pope Francis lifts Vatican- imposed ban on the beatification of Romero, who was shot dead while celebrating Mass in 1980. Beatification is a step towards sainthood. Pope Francis said this after his recent trip to South Korea: “For me Romero is a man of God. There are no doctrinal problems and it is very important that [the beatification] is done quickly." Amen. Is the Pope Leftist? I do not care. All I hope is his visit would change us Filipinos and revisit our faith.

Well, whether Francis is indeed a supporter of “radical leftist green movements” or a leftist himself as alleged by haters of the Catholic Church, the Rightists and the capitalists,- if our systems still neglect the environment the moment Lolo Kiko has left us, our Church leaders, lay and clergy alike, and not nature deserve “a slap in the face”...

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 (Photo: goodshepherdsisters.com)

A Martial Law Painting

This painting sums up all my recollection of the Martial Law years and this inspires me to no end. Not only because it is one of the masterpieces of a man whom I know personally, born and raised in Mindoro but because it's message is still relevant after 42 years of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos’ Proclamation 1081 in September 21, 1972. The painting, “Notes for a Theology of Struggle” was created inside the prison cell in Bago Bantay, Quezon City by Edicio Dela Torre, former SVD priest and one of the pillars of the Christians for National Liberation or CNL. According to him as he cited in his blog, the reason why he painted a Christ figure with the right hand stretched out in resignation, even unto death, while the left hand is a clenched fist of resistance is, “[t]o portray the tension between our understanding of Christianity as a call to struggle for justice and the more dominant interpretation of Christianity as a consolation for the poor and oppressed who bear their suffering patiently.” Suffering, without doubt, can inspire artistic expression. But also true with comfort. Unluckily, the Christ image that dominates us is the suffering Christ and not the Christ who rejected the dominant religious and political systems of His time. The clenched fist of Jesus at the left side of the cross in Manong Ed’s painting.

When asked about the meaning of the figures at both sides of the cross, Dela Torre explained, “I decided to add leaves sprouting from the left arm of the cross, beyond the fist of resistance. Although the theology of struggle focuses on resistance, we do not need end there. We believe that new life will rise, like the leaves, from the dead wood of the cross. It adds the perspective of hope. To balance the leaves on the left, I filled the space beyond the right arm of the cross with leaf-like patterns on jungle uniforms of the military, and the face of a frightened child.” The “Notes for a Theology of Struggle” is an unfinished work of art and still an opus magnum in progress. Despite of the horrors of Martial Law, the painting comforts us for it leaves us a message that Christ shares in our suffering and struggle.

The turbulent times brought about by Martial Law in the Philippines gave birth to excellent works of art,- movies, novels, music, etc. that are too many to mention. Men and women who lived through it at least have a story or two to tell or re-tell. We need to keep alive the works of progressive artists coming from those dark sides of history when more than 3 thousand people have been killed and faced death. Their works are essential not only to inspire us though the struggle for justice and lasting peace is not yet over, but to celebrate that we, the “Martial Law babies” or survivors, are still alive. And the Generation X to be thankful for they are not yet born during those times. Those victims of "veneration without understanding" and "miseducation", as how nationalist historian Renato Constantino calls them. The "neo-Marcosists" as others would call them. 

The democratic space and the incomplete freedom that we are experiencing after EDSA, should not hinder budding artists here and now, to show their talents along this social or mass line. Pure entertainment is a staple of mass media nowadays without considering its redeeming social and literary value. We need works of art which depict the lives of ordinary people living in poverty, powerlessness and short-mindedness. These are the present-day artists’ battlefield. This must be their desk, studio and workshop aside from city streets and meeting places in the rural areas.

Now is the time they must even simply share artistic “notes” (not manuals) of struggle in case another Martial Law in whatever form and substance, threatens us again or in keeping up flame of freedom against this prevailing “selfie” mindset of our present political system…

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(Photo : Ed Dela Torre's Blog)