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Month: July 2018

Labor rights issues intensified under two years of Duterte Part 1

Bulatlat Contributors July 15, 2018

“Workers are no longer hoping for a favorable action from the government to respect their dignity.”

Part 1 of 2: Strikes, Protests erupt against worsening contractualization, wage

By ADAM ANG and MENCHANI TILENDO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — In the two years that President Duterte has been in power, two government regulations on contractualization have been released – the DOLE Department Order (DO) No. 174 and Executive Order (EO) No. 51. But most workers say these did not respond to their problems, resulting in the persistent eruption of labor disputes.

In the past two years, at least 25 workers’ protest actions and strikes have been launched, all traceable to the problem of contractualization. Of these strikes, those monitored by the labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) were disputes due to regularization, union-busting and illegal job termination.

Kilos Na Manggagawa (KNM) chairperson Jen Pajel told Bulatlat that workers’ rights are being suppressed. “Contractualization brings distress to workers and their families.”

BULATLAT FILE PHOTO by Carlo Manalansan

“In the factories, a contractual worker has no permanent livelihood, wages are low, and working conditions are unsafe.”

Finding these intolerable, some Filipino workers have launched strikes and protests.

But in the strike area, most workers are being harassed by the company they used to serve. Last June 14, the picket in Bulacan of NutriAsia workers was forcibly dispersed by the police. On July 3, in Laguna, the police and security elements also forcibly entered the Middleby factory in Laguna to dislodge the workers from their sit-down strike. For days before that, the striking workers’ food support had been barred from entering the Laguna Technopark where the workers were on strike.

Aside from launching strikes, workers have launched boycott campaigns to further raise their calls for regularization, direct employment relations with the principal, and wage increase. Laid-off workers of NutriAsia and Jolibee have asked consumers to boycott NutriAsia and Jollibee products.

“Boycotts are one of the weapons of the workers to push the capitalists and even those in DOLE to take concrete actions,” Pajel said.

Circumventing labor laws

 

Amid the strengthening calls for regularization and national minimum wage, the deliberate disregard of companies and establishments have intensified the labor disputes in the country.

Jollibee workers call on the public to stop patronizing the products of Jollibee and its subsidiaries until the workers are regularized. (Photo by Adam Ang/Bulatlat)

In Nutriasia, over half of its workforce, or no less than 900 workers, have remained contractuals despite working in the same company for more than a decade.

In the Pangilinan-led PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company), about 7,000 workers have been demanding for regularization for almost two years now. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) rejected the telecommunication company’s request to reverse the decision on regularizing its workers. Instead, it gave PLDT 10 days to process its compliance order.

“The compliance order has been issued to PLDT since 2016 but until now, it is one of the top companies in the country that practices illegal contracting. Based on our initial inspection, we have discovered that the company has been illegally contracting almost 9,000 workers. Time and again, we have ordered them to undergo mandatory conferences and regularize their workers”, DOLE Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod said in an interview.

PLDT is one of the country’s biggest, if not the biggest, telecommunication companies. Aside from it, 3,337 companies in the country have been identified by the Labor Department as practicing illegal contracting. These include big-brand companies such as the Jollibee Foods Corporation, Monde Nissin, Unipak Sardines, Middleby Corporation.

The Labor Department has seen that labor laws are being violated and the workers who render services for more than six (6) months remain contractuals without benefits.

“Our compliance order is inclusive not only of the regularization of thousands of the workers, but the refunding of their underpayments, salary deductions and other benefits. It should guarantee them their rights to unionize, collective bargaining, security of tenure, strike in accordance to the laws, and right to just and living wages. For numerous times, the department has already called for exit conferences to make this clear among employers, contractors, agencies, and workers”, Maglunsod said.

As for PLDT, DOLE has issued a cease and desist order to PLDT’s service contract providers, but instead of providing relief to the workers, it’s now a justification being made by the telco for poor quality service.

“They (companies) have been skirting the laws. Now they want to pin down DOLE, and claim that it was our fault. What we want is for them to comply with the law, because the workers are the ones at stake here,” Maglunsod said.

“PLDT, Jollibee, Nutriasia, and other companies that have long been practicing illegal contracting have circumvented the laws, beyond what are stated in the Labor code. The main principle is clear; if the company directly hired the workers, then they shouldn’t be transferred to agencies and other contractors. Doing so is illegal”, Maglunsod concuded. (http://bulatlat.com)

Labor rights issues intensified under two years of Duterte Part 2

Part 2 of 2: Philippines ‘worst’ for workers – global report

 

By ADAM ANG and MENCHANI TILENDO Bulatlat.com

MANILA — The Philippines was among the top 10 countries across the globe to be worst for workers, according to the Global Rights Index for 2018 released last June 8 by the International Trade Union Confederation. In a scale of 1 to 5, the Philippines is a 5 with “no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of law.

The local labor rights group Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) said the report “re-validated” their findings that the “Duterte administration is no different from the previous governments or even worse in its attacks against the rights of Filipino workers.”

CTUHR recorded 29 victims of extrajudicial killings in the labor sector from June 2016 to March 2018. About 3,345 individuals whose labor rights have been violated were documented by the CTUHR in 133 cases. These include “809 victims of red-tagging, 358 victims of threat, harassments and intimidation and 98 victims of arbitrary arrest and detention resulting from filing trumped up criminal charges.”

Dissent and protests, however, remain the labor sector’s recourse amid unresolved jobs crisis, contractualization and low wages.

After President Rodrigo Duterte’s contractualization order on May 1, labor groups have boldly criticized the administration’s move and described it as nothing but a ‘tokenistic’ approach to the long-time issues of contractualization in the country.

The workers’ newly constructed tent at the sidewalk across the headquarters of the Department of Labor and Employment in Intramuros, Manila (Contributed photo / Bulatlat)

“Contractualization is getting even worse because of the continuous foreign investments in the country which the government allows to implement contractualization. Because of this, they (the companies) are free to create mechanisms to exploit the Filipino workers,” Joel Maglunsod, a Labor Undersecretary who was once also a labor leader, told Bulatlat.

Maglunsod also admitted that Duterte’s DO 174 did not differ with the existing labor laws on labor-only contracting. “In essence, it only prohibits agencies to engage in illegal contracting, but it could not supersede the existing laws that allow contracting and subcontracting.”

Maglunsod defended the Labor Department for its lackluster performance in the promised banning of contractualization.

“We have submitted a workers’ version of demands to the president, even before he signed the executive order last Labor Day. It is beyond the department’s accountability if the president did not align his version with that of the workers,’” , the labor undersecretary explained.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and other labor rights’ groups have criticized DOLE’s action, calling it a mere ‘lip service.’ The labor center said they have had enough of nearly a decade of the Labor Department’s “disregard and incompetence when it comes to the employees’ calls for regularization.”

Still the same calls uniting labor: ‘Junk government laws on contracting, subcontracting’

 

According to the contractual workers’ alliance KNM (Kilos Na Manggagawa), the so-called “legal contractualization” or any employment of contractual workers is actually illegal.

“Any form of contractualization, whether seasonal, project-based or casual, whatever it is called, as long as you are considered contractual, it is illegal,” said KNM chairperson Jen Pajel.

Despite hyping his administration’s thrust to end ENDO (end of contract signifying contractualization), the contractualization policies issued by the Duterte government continue the old policies’ distinction between legal and illegal contractualization. On March 16, 2017, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III issued the DO No. 174 providing for stricter guidelines on contracting and subcontracting. It does not ban contractualization; it just banned labor-only contracting or “an arrangement where the contractor or subcontractor merely recruits, supplies, or places workers to perform a job, work, or service for a principal.”

On Labor Day this year, President Duterte signed the EO No. 51 which banned illegal contractualization schemes like end-of-contract. Labor groups were quick to denounce the gesture as “nonsense.”

KMU said in a statement that the order does not end all forms of contractualization but legalizes it. They also consider it to be worse than DO 174 as it sets labor contracting through agencies as the standard for employment in the country.

PLDT contractuals in a picket in front of the Department of Labor and Management office in Intramuros, Manila. (Photo from Defend Job Philippines Facebook page)

“Whatever kind of position and livelihood, all should be considered as regular workers with direct relation to the principal owner,” Pajel said.

Revealing action from the DOLE

 

The Duterte administration and the Labor Department may continue claiming it is taking action against contractualization. But its action reveals the opposite. For example, after the dialogue between PLDT management and its workers facilitated by the DOLE on July 2, it assured the workers the DOLE order to regularize thousands of them is final and executory.

DOLE reports that it is also intensifying its thorough inspections and assessments of various companies, especially those involved in labor disputes.

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Zimmer the Alleged Pimp who Abused Little Children

The trial of Lillian May “Sherry” Zimmer (Photo credit: PREDA Foundation)

July 14, 2018 ·

Lillian May “Sherry” Zimmer is a US national and a suspected pimp of little children with an outstanding arrest warrant in the Philippines. She has allegedly sexually abused three of five little children or allowed foreign men to do it to the five-year-old girls and one boy that she kept locked in her house. Zimmer denied the charges and presents herself as another Mother Theresa helping and loving needy children. The reality is very different.

The five children were allegedly illegally confined in her hidden and secluded house in Aningway-Sacatihan, Subic, Zambales. On 1 June 2014, Preda social workers discovered the terrible secret. The children, one of them naked, ran from the house of Zimmer when she was intoxicated and they went to the nearby Preda children’s center where they heard the children in the Preda home for girls singing.

They told the social workers they didn’t know their own names or why they were in the house of Zimmer and they were hungry. The Preda social workers gave them food and brought the little children who appeared about five and six years old back to the house of Zimmer. She appeared disoriented and angry.

The house was dirty and a child was seen tied to a plastic chair and excrement was near the child. Zimmer talked to the social workers and then told them to leave. The social workers reported the events to their supervisor. They went back in a few days and the situation was the same. Preda, a child protection organization, reported the situation of apparent child neglect to the authorities.

Soon after, when the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officers with government social workers went to rescue the children, as was their duty under the law, she resisted and threw a spear at them. They arrested her and charged her with the illegal confinement of children and “assaulting persons in authority.” She operated without DSWD approval. (see http://www.preda.org/zimmer-case/

They investigated and saw the conditions that her house was dirty, strewn with empty whiskey bottles and in chaos. They found a child tied to a chair, the others half naked, neglected, crying and locked in a room to prevent them running away.

The children told social workers Zimmer scolded them and smacked them. Later, journalists found a sign in her house saying, “No Whining.” The children told government social workers and psychologists that foreign men went to the secluded house of Zimmer. According to the testimony of a 7-year-old boy locked in the house, one man sexually abused him in the shower and photographed him naked. Zimmer beat the boy with a stick, he said. Zimmer allowed the abuse to happen.

The girls said Zimmer dressed them up and brought them to foreign men at a beach for parties where the men held and touched them. The medico-legal examination confirmed that the children were neglected and sexually abused. (see medico-legal certificates also at http://www.preda.org/zimmer-case/ The child that was tied to a plastic chair was later found to be suffering from epilepsy and x-rays showed a previous healed fracture.

The agents of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) charged Zimmer in the Philippine Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City. Preda brought no charges and had no involvement in what happened to the accused Zimmer. She was broke and could not pay bail or hire a lawyer. When expensive lawyers from Manila showed up to represent Zimmer, it is likely that the foreign men to whom she brought the children to “play” paid for her lawyers. Also it is likely that she would name them and blame them for abusing the children so they paid. They petitioned the court to dismiss the case. Judge Jose L. Bautista Jr. did so without further hearings of evidence.

This was immediate and a very dubious decision. He dismissed the case by saying the government social workers and police had no search warrant. But the law says none is needed to rescue children in dire circumstance. The judge retired soon after. Immediately, Zimmer fled to a house in Fayetteville, NC 28304 in North Carolina, the United States.

The horrific crime against the little children has gone unpunished and Zimmer or those foreigners to whom she allegedly pimped and trafficked them to be abused has got off scot-free, for now. As is usual with non-Filipino pedophiles and pimps like Zimmer and her friends in the sex mafia, she denied everything and blamed Preda Foundation on social media for her plight.  Continue reading

Philippines needs more shepherds to defend flock

Should we wait for more blood on our altars before we march from our parishes to the halls of justice?

A priest carries a cross during a march in Manila on May 17 to protest the spate of attacks on church people in recent months. (Photo by Jire Carreon)

UCAN News Mark Saludes, Manila Philippines
July 16, 2018

Shepherding is among the oldest occupations in the world, beginning about 5,000 years ago in western Asia. A shepherd would put his life in danger to protect his flock.

If a sheep got separated from the group, the shepherd would search for it and not come back without the lost sheep. Once found, the shepherd would use his crook to hook and recover the fallen animal. If any predator threatened the flock, the shepherd would use the crook as a weapon to protect the congregation and fight any menace without hesitation.

The crook has been used as a religious symbol of care by the Catholic Church. It has become the crosier or the pastoral staff of Catholic bishops.

The bishop’s crosier or crook or staff symbolizes his being the shepherd of the flock of God. It signifies his authority and responsibility over the Catholic community under his canonical jurisdiction.

In the Philippines, Catholic bishops are using the shepherd’s crook to draw back those who have gone astray from the faith and to guide the flock to the right path.

Only a few of our church leaders are using the crook to hit hard at adversaries of the faith, the promoters of killings and impunity, and the murderers of the church’s gallant knights.

Many of our bishops are only tapping a soft blow with their not-too-lengthy press statements, theological reflections, and do nothing at all, especially if their dioceses are not affected by a pressing issue.

Another Catholic priest was gunned down recently while preparing for the celebration of Mass in the northern Philippine province of Nueva Ecija. Father Richmond Villaflor Nilo was killed on June 10 inside a chapel in Zaragoza town in the Diocese of Cabanatuan. He was the third Catholic priest to be killed in the country in the last six months.

The killings of the priests were condemned by religious leaders around the country. The bishops of the dioceses where the killings happened issued strongly worded pronouncements. But out of the 86 dioceses in the Philippines, few other bishops have really made strong statements against the killings and against the individuals who endorsed the acts.

To say that Filipino bishops do not speak out against killings is an overstatement. They claim to be against the culture of death and are supposed to defend the sanctity of life. But instead of loud shouts, we hear whispers. Instead of outrage in the streets, we see protests inside churches.

Concrete actions from Catholic Church leaders to press authorities to solve and prevent the killings are lacking. Statements remain soft, cautiously written, wanting or even insignificant.

This culture of silence, or should I say culture of softness and carefulness, among church leaders is nothing new. Many have been silent even as President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs has killed thousands of people.

Bishops have been denouncing the spate of drug-related killings, but only a handful mobilized their flock to put more weight to the protests.

We have already tried the soft and gentle way to urge the government to act on the killings and to diplomatically appeal to the president to stop endorsing them. Soft and cautious press releases seem not to work. Catholic Church leaders have to do more by organizing and mobilizing the flock to collectively defend the faith.

Should we wait for more dead priests before we decide to get out of our comfort zones and stand against tyranny? Should we wait for our priests to be shot before we utter stronger words of condemnation?

Should we wait for more blood on our altars before we stand, congregate and march from our parishes to the halls of justice?

As Catholics, it is our duty to pray for the realization of justice, peace and integrity of creation. As followers of Christ, it is our mission to defend life even with our own lives.

Filipino Catholics need a shepherd who can dare use the crook to hit the fox that is preying on the flock.

Mark Saludes is a freelance journalist who covers social justice issues for ucanews.com.

Church groups question move to rewrite Philippine charter

Fears of dictatorship grow with draft constitution set for submission to Congress

Church and activist groups stage a protest in January against moves to revise the Philippine constitution to accommodate a federal system of government. (Photo by Mark Saludes)

UCAN News Jose Torres Jr., Manila Philippines
July 13, 2018

Various church groups in the Philippines have raised concern over moves by legislators in recent weeks to railroad an amendment to the constitution.

The Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum said it is “seriously alarmed and highly apprehensive” of the way allies of President Rodrigo Duterte want to rewrite the charter.

In a statement dated July 11, Catholic and Protestant bishops said they suspect something “sinister” behind the rush to shift to a federal system of government.

“The proposed charter grants Mr. Duterte the power to exercise a monopoly of executive, legislative and judiciary powers,” read the prelates’ statement.

They said that with “mounting pieces of evidence” pointing to Duterte’s alleged intention to hold on to power, “the proposed federal charter appears to pave the way for one-man rule.”

The bishops said there is a widespread perception that the amendment to the constitution would only lead to the establishment of a “constitutional dictatorship.”

They called on Duterte “to stop misleading the people into believing that his federal charter will work for the good of the country.”

“In reality, it is far worse than charter changes that past governments have sought to put forward,” read the bishops’ statement.

A Catholic lay group, meanwhile, called for prayer vigils in dioceses, parishes and communities around the country on July 23 when Duterte delivers his annual State of the Nation Address.

The Catholic Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas (Council of Laity of the Philippines) urged Catholics to “reject attempts” by legislators to delete provisions in the constitution that guarantee people’s rights.

“Reject any attempt to bring back dictatorship, undetermined extension of office terms of elected officials, and the postponement of national and local elections,” read the organization’s statement.

“Mr. Duterte’s charter changes only make the intention to place the entire country under an authoritarian rule appear more clearly before our eyes,” said the group.

A survey by pollster Pulse Asia in March showed that opposition to charter change had risen from 44 percent in July 2016 to 64 percent in March.

On July 12, the presidential palace announced it was ready to submit to Congress a draft federal constitution written by a commission created by Duterte.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque expressed optimism that the new charter to facilitate the shift to a federal government would be ratified next year.

“The president has said that if it is finally ratified by the people then he will step down,” said Roque.

Duterte earlier said that he would not head a transition body to oversee the shift to a federal government if the new constitution is passed by Congress.

The draft constitution gives regions more power to self-govern and distributes power and resources of the national government.

If adopted by Congress, the new charter would create 18 federated regions that have autonomy and control over socioeconomic and financial systems.

The document proposes the election of 36 senators — two from each federal regions, and 400 district representatives that would compose the legislative body.

Other provisions include the prohibition of political dynasties, and clearly stated rights in an expanded Bill of Rights such as environmental and socioeconomic rights.

The new charter also mentions three high courts — a Federal Supreme Court, Federal Constitutional Court, and Federal Administrative Court with nine justices for each court.

“Magsaya Kayo at Magalak!”

Liham Pastoral Ng Kapulungan Ng Mga Obispo Ng Pilipinas (Salin sa Filipino)

“Mapapalad ang mga nagpupunyagi para sa Kapayapaan sapagkat tatawagin silang mga anak ng Diyos.” (Mat 5:9)

Minamahal naming mga kapatid kay Kristo, hindi ba‘t lahat tayo’y naghahangad ng biyayang maging mga anak ng Diyos? Kung gayon nga, dapat nating laging pagsumikapan ang maging daan ng kapayapaan sa mga panahong ito ng pagkabalisa sa ating bansa.

Kapayapaan: Ang Ating Pangkalahatang Bokasyon At Misyon

Sa mga panahong ito ng kadiliman at karahasan, panahon ng halos araw-araw na patayan, panahon ng palitan ng mga panlalait at masasakit na salita lalo na sa “social media,” nananawagan kami sa mga mananampalataya na manatiling tapat sa ating pinag-isang bokasyon at misyon na maging masigasig na tagapamagitan ng kapayapaan.

Ngunit huwag tayong magkamali ng pag-unawa dito; di ba’t sinabi ng ating Panginoon, “Kapayapaan ko ang ibinibigay ko sa inyo. Hindi gaya ng ibinibigay ng mundo ang ibinibigay ko sa inyo” (Juan 14:27). Ang kapayapaan para sa kanya ay hindi pakikikutsaba o pagsuko sa kasamaan; hindi rin ito tungkol sa kawalan ng hidwaan at kaguluhan.

Walang makapagdudulot sa atin ng kapanatagan ng loob sa mga panahong ito ng pagsubok kundi ang tahimik na pagkilala sa Kanya na nangakong kasama natin siyang lagi, “Lakasan ang loob! Ako ito, huwag kayong matakot!” (Mat. 14:27).

Ang Halaga ng Pagpapatotoo kay Kristo

Ano ang bago tungkol sa mga paring pinapaslang dahil sa kanilang pagpapatotoo kay Kristo? Ano ang bago tungkol sa mga propeta ng ating panahon na pinatatahimik ng mga traydor na bala ng mga mamamatay-tao? Ano ang bago tungkol sa mga pinunong-lingkod na nilalait dahil sa pagtataguyod nila ng kanilang tungkulin bilang mga pastol na sumusunod sa huwaran ng kanilang Punong Pastol? Nakalimutan na ba ninyo na “ang dugo ng mga martir ay binhi ng mga Kristiyano?” (Tertullian) Ito ang nagpanatiling-buhay sa Simbahan sa nakaraang dalawang-libong taon. Kaya huwag matakot! Hindi ba sinabi ng ating Panginoon, “Huwag matakot sa mga nakapapatay ng katawan ngunit hindi ng kaluluwa. Matakot kayo sa may kapangyarihang sumira ng kaluluwa pati ng katawan sa impiyerno.” (Mat. 10:28).

Hindi na bago sa atin ang hamakin at tuligsain. At anong sinasabi ng Panginoon sa kanyang mga alagad kapag sila’y tinutuligsa at hinahamak ng dahil sa kanya? Sinasabi niyang “Magsaya kayo at magalak” (Mat. 5:12). Ito rin ang mga pananalitang ginamit ng ating Papa Francisco sa panimula ng kanyang Apostolic Exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate”. Ito ang pananalita ng ating Panginoon sa mga tinutuligsa at hinahamak alang-alang sa kanya. Paano tayo tinuturuang harapin ang mga pagtuligsa sa atin? Pakinggan natin ang sinabi ni Apostol San Pablo, “Inaalipusta kami at nagsasalita naman kami nang maayos; inuusig kami at kami nama’y nagtitiis. Kapag sinisiraan, kami’y nakikipag-ayos” (1 Cor. 4:12-13).

At paano natin haharapin ang pagkakahati-hati natin? Paano natin pakikisamahan ang kapwa nating “Kristiyano” na walang nakikitang masama sa pagpatay, na tumatawa na lamang sa tuwing ang Diyos ay nilalapastangan, at nakikiisa sa pagkakalat ng fake news o maling balita? Laging mayroong ilan sa atin na bagama’t nagpapahayag ng kanilang pananampalataya kay Kristo ay nagagawa pa ring magpalinlang sa mga hungkag na mga pangako ni Satanas. Naaalala ba natin ang nagkanulo kay Hesus sa halagang tatlumpung pirasong pilak sapagkat hinayaan n’ya ang kanyang sarili na magpagamit kay Satanas? Tama si San Pablo nang kanyang sabihing, “Kailangan pa palang magkaroon ng mga pangkat sa inyo upang makilala ang mga tunay at subok na sa inyo” (ESV 1 Cor. 11:19).

Ang Pagdurusa ng mga Mahihirap

Walang sinabi ang ating mga pinagdaraanan sa mga pagdurusa bilang mga lider ng Simbahan kumpara sa pagdurusa ng mga dukha sa ating bansa. Hindi ba tayo nagdurusa kapag ang mga iskwater ay ikinukulong sa simpleng dahilan ng pag-iistambay? Hindi ba tayo nagdurusa kapag ang tingin sa mga adik ay “hindi tao”, at ang kanilang adiksyon ay itinuturing kaagad bilang krimen kapag ang kanilang pangalan ay napasama sa kinatatakutang “drug watch lists”? Hindi ba nararapat natin silang tingnan bilang mga maysakit na pinahihirapan ng kanilang karamdaman? Hindi ba dapata natin silang tingnan na mga biktima na nangangailangan ng tulong? Magsasawalang-kibo na lamang ba tayo sa tuwing may mga taong pinapatay at itinatapong parang basura na lamang? Hindi ba natin naiisip na sa bawat pinapatay na pinaghihinalaang gumagamit ng droga, mayroong asawang nababalo at mayroong mga anak na nauulila – na hindi man lamang mabigyan ng maayos na burol at libing ang kanilang mahal sa buhay?  Continue reading

Paglipay ug Pagmaya!

Awhag Pastoral sa Kapunongan sa mga Obispong Katoliko sa Pilipinas (CBCP)  “Bulahan ang mga tigpanday og kalinaw, kay sila pagatawgon nga mga anak sa Diyos.”(Mt 5:9) Hinigugmang mga igsuon diha ni Kristo, dili ba kitang tanan man nangandoy nianang grasya nga matawag kita nga “mga anak sa Diyos?” Nan, kitang…

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Scholarship: Certificate Program in Integral Ecology

The Loyola School of Theology of the Ateneo de Manila University is offering a scholarship for the Certificate Program in Integral Ecology.

This Program is designed for religious, seminarians, and faith-based workers, including teachers and catechists, and environmental activists, the five-month course is an answer to Pope Francis’ call for ecological conversion.

Download the application for scholarship form here http://bit.ly/2ISuluP

Visit this link for admission requirements & procedure – https://bit.ly/2MMwQ4U

Fighting and Dying for Freedom

Rights campaigners in the Philippines and around the world have sought to protect human dignity

Nuns lead a procession in Manila on June 22 to draw attention to the killings of Catholic priests in the Philippines in the past six months. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

Father Shay Cullen, Manila,  Philippines |
July 11, 2018

What is independence but freedom from the domination and control of others?

Freedom is firstly an inner, non-material spiritual value. The desire for it is natural and, when achieved, a joyful experience.

Freedom to practice our religious beliefs with dignity and without bondage, poverty or fear — and freedom of expression — are the greatest of human values and universal rights.

Working for freedom and independence from all kinds of oppression — whether it be discrimination, racism, sex slavery and exploitation, land grabbing or unjust imprisonment — should be spiritually motivated, not driven by political ambitions.

It is a commitment to stand up for moral and Gospel values.

The great Mahatma Gandhi, a man of deep spirituality and conviction, protested against British oppression of India’s people.

He was a rights campaigner, not a politician, yet his demand for freedom was wrongly branded as subversion by British authorities. As a result, he was vilified and jailed. But he won independence and was named the Father of the Nation

In the Philippines, Filipino Catholic priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora were garroted to death in Manila’s Bagumbayan (now called Luneta Park) by Spanish authorities after a sham trial.

The priests were falsely accused of political treachery arising from an 1872 mutiny that gave rise to a rising tide of nationalism In fact, they were human rights activists in a struggle against Spanish-born clerics, but accusations of political crimes were a handy way to get rid of critics.

In Negros province in the Western Visayas region of the central Philippines in the 1980s, Catholic missionary priests Brian Gore from Australia and Niall O’Brian from Ireland, Filipino priest Vicente Dangan and six lay workers were jailed by the Marcos regime on false charges related to the death of a mayor.

Communist rebels admitted that they had carried out the killing, but the priests and church workers were unjustly blamed to silence them from speaking out against social injustice. After many months, they were eventually freed.

Nowadays, assassins are continuing to kill advocates of freedom and independence, human rights activists, media practitioners and priests as well as pastors.

On the southern island of Mindanao, for more than 32 years, Father Fausto Tentorio was dedicated to helping poor tribal people in their struggle against mining interests that were grabbing their land and destroying their environment.

He was murdered. Fellow Mindanao missionaries Father Tullio Favali and Father Salvatore Carzedda were also murdered. They gave their lives for the freedom of the oppressed people. Their work for the poor was not political; it was humanitarian.

Father Marcelito Paez, 72, who dedicated his life to human rights and justice for prisoners, was shot and killed on Dec. 4 last year in the town of Jaen, 100 kilometers north of Manila, immediately after he secured the release from jail of a political prisoner.

Father Mark Anthony Yuaga Ventura, a Catholic priest, was shot and killed after saying Mass in the northern Philippine town of Gattaran on April 29 this year. He was known to be active in supporting the struggle of indigenous peoples for their rights against land grabbers. Leading political authorities vilified his life of service with baseless sordid allegations.

On June 10, Father Richmond Villaflor Nilo was gunned down inside the Nuestra Senora dela Nieve chapel in Zaragoza town, 125 kilometers from Manila. Police said the priest was shot while he was putting on his liturgical vestments to start the celebration of Mass.

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