Month: April 2021

A mission as lay-missionary/Otto de Vries

As a lay missionary from the Diocese of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, I came to the Philippines in 1991 on the invitation of Bishop Labayen of the Prelature of Infanta. The appeal of the Bishop to live out the Church of the Poor inspired me on my mission to immerse in the everyday reality of the workers. As a member of Calama, I joined their group in Pasig.

For more than 20 years, I lived in an urban poor community in the City of Pasig. My experience among the urban poor and working class Filipinos opened my eyes to the reality of their plight. After completing a tagalog course and a course for welders, I worked as a welder and as a structural fitter for the first 10 years. I experienced the reality faced by workers earning hardly a minimum wage, as a contractual worker under a contract of less than six months without guarantee of renewal. For three years, I worked in the maintenance of a steel factory, first under an agency, and later on as a direct hire. My fellow workers attempted to build a union, but the factory closed.

After finishing a vocational course in electricity with the Salesian brothers of Don Bosco in Tondo in 2000, I worked as an electrician for various subcontractors and for almost 10 years for one electrical subcontractor in big construction projects. I experienced the harsh working conditions of workers in the construction industry. Basic labor rights such as the minimum wage, security of tenure and work safety are neglected. Moreover, the lack of tools and equipment make the work difficult and all the more dangerous. As we shared those experiences among ourselves, I was challenged to put those working conditions with the different subcontractors on paper, especially in one of the last projects I worked for. This research concretely showed the worsening working conditions with each layer of subcontracting. Several friends urged me to share this insight with the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research or EILER, as this institution is a well-established research NGO and known by many workers and trade unionists.

In the same period, I regularly visited a picket line of garment women workers. It made me realize the importance of workers solidarity and collective action in attaining their rights. The management had completely ignored the workers’ legitimate demands and closed down the factory. By immersing with the workers I realized how the exploitation in the garment industry was much worse.

Because of the strong solidarity among the workers, the picket protest lasted for a decade. Some of the workers eventually started a family in the picket. With tapped electricity, they had light in the picket and they were also able to cook. As an electrician, I helped with repairs. They won their case after six years, but they were not paid even a single centavo. Thereafter, several times the authorities demolished their picket, so the last 2 years only a plastic sheet remained of their picket. After the sixth attempt, we decided to leave. Before leaving, I, with two workers, had still our “last supper” of rice and sardines.

 The picket also had several visits with a group of faithful who supported them and wanted to further understand the workers’ punto-de-vista. Support from the local parish depends much on the attitude of the priest. The priest of my parish, Msgr Pagulayan, was very open and visited the picket and talked to the workers to understand their plight.

Towards a Church of the Poor

It is vital for such mission to do this as a group, as Calama. We shared our experiences with one another and related these to the word of God, which deepened each ones’ motivation. We regularly shared our experiences with Bishop Labayen, whose pastoral guidance continued with his successors: bishops Tirona and Bernard Cortez of the Prelature.

 Our main mission in the Church is the formation of seminarians and laity. We facilitated exposures for seminarians among the workers, in which they, without revealing their identity as seminarians, applied and worked as unskilled workers, confronting them with a reality where God seems to be absent. Father Joseph Buslon was so inspired by his immersion among the workers that he dedicated himself to help build a labor ministry after becoming a priest. Because of the dedication of laity to make a social investigation, the diocese of Novaliches learned of the condition of the workers which became the basis for developing its labor ministry.

In 1987, Calama, under the guidance of bishop Labayen, had written a contribution to the Synod on the Vocation and Mission of the Laity. In this contribution, diakonia, service of the church to society as task of the laity is emphasized to contribute to a more just society. In it, the Social Teachings of the Church is part of their, this formation as laity. Furthermore, local, regional and national fora on their Vocation and Mission have contributed to the sharing of experiences among the laity. I have been involved in this initiative since 2000. As a lay-group, we shared our experiences in society and church and deepened our understanding to express more our identity and contribution as lay.

In 2014, I had an accident that prevented me from continuing my work as an electrician. The next year, EILER reached out to me on the basis of my research on the working conditions of the subcontractors in construction and invited me to become a researcher. As I became more familiar with EILER as an ecumenical service institute for the workers, I gained a better appreciation of the importance of the Church’s link with the Labor movement, and so continued to live out my mission among the workers. When Father Ronald Macale became the parish priest of the St Joseph Shrine to which EILER belongs, our collaboration is revived. When he was formator at San Carlos seminary, we worked closely together in facilitating exposures for the seminarians among the workers.

After 30 years, this mission of solidarity among the workers and building the Church of the Poor is being put to a halt with the cancellation of my permanent visa. Without due process, and under malicious allegations, I was ordered to leave the Philippines which has been my home country for the last 30 years. Contrary to accusations of NICA, neither I nor EILER engage in or support acts of terrorism. On the contrary, EILER publishes research and educational modules based on facts and the concrete conditions of the workers, and is fighting for a just society. This is merely a ploy to sow fear on those advocating for basic rights and social justice, and to stop them from struggling.

 Be that as it may, I’m very thankful to my fellow workers, those in the pickets lines, and many urban poor in their communities, who shared their punto-de-vista and solidarity with me. This solidarity for justice and human dignity as well as an expression of love for your neighbor, motivates to continue our struggle for a just society with them. Lastly, this has become a source of inspiration, as an expression of the presence of the Holy Spirit among the poor, for our mission to build the Church of the Poor.

April 2021  

FEATURE

Fr. Amado L. Picardal, CSsR, STD

“We pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis,” Prayer of Pope Francis

In an interview last October 2020, the newly-appointed archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jose Advincula asserted that “protecting human rights is neither optional nor secondary but must be at the heart of the Church’s mission … the Church must see to it that the human dignity and the human rights of the people are respected.”

Is the promotion and defense of human rights really part of the Church mission? This question is relevant at a time when there are gross violations of human rights all over the world even during this time of the pandemic which authoritarian leaders exploit to perpetuate themselves in power.

At the moment, the attention of the world is focused on Myanmar where over 400 peaceful anti-coup protesters have been shot by the police and military. Nuns and priests have joined the civil disobedience movement although the bishops and superiors have cautioned them from getting involved. Pope Francis is pleading to a stop to the violence. The UN has condemned the gross of violation of human rights in Myanmar. Sanctions have been imposed.

The UN Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court and other International Organizations have also expressed concern about the Philippines. There are over 33,000 victims of extrajudicial killings perpetrated by police, military and the death squads. The killings continue even during the pandemic. Many of the victims are poor, accused of pushing or using drugs. Also among the victims were activists, trade union leaders, environmentalists, media people, peasant leaders, leaders of indigenous peoples, human rights defenders. Sixty-one lawyers were assassinated. Four priests and one pastor were also murdered. Those who oppose and criticize the government are “red-tagged” (falsely accused of being communists). Opposition politicians and journalists have been imprisoned. Two religious have been charged with inciting to sedition. An Australian nun have been deported due to her justice advocacy among the poor. Bank deposits of the Rural Missionaries have been frozen after being red-tagged. Those who violated the pandemic lock down were imprisoned and some were shot.  What is disconcerting is not just the silence of many priests and religious but the support that some give to the authoritarian regime. Those who have taken a prophetic stance feel like they are isolated voices in the wilderness.

In other parts of the world, repression and human rights violations persist – whether in Thailand, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Russia, China, Hongkong, and many parts of Africa and Latin America. In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis looks at the global situation and laments how fundamental rights are discarded or violated:

“It frequently becomes clear that in practice human rights are not equal for all…We see numerous contradictions that lead us to wonder whether the equal dignity of all human beings, solemnly proclaimed seventy years ago, is truly recognized, respected and promoted in every situation. In today’s world, many forms of injustice persist, fed by reductive anthropological visions and by a profit-based economic model that does not hesitate to exploit, discard and even kill human beings. While one part of humanity lives in opulence, another part sees its own dignity denied, scorned or trampled upon, and its fundamental rights discarded or violated.” (FT 22)

In spite the violations of human rights, there seems to be hesitation to speak out on the part of the Church and among religious. The question remains: is human rights advocacy really part of the mission of the Church and religious congregations?

Fifty years ago, the 1971 Synod of Bishops came out with a document Justicia in Mundo (Justice in the World). Here some excerpts that answer the question:

“Our action is to be directed above all at those people and nations which because of various forms of oppression and because of the present character of our society are silent, indeed voiceless, victims of injustice.” (JW 20)

Justice is also being violated by forms of oppression, both old and new, springing from restriction of the rights of individuals. This is occurring both in the form of repression by the political power and of violence on the part of private reaction, and can reach the extreme of affecting the basic conditions of personal integrity. There are well known cases of torture, especially of political prisoners, who besides are frequently denied due process or who are subjected to arbitrary procedures in their trial. Nor can we pass over the prisoners of war who even after the Geneva Convention are being treated in an inhuman manner.(JM 24)

The fight against legalized abortion and against the imposition of contraceptives and the pressures exerted against war are significant forms of defending the right to life.” (JM 25)

The Church has the right, indeed the duty, to proclaim justice on the social, national and international level, and to denounce instances of injustice, when the fundamental rights of people and their very salvation demand it.” (JM 36)

This document clearly affirms that the Church has the right and duty to proclaim the message of justice and to denounce instances of injustices including the violation of human rights. As an integral part of the Church, religious orders and their individual members have the obligation to promote and defend human rights as part of their concern and mission.

In 1974, the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace came out with a document entitled “The Church and Human Rights” (CHR) which provided the theological and pastoral orientation regarding human rights advocacy. It affirms that “the Church’s defense of human rights is an inescapable requirement of her mission of justice and love in the spirit of the Gospel message.”

In response to the objection that concern for human rights is involvement in politics, the document echoes the 1971 Synod of Bishops which asserts:

“Of itself it does not belong to the Church, insofar as she is a religious and hierarchical community, to offer concrete solutions in the social, economic and political spheres for justice in the world. Her mission involves defending and promoting the dignity and fundamental rights of the human person. To accomplish her evangelical mission for the salvation of mankind, the Church has the right, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, ― to pass moral judgment, even on matters touching the political order, whenever basic personal rights or the salvation of souls make such judgments necessary”

Condemnation of injustices – including human rights violation – is not just a political matter, it involves moral judgment. While the Church avoids engagement in partisan politics she has the right and obligation to fulfil her mission in the socio-political order.

From a theological-anthropological perspective, the basis for human rights is the teaching from the book of Genesis that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. From this flows equality, human dignity and the inalienable human rights of each person.

From a Christological perspective, human dignity has been further elevated by Christ’s incarnation and solidarity with humankind:

“Every person has a special relation with God, grounded in the mystery of the Incarnate Word. When the Son of God became human, he entered into the world‘s history as a Perfect Human. He lived in a particular nation, a particular culture, even in a particular minority group, and thus raised the whole human family and all its members, which is to say human nature with all its prerogatives, to the dignity of Sons of God. Thus, in a definite way he sanctified all humanity.”

This theological-anthropological and Christological framework is the basis for the Church’s mission in promoting human rights:

“These truths, revealed by God to humankind through Christ, are not only the basis and foundation of the Church‘s teaching on human nature and human rights, both individually and collectively. They also establish the Church‘s responsibility in her mission of actively advancing persons and nations together with their fundamental rights.”

From an ecclesiological perspective, the promotion of human rights is part of the Church’s pastoral and prophetic mission. This is based on the ecclesiology of Vatican II which teaches that the Church and all her members participate in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and pastoral mission.The document views human rights advocacy as part of the Church’s pastoral mission:

“For decades now, UCCP-Haran Center has been a known sanctuary for Lumad people in Southern Mindanao, whose communities have repeatedly been terrorized by the Philippine Army and paramilitary groups. The UCCP Haran is simply performing their calling to ‘participate in the establishment of a just and compassionate social order.”

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL

Bulatlat.com

MANILA – An indigenous peoples’ group assailed the freezing of accounts of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) – Haran Center in Davao del Sur.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), in a resolution dated March 12, ordered the freezing of UCCP Haran’s three bank accounts and a real property under the name of Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc. The AMLC allegedly found that “the assets are used to finance terrorism” which is in violation of the Republic Act 10168 or Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.

Sandugo – Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination condemned the action, saying it is ironic that amid massive corruption and the non-disclosure of President Duterte’s statement of assets, liabilities and networth, human rights advocates are the ones whose accounts are being investigated.

“For decades now, UCCP-Haran Center has been a known sanctuary for Lumad people in Southern Mindanao, whose communities have repeatedly been terrorized by the Philippine Army and paramilitary groups. The UCCP Haran is simply performing their calling to ‘participate in the establishment of a just and compassionate social order,’” the group said in a statement.

They added that the UCCP compound in Haran also served as shelter for the displaced Lumad due to intense militarization of their communities.

“That is not a crime. It is an act of faith and kindness,” the group said.