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Month: December 2021

Appeal from Surigao

Our CBCP General Secretariat office just got the text below from Bishop Antonieto Cabajog of Surigao. (The all-caps text could only indicate a sense of urgency and a cry for help for the people of Surigao.)

Perhaps instead of spending a lot on lavish Christmas parties and exchange gifts, we can put together whatever we can and contribute it to relief operations.

His Excellency Pablo Virgilio David
Bishop of Kalookan
CBCP President

Aerial picture shows damage caused by Super Typhoon Rai after the storm crossed over Surigao City in Surigao del Norte province of Philippines.–AFP

Typhoon Odette manifested its super- strength starting a few minutes past one o’clock in the afternoon of December 16, 2o21. It gradually unleashed more strength and peaked between 3:00-4:00 p.m. Blinding torrential rains and howling winds no man could take standing up hammered us for more than three hours. 

Not only were trees uprooted and rooftops ripped from homes battered like doll-houses, electric power and all forms of communication were cut off literally isolating us from the rest of the world.  It was only in the afternoon of Dec. 18 were we able to clear fallen trees and debris around the bishop’s house and allowing  cautious opportunity to move around areas of the city cleared enough of fallen trees, landslides, fallen electric posts, G.I. sheets crumpled like papers, wires and other debris. The cathedral and rectory suffered sizeable damaged.  Two parish churches in the city  suffered broken glasses, blown roofings and flooding.

Never in my entire life have I encountered such typhoon to say “super” is an understatement. Throughout the ordeal we had the blessed sacrament exposed and the statue of Our Lady of Fatima on one side. 

As of this writing  communications from all parishes are yet to be received.  This report is written on my way to Butuan City to post this report. 

Please continue to pray for the Diocese of Surigao.

Mainland parishes seem to have suffered lesser damage but Surigao City.  Aside from the city and surrounding areas Siargao Island and Dinagat province are worst hit with unofficial reports of many casualties.

Food and water are priority needs in badly hit areas. Inspite of all these the strong faith of the people stands out as their pillar of comfort and support.

We thank all of you for your prayers as we move on in synodality and celebrate Christmas in this “new normal”.  “Cum Infirmor Potens Sum.”

+Antonieto D. Cabajog, D.D.
Bishop of Surigao
Dec. 20, 2021

Urgent Call for Assistance

In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, rescuers assist residents over floodwaters caused by Typhoon Odette as they are evacuated to higher ground in Cagayan de Oro City on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (ONE News)

December 17, 2021

To ALL DIOCESAN COUNCILS PRESIDENTS AND NATIONAL LAY LEADERS

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the light of the sudden and unexpected intensification of Typhoon Odette and its massive impact on the towns and cities along its path, calls for immediate disaster response are being made. The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas is appealing to our member organizations in the NCR and those nearby areas to initiate among their members, friends and relatives an emergency appeal for goods-in-kind which can be brought straight to the Disaster Response Center of the Office of the Vice President, which has launched an organized transportation and distribution plan with the AFP and other responsive government agencies. (Please watch the announcement below)

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1350228692077903

For those in other Dioceses who can also help, please do the same and coordinate with your Diocesan Social Action Centers. They might have similar plans to respond to this.

Let us also pray for the safety and recovery of our countrymen from this disaster and ask the Lord to continue to put peace and joy in their hearts during the Christmas season.

Please, we ask you to exert the effort to respond swiftly to this national emergency.

For the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas,

(Sgd)Jun Cruz
National President

10 things that Pope Francis wants us to learn from the nativity scene

Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 24, 2020. | Vatican Media.

By CNA Staff

Greccio, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 04:00 am

In 2019, Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter on the meaning and importance of the Christmas nativity scene. He signed the document, Admirabile signum (“Enchanting image”), on Dec. 1 that year, at the Shrine of the Nativity in Greccio, a hilltown in the Italian region of Lazio.

The choice of Greccio was significant, because it was there in 1223 that St. Francis of Assisi created history’s first nativity scene.

In the apostolic letter, widely regarded as one of the most moving documents of Francis’ pontificate, the pope sets out “to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the nativity scene in the days before Christmas.”

Here are 10 things that Pope Francis wants us to learn from the nativity scene, drawn from Admirabile signum.

1. The nativity scene is like a living Gospel. The depiction of Jesus’ birth is “a simple and joyful proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God,” the pope writes. The nativity scene invites everyone who contemplates it “on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman.”

The Vatican Nativity scene. Agencia Andina

2. The custom is rooted in the Bible. The pope underlines that the nativity scene rises from “the pages of sacred Scripture.” St. Luke’s Gospel says that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (2:7). The manger is the focus of nativity scenes. Indeed, the Italian word for nativity scene is “presepe,” from the Latin word “praesepium,” meaning “manger.”

Pope Francis visits the site of the first nativity scene in Greccio, Italy, on Jan. 4, 2015. Vatican Media.

3. The tradition was born in an unassuming Italian town. St. Francis of Assisi stopped in Greccio in November 1223, probably on his way back from Rome after receiving papal approval for the Rule of his religious order. Fifteen days before Christmas, he asked a local man named John to help him “bring to life the memory of that babe born in Bethlehem, to see as much as possible with my own bodily eyes the discomfort of his infant needs, how he lay in a manger, and how, with an ox and an ass standing by, he was laid upon a bed of hay.” On Christmas Day, St. Francis was joined by his friars and people from the surrounding area before a manger full of hay, watched over an ox and a donkey.

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CWS Statement on International Human Rights Day 2021

“Defending fundamental human rights demands courage and determination… Let us pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis…”

– Pope Francis, April 2021 Prayer Intention-

The Filipino people can sympathize with these words of Pope Francis especially under President Duterte administration. In his almost six years in power, the Philippines has increasingly become a dangerous place particularly for human rights defenders. Human rights group International Federation for Human Rights reported that at least 25 human rights defenders (HRDs) were killed in 2020 in the country, and in the first 6 months of 2021 alone, 15 HRDs have been murdered. Added to these are the unsolved cases of hundreds of activists, union leaders, community organizers, including 61 lawyers killed since 2016.

The relentless attacks against civil, political, economic, and cultural rights of the Filipino people intensified months before President Duterte will step down from his office. He, who once boasted that he is “happy” to go to jail for killing human rights defenders must be held accountable for the multiple cases of human rights violations around the country.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) is notorious for the series of attacks against political dissenters and innocent civilians. Earlier this month, a series of aerial bombing in a forested area in Brgy. Alimodas, Miag-ao, Iloilo led to the death of dozens of people. Similar scorched-earth tactics happened a few months ago in Las Navas, Northern Samar where a 500-pound bomb was dropped. On October 30 and November 2, farmers had to evacuate their lands in Bukidnon province in Mindanao when military forces bombed their communities, allegedly to flush out or finish off the group of slain communist leader Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos. Most affected by these series of aerial bombings are peasant and indigenous communities. These series of attacks resulted to forced displacement and loss of livelihoods. Furthermore, these intensified violence destroys the environment and traumatizes women and children.

CWS believes that a militarist approach will not solve the five-decade insurgency problem. CWS reiterates its stand that a negotiated socioeconomic- political reform program that addresses the roots of the armed conflict remains the only viable option.

Days before International Human Rights Day, the Supreme Court is set to make a decision on the constitutionality of the dreaded Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL). The said law has weaponized the State in intensifying its crackdown against those it identified as terrorists or political rebels. However, most of those arrested and/or killed are defenseless civilians, innocent mass leaders and community organizers. CWS is hopeful that the Supreme Court justices will stand by the Filipino people in calling for the abolition of the ATL.

As we move closer towards the National Elections in 2022, we appeal to all Presidential aspirants to include in their electoral agenda the protection of human dignity and the promotion of basic human rights of the Filipino people, especially the poor, the voiceless, and the marginalized. Likewise, we appeal to all voters to choose candidates who have a profound respect for human life, a genuine desire to serve, and a passion for truth, freedom, and justice. Lastly, echoing the words of Pope Francis, we remind church people to play his or her part “with courage and determination” to defend human rights of every person “especially those who are ‘invisible’, those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, foreign or detained, those who live on the margins of society or are rejected… even when it goes against the tide.”

No to Aerial Bombings! Stand Up for Iloilo!

9 December 2021
Pilgrims for Peace/ ACT for Peace

Pilgrims for Peace and ACT for Peace denounce the recent aerial bombings conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a farming community in Sitio Burak, Bgy. Alimodias, Miag-ao, Iloilo. Maj.-Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commanding officer of the 3rd Infantry Division, confirmed that the AFP used attack aircraft to conduct these attacks. These indiscriminate actions, which left at least eight casualties, are clear violations of international covenants, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), a bilateral agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The AFP’s disproportionate use of force is clearly an overkill. Initial reports state that the bodies recovered from the site had severed parts, so disfigured that they appeared to be like “corned beef.” The bombings left craters that measured 20 feet wide and 15 feet deep. Article IV.4 of the CARHRIHL clearly states that civilian communities must be protected from indiscriminate aerial bombings. And yet despite the horror of the incident, the AFP, unfazed, defended and justified its actions. The AFP’s statement that it will continue this style of combat is an ominous sign of further carnage.

The recent incident in Iloilo is not the first time that the AFP has resorted to a disproportionate use of force. In August this year, news reports revealed the use of aerial bombing in a military operation in Dolores, Eastern Samar. Some of the bombs hit households in the vicinity of the operation but luckily did not explode. According to a report, the said incident killed 19 people who are supposedly NPA members.

The impact of these irresponsible actions on the affected community cannot be overstated. The physical destruction of the agricultural lands and forests, which are sources of livelihood for the residents, will take a toll on their economic well-being. Aside from that, such a traumatic experience will leave lasting scars on their mental health.

The thirst for blood of the AFP and the NTF-ELCAC have alarmed peace advocate for years. The so-called whole-of-nation approach of the government’s counter-insurgency campaign is nothing but the indiscriminate use of brute force and an all-out military offensive that sows fear and fails to distinguish between armed rebels and ordinary civilians. For instance, it does not shy away from harassing and red-tagging teachers and students to force them to behave the way the NTF-ELCAC wants them too. These malicious acts are tantamount to state terrorism and do not in any way contribute to resolving the root causes of the armed conflict and alleviating the lives of millions of Filipinos trapped in poverty and a perpetually underdeveloped economy.

It is only through a negotiated peace that the Filipino people will achieve a just and lasting peace. It is only through formal talks between the GRP and the NDPP that the root causes of the armed conflict will be addressed.

We demand a complete halt to these aerial bombings and the immediate launch of independent investigations on the incident in Iloilo and humanitarian missions to attend to the residents’ welfare. Members of these investigating and humanitarian teams must be given access to these sites. We also call on candidates in the upcoming elections, whether at the national or local levels, to stand in solidarity with the victims of this incident, to hold the AFP accountable for its irresponsible acts, and to push for the resumption of the peace negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP. #

Reference:

Fr. Ritchie Masegman, Convenor, Pilgrims For Peace
Prof. Michael D. Pante, Lead Convenor, ACT for Peace

Pope to youth in Greece: Experience God’s love, meet real people, dream big

Vatican News

Pope Francis meets young people from various parts of Greece on Monday morning in Athens, ahead of his departure for Rome, urging them to be truly social by engaging in real encounters with those around them as an experience of God’s love.

Vatican News
06 December 2021
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis urged young people to allow themselves to be amazed by God’s love, have real encounters with others and dream big. He made the exhortation to young people from various parts of Greece at an event on Monday morning at Saint Dionysius School, run by the Ursuline Sisters in Maroussi, in the northern suburbs of Athens.

The event included testimonies from three young people from the Philippines, Greece and Syria, on which the Pope shared his reflections.

School children welcome Pope Francis to the venue

The wonder of God’s love and forgiveness

To the recurring doubts of faith that Katerina Binibini from the Philippines experienced, the Holy Father pointed out that doubts are not a sign of the lack of faith. On the contrary, doubts are “vitamins of faith”: they help strengthen faith and make it more conscious, free and mature. Faith is precisely a daily personal journey with Jesus.

But doubts that make us gloomy and depressed are to be rejected as temptations from the devil. We need to go back to the starting point, and allow ourselves to wonder and be amazed that we are God’s beloved children.

Meeting of Pope Francis with young people in Athens

“So,” said the Pope, “instead of starting the day by looking in the mirror, why not open your bedroom window and focus on the beauty that you see all around you?”

“If nature is beautiful in our eyes, in God’s eye each of you is infinitely more beautiful!” We should feel the wonder of the Father’s forgiveness who embraces and lifts us up.

Know yourself

The Holy Father told the young people to know themselves, stressing, “your worth is in who you are and not what you have” – the “brand of the dress or shoes you wear”. 

Meeting of Pope Francis with young people in Athens

He urged them to watch out against “today’s sirens” of easy gains, consumerism, the cult of physical wellness, entertainment at all costs…”  which like fireworks flare up for a moment and turn to smoke in the air. 

“That is why it is important to cherish the wonder, the amazement, the beauty of faith!” he said.

“We are Christians not out of duty, but out of beauty,” the Pope stressed, inviting the youth to “wonder at creation, at friendship, at God’s forgiveness and at the faces of other people.”

Meeting of Pope Francis with young people in Athens
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Padyak Para Sa Kalikasan, Padyak Para Sa Pangasinan!

December 5, 2021

Pangasinan green groups, advocates hold solidarity bike ride for the environment

December 5 | Pangasinan, Philippines – Pangasinan green groups, in partnership with toxic watchdog, EcoWaste Coalition, held a bike ride for the environment. Dubbed as “Padyak Para sa Kalikasan,” 30 Pangasinense bikers joined a 13 KM bike ride to strengthen the call to ban single-use plastic and incineration in the province. The group also expresses its stand against offshore mining.

BAN Single-use Plastics, Stop Incineration

Bike Ride lead organizer EcoWaste Coalition Policy Advocacy Officer Coleen Salamat explained that “The COP26 has identified that plastic pollution is a major driver in the climate crisis. We urge our lawmakers from the local to the national level to include the people and the planet in their electoral agenda. We continue to call for a nationwide ban on single-use plastics, to ban incineration.”

It can be recalled that in July 2021, the lower house has passed House Bill 9147, Single-use Plastic Products Regulation Act. Meanwhile, the upper chamber has Senate Bill No. 333 or the Single-Use Plastic Product Regulation Act of 2019. No movements on these bills at the moment.

The group also scored the number of WTEs lined up in the province with five proposed Dagupan, Umingan, Urdaneta, and San Fabian. Citing a 2018 report from GAIA, the groups explained that incineration provides more problems than solutions. The process merely transforms the waste into other forms of trash, such as toxic ash and air and water pollution, which are harder to contain and usually more harmful than the original form of the waste.

No to Offshore Mining

Bike Ride Co-lead Pangasinan People’s Strike for the Environment (PPSE) expresses the groups’ indignation over offshore mining. The Proposed Iron Ore Pangasinan Offshore Magnetite Mining Project in Lingayen Gulf covers the municipal waters of Sual, Labrador, Lingayen, Binmaley, and city waters of Dagupan, Province of Pangasinan, covers a total area of 9,252.4506 hectares.

PPSE convenor Eco Dangla explained that “The offshore mining project will directly impact coastal and marine resources, exacerbate climate and disaster risks, permanently alter natural ecosystems, and economically displace fisherfolk and communities.”

Grassroots at the center

“It’s always the local communities who are the receiving end of environmental destruction. We say time’s up. We are here to show our solidarity to the call to end the toxic plastic pollution and to stop the offshore mining.” Joaquin Alano of Alano Biker’s Club.

The coming together of green groups in Pangasinan is remarkable proof that the frontline communities are vital to defending the people and the planet against pollution, plastics, and profit. “We are readying our ranks to push forward this agenda as the election season warms up.” Salamat ended.

The bike ride event was also participated by members of KUMASA NA, Partido ng Mangagawa – Pangasinan, Bayan Pangasinan, Bayan Muna Pangasinan, Anakbayan Pangasinan, Alano Bike Rider’s Club, and Metro Dagupan Cycling Club, Inc.

The EcoWaste Coalition is a national network of public interest groups pursuing sustainable and just solutions to waste, climate change, and chemical issues towards a Zero Waste community.

The Plastic-Free Pilipinas project collaborates with #breakfreefromplastic members EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA Asia Pacific, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia, and Mother Earth Foundation. The #breakfreefromplastic is a global movement working towards a future free from plastic pollution.