Category: Documents

Black Lives Matter

Love is seeing the face of God in every human being.  Every person is my brother or my sister.  However, seeing the face of God in everyone does not mean accepting evil or aggression on their part.  Rather, this love seeks to correct the evil and stop the aggression.  (Kairos Palestine: a confession of faith and call to action from Palestinian Christians, 4.2.1)

Kairos Palestine expresses its unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement and everyone working for racial justice in USA, the demands of which have resonated in communities around the world. The movement has opened an opportune moment—a kairos moment—for citizens in the United States and people of faith and civil society around the world to name and address places of systemic racism, economic inequality, food deprivation, lack of access to health care, and state-sanctioned violence that strip human beings of their dignity, equal rights and far too often their lives.

We invite you to join us as together:

• We listen and learn from our Black and Brown brothers and sisters;
• We lament that Black Americans and people of color daily endure injustice and discrimination, police brutality, and systemic racism;
• We confess and repent of our share in the brokenness that divides humankind;
• We renew our commitment to work for the freedom and wholeness of all people;

We bind ourselves anew, like leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement, to a resistance grounded in the power and logic of love that seeks to liberate both the oppressors and the oppressed in our own context and around the globe.

We give thanks for the many expressions of Black-Palestinian solidarity over decades. The oppression of both our peoples is rooted in the sin of settler-colonialism and the disinvestment of resources in the well-being of our people and communities. So we embrace the Black Lives Matter movement as a moral one—its importance, its growing strength, its successes and its unmet demands. And we look forward to opportunities to join in the work of other diverse communities to realize the value, the humanity and the rights of all people to justice and peace.

Kairos Palestine
Board of Directors

‘’The government should not make as an excuse the upholding of national security while undermining human rights and civil liberties. To do so makes the government terrorist against its own constituents’’.   
-Jerome R. Secillano, MPA

The controversial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (SB No. 1083) was approved by the Senate on final reading last February 26, while its counterpart bill in the Lower House was approved on June 4, a day before Congress takes its break on June 5. 

The haste it is approved is buoyed by President Duterte’s move to make it urgent. It is expected to be enacted into law once Congress resumes after the June 5 break. But as it appears, Congress is dispensing with the usual Bicameral session and immediately decided to submit the measure for the signature of the President as a last step before turning it into a law.   

Critics of the measure call it a ‘’tool for repression’’ while its proponents see it as a ‘’shield for Filipino citizens from atrocious attacks’’ and ‘’prevents the country from being a haven for extremists’’.

For purposes of information subject to your prudent judgment, here are some contentious provisions of  

HB No. 6875, AN ACT TO PREVENT, PROHIBIT AND PENALIZE TERRORISM, THEREBY REPEALING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9372, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “HUMAN SECURITY ACT OF 2007”. This version of the Lower House completely adopts the Senate version.

Be it known that some of the bill’s provisions have a semblance of regularity and legality, hence, not anymore included in this paper.

SEC. 4. (a) Engages in acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person, or endangers a person’s life.

This section talks about how terrorism is committed. It looks like a definition for a common crime, thereby, making the scope of commission vague, amorphous and open for abuse or misinterpretation. In essence, anybody can be suspected for a terrorist by simply endangering the life of another. But, how does one endanger another? It’s the State that decides whether one’s act poses a danger to others. The arrested public-school teacher who ‘’threatened’’ to have President Duterte assassinated would have been charged under this act. But, threatening to have some Catholic Bishops beheaded would merely be hyperbole in the eyes of the government. The risk of ‘’double standard’’ in applying this definition is not only imagined but is in fact the norm under this government.

SEC. 5. Threat to Commit Terrorism – Any person who shall threaten to commit any of the acts mentioned in Section 4 hereof shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of twelve (12) years.

The dangerous part of this provision is not the penalty of twelve (12) years but on how to interpret the word ‘’threaten’’. The onus of accusation rests on the State and it can whimsically interpret a criticism or unfavorable comments against the government or anybody in the government as threatening to commit a terrorist act specially if uttered by a fierce critic of the establishment. It negates, in the process, our right to free speech. 

Vatican News

By Vatican News

In his prayer intention for the month of June 2020, Pope Francis asks everyone to pray for those who are suffering, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to inflict all sorts of difficulties around the world.

It has become the custom of Pope Francis to release a video message detailing his prayer intention for each month.

The full text of his intention is below:

Many people suffer due to the great difficulties they endure.

We can help them by accompanying them along an itinerary full of compassion which transforms people’s lives.

It brings them closer to the Heart of Christ, which welcomes all of us into the revolution of tenderness.

We pray that all those who suffer may find their way in life, allowing themselves to be touched by the Heart of Jesus.

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network of the Apostleship of Prayer developed “The Pope Video” initiative to assist in the worldwide dissemination of monthly intentions of the Holy Father in relation to the challenges facing humanity.

A court did not say if the children will be released to their parents or to safe and open care homes

Father Shay Cullen
Philippines
May 7, 2020

The Philippine Supreme Court has issued two circulars ordering the release of qualified persons deprived of liberty. These have resulted in the release of almost 10,000 prisoners from the country’s grossly overcrowded jails.

The Preda Foundation launched a campaign on April 17 with an article published in The Manila Times and online appealing to Philippine authorities to free some prisoners from jails, especially minors detained in subhuman, overcrowded conditions in youth detention centers called Bahay Pag-asa.

I asked good-hearted people everywhere to appeal to Philippine authorities to set the children free, release some prisoners and to have the most important value shown and taught by Jesus of Nazareth — compassion.  Yes, compassion and concern for the lives of children detained and other prisoners facing a death sentence from Covid-19. The pandemic is sweeping through Philippine jails.

In the April 17 article titled “Free the Child Prisoners Before They Die,” I wrote: “Let’s think of the prisoners jailed unjustly for years. Many of them are political prisoners and human rights activists caged like animals, and above all, they who suffer most — the children behind bars. All are in danger of the coronavirus.”

The column was picked up by social media and widely circulated and with other appeals has reached the Supreme Court, which has shown compassion and concern and made possible the release of 10,000 prisoners forthwith.

However, the Supreme Court circulars did not specifically mention if the children and youth detained in the local government-managed Bahay Pag-asa will be released to the custody of their parents or transferred to safe and open care homes like that of the Preda Foundation.

The Juvenile Justice Welfare Council that oversees the implementation of the juvenile justice law, of which Preda is a member, released instructions that make it easy for the children to be transferred or released if they are detained without trial or are charged with minor offenses. Judges are advised by the Supreme court to grant reasonable bail or defer court hearings and release minors into house arrest.

Local mayors have the responsibility of saving the children from the Covid-19 pandemic that seems so indiscriminate and spares no one. In effect, without hospital care, the pandemic strangles or suffocates the victim, a very painful traumatic death, isolated and alone. Preda has written to many mayors appealing for compassion, mercy, concern and freedom for these children. I will report the result soon.

Detained children sleep on concrete floors in bare, dirty dark cells, many without charges filed against them. These children without charges could be freed tomorrow by order of the mayor. This is more urgent than ever as evidence revealed recently shows many small children as young as 10 mixed with semi-adults are bullied, beaten and abused.

May 7, 2020

To All Heads of National Lay Organizations and Arch/Diocesan Councils of the Laity
Dear brothers and sisters,

The peace of the risen Lord be with you all!

Re: May 13 National Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

We enjoin everyone to participate in the National Consecration of the Philippines to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on May 13, 2020.

Attached are two letters, one from Archbishop Romulo G. Valles, President of the CBCP and the other from Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo, Chairman of CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity and Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila.

The activity will start at 8:30 am and will be covered live through various media platforms as indicated in the above letters. The national event is scheduled in the morning and various Arch/Diocesan activities will start 12:00 noon. Other attachments are included for use during the Consecration. In addition, we also include a letter from the president of the World Apostolate of Fatima in the Philippines.

We hope your respective organizations will actively participate and may we all be one with the whole Church seeking the Lord’s presence and protection through this consecration to our Blessed Mother.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

ROUQUEL A. PONTE
President

May 6, 2020

BRO. ROQUEL PONTE
President 
Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas
Intramuros, Manila

Dear Bro. Roquel:

Ave Maria!

We are thankful and grateful for the pastoral instruction issued by His Excellency Bishop Pabillo to the clergy, religious and lay faithful in the Archdiocese of Manila to be one with the whole Church and join the simultaneous national consecration as called by CBCP.

It would also be beneficial for the general lay faithful to participate in this simultaneous Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of our Mother on May 13, 2020 which falls on the feast of the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima.

In this regard, we would like to request your kind office to issue a statement or instruction addressed to the lay faithful all over the country, especially the leaders of the member-organizations of the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipnas and other mandated organizations not included in the scope of RCAM since the pastoral instruction issued by Bishop Pabillo was specific to them.

The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, stands together with the various respectable and concerned people and organizations, against the  Cease and Desist Order of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) prompting ABS – CBN to sign-off last May 5, 2020. ABS –CBN is the largest broadcasting entity in terms of coverage and audience; thus, locking down 42 television stations, including the flagship Channel 2, 10 digital broadcast channels, 18 FM stations, 5 AM stations, together with the “Malayang Mamamayan” DZMM radio station, is a palpable demonstration of power that  undermines freedom of speech and the public’s right to information.

The NTC’s Order is inconsistent with its declaration in March 2020, that the broadcasting company could remain on air while the license renewal is pending in Congress. Likewise, it ignored the advice of the Department of Justice, that it is within NTC’s mandate to allow the network to operate until the bill renewing its franchise is passed. But the legislative body like ours, dominated by President Duterte’s loyalists, sat on the issue and the calculated delay of action cost the livelihood of thousands of Filipinos who have families to feed. Will President Duterte stand up and take responsibility for the lives of 11,000 ABS-CBN employees who lost their jobs, in the same manner that he publicly assured the thousands of returning OFWs, of his personal protection?

 ABS-CBN is most needed now and the NTC’s decision to put it off the air is ill-timed.  The network  has provided the DOH,  the IATF and other government agencies with  substantial air time that kept the nation informed about the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in further knowledge about the virus and its   preventive measures; the curve status of those infected; the impact of the lockdown in the economy; and the guidelines issued on the government’s aid to help the poor and the jobless. It is through ABS-CBN that diverse and effective ways of aid distribution is monitored and its irregularities, brought to the fore.

Therefore, in solidarity with the thousands of jobless employees, we urge Congress to take this matter seriously for the common good. Loftier than regulatory compliance and constitutional rectitude is the primacy of compassion, especially towards the needy during these distressful and uncertain times.

We are calling on all LAIKO members to rally in prayer calling on God, who is benevolent and full of compassion, to intervene. Now more than ever, let us join hands and help each other through this crisis.

In the meantime, we encourage ABS – CBN to persist. Despite being silenced, we marvel at how creatively you are using the social and digital media to pursue your slogan ‘in the service of the Filipino people.’ We are at your side!   Resist!  This too shall pass.

For the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas Board,

ROUQUEL A. PONTE
President
08 May 2020