Whereto and Whatnow Philippines? (Part 3)

TO LIGHT A FIRE

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The recent New Year’s Message of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Nereo P. Odchimar, DD who is the Bishop of Tandag, Surigao del Sur and the recently elected President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), is as follows:

Dear People of God,

“Happy New Year!” This greeting may not just remain a simple wish; its realization is within reach. Now, more than ever, we hold the promise of a happier Philippines, despite the tragedies that happened in the preceding year.

Institutions need change. No less than the late Holy Father, Pope John XXIII of holy memory, said when he convoked the Second Vatican Council: “Ecclesia semper reformanda est”. (The Church must always be in the process of reform). 2010 in our political life is an election year; people through the exercise of their right of suffrage will effect a power shift in the executive and legislative branches of our civil government. We must retain what is good, promote what still needs improvement and discard what is base and corrupt. However, admittedly and sadly, a number of us have remained myopic by focusing our attention only to the satisfaction of the moment, swayed by the glitter of money and promises of patronage, and do not raise our eyes beyond election time to the resultant situation created by our indiscretion. Those who have allowed, much worse abetted, corruption to thrive in our midst, do not have the right to complain.

If we were a part of the problem yesterday, we can also be a part of the solution today. We hold the key to a better tomorrow. We need an informed electorate enlightened through voters’ education, a vigilant citizenry who will guard against the attempts of some to frustrate the genuine will of the people, and steadfast persons who stay undaunted by intimidation of ruthless politicians, in order to put into office reliable leaders who would guide our nation in the coming years.

The poor constitute the greater part of our population. They are remembered and courted by politicians during the campaign period. “Poverty alleviation”, “more jobs” and “upliftment of the masses” are some familiar refrains chanted by candidates and issues incorporated into their attractive platforms. If only there is political will, the economic situation of our people would be far better that it was generations back.

Social transformation starts within ourselves. Election is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss. Over and above the factors beyond our capacity, with our great faith in God and in ourselves, we can still make our wish for a happy new year a reality. God bless us all.

+NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, DD
Bishop of Tandag
CBCP President
December 30, 2009

With all due respect to His Grace, there is the likely possibility that the message was composed for him by somebody else. Nevertheless the composition will be viewed by most Filipinos as “de cajon”, or worse, naively optimistic about the supposed powers of “political will”. For it is chockfull of what we at the Asian Institute of Management’s Faculty many years ago routinely recognized as mere “motherhood” statements, with which practically nobody will disagree yet most everybody else will have completely forgotten just a few minutes later. If Father John P. Delaney, S.J. our UP Students Catholic Action (UPSCA) chaplain were still alive, he would probably also instantly label those statements as namby-pamby piosities - - his pet peeve.

But my own overall critique of the message itself, which was supposedly given for and in behalf of some 130 active and retired bishops in the CBCP, goes deeper. And so I surmise that the good Bishop of Tandag is NOT exclusively the cause of its insipidity.

Being new on the job as CBCP President, His Grace must have tried hard to come up with a message that would NOT be seriously OBJECTIONABLE to any sizeable number of other bishops. In short, his main priority had to be that of NOT TERRIBLY DISPLEASING anybody. But it also meant that NEITHER would it TRULY PLEASE anybody. And thus the more important question or issue is “Why is it so?”

Again with all due respect to all 130 or so pastors-members of CBCP, I believe that such is the case because they as Catholic bishops have NOT and NEVER have reached any reasonably acceptable level of positive agreement, much less a majority consensus whether in principle or in actual observance, on their own faithful performance of perhaps the most NEGLECTED, yet most important and most difficult duty as Catholic bishops!

Canon 387 of the Roman Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, under Book III, Part II, Section II, Title I, Chapter II (BISHOPS) and Article 2 thereof, states (with emphases added) as follows:

“Mindful that he is bound to give an example of holiness, charity, humility and simplicity of life, the diocesan Bishop is to seek in every way to promote the holiness of Christ’s faithful according to the special vocation of each. Since he is the principal dispenser of the mysteries of God, he is to strive constantly that Christ’s faithful entrusted to his care may grow in grace through the celebration of the sacraments, and (thus) may know and live the paschal mystery”.

The iconic Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and future Pope made a similar yet far more trenchant observation while being interviewed by Vittorio Messori in August of 1984, as follows: (vide pages 58 to 62 of the Ratzinger Report)

The decisive new emphasis on the role of the bishops is in reality restrained or actually risks being smothered by the insertion of bishops into episcopal conferences that are more organized, often with burdensome structures. We must not forget that the episcopal conferences have NO THEOLOGICAL BASIS; they do not belong to the structure of the Church, as willed by Christ, that cannot be eliminated; they have only a practical, concrete function.

The new Code of Canon Law… prescribes the extent of the authority of (such) conferences, which cannot validly act “in the name of all the bishops unless each and every bishop has given his consent, (except if) it concerns cases in which the common law prescribes it or a special mandate of the Apostolic See…. determines it” (CIC, Canon 455, 4 and 1). Thus no episcopal conference, as such, has a teaching mission; its documents have no weight of their own save that of the consent given to them by the individual bishops.

…… It happens that with some bishops there is a certain lack of a sense of individual responsibility, and the delegation of his inalienable powers as shepherd and teacher to the structures of the local conference leads to letting what should remain very personal, lapse into anonymity…. It happens then that the search for agreement between the different tendencies and the effort at mediation often yield flattened documents in which decisive positions (where they might be necessary) are weakened…. Well, the really powerful documents against National Socialism (Hitler’s Nazism) were those that came from individual courageous bishops. The documents of the (German Bishops) Conference, on the contrary, were often rather wan and too weak with respect to what the tragedy called for.

….. Thus, in many episcopal conferences, the group spirit and perhaps even the wish for a quiet, peaceful life or conformism lead the majority to accept the positions of active minorities bent upon pursuing clear goals….

….. It seems very nice always to decide together. This way however, entails the risk of losing the “scandal” and the “folly” of the Gospel, that “salt” and that “leaven” (which) today are more indispensable than ever for a Christian (above all when he is a bishop, hence invested with precise responsibility for the faithful) in the face of the gravity of the crisis. (emphases added)

And so if it is true that our Catholic Bishops have never achieved any real consensus as to what they ESSENTIALLY OUGHT TO BE, day-in and day-out, as truly thus “HOLY” Catholic Bishops, therefore it should not be a surprise to us that their collective message on New Year’s Day or on any important issue for that matter, will be as UNCONTROVERSIAL, as possible.

In contrast, the very caption “Working and Praying in 2010” of the January 3, 2010 column piece of Fr. Jerry M. Orbos, SVD in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, immediately captured the full flavor and essence of applicable Catholic Church teachings on how Pinoy People of God must live their lives throughout this year. Ora et labora! And like Fr. Manoling V. Francisco, S.J. whose main theme in the Philippine Star (God’s Word Today) was “Mary, the Star of Bethlehem”, a controversial yet most fundamental Catholic Marian dogma of Mary being the true Mother of God, was quietly yet boldly presented. Fr. Orbos too, though not as a surprise at all to those who know him well, similarly albeit briefly acknowledged Our Lady’s being the Theotokos.

Incidentally, Jesuit Father Manoling Francisco is a prime albeit rare proof of Jesuit exemplar Father Reuter’s assurances to me that not all Jesuits of today have junked our Blessed Mother as part of neo-Jesuitry’s so-called New Theology now being taught by Jesuit theologians at the Ateneo de Manila at all levels including its Grade School. For in his wellknown sacred music and its lyrics, as well as in his theology, Father Manoling like Father Jim Reuter have kept the faith and charism of their founder St. Ignatius of Loyola, including OBEDIENCE to the Pope….. Thus we learned from the likes of other real Jesuits such as John Delaney, Horacio de la Costa, William L. Hayes, Lorenzo Ma. Guerrero when public veneration and filial devotion for Our Lady was a true-blue Ateneo tradition, that the surest way to our Lord Jesus was through Mary. Ad Jesum per Mariam!

But the most pleasant surprise was reading the Postscript piece of veteran newspaperman and regular columnist of the Philippine Star, Federico D. Pascual, Jr. For I thought for a while that his caption “Ít’s still the same bad world out there” would have the same cynical point of view as that of Patricia Evangelista’s Method To Madness in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Instead however, more than 80% of his column space was devoted to Papa Bene’s message on January 1, 2010 on the occasion of the annual celebration of the World Day of Peace. Thus in contrast to that of the CBCP President, the Pope’s homily for that occasion was given prominence by Mr. Pascual. And like Frs. Orbos and Francisco he also found relevance for his readers and significance for the occasion in bringing the Blessed Virgin Mary into the picture as the Mother of God by using the Pope’s easily understandable yet poignant presentation. And thanks too to Mr. Federico D. Pascual Jr. whom I suspect has NOT been blessed with nor perhaps even considered any formal priestly vocation other than the common priesthood we Catholics share in Baptism and as the “priest of the basic Church” as padre de familia to our own kith and kin, a prominent Catholic layman-professional Journalist has unabashedly given public personal testimony on his Catholic Faith. Rara avis! Nowadays, a rare bird indeed…

And so in solidarity with Fathers Orbos and Francisco, and with my fellow “priest of the basic Church” Federico Pascual, I shall repeat what I wrote in one of the paragraphs of my December 8, 2009 LIGHT A FIRE blog.

“But more importantly I dare say: our Catholic bishops will ultimately be able to arrive consistently at a comprehensively Catholic yet credible even if controversial, PUBLIC declaration on the faith and moral aspects of any TRULY IMPORTANT national issue, ONLY for as long as a clear and cohesive MAJORITY among THEMSELVES are personally and habitually attuned to the same basic theological, ecclesial and philosophical MOORINGS, coupled with a truly PRAYER-FILLED MARIAN spirituality, in solidarity with their first-among-equal brother, the Bishop of Rome, Peter’s Successor!”

And so I submit that it will NOT be any of our current Presidential candidates who will lead us to the Promised Land. For I believe it will and SHOULD BE such Catholic Bishops and priests who will inspire and will lead PINOY People of God, BY THEIR HABITUAL EXAMPLE as Christ’s faithful shepherds of His flock and by His grace through the Holy Sacraments especially the Eucharist and by His Divine Providence, back to moral righteousness in our politics, governance and citizenship.

The wise authors of Canon Law 387 were surely aware of the simple yet fundamental fact that the ultimate opposite alternative to the habitual “HOLINESS” its provisions demanded from our Bishops, was and still is, SINFULNESS or betrayal of Jesus Christ! Since the heydays of the Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato, Socrates followed by their Roman counterparts such as Galen and Virgil – they all gave the highest moral value to virtues such as justice, honesty and fidelity to vows. More importantly, they themselves practiced what they preached!

Let me close this article by revisiting just four samples of recent and most genuine contemporary private supernatural revelations wherein our Blessed Mother and Jesus Christ Himself have been issuing dire warnings to Catholic bishops and pastors who have been unfaithful to their sacred duties such as those mentioned in Canon Law 387 and who have rejected related dogmas of the Church.

1. From the Rev. Father Steffano Gobbi’s To The Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons, a Blue Book compilation of the 604 messages Our Lady had been giving over a period of 25 years to Fr. Gobbi until December 31, 1997, which has been granted an IMPRIMATUR by some 200 or more different Bishops and Cardinals (including Cardinal Sin circa 1990) since 1973 when the earliest messages were first published by the Marian Movement of Priests, a worldwide apostolate with more than 200,000 priest-members.

Message No. 420, given in Sao Paolo, Brazil on March 13, 1990

When the Son of Man Returns

a "You read in the Gospel: 'When the Son of Man returns, will He still find faith on earth?' (Luke 18:8)

b Today I want to invite you to meditate on these words, ut­tered by my Son Jesus. They are grave words, which cause one to reflect and which succeed in making you understand the times through which you are living. First of all, you can ask why Jesus has uttered them: to prepare you for his second coming and to describe for you a circumstance which will be indicative of the proximity of his glorious return.

c This circumstance is the loss of faith.

d Also, in another part of holy scripture, in the letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, it is clearly announced that, before the glorious return of Christ, a great apostasy must take place. The loss of the faith is a true apostasy. The spread of the apostasy is therefore the sign which indicates that the second coming of Christ is, as of now, close at hand.

e At Fatima, I have foretold to you that a time would come when the true faith would be lost. These are the times. Your days are marked by this painful and significant situation, which as foretold to you in holy scripture: the true faith is in the process of disappearing in an ever increasingly greater number of my children.

f The causes of the loss of faith are:

(1) the spread of errors which are being propagated, and are often taught by professors of theology in Catholic seminaries and in Catholic schools and which thus acquire a certain character of credibili­ty and legitimacy;

(2) the open ,and public rebellion against the authentic Magisterium of the Church, especially against that of the Pope, who has from Christ the duty of preserving the whole Church in the truth of the Catholic faith;

(3) the bad example given by those Pastors (Bishops!), who have allowed themselves to be completely possessed by the spirit of the world and who become propagators of political and sociological ideologies, rather than messengers of Christ and of his Gospel, thus forgetting the mandate received from Him: 'Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature.'

g Thus, in these days of yours, apostasy on the part of many of my poor children is inundating you more and more.

h When the Son of Man returns ...

i If indeed his return is close at hand, then my motherly action becomes more concerned and vigorous, in order to assist all my children to remain ever in the truth of the faith. This is why I have asked you to consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart. This is why, in these times of yours, I have spread everywhere my Marian Movement of Priests: to form the little flock, reunited in the prayer of the cenacles and watchful in expectation - the flock gathered together and formed by me to ever preserve the true faith.

j Thus, when the Son of Man returns, He will still find the faith on earth in all those who will have consecrated themselves to me, allowing themselves to be gathered together in the heavenly garden of my Immaculate Heart."

--o--

2. And from the Lord Jesus Himself as was dictated to Maria Valtorta (Q43:514) on October 30, 1943, referring to abortion as the “crime of crimes” in section 45, page 70 of the book The End Times as revealed to Maria Valtorta, as published by Editions Paulines, Centro Editoriale Valtortiano SRL, translated from Italian to English by Paul T.Y. Atworth.

Jesus says:

“I am the Merciful One. I am indulgent and I forgive. There is so much that I forgive. I forgive what I see you do out of human weakness, not what is done out of deliberate human self-interest. I will never be as severe a judge as with those who, with their thinking sold to Satan, commit more crimes than outlaws, lead others to commit crimes, and above all commit the crime of crimes, thus leading souls to mistrust God.

“Nowadays this crime of homicide and deicide is not the monopoly of a few. They kill bodies and souls and kill the idea of God in souls, making them blind like empty eye-sockets.

“The crowds make it out (realize it) too late. But I see, at the instant you think and act. And all of you, ungodly of flesh and spirit, will be judged with an extremely severe judgment.”

3. From Volume One Chapter 8, pages 144-145 (with emphasis supplied) of Direction for Our Times, given through Anne an Irish-American who was invited by both Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales and Archbishop Angel Lagdameo in November 2006 to speak to several large audiences of priests, nuns and lay people in Metro Manila and in Iloilo City.

Thursday, July 17, 2003

Blessed Mother:

”Do you hear My Son’s voice? He is calling His children with authority. Dear little ones, He does this in an effort to save them. The Voice of my Son bears authority and that is why He says His children will know that it is He, their God, who calls out to them. My little ones must make a choice now. And they must choose God and all that is good.

…

Priests and religious, holy men and women, console my heart in extraordinary fashion right now and I am maximizing the tremendous graces I receive from these righteous souls. Religious in the world are under attack. Be brave, religious souls. Your mother defends you as her own and you will be raised up to your rightful place soon. Instead of being honoured by the world, you are reviled and slandered. This will not endure.

I want to say that there are those religious who have disappointed my Son and turned to the Evil One. Do not think, oh souls of Satan, that you will escape divine justice. And for you who have damaged innocent souls? All of heaven quakes with the retribution that will be yours. I say this to you with a special gravity. Repent! Admit your sins and become cleansed. Only in this way will you enter into the Kingdom of God.”

4. From the booklet written by Father Edward Carter, S.J. entitled “Tell My People”, published by the Office of Media Affairs, CBCP under Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J. on page 61 thereof:

Jesus:

“My beloved friend, remind My people that the Church was born from My Heart, pierced with the soldier’s lance on Calvary. From My pierced Heart the Church with her sacraments was born. Two of these sacraments, the Eucharist and Baptism, were symbolized by the Blood and Water which flowed forth from My pierced side.

…

“I am Lord and Master. I request that all My people listen to My words and respond to them. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this great love I give them this message!”

“My church is experiencing critical and very difficult times. There are many divisions. There are many false teachings - including some put forth by certain theologians. These false teachings occur because those responsible are not in proper union with My vicar, the Pope, and the Church Magisterium. I want all My children to pray daily for the cure of many and serious ills of the Church. With increased prayer and sacrifices for the health of the Church, that day will soon come when the Church will be purified and revitalized. When that day comes, the Church will be a light to all nations as never before. When that day comes, the renewed Church will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. Thus the message of Fatima will have reached fulfillment.”

EDUARDO B. OLAGUER

1045 Aurora Blvd., Quezon City

Whereto and Whatnow Philippines? (Part 2)

TO LIGHT A FIRE!

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Part 1 of this forthcoming series of articles was written more than a year ago. It is re-printed at the tailend of this article as Part 1 thereof. Several recent noteworthy events and circumstances led me this New Year to decide on writing an extended commentary in relation to those events.

My last blog on December 8 last year was triggered by a Franciscan priest-friend of mine. He had been extremely bothered by the frontpage news about a diocesan priest in Lubao, Pampanga who had elevated PGMA’s sufferings from the intense media criticism of her electoral aspirations to the House Speakership, up to the same level of self-sacrifice as those of Our Lord Jesus Christ during His crucifixion. Incidentally, I suspect that many more of our Catholic priests and bishops may have had similar if not even more agitated reactions to such a gross comparison.

At the end of the previous year, the newly elected President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, His Excellency the Most Reverend Bishop Nereo P. Odchimar came out with a press release urging our voters to make use of the coming national elections as a rare opportunity to boot out our current coven of corrupt politicians. Incidentally too, the spoken-for spokesperson of Malacañang soon after complimented the good Bishop for his reminder and added the more significant spin that allegedly PGMA had not felt alluded to by the Bishop’s pre-election message as perhaps the most obvious political croc in this corrupt caboodle.

And so last Sunday, the last day of the Christmas Season, I decided to take this renewed re-entry into our fast heating-up cauldron of political commentaries, soon after having read the column pieces of a) Federico D. Pascual Jr. of Postscript (“It’s still the same bad world out there”); b) William M. Esposo in As I Wreck This Chair (“Why for over 40% of voters 2010 is Its NOY or Never”); c) Fr. Manoling M. Francisco, S.J. in God’s Word Today (“Mary, the Star of Bethlehem”); d) The PDI Editorial (Sources of Hope); e) former Supreme Court Justice Isagani A. Cruz in his Separate Opinion; f) Fr. Jerry M. Orbos, SVD (Working and praying in 2010); g) Patricia Evangelista’s Method to Madness, and lastly h) former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s World View (“A Time of Tests”).

If I still had some indecisiveness in tackling as a single topic such a vast and complicated array of political matters with moral/religious ramifications, it must have dissipated like the firecrackers’ smoke of the New Year’s Eve after I tediously had to listen to the rambling Sunday homily of a religious priest (not a Franciscan nor a Jesuit). He started off, supposedly as an alter Christus, by repeating a TV advertisement’s joke about three other “Kings” who came with the Magi to greet the newborn child Jesus, namely Chowking, Tapaking and some other kinky King my ears and the sound system mercifully failed to register.

And while listening that evening to ANC’s Maria Ressa skillfully guiding a most interesting discussion on TV (Numbers Game) among a very distinguished and surprisingly sober panel of political partisan spinmasters and political survey professionals, I was also led to choose the unifying theme for my own series of articles.

Thus let me introduce that binding thread by recalling, imperfectly I’m afraid, the following elocution piece chosen for me during my Freshman high school days by my Jesuit Scholastic mentor, the future martyr in Mindanao, Fr. Godofredo Alingal, S.J. – a piece written by his fellow Jesuit and the future founder-organizer of our Christian Third Force’s Light a Fire enterprise against martial law.

Jewels of the Pauper

(by Horacio de la Costa, S.J.)

There is a thought that comes to me sometimes as I sit by my window in the evening, listening to the young men’s guitars, and watching the shadows deepen on the long hills, the hills of my native land.

You know, we are a remarkably poor people; poor not only in material goods, but even in the riches of the spirit. I doubt we can claim to possess a truly national literature. No Shakespeare, no Cervantes has yet been born among us to touch with immortality that which in our landscape, in our customs, and in our history, is most original, most ourselves. If we must need give currency to our thoughts, we are forced to mint them in the coinage of a foreign tongue. For we do not even have a common language.

But poor as we are, yet we have something. This pauper among the nations of the earth hides two jewels in her rags. One of them is our music. We are sundered one from another by eighty-seven dialects; but we are one people when we sing! The kundimans of Bulacan awaken an answering chord in the lutes of Leyte. Somewhere in the rugged north, a peasant woman croons her child to sleep; and the Visayan listening, remembers the cane fields of his childhood, and his mother singing the self-same song.

We are again one people when we pray! This is our other treasure, our Faith. It gives somehow, to our little uneventful days, a kind of splendor as though they have been touched by a king. And have you ever noticed how they are always mingling our religion and our music? All the basic rites of human life – the harvest and the seedtime, the wedding, birth and death – are among us, drenched with the fragrance of incense and the coolness of music.

These are the bonds that bind us together. This is our soul that makes us one. And as long as there remains in these islands one mother to sing Nena’s Lullaby, one boat to put out to sea with the immortal rowing song, one priest to stand at the altar and offer God to God, this nation may be conquered, trampled upon, enslaved, BUT IT CANNOT PERISH! Like the sun that dies every evening, it will rise again from the dead…

-- o --

Somewhere up there Horacio Dela Costa may be sheepishly grimacing over that so prophetic last line of his piece written circa 1940. For just about a year later, Japanese troops inexorably invaded our shores to wreak havoc on our people and to subjugate our nation. The damage inflicted by them to our nation’s Christian soul became apparent in 1945, when in turn we were just as cruel and barbaric in our vengeance on helpless captured Japanese soldiers.

And so some 65 years later, too many among the present generation such as Patricia Evangelista are now the young-turned-cynical too soon. They are eloquent proof of the continuing havoc, both moral and physical, being inflicted on our people but with FAR MORE SERIOUS DAMAGE, than during the Japanese invasion. And the saddest part of it all is the UNDENIABLE FACT that this moral and physical strangulation of our people almost to the point of asphyxiation, has gone on and on under the governance of our leaders 99.9% of whom are our fellow Filipino Christians including many PROMINENT CATHOLICS who have long been nurtured in the Roman Catholic Faith at the Ateneo, La Salle, San Beda, U.S.T., Letran and Assumption College too… among others.

Thus on April 30, 2008 I wrote the following piece, (slightly re-edited) now Part 1 (by hindsight) of this series.

TO LIGHT A FIRE!

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Whereto and Whatnow Philippines? (Part 1)

I must confess that for sometime now I have refrained from filling up this blogspace.

It was not so much because of time and duty constraints. It was more out of a feeling of near hopelessness about the deeply rooted malaise and crises of all sorts gripping our nation. For it looked like practically everything had gone from very bad to much worse particularly during the last few months.

But hope I must, regardless of how bleak and frightening are the economic, political, moral AND religious crises confronting our people. Most distressing is the fact that consistently all the most credible Opinion Surveys indicate that almost two out of three of our citizens, whether rich or poor, in the cities or the countryside, emphatically blame the top national executives of the government for such a terrible and still worsening state of our nation.

Consider that all this obviously widespread national condemnation of our benighted leaders, have been confirmed repeatedly by our National Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as by practically all major and credible newspaper and other media editorials, opinion writers and bloggers. And yet a substantial number of our most prominent Catholic bishops still habitually and publicly exalt a top government official who, by COMMON SENSE, by universal democratic principles, and by established management rules of governance, must be held accountable, nay CULPABLE, for allowing our nation to become such a near hopeless basket case.

Furthermore, in addition to gracing such widely publicized photo-ops officially as Catholic bishops in their full episcopal regalia while praising that official so extravagantly for supposed excellent moral qualities and good governance, these bishops also blithely dismiss even the most credible, persistent and documented accusations of corruption and mismanagement against this official, her relatives and associates. WHY, for heaven’s sake? Simply because impeachment attempts, Senate investigations and judicial proceedings even in our Supreme Court have been shamelessly sabotaged and/or immorally stymied by subservient and similarly corrupted political allies, appointees and underlings in government.

In short, the national consensus is that there is a pandemic crisis of truth vis-à-vis mind-boggling corruption all the way up to the highest levels of our government!

Providentially, last April 17 in Washington, D.C. Pope Benedict XVI recently explained to leaders of U.S. Catholic institutions that a true understanding of the real roots of any “crisis of truth”, must point to its underlying crisis of faith. Thus Papa Bene re-affirmed the Gospel by inferring that LOGICALLY and historically especially for Christians, a BETRAYAL of their Christian FAITH must be the real and primary factor underlying the habitual lies, the enormous thieveries or the shocking immoralities of those who have solemnly sworn to uphold the TRUTH but instead do exactly the opposite with shameless impunity.

And so these betrayers of the public trust must have been for some length of time, without real Faith in God. Thus MAMON and his demons inevitably lure them into enslaving their own selves under their personal idolatries and addiction to endless political power and illicitly enormous wealth, rank selfishness and inordinate pride as well, such that for them no lie is ever too obvious, no “hypocriSHE” ever too shameless.

Thus I recommend that our Catholic leaders such as Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her crony government officials and favorite bishops read the editorial piece in the April issue of The Catholic World Report (CWR) written by its Editor George Neumayr, which succinctly submits that moral disorders and many other institutional disasters inevitably follow in the wake of mendacity and falsehood, because “drawing back from truth does not attract people but alienates them.”

EDUARDO B. OLAGUER

1045 Aurora Blvd., Quezon City

www.catholicxybr.org

NOTE: Part 3 should follow soon, God willing. It will dwell on Bishop Odchimar’s message to our voters, and in relation to the Postscript article of Fr.(?) Federico Pascual, Jr., and those of Fathers Jerry Orbos, SVD and Manoling Francisco, S.J. And Part 4 will be in relation to the opinion articles of William M. Esposo and Justice Isagani A. Cruz vis-à-vis Senator Noynoy Aquino and PGMA. I shall tackle the PDI editorial and Tony Blair last in Part 5.

HEAVEN HELP THE PHILIPPINES!

TO LIGHT A FIRE!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

December 8, 2009

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HEAVEN HELP THE PHILIPPINES!

It is quite ironic that Catholic Christendom throughout the world today, celebrates and honors an immaculately conceived woman who is “full of grace”. And yet here in the Philippines we now seem to be endlessly bogged down with leaders conceived in graft and corruption, and thus forever “full of greed”!

Coincidentally, a Catholic religious priest-friend of mine has recently sought my comments, hopefully to sort his way out of his own quandary and embarrassment over contrasting reactions including near-blasphemous statements in the news media coming from his brother priests and various bishops concerning a most powerful albeit uniquely small lady. She it is who is singlemindedly aiming to become the next Speaker of our House of Representatives, DESPITE being for more than nine years already, not only the de facto speaker but the most reviled President of our nation EVER!

Well, now that an even more factually and legally complicated issue has suddenly surfaced vis-à-vis martial law which has been proclaimed over the province of Maguindanao, I suspect that my Franciscan priest-friend’s quandary and embarrassment might be exacerbated by NAÏVE and/or IMPRUDENT statements on the matter coming from a few of our habitually voluble-in-media Catholic bishops.

Furthermore, I too will disappoint my priest-friend because I for one would not be capable of marshalling the necessary yet DELIBERATELY HIDDEN facts and circumstances underlying that small woman’s REAL MOTIVE in wanting to be the next Speaker. The truth could be much WORSE than what I suspect it to be! And much less would I be able to DISCERN and DISTILL any hitherto undisclosed RELIGIOUS FAITH or PUBLIC MORAL ISSUES (other than the age-old paganistic ADDICTION TO POWER and political self-preservation) that are involved and are IMPORTANT ENOUGH such that even our Catholic bishops should weigh-in publicly over the matter.

IN CONTRAST the issue of MARTIAL LAW, even if only in “Maguindanao as of now” is at least a HUNDRED TIMES more FACTUALLY and LEGALLY complicated. Thus it is far more important than a small woman’s politically self-destructive and last minute desperate attempt to survive the expected horrendous judgment of our BLIGHTED nation. And so I suppose bishops should leave this most recently developing tragic complexity to others more capable and qualified to sort out if they still can, BEFORE it blows up in the face of that very same small lady would-be Speaker. For in truth she is the single most accountable and BLAME-WORTHY public official whose brazenly corrupt political and financial CODDLING of a whole tribe of FRANKENSTEINS have brought Maguindanao and MINDANAO to the brink of imploding and/or exploding anytime NOW.

And so I beg our Catholic bishops, please, not to further complicate the confusion of our people by suppressing their own urge to publicize their premature personal opinions on this obviously POLITICAL and LEGAL issue of martial law. They should wait UNTIL they are reasonably certain about the real facts and over-ridingly relevant faith/moral principles IF ANY, underlying such an ESSENTIALLY political-legal controversy. For it would be far far better for their own credibility as pastors and moral guardians, to be SILENT when UNSURE or out of their element, than to be quick-on-the-draw but DISCORDANT and thus DISCREDITING THE ENTIRE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST….

But more importantly I dare say: our Catholic bishops will ultimately be able to arrive consistently at a comprehensively Catholic yet credible even if controversial, PUBLIC declaration on the faith and moral aspects of any TRULY IMPORTANT national issue, ONLY for as long as a clear and cohesive MAJORITY among THEMSELVES are personally and habitually attuned to the same basic theological, ecclesial and philosophical MOORINGS, coupled with a truly PRAYER-FILLED MARIAN spirituality, in solidarity with their first-among-equal brother, the Bishop of Rome, Peter’s Successor!

For as of now, Heaven Help the Philippines, perhaps only a FEW but still TOO MANY of our Catholic Bishops are certainly NOT LOYAL ENOUGH to the perennial teachings of the SOLID MAGISTERIAL AUTHORITY of those whom God has anointed over the past two millenia as Bishops of Rome. And so as a DIRECT RESULT, far more TOO MANY of their own teaching Catholic FACULTY within their dioceses, including Catholic priests of wellknown Catholic religious orders, are openly teaching moral and theological FALSEHOODS with utter IMPUNITY to our unwary Catholic children, including the young would-be-priests and nuns, especially in our own biggest, most prestigious and supposedly Catholic schools, seminaries and universities. Shades of the prophesied great apostasy during the coming end times!

So sad, and yet so true. And so in this 21^st century prophesying end-of-epoch phase of human history, Our Lady “full of grace” has continuously prophesying as far back as some 92 years ago in Fatima, Portugal that her faithful devotees who have been consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, particularly her beloved truly Christ-centered Catholic priests and bishops, shall lead the loyal remnants of Christ’s Mystical Body into a new heaven and a new earth, in a total and PERMANENT victory with Jesus Christ as the Returning King.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus come…

LESSON ON BASIC THEOLOGY: From the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

TO LIGHT A FIRE!
54-090702



It was my first visit to a Home for the Sick and Dying Destitutes run by the Missionaries of Charity (MC), a relatively new congregation of religious nuns founded by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta a little more than half a century ago.

I was invited last Wednesday for that visit by a friend Runy Sarda together with a group of his Fildravo Engineering employees, headed by his HR Manager Nelia Ganzon. Fildravo had been helping out every Wednesday in preparing and serving lunch to dying or soon-to-die destitutes there at the MC community Formation House compound in Tayuman, Tondo.

I saw Mother Teresa’s nuns unhurriedly yet lovingly taking care of their poorest of the poor soon-to-die wards, AS IF these destitutes were their closest of kith and kin or most intimate friends. This seemingly unbelievable behavior was soon clearly explained to me as to what their motives were and as to why the MC congregation had been fantastically flourishing worldwide. For why would they and even their millions of admirers like those Fildravo executives, so spontaneously take care of these destitutes to the extent of feeding them like their own babies, especially those who could not use their own hands and had to chew their food so very slowly?

The full explanation was just a few steps away from the working nuns. For another group of their confreres on their knees upon a cement floor, was reciting the Holy Rosary very slowly with obvious fervor. They were praying before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a monstrance! Now and then, one of them would bow down to the floor at least TWICE before leaving the Chapel and the Rosary-praying group, in order to go back to work, and be promptly replaced by another nun who just came back from work!

Ora et labora cum amore! From Jesus Christ Himself who spent forty days in the desert praying and fasting, wondrously emulated by those solitary contemplative monks in the deserts of Palestine and Syria such as St. Anthony, and by the monastic example of St. Benedict at Monte Cassino, thereafter by St. Francis of Assisi, and some 2,000 years later by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her disciples – they all have been reminding us throughout the ages that with God’s love in Jesus Christ as our motive for apostolic work, nothing is impossible!.

But without such Christian faith and love, everything and every poor helpless person would be looked upon as merely economic utilitarian objects. That is why without some level of spiritual conversion, the anti-life Reproductive Health Bill’s supporters in Congress or even those so-called ‘Catholic School’ theology professors, will remain obstinately blind. Blind they will be, to the supernatural reality of the transcendent preciousness of unborn human lives, who like our dying destitutes are all gifted by God with priceless immortal souls in His own image and likeness, and for all of whom His Son Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross.

And so these nuns of the Missionaries of Charity do not actively much less publicly solicit donations to fund their works of charity. Neither do they advertise what they are doing. In fact it is prohibited to take live pictures of themselves and their beneficiaries. They depend mostly on spontaneously inspired volunteers, donated goods and dribbles of money from thousands of admirers such as Runy Sarda. So they pray and work and thus flourish like the original and still faithful Carmelite contemplatives of St. Teresa of Avila and similar prayerful congregations today, whether as contemplatives in strict privacy or not.

And yet the entire compound was spotlessly clean! Runy et al washed and scrubbed the dining tables together with the floor, with generous amounts of soap and water immediately after lunch was over. I was told that this was being done THREE times a day. And the beds for the sick in the wardrooms with their immaculate bedsheets were even more of a marvel to me when I peeked in, afraid to dirty the super-hygienic floor with my shoes.

Talking to Runy’s brother Moti, who had recently been initiated to such tables-and-floor scrubbing routine after many years of a very comfortable life-style in Florida near Tiger Wood’s estate, he whispered to me with a moist eye: “After only 3 Wednesdays like these, it has become a reality check for me. My own problems now seem miniscule…”

It is also well known that the number of their new postulants and novices from far and wide are growing by leaps and bonds, such that they already have some 20 still growing MC communities just in the Philippines alone. Plus about a hundred professed Filipino sisters assigned abroad!

Yes indeed, it must be true that “In everything, God works for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called according to His plan.” (Romans 8: 28)

And so I give many thanks to Sr. Mary John Vianney, MC, of the Immaculate Heart of Mary community in Tayuman, Tondo for that most edifying sojourn at their oasis of love and generosity.


EDUARDO B. OLAGUER
Catholic Xybrspace Apostolate of the Philippines
<>
E-mail: <>


Attached is a reproduction of the providentially appropriate monthly message received from the Lay Apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King, sent by the office of former Ambassador Howard Dee c/o the Assisi Development Foundation, Unit 503-506, Prestige Tower, Ortigas Center. <>




Monthly message as given to Anne, a lay apostle.
Lay Apostolate
ViewThursday, July 2, 2009 9:43:42 AM
To:The Secretariat

On the first of every month, Our Lord gives Anne a new message about His call to service.July 1. 2009JesusMy dear apostles, how grateful you will be that I have given you these opportunities to serve. You will look back at your time on earth and you will see that the opportunities I gave to you to serve others as apostles, were truly My greatest acts of mercy to you. You see that My service requires sacrifice. You see that often My service causes you suffering and perhaps you think that it would be easier to live your life without such a call to serve. It is true that often by rejecting My call to service in a day, you can diminish your immediate suffering. I acknowledge this truth. It is evident to all that service to Jesus Christ comes with an enhanced call to sacrifice. While I acknowledge this, I ask that you, too, acknowledge this. You are giving Me your day and I am then taking you from things that would give you instant gratification and asking you to delay gratification for the sake of others. It can appear in these moments of your life, that you are giving something up. What you do not see is that the more you serve Me and the more you abandon yourself to My call, the more grace you receive. You are giving up earthly pleasures and receiving a constant stream of heavenly pleasures. Compare the two. Earthly pleasures last for moments. Heavenly pleasures last for eternity. Perhaps you do not understand the difference. Only in heaven will you have complete understanding but let it be noted that heavenly pleasures come through you, blessing you, and then spread out, blessing all those around you. Your soul is open to receiving heavenly graces, not just for you but for the whole world. Imagine how beautiful a soul looks to heaven when that soul is an open recipient of heavenly graces. Thank you for helping heaven. Thank you for helping those around you. And thank you for helping Me. Regardless of your suffering and regardless of your sacrifices, there will be a moment when you will thank Me for allowing you to participate in this, My renewal.
-- Lay Apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning KingDirection for Our Times - Manila SecretariatAssisi Development FoundationUnit 503-506, Prestige Tower,F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas CenterPasig City 1605Tel. No. (02) 632-1001 to 03Fax No. (02) 632-7844www.mariansolidarity.com

Letter Reply to Tom Borromeo

TO LIGHT A FIRE!

53-090629

Letter Reply to Tom Borromeo

From: Ed Olaguer

To: Tom Borromeo

Monday, June 29, 2009

cc: Paul Horrigan ; Tony Roxas ; Manny Amador ; PV Beley ; Dicky Boncan ; "gooseling2002@yahoo.com"

Fr. Christian Saminal ; Fr. Greg Gaston ; Fr. Joey Paras ; Fr. Jun Bermejo ; Fr. Paulo CRS ; Fr. Ramon Merino ; Fr. Renato Oliveros ; Fr. Cayo Estrada ; Fr. Richie Santos ; Fr. Ted Milan Torralba ; Fr. Zen Taufik ; "tingsdb@yahoo.com" ; rodney hart ; "lruthocampo@yahoo.com" ; "riveral_b@dlsu.edu.ph"

Subject: 26 U.P. Law Professors Support RH Bill

Dear Tom et al:

There you go again dear Tomas Borromeo, disturbing my peace and ­­­­­­­­­equanimity this fine Monday morning of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul…

Levity aside, yes I was already much disturbed upon reading the same news article last weekend, considering that I am a post jubilarian U.P. graduate, circa that historic period of Jesuit Father John P. Delaney’s chaplaincy at Diliman as the icon par excellence for our U.P. Students Catholic Action (UPSCA) and faculty community.

The RH Bill and the Philippines of today is I believe, mirrored in microcosm by our UPSCA’s running battles in Diliman against the U.P. Board of Regents in their definition of academic freedom and separation of Church vs. State, all of which smacked of liberal utilitarian humanism laced with anti-clerical motives.

Upon reflection on those seemingly halcyon days of my youth, in comparison to today’s national moral confusion worse compounded and confounded everyday, let me share with you Father Delaney’s battle plan so to speak, for UPSCA in those days.

Yes he constantly taught us through his daily homilies, lectures and weekly campus newsletter (U.P. Chizmiz), how to use every available logical and faith-based argument vis-a-vis the faith-and-moral issues confronting us in those days, e.g. hazing, loyalty to the teachings of Holy Mother Church, love of country, cheating in class, premature frequent dating leading sooner or later to physical intimacies between boys and girls, and of course many issues related to U.P.s much vaunted “academic freedom” for its professors and overall policy of liberal utilitarian humanism…

For the superficial minded observants of Father Delaney’s activities as Catholic Chaplain at the Diliman campus, his often fierce and uncompromising yet elementary logic with Catholic faith-based arguments, with some isolated acerbic asides, (e.g. the “pachydermic” sensibilities and lack of “cerebral capacity” among his habitual critics), must have seemed to be his only albeit effective weapon offered to us UPSCANs for our arsenal as young and militant Catholic defenders of and witnesses to our Catholic Faith.

And yet for every hour he spent arguing against his adversaries, he must have spent a thousand times more time, unrelenting energy and wisdom while exhorting us his flock to be always “centered in Christ” to the level of “heroic virtue”. Thus he urged us to concentrate more on “being” in Christ, not only as much but even more than “doing and working” for God, through Jesus Christ as God, and particularly for the poor and oppressed because they were truly “our brethren in Christ”.

Thus he used every formal and informal opportunity, even during our person-to-person chit-chats, to urge us to begin our days and live the rest of the day with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, through our conciousness of the “Holy Eucharist in us” and devotion to Our Lady and Her Rosary. And so John Delaney even counted the number of daily and Sunday consumption of the Sacred Host. These numbers rapidly increased throughout the eight years of his chaplaincy, such that more than a dozen other Jesuit Fathers from Chabanel Hall (Jesuit refugees from Red China) and from the Ateneo, were eventually required to help him out regularly. Yes, the young Fathers Reuter, Gough and Horacio de la Costa were among those 5-star Jesuit priests assisting Father Delaney, particularly in distributing Holy Communion to vast numbers of Holy Mass participants, and hearing Confessions everyday.

Reading Tom’s email early this morning, I must confess, momentarily depressed me. For I was again reminded that we lay Catholics who are publicly and consistently opposed to the RH Bill are pitifully so few.

And yet Tom’s message soon nudged me back to a decent level of resurgent courage. For it reminded me once again of the spiritual and supernatural essence of Father Delaney’s battle plan for us UPSCANs some sixty years ago. It also brought back today’s Gospel to my attention.

In today’s Gospel reading, Christ pointedly emphasized to Peter, that it was not “flesh and blood” (e.g. mere human reasoning, much less liberal utilitarian humanism) that led Peter to profess who Jesus truly was (i.e. the true God and true man) but “my Father in Heaven” who gave Peter that gift of faith in Jesus.

But I must however ‘blame’ Tom Borromeo for also reminding me, even if indirectly, to plead with our clergy, especially our Bishops and particularly those in Metro Manila who have the prime duty and jurisdiction in enforcing Ex Corde Ecclesia on our so-called ‘Catholic’ schools, universities and seminaries, thusly: “To preach continuously, discuss, reiterate, edify, be at the disposal of everyone – it is an enormous responsibility, a great weight, an immense effort.” (St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 339, 4)

And so albeit belatedly, thank you most sincerely, dear Tom Borromeo!

Ed Olaguer

P.S. Here below is the subject “highly disturbing” e-mail from our pesky Tom Borromeo

FW: ABS-CBN News: 26 UP Law Profs Support RH Bill

Tomas Borromeo

Dear Frs., all,

Now we know the ‘slippery slope’ of heterodoxy our dear departed Bro. Andrew at DLSU
and Frs. Tanseco, Genilo (Genovesi) et al, got their ‘Catholic’ institutions into.

They mask all of these abominations w/ terms like ‘loyal dissent,’ ‘informed choice,’ and
their most favourite, “ACADEMIC FREEDOM.”

To paraphrase Bro. Andrew: “What is keeping De La Salle from being a ‘world-class’ institution
of learning is her being Catholic!”

DLSU accepted a Ford Foundation grant and thus ‘sold her (Catholic) soul...’

Let us move that ALL PHILIPPINE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITES, COLLEGES, SCHOOLS FOLLOW: (Ex Corde Ecclesiae document attached)

“EX CORDE ECCLESIAE”
‘FROM THE HEART OF THE CHURCH’

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
JOHN PAUL II
ON CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES

“WHAT DOES IT PROFIT A UNIVERSITY

IF IT GAINS THE WHOLE WORLD

BUT LOSES THE SOULS OF IT’S STUDENTS.”


------ Forwarded Message

Subject: Re: ABS-CBN News: 26 UP Law Profs Support RH Bill

Dear Everyone,

Here are some historical tidbits that could shed light on how and why the UP professors so easily lent their endorsement to the RH Bill. You see, PLCPD is not the only black hole in the RH constellation. Some of you will remember "REPROCEN" from way back 1996.

The "Reproductive Health, Rights and Ethics Center for Studies and Training" was the pioneering work of Prof. ALFREDO F. TADIAR , who in 1996 "undertook extensive research into the legal and constitutional provisions on reproductive rights and abortion. His work provided the legal basis for the promotion of women's reproductive rights, of which he was a firm advocate". He started out as Director of a Ford Foundation-funded, 3-year project to set up and make operational a centre that "focused on questions of legal and medical ethics related to reproductive health". He served as the first Executive Director of the pioneering Center for Research, Studies and Training on Reproductive Health, Rights and Ethics (REPROCEN) as a joint project of the UP Colleges of Law and Medicine. Like Dr Juan Flavier, he had received extensive support from the UNFPA and the USAID and other US/EU front orgs and foreign interest groups for projects on family planning, population control, population management, reproductive rights, "IEC/M", etc. It is not surprising that REPROCEN very rapidly acquired an international character. He was designated as International Adviser to the Board of Trustees of the International Women's Health Coalition based in New York. Since the 1980s, he has served at various times as Chairman or Member of the Board of Directors of two other Philippine NGOs—the Women's Health Care Foundation and Institute for Social Studies and Action. His wife FLORENCE TADIAR is a household name in Philippine abortion advocacy. [ NB: All this was happening during the pro-abortion Clinton Administration (1993-2001), but continued well into the Bush years. ]

In collaboration with Ex-Cong. NEREUS ACOSTA (of PLCPD & AFPPD ), Prof. Tadiar was able to infiltrate his redefinitions of reproductive ethics into Catholic institutions and universities like AdMU and DLSU through 'academic' conferences and seminars on ethics and law. For example, Tadiar worked closely with DLSU sociology Prof. PILAR RAMOS JIMENEZ , then coordinator of the Task Force on Social Science and Reproductive Health. The overt aim of Prof. Jimenez' (likewise Ford Foundation-funded) task force to coordinate NGOs for the promotion of RH; the covert aim was to advocate the legalization of abortion in the Philippines . The RH task force held office in the DLSU Social Development Research Center, Behavioral Science Department where she was Dean.

Upon Tadiar's retirement, Prof. ELIZABETH AGUILING-PANGALANGAN , wife of ex-Dean Raul C. Pangalangan, assumed Chairmanship of REPROCEN. She authored "Reproductive health, rights, and their progeny: norms in case and statute law" and masterminded the filing of charges against former Manila Mayor Atienza. She is the central RH advocate in UP Law today. MORE .

REPROCEN began in Malcolm Hall at UP Diliman, but it has now gone "global", with its main offices in Wall Street, New York City.

=====================

Here is a sampling of landmark academic papers pushed during REPROCEN's early years in the Philippines:

Tadiar, Alfredo F. The Limits of Protection to the Life of the Unborn. Quezon City, Philippines: Institute for Social Studies and Action, 1993.

Ramos Jimenez, P., and Yadao, P.M.P., eds. Participatory Research in Sexuality and Reproductive Health. Manila: Social Development Research Center, De La Salle University, 1993.

62:30303 Tadiar, Florence M.; Robinson, Elizabeth T. Legal, ethical and regulatory aspects of introducing emergency contraception in the Philippines. International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 22, No. 2, Jun 1996. 76-80
pp. New York, New York. In Eng. "This article describes the complex influences of regulatory laws, religion, politics and ethics on the provision of emergency contraception in one large developing nation -- the Philippines, which has no law specifically governing the use of emergency contraception. Although emergency methods are little-known in the country, several factors suggest that they may be well suited to the Philippines."

Correspondence: F. M. Tadiar, University of the Philippines, College of Public Health, Manila, Philippines. Location:Princeton University Library (SPR).

=====================

The strategy we see here is a standard component of Planned Parenthood social engineering ops. It involves taking and holding the academic high ground by invoking academic freedom. They can mess around like magicians every which way behind the academic wall -- before the show begins. In the end, there's nothing true. It's all sleight-of-hand. Or perhaps we should say sleight-of-mind, intellectual conjurements.

The UP Profs are Tadiar's peers and proteges. They are professors of (supposedly) the most prestigious college of law in the Philippines, but who appear to be betraying Philippine sovereignty by allowing themselves -- through REPROCEN's influence -- to be utterly beholden to foreign institutions and governments. They tout the Philippine Constitution, but have not the diligence to read the proceedings thereof in order to grasp what it truly contemplates. They should have exerted due diligence before signing their pro-RH manifesto, for in doing so, they have given a very bad name to UP Law, which is now downgraded in the minds of many to no more than a school of sloppy investigation, sophistry and subterfuge.

Eventually, magic's greatest secrets will be revealed!

Z

PS: These are the enemies we are called to love. The first step is understanding who they are and where they are coming from.

LINKS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Flores_Tadiar#Advocacy_for_reproductive_rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nereus_Acosta
http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty/fis/faculty_info.asp?fac_id=103921503
http://plcpd.org.ph/about.asp
http://www.afppd.org
http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.67/pub_detail.asp
http://law.upd.edu.ph/new/index.php/faculty/regular-faculty/aguiling-pangalangan-elizabeth-a
http://reproductiverights.org/en/our-regions/asia/philippines?more=1
http://reproductiverights.org/en/contact-us



2009/6/26 Melvin Castro fr_melvin@yahoo.com

Most certainly, we cannot let our guards down. We may have won this round, but we will never know what they might come up with Congress resumes session after the SONA.

We ask our lay faithful most especially to form "core family groups" in your areas to continue the formation and education (or re-education). On our part, the priests would continue to strengthen the Family and Life ministries.

We beg our Family and Life groups to consider, really consider, entering into the mass media apostolate. Contemporary families and contemporary generation are greately and/or gravely influenced by mass media.

And of course, we pray, begging Our Lady, Mediatrix of All-Grace, to obtain true conversion for all.

And please do not forget to pray for us priests, it's the Year for Priests...


Fr. Melvin

--- On Fri, 6/26/09, Manny Arejola <angatingkanlungan2010@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Manny Arejola
Subject: Re: ABS-CBN News: 26 UP Law Profs Support RH Bill
To: "Rosie
Date: Friday, June 26, 2009, 7:14 AM


Dear Rosie:

I do not know any of this people, so I do not know how to tell them that they endorsed a deadly formula to destroy our women. But if you know any of these people, kindly transmit this note to them.

Thanks.

Manny
=================================

To these 26 UP Bigots, isang tanong lang: BINASA BA NINYO ANG HB 5043?

I bet you, none of you ever did! I bet you nagtiwala lamang kayo sa paglulubid ng buhangin ni San Pascual!

Nakoryente kayo ni San Pascual tulad ng pagkakakoryente niya sa mga Obispo at mga Pastor na Evangelical!

Sayang. Isinugal ninyo ang inyong pangalan para sa isang panukalang batas reminiscent of the years of Martial Law!

Pati ba naman kayo sasali pa sa kabalbalan ni mercenary San Pascual? How much did San Pascual promise you of the P5B Lagman is trying to suck out of the system?

On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 1:53 PM, Rosie B. Luistro <rbluistro@gmail.com > wrote:

26 UP Laws Profs support RH Bill
26 UP law profs support RH bill
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Created 06/24/2009 - 15:44

Moves to pass House Bill 5043 or the "Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2009" continued to gain momentum as 26 faculty members including former deans of the University of the Philippines College of Law issued a statement in support of the proposed measure.

The faculty members who recently signed the position paper, are expressing their full support for the passage of the controversial legislation.

"We believe that the bill supports Constitutionally guaranteed State obligations to protect and promote the right to health of the Filipino people. It brings to life the ideals of equality, justice, and respect for human dignity that lie at the core of our fundamental law by guaranteeing that all Filipinos have access to quality information and services in reproductive health," the statement read.

"Amid pervasive socio-economic inequality, the availability and accessibility of reproductive health care is an indispensable step towards improving the quality of life of millions of Filipinos," it added.

The 26 UP College of Law professors are Froilan M. Bacungan, Merlin M. Magallona, Raul C. Pangalangan, Marvic F. Leonen, Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, Araceli Baviera, Eduardo A. Labitag, Myrna S. Feliciano, Domingo Disini, Carmelo Sison, Rowena Daroy Morales, H. Harry Roque, Ibarra M. Gutierrrez III, JJ Disini, E. Leo Battad, Florin T. Hilbay, Rommel J. Casis, Tristan Catindig, Jose C. Laureta, Concepcion Lim Jardeleza, Antonio M.Santos, Carol Ruiz-Austria, Rafael Morales, Rowena V. Guanzon, Alfred Molo III and Stephanie Gomez-Somera.

Ramon San Pascual, Executive Director of the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD) lauded the law professors, who in the face of heavy opposition of Catholic hierarchy against the bill have bravely acknowledged not only the constitutionality but also the very humane character of this proposed measure.

"Despite what happened on the last days of Congressional session where the RH bill was bypassed by other less important issues, particularly by ConAss resolution, we remain confident and steadfast that this bill will become a law soon. And we find inspiration from people who continuously express their support and clamor for the passage of the bill," he said in a statement.

He said advocates of HB5043 are pushing for the bill's passage once the 3rd regular session starts in July.

"Activities to make lawmakers understand the urgency of passing the bill are already lined-up, RH advocates are still holding on to Speaker Prospero Nograles' promise that they will vote on this bill under this Congress," he said.

Below is the full statement from the UP College Faculty of Law

STATEMENT AND POSITION PAPER OF THE U.P. COLLEGE OF LAW FACULTY IN SUPPORT OF THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL (HB 5043), AN ACT FOR A NATIONAL POLICY ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD AND POPULATION DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER PURPOSES

We, the undersigned faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Law, in our capacity as lawyers, educators, and citizens, express our full support for the Reproductive Health Bill (HB 5043) currently pending in the House of Representatives.

We believe that the bill supports constitutionally guaranteed State obligations to protect and promote the right to health of the Filipino people. It brings to life the ideals of equality, justice, and respect for human dignity that lie at the core of our fundamental law by guaranteeing that all Filipinos have access to quality information and services in reproductive health. Amid pervasive socio-economic inequality, the availability and accessibility of reproductive health care is an indispensable step towards improving the quality of life of millions of Filipinos.

The bill likewise serves to empower Filipino women in making informed choices about their health – decisions which ultimately affect the lives of their families and communities. Ensuring their right to equality before the law is not only crucial to the health and wellbeing of women and their families, but is also essential to assuring their effective participation in national development.

Similarly, we assert that the bill's adoption of the human rights framework in dealing with reproductive health is a welcome and long-overdue initiative that more appropriately reflects the emerging international consensus that treats the issue as one that principally involves fundamental rights, free and informed decision-making, and women's empowerment.

Contrary to the contention by some groups that the bill encroaches on religious freedom, we maintain that it does precisely the opposite. By providing citizens and their families with adequate information and a variety of options on reproductive health, the bill empowers them to make sound decisions. By enabling choice, the RH bill neither compels individuals nor families to resort to family planning methods or health interventions but rather empowers them to make sound decisions and access information and services for their health and wellbeing. This is fully consistent with the principle of mutual respect for religious differences enshrined in our constitutional order.

Apart from being fully in accordance with the precepts of our own Constitution and the principles established under international conventions, recent surveys have also indicated that the bill enjoys the support of the majority of Filipinos. There is therefore no further reason, whether legal or political, for our elected representatives in Congress to stand in the way of the bill's enactment into law, despite the continued protestations of certain interest groups.

We hereby call on both houses of Congress to immediately pass the Reproductive Health Bill and for those who have stood against its passage to summon up the wisdom to act, not on the basis of faulty assumptions or in the service of vested interests, but for the common good of the Filipino people.

Signed by 26 faculty members of the UP College of Law including former Deans Froilan M. Bacungan, Merlin M. Magallona, Raul C. Pangalangan and Dean Marvic F. Leonen, Professors Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, Araceli Baviera, Eduardo A. Labitag, Myrna S. Feliciano, Domingo Disini, Carmelo Sison, associate professors Rowena Daroy Morales, H. Harry Roque, Ibarra M. Gutierrrez III, JJ Disini, E.Leo Battad, Florin T. Hilbay, Rommel J. Casis and professorial lecturers Tristan Catindig, Jose C. Laureta, Concepcion Lim Jardeleza, Antonio M.Santos, Carol Ruiz-Austria, Rafael Morales, Rowena V. Guanzon, AlfredMolo III and Stephanie Gomez-Somera in May 2009, Quezon City, Philippines.
as of 06/24/2009 6:06 PM
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