CBCP

Page 3Monitor Page 5 Page 10 Page 13

Vol. 10 No. 11
Missionary
September 11, 2006Recounts
Ordeal in Visa Scam
Peace Negotiations in
Southern Philippines in
Jeopardy
Church’s Social
Involvement: The
Continuing Debate
Message to Muslim
Filipinos on the Month of
Ramadan
1
www.cbcponline.net/cbcpmonitor cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.net

CBCP Head Hails Bishop Says Some

CBCP Monitor
Junking of Lawmakers have Vested
Initiative Petition Agenda in Cha-cha
LIPA Archbishop Ramon Arguelles
THE head of the Catholic Bishops’ reiterated his opposition to the Con-
Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) stituent Assembly (ConAss) move
lauded Commission on Elections’ being pushed by the lower House
(COMELEC) decision to reject the majority to amend the Constitution,
people’s initiative petition to amend Protagonist of Truth, Promoter of Peace saying some legislators have vested
the Constitution. interest for the conduct of a plebiscite
Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said
CBCP Head / P4
September 11, 2006 Vol. 10 No. 11 Php 16. 00 for Charter change (Cha-cha).
Bishop Says / P4

Catholic Schools Gear up Fight

vs. Environment Destruction
By Roy Lagarde
METRO Manila Catholic schools
have vowed to take active cam-
paign on ecological issues follow-
ing the launching of the school
road show on ecology, indigenous
peoples and mining recently at the
Manila Cathedral in a mass led by
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Car-
dinal Rosales.
The Alyansa Tigil sa Mina
(ATM) sees the launching as a
bright sign of the Church and the
academe getting more involved in
the drive on ecological conserva-
tion, particularly mining.
“We are anticipating a more
committed and active involvement
of the schools in this campaign, es-
pecially as we try to make them
more aware of the plight of the in-
digenous peoples in the Philip-
pines and how they are the ones
truly affected by the entry of large-
scale mining companies,” Jaybee
Garganera of the ATM Secretariat
said.
The Philippines Misereor Part-
nership meanwhile stressed the im-
portance of focusing on the
troubles suffered by the IPs be-
cause of the entry of large-scale
mining projects all over the coun-
try.
“The very strict competition
among the various stakeholders
has all but eased out from the for-
ests, the indigenous people who
are the traditional stewards of this
resource,” Eero Brilantes, PMP
Mining Advocacy Project Coordi-
nator said. SCHOOL POWER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales is greeted by teachers and students at the launching
Catholic Schools / P4 rites of the school road show on ecology, indigenous peoples and mining held at the Manila Cathedral, September 1, 2006.

Prison Ministry Marks
25th Anniversary
STA. MARIA Nga Iloy Sang Diyos Prison Minis-
try Foundation, Inc. celebrated its 25th anniver-
sary September 9, 2006 in Bacolod City.
Bishop Pedro Arigo, Chairman of CBCP Epis-
copal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care
(ECPPC), lauds the ministry for its voluntary work.
“Your group was one of the earliest to be
Lagdameo Urges Hasty Effort in Bishop Asks Faithful
to Reject STL
Oil Spill Cleanup ANOTHER Catholic bishop has
expressed strong opposition to the
would be greater,” he said. “We don’t know how
government’s Small Town Lottery
nature will react until it is there.”
(STL), the Arroyo administration’s
On August 11, MT Solar 1 sank off the south-
alternative to “jueteng.”
ern coast of Guimaras loaded with more than two
Bishop Gabriel Reyes of
million liters of bunker oil being transported by
© Gavin Newman/Greenpeace

Petron Corporation from Bataan to Zamboanga Antipolo, Rizal issued a pastoral

formed among the diocesan VIPS (Volunteers in letter protesting against the plan
del Sur.
Prison Service). More astounding is that you con- to operate STL in his diocese.
Residents of the affected communities armed
tinue to do with enthusiasm and fervor your self- “STL is gambling and, like
with coconut husks and sponges soaked up oil from
imposed mission,” the bishop said. jueteng, it victimizes especially the
the sea, hurrying to absorb the spill before it further
A group of volunteers in prison service from poor,” he wrote.
reaches more communities.
Bacolod City formed the Sta. Maria Nga Iloy Sang Reyes stressed that gambling
After few days, the pollution reached other
Prison Ministry / P4 is not immoral per se, but it be-
villages, where majority of the residents rely on
the river for food and livelihood. comes morally unacceptable when
THE government should apply effective steps and In the meantime, Lagdameo urged the gov- it deprives someone of what is nec-
Fire Destroys Catholic School double its cleanup efforts of the oil spill in ernment to use coconut and palay husks as an essary to provide for his needs and
Guimaras. alternative in cleaning the oil spill instead of hu- those of his dependents.
Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president man hair. He said gambling can also be
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philip- “Human hair is not practical because it’s not considered immoral when it be-
pines (CBCP), said the authorities should act degradable and it doesn’t suck oil unlike palay or comes addiction and often pro-
quickly to remove the remaining bunker oil still coconut husks,” he said. motes indolence.
submerged with the tanker to avoid heavier dam- Furthermore, the prelate also said the ship “Because of STL, many thou-
age to the environment and health of the resi- must also be pulled off from under the sea “at sands of poor people deprive their
dents. least to save it and make use of it.” families of needed income and be-
“The government must fast-track its efforts Lagdameo earlier called on the faithful to send come addicted to it. Because most
to take away the remaining oil or else the damage aid for the people of Guimaras. (CBCP News) of the bettors are from the poor,
STL raises money by getting
FIRE ravaged a school including the Anti-gambling Bishop Lectures PNP Chief on Jueteng money from the poor but most of
this money go to the rich,” said
Catholic school in library; audio-visual
room; science labora- DIRECTOR General Oscar Calderon, Philippine go signal of the national leadership, “he cannot Reyes.
Bacnotan, La Union National Police (PNP) chief, who wants jueteng ‘totally stop’ jueteng in the country.” “STL, like jueteng, is the op-
early dawn of Septem- tory, a computer lab
with more than 10 “totally stopped” the soonest got a lesson about “The senate inquiry on jueteng amply dem- posite of Robin Hood, who got
ber 8, spewing smoke the said illegal numbers game from a prelate. onstrated this preferred status of jueteng in the money from the rich in order to give
so thick it caused computers; the Tech-
nology and Liveli- Calderon reportedly vowed an “honest-to- country,” he said. it to the poor.”
panic among local goodness drive” against jueteng and clear the Sandra Cam, a senate witness last year, ex- Reyes urged the faithful to, es-
residents. hood (TLE) room; and
classrooms. entire Luzon of jueteng syndicates. posed the alleged links of Ms Arroyo’s family to pecially the provincial and munici-
The blaze broke He also urge the Philippine Charity Sweep- jueteng. pal officials in Rizal, to reject STL
out about 2 a.m., at The school’s 222
students have been stakes Office (PCSO) to promote more the Small Cam testified at the senate that she person- in their province.
the Stella Maris Acad- Town Lottery as the government’s alternative to ally gave money worth P500,000 to Congressman “It’s bad enough that we have
emy for high school on a holiday break
since September 6 jueteng saying it’s legal that it must be maximized. Mikey Arroyo of Pampanga and P400,000 to Con- jueteng, lotto and a casino in Rizal.
students. But Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar gressman Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo at the House of Let us not bring more harm to our
There were no while their teachers
were having a retreat Cruz said there are “certain truths” that Calderon Representatives. province by having STL. Let us not
reported injuries but should look into to verify their reality, or else his She said that Chief Superintendent Restituto make gambling part of our way of
the fire ravaged major in Dagupan City.
Fire Destroys / P4 campaign will be futile. Mosqueda, former Bicol police director, asked her to life in Rizal,” he said. (CBCP News)
portions of the Anti-gambling / P4
He claimed that unless the PNP chief has the

2 World News
Need for Moratorium on Use of Sub-munitions
VATICAN City, SEP 7, 2006—On
September 1, Archbishop Silvano M.
Tomasi C.S., Holy See permanent
observer to the Office of the United
Nations and Specialized Institutions
at Geneva, addressed the 15th Ses-
sion of the Group of Governmental
Experts of States Parties to the CCW
(“Convention on Prohibitions or Re-
strictions on the Use of Certain Con-
ventional Weapons Which May Be
Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious
or to Have Indiscriminate Effects”).
The session was held from August
28 to September 6.
“Thus far,” said Archbishop
Tomasi in his French-language ad-
dress, “we have heard no convinc-
ing evidence from those who con-
sider these arms [sub-munitions] to
be legitimate. In any case, all arms
are called legitimate before being
prohibited or regulated. Was that not
true of chemical, biological, incendi-
Democracy Succeeds Only When Based On Truth
VATICAN CITY, September 8,
2006—This morning at
Castelgandolfo, the Pope received
prelates from the Canadian (Ontario)
Conference of Catholic Bishops who
have just completed their “ad
limina” visit.
Addressing them in English, the
Pope indicated that “the fundamen-
tal task of the evangelization of cul-
ture is the challenge to make God
visible in the human face of Jesus.
In helping individuals to recognize
and experience the love of Christ,
you will awaken in them the desire
to dwell in the house of the Lord,
embracing the life of the Church.
This is our mission.”
“The split between the Gospel
and culture, with the exclusion of
God from the public sphere” is one
of the “impediments to the spread of
Christ’s Kingdom” said the Holy
Father. “Canada has a well-earned
reputation for a generous and prac-
tical commitment to justice and
peace, and there is an enticing sense
of vibrancy and opportunity in your
multicultural cities. At the same time,
however, certain values ... have
evolved in the most disturbing of
ways. In the name of ‘tolerance’ your
country has had to endure the folly
of the redefinition of spouse, and in
the name of ‘freedom of choice’ it is
confronted with the daily destruc-
tion of unborn children. When the
Creator’s divine plan is ignored the
truth of human nature is lost.”
“Democracy succeeds,” the
Indians Pay Homage To The “Saint of the Gutters”
AHMEDABAD, In-
dia, September 5,
2006—Ahmedabad,
Sep. 05, 2006 Several
citizens from all walks
of life gathered to-
gether at the Mother
Teresa Chowk (Square) in the heart
of Ahmedabad city in Gujarat paid
homage to Mother Teresa on her
ninth death anniversary.
Mother Teresa died on the 5th
of September 1997 and the Catholic
Church throughout the world ob-
serves this day as the Feast of
“Blessed Teresa of Kolkata”.
Mother Teresa epitomized the
greatest of human values. Her love
and compassion touched the lives
and the hearts of the poorest of the
poor not only in India but all across
the world.
Speaking on the occasion the
Bishop of Ahmedabad Thomas
Macwan exhorted those present at
the function to imitate the life of
Mother Teresa and to transcend the
narrow confines of sectarianism.
Former Mayor of Ahmedabad,
Begum Aneesa Mirza, who was in-
strumental in getting the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corporation to declare a
ary and laser weapons? The fact of
declaring a particular armament le-
gitimate does not make it more ac-
ceptable or less inhuman.”
After highlighting how the Holy
See considers “it vital to undertake
a profound reflection on the nature
and use of sub-munitions,” Arch-
bishop Tomasi pointed out that the
victims of conflict “cannot wait for
years of negotiations and discus-
sions. For this reason, there must be
a moratorium on the use of these
arms. At the same time, the States
parties to the CCW must set them-
selves to work.”
The permanent observer con-
cluded his address by indicating that
“the review conference being prepared
must be capable of adopting a specific
mandate to begin discussions and ne-
gotiations on an effective instrument
to eradicate the risks associated with
sub-munitions.” (VIS)
Holy Father in-
sisted, “only to the
extent that it is
based on truth and
a correct under-
standing of the hu-
man person. Catho-
lic involvement in
political life cannot
compromise on this
principle. ... In your discussions with
politicians and civic leaders I encour-
age you to demonstrate that our
Christian faith, far from being an im-
pediment to dialogue, is a bridge, pre-
cisely because it brings together rea-
son and culture.”
In the context of the evangeli-
zation of culture, Pope Benedict
mentioned “the fine network of
Catholic schools” in Ontario. Then,
after highlighting how “catechesis
and religious education is a taxing
apostolate,” he thanked teachers
and catechists “who strive to ensure
that your young people become
daily more appreciative of the gift of
faith which they have received.”
The Pope identified relativism as
“a particularly insidious obstacle to
education today.” For this reason,
there is a particular need for “the
apostolate of ‘intellectual charity’
which upholds the essential unity of
knowledge, guides the young to-
wards the sublime satisfaction of
exercising their freedom in relation
to truth, and articulates the relation-
ship between faith and all aspects of
family and civic life.” (VIS)
prime piece of land as the Mother
Teresa Chowk, felt that the need of
the hour was for all of us to remem-
ber what Mother Teresa did in her
lifetime and to reach out to our sis-
ters and brothers who need our help.
She also made an appeal for the
citizens to support the work of the
Missionaries of Charity in
Ahmedabad and other parts of
Gujarat.
The Missionaries of Charity
(formerly known as the Mother
Teresa Sisters) have ten homes in
Gujarat, caring for the destitute, the
dying, the orphans, abandoned chil-
dren, leprosy and AIDS patients. In
the city of Ahmedabad, the Sisters
reach out to the dying destitute and
are always on call to pick up people
who are dying in the streets of
Ahmedabad.
The brief Shraddhanjali cer-
emony ended with the people garland-
ing the bronze statue of Mother Teresa
in the Chowk and with floral tributes.
Both, at the beginning and at the end
of the ceremony, a beautiful song dedi-
cated to Mother Teresa was sung by
the Sisters of the Missionaries of Char-
ity and those present. (Cedric
Prakash/CBCI News)
Priests Reflect on Team Ministry as Japanese Replace
Foreign Missionaries
TOKYO, Japan, September 3,
2006—The Yotsuya, Morioka-
Kamido and Shike parishes in Iwate
prefecture, previously served by
the Bethlehem Fathers, were re-
turned to the diocese several years
ago and now make up one of the
chiku (areas) in the team pastoral
care system in the diocese.
Four priests look after the chiku.
Their coordinator is Fr. Shogo Doi,
67, Sendai diocesan priest. The other
members of the team are diocesan
Frs. Akio Umetsu, 65, and Takeo
Tanaka, 49, who live at the Yotsuya
Church, while Bethlehem Father Jo-
seph Hugentobler, 86, lives at Shike.
“To tell the truth, it’s easier to
go it alone, because you can carry
out the plans you yourself made,”
said Fr. Doi, commenting on team
ministry.
There was a time when one
Knights Declare Sept. 11 a ‘World Day of Prayer for Peace’
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, Sep-
tember 11, 2006—The Knights of
Columbus called on all people of
faith to observe Sept.11, 2006, as a
“World Day of Prayer for Peace.”
The Knights began observance of
a World Day of Prayer for Peace in
2004 with a resolution passed at the
Order’s annual convention.
A full page ad in the New York
Times on September 11 brought a
simple message to more than a mil-
lion people with the words: “Sep-
tember 11th: A day to pray for peace
and those working to achieve it.” A
fact sheet and program materials are
available on this Web site to sup-
port local activities.
“As we pray for peace on Sept.
11, we not only honor the memory
of those who were killed that day
five years ago, but also in a special
way all the brave men and women
of the military who have sacrificed
so much, even their very lives, to
bring about true peace rooted in
justice,” said Supreme Knight Carl
A. Anderson “Faced with a situa-
tion in the Middle East where peace
CRS Begins Youth Summer Camps in Lebanon to Ease
Trauma of War
BEIRUT, Lebanon, September 7,
2006—This week Catholic Relief Ser-
vices (CRS) and its local partner De-
velopment for People and Nature As-
sociation (DPNA) opened a five-day
summer camp to provide psychoso-
cial support to children in southern
Lebanon. This is the first of six over-
night youth camps CRS is support-
ing. The camps are aimed to help alle-
viate the psychological impact of the
war on children as they await the start
of the school year early October.
Camp activities include picture-
drawing to address trauma and con-
flict-resolution games to foster
youth leadership and peace build-
priest in Iwate and Miyage
prefectures might look after
as many as four churches
and three outstations, and
liturgies without a priest
were rare.
According to Fr. Doi,
team pastoral care involves
living together and working
together but, “there is an-
other vital aspect—a unified
approach. This requires training
both for priests and people. If we can
achieve this, we shall have a sense
of responsibility, zeal and a greater
mutual respect.”
“The Church has always had
‘team-work’ because as individuals
we always collaborated with one
another,” said the priest.
“There has to be an objective in
community life and teamed pastoral
care,” he explained. “To build a better
Church community we need a plan, a
team to study it and adopt the train-
ing needed to implement it. Without
this we won’t know how to go about
educating the faithful; we won’t be
agreed on how the Church should be
run. We have not achieved this yet. A
district is short-handed so someone
is sent and that’s it. However, being
adults, the four of us collaborate and
share the work to be done.”
seems ever more
elusive, now more
than ever we must
‘implore from God
the precious gift of
peace’ as Pope
Benedict has en-
couraged all believ-
ers to do.”
The Knights
of Columbus was
one of the first or-
ganizations to pro-
vide financial assis-
tance to the families of the fallen
emergency personnel. Within two
days of the attacks in 2001, the
Knights began providing checks of
$3,000—for immediate needs—to
family members of emergency work-
ers who lost their lives in the at-
tacks, regardless of their religious
affiliation. Ultimately more than
$1.49 million was disbursed—with
a minimum of red tape—to wives
and children of police, fire and other
emergency workers. Recipients
would later receive a second check
for more than $500.
ing. Children also receive three meals
a day plus snacks. More than 100
children, boys and girls ages nine to
16, are attending this week’s session
in the city of Jezzine. All come from
four war-ravaged villages in south-
ern Lebanon near the Israeli border.
Although activity-filled days
cannot erase the trauma of war, the
camp does offer children methods to
express themselves and an outlet to
socialize and play far from their dev-
astated villages.
“Maybe their houses are de-
stroyed. Maybe even a family mem-
ber is dead. The main thing is that
they can laugh here,” says Farah
Hassouna, a DPNA social worker.
In addition to psychosocial sup-
port, CRS continues to distribute
food, water and hygiene kits to thou-
sands of families. Items such as
canned meat and tuna fish, canned
vegetables, salt, jam, cheese, milk
powder, spaghetti, soap, detergent
and shampoo support both displaced
people and their host families.
More than 250,000 people who
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 1 1, 2006
According to the priest there
are difficulties in the switch from a
Church formed by missionaries to a
Japanese Church that can stand on
its own feet.
“Sixty years is a long time. And
all that time we have been educated
by missionaries. One finds a ‘little
Switzerland,’ ‘a little Canada,’ ‘a little
Italy.’ It isn’t easy to wean ourselves
from that.”
“I myself was baptized at a
church run by missionaries,” he con-
tinued. “It was a time when associ-
ating with Westerners gave one a
sense of superiority and one met with
a different scale of values. But that
was not a real interior renewal. Actu-
ally among those who became Chris-
tian at that time I don’t think there
were many who experienced a really
deep interior renewal. We have to
change that now.”
“The element of mystery in reli-
gion is something we must also think
of. When Japanese are looking for
God, they do not want arguments, but
rather a sense of direct communica-
tion with God. In the Japanese liturgy
we need more contemplation, a greater
feeling for the sacred. Here in Japan
we did not really put our hearts into
‘renewal.’ Now we are being forced into
it.” (Japan Catholic News)
The Knights has marked each
subsequent anniversary of 9/11 with
special events. In 2002, a memorial
Mass was held at the Basilica of the
National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington, D.C. to
honor and pray for those killed. In
2003, a September 11 exhibit was un-
veiled at the Knights of Columbus
Museum in New Haven, Conn. And
since 2004, the Knights of Colum-
bus has called on its members and
all people of faith to recognize the
day as the “World Day of Prayer for
Peace.” (KC News)
fled the bombing last month remain
homeless. Many houses not de-
stroyed or severely damaged during
the war are littered with unexploded
ground bombs and lack access to
water and electricity. CRS is provid-
ing ‘return kits’ with tools and repair
supplies to those whose homes sus-
tained only minor damage.
CRS and its other local partner
agency, Caritas Lebanon, provided
emergency aid to nearly 100,000
people during the height of the fight-
ing. CRS, a worldwide aid and relief
agency, has a permanent operation
in Lebanon with a core, international
staff in place to help lead long-term
recovery and rehabilitation pro-
grams. CRS and Caritas Lebanon ex-
pect to reach 50,000 people in 30 vil-
lages with continued assistance.
Catholic Relief Services is the offi-
cial international humanitarian agency
of the Catholic community in the United
States. The agency provides assistance
to people in 99 countries and territories
based on need, regardless of race, na-
tionality or creed. (CRS News)
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 11, 2006
“WHEN I turned in the passport of
one of our priests for re-stamping, the
problem started. We learned from the
Bureau of Immigration that the visa
was fake. So when I was told about
the visa being faked I started to doubt
the validity of the others since it is
only one travel agency that is han-
dling all our visa applications,” says
Fr. Carl Chudy, SX, currently the del-
egate superior of the Xavierian com-
munity in the country.
Since 1992 until February 2006, all
visa applications of the SX missionar-
ies had been taken cared of by Do-
minican Travel Agency, a privately-
owned travel agency that services
other religious congregations includ-
ing the Xavierian and the Jesuits.
In February this year, Chudy
heard that the agency employee who
had been handling the visa process-
ing of religious congregations was
being investigated by the Bureau of
Immigration. The following month, the
travel agency informed Chudy that the
employee was no longer connected
with the company. Chudy terminated
the services of the agency that month.
Then the problems began.
Chudy found out they were hold-
ing faked visas since 2004.
“All of us, except one, are hold-
ing fake missionary visas. We are 24
here in the Philippines, all foreigners,
and only one has a valid visa because
he has not applied yet for a mission-
ary visa in the country,” says Chudy.
Missionaries to the Philippines
usually come into the country with a
tourist visa of up to 60 days. Then
they renew their visas to extend their
stay, after which they would apply
for 9G missionary visa.
News Feature 3
“Ours have to be downgraded
to tourist visa,” Chudy says. For that,
they will have to pay 35,000 each. The
visa will be good for 60 days.
Missionary Recounts Ordeal in Visa Scam
In spite of this, Chudy is not com-
plaining. By Pinky Barrientos, FSP
“Once we have the tourist visa,
then we will be legal again. From that
point, we can again apply for 9G visa.
But then it takes again three months.
So, I’m hoping we will have a very
nice Christmas present,” says Chudy
with a laugh.
“9G missionary visa is pro-
cessed by the board of special in-
quiry,” explains Almoro.
He said that once the hearing
office, with whom the 9G visa is raffled
is satisfied that all requirements have
been complied with; it will be included
in the agenda to be approved by the
Commissioners. After if has been
signed by the board of commission-
ers, the visa will be approved and
stamped on the passport.
“When it has to do with mis-
sionary visa, it’s fast because there
is no more hearing in the board of
special inquiry,” Almoro explains.
“We merely rely on documents pre-
sented. Once you are endorsed by
CBCP, it’s faster. I doubt if it takes
three months,” he adds.
On the same day that the CBCP scrapped off the list of corrupt agen- that all business transactions should employee, but he was still active in
Monitor came to talk with Chudy, his cies in the latest survey. be done inside the office. his illegal transactions, or so Chudy
lawyers informed him that the order Nonetheless, he admits there are The Immigration Office has since was informed.
to cancel their fake visas and to ap- unscrupulous people outside the Im- suspended the accreditation of the Now that the threat of deporta-
ply for new ones should come any- migration office who are engaged in travel agency. Their representatives tion is no longer there, Chudy can af-
time soon. Chudy is hoping that it devious transactions and often victim- cannot transact business anymore ford to laugh at their situation. He
should be out by middle of Septem- ize unsuspecting foreigners through with the Bureau of Immigration. points at his thinning hair and jokingly
ber. He acknowledges that their big misrepresentation. Almoro says it is a The owner of the agency, mean- remarks that he lost a lot of it during
number also contributes to a slow policy in the Bureau of Immigration time, filed a case against the errant those months of sleepless nights.
processing.
The visa scam brought un-

Stop patronizing Petron, until it retrieves MT Solar I!

The Xavierian missionaries
started their Philippine foundation in
1990 with the aim of making the Phil-
ippines a regional training center for
missionaries in Asia. Chudy’s com-
munity is an interesting mix of vari-
ous nationalities representing Europe,
Africa, America and Asia. Chudy, an
American; was stationed in Africa
before coming to the Philippines in
1994, four years after the congrega-
tion started their foundation. He
speaks Filipino very well, as many of
them do. According to him, the first
year of their assignment is spent in
learning the language. Their parish
work at St. Francis Xavier Parish in
Novaliches gives them the opportu-
nity to practice what they learned in
language school.
The thought of getting deported
and blacklisted, not to mention pay-
ing penalties that could reach to 1.1
million pesos brought Chudy and his
confreres so many sleepless nights.
“It’s the first time we encountered
this, you know. Who can help us? We
have no information. It’s the first time
it’s happening in the history of our con-
gregation. We did not experience it in
other countries,” says Chudy.
Chudy did not find out until later
that the CBCP Commission on Mu-
tual Relations could have provided
him some legal help. But he did in-
form the office of their predicament.
Not knowing whom to turn to for
help, Chudy hired a lawyer who spe-
cializes in immigration matters.
Prompted by the Immigration of-
fice, Chudy filed an affidavit to explain
that they are not involved in any
wrongdoing. In addition, he also sub-
mitted photo copies of visas and re-
ceipts of their payment to the travel
agency. He met with Atty. Roy Almoro
of Immigration, who was then the Ex-
ecutive Director. (He has been pro-
moted as associate Commissioner re-
cently.) It was through Almoro’s of-
fice that all visa application and exten-
sion are being processed. Upon sug-
gestion of Almoro, the Immigration
office waived the order of deportation
and the order of blacklisting of the for-
eign missionaries. Commissioner Alipio
Fernandez later signed a recommen-
dation also waiving their penalties
since they are missionaries. However,
they have to pay for all their visas.
wanted repercussions not only to
missionary activities of the priests, but
also to their seminarians. The priests
assigned in the parish could not sol-
emnize weddings because they are
not legal. In the meantime, seminar-
ians studying theology at Loyola
House of Studies were put on proba-
tion pending issuance of new visas.
Chudy sent a letter of complaint
to the owner of travel agency demand-
ing payment, at least for the process-
ing of new visas. But so far, no assur-
ance of compensation was given.
Recalling their travails in the past
months, Chudy can only sigh with
relief and gratitude.
“We were afraid of being de-
ported. That was what we were think-
ing from the very beginning. How we
were going to do it. Maybe in rounds
of four we will leave the country,”
Chudy said, adding that they had Plan
A and Plan B to implement in case of
necessity.
He is very thankful to God that
everything is falling into place. He is
comforted that the order for the ap-
plication of new visas has been is-
sued. He noted that the Immigration
has to issue an order for every step
they take.
Having lived and worked in Si-
erra Leone in Africa, Chudy admits
having quite a lot of experience with
corruption. Notwithstanding, he ac-
knowledges having to struggle with
feelings of betrayal and anger because
of what happened.
“It affects us in a very fundamen-
tal way,” says Chudy. “You know, we
could have been deported. So, these
feelings of betrayal, especially, be-
cause we cannot bring the Immigra-
tion office itself to be answerable to
the problem. Our lawyer told us very
clearly, he said, if you want to bring
the Bureau of Immigration to court,
you have to take it [all the way] to the
Supreme Court. Well, it will cost us
so much.”
The people responsible for the
scam have been removed from the
Bureau of Immigration, Chudy was
told. But Chudy is not impressed,
knowing that the office has the repu-
tation of being one of the most cor-
rupt agencies.
But Atty. Almoro points out that
the Bureau of Immigration has been
By Msgr. Meliton Oso
LAST 4 September 2006 we listened to Dr. Rex Baleña
and Dr. Rodolfo Baldevarona of U.P. Visayas.
Dr. Rex Baleña impressed on us the urgency of
retrieving MT Solar I from under the sea: “It is as if an
ecological “nuclear bomb” is threatening to pour out
more oil to the sea.” He calls it “nuclear” to empha-
size that the “damage will not be limited to the present
spill but to its aftermath as well.” Anytime, he says, it
can implode because the pressure on the sunken ves-
sel at the depth where it is reported to have sunk is
roughly 70 times the atmospheric pressure at sea level.
In his interview with Panay News he compared this
to “the pressure exerted by the entire weight of a
fully loaded jeepney on a palm-size area.”
Another danger he foresees is the change of the
direction of the wind that is from the south west mon-
soon or “habagat” to north east monsoon or
“amihan”. This will spread the oil to areas that have
not been affected so far specifically to the south and
west of Guimaras strait
Dr. Rodolfo Baldevarona impressed on us the
toxicity of the bunker fuel oil. According to him, inor-
ganic agricultural chemical inputs are by-products of
petroleum. Thus, the pesticides, the herbicides are all
by products of petroleum. This truth alone would
already be enough to picture out to us and convince
us of the toxicity of the bunker fuel oil. Eating there-
fore a fish that has ingested toxic material would en-
danger in the long run the lives of people. The need
then is for an honest to goodness testing of the wa-
ters and the fishes. He also advised against the use
of dispersants for this will only contribute to the pol-
lution of the sea.
When they were asked as to whether they would
eat fish. Dr. Rex Baleña was very clear and to the
point: “I will not!” Until he gets hold of a very scien-
tific testing that will prove that it is safe to eat fish, he
will not eat fish!
This is a very clear warning from somebody who
understands the sea very well.
What shall we do?
In answer to the question, Dr. Rex Baleña sug-
gests the following: RELIEF; RECOVERY; CONTAIN-
MENT; MONITORING and INTERACTIVE EXPERI-
MENT.
Relief operations: The basic needs of affected
families is priority. Help may be provided in the form
of, for example, basic aids, medical missions, CIVAC,
and temporary jobs.
Recovery Mission: The first sensible thing to do
to stop further spill is to remove the source, the
“nuclear bomb.” If re-floating the tanker is feasible,
the magical feat must be done soonest. Meantime
other than wait for foreign equipment, a sensible re-
course is to encircle the spilled oil at the overlying
surface and skim or suck it into container vessel.
Containment: Away from the source, the next pri-
ority is to contain floating oil which, already, maybe
strewn in streaks or patches. By now, many have con-
tributed indigenous designs and techniques of how
to do this.
Field Monitoring: This involves active observa-
tion, verification, or collection of reports like
sightings, accounts, documents, etc. for use in mak-
ing decisions.
Interactive Experiment: All those in the field can
altogether perform coordinated experiments that will
produce knowledge of inestimable value.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer in its 17 September
issue reported the gathering of scientists, at
Tigbauan, Iloilo, on the same subject matter: the oil
spill. Their concerns coincide with that of Drs.
Baldevarona and Baleña.
The scientists “urged authorities to remove as
soon as possible the remaining oil from the sunken
tanker Solar I.” They likewise fear the onset of the
northeast monsoon (amihan): “This will exacerbate
the situation with regards to the environment, and
consequently livelihood and human health.”
As the scientists raised concern over the use of
the dispersants, they also insist on the “need for an
objective analysis of the technical aspects of the spill,
its impacts and the responses, and to draw lessons
from it.”
More than a month has passed since the trag-
edy. Recommendations 1, 3, 4, and 5 of Dr. Baleña are
being responded to, though not as satisfactorily as
we want it to be. However, the urgent call of retriev-
ing or recovering the oil seems to have fallen on deaf
ear. The “nuclear bomb” is still lying there under the
sea.
What will force Petron to listen to this urgent call?
The local government of Nueva Valencia has re-
portedly filed a case against Petron. While we wel-
come this initiative, I do not believe that bringing
them to court would make them hear the urgent call to
do recovery mission.
Boycott! Perhaps the court cases together with
our personal contribution to boycott Petron will drive
home the message. If we give them zero sales starting
this very day, perhaps, they will be forced to do re-
covery mission.
Thus I urge everyone, stop patronizing Petron!
Stop patronizing Petron, until it retrieves MT Solar I!
(Msgr. Meliton Oso is the director of the Social Action Center
of the Archdiocese of Jaro in Iloilo).
 CBCP Monitor
4 News Vol. 10 No. 11
September 1 1, 2006

ECHC appeals aid for handicapped, mentally ill

CBCP Hands off in 2007 Polls
THE Catholic Bishops’ Confer-
ence of the Philippines (CBCP)
pronounced its usual hands-off
policy to politicians vying for dif-
ferent government positions in
the next year’s election.
Speaking to reporters, CBCP
president Archbishop Angel
Lagdameo said the body will not
endorse the candidacy of anyone
because it has to remain non-par-
tisan.
“Certainly, we will not be
supporting any candidate be-
cause we are supposed to be
taken as non-partisan,” he said.
But the prelate said he would
encourage the people to decide,
whether or not, to vote a particu-
lar candidate.
Lagdameo said that the
Church, through its Parish Pas-
toral Council for Responsible Vot-
ing (PPCRV), has already released
many criteria as reference in vot-
ing the right candidate.
So far, he said, no candidate
has come to ask the bishops’ sup-
port saying it’s too early for cam-
paigning now.
Manila Archbishop
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales,
meanwhile, urged wanna-be gov-
ernment officials to be real public
servants and not just aim on how
to get a position.
The cardinal made the state-
ment in a Eucharistic celebration
for the newly installed Manila
Auxiliary Bishop Broderick
Pabillo at the Manila Cathedral
recently.
“Politicians should learn
from Christ’s example in a sense
that He didn’t aim for the glory
but for the actual privilege of serv-
ing the people,” he said. (CBCP
News)
EXECUTIVE Secretary of the CBCP
Episcopal Commission on Health
Care (ECHC), Fr. Luke Moortgat,
CICM, urged the faithful not to for-
get the dire needs of the disabled
and mentally ill Filipinos and to in-
crease their support for the people
he described as “the most forgot-
ten.”
“There are about four million
handicapped people in the country.
Sadly, they are not cared for prop-
erly and many people don’t know
how to attend to them,” he said.
Moortgat—a Belgian priest of
the Congregation of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary—has been in the
Fr. Luke Moortgat, CICM, Executive Secre-
tary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission
on Health Care (ECHC)
country for 30 years helping the hap-
less and the most destitute Filipinos.
“Let us care for the people who
will never know what day of the week
it is and much more the name of the
benefactors,” he said.
Moortgat, a member of the Phil-
ippine Aid Foundation and head of
the Phil-Am Aid Inc., based in the
United States, asked the faithful even
Filipinos abroad to also come for-
ward with donations.
Though he’s not complaining,
the priest said having difficulty in
getting straight support from able
people is a fact.
Currently, he said, they get their
funding from his congregation in the
US and from his own family. “Before,
it was more with some companies but
now it’s practically zero so we have
to look for more sources.”
“Now that you have food to eat
and house to live in, do not forget
the Lord who brought you there,”
Moortgat also said quoting a line
from the Bible as he appealed to Fili-
pinos abroad.
Last February, the Catholic bish-
ops also wrote a letter to President
Arroyo appealing for the improve-
ment on the treatment and care ser-
vices for the mentally ill.
“In our mental hospitals, most
of the thousands of the patients—
though not convicted criminals—re-
ally suffer so much,” CBCP President
Angel Lagdameo, wrote.
He said that making things
worse is the fact that they lack even
chairs to sit on, tables for their food
and beds to sleep on. “All they have
is the floor of their room or cell. A
large number of them are without
clothing on laundry days.”
“We are waiting now for the real
improvement,” Moortgat added.
A task of utmost importance to
the ECHC is the building up of pub-
lic awareness and involvement for
the handicapped.
Besides helping the handi-
capped directly and physically, the
Commission is involved in a continu-
ous campaign to inform and bring
about awareness for those with dis-
ability.
“Our mission is to help those
who are in need and for whom we
have the least services,” said
Moortgat.
Among its more visible activi-
ties is the promotion of the sign lan-
guage in liturgical celebrations and
its involvement in the celebration of
the World Day of the Sick on Febru-
ary 11 each year.
It also institutes gatherings, or
small congresses, for pastoral health
care coordinators and handicapped
in general, and the deaf in particular
in collaboration with other organiza-
tions that work toward the same
goals. (CBCP News)

Prison Ministry / from p1 Catholic Schools / from p1

Diyos Prison Ministry Foundation,
Inc. on September 8, 1981 to care for
those in prisons.
“We are committed to the belief
that man’s life, worth and dignity, and
potentials are priceless gifts from God,”
said Margarita Coscolluela, founder of
the group.
Bp. Arigo also noted that, “Your
continuing dedication makes us at the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines feel elated. This means that
we have touched the hearts and minds
of many people through you to care
about the less fortunate brothers and
sisters in prison.”
According to Rodulfo Diamante,
Fire Destroys / from p1
Flames were shooting out of the
roof, soaring 20 feet and higher into
the air.
About 4 fire trucks had the blaze
under control about 2:30 a.m., though
it was still burning.
Authorities said the fire was still
intensely raging few minutes after it
was reported.
Efforts to bring it under control
were complicated by high winds,
which pushed the blaze to grow and
made it difficult for firefighters to con-
trol conflagration.
Investigators are still looking for
the real cause of the fire but initial
report said “faulty electrical wiring”
might have caused the accident.
The new science lab and com-
puter room facilities and equipments
which was bought for the current
academic year, were all destroyed.
Bishop Says / from p1
“The Church is not happy with
the way they manipulate the Consti-
tution. And the leadership of Congress
is the one very interested. I think they
have vested interest in the Cha-cha,”
he said.
While trying to be neutral with
such statement, Arguelles said the
Catholic bishops are not really against
Cha-cha per se but on the way it is
being done.
The bishop said ConAss is “ob-
viously being forced” not really for the
benefit of the country but for some
people only.
“We are being oligarchic. It is to
preserve some people in power. That
ECPPC Executive Secretary and Asia’s
Representative for International Com-
mission of Catholic Prison pastoral
care, the anniversary of the ministry is
another “happy development”.
“Twenty five years later, you are
still going strong, your fierce commit-
ments have touched people’s hearts
such that they have joined you in your
battles,” Diamante said.
The ministry is actively pursuing
its vision for a better life for the prison
society at large. The only way to make
sure of its sustainability is to continue
recruiting members for the group who
are willing to help the prisoners. (Ma.
Lourdes Ebilane)
The school, built in 1967, is un-
der the Diocesan Catholic Schools
of La Union.
Ms. Lourdes Estonactoc,
School superintendent, said classes
are being held in temporary build-
ings on a public elementary school
in Bacnotan.
“We are so sad it happened that
way,” said San Fernando, La Union
Bishop Artemio Rillera. “It was hard
for us to build it but we lost every-
thing.”
He stressed the need for them
to immediately work on plans for the
students but said the source of fund-
ing for the rehabilitation is one of
the tough problems.
“We have to move fast, look for
funding and maybe make solicita-
tions,” he said. “We will try our
best.” (Rowena Dalanon)
is to subvert the general will of the
people,” he claimed.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines (CBCP) President Arch-
bishop Angel Lagdameo earlier said
that amending the Constitution should
better be done thru a Constitutional
Convention, “where the people will
elect the members of the convention.”
He said that they (bishops) do not
want “incumbent leaders” to convert
themselves into a constituent assem-
bly.
“There are many good, capable
and qualified people who should be in
Constitutional Convention,” he said.
(CBCP News)
The indigenous peoples themselves also see de- on harnessing Mindanao’s potential for agri-business,
velopment aggression as one of the biggest threats but she should be reminded that these are the same
they face today. fragile ecologies she is opening to large scale mining,”
“We call on our national government to hear the Tandag Bishop Nerio Odchimar said.
grievances of the IPS and not let the transnational com- For his part, Dipolog Bishop Jose Manguiran of
panies encroach our ancestral domains. We appeal to Dipolog stresses how the mining-affected communi-
the national government to heed our plea over the ties are subject to human rights violations and eco-
interest of these foreign mining companies,” Gilbert nomic deprivations. “We condemn the way indigenous
Hoggang, Koalisyon ng mga Katutubong Samahan peoples are being treated as evidenced by the latest
sa Pilipinas (KASAPI) head said. forcible demolitions in the Subanen community of
“With this more aggressive drive to conserve the Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte. These mining compa-
culture and the environment, we look forward to the nies violate the IPs’ right to life and to own their lands.”
protection and promotion of IP rights as clearly stated Manguiran said.
in the Indigenous People Rights Acts (IPRA) of 1997,” Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena also holds the
Hoggang added. same view and wants to address the issue to the na-
According to AnthroWatch, a non-government tional government.
organization of researchers whose focus is anthropol- “I urge President Arroyo to reconsider her mining
ogy, indigenous peoples and other marginalized popu- revitalization program as it is in direct contrast to her
lations, only 44 Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles SONA promises. It has been said time and again how
(CADTs) were awarded to indigenous communities large-scale mining threatens sustainable livelihoods
since 1997. Today, there are more than 200 pending and introduces social displacements and conflicts,”
CADT applications in the country and the IPs still he said.
clamor for these titles to be awarded to them. These NGOs, IP groups and the Catholic bishops
Meanwhile, the bishops continue to stand by its continue to fight the entry of large-scale mining on the
anti-mining position and emphasize that the implemen- belief that these operations pose threats to sustain-
tation of the Mining Act will certainly destroy envi- able agriculture, community-based development and
ronment. coastal and fisheries resources, not to mention cul-
“President Arroyo says she would pour resources tural conflicts and environmental degradation.
CBCP Head / from p1
that he was expecting and hoping that “This Commission is not unmind- (NASSA) leads the campaign by con-
the COMELEC would reject the peti- ful of the transcendental importance ducting forums and distribution of
tion alleged to be “lacking in credibil- of the people under a system of initia- primers and other campaign materials.
ity.” tive,” the decision read. In a recent Pastoral Letter, the
“I believe that it was right for the On the plan of the Charter Change Catholic bishops called on the gov-
COMELEC to have rejected this (Cha-Cha) proponents to bring the ernment and the Cha-Cha proponents
people’s initiative,” said Lagdameo. case to the higher tribunal, Lagdameo to address first the confusing issues
He claimed that from the very be- said Supreme Court should carefully behind the Cha-Cha, and to proceed
ginning, they (bishops) already have study the case in order to arrive at the with rationality and total transparency
been hearing some manipulations in right decision. concerning the exercise.
the process of gathering signatures. “That would be another hurdle Recently, Bishop Reynaldo
The COMELEC on August 31 de- and something to watch about,” he Evangelista of the diocese of Boac in
nied the said Malacañang-backed pe- said. Marinduque presided over one such
tition filed by the Sigaw ng Bayan Meanwhile, as the debate on Cha- discussion group in his area.
Movement and Union of Local Au- Cha rages on, the CBCP has intensi- Evangelista said that “whatever
thorities of the Philippines (ULAP). fied its education campaign for the actions we take as a nation, the Church
“We are therefore constrained people to reflect on the various impli- is always behind the people, giving
not to entertain or give due course to… cations of constitutional reform. advices and encouraging the flock to
the petition,” the COMELEC en banc The CBCP National Secretariat for be mindful of the teachings of Christ
said in its decision. Social Action— Justice and Peace in all its decisions.” (Roy Lagarde)
Anti-gambling / from p1
deliver the money to the congressmen. erators,” said Cruz. “The Krusadang Bayan Laban sa
The two Arroyos denied the charge. The prelate also said that most Jueteng can only send its well wishes
“The good director should know operators running the STL are the to the good director for his success in
by now that jueteng has long been jueteng capitalists themselves using freeing the country of the greed and
the big curse of the poor bettors and it as cover-up to gather jueteng bets avarice of jueteng syndicates—perma-
the big blessing of its influential op- as well. nently,” he said. (Roy Lagarde)
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 11, 2006 Feature 5
Peace Negotiations in 7 Questions for Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
Southern Philippines in HIS Eminence, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, who suc-
ceeded Jaime Cardinal Sin in 2003 as archbishop of Ma-

Jeopardy
nila, was elevated to the College of Cardinals last Febru-
ary this year, making him the 6th Filipino Cardinal. Ac-
claimed as the founding figure behind the highly success-
ful “Pondo ng Pinoy”, Manila archdiocese’s flagship social
concern program, Cardinal Rosales recently talked to CBCP
Monitor about CBCP’s declaration of social concerns year,
the issue of wayward priests, abortion and family plan-
By Abp. Orlando B. Quevedo, O.M.I., DD ning, sex education for the young, and the secular media.

What can you say about the speak. Yes, there

Philippine Muslim Rebel Chief
Murab Ebrahim © epa/Corbis
THE “breakdown” of peace negotia- a vision of a Bangsamoro homeland
tions is truly disturbing. But it is a blended with realism. But even the
possibility that I had always kept in use of current historical develop-
mind. The reason? The very reason ments could certainly go against the
for the “breakdown” as reported by framework that the GRP has to use.
the MILF and given some clarifica- Hence such problems as territorial
tion by the GRP—namely the Philip- contiguity.
pine Constitution. In the past two I would not be surprised if the
years I have asked myself the ques- discussion on charter change would
tion: How will the GRP understand take on an added issue—the Con-
the problem of ancestral domain? The stitution and the concept of ances-
answer that always comes to my tral domain in the light of peace ne-
mind—within the framework of the gotiations and in the light of histori-
Constitution. After all, the Executive cal and current developments re-
Branch has to have the Legislative garding territories.
Branch approve an “agreement” What is certainly needed by
reached with the MILF. And on what both sides is what Chairman Murad
basis will Congress approve the has also so aptly described as “cre-
agreement? On the basis of the Con- ativity” in resolving the issue. I be-
stitution. Thus, the GRP is stuck with lieve this “creative” way is incum-
what Chairman Murad of the MILF bent on BOTH parties. Hence a
describes very aptly as “in the box” pause in the negotiations (not nec-
mentality. But I guess this basic pre- essarily a breakdown) is imperative—
occupation with the Constitution is for the negotiators to go back to their
part of the democratic process. Fun- principals and ask the question: How
damentally then, no matter who is at can our group more creatively push
the helm of the GRP (FVR, Erap, Ar- the discussion forward and not re-
royo or her successor) would inevi- main “in the box” of our set perspec-
tably have to grapple with that issue. tive and position? The answer I dare
It is not a matter of personalities as say is a converging move towards a
some critics seem to think. It is a mat- middle ground, which is only arrived
ter of one normative document for a at by way of a reciprocal “give and
democracy—a Constitution. take” dynamic. This is why the peace
On the other hand, how does talks are called “negotiations.”
the MILF look at the issue of ances- The views of a third party—
tral domain? Naturally on the basis constituted by civil society—could
of historical and current develop- put some light on the present im-
ments. The injection of current his- passe. Somewhere out there are cre-
tory into the issue of territory is one ative ideas to help both sides get out
of the things I admired in the vision of the box. Could such a group come
of the late Chairman Salamat. His had together to provide a breakthrough?
www.cbcpworld.com | training@cbcpworld.net | +632 4041612, 4042182
Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines’ declaration of
2006 as year of social concerns?
It’s not really surprising be-
cause the Church, since then, has
always been working for the ame-
lioration of peoples’ lives, mak-
ing them more human in the light
of the Kingdom that the Lord
Jesus has been preaching. If
what is meant by preaching is
teaching people about God, the
holiness of God or the unity of
God…well, Jesus fortunately
talked more than that and acted
more than that. Aside from liber-
ating people from ignorance,
Christ fed the hungry, healed the
sick, or dressed the naked. In
other words, the Church’s social
concern runs through the pilgrim
road that Christ took during His
earthly ministry until Calvary and
resurrection. Along the road, He
tried to infuse the ingredients of
fuller life. So now, the Church has
to make a review of itself. In the
Philippines, this review is taken
in the light of the great poverty
that has been enveloping our
people.
How is the clergy in the archdio-
cese?
First, we are not as many as
before because, as you are well
aware of, the archdiocese was di-
vided 3 years ago into six. Sec-
ond, when you are less in num-
ber, you have to execute through
a more variable or more practi-
cable pastoral ministry. Third,
there should also be a proper kind
of planning. This means that
shepherding must follow a cer-
tain direction or vision. And I have
always said that it’s impossible
to lead without a vision.
Shepherding or leadership with-
out a vision is treason. I’ve al-
ways said that. In other words,
when you talk about the clergy
being less in number, you resort
to practicality—in planning or in
processing—because you have
less to deal with. And, in our case,
my priests could easily assimilate
or relate to what is being pre-
sented according to our vision.
Thank God, our priests under-
stand what we’re doing in terms
of our direction, identity and pro-
cess on how we must pursue with
our vision.
are also proud
priests, and they
can never for-
give others. In
other words,
when you talk
about the humanity of a priest, I’m
not embarrassed about it. As Christ
said, “I came not for the strong but
for the weak.” In other words, Christ
was already giving us the perspec-
tive of how to deal with persons who
have fallen and yet honest about
their weakness. Christ took our in-
firmity, our weakness that we may
be able to encourage and also heal
others.
What is your pastoral vision for the
archdiocese of Manila?
Well, first of all, I’m just follow-
ing what I’ve done in the past, that
is, in my past pastoral experience of
having handled three dioceses—
first in Mindanao, then in Batangas,
and now in Manila. In all of these
dioceses, I have always something
that I should work at and that is a
vision or direction. You see, I have
always espoused the axiom that “no
man can live without a vision”. If he
does then without a vision, then he
is betraying. Now, particularly in
Manila, we have our so-called
MAGPAS (or Manila Archdiocesan
General Pastoral Assembly).
Through it, we have already articu-
lated our vision of “fullness of life”,
a vision that we have discussed and
shared with our parishioners. Let me
roughly state our vision, it says,
“we’re a people called by the Father
in Jesus Christ to become a commu-
nity of persons, with fullness of life,
witnessing to the kingdom of God
while living the paschal mystery in
the power of the Holy spirit with
Mary as our companion”.
Some government experts recently
claimed that birthrate in the coun-
try has dramatically dropped not due
to family planning practices but be-
cause of the surging incidence of
abortion. What do you say about
this?
If it is true, you know, we can-
not go away with crime. Abortion is
a criminal act, it’s the killing of an
innocent. If that were the reason for
the downtrend in birthrate, then it is
really a criminal record in the Philip-
pines, being a predominantly Chris-
tian nation. It’s not something to be
happy about. With regards to the
last that long. And if God is a wise
God and all-knowing God, then
He knows that there is already a
solution to it. And the solution is
when a person becomes respon-
sible, when spouses know how
to say no to themselves, when
spouses know how to control,
when spouses know discipline
and respect. This is what we must
teach people on the issue of fam-
ily planning and responsible par-
enthood.
What’s your take, Your Emi-
nence, on the current controver-
sial issue of sex education teach-
ing modules reportedly peddled
to high school students in public
schools?
Yes, it’s true that there are
these things, some of which are
offensive—verbally or graphi-
cally, that are reportedly circulated
in some schools. I think, certain
decency, certain sanctity, must be
exercised. A little reverence for the
human body, for womanhood,
and even manhood, should be
observed. The bishops are just
re-echoing the position of the
Church that sex education is re-
ally the turf of parents. But, let’s
be truthful about it. In our cul-
ture, very few parents would be
able to sit down comfortably with
their children, daughters and
sons, to talk about sex. Not be-
cause of ill will but because of lack
of proper education or training on
the part of the parents them-
selves. What do we do now? It
was suggested that some parents
who are capable will have to teach
their children and those parents
who are not capable or who do
not know how to begin with will
have to get some instruction or
help from other parents. In other
words, parents would be teach-
ing other parents. So, we are not
really at a loss. But, please, let us
treat the human person or the
human body with reverence.
What do you think about the re-
lationship between the Church
and secular media?
Well, the media is good in a

The CBCPWorld Network

Your Eminence, presumably you
have no problems with regards
to wayward priests?
A network of Dioceses, Parishes, Catholic Schools and [Laughs] Oh, well, I’m not
religious groups. Today, over a hundred of them nation- embarrassed when I’m asked
wide. Pursuing one mission, linked under one nationwide with questions like that. You’re
satellite system. Connected together with the same pas- talking about the humanity of the
sion for the Gospel. priest. Some people would think
that a priest, after having been
Our Broadband Connectivity is delivered to our network ordained, has already lost his
members through a VSAT system on a C-band or through humanity in a sense that he will
a wireless IP system on a microwave platform, originat- not be tempted or that he will no
ing from our network operations center in Clark Special longer have the sexual urge. I
Economic Zone in Angeles City. think they’re completely wrong.
Our Content Department aims at saturating the cyberspace A priest who, let’s say, is weak
and has recovered from that
with wholesome contents that are faith-related, educa-
tional and social-advocacy oriented. Its services are: web weakness would be more com-
passionate, more understanding,
designing, web maintenance, web hosting, content
sourcing and editing, and video production. or more forgiving to his fellow-
man. This makes the difference
from those who have not fallen,
Our Traning Department conducts the following trainings: or those ‘proud priests’, so to
EdTech, IT Awareness, WebArt, SysAd Training.
issue of family planning, I think the
church will not change its position
on family planning or responsible
parenthood because the Church
knows very well of the teaching of
Jesus Christ to respect life, and if
there is any problem regarding popu-
lation, believe me, God knows that
even before we were born. Before
creating us, Yahweh knew when He
said, “let us make man to our image
and likeness”. He knew that one day,
like now in 2006, there will be many
people, there will be problems in
food, housing, education, basic ser-
vices, etc. It’s impossible to think
that God is not aware of it. Other-
wise, he is not a God I believe in, a
God who does not know what will
happen in 2006. My God knows what
will happen even in 2099 or 3000,
5000, or 7000, that is if the world will
sense that they are reporting. But
there’s a lot to be desired. Some-
times, their reporting is not really
that balanced in the sense that
they infuse their own interpreta-
tion of the news, if not some sort
of ‘editorializing’ of what is sup-
posedly straight news. I think,
that should belong to the editor,
and not for the reporter to do.
What is important rather is that
reporters or news writers should
simply report exactly what hap-
pened and avoid editorializing
their news. For instance, some
reporters would ask leading ques-
tions in order to get perhaps the
kind of answers they would like
to get. In other words, it seems
that they already have some kind
of biased assumption even before
the interview.

6 Opinion
Editorial
The Oil Spill and Socio-
Political Ills
IT is now over a month since MT Solar I sank bursting
with 2.1 million liters of bunker oil along Panay Gulf,
some 24 kilometers southwest of the island of
Guimaras. So far, nothing of substantial consequence
has been done yet by both the government and Petron,
who hired the ailing ship of Sunshine Maritime
Development Corp., to transport its oil to Zamboanga.
The only thing done by the President was declare
a state of emergency. But nothing of emergency
import was heard so far after the declaration. The
Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael
Cosculluela has since kept assuring everybody that
the government is committed to remove the sunken
bunker fuel at the ill-fated MT Solar I. But that is as
far as words can go. Defense Secretary Avelino
Cruz, Jr., who heads the Task Force Guimaras, also
promised that the operation to siphon off the large
bulk of the oil inside the sunken tanker will commence
in four weeks. And we are still counting.
In the meantime, over a thousand individuals from
affected areas have already been evacuated.
Reportedly, with 120 liters a day gushing from the
tanker, the spill has already contaminated 240 kms of
Guimaras coast, 1,000 hectares of marine reserve,
60 hectares of seaweed plantation, not to mention
the displacement of over a thousand people whose
health and livelihood depend on the integrity of the
marine environment.
There is no arguing that the oil spill in Guimaras is
so serious and urgent. But the government may be
attending to equally if not more serious socio-political
spill hounding its very foundations. The seemingly
obssessive move to change the Constitution literally at
all cost and at a very self-serving mode such as the
people’s intitiative or constitutional assembly may spill a
more disastrous social consequence than the destruction
of marine life.
The palliatives harnessed in containing
frustratingly the toxic bunker oil splattered heavily in
the Panay Gulf sadly reflects the very palliatives used
by the present dispensation in addressing deepseated
socio-political ills besetting the country today. But
changing the Charter in order to arrest the problem
of cheating during elections or to curb endemic
corruption in government or to stop the killings of
journalists and activists or to refloat a plummeting
economy is too much of a palliative. Think about
political survival and greed.
The best remedy of course, is to remove the MT
Solar I from the bottom of the sea or to siphon the oil
till the last drop the soonest.
And so maybe in the case of prevailing socio-
political spill. But how do you do that?
ISSN 1908-2940
CBCP Monitor
P r o ta g o n i s t of T ruth, Promoter of
Pedro C. Quitorio Pinky Barrientos, FSP
Editor-in-Chief Production Manager
Baltazar R. Acebedo Marcelo T. Dalanon
Managing Editor Circulation Manager
Dennis B. Dayao Ma. Lourdes G. Ebilane
On-Line Editor Marketing Supervisor
Roy Q. Lagarde Leah Cariaso
News Editor Comptroller
The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the CBCP
Communications Development Foundation, Inc., with
editorial and business offices at 470 Gen. Luna St.,
Intramuros, Manila. P.O. Box 3601, 1076 MCPO. Edito-
rial: (063) 404-2182. Business: (063)404-1612.
Email: cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.net Website:
www.cbcpworld.net/cbcpmonitor
Abp. Angel N. Lagdameo, DD
In and Out of Season
I could not believe, but the phenomenon
is true that Filipino OFWs or migrants
compose 10% or 8 million out of a total 80
million. This “diasporic community” of
Filipino migrants are in 193 countries out
of the 224 UN-registered countries in the
world. We can almost say that there is no
country on the face of the earth in which
there is no Filipino; if there is, probably
the Filipino in that country has not yet
been registered of has no travel document.
To cite some statistics of diasporic
Filipinos: 85,000 Filipinos yearly migrate
to the United States to be added to the
more than 4 million who are already there
with documents. Two million Filipinos
have already made the Middle East their
home. Would you believe that 30% of
the entire population of Malaysia, that is
900,000 are Filipinos? Of the 140,000 in
Hong Kong, majority are Pinay domestic
Bp. Leonardo Y. Medroso, JCD, DD
Tidbits
LAIKO, the Secretariat that guides and
promotes lay apostolate in the Philip-
pines, to celebrate the National Laity
Week running from September 24 to Oc-
tober 1, 2006, is coming up with modest
yet well-designed and functional pro-
gram of activities. It has chosen love as
the theme expressing it in a more specific
way with this caption: “Building a cul-
ture of love.” This is a response, so it
deftly explains, to the sorry “heartbreak-
Peace
ing events that unfold before us every-
day brought about by the seeming ha-
tred and apathy between men that
seemed to paint in us a dark future, a re-
mote possibility of establishing a civili-
zation of love in our midst”.
For me the week long activity may
come and go just like that, a thick mist
that for a while is there, but without a
moment’s notice is gone. What matters
to me though is the full confidence and
poise that the lay faithful have been de-
veloping through the years. This is
clearly shown in the way they put up this
week long program. It has maturity and
Layout by Mark Front
class. For me its strong message is
couched in the small letters found in the
printed leaflets that they sent to the dio-
ceses in the Philippines. It states: “The
call to transform this world as a commu-
The Challenges of
Filipino Diaspora
helpers. In Italy, only one half of the more
than 1 million Filipinos are listed; the same
is said of the 1 million in Japan. These
few examples are only a portion of the
migrant Filipinos we find present from
America to Asia, from Africa to Oceania,
from Russia to Australia and also from
Jordan to Saipan.
Add to this phenomenon of global
migration of Filipinos is the quality of the
new OFWs. We are exporting not only
housekeepers and domestic helpers but
also, contributing to the phenomenon of
brain drain, skilled workers, doctors, ac-
countants, nurses, engineers, etc. This
phenomenon is not without problems
both for the migrants and the families
they temporarily leave behind. They be-
come part of our social concern. How
many of them are made to suffer because
they are deprived of employment rights,
National Laity Week
nity radiated by love in not limited to our
pastors, nuns and religious as well. All
of us [that is, the lay faithful], born out of
love, generated from love, have been
called to actively work for the creation of
heaven in our midst where love, peace,
unity and understanding prevail.” With
these words, the lay faithful, wittingly or
unwittingly, defines artistically the iden-
tity and mission of the lay faithful.
Sanctifying the temporal realities,
leavening the world with Gospel values,
building up in the here and now commu-
nity of men and women a culture of love ,
is the mission proper to the lay faithful.
This is their exclusive domain recognized
by the Church law when it attributes to
the lay faithful the right as well as the duty
to freedom in temporal affairs. The Code
provides: “To lay members of Christ’s faith-
ful belongs the right to have acknowl-
edged as theirs that freedom in secular
affairs which is common to all citizens. In
using this freedom, however, they are to
ensure that their actions are permeated
with the spirit of the Gospel, and they are
to heed the teaching of the Church pro-
posed by the magisterium, but they must
be on guard, in questions of opinion,
against proposing their own view as the
teaching of the Church” (Can. 227).
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 1 1, 2006
their salaries and/or travel documents
unjustly withheld? How many of them,
mostly women, are abused, assaulted or
sexually harassed by employers? How
many of them suffer the pain of isolation,
alienation and discrimination? And need
we talk about the innumerable cases of
broken families and conjugal infidelities?
These are far from being considered
problems of the State which is simply bent
on sending them as “super domestic help-
ers” because they bring in to our coun-
try between 10 to 12 billion dollars to help
our local economy. And so we say these
are problems of the Church, the sending
Church. These are one aspect or the chal-
lenges of the Filipino diaspora. (I hope
you have discovered some answers to
these concerns and at least discussed
how to address them).
In and Out / P12
Terse words yet the import of the
Canon 227 provision is worth noting.
First, it empowers each of the lay faithful
the right to act in secular life on his own
initiative and to assume full responsibility
in temporal affairs, without involving the
Church in his decisions nor claiming that
his own personal opinions as if they were
the teaching of the Church. Secondly, in
temporal matters the lay faithful are de-
clared autonomous, independent to the
governance of the Church’s Hierarchy.
Needless to say secular affairs as such
are not within the jurisdictional authority
of the Church. The Church has to respect
their laws, proper values, their autonomy.
Hence, the lay faithful who are specifically
called to engage in these secular affairs of
society have that right to conduct these
activities in freedom (whether in politics,
the family, office, places of work). Oscar
Cruz, the incumbent archbishop of
Lingayen-Dagupan, expressed this free-
dom from the hierarchy in these words:
“The Laity does not need any authoriza-
tion, much less any permission from the
competent Church authority to engage
themselves in social transformation work,
considering precisely that such an en-
gagement is their own calling from no one
Tidbits / P12
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 11, 2006
Ambassador Henrietta T. de Villa
Faith and F ir
Fir
iree
WE were at the wake of Monet, wife of
General Renato de Villa. Many expressed
relief that the battle she waged against
cancer for close to seventeen years is
over, and she is now at rest. All felt the
violence of pain Renato staunchly bore,
for all knew how Monet was his happi-
ness.
What is happiness? If happiness
can be gone at the death of a beloved, or
at the loss of a cherished possession,
what happens then to the rest of our
lives? For without happiness we are like
dead men walking.
Pope Benedict XVI quoting St. Au-
gustine said: The inmost heart of the
human will is the will for happiness. Ev-
erything a man does or allows to happen
to him can, ultimately, be derived from
his will to be happy. And St. Augustine
continues to describe how when the heart
comes in contact with God’s Word who
became man, there is an explosion of love.
The moment God touches our heart, it is
only then that we begin to exist. And such
is our faith. It is not a lofty set of doc-
trines or a cold code of beliefs. Faith is a
Person—a Person who lives … and who
lives in us, and in our now moments.
Faith is a Person, CHRIST, who makes
incarnate for us God who is LOVE. This
LOVE, the fulfillment of our happiness,
Security and
Development
TIME and again we’ve heard of gov-
ernment officials saying the country’s
insurgency would come to its end be-
cause of aggressive internal security
operations and development programs
in the countryside.
AFP Chief of Staff General
Hermogenes Esperon said the military
will accomplish its mission to neutralize
the communist guerillas before Presi-
dent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends her
term by 2010. In fact, Esperon said armed
forces already have a timetable to neu-
tralize the NPA so that the Philippine
National Police could handle the insur-
gents without any military support.
One need not be a degree holder in
National Security to project whether
such a goal would be achieved. One
has to know his own strengths and
weaknesses as well as opportunities and
threats and assess what he has in his
arsenal.
The New People’s Army, formed in
March 29, 1969, still wields influence in
some parts of the countryside. The
Armed Forces of the Philippines has a
strength of anywhere between 113 -
115,000 officers and men. The Philip-
pine National Police has 118,000 person-
nel. The Philippine Coast Guard, which
has ceased to be part of the Armed
Forces, has a complement of over 4,000
Oscar V. Cruz, DD
V ie ws and P
iews oints
Points
CHEATING, lying and stealing would be
open atrocities of the past. Poverty and
hunger would be gone for good. Employ-
ment would be abundant and the
economy would bloom. There would be
education for all. No woman or child
would ever be again exploited. Disregard
for human dignity, violation of human
rights and waste of human lives would
be but a bad dream. In short, now it can
be said with sanity and truth: charter
change would make the Philippines an
enchanted kingdom—with super regions
due to super governance that would no
longer need to sell super maids to for-
eign countries.
With charter change, the following
Opinion
Happiness Pure and
Simple
we can’t keep secret in our heart. It has
to be shouted out from the highest hills
that this is HE … this is what we were all
waiting for.
I remember a few lines written by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English
poet…
What if you slept, and what if in
your sleep you dreamed, and
what if in your dream you went
to heaven and there plucked
a strange and beautiful flower,
and what if when you woke up
you had the flower in your
hand? Ah, what then?
Would you have thought of God …
the benevolent Father who created that
flower? Would the folly of Jesus loving
you to the Cross be imprinted in that
flower? Would the gift of that flower re-
mind you of an even greater gift—the
Spirit who makes all things bright and
beautiful? Are you still excited about God?
Two weeks ago, my husband and I,
together with our daughter Maricor, went
to a concert at the newly built Mother
Rose auditorium in Assumption College.
The Concert, featuring the Imus Clergy
around their multi-talented Bishop Chito
Tagle, was entitiled: Buhay n Amen. As
she listened to Bishop Chito singing The
Warrior is a Child, my daughter gasped:
Melo M. Acuna
Issues and Concerns
officers and men. It may be surprising
to note we have some 52,748 paramili-
tary troopers known as Citizens Armed
Forces Geographical Units (CAFGU)
which are under the operational control
of Philippine Army brigades.
Some say our CAFGUs are indeed
“front acts” in these 37 years of guerilla
warfare. They can be likened to our Phil-
ippine Scouts in Bataan and Corregidor.
Let’s take a long, hard look at the
CAFGUs known during the Martial Law
years as Barangay Self Defense Units
and later as CHDFs or Community Home
Defense Forces. From Camp
Aguinaldo’s J – 3, down to the area com-
mands to divisions and brigades and
battalions, the military maintains the so-
called chain of command on the para-
military operatives. It is through this
channel they receive their subsistence
allowances and equipage.
CAFGUs are recruited through the
effective Special Operations and Tactics
seminars where villagers are taught the
evils of communism and basic informa-
tion about NPA sympathizers are re-
vealed. Some villagers would opt to join
the paramilitary units. It is common to
hear some NPAs would decide to lay
down their arms and begin new lives by
being CAFGUs. A number of guerillas
have considered the Balik-Baril pro-
The Magic of Charter
Change
national blessings are also fervently pre-
dicted: there would be socio-political
unity productive of national peace and
prosperity. Public office would be truly a
public trust. Public welfare would be real
government priority. Public funds would
be duly accounted to the tax paying pub-
lic. The political community would be at
the service of the civil community. The
ordinary citizens would no longer be ex-
pected to bow in awe and subservience
before their powerful local and national
political leaders. In other words, with
charter change, this country would be
veritable heaven and earth!
Really?
The National Leadership pushing
Ma, I am shocked, he is so good … he
sings like a professional. Then Bishop
sang Starry Starry Night, and my hus-
band who doesn’t get impressed so eas-
ily, reached for my hand and whispered:
He is magnificent. I have long stopped
wondering what else is there that Bishop
Chito Tagle can’t do.
But what touched my heart most
were the 32 priests of Imus diocese—
unknowns outside their parishes, espe-
cially here in high end San Lorenzo Vil-
lage. They were there on stage crooning
their lungs out, dancing with abandon,
as if saying to all who cared to listen: We
are priests, flesh and blood like you …
hurting the same way as you … delight-
ing in the same things as you … getting
tired like most of you … not having all
the answers you expect from us … but
we are here for you. And as I watched
the good Bishop and his good priests in
Buhay n Amen, for a moment what I could
hear, and see, and touch was the Eucha-
rist … this is my body, broken and shared
for you … this is my blood poured out to
save you.
This was happiness for them and for
all of us in that Mother Rose Hall—ang
buhay namin ay si Kristo (our life is
Christ)! The priests, the Bishop and us
still excited about God.
gram and other livelihood packages.
We’ve heard of CAFGUs who have gone
on AWOL. Governors and mayors rec-
ommend their bodyguards to the oper-
ating troops and get their respective ap-
pointments as CAFGUs thereby legiti-
mizing firearms possession.
CAFGUs sponsored by politicians
may not render military duties as they
are with their respective handlers
thereby reducing the military’s and
paramilitary’s presence in the country-
side.
Civilian Active Auxiliaries are sub-
jected to 12 weeks basic military train-
ing where they are taught basic soldiery.
After sometime, they undergo 24 days
refresher training.
These paramilitary operatives re-
ceive P60.00 subsistence allowance per
day. It’s simply P 3,164,880.00 per day
or over P 2 billion a year. We’re not
even talking about the CAFGUs equi-
page from firearms to uniforms and gears
issued them.
This amount would go a long way in
igniting countryside development
through accessible credit, establishment
of medical facilities, school buildings with
complementary staff and even land ac-
quisition. We could also go back to the
basic requirements of soldiery by boost-
Issues and Concerns / P12
for charter change remains suspect in
honesty and integrity. Those singing the
praises of charter change are not alto-
gether free of personal interests and ul-
terior motives. The much acclaimed
“People’s Initiative” is anything but the
people taking the initiative. And in case
this “People’s” approach does not work,
the “Constituent Assembly” by, of and
for those now precisely in tenure of
power, is already being contemplated and
arranged.
Something must be wrong some-
where in all this intense craving of the
present officialdom for a charter change—
no matter the means, whatever the costs.
Views and Points / P12
7
Jose B. Lugay
Laik
Laikoo Lampstand
Fondacio—Christians
for the World
ORIGINALLY, the lay missionary community was called
Christians for the World. When Fondacio celebrated its
25th anniversary last May, only then did I know that the
two organizations were one and the same. Fondacio is an
international Christian community engaged at the service
of the world. It is a private association of the lay faithful by
diocesan right. Working with the Holy See, through the
Pontifical Council of the Laity, the approval for pontifical
status is in progress.
The mission of Fondacio according to its charter is
“to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ to all, thus
contributing, to the transformation of the human family
from the inside, to its restoration. At the same time, with
all the misery and poverty that fetters a large part of
humanity today, announcing the good news cannot be
limited to a simple sharing of the scripture and of prayer.
Fondacio promotes an effective solidarity and develops
certain actions to improve the living standards of those
who need.” Fondacio’s pedagogy is based on experience
and listening.
The members regularly meet for prayer, dialogue, for-
mation and action. Their focus is on the person as a whole—
body and spirit, emotions, reasoning, family and profes-
sional life. Similar to the Christian Family Movement, they
involve the youth, couples, families, seniors and leaders
of society. What makes them unique is their reaching out
to the poor and marginalized with the end in view of mak-
ing them worthy members of Fondacio.
The French President of the organization, Monsieur
Gerard Testard came to the Philippines for the 25th Anni-
versary celebration. He opened Fondacio’s first Asian
Congress with the theme, “One Community in Mission”
last May 4, 2006 as a fitting activity to the celebration..
This was attended by a total of 93 delegates and guests
coming from seven Asian and two European countries.
Fondacio Philippines welcomed the delegates with the
famous hospitality and friendliness of the Filipinos.
On the same occasion, was the launching of the Cen-
ter for Formation presently housed in the Claret Retreat
House in Sanville Subdivision, Quezon City. The blessing
was officiated by Msgr. Antonio Mortillero, Vicar General
of the Diocese of Cubao. The first students are the follow-
ing: Myanmar: a) Agnes Mary, b) Monica Ei Ei Lwin, c)
Cecilia Now San Yin Aye, d) Roger Thia Kyaw, e) David
Salai Thant Zin Oi, f) John Toe Naing; Malaysia: g) Lucy
Gumek, h) Mary Magdalene Chin Yoke Ying; Laos: h}
Thongmany Keosavang, i) Teuanechai Sayabuon, j)
Xaypanya Lattana; Philippines: k) Jonathan O. Rabal, l)
Ladrick Malulan, m) Nestor Caranog. The course includes
350 hours of Theology and Bible subjects offered by the
St. Vincent School of Theology at Tandang Sora. Quezon
City, and 800 hours of Modules in Human, Spiritual, Pasto-
ral/Community, and Social/Professional formation by
Fondacio Asia. In addition to this, are the Practicum and
Immersion in Community Life. The formators are: Philip-
pines: a) Marcial Lou “Mario” Agtarap, b) Leah Tolentino,
and c) Julito “Bong” Garces”; Malaysia: d) Alice Tan Pei
Pei, and e) Teresa S. Arokiasamy. Hopefully the graduates
will be the future lay leaders of their respective countries.
This will be a fulfillment of Fondacio’s vision: “New lead-
ers and communities for a renewed Asian Church and
society”
Carol Daria and Josie Tey were sent by the Commu-
nity, as the first Asian lay missionaries of Fondacio to
Myanmar. Carol Daria, Filipina, a graduate in Masters in
Industrial Relations, after a vow of permanent commit-
ment, gave up her job as a human resource management
consultant and trainer to serve the Archdiocese of Yangon
under the guidance of Archbishop Charles Bo, President
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar. The
Myanmar students and seminarians realize the great con-
tribution that they are giving as lay leaders and formators.
The process of converting a Fondacio member to
become a lay missionary starts with a long term commit-
ment to serve Fondacio’s vision and mission. Eight Filipi-
nos—three couples and two singles have been meeting
since 2005, to understand and discern, both individually
and as a group, the new call in their lives. They also spent
time for orientation with Madame Marie Madeleine Testard,
in charge of Long Term Commitment in Fondacio, last Feb-
ruary 2006. The eight who professed were Becky and Bong
Garces, Betty and Manny San Luis, Elvie and Chill Salaver,
Norma Manalili and Baby Ramirez. I know most of them
because Betty Lugay San Luis is my daughter. It is a
happy moment when a Father realizes that a daughter has
followed the footsteps of her parents. I and my wife dedi-
cated many years of our lives in the service of the Chris-
tian Family Movement. It is the family evangelization pro-
cess which the whole family undertook that has made its
mark on us and on our children. I pray that they will be
rewarded with a happy married life in the same way that my
wife and I spent 38 years of our lives happily together.

8 CBCP Commissions
Episcopal Commission on Canon Law (ECCL)
By Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso
THE Episcopal Commission on
Canon Law (ECCL) was organized in
order to give a rightful place to the
laws of the Church in its task of tak-
ing care of the Lord’s flock in the
Philippines.
According to the Catholic Bish-
ops’ Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) Constitution and By-laws, it
is the commission tasked to do stud-
ies and make recommendations to
the CBCP about matters which per-
tain to canon law; to promote and
organize updating seminars on
Canon Law for bishops, priests, reli-
gious and laity; to assist dioceses in
preparing personnel for the chan-
cery, for the matrimonial tribunal,
and; in general to look after canoni-
cal matters.
Starting as a committee in 1958,
it was raised to a commission when
after Vatican II the Pontifical Com-
mission to revise the 1917 Code of
Canon Law was established. It
counted among its chairmen Arch-
bishop Francisco Mabutas, Arch-
bishop Manuel Salvador, Arch-
bishop Alberto Piamonte, and, cur-
Members of the Episcopal Commission on Canon Law
Chairman
Bp. Leonardo Y. Medroso. DD
Vice-Chairman
Bp. Nereo P. Odchimar, DD
Members
Bp. Emilio Z. Marquez, DD
Bp. Jacinto A. Jose, DD
Bp. Francisco C. San Diego, DD
Abp. Oscar V. Cruz, DD
Executive Secretary
Msgr. Romulo Vergara, JCD
The Canon Law Society of
the Philippines
THE Canon Law Society
of the Philippines (CLSP) is a
non-stock and non-profit, na-
tional, public juridical person
in the Church, established
with the approval of the Catho-
lic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines.
rently, Bishop Leonardo Medroso.
Its relationship with the Canon
Law Society of the Philippines be-
gan when the latter was founded in
1993. One of CLSP’s founding fa-
thers was the late Archbishop Sal-
vador who was then ECCL Chair-
man. Together with Archbishop Os-
car V. Cruz and other canon lawyers-
bishops, Archbishop Salvador
worked hard to have the society rec-
ognized and approved by the CBCP.
When the late Archbishop
Piamonte became its chairman, he
challenged the CLSP to do certain
tasks, which were basically tasks of
the ECCL. He also appointed then
CLSP President, Msgr. Gene Velarde,
to be the ECCL’s Executive Secretary.
But that was how far things and
situations went. Although there was
a certain relationship between the
CLSP and the ECCL, such a relation-
ship was characterized by unease
and awkwardness because, precisely
it was felt that, that relationship was
unclear, undefined, never formalized
and remained tenuous.
Time and again, questions about
This Association has the fol-
lowing purposes: (1) to render
pastoral service to the Christian
Faithful through Canon Law; (2)
to promote the on-going study
of, and research in canonical
science and allied sciences to-
wards fostering the knowledge
and practice of Canon Law; (3)
to facilitate the interchange of
canonical findings and opinions,
the relationship of the Society with
the ECCL have been raised, as well
as its access to the CBCP. Those
questions have surfaced now and
then during conventions and con-
ferences, perchance inchoately at
first but lately gaining clarity. As ar-
ticulated, the question went this way:
What is our role as society with re-
gards to the CBCP in general and to
the ECCL in particular?
This was one of the burning is-
sues that the 1999 national conven-
tion of CLSP in Iloilo had to deal with.
After a lengthy discussion and
deliberation on the floor, the conven-
tion plenum made the following pro-
posals:
• That the CLSP make itself available
to render service to the CBCP;
• That the CLSP become the Secre-
tariat of the ECCL Executive Sec-
retary;
• That the CLSP President be avail-
able for appointment as ECCL Ex-
ecutive Secretary;
• That the CLSP be given office space
at the CBCP for easy access and
availability to the ECCL;
• That while serving the CBCP as an
arm especially in matters canoni-
cal, the CLSP maintains its au-
tonomy and dignity as a society.
The president sent a letter that
outlined these proposals to the
CBCP before its July 1999 meeting.
The response from the CBCP was
positive. In a letter sent to the CLSP
President, the newly appointed Chair-
man of the ECCL, Bishop Leonardo
Medroso, DD, accepted the propos-
als, to wit:
• That the CLSP become the secre-
tariat of the ECCL;
• That the CLSP President become
ex-officio the Executive Secretary
of the ECCL; and
observations and proposals
among the members and with the
other Canon Law Societies.
Members are of three types:
(1) Principal Members are those
who have Doctorate or Licenti-
ate in Canon Law; (2) Associate
Members are those who have
Baccalaureate or practical exper-
tise in Canon Law; and (3) Hon-
orary Members are those who
have outstanding interest in the
advancement of canonical learn-
ing and practice.
The 14th CLSP National
Convention a Success
THE 14 th C L S P N a t i o n a l
Convention at the Monte Vista
Conference Center in Pansol (La-
guna) took place without a hitch
last April 24-27, 2006. With 73
CLSP members (including a lone
first-timer) and 8 members of Tri-
• That CLSP will now hold office at
the CBCP.
In a posterior meeting between
Bishop Leonardo Medroso and
Msgr. Vic Rivas, not only were the
proposals accepted but the role of
CLSP was increased to provide per-
sonnel and expertise to the ECCL,
by attending to referrals and inquir-
ies directed to the Commission.
Looking forward: Projections
and Challenges
While we look proudly at the
achievements and gains of the
CLSP in its short existence, we ea-
gerly look forward to how it can
strengthen itself more in order for it
to better serve the Church. Slowly
but surely, if CLSP has to achieve
the aims that define its very exist-
ence, it has to pursue the projects
already initiated and to take up new
ones as needs arise.
In the first four years of its ex-
istence, CLSP struggled to be alive.
It underwent and experienced
growth pains. It needed delicate
care and attention. This was the task
that the first president, Msgr. Gene
Velarde, put himself to. At the end
of his two-term presidency, CLSP
was no longer a tottering infant but
a grown-up, standing tall and ready
to take its place in the life of the
Church.
Msgr. Vic Rivas, the second
president, early on in his incumbency
clearly charted the direction that
CLSP had to pursue:
“We will con-
tinue to respond to
requests of Bishops
for the updating of
their clergy and lay
leaders on Canon
Law. Likewise, we will
facilitate and conduct
training of parish sec-
retaries and Church
personnel for an ef-
fective management
of chanceries and par-
ish offices. More sig-
nificantly, we will as-
sist dioceses to orga-
nize their Marriage
Tribunals either at the
diocesan or
archdiocesan levels.”
“In view of fore-
going commitments,
we need to profession-
alize our membership
as we promote a bet-
ter understanding of
Church law and its
pastoral application.
Accordingly, it was
decided that the three
CLSP vice presidents
will hold periodic
meetings of members
bunal Staff from differenct dio-
ceses, it is the largest conven-
tion in CLSP history! Kudos to
Msgr. James Contreras and the
San Pablo clergy for a splendid
organization, and our heartfelt
gratitude to Bp. Leo Drona for
hosting the affair.
Cebu City 2007 Venue of CLSP
National Convention
IN the Business Meeting of the
CLSP at Pansol last April 25, 2006,
Cebu was chosen as the site of the
15th CLSP National Convention in
2007, with Fr. Raul Go of that arch-
diocese as Convention Chairman. In
the course of a Visayan Regional
Meeting last June, CLSP President
Msgr. Romulo Vergara and VP for
Visayas Msgr. Agustin Opalalic, to-
gether with Fr. Go obtained confir-
mation from Cebu Archbishop Card.
Vidal to host the Convention.
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 1 1, 2006
in their respective regions for socials,
conferences, updating consulta-
tions, etc.”
At present there are 246 canon
lawyers in the Philippines as far as
the latest listing is concerned. There
could be more since every year there
is a steady influx of new graduates
from the UST Faculty of Canon Law
and other canon law schools in
Rome, Spain and elsewhere. Not all
of them are members of CLSP.
Only 137 have enrolled in CLSP,
so far. In fact, not all of these 137 are
actively involved with the Society’s
programs and projects. There is a
need for members to play an active
role in CLSP, and to reach out to those
who have not enrolled yet to do the
same. Regional and sub-regional
conferences can do much to initiate
those who are non-members to take
interest in and join the Society, and
to sustain members’ interest and ac-
tive participation in the concerns and
programs of the Society. It is in the
area of shared responsibility that our
regional vice presidents can truly
help in the increase of membership
and in strengthening of the
Society’s internal organization.
Perhaps, one very crucial ques-
tion that each and every member of
the CLSP will have to ask himself is
this: As an individual member, what
can I do for the Society? The gains
that one can have by becoming a
CLSP member have already been
pointed out and proven in concrete.
It is now time for everybody to think
about what he can
contribute for the
good of CLSP and for
the good of the
Church.
Conclusion
The history of
CLSP is not a done
thing. In fact, it is still
history in the making.
Only time can tell
whether it will be able
to fulfill faithfully the
mission it has set out
to do in the service
of the Church.
Eventually, it will
redound to each and
every member, acting
individually and col-
lectively, to
strengthen CLSP or-
ganizationally; to
perform tasks for it to
achieve its programs
and projects; to pro-
mote, protect, and
honor it with commit-
ment and fidelity;
and, to renew it by
continually renewing
themselves.
CANON LAW
DOCUMENTATION SERVICE
The CLSP Secretariat is
pleased to announce that
CLSP Members can now re-
quest for documentation on
specific canons of the Code
of Canon Law. This shall con-
sist of scanned pages of the
University of Navarre, Ex-
egetical Commentary on the
Code of Canon Law (2nd Ed.)
- an 8-volume collection we
have in the CLSP Office. To
request, simply e-mail the
CLSP Office
[cbcpcanonlaw@yahoo.com],
stating topic and pertinent
canons. The material will be
e-mailed to you in MS Word
document file. Please note
that this service is limited to
CLSP Members.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 11, 2006
ON December 11, 1948 a new Dio-
cese sprang from the Archdiocese
of Manila—the Diocese of San
Fernando (Pampanga). A learned,
young and highly spirited prelate,
the Most Rev. Cesar Ma. D. Guerero,
DD was formally installed as its
bishop on September 8, 1949.
Bishop Guerrero’s pastoral visit
to the different parishes in the dio-
cese noticed that the Province of
Pampanga was rich in natural re-
sources, especially agricultural, yet
it was the breeding ground of so-
cialism before and after the Second
World War. Pampanga became the
center of communism—the towns of
the province were under the con-
tinual threat of communist bands
who wandered all over, and the
people were constantly exposed to
the violent encounters. Many fami-
lies have fled to other places to seek
sanctuary.
The sight of this chaos and
reign of terror in the province
coupled with the knowledge that the
Capampangans so profoundly reli-
gious were at odds because of lack
of mutual understanding and
friendly relation between the differ-
ent social classes, thus, the Bishop
uttered: Aqui in la Pampanga hay
mucho piedad pero poca caridad—
here in Pampanga, there is much pi-
ety but less charity.
To remedy the surging tide of
the social unrest in the province,
Bishop Guerrero founded the Cru-
sade of Charity and Goodwill. It was
in 1952, on the third Sunday of Feb-
ruary, the Bishop called for a meet-
ing in the Rectory of San Guillermo
Parish, Bacolor which was attended
by Msgr. Andres Bituin, Fr.
Diosdado Victorio and Doña Rosario
Gonzales. The meeting served as a
preliminary talk and discussion of a
gigantic task of charity which would
sway the whole province of
Pampanga. After a long forethought
and prayer, the statutes of the Cru-
sader were formulated. Rev. Fr.
Diosdado Victorio was appointed as
the Spiritual Director of the Crusade
while Rev. Fr. Genaro Sazon was
tasked to be the Chaplain.
The seven women of charity
called Damas de Caridad who are re-
puted for their charity and goodwill
were selected from the cream of
Pampanga. They are Doña Rosario
Gonzales, Doña Rosa Cacnio, Doña
Rosario Ocampo, Doña Consolacion
Panlilio, Doña Jacinta Lopez, Doña
Isabel Pecson and Doña Rosario
Mesina. The Damas de Caridad took
charge of collecting “lamac” (offer-
ing in kind for the poor). The “lamac”
awakened the generosity of the
Capampangans such that even the
poor shared the little blessings they
have. Seven, a symbolic number, was
chosen by the Bishop to signify the
seven sorrows of the Blessed Virgin.
Doña Jacinta Tayag of Bacolor was
appointed to act as the recamadera
of the Blessed Virgin.
Most Reverend Cesar Ma. D.
Guerrero - 1st Bishop of San
Fernando, Founder of the
Crusade
Diocese
Virgen de Los Remedios of
Pampanga
By Charles Henry C. Espiritu
In March 1952, the first formal
meeting of the Damas de Caridad was
held in the house of Doña Rosario
Ocampo in San Fernando. This
would we followed by more
meetings to establish and fi-
nalize the statutes
It was suggested by
the Bishop and was
agreed upon that the
Crusaded will be placed
under the patronage of
the Blessed Virgin un-
der any title. But the
title of Virgen de los
Remedios was cho-
sen, because it ap-
peals more to the
common people es-
pecially to the poor
than any other title
of the Blessed
Mother. Besides,
this title will be in-
voked to remedy and
cure the social ills of
the province. The im-
age of the Virgen de
los Remedios in the
parish church of Baliti
was designated to ac-
company the Crusader all
over Pampanga.
On April 15, 1952, the
image was brought to the
house of recamadera, Doña
Jacinta Tayag in San Vicente,
Bacolor. The image was placed on
a portable templete (andas) which
she donated. The templete was de-
vised and made in Catholic Trade
Center in San Fernando.
The Bishop, with full confi-
dence in the Mother of God who is
always ready to come to the aid of
the people, inaugurated the Crusade
of Charity and Goodwill on May 1,
1952 in the town of Masantol. The
one month crusader in each parish
commenced with the arrival of the
Virgen de los Remedios. Pampanga
Governor Rafael Lazatin together
with Bishop Guerrero, the mayors
and priests of the town being vis-
ited were united in welcoming the
Blessed Virgin. The Governor and
the Bishop repeatedly delivered the
message on the need of charity
among the Capampangans as the
only mainstay for lasting peace.
Missions and catechesis were given,
Holy Masses were celebrated,
priests patiently waited for penitents
for confessions, rosary was prayed
twenty four hours, donations for the
poor called “lamac” kept on multi-
plying immensely, love and concern
for the poor flourished, peace was
restored, and faith grew and
strengthened because of the con-
stant prayers and mortifications of
the people of the province.
Her transfer from one town to
the other was an inspiring manifes-
tation of the people’s devotion. Sol-
emn processions voluntarily at-
tended by the majority of the towns-
people accompanied her as she was
brought from one town to the next.
All these were attributed to the grace
of heaven through the intercession
of the Virgen de Los Remedios. The
Indu ning Capaldanan (the Virgin of
Remedies) gained meaningful impor-
tance in the life of Capampangans.
After the first round of visits of
the Virgen de los Remedios, the Cru-
sader was put to test. The people of
Baliti wanted and insisted that the
image would remain in their parish.
Bishop Guerrero wrote Fr. Generoso
Pallsigui in October 15, 1954 that the
image of the Virgen de los Remedios
which was used to accompany the
first round of visits of the Crusade
had to be returned to stop the com-
plaint of the people and that a new
image of Virgen de los Remedios
would be carved to start the second
provincial journey of the Crusade.
The Bishop also wrote Doña Maria
Yosuico in October 1954 informing
her about his decision. It was also
mentioned in the letter that the good
Bishop had already forgiven the
people who had uttered irreverent
words against him.
To continue the interrupted Cru-
sade, Mr. Victoriano Siongco of
Catholic Trade Center in San
Fernando was commissioned by the
bishop to carve a new beautiful im-
age. The image measuring about
eighty centimeters in height was
dressed in Spanish fashion as de-
scribed by Bishop Guerrero. A
“Congreso Mariano ning
Capampangan” (Marian Congress)
which was held in Angeles City on
November 23-25, 1954 ushered the
second round of visits of Virgen de
Los Remedios.
On November 23, 1954, a new
decree of the Crusade was issued—
from Crusade of Charity and Good-
will, it was renamed Crusade of Pen-
ance of Charity. The image of Santo
Cristo del Perdon was added to ac-
company the procession to inspire
repentance of sins and renewal of
life among the people. Seven Cabal-
leros de Cristo were appointed: De.
Abelardo Lansang, Dr. Galicano
Coronel, Mr. Epifanio Malig, Mr. Jose
Yabut, Dr. Macario Datu, Mr. Emilio
Lugue and Mr. Pablo Bognot. Engr.
Jose Miranda was appointed Secre-
tary. Processions of the Crusade
were accompanied by seven sym-
bolic lanterns. The Caballeros de
Cristo took turns in carrying the im-
age of the Crucified Christ. Number
seven was again chosen by the
Bishop to signify the seven Archan-
gels who adore the Triune God.
To promote devotion to the
Blessed Virgin, the newsletter
“Siwala Nang Maria” was pub-
lished by the diocese. On the
other hand, Rev. Fr. Jose Dela
Cruz anchored a radio pro-
gram over DZPI Manila as
a means to catechize the
devotees and the
Catholic believers.
And to express
C a p a m p a n g a n ’s
deep devotion to
the Blessed
Mother, a Himno
Oficial of the
Virgen de los
Remedios was
written by Mr.
Felix Punsalan of
San Matias while
the music was
composed by Mr.
Gaudencio Malig
of Bacolor.
The Crusade
went on. The
Blessed Virgin’s
visit to parishes was
an inspiring manifes-
tation of people’s de-
votion. Pampanga
which was once a prov-
ince of unrest and violence
restored its peace. Lamac,
the alms and gifts offered to
the Virgin as “pabacal” (offer-
ing) when she leaves one town were
given to less fortunate of the next
town she visited, the uninterrupted
recitation of the rosary at all hours
of the day from village to village—
all these were done for the conver-
sion of sinners and peace of the
world.
As a sign one one’s deep devo-
tion to the Blessed Virgin, each
Capampangan home had little
shrines of their beloved INDU
(mother). The images of the Virgen
de los Remedios were displayed on
their front windows whenever the
Blessed Virgin visit their towns wel-
coming the Holy Mother of God in
their lowly abodes. It was a great
privilege for the bishop and the
people behind him working for the
Crusade to stand and watch the Fin-
ger of God direct the flood of popu-
lar enthusiasm. The good bishop
was so convinced that God was do-
ing wonders, thus, a clamor that the
Virgen de los Remedios be declared
as Mother and Patroness of
Pampanga.
Government officials and the
catholic people of Pampanga made
His
His Excellency
Excellency
MOST
MOST REV.
REV. PACIANO
PACIANO B.B.
ANICETO,
ANICETO, D.D.
D.D.
Archbishop
Archbishop ofof San
San Fernando
Fernando
9
resolutions requesting the Most
Rev. Cesar Ma. Guerrero to make rep-
resentations with Ecclesiastical Au-
thorities for the Canonical Corona-
tion of the image of the Virgen de los
Remedios. On the feast of the appa-
rition of Our Lady of Lourdes, Feb-
ruary 11, 1956, Bishop Guerrero sub-
mitted the Petition to His Eminence
Federico Cardinal Tedeschini, Prefect
of the Sacred Congregation of Ar-
chitecture, Vatican City, requesting
His Holiness Pope Pius XII to grant
the Province of Pampanga the honor
and glory of having the Canonical
Coronation of the Pilgrim Virgin un-
der the title VIRGEN DE LOS
REMEDIOS— Ing Indu Ning
Capaldanan.
The glorious moment came on
July 15, 1956 during the eighteenth
year of the Pontificate of Pope Pius
XII, when the Vatican issued the
Decree on the Canonical Coronation
of the image of the Virgen de los
Remegios.
On September 8, 1956, an esti-
mated 70,000 devout Catholic,
flocked to the provincial grounds of
the province and braved the stormy
weather for the canonical coronation
of their revered Patroness, the INDU
NING CAPALDANAN. The Apos-
tolic Nuncio to the Philippines, the
Most Rev. Egidio Vagnozzi, assisted
by the Honorable Governor Rafael
Lazatin, laid the golden crown on the
image of the Blessed Virgin. Famous
sons of Pampanga who were church
and government dignitaries, like
Archbishop Pedro Santos, Senator
Gil Puyat and Representative
Diosdado Macapagal, attended the
coronation rites and paid tribute to
the Holy Mother of God.
From then on, the Virgen de los
Remedios, who has been revered
with most tender devotion is en-
shrined in the harts of every
Capampangan. With such faith and
enthusiasm, the people had continu-
ally thronged to her. The Crusade
had bridged the gap between the rich
and the poor being the primary ob-
jective of the campaign. The suc-
ceeding Prelates of Pampanga, the
Most Rev. Emilio Cinense, the Most
Rev. Oscar Cruz and the Most Rev.
Paciano Aniceto continued the work
that had been started by their prede-
cessor.
The year 2006 marks the Golden
Anniversary of the Canonical Coro-
nation of the INDU NING
CAPALDAN, ING TULA NING
CAPAMPANGAN (The Vir gin of
Remedies, Joy of the
Capampangan). The celebration is
doubly significant because it coin-
cides with the “Year of Social Con-
cerns” as declared by the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philip-
pines. We attribute the marvel of the
Crusade to the motherly benediction
of our beloved INDU. It is Mary and
she alone! May she continue to
obtain for us the blessings of last-
ing peace and order and thus be-
come the remedy of social ills.

10
Church Social Involvement:
The Continuing Debate
by James H. Kroeger, M.M.
“POSING complex questions” and
“Desiring simple answers.” These
two phrases spring to mind as one
listens to the frequent questions
asked regarding the Church’s role in
civic and social matters. And, in the
Philippines where over 80% of the citi-
zens are Catholics, the actions of the
national bishops’ conference (CBCP)
on social matters take on special
prominence—particularly when they
gather for their plenary assemblies
every January and July. The recent
meeting of “the influential Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philip-
pines” (a favorite journalistic phrase)
again sparked a barrage of questions.
What is the CBCP stand on im-
peachment, charter change, and elec-
toral reform? How do the bishops
view gambling, extra-judicial killings,
family and population? Yes, these
are complex questions, not answer-
able with quick, short, “sound-bite”
Message of / from p12
ness that prayer does not divide
but unites and is a decisive ele-
ment for an effective pedagogy
of peace, hinged on friendship,
reciprocal acceptance and dia-
logue between people of differ-
ent cultures and religions.
We are in greater need of
this dialogue than ever, especially
if we look at the new generations.
Sentiments of hatred and ven-
geance have been inculcated in
numerous young people in those
parts of the world marked by
conflicts, in ideological contexts
where the seeds of ancient re-
sentment are cultivated and their
souls prepared for future vio-
lence. These barriers must be
torn down and encounter must
be encouraged.
I am glad, therefore, that the
initiatives planned in Assisi this
year are along these lines and, in
particular, that the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dia-
logue has had the idea of apply-
ing them in a special way for
young people.
responses. The July 2006 CBCP pas-
toral letter on social concerns
(Shepherding and Prophesying in
Hope) is genuinely helpful in ad-
dressing many burning issues; the
bishops employ both principles and
praxis in their reflections. Tolle, lege.
Take and read to “guide your own
discernment, discussion, decision,
and action” (4).
In this context, permit one more
attempt to respond to commonly
heard questions about the local
Church’s involvement in Philippine
social questions.
Why does the Church get in-
volved? The Church has been given
a mission by Christ; it is a mission of
evangelization, “renewed integral
evangelization” (PCP-II 154-401).
This means bringing the Good News
into all strata of humanity” (EN 18).
In short all aspects of life (social,
cultural, political, economic, environ-
In order not to misinterpret the
meaning of what John Paul II
wanted to achieve in 1986 and what,
to use his own words, he habitually
called the “spirit of Assisi”, it is im-
portant not to forget the attention
paid on that occasion to ensuring
that the interreligious Prayer Meet-
ing did not lend itself to syncretist
interpretations founded on a rela-
tivistic concept.
For this very reason, John Paul
II declared at the outset: “The fact
that we have come here does not
imply any intention of seeking a re-
ligious consensus among ourselves
or of negotiating our faith convic-
tions. Neither does it mean that reli-
gions can be reconciled at the level
of a common commitment in an
earthly project which would sur-
pass them all. Nor is it a concession
to relativism in religious beliefs”
(ibid., n. 2).
I would like to reaffirm this prin-
ciple which constitutes the premise
for the interreligious dialogue that
the Second Vatican Council was
hoping for, as is expressed in the
Feature
mental, etc.) are to be renewed and
transformed with Gospel values. To
do this mission is not an option; it is
a duty for all Church members, not
only bishops and clergy. Genuine
evangelization is a long, never-end-
ing process.
How does the Church’s social
teaching enter into evangelization?
To preach the full Gospel (not only
dogmatic teaching) means manifest-
ing the moral and social implications
of Christian faith; how does faith im-
pact people’s lives? Christ’s Gospel
of Love and his Gospel of Justice are
one. The Church must both an-
nounce Gospel principles to guide
people’s actions and denounce those
concrete actions that are contrary to
Gospel values. Cardinal Sin has said:
“The Catholic pastor should be a
prophet of denunciation, but above
all a minister of reconciliation.”
Is this “social mission” of the
Declaration on the Relations of the
Church to Non-Christian Religions
(cf. Nostra Aetate, n. 2).
I gladly take this opportunity
to greet the representatives of other
religions who are taking part in one
or other of the Assisi commemora-
tions. Like us Christians, they know
that in prayer it is possible to have
a special experience of God and to
draw from it effective incentives for
dedication to the cause of peace.
However, here too, it is only
right to avoid an inappropriate con-
fusion. Therefore, even when we are
gathered together to pray for peace,
the prayer must follow the different
uses proper to the various religions.
This was the decision in 1986 and it
continues to be valid also today.
The convergence of differences
must not convey an impression of
surrendering to that relativism
which denies the meaning of truth
itself and the possibility of attain-
ing it.
For his daring and prophetic
initiative John Paul II desired to
choose the evocative setting of this
Church something new? Abso-
lutely not! Jesus himself took sides
with the “lonely, least, lost, little, and
last” people of his society; he came
to bring good news to the poor. The
respected Philippine Church histo-
rian, J.N. Schumacher asserts: “The
Philippine Church, in fact, was liter-
ally founded on the basis of its
struggle for justice…. If the Philip-
pine Church then is to be true to her
tradition, [she must remain] in soli-
darity with those whose cause her
Master principally came for—on the
side of the poor.”
What are the Church’s politi-
cal ambitions? It must be bluntly
stated that the Church has no ambi-
tions of political power. If she does
have influence in the Philippine con-
text, she desires to use it for the ser-
vice of humanity. John Paul II as-
serts: “Man is the primary route that
the Church must travel in fulfilling
her mission” (RH 14). Cardinal Sin’s
policy of “critical collaboration” with
governmental bodies (which he
enunciated so well during the
Marcos martial law years) remains an
eminently useful guideline today.
Why does the Church get in-
volved in specific social questions?
Applying Church social teaching to
specific “burning social issues” as the
CBCP did in its well-reflected pastoral
letter (e.g. charter change, impeach-
ment, electoral reform) is included in
the Church’s mission. In 1987 Cardi-
nal Sin issued A Catechism on the In-
volvement of Priests in Political Ac-
tivity. He wrote that a pastor fails his
flock “when he preaches only general
principles and fails to apply them to
concrete situations” or “when he
keeps silent about injustices and fails
to defend human rights.”
What has happened to the
“separation of Church and State”?
This principle is often poorly under-
stood and some use it to advance
their own political agenda. The prin-
ciple asserts: “No religion is to be
established as the official state reli-
gion, and no state should favor one
religion over others.” This principle
does not intend to promote isolation
or competition between Church and
civil society. Both institutions
should facilitate the attainment of
each other’s goals, always seeking
the common good and addressing
matters of moral behavior in society.
How can the Church commu-
nicate her social teaching more
clearly? Certainly there is always
room for better communication. The
Church has various options (print,
television and radio, internet, etc.)
One fine example of media facilitat-
town of Assisi, known across the
world on account of St Francis.
In fact, the “Poverello” embod-
ied in an exemplary way the Beati-
tude proclaimed by Jesus in the Gos-
pel: “Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God”
(Mt 5: 9). The witness Francis bore
in his time makes him a natural ref-
erence point today for people who
are fostering the ideal of peace, re-
spect for nature and dialogue be-
tween people, religions and cul-
tures. It is important, however, to
recall, if one does not want to be-
tray his message, that it was Christ’s
radical decision that provided him
with a key to understanding the
brotherhood to which all people are
called, and in which inanimate crea-
tures - from “brother sun” to “sis-
ter moon” - also in a certain way
participate.
I would therefore like to recall
that the eighth centenary of the con-
version of St Francis coincides with
this 20th anniversary of John Paul
II’s Prayer Meeting for Peace. The
two commemorations shed light
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 1 1, 2006
ing understanding was the half-hour
program (ABS-CBN News Channel,
July 13, 2006) given to CBCP Presi-
dent A. Lagdameo to present, clarify,
and discuss the recent pastoral let-
ter. The Church’s social teaching and
the rationale for the bishops’ posi-
tions found ample time for elucida-
tion. Delicate and complicated so-
cial issues need adequate time for
presentation and comprehension.
What else could the Church do
to communicate her reflections?
Church media personnel could em-
ploy simple, concrete images that
ordinary folks can easily grasp. In
1976, in order to explain the Church-
State relationship, Cardinal Sin used
an image of railroad tracks, one track
representing the Church, the other
the State. “They run in the same di-
rection, and so long as they remain
parallel and separate, … they can get
people to where they want to go.
But, if the parallelism is broken …
[there can be] considerable damage
and loss of life.”
Why don’t the bishops directly
tell the faithful what to do (it would
make things simpler)? Here two
things must be noted. Paul VI has
written: “In concrete situations …
one must recognize a legitimate vari-
ety of possible options. The same
Christian faith can lead to different
commitments” (OA 50). In other
words, Christians can choose differ-
ent yet valid, concrete responses to
living their faith (always excluding
violence). Secondly, the Church has
the serious responsibility to ensure
the necessary formation of the con-
sciences of the faithful so they will
make responsible moral choices in
socio-political matters. The Church’s
mission of integral evangelization
includes this important task.
What should guide ordinary
Christians in the “minefield” of
social involvement? Many items
have already been mentioned: a well-
formed conscience, the Church’s
social teaching, the advice of the
bishops who come from all parts of
the country and prayerfully discern
these questions. Catholics should
also develop a “spirituality of social
solidarity.” Such a spirituality will
integrate deep faith, Christian char-
ity, holiness of life, apostolic involve-
ment, and a true love of God’s
anawim—the poor.
(James H. Kroeger, M.M. has served mis-
sion in the Philippines since his 1970 ar-
rival. Currently, a faculty member at Loyola
School of Theology (Manila) and the Mother
of Life Catechetical Institute (Novaliches),
he has recently published Once upon a
Time in Asia, Claretian Publications and
Jesuit Communications).
upon each other. In the words
addressed to him by the Crucifix
of St Damian: “Francis, go, re-
pair my house”; in his choice of
radical poverty, in the kiss of the
leper that expresses his new ca-
pacity to see and love Christ in
his suffering brethren, began
that human and Christian adven-
ture which continues to fascinate
so many people in our day and
to make this town the destina-
tion of countless pilgrims.
I entrust to you, Venerable
Brother, Pastor of this Church of
Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo
Tadino, the task of making these
reflections known to the partici-
pants in the various celebrations
planned to commemorate the
20th anniversary of that historic
event, the Interreligious Meet-
ing of 27 October 1986. Also
kindly impart to everyone my af-
fectionate greeting and my
Blessing, which I accompany
with the greeting and prayer of
the “Poverello” of Assisi: “May
the Lord grant you peace!”.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 11, 2006
LATEST government statis-
tics on national physical ac-
counts show that mining in
the Philippines has gained in
value. However the environ-
mental degradation it has
caused has also increased.
This, it seems, is the princi-
pal trigger of the continuing
wide opposition against min-
ing as an economic activity
in the country. Placed further
in the context of extremely
high biodiversity, low land
base, rising demand for land
due to a rising population,
extremely socially sensitive
tenure regimes involving in-
digenous peoples, and high
downstream impacts of open
extraction in a generally
mountainous archipelago,
the negative externalities of
mining invite magnified
cause for social, ethical, reli-
gious and ecological con-
cerns.
International mining
companies from Australia
(nine at the last count) have
entered into financial and
technical assistance agree-
ments. Climax Arimco Min-
ing Corp. (CAMC), whose
name has been changed to
Australasian Philippines
Mining Inc. (APMI) oper-
ates on 21,465 hectares of
the Didipio Copper/Gold
Project in Didipio, Kasibu,
Nueva Vizcaya. The site is
located some 200 km north
of Manila.
The company claims that
it has “strong local community
and government support.”
This could not be farther from
the truth. The people have re-
sisted the entry of the mine from
the beginning of the mid 1990s.
Here are some events:
1. Invoking a people’s
initiative, the local barangay
mustered 20% of the legitimate
voters and filed a petition to
the Commission on Election
(COMELEC) for the conduct
of a referendum to decide
whether the mine should be
allowed in or not. However,
the COMELEC took almost
four years to act on the peti-
tion. Eventually, the petition
became moot and academic
since the majority of the anti-
mining candidates for the
Sangguniang Barangay (local
legislative body) won 6 out of
8 seats. The people retracted
their petition for obvious rea-
sons.
2. The local barangay
Social Concern 11
council (Didipio) had passed
a resolution approving the The Threat to Indigenous People’s Rights and
Environment by Mining:
mine’s entry, which was re-
voked by the new set of
barangay officials after the
2004 election. (The officials
were reportedly elected on the
basis of their anti-Climax
Arimco stand.)
3. In July 2005, the mu-
nicipality of Kasibu voted
A Philippine Case Study
against the entry of the mine,
but the provincial government By Most Rev. Ramon B. Villena, DD
(egged on by the regional
MGB) approved it the follow-
ing month.
4. Within a week of the
provincial board’s decision,
the people—led by DESAMA
(Didipio Earth Savers Move-
ment) and supported by the
Social Action Centre of the
Diocese of Bayombong.
Nueva Vizcaya—turned out in
a well-attended indignation
rally in front of the provincial
capitol. Despite the rains and
the short notice, some 1,000
people were at the rally.
The local economy is ag-
ricultural, with fruits, veg-
etables, and rice grown in the
province and brought for sale
to Manila. There is also a
thriving citrus fruit produc-
tion, for which a festival is held
every two years, to announce
to all that “the people’s gold
is picked from a tree, not dug
from the ground.” (Their situ-
ation is much like that of
Tambogrande, Peru, where
farmers engaged in growing
lemons and mangoes fought
a giant gold mine.) Brooms
and baskets woven by the
people from locally-sourced
plants are also brought to
Manila or sold along the high-
way.
The people are a mixture
of Ilocano and several indig-
enous tribes, notably the in- rassment is employed to get main river system in Cagayan on safeguarding the rights of poverty-alleviating.” ( Janu-
digenous Bugkalot (or the citizens to give up their Valley, one of whose tributar- local communities and indig- ary 29, 2006 )
Ilongot) and the Ifugao, who land. ies is Dinauyan River where enous groups, on accelerating We are also calling for
went east when the large dams 7. The company has also the tailings will be released), deforestation with conse- stronger control and safe-
in the Cordilleras displaced resorted to bribery, as re- Legal Resources Centre, quences for biodiversity, wa- guards over the activities of
them in the 1960s and 1970s. . ported by named officials of Foundation for the Philippine ter and soil protection and corporations based in the Phil-
The people resist the the Kabataang Barangay to Environment, Tebtebba Foun- impacts on local fisherfolk. ippines and Australia and op-
mine because: give up their anti-mining dation, and Alyansa Tigil The Catholic Church erating around the world with
5. It will deprive them of stance. Mina. wishes to register its concern particular attention to the ex-
their land and livelihood, e.g. 8. Climax has deceitfully The Didipio project is at the breakdown in legal pro- tractive industries sector,
Sitio Dinauyan, Climax in- set up pseudo-Indigenous strongly opposed by the ma- cess and good governance which has such a large impact
tends to turn into its tailings People (IP) groups among jority of the people in Quirino and the proper protection of on the environment and such
dam. To do this, the company those whom they have “con- and Nueva Vizcaya and a local and indigenous rights a poor record in its dealings
will need to drive away the vinced” to move to Kasibu broad alliance of local govern- manifest in the Didipio Cop- on issues of human rights and
local people from their lands. from the neighbouring town ment bodies, the Catholic per/Gold Project in Didipio. sustainable development. We
6. Right now, the com- of Cabarroguis and Bishop and church The Philippine Catholic Bish- pray for your support and
pany is going through what Nagtipunan, both municipali- organisations, environmental ops seek the active support understanding in the struggle
the people call “behest buy- ties of Quirino Province . activists, human rights of Australian Bishops, insti- against irresponsible mining
ing,” where a combination of 9. The entry of the mine groups, farmers’ tutions and civil society ac- and blatant exploitation of In-
intimidation and verbal ha- has caused divisions within organisations, organisations tors for the protection of digenous People2s.
families and the barangay it- working with social issues and democratic processes, local We would like to express
self, undermined the local cul- Indigenous Peoples’ federa- governance and adequate our appreciation of the efforts
ture of consultation and co- tions. safeguards for the human of the Australian Bishops’
operation (Free and Prior In- The opposition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Committee for Justice, Devel-
formed Consent) and weak- residents of Didipio and civil the poor and marginalized, as opment and Peace for their
ened indigenous cultural prac- society groups should be we celebrate Social Justice pastoral statement “Chris-
tices through the company’s more than sufficient in Philip- Sunday on the 24th of Septem- tians And Their Duty To-
divide and rule tactics, brib- pine Law to prevent the ber. As we stated clearly and wards Nature” where they
ery and intimidation, resulting project as the informed con- unequivocally in our Pastoral have expressed their call of
in a case filed by DESAMA in sent from the affected indig- Letter on Mining: concern for the care and re-
the local courts. enous peoples, and the con- “[We] support the call of sponsibility towards creation:
Who are the people help- sent and endorsement of all various sectors, especially ‘We must consider very
ing the local communities: affected populations and lo- the Indigenous Peoples, to carefully the ways in which we
10. DESAMA is the local cal authorities, are required stop the 24 Priority Mining can help other nations not to
people’s organization, com- for a project of this type to Projects of the government, harm the environment. Richer
posed of residents of Didipio proceed. However, President and the closure of large-scale nations can criticise the
and those from other Arroyo and her central gov- mining projects, for example, poorer ones for destroying
barangays who oppose the ernment agencies are strongly the Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic their forests and ravaging their
entry of the mine. promoting foreign mining in- Project in Albay, HPP Project land, even though the more
11. The Diocesan Social vestment. They are backed in in Palawan, Didipio Gold- affluent nations contribute to
Action Commission, the so- their support to the mining Copper Project in Nueva that destruction. Existing in-
cial advocacy and service arm sector by the World Bank, Vizcaya, Tampakan Copper- ternational economic struc-
of the Diocese of Bayombong, Asian Development Bank and Gold Project in South tures are such that nations in
under the leadership of other international investors. Cotabato, Canatuan Gold the third world are forced into
Bishop Ramon B. Villena. Concerns about abuse of pro- Project in Zamboanga del using up their natural re-
12. Other groups: Local cess are based on past experi- Norte, and the San Antonio sources.’
Peoples’ organizations— ence of the impact of mining Copper Project in The invitation gives us
KIRED, KOVENANT, LUFA, in the Philippines, e.g. the on- Marinduque, among others; the assurance that we are one
GNBP, Local NGO’s - ACDA, going impact of the Australian [we] support the conduct of in this advocacy of continu-
Task Force Detainees— (Melbourne) Lafayette Rapu studies on the evil effects of ing our duty and responsibil-
Northern Luzon (Region 2), Rapu polymetallic mine cya- mining in dioceses; [we] sup- ity towards nature and the
Save the River Movement (re- nide spills of contaminated port all economic activities Creator, thus, an essential part
ferring to Cagayan River, the tailings on the environment, that are life-enhancing and of our Faith.

12
To my Venerable Brother Bishop
Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi-
Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino
THIS year is the 20th anniversary
of the Interreligious Meeting of
Prayer for Peace, esired by my ven-
erable Predecessor John Paul II on
27 October 1986 in Assisi. It is well
known that he did not only invite
Christians of various denomina-
tions to this Meeting but also the
exponents of different religions.
The initiative made an important
impact on public opinion. It consti-
tuted a vibrant message furthering
peace and an event that left its mark
on the history of our time.
Thus, the memory of those
events continues to inspire initia-
tives of reflection and commitment.
Some are planned to take place in
Assisi itself on the occasion of the
20th anniversary of that initiative. I
am thinking of the celebration or-
ganized in agreement with this Dio-
cese by the Sant’Egidio Community,
like its other annual meetings.
Moreover, on the actual days
of the anniversary, a Convention or-
ganized by the Theological Institute
of Assisi will be held, and the par-
ticular Churches of this Region will
gather at the Eucharist
concelebrated by the Bishops of
Umbria in the Basilica of St Francis.
The Pontifical Council for In-
terreligious Dialogue will organize
a meeting of dialogue, prayer and
peace training for Catholic young
people and those from other reli-
gious backgrounds.
These initiatives, each with its
own specific style, highlight the
value of John Paul II’s insight and
demonstrate its timeliness in light
of what has happened in the past
20 years and of humanity’s situa-
tion today.
There is no doubt that the most
significant event in this period was
the fall of the Communist-inspired
regimes in Eastern Europe. This
brought an end to the Cold War that
had given rise to a sort of division
of the world into an axis of oppos-
ing influence that spawned the stor-
ing of terrifying arsenals and armies
in preparation for a full-scale war.
This was a moment when the
widespread hope for peace induced
many people to dream of a different
world, where relations between
peoples would develop, safe from
In and Out / from p6
But I would like to draw your
attention to a positive aspect of the
global migration of Filipinos. I am
not referring to the 10 – 12 billion
dollars they send to our country,
inspite of which we are still consid-
ered among the poorest countries.
Are we really? More than contribut-
ing to the work-force in 193 coun-
tries, our diasporic Filipinos have
something else, more important, to
offer to the world. Along with our
smiling faces, we are offering to the
receiving countries or Churches, our
Christian Faith lived in the context
of different cultures and religions.
According to one study “The Fili-
pino diaspora has put one out of ev-
ery five Filipinos in a more multi-eth-
nic and multi-religious milieu.” This
positive aspect is likewise the new
challenge of the Filipino diaspora. It
is both a challenge and a concern.
Our Filipino migrants go to other
countries in search of work and live-
lihood to support themselves and
their families back home. Before we
were sending missionary priests and
religious sisters expressly to be in
mission, to evangelize; but their
number has started to dwindle. And
what a providential coincidence!
Coming from a predominantly Catho-
lic Christian country, these migrant
Filipino workers in search of liveli-
hood could be equipped with the
disposition and skills of lay mission-
aries, who will not necessarily
Message
Message of His Holiness
Benedict XVI To Bishop
Domenico Sorrentino on the
Occasion of the 20th
Anniversary of the
Interreligious Meeting of
Prayer for Peace
the nightmare of war, and where the
“globalization” process would un-
fold under the banner of a peaceful
encounter of peoples and cultures
in the context of a common interna-
tional law inspired by respect for the
needs of truth, justice and solidar-
ity.
Unfortunately, this dream of
peace never came true. On the con-
trary, the third millennium opened
with scenes of terrorism and vio-
lence that show no sign of abating.
Then, the fact that armed conflicts
are taking place today against a
background of the geographical and
political tensions that exist in many
regions may give the impression
that not only cultural diversity but
also religious differences are causes
of instability or threats to the pros-
pect of peace.
It is under this profile that the
initiative John Paul II promoted 20
years ago has acquired the features
of an accurate prophecy. His invi-
tation to the world’s religious lead-
ers to bear a unanimous witness to
peace serves to explain with no pos-
sibility of confusion that religion
must be a herald of peace.
preach, but live the Gospel of Jesus
in the context of cultural and religious
pluralism. They are Filipinos in dia-
logue with other cultures and reli-
gions, which for them would be a
new way of being Church and a new
way of being in mission, beyond
adding to the number of church-
goers in the receiving Churches
which have fallen victims of materi-
alism and secularism.
The new situation of our com-
patriots in diaspora is an opportu-
nity to redefine our notion of becom-
ing migrants and our understanding
of being church and in mission.
What we said in the Second Plenary
Council of the Philippines find some
practical application here: “In the
Church, nobody is so poor as to have
nothing to give, and nobody is so
rich as to have nothing to receive.”
(no. 98). This offers the Filipino
Catholic Christian migrant a new fo-
cus, a new vision.
For both the sending poor coun-
try and the receiving wealth country,
there is something to give and to re-
ceive. What is received and given
may be different in quality and quan-
tity, but that is not to be measured.
Work and livelihood on the one hand,
faith and the new way of being church
and of being in mission on the other:
how do we compare them? It is just
they are both given and received by
one and the other. A new focus and
vision for both the giver and receiver.
As the Second Vatican Coun-
cil taught in the Declaration Nostra
Aetate on the Relation of the
Church to Non-Christian Religions:
“We cannot truly pray to God the
Father of all if we treat any people
in other than brotherly fashion, for
all men are created in God’s image”
(n. 5).
Despite the differences that
mark the various religious itinerar-
ies, recognition of God’s existence,
which human beings can only ar-
rive at by starting from the experi-
ence of creation (cf. Rom 1: 20), must
dispose believers to view other hu-
man beings as brothers and sisters.
It is not legitimate, therefore, for
anyone to espouse religious differ-
ence as a presupposition or pretext
for an aggressive attitude towards
other human beings.
It could be objected that his-
tory has experienced the regrettable
phenomenon of religious wars. We
know, however, that such demon-
strations of violence cannot be at-
tributed to religion as such but to
the cultural limitations with which
it is lived and develops in time.
Yet, when the religious sense
Tidbits / from p6
else but the Lord Himself and affirmed
by conciliar pronouncement” ( O.
Cruz, Call of the Laity, p. 176). Lastly,
Canon 227 implicitly declares that the
lay faithful have the right to the reli-
gious freedom within the civil soci-
ety. They are bona fide citizens of
the republic. As such the State can-
not discriminate against them for the
fact that they are Christians.
But secular matters are not just
program of temporal actions, nor are
they mere political maneuverings and
transactions, nor an ideology. Prod-
ucts of free human acts, they have
moral dimension. As such they are
somehow subject to the natural law
and sometimes even to the positive
divine law. In view of this, Christians
“in every temporal affair are to be
guided by a Christian conscience,
Views and Points / from p7
It goes without saying that the people
who made the fundamental law of their
country, can and may change this at
their own popular option. The ques-
tion is why they are adamantly told
to change it—even if they do not re-
ally know why. And why are they also
being told that changing their charter
is the answer to all their worries and
woes, their misery and anxiety.
It is incongruous to give a new
car precisely to a bad driver. Build-
ing a new one for those who do not
know how to care for a house is an
exercise in futility.
reaches maturity it gives rise to a
perception in the believer that faith
in God, Creator of the universe and
Father of all, must encourage rela-
tions of universal brotherhood
among human beings.
In fact, attestations of the close
bond that exists between the rela-
tionship with God and the ethics of
love are recorded in all great reli-
gious traditions. We Christians feel
strengthened in this and further en-
lightened by the Word of God. The
Old Testament already expresses
God’s love for all peoples which, in
the covenant that he established
with Noah, he gathered in one great
embrace, symbolized by the “bow
in the clouds” (Gn 9: 13, 14, 16), and
which, according to the Prophets’
words, he intended to gather once
and for all into a single universal
family (cf. Is 2: 2ff.; 42: 6; 66: 18-21;
Jer 4: 2; Ps 47[46]).
In the New Testament the rev-
elation of this universal plan of love
culminates in the Paschal Mystery,
in which the Son of God Incarnate,
in an overwhelming act of saving
solidarity, offers himself as a sacri-
fice on the Cross for the whole of
since not even in temporal business
may any human activity be withdrawn
from God’s dominion” (cf. LG 36). Be-
sides, the lay faithful are called to Chris-
tianize society. This demands a good
grasp of Christian faith and morals. For
that to happen the hierarchical struc-
ture of the Church intervenes in secu-
lar matters through the teaching on
faith and on the moral rules that gov-
ern human conduct. It also comes in
to provide the faithful with the neces-
sary means for the salvation of the
world. This intervention, however, is
not meant to give conclusive solutions
to secular problems which are proper
to civil society and its citizens. It is
there to show the moral and spiritual
dimension of the secular life. Other-
wise, “where the organization, evolu-
tion, and development of secular life
Issues and Concerns / from p7
ing Civil-Military Operations. We
still have to get the figures and costs
of their equipage, from their uniforms
to whatever gears are given them.
From a total of 384 liquidations
by the New People’s Army since 2006,
169 of the victims were CAFGUs.
Can’t we leave the internal security
operations to the highly trained sol-
diers and police operatives? One
could not help but wonder for whose
security and development are these
lightly-trained armed civilians? Let’s
spare the civilians from this on-go-
ing warfare. One life lost is one too
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 1 1, 2006
humanity. Thus, God demonstrates
that his nature is Love. This is what
I meant to emphasize in my first En-
cyclical, which begins precisely
with the words “Deus caritas est”
(I Jn 4: 7).
Scripture’s assertion not only
casts light on God’s mystery but
also illumines relations between
human beings who are called to
abide by the commandment of love.
The gathering that the Servant
of God John Paul II organized in
Assisi appropriately puts the em-
phasis on the value of prayer in
building peace. Indeed, we are
aware of how difficult and, at times,
how humanly desperate this pro-
cess can be. Peace is a value in
which so many elements converge.
To build it, the paths of cultural,
political and economic order are, of
course, important, but first of all
peace must be built in hearts. It is
here, in fact, that sentiments de-
velop that can nurture it or, on the
contrary, threaten, weaken and stifle
it.
Moreover, the human heart is
the place where God intervenes. In
this regard, in addition to the “hori-
zontal” dimension of relations with
other human beings, the “vertical”
dimension of each person’s rela-
tionship with God, the foundation
of all things, is proving to be of fun-
damental importance. This was ex-
actly what Pope John Paul II in-
tended to recall to the world with
the 1986 event.
He asked for genuine prayer
which involves the whole of life.
Thus, he desired it to be accompa-
nied by fasting and expressed in pil-
grimage, a symbol of the journey to-
wards the encounter with God. And
he explained, “Prayer entails con-
version of heart on our part” (Inau-
guration of the World Day of Prayer
for Peace, Assisi, 27 October 1986,
n. 4; L’Osservatore Romano English
edition, 3 November, p. 1).
Among the features of the
1986 Meeting, it should be
stressed that this value of prayer
in building peace was testified to
by the representatives of different
religious traditions, and this did
not happen at a distance but in the
context of a meeting. Conse-
quently, the people of diverse reli-
gions who were praying could
show through the language of wit-
Message of / P10
is concerned, the principle of the in-
competence of the Church and the free-
dom of laypersons prevails” (Code of
Canon Law Annotated, edited by
Caparros, Thorn, p. 199).
Shaped and influenced by this
conciliar and canonical doctrine,
LAIKO comes out this year with the
National Laity Week. Through it they
strive to “rediscover the immensity of
God’s love in all creation; to rediscover
one’s vocation as an active agent in
building a culture of love, to share
God’s love in the spirit of Christian char-
ity; to experience the transforming
power of the Eucharist in building the
culture of love in the community.”
Noble objectives they all are, dreams
and ambitions of our lay faithful who
are living out their Christianity in the
world. We wish them success.
many.
His Holiness Pope John Paul II
was correct in his Sollicitudo Rei
Socialis when he asserted that the
great “hopes for development” in
the Third World mentioned by his
predecessor Pope Paul VI in
Populorum Progressio have not
been realized since the encyclical
was published in the 1960s.
Our leaders often said security
and development go together. This
column asserts “development is an-
other word for peace.” We have to
maximize our meager resources.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 11, 2006
From the Archdiocese of Capiz
GAMBLING en-
dangers the
moral fiber of
our country. It
can become ad-
dictive, a way of
life, and if food,
education and
other basic
needs of children are grossly ne-
glected, gambling is morally unac-
ceptable. The Catechism of the
Catholic Church (CCC) clearly
states that the games of chance “be-
come morally unacceptable when
they deprive someone of what is
necessary to provide for his needs
and those of others. The passion
for gambling risks becoming an en-
slavement” (CCC, 2413).
We know that many Filipinos,
both small-timers and big-timers,
want to earn instant, if not big,
money in various forms of gambling
like daily double, pick three, Masiao,
etc.
The Small Town Lottery (STL),
a form of gambling, is a recent re-
vival made by powerful government
personalities to replace jueteng. It
is considered “legal gambling” un-
der the Philippine Charity Sweep-
stakes Office (PCSO). In the prov-
ince of Capiz, interested parties wish
to promote and proliferate it with the
intention to extract money from the
pockets of the poor and the middle
income earners since it is designed
for them. Is this not a form of wicked
design out of selfishness, greed, ma-
liciousness and deceit? The Gospel
tells us that these wicked designs
come from the deep recesses of the
heart” (Mk. 7:21).
Although it is labeled as “Small
Town,” its daily revenues are big
which mostly come from the ordi-
nary folks from cities, towns and
barangays. The small yet daily bets
will not only contribute to the al-
ready precarious and miserable
plight of the poor, but will also per-
petuate the societal corruption in
depriving the poor with millions of
From the Diocese of Antipolo
My dear brothers and sisters:
I am writing this
pastoral letter in
order to protest
against the plan
to put up the
small town lot-
tery (STL) in the
province of
Rizal. STL is gambling and, like
jueteng, it victimizes especially the
poor.
According to the Catechism of
the Catholic Church, gambling in it-
self is not immoral. It becomes mor-
ally unacceptable when it deprives
someone of what is necessary to
provide for his needs and those of
his dependents. It is also immoral
when it becomes an addiction. Gam-
bling also promotes laziness. It en-
courages dependence on luck
rather than on hard work in order to
improve one’s situation in life.
These factors that make gambling
immoral are present in STL. Be-
cause of STL, many thousands of
poor people deprive their families
Statements
pesos. How can gambling promote
societal prosperity when gamblers
in majority of cases, are losers? How
could corruption and the propaga-
tion of a culture of gambling prom-
ise a bright future for the ordinary
Capizeños who are already heavily
burdened by taxes and high prices?
The entry and proliferation of
STL in Capiz will bring benefits to
the gambling lords, their corrupt
subordinates and some local gov-
ernment officials who would siphon
money from the ordinary
patronizers. Election is near. Money
is needed. Diversion of funds for
election purpose is inevitable. De-
ception and dishonesty are pure
corruption and betrayal of the com-
mon good. If our local government
units will promote STL, will this not
instill in our people the vice of in-
dolence, making them entrust their
future to chance? What virtues and
good examples will the parents and
elders pass on to their children if
they bank on a mentality of chance?
We need to remember that work
is a vocation and has value. Even
God Himself worked when he cre-
ated the world. When we work, we
participate in the ongoing work of
God’s creation. Let us persevere in
hard and honest work so that we
would be pleasing to God.
As we acknowledge and thank
individuals and groups who have
supported against the legalization
of STL and other forms of gambling
in Capiz, we reiterate the strong be-
lief of the Philippine bishops con-
tained in their pastoral letter en-
titled: “Building a ‘Civilization of
love’: A Pastoral Exhortation for the
Year of Social Concerns,” which
states: “The Church must build ca-
pacity. We have to empower those
who are needy to construct a better
future… help people grow in capaci-
ties, such as the capacity to govern
themselves, the capacity to develop
their abilities, the capacity to find
meaningful and fruitful employment
and work.” Hence, let us not give in
of needed income and become ad-
dicted to it. Because most of the
bettors are from the poor, STL raises
money by getting money from the
poor but most of this money go to
the rich. STL, like jueteng, is the
opposite of Robin Hood, who got
money from the rich in order to give
it to the poor.
The fact that STL is legal does
not make it moral. It is bad enough
that we have jueteng, lotto and a
casino in Rizal. Let us not bring
more harm to our province by hav-
ing STL. Let us not make gambling
part of our way of life in Rizal.
I appeal to our people, espe-
cially to our provincial and munici-
pal officials in Rizal, not to allow
STL in our province.
Through the intercession of
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voy-
age, the Virgin of Antipolo, may God
protect our province of Rizal from
the evils of gambling.
+GABRIEL V. REYES, D.D.
Bishop of Antipolo
September 12, 2006
13
PASTORAL LETTERS ON GAMBLING
to the enticement and false secu- and religious organizations in the the family, to protect and foster
rity offered by gambling and the Archdiocese of Capiz to include in them, to safeguard public morality
STL. their activities and apostolate re- and promote domestic prosperity”
In connection with these is- spectively an anti-gambling educa- (CCC 2210).
sues, we strongly oppose all forms tion campaign. Let this be our strong Let us pray that we will live as
of gambling. Let us not allow the and solid stance against STL and responsible Christians and live
STL to be legalized in our province. our way of safeguarding the dignity justly in God’s presence. With my
It will destroy the Christian values of the poor and the solidarity of our blessings.
of our faithful. It will teach them to Christian families. We exhort all
be lazy and be dependent on luck Christian families to abhor all forms +Onesimo C. Gordoncillo, D.D.
which carries false hope. It will de- of gambling. The Catechism of the Archbishop of
stroy our Christian families and the Catholic Church says: “The family Capiz
future of our children. Let us be re- is an initiation into life in society. August 29,
sponsible to one another and to our The family should live in such a way 2006
society. Let us be one and firm in that its members learn to care and
eradicating gambling and its many take responsibility for
faces. This can be one of our means the young, the old, the
to live what the Philippine bishops sick, the handicapped,
wish to call “a spirituality of citi- and the poor’ (CCC
zenship, which is a concrete way of 2207-2208). In addition,
living out in our country the ‘fun- “civil authority should
damental social virtue’: solidarity.” consider it a grave duty
Therefore, we exhort the differ- to acknowledge the true
ent Ecclesial Basic Communities nature of marriage and
Assalam alaykum wa Rahmahtullhi wa
Barakatuhu! Message to Muslim
As you begin the Ramadan, the Catholic
Church commends the Muslim community
Filipinos on the
Month of Ramadan
of the Philippines as you submit to Allah
through salat (prayer), zakat (almsgiving)
and shaum (fasting).
The Second Vatican Council of the
Church in its document, Nostra Aetate, has
acknowledged her deep respect for Islam
and the Muslims for they worship God, who
is one, living and subsistent, merciful and
almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,
who also spoke to humanity through the
prophets. In this regard we hold with great
respect your prophet Muhammad who re-
ceived the Qur ’an on the ‘Night of Power.’
The Qur’an says: “The month of
Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was
sent down, as a guide to humankind and a
self-evident proof of that guidance and cri-
terion to distinguish between right and
wrong judgment. So whoever of you is
present in the month should spend it in
fasting.” (Q.2:185). It is the Qur’an through
the centuries that has provided the Mus-
lim ummah its religious depth and its moral
principles on how to believe and act as
Muslims.
May your reverent recitation of the
Qur’an during the month of Ramadan grant
you Allah’s guidance, mercy and compas-
sion. And may the Qur’an continue to in-
spire and show you the straight path so
that you may continue to be instruments
of God’s peace, justice, and unity in our
country and in the world.
Most Rev. Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, DD
Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro
Chairman, Episcopal Commission on Inter-
religious Dialogue (CBCP)
September 2006
 CBCP Monitor
14 Reflections Vol. 10 No. 11
September 1 1, 2006

by Fr. Roy Cimagala
WE have to be more aware of
this need of ours. While we
normally like to be spontane-
ous in our behavior, we
sooner or later realize that
spontaneity alone, without
self-mastery, can be danger-
ous. That would be like en-
ergy without direction.
You see, we are a very
complex creature, with many
layers of awareness and ten-
dencies, with conflicting
forces and competing im-
pulses, due to the many dif-
ferent parts, aspects and
stages of our life.
Self-mastery
We are at once body and
soul, material and spiritual,
individual and social, private
and public, local and global,
in time and outside of it, etc.
Each aspect has its peculiar
properties that need to be in-
tegrated with those of the
other aspects.
We are subject to differ-
ent times and places, histori-
cal and cultural conditionings
that certainly exert some influ-
ences on us, often in very
subtle but effective ways.
Besides, our Christian
faith teaches us about our sin-
ful origin and wounded nature
that would make our life more
complicated and exciting, and
our need to integrate things
properly more challenging.
“Breaking the relation of
communion with God causes
a rupture in the internal unity
of the human person, in the
relations of communion be-
tween man and woman and of
the harmonious relations be-
tween mankind and other crea-
tures,” (29) the Compendium
of the Church’s Social Doc-
trine explains.
If there’s no conscious
and well-thought-out effort at
self-mastery, we’ll soon find
out we are terribly lost, we can
unwittingly harm ourselves
and others. We’ll be adrift in
some ocean not knowing where
we would be heading. We’d be
ill-prepared to face our increas-
ingly complex world.
There are different
forces, both inside and out-
side us, that tend to dominate
us in their own selfish terms
without due regard to what is
truly good to us, according to
an objective truth about man
or to any reference to the com-
mon good.
What worsens this is the
modern attitude that denies
there’s such thing as an ob-
jective truth about man. The
truth about man, they say, will
always be changing and shift-
ing. Nothing can be held ab-
solute and permanent. And so
what our Christian faith tells
us about ourselves is thrown
out of the window.
Thus, our mind can go
one way, while the heart can
go the other. Our speech can
just be some mindless chat-
ter, rid of balance and direc-
tion. Bad manners, instead of
refinement and delicacy, pre-
vail. There is chaos instead of
peace and order.
Sometimes, our appear-
ance has nothing to do with
what is inside us. Hypocrisy
and deception get systemati-
cally cultivated, undermining
our integrity. And these dis-
crepancies and anomalies can
go on endlessly.
Then you have the hor-
mones and the urges that can
just pop up anytime, urgently
needing discipline. The
young ones are most vulner-
able to these, often leading
them to obsessions and ad-
dictions, to harmful practices
and vices.
If we consider our envi-
ronment just a little, we’ll real-
ize we are constantly teased
and titillated, often arousing
the body while killing the
spirit. We easily become vic-
tims of the so-called freedom
of expression or artistic rights
that often go their own self-
ish and shallow ways.
This explains why we
have to struggle against lazi-
ness, complacency, disorder,
proneness to discourage-
ment, imprudence. There’s
also the propensity to lack
focus and determination in
our activities, to be dominated
by changing moods.
We should not be sur-
prised therefore that given
this state of affairs, we often
find ourselves in some quar-
rels, both small and big, from
petty feuds with neighbors to
devastating wars between
countries.
We have to understand
that underlying the big con-
flicts we have, for example, in
politics is this often ignored
problem in the personal level
where self-mastery is missing.
There has to be a con-
tinuing awareness of this
need, starting in the personal
level and always reinforced
by the family, community, the
Church, schools, etc. Plans
and strategies to attain or im-
prove in it should be initiated
and pursued.
We need to foster greater
self-knowledge among our-
selves. Networks of helping
others cope with their per-
sonal difficulties should be
put in place. If we put our
mind and heart into this, we
will realize this ideal is quite
feasible. It’s not quixotic.
Together with the appro-
priate human means, the spiri-
tual and supernatural means
should never be neglected.
These are prayer, sacrifices,
sacraments, ascetical
struggle, doctrinal formation,
spiritual direction, etc. These
are indispensable.

“Something Went Wrong on my Way to Heaven…,” Lucylle FROM THE INBOX

by Fr. Jun Villanueva

Stop the Sinister Plan

I FIRST came to know Lucylle when I
was waiting for a ride along Cubao. She
was a teenager, about 16 or 17 years of
age. She was cute. And her hair seemed
to fly as the buses pass the place where
we were standing. She wears a ready
smile, yet her face was as lonely as a cold
night. Yes, she was attractive and
seemed to cast a spell when she turned
away. She was limping. She had only
one real leg, the other was made of wood.
She met an accident which I could not
understand.
And her bag of heavy belongings
never seemed to bother her—an empty
bottle, several baby clothes, an old
sweater and a small pillow. She said her
baby was in a wooden crib somewhere in
the busy streets or maybe near the wet
market. I couldn’t remember exactly.
What was left with me was the aura of a
lost child, of a lonely voice, pleading for
Bo Sanchez
help, and as if longing to be heard and
understood. But her voice was swal-
lowed by the busy street.
Lucylle left the province. She was
made to believe that she will work as a
saleslady in a big department store, but
it was a lie. She ended up as a domestic
helper. She left her employer after a year.
And the baby she was pleading to be
helped was the daughter of one of her
employer’s sons. And she has nowhere
to go. She lives with the other Lucylles
in the busy city. As she left my sight, I
could only remember her words: she was
willing to die for her baby; she was ready
to sacrifice for her baby…. She was will-
ing to walk along this busy road called
Life, literally with one leg, symbolically,
she was ready to walk despite the ob-
stacles and was willing to give her all…
She was Lucylle.
After my last Sunday Mass, and
deep friendship, much more
than ever.
after dinner, I would spend my time,
maybe an hour or two, watching TV, or
opening my emails, amidst the comfort
of my room. And despite the concerns
and demands of my ministry, I thank God
for letting Lucylle pass the road I am trav-
eling. For inspiration, for strength, for a
humbling experience—for the many
Lucylles out there. It was not a wrong
turn after all…
chance, I invite Dad and
Mom to hop along the jour-
AN undeclared war on terror has been going on for months.
Leftist activists have been killed by the scores. Not a day
passes when a leftist activist is not slain in some part of the
country. To date, 290 leftists have been killed, members of
progressive organizations, such as Bayan Muna, Anak
Pawis and Gabriela.
Here comes president Arroyo with her ‘Oplan Bantay
Laya’, openly declaring an all-out war against the insur-
gents. Her master plan is to deliver the final blow against
the 37-year old communist insurgency. No doubt it will claim
hundreds more victims among the leftists as collateral dam-
age. These ‘leftists’ are our militant youths, committed
church workers, activists, journalists, priests, pastors etc.,
who have to be neutralized, that means eliminated, accord-
ing to the dumb people in the military and Arroyo’s cabinet.
Isn’t it high time for the Christian Churches to get their
act together and stop this sinister and insidious plan of the
president? The Churches should take a collective stand
against this immoral regime and make a final call for the
president to step down. The Catholic Church of the Philip-
pines in particular, I believe, should make a clear prophetic
witness, at this time when GMA undertakes her pilgrimage
to Rome and presents her credentials—the abolition of the

Let Some Things Not As a kid, Dad and I

walked together to Cubao,
ney. So we’ve gone to-
gether to different parts of
death penalty—to Pope Benedict, leaving untold her crimes
against humanity, abetting if not encouraging the system-

Change
I remember a time when life
was a little simpler.
During an ancient,
pre-historic era, there was
only one Shakey’s pizza
store in the country—lo-
cated in far away Angeles
City. I was only twelve
years old when my father
would bring me there for a
two-hour drive, just to eat
pizza. He’d eat two slices,
and I’d eat the rest.
More than the pizza
however, I treasure the time
I spent with Dad. In my
heart, I knew that my father
loved me. Because he loved
me enough to waste his time
on me.
Things have changed
now. Today, we no longer go
out of town to eat pizza. We
don’t even leave the house. I
just dial delivery, and Dad and
I can eat pizza. My father’s an
older man now, and so am I
(Sniffle). Sometimes I pay the
bill. (Waaaah!)
But when I really think
about it, the deeper things
haven’t changed. Dad still
eats two slices, and I still eat
the rest. And I still enjoy his
and we loved passing by that
tiny Shoemart—if you can still
remember—that ancient SM
that sold only shoes and noth-
ing else.
I loved those walks!
Just Dad and me, walking
man to man.
What has changed?
Today, SM consumes
30% of the geographical land
space of the Republic of the
Philippines. And it sells every-
thing else except nuclear re-
actors and live piranha.
Also, Dad and I are no
longer able to take long walks.
I’ve become a missionary and
that has taken me away from
home. But when given a
the world.
They don’t give talks
or anything like that.
I still do the preaching.
But from the pulpit, I could
see Dad and Mom, praying
at the back of the crowd.
They’re praying for me.
They love me.
Thank God, some
things don’t ever change.
Because in this in-
sanely chaotic world of
ours, our kids desperately
need to know that they can
hold on to certain realities
that remain true for life.
Or else they’ll lose
their way, and die some-
where inside.
atic and widespread killings of political dissidents and jour-
nalists, to silence criticisms.
To remain silent is not an option, as Randy David
rightly says, ‘The day citizens like us (how much more
church people) shut up would be the day we lose our stakes
in the nation.
Once Mrs. Arroyo steps down, the Church can take
over the responsibility to resume the peace negotiations
with the communist rebels. In a society where almost all
democratic institutions under this regime have lost their
legitimacy, only the Church has the moral authority to as-
sume this responsibility. The Church owes this to the na-
tion. She only can demand an unconditional ceasefire on
both sides and negotiate with the rebels to finally lay down
their arms and return to the fold of the law. I predict, it will
take less than the 2 years GMA needs to crush the insur-
gency.
Arnold van Vugt O.Carm.Assoc.
e-mail: arnvv@yahoo.com
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 10 No. 11
September 11, 2006
Title: CRANK
Running Time: 83 mins
Lead Cast: Jason Statham, Amy Smart,
Efren Ramirez, Jose Pablo
Cantillo, Dwight Yoakam, Carlos
Sanz, Reno Wilson
Directosr: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Screenwriters: Mark Neveldine, Brian
Taylor
Music: Paul Haslinger
Genre: Action/Adventure
Cinematography: Adam Biddle
Distributor: Lions Gate Film
Location: USA
Technical Assessment:
Moral Assessment: ½
CINEMA Rating: For mature
viewers 18 and above
ACE mobster hitman Chev Chelios
(Jason Statham) wakes up muzzy-
brained one morning and learns
through a DVD that he has been in-
jected the poisonous "Beijing Cock-
tail" by fellow gangster Varona (Jose
Pablo Cantillo). He has about one
hour to live before the poison stops
his heart. Chev's doctor is getting
ready to board a plane and manages
to diagnose his condition via
cellphone. He advises Chev to find
the drug that he needs to be kept on
an adrenaline high to stave off the
effects of the lethal cocktail. If he
slows down, he might lapse into a
coma. He's not asking much of his
doctor?just to live long enough to
taste revenge. So Chev goes off in a
frenzied search of the drug and his
hoodlum enemies?that means being
the ultimate hoodlum himself, rob-
bing shops, messing up hospitals,
crash-driving through a mall in a
chase with the police, sniffing co-
caine, banging heads and having
public sex with his girlfriend Eve
(Amy Smart). The rampage finally
leads him face to face with Varona.
If you are looking for thought-
provoking dialogue, a plausible plot
or even an over-all message in a film,
skip Crank. Its last-name directors,
billed Neveldine/Taylor, seem more
concerned with packing Crank with
the hazards and sensory overload of
CBCPMonitor
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CINEMA Reviews
a video game. It's life imitating a
video game, and while the "hero" is
on an adrenaline high, the movie
seeks to put you, the viewer, in the
same mode by packing every frame
with blood-dripping violence and
lewdness while battering your ear-
drums with profanity and crude lan-
guage. Technically, it achieves its
aim--to wed MTV style and video
game action--and hopes its audi-
ence, seeing some worth in that, will
forgive the movie its lack of respect
for moderation. It's style is not even
that original, resorting to Google
Earth for transitions between loca-
tions. After all that brazen destruc-
tion and suffocating mindlessness,
it is ridiculously funny to watch
Crank believing it can save itself with
a sober or heart-rending ending.
The movie's tagline says "Poi-
son in his veins. Vengeance in his
heart." We might as well add "? and
a lot of hot air in his head." Crank
wants to fly high on nothing. CIN-
EMA, with all due respect, would like
to express its perplexity over the
MTRCB rating of Crank--hat 13 year
olds may watch it. We wouldn't even
call it "entertainment" for the most
mature of viewers. Whether Crank
is art or an artistic garbage heap,
you'd be well off spending your
movie money on something else. It
could buy you five kilos of good rice,
for one.
Title: JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE
Running Time: 87 mins
Lead Cast: Jesse Metcalf, Brittany
Snow, Ashanti, Sophia Bush,
Arielle Kebbel, Penn Badgley,
Jenny McCarthy
Director: Betty Thomas
Screenwriter: Jeff Lowell
Music: Richard Gibbs
Cinematography: Anthony B.
Richmond
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Location: U.S.A.
Technical Assessment:
Moral Assessment: ½ tivist Beth (Sophia Bush), and dis-
CINEMA Rating: For mature
viewers 18 and above
HIGH school teener Kate (Brittany
Snow) considers herself an "invis-
ible", one who has never been no-
ticed anywhere---in school, at home,
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Title: STEP UP
Running Time: 98 mins
Lead Cast: Channing Tatum, Jenna
Dewan, Damaine Radcliff,
De'Shawn Washington, Mario Drew
Sidora, Rachel Griffiths
Director: Anne Fletcher
Producers: Bob Hayvard, David Garrett,
John Starke
Screenwriters: Duane Adler, Mellissa
Rossenberg
Editor: Nancy Richardson
Genre : Musical/Drama/Dance/Romance
Cinematography: Michael Seressin
Distributor: Buena Vista International
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Technical Assessment: ½ shows interracial friendships be-
Moral Assessment:
CINEMA Rating: For viewers age 13 and below with parental guid-
ance
TYLER Gage (Channing Tatum),
a disillusioned teenager, living
with foster parents in inner city
Baltimore, has no dreams or ex-
pectations in life. He hangs
around with his colored friend
Mac (Damaine Radcliff) and
Mac's little brother Skinny
(D'Shawn Washington) and to-
gether with them, often gets in-
volved in some kind of hooligan-
ism. When they vandalize the
Maryland School of the Arts, he
alone is caught and sentenced to
200 hours of community service
as a janitor in this prestigious in-
stitution. In school, he notices
Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan), a
trained classical dancer very
much committed to her art. She is
assiduously preparing for her se-
nior year performance when her
dance partner is injured. Seeing
Nora's frustration after her unsuc-
cessful search for a new partner,
Tyler offers to help. Though he
never had formal dance training,
Tyler has a natural gift. He is a
street dance prodigy. As Tyler
learns the dance steps of Nora's
showcase, the two dancers fall in
in any neighborhood the lifestyle of
her promiscuous mother Lori (Jenny
McCarthy) drags her to. A new-
comer in school, Kate gets a crush
on the school team's basketball cap-
tain, John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe),
a slam-dunking jock who scores high
on the ball court and even higher with
the campus females. But Kate dis-
covers that John is triple-timing the
chief cheerleader Heather (Ashanti),
the aspiring TV-journalist Carrie
(Arrielle Kebbel) and the vegan ac-
closes the fact to the three girls, each
of whom believes she is the only one
in the basketball hero's heart. Want-
ing to be someone at last, Kate de-
cides to fit in and accepts a revenge
scheme hatched by the three---they
will make John Tucker feel the same
(Given Name) (Middle Name)
______________________
Signature
love though they come from differ-
ent worlds. Nora is the sheltered
only child of a well-to-do widow. But
the course of love does not run
smooth. There are problems with
Tyler's lack of discipline, Nora's boy-
friend and Tyler's friends Mac and
Skinny. Will Nora's "showcase"
push through to help her career? Will
the two lovers repeatedly kiss and
make up?
In Step Up, dance takes the pre-
eminent position. From the opening
credits to the showcase finale, dance
enthusiasts will enjoy watching the
artistry of ballet, hip-hop, jazz and
other eclectic fusions of dance
genres. Most dance scenes throb
with energy and creativity that one
is likely to catch the pulsating spirit
and revel in this exuberant celebra-
tion of life. This movie will appeal to
teenagers even if the romantic story
is hackneyed, thin and predictable.
The good character development of
Channing Tatum as well as the sub-
plots flesh out the story. The movie's
leads Tatum and Dewan, both im-
pressive dancers, light up the screen
with their fine chemistry. Both acquit
themselves well in the scenes that
degree of pain he has caused the
girls. When the usual get-even tac-
tics backfire, the three cook up a
meaner plot: they will do everything
to make Tucker fall in love with Kate
who will then reject him
Light comedy John Tucker Must
Die is a movie aimed at teenage girls
who may resonate well with the char-
acters. The school setting is authen-
tic as authentic can be---showing
campus life with all its attendant
thrills and spills, from locker room
talk to hair-pulling sessions among
competing campus queens---help-
ing the story flow smoothly and be-
lievably. The movie's title forebodes
doom but the movie isn't half as bru-
tal as the title implies. The plot is
familiar and predictable reminiscent
of Mean Girls and Can't Buy Me
Love , so it is understandable if
fussier movie buffs scoff at the movie
as just another flash in the comedic
pan. More than the less-than-funny
jokes, what can be annoying in the
movie is the way Metcalfe and
McCarthy are projected as hotter
properties than their roles call for.
Pretty Boy Metcalfe could pass for
a Mel Gibson Circa 1976, and is por-
trayed in the movie as a heel who all
too easily elicits sympathy after his
"conversion." McCarthy, an ex-Play-
mate who has a wonderfully pre-
served body unmatched by an ag-
15
require "acting". Despite some
shortcomings, the over-all pro-
duction is satisfying, and credit
must be given to some dance
movie "veterans": Director Anne
Fletcher who also did some cho-
reography and screen writer
Duane Adler who did the same.
Michael Sorensin's photography
effectively captures the beauty,
the fluid movements and the
highly kinetic nature of dance.
Speaking of values, the
movie is a step-up to the typical
movie intended for teens. It
tween Tyler and Mac; also be-
tween Nora and her artist friends.
It illustrates loving relationships
between siblings as in the case
of Tyler and between Mac and his
brother. The film puts across posi-
tive messages like the need to per-
severe, to fight for one's dreams
and to be dedicated to what one
does. It shows that love, court-
ship and romance can be clean
and sweet with no premarital sex.
Beyond a kiss, there is no indica-
tion or implication of a physical
or sexual relationship. The pic-
ture also presents the possibility
of change. A juvenile delinquent
who has had a bad record of mis-
chiefs can be transformed with the
right motivation, work and com-
mitment. Tyler with his low self-
esteem, hopelessness and lack of
ambition becomes empowered in
the end. The film shows that
when young people have no
worthwhile goals or commit-
ments, they may expend their en-
ergy, talent and time on some form
of lawlessness but when in-
tensely involved in something
commendable (like love for the
arts) they can become achievers.
The film gets V-13 because of
some thematic elements and vio-
lence.
ing face, seems to have built into her
contract that the expression "My,
she's hot!" is to be uttered by some-
one whenever she exits a scene.
Honesty and personal integrity,
the message of John Tucker Must
Die, is positive but it gets snowed
under by the situations advancing
the revenge theme. What would
have been admirable, common sen-
sible and even charitable decisions
(like quitting the get-even scheme
when Kate's conscience gets the
better of her) go overboard and turn
into moralizing or sermonizing. A lot
more action footage devoted to the
get-even tactics stands a greater
chance of being retained in the
memory than the words-words-
words footage that seems inserted
to serve as the movie's redeeming
factor. Add to that the sexual innu-
endoes spiking the movie here and
there and you have an unfair situa-
tion treated like an unfunny comedy
with an unconvincing resolution. A
final word of caution: it is not advis-
able that young teens view the movie
for the sole reason that it takes too
much for granted. No one questions
premarital sex or promiscuity in the
story: the focus is on who gets to
bed with hero, not the morality (or
immorality) of doing it outside of
marriage. Dangerous for young
minds.
 CBCP Monitor

16 People, Facts & Places Vol. 10 No. 11

September 1 1, 2006

Diocese Slates Quiz on UN Expert to Speak About

Family Bible
SAN JOSE, Antique—The San Jose
Diocesan Commission on the Bibli-
cal Apostolate, chaired by Fr Rey
Cazeñas, along with the Presbyteral
Council is holding the Diocesan Bible
Quiz on October 7, 9 a.m., at the Audi-
Visual room of the St. Joseph Center.
DYKA, the diocesan radio station,
will cover the event live. Two family
participants per Deanery or a total
of eight families will vie for the op-
portunity and will represent the dio-
cese at the Regional Bible Quiz be-
fore the end of 2006. The Nat’l Bible
Quiz will be held in January 2007
around the time of the CBCPAnnual
Assembly.
13th Asia Pacific
Congress to be Held in
Cebu
CEBU City— The Human Life Inter-
national–Philippines will hold the 13th
Asia Pacific Congress on Love, Life
and Family at the Parklane Interna-
tional Hotel here on October 6-8, 2006
with the theme: “Silence is not an
option: Do not be afraid”. The event
will kick off with a Holy Mass to be
presided by Archbishop Paciano
Aniceto, chairman of the CBCP Epis-
copal Commission on Family and Life
(ECFL). The organizer said among
the issues that will tackled are: sex
education, the case against
condoms, the international push for
abortion rights and the family, safe-
guarding life and family in the Con-
stitution and many others.
Millennium Dev’t Goals
PASIG City— United Nation’s ex-
pert in the millennium development
goals, Dr. Brian Scarnecchia, Esq.,
is set to visit the country to dis-
cuss about “The Implications of the
Millennium Development Goals
from the Point of View of Catholic
Teachings” in a national conference
organized by the Society of Catho-
lic Social Scientists- Philippine
Chapter this coming October 10 at
the University of Asia and the Pa-
cific, Ortigas Complex, this city,
from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Scarnecchia will be coming from the
Franciscan University of
Steubenville, Ohio, USA.
Pro-life Philippines
Invites Advertisers to
Fund its Programs
QUEZON City—Boost your sales
while taking part in their advocacy
to save and change lives. The Pro-
life Philippines is invites everyone
to post advertisements in its three
media components:
www.prolife.org.ph, in the “Love
Life” newspaper, and in the “Love
Life” radio program on Veritas 846
AM. Through their media services,
anyone can advertise in three differ-
ent media forms for the price of one.
Ad placements will fund the Pro-
life’s programs like Pregnancy Coun-
seling Services, Youth Programs and
Responsible Parenthood Seminars.
For more information, contact Pro-
life at (632) 421-7147.
Markings
CELEBRATED. Divine Word
College of Laoag (Ilocos Norte);
60 th foundation
anniversary;
July 2006.
Founded in 1946
by Fr. Alphonse
Mildner , SVD,
the Divine Word college of
Laoag, earlier known as St.
William’s College, served as the
Society of the Divine Word’s
(SVD) educational apostolate in
the northern part of the country.
Starting out as a high school ex-
clusively for boys, the school for-
mally opened in July 1946. Erst-
while dubbed as the first institu-
tion in Ilocos Norte to offer a com-
plete course in education (BSE),
the institution later diversified its
programs, offered new specializa-
tions in Commerce, and opened
its Graduate School of Business
Administration in 1972. The
school marks its 60th foundation
anniversary with year-long cel-
ebrations and with its theme an-
chored on the SVD’s vision of
being “Witness to the Word”.
CELEBRATED. Miriam College
(Quezon City); 80th foundation
anniversary;
September
2006. Estab-
lished in 1926
by the Arch-
bishop of Ma-
nila, then Most.
Rev. Michael O’doherty re-
quested the sisters of the Maryknoll
Congregation in New York to initiate
a teacher-training program for women
in the Philippines. Thereupon, the
Maryknoll sisters established the
Malabon Normal School at the old
remodeled Augustinian Convent in
Malabon, Rizal. In 1952, the school
was transferred to its present loca-
tion in Loyola Heights, Quezon and
its name was changed to Maryknoll
College. Now, the school is officially
known as Miriam College. To meet
the challenges of the times, Miriam
College has expanded its curricular
offerings and instituted three major
centers for curriculum development,
research, and community outreach.
CELEBRATED. Santa Maria nga
Iloy sang Diyos Prison Ministry
Foundation; 25th foundation anniver-
sary; September 8, 2006. Founded in
1981 by Margarita M. Coscolluela,
the Foundation serves as a volun-
teer group in prison service and
apostolate based in Bacolod City,
Negros Occidental. With their belief-
principle that “man’s life, worth and
dignity, and potentials are priceless
gifts from God”, the group was duly
registered as a foundation with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission on July12,1999, with
Bacolod Bishop Camilo Gregorio
as its Chairman. Its founder,
Margarita M. Coscolluela, now
about 81 years old, still spends
most of her time in prisons, bring-
ing hope and uplifting the cause
and welfare of prisoners.
DIED. Fr. Jose
Blanco, SJ, 82, a
noted Jesuit
scholar and so-
cial activist; of
cardiac arrest; in
Sta. Ana (Xavier
House), Manila.
Imprisoned during the Martial
Law regime of President Marcos
and fighting for justice until the
end, Blanco founded the Aksyon
Para sa Kapayapaan at
Katarungan (Movement for
Peace and Justice). He was a
preacher and staunch advocate
of active non-violence, of which,
he once wrote: “The world is best
reconstructed by valuing the
people and human lives, by
reaching out in joy and dialogue.
That is Filipino people power.
This will be our contribution to
human progress and peace.” At
Blanco’s funeral services, the Je-
suit Provincial Fr. Daniel Huang,
SJ, remarked, “Father Blanco
made me fully aware of the social
and political obligations we must
all undertake.”

Sacred Heart Seminary in Palo Marks 50 years

By Msgr. Ramon B. Aguilos, MSEM, STD
LAST September 8-9, 2006, Sacred Heart Seminary re-
opened its doors to her alumni, both priests and lay-
men alike, as she celebrated her fifty years of presence
in Palo, Leyte.
The celebration started with a spiritual activity—
solemn vespers and benediction. It was followed by a
dinner at the seminary auditorium, an occasion for old
time friends to meet again, recall good times in the past
and work out means to help the seminary.
The next day, September 9, a conference was given
by Msgr. Ramon Aguilos, who offered some historical
vignettes of the seminary during the last fifty years.
This was followed by a solemn Mass presided by Arch-
bishop Jose Palma, Archbishop of Palo. Himself a semi-
nary formator prior to his ordination to the episco-
pacy—as rector of St. Joseph Regional Seminary in
Jaro, Iloilo—Archbishop Palma was not treading on
an unfamiliar ground. Concelebrating were about 50
priests—all alumni of the Sacred Heart Seminary.
The Sacred Heart Seminary was founded in 1944
by the late Bishop Manuel Mascariñas, the first Bishop
of Palo. The first quarters were set up at the old Holy
Infant Academy in Tacloban City to house the pio-
neering students. Just as when the skies were clearing
istration of the fathers of the Society of the Divine
Word went into full operation. Its high school pro-
gram was given government recognition in 1945, and
its college curriculum in 1948.
The seminarians made Tanauan their home until
1956 when the new bishop of Palo, Bishop Lino
Gonzaga, decided to relocate the seminary to a 24 hect-
are lot outside the hub of the historic town of Palo.
The SVD Fathers continued to administer the semi-
nary until 1969. Since then, the local clergy has been
taking the reins of the seminary administration and the
formation of priests for the Archdiocese of Palo and
her nearby dioceses.
The seminary presently houses the high school,
pre-college and college seminarians, and has a total
population of 144.
The present set-up in the seminary administra-
tion is composed of the following: Rev. Virgilio
Manaog, STD, Rector; Rev. Erlito Maraya, PhD, Dean
of Studies/Spiritual Director College Department; Rev.
Albert Clyde Añover, STB, Procurator/Spiritual Direc-
tor, High School Department/Pastoral Director College
Department; Rev. Benito Trocino, STB, Dean of Stu-
dents/Sports Moderator College Department; Rev.

We are just a click aw ay...

away of the smokes of war, the fledgling seminary was Dennis Inocando, PhD, Dean of Students, Pre-Col-
moved to the Tacloban Catholic Institute, and shortly lege Formation; Rev. Eduardo Tantuico, STB, PhL,
thereafter, transferred to Tanauan, Leyte. It was in Dean of Students, HS Department; Sr. Ma. Josefina
Tanauan that the diocesan seminary under the admin- Almarines, RVM, Principal, High School Department. • www.cbcponline.net/cbcpmonitor