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 I MPACT July 2005 / Vol 39 • No 4
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Court of Public Opinion .............................................. 25
COVER STORY
Unravelling on CBCP .................................................. 16
Amid the brewing skepticism, the Conference yet deserves a fresh look.
ARTICLES
Natural Family Planning and SDM in the Local
Church ................................................................................ 4
The Legacy of John Paul II to Inter-Religious
Dialogue ............................................................................ 6
Marriage Obliges Couples to Love ............................. 7
The Transformation of Society in the
Mind of the Church ............................. 8
Service Learning and National
Development ........................................11
Upping the Moral Ante on Jueteng ............................13
Human Rights Abuses Soar Under Arroyo Gov't ..15
STATEMENTS
Statement of Concern on the Revitalization of
Mining in the Philippines .......................................... 22
Restoring Trust: A Plea for Moral Values in
Philippine Politics ........................................................ 23
DEPARTMENTS
Quote in the Act .............................................................. 2
From the Blogs ............................................................... 26
CINEMA Review ......................................................... 27
From the Inbox .............................................................. 28
Vanilla Bytes ................................................................. 29
News Briefs ...................................................................... 30
A strong advocate on the natural family planning,
Bishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, pursues a particular method,
unacceptable it may seem even among some church workers.
Read him at Natural Family Planning and SDM in the Local
Church. Fr. Euly Belizar writes rather down-to-earthly, but
interestingly, about a scholarly topic, The Transformation
of Society in the Mind of the Church.
The CBCP, indubitably thus, is nestled in the slot of
among the most credible institutions in the country, accord-
ing to a survey conducted around the second quarter of
1999. Its popularity, it may be said, started mounting since
February 1986 when it issued that post-election statement
saying “the people has spoken…
According to moral principles, a
government that assumes or re-
tains power through fraudulent
means has no moral basis. For
such an access to power is tanta-
mount to a forcible seizure and
cannot command the allegiance of
the citizenry.” Those words, with
the call of the late Cardinal Sin,
somehow emboldened multitudes
to troop to EDSA.
But its popularity grew not only with reading of pastoral
letters on Sunday masses in all churches throughout the land,
but more so with the establishment of a media office that
became a regular and ready source of news stories bannered
all over news organizations and networks. A lot of people -
- Catholics and not -- had to wait for whatever CBCP had to
say on prevailing issues and consequently influence -- or
evangelize, if you may -- the shaping of public opinion.
While the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines of
1991 has treaded the local Church into the path of preferen-
tial option for the poor, the public perception, however, of
late has judged the CBCP leadership to be walking along the
corridors of the wealthy and the politically powerful. The
early absolution by the CBCP Head through a paid adver-
tisement plastered on national dailies shortly after the May
2004 national elections, did not make the elections clean to
well-meaning observers, or so some say. When CBCP re-
leased its pastoral statement on the occasion of its regular
Plenary Assembly this July, not a few reacted with doubt and
cynicism -- if not frustration. “But the CBCP card turned
out to be a joker, not an ace,” wrote Joel Rocamora, Execu-
tive Director of the Institute for Popular Democracy.
Perception is the name of the game played by both the
politicians and the business community. While it is devas-
tating and effective, like a tsunami, it is not permanent. But
this is the technique that has propped basketball players,
undergrads or tyros, actors, media personalities and even
thugs into prominence.
Should CBCP get bothered with perceptions the way one
suspects fire whenever there is smoke? Or shouldn’t it rather
concentrate on its
pastoral priorities
outlined at the Na-
tional Pastoral
Consultation on
Church Renewal in
2001. Read on.
Volume 39 • Number 4 3
A
t the plenary assembly of the Catho-
lic Bishop’s Conference of the Phil-
ippines (CBCP) in July 2003, two
consensus votes were taken with regard
to family planning. The first vote was a no
to collaboration with the government’s
total family planning program. The second
vote, however, was a yes to the diocese’s
use of the Standard Days Method (SDM)
in its own program of natural family plan-
ning (NFP) -- without any contraceptive
component and without collaboration with
government.
The first vote maintained the Church’s
critical stance against the government’s
population program, which was still per-
ceived to be dictated by a contraceptive
mentality. This apprehension among bish-
ops persisted even if the present adminis-
tration of President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo, a devout Catholic, had earlier in-
dicated its preference for natural family
planning methods.
Indeed, this preference for the NFP
methods by government was heightened
by the introduction of a new and simpler
NFP method, called the Standard Days
Method. Ironically, however, objections
to SDM came not from government quar-
ters but from several church-related
groups, particularly those who were pro-
moting the earlier-recognized NFP meth-
ods such as the Basal Body Temperature
method (BBT), the Billings Ovulation
program, all the more should the local church
promote its own comprehensive NFP pro-
gram that includes SDM.
What is the Standard Days Method in
the first place? SDM is a new calendar-
based method of family planning based on
fertility awareness. It helps a woman know
her fertile days by simply counting the
days of her cycle, starting with the first day
of menstruation. It identifies days 8-19 of
the cycle as the fertile period when preg-
nancy may occur if there is intercourse.
Days 1-7 and the rest of the days after day
19 are identified as non-fertile days.
SDM’s “fertile window” of days 8-19
has been standardized and is applicable only
for women whose menstrual cycles range
from 26 to 32 days. It is made clear from the
outset that SDM is not applicable to all
women. In this sense, despite its simplicity,
SDM cannot be the exclusive NFP method
for the local church to promote; but neither
should it be the excluded method.
SDM was developed by the Institute
for Reproductive Health (IRH) of
Georgetown University, the oldest Catho-
lic university in the United States. It is the
result of an extensive research process
spanning six years since the mid-90s, in-
volving pilot sites in Bolivia, Peru and the
Philippines. The concept of SDM was first
validated through computer simulation of
over 7, 600 cycles provided by the World
Health Organization from its ovulation
© Ed Bock/CORBIS

Method (BOM), and the Sympto-Thermal
Method (STM).
For them, SDM was suspect because
it was being promoted by government,
presumably with some back-up contra-
ceptive methods; the research for SDM
was funded by USAID; the method was
not yet fully tested; and it was nothing
more than the old calendar-rhythm method
that had already been discredited as unre-
liable. Moreover, SDM could not be con-
sidered as NFP because it did not involve
the daily examination of bodily signs and
symptoms.
This then is the significance of the
second vote at the CBCP assembly. Not-
withstanding these objections, the bishops
as a body recognized SDM in itself as a
natural family planning method. Provided it
is not mixed with contraceptives, is not seen
as a government program with its cafeteria
approach, and is accompanied with the
proper value formation to avoid a contracep-
tive mentality, the bishops did not voice any
objections to the inclusion of SDM in the
local church’s program for natural family
planning. Indeed, since the CBCP has dis-
tanced itself from the government’s NFP
method trials. It has since then been clini-
cally tested with a high effectiveness rate of
95.25% in the three countries where almost
500 women were followed up for 13 cycles.
To help women track the days of their
menstrual cycle, IRH devised a necklace of
cycle beads consisting of 32 colored beads,
representing the day of menstruation (red),
the fertile days (white), and the infertile
days (brown). Hence, couples can easily
know the days when they should abstain
from intercourse if they wish to avoid
pregnancy. Or they may also use the same
beads to achieve pregnancy.
Currently, SDM is being introduced
in 14 countries, including India, Turkey,
and Egypt, and several smaller countries
in Africa and Latin America. In the U.S. as
well as in other parts of the world, the cycle
beads for SDM are being sold over the
internet. Following its mandate, IRH-
Georgetown continues to test and de-
velop other simplified NFP methods. Ear-
lier, it had developed the Lactational
Amennorhea Method (LAM), which is
now widely promoted by both govern-
ment and church agencies. It also contin-
ues to streamline teaching aids for BOM
and STM promoters.
In October 2003, a training workshop
for NFP-SDM providers was hosted by
Malaybalay Diocese and opened to other
dioceses in Mindanao. Five dioceses sent
participants. The majority came from seven
pilot parishes in Bukidnon, including the
parish of Phillips. Spanning three decades
since the mid-70’s, Camp Phillips had
hosted the interdiocesan training program
on the earlier-known NFP methods. This
was sponsored periodically by the Epis-
copal Commission on Family and Life
(ECFL).
In their sharing, the participants saw
the usefulness and need for a simplified
method like SDM to be included in the
church’s NFP program -- particularly for
those who found it difficult to keep daily
records of body temperature or mucus char-
acteristics. This assessment of SDM was
reinforced during their field visits to two
pilot barangays where SDM had been intro-
duced over the past two years with the help

4 IMPACT • July 2005

 A R
Natural Family Planning
SDM in theFAMILY
andNATURAL
Local Church
PLANNING AND
SDM IN THE LOCAL
CHURCH
Antonio J. Ledesma, D.D.
of a non-government organization.
In one site, SDM was found to be
widely acceptable not only among Catho-
lics but also among couples of other reli-
gious affiliations. A notable number of
couples had chosen to shift from the use of
contraceptives to SDM. In the other site, a
mother described how SDM was now being
passed on to the next generation: her own
16-year old daughter was the one reminding
her to move the cycle beads everyday.
Moreover, in other parts of Mindanao,
Muslim couples have also expressed their
interest in SDM as an NFP method. During
the first quarter of 2004, two more training
workshops for NFP-SDM providers were
hosted by the local churches of Basilan and
Sulu for their family life workers, including
several Muslim women. The participants
were enthusiastic about SDM as a practi-
cable method that could easily be taught to
both Christian and Muslim communities.
It is in this light that all these partici-
pants were perhaps simply reflecting the
T I C L E S
sentiments of Fr. Vicente San Juan, S.J.,
former ECFL executive secretary, and prime
mover for many years of the NFP training
course in Phillips. Although now in semi-
retirement, Fr. San Juan had no qualms in
endorsing SDM as a new NFP method,
remarking that the principal criterion
should be “what a method does to a
couple’s life.”
In the Prelature of Ipil, we have in-
cluded SDM as an added option in our
natural family planning program under our
family life apostolate. Even as we continue
to promote the earlier-known methods, we
note that the couples themselves have
found SDM a much easier method to learn.
“Why did you not teach this to us earlier?”
has been a common reaction. We have
also devised a less expensive string of
“vertical beads” to help couples track the
days of the menstrual cycle.
However, because the practice of NFP
entails a way of life, our family life workers
have made sure to include formation life
values in the promotion of NFP-SDM. Part
of this value formation is to enable couples
to choose NFP as a truly human and Chris-
tian option, without combining it with other
artificial contraceptives. The rule-of-thumb
criterion for NFP is made clear: “no DIDO,”
i.e. “no drugs, injections, devices, or op-
erations.” Compared to the earlier NFP
methods that our family life workers have
been teaching over the past two decades,
we find that the rate of acceptance of SDM
in our pilot parishes over the past two
years has increased markedly.
Indeed, couples themselves who have
shifted from contraceptives to SDM tell us
that the main reason they did so was that
SDM is natural. In this light, the prelature has
included SDM in the array of modern NFP
methods that we are making known to couples
-- first, as an added option for couples in their
desire to follow the moral guidelines of the
church; and secondly, as a pastoral impera-
tive for the local church, to enable couples to
make an informed and responsible choice
with regard to family planning. Over all, in our
19 parishes, as of June 2004, our family life
workers have tallied 366 current users of
natural family planning methods: 261 with
SDM, 102 with BOM, and one each with
BBT, STM, and LAM.
“The future of humanity,” points out
of Pope John Paul II, “passes by way of the
family.” The same thing can be said of the
population issue confronting developing
countries like the Philippines today. Popu-
lation management cannot be done by
government alone; ultimately it rests on
countless couples exercising responsible
parenthood through family planning. For
Catholic couples, this means natural fam-
ily planning. And the more NFP options
we can make available to them, the more we
can empower them to exercise responsible
parenthood.
In commemorating last year the 40th
anniversary of the encyclical, Pacem in
Terris, Pope John Paul II reminds us his
predecessor’s teaching that every human
right involves a corresponding duty. The
same reminder can be made with regard to
the whole area of family life. Couples should
exercise their rights as well as their respon-
sibilities of parenthood.
Going beyond structures to reach out
people, the Holy Father invites us to en-
gage in “gestures of peace” in our present-
day world. Couples adopting NFP meth-
ods, including SDM, are hopefully among
those who manifest these gestures of
peace -- and development -- for the good
of their families and the common good of
their nation. I
Volume 39 • Number 4 5
 A R
by Fr. CARLOS REYES
H
is Holiness Pope John Paul II
passed away last 2 April 2005 -- a
Saturday. The Liturgy of that day
celebrates the Memorial of the Blessed
Virgin Mary and the Evening Prayer I of
the Feast dedicated by the same Pope to
the Divine Mercy. His passing away
brought both sadness and thanksgiving
for the gift of such a man not only to
Catholics but also to most Christians and
non-Christians. This is due to the fact that
John Paul II was very effective in the
spheres of ecumenism and inter-religious
dialogue.
The Pope hosted the World Day of
Prayer for Peace in Assisi on 27 October
1986. An unprecedented international
worship service involving religious lead-
ers, the Pope was side by side with Hindu
holy men, Buddhists and assorted tribal
shamans. The Pope had this to say about
the event: « For the first time in history, we
have come together from every where,
Christian Churches and Ecclesial Com-
munities, and World Religions, in this
sacred place dedicated to Saint Francis,
to witness before the world, each accord-
ing to his own conviction, about the tran-
scendent quality of peace. »
Not only did he reach to everybody
but he even personally asked forgiveness
as head of the Catholic Church to the Jews,
the Protestants and the World!
• On 31 October 1992, he apologized for
the persecution of the Italian scientist
and philosopher Galileo Galilei in the trial
by the Roman Catholic Church in 1633.
• On 9 August 1993, he apologized for
Catholic involvement with the African
slave trade.
The Legacy
of John Paul II to
Inter-Religious Dialogue
6 IMPACT • July 2005
T I C L E S
• In May, 1995, in the Czech Republic, he
begged forgiveness for the Church’s
role in stake burnings and the religious
wars that followed the Protestant Ref-
ormation.
• On 10 July 1995, he released a letter to
‘every woman’ to apologize for the
Church’s stance against women’s
rights and for the historical denigra-
tion of women.
• On 16 March 1998, he apologized for
the inactivity and silence of Roman
Catholics during the Holocaust.
• On 18 December 1999, he apologized
for the execution of Jan Hus in 1415.
• During a public Mass of Pardons on 12
March 2000, he asked forgiveness for
the sins of Catholics throughout the
ages for violating ‘the rights of ethnic
groups and peoples, and shown con-
tempt for their cultures and religious
traditions.’
• On 4 May 2001, he apologized to the
Patriarch of Constantinople for the sins
of the Crusader conquest of
Constantinople in 1204.
• On 22 November 2001, he apologized,
via the Internet, for missionary abuses
in the past against indigenous peoples
of the South Pacific.
In 1979, John Paul II became the first
Pope to visit the Auschwitz concentration
camp in Poland. In 1986, he became the first
modern Pope to visit the Synagogue in
Rome. In 1993, he established diplomatic
relations between the Vatican and the State
of Israel. In March 2000, Pope John Paul II
went to the Holocaust memorial Yad
Vashem in Israel and prayed at the holiest
shrine of the Jewish people, the Western
Wall in Jerusalem. On 18 January 2005, in
his last public meeting, a group of 141
Jewish leaders from around the world, met
with Pope John Paul II in the Clementine
Hall of the Apostolic Palace to thank him
for all he had done for the Jewish People
and for the State of Israel.
On 6 May 2001, Pope John Paul II
appeared at one of the oldest mosques in
the Islamic world, the Ummayad Mosque
in Damascus, Syria. It is deeply cherished
by both Muslims and Christians because
it is believed to be the tomb of John the
Baptist (or the Prophet Yahya to the Mus-
lims). During the visit, he said: « It is my
ardent hope that Muslim and Christian
religious leaders and teachers will present
our two great religious communities as
communities in respectful dialogue, never
more as communities in conflict. » John
Paul II has always considered Muslims as
a fellow spiritual community deserving of
respect and admiration.
Furthermore, he said that: « It is im-
portant that Muslims and Christians con-
tinue to explore philosophical and theo-
logical questions together, in order to
come to a more objective and comprehen-
sive knowledge of each others’ religious
beliefs. Better mutual understanding will
surely lead, at the practical level, to a new
way of presenting our two religions not in
opposition, as has happened too often in
the past, but in partnership for the good
of the human family. Interreligious dia-
The Legacy / p. 14
 A R
Marriage
MarriageObliges
Obliges
Couples
Couples to
to Love
Love
by Fr. ROY CIMAGALA
L
et's first have some disturbing data
regarding marriage and family in
many parts of the world today. These
can form basis for another reminder about
the true nature of these crucial institu-
tions, now badly understood and lived.
Recent reports from different sources
give the following data. Italy in 1981 had a
rate of 5.6 marriages per 1000 people, for a
total of 316,953. By 2001 the rate had fallen
to 4.5 per 1000 people, or 260,904 mar-
riages.
Meanwhile, couples living together
outside marriage in Italy have also risen. In
1993 there were 277,000 such cases. By
2001 the number had risen to 453,000. That’s
an increase of 63.5%.
In Spain, a 60% increase in separa-
tions and divorces is reported for the last
8 years, for a total of 134,931 in 2004. Now
that they have legalized same-sex unions,
they may find more success there.
In England and Wales, it is reported
that 41% of births took place outside of
marriage, meaning there are many illegiti-
mate children there. The rate was only 12%
in these places a decade ago.
T I C L E S
While there is an increase of mar-
riages in these places in the last two
years, this was due more to an increase in
second marriages after divorce. In fact,
only 59% of marriages in 2003 were to
first-time brides and grooms.
In Canada, a report shows a sharp
increase in repeat divorces. In 2003, 16.2%
of the divorces granted involved men
who had previously been divorced.
The figure for women is 15.7%. I’ve
always believed that one divorce deserves
another, then another… Unless the true
nature and meaning of love, marriage and
family is understood, this tragic cycle will
go on.
In the US, one-third of men and nearly
one-fourth of women between the ages of
30 and 34 have never been married, but
the number of single parents has increased
by 24% since 1970.
In Australia, the number of single
parents also increased by 38% since 1991,
from 552,000 in 1991 to 763,000 in 2001.
Commentaries from analysts and so-
ciologists vary. A Canadian professor
says:
“We are a very individualistic
society, and we value choice, we
value romance, and we’ve become
much less tolerant of anything that
goes wrong. We are less willing to
work at relationships. It’s much
easier to break up a marriage.”
A newspaper editorial claims:
“Divorce is considered to be a
private matter between husband
and wife, an individual choice in
which government and society
have little interests.
“That’s obviously not true.
Divorce is not just a tragedy for
couples. It’s a problem for every-
one else…When a marriage ends, a
home is destroyed as surely as
when a house burns to the ground.
Every divorce is a tragedy.”
Pope Benedict XVI recently explained
that marriage is not just a casual sociologi-
cal phenomenon, a result of some social or
economic forces. It is found on what is
man.
As a person, the Pope said, man or
woman is a child of God who is love, made
in God’s image and likeness, and thus
made to love. We therefore just have to
discover this vocation to love and to live
out this love fully.
This can only be done when we are
with God, who reveals himself fully in
Christ, and now through the Church that
works through its hierarchical structure,
through its doctrine and the sacraments.
A couple who marry obviously be-
cause of love, which is more a sentimental,
emotional or purely human kind, should
realize that upon marriage they are obliged
to love each other to the end.
This means that they have to make
that love open to further growth and de-
velopment, until it is conformed, perfected
and united to the love of Christ for us. It
would be stupid to rely merely on our own
human powers to love.
Love, marriage and family are human
realities that are not of our own making, but
rather of God. They have to be pursued
always in accordance with the law God has
made for them.
This, I believe, and a lot more of its
practical consequences and implications,
need to be explained again and again.
Otherwise, the tragic spiral of marital and
family woes will just go from bad to worse.
In the end, what can solve the problem
related to love, marriage and family, is
when we decide to go back to God. I
Volume 39 • Number 4 7
 A R
A
rich businessman who was a “col-
lege drop-out” went to his parish
priest on the eve of the May 11,
1998 elections. He wanted to give a very
generous donation to the church but, not
wanting to embarrass himself and the priest,
he chose to ask what he considered a safe
question: “Father, what do we need around
here?” He thought the priest would just
tell him the latest church project or pro-
gram and right there and then he would
just make the proposition. To his surprise,
his parish priest said: “Mano Feliz, what
we all need is social transformation. With-
out social transformation our country will
keep on going to the dogs.” Wanting not
to appear out of step with the church the
businessman asked: “Father, have there
been any surveys or studies on social
transformation?” Again the priest an-
swered: “Oh, yes, Mano Feliz. They say
that it is a long and hard process. Very
costly too.” When the businessman heard
this he rose to his feet and said: “Don’t you
worry about the cost of social transforma-
tion, Father. Our party will pay for it. To
start with, we are willing to give a donation
of 20,000 pesos.” The priest smiled sadly
at this and said: “Mano Feliz, we will spend
not simply money for social transforma-
tion. Its real cost is ourselves.”
The real cost of social transformation
is ourselves -- our minds, our hearts, our
dreams, our decisions, our actions. People
like Mano Feliz who think they can buy
everything, from votes to happiness and
dreams or people who fall prey to his
commercialistic view of life, selling their
votes or dignity for a pittance (to the tune
of 100 to 500 per vote), or people like his
parish priest who sees more than the buy-
and-sell ethic of the consumer society --
these are the real reasons and the real ends
of social transformation. In other words,
people like ourselves because our society
is only a mirror of who we are and what we
intend to become. But it should be clear
from the start that we as members of our
society desire its transformation not sim-
ply as a party or group of concerned citi-
zens but as Church, that is, as a “whole
community of Christian disciples” who
“participate towards an even more effec-
tive and lasting change” in all the spheres
of social life, “especially where a previous
transformation has apparently lost its
momentum and failed” (PCP II 330). Let us,
therefore, ask the question that the busi-
nessman in our story should have given
voice to: What is social transformation in
the mind of the Church?
8 IMPACT • July 2005
T I C I L E
A. Two Models of Social
Transformation
In memory of Pope John Paul II, I
propose that we consider his view of so-
cietal transformation. On the other hand,
owing to the Second Plenary Council of
the Philippines’ vision of a renewed
Church being guided by a socially trans-
formative spirituality, we will also look into
the PCP II vision of social transformation.
1. The John Paul II Model
a. The Negative Sense. The late Pon-
tiff sees a twofold sense to the reality of
social transformation. The first is social
transformation understood as the sum total
of changes in society that spell harmful or
destructive consequences or ends. In the
Encyclical letter Dives in Misericordia
(literally ‘Rich in Mercy’) which treats of
God’s mercy, he reflects that there are
“various kinds of selfishness latent in
man” which “would transform life and
human society into a system of oppres-
sion of the weak by the strong, or into an
arena of permanent strife between one
group and another [Italics mine]” (DM 2).
Also in his Encyclical letter Dominum et
Vivificantem (literally ‘Lord and Giver of
Life’) which the pope wrote specifically on
the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the
Church and the world, he also mentions
some types of “transformations” in which
human “growth in this life is hindered by
the conditions and pressures exerted upon
him by the dominating structures and
S
mechanisms in the various spheres of
society. It can be said that in many cases
social factors, instead of fostering the
development and expansion of the human
spirit, ultimately deprive the human spirit
of the genuine truth of its being and life
(Italics mine)” (DeV 60). The details of this
transformation is even given clearer relief
in the Encyclical letter Redemptor Hominis
(literally ‘Redeemer of Man’) where the
pope characterizes “man’s situation in the
modern world as far removed from the
objective demands of the moral order, from
the exigencies of justice, and still more
from social love” and to prove this he cites
“the picture of the consumer civilization,
which consists in a certain surplus of goods
necessary for man and for entire societies”
while “the remaining societies -- at least
broad sectors of them -- are suffering from
hunger, with many people dying each day
of starvation and malnutrition” (RH 16).
b. The Positive Sense. Pope John Paul
II, however, speaks of social transforma-
tion that we need as the sum total of society’s
changes for the better. These changes in
the life of society “should conform more to
man’s surpassing dignity in all its aspects,
so as to make that life `ever more human’”
(RH 13). In his Encyclical letter Laborem
Exercens (literally `On the Exercise of La-
bor’) regarding human labor he notes that
“it is not for the Church to analyze scientifi-
cally the consequences that these changes
may have on human society” but to “help
to guide the above-mentioned changes so

The
TRANSFORMATION
of SOCIETY
in the MIND of
the CHURCH
by EULY BELIZAR, Jr., SThD
as to ensure authentic progress by man
and society [Italics mine]” (LE 1). In fact, the
emphasis on the conformity between social
conditions and man’s dignity as a person is
again taken up by the Encyclical letter on
the Church’s social concern, Sollicitudo
Rei Socialis (freely, `Concern for the Social
Reality’) with its declaration that the “social
concern of the Church” is “directed toward
an authentic development of man and soci-
ety which would respect and promote all the
dimensions of the human person” (SRS 7).
This sum total of positive social
changes in conformity with human dignity
is characterized by a fourfold quality:
1. First, it is rooted in the conversion
of individuals.
The pope sadly notes the imbalances
in the socio-economic conditions between
the world’s poor and the world’s rich.
Then he makes a straightforward declara-
tion that the “difficult road of the indis-
pensable transformation of the structures
of economic life is one on which it will not
be easy to go forward without the inter-
vention of a true conversion of mind, will
and heart [Italics mine]” (RH 16). Conver-
sion is a translation of the Greek metanoia
which is actually a military term roughly
equivalent to the command “About face”.
In seminary college ROTC our unit nearly
headed for a quagmire during a marching
drill. What stopped us was the timely:
“Ready, halt, one, two!” Then the com-
manding officer shouted the ensuing com-
mand: “About face!” That command saved
us from the mud. Conversion also saves us
from the destructiveness of sin itself (SRS
38; RP 19, 20). But that is not everything
that conversion means. It also indicates a
turning towards the Lord and the practice
of virtue. Someone who turns his back to
the darkness turns towards the light.
2. Secondly, it must be seen in the
reform of lifestyles and social structures.
Conversion is often seen as though it
is merely an interior reality. It is not. It also
has a visible external face. For the Holy
Father it likewise entails “a change of
lifestyle, of models of production and
consumption, and of the established struc-
tures of power which today govern soci-
eties [Italics mine]” (CA 58). I used to give
very little thought to lifestyle until I no-
ticed how different one of my nieces’ situ-
ation in regard to toys. In my childhood I
rarely received toys as gifts. But I used to
make my own kites, my own puppets, my
own toy trucks etc. My niece, however,
was overstuffed with toys that she literally
would throw away some. My sister has
taught her to give her extra toys to other
needy children. What drew my attention
here was the fact that this is exactly a
consumer lifestyle we have unwittingly
taught our kids today. We may be
overstuffing them with material products
while other kids even just in the neighbor-
hood have almost nothing. The toy lifestyle
represents for me a microcosm of social
mores or a little view of the bigger world,
so to speak
3. Thirdly, it must be directed to the
common good, unity and integral devel-
opment.
Social transformation must also aim at
three things. First among them is the com-
mon good, a commonly used phrase in the
last elections. Individualism is the prob-
lem in the West; in our Filipino culture it is
family- or group- or region-centeredness
that is often carried to excess. To over-
come this, the Holy Father proposes the
cultivation of a “`a firm and persevering
determination to commit oneself to the
common good, that is to say, to the good
of all and of each individual because we
are all really responsible for all’” [Italics
in the text]” (CL 42). In this he presupposes
the teaching of Pope John XXIII of the
common good as enabling the “full devel-
opment of the human personality” and by
Gaudium et Spes that it is the sum of social
conditions assuring the human person’s
self-realization, including that of his tran-
scendent (spiritual-moral) vocation” (John
XXIII, MM 65; GS 26, 30).
4. Fourthly, it must be guided by the
requirements of truth, mercy, freedom,
peace, justice and the civilization of love.
I have a watch that tells me the correct
time without fail. The main reason behind
this efficiency is that its complex and minute
parts follow certain patterns and laws of
physics. If one or more of its parts cease
doing so, the whole watch will simply not
work anymore. For social transformation to
be realized it must also follow certain re-
quirements that flow from some values. The
first of these is truth understood not only
as rational but as revealed truth. It is truth
that does not derive from man but from God.
Its importance lies in two things. First, it is
“the fundamental point of encounter” be-
tween the Church and society in general or
between the Church and every person
within it (RH 19), leading to “deep insights
into the nature of man and his needs” (John
Paul II, “To Transform the world according
to the Gospel”). Secondly, it also clarifies
the meaning of the other values, such as
justice, freedom, peace etc. at the heart of
social transformation (DM 12).
The second value is mercy. It is essen-
tially an expression of love whose socially
transformative value is its contribution to
the dimension of equality in justice since
while “the equality brought by justice is
limited to the realm of objective and extrin-
sic goods”, mercy focuses on “that value
which is man himself, with the dignity that
is proper to him” (DM 14). For instance, an
employer who pays his regular working
employees their wages does justice. An
Volume 39 • Number 4 9
 The Transformation of Society in the Mind of the Church
employer who pays a non-working but
sick non-regular employee his wages does
mercy. In the first his concern is equality
through the employees’ work and its right
compensation. In the second his concern
is his equality with the employee as a
human being.
As the third value, freedom is not
simply a license to do what one pleases but
deliverance from everything that op-
presses man, starting with sin and the Evil
One as well as its manifestations in op-
pressive social realities and structures
(SRS 36; CA 26). In this latter sense free-
dom is clearly socially transformative. But
it is not only a ‘freedom from’ but also a
‘freedom to’ embrace the good and the
acts that lead to it.
Peace as the fourth value is both a
goal and a means. It is a goal when indi-
viduals and groups abandon confronta-
tion and distrust to adopt collaboration
(SRS 39). It also characterizes the means of
attaining it, as in EDSA’s and Eastern
Europe’s non-violent protests that ended
oppressive regimes (CA 23).
Justice is the fifth value because of
two things. First, it guides the process of
social transformation according to the
demands of equality between individuals
and nations; secondly, it also ensures
harmony among equals (DM 12), thus rul-
ing out recourse to violence or wars. It is
therefore not complete justice when there
is only equality among members of soci-
ety. Justice also seeks their harmonious
relationships.
Finally, the civilization of love is the
supreme principle and goal or end of every
human activity (DM 12) leading towards
positive changes in life. Its value to social
transformation is that it unites human be-
ings with God and with one another, par-
ticularly in the Church (Slavorum Apostoli
19). In the natural sphere, as love songs
endlessly remind us, love brings lovers,
families, even countrymen together. It is
therefore a potent force if it works in soci-
ety such that every human being receives
and gives positive care and service as an
expression of love.
2. The PCP II Model
Someone in my family recently had
twins, both boys. Naturally his mother was
very excited and so was everybody at home.
But the question in everybody’s mind was:
How do the boys look like? Do they re-
semble their father or mother? The father
could not answer on the phone because the
babies were still at the incubator. This is a
10 IMPACT • July 2005
natural situation. Fathers are usually com-
pared with their sons. There are similarities
that crop up: the eyes, the nose, the shape
of the face and mouth. Then there are also
differences: the color or look of the hair, the
manner of talking or moving etc.
The PCP II model of social transforma-
tion may be compared to the John Paul II
model like a son is compared to a father.
There are substantially common grounds
between the two. But the PCP II model also
has its own peculiar emphases.
a. Common Grounds
1. Stress on conversion as crucial
For positive social change to be genu-
ine both the John Paul II and PCP II models
of social transformation accentuate real
conversion in members of society. Like
John Paul II, PCP II also seessin as the root
of the ills that plague the Filipino society,
beyond the threefold problem of feudal-
ism, bureaucrat capitalism and imperialism
often identified by Marxist analysis (PCP
II 265). In full agreement with the Holy
Father, PCP II particularly singles out
“greed for profit and power” at the heart of
the sinful structures that perpetuate social
injustices in the country, concentrating
wealth on a few and depriving the many
who are poor of what is rightfully theirs
(PCP II 266-268, 270).
2. The consequences of conversion as
socially transformative: changes in
lifestyles and social structures
PCP II also views conversion as lead-
ing to changes in the lifestyle of disciples
for the sake of social transformation. Par-
ticularly it urges “the living of the spirit of
the Beatitudes which are the marks of the
pilgrim journeying toward the Kingdom of
God” (PCP II 272). This requires renewal of
“people’s relationships and their social
structures. By reason of our pilgrimage to
the Kingdom of God, we need to change our
hearts and the social, economic, political
and cultural systems that have promoted
massive poverty and inequity” (PCP II 273).
3. The values as indispensable
In the same way that John Paul II stresses
following the requirements of fundamental
values to realize genuine social transforma-
tion, PCP II includes them in its vision of a
renewed Philippine society. Fleshing out
communion with God and fellowman, the
PCP II model of a socially transformed Phil-
ippines underlines pro-neighbor qualities
(“maka-tao”, “maka-bayan”, “pagkaka-isa”,
“pakikipagkapwa-tao” and “pagkabayani”)
together with a pro-God fundamental atti-
tude (“maka-Dios”) with its pro-life face
(“mabigyan ng buhay”) -- all in the direction
of establishing the “civilization of love” (PCP
II 251-255). Justice is also paired with love as
complementing each other, the first govern-
ing equality and the second fostering friend-
ship and brotherhood (PCP II 304-305). Peace
is also recognized as the way of the disciple
through active non-violence in instituting
social reform (PCP II 307, 309). Mercy is
practiced in the adoption of the preferential
love for the poor (PCP II 312-314). Freedom
is understood as the integral liberation of the
society from all forms of slavery and oppres-
sion, but specifically from sin and its social
expressions (PCP II 241-245).
b. Peculiar Emphases
There are elements, however, that re-
ceive greater focus from PCP II in the make-
up of social transformation. Though not
essentially different from the emphases of
the Holy Father, they are especially related
to the Philippine situation. Like a son who
develops and eventually shows his own
characteristics apart from his father’s, the
PCP II model stands on its own.
1. The problematic Philippine status
quo
PCP II relates the need for social trans-
formation to the social conditions in the
Philippines. It characterizes those condi-
tions as incompatible to the spread of the
Kingdom of God while recognizing the
Church’s mandate in proclaiming the Gos-
pel as including the promotion of justice
and the world transformation (PCP II 239).
In proclaiming the Gospel the Church also
announces the liberation of human beings
not only from sin but also from its conse-
quences in the economic, political and
social structures (PCP II 241).
2. Social transformation as a conse-
quence of discipleship
People ordinarily react negatively
when the Church speaks of changing so-
ciety. The common feeling is that it is
beyond the competence of the Church.
But the Church is not merely the hierarchy
or the bishops and priests who have the
competence in providing guidance on faith
and morals. The Church is also the lay
faithful who are called to directly involve
in temporal matters for the sake of the
Gospel. PCP II particularly sees this task as
flowing from following Jesus which en-
tails an imitation of his own lifestyle and
behavior, inclusive of the preferential love
of the poor, solidarity with the conditions
of the poor, the proclamation of the Gospel
even amidst difficulties and trials, and
faithfulness to the Word of God as taught
by the Church and as given expression to
The Transformation / p. 14
 A R T I C L E S

I
n the Youth Study 2001 by NFO-Trends by CAROLYN PILE NATIVIDAD, M.A.
with 1420 respondents across the coun
try, across economic classes, aged 7-
21, it was found that the youth are not well
linked with the community they are in, or
with social and political realities. Further-
more, only 37% could recite or sing the
Philippine National Anthem, and even
SERVICE
LEARNING AND
fewer, 28% could recite the “Panatang
Makabayan” in its entirety. Sadly, the
study also revealed that the home does
not help much in increasing the youth’s

NATIONAL
awareness about social or public issues
and concerns. On the whole, 78% say that
they seldom or never discuss politics or
national issues with their families. This

DEVELOPMENT
may be linked with the findings of another
study, the RoperASW TeenTrack Survey
2002, where, upon being asked about their
aspirations -- (1) upscale teens’ aspira-
tions were found to be egocentric, (2)
those from the lower classes were cen-
tered on family and material security, while
(3) no societal aspirations at all were men- Recent studies conducted on the
tioned in either case. Filipino youth have been in
This is the portrait of the youth today, agreement in showing that there
and in it is embodied one of the greatest is a low awareness, maybe even
educational challenges for a country such apathy, towards national affairs.
as ours -- living with rampant poverty,
inadequate basic services, institutional
corruption, repeated crises of leadership
and growing pessimism of its citizens, es-
pecially among the youth. And although
said in reference to the United States, the
following statement perhaps finds no truer
validity than in the Philippines:
This country cannot afford to edu-
cate a generation that acquires knowledge
without ever understanding how that
knowledge can benefit society, or how to
influence democratic decision making.

The Burden of Responsibility

We, as educators, carry a great bur-
den of responsibility. For good or ill, much
of a person’s, organization’s, or country’s
success, or failure, eventually finds its
way back on to our laps – everything from
errors in grammar, professional fame, to
moral ascendancy (or lack of it). Looking
at some of the recently highlighted -- if not,
as some would say, perpetual -- problems
of the country mentioned earlier, I have
often asked myself, “where did we, as
educators, go wrong?”
Recently though, with my work in
research and development in educational
psychology and student affairs -- yes, in
higher education -- I’ve found myself dwell-
ing more on the parallel or more positive
question, so to speak, “ What can we do to
set things right?”.
The Civic Purposes of Higher
Education
Recent movements in institutions
of higher education in other parts of the
world have gravitated towards greater
involvement with and among the com-
munities they are situated in. Campus
task forces have been pulled together,
as that in Indiana-Purdue University,
Indianapolis, to document and synthe-
size university-wide efforts at fostering
what can be called “citizen capacity build-
ing.” Conferences have been held, such
as the “2002 National Campus Compact
Summit” and “Service Learning in Asia:
Creating Networks and Curricula in
Higher Education” (2002), in order to
pool together experiences across con-
texts.
If we are to accept the proposition of
the Association of American Colleges
and Universities that “the vision of lib-
eral learning includes strong focus on
students’ civic capacities, their sense of
social responsibility, and their commit-
ment to public initiatives,” then we might
also take to heart what the Wingspread
Declaration on Renewing the Civic Mis-
sion of the American Research Univer-

Volume 39 • Number 4 11
 Service Learning
sity has avowed -- “Now is the time to
boldly claim the authority and ability
to focus our energy on the civic pur-
poses of higher education.”1
The Opportunities for National
Development through Service
Learning
“In an ideal world, institutions of
higher education would be places where
students passionately embrace learning,
and in the process acquire the skills and
understanding that equip them to oper-
ate in multiple, complex social environ-
ments. Ideally as well, students would be
critically aware of social realities and
actively strive for the amelioration of
social inequities. Colleges and Universi-
ties in such a world would be places
where learning is relevant, lasting, ongo-
ing, and exciting,” Florence McCarthy
stated in her paper presentation, “Service
Learning and the Construction of Net-
works and Curriculum,” during a confer-
ence on Service Learning held in Tokyo,
Japan on July 3, 2002.
Should we take up the challenge posed
by the call towards the civic purposes of
higher education, the question then pro-
ceeds to, “How?”. Many a teacher has
actually striven towards creating a class-
room climate embodied by passion, per-
sonal and social relevance and meaning,
only to find himself or herself lacking in the
means to deliver on such ideals. The
demands on teachers and the quality of
teacher training being what they are, the
typical educator is often hard pressed to
come up with something other than the
standard lecture, which leaves a lot to be
desired, especially on the aspect of foster-
ing commitment to national development.
Methodologically, the proper use of
Service Learning is one such opportunity
for learning that is relevant, lasting, on-
going and exciting. The Alliance for Ser-
vice-Learning in Education Reform
(1993) defined it as a method of teaching
and learning:
• By which young people learn and
develop through active participa-
tion in thoughtfully organized
service experiences that meet
community needs and that are
coordinated in collaboration with
the school and community;
• That is integrated into the aca-
demic curriculum or provides
structured time for a young person
to think, talk, or write about what
he/she did and saw during the
service activity;
12 IMPACT • July 2005
and National
• That provides young people with
opportunities to use newly ac-
quired academic skills and
knowledge in real-life situations in
their own communities; and
• That enhances what is taught in the
school by extending student
learning beyond the classroom and
into the community and helps to
foster the development of a sense
of caring for others.
In other words, Service Learning in-
volves the fulfillment of academic goals
through and while being of service to the
community. One of the best examples
would be the modification in the approach
to research courses to encourage the inte-
gration of actual community service and
impact on national development to course
objectives. Simply put, by the end of the
course, the student is not only expected to
master skills related to research and evalu-
ation in his/her field; the study itself can be
required to involve engaging a particular
community and contributing to its devel-
opment. One such study that would fit the
bill (that I had the privilege of mentoring)
was done in 2003, entitled “A Dance Work-
shop for the Personal Psychological De-
velopment of the Adolescents of Bagong
Silang, Caloocan: Using Creativity and
Self-Efficacy as Tools for Developing Self-
Esteem” (Cabalfin, Interdisciplinary Stud-
ies Department, Ateneo de Manila, School
of Humanities). Here she brought together
discipline mastery (with the excellent use
of psychology) and research writing skills
in the service of the personal psychologi-
cal development of the youth of Bagong
Silang, Caloocan by creating a dance pro-
gram that developed their sense of self-
worth.
Overall, as a method of teaching, Ser-
vice Learning departs from the classic
dependence on classroom lectures, en-
gaging the students in real-life situations
that can ground the concepts tackled in
class. While connected to the notion of
“social action,” we are speaking primarily
of the actual involvement of students them-
selves in social issues and initiatives (as
has been more commonly practiced -- in
diverse forms, from public school tutorials
to civic demonstrations). In contrast, “Ser-
vice Learning” has educators and
formators (faculty, administrators, pro-
fessionals, staff) at the forefront in the
integration of community service in aca-
demic learning -- hopefully leading to so-
cial action.
While contributing to the welfare of
target communities, service learning can
Development
also provide relevant and exciting ven-
ues for meeting many of the needs of the
youth: developing a sense of competency
and discovering new skills; discovering a
place for themselves in the world; partici-
pating in activities with tangible outcomes;
knowing a variety of adults from different
backgrounds, including potential role
models; having freedom to take part in the
world of adults but at the same time free to
retreat to the world of their peers; testing
a developing value system in authentic
situations; speaking, being heard, and
knowing they can make a difference; and
a lot more. The same positive results were
echoed by the Carnegie Council on Ado-
lescent Development (1990) where they
recommended that opportunities for youth
service be provided under the auspices of
schools collaborating with community
agencies. It was even further found that
participation in meaningful community
tasks can be a critical factor in preventing
high-risk behaviors in that it heightens
self-esteem and enhances moral develop-
ment.
In short, Service Learning -- properly
and fully utilized -- offers great potential as
a vehicle that can serve the needs of the
three different sectors the field of educa-
tion primarily addresses: the student’s
personal and developmental needs, the
school’s educational goals, and the larger
community’s or country’s socio-political
aspirations. As Robert Bhaerman states,
“Combining civic responsibility and expe-
riential education, service learning be-
comes a powerful tool through which aca-
demic and social objectives of education
can be accomplished.”
It is, however, the harder road to take,
methodology wise. But that is another
point. Perhaps what matters more at this
point, in our context, is to recognize the
imperative at the root of the pedagogical
challenge of modifying the way teachers
teach and students learn. In the end, and
at the risk of being redundant, again --
"This country cannot afford to educate a
generation that acquires knowledge with-
out ever understanding how that knowl-
edge can benefit society, or how to influ-
ence democratic decision making." I
(Carolyn Pile Natividad is an Educational Psychologist
currently serving as the Integrated Non-Academic
Formation Coordinator of the Office of the Associate
Dean for Student Affairs in the Ateneo de Manila,
Loyola Schools. Graduating with a degree in AB
Psychology (cum laude) in 1996 and M.A. Education
in 2001 from the same institution, she is also a part-
time lecturer for the Education and Interdisciplinary
Studies Departments).
 A R
Upping the Moral
Ante on Jueteng
by MALOU MAHILUM
M
ore than the legal, psychological,
social, economic, and political ar
guments that may be adduced,
jueteng -- in the first place -- is immoral.
Obviously, apart from the cacophonic
imbroglio over tapes -- Sammy Ong’s, Allan
Paguia’s and now Chavit Singson’s -- the
‘juetenggate’ scandal that have plagued
the Arroyo administration is yet far from
over. Likely enough, as the on going Senate
investigation, purportedly conducted in
“aid of legislation,” reels on to squawk
more tawdry tales, all and sundry, about the
large-scale jueteng operations -- so widely
entrenched and yet impressively under-
ground -- involving the “high and mighty”
(including no less some members of the
First Family), apparently there’s yet more
for the public to unravel on the inveterate
problem that is jueteng. And amid the
strident debates, not a few arguments re-
lated to the diverse implications of jueteng
-- legal, psychological, social, economic,
political, and moral -- are inevitably sprout-
ing into surface.
No question about it, even if jueteng
has persistently thrived ante-dating as early
as the American colonization in the Philip-
pines, it has remained to this day an illegal
numbers game -- not unless some senators,
and some sectors, who are currently up-
ping headway on moves for legalization in
a huddle to either supposedly address the
problem or perhaps to simply whitewash
the on going investigation, will indeed suc-
ceed. But more likely than not, it may yet be
a far-fetched possibility to overturn the
conspicuously overwhelming tide of pub-
lic opinion against the legalization of
jueteng.
Then, on the psychological extent, it is
said that, like other forms of gambling,
jueteng, particularly believed to prey on the
little money of the poor, may hinge the risk
of enslavement or psychological addiction
with the one obsessive aim -- to get rich
T I C L E S
quick or hit the proverbial jackpot. But, as
the psychology of gambling would tell us,
isn’t it likewise that professionals or sup-
posedly rational individuals would also
lose their rationality, if not sanity, and bet
their lives away in gambling? Psychologi-
cally, hence, rich and poor alike -- oblivious
to the staggering odds against winning --
have the passionate tendency or desire, if
not greed, to have something big in ex-
change for so little. For the poor, in the face
of the bleak condition they are in, a peso bet
is all that it takes to provide hope for some-
thing a little better than what they have: it
does make a big difference having one
chance in a million in order to win as op-
posed to no chance at all.
While both rich and poor psycho-
logically share the same tendency or pas-
sion for gambling, jueteng is evidently not
bereft of socio-economic implications.
That the poor stake the little money that
they have on bets is precisely reflective of
their desperate economic condition -- it is
but indicatively a symptom of a bigger
problem: widespread poverty due to an
ailing national economy. “If people had
better access to opportunities, they will
have little time for jueteng and other forms
of gambling. Even if they do gamble, it
would only be ‘social gambling’ and per-
haps, they would opt for more wholesome
ways of spending their time,” says Jobart
Bartolome, a psychology professor at the
University of the Philippines, Diliman.
On the political perspective, jueteng,
according to Archbishop Oscar Cruz who
heads a nationwide crusade against jueteng
and as similarly ferreted out in the on going
Senate hearings, has undeniably become a
multi-million peso industry that has bred
egregious and unmitigated corruption to
government officials, and has even alleg-
edly bankrolled the election coffers of promi-
nent public officials and politicians. Unde-
niably too, on hindsight, jueteng it was that
initially wracked and subsequently ousted
former President Joseph Estrada. And now,
jueteng it is too that no less some immediate
members of President Arroyo’s family are
accused of allegedly being “inappropri-
ately” involved.
But, above all,
more than or even
sans the ramifica-
tions, their pros and
cons, posed by the
fractional reasons
and implications of
jueteng -- that
whether it is legally
beneficial or not;
that it can be psy-
chologically addic-
tive to rich and poor
alike; that it is a de-
bilitating symptom
of a bigger socio-
economic imbal-
ance in society; and
that it breeds des-
picable political cor-
ruption among
public officials -- one yet preeminent rea-
son, according to the Catholic Church’s
teachings, that suffices jueteng to remain
inherently unacceptable is that: it is mor-
ally untenable. The Church has always
consistently insisted that jueteng -- its
nature, structure, and operation -- is mor-
ally wrong.
The Catholic Church’s magisterial pre-
cept on gambling, according to the Cat-
echism of the Catholic Church (CCC #2413),
aptly provides that “games of chance or
wagers (like jueteng)…are morally unac-
ceptable when they deprive someone of
Volume 39 • Number 4 13
 A R
what is necessary for his needs and those
of others.” The same magisterial document
further adds, “The passion for gambling
risks becoming an enslavement.”
Accordingly, the Catholic Church, in
no uncertain terms, thus particularly teaches
that jueteng, as a form of gambling, is morally
wrong for more salient reasons than one.
First, it is morally wrong because it
deprives someone of what is necessary to
provide for his or her basic life needs and
those of his or her dependents. Particularly,
in jueteng, hard earned and even little money
destined to sustain life and to promote living
is instead wasted on bets.
Second, it is morally wrong because
there is a great tendency that bettors can be
readily enslaved by it or thereto become
addicted to the glee of jueteng operators
but to the distress of their spouses and
children.
Third, it is morally wrong because play-
ing jueteng which could have possibly
started as a little pastime or as a matter of
curiosity, then ultimately becomes a vice, a
bad habit, a despicable addiction, if not a
censurable abuse. Most likely than not, the
Catholic Church adds, the psychological
addiction to jueteng can lead to inordinate
tendency or dispositions to make bad
choices, evil options, and sinful acts.
In a similar stance, consistently so, the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philip-
pines likewise echoed the same reasons in its
Pastoral Statement on Gambling issued
March 10, 2003, when it exhorted, “(jueteng)
destroys moral values such as industry and
hard work, accountability and honesty, in-
tegrity and justice…it is a moral vice that,
because of its systematic rampancy, has
become entrenched within the psyche of
many and within our social system, corrupt-
ing these from within.”
“With the huge sums that they control
without any accountability to anyone but
themselves, gambling lords can make or
unmake political and professional careers
by corrupting law enforcement and political
processes and the people that run them,”
the CBCP Pastoral Statement added.
Verily, it may as well be judiciously
adduced, as some analysts claim, that the
country’s present economic and political
crunch, if not quagmire, is seriously attrib-
uted to the more reprehensible crisis in
morality. A teeming collapse of society’s
moral fiber will likely spell a far-reaching
tragedy for a country. Pray then, how else
can one begin to imagine if the yet illegal,
and morally evil, operation of jueteng will
remain triumphantly unrestrained -- or,
worse still, if it is finally legalized? I
14 IMPACT • July 2005
T I C L E S
The Legacy / from p. 6
logue is most effective when it springs
from the experience of “living with each
other” from day to day within the same
community and culture. In Syria, Chris-
tians and Muslims have lived side by side
for centuries, and a rich dialogue of life
has gone on unceasingly. Every indi-
vidual and every family knows moments
of harmony, and other moments when
dialogue has broken down. The positive
experiences must strengthen our commu-
nities in the hope of peace; and the nega-
tive experiences should not be allowed to
undermine that hope. For all the times
that Muslims and Christians have offended
one another, we need to seek forgiveness
from the Almighty and to offer each other
forgiveness. Jesus teaches us that we must
pardon others’ offences if God is to par-
don us our sins. »
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of
Tibetan Buddhism visited with Pope John
Paul II eight times, more than any other single
dignitary. The Pope and the Dalai Lama
shared similar views and understood similar
situations: Their common experience of be-
ing under communist rule, their concern for
spiritual values and their fear that the young
are losing interest in the spiritual, their belief
in the need to promote harmony amongst
different religious traditions, their common
desire for peace in the world.
Radio Veritas reports that when the
Pope visited Baguio City in Benguet on the
last day of his pastoral visit to the Philip-
pines on 17-22 February 1981, members of
indigenous communities in the northern
The Transformation / from p. 10
by the voice of the poor (PCP II 277-282).
3. Education towards the Church’s so-
cial doctrine
The Philippines has been exposed to the
ideologies of both the left and the right. The
local Church has therefore seen it fit to also
form Filipino Catholics in the social doctrine
of the Church not as another ideology but as
an alternative to any ideology. The Church’s
social doctrine is presented, rightfully and
emphatically, as a way of living the Gospel,
providing “principles of reflection”, “criteria
of judgment”, and “directives for action”
oriented towards moral conduct (LC 72; OA
4; PCP II 290). The following truths are delin-
eated: integral development based on human
dignity and solidarity; universal purpose of
earthly goods and private property; social
justice and love; peace and active non-vio-
Philippines were inspired to become better
Christians due to their encounters with
Pope John Paul II. An Igorot woman,
Anniebeth Guimbatan, reflected on her
meeting with the Pope. She was only 11
when she saw the pope at Baguio’s Burnham
Park. However brief her experience was with
the Pope, the power of such an encounter
was monumental. « When the pope softly
pressed my forehead with his thumb, I felt
holy, I felt like I became an angel. » Her
meeting with the Pope has continued to
nurture her spiritual life, even after she
became a member of the United Church of
Christ in the Philippines. Now working at
the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Baguio,
Guimbatan said a firm Christian faith helps
keep her “strong against the many tempta-
tions” at the national tax-collection agency.
She has also become active in her church’s
choir and the Christian Couples’ Endeavor,
an organization of young couples belong-
ing to the mainline Protestant Church.
It will probably take decades to fully
assess the legacy of this man -- John Paul
II. For now, we content ourselves with
knowing that mutual respect and a genuine
appreciation of our fellow human beings is
sine qua non in interreligious dialogue.
This appreciation stems from a deep con-
viction that has its roots in John Paul II’s
Christian faith and discipleship. Our fellow
human beings are of inestimable value be-
cause God entered into human history as
Jesus of Nazareth. The Incarnation has
linked every man and woman to the God-
man Jesus Christ and dialogue therefore is
a not an option but a requirement. I
lence; love of preference for the poor; value
of human work; the integrity of creation; and
the empowerment of the people (PCP II 293-
329).
4. The preferential option for the poor as
fitting the Philippine setting
The easiest thing to see in the country
is its massive poverty despite the govern-
ment-touted tiger-economy status. Apart
from this, it is also easy to see that majority
of these poor population belongs to the
Church. It is therefore fitting and proper that
the Philippine Church should make a definite
stand by their side. This is what PCP II does
when it upholds the “love of preference for
the poor” as the Church’s fundamental op-
tion for three reasons: (a) majority of Filipi-
nos are poor; (b) it is a dictate of the common
good; and (3) it is a demand of following
Jesus who was himself poor and showed
special love for them (PCP II 312-314). I
 A R
The growing human rights violations, killings,
tortures and disappearances is displacing huge
number of families and communities. Shouldn’t it
be given equal attention as that of the jueteng payoffs
and the “Garci tapes?”
Human
Human Rights
Rights Abuses
Abuses
Soar Under
Arroyo Gov't
by ROY Q. LAGARDE
I
n July this year, a team from the Geneva-
based World Council of Churches, an
organization of 347 churches, and the
Christian Conference of Asia, an organiza-
tion of 116 churches, arrived in the country
accepting the invitation of the National
Council of Churches in the Philippines for
a 5-day mission to document cases of
human rights violations.
The fact-finding mission sent different
teams to Eastern Visayas, Surigao and Haci-
enda Luisita in Tarlac. The result was invari-
ably the same in those areas: a large-scale
human rights violations including extrajudi-
cial killings, disappearances, unlawful arrest
and detention harassment and torture.
Last year, the Commission on Human
Rights (CHR) had investigated 130 com-
plaints of killings between January and Sep-
tember. Very prominent among its findings
was the increasing number of summary kill-
ings in Davao City where majority of the
victims were suspected drug pushers, among
others.
The local NGO Karapatan (Alliance for
the Advancement of People’s Rights) has
documented 441 cases of killings through
summary executions, assassinations and
massacres that include 51 leaders and mem-
T I C L E S
bers of the party-list groupBayan Muna and
20 human rights workers. Even judges were
not spared from brutal killings. Last year, at
least two judges were murdered. These two
cases, by far, have remained under investi-
gation to date.
Journalists too have been easy targets
of murders for writing offensive articles. The
National Union of Journalists of the Philip-
pines (NUJP) has accused the police and the
government for failing again to investigate
or solve these killings, and instead even
subjecting journalists to surveillance and
persecutions. For the last three years, nearly
30 journalists have been murdered out of 69
since 1986 where no single conviction has
been recorded.
Police authorities and even the court
have failed to address or solve complaints of
victims’ families about past disappearances
where government security forces them-
selves figure as suspects. If ever, convic-
tions have been rare according to the Fami-
lies of Victims of Involuntary Disappear-
ances (FIND), an NGO that supports vic-
tims’ families in handling human rights cases.
There is no denying to the reports that
elements of the law enforcement agencies
and police routinely abuse and torture sus-
pects and detainees. The Karapatan docu-
mented at least 139 torture cases involving
245 individuals during Arroyo’s term alone.
The CHR described the military and
police as the most unscrupulous violators of
human rights. In combating criminality, au-
thorities sometimes resort to summary ex-
ecution of mere suspects. They, however,
justify these killings as the inevitable conse-
quence of an alleged shoot-out with sus-
pected felons or enemies of the state -- where
the rules of engagement usually turns out to
be just a piece of crap.
Not the least, among the accused mili-
tary officials for grave human rights viola-
tions is the former commanding officer of the
204th Infantry Brigade in Mindoro Oriental
from 2001 to 2003, Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan
Jr. Tagged as the “Butcher of Mindoro,”
Palparan is believed to have been respon-
sible for roughly 27 cases of killings of activ-
ists and civilians including the twin murders
of human rights workers Eden Marcellana
and peasant worker Eddie Gumanoy.
Now that he controls the 8 th Infantry
Division based in Catbalogan, Samar,
Palparan made another record-breaking per-
formance. Barely three months after his
reassignment early February 2005, the num-
ber of reported and documented human
rights cases in Samar has surpassed the
number of reported cases that the commis-
sion on Human Rights recorded for the
entire year of 2004. From February 10 to
May 2005, 276 cases of violations of consti-
tutional rights and civil liberties have al-
ready been filed against him.
Notably, much of the International Cov-
enants relative to civil liberties have been
incorporated into our laws. The government
has signed enough international agreements
pertaining to human rights protection. The
only rub is, their domestic implementation is
very much wanting, if not outrightly ignored.
The records could be very telling, if not
alarming. Karapatan has documented a gross
of 4,207 cases of human rights violations
affecting 232,795 individuals or 24,299 fami-
lies in 237 communities since Arroyo took
office in January 2001.
Nobody, of course, seems to bother
about human rights abuses. Is it probably
because it has been, since martial law years,
associated with the communist bias? Or is it
because the victims are usually poor and,
therefore, inconsequential? Or is it because
the Filipino values more a celebrity and cel-
ebrated cases -- like jueteng -- rather than the
obscure. In any case, this present dispensa-
tion has a problem which may prove to be in
fact heavier than the other reasons substan-
tiating an impeachment move presently being
lobbied at the House of Representatives. I
Volume 39 • Number 4 15
 C O V E R
by BALTZ ACEBEDO
I
n one precisely defining moment, time
seemingly stood still last July 10 when
the conspicuously much-awaited CBCP
pastoral statement on the current political
crisis was released at the Pius XII Catholic
Center where the influential 95-member
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Phil-
ippines held its 91stPlenary Assembly. No
less, amid the backdrop of the staggering
political turmoil that have wracked the
Arroyo administration and the strident
calls for the President to resign,
Malacañang waited anxiously on tenter-
hooks on what the CBCP had to say. En-
titled “Restoring Trust: A Plea for Moral
Values in Philippine Politics,” the CBCP
statement fell short of asking Arroyo’s
resignation, while openly prescribing other
options “not opposed to the Gospel” like
an impeachment case or the formation of a
Truth Commission.
The anxious wait or public clamor for
the CBCP position did not happen only on
that day of July 10. Even way back a couple
of months ago, the sundry issues and
circumstances in the political arena that
unfolded and invariably shook the Arroyo
administration -- ”Hello Garci” tapes that
prompted a Congressional inquiry, Senate
jueteng investigation which allegedly im-
plicated some of Arroyo’s kin, President
Arroyo’s July 7 admission of “lapse in
judgment” in a wiretapped conversation
with a COMELEC (Commission On Elec-
tions) official, and the July 8 thundering
calls for Arroyo’s resignation from former
President Aquino, the so-called “Hyatt
10” Cabinet members, and from the Liberal
Party politicians -- have only precipitated
the public’s yearning for the CBCP state-
ment.
That the Church, the CBCP particu-
larly, has always been looked up or sought
for, awaited and seriously reckoned with
of its official statement or position on the
country’s political affairs, issues and prob-
lems, is not surprising at all -- albeit the
intermittent lament of some about the
Church’s alleged politicking or meddling
in politics.
For one, the Church, which had been
commonly perceived as led by the late
Cardinal Sin or, lately, the CBCP, played a
key role in mobilizing people during the
bloodless people’s uprisings that toppled
Presidents Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, and
Joseph Estrada in 2001.
Another, perhaps because, particu-
larly with the establishment of the CBCP
16 IMPACT • July 2005
S T O R Y
Media Office, which was inaugurated in On July 17, 1945, all the bishops met in
1996, the CBCP has gone a long way in Manila for their first meeting after the Japa-
effectively raising public awareness of its nese Occupation, and three days after, Msgr.
telling presence in Philippines society as Piani granted their request to place in their
well as of its pastoral role and mission in hands the direction of the CWO and make
the life of the Church. The book entitled, it the official organization of the hierarchy
“CBCP On the Threshold of the Next of the Philippines. After the Apostolic
Millennium,” published in 1999, suc- Delegate received from the Holy See the
cinctly wrote, “Today as never before, the proposal and directive to incorporate the
CBCP is looked upon as a major player in CWO, the articles of incorporation were
evolving events, sought out for what has registered in the Securities and Exchange
come to be perceived as its strong and Commission in Manila on January 23, 1946,
influential voice in its adherence to the specifying therein the main objective of the
values of the Gospel, in the defense of life, CWO to “unify, coordinate and organize
in its solidarity with and preferential op- the Catholics of the country in works of
tion for the poor, in its advocacy of total education, social welfare, religious and
human development and the common good, spiritual aid and other activities under the
and the protection of the environment.” direction of the hierarchy.”
But more than the fact that indeed
CBCP has remained a shining force to
reckon with, having been a major player in
the country’s evolving events, or that
CBCP has widely gained the revered cred- Quite a number of Catholics e
ibility and moral respect in its pastoral ment over the latest Pastor
statements and pronouncements on major
issues, it is quite interesting to note, promi- Are people pitching the wro
nent sources from CBCP claim, that it has Conference?
likely been getting the wrong impressions,
if not misperceptions, about what CBCP,
as an ecclesial body, truly is. One, more
often than not, the CBCP has been wrongly
perceived as synonymously like other
corporate organizations or associations
where, usually perhaps, all sub-units or
branches are comprehensively subject to
the corporate decisions from the head
unit. Another, reflective of the recent pub-
lic clamor for the much-awaited July 10
CBCP statement, not a few perceive that
the CBCP can always readily prepare, is-
sue or release statements or pronounce-
ments even outside of the Conference’s
stipulated assemblies and meetings. Also,
some do have the impression that CBCP is
the head of the Catholic Church in the
Philippines, a hierarchical super body
above all other individual bishops.
Origins
CBCP’s origins may be traced to Feb-
ruary 15, 1945 when the Apostolic Del-
egate, Msgr. William Piani created the
Catholic Welfare Organization (the erst-
while moniker of CBCP). His major objec-
tive was “to meet the war emergency cre-
ated by the destruction of so many towns.”
Seeing the need of a coordinative effort to
aid the stricken populace, Msgr. Piani of-
fered the services of the CWO to Gen
Douglas MacArthur, and the offer was
accepted.
 Following the reforms brought by the
Second Vatican Council, the CWO
morphosed to Catholic Bishops Confer-
ence of the Philippines or CBCP when the
revised Constitution, approved by the
Sacred Consistorial Congregation on De-
cember 12, 1967, provided, among other
things, that “the organization is now to be
called the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of the Philippines.” The change was ef-
fected for two reasons: first, to de-empha-
size its former title as a “welfare” agency,
and; second, to conform itself to post-
Vatican II nomenclature.
The newly amended Constitution was
filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on February 29, 1968. How-
ever, since this Constitution was, in the
Unraveling
xpressed disappoint-
l Statement of CBCP.
ng notions about the
on
words of Msgr. Lope Robredillo, in his
article Challenges and Responses: A His-
torical Survey of the CBCP, published in
1995, “ad quinquennium experimenti gra-
tia,” it was again revised and approved in
July 1973, and finally was given recogni-
tion by the Holy See on May 21, 1974.
Definition and Objectives
At present the CBCP has 95 active
members who are diocesan bishops or
their equivalent in law, coadjutor and aux-
iliary bishops and titular bishops who
exercise for the entire nation a special
office assigned to them by the Apostolic
See or by the Conference. It has also 20
current honorary members who are retired
CBCP
or resigned bishops. Its pastoral policies
and programs are implemented through its
28 commissions and offices in collabora-
tion with ecclesiastical jurisdictions (arch-
dioceses, dioceses, vicariates and
prelatures).
In its amended Constitution and By-
Laws (2000), the nature of CBCP is defined
as a “permanent organizational assembly
of the bishops in the Philippines exercis-
ing together certain pastoral offices for the
Christian Faithful of their territory through
apostolic plans, programs and projects
suited to the circumstances of time and
place in accordance with law for the pro-
motion of the greater good offered by the
Church to all people.”
This definition was formulated in con-
Volume 39 • Number 4 17
Volume 39 • Number 4 17
 C O V E R S T O R Y

formity with the Catholic Church’s magis-
terial decrees or teachings on episcopal
conferences contained in official docu-
ments or sources like, the Code of Canon
Law, Vatican II’s Christus Dominus, and
John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, Apostolos
Suos.
Fr. Florencio Testera, O.P., author of
the 1995 Canon Law Digest of the Philip-
pines, notes that “though the Second
Vatican Council did not initiate the estab-
lishment of episcopal conferences (like
CBCP), its teaching on collegiality gave a
decisive impetus to the organization and
establishment of national and territorial
Bishops’ Conferences.” By their nature,
Fr. Testera added, “episcopal conferences
were not designed as legislative bodies.”
Moreover, the Constitution of the
CBCP specifies among its objectives the
following: serve as forum for bishops in
the Philippines wherein they regularly
share their wisdom and experience, ex-
change views, pool together their
strengths and resources and enable them-
selves “to fulfill their office suitably and
fruitfully” through joint pastoral decisions
and collaborative programs for the com-
mon good of the Church; formulate gen-
eral decrees and joint pastoral policies and
programs; issue doctrinal declarations
through the conjoint exercise of the au-
thentic teaching office; establish appro-
priate organizational structures for the
proper and effective implementation of the
joint pastoral policies and programs; help
the individual bishops to be actively in-
volved in the pastoral thrusts of the Uni-
versal Church according to the orienta-
tions of the ordinary and extraordinary
Synods of Bishops; foster ecclesial rela-
tions with other Episcopal Conferences;
safeguard and promote close and fervent
apostolic communion and pastoral soli-
darity with the Apostolic See.
“Ecclesiality”
In theological terms, the Catholic
Church teaches, according to Archbishop
Leonardo Legaspi’s textbook on
Ecclesiology, “The Church We Love,” that
the principal images, elements or concepts,
so to speak, of the “Church” are: Mystery,
Sacrament of Christ, People of God, king-
dom of God, and Body of Christ.
The Church is “mystery” because it is
a living sign or symbol of a hidden reality
which is salvation. It is “sacrament of
Christ” because it is a sign and instrument
of the glorified Lord (Christ), of God’s
presence in the world. The Church is
“people of God” because it possesses, as
it ought to, the nature, characteristics and
elements of God’s community of believers
according to God’s plan and ideals of
Christianity. Also, the Church is “king-
dom of God” because it is spiritual and
“not of this world.” Finally, the Church is
“Body of Christ” because it is loyally
united to Christ and to one another.
Roughly theological or so, perhaps it
can be likely said that these theological
images, concepts or “ecclesiality,” to
borrow Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi’s
term, of the Church may apply also to the
ecclesiality of the CBCP. There’s no argu-
ing the point perhaps that, at the very
least, the basic concepts of “Mystery,
Sacrament of Christ, People of God, King-
dom of God, and Body of Christ” are not
totally irreconcilable with the nature, ob-
jectives and functions of the CBCP.
Moreover, it can be fairly said like-
wise, Catholic theology teaches, that an
ecclesial body, the CBCP similarly shares
the triple functions or powers of the Church,
namely: “Kingly” or jurisdictional func-
tion, “prophetic” or teaching function or
authority, and “priestly” or sanctifying
task.
Bishop Teodoro Bacani, in his article,
“The Ecclesiology of the Catholic Bish-
ops’ Conference of the Philippines,” (An-
amnesis, 1996), identified some prominent
ecclesiological traits or characteristics of
the CBCP in its over 50 years of existence:
one, its assertion on the institutional and
hierarchical dimension of the Church; two,
the strong emphasis on the Church’s mis-
sion of “structuring or transforming, and
consolidating the human community,” i.e.
Philippine society, according to the divine
law; three, the identification of the Philip-
pine Church, according to the Second Ple-
nary Council of the Philippines or PCP II as
a “community of Christ’s disciples” and a
“church of the poor.”
Largely influenced by the Second
Vatican Council, Bishop Bacani contends
that the ecclesiology of CBCP, as enunci-
ated in its pastoral letters and exhorta-
tions, contains a “very strong institutional
and hierarchical dimension,” putting a

C B C P
The pastoral policies and
programs of the CBCP are
implemented through its
Episcopal Commissions
with the coordination of
the resources of the differ-
ent dioceses.
“Every Episcopal Com-
mission shall have the right
and prerogative as well as
responsibility of preparing,
reviewing and recommend-
ing its plan, programs and
project5s according to its nature and final-
ity and in accordance with the By-Laws
pertinent thereto, for the approval of the
Permanent Council and/or Plenary As-
sembly as determined by the Constitu-
tion.” (CBCP Constitution, Article V,
Sec. 4).
E p i s c o p a l C o m
I. Department of Doctrine & Religious Affairs
1. Commission on Doctrine of the Faith
2. Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education
3. Commission on Canon Law
4. Commission on liturgy
5. Commission on Ecumenical Affairs
6. Commission on Inter-Religious Dialogue
7. Commission on Culture
8. Committee on International Eucharistic Congress
9. Committee on the Cultural Heritage of the Church
10. Office on Bioethics
II. Department of Clergy Formation
1. Commission on Clergy
2. Commission on Seminaries
3. Commission on the Pontificio Collegio Filippino
4. Commission on Vocations

18 IMPACT • July 2005

 U n r a v e l i n g o n C B C P

heavy emphasis on the central role of the
Holy Father. “The test of apostolicity of
jurisdiction and orders is obedience to the
successor of St. Peter,” Bacani wrote.
Bishop Bacani also stressed that the
CBCP, taking heed from the Church’s Pas-
toral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), “re-
fuses to abdicate the Church’s role of
structuring and consolidating our society
according to the divine law, despite the
occasional refusal of others and those in
government to acknowledge this role.”
Clearly, Bacani added, “work for develop-
ment and justice, for the transformation of
the world is an integral element of evange-
lization and forms part of the mission of the
Church.”
Also, conforming to the Second Ple-
nary Council of the Philippines or PCP II,
the CBCP, according to Bishop Bacani, in
communion with the faithful, strives to a
visible community of Christ’s disciples.
“This visible community formed by the
word of God, is an evangelized, Eucharis-
tic, prophetic, and servant community,”
Bacani added.
But, how is the “ecclesiality” of CBCP
compared or related to that of the particu-
lar episcopal jurisdictions of the dioceses
or of individual bishops?
Contrary may be to the perceptions or
impressions of some lay people, certain
important points, as the Church’s magis-
terial teachings affirm, may yet as well be
adduced to the fore. One, the CBCP is not
the hierarchical or juridical head of the
Catholic Church in the Philippines nor it is
a hierarchical super body above other
individual bishops and dioceses. Two,
the role, according to the late John Paul II’s
post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation,
“Pastores Gregis”(2003), “of an episcoapl
conference (as CBCP) is considered auxil-
iary vis-à-vis the role which the individual
bishops carry out by divine law in their
Church.” Three, the CBCP cannot be said
to equally function like other corporate
organizations where sub-units or branches
are comprehensively subject or bound to
the corporate decisions of the head unit.
Quite the contrary, truth to tell, while the
CBCP may have certain but limited juris-
dictional powers, it may not subvert or
substitute the jurisdictional independence
of individual bishops.
“The chief aim of a Bishops’ Confer-
ence,” according to Fr. Florencio Testera,
O.P., “is to assist all bishops of the terri-
tory in the spirit of fraternal cooperation
without encroaching howsoever in to the
legislative power of any individual bishop.”
“If and when a Conference wishes to
make a law for its own country,” Fr. Testera
continues, “it must first secure the ap-
proval of the Apostolic See. The deci-
sions of an Episcopal Conference are to
have juridically binding force only in those
cases prescribed by common law or deter-
mined by a special mandate of the Apos-
tolic See, given either of its own accord or
at the instance of the Conference itself,
and on condition that it should be ap-
proved by two thirds of the members with
voting rights.”
Hence, not that the CBCP is totally
bereft or devoid of jurisdictional authority
or power. Accordingly, the CBCP Consti-
tution provides that, and as provided or
affirmed by the Catholic Church’s Code of
Canon Law, the CBCP “can issue general
decrees or decisions which are juridically
binding but only in those cases where the
universal law has so prescribed, or special
mandate of the Apostolic See, either on its
own initiative or at the request of the
Conference itself. For these decrees to be
validly enacted, they must receive at a
plenary meeting at least two thirds of the
votes of those who belong to the Confer-
ence with a deliberative vote.” And, the
CBCP Constitution adds, “All the mem-
bers of the Philippine Hierarchy shall ac-
cept and observe such binding decisions
in loyalty to the Apostolic See and for
ecclesial communion in the country.”
Statements as “one Catholic
voice”
The CBCP pastoral statements and
pronouncements -- which include pasto-
ral letters, statements, exhortations, ap-
peals, special messages, and norms -- on
religious and secular concerns alike cer-
tainly fulfill the Church’s prophetic or
teaching function.
Even a cursory perusal of the pastoral
letters and statements, according the
Bishop Bacani, “shows how seriously the
bishops have taken upon themselves this
prophetic task. The boldest exercise of
this prophetic task was the post-election
statement of the bishops issued on Febru-

m i s s i o n s a n d O f f i c e s
III. Department of Lay Formation V. Department of External Relations
1. Commission on the Laity 1. Permanent Committee on Public Affairs
2. Commission on Biblical Apostolate 2. Mixed Commission on Mutual Relations
3. Commission on Family and Life Between Bishopsand Religious
4. Commission on Missions
5. Commission on Youth VI. Other Offices
6. Office on Women
1. National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal
IV. Department of Social Services and 2. Pension Plan Committee
3. Media Office
Communications 4. Legal Office
1. Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace 5. Research Office
2. Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media
3. Commission on Prisoners’ Welfare
4. Commission for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant
People
5. Commission on Indigenous Peoples
6. Commission on Health Care

Volume 39 • Number 4 19
 C O V E R S T O R Y

ary 14, 1986, condemning the massive elec-
toral fraud in the 1985 snap elections.
This teaching mandate is precisely
specified in the CBCP’s Constitution as
one of its prime objectives, to wit, “to issue
doctrinal declarations so that the ‘mes-
sage of Christ enlightens and guides
people’s consciences in resolving new
problems arising from changes in society’
through the conjoint exercise of the au-
thentic teaching office, to which, although
they do not have the characteristics of a
universal magisterium, the faithful shall
adhere with a sense of religious respect.”
Yes, there is no forgetting then that, in
the recent political circumstances, much
to the impression -- or even consternation
-- of many, the CBCP apparently tarried
along in issuing its statement even as
people waited impatiently, not until its last
Plenary Assembly.
According to the CBCP statutes, how-
ever, the Conference may issue pastoral
statements or pronouncements only in
three ways: 1) through the Plenary Assem-
bly which takes place in January and July
of every year; 2) through the Permanent
Council which regularly meets every two
months; and 3) only in extreme or urgent
cases, through the President after con-
sulting with as many bishops as he can.
Clearly, in the recent political develop-
ments, the CBCP appropriately chose the
first route, Plenary Assembly.
That the pastoral statements and pro-
nouncements have relentlessly served as
candid expressions of the Church’s one
strong “Catholic voice” in national affairs
only bolstered the fact that the CBCP has,
then and until now, been a powerful voice
to reckon with, a key player in the country’s
evolving events.
Bishop Bacani, in an interview with
Impact, affirmed, “There is obviously a
big difference in terms of effect between
an individual voice or statement coming
from one bishop than a collective and
authoritative statement or voice coming
from all the bishops who have generally
agreed on the basis of consensus. The
individual bishop is only for his own
diocese, but the CBCP is -- from socio-
logical, psychological, and even theo-
logical point of view -- for the Catholic
Church in the Philippines. Certainly, the
voice of CBCP is stronger than the voice
of only one bishop.”
A candid appreciation or
understanding

C B C P P R E S I D E N
T he CBCP President “shall call and preside
over the Sessions of the Plenary Assembly
and meetings of the Permanent Council…He
shall sign and/or speak for the Conference
without its previous authorization in ordinary
matters, which do not in any way impinge on
the competence of each diocesan
Bishop…He shall however sign and/or speak
for the Conference in matters of extraordinary
significance involving the Conference as a
whole and every individual Member thereof
only when each and every Bishop has given
the authorization…He shall be the official
spokesperson of the Conference in press
conferences and media interviews. He may
delegate this function to the Vice-President,
to a Permanent Council Member or to a
Commission Chairman.” (CBCP Constitution,
Article XIII, Section 1).

1953-1956
MOST REV. RUFINO J. SANTOS, DD
(Archbishop of Manila)
1961-1965 1970-1973
MOST REV. JULIO R. ROSALES, DD MOST REV. TEOPISTO V. ALBERTO,
(Archbishop of Cebu) DD (Archbishop of Caceres)

1945-1949
MOST REV. GABRIEL M. REYES, DD
(Archbishop of Cebu)

1950-1952 1957-1960 1966-1969 1974-1977

MOST REV. GABRIEL M. REYES, DD MOST REV. JUAN C. SISON, DD MOST REV. LINO R. GONZAGA, DD JULIO R. CARDINAL ROSALES
(Archbishop of Manila) (Archbishop of Nueva Segovia) (Bishop of Palo) (Archbishop of Cebu)

20 IMPACT • July 2005

 U n r a v e l i n g o n C B C P

There’s no denying indeed, gleaned
from the past 60 years of its existence, the
CBCP has unwaveringly remained a strong
one “Catholic voice” to reckon with, a
prominent player in the country’s major
events. Its pastoral statements and pro-
nouncements have undoubtedly posed
not only as candid expressions of ecclesial
solidarity and collegiality but also have
borne an indelible impact to Philippine
society -- fearlessly challenging the
country’s dark dictatorial past, toppling
inept or undeserving government
leaderships, assailing unjust and immoral
legislations, denouncing fraud and irregu-
larity in elections and referenda, and more
importantly, championing the cause of the
Church’s integral evangelization.
But more than just riding the crest, the
brewing public misperceptions, or wrong
notions, about what the Conference truly is
cannot be equally ignored. The public may
not be faulted though for such. One, perhaps
the public’s notion or understanding of the
Conference is yet tied to the traditional insti-
tutional or hierarchical understanding of
Church. Another, the Conference perhaps
has not duly catechized the Filipino faithful
of an appropriate ecclesiology.
Truthfully, it may not at all be rashly
implausible to infer that perhaps the brew-
ing misconceptions are simply indicative
of the Conference’s, somehow or some-
where, either “excess or lack” -- innocuous
or inculpable may be -- in unfolding itself
as it truly is. But, if indeed the CBCP is to
effectively harness its prophetic role and
faithfully pursue the Church’s mandate
for integral evangelization, it should not
allow itself handcuffed to thriving popular
notions or misconceptions. At its best, the
Conference should even transcend be-
yond what people say, perceive, or con-
trive and truly present itself as such -- a
strong united body of bishops, of fearless
prophets who are ready “to tell in daylight
what they hear in the dark; to proclaim from
housetops what they hear in whispers”
(Mt. 10:27).
Not surprisingly hence, the Second
Vatican Council's magisterial document,
“Pastoral Constitution on the Church in
the Modern World,” (Gaudium et Spes),
could never have been more emphatic
when it exhorted that, “Bishops, to whom
is assigned the task of ruling the Church of
God, should, together with their priests, so
preach the news of Christ that all the earthly
activities of the faithful will be bathed in
the light of the Gospel." I

T S ( 1 9 4 5 - 2 0 0 5 )

1977-1981 1985-1987 1991-1995 1999-2003

JAIME L. CARDINAL SIN (Archbishop RICARDO J. CARDINAL VIDAL MOST REV. CARMELO D.F. MOST REV. ORLANDO B. QUEVEDO,
of Manila) (Archbishop of Cebu) MORELOS, DD (Archbishop of DD (Archbishop of Cotabato)
Zamboanga)

1981-1985 1987-1991 1995-1999 2003-Present

MOST REV. ANTONIO Ll. MABUTAS, MOSR REV. LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI, MOST REV. OSCAR V. CRUZ, DD MOST REV. FERNANDO R. CAPALLA,
DD (Archbishop of Davao) OP, DD (Archbishop of Caceres) (Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan) DD (Archbishop of Davao)

Volume 39 • Number 4 21
 S T
Statement of Concern on the
Revitalization of
Mining in the Philippines
Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
‘Do not defile the land where you live
and where I dwell.’ (Num 35:34)
We, Bishops of Northern Luzon come
in unity to speak our mind and heart in
support of our flock in light of the revital-
ization of mining in the Philippines. We
strongly say, no to large-scale mining.
In 1988 the Catholic Bishops’ Confer-
ence of the Philippines (CBCP) issued the
Pastoral Letter on Ecology”, What is Hap-
pening to our Beautiful Land?” where we
shared our anxiety over the ‘attack being
made on the natural world’ which was
‘endangering its fruitfulness for the future
generations’.
On the tenth anniversary of that let-
ter, we told you how concerned we are at
the rapid expansion of mining operations
arising from the Mining Act of 1995.
Today, we see the government ag-
gressively promoting mining and minerals
as drivers of growth for the Philippines
economy. Twenty-three (23) mining sites
are prioritized either for expansion and/or
for development. Seven of these are in
Northern Luzon, six in the Cordilleras and
one in the Sierra Madre Range. We know
these areas are fragile and host to indig-
enous peoples.
The National Government is harping
on the direct foreign investments that min-
ing will bring to the country, around $ 10
Billion dollars worth are in the pipeline. It
also says that it will bring resources to
local and national governments through
wealth sharing. Our experience in North-
ern Luzon, however, disproves what gov-
ernment is saying. Benguet, host to a num-
ber of mining companies over several de-
cades still feel the brunt of poverty.
What is being shown to us in the
example of Benguet is the continuing mis-
ery of communities affected by mining.
22 IMPACT • July 2005
A T E M E N
The Save the Abra River Movement, which
monitors discharge of Lepanto Mining to
the Abra River, as documented evidences
of continued dumping of mine waste to the
river. As a result, communities along the
river lost their livelihood from fishing and
agriculture production is slowly decreas-
ing due to the polluted waters.
The continuing impact of mining in
Northern Luzon validated our earlier pro-
nouncement that “The adverse social im-
pact on the affected communities, espe-
cially on our indigenous sisters and broth-
ers far outweigh the economic gains prom-
ised by large-scale mining corporations.
Our people living in the mountains and
along the affected shorelines can no longer
avail of the bounty of nature. Rice-fields
and rivers are devastated and whatever
food that are growing and living becomes
health hazards.” (CBCP Statement on the
Mining Act of 1995). The National Gov-
ernment, therefore, did not heed our earlier
call not to pursue short-term economic
gains at the expense of long-term ecologi-
cal damage.
We, therefore, strongly call on our
brothers and sisters in Christ to
a.) Uphold the centrality of the human
person in all aspects of development. ‘Re-
spect for life, and above all for the dignity
of the human person, is the ultimate guiding
norm for any sound economic, industrial or
scientific progress’. (Pope John Paul II)
b.) Allow our indigenous brothers
and sisters to chart and craft their own
development agenda based on culture and
tradition.
c.) Respect the essence and spirit of
the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
d.) Unite in rejecting the entry of min-
ing companies that orchestrate the de-
struction of our natural resources.
e.) Seriously consider and plan for
T S
alternatives to large-scale mining, which
are more lasting and sustainable.
f.) Reduce, re-use, and recycle.
g.) Uphold our national economy, pat-
rimony and sovereignty as embodied in
our 1987 Philippine Constitution.
We re-echo the voice of our indig-
enous brothers as they say:
God created land for the people. People
die and are buried in the earth. Land, the
earth, owns the people. These are sacred
places. Land is a place to live in, to use and
to work for its fruits and then to be buried
in and thus, finally, be owned by it. Of
threatened, defend it, although a few are
deceived and even forced out of it.
Datu Dia-on and Datu Man-ukil
May our Loving God continue to bless
and guide us. And may St. Francis of
Assisi, who has given us the example of
genuine and deep respect for the integrity
of creation, continue to inspire us to keep
ever alive a sense of ‘fraternity’ with God’s
creation. And may we be reminded of our
‘serious obligation to respect and watch
over creation with care’, that which “God
saw that it was good” and intended for the
good of mankind.
(sgd) MOST REV. EDMUNDO M. ABAYA, D.D.
Archbishop of Nueva Segovia
(sgd) MOST REV. OSCAR B. CRUZ, D.D.
Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
(sgd) MOST REV. SERGIO L. UTLEG, D.D.
Bishop of Ilagan
(sgd) MOST REV. ERNESTO A. SALGADO, D.D.
Bishop of Laoag
(sgd) MOST REV. RAMON B. VILLENA, D.D.
Bishop of Bayombong
(sgd) MOST REV. DIOSDADO A. TALAMAYAN, D.D.
Archbishop of Tuguegarao
(sgd) MOST REV. CORNELIO G. WIGWIGAN, D.D.
Vicar Apostolic of Bontoc-Lagawe
(sgd) MOST REV. ARTEMIO L. RILLERA, SVD, D.D.
Bishop of Bangued
(sgd) MOST REV. PRUDENCIO ANDAYA, CICM,
D.D. Vicar Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk
(sgd) MOST REV. JESUS A. CABRERA, D.D.
Bishop of Alaminos
(sgd) REV. FR. SAMUEL F. BANAYAT, JR.
Administration, Diocese of San Fernando La Union
 S T
RESTORING TRUST:
A PLEA FOR
MORAL VALUES IN
PHILIPPINE POLITICS
The Pastoral Situation
As a people we seem to have passed
from crisis to crisis in one form or another.
For many analysts, reinforcing these cri-
ses are ambivalent cultural values such as
palakasan, pakikisama, utang na loob,
and family-centeredness. As Bishops we
have long contended that the crises that
we have suffered are basically moral – the
lack of moral values in ourselves, in our
relationships, in our social structures.
Today we are beset with yet another
political crisis of such magnitude as to
polarize our people and attract them to
various options ranging from the extreme
right to the extreme left. In this grave
situation, various groups take advantage
of one another, manipulate situations for
their own agenda and create confusion
among our people sometimes by project-
ing speculation or suspicion as proven
fact, with the aim of grabbing power.
At the center of the crisis is the issue
of moral value, particularly the issue of
trust. The people mistrust our economic
institutions which place them under the
tyranny of dehumanizing poverty. They
also mistrust yet another key institution –
our political system. This mistrust is not
recent. For a long time now, while reveling
in political exercises, our people have
A T E M E N
shown a lack of trust in political personali-
ties, practices, and processes. Elections
are often presumed tainted rather than
honest. Congressional and senate hear-
ings are sometimes narrowly confined to
procedural matters and often run along
party lines. Politics has not effectively
responded to the needs of the poor and
marginalized.
This question of trust in national in-
stitution has taken a critical urgency with
the resignation of some key Cabinet mem-
bers, the realignment of political parties
and the creation of new alliances. Amid
this realignment of forces we commend the
clear official stand of our military and po-
lice authorities who reiterated their loyalty
to our Constitution that forbids them from
engaging in partisan politics.
Moreover within academe, business,
professional and civil society varied posi-
tions have been taken with regard to Presi-
dent Macapagal Arroyo. Some want her to
resign; others want her to go through due
process. Some want a Truth Commission.
Others impeachment. Some want a consti-
tutional process and others an extra-con-
stitutional process. On the other hand
there is also a wide manifestation of sup-
port for the chief executive by a cross
section of society.
T S
Today we ask ourselves, “As Bish-
ops what can we offer to our people? Can
we provide some clarity and guidance in
the present confusing situation?” We can
only answer these questions from who
are. We are not politicians who are to
provide a political blueprint to solve politi-
cal problems. Rather we are Bishops called
by the Lord to shepherd the people in the
light of faith. With Pope Benedict XVI we
do not believe in the “intrusion into poli-
tics on the part of the hierarchy.” But we
are to interpret human activities such as
economics and politics from the moral and
religious point of view, from the point of
view of the Gospel of Jesus and of the
Kingdom of God. We are to provide moral
and religious guidance to our people. This
is what we offer in the present crisis. Not
to do this would be an abdication of our
duty.
Our Pastoral Role and Our Stand
In the welter of conflicting opinions
and positions our role is not to point out
a specific political option or a package of
options as the Gospel choice, especially
so when such an option might be grounded
merely on a speculative and highly con-
trovertible basis. In the present situation
we believe that no single concrete option
Volume 39 • Number 4 23
Restoring Trust: A Plea for Moral Values in Philippine Politics
regarding President Macapagal Arroyo
can claim to be the only one demanded by
the Gospel. Therefore, in a spirit of humil-
ity and truth, we declare our prayerfully
discerned collective decision that we do
not demand her resignation. Yet neither
do we encourage her simply to dismiss
such a call from others. For we recognize
that non-violent appeals for her resigna-
tion, the demand for a Truth Commission
and the filing of an impeachment case are
not against the Gospel.
In all these we remind ourselves that
a just political and moral order is best
promoted under the present circumstances
by a clear and courageous preference for
constitutional processes that flow from
moral values and the natural law. Hence,
we also appeal to the people, especially
their representatives and leaders, to dis-
cern their decisions not in terms of political
loyalties but in the light of the Gospel
values of truth, justice, and the common
good. We urge our people in our parish
and religious communities, our religious
organizations and movements, our Basic
Ecclesial Communities to come and pray
together, reason, decide and act together
always to the end that the will of God
prevail in the political order. People of
good will and credibility who hold differ-
ent political convictions should come to-
gether and dialogue in order to help move
the country out of its present impasse. We
believe with Pope Benedict XVI that
through prayer the Filipino people and
their political representatives and leaders,
guided by moral principles, are capable of
arriving at decisions for the common good
that are based not only on political realities
but above all on moral precepts.
Yet having said this we wish to sub-
ject specific situations to moral inquiry to
guide our people in deepening their moral
discernment.
Restoring Moral Values
On Moral Accountability: “Political
authority is accountable to the people.
Those who govern have the obligation to
answer to the governed” (Compendium of
the Social Doctrine of the Church, 408).
President Macapagal Arroyo has admit-
ted and apologized for a “lapse of judg-
ment” for calling a COMELEC official.
The admission further eroded that
people’s trust on the already suspected
electoral system and raised serious ques-
tions on the integrity of the elections.
Beyond apology is accountability. In-
deed, with forgiveness is justice. To re-
24 IMPACT • July 2005
store trust would require a thorough,
credible, and independent process to ex-
amine the authenticity of the so-called
Garcillano tapes, verify any possible be-
trayal of public trust, and mete out due
punishment on all those found guilty.
Punishment should also be imposed on
those duly found guilty of corruption and
illegal acts, such as jueteng and wire-
tapping. Moral accountability calls for
radical reforms in various agencies of
government to make them more respon-
sive to the requirements of integrity as
well as to the needs of the poor.
On Constitutionality: In the present
crisis some calls are being made for mea-
sures that are counter-constitutional. The
Constitution enshrines cherished values
such as human dignity and the common
good, freedom, the rule of law and due
process. On this basis, we reject quick
fixes that cater to selfish political agenda
and advantage rather than to the common
good. We deplore the attempts of those
groups who seek to exploit our vulnerable
national situation in order to create confu-
sion and social chaos, in order to seize
power by unconstitutional means. We
reject calls for juntas or revolutionary coun-
cils. Our political leaders have to be the
first to observe and faithfully implement
the Constitution. Resolving the crisis has
to be within the framework of the Consti-
tution and the laws of the land so as to
avoid social chaos, the further weakening
of political systems, and greater harm in
the future.
On Non-Violence: Violent solutions,
as Pope Paul VI taught us, “produce new
injustices, throw more elements out of
balance, and bring on new disasters”
(Populorum Progressio, 31). There are
today, on different sides of the social and
political spectrum, those who would in-
stigate violence in order to promote their
own agenda or causes. We reject the use
of force and violence as a solution to our
problems. Such cannot be an option of
the Gospel, for we know that Jesus the
Lord taught a Gospel of love and non-
violence.
On Effective Governance: “Public au-
thority in order to promote the common
good… requires also that authority be
effective in attaining that end” (Pacem in
Terris, ch. IV). Together with compe-
tence, personal integrity is one of the most
necessary requirements of a leader. Inef-
fective governance may be due to a lack
of personal integrity or lack of compe-
tence. It could also be the result of a
confluence of factors that have eroded
trust and credibility and hence effective-
ness. In our present situation we recog-
nize that blame could be attributed to
many, even to all of us. Yet we would ask
the President to discern deeply to what
extent she might have contributed to the
erosion of effective governance and
whether the erosion is so severe as to be
irreversible. In her heart she has to make
the necessary decision for the sake of the
country. We all need to do the same. In-
deed, moral discernment is very difficult
since it is not based on political alle-
giances and alignments but no moral
considerations.
Conclusion
Dear People of God, sadness and anxi-
ety were our feelings when we as Bishops
first met to study the various aspects of
the crisis. To confront the fears and hope-
lessness that at the daily companions of
our poor is to realize that we of the Church
likewise contributed to them by our ne-
glect, our bias, our selfishness.
To respond to the pastoral situation
we commit ourselves to a more effective
evangelization in word and deed so that
moral values might become dynamic forces
of human life in economics, politics, and
culture. We especially commit ourselves
to the formation of men and women en-
dowed with competence and integrity and
empowered to effective leadership in the
economic and political spheres. With the
Gospel of truth, justice, peace and love in
their hearts they might, indeed, be a leaven
of social transformation for our country.
This Year of the Eucharistic reminds
us of the abiding, loving and healing pres-
ence of the Lord Jesus in our midst. By the
grace and mercy of God and the maternal
protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we
pray that a deep sense of hope will prevail
in these dark moments of our history. Our
loving God will not abandon us no matter
what pit of evil have fallen into. We shall
emerge stronger from this crisis. We shall
rise endowed with greater integrity. We
shall be witnesses to the power of God’s
grace to transform us into a noble nation,
a holier Church, a united people.
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of the Philippines:
+FERNANDO R. CAPALLA, D.D.
President
Archbishop of Davao
 E D I T O R
Court of Public
Opinion
True or otherwise, there is the ever increasing
feeling that practically all government agencies
have become progressively politicized. Leader-
ship in government is perceived to be assigned
to personalities more for political accommoda-
tion than for professional competence. There is
also the emerging awareness that many impor-
tant purely civilian offices are now headed by
either former military generals or retired police
authorities.
This is precisely why there appears to be the
fast developing exasperation among law practi-
tioners. More often than not, they observe some
kind of an impenetrable self-walling by the gov-
ernment, its agencies and officials such that it
has become a legal impossibility of obtaining
justice. The present dispensation as a whole is
seemingly becoming gradually dictatorial and
persecutory, untouchable and infallible.
In the Philippine experience, when the gov-
ernment has become either omnipotent or amoral,
when its agencies are no longer justly opera-
tional, when its officials live and act above the
I A L
law, it is ultimately the sovereign people who
take over and become both the prosecutor and
the judge: They accuse. They decide. They act.
When the legal becomes unattainable, the extra-
legal comes to play. And this can be dangerous
as it is unpredictable. What is legal has its given
understanding and limits. What is extra-legal in
the socio-political life of a country can mean
anything, could go anywhere, in anyway.
The “court of public opinion”: when legal pro-
cesses prove futile, when the judicial system rest
immobile, the people take over the right of hear-
ing their case, of evaluating its merits, of pro-
nouncing judgment. The well-known EDSA I
and EDSA II -- irrespective of its merits or
demerits -- were both the judgments rendered
by the “court of public opinion.”
It is when the government, its officials and
agencies appear already above the law and beyond
prosecution that the sovereign will of the people
comes to fore -- precisely through the “court of
public opinion”. And this appears to be in the offing
during these critical times in the country.
Volume 39 • Number 4 25
 F R O M T H E B
Unexpectedly, a tape was proudly displayed
by Malacañang. Expectedly, people began ask-
ing disturbing questions. Unfortunately,
Malacañanga was at a loss what to say.
Fortunately, the citizenry seem to know
the unsettling answers. Under-
standably, Malacañang is
now ominously silent,
sadly blasé about the
tape as a whole.
If the tape is genu-
ine in its making and/or
contents, if it proves dis-
honest and dirty elec-
tions, if it establishes the
illegitimacy of the present
administration, then,
Malacañang should keep its
silence, must maintain its refusal to
answer questions, and simply wait for
the storm to calm down -- if ever it will.
If the tape is falsified in its composi-
tion and/or entries, if it is simply a mali-
cious ploy to discredit the administra-
tion, if it has merely the devious intent to
destabilize the government if not unseat
the national leadership, then
Malacañang has no option.
tale of the tape
It should then be none other than
the president who must officially and
decidedly subject the tape to verification
by top local and/or foreign experts in the
Payback time has hopefully come to the infa-
mous jueteng lords in the country. They recruited
cobradores and cabos to slave for them. They
inculcated the mentality of chance and spirit of
payback time
indolence among the simple people. They exploited
the poor and the gullible. They enriched them-
selves with gross greed. They bought protection
and silence from chosen local officials and police
authorities of power and influence.
Well, happy days appear to be over for the
jueteng capitalists, financiers, operators as the
nation groans from the social costs brought about
by jueteng. It is about time that the decades of
social decay and the systematic corruption perpe-
trated by jueteng payolas be ended once and for all.
Only the jueteng patrons and protectors still
have the guile to claim that this illegal numbers
game -- just like masiao and the other deceitful
gambling forms -- is an innocent pastime, a harmless
favorite. Some of them now even shout for its
legalization. This way, what has been long since
wrong would be strangely made right, their vicious
deeds thus overlooked, their corrupted persons
thereby deodorized.
26 IMPACT • July 2005
L O G S
required technology. It should be the president
herself who must see to it that this deadly issue
is resolved once and for all, well and fast.
The president is clearly the principal con-
tent, the main subject of the tape. And she is
clearly too the one who must lead actively
and resolutely in having the many
questions about the same tape
rightly and squarely answered.
Woe to her and woe to the
country if she would simply allow
others to forward the answers to the
questions paused by the tape -- about
the persons therein and the pro-
nouncements thereby recorded.
Truth or lie, the tape in question is no
light matter. Not only the past could be dug
up. The present of the country might become
uncertain, and its future pitifully made unpre-
dictable.
An answer in truth and in fact -- this is the
demand of the tape to be made manifest, the
obligation of government to work on, the right
of the people to know. And neither silence nor
passivity on the part of the president could
provide that much urgent answer.
www.ovc.blogspot.com
The social costs left by jueteng constitute
public spectacle. The cobradores show empty
hands. The cabos complain of empty pockets. But
the marvel of all marvels is that the jueteng lords still
have all the money taken from the poor. The jueteng
payola beneficiaries continue to have their pockets
full of payola beneficiaries continue to have their
pockets full of jueteng bets placed by the gullible.
Let the government now take back the ill-
gotten money of the jueteng lords. Let public au-
thorities retrieve the dirty money received by the
jueteng beneficiaries. And let all these moneys
fund the misery of the cobradores and cabos. Give
them livelihood, grant scholarships to their chil-
dren. Return to them their lost human dignity.
There must be billions stacked here and there
by the jueteng lords and their payola beneficiaries.
Make them now shed their pounds and fats. They
have been pampered too long. They have lorded
over on people with much glee and delight. They
should be cut down to their rightful size -- which is
petty and insignificant.
Payback time has come!
www.ovc.blogspot.com
 E N T E R T A I N M E N T
ease!
Rel
New CATHOLIC INITIATIVE
FOR E NLIGHTENED
MOVIE APPRECIATION
Title: THE ISLAND
Running Time: 135 mins
Lead Cast: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett
Johansson
Director: Michael Bay
www.ovc.blogspot.com

Producer: Michael Bay

Screenwriter: Alex Jurtzman, Roberto Oci
Music: Steve Jablansky
Editor: Paul Rubell, Christian Wagner
Genre: Sci-fi/Adventure
Cinematography: Mauro Fiore
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Location: U.S.A.
Technical Assessment: • • •
Moral Assessment: + + ½
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

I
t is the year 2019. Lincoln (Ewan
McGregor) and Jordan (Scarlette
Johansson) are friends living in a
For Orders Contact: "sanitized" facility, thinking themselves
lucky to have survived the contamina-
tion in the world outside after a global
National Matrimonial
disaster. Together with many others like
Tribunal Office them, they live regimented lives with
Tel. No. (632) 5274160 everything regulated, from their food to
CBCPWorld Office their daily activities. All the "inmates"
look forward to being chosen to go to
Telefax (632) 4041612 "the island" which is touted to be the
only uncontaminated spot on earth and
the most beautiful place of peace and joy.
Other books by
However Lincoln wonders if indeed there
Abp. Oscar V. Cr uz, JCD, DD is no life outside their colony. They dis-
1. Marriage Tribunal Ministry cover that they are clones among thou-
2. Curia Management
3. Guide Documents on Parish, Vicariate and sands of others and that the institution
Diocesan Administrative / Pastoral manufacturer in order to harvest their
Concerns internal organs bought by paying cli-
4. Canon 290 CIC in the Service of Truth, ents. They also learn that "the island" is
Justice and Charity not a haven of peace but instead, a place
5. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on of horror where clones are sent to be
Canon 1097, 1098, 1102
6. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on "harvested." Lincoln convinces Jordan
Canon 1103 to escape with him.
7. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on One of the appeals of The Island is its
Canon 1095 theme. It touches on cloning, a very timely
8. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on and controversial issue today. Though
Canon 1101 this is science fiction, people who are not
9. Evidence in Marriage Nullity Cases
10. Impediments to Canonical Marriage very knowledgeable about cloning may
11. Markers want to know why all this sound and fury
12. Penal Process for Dismissal from the surrounds this scientific "advancement".
Clerical State As expected in movies of this genre, there
13. Provincial Council, Diocesan Synod, are a lot of awesome and spectacular hi-
Pastoral Assembly tech special effects. Perhaps an excess of
14. CBCP Guidelines on Sexual Abuse and
Misconduct: A Critique it, a trademark of Director Michael Bay's
15. Board of Conciliation and Arbitration movies. The story itself has many loop-
16. Viewpoints at the Onset of the New holes and events are at times fortuitous
Millennium and too coincidental. In between the noise
17. Administration of the Temporal Goods of the and thrills of the action and stunts, one
Chrurch gets a pleasurable respite viewing the
18. Clergy Compensation
breathtaking and expansive California land-
scape ably captured by the photography
of Mauro Fiore. McGregor and Johansson
adequately portray the roles of fugitives in
an unfamiliar world.
Cloning, genetic engirneering, stem
cell research are becoming today's
buzzword, though not too many really
understand them. Despite the fact that the
movie The Island is futuristic science fic-
tion, the events depicted are not a remote
possibility in our very real world. Passion-
ate advocates of cloning sing of its pos-
sible advantages in curing diseases but
often overlook its deleterious effects. The
movie shows this other side, the probable
evil and immoral purposes to which clon-
ing can be put to use. It shows how cloning
will open the gates for the illegal sale of
body parts for profit, the merciless slaying
of beings manufactured in one's likeness
to replace one's diseased organs. Another
disheartening episode in the movie shows
a new mother, nurtured in her pregnancy
by the institute, happily viewing her newly
born baby, only to be murdered the next
instant so her baby can be put up for
adoption, and possibly for monetary con-
sideration. Cloning enthusiasts justify this
by saying that clones are like vegetables
who do not have iseas, sensitivities and
emotions. But how can one know that with
certainty. The bottom line is people--in
their desire to live forever by replacing
aging body parts--would want to play
God, and they are willing to tamper with
nature as well as break moral laws for this
purpose. Sadly, some unscrupulous sci-
entists could only be too willing to coop-
erate for profit.
Date Reviewed: 22 July 2005 @ cbcpworld.com/cinema

Volume 39 • Number 4 27
 F R O M
I am thankful
1. For the husband who snores all night,
because he is at home asleep with me and
not with someone else.
2. For my teenage daughter who is com-
plaining about doing dishes, because that
means she is at home & not on the streets.
3. For the taxes that I pay because it means
that I am employed.
4. For the mess to clean after a party because
it means that I have been surrounded by
friends.
5. For the clothes that fit a little too snug
because it means I have enough to eat.
6. For my shadow that watches me work
because it means I am out in the sunshine.
7. For a floor that needs mopping, and
windows that need cleaning because it
means I have a home.
8. For all the complaining I hear about the
government because it means that we have
freedom of speech.
9. For the parking spot I find at the far end of
the parking lot because it means I am
capable of walking and that I have been
blessed with transportation.
10. For the noise I have to bear from my
neighbors because it means that I can hear.
11. For the pile of laundry and ironing
because it means I have clothes to wear.
12. For weariness and aching muscles at the
end of the day because it means I have been
capable of working hard.
13. For the alarm that goes off in the early
morning hours because it means that I am
stilll alive.
AND FINALLY ....... for received personal and
meaningful forwarded e-mails because it means I
have friends who are thinking of me.
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!!
(rdalanon@yahoo.com)
28 IMPACT • July 2005
T H E I N B O X
Ship Wrecked,
a lesson in
prayer
A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm
at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim
to a small, desert like island. The two survivors, not
knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no
other recourse but to pray to God.
However, to find out whose prayer was more
powerful, they agreed to divide the territory be-
tween them and stay on opposite sides of the
island. The first thing they prayed for was food. The
next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree
on his side of the land, and he was able to eat >its
fruit. The other man’s parcel of land remained
barren.
After a week, the first man was lonely and he
decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another
ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a
woman who swam to his side of the land. On the
other side of the island, there was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes,
more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were
given to him. However, the second man still had
nothing.
Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that
he and his wife could leave the island. In the
morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the
island.
The first man boarded the ship with his wife
and decided to leave the second man on the island.
He considered the other man unworthy to receive
God’s blessings, since none of his prayers had
been answered.
As the ship was about to leave, the first man
heard a voice from heaven booming, “Why are you
leaving your companion on the island?”
“My blessings are mine alone, since I was the
one who prayed for them,” the first man answered.
“His prayers were all unanswered and so he does
not deserve anything.”
“You are mistaken!” the voice rebuked him.
“He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not
for that, you would not have received any of my
blessings.”
“Tell me,” the first man asked the voice, “what
did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”
“He prayed that all your prayers be answered.”
(rdalanon@yahoo.com)
 V A N I L L
Browse
these sites!
Catholic Schools
1. Sacred Heart College - http://www.shc.edu.ph
2. Sacred Heart High School - http://
www.sacredheartschool.com.ph
3. Sacred Heart School For Boys - http://
www.shsbaa.com
4. St. Michael’s College - http://
www.smcl.edu.ph
5. St. Paul College, Pasig City -
http://www.spcpasig.edu.ph
6. St. Scholastica’s College
- http://www.ssc.edu.ph
7. San Beda College -
http://
www.sanbeda.edu.ph
8. San Pedro College,
Davao City - http://
www.spcnet.edu.ph
9. San Sebastian College
- Recoletos - http://
www.sscrmnl.edu.ph
TECHNObabble
Backbone: High-speed data line (or a highway)
that serves as a major access point which links up
networks.
Bandwidth: The maximum amount of data that can
pass through a transmission line at a time. The
higher the bandwidth the bigger the capacity and
speed of a data pipe to carry information over the
Internet.
B2B: Short for business-t-Business, the term refers
to e-commerce solutions that cater to other busi-
nesses. For instance, VerticalNet is a B2B portal
that is targeted at providing products and infor-
mation for businesses and industries. B2B is
tipped to be the biggest market on the Internet.
B2C: Short for Business-to-Consumer, this term
refers to sites that target the average user. Ama-
zon and Yahoo! Shopping are two B2C examples
where you can purchase books, CDs, apparel and
household items online.
BBS: Short for bulletin board service, BBS is a
system that lets users connect to a message
database from which they can retrieve and ex-
change electronic messages and files. According
to BBS list, there are 40,000 BBS’s worldwide.
A B Y T E S
10. San Sebastian College - Recoletos, Cavite City - http://
www.sscr.edu
11. Siena College, Quezon City – http://www.sienaqc.edu.ph
12. St. Anthony’s College, Antique - http://www.sac.edu.ph
13. St. Benedict’s College, Muntinlupa City - http://
www.stbenedict.edu
14. St. Joseph’s Academy, Las Pinas City - http://
www.josephians.edu.ph
15. St. Joseph’s College, Quezon City - http://
www.sjcqc.edu.ph
16. St. Louis University, Baguio City - http://www.slu.edu.ph
17. St. Mary of the Woods School, Makati City - http://
www.smws.edu.ph
18. St. Mary’s Academy, Kalookan City - http://
www.smacconline.net
19. St. Mary’s College, Quezon City - http://
www.smcqc.edu.ph
20. St. Mary’s College of Meycauayan - http://
smcmeyc.tripod.com
21. St. Mary’s University, Nueva Vizcaya - http://
www.smu.edu.ph
22. St. Paul College, Quezon City - http://www.spcq.edu.ph
23. St. Paul University Manila - http://www.spumanila.edu.ph
24. St. Paul University, Tuguegarao - http://www.spu.edu.ph
25. St. Paul University of Quezon City – http://
www.spuqc.edu.ph
26. St. Paul University of Iloilo – http://www.spuiloilo.edu.ph
(Note: Due to space limitations other schools could not be
included in this issue. They will be listed in the next)
Beta: A beta release means a software is still in its
testing period so that users can report bugs. Beta
usually follows an alpha version.
Binary File: Binaries are files that are only readable
by another application (or is an application itself)
such as downloaded files, images, movies and
sounds. While transferring over the web, this file
is encoded in ASCII format and decoded back in
its original format at the other end. The software
that encodes the binary file is called MIME, short
for multipurpose Internet Mail Extension.
Boolean Search: A system for searching informa-
tion from the web using terms like ‘end’, ‘or’ and
‘not’. You can enter Boolean searches at
ixQuick.com and Google Search engine.
Bug: A fault or glitch in hardware or software. How
this came to be known as a ‘bug’ dates back to
1945 when a team of US Navy scientists was
working on the world’s first electronic computers.
During operation, the system suddenly stopped
altogether. After a strenuous search, one techni-
cian finally discovered the cause: a dead moth
stuck in between the circuits. The moth has been
preserved at the Washington Navy Yard.
Volume 39 • Number 4 29
 N E
CHINA
Catholics join relief ef- Bishops call for height- Bishops buck human Tajiks to join WYD ‘05
forts for flood victims ened commitment to embryo research
peace
Over the past two months,
as various regions of south
east China have been seriously
affected by floods, local Catho-
lic communities have joined
people of other faiths and local
authorities to assist the vic-
tims. Catholics in the diocese
of Nan Ning, Guang Xi prov-
ince told, Faith bulletin pub-
lished in Hebei: “In our diocese
alone more than 600 people lost
their homes and are now living
in tents made available by the
local authorities. As the Catho-
lic community, we managed to
collect over 300 Euro and 2,000
blankets and articles of cloth-
ing. We are a poor province
and a poor Church but we do
our best to help and rely also
on help from other Catholic
communities.” (Fides Service)
IRAQ
Terrorism is unjustifi- N. Korea’s Food Crisis
able, says Iraqi priest Worsening
“Terrorism is criminal act
and nothing can justify them.”
An Iraqi priest in Mosul north-
ern Iraq, Fr. Nizar Semaan, la-
mented over series of killings
of innocent civilians in Iraq
perpetrated by terrorists.
“These people who kill them-
selves to kill others think
they’re right, but this does not
justify their actions,” said Fr.
Semaan. “We cannot make
subtle distinctions as some
people do with regard to Iraq,
Palestine, Afghanistan. These
are only excuses,” he added. “I
am convinced that the extrem-
ists would plant bombs even if
these situations did not exist.
And whatever the case these
situations must be settled, it is
a question of justice which has
nothing to do with terrorism.”
30 IMPACT • July 2005
W S B R
JAPAN
Japan’s bishops called for
an intensified commitment to
peace in a message marking
the 60th anniversary of the
dropping of the atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. The message was
issued on the occasion of
the “Catholic Period for Peace
in Japan,” which takes place
on Aug. 6 to 15— the dates
coincide with the first atomic
explosion over Hiroshima
and the end of World War II
in 1945. During the period
the bishops have invited all
Japanese faithful “to inten-
sify their prayers for peace in
the world, and to promote
concrete initiatives for peace-
ful solutions to conflicts.”
(Zenit.org)
N. KOREA
Caritas-Korea allocated
$500,000 to help the popu-
lation of North Korea after
the Pyongyang government
drastically cut food rations,
Zenit news said.
North Korea is facing its
most serious food crisis
since 1990. The situation
could worsen, given that the
Pyongyang regime plans to
reduce rations from 250
grams to 200 grams per day,
the lowest level since Janu-
ary 2001, according to the
U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization. It has also
warned that more than 6.5
million people, out of a
population of 22 million, are
in danger of death from hun-
ger.
I E F S
S. KOREA
for first time
(Fides Service) — “The
embryo is life. We have all
been embryos. We have no
right to meddle with human
life,” Bishop Francis Xavier
Ahn Myong-ok, president of
the Korean Bishops’ Commis-
sion for the Doctrine of the
Faith and the Commission for
Bio-Ethics said in a pastoral
letter. The letter stated the
position of the local Church
with regard to experiments on
human embryos by Korean
scientist, Dr. Hwang. “His re-
search is a manipulation of
human life; it offends the dig-
nity of the human person by
treating the embryo as an ob-
ject of research and experi-
ment,” the letter added.
SRI LANKA
Religious freedom
threatened
The Catholic Bishops of Sri
Lanka are alarmed and ex-
pressed serious concern over
growing anti-Christian cam-
paign and attacks by some
Buddhist extremist groups
causing fear among Sri Lanka’s
Christian populace. They also
expressed concern about the
two proposed laws which are
believed to likely threaten reli-
gious freedom: the Bill on Pro-
hibition of Forcible Conversion
and the Act for the Protection
of Religious Freedom. Some
fundamentalist Buddhist
groups are reportedly accus-
ing Christians of indiscrimi-
nately proselytizing and mak-
ing forced conversions. Last
year nine Buddhist monks were
appointed members of parlia-
ment to support legislation to
prevent such conversions.
TAJIKISTAN
(Fides Service) — For first
time in history, young Tajiks
will attend World Youth Day in
Cologne, Germany with the
Pope and hundreds of thou-
sands of young Christians from
all over the world. The Catholic
mission in Tajikistan, a Muslim
country, is sending a ‘numer-
ous’ delegation of 8 young
people to take part in the WYD
on August 11-21. “Since the
mission consists only of 245
Catholics among Tajikistan’s
population of 6 million, 8 young
delegates is a good number,”
said Fr. Carlos Avila who will
accompany the youth delega-
tion. “Our young people are
similar to those in the rest of the
world. But they come from a
new Church and they are there-
fore new in the faith but full of
enthusiasm and anxious to
know more about the faith they
have embraced.”
THAILAND
Thai teachers to carry
guns
Along with books and
chalks, teachers in Thailand’s
rebel infested southern prov-
inces will be provided with fire-
arms, as authorities vowed to
intensify the security to keep
them from deserting the said
area where an Islamic separat-
ist insurgency had already
claimed around 800 lives. Re-
ports revealed that teachers
have been frequent targets for
attacks claiming at least 24 lives
since last year, as they are seen
as symbols of Thailand’s Bud-
dhist authorities. Roughly
3,000 teachers are taking no
chances and have asked for
relocation
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Volume 39 • Number 4 31
32 IMPACT • July 2005