Php 70.00 Vol. 45 No. 5 • MAY 2011 - IMPACT Magazine Online!

Vol. 45 No. 5 • MAY 2011 

Php 70. 00

“ 

Quote in the Act 

“We need to make nuclear energy safer and do more 

to promote renewable energy.” 

Naoto Kan, Japan Prime Minister; on the abandonment of the plan that was 

announced last year to build 14 nuclear reactors by 2030 and increase the share 

of nuclear power in Japan’s electricity supply to 50 percent. 

“We aspire to be free, open, moderate society where 

each citizen will have the same rights.” 

Abdallah Zouari, a member of Ennahda’s executive committee; despite 

“ 

repeated assurances of their tolerance, the Ennahda Party that emerged as 

the most powerful political force in post-revolution Tunisia is becoming a cause 

for worry among activists who suspect a rebirth of a conservative Islamic 

government once Ennahda is catapulted to power after the July 24, 2011 

elections. 

“A younger generation wants to be more engaged in 

the decisions which affect them.” 

Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of Singapore; on his resignation from the 

cabinet, ceding leadership to a younger generation after his party’s worst 

election result since independence in 1965. 

“And, ever since he came to power, Aquino has 

already shown that he has no nescience, that is, 

he lacks knowledge of rules of governance and is 

“ 

ignorant of the Constitution and other laws of the 

land.” 

Nestor Mata, Columnist of a national daily; commenting on the lot that after only 

ten months in office, Filipinos are already unhappy, dissatisfied and disenchanted 

with President Aquino and his performance in office. 

“He can put us all in jail. We are willing to pay 

the price to save the unborn from modern Herods 

and save the executioners from the grasp of the evil 

one.” 

Ramon Arguelles, Archbishop of Lipa, Batangas; in reaction to President 

Benigno Aquino’s tirade that if those against the Reproductive Health Bill will call 

for non-payment of taxes or do other forms of civil disobedience they will face 

sedition charges. 

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IMPACT 

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PEDRO C. QUITORIO III 

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EDITORIAL 

Aristocracy and democracy ............................. 27 

COVER STORY 

Who feels better now after a year of Aquino 

economy? ......................................................... 16 

After almost a year now 

in office, President Benigno 

Simeon Aquino III 

seems to have been very persistent 

with only one agenda: 

the passage of the Reproductive 

Health Bill. If there is anything 

interesting that can highlight 

best his first year in office that 

will be his unrelenting engagement 

with Catholic bishops on 

the same worn out issue, the 

RH bill. He may be the first 

president in this country’s history 

that had the most overt 

dialogues with bishops at the 

first year of presidency—but 

ended up in futility because, 

according to the bishops’ letter 

to him, “the prevailing 

circumstances where a healthy 

atmosphere for dialogue on the 

matter is wanting.” 

It won’t appear ridiculous if 

he will be referred to as the “RH 

President”. That will at least 

be higher in moniker than, say, 

a “Jueteng President” or something 

of “Hello Garci” and, 

perhaps, a lighter epitaph of a 

“president who hid under her 

bed”. The only rub is, if the RH 

Bill goes down, he may also go 

with it. Yes, Virginia, this bill 

is politically potent that may 

spell the difference between 

CONTENTS 

holding on to power or 

being booted out of it—or 

at least reaching the finish 

line but nursing some 

wounds of “survivorship” 

governance. 

The plummeting of his 

popularity rating of late is not an 

unusual twist of fate. This was 

expected in the face of a growing 

number of Filipinos who have 

become unhappy, dissatisfied and 

disenchanted. One year in office 

maybe cruelly too short to deliver 

campaign promises. But even 

streaks of his “matuwid na daan” 

or “kung walang kurap walang 

mahirap” is nowhere in sight and 

maybe just as fancy as the PS2 

games where he is reputed to be 

so obsessively adept. 

What people saw from day one 

was the innumerable missteps, 

blunders, boo-boos and diplomatic 

faux pas. But these are nothing 

compared to the absence of a realistic 

road map that will answer 

the country’s worsening poverty 

problem that maybe traced from a 

whole gamut of mismanagement to 

endemic corruption. All that this 

administration has done so far are 

the “band-aid” solutions the likes 

of the Conditional Cash Transfer 

Program and the “Pantawid Pasada 

IMPACT May 2011 / Vol 45 • No 5 

ARTICLES 

Canadian mining in the Philippines: 

development for whom? ............................... 4 

The Plight of Filipino Migrants ......................... 8 

Human rights in crisis .................................... 9 

Do we need this RH Bill HB 4244? .................. 10 

DEPARTMENTS 

Quote in the Act ................................................. 2 

News Features ................................................... 12 

Statements .......................................................... 22 

From the Blogs ................................................ 26 

From the Inbox .................................................. 28 

Entertainment .................................................... 30 

Asia Briefing ...................................................... 31 

Program” which are both tentative 

and palliative. 

Of late one reads a barrage of 

criticisms from commentators 

and observers. Nestor Mata, 

for instance, wrote: “…ever 

since he came to power, Aquino 

has already shown that he has 

no nescience, that is, he lacks 

knowledge of rules of governance 

and is ignorant of the 

Constitution and other laws of 

the land.” And this one from 

an online observer: “It looks 

like unsuspecting Filipinos had 

elected a little boy to Malacañang 

Palace, thinking him to 

be fully a man…The problem 

is that this man-boy is now 

technically the most powerful 

man in the Philippines. Can 

we still afford to cut him some 

slack?” 

In our cover story, staff 

writer Charles Avila writes 

“Who feels better now after 

a year of Aquino economy.” 

Read on. 

2 IMPACT • May 2011 

Volume 45 • Number 5 3

ARTICLES 

ARTICLES 

Canadian mining in the Philippines: 

development for whom? 

TSXV listed mining 

companies with properties in 

the Philippines 

By Fr. Edwin Gariguez 

Aggressive Mining Promotion in the 

Philippines 

Mining of the Philippine’s rich mineral 

resources is pursued within the context of 

colonial trade liberalization that sets as 

a backdrop for the globalized economy. 

What is particularly alarming in the present 

process of global trade is the immensity and 

the exceptionally rapid degree of global 

integration affecting the terms of production 

and exchange that cross national boundaries, 

while at the same time undermining the 

power of the state in imposing its internal 

trade policies. 

In the case of the Philippines, the 

policy recommendation made by Asian 

Development Bank and the United Nations’ 

Development Programme, backed 

by the World Bank, greatly influenced the 

government’s move to liberalize national 

legislation on mining. Liberalization is attained 

by changing the economic policies 

of the state to make them more attractive to 

global competitiveness and to provide more 

incentives to the entry of the transnational 

corporations. The Mining Act of 1995 is 

a crucial legislation enacted to liberalize 

the mining policy in the Philippines in 

unequivocal terms. 

Admittedly, the Philippine Mining 

Act of 1995 is essentially crafted to attract 

foreign investors because with its provisions, 

the country’s right to sovereignty 

is relaxed in order to provide palatable 

incentives to transnational mining investors. 

Among the attractive features granted 

under the provisions of the Mining Act 

are as follow: 100% foreign ownership of 

mining projects, allowing foreign company 

to have a concession area of up to 81,000 

hectares on shore and 324,000 hectares 

off shore, 100% repatriation of profit, 5 

years tax holiday later extended to eight, 

and deferred payment are allowed until all 

cost are recovered, enjoyment of easement 

rights, and other auxiliary rights in mining 

concession, mining lease for 25 years, 

extendable to another 25 years, losses can 

be carried forward against income tax, 

among others. 

The Mining Act of 1995 was primarily 

intended to serve foreign interest and not 

the local communities and it is never meant 

to legislate equitable sharing of resources, 

but on the contrary, it guaranteed clear 

profit margin to mining corporations, while 

selling our national patrimony for mere pittance 

share of taxes. The mining law which 

lays down the policy for the government’s 

near-fanatical campaign to attract foreign 

investors to invest in the mining industry 

distorts the goal of genuine development. 

By single-mindedly pursuing the economic 

benefits or financial gain, it failed to weigh 

the greater consideration in the equation— 

the human and ecosystems well-being, the 

human rights of the indigenous peoples and 

the local communities, the food security and 

ecological integrity of the country. 

For the affected communities, largescale 

mining does not promote pro-people 

development but in fact, it poses an imminent 

threat to their livelihood and the already 

fragile ecology. It is precisely for this reason 

that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the 

Philippines categorically calls for the repeal 

of the Mining Act of 1995 stating that: 

We reaffirm our stand for the repeal of 

the Mining Act of 1995. We believe that the 

Mining Act destroys life . . . Our experiences 

of environmental tragedies and incidents 

with the mining transnational corporations 

belie all assurances of sustainable and 

responsible mining that the Arroyo Administration 

is claiming. Increasing number of 

mining affected communities, Christians 

and non-Christians alike, are subjected 

to human rights violations and economic 

deprivations. We see no relief in sight . . . 

The promised economic benefits of mining 

by these transnational corporations are outweighed 

by the dislocation of communities 

© Nassa Files 

Listed Mining Companies (TSXV) Properties 

1. ALTAI RESOURCES INC. (http://www.altairesources.com) 

• Negros Island Property Sulphur-Gold 

• Lahuy Island Property – Gold 

2. CADAN RESOURCES CORPORATION (http://www.cadanresources. 

com) 

• T’Boli Gold-Silver 

• Batoto Tarale Gold-Silver 

• Comval Copper-Gold -Tagpura Maangob 

• Tagpura Porphyry Skar 

• Maangob Porphyry Skarn 

• Kalamatan Porphyry Copper-Gold 

• Cadan Porphyry 

3. CRAZY HORSE RESOURCES INC. (http://crazyhorseresources.com) 

• Kayapa Copper-Gold Porphyry Project 

• Taysan Project Batangas 

4. MBMI RESOURCES INC. (http://www.mbmiresources.com) 

• Alpha Project Palawan 

• Bethlehem Nickel Project Narra 

• Dinagat Island Project 

• Malatgao and Northern Rio Tuba Properties 

• Nickel Projects Samar (4) 

5. METALLUM RESOURCES INC. (http://www.metallumresourcesinc. 

com) 

• Interest in five mineral properties terminated (Nov 2010) (Solfotara Mining 

Corp) 

6. MINDORO RESOURCES LTD. (http://www.mindoro.com) 

• Surigao District: Agata Nickel Laterite 

• Agata Gold and Copper-Gold 

• Tapian San Francisco lies within the towns of Mainit 

• MalimonoBolobolo prospect is approximately 40 km from Butuan City 

• Batangas Projects are located in Batangas Province (4) 

• Pan de Azucar Island Project (PDA) 

7. PANORO MINERALS LTD. (http://www.panoro.com) 

• Divestiture in the Surigao Joint Venture on March 14, 2007- sold to Mindoro 

8. PHILEX GOLD INC. (http://philexgold.net) 

• Silangan Project (formerly Boyongan Project) 

• the former Bulawan Gold Mine 

• the Lascogon, Danao and other Gold Prospects. 

9. PHILIPPINE METALS INC. (http://www.philippinemetals.com) 

Mining companies, page 6 



ARTICLES 

Canadian mining in the Philippines: development for whom? 

Mining companies, page 6 

• The Taurus-Suhi Massive Sulphide Project, Alang-Alang, Santa Fe, Palo 

and Tacloban City Leyte; 

• Malitao Project Calanasan municipality, Kalinga-Apayao Province, 

northern Luzon; 

• Dilong Project Barrio Dilong, (also known as the Hale Mayabo Claim) 

285 kilometers north of Manila and about 130 kilometers north of Baguio. 

10. RUGBY MINING LTD (http://www.rugbymining.com) 

• The Mabuhay Gold Project is located 12 kilometres south of Surigao City 

11. TIGER INTERNATIONAL RE-SOURCES INC. (http://www.tigerresources.com) 

• Esperanza Gold Project 11 kilometers outside Baguio 

TSX listed mining 

companies with properties 

in the Philippines 

1. CGA MINING LIMITED (http://www.cgamining.com) 

• Masbate Gold Project 

2. CREW GOLD CORPORATION (http://www.crewgold.com) 

• Have just sold out to Severstal, that have bought into Intex Resources 

Inc. 

3. MEDUSA MINING LIMITED (http://www.medusamining.com.au) 

• Philsaga’s UndergroundGold Mine, 

• Anoling Project, Saugon Prospect, 

• Trento Project, 

• Bananghilig Gold De-posit, 

• Barobo Gold Corridor, 

• Lingig (Das-Agan) Project – Surigao Del Sur, 

• Kamarangan Porphyry Copper Target, 

• Usa Copper Project, 

4. OCEANAGOLD CORPORATION (http://www.oceanagold.com) 

• Didipio Project in Northern Luzon, 

5. OLYMPUS PACIFIC MINERALS INC. (http://www.olympuspacific. 

com) 

• Capcapo Gold Property 

6. TVI PACIFIC INC. (http://www.tvipacific.com) 

• Canatuan Mine, 

• Siennalynn Project, 

• Balabag Gold Pro-ject, T 

• amarok and Tapisa Copper-Gold Projects 

• Bonbon Project 

• North Zamboanga Projects 

(Source: http://nassa.org.ph) 

especially among our indigenous brothers 

and sisters, the risks to health and livelihood 

and massive environmental damage. 

Together with the Church’s position, 

the prevailing position among members of 

the social movement on the mining issue is 

that destruction that it causes is detrimental 

to genuine people-centered development. 

They claim that the global character of 

mining industry, together with the policy 

of liberalization imbedded in the Mining 

Act of 1995, facilitated the pouring in of 

mining applications in the country. 

Canadian Mining—for the good or 

bad? 

Globalized mining industry and the 

destructive character of its operation spell 

misery and suffering to vulnerable groups 

and sectors like the laborers, farmers, urban 

poor, indigenous peoples, among others. 

In effect, globalization and its lopsided 

trade liberalization undeniably result to 

unprecedented adverse consequences at 

both global and local level, characterized by 

ever-growing inequity in wealth distribution 

and ever-worsening poverty. 

The Canadian mining industry is active 

in over 100 developed and developing countries, 

and 

is inv 

o l v e d 

in over 

8,000 exploration 

projects 

and mining 

operations 

worldw 

i d e . 

Mining, 

with over 

C$66 billion 

in 

direct investment 

a b r o a d 

in 2008, 

represents 

over 

50% of 

Canadian 

direct investment 

abroad in natural resources. In 

their activities in the Philippines, the Canadian 

firms claim to be the source of positive 

economic and social benefits, including 

poverty reduction, economic diversification 

and the enhancement of local infrastructure 

and social and health ser-vices. 

Our country also has a 

fair share of contributions to 

Canada’s income from mining. 

There are 11 Toronto Stock 

Venture Exchange listed mining 

companies with 39 properties 

in the Philippines, namely, 

Altai Resources Inc, Canada 

Resources Corporation, Crazy 

Horse Resources Inc, MBMI 

Resources Inc, Metallum Resources 

Inc, Mindoro Resources 

FILE PHOTO 

Ltd, Panoro Minerals Ltd, Philex 

Gold Inc, Philippine Metals Inc, 

Rugby Mining Ltd, and Tiger 

International Resources Ltd, 

and 6 Toronto Stock Exchange 

mining companies with 28 properties 

in the Philippines, namely, 

CGA Mining Ltd, Crew Gold 

Corporation, Medusa Mining 

Ltd, Oceana Gold Corporation, 

Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc, 

TVI Pacific Inc. 

These firms claim to be the 

source of positive economic 

and social benefits, including 

poverty reduction, economic 

diversification and the enhancement 

of local infrastructure and 

social and health services. But 

we claim otherwise. As the 

Policy Paper of the National 

Alliance Against Mining attests: 

“the performance of the 

Philippine mining industry is 

© Nassa Files 

dismal. It failed to deliver on 

its promises on revenues, investments 

and employment. Its 

contribution to the Philippine 

economy is relatively insignificant 

compared to Agriculture, 

Fisheries and Forestry. Adding 

tourism to the equation (whose 

operations are directly impacted 

by mining), then you have an 

imbalance.” 

And to cite instances of 

how mining, particularly by Canadian 

companies, has brought 

human rights violations and 

threatens ecological integrity 

of island community, there are 

three more recent incidents: 

1. On January 10, 2011 the 

Philippine Commission on Human 

Rights (CHR) promulgated 

a resolution recommending cancellation 

of the mining contract 

issued to Oceana Gold because 

of strong evidence that their 

presence in Nueva Vizcaya has 

caused human rights violations. 

The CHR cited complaints that 

Oceana Gold “had illegally and 

violently demolished some 187 

houses in Didipio: 

“Residents 

who 

resisted and 

tried to save 

their homes 

FILE PHOTO 

had been 

beaten, including 

their 

neighbors 

who helped 

them; houses 

had been 

bulldozed off 

cliffs and set 

on fire,” the 

CHR resolution 

added. 

B u t 

despite the 

categorical 

findings on 

human rights 

violations, 

the company 

acted with impunity and is determined 

to speed up the construction 

phase of the operation. 

Oceana Gold Corporation 

is an Australian company listed 

under Toronto Stock Exchange, 

Mining, page 15 



ARTICLES 

The Plight of Filipino Migrants 

ARTICLES 

HUMAN RIGHTS 

in crisis 

By Bishop Leonardo Y. Medroso 

It is a sad commentary that we are no 

longer shocked with the fast growing 

number of our countrymen who are 

leaving the Philippines, land of their birth. 

It bespeaks of an attitude that has become 

accustomed, if not calloused, to the alarming 

reality; that the phenomenon does not 

cause us anymore uneasiness or feeling of 

guilt. In the midst of this seeming indifference, 

I would dare to state the fact that 

there are now nine million migrants, if not 

more, or thereabouts. 

They are not mere faceless individuals, 

but warm bodies with human feelings, 

Filipino emotions, and basic needs that 

constantly call our attention. They are 

living persons who need food and the 

necessities of life to keep themselves in 

one piece; rational beings who can foresee 

the need to provide for the uncertainties 

of the future, responsible family men and 

women who in search for a better future 

for their children, they set out of this country 

that they love, and settle in a foreign 

land which they think could give them a 

better prospect for themselves and their 

family; human persons who are endowed 

with rights and obligations, particularly 

the right to a decent environment that 

guarantees the protection of their human 

dignity. They have to be cared for bodily, 

psychologically, and spiritually. 

The Church in the Philippines has not 

been remiss in its obligation to extend its 

Pastoral Care to Filipino Migrants. It is 

aware of its task to look into the temporal 

and spiritual needs of its faithful. It is after 

all its response to the rights of the migrants 

as well as all the faithful which the Code 

enunciated, to wit: “Christ’s faithful have 

the right to be assisted by their Pastors 

from the spiritual riches of the Church, 

especially by the word of God and the 

Sacraments” (Canon 213). They may be far 

from its reach, but the obligation remains 

in the conscience of the Philippine Church. 

Foremost in its mind is what is demanded in 

the Salvation History—God provided laws 

and guidelines regarding refugees. When 

God commanded the Chosen People to be 

hospitable to foreigners and strangers, as 

stated in Leviticus 19: 34, God reminded 

them of the reason for the legal provision, 

that is, “because you yourselves were 

foreigners in strange land.” 

CBCP sees this text as a framework 

for its pastoral care for Filipino migrants, 

that is, our people are strangers in foreign 

lands. It has to look after their pastoral needs, 

their well-being, peace of mind, growth in 

spiritual life, and their appreciation of their 

dignity as human beings and as children of 

God. The Church in the Philippines has task 

to constantly remind them and support them 

that no matter how menial their kind of work 

is, they remain children of God and bearers 

of human dignity. It is for this heavy responsibility 

that CBCP has to found the Commission 

for the Pastoral Care for Migrants, 

and to demand from it a regular report and 

evaluation of its mission. But nine million 

Plight, page 21 

© Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala 

The recent proliferation of non-governmental 

organizations (NGOs) is 

a most welcome development since 

they facilitate our life in society. With 

them, the requirements of the principles 

of subsidiarity and solidarity, so essential 

in society, are more finely met. 

Subsidiarity is when a bigger entity 

can delegate some of its powers to a lower 

entity. It’s also when the smaller needs of 

men in society are met due to the presence 

of more intermediaries 

between the individual 

citizens and the over-all 

state authorities. 

Solidarity is when society 

becomes more organized 

and moves more or 

less in the same direction 

without annulling legitimate 

differences and variety 

of sectors comprising 

it. It means having better 

working unity in society. 

The NGOs are these 

agents and intermediaries 

that foster the need for 

subsidiarity and solidarity 

in a given society. We just 

have to make sure that a 

third social principle, that 

of the common good, is 

also met, so that the play of 

the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity 

gets into the right groove. 

This is the problem we often encounter 

these days with respect to the NGOs. Many 

of them, I’m afraid, are a cover to advance 

an agenda whose idea of common good 

is at best inadequate, often dangerous, if 

not utterly wrong. 

The other day, someone told me that in 

a Congress hearing, a representative of an 

NGO was batting for sexual rights, saying 

that everyone has a “right to a satisfying 

and safe sex.” 

While it’s true that we are a sexual 

being, and therefore sex has a legitimate 

part in our life, we just can’t be naïve 

when ideas like what was presented in that 

Congress hearing is proposed to us. 

We need to see if indeed this “right 

to a satisfying and safe sex” truly corresponds 

to an objective common good 

meant for us. We have to know what that 

right involves, what its inspiration and true 

purpose are, etc. 

We just cannot say anything is a human 

right based on an opinion or even on 

a consensus of some people. We cannot 

even consider a culture and civilization as 

the ultimate source of what is the authentic 

common good for us and what is not. They 

are not the ultimate terra firma. They shift 

too like sand, and can contain impurities. 

The crux of our problem is that 

in determining our common good, any 

mention to God is immediately or, worse, 

automatically rejected. It’s as if God has 

no place in this discussion. It’s as if God 

is the very antithesis of democracy and its 

ways and processes. 

At best, any reference to God has to 

be veiled, since making it explicit is considered 

a fallacy of begging the question. 

It is feared it would illegitimately stop 

further discussion or reasoning, which is 

not true, since such reference would in fact 

throw the doors open for further scrutiny. 

It fosters more discussion. 

We need to make a drastic change in 

our attitude and ways of determining if a 

claimed human right is indeed part of our 

common good. We have to defer to what 

the Compendium of Social Doctrine says 

about the source of human rights. 

In point 153, it says, “The ultimate 

source of human rights is not found in the 

mere will of human beings, in the reality 

of the State, in public powers, but in man 

himself and in God his Creator.” 

So, it’s clear that no 

matter how hard it is to 

determine what is God’s 

will and design for us, we 

just have to make an effort 

to know God’s will, since 

ignoring it would just put 

us in the dark, and lead us 

to unjust ways of determining 

what is right and 

wrong, what is good and 

evil, true and false. 

In short, it would not 

be democratic, in fact, if 

our political ways would 

systematically shun the 

contribution of religion, 

or that our discussion 

of issues that affect our 

FILE PHOTO 

common good would exclude 

faith and religion, 

and everything involved 

there, like listening to the teachings of the 

Church, etc. 

In that set-up, democracy would be 

understood as just a purely human affair, 

as if everything begins and ends with us. 

Of course, we are the primary actors in 

democracy, but we are nothing without 

God who is our source, our Creator, and 

in fact, also our end. 

Democracy, without God, would 

lose its foundations and sense of purpose, 

and would just be driven not by truth nor 

by love, but by sheer and brazen human 

power. That’s when human rights enter 

the crisis zone. I 



ARTICLES 

Do we need this RH Bill 4244? 

Do we need this RH Bill HB 4244? 

By Bishop Broderick S. 

Pabillo, D.D. 

The Philippine Constitution 

states: 

“The State recognizes 

the sanctity of family life 

and shall protect and strengthen 

the family as a basic autonomous 

social institution. It 

shall protect the life of the 

mother and the life of the 

unborn from conception. The 

natural and primary right and 

duty of parents in the rearing 

of the youth for civic efficiency 

and the development of moral 

character shall receive the support 

of the government”. (Sec 

12, Art II) 

“The State shall defend 

the right of spouses to found a 

family in accordance with their 

religious convictions and the 

demands of responsible parenthood”. 

(Sec 3(1) Art XV) 

The State shall defend “the 

right of families or family associations 

to participate in the 

planning and implementation 

of policies and programs that 

affect them.” (Sec 3 Art XV) 

1. Due commendation is 

to be given to the authors of 

the bill 4244 when they made 

several amendments to it on 

March 15, 2011. The amendments 

take away some of its 

objectionable features. The 

amendments are: 

a. The wording on Sec 

13 asking the barangay health 

workers and volunteers to “be 

capacitated to give priority to 

family planning work” was 

changed. The phrase “give 

priority to family planning 

work” is deleted. Barangay 

health workers are not there to 

prioritize reproductive health. 

There are so many health issues 

to be addressed, and very 

grave and basic ones too, in our 

barangays. 

b. In Sec 15 the Mobile 

Health Care Service that each 

congressional district are mandated 

to have will no longer 

be funded from the Priority 

© Prolife Philippines 

Development Assistance Fund 

(PDAF), popularly known as 

the Pork Barrel, but instead “the 

procurement and operation of 

which shall be funded by the 

National Government”. This 

may be a way to get the support 

of some congress men and 

women who do not want their 

Pork Barrel to be reduced. This 

is more of a political ploy. 

c. The controversial Sec 

16 which deals with sex education 

entitled: “Mandatory 

age-appropriate reproductive 

health and sexuality education” 

has been diluted with the 

addition of another paragraph 

which reads: “Parents shall 

exercise the option of not allowing 

their minor children 

to attend classes pertaining to 

reproductive health and sexuality 

education.” This may be 

a concession but how many 

parents will exercise this option, 

and whether their option 

will be respected in our public 

schools. 

d. Sec 20 on the “Ideal 

Family Size” has been totally 

deleted, and rightly so. While 

this section recognized the 

rights of parents on how many 

children they may have, still 

it is suggested that two children 

is the ideal. A law, if it 

is a law, is mandatory and not 

exhortatory. 

e. Sec 21 on “Employers’ 

Responsibilities” has been 

entirely deleted on the reason 

that “this provision is a restatement 

and amplification of the 

existing Art 134 of the Labor 

Code.” 

f. Another contentious 

section is on the Prohibited 

Acts, Sec 28 (e). One of the 

prohibited acts is “any person 

who maliciously engages in 

the disinformation about the 

intent and provisions of this 

act.” This infringes on the 

freedom of expression. This 

part is deleted. 

2. With these amendments, 

can we say that the bill 4244 

is now acceptable? I say no! 

The some basic objectionable 

elements are still there. 

3. Reproductive Health is 

now seen by its international 

promoters as including the 

control of population, the provision 

of abortion, the promotion 

of contraception (including 

agents and methods known to 

be abortifacient), promotion of 

a particular form of sexuality 

education, and the promotion of 

an ethic with regard to sexuality 

that separates it from life and 

self-giving love. Though the 

present bill says that it does not 

promote abortion yet it cannot 

detached itself from the ideology 

espoused by the language 

of reproductive health. The 

elements of the reproductive 

health ideology are in the present 

bill. 

4. There is no mention 

of the sexual act. Mention is 

made of pregnancies and HIV 

and STI, which are results of 

sexual actions. The bill wants 

to prevent the results but do not 

attack the root. Results are to 

be controlled but not the sexual 

actions. In a way it brings the 

message: any sexual activity is 

alright, just prevent its undesirable 

consequences, which are 

sexuality transmitted deceases 

and pregnancy! 

5. There is no mention of 

the value of life of the unborn, 

the value of family, and the 

value of the sexual act. However, 

by promoting contraception 

devices a value is being 

subtly put forward without even 

mentioning it: one can engage 

in sex as long as one does not 

get unwanted pregnancy or one 

does not get sick. In truth if one 

does not want to get unwanted 

pregnant and sexual disease the 

solution that is and without cost 

and complication is to abstain 

from any inappropriate sexual 

behavior. But proper sexual 

values are not promoted. There 

is even no mention of abstinence 

and fidelity in marriage 

in the bill. 

6. There are many provisions 

that say that devices, 

commodities, and supplies are 

to be promoted, made available 

and provided. This already 

shows the bias towards artificial 

family planning methods 

which would have need of 

these supplies. Money is to be 

given for these supplies and 

commodities to make them 

available while no mention of 

money being spent on teaching 

people, which natural planning 

methods require. The mention 

of the natural family planning is 

just a palliative in the bill with 

no real intention of promoting 

it. Instead there is great intent 

to promote the “devices”. 

7. Sec. 10 entitled “Family 

Planning Supplies as Essential 

Medicines” is totally 

unacceptable! Medicines are 

for the sick. What sickness do 

“Family Planning Supplies” 

cure? These supplies are surely 

contraceptive pills, IUDs and 

condoms. Except in particular 

cases contraceptives do not 

treat any medical condition. 

On the contrary they are used 

upon perfectly healthy women 

to restrict a natural function. 

The government cannot even 

procure real basic medicines 

as paracetamols, anti-biotics 

and other basic medicines, and 

we will stretch out our meager 

resources to buy commodities 

that can be done away with 

with enough information and 

responsible self-control. By 

labeling these agents as essential 

medicines, the bill promotes 

inaccuracy. They place 

matters within the province of 

choice alongside those which 

are largely outside of it. That 

is to say, healthy people can 

choose whether to use contraceptives 

or not, unhealthy 

peoples’ choices are seriously 

limited and their need for genuinely 

essential medicines is 

realistic and warranted. 

8. The money to be spent 

to provide for this “essential 

medicine” will be taxpayers’ 

money. Most of the taxpayers 

are Catholics in this country 

and their money will be spent 

on something that they believe 

to be wrong and immoral. (Will 

you allow your money to be 

used to buy condoms and pills 

to be given to the people?) Let 

the people who believe in the 

good of these devices provide 

them freely to others. No one is 

hindering them from doing it. 

They have freedom of choice. 

These devices are already 

available in the market in the 

first place. If the government 

wants to help the poor let it 

give them the basic necessities: 

light, water, truly basic medicine, 

free hospitalization, basic 

education, and the like. 

9. The basic presupposition 

of this bill is that 

the number of children and 

consequently the number of 

population is a hindrance to 

sustainable development. This 

has already been debunked by 

many studies. This fallacy is so 

prevailing that great responsibility 

to execute this bill, if it 

becomes a law, is given to the 

Commission on Population 

both in the LGU and the national 

level. For the authors of 

this bill reproductive health is 

an issue of population and not 

of health. All the talks about 

“reproduction” and “health” 

are misnomers or may even be 

an intent to deceive. Yes, it is 

true that the PopCom is under 

DOH, but why should it be? Is 

population a disease? 

10. It is known in the 

medical field that the artificial 

planning devices that are in 

use are not 100% sure both in 

protecting oneself from STI 

and “protecting” oneself from 

pregnancy. This makes the 

idea of “protection” dangerous. 

With the confidence given by 

this “protection” as advertised 

by the proponents, people will 

engage more, and not less, in 

inappropriate sexual activities. 

With more frequent sexual activities 

the effectivity of their 

“protection” lowers down. 

They put themselves all the 

more at risk. 

11. The artificial devices 

also have medical side-effects 

and are shown to lead to certain 

diseases, such as cancer, 

high blood and cardiovascular 

diseases. Naturally so! One 

is putting something in the 

body that should not be there! 

There is no mention in the bill 

that the women who are victims 

of these devices will be 

provided with free health care 

afterwards. The bill claims to 

champion the health of women 

but in truth and in the long run 

it does harm to them. Besides, 

with the claim of men that they 

are now “protected” they will 

easily deal with the women as 

objects to be used and not as 

persons to be respected. 

12. Other countries have 

the reproductive health services 

in place for many years already 

but they still have the problems 

that our law makers claim will 

be solved by this bill: 

a. Even more abortions. 

In fact they have to legalize 

RH bill, page 21 



NEWS 

FEATURES 

NEWS 

FEATURES 

Call made for John Paul II to be 

patron saint of youth 

VATICAN, April 30, 2011―Pope John 

Paul II should be declared a “patron 

saint of youth.” That’s the opinion of 

none other than the former Prefect of the 

Congregation for the Causes of Saints, 

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins. 

“I personally think that John Paul II 

should be made patron saint of youth,” 

Cardinal Martins told a gathering a 

Rome’s Santa Croce University on April 

30. He even mapped out how that could 

be achieved. 

“Some saints are patrons. If somebody 

wants to make a proposal to nominate 

somebody as a patron saint, though, 

then they must submit comprehensive 

documentation on their reasons and 

motivations.” 

It’s easy to understand Cardinal 

Martins thinking. Over the 27 years 

of his papacy, Pope John Paul II had a 

particular rapport with young people. 

So much so that he was known to many 

as “the Pope of Youth.” 

In 1984 he initiated a now-famous 

event, World Youth Day, to enable him 

to meet young people from around the 

www.saintjohnchurchmiddletown.com 

globe every three years. 

The initiative proved to be such 

a success that the 1995 event in the 

capital city of the Philippines, Manila, 

brought over five million young 

pilgrims together with the Pope. It’s 

still estimated as the largest communal 

gathering in history. 

His challenge to the young people 

on that occasion was typical of his 

pontificate. “Are you capable of giving 

yourselves, your time, your energy and 

your talent to the well-being of others? 

Are you capable of love? If you are, the 

Church and society can expect great 

things of each one of you.” 

There is already a patron saint of 

youth, the 16th century Portuguese 

Jesuit St. Aloysius Gonzaga. It is not 

unheard of, though, for there to be more 

than one patron saint of a particular 

cause. 

Any proposal to make Pope John 

Paul II a fellow patron saint of youth 

would have to go before the Vatican 

body responsible, the Congregation for 

Divine Worship. (CNA/EWTN News) 

Priest walks, runs preaching 

message of life, peace 

MANILA, May 2, 2011―A 

Redemptorist priest on a pilgrimage 

across the country 

preaching the Gospel of Life 

and Peace has now covered 

more than thousand kilometers 

on his journey, walking and 

running, a month after he began 

in Davao City. 

Fr. Amado Picardal has 

reached Lopez, Quezon on May 

1 after logging some 1,207 kms 

in a walk-run pilgrimage across 

the Philippines. 

The priest who keeps a 

regular update of his journey 

on his blogsite http://amadopicardal.blogspot.com/ 

is already 

halfway through his two-month 

pilgrimage which will end on 

May 28 in Aparri, Cagayan. 

Picardal said he is doing 

the pilgrimage to preach 

the message of life and peace 

amid the culture of death that 

is threatening society. 

“There are many manifestations 

of this culture of death 

- abortion, contraception, war, 

environmental destruction, poverty, 

capital punishment, etc. We 

therefore need to proclaim and 

promote the value and sanctity 

of life as we struggle against the 

culture of death,” he said. 

The priest said his pro-life 

advocacy involves not just 

against RH bill but also mining, 

extrajudicial killings and support 

of the peace process. 

“To be pro-life it is not 

enough to be against the RH 

bill, we have to be against 

war and the destruction of the 

environment and to work for 

peace, justice and the integrity 

of creation,” he said. 

Picardal also paid homage 

to Pope John Paul II, who was 

beatified on May 1 in solemn 

ceremonies at the Vatican, saying 

that “the message of life and 

peace that I proclaim during 

this pilgrimage is based on his 

encyclical Evangelium Vitae 

(the Gospel of Life).” 

Although Picardal has run 

and biked across the country in 

the past, this is the first time he 

is doing his walk-run pilgrimage 

on his own. 

He averages some 40 kms 

a day in distance sometimes 

walking leisurely, other times 

running. 

As he passed town after 

town, people sometimes 

recognized him and offered 

him food and other forms of 

hospitality. 

The local media have also 

Picardal, page 25 

www.amadopicardal.blogspot.com 

MANILA, May 1, 2011—Government 

agencies should provide income 

generating activities for poor parents 

to keep their children off the streets, 

a Church official said. 

Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive 

director of the CBCP-Episcopal 

Commission on Social Action, Justice 

and Peace said various entities 

should appropriately respond to 

the problem of child labor through 

income-generating activities for children’s 

parents in order to support 

their brood. 

He said the presence of street 

children in every locality is a challenge 

to both the local government 

unit and the parish church. 

Gariguez said street children 

along with minors working in various 

livelihood activities need to enjoy child’s 

play and enough time for studies. 

“One need not pass ordinances 

to act and respond to these realities 

because it simply needs concern and 

reasonable resources,” Fr. Gariguez told 

CBCPNews. 

As the country’s wage-earners 

hope to hear some “good news” from 

the government on Sunday, May 1 

known as International Labor Day, the 

Catholic church through its various 

ministries will address concerns about 

child labor. 

The Philippine country office of the 

International Labor Organization (ILO) 

has recently presented a research titled 

“Towards a Child Labour-Free Philippines,” 

underscoring the existence of 

child labor in Bukidnon, Northern Samar, 

Govt agencies urged to act on child labor issue 


Quezon and Masbate provinces. 

ILO’s Giovanni Soledad quoted last 

year’s Labor Force Survey disclosing 

the presence of some 2.4 million child 

workers in the country. 

A more detailed survey will be made 

this year through the auspices of the 

National Statistics Office. 

Malaybalay Bishop Jose Araneta 

Cabantan admitted that a good number 

of children usually accompany their 

parents every harvest time, whether in 

sugar or corn lands. 

Bukidnon, a landlocked province 

in Southern Philippines hosts sugar and 

corn plantations. 

Cabantan, a licensed chemical engineer 

before he entered priesthood, said 

whenever there are working children, 

poverty exists. 

“In my talks with Catholic school 

officials, they said parents would 

usually request for their children’s 

presence during harvest seasons to 

augment their income,” the 53-year 

old prelate said. About 47% of those 

surveyed (1,632) said they are no 

longer in school. 

Meanwhile, Msgr. Melecio V. 

Verastigue, Diocese of Lucena’s Social 

Action Center director said child 

labor occurs in areas where people 

are poor. 

The International Labor Organization 

reported the existence of 

some 1,453 child labourers in Quezon 

Province, specifically Lucena City, 

Calauag and Catanauan towns. Some 

24% are into informal sales, 18% into 

Child Labor, page 25 



NEWS 

FEATURES 

Housing tops tsunami evacuees’ worries 

JAPAN, May 2, 2011―Evacuees from the 

earthquake and tsunami, many of them 

old people, are living with anxiety of not 

knowing where they will live and the more 

pressing and simple needs of finding hot 

water to bathe. 

Most people who lost their homes to 

the March 11 disaster in northern Japan 

remain in evacuation centers in schools, 

gymnasiums and town halls. 

Kiyoko Inomata, 85, lost her family 

and home in Ishinomaki. She lives for 

the time being in a school gym with other 

evacuees, but officials have announced 

that the schools must be cleared out by 

the middle of May so that normal student 

life can resume. 

“The kids have a hard time with us 

using their school, but they pitch in and 

help with the cleaning,” said Inomata. 

Temporary housing is being put up 

around town, but there may not be enough 

ready by the deadline and even if people 

get into the housing, they are expected to 

move out within two years. 

“I doubt they’ll throw us out,” said 

Inomata. “We old folks, though, are in no 

shape to go hunting for a place to stay. Where 

can I go? I want to stay in the area.” 

Inomata said she had heard of a small 

apartment that might suit her, but the rent alone 

would take almost her entire pension. 

Among the services for evacuees 

provided by the Sendai Diocesan Support 

Center with on-the-ground assistance from 

Caritas Japan in Ishinomaki is a hot-water 

distribution at an evacuation center in the 

Kadowaki Middle School. 

When the first group of Caritas volunteers 

arrived in the town, one of them 

heard from people living in classrooms 

and gyms that they had no access to hot 

water during the day. They wanted to be 

able to make tea, coffee and instant foods 

as well as rinse out towels and clothes in 

warm water. 

So, the volunteers began a hot-water 

distribution. Each morning, afternoon and 

evening, volunteers stand under a tent outside 

the school, tending big pots of boiling 

water from which they ladle water into 

thermos bottles that people line up to have 

filled. During the three sessions, they give 

out more than 700 liters each day. 

At one end of the counter volunteers 

also provide cups of coffee, tea or hot chocolate 

as well as candy. Children who do not 

realize that grown-ups were once children 

who did the same thing sneak candy when 

they think no one is watching. 

Hiroshi Ono, one of two supervisors 

of the operation in Ishinomaki, said, “You 

have to be careful when talking to the kids. 

It’s natural when they act up to say, ‘I’ll 

tell your parents.’ But some of them have 

lost parents.” 

Ono worries that once Golden Week, 

a succession of national holidays that combined 

with weekends and a day or two of 

vacation time gives the whole nation a week 

off from work and school, is over the pool 

of student volunteers may dry up. 

“Maybe we can get retirees to come as 

volunteers,” he said. “The hot water service 

is something they can do.” (UCANews) 

Bin Laden's death brings momentary relief 

in Pakistan, deeper problems remain 

LAHORE, Pakistan, May 4, 

2011—Responding to the death 

of Osama bin Laden, advocates 

of human rights and religious 

freedom in Pakistan say the real 

work of rooting out terrorism 

remains to be done. 

“It is a moment of relief for 

many human rights activists,” 

said Peter Jacob, executive 

secretary of Pakistan's National 

Commission for Justice and 

Peace. 

“There is a sense of satisfaction, 

too, that someone who 

believed in the death of others 

is no longer there.” 

But Jacob and other Pakistani 

Christians worry that Bin 

Laden's followers “will still try 

to whip up hate campaigns for 

political gain.” 

He said Bin Laden's discovery 

and death in the urban 

area of Abottabad should be 

a wake-up call to authorities. 

“Coming out of a state of 

denial is in everybody's interest,” 

he told CNA on May 2. 

“Extremism in Pakistan is not 

territory-specific, nor is the 

military response sufficient. 

The civilian leadership has to 

chalk out a road map to legal, 

economic and educational reforms.” 

Jacob, whose commission 

promotes human rights 

on behalf of Pakistan's Catholic 

bishops, was initially skeptical 

about the news reports of Bin 

Laden's death. 

“I was sitting in my office 

reading the newspaper, sipping 

tea. The newspaper did not have 

this news as this operation was 

carried out early in the morning,” 

he recalled. 

“A colleague of mine, 

who had been sitting in front 

of the TV, entered my room 

and told me Osama was killed. 

'Once again?' I questioned 

back, as I suspected that he 

was alive, because I had read 

stories claiming he was dead 

already.” 

But the Al-Qaeda leader's 

May 1 death at the hands of 

U.S. special forces was no false 

alarm. Instead, it was a moment 

of cautious optimism. 

“I think the incident will 

accelerate the process of rethinking 

among the Muslims 

that will marginalize rigid and 

violent theories in the end,” 

Jacob reflected. At the same 

time, “it is also feared that extremists 

will target high-profile 

people—as they have made it 

clear through a message this 

morning—and wage attacks.” 

“The Christians in Pakistan, 

because they face violence 

in the name of religion, are 

cautious about their reaction 

for existential reasons,” he 

observed. 

He said that the Vatican's 

carefully-measured message, 

holding Bin Laden “gravely responsible” 

for killing innocent 

people, but refusing to “rejoice” 

in his death, was “timely and 

helpful.” Jacob also hopes that the 

White House's message, explaining 

that its war on terrorism is not 

a fight against the religion of Islam 

itself, will be translated into local 

languages and be understood 

among the public. 

“These is local or folk 

wisdom that people of Pakistan 

can benefit from also,” Jacob 

pointed out, quoting the words 

of the 19th century Sufi Muslim 

poet Mian Mohammad Bakhsh: 

“Do not rejoice on the death of 

an enemy, Because friends will 

die too one day. Every dawn is 

doomed to submerge in dusk, 

And don't let glee or gloom take 

the best of you away.” (CNA) 

Dhaka archdiocese adds daycare center 

DHAKA, May 2, 2011―Archbishop 

Paulinus Costa of Dhaka 

has opened the third daycare 

center for disable children in 

the capital city to accommodate 

more vulnerable kids in Church 

services. 

Asha (Hope)-2 was formally 

opened on April 29 in 

Tejturibazar area in the center 

of the city. It can look after 

20 children, free of charge for 

parents who cannot afford to 

take care of them or who work 

during the day. 

About 70 participants, mostly 

disabled people and their parents, 

along with Church leaders 

and Caritas Bangladesh officials, 

Mining, from page 7 

In 2010, Oceana Gold had completed a 

private placement in Canada of 12,023,360 

special warrants at a price of $3.50 per special 

warrant for aggregate gross proceeds 

of $42,081,760. The private placement 

was led by Macquarie Capital Markets 

Canada Ltd. and Citigroup Global Markets 

Canada Inc. 

2. On April 19, 2011, President Benigno 

Aquino III cancelled the Financial and 

Technical Assistance Agreements issued 

to MBMI Resources, Inc. covering some 

12,000 hectares of land in the municipalities 

of Rizal, Bataraza and Narra in Southern 

Palawan. MBMI Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based 

mining company focused on 

the exploration and development of nickel 

mineral properties in the area. Palawan is 

a small island ecosystem and mining will 

definitely put the communities in real danger 

and will threaten the extremely rich biodiversity 

of the island. Indigenous peoples in 

Palawan were also surprised last year when 

they were given a permit to mine despite 

the opposition of communities. 

Recently, a radio commentator and 

environment advocate opposing mining 

in Palawan was gunned down. This provided 

a protest action with the civil society 

launching the initiative to gather 10 million 

signatures to ask the government to stop 

mining in biodiversity rich province. 

3. On April 20, 2011, Mindoro Resources 

Inc., a Canadian junior company 

based in Edmonton and listed in Toronto 

Stock Exchange announced that it will commence 

the Pre-Feasibility study for Agata 

attended the opening ceremony. 

“The center is disabledfriendly. 

We’ve set it out in such 

a way that the kids can easily 

use chairs and tables, electric 

switches and toilets. It will 

also help them to dress, eat and 

clean tables by themselves”, 

said Binoy Rodrigues, 41, the 

center director. 

The center, which was set 

up with personal efforts from 

Holy Cross auxiliary bishop 

Theotonius Gomes of Dhaka, 

is set to give parents a break 

from the challenges of family 

life as they struggle with the 

disabilities of their children. 

“My autistic and physically 

disabled son doesn’t listen 

to us and often gets angry 

with us. I hope the center will 

help him improve and become 

peaceful,” said Catholic housewife 

Anjona Gomes, 45. 

Muslim Rejaul Karim, 50, 

said he was happy because my 

disabled daughter can now be 

kept near his residence, just two 

minutes walking distance. He 

used to drop his daughter Farjana 

Karim, 15, at the Church-run 

Father Pinos Dropping Center 

in Mirpur, on the northern 

outskirts of Dhaka. 

A Muslim mother, Amena Begum, 

said the Church-run daycare 

center is making a difference. 

Nickel Project in Surigao, Mindanao. In July 

2010, Mindoro Resources was granted 2.1 

Canadian dollars by the International Finance 

Corporation (IFC) to support this project. 

However, the Environmental and Social 

Review Summary of 2008 did not address 

the concern that the area for mining 

is part of the Lake Mainit watershed, the 

4th largest lake and home to 31 coastal 

villages. There are also allegations that the 

company secured the needed consent of the 

indigenous peoples in a highly questionable 

manner. 

With the above-given examples, and 

more similar cases all over the country, we 

affirm the findings in the research study 

conducted by The Canadian Center for the 

Study of Resource Conflict in 2009, that 

the Canadian mining companies had been 

prominently involved in environmental degradation, 

unethical behavior and in propagating 

conflicts among communities. 

Also, the aggressive pursuit of mining 

investments has necessarily spawned 

numerous human rights abuses, especially 

against individuals and communities opposed 

to mining. The abuse has included 

both physical and psychological harassment. 

A number of anti-mining advocates 

have also been killed. As of February 2011, 

at least seven (7) anti-mining activists have 

sacrificed their lives in defense of their land 

and natural resources. One incident of this 

kind happened in Sibuyan, Romblon, now 

a Canadian-owned mining concession, 

Altai Resources, subsidiary of Altai Philippine 

Mining Corp. The purpose of killing 

NEWS 

FEATURES 

“My disabled son used to 

vandalize the household at will. 

He didn’t listen to anyone and 

also got lost several times,” she 

recalled, adding that her son 

completely changed after he 

was kept in Asha-1 at Nayanagar 

in eastern Dhaka. 

Bishop Theotonius Gomes, 

the mastermind of the welfare 

services who is the chairman 

of Episcopal Commission for 

HealthCare (ECHC), said: “We 

try to help parents realize that 

disabled children are not their 

burden. Even though they are 

born with disabilities they 

should be welcomed as gifts 

of God.” (UCANews) 

is clear, to cultivate a climate of fear and 

stifle opposition. But instead, it is breeding 

resistance and is strengthening a grassroots 

anti-mining movement. 

The transnational corporations have 

become very powerful players, doing intensified 

economic transactions that cross national 

boundaries. The policy or investment 

decisions are being formulated primarily by 

market considerations and not by national 

interest. As in the case of the Philippines and 

other developing countries, what is ironic 

is that national policies are being framed or 

reformulated to suit the dictated interest of 

the mining investment. 

The arena of struggle for anti-mining 

campaign should not totally rely on the 

strength of local victories. Since the issue 

and the new hierarchy of power have 

assumed global character, the campaign 

necessarily has to assume global engagement. 

Large-scale mining is not an isolated 

economic activity. It is always within the 

ambit of a larger network of interconnections 

and the dangers or risks that it poses 

are common to all other sites in other parts 

of the world. Given this situation, any effort 

to create global solidarity and cooperation, 

particularly among the church network, is 

a very welcome initiative. I 

(This piece was delivered by Fr. Edwin 

Garriguez, Executive Secretary of Episcopal 

Commission on Social Action, Justice 

and Peace, at the Ecumenical Mining 

Confernce in Toronto, Canada, on May 

1-3, 2001) 



COVER 

STORY 

COVER 

STORY 

Who feels better now 

after a year of Aquino 

economy? 

The path to successful implementation of programs is riddled with 

potholes of bureaucratic corruption opportunities. And CCTs are not 

development programs; they cannot substitute for comprehensive 

development and poverty reduction strategies. 

By Charles Avila 

Do you feel better now 

than almost a year ago 

when a new President 

took the reins of power in seeming 

simplicity and egalitarian resoluteness? 

Didn’t you welcome 

him as a President of hope and 

the straight path, a President of 

militancy against corruption with 

the corrective bias for the poor? 

Well, he can’t believe that some 

of you actually think you are 

worse off now than before, and 

that you now feel hungrier and 

poorer than when he first started 

his watch; did you really think so? 

Is that what you told the social 

weather monitors and economic 

pulse-takers? His near free-fall 

in popularity is unbelievable, he 

understandably thinks, and all of 

that, he suspects, must be due to 

active foes. 

High Growth Rates? 

Didn’t the Philippine GDP 

grow 7.3% in 2010 spurred by 

election-related spending and a 

rebound in exports and investments? 

Due to large money infusions 

from millions of overseas 

Filipino workers, and a growing 

business process outsourcing industry 

(the call centers), and also 

on account of minimal exposure 

to troubled international securities, 

as well as lower dependence 

on exports, the Philippines did 

weather the 2008-09 global recession 

better than her regional 

peers. 

Economic growth averaged 

4.5% during the previous administration. 

Despite this growth, 

however, poverty worsened. In 

fact, Philippine poverty has been 

continuously worsening in recent 

years. The 2009 official estimates 

of the National Statistical Coordination 

Board (NSCB) put the 

poverty headcount ratio at 26.5 

percent, higher than that of 2006 

(26.4%), and 2003 (24.9%). Will 

the trend be different in the PNoy 

economy? 

This rise in the poverty rate, 

particularly between 2003 and 

2006, was due both to lack of real 

growth and to worsening income 

distribution. Everybody knows 

that what matters in poverty 

reduction is not just economic 

growth but the nature of expansion 

that takes place. Not just 

growth but an effective redistributive 

effort is necessary. For in- 

stance, as we will further discuss 

later: increasing rural incomes 

by improving nonfarm income 

opportunities is key to reducing 

poverty in the rural areas, which 

is where the highest incidence of 

poverty is―ironically under three 

hundred twenty-five million coconut 

trees bearing fifteen billion 

coconut fruits yearly, producing 

so much wealth for a few companies 

and so much poverty for 

small holders nationwide. 

To weather the effects of 

economic shocks, families need 

safety nets like health and crop 

insurance that will help the poor 

among them from falling deeper 

into the poverty trap and the 

non-poor into becoming multidimensionally 

poor in times of 

crises. In the coconut industry 

that has more than 20 million 

Filipinos dependent on it for 

their livelihood, a typical small 

coconut farmer must be guided 

from a single income lane along 

the production of copra into many 

other income streams to double, 

triple or even quintuple his net 

income. 

These income streams include 

the production of fiber and 

cream and coconut water and so 

many other things now in great 

demand due to the natural superiority 

of the coconut itself, which 

we so easily grow in our lands 

but which cannot be produced 

in other countries that have such 

great demand for them—as, for 

example, for coconut sugar from 

sap that diabetics would rather 

have than synthetic substitutes, 

for monolaurin and mediumchain 

triglycerides that all the 

hospitals of the world clamor 

for, for roofing mats and organic 

fertilizer from leaves, for antierosion 

mats from fiber, for flour, 

virgin coconut oil, and milk from 

fresh coconut, aside from the traditional 

huge demand for refined 

edible oil, soaps and detergents, 

animal feed and bio-diesel. 

Indeed, the coco-agro-industrialization 

of the majority 

provinces of our country is a 

hoarse cry whose urgency cannot 

be ignored except by those 

who don’t understand the natural 

competitive advantage gifted by 

Providence to this archipelago. 

Do the PNoy economists know 

this? 

Could not a PNoy economy 

allow at last the immediate utilization 

of billions of pesos of 

coco-levy-based San Miguel Corporation 

annual dividends for just 

such a purpose and for the implementation, 

finally, of modern 

coco-based farming systems that 

will utilize 80% more of about 4 

million hectares of coconut lands 

and make them bloom with intercrops 

from cereals, legumes, root 

crops, fruit crops and vegetables, 

even to tree crops and livestock 

production? All these, after all, 

were the original purposes of the 

levy before they got hijacked by 

a few guys for their own narrow 

interests. 

The Precise Nature of Philippine 

Poverty 

The PNoy economists may 

not realize it but Philippine poverty 

is mainly rural poverty and 

rural poverty is in great part 

the poverty of the small coconut 

farmer. If they could only 

scientifically, strategically and 

systematically target this specific 

sector of the national economy, 

they could then eliminate the 

problem of Philippine poverty 

by some 70%. 

It is easy to have a false 

sense of security when one sees 

how even during the slow season, 

as in the first two months 

of this year, money sent home 

by Filipinos living and working 

overseas, grew 6.9% from a year 

ago to $3 billion, notwithstanding 

the ongoing crises in the Middle 

East, North Africa and Japan. 

Remember that aside from Japan, 

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab 

Emirates, other main sources of 

remittances are the US, Canada, 

Singapore and Italy. The demand 

for Filipinos abroad as 

well as the existence of easy and 

cheap money transfer schemes 

continues to boost remittance 

inflows—given beforehand the 

fact of rural poverty that pushes 

our people out of our shores into 

becoming the ‘remittance heroes’ 

they are abroad. For, indeed, it 

takes heroic guts to brave the 

dangers of wars and natural disasters 

just to make a few more 

bucks to send to loved ones at 

home. This year, remittances are 

expected to grow by 8% from 

the record $18.8 billion in 2010. 

Remittances affect the country's 




COVER 

STORY 

Who feels better now after a year of Aquino economy? 

balance of payments; thus, the 

central bank predicts that the 

PNoy economy may still attain 

a surplus of $6 billion to $8 

billion in 2011 after the record 

surplus of $14.4 billion in 2010. 

For the record, then, let it be 

clear that the public secret behind 

this often-socially-costly 

economic success is Philippine 

poverty. 

The Basics 

Nonetheless the basics remain. 

Our GDP composition by 

sector is: agriculture—13.9%, 

industry 31.3%, and services: 

54.8% (2010 est.) with a labor 

force that is distributed as agriculture, 

33%; industry, 15%; 

and services, 52% (2010 est.). 

Note immediately how many 

people there are in agriculture 

but how much does the sector 

contribute to the GDP? The 

need to rush to agro-industrialization 

is obvious. 

Our labor force is not 

small—some 38.9 million 

sale and retail trade—perhaps 

the sector that benefitted most 

from election spending—increased 

by 10.7 %. Real estate 

activities also rebounded from 

the 2009 decline, a rebound 

similarly influenced heavily 

by remittances from overseas 

Filipinos. 

In industry, electrical 

machinery posted the highest 

growth rate among the 

manufacturing subsectors. This 

was a result of the strong rebound 

of electronics exports. 

Meanwhile, the furniture sector 

showed great strength from the 

fourth quarter of 2009 to the 

fourth quarter of 2010, reflecting 

the ability of local furniture 

makers to adapt to increasing 

competition through innovation 

and better designs. In general, 

however, the country’s 

factory output slowed earlier 

this year mostly because of the 

weak production of fabricated 

metal and leather products. 

The National Statistics Office 

(NSO) said the volume of 

(2010 est.) with a country comparison 

to the world of rank 

15th. If that is the labor force, 

what is the unemployment rate 

and the population below the 

poverty line? The unemployment 

rate is 7.3% (2010 est.), 

with a country comparison 

to the world of 77th. In 2009 

that rate was 7.5%. As to the 

population below the poverty 

line, it is 32.9% (2006 est.)— 

or almost one in three. Many 

social surveyors say it’s more 

than that. 

Agriculture contracted by 

0.5 % in 2010 due primarily to 

the adverse impact of the El 

Niño weather phenomenon. 

During the first half of 2010, 

the agriculture sector was still 

recovering from the devastation 

wrought by typhoons 

Ondoy and Pepeng. It only 

experienced strong growth in 

the last quarter of 2010. 

The services sector, which 

comprised the largest production 

sector of the economy, 

grew by 7.1 % in 2010. Wholeproduction 

index (VoPI) fell to 

11.2 % in February from 32.6 % 

in the same period in 2009 and 

16.7% in January this year. 

“Never a good time to be 

poor…” 

But as one op-ed writer 

remarked recently, “It is never 

a good time to be poor,” and 

crisis periods are particularly 

pernicious. The Asian Development 

Bank noted that for 

the Philippines, higher food 

price increases of 20% and 

30% would push 2.75 million 

and 4.12 million Filipinos, 

respectively, into poverty. 

According to the ADB 

study titled "Global Food Price 

Inflation and Developing Asia," 

production shortfalls caused 

by bad weather along with a 

weak US dollar, high oil prices, 

and subsequent export bans by 

several key food producing 

countries, are causing much of 

the global price pressures since 

last June. The price of rice is 



likely to continue its uptrend as 

the effects of La Niña persist, 

prompting consumers to seek 

less costly and less nutritious 

substitutes, the study said. 

Is the PNoy government 

worried by the ADB warning? 

It surely is. The Department 

of Trade and Industry, for instance, 

is constantly monitoring 

the prices of basic commodities 

just to make sure that "any increase 

would be reasonable and 

nobody would take advantage 

of certain situations." Nor is the 

National Food Authority bashful 

about its desire to control 

rice prices (if it only could, 

which is quite dubious). The 

country was also said to have an 

ample rice stock of 3.42 million 

tons, up 30.5% year on year, and 

expects a good harvest. However, 

the ADB noted, the rice 

price subsidy program, which 

accounts for over 70% of public 

social protection expenditures, 

could only be accessed by 

24% of poor households. Also, 

only 46% of the beneficiaries 

maybe considered poor, the 

study said. 

It added that in the long 

term, productivity improvements, 

increased agricultural 

investments, stronger market 

integrations, targeted subsidies, 

and global/regional cooperation 

"must take center 

stage," which is hardly the case 

at the moment. 

The ADB study also noted 

that the price of crude oil surging 

to a 31-month high in March 

was a major cause of the fast 

and persistent increases in the 

cost of many Asian food staples 

since the middle of last year. 

The PNoys say: “That is why 

we have a fuel subsidy program, 

or Pantawid Pasada scheme, to 

cushion the impact of rising oil 

prices in the Philippines and in 

the world markets.” 

Meanwhile the PNoys announced 

that they do recognize 

poverty and hunger; there is no 

time to waste. They would give 

money directly to the poor or 

at least take the risk of making 

that gesture via a governmental 

bureaucracy that in campaign 

speeches past they had liked to 

beat to a pulp. Or did PNoy’s 

assumption to power instantaneously 

transform that bureaucracy 

to a “walang korap” 

type by the sheer power of the 

Aquino name? 

The Oldies Give Advice 

Friendly and older, if not 

more mature, economists like 

Cesar Virata, Ramon del Rosario, 

Gerardo Sicat, Roberto 

de Ocampo, Felipe Medalla, 

Dante Canlas, Ernest Leung, 

Raul Fabella, Romeo Bernardo, 

Raphael Lotilla and Arsenio 

Balisacan grouped themselves 

in a “Foundation for Economic 

Freedom” and gently warned 

that while the temporary use 

of targeted actions in favor of 

vulnerable groups was commendable, 

as in the restoration 

of oil subsidies or price controls 

to counter the impact of 

skyrocketing global oil prices, 

further “extreme measures” 

should be avoided. It argued 

that markets that work efficiently 

would ultimately serve 

the best interest of consumers. 

The group said they’d rather 

promote alternative fuels and 

energy efficiency in a thrust 

to ensure energy security and 

sustainability. 

The PNoys, however, who 

understand that there are no 

perfect markets are bent on 

dramatic government intervention 

of the American New 

Deal type, somehow, and tend 

to show investigative hoopla 

at the least provocation. For 

instance, during Holy Week 

last, some of the country’s oil 

firms raised the price of diesel 

by P0.25 per liter and unleaded 

gasoline by P0.60 per liter. 

DOE calculations, however, 

showed that prices of diesel 

and unleaded gasoline should 

have gone up by only P0.20 and 

P0.40 per liter. An investigative 

task force was immediately 

formed to probe the suspect 

companies that went beyond 

the Energy Department projections. 

The posturing made 

good media copy but the law 



COVER 

STORY 

Who feels better now after a year of Aquino economy? 

liberalizing the energy sector is law and, 

after a while, when nothing comes out of 

the investigation, people may already have 

forgotten anyway but who knows how they 

will respond to the next social surveys? 

What makes even better copy is how 

the PNoys are now ready to distribute the 

fuel subsidy cards that are to start by May 

2nd. The Department of Energy (DOE) will 

distribute some 200,000 fuel assistance 

cards that will initially be distributed to 

PUJs in the metropolis because most of 

the gasoline stations in the capital region 

are equipped with point-of-sale (POS) 

terminals. Some P450 million have been 

allocated for this so-called Public Transport 

Assistance Program (PTAP), with 

P300 million going to jeepney driver 

beneficiaries and the remaining P150 

million to be shared among tricycle driver 

beneficiaries. 

The bureaucratic side of this program 

is sufficiently laced with modern information 

and communications technology that 

it should not become another corruption 

center—not easily. The fuel smart cards 

are embedded with information that will 

tie it to the point-of-sale machines of the 

gasoline stations and the vehicle for which 

the card is intended. This means that the 

cards cannot be used for anything but the 

purchase of fuel products in the gas stations. 

The cards, being nontransferable, can only 

be used to gas up or avail of discounts for 

a specific vehicle and plate number. There 

seems to be assurance, then, that the cards 

will reach the intended recipients and will 

neither be pilfered nor abused. 

Then there’s the CCT or conditional 

cash transfer program—an effort undertaken 

even earlier than the Pantawid Pasada. 

Actually, cash transfers to poor households 

are well established in many developed 

countries, to provide income maintenance 

following adverse shocks—such as unemployment, 

disability or sickness—or 

to redistribute income. Their importance 

varies across countries. For example, in the 

mid-2000s New Zealand’s cash transfers 

accounted for around 13 percent of household 

disposable income and Sweden’s more 

than 32 percent. 

Conditional cash transfers to assist 

poor families have also become popular 

since the late 1990s, in Brazil and Mexico. 

Cash payments are made to poor households 

that meet requirements related to 

household investments in child schooling 

and health. Today, in fact, more than 30 

countries have some kind of conditional 

cash transfer programme, many national 

in coverage. In Africa, however, uncondi- 

tional transfers may be more appropriate 

because of inadequate supplies of basic 

services and more limited capacity to 

implement and enforce conditions on 

transfers. 

In any case, these programmes can 

be administratively demanding. Targeting 

households and monitoring compliance 

are data intensive and require extensive 

coordination across agencies and levels 

of government. The path to successful 

implementation is riddled with potholes 

of bureaucratic corruption opportunities. 

And CCTs are not development programs; 

they cannot substitute for comprehensive 

development and poverty reduction strategies. 

They can, however, make a President 

wonder why despite such measures his 

popularity can still take a big dive. Or 

they could also make him think at last 

whether he really has a clear strategy for 

poverty reduction and the political will 

RH Bill, from page 11 

abortion in these countries. In international 

circles abortion is part of the reproductive 

right! Either the promoters of HB 4244 are 

naïve or they are cunningly deceptive when 

they say that they are not for abortion. All 

those who promote contraception end up 

upholding abortion, if they are consistent 

with their position of contra-ception! 

b. Even more teen-age pregnancies, 

so more unwanted pregnancies. This is 

the result of more promiscuity and less 

respect which stems from the ideology 

of contraception. By the way, there is no 

mention the word ‘contraception’ in the bill 

but its ideology is all over in the language 

of ‘Reproductive Health’. 

c. Their poor people are not improved 

by the availability of these devices. The 

poor do not get a better chance in life 

even if they have fewer children if basic 

services are not given to them and if the 


to implement it. For instance, can he be 

the first President to focus tenaciously on 

the agro-industrialization of this country? 

There seems to be evidence in Benguet 

province where one finds vegetables galore 

that soon small farmers may have access 

at last to DA-sponsored post-harvest marketing 

and processing centers that could 

motivate farmers to make their area grow 

even greener and more prosperous. 

Otherwise, the truth remains that Filipinos 

living on less than $2 a day represent 

about half of the population, and this has 

remained stubbornly persistent for the past 

two decades. Indeed, a top economic policy 

official in the last administration lamented 

that 34 uninterrupted quarters of positive 

economic growth during the better part 

of the 2000s did little to reduce poverty 

in the country. 

The PNoys think they could start by 

reducing the government deficit—a laudable 

goal. They are working to reduce the 

government deficit from 3.9% of GDP, 

when it took office, to 2% of GDP by 2013. 

Their government has had little difficulty 

issuing debt both locally and internationally 

to finance the deficits. 

PNoy's first budget emphasizes education, 

health, conditional cash transfers 

for the poor, and other social spending 

programs, relying on the private sector to 

finance important infrastructure projects. 

It has also vowed to focus on improving 

tax collection. But as of this writing, only 

two Revenue District Offices nationwide 

have been able to meet their collection 

targets: Cainta and Pasig City. A New 

Deal economy needs a super-efficient 

finance department. Sadly, neither our tax 

collectors nor our tax-collection systems 

are famous for this. 

The story at the Bureau of Customs 

is not much different. 

What has not lost vibrancy and efficiency 

is the complex underground 

collection system of illegal gambling 

activities running parallel to so-called 

legalized gambling projects and the even 

more odious system of illegal drug pushing 

nationwide where cops and pushers are 

hard to identify and differentiate but where 

money surely flows efficiently—all going 

where? Yes, PNoy economists—where? 

Where are we going? It is less than a year 

since you took over but time, the digital 

age guys declare, being indeed so relative, 

runs so much faster these days. We hope 

and pray we’re not running twenty times 

faster just to stay in place. I 

perspective of governance is pro-foreign 

investment rather than harnessing local resources, 

pro-investor rather than pro-labor, 

increased GDP rather than equity. 

13. There is the concern that many 

people die because of unwanted pregnancies. 

Many of these devices, IUDs and 

Pills among them, are contraceptives and 

abortifacients. They really kill the life that 

is already there. The bill and the contraceptive 

mentality behind it do not recognize 

the equal dignity of life of all—preferring 

that of the woman than that of the child 

that she had engendered. It is killing the 

ones who are innocent and defenseless. No 

wonder insensitivity to life in contraception 

eventually leads to abortion. 

14. In is noteworthy that the bill 

speaks both of the youth and the adolescent. 

It defines who the adolescent is but 

not who the youth is. It really targets the 

Plight, from page 8 

Filipino migrants is a number so staggering 

that the Commission is in a quandary on 

how to effectively and efficiently meet the 

demands and expectations of the Bishops 

Conference of the Philippines. 

One of the greatest pains of our migrant 

workers is the loss of the sense of self-pride. 

They pine to get it back, but no amount of 

money that they receive can buy it back. 

The Church understands the depth of man’s 

pain when he is deprived of such self-worth. 

Hence, in its work for Christian justice and 

charity, its priority is help the concerned 

individual migrants get back their dignity. 

Hence, the words of John XXIII 

echoed: “Individual human beings are 

the foundation, the cause and the end of 

every social l institution” (Pacem in Terris, 

31). Then he added: “Every man has the 

right to life, to bodily integrity, and to the 

means which are suitable for the proper 

development of life; these are primarily 

food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, 

and finally the necessary social services” 

(ibid, 32). For, every person is precious, 

people are more important than things, and 

the value of every institution is whether 

or not it threatens or enhances the life and 

dignity of the human person. 

Our migrant workers, nine million of 

them, have dignity to uphold, human pride 

to protect, better quality of lives to pine 

for, meaning of life to savor, spirituality 

to hang on to, so that they can stand up as 

human persons and as children of God in 

foreign places. I 

adolescent, both for its sex education and 

for the services of its “devices.” 

15. There are several good provisions in 

the bill. Among them are Sec 5 “Midwives 

for skilled attendance” and Sec 6 “Emergency 

Obstetric and Neonatal Care”. Both 

demand that there be enough personnel and 

hospital facilities to address maternal care. 

Both end with this sentence: “Provided 

that people in geographically isolated and 

depressed areas shall be provided the same 

level of access.” Beautiful words, but will 

the government do this? The bill does not 

provide where the money shall come from 

for these services, and this is indeed a very 

basic need which can really address a lot 

of deaths and sufferings among women and 

children. Are these then just dressings to the 

real intent of the bill, not to really help the 

poor and the women but to put forward the 

contraceptive mentality? I 



STATEMENTS 

Let there be Easter in our midst 

LET every heart not be troubled 

(Jn 14:27). Live in peace for 

today the splendor of life shines 

forth in the rising of the Lord! 

The whole Christendom 

today commemorates the glorious 

event of Easter. In Christian 

tradition, Easter is the earliest 

feast of the Church regularly 

celebrated on all Sundays in 

the entire liturgical year. This 

feast, known as the mother of 

all feasts, is specially celebrated 

at the end of the Lenten Season 

and Sacred Triduum, and marks 

the beginning of the Easter 

Season. 

Among Christians, the perpetual 

celebration of Easter is of 

great importance. This special 

occasion draws every believer 

to contemplate the greatest 

manifestation of the love of God 

perfectly revealed in Christ who 

died for the guilt of humanity 

and rose to life again conquering 

the most dreaded sting of 

death. On this jubilant occasion, 

everyone, especially the 

sorrowing and the desolate, is 

made to witness the dawning 

of light and to relive the joys 

and consolation brought by the 

victory of life. 

“He is not here; He is risen 

(Mt. 28:6)!” From the mouth of 

a heavenly messenger comes 

the message of Good News. 

But, in utter truth, the message 

was not readily believed. Resurrection 

then was something 

beyond human imagination. 

Perhaps when the women came 

near the tomb and found Jesus’ 

body gone, they must have 

first thought that somebody removed 

His body. It was simply 

inconceivable—for how can it 

be? A body so severely beaten 

and tortured to death unexpectedly 

rose to life. 

At first instance, one can 

be very unbelieving before this 

unthinkable phenomenon. In 

fact, the closest of Jesus’ disciples 

are not exempt to this. 

They were the first doubters. 

Jesus’ resurrection is simply 

too good to be true. But the 

truth of it all, so mysterious 

though yet irresistibly convincing 

as it always is, eventually 

brought them to a full humble 

assent. If it were a tale meant to 

be told, it must be the greatest 

tale founded on barest truth. 

However, it is not surprising 

still that until today some 

remain in their unbelief for 

a few reasons: Some were 

simply deprived of hearing the 

Gospel; others were too imprisoned 

to scientific precision as 

to reject whatever it is that does 

not appeal to logical category. 

Atheistic culture nowadays is 

equally influential; and in a 

very subtle way, it gradually 

wears away evangelical values 

and disproves gospel truths. 

But for most of us, this disturbing 

question often continues to 

confuse us: If Jesus has truly 

won for us the price of the newness 

of life and the downfall of 

the reign of darkness, why then 

there still seems to be so much 

evil in the world? 

Yes, ours is still a world 

beset by various forms of evil 

enslavement. Our Lord himself 

who became man like us went 

through even the worst of human 

degradation and suffering 

in the hands of a corrupt humanity. 

His agony in the garden of 

Gethsemane uncovered human 

fear in the face of death. But it 

did not end all there. Jesus after 

all subjugated the final enemy 

of men—death. The glorious 

event of resurrection has once 

and for all crippled the fortress 

of darkness. This incorruptible 

remembrance of God putting 

an end to the definitiveness of 

death is a strong message of 

hope—that in all of this, every 

work of evil shivers before the 

power of goodness. 

This good news must first 

and foremost be preached to 

“the regions beyond us (2 Cor. 

10:16).” St. Paul had these 

encouraging words: “How 

beautiful are the feet of them 

that preach the gospel of peace, 

and bring glad tidings of good 

things (Rom. 10:15)!” It is 

equally unjust of us not to 

proclaim the triumphant joy of 

Easter to those who are seeking 

for light and life. To those 

whose hearts are hardened by 

pride and humanly motivated 

principles, let none of us yield 

to an idle surrender. Let the gospel 

be preached untiringly. 

What awaits us ahead of 

this earthly life is life in immeasurable 

abundance. Hence, 

it is unlikely of us to fear as we 

preach the truths of our faith. 

We are now the victorious 

children of resurrection and we 

despise every form of attack 

against the dignity and welfare 

of humankind. With renewed 

vigor, let us become builders 

of social transformation. Let 

us work for peace that lasts and 

justice that enhances human 

condition. Let us not be selfish 

as to deprive others of their 

right to live. Let us not be too 

clever as to deceive others to 

our own advantage. Let there 

be Easter in our midst by our 

presence that loves and cares. 

+NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, 

DD, JCD 

Bishop of Tandag 

President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference 

of the Philippines (CBCP) 

Easter 2011 


“PAX tecum. Peace be with you!” 

My dear People of God, as your 

Bishop, I wish to convey to you 

not just the greeting but the gift of 

the Risen Christ Whose humble 

servant and representative I am 

in our diocese. He is alive, and 

His presence in our midst brings 

us life, peace and joy. 

We see and experience the 

presence of the Lord in a special 

way in our four-fold celebration 

in the diocese this year. 

On this Year on Prayer, we are 

reminded that the Lord is ever 

present among us in varied ways, 

for example, in the exposition 

and adoration of the Blessed 

Sacrament in our churches and 

chapels, in the pealing of church 

bells, and in the wooden crosses 

that we put up for Lent and Easter. 

The Pastoral Visit I have begun 

this year is the Lord’s visitation 

of the various parishes for, by 

God’s grace, I have been called 

to make Him present in our diocese. 

So far, I have visited nine 

parishes and one quasi-parish. 

The same rejuvenating presence 

of the Lord has been experienced 

by the young on this Year of the 

Youth, particularly during the 

Diocesan Youth Day held at the 

Parish of Saint John the Baptist 

in Daet which concluded only 

yesterday (April 30). Finally, the 

Quadricentennial Celebration of 

the foundation of the first three 

parishes in our diocese helps to 

bring to our present times the 

power and blessing of the Lord’s 

presence that our ancestors in the 

faith experienced in the past. The 

Parish of Our Lady of Candelaria 

in Paracale opened its 400th year 

celebration last February 2. The 

Parish of Saint John the Baptist in 

Daet will open theirs on June 25 

and the Parish of Saint Peter the 

Apostle in Vinzons on June 29. 

How beautiful it is to see the 

STATEMENTS 

'Blessed are those who have not seen 

and have believed' (John 20:29b) 

(A Pastoral Letter of the Most Rev. Gilbert A. Garcera, DD., 

Bishop of Daet, on Rekindling the Gift of Faith) 

presence of the Lord of Peace in 

our midst on this day, the 2nd 

Sunday of Easter that is also the 

Divine Mercy Sunday. From the 

Heart of the Risen Lord flows 

unto us the abundance of God’s 

merciful love. Quite wonderfully, 

today is the beatification of 

Pope John Paul the Great, who 

instituted the Feast of the Divine 

Mercy on May 23, 2000. And lest 

we forget, today is the special 

day of Saint Joseph the Worker, 

the Patron of our diocese. It is 

fitting for us say to say again 

and again in our hearts the words 

in today’s Responsorial Psalm, 

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is 

good; His love endures forever” 

(Ps 117:29). 

Yes, let us remember with 

grateful hearts the merciful and 

life-giving presence of the Lord 

and the gift of faith that enables us 

to see it. But the Lord who invites 

us to remember with gratitude also 

challenges us to rekindle the gift of 

faith with vigor and fervor. Having 

reached their 400th year, the three 

founding parishes that have now 

become twenty-six parishes and 

four quasi-parishes cannot afford 

to rest for they need—we need—to 

face and respond to new pastoral 

challenges. 

I ask everyone to continue 

to pray without ceasing with a 

heart always “online” with the 

Lord and eager to chat with Him. 

I earnestly urge you to discern the 

movement of the Spirit within 

each one of us and in our community 

of faith that we may see 

where the Lord wants us to go 

and what He wants us to do. 

I strongly suggest to our dear 

Parish Priests to take care of the 

faithful and bring peace to “those 

who are near” and to “those 

who are far off” (cf. Eph 2:17). 

Feed the members of the Parish 

Pastoral Council and mandated 

organizations with the richness 

of God’s word and the sacraments. 

Initiate house-to-house 

visitation as a way of getting to 

know your flock personally as 

any good shepherd does and to 

reach out to those who seldom 

come to the Church. Let us 

re-structure our parish pastoral 

committees to better serve the 

needs of the various aspects and 

sectors of pastoral life: prayer, 

liturgy, faith formation, stewardship, 

social services, priests, 

family and youth. Let us give 

special attention to our youth 

to help them rediscover their 

personal and Catholic identity 


and to deepen their awareness of 

the great role they need to play 

in the life and mission of the 

Church today and in the future 

and to fulfill it generously and enthusiastically. 

We need to guide 

them towards responsible use of 

freedom and material things and 

to defend them against anything 

and anyone who seeks to de-form 

or even destroy them. 

As we move forward in our 

journey remembering the roots 

of our faith and rekindling the gift 

of faith, let us not lose sight of 

our focus: to help people see and 

experience the loving and saving 

presence of the Risen Lord in 

their personal and communitarian 

lives so that even if they may 

not have physically seen Jesus, 

they may nevertheless have the 

spiritual insight that He alone 

shows the sure way towards absolute 

truth and everlasting life. 

In everything that we do, let us 

pool our resources together and 

let us synergize to make Jesus 

more known and loved. 

Mindful that apart from the 

Lord we can do nothing (cf. Jn 

15:5). let us offer to Him our 

intentions and efforts. Let us 

once again ask the Blessed Virgin 

Mary, our Mother of Mercy, 

and her spouse and our patron, 

Saint Joseph, to pray for us and 

with us that we may not only 

remember with gratitude but also 

rekindle the gift of faith so that, 

rain or shine, we may continue 

to abundantly bear the fruits of 

kindness and holiness. 

May the light of the Risen 

Lord enlighten every family and 

community so that His Peace will 

dwell in our hearts and lives. 

MOST REV. GILBERT A. 

GARCERA, D.D. 

Bishop of Daet 

May 1, 2011 



STATEMENTS 

An Open 

Letter to Vice 

President Binay 

Dear Mr. Vice President, 

Earlier this month, you asked, “…May I seek 

your personal stand, as well as the official stand of 

your organization on the issue?”—referring to whether Marcos 

should be buried in the “Libingan ng mga Bayani.” 

After prayerful discernment, we express to you the 

stand of the Visayas Clergy Discerment Group (VCDG), 

consisting of bishops and clergy in the Visayas. 

Several of our clergy, religious and lay leaders were 

summarily detained just before Marcos’ new 1973 Constitution 

was to be ratified in the so-called “Citizens’ Assemblies.” 

The new Constitution was another ploy of Marcos 

to extend his presidential powers under Martial Law. So, 

anybody who was a potential organizer of opposition to the 

ratification of the new Constitution was detained, without 

warrant of arrest, or any specific crime. Several thousands 

in the whole country were illegally detained. 

As the opposition to Marcos’ Martial Law escalated, 

more were detained, summarily executed, or simply made 

to disappear. Some of the victims were known personally to 

us, e.g. Fr. Rudy Romano of the Redemptorist Missionaries, 

Fr. Ed Kangleon of Leyte, Cebu student Levi Ybañez, labor 

leader Jimmy Badayos, catechists, seminarians, farmers, 

fisher folk, urban poor, etc. 

Today, Atty. Oliver Lozano and the Marcos family 

shamelessly insult the intelligence of the Filipino people 

by still claiming that Ferdinand Marcos had no hand in 

these violations of human rights; that he was not guilty. 

This lack of remorse is appalling. 

The 216 Congress Representatives do not speak for 

us when they agreed to bury Marcos in the “Libingan ng 

mga Bayani.” 

Rather, we follow the example of Pope John Paul II, 

who will be beatified on May 1, 2011. After he recovered 

from a gunshot wound, he visited the convicted assassin 

in jail. He forgave him. And, he also told him that he had 

to serve in full his jail sentence. 

We can forgive Marcos. And, he also has to serve in full 

the sentence for his crime, namely—HE CAN NOT EVER 

BE BURIED IN THE “LIBINGAN NG MGA BAYANI.” 

EVEN A FORGIVEN CRIMINAL REMAINS A CRIMI- 

NAL AND CANNOT BE CONSIDERED A HERO. 

In behalf of the Visayas Clergy Discernment Group, 

+GERARDO A. ALMINAZA, D.D. 

Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro 

Head Convenor 

Visayas Clergy Discernment Group 

April 28, 2011 

STATEMENTS 

Let the workers enjoy the fruit of their labor 

“Remuneration is the most important means for achieving justice in work relationship.” 

(No. 302 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church) 

THE Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR) salutes the 

Filipino workers and those of the world as we commemorate the 

victory of their struggle on the 1st of May. The handiwork and 

sacrifices of the working class are omnipresent in every aspect 

of our private, corporate, collective and communal life. 

In spite of their labor and hard work in building our nation 

they are suffering in abject poverty due to low wages, inhumane 

working conditions, job insecurities and other exploitative scheme. 

They were not also spared from oppressive measures that disallow 

them to practice their basic human rights. 

The last Social Weather Station survey reveals that 51% of 

Filipinos consider themselves become poorer despite the installation 

of the new government. Likewise, Ibon foundation estimates 

64M people living with less than P104/day. Our workers and their 

family cannot cope up in the skyrocketing prices of oil, basic 

goods and services. The minimum wage of P404 is far from the 

needed P983 set by NCSB as the family living wage. This only 

sends more Filipinos to inhumane situation. 

On the contrary, the government’s claim of increase in GDP 

by 7.3% last year seems to benefit not the working class but 

the foreign and local big business. These are evident with the 

inclusion of some richest Filipino in the latest Forbes Magazine 

report. Furthermore, the reported 32.2 billions of pesos income 

of three big oil companies display the large income gap between 

minimum wage earner and big corporations. 

The Aquino government’s response through its so-called 

Of hearts and systems 

WE laud the recent appointment 

of Mrs. Heidi Mendoza 

and Atty. Maria Gracia P. Tan 

by President Benigno Aquino 

III as Commissioner and Chair, 

respectively, of the Commission 

on Audit. This move responds to 

the public clamor for an honestto-goodness 

and effective campaign 

against corruption. Those 

with no hidden agenda should 

have no room for fear concerning 

these appointments. 

The COA represents the 

first line of institutional defense 

in the fight against corruption 

since it is tasked with the audit 

of all government revenues, 

resources, and other expenditures. 

If only it functions 

the way it is envisioned to be, 

there would really be little 

need even for the Office of the 

Ombudsman. 

We believe there are many 

men and women government 

auditors who want to make 

their positive contribution to 

the country. They would certainly 

be animated by good, 

united, and effective leadership 

within COA as well as strong 

and sustained public support 

for a job well done. We salute 

you all! 

We also recognize that 

some institutional reforms have 

been made at the AFP for several 

years now. We ask that 

these reforms be continued 

and even strengthened. Let 

the AFP take the lead in these 

institutional reforms knowing 

that government corruption is 

not the monopoly of any single 

institution. 

We call on the rank and file 

at COA to stand fully behind 

the leadership tandem of Atty. 

Tan, Ms. Mendoza, and Mr. 

Juanito G. Espino, Jr. Each has 

a contribution to make. 

A wise man once said that 

“resources, when the hearts 

and systems are not in the right 

place, are a curse.” The Philippines 

has enough resources to 

more than meet the demands 

of development. We pray that 

COA, through its collegial 

leadership and employees, will 

help put hearts and systems in 

the right place. 

FR. ALBERT ALEJO, SJ 

(Ehem-Aha! Movement) 

FR. CARMELO O. DIOLA 

(Dilaab Movement) 

Picardal, page 13 

caught up with him in Bicol 

giving added mileage to his 

advocacy. 

Based on his itinerary, 

Picardal will reach Baclaran 

in Manila on May 7. He will 

deliver a letter to President 

Benigno Aquino III on May 10 

before continuing his journey 

towards Aparri. 

For the remainder of his 

journey, Picardal will pass 

Bulacan to Pampanga, then 

Tarlac, Binalonan, Twin Peaks, 

Baguio, Sayangan, Abatan, 

Sabangan, Sadanga, Lubuagan, 

Tabuk, Tuao, Piat, Gattaran and 

finally, Aparri where he ends 

his pilgrimage on May 28. 

He will celebrate Holy 

Mass in Aparri before proceeding 

to Manila by bus. 

(CBCPNews) 


“Pantawid” program to the increasing poverty cases will not 

solve the perennial problem. While he promised that he would 

uplift the living condition of the people, he could not assure 

the workers with any increase in the minimum wage. Worst, 

Malacañang spokespersons are threatening the public of the 

so-called negative implication of wage increase. Furthermore, 

many workers are victims of different exploitative scheme 

like contractualization and labor-export policy that ruin their 

security for living. 

We believe that the workers have all the right to enjoy the 

fruit of their labor especially in these days of crisis. We are fully 

supporting the call for a nationwide increase in the minimum 

wage with P125 across the board for private entity and P6000 

for public offices. We would like also to register our strong 

condemnation on the continuing violations of workers’ rights 

for job security and the right to association. 

The dignity of labor must be protected and defended. We 

believe that the injustices being suffered by the workers contradict 

the will of God for an abundant life for all. 

As we observe the Labor Day, the PCPR as a community 

of faith, renews its commitment to work with our poor brothers 

and sisters in their struggle for justice and freedom. 

MR. NARDY SABINO 

General Secretary 

PCPR 

Child Labor, from page 13 

domestic work and another 

18% scrap recycling. 

“Some of them come 

from broken families and 

having no one to depend on, 

they have to rely on themselves 

for their survival,” 

Verastigue said. 

Verastigue added there 

are also situations where minors 

work in order to support 

their respective families. This 

was further reinforced by the 

findings of the ILO in the 

Philippines. 

Some 85% of those surveyed 

minors said their reason 

for going to work is to support 

their families. Nearly half of 

the total number of minors 

surveyed (47%) said they 

cannot afford to go to school 

anymore. 

He said poverty may be 

used as an argument to have 

the Reproductive Health bill 

passed. 

Asked of possible programs 

to end child labour, 

Verastigue, a director of the 

social action ministry for the 

past five years said they will 

work hand in hand with local 

government units as in 

the case of men, women and 

minors manning the dangerous 

curves at the Quezon 

National Park, seeking coins 

from commuters almost 24 

hours a day. 

We will device a program 

for them beginning with values 

formation to prevent them 

from [doing] exploitative and 

dangerous work,” he said. 

(Melo M. Acuna) 



FROM THE 

BLOGS 

EDITORIAL 

Gross default 

in the RH Bill 

SEX. METHODS. NUMBER. This is the shameful 

tripod of the infamous RH Bill that continues to 

divide Filipinos—irrespective of their beliefs or 

religious affiliations. Whether the division is in effect 

the Machiavellian intention behind the Bill in order to 

weaken the progressive popular dissatisfaction against 

the Malacañang occupant—this is another question, 

another story. But the fact stands that for its incompetence, 

insensitivity and confusion, the national leadership 

is slowly but surely losing more and more of its once 

faithful followers. 

The gross default of the RH Bill is the marked absence 

of the human person in its long litany of envisioned 

big benefits to Philippine society. It is good to ask: In the 

last analysis, without the human person justly considered 

and rightfully attended to in any social venture, what is 

there really worthwhile bothering about—in truth and in 

fact? And this is exactly the reality behind the RH Bill 

when denuded of its pretentious concern for the good 

and welfare of the People of the Philippines. 

Sex divorced from the human person becomes but a 

piece of meat. It is then made to stand as but the carnal 

means to enjoy and delight on—without relevance to 

the dignity of the human person and to the fundamental 

ethics that governs human acts. Withdrawn from its 

human premise, sex becomes but an instrument of instinctive 

satisfaction proper of irrational beings devoid 

of responsibility and beyond accountability. 

Methods on how to enjoy and delight in sexual 

acts without its inherent significance and import—this 

is the central concern and main preoccupation of the 

Bill. What to wear and to drink as well as what will be 

subjected to surgical intervention—these are the main 

means forwarded by the Bill in order to separate the right 

to copulate from the obligation appended to copulation 

in terms of possible conception. 

Number specifically resorted to in the sense that 

less is definitely better than more, that less people is 

infallibly better than more people, and that less people 

automatically means the disappearance of poverty and 

the emergence of social development and economic 

prosperity as a matter of course—this is core content 

of the thesis of the Bill. Never mind the root cause of 

poverty and misery in the country. Simply make the 

number of people less and less, and there will be more 

and more prosperity—ipso facto. 

The nature and dignity of the human person, the 

ethical norms that regulate his or her conduct or behavior 

for responsible actions, plus the moral parameters that 

rule his or her actuations for principled living—these 

are irrelevant to the RH BILL. 

www.ovc.blogspot.com 

Band-aid solutions 

Band-aids are little strips of tapes with a little gauge placed 

on little wounds hopefully to cause some cure. Needless 

to say, their key reality feature is “little”. It is little in size 

and coverage, little in scoop and finality. Band-aids wherefore 

are irrelevant and futile for big wounds with big bad implications 

and big ill consequences. In the day-to-day life of a people 

wrestling with so many and immense socio-economic problems, 

“Band-Aid Solutions” thereto are not simply vanity but downright 

inanity. Even elementary reason says that solutions should 

be at par with the nature and import of the problems crying for 

pursuant attention and action. 

The Philippines is facing the national predicament of well 

regulated salaries and somehow regulated basic commodity 

prices vis-à-vis actually deregulated oil prices. The Filipinos 

find it harder to find work and/or employment but infallibly 

pay indirect taxes from birth to death. There are more and more 

hungry and desperate people in the country. There are wherefore 

more and more dissatisfaction and anger that make them march 

in the streets, hold rallies, show their dismay and shout their 

protests. There are wherefore understandably more and more 

spirited groups of citizens with different vision-missions but 

with one and the same cause, viz., alienation from the present 

national leadership and bed-fellows. 

Faced with such immense and intense national predicaments, 

the incumbent administration came up with “Band-Aid 

Solutions” in term of the so called “Conditional Cash Transfer”. 

Translation: On proviso that certain families meet certain conditions, 

a certain amount of money is periodically handed to 

them for certain months. The multi-million other poor families 

excluded from the scheme, never mind. Furthermore, the same 

administration thought of gimmick for those chosen groups of 

gasoline consumers, in terms of gas coupons or smart cards or 

whatever. Translation: On condition that these or those drivers 

are given the chips or something, they get discounts. And again, 

the multi-million of other gas consumers, never mind. Add hereto 

the fact that absolutely no one of the said chosen families and 

lucky drivers are exempted from paying their individual Value 

Added Tax. This can be anything but funny! 

Recently, there are these or those TV programs censured for 

promoting mendicancy in the country. Reason: They freely hand 

out many cash prizes to the winners of many different game shows. 

Though unnoted and unsaid, Malacañang is now the biggest promoter 

of mendicancy in the country for its “Band-Aid Solutions”. 

www.ovc.blogspot.com 

www.sodahead.com 

Aristocracy and democracy 

This is simply meant to reflect on the incongruous 

pairing of aristocracy and democracy—without 

necessarily thinking of some families vis-à-vis 

people in general, without automatically making reference 

to certain highly favored and distinct individuals 

holding high and sensitive offices in government in 

relation to the populace in general. 

This is intended to point out that there is definitely 

something queer, strange and/or suspicious when aristocrats 

assume governance over commoners, i.e., when 

wealthy and influential dynasties rule over the poor 

and miserable. And the reservation with the pairing 

rests on the empirical fact that aristocracy does not or 

cannot understand—much less realistically accept—the 

fundamental equality of human persons which is the 

anchorage of real and living democracy. 

This country is proud to claim that it has a democratic 

form of government long since. And in essence, 

democracy is government from the people, by the 

people and for the people. Where then is aristocracy 

in democracy? 

The Philippines proudly proclaims that its people 

as a whole is sovereign in their decision making and 

the pursuant enactment of laws for their own common 

good and public welfare. Where then is aristocracy in 

democracy? 

The democratic people of the Philippines are already 

poor and hungry, and are in fact becoming even poorer 

and hungrier. There is now a seeping spirit of mendicancy 

among them. Where then is aristocracy in democracy? 

Saying it more clearly, the multi-million common 

Filipino people have been long since big losers in their 

governance by aristocrats, i.e., very rich and powerful 

families, distinctly educated and favored dynasties, 

individuals with their feet above ground reality, with 

their heads in Cloud 9. These are aristocratic clan 

members who are basically insensitive to the plight of 

the hungry, the lot of the homeless, the misfortune of 

the weak and ignorant. 

And stating it more bluntly, Filipinos in general 

better stay quiet and stay still when they continue to 

“elect” aristocrats in their supposedly democratic 

country—when they allow themselves to be mesmerized 

by aristocratic figures during “election”. The two key 

words are deliberately quoted when the Filipino electorate 

allow themselves to be duped by candidates from 

the aristocracy making popular campaign declamations, 

shouting populist electoral platforms. They are fun to 

hear, pleasant to behold. But sorry! They do not know 

what they are saying. Please think deep and well—and 

conclude for yourselves what the truth is about the so 

called “Philippine Democracy”. 

Illustration by Bladimer Usi 



FROM THE 

INBOX 

book 

Reviews 

A 

man's daughter had asked the local 

pastor to come and pray with her 

father. When the pastor arrived, 

he found the man lying in bed with his 

head propped up on two pillows and an 

empty chair beside his bed. The priest 

assumed that the old fellow had been 

informed of his visit. 

"I guess you were expecting me," 

he said. 

"No, who are you?" 

"I'm the new associate at your local 

church," the pastor replied. "When I saw 

the empty chair, I figured you knew I 

was going to show up." 

"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden 

man. "Would you mind closing 

the door?" 

Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. 

"I've never told anyone this, not 

even my daughter," said the man. "But 

all of my life I have never known how 

to pray. At church I used to hear the 

pastor talk about prayer, but it always 

went right over my head." 

"I abandoned any attempt at 

prayer," the old man continued, "until 

one day about four years ago my best 

friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a 

simple matter of having a conversation with 

Jesus. Here's what I suggest. Sit down on a 

www.flickr.com 

From the email messages of may_rv2003@yahoo.com 

Flaws 

A WATER bearer in India had 

two large pots, each hung on 

each end of a pole, which he 

carried across his neck. One of 

the pots had a crack in it, and 

while the other pot was perfect 

and always delivered a full por- 

The empty chair 

chair, place an empty chair in front of you, 

and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not 

tion of water at the end of the 

long walk from the stream to 

the master's house, the cracked 

pot arrived only 

half full. 

For a full two 

years this went 

on daily, with the 

bearer delivering 

only one and 

a half pots full 

of water in his 

master's house. 

Of course, the 

perfect pot was 

proud of its accomplishments, 

perfect to the end 

for which it was made. But the 

poor cracked pot was ashamed 

of its own imperfection, and 

miserable that it was able to 

accomplish only half of what 

it had been made to do. 

After two years of what it 

perceived to be a bitter failure, 

it spoke to the water bearer one 

day by the stream. 

"I am ashamed of myself, 

and I want to apologize to you." 

"Why?" asked the bearer. 

"What are you ashamed of?" "I 

have been able, for these past 

two years, to deliver only half 

my load because this crack in 

my side causes water to leak 

out all the way back to your 

master’s house. Because of 

my flaws, you have to do all 

of this work, and you don't get 

full value from your efforts," 

the pot said. 

The water bearer felt sorry 

for the old cracked pot, and in 

his compassion he said, "As we 

return to the master’s house, I 

want you to notice the beautiful 

flowers along the path." 

Indeed, as they went up the 

hill, the old cracked pot took 

spooky because he promised, 'I'll be 

with you always.' Then just speak to 

him and listen in the same way you're 

doing with me right now.’" 

"So, I tried it and I've liked it so 

much that I do it a couple of hours 

every day. I'm careful, though. If my 

daughter saw me talking to an empty 

chair, she'd either have a nervous 

breakdown or send me off to the 

funny farm." 

The pastor was deeply moved by 

the story and encouraged the old guy to 

continue on the journey. Then he prayed 

with him, and returned to the church. 

Two nights later the daughter 

called to tell the pastor that her daddy 

had died that afternoon. 

"Did he seem to die in peace?" 

he asked. 

"Yes, when I left the house 

around two o'clock, he called me 

over to his bedside, told me one of 

his corny jokes, and kissed me on 

the cheek. When I got back from the 

store an hour later, I found him dead. 

But there was something strange, in 

fact, beyond strange―kinda weird. 

Apparently, just before Daddy died, 

he leaned over and rested his head on a chair 

beside the bed." 

www.cuoreestremo.blogspot.com 

notice of the sun warming the 

beautiful wild flowers on the 

side of the path, and this cheered 

it some. But at the end of the 

trail, it still felt bad because it 

had leaked out half its load, and 

so again the pot apologized to 

the bearer for its failure. 

The bearer said to the pot, 

"Did you notice that there were 

flowers only on your side of 

your path, but not on the other 

pots’ side? That's because I 

have always known about your 

flaw, and I took advantage of it. 

I planted flower seeds on your 

side of the path, and every day 

while we walk back from the 

stream, you've watered them. 

For two years I have been able 

to pick these beautiful flowers 

to decorate my master’s table. 

Without you being just the way 

you are, he would not have this 

beauty to grace his house." 

Mary in the Gospels 

Giovanni Maria Bigotto, FMS 

Mary’s role in the history of salvation earns her a place of honor in the hearts of Christian believers 

who have a high regard for Mary as the Mother of God and mother of all believers. Both Catholics 

and Orthodox Christians pay tributes to Mary in beautiful liturgies and artworks emphasizing the 

great devotion they have to her and the role she plays in the life of the Church. This book presents 

a portrait of Mary as shown in the four Gospels—a portrayal that other faith denominations cannot 

argue about since they are all Scriptural accounts of this extraordinary woman whom humanity calls 

mother. “God’s love manifested in Christ is the crossroads where all Christians can meet and welcome 

one another as brothers and sisters. That love was entrusted to a woman from among us, Mary.” 

Homosexuality and the Catholic Church 

Fr. John E. Harvey OSFS 

The book provides clear insights on the topic of homosexuality. 

Presented in a question and answer format, readers get a deeper 

and clearer understanding of the subject of same sex attraction 

(SSA). The Church does not condemn anyone who has a homosexual 

orientation as SSA is not a sin by itself. But Church’s teachings 

urge those experiencing SSA to lead a chaste life. In a society where same sex unions have 

become acceptable and a way of life, going against the current requires a lot of faith and tons of 

moral courage. Aside from providing clear answers to questions on same sex attraction, the book 

also discusses support groups and other organizations that can help homosexuals overcome the 

challenges they face and live a chaste life according to the teachings of the Church. 

Nil Guillemette 

A Gentle God 

Exploring Difficult Biblical Texts 

Does God punish? Indeed if we look at the Old Testament, we encounter a violent and punishing 

God who in many instances has punished an individual or a group for some transgressions or other. 

In this book, the author debunks that notion, and instead presents God as a gentle and loving God. 

The negative image of God is oftentimes a product of childhood experiences that have stayed long 

in the subconscious and reinforced by various environmental factors. Hence, the author contends, 

it is essential that in the interpretation of Biblical texts, one should be guided with the view that God 

is a loving God “since it is the highest and most accurate disclosure of who and what God is.” Nil 

Guillemette is a multi-awarded author and a biblical scholar who has lived in the Philippines since 

1980. 

Living and Loving Jesus 

Bishop Ruperto C. Santos, DD 

Now the bishop of Balanga, the author wrote this book when he was still the rector of the Pontificio 

Collegio Filippino in Rome and in charge of the formation of student-priests living in the Collegio. 

The book is a collection of reflections and conferences given to priests with topics ranging from 

spirituality, the Church, ministry and personal lifestyle. As priests are called to be “alter Christus”, 

they ought to be the Good News of the Father’s love, as Jesus is; and the Paschal Mystery at the 

heart of their pastoral ministry as priests. With his topics divided according to the acronym PASCHAL, 

Santos aptly tackles the “essence of priestly spirituality in the Paschal Mystery which is rooted in the 

Cross which Jesus embraced with love until his death, which the monumental document—Pastores 

Dabo Vobis—on the priesthood expressly indicated.” 



ENTERTAINMENT 

ASIA 

BRIEFING 

Ca t h o l i c INi t i a t i v e fo r 

Enl i g h t e n e d Mov i e App r e c i a t i o n 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules takes off from last 

year’s surprise comedy hit about the Heffley family 

of three sibling brothers Rodrick (Devon Bostick) , 

Greg (Zachary Gordon) and toddler Manny and their parents 

Susan(Rachel Harris) and Frank (Steve Zahn). Rodrick as usual 

bullies his kid brother 7th grader Greg who has no choice but 

to play along with him or else. Mom knows it and would give 

anything to see her two boys living in peace and harmony— 

to the extent of paying them a dollar for each trouble-free 

hour they’re together. Susan and Frank one day decide they 

would go on holiday and leave the house to Greg and Rodrick, 

extracting a promise from the kids that they would behave 

while on their own. As soon 

as their parents leave their 

sight Rodrick prevails upon 

Greg to throw a party— 

but it would be boozeless, 

relatively safe. But as it 

turns out, a party’s being 

alcohol-free is no guarantee 

of order. The two are caught 

red-handed and get the appropriate 

punishment from 

their disappointed parents. 

As far as its genre goes, 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick 

Rules plays the game 

by the rules, following a 

formula that is sure to click 

with its target audience— 

kids and families—as the 

first Diary… did, reportedly 

making a neat profit 

for its makers. The viewer 

can forget about its being 

fiction as it more or less 

fairly reflects 21st century 

parenting American style. 

You can’t fault the actors 

for being unbelievable— 

they’re such naturals given 

the plot and the never-adull-moment 

script. As for 

the other things that make a 

movie technically correct— 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: 

Rodrick Rules has them 

all neatly pulled together. 

It is an entertaining movie 

that its makers have taken 

pains to keep wholesome, 

so much so that even the 

stricter critics in the US have freely given it a rating of “PG 

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules 

CAST: Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Robert Capron, 

Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris, Peyton List, Ben Hollingsworth, 

Robert Capron, Michelle Harrison, Grayson 

Russell; DIRECTOR: David Bowers; WRITERS: Gabe 

Sachs, Jeff Judah, Jeff Kinney; GENRE: Comedy, 

Drama; RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes. 

Technical Assessment: •••½ 

Moral Assessment: ½ 

CINEMA Rating: For viewers age 14 and above 

for some mild rude humor 

and mischief”. 

If you’ve ever been a 

parent you’ll understand 

that all Diary of a Wimpy 

Kid: Rodrick Rules is saying 

is “kids will always be 

kids but hang on, they’ll 

grow up, too, and outgrow 

their mischievous ways”. 

And CINEMA agrees. Our 

2.5 Moral Assessment score 

doesn’t mean the movie promotes 

destructive values— 

it simply means that parental 

explanations are in order 

if you allow your children to 

watch this movie. The parents 

(Susan and Frank) have 

good intentions and their 

children’s best interests at 

heart, although they could 

be mistaken for being so naïve 

or lenient—something 

that’s balanced by the father 

of Rowley (Robert Capron), 

Greg’s chubby best friend, 

who makes sure his son follows 

his rules. The movie’s 

many humorous moments 

and funny scenes are interspersed 

with not-so-desirable 

instances some youngsters 

might imitate but the 

resolution at the end gives 

the viewer a better picture 

of its optimistic message. In 

real life, we see worse examples, 

and children eventually 

grow up to be mature adults in spite of them. 

JAPAN. Eexclusion zone around Fukushima 

extended 

Thousands more people are being 

moved from outside the exclusion 

zone around the devastated 

Fukushima nuclear plant as radiation 

levels continue to rise. As the evacuation 

zone widened, more details 

have emerged about the meltdown in 

plant’s reactor number-1 with revelations 

that fuel rods probably melted 

in the hours after the earthquake in 

March, a fact not discovered until 

this month. 

SINGAPORE. Patriarch Lee resigns 

Singapore founding father Lee 

Kuan Yew has resigned from the 

country’s cabinet, ceding leadership 

to his son, PM Lee Hsien Loong. 87- 

year old LKY and senior minister Goh 

Chok Tong made their resignation 

May 14 but will remain in parliament 

as elected members. Lee was PM 

from 1959 to 1990, after which Goh 

took over until 2004. 

MALAYSIA. 2 Iranians nabbed in country’s 

biggest drug haul 

Two Iranian men were arrested 

by Malaysian custom officials and 

seized heroin worth $12.6 million 

in the country’s biggest drug haul 

of the year. Authorities said the 

drugs were seized during checks 

on five containers filled with cement 

bags at Port Klang on April 28 

which were shipped from Karachi, 

Pakistan. 

THAILAND. HRW seeks probe 

on abuses linked to political 

violence 

No government official has been 

charged with a crime related to the 

political violence that wracked Thailand 

in April and May 2010, Human 

Rights Watch said in a new report 

released today. The government 

should undertake an impartial and 

transparent investigation and hold 

those among government security 

forces and protesters accountable 

for criminal offenses, Human Rights 

Watch said. 

CHINA. Gov’t to spend $23M on nuke 

safety 

Following the crisis in Japan, 

the Chinese government will spend 

$23 million this year on nuclear 

safety. Xinhua news agency said 

the Ministry of Environmental Protection 

will spend the hefty budget 

on monitoring radiation nationwide, 

reassessing technology at nuclear 

facilities and supervising privatelyrun 

plants. 

VIETNAM. Police nabs 56 foreigners 

over fraud 

Authorities have nabbed 56 foreigners 

over allegations of international 

phone and Internet fraud. 

Identified only as Asian, the 45 men 

and 11 women were arrested in Ho 

Chi Minh City on May 13 during a 

police raid. Reports said the gang 

pretended to be police, custom and 

tax officials to access information 

and account passwords of both 

locals and foreigners to steal their 

money. 

PAKISTAN. Suicide blasts kill 69 

people 

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle 

killed at least 69 people at a paramilitary 

force academy in north-west 

Pakistan, the first major attack since 

Osama bin Laden was killed in the 

country. The US killing of bin Laden at 

his compound near Islamabad on May 

2 raised fears that Pakistan will face a 

new wave of attacks by Al Qaeda and 

its affiliates, who are fighting to topple 

the US-backed government. 

IRAN. Gov’t must not carry out retribution 

blinding sentence 

Amnesty International called on 

the Iranian authorities not to carry 

out a sentence ordering a man to 

be blinded by having acid dropped 

in both eyes as part of a retribution 

punishment. It is unbelievable that 

the Iranian authorities would consider 

implementing such a punishment,” 

said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, 

Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s 

Middle East and North Africa 

Programme. Majid Movahedi was 

sentenced to “retribution in kind” in 

2008 after he poured a bucket of 

acid over Ameneh Bahrami, who 

had rejected his marriage proposal 

several times. 

BURMA. UN Envoy should ‘not pay 

courtesy call’ 

United Nations special envoy 

on Burma Vijay Nambiar should 

speak out against the absence of 

meaningful human rights reform in 

Burma since the November elections, 

Human Rights Watch said. 

"The UN and Nambiar should not 

allow his visit to be misused by 

the government to shore up its 

credibility on human rights in the 

absence of meaningful progress," 

said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia 

director at HRW. 

BAHRAIN. Fair trial urged for Bahraini 

opposition activists 

A military trial on Thursday for a 

group of 21 prominent Bahraini opposition 

activists must meet international 

fair trial standards, Amnesty International 

said today amid continuing 

reports of torture. The mainly Shi’a 

activists have been charged with alleged 

crimes in relation to weeks of 

pro-reform protest in Bahrain that began 

in February. “Bahraini authorities 

have already denied the defendants 

their basic legal rights and at least 

two have said they were tortured, 

raising fears about their chances 

for a fair trial in this military court,” 

said Philip Luther, AI International 

Deputy Director for the Middle East 

and North Africa.

Php 70.00 Vol. 45 No. 5 • MAY 2011 - IMPACT Magazine Online!

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