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The protest of Masinloc fishers highlighted the lack of attention given to ordinary people as officials relish their token role in the geopolitical ‘game of thrones’ in the Asia-Pacific. On one hand, they are bullied by oversized Chinese vessels in our own territory; but they are also barred from fishing during Balikatan war games. Dynamite fishing has been outlawed yet US troops used a missile to blow up a warship in Zambales.
Many New Testament scholars agree that the Gospel of John is written for a beleaguered community torn from many sides. John’s community experience incessant harassment from their enemies. These enemies are (1) a well-established religious community and (2) a King who reads their loyalty swerving towards subversion. They earned their enemies because of their subversive belief that Jesus Christ was resurrected and now reigning from heaven. This theological belief has political implications that could spell life and death. This belief launches them into a political mission that directly offends the ruling elite.
Yesterday, the US and Philippine military forces formally ended their 18-day joint war games under the 38th version of the Balikatan. The various exercises, held in Northern and Central Luzon, involved more than 17,000 troops and live-firing of a variety of US modern weapons systems.
We need more testimonies and reports highlighting the lesser-known protests that contributed to the building of a formidable resistance to the dictatorship.
Compassion is but a concept, mercy is elusive, hope seems unattainable for our poor brothers and sisters, for those in the margins of our society, and it will remain so if we continue to allow ourselves to become agents of evil, to be the festering wounds on the body of Christ.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said those investments “will spur job creation and economic growth in local Philippine communities.” His enthusiasm may have exhilarated the current administration, especially the defense establishment. But to us, the Filipino people, one crucial issue remains unclear, even disturbing: how exactly or to what extent the American forces will use the EDCA sites.
Family reunions allowed us to catch up, reenact rituals of domestic living, and build new memories. Were they enough? For a child who sincerely wanted to express his love and gratitude, they were agonizingly inadequate.
“Kaya’t si Pedro at ang [isang] alagad ay nagpunta sa libingan. Kapwa sila tumakbo ngunit si Pedro’y naunahan ng kasamang alagad. Yumuko ito at sumilip sa loob. Nakita niyang nakalagay ang mga kayong lino, ngunit hindi siya pumasok” (Juan 20: 3-5).
It’s Holy Week, a moment of reflection, getting together, family and friends bonding moment, a break from hectic days, or a celebration from heydays. Wherever we are, I assume that we pray and reflect on these days apart from gallivanting and jubilating.
We don’t have a next move, that is the extent of our involvement with the ICC. That ends all our involvement with the ICC. Because we will no longer appeal, the appeal has failed and there is, in our view, nothing more that we can do in the government and so at this point we essentially are disengaging from any contact, from any communication with the ICC.”
Death, brokenness and lament are overwhelming themes that surround the 5th Sunday of Lent. And these are part of the growing crescendo of spiritual disorder as we approach Easter, coming from themes of thirst and blindness. But, spoiler alert, there’s an invisible string that ties the different stories of death, brokenness and lament across our scripture. That invisible string is the promise of life and resurrection.
This week, the United States and the Philippine militaries – with enthusiastic support from Ferdinand Marcos Jr. – kick-started the implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the 2014 bilateral executive accord which had been delayed for eight years.
Malaking sanhi ng pagkaburyong ay ang mabagal na takbo ng kaso sa bansa na may kinalaman sa bulok na hustisya. Kadalasan naghihintay ng anim na buwan para sa paglilitis at lagi itong hindi natutuloy. Marami sa mga nakakulong ay inosente at sinampahan ng gawa-gawang kaso subalit walang sapat na kakayanan para makakuha ng tulong ligal.
Weaving my random thoughts into one
Tapestry,
as my heart seeks new ways of sketching life,
and my mind, boggled as it is,
and my soul, messy as it may seem…
I am now
growing older, getting wiser, gravitating towards more changes
lifting burdens no more, for my bones ache and my knees shake,
leading life to a more loving encounter.
Live-fire training, using naval artillery gunfire and aviation rockets and bombs to sink a vessel in the West Philippine Sea, where China continues its aggressive maneuvers. And the first live-firing here of a US Patriot missile as part of a drill in coastal defense.
Time has a way of teaching you the lessons you missed when they were first taught to you, right? I've found myself staring out of windows a few times, wondering what went wrong and what I could have done differently and how else I could communicate what I think people need to understand. In the few years since our democracy started to decline, I've been in a constant rage, wanting to both embrace and destroy this heathen generation that can't seem to recognize its own good.
A journey of the people of God. They thirst for water. “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?” They quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” In the book of Exodus 17:3-7 Moses is being threatened. A prophet chosen by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt- i.e. from slavery to freedom. Moses is being questioned. In the desert there is no supply of water. Moses cried to the Lord. The Lord directed him to strike the rock in Horeb with the same staff with which he struck the river. And so he struck the rock and the water flowed from it for the people to drink. God heeded the question of His people. He heard their cry through Moses. God never abandoned his people Israel. God quenched their thirst for freedom and salvation.
The death of Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig at the hands of his presumptive fraternity “brothers” is a wake-up call to everyone, especially those with a relative in a college or university, that hazing is a continuing problem in many schools as well as in other Philippine institutions. Salilig’s case is in fact provoking other citizens who had so far been silent to reveal how their own kin were similarly victimized.
Into the eighth month of the new administration, the government’s virulent red-tagging campaign is still being waged by the mouthpieces (official or otherwise) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict – now nominally headed by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as chairperson.
Buying a P2.4-million minibus is definitely not an option for Papa; his jeeps' income are just enough to sustain the family's daily needs. "Saan ako kukuha ng pera? Uutang? Maintenance pa lang niyan, lugi na ako," he says. Even so, no bank would provide him such loan at his age.
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