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Vol 39, No 6 • SEPTEMBER 2005 Php 70.

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Quote in the Act
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2 IMPACT • September 2005


I MPACT August 2005 / Vol 39 • No 6

CONTENTS
EDITORIAL

Impeachment .............................................................. 25
T
he consequences of politics are immensely po-
tent for either construction or destruction of
COVER STORY society. The effects or rather the damage in-
flicted by martial law on the Filipino people, for in-
stance, have crippled not only the socio-economic
facet of the country but even the lives of upcoming
generations.
The harm that is done to the country by a corrupt
congressman or any political figure for that matter
imprints a lifetime suffering on people, pretty much
larger than the disaster caused by Marcopper Mining
Corporation in Marinduque or the Ormoc tragedy.
Which is why, politics should not be left alone to a
select segment of Philippine society—especially to
politicians!
Of late, a woman senator has cautioned the Catho-
lic bishops not to be meddling in politics. Invoking the
doctrine of separation of Church and State—which is
immediately a wrong reference—she thinks that bish-
Forgive Us Our Debts ................................................... 16 ops should confine themselves to spiritual matters, as
if the bishops and their people, too, won’t get hurt by
ARTICLES the selfish scheming of politicians and thieves.
Reflections on the Role of Bishops in Philippine It is very consoling to read Archbishop Leonardo
Legaspi, OP, in his Reflections on the Role of Bishops
Politics ................................................................................ 4 in Philippine Politics. He says: “...it is impossible to
Globalization and Its Challenges to Education .... 6 truly love one’s neighbor without engaging in poli-
tics. When we confront concrete cases of cruel injus-
Minor Seminary Formation: Making the tice being inflicted on men and women, our commit-
Difference ....................................................................... 10 ment to love inevitably leads us to confrontations
with those who control our politics. We immerse our-
From ‘Sick Man’ to ‘Dying Man’ of Asia ................ 12 selves in pastoral visits where we witness the dehu-
manization caused by political
Far from Over ................................................................ 14 corruption in our slums and ne-
glected barangays. We inevi-
STATEMENTS tably find ourselves challenged
The Unity We Need ...................................................... 22 by the injustices we see to take
a stand on public issues. Our
“Karangalan ng Bayan, Pamilya Ang Christian love for the poor be-
Pagmumulan” .............................................................. 23 comes political by its own inner
logic since to practice it re-
DEPARTMENTS quires the mediation of poli-
Quote in the Act .............................................................. 2 tics.”
If there is any disaster that has befallen on the
From the Blogs ............................................................... 24 Filipino people worse than all the natural calamities
combined, it is our foreign debt. It is disastrous while
CINEMA Review ......................................................... 27 it looks benign. It is debilitating as it harnessed as a
sanctuary to economic dearth and budgetary short-
From the Inbox .............................................................. 27 fall. And it keeps growing by leaps and bounds. The
Qoutes in Quiz .............................................................. 28 foreign debt facility has been a milking cow of thieves
in the government for ages now. Msgr. Lope Robredillo
Vanilla Bytes ................................................................. 29 writes our cover story, Forgive Us Our Debts . Read
on.
News Briefs ...................................................................... 30

Volume 39 • Number 6 3
First of two parts

Who We Are

I
start my reflections with the latest
CBCP Statement entitled: Restoring
Trust: A Plea for Moral Values in Phil-
ippine Politics.
In this Pastoral Statement, the bishops
ask themselves: “As Bishops what can we
offer to our people? Can we provide some
clarity and guidance in the present confusing
situation?” Then, the bishops give their an-
swer. They reply: “We can only answer these
questions from who we are.”
“From who we are.” This response is an
emphatic reminder that the only way bishops
can give credible and authentic clarity and
guidance to a confused people is by manifest-

Reflections o
ing in their words and actions who they are.
Our people want to know whence comes that
identity which determines the teaching and
shapes the decisions of their bishops.
For today, this Episcopal identity is not
clear to our people. Bishops do not present a

Bishops in Phil
homogeneous, clearly identifiable character
of who they are to our people. They read of
dissent among the bishops; they listen to
statements of bishops which they consider as
highly political while noting the silence of
other bishops; the see bishops with different
preferential options, some for the rich and
powerful others for the poor and powerless.
They wonder why those bishops engaged in
lonely battles against moral corruption seem by LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI, O.P., D.D.
to be without the support of other bishops.
They know that bishops have different views not operate in a vacuum. They are affected by
Gospel Defines Bishops’ Identity
on whether or not to ask for the resignation of a context whose social, economic and political
the President. They hear of bishops telling Observe that the three functions are dimensions have consequences for the imple-
media that they miss the high-profile interven- linked to a unique context, namely, the Gospel mentation of his mandate. This is the context
tions of Cardinal Sin in political issues. Have of Jesus Christ. If these three functions lose of culture— the culture into which he was
bishops, then, become part of the problem their anchorage in the Gospels, they can be born and which has formed and continues to
and thereby bring about confusion and de- used to reinforce the image of the Church as form him as a human person.
moralization among our people? an authoritarian institution where students The bishop is not only a citizen of the City
“…Who we are.” What then is a bishop? fear teachers, where priests monopolize deci- of God but he also is a citizen of the City of
The Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation sions, where those who govern become ty- Man. He is both a Filipino as well as a member
Pastores Gregis answers: “The Bishop, who rants. But this is a caricature of the true goal of an international Church. As a Filipino, he
acts in the person and name of Christ Him- of these functions which is— that the Bishop’s imbibes the culture of his people and society,
self, becomes in the Church entrusted to him teaching imitates the patience of the Teacher- its weaknesses and its strengths. The way
a living sign of the Lord Jesus, Shepherd and Rabbi who chose ambitious and cowardly Filipinos live, the meanings they put into their
Spouse, Teacher and High Priest of the fishermen as His first disciples; that his priestly symbols and the values and models they
Church.” (No. 7) The key then to the Bishops work is modeled on the suffering Messiah and uphold— this ensemble shapes the character
‘s identity and mission is the mystery of the that his governance must reflect the humility of the Bishop. We are the children of our
Christ and the attributes willed by the Lord of the Master who serves His disciples. In the culture. Its deficiencies are absorbed into our
Jesus for his Church, “a people brought into reform and renewal of our nation’s political mores. Its strengths are imparted to us. Its
unity from the unity of the Father, the Son culture, Bishops have an indispensable role. influence penetrates our personality and
and the Holy Spirit” (LG, 27). In the light of He is the teacher of God’s mode of transform- shapes or distorts it.
the mystery of Christ, the Bishop comes to ing humanity. He is the priest who gathers us
understand ever more profoundly the mys- for a covenant meal with God. He is the leader
tery of the Church, in which he, by the grace Filipino Culture’s Influence
whose diakonia is one of humble service.
of Episcopal ordination, has been appointed We have pointed to the Gospel as the Since he is inserted within two con-
as teacher, priest and shepherd so as to context which gives birth to the triple func- texts— the evangelical and the cultural— it is
guide the Church with the power the Bishop tions which define the relationship of Bishops vital that the Bishop integrates them in his
has received. to the People of God. But these functions do person. There should be no rupture between

4 IMPACT • September 2005


A R T I C L E S

Jose Rizal caught its essential spirit which he


stated as: Redencion supone virtud; virtud
sacrificio y sacrificio amor— redemption
presupposes virtue; virtue sacrifice, and sac-
rifice love.
In our nation today, we have lost this
precondition to leadership, the commitment
to values born out of the integration of faith
and life. Thus social, economic and political
leadership in our days is not based on virtue.
Neither do sacrifice and love make their pres-
ence palpable among our leaders.
No wonder our culture is often derided as
“flawed”. No wonder that the most quoted
sentences in the CBCP’s 1997 Pastoral Exhor-
tation on Philippine Politics are these: “…Phil-
ippine Politics— the way it is practiced— has

n the Role of
been most hurtful of us as a people. It is
possibly the biggest bane in our life as a nation
and the most pernicious obstacle to our
achieving full development.”
Let the words of Rizal be heard once more

ippine Politics
in every region of our land: Redemption pre-

lippine
supposes virtue:virtue presupposes sacrifice
and sacrifice presupposes love. The virtue of
truth and justice; the sacrifice for the common
good; the love which sees others as brothers
and sisters.
These and not political cleverness; these
and not legalistic arguments; these and not
armed might and power make up the formula
for our nation’s flight to new horizons of
peace, prosperity and unity.

his faith and culture. His being a Filipino ens our culture of selfishness. When Bishops Confront Politics
should not clash with his being a Christian. Yet, this was not always the culture that
But what a daunting challenge Filipino defined our national reputation. Once in our But in spite of the emphatic coveats
culture presents. Its values increasingly hinder history, we could raise our heads proudly as against bishops participating in direct and
rather than facilitate human growth. It is a a people renowned for their noble traits and partisan political actions, we cannot totally
culture drowning in mediocrity and vulgarity. civilized habits. Take the case of the Katipunan ignore political engagement. To the French
Our culture manipulates our imagination to yes, the Katipunan and how the Christian bishops, the late Pope John Paul II said: “By
develop an interest in shocking displays of formation of the First Evangelization which reason of your mission your call is to inter-
bloody shoot-outs, in gossipy romance sto- Filipinos received from missionaries influ- vene regularly in public debate and the great
ries, in exclusive interviews with their idiotic enced their culture of leadership. questions of society.” This then is the chal-
conversations. Its authors are often in media Prof. Reynaldo Ileto’s book: Pasyon and lenge and this then is the call to serve in a
and entertainment circles. More than this, Revolution describes the concept of leader- divided society such as ours today. It is not
ours is a culture where the poor continue to ship and freedom which the Katipunan lead- easy. But this is the call. In the Roman Missal
face a future of unrelenting poverty, where ers had. These concepts were clothed in we pray that a bishop may have a spirit of
youth become drug addicts and jobless adults religious symbolisms. For the Katipuneros, courage and right judgment, the spirit of
waste their lives away in drink and gamble. knowledge and love so that he may build
the revolution they were planning was in
And the authors of this are primarily the rich essence a redemptive mission likened to the God’s Church as a sign of salvation in the
and powerful who control our economic poli- world. After all we have concluded that it is
Passion of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus suf-
cies. And the church, is she also one of fered, died and rose again to save mankind impossible to truly love one’s neighbor with-
architects of our culture? Assuredly so. When out engaging in politics. When we confront
from sin, so too must Filipinos suffer and die
the newly installed parish priest arbitrarily concrete cases of cruel injustice being in-
before they can rise from slavery to freedom.
abolishes the projects of his predecessor, he flicted on men and women, our commitment
To win the kalayaan of the Motherland, the
increases the sense of passivity and frustra- to love inevitably leads us to confrontations
Katipunan demanded a high moral sacrifice.
tion which marks the culture of our laity. with those who control our politics. We
Its leaders and members were required to
When a Bishop is more worldly than spiritual immerse ourselves in pastoral visits where
undergo internal purification— kalinisan ng we witness the dehumanization caused by
in his life style, when he is more concerned kalooban. This was the essential condition of
with building monuments rather than commu- political corruption in our slums and ne-
participation in achieving their goal of libera-
nities of faith among the poor, then strength- tion which they saw as a redemptive process. Reflections / p. 26

Volume 39 • Number 6 5
(Editor’s Note: With permission from the author, we
are serializing Dr. Custodio’s article which appeared
earlier in the Philippiniana Sacra, January-April 2004
issue).

Second of Three Parts

Globalization
and Its Challenges
to Education
by LOURDES J. CUSTODIO, Ph. D.

A Renewed Concept of Education stability and openness to others; that becoming.


which is capable of forging new ways of From the ontological perspective, to
As a result of the emergence of a new growth for his conscience. educate means to foster positively in the
humanism, there arises a need for a broader We need therefore an education that individual the gradual fulfillment of his
concept of education. In a situation of is not only concerned with imparting knowl- capacity to be himself the very principle of
rapid and radical change with challenging edge and information, but also with the his actions, to assume the responsibility
international relationships, young people total development of the whole person. of his own deed within the social context.
must be educated for a flexible and in- The concern in education will not be sim- In this kind of education where the subject
formed response. They are to live in the ply teaching an accepted body of knowl- is respected, and thus maintains his cat-
new millennium as citizens of a global edge—this body of knowledge only too egory as a person, there is certainly the
village, where there is practically instant often becomes outmoded—rather stu- needed openness to the Transcendent.
communication and information. They are dents will be made to participate actively As an essential part of this affirmation
mutually interdependent as members of a in the learning process and thus be of the educand’s personality, we find those
single human family and responsible for equipped with the skills, curiosity and conditioning communitarian realities in
the finite resources of our planet. courage to continually seek out, learn and which he is born and where he develops
Education, in its broadest meaning, is evaluate what they learn. himself. The way he achieves a self-con-
the integral development of the human The educational process, obviously cept that is more internalized and more
personality. Thus education sets man enough, cannot be limited to what is prop- fulfilling is conditioned by how the com-
before us as a primordial reality. The erly intellectual. Moral and emotional munity to which he belongs lives the val-
human person is central in the concerns of strengths are just as essential. A sense of ues. This is the reason why the
education. Education, when formulating control over one’s life and a wholesome communitarian dimensions of personal
its aims, mapping out its objectives, self-esteem are necessary ingredients for growth towards maturity are considered
programmes and methodologies, centers young people to achieve their goals. very important in education.
all and bases all on the concept of the In an education in keeping with these Educating for responsible participa-
human person. ideals, inner freedom takes priority both as tion, encouraging the manifestation of
We need a type of education capable a means and as the goal of the entire sentiments of solidarity, fostering frater-
of situating the educand in the center of all process. Education should be able to help nal relationships, deepening in the sense
development, increasing the self-aware- man to pose more freely the question on of collaboration and taking an active part
ness of his capabilities. This is an educa- the meaning of life. This would require a in social and political affairs in a spirit of
tion that believes in the educand’s ten- formation in values, which will stir man to corresponsibility are communitarian dimen-
dency towards his own self-fulfillment; remove obstacles of fear and prejudices sions in education needing special atten-
that which fosters in him a sound mental before the mystery of being and personal tion.

6 IMPACT • September 2005


A R T I C L E S

perspective in education. In the UNESCO’s vision of education


In discussing any aspect of learning in the new millennium, the four pillars of
and education, not to mention research in education found in its report entitled:
science, social science or the humanities, “Learning: The Treasure Within,” the
the centrality of the individual teacher and school system must be directed more to-
scholar, working with individual learners ward personal fulfillment. Thus the four
in different undertakings must always be pillars of education were identified as fol-
borne in mind. lows:
Experience shows that the tradition • Learning to know: This type of
and ethos of a school and especially the learning is both a means and an
enthusiasm and personal gifts of the end. A means to understand the
teacher can inspire a pupil to glimpse wider world around us as well as an end,
horizons and to embark into a process of the joy of knowing.
personal growth. It is one of the teacher’s • Learning to do: This requires not
tasks to help develop their pupil’s ability only learning an occupational
to form relationships and to be part of a skill but also a personal compe-
tence to deal with many situations
living and loving community. This part of and work in teams.
the teacher’s job is highly skilled. It is • Learning to live together: Develop-
vitally important yet sometimes lost sight ing an understanding of other
of. One of the secrets here is to recognize people and an appreciation of
that a school is not simply an institution, interdependence. Thus education
but rather an educative community. must tend to be at the service of
In this era of globalization there is a avoiding conflicts or resolve them
need to expand on the view that education peacefully by developing respect
is simply a formal process of instruction for other cultures and their
based on a theory of learning of imparting spiritual values.
knowledge to one or more students. For • Learning to be: All human beings
the process of learning can occur with or must be enabled to develop
without formal institutional education. independent critical thinking and
Knowledge accumulation and the accu- form their own judgment, in order
In short, the long-range goal of edu- mulation of skills for using information to determine for themselves what
cation is to form persons capable of self- and communication technologies will in- they believe they should do in the
government and of being open to take on creasingly occur outside the traditional different circumstances of life.
commitments ever more profound and institutions for formal education. Learn- Education is seen as a ferment of the
universal. This type of education is aimed ing in the workplace and through collabo- ongoing maturity of personality. The
at the communitarian transformation of rations that somehow span the global and UNESCO International Commission on
society and of nature itself brought about at other times involve tightly knit local Education in the 21 st Century gives this
in a deeply committed solidarity with oth- communities with similar interests will interesting definition of Education: “Edu-
ers. In this perspective, a personalizing become more commonplace. cation is above all an inner journey.”
type of education considers the commu- As the store of knowledge expands
nity as the necessary ground from which throughout the world, all of the world’s The Role of Catholic Teachers in
to learn that social behavior geared to- peoples should have as much access as the Renewed Concept of
wards service to the entire community. possible. The role of knowledge within the Education
Education thus understood could economy is leading to a whole range of
never be brought about in only one educa- new industries and new developments in At the outset allow me to use the terms
tive environment. Rather, it will take place biotechnology, new materials in science, teacher and educator interchangeably.
within the family, in the school, among the informatics, computer science, etc. There However, strictly speaking, any one who
religious groups, in the means of social is a felt need as well highly trained techni- contributes to integral human formation is
communications, in one’s work, in athletic cal persons but with a humanistic forma- an educator and a teacher is one who has
organizations, political parties, neighbor- tion as well. made integral human formation his or her
hood associations, in centers for leisure With regards to the term “education” very profession.
time and in all those groups which mani- there is a spectrum of views ranging from Each type of education, evidently, is
fest or try to discover values. the narrow view of education as that which influenced by a particular concept of what
The new thrust in education is not goes on in schools and universities to a it means to be a human person. The Docu-
simply the critical transmission of a par- definition of education as all those experi- ment of the Sacred Congregation for Catho-
ticular culture but more of an education ences that affect the growth and develop- lic Education on Lay Catholics in Schools:
that promotes a dialogue between cul- ment of a person throughout life. The Witnesses to Faith states that in today’s
tures. This is an education that tries to former view has tended to give way, with pluralistic world, the Catholic educator
build bridges across cultures for mutual increased recognition of the crucially im- must consciously inspire his or her activ-
understanding and international coopera- portant part those informal experiences ity with the Christian concept of the hu-
tion with a view to creating a lasting peace. and relationships play in what and how an man person, in communion with the
The trend is towards a more universal individual learns. Magisterium of the Church. (LCS, 18).

Volume 39 • Number 6 7
Globalization and Its Challenges to Education

The Christian Concept of the human Universities in include in their research view development in all countries, whether
person includes the defense of human activities, “a study of serious contempo- rich or poor, from the new and
rights, the dignity of the human person as rary problems in areas such as the dignity multidisciplinary vantage point of
a son or daughter of God, made into His of human life, the promotion of justice for sustainability. In other words, our tradi-
image and likeness. It also attributes to the all, the quality of personal and family life, tional concerns for learning to understand
human person with the fullest liberty, freed the protection of nature, the search for and empathize with strangers, even in our
from sin itself by Christ. Likewise, every peace and political stability, a more just own lands as aa further step in our commit-
man or woman has a most exalted destiny, sharing in the sharing in the world’s ment to human rights and peace must now
which is the definitive and total posses- resources, and a new economic and po- be expanded to include the complex global
sion of God Himself through love. (LCS, litical order that will better serve the issues concerning humankind vis-à-vis
18). human community at a national and in- the natural environment.
Christian education calls for estab- ternational level.” (ECE, 32). We find ourselves at a time when
lishing the closest possible relationship of One can easily see how the renewed development will be based on what is
solidarity among persons through mutual concept of education in the world today is today absolutely indispensable for hu-
love and the building of community. Fi- greatly enhanced when the Christian con- man dignity: the alleviation of poverty,
nally, it proposes the mystery of the incar- cept of the human person guides the for- based on the quality of human resources.
nation as the key to the true upliftment of mulation of its aims, objectives, This means it must be based on education.
men and women. Christ, the Incarnate Son programmes, methodologies, and activi- There is only one way and that is develop-
of God is for all men and women the inex- ties. ment with a human face, it is the respect for
haustible source of personal and Pope John Paul II, speaking to a group human dignity through education, the giver
communitarian perfection. (LCS, 18). of educators, said that they are fulfilling of real freedom.
Saint Pedro Poveda, a recognized one of the most important and delicate Education, alone, cannot solve the
humanist and educator, had pointedly tasks for the future of the Church and problems besetting our world today, but it
marked this truth when he said: society and added that “the first and es- can play its part of equipping the next
“The Incarnation, properly under- sential duty of culture, in general, as well generation with more insight, greater com-
stood, the Person of Christ, His nature as of every culture is education.” petence and deeper motivation than has
and His life, give those who understand it so far been done.
a sure pattern for becoming holy, with the Cultural development, An
truest holiness while at the same time Essential Task of Education Environmental Education, A
human; with the true humanism.” (Pedro Facet of Cultural Development
Poveda, Staunch Friends of God, 1998). There is an enormous increase and a
Pope John Paul II, in his address to the new consciousness as well of the com- Through the initiatives of UNESCO,
participants in the first joint session of the plexity of the natural and social world, we find developing around the world what
Pontifical Academies last November 28, which must first be better understood. We has come to be called environmental edu-
1996, underlines the fact that the mystery also need to harness the immense promise cation, which is one facet of cultural de-
of the Incarnation has given a tremendous of scientific and technological discover- velopment.
impetus to man’s thought and artistic ge- ies to create better learning systems by
nius over the past 2000 years and that he providing access to expanding universes
must still contribute to “creating a Chris- of both information and ways of seeing.
tian humanism, presenting the humanity We need to create a greater awareness
of Christ as the model for the generations that each and every one of us lives in a
of the new millennium. A splendid world system in which many problems can
programme: to create beauty, to draw be solved in a global scale. It also means
from the good, to understand and express our capacity to understand the circum-
truth.” He further declared: “Faith in stances and even the motives of others
Christ, the Incarnate Word, leads us to see who live far away in different social, eco-
man in a new light. In a certain sense it nomic, political and cultural worlds. The
enables us to believe in man, created in time has come to devise new and effective
the image and likeness of God, at once a ways of opening the human mind to think
microcosm of the world and an icon of globally and to operate efficiently on a
God.” worldwide scale.
The vocation of every Catholic edu- In this era of globalization it is impera-
cator includes the work of ongoing social tive to reactivate and innovate our tradi-
development: to form men and women with tional concerns for international under-
a keen social awareness and a profound standing, the teaching of respect for indi-
civic and social responsibility who would vidual human rights throughout the world
work for the improvement of social struc- and peace making. If we have to devise
tures to make them more conformed to the more interactive ways to open the human
principles of the Gospel. (LCS, 19). mind to the global system around us, then
In the apostolic Constitution on we should expand further the reach of
Catholic Universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, global education to include a broader per-
Pope John Paul II calls upon Catholic spective. It is of paramount importance to

8 IMPACT • September 2005


A R T I C I L E S

Obviously enough, cultural develop- guideline: “All human activity takes place tivity, which depends on human resources,
ment includes such facets as economic, within a culture and interacts with cul- culture and the genius of individuals, makes
social and political aside from the environ- ture. For an adequate formation of cul- it all the more a must for environmental
mental. However, the focus of the discus- ture, the whole man is required, whereby education.
sion here will be the need to build peace he exercises his creativity, intelligence, Science and technology are indeed
between people and the biosphere, the and knowledge of the world and people. indispensable for the attainment of the
environment. This would require the edu- Furthermore, he displays his capacity for goals of environmental education. Not-
cation of the people. self-control, personal sacrifice, solidar- withstanding, experience has shown that
There is for instance, a very important ity and readiness to promote the common they can succeed only through an integra-
issue, which, as has been noted, cannot be good. Thus, the first and most important tion of science and culture, which leads to
divided into different portions like a cake. task is accomplished within man’s heart.” a sense of purpose.
Scientists view with certain apprehensions (CA, 51). A Christian vision of man can enrich
the various initiatives related to the ozone and guide such environment-related
layer; the others, concerning the sea level; Environmental Education With a projects and protect them from losing an
and still others, concerning the warming of Christian Vision authentic human direction. Pope John
the climate—the greenhouse effect. These Paul II in his Message of Peace in 1990,
issues are all interrelated and must be Environmental education, as has al- very incisively pointed out that: “when
taken up globally. Environment is a key ready been noted, is simply one facet of the ecological crisis is set within the
global issue that cannot be dealt with in cultural development. It is a part of what broader context of the search for peace in
isolation but through concerted action. UNESCO calls an Education for Life, or of society, we can understand better the
Increased community-based capaci- an Integral Education which sees the importance of giving attention to what
ties to think of the world as a multiple set educand not only as a recipient of informa- the earth and its atmosphere is trying to
of interactive systems can also help us tion and knowledge of academic subjects tell us: namely, that there is order in the
face these problems realistically. We will but also includes other aspects that con- universe which must be respected, and
be in a better position to use resources in tribute to the development of the human that the human person endowed with the
investments that will lead to more far- person like abilities of a practical nature in capability of choosing freely, has the re-
reaching and permanent solutions. Politi- different areas which society demands. sponsibility to preserve the order for the
cal will is essential, not only in considering These are education for peace, for health, well-being of future generations.”
sustainable development as a call to ac- for equality of the sexes, for consumer’s If we fail to redirect science and tech-
tion but also in solving underlying prob- education and of course for environmen- nology to fundamental needs, as pointed
lems of illiteracy and ignorance. A new, tal education. The educative horizon in out in the aforementioned Vancouver Dec-
informed civic culture must be created for this kind of education is to promote the laration, the advances in informatics, bio-
the global community as a whole. autonomy of the students not only in the technology and genetic engineering will
In the formation of the said culture, cognitive or intellectual aspects but in his lead to irreversible consequences detri-
the following words from Centesimus or her moral and social aspects as well. mental to the future of human life. We
Annus appear to most relevant and a wise This will have to culminate in the develop- cannot take for granted either the increased
ment of the student’s proper power of modern technology to repro-
identity and the elaboration cess, and in many ways, destroy the natu-
of a project of life imbued ral world. Here is a clarion call for a respon-
with values. sible use of technology.
One of the requirements Environmental education is envi-
of environmental educa- sioned to equip us all in the future to
tion, is the study of the sci- understand the problems, exercise judg-
ences, which at the same time ment in political decisions about the is-
calls for a responsible use of sues and to see and accept the need for
technology. Now a Chris- changes in one’s personal life that must be
tian vision of reality could made if we are not to damage the very
offer an even deeper motiva- environment on which our life depends.
tion for its effective imple- Environmentalists today tend to draw
mentation. their insights from science, politics and
Science education today philosophy and discover the changing
with an emphasis on devel- attitudes towards nature and humankind’s
oping an ideal scientific lit- place on earth. They are less concerned
eracy or a “citizens’ science” with finding specific solutions than with
Needs to be included in defining man’s role in the natural world.
environmental education Here again, we see the need for education.
since an important part of An environmental education as dis-
this new agenda is the study cussed above can be pursued not simply
of the effects of science with as a secular but more of a Christian task.
its attendant technology on What is important is for the Christian edu-
society. Moreover, the fact cator to possess a Christian world vision.
that science is a human ac- Globalization / p. 26

Volume 39 • Number 6 9
A R T I C L E S

A
gricola arat... Ancilla laborat... non
plus ultra. Admittedly, wrestling
with the rudiments of a classical
language as Latin is no mean feat. And
especially for a 12-year old high school
freshman.
No denying at all, I’ve spent four
years of high school in a Minor Seminary.
Not only that, I’ve even reached the
penultimate eleventh year of my Seminary
formation, but yet not having been af-
forded the coveted bliss of a priestly ordi-
nation -- not until I decided, with resolute
candor, so to speak, to swing to the marital
state. And even so, nay has there been any
queasy feeling, or any regret, in me – of not
having been ordained a priest, or at the
least, of having entered the Seminary.
Yes, there’s no arguing that entering
the Minor Seminary, or that Minor Semi-
nary formation, is no guarantee at all to
yielding more priests – neither quantita-
tively, nor qualitatively. Quantitatively not, Minor Seminary Formation
because apart from obviously being yet

Making the
too far or remote from the pinnacle of
priestly formation, indeed very few – as
statistics aptly reveal – of those who enter
the freshman year in the Minor Seminary

Difference
successfully slug it out into the ordination
proper, which finally occurs only after
completing the 12th or 13th year of the
entire priestly formation. Fr. Rico Garcia,
Rector of the Our Lady of Guadalupe
Archdiocesan Minor Seminary in Makati
City, could only agree no less, “Yes, in-
deed that’s true. Barely a few would really
make it to the ordination. In our batch, for by GENREVE BALTAZAR
instance, out of 24 us who finished High
School from the Minor Seminary, only 6 instance, there are about 16 or so Minor not, in terms of formative preparation?
were ordained. And that’s already a good Seminaries in Luzon alone, mostly Dioc- Rightly so, says Fr. Rico. “For one who
number, compared to other batches who esan and including a few run by religious went through minor seminary formation,
finish with only one, two, or even zero.” congregations. he has an edge because he already has a
Likely perhaps thus is the reason that And neither that minor seminary for- feel of what the Seminary is, what a Church
while the Church generally prescribes that mation holds the monopoly of producing or Diocese is, what service is, and what
Minor Seminaries be preserved, their ex- “quality” priests, more than those who does it mean to become a priest. Besides,
pediency is best left to the discretion of the have not gone through the Minor Semi- though it really depends on the person or
diocesan bishop or local ordinary. And nary – this, to say the least, plainly smacks the priest himself, experience likely shows
truth is, minor seminary formation does of oversimplification. Veritably so, the that there is a higher percentage that those
not constitute a necessary requisite or a qualitative character of an individual priest candidates who started from the minor
sine qua non to priestly ordination. Canon is no way dependent on his having com- seminary become better priests or servant
234.1 of the Church’s Code of Canon Law pleted the minor seminary or not – but leaders, so to speak.”
appropriately provides, “Minor seminar- rather, yes, on his person. Fr. Rico readily Granted, minor seminary candidates
ies and other similar institutions provide admits, “That always depends on the per- are likely better prepared for the priest-
special religious formation together with son, formation comes only at the periph- hood. But again, on the whole, that doesn’t
instruction in the humanities and science. ery. Really, what largely counts as to how yet spell a plausible conclusion for minor
Where the diocesan bishop judges it expe- a priest will qualitatively live up to his seminary formation to unmistakably pro-
dient, he is to erect a minor seminary or being a priest is himself regardless whether duce priests – qualitatively and quantita-
similar institution.” Accordingly so, not he comes from the minor seminary or not.” tively. Whilst so, where then doest the
only a few, or a conspicuously good num- But, just so as priestly quality indeed difference lie? What significance or rel-
ber, of minor seminaries have yet thus lies on the person, is there yet an edge for evance minor seminary formation may yet
continually thrived or been “preserved” one who has undergone the minor semi- contrive?
throughout the country – to reckon, for nary formation than somebody who has Unassumingly, albeit partly due per-

10 IMPACT • August 2005


excel in their respective fields, they be-
come good examples of being family men,
they become good religious lay Catholic
leaders, and some even build prayer com-
munities. We may not have produced a big
number of priests but certainly we were
able to produce or inculcate the quality of
Christian life in the hearts of our alumni. I
believe that’s one big thing enough for
society,” Fr. Rico says.
And, Fr. Rico adds, “These ex-semi-
narians are even replicating vocations by
likewise sending their sons to the Minor
Seminary.”
Finally, I do reckon as well that, con-
trary to Irish playwright George Bernard
Shaw’s postulate that “the youth is wasted
on the young,” my four-year stint in the
Minor Seminary had not deprived me then
of the joys of youth. Back then whilst in the
Minor Seminary, even as I tilted then at the
haps to my likely ‘incontrovertible’ bias of the basic fact that the family largely con- windmills of the rigorous spartan semi-
having passed through the Minor Semi- tributes to the priestly vocation and for- nary life, I knew so well they were the best
nary, I am inclined to reckon though that mation of seminarians, the OLGMS years in my life, then the prime of my youth
minor seminary formation may yet as well formators have taken the bold step of – indeed well-spent and perfectly normal.
offer a good dose of difference or rel- including or integrating the individual fami- For, even then, minor seminary formation
evance – that is, more than just yielding lies of seminarians into their so-called was no longer – contrary to the pre-Vatican
‘quantitative’ or ‘qualitative’ priestly or- ‘integral’ seminary formation. Thus, apart II orientation – a “transcendent flight”
dination. At the very least, it ain’t passé at from the regular family visiting days, fam- from the immanent world. In fact, even as
all for minor seminary formation. Notwith- ily members – the parents, particularly – early as 1965, minor seminary formation
standing likely the risk of oversimplifica- are no less required to actively participate had already come of age, as Pope Paul VI,
tion, it is worth noting to identify a few in the formative activities in the Seminary. in his Decree on Priestly Training,
indicators of relevance, if not ‘difference,’ “We’re not taking our seminarians out of “Optatam Totius,” fittingly exhorted, “In
of minor seminary formation. their parents’ respon- minor seminaries
Quality Catholic education and for- sibilities. In our tri-fo- erected to develop the
mation is one. Apart from the discipline cal formative orienta- seed of
and regimented life in the Minor Seminary, tion – consisting, vocations…Under the
the rigors of academic formation are like- namely, of the Seminary fatherly direction of the
wise indubitably exacting. No less, aside formators, the family, superiors, and with the
from the regular secondary academic sub- and the quality of edu- proper cooperation of
jects, the young seminarian has to grapple cation or formation – the parents, their daily
with such classical languages as Latin, we do recognize the routine should be in ac-
Spanish, and even Italian, Hebrew, or Greek, very important role of cord with the age, the
not to mention yet the rather ‘theological’ the family in our semi- character and the stage
religious instruction. This is particularly narians’ formation,” Fr. of development of ado-
one edge that the Our Lady of Guadalupe Rico explained. lescence and fully
Minor Seminary can be proud of, says Fr. But, more than just adopted to the norms
Rico. “You see, because there are only an directing minor semi- of a healthy psychol-
ideal few number of seminarians in each nary formation towards Fr. Rico, Rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe ogy. Nor should the fit-
Minor Seminary. "We may not have produced
class, we can better attend to them indi- the priestly ordination many priests but certainly we were able to ting opportunity be
vidually, and thus the quality is enhanced. – and, obviously too, produce or inculcate the quality of Christian lacking for social and
life in the hearts of our alumni. I believe that's
At OLGMS, we’re even teaching not only as most stop short of one big thing enough for society." cultural contacts with
Latin and Spanish, but also Italian and reaching the priestly one’s own family.”
Hebrew to our high school seminarians. ordination – another likely difference that Yes, indeed, minor seminary formation
We’re indeed at par, qualitatively speak- minor seminary formation does make is does make a difference – and the difference
ing,” added Fr. Rico. producing quality lay Catholics and ser- lies not in producing an innumerable num-
But note further, -- and yes, no mis- vant leaders who, most often than not, ber of priestly ordinations, but more so in
take about it -- at the Our Lady of Guadalupe become effective agents of evangelization the hearts of all those who have passed
Minor Seminary or OLGMS, not only semi- and transformation in the larger society. through the Minor Seminary’s hallowed
narians are exclusively undergoing the “Our experience with most of our alumni walls, upon which are etched the rudiments
formation, but parents and other family who did not make it to the priesthood is of genuine quality Christian life and ideals,
members as well. Banking principally on that eventually, as ex-seminarians, they and reverberated into eternity. I

Volume 39 • Number 5 11
A R T I C L E S

N
o arguing, Philippine economy is Moreover, according to Economic of poverty reduction, income inequality
yet stuck in the doldrums—and, Planning Secretary Augusto Santos, the among classes and among regions, and
worse yet, amid the backdrop of government is even yet optimistic that it the number of unemployed in the coun-
the hurtling crunches of sky high oil prices can still achieve its full-year target of 5.3 try,” Sibal said.
and political impasse, it even seems more percent. Another, unemployment rate yet re-
plausible than not that the country is That the economy is fairing well ac- mains unabated and continues to rise.
flouncing to the seams, if not may simply cording to government assessment, eco- Roland Moya of the Employers Confed-
plunge over the brink. nomic analysts, and labor and people’s eration of the Philippines revealed that the
Not just long ago, the Philippines had organizations believed otherwise. unemployment rate registered 9.5 percent
earned the economic status as the “Sick Economic experts said, in a forum at in 1995, then rose to 11.2 percent after six
Man of Asia.” This has been likely attrib- the School of Labor and Industrial Rela- years, and still climbed to 13.5 percent in
uted to the fact that while other Asian tions (SOLAIRE) at the University of the April 2002.
countries—not only the “four tigers” but Philippines-Diliman last July 13, that the Then also, broad swaths of the popu-
even the once almost decapitated ones Arroyo administration is indeed experi- lation have continuously plummeted be-
due to ravages of war or lateral strifes, as encing another bout of economic decline. low the poverty line. Roger Daenekindt,
Vietnam—have conspicuously, and sur- Particularly, experts said, the country program coordinator of Labor Rights and
prisingly, emerged to become dynamos failed to realize two goals of economic Democracy Inc., claimed that 40 percent of
than dominoes, the Philippines has re- development: increase production via in- the country’s total population live below
mained wallowing in the muck. Whereas dustrialization and effect more equitable the poverty line. “From a research the
the Philippines then tagged as “sick man income distribution among classes and Institute of Labor Rights and Democracy
of Asia”—not anymore, simply because it regions. is conducting, we already discovered that
may have even grown worse to become a According to UP professor Jorge V. two-thirds of the interviewed contractual
“Dying Man” by now. Sibal, an indication of economic develop- workers are earning only P100 to P250 a
Stymied by the debilitating economic ment is the transformation from agricul- day in Metro Manila. The daily food
condition, Filipinos can only sigh in gasp- tural to industrial. However, in the case of consumption of a family of four persons is
ing lamentation over crunching stomachs the Philippines, the transformation is from P150 a day. According to the Population
and fancifully yearn for the times back in agricultural to that of service industries. Commission, the national poverty thresh-
1960s when the country was yet in robust “they (the government) harp that our old in 2000 was P38 per person a day. A
shape, next only to Japan. But now, people economy has performed well as evidenced family of four with a job at P150 all spent on
have even become more cynically desper- by the continuing increase in consumer food would be just the poverty threshold
ate about the wrenching economic condi- spending as shown by the increasing num- with P37.5,” Daenekindt said.
tion. According to a na- Overwhelming indeed
tionwide survey con- the thundering indica-
ducted by IBON Founda- Admittedly, on the whole, in such times tors—runaway oil prices,
tion, an independent think- of national survival – no proposal or failing production through
tank, people’s perception industrialization, inequi-
of the economy had dra- suggestion, even in its slightest frivolity, table income distribution
matically turned from bad is deemed dumb as to benefit the greatest among classes and regions,
to worse during the first interest of the greater number of people; unabated poverty and
and second quarter of 2005. and no idea as sublime and wise as to unemployment…and also
Asked about the country’s render the already despicable condition including, the chronic bud-
economy this first half of get deficits and fiscal cri-
2005 as compared to the
to perpetual folly. sis, trade deterioration and
first half of last year, 67.88 decline in export, current
% registered a “worse” an- account deficit serviced by
swer, while 25.89 % answered “same”, ber of malls and other entertainment cen- foreign debt, price and wage imbalances,
IBON survey reported. ters all over the land. But the sad fact is, decreased investment in infrastructures,
Government officials, however, claim the growth of the industrial sector has decline of labor productivity, low dollar
that the economy is relatively fairing well been declining since the 60’s, which con- reserves, excessively high external debts,
despite the runaway oil prices and the tradicts one of the recent statements of and lot more—of the country’s ailing, if
lingering political crisis. According to the President Arroyo that the Philippines is not “dying,” economy.
National Statistical Coordination Board, already among the Newly Industrializing Seriously so, what have delivered the
GDP (Gross domestic Product) grew 4.8 Countries (NICs) in Asia. Whatever struc- country to this “dying” state—so far and
percent year-on-year in the second quar- tural changes that occurred since the 1960’s so low?
ter of this year, well within the have been towards increases in the ser- Understandably, there may be one
government’s projected range of 4.7 – 5.1 vices sector and not towards industrializa- and a hundred reasons—structural or oth-
percent. “The gloomy scenario of un- tion,” Sibal said. erwise, wittingly or unwittingly borne out
abated spike in oil and consumer prices, Likewise, Sibal continues, the gov- of profligate whims and caprices of the
sluggish external trade and the lethargic ernment failed in eliminating or reducing powers that be, and what not. But, not-
performance of the farm sector failed to poverty, inequality and unemployment in withstanding the risk of oversimplifica-
dampen the Philippine economy,” said the country. “We have likewise failed in tion, it may yet suffice to proffer into
Romulo Virola, NSCB secretary-general. attaining ‘redistributive growth’ in terms surface, at the very least, some of the likely

12 IMPACT • September 2005


© Les Stone/CORBIS
The government’s budget for next year is
expected to be around 1.05 trillion-pesos,
of which one third will go to interest pay-
ments on debt, or an incredibly P931 mil-
lion daily! Kaput!
Amid the present economic quag-
mire—pray so, isn’t there just any way
out?
For one, with the staggering abattoir
of around 55 billion dollars foreign debt
eating up an incredibly one-third of the
government’s budget—so grossly profli-
gate as even House speaker Jose De
Venecia admitted that “servicing this debt
will cost the Filipino people roughly 245
billion pesos in interest and principal pay-
ments this year”—a “debt-for-equity” pro-
posal with the lenders may just as well
provide a relative respite.
Another, what with the runaway oil
prices in the world market, some may yet
push for scrapping the oil deregulation
law (RA) 8180), thereby disallowing the
private and foreign companies to have a
monopoly over the local oil sector.
Also, others—particularly for the pro-

From ‘Sick Man’


ponents (a group of academic and civil
society leaders) of the “Blueprint for a
Viable Philippines”—a shift to a simpli-
fied, universal and equitable gross taxa-

to ‘Dying Man’ of Asia


tion system may yet improve the country’s
fiscal picture.
Still, others may yet spin a patent tack
of following the formulae modeled by other

Is there a Way Out?


Asian “miracle” economies—the dictato-
rial discipline and hard work of Singapore
and South Korea, the national pride and
resiliency of Vietnam, or the cultural con-
fidence of India and China.
Admittedly, on the whole, in such
times of national survival—no proposal or
by BOB R. ACEBEDO suggestion, even in it is slightest frivolity,
is deemed dumb as to benefit the greatest
more “endemic” ones. keeping the country’s leaders at bay in interest of the greater number of people;
There’s no denying perhaps, econo- implementing sound economic fundamen- and no idea as sublime and wise as to
mists—dumb and wise alike, that graft and tals to prime up a competitive growth. render the already despicable condition to
corruption, and patronage politicking have Instead, and perhaps partly due to gov- perpetual folly.
undoubtedly dragged and kept the ernment bureaucracy, a host of negative Yes, in the doldrums where now lies
economy in deep rut. Bob Martin, in his consequences are conspicuously ob- the “Dying Man” of Asia, the Philippines
online article (kgma.7.forumer.com, Au- served rushing to the surface: steady de- is yet not bereft of a national leadership, no
gust 5, 2005), aptly noted, “While its neigh- terioration in terms of trade due to poor matter how beleaguered or badgered. And
bors and trading partners are busy invest- corporate governance, inefficient indus- whatever economic plan or design there
ing and improving their economies, the trial structure, price and wage imbalances, is—dumb or wise—unless the national
Filipinos are busy with political bickering, and a lot more. leadership, or the powers that be, will take
graft and corruption, and fighting amongst Then also, there is the onerous men- the noble sacrifice of taking the lead, and
themselves.” Economic experts and ana- ace of the foreign debt servicing. The of course starting it themselves, in bring-
lysts believe that some billions of pesos country’s foreign debt had been estimated ing about tangible reforms and uprooting
are wasted annually by the government to to stand tall at around 55-60 billion dollars the endemic culprits or causes of the de-
graft and corruption alone. by far—and, verily, so deplorable indeed bilitating muck, no economic “miracle” will
Macroeconomic mismanagement is it is that the country’s destitute populace ever descend. And worse, the “Dying
likely another culprit. For whatever rea- are unwittingly condemned to ignomini- Man” of Asia might just pass out and
sons, it enthralls no end to reckon what’s ous poverty because of debt servicing. succumb to its fateful death. I

Volume 39 • Number 6 13
Administration solons
successfully junked the
impeachment complaint.
For the opposition,
however, the real battle to
topple the Arroyo regime
had just begun.

“Far from Over”


by Roy Lagarde

“Mr. Speaker, my dear colleagues, After an overnight marathon of sleep-


hindi na ako magkukunwari at less deliberations, the seemingly expected
magsasabing may pag-asa pa ang im- mournful scenario for the pro-impeach-
peachment complaint. Malinaw na ment legislators ensued. Voting 158-51
pinaslang ito nung nakaraang lingo, at with six abstentions at the plenary, the
ngayon ililibing na ito dito sa Kongreso House ratified on September 6 Justice
(Mr. Speaker, my dear colleagues, I can no Committee’s report dismissing in toto the
longer pretend and say there is still hope impeachment complaints against Arroyo.
for the impeachment complaint. Clearly Apparently, the proceedings were domi-
enough, it was already killed last week and nated by Arroyo loyalists when it issued
it is just about to be buried now here in four straight rulings. Initially, it affirmed that
Congress). All the same, Mr. speaker, the complaint filed by Atty. Oliver Lozano,
despite the shocking murder of the im- Jose Lopez, and the amended complaint filed
peachment complaint against Pres. Gloria and endorsed by the members of the oppo-
Macapagal-Arroyo, the campaign to re- sition were to be treated disjointedly. Then
move and replace the corrupt and illegiti- it ruled that the Lopez and amended com-
mate presidency is far from over,” said plaints be excluded. Again, it ruled also that
Rep. Crispin Beltran explaining his vote on the Lozano complaint was sufficient in form.
the Justice Committee report on the im- Eventually, however, the committee declared
peachment complaint filed against Arroyo that the Lozano complaint was deficient in
last September 5. substance.

14 IMPACT • September 2005


A R T I C L E S

A congressman who voted “yes” for


the dismissal of the complaint but re-
quested anonymity told IMPACT saying:
“I’m sorry! This is the first time that I went
against the truth.”
The opposition has another option
after they failed to fetch the complaint to
the senate— to appeal the matter to the
Supreme Court (SC). But many of them
sense a slim chance because of the recent
and successive questionable judgments
of the SC referring to the decisions allow-
ing foreign mining companies to operate in
the country and the constitutionality of
the E-VAT.
Meanwhile, if people searching for
the truth are to be asked, the game ain’t
over yet versus Arroyo. The murder of
the impeachment spells more strife than
stillness. They cautioned the president
that it’s too early for her to celebrate in
her victory over the growing united op-
position. Many of them are convinced
that the junking of the complaint consti-
tutes a big blow to the people’s right to
know.
Arroyo was then quick to respond
with the result of the voting at the House
and offered her hand to the opposition in
reconciliation for the “national interest.”
“This is a grand display of political
maturity that seals our stability and resil-
ience as a nation battling the vagaries of a
challenging age, and poised for takeoff,”
Even as early before Congress started Criticized by the opposition congress- she said in a statement.
deliberating on the impeachment com- men, Lozano visibly distanced himself from But her offer for reconciliation is a
plaints, pro-impeachment congressmen the hearings. Arroyo allies then delivered “big joke” for her political opponents be-
have already expressed doubts over the the finishing blow by dismissing the lieving that it only aimed at keeping herself
intention of Atty. Oliver Lozano, a known Lozano complaint for “lack in substance”, in power.
“diehard” Marcos loyalist, who filed the followed by Lozano’s appeal to accept The mere fact that Arroyo asked the
very first impeachment complaint against defeat and the rule of law. Filipino people to make some sacrifices
Arroyo. If allegations of “cover-up” to save instead of curbing oil prices, rising elec-
Reports revealed that Lozano trium- Arroyo are true, then the House leader- tricity rate, high tuition fee, increasing
phantly immunized Arroyo twice from rather ship evidently manifested apathy for the unemployment rate, alarming human rights
tenable impeachment complaints. When truth. violation, and implementing E-VAT in-
Arroyo was still vice-president, Lozano “They harp on the Rule of Law but stead of increasing the salaries of workers,
also filed an impeachment complaint to they obviously violated, misused and mis- how then could she expect stability from
immunize Arroyo from a supposedly more interpreted the Constitution and other laws people asking for her resignation?
valid or tenable impeachment. in protecting Arroyo,” says Rep. Satur President Arroyo had totally resisted
Under the present charter, only one Ocampo. to resign or at least allow to be investi-
completed or terminated impeachment pro- “The house failed this signal moral gated by her allies. She herself very well
ceedings would be allowed within a year. and political test that sought their set- knows whether she won fairly and squarely
This time— as critical situation hounds ting aside partisanship in favor of the or otherwise.
the Arroyo presidency— Lozano topped greater food and the demands for truth, The anti-Arroyo groups have no less
the race again for being the first to file an justice and public accountability,” he reiterated that the death of the impeach-
impeachment complaint. A source alleged added. “The events confirmed yet again ment complaint did not put an end to the
that the favor was done in exchange for the widespread public perception of the people’s cry to know the truth but just the
money and Arroyo’s pledge to have the House as a most reactionary institution, beginning of a tougher fight in the streets.
Marcos wealth freed, along with a commit- a chamber of patronage, a safe haven of For them, Arroyo and her allies have only
ment to permit the burial of former Presi- and for the worst traditional politicians, taught the people of the most effective
dent Marcos at the Libingan ng mga protector of rogues, if not a rogue gal- strategy to oust a president— “people
Bayani. lery itself.” power,” the remaining arbiter of truth. I

Volume 39 • Number 6 15
C O V E R S T O R Y

by Lope C. Robredillo
Toward a Christian
U
nder the proposed budget for 2006 virtues of free enterprise, and opened the
that Malacañang submitted to the
House of Representatives on Au-
door to foreign investment, gearing up the
economy for global competition. In return, Foreig
gust 24, 2005, the government will set the United States, the International Mon-
aside P931 million daily in interest pay- etary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank
ment. The total budget is P1.05 trillion, and (WB) offered the government huge loans.
one-third of it, which is P340 billion, is It was thought that foreign capital could
earmarked for servicing the country’s debt. be a catalyst of development. That em-
However, Rep Rolando Andaya, chair brace, however, was probably our entry
of the House appropriation committee, is into the debt trap. The pressure of the IMF
quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the WB was already being felt. When
(PDI) to have bared that the real debt he became president in 1965, Ferdinand
service allocation would jump to P721.7 Marcos continued Macapagal’s economic
billion, which is P8,306 a year for every liberalization policies. The outcome was
Filipino, if the proposed budget for princi- that the total external debt rose from $277.7
pal amortization of P381 billion was in- million at the beginning of Macapagal’s
cluded in the General Appropriations Act. presidency in 1961 to $840.2 million at the
Putting the figures in a different perspec- end of Marcos’ first term in 1969.
tive, Cielito Habito said that next year the When Marcos imposed martial law,
government would spend an average of the trend toward economic liberalization

FORGI
P1.98 billion daily, which is enough to accelerated in the absence of opposition
build 7,920 classrooms or 250 kilometers of from nationalists, like Tañada, Recto,
road or P23 per Filipino per day! Garcia, and Diokno, and he borrowed from
If 1/3 of the 2006 national budget outside to finance deficit. This resulted in

OUR D
goes to interest payments on the debt of the increase of external debt from a little
the Philippine government, it is because over $1 billion in 1972 to $28 billion in 1986,
the country owes a lot of money from when he was forcibly removed from power.
creditors. As of January 2005, the total But it would be wrong to blame Marcos for
debt stood at P4.01 trillion, of which P2.04 all our staggering debt. His successors,
trillion came from domestic sources, while from Cory Aquino to Gloria Arroyo, were
the remaining P1.97 trillion was secured not able to rescue the country from the
from abroad. The debt increases every debt trap. When Aquino ended her term,
second, of course. By the end of February, the foreign debt stood at $30 billion. Fidel
the total debt has reached P4.08 trillion! Ramos increased it by $15 billion in six it would probably be the same, though
The figure alone boggles the mind! years, Joseph Estrada by $7 billion in 1½ some would expect it to be at 85%.
How does the government service its debt? years. Almost twenty years after the end Quite apart from the ever increasing
Since it is part of the 2006 budget, funding of the Marcos regime, the foreign debt has debt service and percentage in govern-
for the debt service would come from the nearly tripled—from $28 billion to $69 bil- ment expenditure, the country’s debt af-
expected revenues of P968.6 billion and, lion. According to Sen. Joker Arroyo, “the fects the life and death of every Filipino.
since there is a revenue gap of P124.9 borrowings of the three-year old [Gloria- The quagmire we are caught in is its best
billion, from foreign loans. In other words, Macapagal] Arroyo administration are big- evidence. On the other hand, each Filipino
the government cannot avoid borrowing ger than the combined borrowings of the taxpayer coughs up for the financing of
to pay its debt. And this has been the [Fidel] Ramos and Erap [Joseph Estrada] debt service. The deterioration of the
practice for many years. To keep the administration for eight years.” quality and quantity of service that the
government afloat and service its debt, it government delivers to the people is not
resorts to borrowing from foreign and lo- without relation to the amount it appor-
Various Approaches tions for debt service. One, then, finds it
cal creditors. No wonder, we continue to
sink deeper in debt! As the figures indicate, the debt con- strange that such an important issue is
tinues to snowball. There is no evidence removed from the agenda of public debate.
that it will ever significantly decrease in It is not even mentioned in the major rallies
Brief History by national candidates during the election
the near future. The proof of the pudding
But, how come we incurred such a is that the money saved for debt service period. Worst, in a country that parades
humongous amount, in the first place? balloons every year. The proposed inter- itself to be democratic, the issue is not
The story behind it is too complex to est payment next year, for instance, is even known by most.
present in a short space such as this, but P38.3 billion bigger than this year’s P301.7 Various approaches to the debt prob-
at the risk of oversimplification, one can billion. Correspondingly, the allotment of lem have been adopted. Understandably,
say that in 1961, departing from the nation- the country’s debt service in the national the government line is to honor the debt to
alist policies of his predecessor Carlos government expenditure keeps on rising— preserve creditworthiness, even if
Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal embraced the from 46% in 2002 to 81% in 2004. For 2006, economy is throttled. As Press Secretary

16 IMPACT • September 2005


Once-Over at the
n Debt

IVE US
DEBTS
Ignacio Bunye explained, the past and
present obligations must be paid, if the
country is not to face sanctions that would
ruin the economy. To recall, Ferdinand
Marcos issued Presidential Decree 1177
that automatically appropriates fund for
debt servicing. Part of the reason why
President Arroyo pushed for the passage
of the value-added tax (VAT) reforms was
to generate P60 billion to wipe out the
budget deficit and solve its debt woes. In
The Manila Times [March 12, 2005] report,
World Bank country director, Joachim von
Amsberg and Gabriel Singson, former
Bangko Sentral governor, urged the gov-
ernment to hasten the enforcement of fis- urged the Philippine government “to repeal “called on the administration to repudiate
cal reforms, such as passage of value- PD 1177 that provides for automatic appro- those policies [of liberalization, deregula-
added tax laws and step-up of tax collec- priation for debt service,” pressed “for the tion, and privatization], especially our for-
tion efforts. immediate repudiation of all loans incurred eign debts.”
Others hold the exactly opposite by the Marcos dictatorship,” and demanded Between these two extremes lie other
view—the Philippines must repudiate the “the recall of the Philippine Ombudsman’s options. Prof. Walden Bello, for instance,
international debt, considering that full decisions exonerating Marcos and cronies is quoted by The Manila Times (March 12,
compliance with the debt obligations pulls on behest loans and economic crimes.” 2005) as urging the government “to con-
the country deeper into the quagmire of More recently, two Catholic bishops in the sider freezing payments to the World Bank
destitution.. The PAJCAD Visayas- Philippines, according to Belinda Cunanan and the International Monetary Fund,
Mindanao Jubilee Conference, for instance, (“Political Tidbits,” PDI, May 5, 2005) freezing payments for illegitimate debts

Volume 39 • Number 6 17
C O V E R S T O R Y

and negotiating to devalue the country’s A Christian Once-Over at the Debt high interest rate. When they could not
debts like Argentina did,” in order to help pay their debts, they sold their land or,
“free up money that can be used by the But how is a Christian to look at the worst, became slaves. This resulting so-
government for capital expenditure to boost debt? Of course, the problem is quite cial disarrangement, however, had to be
the country’s economic growth.” But as in complicated. A layman finds it difficult to corrected, because “there must be no poor
the position of PAJCAD Visayas- grasp. As Edgardo Espiritu showed in his among you” (Deut 15:4).
Mindanao Jubilee Conference, he asked Manila Times (March 3, 2004) article, In order to forestall the establishment
the government to “consider repealing the “Some facts about our foreign debt,” the of slavery on account of indebtedness
automatic appropriation mechanism for size of the debt does not tell the whole and poverty, God instituted the Jubilee, in
debt service under the General Appropri- story; it has to be understood in the light which all lands went back to their original
ate Act.” which immunizes it from any of what happens in the entire economy, owners, and all Israelite slaves were freed.
debate in Congress. As is well known, and viewed in relation to the trends in Monopoly of land by a few was contrary
Solita Monsod, former director of the Na- global economy and financial system. Even
to the will of God. Debts were all cancelled.
tional Economic and Development Au- so, our enormous debt is not independent “The purpose of the Jubilee laws,” says
thority (NEDA), wanted to limit service of our human existence; it so much inter-
biblicist Kathleen O’Connor (“Jubilee,”
payment, since it was futile to follow the twined with the life and death of every The Collegeville Pastoral Dictionary of
recovery program dictated by creditors, Filipino that it cannot be looked at simply
Biblical Theology) “was to ensure justice
but her option was not accepted during in terms of economics. So pervasive are its
effects on the daily life of Filipinos that it in the community. Compliance with the
the Aquino regime. Law would prevent the development of a
Another view advocates renegotia- cannot be left alone to economists or tech-
nocrats! All voices must be heard. It has landless class. By redistributing the land,
tion. Typical of this position is that of the the community would share it equitably,
PDI editorial (Oct 24, 2004, “Debt Relief”), to be examined from all angles. And a
Christian looks at it in the light of his and theoretically at least, no one would be
urging the government “to renegotiate— deprived of home and/or livelihood.” In
not merely to arrange longer payment pe- community tradition that is determinative
of his existence and that of his community. the gospel of Luke (4:16-30), Jesus is por-
riods or lower interest rates, buy to re- trayed as proclaiming the Jubilee Year!
duce—the national government’s overall But what has Christian tradition to
say of indebtedness that instead of help- Biblical scholar Sharon Ringe, in her book
debt stock.” Far from the government Jesus, Liberation and the Biblical Jubi-
unilaterally announcing it would launch ing the country prevents it from realizing
its potential, in the end weakens and en- lee, even goes to show that Jesus clothed
an aggressive renegotiation, the editorial his proclamation and ministry in terms of
had this suggestion: “If the country’s slaves its economy? First of all, the Bible
provides some basic orientation that can Jubilee Year implementation.
business leaders spearhead the campaign It is interesting to note that lending
to raise the possibility of debt renegotia- guide him in his reflection and attitude
toward the gargantuan debt. It appears without interest is the Old Testament ideal.
tion, they bring their international credibil- A few examples: “If you lend money to any
ity, their business reputation, to bear on that in the Old Testament period, many
people had little economic security. Even of my people with you who is poor, you
the matter. They will be in a better position shall not be to him as a creditor, and you
than government ministers to make the when families owned land, a drought, war
or locust could interfere with harvest, and shall not exact interest from him” (Exod
case for the Philippines.” 22:25); “To your brother you shall not lend
send people to lenders who could demand
upon interest, that the Lord God may bless
you in all that you undertake” (Deut 23:20);
the righteous person is one who “does not
lend at interest or take any increase” (Ezek
18:8). Of course, under the present eco-
nomic structure, these cannot be cited as
ground for a universal prohibition or inter-
est, but the point remains valid: the care—
commented Bruce Chilton—for the com-
munity that God had liberated from slavery.

John Paul II’s Exhortations


In recent years, John Paul II adverted
to the biblical theme of Jubilee in connec-
tion with the international debt. In prepa-
ration for the Jubilee Year 2000, he said, in
his apostolic letter, Tertio Millennio
Adveniente (no. 51), that “a commitment
to justice and peace in a world like ours,
marked by so many conflicts and intoler-
able social and economic inequalities, is a
necessary condition for the preparation
and celebration of the Jubilee. Thus, in the
spirit of the Book of Leviticus (25:8-12),

18 IMPACT • September 2005


F o r g i v e U s O u r D e b t s

Christians will have to raise their voice on


behalf of all the poor in the world, propos-
ing the Jubilee as an appropriate time to
give thought, among other things, to re-
ducing substantially, if not canceling
outright, the international debt which se-
riously threaten the future of many na-
tions (underscoring mine).”
In his apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia
in Asia, he repeated the same theme: “The
approach of the Great Jubilee of the Year
2000 is an opportune time for the Episcopal
Conferences of the world, especially of the
wealthier nations, to encourage interna-
tional monetary agencies and banks to
explore ways of easing the international
debt situation. Among the more obvious
are the renegotiation of debts, with either
substantial reduction or outright cancel-
lation, as also business ventures and in-
vestments to assist the economies of the
poorer countries (underscoring mine).”
In these and other documents, the late
Pope did not address the debtor nations to
make unilateral declaration of debt cancel-
lation or to espouse the policy of faithfully
honoring the debts. offered cotton or syringe for free in gov- resources from African countries over two
Rather, he addressed the rich nations ernment hospitals? decades, weakening their economic and
and world organizations to consider sub- Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago hit the social infrastructure and therefore their
stantial reduction, if not outright cancella- nail on the head, when she observed, “the ability to respond to crises such as HIV/
tion of international debts. The reason for Philippines is caught in a debt trap. Last AIDS, draught and famine. It is time these
this is quite obvious. The poor nations are January, when we were deliberating over debts were cancelled.”
not in a position to do so. On the contrary, the 2005 budget, interest payments forced The problem with international debt is
they are even scared to mention the words the Senate to divert most of the meager that, instead of making the debtor coun-
“substantial reduction” or “outright can- Philippine funds that should have been tries economically self-reliant, they wind
cellation” lest they court the anger of the allocated to health, education and food up more dependent than ever on the rich
rich nations, the IMF and the WB. “The lion security.” No wonder, she could say that nations, because the loans are usually
has roared, who will not fear?” (Amos 3:8a). the main source of poverty among poor intended for projects that make them buy
Understandably, when the late Fernando countries, including the Philippines, is more goods and contract more debts. Pedro
Poe, Jr uttered the word “restructuring”, his debt servicing. According to the Holy Salgado, OP, in his commentary on
critics called him reckless, equating it with Father, “many people are trapped in living Centesimus annus, argued that the Philip-
unilateral repudiation. conditions which are an affront to human pine request of loan for the construction of
dignity” because of debt servicing. an integrated steel factory was never ap-
Morality The debt morass that traps the Philip- proved, for with it Filipinos would not be
pines is immoral because it condemns importing steel from the wealthy coun-
But why did John Paul II keep harping people to hopeless poverty and misery. In tries. It is easier for them to give loans for
on the theme of forgiveness of debts? In making debt servicing the top priority of the roads and irrigation projects, for roads
Ecclesia in Asia, he said: “in many cases, budget, the government practically ignores would insure the sale of their cars and
these countries are forced to cut down the welfare of the people. If it is not moral trucks, at the same time facilitating the
spending on the necessities of life such as to demand payment from a person who entry and sale of foreign goods into what
food, health, housing and education, in cannot pay without harming his life, neither were, before the roads were constructed,
order to service their debts to international is it morally correct to service a country’s hinterlands. With irrigation, on the other
monetary agencies and banks” (no. 40). debt by compromising the vital needs and hand, they could sell their tractors, fertil-
The proposed budget for 2006 clearly il- the welfare of its people. Asserted Jean izers, pesticides, driers and mills.
lustrates this. Rep Andaya said, for ex- Somers, Coordinator, Debt and Develop- Last March 2005, some senators and
ample, that the total debt payment of P721.7 ment Coalition Ireland, in “Cancelling the congressmen denounced the World
billion was 80% of what the government Third World Debts,” Irish Times (Aug 3, Bank’s warning that international agen-
plans to spend; on the other hand, educa- 2002): “It cannot be right, nor does it make cies would not increase their aid to the
tion has an allocation of only P134.88 bil- any sense, to demand debt repayments country unless the government speeded
lion, health 10.6, environment and natural from countries such as those in southern up the passage of fiscal reform measures,
resources 6.3, and justice 5.3, to mention a Africa facing severe famine… The debt like the value-added tax (VAT) bill. Ac-
few. Is anyone surprised that he is not crisis has been draining desperately needed cording to the Manila Times report, Juan

Volume 39 • Number 6 19
C O V E R S T O R Y

Ponce Enrile said that they cannot tell the ippines was required to abolish price con- part of this debt is known as behest loans
lawmakers how they would pass the law, trols, tighten credit, and sharply reduce which Marcos granted to his cronies, and
for they would do so according to their tariffs, which helped cause unemployment. which later on were assumed by the gov-
judgment of what the law should be. That Similar conditions were attached to loans ernment.
might be well, but the truth is, ever since in the 1980s.” Moreover, some of these loans are
the foreign debt increased in the 1970s, But what is wrong with international immoral because of their inherent deceit
Marcos and the technocrats had to agree debt does not only come from its heavy and corruption. They are illegitimate. The
to the IMF and the WB guidelines for and deleterious consequences. In some classic example is the Bataan Nuclear Power
restructuring the various aspects of Phil- cases, debt itself is odious. The term Plant, which accounts for 5% of the total
ippine economy. “odious debt” comes from Alexander Sack, debt of the country. It was constructed in
Wrote David Wurfel in his book, Fili- world’s pre-eminent legal scholar, who 1975 and completed in the mid-1980s.
pino Politics: Development and Decay: gave shape to its legal doctrine. Accord- However, in 1986, a team of international
“Bank influence has always pushed policy ing to him, “if a despotic power incurs a inspectors declared it unsafe and inoper-
in the direction of ‘freeing the market of debt not for the needs or in the interest of able. Without producing a single watt of
controls’ and ‘removing barriers to free the State, but to strengthen its despotic electricity, it costs $2.3 billion, which is
trade.’ IMF pressure imposed devalua- regime, to repress the population that fights three times the price of a comparable plant
tion on Marcos in 1970, a severe blow to against it, etc., this debt is odious for the in South Korea. Marcos is accused of
Filipino manufacturers for the domestic population of all the State.” The odious making $80 million in kickbacks, according
market who mainly imported foreign com- debt is not an obligation of the people; it to Jojo Robles, in his article, “Debt, Power
ponents. In 1976, the Marcos regime com- is the regime’s debt. It was incurred with- and Imee Marcos,” Manila Standard To-
mitted itself to three years of ‘close eco- out the people’s consent, it did not benefit day (Aug 26, 2005).
nomic supervision’ by the IMF in exchange them, and the lenders must have been Robles quoted a respected British
for a $280 million loan. A 1979 loan of $190 aware of those two conditions. The United publication that cites the plant as an ex-
million to cover a balance-of-payments States used this doctrine to repudiate ample of a debt that should not be repaid:
shortfall had similar restrictions. The Phil- Cuba’s debt to Spain. “First, it was a grand scheme of the late
Some have dictator that never benefited the people and
suggested that is thus an ‘odious debt’ under international
some portions of law. Second, the children of the Philippines
our foreign debt are are being asked to pay for bribes to Marcos
odious, and there- and excess profits of the contractor. Third,
fore should be can- the company should take the responsibility
celled. In an article, for building a nuclear power plant station
“Fiscal Crisis Takes just 60 miles from the sprawling capital
a ‘Creative’ Turn in Manila, near several earthquake fault lines
the Philippines,” by and at the foot of a dormant volcano.”
Lisa Peryman (Odi- Understandably, Supreme Court Associ-
ous Debts Online, ate Justice Reynato Puno, speaking on
March 4), Manuel April 19, 2005 at the 10th national conven-
Villar seemed in- tion of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines,
clined to make such urged the government to consider stop-
classification under ping payments for loans that Marcos
his proposed debt barrowed to build it.
relief act. Wrote
Peryman: “The Phil- Theology
ippines’ staggering
debt load is largely Quite aside from the moral point of
attributed to eco- view, our debt has to be seen also from a
nomic policy under theological vantage point. For one thing,
the corrupt admin- wealthy nations and those who hold inter-
istration of former national bodies could consider it as an
P r e s i d e n t opportunity and a challenge, in the words
Ferdinand Marcos. of John Paul II in his Ecclesia in Asia, “to
According to the value the human person and the lives of
PDI, foreign loans millions of human beings more highly than
were a ‘rich source financial or material gain (n 41).” The 1998
of funds’ for CBCP Pastoral Exhortation on Philip-
Marcos and his cro- pine Economy singled out the principle on
nies who used mon- the primacy of the human person in eco-
ies generated in nomic development (nn. 40-41), on the
loans to line their basis of which one can ask for the cancel-
own pockets.” In- lation of debt because its servicing vio-
deed, a significant lates the right of millions of human beings

20 IMPACT • September 2005


F o r g i v e U s O u r D e b t s

to be more (cf John Paul II, Centisimus to lighten, defer or even cancel the debt,
Annus, n 44). Profits over the broken compatible with the fundamental right of
bones of humanity are simply immoral! peoples to subsistence and progress.”
In this connection, one may quote the On the other hand, in canceling a huge
US Catholic Bishops in their pastoral let- amount of debt, one imitates God who
ter, Economic Justice for All. “The [debt] generously forgives. In the Matthean
crisis, however, goes beyond the system; parable of an Oriental sultan who audited
it affects people. It afflicts and oppresses the operation of his governors, one was
large numbers of people who are already found to have defrauded him P50 billion. It
severely disadvantaged. That is the scan- was expected that as a despot he would
dal: it is the poorest people who suffer inflict the most degrading punishment—
most from the austerity measures required imprison him and sell his family into sla-
when a country seeks the IMF ‘seal of very. When the defrauder offered a pro-
approval’ which establishes its creditwor- posal for restitution, he got the surprise of
thiness for a commercial loan (or perhaps his life—his debt was generously forgiven!
an external aid program). It is these same As Douglas Hare in his book, Matthew,
people who suffer most when commodity has correctly commented, the theological
prices fall, when food cannot be imported center of the story is the astounding mag-
or they cannot buy it, and when natural nanimity of the king. “So it is with the
disasters occur. Our commitment to the kingdom of heaven. Those who wish to be
preferential option for the poor does not part of that kingdom must imitate the incal-
permit us to remain silent in these circum- culable patience and generosity of its sov-
stances. Ways must be found to meet the ereign.” If God is rich in mercy, so must the
immediate emergency—moratorium on rich countries and international institu-
payments, conversion of some dollar- tions toward the poor humanity.
dominated debt into local-currency debt,
creditors’ accepting a share of the burden Hope
by partially writing-down selected loans,
capitalizing interest, or perhaps outright Looking at the history and nature of
cancellation [n 274].” our international debt in the light of his
The underlying principle involved is tradition, a Christian cannot but hope that seen the urgency of extending debt relief to
the solidarity of all peoples. In his encyc- all our debt is forgiven. But is cancellation the poorest nations, they should consider
lical letter, Solicitudo rei socialis (n 26), of billions of dollars that the Philippines a similar program for other heavily indebted
John Paul II noted: “Today perhaps more owe to wealthy nations, the IMF and the nations. It doesn’t have to be a complete
than ever in the past, people are realizing WB impossible? It is interesting to note write-off. In the Philippines, for instance, a
that they are linked together by a common that last June 2005, the world’s leading good start would be the condonation of
destiny, which is to be constructed to- industrial nations—Britain, United States, loans tainted with fraud, like the financing
gether, if catastrophe for all is to be avoided. Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Japan for the construction of the Bataan Nuclear
From the depth of anguish… the idea is and Italy—agreed to write off the multilat- Power Plant that has never been used.”
slowly emerging that the good to which we eral debts that the world’s poorest na- And yet, who knows, such a small be-
are all called and the happiness to which tions, mostly African, owed to the tune of ginning could wind up with total cancella-
we aspire cannot be obtained without an $40 billion. In the next 18 months, 11 more tion of debts? Who knows, representatives
effort and commitment on the part of all, countries will be included in the list of of the First World and the leaders of IMF and
nobody excluded, and the consequent beneficiaries to bring the total debt for- WB will finally sit down with the Vatican and
renouncing of personal selfishness.” The giveness to $55 billion. Some leaders heed the Pope’s call, in his Ecclesia in
world is the big family of God, and we are have, of course, reservations about the America (n 59), to “seek ways of resolving
all our brothers’ keepers. It would be debt relief, knowing too well the possibil- the problem of foreign debt and produce
immoral for rich nations to enjoy the bless- ity that the program could be subject to guidelines that would prevent similar situa-
ings of the world while poor countries some conditions that would undermine tions from recurring on the occasion of fu-
wallow in misery. the sovereignty of the debtor-nations. ture loans?” Who knows, guided by the
That is why, John Paul II declared in Still, this augurs well for poor nations Christian tradition and reflection on debts—
his encyclical letter, Centesimus Annus ( n like the Philippines, even if the sum is paltry. not by pragmatic and selfish interest—the
35): “The principle that debts must be paid At least, one is beginning to wonder if wealthy nations and financial institutions
is certainly just. However, it is not right to indeed creditors have a human heart, after will eventually correct what is wrong with the
demand or expect payment when the effect all. “It may be too much,” says the PDI international economic order and set up a
would be the imposition of political choices editorial (June 16, 2005, “Debt relief”), “to system and mechanisms capable of ensur-
leading to hunger and despair for entire expect the country’s creditors to write off all ing an integral development of the poor
peoples. It cannot be expected that the its debts. If the rich nations were to extend countries? Then, the Philippines can really
debts which have been contracted should this privilege to every debtor nation, the start a new economic policy, no longer im-
be paid at the price of unbearable sacri- IMF, the World Bank and other interna- port dependent and export oriented, no longer
fices; in such cases it is necessary to tional financial institutions would probably tied to foreign interest and to the unjust
find—as in fact is partly happening—ways have to shut down. But now that they have economic order! I

Volume 39 • Number 6 21
A R T I C L E S

The Unity We Need


“The power of God brought it about Second, the pursuit of truth regarding
seeking politicians from all the different
that the people were of one mind to carry the grave charges against leaders and political parties, who have held the
out the command… in accordance with officials should be conducted within the
country’s future hostage to their own
the word of the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 30:12) provisions of our Constitution and should ambitions, and have brought us to where
Once again, we, Filipinos, find our- respect the laws of the land. Any proposi-
we sadly find ourselves today.
selves going through very hard times. tion that disregards our constitutional and Let us not also give in to despair,
Many are poor, hungry, searching for a legal systems weakens our institutions
seeing only what is wrong in our country,
better life for themselves and their families. and paves the way for a graver instability when there is, in truth, so much that is
If only we would just focus our minds and that can cause more profound suffering to
good done daily by Filipinos from al walks
hearts, and work together to find solutions our people. of life to build up the nation. Our recurring
to the poverty that has not ceased to Third, any proposed solution to our
problems of political instability may cause
plague us, we might find ourselves mov- present situation that relies on or leads to us to lose hope, but if we humbly accept
ing forward as a nation. Instead, our na- violence is unacceptable. Violence harms
that we are all sinners and in need of
tional attention and energies are taken up the innocent and inflicts wounds so deep conversion, it will be easier for us to unite.
by the division and altercations. Serious that will take generations to heal.
I ask then that, in these times of uncer-
charges have been made against our lead- Fourth, we ask our leaders to give our tainty, we join in fervent prayer and prayer-
ers and officials. Despite _expression of people hope, by giving immediate atten-
ful reflection, that the Lord show us the
regret, many remain angry, confused, hurt. tion to authentic reform. Political systems way forward, as He has done in the past,
In this situation, as your shepherd and that are prone to corruption must be swiftly
and that He may give us yet another chance
pastor, I wish to call to mind fundamental and decisively reformed, and institutions to be one. Let us place our trust in His
principles that should govern our search built that can effectively respond to the
continued love and care for our people,
for solutions to our present crisis. aspirations of our people for a better life. especially those who are poor. May our
First, let us remember that the of- Finally, in these confusing times when
Blessed Mother find the joy in the Filipino
fended cannot simply be consoled by ex- people are easily swayed by emotions and people, for she loves to see us listen to her
pressions of regret. Forgiveness does not led astray by quick fix solutions, may cooler Son.
eliminate the need for justice, nor should heads prevail. Let true lovers of the Fili-
it block the search for truth. Genuine for- pino people come together to discern care- + GAUDENCIO B. ROSALES
giveness demands more than apology, fully before God, what is truly for the Archbishop of Manila
and those who seek forgiveness should immediate and long-run good of our coun- And the Bishops of the Metropolitan Prov-
be ready to be called to accountability. try. Let us not fall easy prey to those self- ince of Manila

22 IMPACT • September 2005


S T A T E M E N T S

A Pastoral Letter on the National for young people, and mandatory child sex moral law, to avoid for the time being or even
Celebration of Family Week on education, among others now scheduled for for an indeterminate period, a new birth.”
September 19-25, 2005 voting in the Plenary Session in Congress. Responsible parenthood makes parents “free
The measure imposes fines and imprison- and responsible collaborators of God the
BELOVED PEOPLE OF GOD: ment for parents, spouses, and health pro- Creator.” (Human Vitae)
fessionals who impede “sexual and repro- As we join the nation in celebrating
The Church joins the nation in its cel- ductive rights.” It creates a program for Family Week let us review the family’s mis-
ebration of Family Week on September 19- fertility control by encouraging the limita- sion and the four general tasks for the family:
25, 2005 to call on all families to reflect on the tion of family size to two children. It gives 1) forming a community of persons;
theme “KARANGALAN NG BAYAN, incentives to 2-child families. Women— 2) serving life;
PAMILYA ANG PAGMUMULAN”. married or single—will be taught “all meth- 3) participating in the development of
Aware that the well-being of the Philip- ods and techniques to prevent pregnancy.” society;
pine society and the nation are intimately The sponsors have called the proposal “re- 4) sharing in the life and mission of the
tied to the god of the family, the Church sponsible parenthood” and “population Church.
invites all Catholics to take heart the plan of management.” The educational role of the Christian
God for marriage and the family as the only Families be alert to legislative initiatives family therefore is very important. In this
way to achieve genuine human and Chris- such as HB 3773 which will destroy the sense, the renewal of the Catholic school
tian development as well national develop- family, and the nation, in the long run! The must give special attention both to the par-
ment. Family and the nation will not be blessed by ents of the pupils and to the formation of a
The Filipino Family is the only hope for such initiatives. perfect educating community. The right of
the nation today. The family has been de- For we know by our Faith what is au- parents to choose an education in confor-
signed and structured by God Himself. The thentic “responsible parenthood”: It means mity with their religious faith must be abso-
Christian Family is the domestic Church in respect for one’s generative functions. It lutely guaranteed.
which the life of grace flows. calls upon married persons to use discern- The State and the Church have the
As events move many of us to reflect on ment and generosity in their decisions. It obligation to give families all possible aid
the fate of our country now beset by so many calls for due regard to physical, economic, to enable them to perform their educa-
crises, it is time to ask ourselves, “What is the psychological and social conditions in de- tional role properly. Therefore both the
Lord trying to tell us?” or “Is this the Will of ciding “to raise a numerous family.” It in- Church and the State must create and
the Lord for our families and for our nation?” cludes the spouses’ decision “based on foster the institutions and activities that
During FAMILY WEEK let us recall the grave motives and with due respect for the Karangalan / p. 26
Psalmist words: If the Lord does not build the
house, in vain do its builders labor. With

“KARANGALAN NG BAYAN,
Pope Benedict XVI, we believe that indeed,
a sound society is born from the commitment
of all its members, but it needs the blessing
and support of that God who, unfortunately,

PAMILYA ANG PAGMUMULAN”


is too often excluded of ignored. (Pope
Benedict XVI)
What happens most of the time is that
we have become too independent that we do
not realize that we have our own limitations
and that we need to depend on God’s grace.
Yet with the Lord, everything is possible. We
recognize the importance of our human ef-
forts but without the blessings of God, hu-
man endeavor is inadequate and sadly often
misdirected. Ora et Labora, St. Benedict ad-
monishes us.
Dear families, let us bring back prayer
into our homes. Parents as the first teachers
are reminded that they have to answer to God
for any negligence as parents. Parents must
bring back Christian values in rearing our
children and building our homes.
The Filipino family, the basic unit of
society, can change the course of this nation
only if it is rooted in deep prayer before it
goes to proclaim the Good News to every-
one. Prayer and Work go hand in hand.
Last February 15th, a committee in Con-
gress approved HB 3773, a bill on population
control, “reproductive health”, sexual rights

Volume 39 • Number 6 23
F R O M T H E B L O G S

T
ruth is a formi ers, leads with difficulty. That was why the Presi-
dable enemy. It is anything but dent herself welcomed
Suppress it and it fair for the President not it. That was why con-
does not disappear. to be allowed to have gress began working on
Hide it and it shows it- her side aired. She can it. That was why the
self sooner or later. have the best counsels. senate was in a stand-
Muffle truth and it ulti- She can be favored with by mode.
mately manages to be the finest arguments. But now, people are
heard. She will have the sup- kept guessing and won-
Truth is a big prob- port of all those who trust dering. The President is
lem for those who lie and and believe her. left to live with all the
deceive. Truth does not Now, the impeach- unresolved impeachable
only survive the lie and ment process is virtu- complaints made against
the deception. It even ally dead. The allega- her. The country is hav-
outlives the liar and the tions and accusations ing more and bigger eco-
deceiver. remain unanswered, the nomic problems.
In the last analysis, doubts and suspicions All this is because
an impeachment pro- about the person and the truth is chained,
cess is a search for truth the Office of the Presi- gagged and canned. But
about mere allegations. dent continue. The ral- it will not, cannot be this
It is the pursuit of what to be acquitted if found lies and marches against way forever. This is be-
is true—or otherwise— not guilty of any her go on. The economy cause truth will ulti-
about serious accusa- charges made. Other- suffers. Social peace is mately make itself

Truth
tions. wise, the accused re- far from sight. known. When this hap-
The accused has mains suspect, loses the That was why the pens, then we as a people
all the right to be de- trust of people, lives CBCP endorsed the im- will be set free.
fended, to be heard, and with doubts from oth- peachment process. www.ovc.blogspot.com

T Lies
he jueteng hierar martial approach. The
chy remains in official and deliberate
tact. The jueteng will to make jueteng dis-
lords are safe and appear is enough.
sound. The illegal num- The national cru-
bers games are up and sade against jueteng
about. And there are awarded last year some become common and
three salient lies being 106 city and municipal widespread. Any vice is
peddled long since to mayors who cleansed ultimately the undoing
rationalize or justify this their places of jueteng. of an individual, a fam-
sad state of the country Everyone of them said ily, a community.
on the matter of illegal that there was no jueteng Deceipt and greed,
gambling. in their cities and munici- infidelity and dishon-
Lie one: Jueteng is palities simply because esty, graft and corrup-
here to remain. It has they did not want it. And tion have long been with
been in the country for jueteng was gone. the Filipinos. Cheating
centuries. It has long Lie two: Jueteng is in elections, in business,
since been part Filipino gambling and gambling in industries are fixtures False: Should shadowy public deals?
life. It is a social reality is already a part of the of Filipino life. But such Masiao, Tupada, The jueteng hierarchy
the country has lived Filipino culture. In fact, long standing agenda do Lotteng, Bookies, Last remaints intact. The
since time immemorial. it is said that gambling not make them legitimate Two, Letreng and Many jueteng lords are safe
Any attempt to stop it is has already become in- and acceptable. other illegal numbers
Lie three: Jueteng and sound. The illegal
but an exercise in futil- grained in the Filipino game be also legalized?
ity. psyche. Any effort to should be legalized. numbers games are up
And since when has
False: Jueteng is eradicate jueteng and This would make jueteng government been suc- and about. And there are
readily vincible. If only other illegal numbers subject to government cessful in controlling il- three salient lies being
those in public author- games in the country control. This would legal activities? Since peddled long since to
ity would want to get rid would go nowhere. bring money to the pub- when has government rationalize or justify this
of jueteng, then this is False: Jueteng is a lic coffers. This would spent well public mon- sad state of the country
gone for sure. There is vice. A vice does not protect the bettors, do ies? Since when has gov- on the matter of illegal
no need of bullets and become a virtue just be- away with jueteng lords, ernment stopped pay- gambling.
guns, of brute force and cause it has aged, it has stop jueteng payolas. olas, bribes and other www.ovc.blogspot.com

24 IMPACT • September 2005


E D I T O R I A L

IMPEACHMENT

T
o consider impeachment merely as a po- the accusations are disproven.
litical exercise is to disregard the intent It is so unfair for someone to be accused with
and spirit of the law. To think that im- grave offenses only to be subsequently told that
peaching no less than a President is merely a everything is all right—without benefit of trial.
showdown of partisan interests is to convert the The accused then remains always suspect, dis-
serious to the ridiculous. credited, distrusted.
Impeachable offenses are not purely political That is why the quest for truth is imperative in
in nature. They are accusations of grave derelic- the presence of an impeachment complaint. And
tion of duty and/or commission of serious mis- truth knows no party. There are no party lines when
deeds contrary to the fundamental law of the the pursuit of truth is called for. This is especially
land. And these are highly charged moral issues. true when a good number of citizens want to know
Even the over-all accusation of betrayal of the truth—which is their rightful demand.
public trust is anything but simply a political In fact, the test of the integrity of Congress and
matter. This is especially true when the betrayal of the Senate is when they abide by the known
is said to come in form of lying, cheating, decep- dictum “my loyalty to my party ends when my
tion. To hide the truth, to cover the fact, to loyalty to my country begins”. And the testing is on.
forward falsehood are all basically immoral ac- At the end of the day, no politician answers to
tuations even if done by a key political figure. the party but to his conscience. The party simply
When impeachable offenses are attributed to discards the politician who can no longer serve
no less than the President of the country, this has its interests. This is standard practice. This is the
the basic right to defense and to be absolved if lesson of history.

Volume 39 • Number 6 25
I M P A C T M a g a z i n e

Globalization / from p. 9 Reflections / from p. 5

As Vatican II states: “The faithful, there- glected barangays. We inevitably find our- cians. Bishops do not engage in politics
fore, must learn the deepest meaning and selves challenged by the injustices we see to with the mindset and values derived from
value of creation, and how to relate it to take a stand on public issues. Our Christian political power plays. When Archbishop
the praise of God.” (LG, 36). love for the poor becomes political by its own Cruz becomes deeply involved in a cru-
inner logic since to practice it requires media- sade against jueteng, he doest not do so
The Catholic Teacher and tion of politics. because it is a politically correct maneuver
Environmental Education But would this position not be against but because the demands of the Gospel to
the admonition to Bishops not to engage protect the poor from folly moves him.
A teacher with a Christian vision is in politics? But when we become involved When Archbishop Capalla participates in
one who has a positive affirming atti- in the defense of victims of injustice, we meetings of farmers on the coconut levy
tude to life; all human life is made to the are in effect engaging not in the politics of issue, he does not do so because this will
image and likeness of the Creator. Har- Caesar but in the politics of the Gospel. give him political influence but because
mony must exist between humankind Proof of this is that the principles that the demands of the Gospel impel him to
and the natural world. This emerges guide us in these situations are the counter- seek justice for the marginalized. When
from the understanding of the interde- values of the Gospel. We choose love Archbishop Aniceto agrees to facilitate
pendence of human beings and the rest rather than hatred. We choose non-vio- negotiations between the owners and the
of creation. This call to stewardship is lence rather than armed conflict. We be- peasants of Hacienda Luisita, he does not
a privilege on humankind by God and is lieve in what the world derides and rejects, do so to ingratiate himself with media and
therefore a responsibility that cannot be namely, the power of forgiveness to bring the elite, but because the demands of the
taken lightly. If men and women are about reconciliation among Filipinos. Gospel of Jesus Christ press upon him to
caring and cultivate harmony in all their We have contemporary examples of bring reconciliation and justice into this
dealings with each other and the earth bishops deeply involved in issues that festering agrarian problem.
itself, then they grown in the image and could be mistaken as political. Archbishop And because their motives differ from
likeness of God (Sean Mcdonagh, To Cruz in jueteng; Archbishop Capalla in the politicians, their language of discourse
Care for the Earth: A Call for a New coconut levy and Archbishop Aniceto must also differ. Because their acts have
Theology, 1990). and Bishop Cinense in the agrarian issue the Gospel of Jesus Christ for their source
A teacher with a Christian vision, in Hacienda Luisita. All these bishops and inspiration, then it follows that the
likewise, lives the transparent Presence have been criticized as engaging in politi- language of Bishops should be marked by
of God in the world itself and believes in cal matters. But I reject this accusation. civility, charity, understanding, compas-
the transcendence of our existence, lov- Their involvement is that of facilitators sion and forgiveness. Their utterances do
ing life in oneself and in others even as who bring in the justice of the Father and not demonize political opponents; their
Christ preached and practiced; he or she the love of Christ and the peace of the words do not close the door to reconcili-
knows as well that he is called to re- Spirit and the reconciliation of the Church ation and conversion. The sarcastic
spond responsibly to all of life, illu- among contending parties. Their involve- phrase, the sharp retort, the ridicule of
mined by hope in the Risen Lord. ment is a logical extension of their evange- persons -- this is an idiom that must not be
A Catholic teacher gradually forms lization which demands that they speak of heard from the mouth and heart of bish-
this Christian vision of the world through a God of and for those who labor and are ops. From the depths of the Gospel there
a continuing and profound religious heavily burdened. Bishops can no longer can only rise words that give peace and
education, with a prayerful life as well. be accused of enjoying the irresponsible unity, sentiments that lead to compassion
Moreover, we know that an education in life of the disengaged. and understanding. This is the only form
a faith-context “forms men and women People then see the difference be- of rhetoric that fits the vocation and
capable of rational and critical judg- tween the motives of bishops and politi- apostolate of bishops. I
ment and conscious of the transcenden-
tal dignity of the human person.” (ECE,
49). Karangalan / from p. 23
In environmental education then,
and in fact, in education in general, we families justly demand, and the aid must be Let our Blessed Mother, the Virgin
in proportion to the families’ needs. How- Mary, Queen of the Family, be our loving
can see the far-reaching role that a Chris-
tian educator can play. This is why the ever, those in society who are in charge of Advocate in these challenging times. En-
schools must never forget that the parents trust to her our families. Let us pray for the
Church calls upon the lay faithful “to be
present as signs of courage and intellec- have been appointed by God Himself as graces which the Lord promised to those
the first and principal educators of their who invoke her in this Eucharistic and
tual creativity in the privileged places of
culture, that is, the world of education – children and that the right is completely Marian Year.
inalienable. (Familiaris Consortio)
school and university – in places of sci-
entific and technological research, the The family is the foundation of soci- For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
ety and the nation. It is from the family that the Philippines:
areas of artistic creativity and work in
the humanities.” (CFL, 44). I citizens come to birth and it is within the
family that they find the first school of the (Sgd.) +FERNANDO R. CAPALLA, D.D.
(Dr. Lourdes Custodio, Ph.D., Dean Emeritus of the social virtues that can guarantee a better Archbishop of Davao
College of Education, University of Santo Tomas,
Manila, is currently also a Professorial Lecturer at the future for this country and development of President, CBCP
UST Graduate School). society itself. September 18, 2005

26 IMPACT • September 2005


E N T E R T A I N M E N T

A
n earthquake topples and devas
tates a Church high in the moun
tain forest of Romania to reveal an CATHOLIC INITIATIVE
entrance to a hidden cave. A group of FOR E NLIGHTENED
about a dozen scientists and adventurers
led by Jock (Cole Hauser) decides to ex-
MOVIE APPRECIATION
plore the cave with its hundreds of miles on
uncharted underground tunnels and laby-
rinth passages abounding with as yet to be Title: THE CAVE
Running Time: 96 min.
studied variety of species of animals and Lead Cast: Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Adrian,
fishes. The group is merrily doing its work Rick Ravenello, Marcell Iures, Lena Headley
Director: Bruce Hunt
when a huge predator attacks and kills its Producer: Marco Mehlitz, Neil Bluhm, Judd Malkin
members one by one. Jock himself is at- Music: Johnny Klimek, Reinold Heil, Tegan West
Editor: Brian Berdan
tacked, wounded and infected. And more Genre: Horro/Action/Adventure
and more, he becomes short-tempered, Cinematography: Ross Emery
Distributor: Lakeshore Entertainment
withdrawn and exhibiting the external mani- Location: Romania
festations of the monster. He insists that Technical Assessment: • • •
Moral Assessment: + + +
the group remain united under him if they CINEMA Rating: For viewers age 13 and below with
wish to see the sun again. But the group parental
divides anyway into two groups with Top
(Morris Chestnut) Jock’s brother torn be- and contained by the Church is again free. thrust in the company of a handful of
tween his loyalty to his brother and Kathryn And, Evil has a way of wounding, infect- stressed-out characters in a claustropho-
(Lena Headley) his lover. Top’s interces- ing and confusing us. We have become bic space where an unknown predator
sion saves Kathryn but could have un- divided and unable to discern who among rules supreme, can you escape all that
leashed a greater evil to escape into the our leaders could lead us to the Light. Too nervous energy?
world. much for a movie to say? But when you’re Reviewed: 02 September 2005 @ cbcpworld.com/cinema
The story is interesting, the location
shooting truly magnificent and the sound
and visual effects mesmerizing. A kind of
rattling sound precedes and announces
the presence of the predator. The dark and
gloomy interior of the cave is offset some-
what by the attractive physical features of
the actors. The story unfolds slowly at
first, lulling us with the scenic and serene
landscape of Romania’s forests and rivers.
Then, it gains crescendo until the final shot
of a 360-degree camera movement showing
of a crowd of people in a frenzy, unaware
that a great evil is loosed in their midst in the
form of a beautiful woman. Then the camera
grinds slower and slower until it finally
freezes the whole scene. That brilliant shot
is saying that evil could be first subjective
and internal before it explodes into vio-
lence and death.
The film is a profoundly moral tale
rich in metaphor and symbolism. The Cave
could stand for the dark arena where the
forces of good and evil are fought. The
monster-predator could be the Devil lurk-
ing about to devour men and women. The
earthquake toppling and devastating the
Church could mean the advent of modern-
ism and scientific methods rocking the
very foundations of our sacred institu-
tions. The unsealing of the cave’s en-
trance means that the Devil, that ancient
evil which was once controlled, restricted

Volume 39 • Number 6 27
F R O M T H E I N B O X

W
hen things in your life The professor then pro- Pay attention to the things that ter. Set your priorities. The rest
seem almost too much duced two cups of coffee from are critical to your happiness. is just sand. One of the students
tohandle,when24hours under the table and poured the Play with your children.” Take raised her hand and inquired
in a day are not enough, remember entire contents into the jar, ef- time to get medical checkups. what the coffee represented, the
the mayonnaise jar... and the cof- fectively filling the empty space Take your partner out to professor smiled. “I’m glad you
fee. between the sand. The students dinner.” Play another 18. There asked. It just goes to show you
A professor stood before laughed. “Now,” said the pro- will always be time to clean the that no matter how full your life
his Philosophy class and had fessor, as the laughter subsided, house and fix the disposal. may seem, there’s always room
some items in front of him. When “I want you to recognize that Take care of the golf balls for a couple of cups of coffee
the class began, wordlessly, he this jar represents your life.” first, the things that really mat- with a friend.”
picked up a very large and empty The golf balls are the im-
mayonnaise jar and proceeded
to fill it with golf balls. He then
portant things—your God, fam-
ily, your children, your health, THE MAYONNAISE JAR
asked the students if the jar was your friends, and your favorite
full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a
passions; things that if every-
thing else was lost and only
AND COFFEE
box of pebbles and poured them they remained, your life would
into the jar. still be full.”
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles are the other
The pebbles rolled into the open things that matter like your job,
areas between the golf balls. He your house, and your car. The
then asked the students again if sand is everything else—the small
the jar was full. They agreed it stuff. “If you put the sand into the
was. The professor next picked jar first,” he continued, “there is
up a box of sand and poured it no room for the pebbles or the
into the jar. Of course, the sand golf balls. The same goes for life.

© Royalty-Free/CORBIS
filled up everything else. He If you spend all your time
asked once more if the jar was and energy on the small stuff,
full. The students responded you will never have room for the
with a unanimous “yes.” things that are important to you.

the high employee turnover. He's been thrown at the challenge of


distressed about the money he's keeping good people—in the
spent in training them. He's dis- form of better pay, better perks
tressed because he can't figure and better training—when, in
out what happened. Why did the end, turnover is mostly a
this talented employee leave manager issue." If you have a
WHY despite a top salary?
Arun quit for the same rea-
turnover problem, look first to
your managers. Are they driving
son that drives many good people away?
GOOD people away. The answer lies in
one of the largest studies under-
Beyond a point, an
employee's primary need has less
EMPLOYEES taken by the Gallup Organiza- to do with money, and more to do
© Royalty-Free/CORBIS

tion. The study surveyed over a with how he's treated and how
million employees and 80,000 valued he feels. Much of this
LEAVE managers and was published in
a book called "First Break All
depends directly on the immedi-
ate manager.
The Rules". And yet, bad bosses seem
It came up with this surpris- to happen to good people every-

E
arly this year, Arun, an old friendly human resources (HR)
friend who is a senior soft policies, a spanking new office, ing finding: If you're losing good where. A Fortune magazine sur-
ware designer, got an offer the very best technology, even people, look to their immediate vey some years ago found that
from a prestigious international a canteen that served superb supervisor. More than any other nearly 75 percent of employees
firm to work in its India operations food. single reason, he is the reason have suffered at the hands of
developing specialized software. Last week, less than eight people stay and thrive in an or- difficult superiors. You can leave
He was thrilled by the offer. months after he joined, Arun ganization. And he's the reason one job to find—you guessed it,
He had heard a lot about the CEO walked out of the job. He has no why they quit, taking their knowl- another wolf in a pin-stripe suit
of this company, a charismatic other offer in hand but he said he edge, experience and contacts in the next one.
man often quoted in the busi- couldn't take it anymore. Nor, with them. Of all the workplace stres-
ness press for his visionary atti- apparently, could several other "People leave managers not sors, a bad boss is possibly the
tude. The salary was great. The people in his department who companies," write the authors worst, directly impacting the
company had all the right sys- have also quit recently. Marcus Buckingham and Curt emotional health and productiv-
tems in place—employee- The CEO is distressed about Coffman. "So much money has ity of employees.

28 IMPACT • September 2005


V A N I L L A B Y T E S

by DENNIS B. DAYAO

Browse
these sites! TECHNObabble
Religious BPS - Bits per Second spectrum modulations and or-
Institutions BPSK - Binary Phase Shift Keying; thogonal codes to avoid interfer-
a type of constant phase modula- ing with one another
tion. CIR - Committed Information Rate;
1. Philippine Lasallian Family Bridge - A device that connects two the rate at which the network
Website - or more physical networks and agrees to transfer information
www.lasallian.ph forwards packets between them. under normal conditions. The rate
2. Rural Missionaries of the Bridges can usually be made to is averaged over a minimum
Philippines - filter packets, that is, to forward increment of time.
www.geocities.com/ only certain traffic. Bridges do not Cookie - A piece of information
rmpnet make traffic routing decisions. issued by the server to the client,
3. Xaverian Missionaries of Broadband - Refers to networks stored by the client, and later sent
the Philippines - capable of delivery high band- back to the server. Cookies allow
www.sxphilippines.org/ width typically at speeds greater information to be saved in the
vocations
than 1 Mbps. In the digital domain, client, instead of the server having
4. Cenacle Sisters Philippines all content is digitized and hence to allocate resources for doing
Singapore -
www.cenaclephilsing.org the bandwidth is usually measured that.
in bits-per-second (BPS). CRC - Cyclic Redundancy Check ;
5. Faithful Companion of
Jesus - Broadcast - A delivery system in the value obtained by applying a
www.fcjsisters.org which all receivers have the same mathematical function to the bits
content delivered to them in a in a frame and appended to the
6. Paulines -
www.paulines.ph single transmission stream. frame. The CRC is recalculated
Burst Mode - A method of data when the frame is received. If the
7. Sisters of St. Paul of
Chartres - transmission in which data is result differs from the appended
www.paulinianglobal.com collected and then sent in a single value, the frame is discarded.
8. Pious Disciples of the high-speed transmission. CSU - Cyclic Redundancy Check ;
Divine Master - Byte - One byte of digital video the value obtained by applying a
www.pddm.org/ information is a packet of bits, mathematical function to the bits
philippines usually but not always eight. One in a frame and appended to the
9. Congregation of the thousand bytes is one kilobyte (kb) frame. The CRC is recalculated
Religious of the Virgin and one million bytes is one when the frame is received. If the
Mary (RVM) - megabyte (MB). result differs from the appended
www.rvmonline.net Caching - A form of data replication value, the frame is discarded.
10. Sisters of Christian in which information learned DAMA - Demand Assigned Multiple
Charity Philippines - during a previous transaction is Access - a highly efficient tech-
sccphil.tripod.com used to process later transactions. nique for sharing satellite band-
11. Sisters of Our Lady of C-Band - The frequency band width among many users.
Missions - www.rndm.org between 4 and 8 GHz with the 6 dB Decibel. - A unit of signal
12. Pious Disciples of the and 4 GHz band being used for measurement that expresses a ratio
Divine Master - satellite communications. between two electrical signals or
www.pddm.org/ CBR - Constant Bit Rate (CBR): A levels logarithmically.
philippines Quality of Service (QoS) class dBW - An expression of power in dB
13. Society of St. Paul - defined by the ATM Forum for ATM relative to one watt.
www.stpauls.ph networks. CBR is used for connec- DCE - Data Circuit-terminating
14. Piarist Fathers - tions that depend on precise Equipment (DCE): Equipment
Escolapios - clocking to ensure data delivery required to connect a DTE (data
www.cvis.net.ph/ with constant timing terminal equipment) to a line or to
escolapios
CER - Channel Error Rate - a a network.
15. Priests of the Sacred measure of transmission errors that Demodulator - Equipment that
Heart - www.scjphil.org
is calculated from error correction converts the RF signal from the
16. Redemptorists Manila - coding carrier into baseband signals
www.redemptorists.com.ph
CDMA - Code division multiple (video, audio, or data) for further
17. Salesians in the access. Refers to a multiple-access processing or amplification.
Philippines -
www.donbosco.net scheme where stations use spread- DES - Data Encryption Standard
(DES): A symmetric encryption

Volume 39 • Number 6 29
N E W S B R I E F S

VATICAN CITY turned from the neighbor- since rumors of the pres- serious problems of vio-
ing countries Iran and Paki- ence of terrorists in lence and millions of dis-
Long-term relief pro- stan in one of the largest Moluccas have yet to be placed persons, local
gram mulled repatriation operations by confirmed, people should Catholc Church sources
UNHCR in its 54 years of not fall into the trap. He said told Fides Service. In a
Caritas representatives activity. (Fides Service). that people “must carry on statement issued on 3 Sep-
from areas worst hit by last with the work of civil and tember announcing a cease
December’s tsunami in Asia, INDIA moral rebuilding to consoli- fire, the rebels said that for
donor agencies and other date social and religious three months they will “re-
officials will meet Septem- Vicar General's murder harmony.” main in defence positions”
ber 20-21 at the Caritas denounced and “refrain from unilateral
Internationalis headquar- HONG KONG offensives”. The an-
ters here, to discuss mea- The Catholic Bishops' nouncement came after a
sures to effectively imple- Conference of India de- Caritas seeks aid for N. recent meeting between the
ment long-term efforts at nounced the brutal murder Korean mission rebels and the leaders of
rebuilding houses, job cre- of Msgr. Matthew Nellickal, the seven main democratic
ation and social assistance. 65, the vicar general of the Caritas Hong Kong has opposition parties to dis-
It was revealed that Caritas Diocese of Tezpur, and ap- launched an appeal to ac- cuss collaboration between
had already committed to pealed to the authorities to cumulate 2.5 million dollars the insurgents and King
building 26, 000 of the 90, probe the killing. He was to continue its mission in Gyanendra, who had been
000 houses in Sri Lanka. killed last September 2 in a sending humanitarian aid accused of using anti-
Caritas Internationalis, a storeroom adjacent to his for North Korea this year democratic, authoritarian
confederation of Catholic bedroom in the bishop’s 2005-2006 where daily life and repressive
relief, development and so- residence. Father Babu Jo- is a struggle for 70% (about methods.(Fides Service)
cial service organizations, seph, bishops’ conference 22 million) of the popula-
has already raised $450 mil- spokesman said that “it is tion and every next meal is JAPAN
lion from donors as part of sad that Church leaders are a problem. Reports re-
the Church's commitment to attacked despite the social vealed that the situation in Diocese sends priest on
support people in the af- work they undertake in the North Korea is getting overseas mission
fected areas. area.” He also said that more complicated for the
Msgr. Nellickal's murder more vulnerable sectors, “We want to be a
AFGHANSTAN should be viewed in the children, pregnant moth- Church that transcends na-
context of the rising inci- ers, old people and the sick, tionality,” said Bishop
Gov’t signs UN Conven- dents of atrocities against as well as people in rural Umemura Masahiro of
tion on Status of Refu- Church officials, institu- areas. Caritas Hong Kong Yokohama. And this time,
tions and missionaries pioneered in sending hu- another diocesan priest
gees across the country. manitarian aid to the area. was sent to Brazil in an
It was in 1995 when the experiment of “reverse mis-
Afghanistan, a country country, then in the grip of
considered to be one of the INDONESIA serious food shortage,
sion.” Bishop Masahiro is
world's largest sources of convinced that the over-
Church works vs. ter- opened its borders to hu- seas mission experience
refugees and asylum seek- manitarian aid, and Caritas
ers has joined the United rorism in Moluccas will serve also to promote
was the first NGO to launch renewal in his local diocese
Nations 1951 Convention on said aid program. To date
the Status of Refugees rela- Catholics in Moluccas in Japan. The diocese al-
it has already supplied ready has priests in Italy,
tive to the Protocol of 1967. are resolved to upholding North Korea with food aid
The act was the result of harmony and reconciliation, Canada and Uganda en-
for a total 27 million dol- gaged in research, study
months of close collabora- and making sure terrorism is lars. (FS)
tion between the Afghan conquered. Fr. Carl Bohm and evangelization. Fr.
authorities and the UN High said that life in Ambon is Ishikawa Hiroyuki who also
Commission for Refugees. back to normal after the NEPAL had mission experience in
Afghanistan is the 146th bomb explosion on August the Philippines during the
country to join the Conven-
Maoist rebels declare Marcos regime and in In-
25 in the market in which,
tion signed also by Iran until now, the perpetrators truce dia believes that the expe-
which has hosted millions remain at large and believed rience will enhance his per-
of Afghan refugees for to be “anxious to plunge the The three month truce sonal formation and will
years. After the fall of the Moluccas back into disor- announced by Maoist make him as well a true
Taliban regime at the end of der, instability and con- rebels is a shot in the arm Christian witness in for-
2001, more than 3.5 million flict.” Fr. Bohm however for Nepal, but solutions eign communities.
Afghan refugees have re- countered by saying that must be forged for the more (Agenzia Fides)

30 IMPACT • September 2005


Volume 39 • Number 6 31
32 IMPACT • August 2005

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