Category: News

Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered

The Road to Emmaus Story
[Lk 24:13-35]

Dear young people,

Grace and Peace to you all!

We, your shepherds, thank you from our hearts for coming together to chart the course of our celebration of your year, the Year of the Youth. We commend your courage in expressing your very selves through the “Open Letter of the Filipino Youth to the Catholic Church”. We delight in your recognition of your being vital members of the Body of Christ, the Church. As a response to your letter, the Philippine Catholic Church embraces you and your being life-given and life-giving, and with you, we affirm that:

You are BELOVED. Just like John the beloved disciple, who in his youth was called by the Lord to follow Him, the Church loves you with special affection, and we share with you the same call from the Lord. You are loved by the Father [cf. Dt 1:31; Is 40:11; 41:10; 46:4] as Jesus declared to His disciples, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you” [Jn 15:9], and He then invites you to remain in His love by following His commandments [cf. Jn 14:15]. Only then will you experience the joy that is complete [cf. Jn 15:9-11]. The Church in the Philippines seeks to show you the same love [cf. PCP II, 385; KA-LAKBAY, pp. 35-41], especially through her youth ministry, whose aspiration is to raise you up and carry you lovingly through life, with all its trials and tribulations.

You are GIFTED. The Sacrament of Baptism you received initiated you into the life of God and with God. Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, you were gifted with the Holy Spirit who inflames you with faith, passion, and courage. Like the young lay missionary catechist St. Pedro Calungsod and Richie Fernando, the young Jesuit who died shielding his students from a grenade explosion, your fresh and energetic youthfulness is also a gift, enabling you to commit yourselves in service of others, as well as renewing the Church and the world. To the countless youth volunteers and missionaries who share their gifts in the building up of God’s Reign—upholding and defending life and human dignity, the environment, justice, freedom and peace, among others—your families, the Church and our society recognize you, and need more of your willingness and dedication. You clearly remind us that a life embraced and shared wholeheartedly contributes to the ongoing work of creation and glorifies God.

You are EMPOWERED. In the face of so many problems and difficulties today affecting our Christian life, families, social relationships and communities, as well as various personal and socio-cultural concerns you raised in your letter (mental health, substance abuse, HIV-AIDS, access to education, environmental problems, human trafficking, politics, dialogue with cultures, digital community, etc.), you are able to exhibit the humility to seek the support that will lead you to discover your strengths and capabilities to live meaningful lives. Like Mary, you are humble enough to proclaim “How can this be…?” [Lk 1:34] and still give your assent in faith. This pleases not only the Lord but also your elders, because you are making us an important part of your development into mature individuals, fully aware of being persons called by God, capable of discerning decisions that positively impact your lives and those of others. We all long for a better world and society, for a renewed Church, and we see you as protagonists of this change, as the dynamic force of the Church now, when you reach out to the peripheries to bring Jesus and His message of salvation to the lost, the least and the last, including other young people like you who yearn to be loved, gifted and empowered.

You are IN MISSION. We look at you, our young people, so full of dynamism, as disciples sent on a mission to make disciples for Jesus. We pray that your discernment, choices and actions will lead you to a purposeful life—whether in the ordained ministry, consecrated life, marriage and family, or the single state—with the Spirit of the Risen Christ directing your steps in making and leaving a marked difference in the world and society [cf. Mt 28:19-20]. As we look forward to 2021, we envision that the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines will be a time to celebrate a bountiful harvest from your ranks—youth committed to families, to the Church and to the country with a renewed passion to proclaim the Word, ready to work with their communities and the Church, and willing to share in molding a just and peaceful world through missionary involvement. As the Holy Father Pope Francis challenged you, we also say: “So make a mess! But also help in cleaning it up… a mess that brings a free heart, a mess that brings solidarity, a mess that brings us hope, a mess that comes from knowing Jesus and knowing that God, once I know Him, is my strength” (from the WYD2013). Awaken the shepherds in us, your elders, and rekindle the fire of faith, hope and love in everyone in the Church so that together, we can journey and minister with you, as you serve the Church and your fellow youth.

We appreciate your courage and openness to welcome the Year of the Youth with all its challenges and hopes. May you overflow with joy and trust that can only come from your encounter with Jesus through your moments of prayer, from the celebration of the Eucharist and other Sacraments, through the reading and study of the Word of God, in your pastoral youth formation activities and gatherings, in your participation in the life of your local churches, and through your works of mercy and charity.

Lastly, like the two disciples who were met by Jesus on the road to Emmaus [cf. Lk 24:13-35], you are invited to open your eyes and ears, your minds and hearts: listen with a disposition of faith in Him, so you may turn your steps from a world of fear and despair towards that of God’s Kingdom. Together with the Synod Fathers, we express our wish to “continue the journey now in every part of the earth where the Lord Jesus sends us as missionary disciples” (letter of the Synod Fathers, October 28, 2018).

With Mary our Mother who, in her youth trustingly said to the angel “Be it done to me according to your word” [Lk 1:38], may our own FIAT resound this 2019 and beyond!
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

+  ROMULO G. VALLES, D.D.
Archbishop of Davao
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
December 2, 2018
First Sunday of Advent

20 November 2018
Dear fiends and colleagues,

As part of the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Commission on Human Rights, in partnership with the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) will hold its first Human Rights Congress on 6-7 December 2018 at the Leong Hall Auditorium, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City with the theme, “Unity and Action for Human Rights”.

We believe that it becomes both relevant and necessary for CHR and civil society to come together at a critical time when basic freedoms and human rights continue to be threatened not only by poverty and inequality, but also by impunity and disregard for the rule of law.

The HR Congress aims to gather civil society organizations from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, as well as CHR national and regional offices, to address issues concerning human rights violations in the civil and political sphere, as well as in the economic, social and cultural spheres. lt also aims to discuss and address human rights issues emerging from the unique and nuanced context of Mindanao- all these in the hope of forging stronger unities and more effective action in promoting, protecting and defending human rights.

The two-day event aims to:
• come up with a common human rights agenda that will be pursued by both civil society organizations and CHR at the national and regional levels;
• forge stronger alliances and partnerships between CSOS and CHR at the regional level by uniting on a common local agenda and plan of action; and
• build a broader constituency for human rights by involving and engaging non-traditional partners and actors in human rights education, promotion and protection.

Your organization’s presence and contribution to the discussions is important for us to be able to achieve the objectives cited above. ln this light, we would like to request you to send one (1) delegate from your organization to participate in the two-day event. Attached is a copy of the program which includes a link to the online registration form.
The Human Rights Congress 2018 is being convened by the Commission of Human Rights, in partnership with the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), and is made possible through the support of the Governance in Justice (GOJUST HR) Project and The Asia Foundation (TAF).

For questions and further information, please contact Mr. Rich Apollo Mamhot (0956-8022072 or 0939-3693969) or Mr. Denver Evangelista (0936-2079140) of LENTE, HR Congress Secretariat, with email address at hrcongressphil@gmail.com.

Patuloy nating isulong ang Karapatang Pantao!

Nov. 28, 2018

Relatives of eight Lumads (Indigenous Peoples) killed in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato on December 3, 2017 belie claims of the military that their kin were killed in an encounter. The relatives cried as they narrated what happened during a press briefing on Saturday in Koronadal City. MINDANEWS PHOTO

December 3 marks the first death anniversary of Datu Victor Danyan, his two sons, son-in law, and 4 other tribal members and indigenous rights defenders of the T’boli community in Brgy. Ned, Lake Sebu. It also marks the first year of gross human rights violations by the men of 27th and 33rd Philippine Army Infantry Batallion against the families of those killed, but also of the entire T’boli community in that area. The military killed Datu Victor and his companions, and claimed that what happened was an encounter with New People’s Army (NPA) members.

Datu Victor was the chieftain, and led the indigenous people’s organization TAMASCO, an organization formed by the T’boli Manobo to assert their rights as indigenous people in Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato. They have long struggled and protested against land grabbing and the corporate abuse on their land. They were not rebels. They were Lumads asserting their rights under the law.
Such rights were blatantly violated when government illegally and deceptively allowed a Consunji-linked corporation to continue business operations on their ancestral land despite the Lumads’ clear refusal.

TAMASCO’s ancestral land was covered by Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) No. 22 awarded to Silvicultural Industries, Inc. (SII), a Consunji company. IFMA No. 22 was set to expire at the end of 2016. Seeking renewal of the IFMA, SII asked for the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of TAMASCO, a process required under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA). TAMASCO responded with a resounding “No.”

Nevertheless, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) permitted the merger/integration of IFMA No. 22 to IFMA No. 18-2007, which is set to expire in 2032, without the FPIC of TAMASCO. This resulted in the expansion of IFMA No. 18-2007, effectively allowing the continued presence of the Consunji company on their ancestral land. IFMA No. 18-2007 also belongs to a Consunji company, M & S.

The merger/integration of IFMAs is a clear circumvention of the IPRA to favor the interests of corporations over the rights of indigenous peoples. The FPIC process is a substantial requirement that must be complied with before any permits or contracts affecting indigenous peoples can be issued or renewed. After the killings of the TAMASCO 8, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) issued an En Banc Resolution cancelling the Certification of Precondition which was the basis of the granting of the IFMA expansion of the Consunji. This is a clear official recognition that no consent was given by TAMASCO.

Thus, the continued presence of the Consunji-linked company in TAMASCO’s ancestral domain is an insult to memory and honor of the TAMASCO 8. Moreover, it perpetuates violations against the rights of the T’boli Manobo.

We, Task Force TAMASCO, a coalition of human rights organizations and indigenous peoples rights advocates supporting TAMASCO in their plight to regain full rights to their ancestral domain, call for justice for the TAMASCO 8.

Bring to justice the killers of TAMASCO 8.
Cancel the IFMA No. 18-2007 granted to Consunji group of companies. Now.
Respect and protect the rights of the T’boli Manobo over their ancestral domains.
Stop the Killings!

TASK FORCE TAMASCO:
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK/Friends of the Earth-Philippines)
LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights)
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)
SANLAKAS
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)
Convergence of Initiatives for Environmental Justice (CIEJ- SOCCSKSARGEN Region)
OND Hesed Foundation
Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)
In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity (IDEFEND)
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Inc.–Kasama sa Kalikasan/ Friends of the Earth Philippines

Sticking up for the voiceless and poor has become an increasingly risky enterprise

Candles and flowers are offered in honor of slain human rights defenders in the Philippines during a protest in Manila. (Photo by Jire Carreon)

UCAN Commentary
Ernesto M. Hilario, Manila, Philippines
November 27, 2018

It was on a Sunday, Nov. 18, when slain human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos Jr. was buried in the city of Sipalay in Negros Occidental province in central Philippines. Some 700 people, many of them farmers, joined the funeral procession.

Unidentified gunmen shot Ramos dead on Nov. 6. His murder underscores the dangers faced by those who choose to defend the rights and welfare of the disadvantaged and voiceless in the Philippines.

The lawyer had been assisting the families of nine sugarcane workers slain in Sagay, Negros Occidental, in late October. He was a staunch human rights advocate who readily provided legal services to embattled activists, farmers fighting for land rights, and victims of human rights violations.

Ramos was the secretary-general of the provincial branch of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), a group that provides pro bono legal services to ordinary Filipinos who can ill-afford to engage legal counsel due to poverty. He was one of the founding members of the group in 2007 and also co-founded the nonprofit Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group.

Even before conducting any investigation of note, the police had blamed rebels belonging to the communist New People’s Army for the killing of the nine Sagay farmers.

Those killed were apparently new recruits of the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers, which the police and the military said was a front organization of the NPA.

But police officials could not explain why NPA rebels would kill members of a legal organization that they claimed supported the communists.

A fact-finding mission organized by human rights groups concluded later that the Sagay massacre — the victims of which included two minors — was perpetrated by an armed group linked to landowning politicians in the province.

Ramos was the 34th member of the legal profession killed since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016.
Another human rights lawyer, Kathy Panguban, is facing what appears to be a baseless charge of kidnapping.

Like Ramos, Panguban provided legal assistance to the families of the slain sugarcane workers in Sagay by facilitating a mother winning back custody of a 14-year-old witness to the killings.

Panguban was also one of the lawyers who assisted Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox when the 73-year-old nun was ordered deported by the Bureau of Immigration for alleged partisan political activities in the Philippines.

Sister Fox had been in the country for 27 years helping farmers, workers and indigenous people assert their rights but was forced to leave the country in early November after the Bureau of Immigration canceled her missionary visa.

The killing and harassment of human rights lawyers has been roundly condemned by the Philippine government’s Commission on Human Rights, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (the compulsory organization of all lawyers in the country), the European Union, and international human rights groups such as New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Ramos’ family and colleagues believe big landowners and people who vilified him as a communist rebel were behind his murder.
“He told us to fight for our rights because our families have been living on the land for generations. He made us strong and made us understand laws through paralegal training,” said a farmer who joined the funeral procession.

Other farmers recalled that Ramos as a lawyer asked for nothing except for “native coffee without sugar” to go with his favorite cigarettes.

‘Shining a Light on Sexual Violence in Conflict’

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 17:39 | ZENIT STAFF | CONFLICTS, WAR, TERRORISM

November 23, 2018, the Embassies of the United Kingdom and Belgium to the Holy See, jointly with the Jesuit Refugee Service, hosted a panel discussion and film screening: “Shining a Light on Sexual Violence in Conflict.”

The event was aimed at raising awareness of the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in conflict and drawing attention to the contribution of religious orders in supporting survivors and ending the stigma that often causes further suffering.

During their opening remarks, the Belgian and the British Ambassadors said:
H.E. Jean Cornet d’Elzius, Ambassador of Belgium to the Holy See: “Belgium, like the UK, is very active in the fight against sexual violence used as a weapon in conflicts. The Belgian Government is delighted that the Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded this year to Nadia Murad and to Dr. Mukwege, whose actions have long been supported by Belgium. My country also sees this prize as a recognition for all those – like Father Bernard Ugeux who founded the Nyota House in Bukavu – supporting victims and working to eradicate this phenomenon”.

Sally Axworthy, British Ambassador to the Holy See: “The scale of sexual violence against civilians in situations of conflict is truly appalling, an estimated 200,000 in DRC alone. The UK is taking action to support survivors and prevent abuses. We have committed over £46 million to fund vital projects, including providing training to the religious networks in DRC and Uganda. The Catholic Church plays a key role in assisting survivors on the ground, giving pastoral assistance and tackling the stigma, so that survivors are able to regain their dignity and rights within their families and communities”.

His Excellency Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States delivered his keynote remarks. “The urgent need to protect women and children, especially from sexual violence as a weapon in conflict or as a tactic in terrorism, should embolden every effort and States’ political will to bring conflicts to an end and to act together through dialogue and mediation efforts, in order to find coordinated solutions that promote reconciliation and build peace. Protecting and taking care of women in conflicts and post-conflict situations is a critical endeavor in efforts to build peace and, at the same time, bringing peace remains an essential way to overcome sexual violence.”

In their interventions, Sr. Sheila Kinsey FCJM, Executive Co-Secretary of the Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission, and Fr. Tom Smolich SJ, International Director Jesuit Refugee Service, spoke respectively from a female religious and a refugee-serving organization’s perspectives.

Sr Sheila Kinsey, FCJM: “I was honored to be able to share the spirit of the incredible experience of the women religious who have accompanied victims of violence in areas of conflict. For these women, the victims are the crying face of Christ experiencing isolation and brutality”.

Fr. Tom Smolich SJ: “Those of us who work with refugee women know that they are particularly at risk of sexual violence. When survivors share their stories – and they frequently do, with visitors, government officials, funders, news reporters – they deserve not to be heard in vain. We must commit to making a difference in these women’s lives, and we must commit to lessening the chances of such crimes being committed against someone else. Listening is not enough: we must accompany survivors in their journey towards healing, and we must walk with all who are at risk of suffering similar violence”.

During the panel discussion, a video message from Fr Bernard Ugeux, Missionaries of Africa, who works on the frontline with survivors in Goma was shown:

“I support and finance a shelter and a training center for 250 girls [survivors of sexual violence in conflict]. We try to empower them and provide them with professional skills so they regain their self-esteem and autonomy.” [..] “The main question is how do we stop rape used as a weapon of war. Rape is above all a way of terrorizing and controlling populations [..] and territories”.

Church leaders in Negros region call on government to reject fossil fuel power plant proposals in the area

Climate activists dressed as dinosaurs dramatize their opposition to proposals to build coal-fired power plants in the Philippines. The activists said coal plant operators are dinosaurs who peddle dated fossil fuels like coal. (Photo by Jimmy Domingo)

UCANews Joe Torres, Manila, Philippines
November 23, 2018

Catholic bishops in the central Philippine region of Negros have attacked proposals to build coal-fired power plants in their areas.
Prelates from four dioceses in the island region urged Catholics to “safeguard the gains and successes” achieved so far in improving renewable energy sources.

In a statement released on Nov. 23, the church leaders appealed to the government and to electric companies “not to entertain anymore any proposition to build a coal-fired power plant.”

The bishops from Bacolod, Dumaguete, Kabankalan and San Carlos dioceses said there were already nine solar power plants, eight biomass plants and 10 hydropower plants across the Negros region with a combined capacity of 579.43 megawatts.

The prelates said their dioceses are increasingly demonstrating that “sustainable energy practices work for us and for our communities.”
They cited Pope Francis’ call for ecological conversion and for humanity to reduce the consumption of coal and other fossil fuels that have become major contributors to climate change.

At present, the coal-reliant Philippines has 28 operational coal-fired power plants and another 28 proposed coal projects across the country.

Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle also noted in an earlier statement that the poor suffer greatly from climate change and fossil fuels are among the “main drivers of this injustice.”
In Bacolod and San Carlos dioceses, the bishops said decentralized rooftop solar energy systems show how small-scale distributed renewable energy generation is “climate-friendly, sustainable and affordable.”

“These are strongly indicative of the bright future of renewable energy all throughout the province,” read the bishops’ statement.
Negros Occidental has been called the “renewable energy capital” of the Philippines. The Department of Energy has gone further by saying that with Negros Island’s renewable energy sources, it is poised to become an entirely “green” region by 2030.

The bishops said coal-driven power “will never truly be cheap, especially when we factor in the environmental, social and health costs associated with its use.”

“Let us stand firm together in Negros — with each other and with our civic leaders — to oppose any new coal-fired power plants and to phase out those still in operation,” they said.