Solidarity Appeal for Samar Provinces

Solidarity Appeal for the Families Affected by Typhoon Ambo in Samar Provinces

Typhoon Ambo has put more than 200 thousand lives in much peril after it ravaged Samar and Quezon provinces several days ago. Most unfortunately, it hit the Philippines while the country is battling against the meltdown COVID-19 pandemic is causing.

Unlike all the previous disasters, NASSA/Caritas Philippines was always able to respond quickly to dioceses needing immediate interventions. We are constantly able to launch emergency appeals to our donors, especially the Caritas Internationalis confederation. During the Mindanao Earthquake for example, we were able to provide almost 50 million pesos’ worth of response from our external appeals alone.

In the same manner, the Alay Kapwa Solidarity Fund has been our primary source of local emergency response fund. Since 2004, we have been using our AK Fund especially for small-scale emergencies, and the advocacy campaigns of the National Social Action General Assembly.

However, of the 85 dioceses, our Annual Report recorded only a fraction that has been religiously providing support to the national campaign mandated by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. We feel this great challenge now with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since we have no Lenten Campaign this year because of the lockdown, and there is no donation coming from our partner schools, our AK Solidarity Fund currently amounts to at least 900 thousand pesos only. We have allotted 500 thousand pesos to our solidarity response to the dioceses of Borangan and Catarman. We will not have enough if another disaster or emergency will happen during the next months.

Thus our urgent and utmost appeal to our Brother Bishops: “In this great time of need, we urge you to show solidarity to the Dioceses of Borongan and Catarman by giving your donations directly to them.”

“In like manner, we enjoin you to collectively support our Alay Kapwa Program both at the diocesan and national levels. We need this solidarity mechanism to be able to appropriately and timely respond to the emergency needs of our communities, where the most vulnerable and marginalized families continue to be the most affected.”

We are hoping that you will positively respond to this appeal, while steadfastly praying that all will be well.

In the service of the Church of the Poor,

Most Rev. Gerardo Alminaza, DD  Most Rev. Jose Colin M. Bagaforo, DD
Bishop, Diocese of San Carlos             Bishop, Diocese of Kidapawan
Vice Chair, ECSAJP                                 Chairman,ECSAJP

Invitation to Laudato Si Week 2020

May 12, 2020

Dear Friends and Partners,

Greetings from Global Catholic Climate Movement – Pilipinas. 

This year we celebrate the 5th year of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’ On Care for our Common Home. Since its release, Laudato Si’ has been and continues to be the source of inspiration and passion to care for our common home for different religious and secular groups. We celebrate Laudato Si’ Week, not just to remember this significant church document but also to articulate its achievements and challenges. Bringing Laudato Si’ to life is as urgent as the climate emergency that we are facing. Considering the reality of the corona virus pandemic, GCCMPilipinas, the official chapter of Global Catholic Climate Movement, and its partner organizations, would like to invite you to the series of online activities to celebrate Laudato Si’ Week 2020 from May 16-24 with the theme, “Everything is Connected.” Because of limited slots, we urge you to pre-register with the link below.

May 16 at 4:30pm – Launching of Laudato Si’ Week 2020
–    will be live streamed in GCCM Pilipinas FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/gccm.pilipinas/  

May 19 at 4:00pm – Online Reflection with Fr. Sean McDonagh, SSC 
  “5th Year of Laudato Si: Achievements and Challenges”
       Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lfuGtrjwpGtxhKs31hxeFBSQKSsAJrzy9

May 20 at 3:00pm – “Online Conversation on Divestment: Investment for the Future”
– exclusive for Religious Congregations and Oeconomus of the different Dioceses”          
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtd-yhqTwpEtJFH0OFGOIpvejw_vvXVzF0

May 22 at 4pm – Online Reflection with Dr. John Feehan: 
          “Laudato Si and Biodiversity in relation to Covid 19”
           Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqceytqTguHtRAmF42Wj0qr74GkI8gGZdB

May 23 at 4:30pm – Interreligious Prayer: “Praying Together for Our Common Home”
         Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqcuquqDgoHtZWESc7rARc0IMfu1SP8ZQi

May 24 at 10am – Online Celebration of the Holy Eucharist with Bp. Broderick Pabillo, DD – will be livestreamed by TV Maria, https://www.facebook.com/tvmariaphils/

May 24 at 11:30am – Online Global Prayer
       Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctc-GprjsuHNwL2RqskKdw2CJVAYLgTkMB

We thank you for your continued support in promoting Laudato Si’ and we look forward to continuous collaboration with you in caring for our common home. 

Please find attached Instruction to join Laudato Si’ Week 2020 online events. We are also resending you the Celebration Concept Note and the Calendar of Activities.

In Christ,

Liturgical Guidelines in “New Normal” Condition

Circular No. 20-37

May 16, 2020

To All the Bishops and the Diocesan Administrators
Your Eminences, Your Excellencies and Reverend Administrators,

Re: Liturgical Guidelines in “New Normal” Condition

Peace!

We are sending you the Recommendations and Guidelines for the Liturgical

Celebration in the “New Normal” Condition. The CBCP Permanent Council discussed and approved this earlier today.

We would like to remind that since these directives are only recommendatory, Your Excellencies have to adapt them as your own especially that the dispensation regarding the Sunday celebration can only be made by the diocesan bishop and not by the Episcopal Conference (CBCP).

This set of recommendations and guidelines are formulated in view of the possibility that government and public health authorities will allow mass religious gatherings to resume, especially the public celebration of the Holy Eucharist; we have to be open to the reality that we have to do it in the “new normal” way.

With our best prayerful wishes of good health, I remain

Sincerely yours,  

Recommendations and Guidelines  for the Liturgical Celebration in “New Normal”  Condition

We need the Lord – the Bread of Life – in the Holy Eucharist! The Holy Eucharist is central and essential to the life of the Church and to the life of each individual believer. It is in this context that we understand our people’s desire to return to the parishes, participate in the liturgy, and receive the Eucharist, which up to now we are not able to do because of the current restrictions to address the coronavirus pandemic.

However, we tell ourselves that when the time comes and we are able to gather and celebrate the Eucharist, we will approach this next phase, in the context of the pandemic, with prudence, patience and loving and charitable mindset.

We offer you then some guidelines in view of the possibility, in the gradual return to the new normal that we will be allowed to celebrate the Sacraments with the people in attendance, especially the Holy Eucharist.

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Laudato Sí 5th Anniversary

16 May 2020

Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, and Reverend Administrators,

Greetings of the Lord’s peace!

This year we celebrate the 5th year of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si  On Care for our Common Home, with the theme, “Everything is Connected.” We celebrate Laudato Si’ Week, not just to remember this significant church document but also to articulate its achievements and challenges. And during this COVID-19 crisis, we also take note of how the spread of infectious disease is very much related to the destruction of the habitat in our ecosystems.

In July 2019, we, in the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released our Pastoral Letter: An Urgent Call for Ecological Conversion, Hope in the Face of Climate Emergency. As we commemorate the anniversary of Laudato Si, we need to continue our initiatives and accomplish the action points we committed to do to protect our common home.

Our Episcopal Commission on Social Action – Justice and Peace (ECSA-JP), having tasked to take lead in Laudato Si campaign, have continued to work with the other Commissions and our partner dioceses in pursuing the actions points enumerated in our Pastoral Letter on Ecology and Climate emergency.

In celebration of Laudato Si Anniversary, and in continuation of our ecological advocacies, we would like to invite you and your Social Action Center to join and engage in the following activities for which we need you can support and active participation:

  1. On May 20, 2020, as part of Laudato Si Week celebration, we are launching in our website the NASSA/Caritas PH Green Initiatives. This is a concept note outlining our major campaigns focusing on food security, divestment from coal and Rights of Nature. We will have the launch through an online forum in Greenfaith FB channel. The document can be accessed from our website, with this link: https://www.nassa.org.ph/ecological-campaigns/
  2. Simultaneously in the same online forum, we will also launch our E-book entitled, “Greening Our Communities.” The booklet is a compilation of illustrated reflections and guidelines on how to live the spirit of Laudato Si through grassroots and community actions. We make this booklet available from our website, with this link:  https://www.nassa.org.ph/ecological-campaigns/
  3. As part of our campaign to pass the bill on Rights of Nature, we are happy to announce that we were able to file the bill both in the Congress and the Senate. We need your support. It will make a big impact if you can lobby your respective Representatives in the House to support the bill, even just to write them a letter, just as what Bishop Alberto Uy did. The letter can be used as a template, and it can just be downloaded from our website: https://www.nassa.org.ph/ecological-campaigns/
  4. ECSA-JP is a convenor of Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM). We have a separate invitation for you for an online forum on divestment on May 20, 2020, with Bp. Broderick Pabillo and Bp. Gerry Alminaza as guests. Breaking from coal dependency is one major call of Laudato Si. We initially identified BPI as a low hanging fruit that we can lobby. We have a briefer on this campaign, including a template letter to BPI that you can just sign. The documents are available from our web, with this link: https://www.nassa.org.ph/ecological-campaigns/
  5. Lastly, on our food security campaign, we need to underline the need to address poverty by ensuring sufficient food supply for the poor. This has become particularly clear during this COVID pandemic. As I have underlined in one of my media interviews: “The present crisis brought by Covid-19 compels us to ensure that each Filipino family is secured with ample supply of basic food requirement and this can only be provided if the agriculture sector is given priority. It’s about time we strengthen our programs on food security, providing the needed support to farmers and fisherfolk who remain until this time, the poorest sector in the country.” To this end, we would like to encourage our diocesan social action centers (DSAC) to aggressively pursue the promotion of community or family farming. We have good experiences and practices in many dioceses that we can replicate. These experiences are compiled and are available from our website, through this link: https://www.nassa.org.ph/ecological-campaigns/

We hope that with your support and committed actions we recommended above, we can really move forward to put our faith into action vis-à-vis the ever changing “new normal” that brings further misery to the poor, and further threatens our common home.

Sincerely in our Lord,

+ Jose Colin Bagaforo, D.D.
Chair, Episcopal Commission on Social Action – Justice and Peace (ECSA-JP)

Pag-Alala at Pagpupugay sa mga Manggagawa

Ika-15 ng Mayo 2020

Mensahe sa Pag-Alala at Pagpupugay sa mga Manggagawa sa Ika-129 Taong Pagkakasulat ng Rerum Novarum (On the Conditions of Labor)

Ngayong araw, ika-15 ng Mayo, ay ginugunita ang ika-129 taong pagkakalathala ng RERUM NOVARUM (On the Conditions of Labor). Ang unang panlipunang turo ng simbahan na sinulat ni Pope Leo XIII na nagtalakay sa maigting na tunggalian ng kapital at manggagawa nung panahon ng Industrial Revolution. Ito ang unang social teaching na nagpahayag ang Simbahan ng pagkiling sa mga dukha, inaapi at pinagsasamantalahan (preferential option for the poor).

Noong 1890s, nakita ng Simbahan ang di makataong kalagayan at pang-aapi sa hanay ng mga manggagawa kaya’t iginiit nito ang mga kahalagahan ng dangal ng manggagawa; karapatan sa tamang pasahod; pag-uunyon at sama- samang pakikipagtawaran (collective bargaining agreement)

Sa paglipas ng panahon hanggang sa kasalukuyan, tumitindi ang kahirapan at kawalan ng maayos na hanapbuhay. Walang regular na trabaho; walang sapat na kita; walang benepisyo; mataas na presyo ng bilihin at serbisyo; di makataong kalagayan sa mga pagawaan. Kaakibat ng mga pahirap na ito ay ang laganap na kontraktwalisasyon; panahunang trabaho o seasonal work at mga home-based workers na mas lalong mababa ang kita at walang benepisyo. Ang mga ito ang dumadagdag sa paghihikahos ng mga manggagawa at kanilang pamilya. Kapitalista lamang ang umuunlad mula sa dugo at pawis ng mga manggagawa.

Sa panahon ng pandemyang COVID 19, higit na nalugmok sa kahirapan at kagutuman ang mga dukha. Dahil sa lockdown, maraming hanap-buhay ang natigil. Katulad ng mga arawang manggagawa na nawalan ng hanapbuhay at nakaranas ng matinding kagutuman kung kaya’t umasa sa tulong ng LGUs (local government units) na matagal ang dating at hindi sapat,

Ang mga Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) ay hindi rin nakaligtas sa hagupit ng pandemya sa bansang kinaroroonan ngunit walang sapat na tulong mula sa mga kinatawan ng ating bansa. Karagdagan pa rin ang mga kababaihang nakakaranas ng karahasan sa loob ng tahanan mula sa asawa habang pasan ang paghahanap ng pagkukunan ng maayos na pagkain at pangangailangang medikal. Ngayon napagtanto ng mga tao lalo na sa mga mahihirap na komunidad sa lungsod at kanayunan na hindi lubos na maaasahan ang pamahalaan sa panahon ng krisis tulad ng pandemyang ito.

Nakakabahala ang mataas na bilang ng positibo sa COVID sa ating bansa at ang kaduda-dudang tugon ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan (DOH). Hindi sapat ang tugon o pamamahala ng gobyerno sa pandemyang ito. Militarisasyon ang iniharap sa kagutuman at pangangailangang medikal. Wala ring malinaw na programang inilahad sa muling pagbubukas ng ekonomiya lalo na sa mga manggagawang karamihan ay hindi alam kung may babalikan pang hanapbuhay sa mga susunod na araw. Kasama pa rito ang wala pa ring pangmalawakang impormasyon ukol sa COVID 19 lalo na sa mga komunidad at proteksyong pangkalusugan

Ngayon pinaplano ng unti-unting pagbuhay ng ekonomiya sa pamamagitan ng pagbubukas ng kalakalan at pagawaan. Mga uring manggagawa ang mga mangunguna o frontlines sa balaking ito. Ngunit naka-amba ang nakababahalang sitwasyon na dahilan ng pagkatuliro ng karamihan. Ito ay maiibsan lamang kung may konkretong pananagutan ang pamahalaan sa pandemyang ito.

Ang Urban Missionaries (UM), bilang bahagi ng Simbahan, na nagtataguyod ng Church of the Poor, ay nagdadalamhati sa kalagayang ito ng mga mahihirap. Ang kalagayang ito ay nananatiling matinding hamon upang isakatuparan ang kanyang misyon. Bilang pagtalima sa turo ng Simbahan at pagtalima sa misyon ni Kristo, pinananawagan ng UM sa ating pamahalaan at sa lahat ng mamamayan ang mga sumusunod:

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Farmers are Essential

San Isidro Labrador Fiesta in Tayabas, Quezon

May 15 is an important date for many farming and fishing communities all over the country. It is the feast of San Isidro Labrador, the patron of farmers. It is a day of social gathering for farmers who most of the time are alone in their isolated farms. This year, the quarantine surely has an effect on how the farmers celebrate their feast day. Poor farmers, most of the time they toil in their isolated farms, and now the one occasion for them to socialize can even be denied to them.

Yes, poor farmers! For so many years we have neglected them, especially those of us who are in the cities. We do not see them around. We do not know how they toil and strive to survive. Yet because of their labor we are fed and nourished. This quarantine experience has once more brought to the fore the essential services that the farmers render to us. For a long time we have thought that this globalized world will support our needs, even the basic ones such as food. The virus has unexpectedly and suddenly stopped international trade. How do we get our food from abroad? Fortunately, other countries where we get our food are not very much affected by the virus, such as Vietnam and Thailand where we get our rice. If these countries stop exporting rice to us, how will we feed our people? We have not given enough support to our farmers. We prefer to import, even staple as rice. We have no food security – and yet we are an agricultural country!

Most of our people live on agriculture and fishery. These sectors do not get the budget and the services that they need. So we have the phenomenon of farmers and fisherfolks among the poorest in the country, and consequently many of them flock to the urban centers which receive the bulk of services and government attention. Hence we have rapid urbanization which bring along with it congested urban poor communities, pollution, and even lawlessness.

Now the government wants the people to go back to the provinces to ward off the danger of massive contamination in our urban centers. Thus the Balik Probinsya Balik Pag-asa (BPBP) Program is being trumpeted. There have been so many back-to-the- province programs in the past and they all have failed. The people they sent to the provinces came back to the cities after some time. Now they promise to give skills training to the people and give them a bit of a capital for them to stay there. This is already a positive realization. People come to the cities because they have no livelihood in the provinces. But this is not enough. The government and businesses should pour massive investment in rural areas so that they get adequate human services and jobs in the provinces. There are still areas without electricity. What basic service can they get without electricity?

Many areas have no health clinics, and if they happen to have, they are just empty buildings because there are no healthcare workers – no doctors and nurses, and poorly trained and supervised barangay healthcare workers. Many rural roads are impassable during rainy seasons and dusty on dry seasons. Because of the bad roads the transport system is unreliable and expensive. In a word, the development plan – and the budget – should all be aligned to give importance to the rural areas in order to develop the agricultural and fishery sectors of our society.

I hope the corona virus should be a wake up call for the government and business to pay attention to our farmers and fisher folks. They are essential to our economy and to our survival!

Broderick Pabillo
May 14, 2020

Let Us Not Neglect Our Church

LAIKO urges our fellow Catholics not to neglect our Parish and its activities during the pandemic and quarantine. We have witnessed that even without the regular collections, the Church has been at the forefront of helping those in need, Catholics or non-Catholics.

We are aware that for eight weeks, there has been no Holy Mass celebration in our Parishes, in line with the Government’s guidelines on Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). As a result, collections and various offerings to our churches have also stopped. As members of the Church, we know that all the services and duties of our Parishes and Dioceses require our continued contributions. Therefore, we must not forget and neglect this important and fundamental duty.

Like the first Christians who gladly and promptly responded to all the needs of fellow Christians, should we not remember our duty to love and care for our Church? Like the early Christians, let us be willing to support our neighbors, especially those in the peripheries who only depend on the generosity of fellow believers.

We call on all servant leaders of the Diocesan Councils of the Laity, National Lay Organizations and Parish Pastoral Councils, to help promote Parish programs for those in need during this pandemic.

Kindly ask permission from your Bishops and Parish Priests to announce or post this message. Let us call on our constituents, supporters and parishioners for their assistance.  Let us remind them to make regular offerings and contributions (Monthly Church Support). Assigned lay people to instruct and remind parishioners on how to send money through banks, money delivery, Cebuana, GCASH among others. 

Let’s not neglect our Church!

With sincere gratitude,

President
Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas 
14 May 2020

Huwag Nating Pabayaan Ang Ating Simbahan

Nananawagan ang Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas (Laiko) sa kapwa naming mga Katolikong mananampalataya na huwag nating pabayaan ang ating mga Parokya at mga gawain nito sa panahon ng pandemya at kuwarantin. Nasaksihan din po natin na kahit na walang koleksyon, nangunguna ang simbahan sa pagtulong sa mga nangangailangan, Katoliko man sila o hindi.

Sa nakalipas na walong linggo na walang mga Misa, hindi po tayo nagkaroon ng pagkakataong makapag-alay sa simbahan. Alam natin na ang lahat ng mga gawain at tungkulin sa ating mga Parokya at Diyosises ay nangangailangan ng ating tuloy-tuloy na pag-aambag. Hindi natin dapat makalimutan at mapabayaan ang mahalagang katungkulang ito.

Maari po bang tulad ng unang martir na si San Esteban, na binigyan nang katungkulang alagaan ang mga balo, ay maghanap din tayo ng mga Laykong tutulong sa pangangalaga ng pangangailangan ng ating simbahan? Maari din bang tulad ng mga unang Kristiyano, ay makita natin ang pangangailangan ng ating kapwa at itaguyod ang mga programa, ng ating Simbahan, para sa kanila?

Sa mga kapwa lingkod at lider ng mga Diocesan Councils of the Laity, National Lay Organizations at Parish Pastoral Councils- nananawagan po kami.

Humingi po kayo ng pahintulot sa inyong mga Obispo at Kura Paroko upang maipalaganap ang mensaheng ito. Manawagan tayo sa ating mga nasasakupan at pinag-lilingkurang kawan na tumulong. Turuan natin silang magpahatid ng mga alay at kontribyusyon sa regular (Monthly Church Support) na paraan. Magtalaga tayo ng mga Laykong magpapa-alala sa kanila at mga accounts (Banks, Pera Padala, Cebuana, GCASH)  kung saan maari nilang ipadala ang mga ito.

Huwag po nating pabayaan ang ating simbahan!

Umaasa at nagpapasalamat po!

Pangulo
Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas
May0 14, 2020

Invitation to Pandemic Tales: Untold Stories of Women During the Lockdown

May 20, 2020 (3:00-5:00 PM PHL)

Dear friends and partners,

Warm greetings from the Center for Women’s Resources!

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting enormous stress on everyone but especially on women and other vulnerable groups. The lockdown imposed has adversely affected the socio-economic conditions of women, depriving them of their source of income and livelihood. Without immediate economic support and services from the government, women are faced with multiple difficulties of finding alternative sources of living, keeping the family safe and healthy, multiple burden, among others. These narratives, the daily anxieties of women, are often left untold.

In this light, the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), GABRIELA, and Voices of Women for Justice and Peace (VOWJP) will be hosting an online discussion entitled Pandemic Tales: Untold Stories of Women During the Lockdown. We invite you to listen to the stories of frontline workers, indigenous women, artists, and small food producers as they share their struggles and hopes amid the pandemic. Dr. Reginald Pamugas, psychiatrist, and Vice-Chair of Health Action for Human Rights will serve as main speaker to talk about the importance of collectively taking care of our mental health. Join us on May 20, 2020 (Wednesday) at 03:00 pm to 5:00 pm (PHL Time).

If you are interested to join the discussion, you may please register here: https://cwr1982.typeform.com/to/gIMuE7 until 11:00 am of May 20, 2020.

Only registered participants will receive webinar details from us.

In solidarity,

Cham Perez
Center for Women’s Resources

Laudato Si’ Week 2020: Everything is Connected

(May 16 – 24, 2020)

We are celebrating this year the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home addressed to all people of goodwill. The encyclical has since been an influential document not just for the religious world but also for the secular world; inspiring different groups, movements, NGO’s, CSO’s and PO’s globally.

The current COVID-19 pandemic that cost the lives of many around the world, is challenging us how to creatively celebrate Laudato Si Week in and through our present reality. Considering this, GCCM-Pilipinas would like to propose an online celebration of Laudato Si Week 2020. The celebration will focus on Laudato Si’, COVID-19 pandemic and the year of Ecumenism, Interreligious Dialogue and Indigenous Peoples. The goals of the Online Laudato Si Week Celebration are the following:

  1. To honor the five-year efforts to bring Laudato Si to life.
  2. To nurture our hope for global solidarity.
  3. To encourage and support initiatives to address the climate emergency.
  4. To affirm the Laudato Si dimension of the Year of Ecumenism, Interreligious Dialogue and Indigenous Peoples

Proposed Online Activities During the Laudato Si Week

May 16 – Online Launch of Laudato Si’ Week 2020 Celebration at 4:30 – 6:00pm
May 19 – Online Reflection w/ Fr. Sean McDonagh,  SSC, via zoom at 4:00 – 5:30pm
     Theme: Fifth Year of Laudato Si: Achievements and Challenges
May 20 – Online Conversation: Invest for the Future, via zoom 3:00 – 5:00pm
    (This forum is exclusive to representatives from religious congregations/institutions)
May 22 – Online Reflection w/ Prof. John Feehan , Geologist and Botanist,                              via zoom at 4:00 – 5:30pm
                Theme: Laudato Si and Biodiversity in relation to COVID-19
May 23 – Online Interreligious Prayer, via zoom at 4:00 – 5:00pm
May 24 – Online Celebration of the Holy Eucharist at 10:00 – 11:00am
                 – Main Presider: Bp. Broderick Pabillo, DD
                Online Global Prayer at 11:30am – 12:30pm

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