By REV. LUNA DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

But Peter and John answered them, “You yourselves judge which is right in God’s sight — to obey you or to obey God. For we cannot stop speaking of what we ourselves have seen and heard.” — Acts 4:19-20

(This is an excerpt of a message I gave on March 23 to the graduating students of the Presbyterian Central College of Ministry and Theological Seminary in Urdaneta City).

The theme for this graduation ceremony says: “Jesus Christ the Only Hope Adventure for a Lifetime. Our theme implies that we are living today in a world of hopelessness and that Jesus Christ our Lord alone is the source of our hope. And that to proclaim in words and in deeds Jesus Christ as the only hope is really our lifetime adventure.

A Biblical story

In Chapters 3 and 4 of the Book of Acts, we read a story about Apostles Peter and John. As they entered the Temple to pray, they saw a lame man begging for money. The existence of beggars in a particular society, as we know, is a sign of desperation and hopelessness. But in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, the two apostles healed the lame man. And those who witnessed the event were greatly amazed.

Peter and John took the opportunity to proclaim the message of Jesusf life and death. But they were still speaking when the Temple guards arrived and arrested these two apostles and imprisoned them. However, many of those who heard the good news believed – about five thousand men according to the Scriptures.

Then, Peter and John were questioned before the Jewish Council, even as they courageously testified for Christ. The leaders of Jerusalem were greatly surprised to witness the courage of these two apostles, knowing that they were not highly educated; they were just ordinary men. Perhaps, you are even more educated than them. But nevertheless, the leaders of Jerusalem warned Peter and John to stop speaking in Jesus’ name.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, these two apostles, however, responded to them saying:gYou yourselves judge which is right in Godfs sight – to obey you or to obey God; for we cannot stop speaking of what we ourselves have seen and heardh (vs.-20).

The Jewish authorities would like to punish Peter and John, but they could not do it because of the people. The people might rise up in protest. And so, the authorities could not do otherwise but to release them.

Now, this Biblical story would show us what it means to proclaim Jesus Christ our Lord as the only hope in the midst of hopelessness. It could provide us some valuable insights concerning this so-called adventure of our lifetime.

Speaking out for the Truth

First of all, the story tells us that to proclaim Jesus Christ as the only hope is to speak out for the truth. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter and John spoke courageously about the truth of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. Without fear and favor, they pointed to the powers-that-be in Jerusalem as the ones responsible for the mistrial, execution, and death of the man Jesus of Nazareth, whom God raised from the dead. Consequently, Peter and John were arrested; they were imprisoned; they were harassed and questioned before the Jewish Council.

Truly, my friends, an encounter with truth is often times an encounter with suffering. In our world today, there are in fact torture chambers established to process truth into false confessions. There are investigations and trials being conducted to turn the truth into lies. And worst of all, there are killings being carried out to silence the truth.

The wicked spiritual forces of this present age cannot withstand the truth. Truth is so naked that it must be covered with falsehood. Truth is so eloquent that it must be put to silence. This organized crime against the truth defiles our true humanity; it mocks the tears of people, and it defies the power of Godfs love.

Truth is so bright and clear. But those who are blinded by the authority and power in their hands could not see it. At least, the leaders in Jerusalem themselves saw it. For the truth that the lame man was healed and restored into wholeness was right there in front of them. In fact, they could not help seeing it, because the man was standing right beside Peter and John.

This, my friends, is something we should always remind ourselves: that we cannot quarrel against the truth. The bearers of truth may be arrested and imprisoned, like Peter and John, but the truth will always come out. This is our hope. This is our courage to be. For our God is a God of truth.

Taking people seriously

Moreover, the story also tells us that to proclaim Jesus Christ our Lord as the only hope is to take people seriously. People are the basic force for the building up of new Christian communities. This is the reason why the disciples directed their proclamations of the truth of Christ to the people themselves. And thousands of them believed the Good News. And because of peoplefs power, the Jewish authorities were not able to punish Peter and John.

People have the truth. Of course, people commit mistakes. As a matter of fact, they have committed mistakes many times before. Perhaps, we remember the story of the Golden Calf in the Old Testament. In the absence of Moses, the people persuaded their acting leader, Aaron, to make a Golden Calf to serve as their god (Ex.32).

People can be manipulated by certain power groups for certain vested interests. This was the case of the crowd who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem shouting hosannas, but demanded his death shortly afterwards simply because of the manipulation of Jewish authorities. We must not make idols of people. People are not gods. We must remember this always in our theology of people.

However,there are situations wherein people have the truth. These are situations wherein people are condemned to poverty, exploitation and hopelessness, or even death. This is where God seeks to exercise the power of hope. This is where we could most likely encounter our Living God. This is where we could discover the imperatives of our faith. For God takes up the cause of the suffering people as His own, and calls us to be His partners in this missionary task. It is in being with people and learning from them that we discover, my friends, what God is telling us to do in our present time.

Obeying God rather than men

Then finally, the story also tells us that to proclaim Jesus Christ our Lord as the only hope is to obey God rather than men. Peter and John were commanded by the Jewish authorities to stop all preaching in the name of Jesus. However, they answered full of courage and faith that if and when they were required to choose between the will of God and the decree of men, they have no other choice but to obey God.

This reminds us of Bishop Desmund Tutu of the Anglican Church of South Africa. He is a very small fellow, but perhaps he towers above us in terms of his faith and obedience to Christ. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize due to his active involvement in the movement against the Apartheid Policy of their government.

By the way, Apartheid, as we know, is a policy that violently discriminates against the black people of South Africa. It is a policy that led to the death of hundreds of children in the townships of Johannesburg and Soweto. Because of his participation in the anti-apartheid movement, BishopTutu was arrested many times.

However, it was because of his efforts and those people like him that led to the abolition of this policy and restored to the black people of Africa an equal status with the whites. In one of his most celebrated arrests, he was brought before the Minister of Defense of South Africa. And in that confrontation, Bishop Tutu said to the Minister of Defense: “Mr. Minister, let me remind you that you are not god; you are just a man. And one day, your name will just be a faint scribble in the pages of history while the name of Jesus Christ our Lord will live forever.”

Oftentimes, obedience to God rather than men would make us live a very dangerous lifec and also a very adventurous kind of life. But then,it is also such kind of life that brings hope in the midst of hopelessness, and life in the midst of death.

Call of the hour

Hence, the call of the hour is a call for us to proclaim in words and in deeds Jesus Christ our Lord as the only hope in the midst of hopelessness, in the midst of a world that seems to be dominated by the wicked spiritual forces of this present age. This means to offer ourselves for the cause of fulfilling Godfs saving act in the world: to become bearers of Godfs truth in a society dominated by lies and deceit; to become instruments of Godfs love and forgiveness in a community wherein to deny onefs self, onefs pride, and one’s hatred is the hardest thing to do.

Our world today, needs men and women who are willing to manifest the love of God in a world of hatred, selfishness and greed, and transform it into a world of peace, of justice and of love. This, I believe, is our historic task as new graduates of this institution for theological education. This is our adventure for a lifetime. # nordis.net

By INNABUYOG-GABRIELA
www.nordis.net

Sa ngayon, lampas P59 kada litro na ang presyo ng gasolina habang lampas P48 naman ang diesel. Lampas P900 na ang bentahan ng liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Wala pang dalawang buwan ngayong 2012, walong beses nang tumaas ang presyo ng mga produktong petrolyo. Umaabot na sa lampas P5 kada litro ang itinaas ng presyo ng gasolina habang lampas P3 naman ang diesel simula noong Enero. Samantala, lumobo na ang presyo ng LPG nang halos P200 kada tangke.

Walang pakundangang naipapasa ng mga kumpanya ng langis ang mataas at di makatwirang presyo sa mamamayan dahil sa patuloy na pagmomonopolyo sa langis sa ilalim ng Oil Deregulation Law.

Wala namang pinagbago ang sinasabi ng gobyerno sa mga mamamayan tuwing magkakaroon ng pagtaas ng presyo ng langis, “hindi natin kontrolado ang galaw ng presyo.” Hindi rin naiiba ang sinasabi ng mga kumpanya ng langis, wala daw silang magagawa dahil nakatali ang presyo ng langis dito sa presyo sa pandaigdigang merkado.

Ayon pa sa Presidente, wala silang balak tanggalin o babaan man lang ang VAT sa langis sapagkat malaki daw ang ambag nito sa gross domestic product ng Pilipinas. Dagdag pa, ang ipinangakong pagbabalik-tanaw sa Oil Deregulation Law ay mistulang napako na sapagkat wala namang malinaw na aksyon ang administrasyon ukol dito.

***

Hindi pa man Mahal na Araw, may krus nang pinapasan ang mga kababaihang urban poor, pesante at manggagawa. Sunud-sunod na naman kasi ang pagtaas ng presyo ng langis at ang mga kababaihan ang unang nakakaranas ng hirap tuwing magkakaroon ng pagtaas. Nagtataasan din kasi, kasunod nito, 1ang presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin at yutilidad gaya ng kuryente at tubig sa kabila ng pananatiling mababa ng badyet ng pamilya. Ito ang nagbubunsod sa pagkakaroon ng kawalan ng pagkain, minimal na access sa batayang serbisyo-sosyal, at edukasyon na para na lamang sa iilan.

***

Marso 15 nang magkaroon ng kilos-protesta sa sentro ng Baguio kontra sa muling pagtaas ng presyo ng langis at sa kawalan ng aksyon ng administrasyong Aquino ukol dito. Sa mga nakaksaksi, may nagsasabing walang magagawa ang mamamayan kahit ilang pagkilos pa ang ilunsad. Ngunit para sa mga kababaihan, marami pang pwedeng gawin upang solusyunan ang problemang ito.

***

Makilahok sa tuluy-tuloy at sama-samang pagkilos ng mamamayan upang:

1. Ilantad at labanan ang pagsa-samantala at pang-aabuso ng dayuhang monopolyo sa langis.

2. Hamunin ang administrasyong Aquino na tanggalin ang VAT sa langis at tuluyang ibasura ang Oil Deregulation Law.

3. Suportahan ang pagsasabatas sa House Bill 4355 na magreregularisa sa operasyon ng mga kumpanya ng langis at poprotekta sa mga mamamayan sa ispekulasyon at overpricing sa lokal at pandaigdigang merkado.

4. Suportahan ang kampanyang pagsasabansa sa industriya ng langis! # nordis.net

By IVAN LABAYNE

The new protest is no longer about senselessly lying, supine on the ground with no symbolic implication, it is now about doing nothing but posing for the camera to show one’s indignation over inaction and indifference.

Various youth organizations in Metro-Baguio took it to the streets last Monday but this time not armed with placards and the various loud shouting of calls and challenges. Instead, they enacted the emerging way of protest against the lack of visible change in the ways the current administration deals with the problems of the people – NOYNOYING (emphasis included).

At around noon beside Skyworld, Session Road, several members of the youth from Anakbayan, National Union Students of the Philippines and Kabataan Partylist set-up a human size picture frame where each one of them alternately posed to depict inactivity and indifference. This is called Noynoying, this is becoming a trend among the people, especially the youth who are fed up with the performance of the Aquino administration in answering to the needs of its constituents.

In the protest action last Monday, the various youth organizations lamented Aquino’s lack of action to halt the commercialization of education. Tracy Anne Dumalo, regional secretariat of Anakbayan Cordillera cited the case of the 300% tuition fee increase proposal that will take effect in all State Universities and Colleges in the region.

“Habang sa pambansang antas ay patuloy ang pagbabalewala ni Noynoy ang karapatan ng mga kabataan na makapag-aral tulad ng tinuturo sa atin ng patuloy na pagbabawas ng budget para sa edukasyon at pagpaprioritize sa utang-panlabas, ang mga kabataan sa Kodilyera ay mararamdaman ang epekto nito simula sa susunod na pasukan kung saan magiging minimum na 100 na ang babayarin nila kada yunit. Tunay ngang inutil si Noynoy at ang administrasyon niya. Lahat sila nagno-Noynoying,” Dumalo stressed.

The youth organizations also touched on the issue of the continuing increases in the oil prices, resulting to the approval of the provisional fare increase this week in the National Capital Region and some other regions in the county. Last Wednesday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approved the fare increase from P8.00 to P8.50 which took effect in ten regions of the country, including NCR. In the Cordillera where the minimum jeepney fare is already P8.50, there was no increase.

Despite this, the youth organizations still see the implications of the increase to the Cordillera youth. Cielo Marie Bayson of NUSP said, “With an increased fare resulting from the unceasing increases in oil prices, it is not hard to foresee the prices of basic commodities increasing as well, especially agricultural products being transported from other parts of the region. Also, with the jeepney drivers getting the fare increase, we can also expect the bus operators to request for the same increase which will affect the citizens of the region.”

The youth closed the program with the promise to continue challenging the Aquino administration. “Prove to us that you are not Noynoying; that you are doing something to buffer the impact of the economic crisis for your constituents who are day after day threatened by the barest means of subsistence,” they said. # nordis.net

By KATHLEEN T. OKUBO
www.nordis.net

Living with migraine is not easy especially one that has for four decades bugged me for days on end. So, one bad-migraine-day, I decided to fix my earthworm-home-composting to get my mind off the migraine discomfort.

A little more than two weeks ago, I started this in the office with a batch of about a kilo of ordinary earthworms my cousin Judy shared. I had put together some dampened wasted office paper, into a used rice sack topped it with dining table and kitchen vegetable cleanings (organic, of course) that I collected a week earlier, while waiting for Judy to pass on the earthworms.

When the earthworms finally arrived, I was too busy with presswork already to do anything else but simply open the sack and dump the bunch of worms in then covered them with some more used and torn up paper then tied up the mouth of the sack to secure them (because my imagination of seeing them crawling on the floor scared me).

A few days ago I decided to bring home the sack of worms and divide it into different sacks for use in the office kitchen and mine.

By the way, by the force of circumstances, I live in a city farmhouse, (just the house because there is no more “farm” as we used to know it) with my big kids, and next door are my brothers who frequent my kitchen, some house pets who believe they are members of human household: two adult male cats, two female dogs and some forty red hens.

Knowing very well I would react, when I told them the load was a sack of earthworms, my brothers and kids suggested with a hehehe, and a twinkle in the corner of their eye to: “put them outside!”, “just spread them on the flower patch or under the rosemary”, “ya?, the chickens will love them!”

Anyway, I prepared four other sacks with damp newspapers as bed on the bottom of the sack, and piled on chopped up grass overgrowth from the yard, collected used coffee granules, to fill 1/3rd of each sack. After mentally overcoming the idea of queeziness handling the squirmy little things, I then opened up the sack where the earthworms were. Lo, it was all black humus a bit damp but not wet and so fluffy. I separated all that black humus from a whole sapad (bunch) of darkened bananas and did not see any worms. Just the same I was glad for the two eight inch flower pot full of clean compost which I thought was not bad for two weeks.

Turning to the sapad of bananas, I found all the earthworms inside each peeling making it look like full bananas, and the peeling was so thin that it practically tore open by the sheer weight of the worms when I lifted it. Besides the natural earthy whaff, the whole package did not smell or stink. And, I now have in process five sacks of earthworm-composting for the two kitchens to supply with organic waste everyday at home and at work.

If a kilo of worms can process half a kilo of organic waste a day, that means the more they are, the much lesser organic garbage a day for the city dump to care for. That makes me believe a mass movement of vermin raisers is far more practical and economically viable than peoples’ money invested in a P64M ERS machinery that hardly works.

If the city decides to and really implements the ordinance on the ban of plastic bag use in Baguio, and that cement factory that promised to get all the plastic waste to recycle will just do it – keep its word; many of us citizens will not sneer behind and build a dark cloud of doubt every time City hall makes a report on Ugnayan about solid waste management. # nordis.net

By ALDWIN QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

“We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” — Charles R. Swindoll

While attending to the funeral of my father-in-law, I had the opportunity to talk to one of his relatives. He confessed that when he was still residing here in the City of Pines, he was involved in a number of anti-social activities just to clothe and feed himself. He described his miserable past. Although he had much more money then, he lived a life of constantly hiding from the law, and the fear of getting caught caused him too many sleepless nights.

He decided to go away, let things cool off and maybe return later. He applied for a job at the harbor. His work was to transfer cargo from docking ships to container vans and the like. He planned three months would be enough time to cool off then he can again go home to the City of Pines. Here, he realized that he can change his life for the better without having to be involved in any crime that may even shorten his life.

For the months that he worked hard as an ordinary “kargador”, he was promoted and became an agent for shipments. Now, he has his own car, a house and lot, leads an honest and simple life at home happy with his family.

He does not regret leaving his hometown and deciding to change for good. But at the same time he cannot forget his experience and the lessons he learned as an ordinary laborer under an insensitive boss. He remembered and shared the story of an incident involving one of his co-workers then.

The father of this co-worker had died so he had to go home immediately to attend to his father’s burial needs. He and other workers talked about it. It was common knowledge in the workplace, and surely their boss knew about it. But on the day of the burial, the boss texted this worker insinuating abandonment of his work load among others. This worker reported to work immediately after the burial, apologized and tried to explain the situation the family emergency put him into. It fell on deaf ears.

Reflecting on this incident my late father-in-law’s relative said that most workers encounter these kinds of problems in the workplace. There are even worst cases he said. Even if the worker is very sick, his employer would force him to rise and carry the load-quota for the day for the small wages this employer pays them.

He said he was lucky that he was promoted to a better position and kind of had a better life. With sadness and pity, he narrated that the laborers were like beggars besides having to suffer from the inhumane working conditions and insensitivity of their ‘bosses’ who feel they are above the rest of them.

Social realities can make life harder or open opportunities for the better. There will be a time when the oppressed will learn to fight for their rights and welfare. As this lucky “kargador” said, they will soon bite the hands of the people who are always beating them. # nordis.net

By REV. LUNA DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

“Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed, because your true life is not made up of the things you own no matter how rich you may be.” — Luke 12:15

Save the Tree Movement

I was walking down Session Road, the main thoroughfare of Baguio City, during the annual Flower Festival when my attention was caught by a group of young people who were strategically positioned along the road, requesting passers-by to sign a petition to be sent to Malacañang, asking the President of the Republic to intervene and put a stop to the plan of SM Baguio, the biggest mall in town, to cut or earth-ball at least 182 fully-grown pine and alnus trees and give way to the construction of a seven-storey parking space.

Lack of parking space is one of the biggest problems in the city. Thus, putting up parking spaces is understandably a very lucrative business. As a matter of fact, SM Baguio is already earning a lot from its present parking spaces. No wonder this biggest chain of megamalls owned by one of our country’s billionaires would like to expand their parking business even more.

Trees are very important to maintain the ecological balance in the City of Pines. But this concern apparently becomes secondary when big corporations talk about the huge profits they could generate by enforcing their own brand of economic development. However, local people who are experiencing the ill-effects of vanishing trees in the city will not take this issue sitting down. Hence, they started the so-called Save the Tree Movement. To date the Save the Tree Movement protesters are able to gather at least 6,000 signatures.

Occupy the Wall Street Movement

What is happening in Baguio City is just a microcosm of a bigger issue that is burning like wild fire throughout the world. People in the concrete jungles of this whole inhabited earth are now opening their eyes to the evils of corporate greed. For while big corporations worldwide are raking a lot of profits, many ordinary people are losing their jobs, and are finding difficulty to make both ends meet and place food on the table.

Thus, starting from the financial center of the world in New York City where the World Trade Center used to stand, a movement called Occupy the Wall Street is now spreading in the key cities of the world. There may be some specific issues people are demanding and protesting against, but in the final analysis it all boils down to the issue of corporate greed.

Theological and Moral Issue

Corporate greed is not only an economic and political issue; it is also in a deeper sense a theological and moral issue. It is a theological issue because it deals with the question as to whom we put our ultimate trust and loyalty: God or money? It is also a moral issue in the sense that it deals with the question as to what we value most: human beings or material things? The evils of corporate greed lie in the fact that it trusts ultimately the god of money and values most material things over human beings.

What makes it worse is the fact that big corporations have made greed institutional and impersonal. The greedy can now hide behind these impersonal corporations and thus are shielded from personally seeing, hearing, and feeling the devastating effects of corporate greed to ordinary people which might prick and disturb their human conscience.

But the basic question we should ask ourselves would be: How do we deal with this human problem of corporate greed? In response to this question, let me share with you some insights drawn from the Scriptures.

Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:13-21 may help us understand how we should deal with corporate greed. It’s a story of a man who was having a dispute with his brother over the inheritance of his father’s estate. The Jewish Law would provide two-thirds to the older son and one third to the younger son. But apparently, the man in our text felt he was not getting his rightful share. So, he appealed to Jesus for help in getting his share. It was a common practice at that time for Rabbis to settle legal disputes like this one in our Biblical text.

However, Jesus did not respond directly to the request of the man. Rather Jesus saw a different dimension of the problem. He saw what was at the root of the conflict between these two brothers, and that was no other than the human problem of greed. And so, Jesus said to the people who were listening to him, “Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be”(vs. 15).

Then, Jesus told them a parable popularly known today as the Parable of the Rich Fool. It was a story of a rich man who had a land that yielded a good harvest. Then, he began to think to himself, “I don’t have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do? This is what I will do,” he told himself. “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grains and all my other goods. Then, I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!”

But God said to him, “You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?” And Jesus concluded saying: “This is how it is with those who file up riches for themselves, but not rich in God’s sight”.

Now, what does this Biblical witness got to do with our task of dealing with the human problem of corporate greed? What is strikingly significant in this Biblical text is the fact that this story resonates very much with the stories of peoples and nations in our own time. Greed is very much a problem today as it was in Jesus’ time. As a matter of fact, it is a problem of peoples and nations throughout the ages. Hence, our Biblical text could provide us some insights on how to deal with the problem of greed in our own time.

Guarding ourselves from every form of greed

First of all, our Biblical text is saying that we must be watchful and guard ourselves from every form of greed. Verse 15 says, “Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed”. We live today in a world where greed reigns supreme in the hearts and minds of peoples, of corporations and of nations. The aforementioned Biblical story shows us how conflict between two brothers was deeply rooted in greed. The writer of James echoed the same observation during his time when he said: “Where do all the fights and the quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. You want thing, but you can not have them, so you quarrel and fight” (James 4:1-2a).

The manifestations of greed are even more tragic when we come to the corporate and structural as well as global context. History tells us that the two world wars in the 20th Century actually started as trade wars. They started as quarrels or conflicts among powerful nations on how to divide the material resources of this world among themselves.

Wars are concrete manifestations of greed among nations. Today’s globalization process is a similar attempt of rich and powerful nations, like the Group of Eight led by the United States, to integrate and dominate the economies of the whole world into one economic order. The big corporations worldwide are the main instruments and beneficiaries of globalization. At the heart of globalization is the problem of greed.

Genuine Life is to give and to share

Moreover, our Biblical text is also saying to us that we must realize that genuine life is not consisted in what we have but in what we share, not in what we get but in what we give. Verse 15 says, “Your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.”

Apparently, the man in our Biblical story possessed values that are contrary to what Jesus had been teaching. His material inheritance is more important than his harmonious relationship with his own brother. This is not a new phenomenon for us. For even today, brothers and sisters and relatives may even kill each other due to conflict over material inheritance. This is amplified even more in the story of the Rich Man in the parable of Jesus. Nothing is more important in the mind of the Rich Man than to become richer and richer. It never occurred in his mind that there may be people out there starving to death while he is enjoying his riches.

This is the kind of value that big corporations are trying to promote in our world today. It is a value of self-centeredness and greed that puts a price tag to everything. The danger of this is the tendency to worship money as god. For the ultimate concern of big corporations is the accumulation of more and more material wealth at the expense of peoples’ lives. The ultimate result is the concentration of enormous wealth in the hands of a few and the impoverishment of the majority of people throughout the world. This is the evil of capitalism that was already pointed out by Karl Marx and other Sociologists long time ago.

Money or material possession is a false god. It is a false god, because it provides us false security in life. Perhaps, this is the reason why God said to the Rich Man in the parable, “You Fool!” Many of us think that if only we would have all the riches in this world, then we would be secured. But perhaps, the most insecure people in this world are not the people who have no money; rather they are those who have lots of money, especially if such enormous wealth has been obtained by corruption or unjust means. They have to build walls around their mansions and hire security guards to ensure their own safety. But, of course, they can not hide away from a guilty and disturb conscience.

Doing Justice

Finally, our Biblical text is also saying to us that we must do justice. Verse 21 says, “This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves, but are not rich in God’s sight”. To be rich in God’s sight is to do justice. Doing justice is the opposite of filing up riches for our selves.

The rich man in the parable of Jesus received God’s judgment, not simply because he wanted to file up riches, but that he desired to do so for himself alone. To be rich is not evil per se. As a matter of fact, God in Christ Jesus wants us to have life and have it more abundantly (cf. John 10:10). But it becomes evil and unjust when it is done without regard for others, or worst of all, at the expense of others. When the rich man in the parable desired to become richer even more, he saw no one else but himself.

And this is also what makes corporate greed evil and unjust. The big corporations could see only themselves in their desire to become richer even more. They could not see the face of men, women and children in poor countries throughout the world whose lives and future are being sacrificed in the altar of corporate greed. It is when greed reigns supreme that injustice abounds.

But the good news is that the God we believe in is a God of justice. Justice is the virtue by which we endeavor to give what is due to each other. It requires a fair distribution of wealth, of income, and opportunities in society. It calls for a relationship in which the human dignity of everyone is recognized and respected. Justice is a virtue that we have to acquire. And this would mean that we have to struggle against the contrary values of selfishness and greed.

In summary, to deal with corporate greed is to be watchful and to guard ourselves from every kind of greed. It is to realize that genuine life is not consisted in what we have but in what we share, not in what we get but in what we give. And ultimately, it is to do justice. # nordis.net

By INNABUYOG-GABRIELA
www.nordis.net

Today is March 8, the International Working Women’s Day. Each year, we remember the strength of the toiling women against common adversities. Still, this strength is tested by the continued state implementation of anti-poor people and anti-women policies. Here in the Philippines, liberalization, privatization and “deregulation” continue to pull down the Filipino families into deeper poverty and hunger.

Last year, a total of 7.1% of the Filipino women population was recorded as unemployed. The rate of underemployment, which does not guarantee a stable income, also rose. Most women now struggle to balance two or three jobs just to earn for the family’s expenses. The Filipinos are in debt.

In 2011, the country’s foreign debt has reached a whopping $ 60.9 billion or P 2.6 trillion. Of the 94 million Filipinos, each one Filipino owes P27, 659.57 This is directly squeezed out from the toiling Filipino’s empty pockets through exacerbating taxes on basic commodities. The 12% Expanded Value Added Tax (E-VAT) in basic commodities take away more chances for a consumer to buy more necessities.

The prices of commodities further swell as prices of petroleum in the global market also rise. The Oil Deregulation Law that the government itself agreed to, took away the State’s right to meddle and control the fluctuation of oil prices in the Philippines. As a result, the Filipinos do not have a buffer against constant oil price hikes. Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) surged to P918.00 in February. The Filipino masa can no longer avail of such basic cooking necessity.

We are being fooled by pseudo-poverty alleviation projects. The Conditional Cash Transfer program of the Aquino Administration is an insult to the poor Filipinos. A band aid solution with no guarantee and packed with issues of corruption and mismanagement. The reality is that CCT is not helping the Filipinos. Instead it has accumulated more foreign debt.

This year, the budget for the CCT has increased to P39.5 billion for 2.3 million beneficiaries. This is an added debt from World Bank and Asian Development Bank that the Filipinos have to pay through taxes. Instead of national industrialization and bringing forth real change in the country’s economic policy, the government promotes mendicancy in Filipinos through CCT.

This program is unsustainable. It does not take away hunger nor prevent Filipino families from ending up in slums. What we need is for the government to generate employment and livelihood, social services and genuine agrarian reform.

Social services in the country have become businesses. The continuous budget cuts in education, health and housing services continue to reduce the chances of the Filipino women and children for a better future. P-Noy’s responsible parenthood program which stresses “family planning” does not answer the issue of poverty due to overpopulation. It does not answer the problems on insufficient and inadequate health services which is the main cause of the mortality rate in the country.

Budget cuts on State Colleges and Universities and public schools is the systematic way of passing the State’s responsibility to its people for quality and affordable education to private corporations. Once privatized, the owners have the almost unbridled power to dictate tuition fee increases. The current status of our education is sad. We lack 153,000 classrooms, 13.2 million desks and 104,000 teachers unable to educate all Filipinos especially those in far-flung areas.

Demolition in the urban areas and dislocation of families in the countryside due to land conversions and development aggression remains a growing problem. There are no appropriate housing relocation programs that would equally guarantee sustainable livelihood.

The recent witch-hunt of the Aquino Administration to prosecute previous president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and all her cronies for their anomalous projects is without a backbone. GMA’s house arrest for cases of electoral fraud does not bring justice to GMA’s human rights violation victims. Supreme Court Justice Corona’s dragging case and the escape of Ret. Gen. Jovito Palparan, the “Butcher” of the Filipino people, who was answerable for vicious crimes against human rights defenders are signs of the administration’s insincerity to solve these cases. Oplan Bayanihan and militarization continue to violate women and children. It continues to terrify and threaten the security of families.

Meanwhile, an adverse effect of the inability of the government to protect its people is the thriving sex trafficking enterprise in the country. Women and children become targets of flesh trade both locally and internationally. The lack of employment and/or the insufficient income are pinning down the vulnerable women and children into this dire situation.

In some cases, these women come from the rural areas. These women often find themselves the breadwinners of their families who are sinking in the life of destitute with the lack of employment and livelihood in the countryside.

Militarization, land conversion, land grabbing, mining and other destructive activities remove the capacity of families in the rural areas to make a descent living. In some reports, these women were recruited under the pretense of service-related jobs such as being a waitress, a clerk or a salesgirl only to find out that they are employed in the flesh trade. Often minors or already mothers, these women become prostitutes handled by pimps who do not give them proper remuneration and isolate under dismal living conditions.

Women especially carry the burden of meager earnings and stretch the needs of the family. In the far flung-areas of Cordillera, this fertile region has residents who do not benefit from the bounties of the land. The indigenous peasant women of Cordillera and their families are deprived of the natural resources as development aggression takes over the land.

Large Scale Mining owned by foreign Multi-National Corporations destroy the natural resources from which the indigenous Cordillera people draw their primary livelihood and necessities. Stricken by poverty, the Cordillera women could not even rely on the supposed public services. In the far flung areas of Cordillera, women and children suffer from treatable illnesses such as dengue, cholera, respiratory diseases and malnutrition due to lack of available and accessible health services. Health centers and health care providers are very minimal compared to the demand of the community.

It is despicable that non-government organizations who help the people in the community by providing medical missions, relief aids or educational assistance are harassed by government hoodlums, private armies and even military agents.

We recall Mila Ao-wat, a health worker from Community Health Education, Services Training in the Cordillera Region, who received numerous death threats due to her advocacy. On the other hand, women in the Cordillera are terrorized by militarization of their communities. Kalinga, Abra and Mt. Province with the most visible concentration of mining applications and operations are militarized. Masked as the anti-insurgency program of the State, the militarization actually serves as agents of LSM companies.

Violence against women and children in militarized areas become weapons to pin down women and children to submit to power, subservient to the military and the development aggression it is protecting. One case in Lacub, a young lady made a victim of rape by a married military man. The Oplan Bayanihan, is now dubbed as the “Oplan Kababaihan” for its characteristic of specifically victimizing women to gain authority.

What are the Filipino women to do? The answer is Unity. The only weapon we have is unified action. We must never undermine the strength in unity. Let us not remain silent about the injustices we suffer. To be indifferent is letting the State-perpetrated repression and exploitation go unaccounted. Let our voices be heard! Expose the US-Aquino schemes that plunder our resources and leave the Filipino people with no source of livelihood and a devastated environment.

Expose the US-Aquino schemes that promote terrorism and militarization, continuing to threaten the security of innocent Filipinos. We must protest against the oppression perpetrated by the reactionary State against its toiling people.

We must demand for the end of the anti-people policies that continues to expose Filipino women and children to greater danger. On the event of commemorating Working Women’s Day, we, the INNABUYOG-GABRIELA, urge the women of Cordillera to join our unified mass actions. On March 8, let us parade our strength in unity against the systemic violation of the rights of the Filipino women and children. # nordis.net