esteE A S T E R N S A M A R N E W S S E R V I C E VOL 6 NO 4APRIL 2018

“COMMUNICATING HOPE AND TRUST IN OUR TIME.” - POPE FRANCIS

Lay leaders running for elective office deemed resigned — Borongan diocese

By Eden Cidro

LAY leaders who filed their certificates of candidacy for the upcoming barangay and SK elections arendeemed resigned from their positions.

Decree #205 of the 1st Diocesan Synod of Borongan states that “Lay leaders who wish to run for elective government offices shall be deemed resigned from their

positions upon filing of candidacy and can re-assume such offices only upon approval by the parish priest or in the case of the diocesan workers, by the Bishop”. But if he wins, he cannot resume his position to avoid possible conflict of interest.

Included in this order are officers of pastoral councils, diocesan workers, basic ecclesial communities, extraordinary

ministers of holy communion and those with administrative functions in the parishes and chaplaincies. Faith communities are autonomous but since they are under the parishes and diocese, they are also covered by the rules of the church.

Fr. Neil Tenefrancia, Diocesan Chancellor said that allowing church leaders to run for government position will

compromise the neutrality of the church and being active in different church ministries give them undue advantage over the other candidates.

The Church has encouraged lay Catholics to proactively participate in political exercises. “And in fact there is a duty for the Christian Catholic to transform politics by the Gospel. The Church, God’s people, must

evangelize politics,” says the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in its 1997 Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Politics.

“An implication of PCP-II’s stand urging persons in responsible positions to promote actively the election of worthy candidates is the necessity of preparing these candidates for public office,” adds the CBCP document.

4Ps beneficiaries to receive cash at lastTHOUSAND of 4ps beneficiaries in region 8 who were not able to receive their their cash grants for some months now because they have no cash cards will soon get their financial assistance.

This was the assurance made by Ms. Paola Unay, regional coordinator of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program of the DSWD.

According to Unay, because of problems with their depository bank, Landbank and their conduit financing agencies and the difficult situation faced by about 100,000 beneficiaries without cash cards that resulted in the discontinuation of over the counter payments, DSWD met with officials of Landbank to come up with a solution.

The two agencies agreed that LBP

will initiate offsite pay distribution of the grant money while the cash cards are not yet available. Pay out will be on done on the first week of May.

Affected beneficiaries from the provinces of Biliran, Southern Leyte, Samar, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar will get the cash grant for the last 10 months plus a P2,400 unconditional cash transfer.

The problem with the suspension of over the counter payments started after Landbanks failure in the bidding for a supplier of the cash cards, and the failure of conduit financial agencies to comply with the requirements.

Meanwhile, Unay denied allegations that most 4Ps beneficiaries have become solely

dependent on the grant money and that the program only encourages laziness and idleness because most of them are just waiting for the money from the government.

Unay said that the grant amount is small for the beneficiaries to be totally dependent on it. She said that most beneficiaries engage in livelihood activities.

But she said that even if the grant is minimal, it has a big impact on the families, especially on the education of children.

The money is used to defray transportation expenses of the children who go to school, buy school supplies and even food.

Unay added that the government will continue to help the poor, as they work hard to get out of poverty. (Eden Cidro/Este News)

Oikos ScholarsThe Oikos Ptochos Theou, commonly called Oikos, has graduated several scholars this academic year, both from Senior High School and from College. Aside from their own scholars who come from the poorest of the poor, they also manage the scholars in Eastern Samar of the Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program (YLEP) of Caritas Manila, and the scholars of the Diocese of Borongan. Oikos is a local congregation of women of diocesan right.

The Vocation Jamboree held on April 20-21, 2018 at St. Mary’s College Gym in Borongan City gathered almost 600 young people from 24 out of 38 parishes and chaplaincies of the Diocese of Borongan. (Photo courtesy of the Commission on Youth of the Diocese of Borongan)

(Photo courtesy of Oikos)

este VOL 6 NO 4APRIL 20182 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS

JR- CART HARDWAREBato, Borongan City

Sabang South, Borongan CitySan Julian, Eastern Samar

FREE DELIVERY - HAIN KA PA!We also deliver

Sand, Gravel, Pea, Gravel Hallow blocksBalusters & Prekas

Bato - 09278490986San Julian - 09151843015

Sabang - 09754416260

Compliments from:

Mr. & Mrs. Edelbert Joseph Amacio Kruse(nee: Violeta Penny Lozada Uy) Children and Grandchildren

Address: P. Limbuan St., Borongan City

JOSHUA ALDWIN FISH DEALER Sabang South, Borongan City

CBCP: Give Sr. Fox a chance to continue serving the people

As the clock is ticking for Sr. Patricia Fox, the Catholic hierarchy has appealed to the government to revoke an expulsion order it made against the Australian nun.

Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the Cath-olic Bishops’ Conference of

the Philippines, asked the government to let Fox stay in the country “and continue serving our people”.

“We sincerely make an ap-peal that the authorities may make a reconsideration of their for Sr. Patricia Fox to leave the country,” Valles said.

A supporter hugs Sr. Patricia Fox after a press conference in Quezon City, April 26, 2018. ROY LAGARDE

Church’s migrants ministry sending official to Kuwait for OFWsThe Philippine Catholic Church is sending a priest to Kuwait to help provide pastoral care and reach out to Filipinos working in the Gulf state, a bishop said.

Bishop Ruperto Santos, chairman of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, said the priest will also assess the needs of the Filipino chaplaincy in Kuwait.

“To assist, be of service, and help our Filipino priests there in Kuwait for our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), our ECMI executive secretary will go there this May 1 to 31,” he said.

The bishop was referring to Scalabrinian missionary Fr. Restituto Ogsimer who has been working with ECMI since 2015.

Currently, there are three Filipino priests assigned in different churches in Kuwait, including Fr. Ruben Barrameda, and Franciscan Fathers Ramon Atanacio and Alfredo Nicua.

The priests are assigned in three churches: the Holy Family Cathedral in Kuwait

City, St. Therese in Salmiya, and Our Lady of Arabia in Almadhi.

“They also celebrate Masses at the Philippine embassy and in shelter homes, hear confessions, and do counseling,” said Santos.

Kuwait is home to more than 250, 000 Filipino expatriates, mostly working as domestic workers.

Santos also expressed hope that the remaining issues between the Philippines and Kuwait will finally be resolved.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered a deployment ban to Kuwait after the death of a domestic helper allegedly at the hands of her employers.

This week, however, Kuwait lodged a diplomatic protest for violation of its sovereignty after the Philippine government rescued allegedly abused OFWs from Kuwaiti homes.

“It is our prayers and hope that everything will be arranged peacefully in an amicably and diplomatically,” Santos said. (Roy Lagarde, CBCPNews)

St. Mary’s Cathedral in Marawi to be demolishedTime is running out for St. Mary’s Cathedral in the war-ravaged southern city of Marawi.

Bishop Edwin dela Peña of Marawi had seen the church for the second time on Saturday after the siege, in what could be his last before the structure is reduced to rubble.

With the bishop’s consent, the cathedral and his residence will be among the structures that will be demolished by the government because they’re no longer structurally sound.

The church is located right inside ground zero of

last year’s fighting between the government troops and militants backed by Islamic State that has lasted nearly four months.

The levelling of damaged structures and clearing of debris is expected to start this June— a process that may take up to 10 months.

From the debris will rise a simple church that aims to symbolize the prelature’s mission of reconciling presence in Marawi.

“We will rebuild the cathedral but only after they have rebuilt their city and their Masjids,” Dela Peña said.

“For the meantime, we

focus our energies on rebuilding communities,” he said.

It was a quick visit that lasted only for about 20 minutes wherein Dela Peña and six other prelates prayed inside the 84-year-old cathedral.

The original plan was to offer Mass but the military did not allow them to stay longer for security reasons.

Rey Barnido, executive director of Duyog Marawi, said the bishops also prayed for those who are working for peace in the region.

“It was both a symbol of solidarity of the whole Mindanao Church with the

Marawi prelature and at the same time a symbolic blessing and prayer for peace,” he said.

Duyog Marawi is a rehabilitation program of the prelature and the Redemptorist missionaries that focuses on healing and peace-building efforts. It is supported by Caritas, faith-based organizations, and other humanitarian aid groups.

Last month, the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Philippines launched a fund raising campaign to also support the Church’s rebuilding efforts.

The other bishops

“We believe further that she is moved to serve our people by the love of Christ,” he said.

The Bureau of Immigra-tion revoked the 71-year-old nun’s missionary visa on April 23 and gave her 30 days to leave the country for being an “undesirable alien”.

The agency also warned of deporting Fox in case of non-compliance of its order.

Lawyer Jobert Pahilga, Fox’s counsel, decried the haste of the BI order and de-nying the nun of her right to due process.

He said that they would sub-mit Fox’s counter-affidavit and motion for reconsideration before the BI next week, add-ing that they were prepared to bring the case to even to the Supreme Court if needed.

Fox said she was surprised over the decision, reiterating that she did not violate the terms of her missionary visa.

“I hope I would be given due process and would be

given a chance to explain what my missionary work is,” she said.

A network of church organ-izations led by the Solidar-ity With the Poor Campaign (SWPC) earlier criticized the government’s decision to deport Fox who, for the last 27 years, “dedicated herself alongside with the oppressed and marginalized sectors”.

Fr. Rudy Abao, lead conven-or of SWPC, said the move is not only an attack against Fox but also “a suppression of the poor Filipinos whom she has wholeheartedly served”.

“We demand the Duterte government to hands off Sis-ter Fox and other foreigners who uphold human rights and basic welfare of the Fili-pino people,” he said.

“Helping the poor and needy has nothing to do with partisan politics, but a humane universal dee and a basic teaching of Jesus,” Abao added. (Roy Lagarde, CBCP-News)

were Severo Caermare of Dipolog, Angelito Lampon of Jolo, Julius Tonel of Ipil, Emmanuel Cabajar of Pagadian, and archbishops Martin Jumoad of Ozamiz and Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro. Fr. Jose Roel Casas, the administrator of Isabela prelature, was also present.

The Marawi siege erupted last May 23 wherein the Maute terrorists set the cathedral on fire and took Fr. Teresito “Chito” Suganob and some church workers and

worshipers hostage.The same day, gunmen

also stormed the bishop’s residence and several other buildings.

The siege, which ended in October last year, claimed more than a thousand lives, mostly terrorist fighters and displaced about half a million people.

According to government estimates, at least P51.6 billion is needed to rebuild Marawi and adjacent areas. (Roy Lagarde, CBCPNews)

esteVOL 6 NO 4APRIL 2018 3NEWS FEATURE

Action on unfinished Yolanda housing projects assuredSURVIVORS of Super Typhoon Yolanda have been assured by the government that action on their unfinished housing projects and other problems at their abandoned resettlement sites will be made.

Super Typhoon Yolanda or Haiyan devastated Leyte and Samar last November 2013 with more than 6,000 dead and more than 1,500 still missing.

Senator Ejercito, who chairs the Senate committee on housing and urban development, visited three unfinished National Housing Authority (NHA) housing projects in this city the other day and personally assured them of his action.

Senator Ejercito talked to survivors of the typhoon in two barangays on Thursday afternoon and assessed the structural stability of the permanent shelters that were already built after receiving numerous complaints regarding the use of sub-standard materials in building the houses.

He personally received reports that mediocre structures were found in the designated resettlement areas.

“I am here as a senator and not as the executive department or National Housing Authority,” Senator Ejercito said.

Ejercito heard the complaints of the homeowners and housing beneficiaries during the consultations and assured him of his immediate action in order that their concerns be immediately corrected.

The areas of concern that Senator Ejercito visited were the Guadalupe Heights 2 in Barangay San Isidro where numerous sub-standard houses could alleged be found and the New Hope Village in Barangay Sta. Elena which is known as flood-prone area, and Knightsridge in Barangay Camansihay which is reported to be a landslide-prone area.

Twenty-eight houses at Knightridge resettlement site were

washed out at the height of typhoon Urduja that hit last December and luckily, the housing units were not yet occupied.

He previously called on the NHA to fast-track the building of shelters to ensure the safety of the typhoon victims as priority beneficiaries of the project.

Out of 205, 128 target units, 67, 754 units have been fully completed and 23,414 units were occupied as of August last year.

Many units have been abandoned and remain uncompleted in these two housing sites and no contractors and NHA officials could shed light on the mess of this housing projects in the city.

A number of Yolanda survivors who were transferred in the resettlement sites have returned to their original barangays because they have no livelihood and their housing units have no electricity, water, and lack livelihood and transportation facilities. (Nestor L. Abrematea)

Senator JV Ejercito is shown here by Nestor Gadaingan, president of the Guadalupe Homeowners Association at Brgy.Sta. Elena, Tacloban City on the kind of their plastic comfort room at their NHA resettlement site.(Nestor L.Abrematea)

Eastern Visayas economy slows down in 2017THE economy in Region 8 slowed down to 1.8 percent last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Eastern Visayas.

PSA Regional Director Wilma Perante said the economic slow down in 2017 was due to the deceleration of the industry sector.

Perante said industry contracted to 1.7 percent in 2017 from a 19.5 percent growth posted in the previous year.

She said this was attributed to the decline of the three subsectors: electricity, gas, water supply by 3.1 percent; construction by 21.0 percent, and mining and quarrying by 12.3 percent.

On the other hand, manufacturing which accounts for 48.2 percent of the industry sector grew by 13.2 percent.

Perante said the services growth stood at 6.2 percent in 2017, slower than the 8.4 percent growth in 2016 while transportation, storage and communication, one of the main drivers of the service sector, went up by 2.3 percent.

This was lower than previous years’s growth of 8.8 percent while trade and financial intermediation posted decelerated growth rates of 4.9 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively.

Other services also slowed down to 8.7

percent as compared with the 10.8 percent growth posted in the previous year. On the other hand, real estate, renting and business activities and public administration and defense posted accelerated growth rates of 6.2 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.

The PSA reported that agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing managed to grow, albeit slower at 0.1 percent in 2017 as compared with the 2.4 percent growth posted in the previous year and it grew by 2.8 percent, while fishing declined to 10.1 percent.

Perante further said that industry services shared the bulk of the region’s economy at 42.8 percent and 42.5 percent,

respectively.Among the three major sectors, services

gave the highest contribution to Eastern Visayas economic performance last year contributing 2.5 percentage points.

Also present during the press conference on the highlights of the 20-17 gross regional domestic product of Eastern Visayas were PSA Deputy Administrator Daniel Ariaso, NEDA 8 Asst.Regional Director Mylene Rosales and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHCC) Leyte President Wilson S. Uy and other representatives from various sectors of Region 8. (Nestor L. Abrematea)

N. Samar parish holds courage-themed youth camp

Focusing on the theme courage, the 1st Parish Youth Camp (PYC) of the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish of this town kicked off yesterday, April 28.

“Young people need to be courageous in times of God’s call,” said Raymart Capending, parish youth coordinator.

The event’s theme was taken from the book of prophet Isaiah, “Do not fear for I have summoned you by name, you are mine.” (43:1)

“PYC calls for the young people in the parish to serve the church with courage,” shared Annjill Dineros, one of the organizers.

Capending, who heads the Lavezares Catholic Youth Ministry (LCYM), added that this year’s theme is also anchored on the Church in the Philippines’ 2018 theme

focusing on the clergy and consecrated persons.

Between 300 to 500 youth from the 26 barangays of Lavezares are participating in this year’s PYC.

The camp is taking place within the parish church’s grounds as well as in the town’s central elementary school. The delegates will stay for three days and two nights and will undergo a series of meaningful activities.

The organizers partnered with barangay officials, particularly the Committee on Youth and Sports Development, as well as the Barangay Pastoral Council, which shouldered the meals during the event, accommodations, and other forms of assistance. (Carl Jamie Bordeos, CBCPNews)

Between 300 to 500 youth from the 26 barangays of Lavezares are participating in Our Lady of the Assumption Parish’s Parish Youth Camp this year. ANNJILL DINEROS

este VOL 6 NO 4APRIL 20184 EDITORIAL

Editorial

Better than stifling lay workers

Simple and humble thoughts

Bishop Crispin B. Varquez, D.D.

On FederalismONE of the most misunderstood catecheses of the Church is its Social Teachings, especially its mission in politics. Church documents starting with the Vatican II and succeeding documents has repeatedly affirmed that politics, being a human activity, has a moral dimension. It may hurt or benefit people, it can lead to grace or to sin.

That being the case, I wish to get an excerpt of Simbahang Linkod’s write up on Federalism, which is not yet understood by many of our people.

“ANO ANG POSISYON NG SIMBAHAN UKOL SA FEDERALISMO. Una, bilang pangunahing gabay, base sa makasaysayang tradisyon ng Catholic Social Teaching, walang kinikilingang sistemang politikal ang Simbahan. Nagpapahayag lamang ito ng suporta sa Demokrasya sapagkat tinatatag at pinangangalagaan nito ang kalayaan at dangal ng tao, na siyang mga prinsipyong pinahahalagahan din ng Simbahan.

“Ikalawa, sa isyu ng Charter Change, naglabas ng pahayag ang

Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines noong Enero na nagpapahayag ng kanilang suporta sa 1987 Konstitusyon, at nagsasabing kung matutuloy ang Charter Change, kinakailangang siguraduhing lehitimo ang buong proseso at humihikayat ito sa aktibong pakikisangkot ng mga mamamayan.

“Ikatlo, sa parehong pahayag, nakikita ng mga Obispo na hindi kailangan ang mga pagkilos tungong Federalismo sa panahong ito. Ayon sa kanilang sinulat: “Ang tanong namin: kailangan bang baguhin ang Konstitusyon upang makapagbahagi ng kapangyarihan? Maraming eksperto sa konstitusyon at batas ang nagsasabing hindi. Ang kinakailangan sa tunay na pagbabahagi ng kapangyarihan, ayon sa kanila, ay ang ganap na pagsasakatuparan ng Konstitusyon, ang paglikha ng mga nakapangyayaring batas, at ilang rebisyon sa Local Government Code, at mas mapagpasyang pagpapatupad ng Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act. Ang mga ito lamang, ayon

sa kanilang paniniwala, ang makapaninigurado na ang kalayaan sa MGA KATANUNGAN UKOL SA FEDERALISMO pagpapasya sa sarili at desentralisasyon ng kapangyarihang politikal at pinansiyal ay tunay na maisasakatuparan.

“Ikahuli, anila, hindi ito tungkol lamang sa mga estruktura kundi sa mga taong nagpapatakbo ng mga estruktuarang ito. “Napakinggan din namin ang palagay ng mga taong naniniwala na ang ganap na lunas sa hinahanap natin ay pagbabagong-anyo ng ating kulturang pampolitika, ang pagbuwag sa mga kaisipang politikal tulad ng pagkiling sa mga personalidad, pamemera, at palakasan—isang kulturang namalagi na sa kasalukuyang estruktura at mga nakasanayang gawi. Kung walang pagbabagong-loob, ang bagong politikal na daloy ng Charter Change ay mananatili lamang sa parehong daluyan, at sa huli’y lulunod lamang sa pag-asang magkaroon ng panibagong kulturang pampolitika.”

AntigoMsgr. Lope C. Robredillo, VG este

E A S T E R N S A M A R N E W S S E R V I C E

Editor: Pepe Quitorio

Associate Editor: Neil Tenefrancia

Managing Editor : Anna Luz Castaños, LGC

NEWS Writers:RJ Abonal Eden CidroRoy Lagarde Medora QuiranteEdmel Raagas

Photographer: Alren Jerome Beronio

Layout Artist: Sky Ortigas

Wed Admin: Nani Ramos

Account Executive : Pem Castaños

ESTE is published monthly by the Diocesan Commission on Mass Media and Social Communications, with editorial and business offices at the 2nd floor, Bishop’s Residence, Borongan City.

www.estenews.orgeditor.estenews@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/estenewsboronganwww.twitter.com/estenewsonline

The town of Taft in the 1900sTWO years after the Balangiga Massacre, the Pulajanes, a local revolutionary movement, gained control of almost the entire island of Samar. Because the Americans refused to send in the army, simply treating the movement as no more than a case of banditry, the towns on Eastern Samar were helpless.

But the turbulence could not be concealed. To have control of the local governments, for instance, the Philippine Commission of 1903, No. 960, Sec. 1, enacted that

the municipalities of San Julian, Sulat, Paric (Dolores) and Tubig be consolidated into one, with Tubig itself as its seat. Appointed president of Tubig (already called Taft) was Angel Custodio Crisologo, a Paricnon (Doloresnon).

But because the municipality had no police force (only a few scouts were stationed to defend it), almost the entire population fled to the mountains for safety (with the Pulajanes, of course). Several villages under the jurisdiction of

Tubig were reduced to ashes. On Sept 22, 1904, burned were San Julian and its three barrios of Nena, Libas and Pagbabangnan and the barrios of Del Remedio and San Vicente (of Sulat). On Oct 3, Hinolaso (of Paric) was torched.

It was only On October 31, 1906, when the Pulajanes were weakened, that the municipalities of Taft, Dolores, Sulat and San Julian were given back their independence, by virtue of Act No. 1558 of the Philippine Commission of 1906.

SOCIAL media has recently viralled locally the #205 Decree of the First Diocesan Synod of Borongan issued in 1997. The decree states: “Lay leaders who wish to run for elective gov-ernment offices shall be deemed resigned from their positions upon filing of candidacy and can re-assume such offices only upon approval by the parish priest or in the case of the diocesan workers, by the Bishop.”

It gathered opposing reactions, and not a few negatively. Presumably, because the preceding decrees of the Synod were not posted. It ap-peared, therefore, very stifling for church work-ers who wanted to venture into public service. Obviously, the wisdom of this decree is about preserving the impartiality of the Church and cautioning the Church worker from using pos-sible influence of his or her church office in the political campaign. This is very commendable.

In recent history, however, the incidence of a lay worker using his or her church position in political campaigns is almost nil. Not so with clerics in many dioceses venturing into politics, obviously using his stature to win votes or to influence voters to tilt to his favored candidate.

The larger perspective should be understood. The Church does not only “pass moral judgment even in matters related to politics whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it,” which may be read in Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes (#76, 5). The bigger order is to proclaim the Gospel to all creation, which necessarily include evangelizing the political world. So says CBCP’s Catechism on Church and Politics, “The Church has the duty of pro-claiming the Gospel “to all creation” (Mk. 16:15) and “to restore all things under Christ” (Eph. 1:10). This means that the Gospel must “influ-ence every phase of life, every stratum of soci-ety” (PEPP, p. 26), including the political sphere. In fact it is the duty of every Christian—to trans-form politics by the Gospel.” Moreover, politics is a human activity. It may hurt or benefit peo-ple. It can lead to grace or to sin.

Better than stifling Christian lay workers from getting involved in the political order but be-reft or catechesis or just denouncing vote buy-ing and other political ills—which may just be symptoms of a bigger malaise—is educating people in politics and sending them to world as “missionaries.”

This quote from CBCP’s Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Politics is very enlightening: “Pos-sible political leaders should be schooled in the principles and practice of doing politics in a Christian way, in accord with the Gospels, the values of the Kingdom of God, the moral teach-ings of the Church, especially its social teachings. An implication of PCP-II’s stand urging persons in responsible positions to promote actively the election of worthy candidates is the necessity of preparing these candidates for public office. If economic managers are schooled in their field, political leaders should also be formed so that they may discharge the burdens of public office with competence and integrity.”

esteVOL 6 NO 4APRIL 2018 5OPINION

Balik-balaySarah Mabansag Puno

Easter awakening!THE blessings of Easter are

beyond reproach as experienced by believers. Believing that Jesus Christ is alive and is always with us through thick and thin allows us to live without fear, with peace, with strength and with joy!

Amazing blessings are experienced and enjoyed by families as their faith grow stronger and deeper in the loving presence of the living God in their midst.

A mother while attending the Easter Sunday Mass prayed that she be healed of her condition, a fractured hand because of a fall that caused her to have a mild stroke. While touching her hand and fingers as she asked for the blessing, gradually she felt relieved of the pain. And with persistent prayers, she is now fully recovered. She praised and thanked the Risen Lord for she is no longer a burden to her family. She is awakened to the truth that our living and loving God is the greatest healer.

Our Risen Lord brings peace and joy! A young seminarian who was separated from his parents and siblings because of family break up, after serving his parish the whole Holy Week is blessed by the Risen Lord to meet his siblings and biological mother. With so much joy he experienced the loving and longing embrace of his mother and siblings after sixteen years of separation.

Our living God is a generous provider! A family experiencing heavy financial burden because of

slow business, surrendered totally to God’s Divine Mercy for the solution of their problem. The Risen Lord heard their plea. He guided them to be free from business debts, to be financially stable. He also made them instruments of His generosity to others in need, to feed the hungry and care for the sick.

Our living God gives light to those in darkness! A family is blessed by the Risen Lord to open its door to others especially those who are troubled, lost and in despair for them to have shelter, security, courage to go on with life and hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Our living God gives life! A young single mother, hopeless of the condition of her very sick child brought her child to church from the hospital to be baptized during the Easter Vigil. Lo and behold, the child survived! And now she is already a young and brilliant career woman.

There are countless testimonies of blessings, miracles of Easter that families experienced and are experiencing because of our loving and living God. We must just be open, believe and have true faith.

Our living God does not only promise His loving presence in us here in our Earthly life but His promise is throughout eternity for He said, those who believe in Him will have eternal life with Him.

May we all are awakened that Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God is alive! He is the way, the truth and the life! A blessed Easter to all families!

Voice of the Voiceless

Fr. Fernando Navidad Egargo, Ph.D

AningalFr. Cyrain Cabuenas

Pause and Pray

Stoned age

PEOPLE these days are always in a rush. No matter how many machines they own that are supposed to save them time, they still do things in a hurry. Decades ago, dining out meant going to a restaurant, and waiting for the food was part of the deal. Then somebody invented fast food where meals are served as soon as payment is made. But people thought it wasn’t fast enough. So here comes the drive-through, and now, nobody has to leave their cars to get their dinner.

Well, drive-through diners still don’t exist in this province. But, people on the rush do, some of them deadly. How do I know? I drive about 86 km to work, almost two hours, and I meet a lot of them on way. In fact, I have categorized them into three.

One is the “stiff neck” type. These people make a U-turn, or speed away without signaling and checking if there is an approaching vehicle behind them. They don’t use their rearview mirrors, and side view mirrors. I even noticed some side view mirrors that reflect the driver’s face and not the vehicle at the back, GGSS to the max! The worst type doesn’t have side mirrors at all and would occupy the center of the lane. Imagine yourself driving behind a stiff neck type, and as you are overtaking him, he

suddenly makes a U-turn. Guess what will happen?

Second is the “obstacle” type. These people are rushing to park so much so that their vehicle impedes another driver’s view or lane. They are the ones who will park on a curve, or at an intersection. The shameless type stops right in the middle of the lane in a sloping curve. Double and triple parkers included.

Last is the “daredevil” type. They deliberately do risky maneuvers on the road for the sake of the thrill. Yes, they drive really fast.

There is one common trait among these three types, they don’t care about others. That’s why they are dangerous. They are only concerned about their own destination without recognizing that other people are travelling as well. Same with how we “drive” our lives. We can’t be too focused on ourselves because we are journeying with others. All the rushing is worthless, when we injure others along the way.

I can’t forget one of my driving thrills. I was traversing on a runway like portion of the national highway somewhere in the municipality of San Julian. Every time I pass this part I tend to imagine that I’m driving a plane and I was about to take off. That morning I was going 80kph,

the coast was clear, except for a man ahead of me, with two carabaos, walking on the side of my lane. I don’t know what got into me, but as I was nearing the carabaos, I crossed to the left lane. As soon as my car settled on the other side, one carabao turned left, his body stretching across the right lane. I renewed my belief in God and His angels right at that moment. I didn’t have to change lanes because the animals were moving forward and were far enough to my right. But thank God I did, and just at the right time, otherwise, I would have rammed right into the carabao with all my 80kph glory.

Every morning, before I start to drive, I say three Hail Marys with the miraculous medal prayer after each one. I pray for guidance and protection because sometimes the unexpected happens. It’s relatively easy to avoid hitting the three types of rushing individuals I previously enumerated. Sometimes I even fall into one of the categories. It’s the unpredictable that’s scary. But in spite of patentero like driving experience, I still manage to get by unscathed. It’s the prayer that calms me as I cruise through tricky situations. Most of all it’s the prayer that slows me down, knowing that I can only do so much, the rest is in His hands.

The Millennial CatholicMau Obon

VATICAN II provides a rather comprehensive philosophy of education. It declares that “true education is directed towards the formation of the human person in view of his final end and the good of that society to which he belongs and in the duties of which he will, as an adult, have a share” (Gravissimum Educationis#1). There is no authentic education, according to the mind of the Council, unless it touches on the development of the human person so that he/she becomes capable of performing his responsibilities to God, to society and to him/herself. This same thought was already taught by Pope Pius XI when he wrote : “Christian education takes in the whole aggregate of human life, physical and spiritual, intellectual and moral, individual, domestic and social, not in view of reducing it in any way, but in order to elevate, regulate and perfect it.” This vision of education is again re-affirmed in the post-conciliar document

Malgre’ les Declarations (MD #29) saying that education “should be intentionally directed to the growth of the whole person.”Being educated is not an end in itself. Education is directed towards something of higher value. Pope Paul VI calls this product of education as maturity and fruition (Populorum Progressio #15). Vatican II, on the other hand, calls it formation. However, being formed is not an end in itself, either. It is directed to an even higher value. This value is total human development. A person who is given the possibility of actualizing himself becomes fruitful. In effect, he “becomes prepared to take (his) part in the life of society in its various aspects” especially in the “promotion of the common good (Gravissimum Educationis#1).”Every person, by natural vocation, needs to fully develop him/herself. Education, then, as a tool for human development,

does not discriminate. Already, even before Vatican II, Catholic educators believed in the universal access to education in all forms and insisted that education “refers to all people…(in order) to progress spiritually and to seek complete development of the person”.This task is entrusted to institutions and persons whom the church considers as the extension of her ministry. For the person, this task becomes a way of witnessing, a way “to let the newness and the power of the Gospel shine out every day in their…social life” (Christifideles Laici # 14). It is, in the end, a concrete manifestation of “the vital synthesis which the lay faithful are able to effect between the Gospel and the duties of everyday life” (Christifideles Laici # 34).There is nothing Christian in anything that is intended to deceive or to mislead. Falsehood and deception will never be a component of a Christian Catholic education.

The Essence of Catholic Education (Part II)

SELF-PROCLAIMED visionaries, palm readers and feng-shiu experts predict the Year of the Dog as a year of fortune and luck. But a social critic could have paraphrased it fittingly in his historical novel A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the worst of times…it was the age of foolishness…it was the epoch of incredulity… it was the season of darkness…it was the winter of despair…”

2017 was already one heck of a year and chances are its bumpy ride will continue for a while longer.

When lying becomes a form of communication, when leaders’ words are held sacred and defended tooth-and-nail however inappropriate and obtuse, when authorities could not and do not stop crime but seem to reinvent it, when accountability is wanting and reprehensible policies are no longer challenged, when our normally placid existence is shaken up, it is not much of a stretch to predict like the literary giant Charles Dickens that we are headed in the wrong direction.

Yet leaders who seem incapable of any form of introspection continue to enjoy a cult-like following. So inured to the casual callousness and misogyny, coarse language spoken publicly by coarse people has become commonplace. Shockingly, many no longer consider profanity profane at all. Garbage used to be in Batasan Hills, now it is everywhere, in conferences and national TV.

For the underlings, it is just

macho talk. A much-needed trait for tough leaders to get things done. Toughness seen and heard time and again among those who displease them or those who don’t stoop so low. How can church leaders, the Pope including, afford a filthy verbal joust? And it is unthinkable for dignitaries like Ban Ki Moon or Obama to trade insults even with an Uson, a Sasot, or a Roque. The latter will win hands down.

When people pick their battle one wonders if it belongs to the category of macho. Would Putin, Xi Jinping, and even Trump be in the line of fire? You be the judge. Somebody once boasted to reclaim disputed territories via a jet-ski and warns a bloody invasion and the rest is history.

If civilized people are gripped by fear, does a seemingly uncivilized regime feel the same thing? Is nobody trying to break the oppressive silence or everybody is content with degenerates who continue swinging their weight around? Or should we wait in vain for another Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who documented Stalin’s Gulag or another Anne Frank who disclosed Hitler’s concentration camps to realize that we have among us an outrageous and brutish behavior of a Stone Age proportion?

One literary prophet Conrado de Quiros puts it well: “Vampires do not fear the dark, they fear the light. Tyrants do not fear tyranny, they fear decency.”

EASTERN SAMAR ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.(ESAMELCO)

Brgy. Cabong, Borongan City

April 17, 2018

ATTN: ESAMELCO MEMBER – CONSUMERS:

The Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ESAMELCO) will conduct a Regular District Election for ESAMELCO Board of Director for District VII (Mercedes and Guiuan) on July 28, 2018 from 08:00 AM to 03:00PM at Mercedes Central Elem. School and Guiuan Central Elem School.

Interested Candidates may inquire/secure/ file Certificate of Candidacy at the Institutional Services Department (ISD) ESAMELCO Main Office, Brgy. Cabong, Borongan City, Eastern Samar anytime during office hours.

Deadline of filing of Certificate of Candidacy is on July 18, 2018.

Member - consumers who were inadvertently omitted in the Masterlist of Voters may avail the inclusion/exclusion period from July 10 - 19, 2018. Please bring with you the following documents: membership official reciept and certificate of membership.

Proxy voting shall not be allowed.

Thank you!

ESAMELCO MANAGEMENT

April 17, 2018

ATTN: ESAMELCO MEMBER – CONSUMERS:

The Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ESAMELCO) will conduct a Regular District Election for ESAMELCO Board of Director for District IV (Can-avid, Dolores and Maslog) on July 14, 2018 from 08:00 AM to 03:00PM at Can-avid Central Elem. School and Dolores Central Elem. School.

Interested Candidates may inquire/secure/ file Certificate of Candidacy at the Institutional Services Department (ISD) ESAMELCO Main Office, Brgy. Cabong, Borongan City, Eastern Samar anytime during office hours.

Deadline of filing of Certificate of Candidacy is on July 4, 2018.

Member - consumers who were inadvertently omitted in the Masterlist of Voters may avail the inclusion/exclusion period from June 25 – July 4, 2018. Please bring with you the following documents: membership official reciept and certificate of membership.

Proxy voting shall not be allowed.

Thank you!

ESAMELCO MANAGEMENT

T h a n k s t o o u r D o n o r s / B e n e f a c t o r s f o r t h i s i s s u eBORONGAN

Donors: Allan- Cleofe BaquilodAngel DulfoBea & Joyce AmpongBenito Alfeo B. Cabato, Jr.Celma & Fausto YarasCorazon LuposDr. & Mrs. Rolando C. SolidonDuanie Paperprint Gen. MerchandiseEd de GuzmanEdgar C. AndorElsie L. CargandoErlinda A. LangomesErna Ester A. CabusEvelyn L. HallwayEvelyn Norma PadrilanFloria MontesGabriel Louis & Isabelle Louise Buna PeraltaJesse EscotoJudith A. EljiraLea L. CardonaLeoncia FuentesLilia V. PeviarMano Lando & Ate Flor AquinoMarife BencitoMark Christian M. SalamidaMarlyn G. Dadulla Matthew’s Eastern MarketingMother Gemma A. Silvero, MSHMr. & Mrs. Alfredo BasadaMr. & Mrs. Edilberto CardonaMs. Celita AgusNoel C. DiscarPatricio BalsacaoRowena PantaleonRuby Ann C. BalbinRuth StrakaVianney & Earl AgnesWater Avenue c/o Ms. Belma MabaoWHEELERS APARTELLEWilma Caspe TaveraEmie Lauresta

Benefactors: Aileen SingsonAngela N. VillasinAntonieta C. AnaAntonio & Becky

CampomanesArnulfo / Doris CajegasChristian Wixar Ty LimCorazon Rubio Dela RosaEastern PolymedicEllen Grace S. AbudeGina P. DelgadoHarold P. LabroJonie- Allan & Elena & Florenz DulfoJosephine Rivera- dela RosaLuisa J. PayuyaoLuisa M. DuzonMarilou G. CastilloMary Jane G. GapudMatilde LacdaoMr. & Mrs. Alfredo Cabato, Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Glorioso SiatelaMr. & Mrs. Robert RosalesMrs. Blys C. BlancoMyrna P. Guasis- KAHLUCZI Convenient StoreOscar- Noraliza TañadaRebecca A. PicardalRegalado & Erna OpeñaRommel/ Gina RobredilloRonnil Jim A. LadiaoSarah C. GeroyTeresa L. Abelgas

GUIUAN

Donors: Anastacia BustilloBec Lucy DistinguidoMarcelos RestotelMr. & Dra. Reynaldo Miflores & Children

Benefactors: Angelina de PazAnonymousAnonymousDra. Pilita B. SinagbuhanEdgardo JuabanFrancis Vic, Shery Jane & Louraine Jane GuitieresMr. & Mrs. Antonio LomeroMr. & Mrs. Aurelio Magalona & FamilyMr. & Mrs. Carlos CunananMr. & Mrs. Dante BadarMr. & Mrs. Renato GaytosMr. & Mrs. Rey SabidoMr. & Mrs. Ronquillo SalvediaMr. & Mrs. Rufino GaradoMr. Nilo NaingMrs. Alma MabansagMrs. Beatriz EgargoMrs. Carmelita Quesada CelisMrs. Concordia LumainMrs. Cristita AblayMrs. Dolores Delleva & FamilyMrs. Epifania de VeraMrs. Eva DiazMrs. Gregoria CalumpianoMrs. Luz Perez TabernillaMrs. Mary Grace Soraya DuranMrs. Mila ObiasMrs. Princilla Badoc Mrs. Resalina AbogadieMrs. Riza LozadaMrs. Rosemarie AmistosoMrs. Sharon AbreraMrs. Veronica MifloresOrocay FamilyPastor Jr. & Marialyn Dagale

GENERAL MACARTHUR

Donors: Vice Mayor Joel Baldo & Children

Benefactors: Alexius & Renzy AbellaAlyson StoreFe Navales & ChildrenFelisa Malindog & FamilyKier Andrei Gloria Mr. & Mrs. Randy Castillo & daughter Unah MaeMr. & Mrs. Raul Romanca & BrielleMrs. Myrna Isaig & familyPatrocenia CanitesWilliam Kessler Algo

SULAT

Donors: Hon. & Mrs. Jun M. Gecomo & ChildrenMa. Nida L. Baldado & children Rex Peter & Roselle MarviMr. & Mrs. Ronnie S. Campomanes & Children

Benefactors: Catalina J. OperarioEdel A. Aboga-aElizabeth Aclo- BalitaEvelyn A. OpimoIda M. EvardoneJosephine C. LimboLeonarda PadriquelaMa. Bibian C. YaputMatilde C. PalileoMila PeriolesMr. & Mrs. Dante R. SumbillaMr. & Mrs. David Jasojaso & familyRebecca C. PitogoRoxanne D. SumbillaTeresita B. LusicoWinefreda C. AcongZita D. Acampado

SABANG

Donors: Aida AnasariasElena LobederioEmmanuel & Ella Kristine CeladaGemma G. ApitaLiving Water ( Sta. Fe)Marvin RosalesMr. & Mrs. Armando Apita & FamilyMr. & Mrs. Cris LimMr. & Mrs. Peter GazoMrs. Sally TiuMulti LinkPerla BalagapoTracy Lou Obon

Benefactors: Adel & Ofelia OgdolBrent Gaillian M. DagandanCarl Niño D. Amosco, Charles Matthew & CharlyGlenda AvizoGlenda CasillanoIda SesoJeric Paul AfableJosefina RavilasKit Edgar BaleinMelchora BocoMr. & Mrs. Allan AnerMr. & Mrs. Allan WaniwanMr. & Mrs. Arnaldo Amosco, Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Dario Wilmer PenarandaMr. & Mrs. Fernando CantilangMr. & Mrs. Joseph BingcoMr. & Mrs. Leo Esquierdo & FamilyMr. & Mrs. Lucito BingcoMr. & Mrs. Michael AmbilMr. & Mrs. Michael NervesMr. & Mrs. Moises GermudoMr. & Mrs. Renato Wong & son Harold ChristianMr. & Mrs. Romeo DevoraNimfa AfableNora PaezPrincess Lexi P. AcalaTita BeatoYolanda Morte

SALCEDO

Benefactors: Marina CayosaMarcia C. AldeMasmar D. DelistaVirginia A. Abunales

ORAS

Benefactors: Judge Margie Mutia PalañaMrs. Aida S. IsaigMrs. Aquilina LomuntadMrs. Corazon N. SenofaMrs. Delia N. JongcoMrs. Lydia MutiaMrs. Virginia Mutia RaagasMrs. Paz Q. AdelMr. & Mrs. Pascual A. DocenaMrs. Elisa S. ChicanoMrs. Agnes P. Gale

MATARINAO

Benefactors:Erlinda GuiraIrish CaparaLuz Felicen & FamilySusan Capara

LAWAAN

Benefactors: Jose M. Trajano & FamilySB Member Raul C. Gade Yhanna S. Elacion

TAFT

Donors: Mr. & Mrs. Ambrocio ChicanoMr. & Mrs. Ernesto CatubaoMr. & Mrs. Fidel VistaMr. & Mrs. Pedro BalequiaMr. & Mrs. Rodrigo CeblanoMr. Adriano DotingcoMrs. Dionisia C. DonozoMrs. Dominga T. DolioMs. Conception Balbaboco

Benefactors:Mrs. Lydia AdelMrs. Lydia CaspeMrs. Milagros BusaMrs. Natividad MacahigMrs. Paz Q. AdelMr. & Mrs. Pascual A. DocenaMrs. Elisa S. ChicanoMrs. Agnes P. Gale

SAN JULIAN

Benefactors: Mr. & Mrs. Alejandro AmbalMr. & Mrs. Gervacio AmboyMr. & Mrs. Gloria A. MercadoMr. & Mrs. Kelvin Lisaca & FamilyMr. & Mrs. Noe PomentilMr. & Mrs. Tito C. AgarpaoMr. & Mrs. Yvenn J. CasinilloMrs. Ma. Marina Q. Orgen & FamilyMrs. Paz Quiloña NicartMs. Elvira AmoyanMs. Gilda DoligonSean Marpit G. TyZoila M. Cajipo

LLORENTE

Donors: Dra. Bernadette GalacanNancy Alde

este VOL 6 NO 4APRIL 20188

Why are our prayers sometimes unanswered?By Rev E B Belizar, SThD

ALMOST everybody asks that question. I myself do, at times. So I count myself out of possible sources of answers.

I suggest we consult the Scriptures and spiritual masters. What do they say?

1. We pray for wrong reasons or motivesI may pray to the Lord for something good,

such as landing a job to earn plenty of money but if I do so to simply enjoy worldly comfort and pleasures, my prayer will certainly fail. The Apostle James has this to say: “You ask and you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (Jas 4:3).

2. Disobedience to the Lord could be our problem.

The book of Proverbs has a brutally honest rejoinder to us when we complain how we pray in vain: “He who turns away from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Prov 28:9).

3. The kind of life we live mattersIt is a mistake we often make to cling to a

truth regarding God and ignore other truths. For instance, we emphasize God’s mercy, which is correct, but pay scant attention to his holiness and justice. We need to listen to the prophet Isaiah: “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. And your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Is 59:2). On the other hand, our efforts to live by God’s expectations does not escape him. The blind man cured by Jesus addresses the Pharisees and fellow Jews, as well as us, with point-blank boldness: “We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he hears him” (Jn 9:31).

4. How we treat the poor affects how God treats our prayer

The God who freed poor and helpless slaves, the Jews in Egypt, and commanded them to leave some of their harvests to the poor as well as warned them not to mistreat helpless foreigners among them, reveals his soft heart for those on the underside of life. He does not tolerate even his own people’s indifference to his favorites, and what he does to our prayers could be very telling. The book of Proverbs minces no words: “He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, will also cry himself and not be answered” (Prov 21:13).

5. The living God and the God of the living is deaf to those who trample on human life.

There has been much blood shed in our country, a lot of it at the behest of powerful

and wealthy people, egged on by a silent majority. Perhaps our fears and misplaced hopes or expectations have blinded us. Well, these are also at the bottom of prayers that fall on deaf ears. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood” (Is 1:15).

6. False gods are true obstacles to prayerWe often think of false gods as statues or

images we see in homes or churches. This is how non-Catholics mostly impose their own meanings and misjudgments on the Catholic practice of using visuals to stimulate and aid faith and prayer. We do not worship statues and images of saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary. We give them special honor and respect which we call veneration. We also ask them to pray and intercede for us, because they represent heroes of faith and models of discipleship who are now in heaven and thus closest to God himself. But

other real false gods exist and could destroy authentic faith and genuine prayer in us. False gods such as money/wealth deemed more prior to God and his kingdom, power obtained at all costs and practiced selfishly, comfort and pleasure as a life’s priority, popularity and prestige held higher than giving or acknowledging God’s glory, the family’s perceived good held as better than obeying God’s commandments, these are real and false objects of our adulation or worship. Says the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet: “Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in time of their disaster…Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift a cry of prayer for them, for I will not listen when they cry to me in the time of their affliction” (Jer 11:12, 14).

7. Pride and lack of faith as twin peaks of vain prayer.

God does not ask for our best words in

prayer. But he asks for genuine faith. It is a faith that willingly puts our all into his hands and relies totally on his unfailing love. A false, excessive love of self is a plain obstacle to achieving such faith. This we otherwise know as pride. Without faith, our praying is a shaft in the wind. “But he must ask in faith,” says James, “without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a surf at sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord” (Jas 1:6-7). On the other hand, neither can the proud expect a favorable response. “There they cry out,” declares the book of Job, “but he (the Lord) does not answer because of the pride in their evil hearts. Surely God will not listen to an empty cry. Nor will the Almighty regard it” (Job 35:12-13).

Despite unanswered prayers, St. Augustine counsels us never to give up on praying: “We must understand that even though God doesn’t always give us what we want, he gives us what we need for our salvation.”

Vocation JamboreeHUNDREDS of young men and women crowded at the Vocation Jamboree (VocJam) held at St. Mary’s College Auditorium on April 20-21, 2018. The youth event was organized by the Commis-sion on Youth of the Diocese of Borongan that is chaired by Fr. Roneil Canillas. Ac-cording to recent statistics of the Commission, only the 15 of the 38 parishes and chaplaincies of the Diocese of Borongan have existing and organized Youth min-istries. Challenged with the low turn-over of youth ministries in local parishes, the Youth Commission of the Diocese of Borongan is gearing to conduct more ac-tivities such as parish visi-tations, basic orientation on youth ministry and basic course on youth ministry, among others, starting June this year. (Este News)

(Photo courtesy of Commission on Youth of the Diocese of Borongan)

(Photo: pixabay.com)