A JUDAS AND A LITTLE BIT HOPE

 

Exploring the story of Judas reminds us that human weakness is common. While he is known for his ultimate betrayal, his story teaches us about forgiveness. Both Judas and Peter made huge mistakes, but the difference was that Peter accepted grace, while Judas let shame and doubt take over.

It’s easy to dismiss Judas as a villain or a victim, but I’m struck by the fact that, in many ways, he was just like me.

Judas was a follower of Jesus and a preacher of the gospel, but there was a double mindedness about him. In the end, he abandoned the faith he once professed.

The apostle Judas, probably also called Thaddeus or Jude, being a brother of James and Jesus, started as a fervent follower of Christ. Then, suddenly he changed. He felt that Christ didn't  satisfy his worldly expectations. The church, like Christ, is always loved by its true followers and is always hated by its apostates.  Till today - no matter what belief you are in... .

Judas didn't leave the apostolic community to become a Pharisee or a critic  of Christ. He  leaves to become a traitor! Such a traitor will always find fault or a misinterpretation of human teaching. Judas gathered reasons that he, himself, had heard  and witnessed  to justify  his betrayal. Yes, we all also know such people who betray us and sometimes a whole country.

A Jewish mob tried to throw Christ down a cliff, but nothing happened. Soldiers tried to arrest Him, but nothing happened. The Pharisees tried to entrap Him to no effect. It needed a friend to betray Him. He escaped from all, but not from the treason of a friend. "It would have been better for that man if he had not been born!" No such sentence was hurled, for example, to Pilate or Herod.

The lesson for all of us is very clear. A bad politician or one of our neighbors can be the foulest thing on earth. A bad pagan cannot be 1/10 corrupt.

"Do not betray another man's confidence!" the bible teaches us. But Judases can be found everywhere. Just as fire is not born from snow, so is the seeker after worldly honors not seeking heavenly ones. or have you ever seen the snow catch fire?

The maladroit politician named Judas betrays his voter and elector through beautiful soft promises while corrupting a whole nation. The peace conference member or peacemaker named Judas just gives double standards while allowing at the same time his jackals and accomplices to kill and injure his own countrymen. The neighbor, who declares how much he loves his family while going on unhindered destroying the environment is also named Judas... .

Judas' sins are really not rare. We commit it every day. Someone who has changed his ideals away from the ideals of the church and declares it to the world, anyone who leaves the church or the religious order and proclaims it to the world, "night had fallen on his soul"!

When Julius Caesar was being assassinated what hurt him was not the stabs of Caius but the presence of his friend Brutus. We might never know it, but we could be carrying on our lips the kiss of Judas!

Many times I do voice out people's longing for advice and actions through the institution's church. There are many. Please allow me to quote former Rev. Mariano C. Apilado, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, who had done a first important step already many years ago by saying:

"Christian hope does never shield people, much less  Christians  from disappointments, hardships and betrayals, nor does it provide neat and ready answers to the world's problems. Christian hope empowers Christians to take responsibility in the establishment of a government that respects the law and protection of the people and their rights in the struggle for justice and development. ... Christian hope is not peanuts for it assures us: there is always a future looking forward to it. Without hope, Christian faithfulness is suspect and without foundation. with this hope, we sing, celebrate and work faithfully and courageously, believing, 'that we shall overcome'!"

More and more foreign dignitaries are visiting Davao City

 More and more foreign dignitaries are visiting Davao City.

In just the first half of 2026, more than a dozen ambassadors or deputy ambassadors and their delegations have visited the city, paid courtesy calls on Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, and conducted meetings with the local government.

Harvey Lanticse, head of the Davao City Information Office, said that the visits aim to strengthen ties between Davao City and other countries, noting that many members of the delegations are foreign investors seeking discussions with the city's business chambers.

Most of them are interested in the agribusiness and agriculture sectors, where the city has a strong presence. Renewable energy and education were also among the topics discussed.

Recently, the Ambassador of Sweden to the Philippines, Anna Ferry, paid a courtesy visit to Mayor Duterte, during which they discussed bilateral relations, particularly in transportation, investment opportunities, and other areas.

And just last week, the Irish Ambassador to the Philippines, Emma Hickey, paid a courtesy call on Mayor Duterte and expressed interest in cooperation in energy, education, and cultural exchange.

Davao City Councilor Rachel Zozobrado, chairperson of the Committee on International Relations, said they expect the number of foreign dignitaries visiting the city to increase in the coming months of 2026.

Source: SunStar Davao

#DavaoCity #DavaoLifeIsHere #InvestInDavao #GoodGovernance

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These banks and e-wallets made changes in their transfer fees

 By Ica Hontiveros-Cheng

Published Jul 7, 2026 07:30 pm

Banks and e-wallets have been playing catch-up in announcing zero transfer fees, free transfers, or a lower transfer fee, and consumers are enjoying it. BPI made the announcement first, saying it will waive the InstaPay and PESONet fees on the BPI app, BPI Online, VYBE e-wallet, and BizKo starting July 1, 2026.

BPI President and CEO TG Limcaoco said that eliminating the per-transaction charges was a meaningful step toward financial inclusion for millions of Filipinos. By making digital transfers completely free, BPI aims to simplify everyday payments.

As of this writing RCBC DiskarTech, UnionBank, and Landbank have already announced free bank transfers.

These free bank transfers did not just happen. Through Memorandum No. M-2026-025, which was issued last June 17, the BSP (Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas) lifted the moratorium on increases in InstaPay and PESONet transaction fees. It also issued new rules aimed at making electronic charges fairer, more transparent, and reflective of actual costs for them.

The BSP indicated that digital transfer fees should be significantly lower than actual face-to-face bank transfers. And while a number of banks have already announced free transfer fees, others are offering a number of free monthly or daily transfers.

MariBank has been offering 50 free InstaPay and PESONet transfers per month since updating its transaction policy on June 1. However, there will be a P15.00 transfer fee after the limit is exceeded.

Not to be confused with RCBC Diskartech, RCBC Pulz offers 30 free monthly transfers as long as the transaction is P100.00 and above.

In case you didn’t know, you can use your Robinsons Go Rewards points to cover transfer fees through GoTyme Bank. Although you don’t have to use it just yet, since GoTyme users enjoy 20 free InstaPay transfers monthly. Keep in mind that GoTyme’s PESONet transfers are unlimited and free.

CIMB Bank customers can make up to 2 free InstaPay transfers daily to local banks, subject to a maximum of P50,000.00 per transaction. Should you have already used your two daily transfers, subsequent transactions will incur a P10.00 fee. CIMB Prime or CIMB Biz account holders can enjoy up to 10 free daily transfers. Please note that PESONet transfers through CIMB are still free.

Both GCash and Maya decreased their transfer fees from P15.00 to P10.00. PESONet transfers for Maya are still free.

Metrobank lowered its InstaPay transfer fee to P8.00 per transaction, the lowest rate that the bank has offered. The transfer fee before was at P25.00.

From P10.00, Chinabank has also reduced its InstaPay fee to just P5.00 per transaction.

On Monday, Malacañang expressed hope that more banks would follow suit and make digital fund transfers free of charge. A definite win for consumers, as they surely appreciate every peso saved. Here’s to hoping more banks follow.

US backs Philippines after China's ballistic missile launch into Pacific Ocean

 

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy training ship Qi Jiguang docks in Manila at past 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Chinese Embassy in Manila)

China’s military test-launched a long-range ballistic missile Monday from one of its nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific, drawing protest and concerns from countries in the region. Read more

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara on Monday voiced concern over China's missile launch on Monday, July 6. Read more

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton says Washington stands with the Philippines following China’s test launch. Read more

Why do we study mathematics?

 

Marciano L. Legarde

The study of the sciences has become more significant than ever as the years have gone by. It is a decisive factor that tells us the direction of where our country is heading; either a few years back or several years into the future.

Imagine a particle, let’s say an electron, traveling in a medium with its fellow electrons. Back then, it was thought that electrons were perfectly spherical point charges that moved around the nucleus the same way as how planets orbit around the sun. This was the classical era of physics. Gustav Kirchhoff in 1857 was the first to identify the connection between the speed of light and the speed of electric signals in a wire. Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Rudolf Kohlrausch in 1856 determined the ratio of electric and magnetic units and found it to be almost exactly equal to the velocity of light. James Clerk Maxwell in the 1860s developed a unified mathematical theory of electromagnetic fields. Finally, J.J. Thomson in 1897 identified the electron as a specific subatomic particle with mass, which allowed him to make the final distinction between the particle’s own physical drift velocity and the speed of the field it produces.

Furthermore, with recent developments in quantum mechanics, we have realized that particles, including the electron, are not even point spheres; a particle can be both a wave and a particle simultaneously while actually being a cloud of probabilities. Albert Einstein, the one behind the theories of relativity, felt dissatisfied with the idea of quantum nature being probabilistic, famously saying, “God does not play dice.”

I used to hate mathematics. I never really paid attention in classes related to science and mathematics during my early junior high school days. I thought it was “too boring” or “too difficult to understand.” But that was because I wasn’t putting effort into understanding the true nature and purpose of science and its language, mathematics.

When I was in Grade 10, I was intrigued by physics. I developed a sense of curiosity and purpose. I found myself questioning my own existence (not an existential crisis, of course) and questioning the world around me. It all started with two simple questions: “What am I?” and “How does it all work?”

With recent developments in physics and mathematics, I learned that math is an essential tool physicists use to prove a phenomenon in our universe without having to see it firsthand. And surprisingly enough, later experiments seem to almost perfectly align with the math that the scientists computed. So, what really is mathematics?

We all know the common title of math being the “language of the universe.” But why? Mathematics was only used for counting and measuring shapes and sizes. But over time, we needed to use the concept of numbers in other forms of measurement like strength, equilibrium, temperature, and area. Civilizations found the utility of numbers to be so useful that, over time, they used the logic it provides to progress their respective nations. But this became a double-edged sword. The moment we learned the power of numbers was also the moment we learned how to create and destroy more efficiently.

So, why do we study mathematics? There is a simple answer, but it is difficult in practice: to make humanity more powerful and advanced, to make life easier. But that’s the practical reason.

I use the language of mathematics to explore the hidden mysteries of the universe and provide solutions that can be useful for everyday practicalities. I use mathematics because I am curious about the “what-ifs.” I use mathematics because it lets me test the limits of the current status quo of knowledge.

Mathematics is the reason why our buildings remain stable. Mathematics is the reason why our GPS exists. Because while physics provides the intuition, the numbers are the tools that we use to make sure that it is less likely for things to go wrong.

As Filipinos, it is our responsibility to make use of our resources to improve our country. To truly fight for our nation, we must acknowledge that mathematics is the actual net external force that pushes progress forward. Because intuition will remain a feeling without the formal proof that mathematics provides. Even if mathematics is not part of your course, it is illogical to grow resentment toward it. How can you hate something that you don’t even know?

It is simply how to build logic and how to effectively link other past logics together so we can reach a meaningful conclusion. It teaches us to be critical and extremely careful with the things that we have in our own hands. It teaches us to be responsible and accountable, and not to let failure be the end of the journey. Because in mathematics and science, failure is just data, not the end of the world.

PSA Davao de Oro Strengthens National ID Advocacy

Through Province-wide Sticker Campaign

Reference No. PR-261182-018

The "National ID Accepted Here" stickers were posted in partner establishments,

including 31 government offices and 27 financial institutions and private

establishments, signifying their acceptance of the National ID as a valid proof of

identity. These stickers also remind the public that the National ID Card, National

ID in Paper Form, and Digital National ID are the three official and government-

recognized formats of the National ID, all of which are equally valid for identity

verification. In addition, the QR codes featured on the sticker’s direct users to

official National ID information and provide access to the appropriate channels for

reporting incidents involving the non-acceptance of the National ID.

Meanwhile, the National ID Team also installed 69 National ID public information

stickers in high-traffic areas to further expand the reach of National ID awareness

across the province. These were strategically posted in 51 transportation hubs, 13

government-designated public posting areas, one commercial and semi-public

establishment, one healthcare and social services area, and one property open to

the public. Through these strategic locations, National ID information is made more

accessible to commuters, workers, residents, and visitors throughout Davao de

Oro.

Through this information campaign, PSA Davao de Oro continues to strengthen

public awareness of the official and government-recognized formats of the National

ID. The campaign likewise promotes their wider acceptance and use in accessing

both government and private sector services.

Moreover, this initiative reflects PSA Davao de Oro's continuing commitment to

making official National ID information more accessible through sustained

partnerships with local government units, government agencies, transportation

operators, financial institutions, private establishments, and other community

stakeholders.

For inquiries on the National ID posting stickers in Davao de Oro, please contact

the National Identification System Section of PSA Davao de Oro at telephone

number (084) 817-0347 or via email at davaodeoro@psa.gov.ph.

Resurrection: A love letter to cinema

 

Across his promising career, Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan has established himself as a master of manipulating time and space through a self-consciously slippery dream logic. His latest feature, “Resurrection,” is his most ambitious plunge yet into the realm of pure cinematic dreamscape.

Following its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Prix Spécial, the film has solidified Bi Gan’s reputation as a visionary capable of traversing stylistic boundaries with supreme confidence.

The film’s premise is a maximalist paradox. In a near-future reality, humanity has discovered that the secret to immortality lies in no longer dreaming, an existence compared to a wax candle that never burns and thus lasts forever. However, outcasts known as Deliriants defy this decree, choosing shorter, brighter lives fueled by imagination.

The story follows an elegant “Big Other” named Miss Shu (Shu Qi), tasked with hunting these outliers. When she tracks down a monstrous, Nosferatu-esque Deliriant (Jackson Yee), she is moved by his dedication to his inner life. In an act of seeming mercy, she installs a film projector inside him, allowing him a final series of reveries before his inevitable death.

The bulk of the film’s running time unfolds within the Deliriant’s dreams, presented in chapters corresponding to the six senses of Buddhist thought: sight, a tribute to silent melodrama and German Expressionism, featuring a Byzantine maze of crooked film sets that evokes memories of F.W. Murnau and Georges Méliès; hearing, a mid-20th-century espionage noir involving a mysterious suitcase, a theremin playing Bach, and a mirrored labyrinth reminiscent of Orson Welles’ “The Lady From Shanghai”; taste, a folktale set in a ruined Buddhist temple where an art thief encounters a “Spirit of Bitterness” reincarnated in a rotten tooth; smell, a tragicomic riff on “Paper Moon,” following a con artist and an orphan apprentice who swindle a mob boss using a fake ability to identify playing cards by scent; touch, a woozy, red-lit romance between a young hoodlum and a vampire singer on New Year’s Eve 1999; and mind, the final reckoning where the monster’s mind is found in an opium den, leading to a funeral rite performed through the language of cinema.

Bi Gan uses breathtaking long takes to collapse past, present, and future. The film’s final 40-minute unbroken take, a breathlessly conceived sequence following the vampire romance, displays a casual fluidity that creates a surreal, trance-like atmosphere.

Despite the sheer opulence on display, some critics have noted a draining and mannered quality to the work, suggesting it may be more an act of preservation by a curator than a work of imaginative possibility. However, others argue that “Resurrection” is a cinephile’s delight, a deeply mysterious work of art that captures the unique, paradoxical pleasure of total immersion in cinema.

Ultimately, “Resurrection” functions as a love letter to cinema. In Bi Gan’s world, to give up dreaming is to give up what makes us human. By projecting these dreams onto the screen, he invites the audience to keep the faith and rediscover the sensorial illusion of cinema.

SENSATION: RENTEN-DOPPELBESTEUERUNG IST NOCH NICHT GELÖST!

 **SENSATION: RENTEN-DOPPELBESTEUERUNG IST NOCH NICHT GELÖST!**

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht entschied bereits 2002 dagegen – doch 2025 zahlen Millionen Rentner immer noch doppelt. Das Finanzministerium strich heimlich einen entscheidenden Vermerk aus Millionen Bescheiden.

Bist du einer von 6,7 Millionen Betroffenen? Die verlorene Summe könnte bis zu 13.700 Euro betragen.

Die komplette Liste der betroffenen Jahrgänge und die versteckte Frist findest du im ERSTEN KOMMENTAR.

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🇵🇭 PHILIPPINES SEISMIC UPDATE

 A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck near the Municipality of Sarangani, Davao Region, Mindanao, Philippines, at 1:41:09 PM IST (08:11:09 UTC) on 6 July 2026, according to BMKG.

The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km, which can increase the likelihood of noticeable shaking near the epicentral area. No tsunami warning has been issued at this time.

Preliminary Parameters

• Magnitude: M5.9

• Depth: 10.0 km

• Location: Municipality of Sarangani, Davao Region, Mindanao, Philippines

• Origin Time: 08:11:09 UTC | 1:41:09 PM IST

• Status: Confirmed (BMKG)

Earlier on 6 July 2026, the Philippines also experienced a M5.0 earthquake beneath the Bicol Region (Luzon) at a depth of 132 km, occurring at 11:36:11 AM IST (06:06:11 UTC). These earthquakes highlight the ongoing tectonic activity along the Philippine Mobile Belt.

Based on the large geographic separation and differing tectonic settings, this earthquake is considered a separate seismic event rather than an aftershock of the earlier Luzon earthquake.

The situation will continue to be monitored for any significant aftershocks or updated assessments from regional and international seismic agencies.

This image is AI-generated to visualize the event. Some map details, boundaries, or positioning may not perfectly match real-world geography. The science is accurate — the visuals are illustrative.

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