The off-ramp for judgmentalism

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

CHRIST tells us where we can find that exit from our strong tendency to be judgmental. “Judge not, that you may not be judged, for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again.” (Mt 7,1-2)

How should we understand these words? Are we not to make any judgment at all? That’s impossible, since the first step for us to know something is to make a judgment. So, how should we understand these words?

We definitely are meant to judge, but to judge fairly. That point is implied when Christ said, “For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

In fact, in the gospel of St. John, we hear Christ saying: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment.” (7,24) It’s clear that we have to be most careful in our judgments. We cannot be reckless about them, judging persons and things on the basis of instincts or feelings alone, or on some opinions, personal preferences, social trends, and even sophisticated theories and ideologies.

Given our wounded condition here on earth, we know that we always carry with us certain biases and prejudices, and our judgments somehow are colored by them. We can have our first impressions that definitely bear these biases and prejudices, but we should make the effort to purify them.

We have to judge with Christ himself, and now in the Holy Spirit. With respect to this point, St. Paul had this to say: “He that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” (1 Cor 2,15) It is not pride to aspire to that ideal of being so spiritual to be able to judge all things.

Only in this way can we become persons of sound judgment. It’s an ideal whose importance, relevance and urgency are increasing these days, given the complicated conditions we are getting into.

That’s actually an understatement. We know that to be a prudent man or a person of sound judgment is essential to us, considering our nature and dignity, plus the growing scope of the responsibilities we are acquiring nowadays.

Not only do we have to contend with the multiplying pressures and conditionings on our personal, family and professional life. Not only do we have to grapple with the confusing ramifications of our social, economic and political life, sorting them out as best that we could.

With escalating insistence, we need to learn how to integrate the material with the spiritual dimension of our life, the here and now with the eternal and supernatural destiny meant for us.

We have to know how to live by faith, hope and charity, the essence of our supernatural life with God, in the middle of our daily activities and concerns, and in the pursuit of our temporal affairs, be it in business, politics, education, culture, sports, etc.

This necessity demands of us to be nothing less than persons of sound judgment. We have to overcome our tendency to be guided mainly by instincts, emotions, moods, fashions, and some sophisticated philosophies and ideologies that, while offering many good elements, actually lead us away from our proper end.

Let’s never dare to emit judgments that are mere products of our own making. We have to make them always in the presence of God and motivated by nothing other than love for God and for everybody else. We have to continually check on the rectitude of our intention, and the correctness and timeliness of our words and deeds.

USA routs Italy in VNL

 

By Manila Bulletin Newsroom

Published Jun 22, 2026 07:38 pm

At A Glance

• What was anticipated as a grind was resolved in a brisk sweep as the USA won the battle of three-time Volleyball Nations Leaague champions, dominating Italy, 27-25, 25-20, 25-16, on Saturday, June 20, at the Philsports Arena.

What was anticipated as a grind was resolved in a brisk sweep as the USA won the battle of three-time Volleyball Nations Leaague champions, dominating Italy, 27-25, 25-20, 25-16, on Saturday, June 20, at the Philsports Arena. 

Stephany Samedy scored 12 points, all on attacks, taking charge this time for a USA squad that has yet to drop a set in the Pasig City leg of the FIVB’s premier annual international competition. 

Madison Banks had 11 points for the USA, which has notched six wins in seven outings.   

With both teams utilizing alternate systems, the USA and Italy put on an intriguing match marked by momentum shifts to the delight of the big crowd in the event presented by the Philippine Sports Commission. 

The Americans had a decisive edge on attacks, 49-41, and they widened the margin by cashing in on Italy’s mistakes, 17 points to nine. 

The Italians leaned on Merit Adigwe, an Italian of Nigerian descent, who wound up as the only one reaching double figures with 13 points. 

Italy absorbed its second loss in seven matches.  

The USA takes on Serbia, while Italy battles Japan on Sunday. 

The tournament features 18 elite teams, with the top eight teams after the nine-leg three-week preliminaries advancing to the final in Macau. 

Gov't crafting recovery plan for quake-hit areas in Region 12

 

EVACUATION center in Barangay New Aklan, Glan, Sarangani. (DSWD-12) 

By Keith Bacongco

Published Jun 22, 2026 11:22 pm

DAVAO CITY – The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) is crafting the early recovery plan for earthquake-hit areas in Region 12 or the Soccsksargen area.

RDRRMC-12 Chairperson and Office of Civil Defense-12 (OCD-12) Regional Director Rodrigo Sosmeña said the agency is working with partner agencies and local government units to come up with rehabilitation and recovery plans two weeks since the magnitude-7.8 earthquake devastated several towns, mostly in Sarangani.

Sosmeña recently gathered concerned agencies and local officials to discuss the transition from response phase to early recovery efforts while relief operations continue in General Santos City, Sarangani, and some parts of South Cotabato.

The OCD-12 said the provincial government of Sarangani is now prioritizing the repair of damaged roads and bridges to hasten the delivery of relief aid and essential services to affected communities.

Dozens of barangays in Sarangani, particularly in Glan and Malapatan, were isolated for several days after many roads and bridges were damaged by the earthquake.

Some roads leading to hinterland areas were not accessible for a few days due to landslides, hampering the delivery of emergency food aid, prompting concerned agencies to ferry relief aid using helicopters and ships.

“All of us, local and national government agencies, should have a firm ground to base our medium-term and long-term plans. So, I’m requesting all members of the council to provide us with reliable and near accurate information in a timely fashion,” Sosmeña said.

Department of Social Welfare and Development-12 chief Loreto Cabaya Jr. said they will release additional cash assistance to affected communities next week in Sarangani and General Santos City.

“Each identified beneficiary, which was submitted by the local government unit, will receive a corresponding amount depending on their case whether slightly or severely affected," Cabaya said.

Severely affected beneficiaries will receive P10,350 while those slightly affected will receive P5,175 each, he added.

The assistance is part of the Emergency Cash Transfer, an unconditional financial assistance program designed to bridge the gap between immediate disaster relief and early recovery, Cabaya said.

The earthquake has affected 1.3 million individuals in Sarangani, South Cotabato, and General Santos City as of 5 p.m. June 19. Fifty-six people were killed, 18 still missing, and 1, 259 were injured by the tremor.

The OCD said 68,509 houses were damaged, over 9,000 of which were totally damaged. Initial damage to infrastructure was placed at P2.3 billion.

The burden of surviving

BY ELEANOR PINUGU

JUNE 22, 2026

Nobel laureate, political activist, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once wrote, “I live, therefore I am guilty. I am here because a friend, an acquaintance, an unknown person died in my place.”

Wiesel was describing what is recognized in psychology as survivor’s guilt. This refers to the heavy burden of remorse, self-blame, and moral anguish that an individual feels after surviving a tragic event in which others died while they lived. Survivors may feel that their own survival somehow requires explanation, justification, or even punishment.

Ateneo basketball players Kieffer Alas and Sam Reyes recently spoke with Pia Hontiveros on The Pod Network about their near-death experiences during the Aurora tragedy that claimed the lives of their teammates, Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili. Reyes shared that he felt intense guilt, believing he could have done more to save Baterbonia. “It was eating me alive,” he said, describing how he could not sleep and how his teammate’s face kept appearing in his mind. He also spoke about questioning why God allowed him to survive when others did not.

Those who suffer from survivor’s guilt often fixate on several painful thoughts. The first is the “Why me?” question: Why did I survive while others were harmed or killed? The second is the “should have” fallacy: the tendency to keep revisiting what happened and believe they could have done more to change the outcome, even if the situation was out of their control. The third is guilt over returning to life itself: the belief that one no longer deserves to be happy, to succeed, or to continue living normally because others no longer can.

What makes the situation even more painful is that Alas and Reyes are not only carrying the trauma of what happened but also the public’s anger over what people believe happened. Both players shared that they have been receiving death threats and hostile comments on social media. Some have accused them of jealousy and even of being perpetrators, inventing wild stories about how they somehow caused the deaths of their teammates.

Alas described it as “going through two deaths.” The first was losing their friends. The second was being publicly blamed for their deaths. Reyes put it even more painfully: “Nabuhay nga po kami, pero parang pinapatay po kami.”

Rather than respond to the interview with empathy and compassion, however, many people doubled down on their anger. Some dismissed their words as scripted. Others chose to dissect Alas’ posture, gestures, and the position of his hands, claiming he had a “defensive stance” and therefore must be hiding the truth. It is both alarming and heartbreaking that so many people are willing to share and amplify these posts simply because their unverified claims reinforce the narratives they already want to believe.

These two young men, along with every other player who survived, are victims too. They witnessed the deaths of their teammates. They nearly lost their own lives. And now, because of social media, they are experiencing secondary victimization. The public is inflicting additional harm by telling them that their words are suspicious, their grief is fake, and their survival is undeserved and must be explained. They have already expressed that they feel guilty about coming home alive. And yet some people choose to viciously validate that guilt by making them feel as if they did not deserve to survive.

The failure of Ateneo’s management to provide clear, timely, and compassionate information created an informational vacuum that allowed speculation to flourish. The institution should be held to account not only for the circumstances that led to the tragedy, but also for how its response may have compounded the pain and confusion of grieving families and other survivors. However, it is equally important to call out people who insist on holding on to speculative narratives even as credible accounts and official processes begin to clarify the facts.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, OPINION

I used to tan at the beach—now I use an umbrella under the sun

The country’s collective grief and anger are warranted, but they do not justify any form of cruelty toward those who are also victims of the tragedy. The public should continue to ask serious questions about supervision, safety protocols, risk assessment, decision-making, emergency response, and the broader responsibilities of those entrusted with student welfare. What we should not be doing is inventing motives or assigning blame to the young people who also barely survived.

Our pursuit of justice must be anchored in facts, not in the narratives we are emotionally attached to. If we say we are seeking accountability because we care about the lives and futures that were lost, then we must also confront the harm being done to the lives and futures of those who remain. Survivor’s guilt is already a heavy enough burden. No grieving child should have to carry the public’s rage on top of it.

—————-

eleanor@shetalksasia.com

The stewardship of fathers

 

BY AR. ALVIN P. TEJADA

JUNE 20, 2026

braconic.com

Father’s Day always makes me think about how fathers spend time with their families.

Mothers are often better storytellers. They remember details, keep conversations going, and somehow know what everyone is thinking. Fathers, at least many of the fathers I know, are a little different. We are not always the best at expressing ourselves.

Fathers often communicate through actions more than words. (scottsdalerecovery.com)

Communicating through actions

Many of my favorite family memories do not involve long conversations at all. They usually happen while sharing a simple meal, running errands, or walking around a neighborhood with no particular destination in mind. There may be stretches when nobody says much. Yet somehow, those moments still matter.

Perhaps that is because fathers often communicate through actions more than words.

As we grow older, our concerns begin to change. We think less about ourselves and more about the people who depend on us. We worry about education, household expenses, safety, and whether the home we worked hard for will continue to serve the family well in the years ahead.

Fathers are the ones who worry about education, household expenses, safety, and whether the home they worked hard for will continue to serve the family well in the years ahead. (istockphoto.com)

Exercise in stewardship

I have come to realize that fatherhood is, in many ways, an exercise in stewardship.

I am not particularly good at organizing documents. If you ask me where every paper is filed, I will probably need help finding it.

But I have learned that someone has to make sure important matters do not fall through the cracks. Property taxes, permits, insurance, and government transactions may not be exciting, but neglecting them can become costly.

Whether we handle these responsibilities ourselves or ask for help, fathers need to know they are being handled properly.

I have also accepted the reality that the people who spend the most time in a house are often the ones who notice problems before anyone else. A spouse may point out a leak. A helper may notice termites. A child may mention a strange smell.

Good stewardship is not about pretending we know everything. It is about listening when people tell us that something is changing and acting before a small problem becomes a large one.

Keeping our home in good condition is also less about being handy and more about knowing who to call.

This I have learned, over the years, the value of finding reliable electricians, plumbers, builders, and maintenance workers. The best ones are not always the cheapest, but they are the people you can trust when something goes wrong.

The man of the house may also find himself paying more attention to how homes can operate more efficiently. (shutterstock.com)

Man of the house

The man of the house may also find himself paying more attention to how homes can operate more efficiently.

Electricity and water costs continue to rise, and many technologies that were once expensive are becoming more accessible. Energy-efficient lighting, inverter appliances, solar panels, and water-saving fixtures can lower monthly expenses while reducing waste.

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PROPERTY

Designed for resilience: Homes ready for rising waters

Sustainability in our homes does not always begin with large investments. Sometimes, it starts with practical decisions made at home.

Perhaps the biggest lesson, however, is accepting that our children may not value the same things we do.

Many of us spend years building homes and acquiring property for the next generation. Yet they will have their own priorities, lifestyles, and aspirations. What matters is not whether they live exactly as we did, but whether the spaces we leave behind can adapt to their needs.

The tole of a father does not end with providing a house, but rather helping create the conditions for a family to grow, adapt, and make their own memories.

Life at home

These days, one of my favorite activities is simply walking with family. Sometimes we explore a nearby neighborhood. Sometimes we visit a place we have never seen before. We talk a little, observe a lot, and occasionally discover something unexpected.

It costs very little, yet it reminds me of something important. A home is not only the structure we build. It is also the life that happens around it.

Perhaps that is the stewardship of fathers–not just providing a house, but also helping create the conditions for a family to grow, adapt, and make their own memories.

The price of belonging

 Severina Ongpin 

The first thing I noticed on my first trip to New York was how people stayed in the middle of a city that was constantly moving. Strangers lingered on public benches, children chased each other through parks, senior citizens played chess beneath trees, and students read nearby with coffee in hand.

A year later in Singapore, I observed the same quiet rhythm in their own spaces, such as hawker centers and waterfront promenades, where people from different backgrounds and generations gathered freely. What struck me most was that Singapore’s climate was the same, if not much worse than Manila’s humid and tropical heat.

In a world increasingly dominated by short-form content and constant technology, these third spaces offer something the internet cannot: genuine human presence.

Yet in Manila, where many social spaces are hidden behind entrance fees, commercial expectations, or concerns over safety and cleanliness, opportunities for connection often feel conditional.

These cities understood the value of what sociologists call third spaces: places outside of home and work where people can gather, linger, and interact freely.

Parks, libraries, plazas, community centers, and public benches allow connections to form naturally without the expectation of spending money.

In increasingly isolating urban environments, these spaces offer relief from the rigid routines of school, work, and crowded homes. This is especially important in the Philippines, where many young people live in densely populated areas with limited privacy or recreational spaces. While such spaces should be common in a city of millions, Manila tells a different story.

Here, social life is often confined to privately owned establishments, where staying requires spending money. Although the city has public areas such as Luneta Park, Arroceros Forest Park, and several plazas, their condition and accessibility often limit how people use them, as they lack security, cleanliness, and basic amenities.

As a result, many students buy drinks simply to secure a place to study, while groups of friends gather in shopping centers because few alternatives exist.

Although these places appear public, they remain shaped by commercial expectations. Malls have become the default gathering spaces for many Filipinos; they only fill a gap left by the absence of accessible parks, libraries, plazas, and pedestrian-friendly environments. In this context, the community itself can begin to feel transactional.

Even when public spaces are available, accessibility alone is not enough. A park may be open to everyone, but if it feels unsafe, unclean, or unbearably hot, it cannot function as a meaningful third space. The challenge is creating public spaces while designing them with comfort, safety, and dignity in mind.

By contrast, cities like Singapore demonstrate how thoughtful urban planning, through providing shade, greenery, cleanliness, and efficient public infrastructure, can transform even a humid tropical environment into one that encourages community interaction rather than isolation.

In Singapore, it was common to see people sitting along sidewalks, waterfront steps, or public walkways despite the heat because these spaces were intentionally designed for comfort. In Manila, however, sidewalks are often uneven, poorly maintained, or treated as extensions of the road rather than spaces for people. This suggests that the primary issue is not the climate but rather the condition of the environment.

When cities fail to create spaces where people feel safe and comfortable enough to gather, the consequences extend far beyond urban design. The absence of meaningful third spaces slowly reshapes the way communities interact, limiting opportunities for connection, affecting mental health, social trust, community, and relationships.

My experiences in New York and Singapore showed how public spaces can shape daily life. They allow strangers to interact, elderly residents to remain socially active, and young people to gather without the pressure of spending money.

If Manila hopes to foster stronger communities rather than deeper isolation, conversations about third spaces can no longer remain a secondary priority. When every social interaction is tied to spending money, community becomes increasingly exclusive and transactional. But when people are given safe and welcoming spaces to gather freely, connection emerges naturally.

Yet third spaces are sustained not only by urban planning but also by the people who use them. Respect, cleanliness, and consideration help to keep these environments safe and welcoming.

In the end, belonging is built by the shared decision to protect and preserve our spaces.

Is the Philippines a good place to live in and settle down?

 

Dayang Marikit

 · 

Philippine History Professor

Is the Philippines a good place to live in and settle down?

It really depends on what your idea of “good” is.

• Some like it because it’s cheaper.
• Some like it because of the people and culture.
• Some like it because of its natural beauty.
• Some like it because of all of the reasons stated above.

I remember talking to this foreigner once and I asked him (Why do you prefer living in the old and run-down part of Manila instead of the newly developed districts of Metro-Manila like BGC or Makati?)… He said that he loves the people and the characters of that place better, he loved the street children who would play with him, he loved the ‘tricycle’ drivers who would wave and smile at him, he loved the transexual salon workers who would joke around with him, he loved the wet markets, he also loved the elderly lady who owns a ‘Sari-Sari’ store across the street from where he lives.

Here are some photos to give you an idea.

• Street Children

• Tricycle Driver

• Transexual Salon Worker

• Wet Market

• ‘Sari-Sari’ Store

These aren’t the exact photos but this is just to give you an idea about what this guy is talking about. I agree with him, you know, individuals are still individuals but generally speaking once you actually get to know these people personally you end up liking them for who they are.

He also said that the High-End dristricts of Metro-Manila (where most of the middle and upper class people stayed) seemed to be ‘cold’, sterile and with less personality… He said they had nothing but “boring” office workers and “snobby” rich people.

Additional Information - (Manila proper and Metro-Manila are different)… Metro-Manila is composed of several cities (some old and some new), Manila itself is part of Metro-Manila.

• Manila was a centre of business and trade prior to Word-War-II but after the war “old Manila” was destroyed beyond repair… developers started developing other parts of Metro-Manila which you can see above. Big businesses moved out of the old district, while a lot of homesless people moved in, which explains why the city has a lot of poverty.

“Old Manila” before and after the war

• Videos

• Photos

In the end, it really depends on what you personally think is “good”.