Humility amid greatness

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

IF there’s one precious lesson we can learn from our devotion to the Sto. Nino, it should be about how we should be humble even if we know we have the greatest dignity among God’s creatures. Such humility would truly liken us to Christ who is our everything in life, since he is the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity.

Christ illustrates this point as he presents himself as a child dressed as a king in the image of the Sto. Nino. Yes, Christ’s humility would prevent us from getting spoiled by all the wonderful endowments God has given us—his grace, our intelligence and will, our freedom, our talents, etc. When we are truly humble, we would never feel entitled. In fact, what we would rather be most conscious about would be our duty to serve.

More than that, when we have the humility of Christ, we would be willing to suffer and die for the sins of men in general. We would be willing, like Christ, to be the expiation for sins.

Such humility would always help us realize that we need to be in constant conversation with Christ, referring everything to him, asking him for the answers to our questions, clarifications to the many issues we have to grapple with in life, strength for our weaknesses and temptations, contrition and conversion after our falls, etc.

We should do everything to keep this state of humility alive in us all the time. We know very well how easy it is for us to take this virtue for granted. We have to realize more vividly how vulnerable we are to the ways of pride, arrogance, self-centeredness, desire for power and domination, etc. Humility keeps us guarded against these dangers.

And when we happen to receive praises and honors from others because of our good works, let’s keep our feet firmly stuck to the ground, not allowing ourselves to be intoxicated. We should not allow these praises and honors to go to our head and cast some evil spell over us.

Instead, we have to thank God profusely. All praises and honors belong to him. What we should realize also is that those praises and honors given to us are actually a sign that we have to give ourselves more to God and to others. Our sense of duty and responsibility should become sharper.

Those praises and honors that we receive are actually some kind of a test to see if we would still remain with God or we would now choose ourselves as our own god. We have to know how to pass that test, and so we need to really grow and deepen our humility.

We should never feel sad because we have chosen to deny ourselves to grow in humility amid the praises and honors. That self-denial is actually a big opening for the grace of God to come to us. That realization should make us very happy with a joy that would keep us simple, not proud and complicated.

We have to learn not to get spoiled by whatever praises and honors would come our way. Instead, let these honors trigger the urge to deepen our humility, to enrich our gratitude to God and to others, and to sharpen our sense of duty and responsibility.

What a beautiful world we would contribute to build up if we remain humble amid great honors!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Temperatures in the Philippines are dropping

 

by Charie Mae F. Abarca, Manila Bulletin

Amid the continuous surge of the northeast monsoon, locally known as “amihan”, a record-breaking temperature of 19.7 degrees celsius (°C) was recorded in Science Garden, Quezon City around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 16, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

This has been the so far lowest temperature that the city has experienced since the onset of the northeast monsoon on Oct. 25, 2021.

The State weather bureau said the following weather stations recorded the top 10 lowest air temperatures in the country as of 8 a.m.

Baguio City, Benguet (11.0 °C)

Tanay, Rizal (18.0 °C)

Casiguran, Aurora (18.6 °C)

Laoag City, Ilocos Norte (18.6 °C)

Malaybalay, Bukidnon (19.0 °C)

Basco, Batanes (19.1 °C)

San Jose, Occidental Mindoro (19.1 °C)

Sinait, Ilocos Sur (19.5 °C)

Science Garden, Quezon City (19.7°C)

Abucay, Bataan (19.8 °C)

Meanwhile, in a public weather forecast, PAGASA weather specialist Samuel Duran said that the shear line or the convergence of warm and cold winds may bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers in Mindanao.

No weather disturbance is expected to develop and affect the country in the next 24 hours, PAGASA said.

Generally optimistic, despite continuing challenges

A GLIMPSE OF PARADISE El Nido, Palawan (File photo)

by Manila Bulletin

Tourism chief sees ‘revenge travel’ manifesting across all markets of the Philippine tourism industry.

 

The annual tourism revenue in 2020 was no doubt higher than the receipts generated the following year since tourists were still able to enter the country from January to mid-March before the lockdown was first imposed in 2020.

But if you compare the figures from April to September of both years covering the pandemic period, the tourism industry this 2021 saw a renewed hope toward a steady recovery path.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that tourism receipts from April to September 2021 reached ₱3.1 billion, up by 91.6 percent from ₱1.6 billion generated in the same period in 2020.

“The current tourism scenario is looking generally optimistic,” said Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat. Since the gradual resumption of tourism operations last September, more establishments had reopened and the country saw an uptick in the number of domestic travelers in major tourist destinations.

In Boracay alone, tourism arrivals ballooned by 1,151.61 percent to 173,104 from the 13,830 tourists recorded on the island during the same period in 2021.

The DOT also continued to promote the Philippines as a country that would bank not only on the safety of travelers but also its host communities as it actively and aggressively vaccinated tourism workers nationwide.

As of Dec. 24, 2021, at least 88.38 percent or 282,780 tourism workers had been inoculated against COVID-19, while the remaining 11.62 percent were waiting for their schedule.

‘In the wake of disconnect and economic hardship brought about by the pandemic, Filipinos are likely to travel ‘more consciously.’

For 2022, Berna sees “revenge travel” manifesting across all markets of the Philippine tourism industry. In the wake of disconnect and economic hardship brought about by the pandemic, Filipinos are likely to travel “more consciously.”

A recent research commissioned by AirBnB showed that over 80 percent of Filipinos it polled seek to travel in a way that positively impacts locals while about 76 percent want to be more conscious when it comes to familiarizing themselves with the host community and how they can make a contribution.

The DOT has vowed to pivot toward sustainable tourism development models, with focus on providing guests with high-quality experiences rather than mass tourism and short-term gains.

With no certain date yet as to when the country will open its borders to foreign leisure travelers, the DOT believes domestic tourists will continue to be the main tourism growth driver in 2022.

The agency will also tap into the growing workation market, seeing that remote work is likely to stay throughout and even after the pandemic.

“The trend was something that came along as a need by employees who worked from home during the pandemic, yet also needed the time to take a break and recover from cabin fever. We are confident that with the increasing prominence of remote work, this trend will linger on even after the pandemic,” Berna said.

Should the Philippines reopen, according to the tourism secretary, foreign tourists can rest assured that health and safety protocols are in place.

“The DOT yields to the wisdom of our health experts and we fully understand the need to protect the health and wellbeing of the rest of the country, especially now that we have started to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.

The Philippines was supposed to have ended its almost 21-month closure to foreign tourists on Dec. 1, 2021, but the plan was suspended amid the growing threat of the heavily mutated Omicron coronavirus variant.

This year, the tourism chief is also hoping to successfully host the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit, a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) event seen to boost the Philippine travel sector’s recovery.

“The WTTC Global Summit is widely considered as the most influential event for travel and tourism professionals and stakeholders, and we are making sure that the health and safety of our guests, as well as our staff, are on top of our priority list,” she said.

Meanwhile, the DOT is working on the “rehabilitation and recovery” of several tourist destinations, including Bohol, Camiguin, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Occidental, Palawan, Siargao, and Southern Leyte, affected by last year’s Typhoon Odette.

Berna said the focus was on addressing immediate concerns of affected tourism workers, such as cash-for-work or alternative livelihood programs and the reconstruction of affected facilities of various enterprises.

The agency, through the Tourism Promotions Board, is also facilitating the delivery of relief goods and basic necessities to Cebu, Siargao, Tacloban, Palawan, and Negros Oriental.

Cash donations from tourism stakeholders were also given to affected establishments and DOT Regional Offices. In addition, the DOT is in close coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for financial assistance.

In Siargao, Berna said the DOT together with the Makati Med Foundation would continue with the vaccination program for tourism workers and, at the same time see, to the immediate medical needs of the community.

“We stand behind with our kababayans and our tourism stakeholders from Visayas and Mindanao in these difficult times,” said Berna. (PNA)

NEGATIVITY KILLS ALL OF US!

Negativity or pessimism is a tendency to be downbeat, disagreeable, and skeptical. It's a pessimistic attitude that always expects the worst. Negative outcomes are bad outcomes, like losing a game, getting a disease, suffering an injury, or getting something stolen.

Especially nowadays, we feel our life is turning miserably. Our negativity doesn't allow us to keep our eyes, ears - and, most important! -  our minds, hearts and souls opened. We're reaching our breaking point.

As I said several months ago here: this breaking point can be the prelude to our strongest moment. It is when we reach our breaking point, that we discover our real strength. Allow me to ask you, my dear readers, "What happens to you or with you when you reach your breaking point?" Do you face it or do you run away?

I'll be giving you a very simple answer: If you face it - you break it. If you run away (and/or close your ears, eyes and mouth) - it surely breaks you!

Everyday - a dull reality! Many of us will answer this question with a big YES! Actually we do like to cover a newborn's day already with a gray veil? Each day has a new face, but sometimes we don't have the strength to watch its countenance. Of course, not every day has adventures and highlights.

But we enjoy quarreling and arguing. With other people and even with ourselves.

Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that, at the same time, seemed especially desolating and painful with a particular satisfaction. Indeed, everything I have learned, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness. 

If it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from your earthly existence, the result would not be to make life delectable, but to make it too banal and trivial to be endurable. 

By observation, we can feel that many of us need help to manage our everyday life. We need something that would keep us going as we journey through life. Many times we can also learn from other people and their experiences. I feel much better in the circle of my Pinoy family.

And here is one more thing: Affection is the humblest love - it gives itself no airs. It lives with humble and private things: soft slippers, old clothes, old jokes, and the thump of a sleepy dog's tail on the kitchen floor. The glory of affection, the disposition of mind, the good will and tender attachment, is that it can unite those who are not "made for one and another", people. Who, if not out down by fate in the same household or community, would have nothing to do with one and another.

For me life has been a thing of ups and downs in approximately equal measure. I don't have something sensational to report every day about my progress. Often, I wonder if fulfillment in life is necessarily tied to change for the better.

Since this pandemic changed my life dramatically, I start my day with a positive outlook. Don’t start your day guessing that something will go wrong, instead go out with a positive mindset and convince yourself you’ll succeed.

Sad and depressing stories filled the newscasts and tabloids these days. If you’re struggling to be optimistic, avoid gloomy stories because they will only worsen your mood.

Positive thinking doesn’t mean you should wipe out negativity. Learn from your mistakes by reflecting on how you should have handled the circumstance in a different way and, thus, changing its outcome.

Very important: avoid cynical people because they may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways. In addition, be with people who are positive, supportive, and willing to give you useful feedback and advice. My "friend lists" in Social Media are getting smaller and smaller ... .

One simple rule—say nothing to yourself that you won’t say to anyone else. If a negative thought enters your mind, assess it and respond with affirmations (positive views you say aloud to boost yourself). Change your “I’ve never done this” statement with “I’ll tackle it from a different angle.”

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Seek humor in your daily life’s happenings. When you laugh at life, you’ll sense less strain.

Sing. It doesn’t matter if the entire tune is off-key. It will make you better!

Write down your achievements. Once you stop being pessimistic, you’ll realize tons of good things happen in your life more than you thought.