A MOST DOWN-TO-EARTH BOOK

Overall, “Down to Earth” is a beautiful middle-grade book that I think a person of any age would enjoy. “Down to Earth” is a fascinating, middle-grade adventure that makes you feel in awe of the Universe, and I loved reading it! There are many reasons why I adored reading this book.

Do you feel like you’re living life but missing the information necessary for true happiness and fulfillment? Do you feel like someone threw you into life without the user’s manual? It’s hard to play a game when you don’t know the rules—especially when it’s the game of life! 

When tragedy strikes, it's easy to harden our hearts and cry out, "God, why did you let this happen?" Maybe then, we started praying. Before, when everything went smoothly, we would not even think a minute about praying... .

"To be a Christian without prayer, "said Martin Luther, "is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." Prayer is the only way of becoming what God wants us to be. This is the reason why Jesus spent many hours praying.

Unquestionable, our needs bring us to a place of prayer. Confronted with danger or tragedies, as I mentioned earlier, we look for God's help. Difficult times always cause the hearts of men to turn to God into prayer.

Let me ask you: How long has it been since you've brought your burdens to God? Since you asked His forgiveness for your shortcomings?

In his very interesting book "People in Prayer", Dr. John White reminds us that prayer is a divine-human interaction and it is always God who takes the initiative. White writes: "God speaks and we respond. God is always speaking. To hear his voice is not usually a mystical experience. It consists merely of a willingness to pay heed to God who lays a claim to our lives."

Yes, God always speaks. It is up to us whether we will listen and respond to Him. Many think we are the ones who initiate prayer. But prayers begin and end with God.

There was a time, I wasn't in the mood to pray any more. It seemed that God didn't listen to my prayer any more. I didn't get what I prayed for. Of course, not... ! That's not the meaning of praying to God. Will all my wishes be granted? Heaven forbid!

Sometimes, after we have prayed, God's answers may puzzle us. But as time goes by and as events unfold we see God's purpose in his answers. We might get a larger vision, what HE likes. Not what WE like... .

Think about it for a moment" How does the idea that prayer begins and ends with God affect me now? Do I have the habit of listening to god? How do I respond to Him? How do I usually pray?

I confess that a long time ago I have been trying to persuade God to change other people in my surroundings or circumstances. Nothing changed. Of course not, what a fatal attraction? I got confused because God never granted my requests. Meanwhile I got God's answers to my prayers. Maybe very simple: I was willing to let God change me... .This is how each one of us should start. Happy endings. Because I prayed according to His will... .

Talking about prayer, we also have to mention the probably most down-earth book in the bible which is  Proverbs. Its education prepares you for the street and the marketplace, not the schoolroom. The book offers the warm advice you get by growing up in a good family. It covers small questions as well as large ones: talking too much, visiting neighbors too often, being unbearably cheerful too early in the morning. Proverbs simply tell how life works most of the time.

I always love to quote proverbs, which express the truth about life in an elegant, witty kernel. You should not hunt through it for proverbs you might like. You should study the whole book to get its overall point of view. This takes time, for Proverbs covers dozens of subjects in subtle detail.

Germany sees alarming shortage in essential medicine

Author Sabine Kinkartz, DW

Body temperatures of up to 40°C are frequently a symptom of COVID-19, also among children. But supplies of fever-reducing antipyretics are running out. The question is: why?

It's business as usual at the Arcades Pharmacy in Berlin. Customers come and go — many of them are parents looking to stock up on medication used to combat fever and pain, which can be a problem also with a COVID-19 infection.

For younger children who can't swallow pills, there's a sweet-tasting juice containing either paracetamol or ibuprofen. Normally, more than 10 million small bottles of this medicine are sold each year. Now though, shelves are beginning to look empty.

"The paracetamol juice was already beginning to get a bit scarce back at the beginning of the year," says one chemist, who didn't want to give her name. "Meanwhile, we're out of stock on ibuprofen juice, as well as nasal spray. And supplies of fever suppositories are low."

What's more, she adds, there's no improvement in sight: "We've been stocking up for the winter, which means coordinating deliveries now. And what we're seeing is that all contracts for anti-pain and anti-fever medication for kids have been canceled."

Supply shortages, high demand

The Berlin pharmacy is no exception: supply shortages are having an impact across the country. More and more desperate parents are using social media to share their distress as they fail to bring their children's fever down or fight painful fever cramps.

Pharmaceutical companies fail to make their scheduled deliveries citing booming demand coupled with a shortage of raw materials. 

After the easing of anti-COVID-19 restrictions such as the mandatory wearing of masks, German pediatricians saw lots of children with respiratory illnesses and runny noses. And pharmacies saw customers stock-purchasing after media reports of serious bottlenecks in supply chains and delays in delivery schedules.

What really helps when we catch a cold?

The pharmaceutical industry currently faces problems with supply chains plus a lack of skilled workers. But for years now, they have not made money off producing painkillers for children. Health insurers pay €1.36 ($1.39) for a bottle of paracetamol juice. The same amount as ten years ago.

"Rapidly rising active ingredient and production prices have turned the production of drugs like paracetamol juices into a loss-making business," complains Andreas Burkhardt, general manager at the pharmaceutical company Teva. "No company can sustain that in the long run."

Pharmaceutical giant Ratiopharm still produces such medication. But now they have also canceled orders for winter stockpiling. Due to "unexpected and massively growing demand in the market" and the "increased delivery delays among our active ingredient manufacturers."

Where it leads when important drugs are no longer available became clear at the beginning of the year with the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen — a drug for which there is no substitute and which is urgently needed by many chronically ill patients.

Here too, there were serious bottlenecks partly triggered by manufacturers who had withdrawn from production, citing cost pressure.

Gynecologist explaining a diagram of a woman's breast

Germany is experiencing a shortage of Tamoxifen, a medication for breast cancer patients

In February, Germany's Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) waded in and ordered that, in light of the emergency, medicines based on Tamoxifen may now also be imported from abroad. This does not solve the supply problem; the next scarcity is expected for the second half of 2022.

Chemists again mix their own potions

Germany's BfArM currently lists more than 260 medicines that are currently not available in Germany. These include common antibiotics, thyroid medicine, blood pressure reducers, and also medicines that are urgently required in hospitals. In some cases, chemists guarantee supplies by producing their own medicines. But for that, they still need the appropriate raw materials.

"Basic materials are traded globally and there are often only a few producers of a single active ingredient, mostly in Asia. If there is for example a problem in a factory in China, or one country imposes a trade embargo, then many producers are subsequently affected," says Ursula Sellering of the German Federation of  Pharmacists.

A view of Pfizer's Paxlovid production line

Currently, good money is to be made with anti-COVID-19 drugs, such as Paxlovid

Paracetamol, too, is currently difficult to obtain on the global market. "However, if a pharmacy still has stocks, it can also produce its own anti-fever medication," says Sellering. 

That's the way it's likely to stay, he warns. "The production of medicines is time-consuming and there is a lack of staff in pharmacies and other sectors." Not to mention the costs. 

Andreas Burkhardt, at the pharma company Teva demands that "systematic financial pressure" must be eased, especially for critical medicines that are only produced by a few manufacturers." The contracts under which health insurance companies pay fixed amounts, he says, should be suspended until more and new competitors could enter the supply again.

This is not in sight, at least not according to the current ideas of the Federal Ministry of Health. The plan, it seems, is to extend the status quo —  until 2026.

Privileged but not feeling entitled

By Fr. Roy Cimagala*

THAT’S how we should behave. We may be quite privileged in life because of the many gifts and other endowments God and others may have given us, but we should never feel entitled to anything. Instead, our attitude toward these privileges should be one of willingness to serve more, doing a lot of good while passing unnoticed, and all for the glory of God and for the good of all.

That amusing story of the mother of the apostles, James and John, asking Christ that her sons be given a special place in heaven (cfr. Mt 20,20-28) teaches us this precious lesson. I suppose the mother can be excused for making such a request. Mothers will always be mothers who wish to have the best for their children. But Christ purified that request.

“Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” Christ asked them, referring to the fact that Christ in the end will offer his life on the cross for the salvation of mankind. Whether James and John understood what Christ meant or not, it is to their credit that they immediately responded, “We can.”

But Christ kindly told them that it “is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father,” somehow deflecting them from this request and instead suggesting to focus more on what they should be doing as apostles.

This gospel episode actually warns us to be wary of our tendency to feel entitled because of the privileges we may be enjoying in life. We should rather sharpen our desire to serve and not be served, always following the example of Christ who said, “The Son of man has not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt 20,28)

Let’s remember that to serve is the language and the action of love. It authenticates any affirmation of love that we make, converting it from intention to tangible reality.

This is the attitude meant for us, with God himself as the exemplar. Imagine, Christ served us by dying on the cross. Before that, he shocked his apostles when he insisted that he be allowed to wash their feet. That was to give an example to them, and us, so that what he did we would also do.

The angels too, superior to us in nature, are made to serve us, following a divine law articulated by Christ himself when he said: “Let him who is greatest among you become as the youngest, and him who is the chief as the servant.” (Lk 22,26)

Christ is the very epitome of this proper attitude. Being God, he emptied himself to become man and to bear all the sins of men by dying on the cross, all for the purpose of saving mankind. (cfr. Phil 2,7)

He reiterated this point when he lamented about the domineering sense of entitlement of some of the leading Jews of his time while praising the poor widow who put all that she had into the temple treasury. (cfr. Mk 12,38-44)

While it’s true that we obviously are entitled to our rights, we should not feel entitled to privileges and favors that are above our rights and needs. If they come and we cannot avoid them, then let’s be thankful.

But let’s be reminded that these privileges, favors and blessings are meant for us to strengthen our desire to serve and not to be served. But as it is, we should try to avoid them, since they tend only to spoil and corrupt us.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

DepEd issues enrollment guidelines for SY 2022-2023

Drop-box enrollment system implemented by some public schools (ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN)

by Charie Mae F. Abarca, Manila Bulletin

In preparation of the school year (SY) 2022-2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) released a set of guidelines for enrollment in the context of the gradual reintroduction of face-to-face classes and reflective of the current health and safety situation in the Philippines.

Under DepEd order No. 35, the department reintroduced in-person enrollment, highlighting that minimum health and public safety standards must still be observed in schools across the country.

“These enhanced enrollment guidelines shall guide learners, parents, legal guardians, and teachers in enrollment procedures for Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior High School, and Senior High School, including Alternative Learning System (ALS) for SY 2022-2023,” the memo read. DepEd likewise encouraged State and Local Universities, Colleges, and private schools offering basic education to adopt this policy.

Enrollment period will officially start on July 25 and end on Aug. 22, 2022.

After two years of implementing remote enrollment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, DepEd has once again greenlighted the resumption of in-person enrollment, adding that this will help prepare learners, parents, as well as educators in the forthcoming five-day face-to-face classes beginning Nov. 2, 2022.

The in-person option may be done in school where parents can physically process the enrollment. Students, according to DepEd, may likewise enroll themselves as long as their Enhanced Basic Education Enrollment Form (BEEF) are signed by their parent or guardian.

Apart from the in-person enrollment DepEd also introduced additional procedures: remote enrollment and enrollment through dropbox forms.

Remote enrollment means that it will be done via email or any available online platform set by the school. With this procedure, schools were tasked to make the Enhanced BEEF available both in digital and print format.

“Filled up digital copies of the BEEF shall be submitted through the official email address of the school which shall be made available by the school authorities or through available messaging platforms by the school,” said DepEd.

Enrollment using dropboxes, on the other hand, requires the submission of the printed and filled up copy of BEEF in the established dropbox which may be placed in front of the school, Barangay Hall, or any other visible location.

DepEd previously announced that SY 2022-2023 will officially begin on Aug. 22, 2022. With a target of 203 school days, the academic year will end on July 7, 2023. Blended learning, according to DepEd, may only be implemented until Oct. 31, 2022 as all public and private schools nationwide were mandated to implement five-day in-person classes beginning Nov. 2, 2022.

Former mayor, 2 others dead in Ateneo de Manila shooting

Police arrested the suspect Chiao Tiao Yumol. PHOTO FROM PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE

By Francis Earl Cueto, Manila Times

Three persons, including a former mayor in Basilan, died in a shooting incident at the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) in Quezon City on Sunday.

Initial reports from the National Capital Regional Police Office said that the victims were former Lamitan City Mayor Rosita Furigay, her aide Victor George Capistrano and a security guard of the university.

The former mayor was supposed to attend the graduation of her daughter Hanna Rose from law school.

The event was cancelled.

A fourth victim was reported to be in critical condition.

The police arrested the suspect, identified as Chao Tiao Yumol, 38, a resident of Lamitan City. Recovered from the scene was a caliber .45 pistol with silencer.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was "shocked and saddened" by the killing.

"We mourn with the bereaved, the wounded, and those whose scars from this experience will run deep. We commit our law enforcement agencies to swiftly investigate these killings and bring all involved to justice," the President said.