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Monday, July 3, 2023
Easterlies to bring rain showers over parts of PH
Always nourish the faith
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By Fr. Roy Cimagala
Chaplain
Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)
Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
WE are familiar with the story of the doubting Thomas who later on turned to be a fervently believing Thomas. (cfr. Jn 20,24-29) It’s a story that can only remind us of our duty to always nourish our faith to such an extent that Christ’s words to Thomas can also be applied to us: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
We have to be wary of the danger of starving our faith by neglecting its abiding need for nourishment. Especially nowadays when we are bombarded with so many distracting elements that would lead us to ignore this responsibility, we need to make some special effort to truly nourish our faith by availing of the relevant means of ongoing formation.
We need to convince ourselves that giving priority to this need is all worthwhile. It does not at all undermine our other needs in life. In fact, giving priority to the nourishment of our faith would make sure that the attention we give to our other needs would be most proper and would be put on the right track.
For this we always are in need of constantly studying our faith, progressively translating what we learn from such study into appropriate attitudes, virtues, words and deeds to such an extent that whatever we do in life is always guided and inspired by our faith and not just by some sheer human wisdom and cleverness.
While faith is first of all a gift, and of the spiritual and supernatural kind that is given to us gratuitously, we have to realize that we also need to correspond to it. We just cannot and should not be casual about this duty to correspond properly to it. It’s a serious duty that once neglected can lead to disastrous consequences.
Especially to those who regard themselves quite gifted intellectually and in other aspects of human life, there is a need to be so humble as to always feel the need to be guided by faith first and always rather than simply by their human powers and other resources.
We have to follow the example of Our Lady whose faith was highly extolled once by her cousin Elizabeth who told her: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Lk 1,45)
That’s because when she was told by the Archangel Gabriel that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, she first asked how it could happen since she knew not man. But when the heavenly messenger told her that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and that she would conceive a son in her womb, she immediately said, “Be it done to me,” even if what she was told cannot be explained humanly.
We have to understand that with respect to our faith, we are not expected to understand everything. We, of course, should try to understand the truths of our faith, but we should always realize that with faith, we can be dealing with supernatural truths and mysteries that are beyond our human capacity to understand.
We should just say, yes, to it not because we understand it, but rather because of the one who told it to us, the one who cannot lie. Faith always involves trust, just like in our ordinary daily affairs when we would just do things without asking so much why we need to do them. We simply do them because we trust in the ones who ask us to do them.
‘Anti-poor’: Tulfo slams gov’t plan to tax junk food
Senator Raffy Tulfo on Sunday, July 2 criticized the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) “anti-poor” plan to impose taxes on junk food and other food items next year.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo (Senate PRIB Photo)
Tulfo pointed out it would be the poorest of the poor that heavily rely on these affordable food items would be the most affected.
Instead of these, the senator said the BIR should consider taxing cosmetics and other luxury items.
“Bakit pinagdidiskitahan ng BIR ang mga chichirya at nais nilang patawan ng buwis ang mga ito (Why is the BIR even considering taxing junk food)? This is very anti-poor!” Tulfo said.
“Kung ang pakay nila ay para makalikom ng dagdag kita para sa kaban ng bayan mula sa mga consumer products, bakit ‘di nila punteryahin ang mga luxury items gaya ng mga food supplements, protein bars, energy bars, slimming drinks pati na maging mga cosmetic products (If their goal is to raise more revenue for public funds from consumer products, why don't they target luxury items such as food supplements, protein bars, energy bars, slimming drinks and even cosmetics)?” he pointed out.
Finance Secretary Ben Diokno had said the Department of Finance (DOF) plans to impose a ₱10 per 100 grams or ₱10 per 100 milliliters tax on pre-packaged foods, including confectioneries, snacks, desserts, and frozen confectioneries.
But Tulfo said that if the BIR badly wants to boost public revenue, it should focus train its sights on food supplements and cosmetic products, which are both part of a multi-billion peso industry.
The lawmaker said he believes food supplements and cosmetic products would still be bought by the middle income earners regardless of the price.
On the other hand, Tulfo said the Department of Health’s (DOH) should prompt manufacturers to decrease the sodium content of packaged food.
He said this would be a better alternative that giving approval to the proposed tax measure to supposedly discourage consumers from buying junk food that they said could lead to obesity and diabetes.
According to Tulfo, Singapore manufacturers were able to find low sodium substitute for processed food product without heavily affecting the taste.
Chua, Aranas nip Germany, reign supreme in World Cup of Pool
Jul 3, 2023 07:27 AM
AT A GLANCE
Johann Chua and James Aranas endured some tense moments to deliver a performance to remember in Lugo, Spain, nipping the German duo of Joshua Filler and Moritz Neuhausen, 11-7, to crown themselves the kings of the 2023 World Cup of Pool 9-ball Championship early Monday morning, July 3.
Johann Chua and James Aranas endured some tense moments to deliver a performance to remember in Lugo, Spain, nipping the German duo of Joshua Filler and Moritz Neuhausen, 11-7, to crown themselves the kings of the 2023 World Cup of Pool 9-ball Championship early Monday morning, July 3.
Johann Chua (left) and James Aranas celebrate their World Cup win. (Photo from Matchroom Pool)
Unseeded in the tournament with a tough task on hand, the blazing duo completed the improbable run which could serve as a spark for the country's resurgence in the sport the Filipinos used to dominate in the past two decades.
Adding cherry on top, the pair's victory broke the tie in overall wins as the Philippines bagged its fourth title against China's three after the 2006 and 2009 triumph of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, and the 2013 conquest of Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza.
Mayon lava flow advances 2.7 km from crater — Phivolcs
The lava flow from Mayon Volcano continued to cascade down its slopes at a “very slow” rate and has now reached a length of up to 2.7 kilometers as of Sunday, July 2, said the Philippine Institute and Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
From 5 a.m. on Saturday, July 1, to 5 a.m. on Sunday, July 2, Phivolcs said the very slow effusion of lava from the summit crater of Mayon Volcano continued to feed lava flows and collapse debris on the Mi-isi and Bonga gullies on the southern and southeastern flanks, respectively.
Lava flows measuring approximately 2,700 and 1,300 meters have descended to the Mi-isi and Bonga gullies, respectively.
Phivolcs said rockfall and pyroclastic density current (PDC) occurrences were also observed at the Mi-isi, Bonga, and Basud gullies.
Basud Gully is on the eastern portion of Mayon Volcano.
Phivolcs said volcanic debris has descended 4,000 meters from the crater.
The “very slow” lava effusion from Mayon Volcano's summit crater continues on June 26, 2023, causing incandescent rockfall and pyroclastic density current (PDC) activity along the Mi-isi and Bonga Gullies. (Screengrab from Phivolcs)
2 PDCs, 397 rockfalls, 4 volcanic quakes
During the 24-hour monitoring of the Mayon Volcano, Phivolcs also recorded two lava dome collapse-triggered PDCs that lasted two minutes, 397 rockfall events, and four volcanic earthquakes.
A significant amount of gas was also constantly released from Mayon, which caused its emission of steam-laden plumes about 1,500 meters high before dissipating to the southwest, south-southwest, and northwest.
Phivolcs noted that the concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2) averaged 864 tons per day when it was last measured on July 1.
‘Intensified’ unrest persists
Mayon Volcano is still under Alert Level 3 as it is “currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption within weeks or even days is possible.”
Phivolcs strongly recommended the evacuation of residents within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone due to the risk of PDCs, lava flows, rockfalls, and other volcanic hazards.
In addition, it advised communities to maintain increased vigilance against PDCs, lahars and sediment-laden stream flows along channels draining the volcano edifice, as heavy rainfall could cause channel-confined lahars and sediment-laden stream flows.
Pilots were also asked to avoid flying close to the volcano because ash from a sudden eruption may pose hazards to aircraft.
According to Phivolcs, communities on the southern side of Mayon Volcano may most likely experience ash fall events based on the current wind pattern.
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