Be truly poor to be truly rich

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

“THERE was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores…” (Lk 16,19-20)

With this parable, Christ is telling us about the problem of the rich and the blessedness of the poor. As the parable unfolded, both died and the poor man was carried to the bosom of Abraham while the rich man was buried in the netherworld, tormented.

We have to be wary of the big problem of the rich. Christ spelled it out when he said, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt 19,24)

The big problem of the rich, in short, is his attachment to his wealth such that he cannot give himself fully to God. He may give the appearance that he is giving a lot, but if it is not the whole of himself, then it is not the total self-giving which God deserves and expects from each one of us.

Let us always remember that God wants the whole of ourselves. He wants our entire heart, not a divided heart. He wants to be everything to us, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. He wants to be given priority over everything else, including our own life.

This is not selfishness on his part, an act of ego-tripping. It is simply in recognition of the basic truth that everything, including our life, comes from him and also belongs to him. We have no right whatsoever to expropriate as our own what actually comes and belongs to God.

We need to remind ourselves constantly that even if we can say we are the owners of great wealth, resources, talents, power, fame, and indeed of our whole life, we actually are at best only stewards who have to give account to the absolute owner of all these things that we possess.

We have to continually fight against the tendency and the constant temptation to think that all these things are simply our own, that we are their absolute owners. This is not going to be easy, of course, because even within ourselves we have the villain that will always push us to think that way.

To be truly poor in order to be truly rich means that even if we are in possession of great wealth and all that, and yes, we use them and to a certain extent, enjoy them, we should be entirely detached from them so that our love for God is never compromised or diluted even if it is just a bit.

To be sure, a certain detachment from the things of this world and even from people is required of us if we want to be a true and effective disciple of Christ—and to be like Christ as we should.

He himself said it quite clearly: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14,26-17)

Let’s be reassured of what Christ promised us if we observe the proper priorities in our life. “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29)

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Philippines Has Expensive Turtle Internet

A global digital well-being study reveals the poor state of Internet in the Philippines.

By ESQUIRE PHILIPPINES 

IMAGE Unsplash, Wikimedia, Freepik

ILLUSTRATOR Bianca Papa

Access to the Internet has become a sore spot for the Philippines lately. Now that people are working from home, most are finding that their personal providers are slow, unreliable, or, worst, unavailable, as in there is no connection to the world wide web at all.

The Digital Quality of Life Index 2020, a recent study by VPN provider Surfshark, affirms these connectivity woes. Overall, the Philippines, which is highlighted twice in the 32-page report (and not in a good way), ranks 66 out of 85 countries in terms of digital well-being. 

The Philippines has expensive Internet connection. 

In the Internet Affordability index, which measures the time required to afford the cheapest mobile and broadband Internet in the country, the Philippines lands at 82, besting only a few countries such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Albania. Israel wins the round as the country with the most affordable Internet. 

Data also reveals that it takes 1,994 seconds of work to afford the cheapest mobile Internet and 75 minutes of work to afford the cheapest broadband Internet in the country.

The Philippines has poor Internet quality. 

The study’s Internet Quality index measures the average broadband and mobile download speeds and broadband and mobile stability during the pandemic.

Here, the Philippines chugs along at 77, placing it among the countries with the slowest and least stable Internet. Asian neighbor Singapore takes the top spot, while other Asian countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Indonesia occupy the five bottom slots in this category. 

The Philippines has less secure Internet.

E-security is gauged via the country’s cyber security efforts and personal data protection. In this index, the Philippines fares better, landing somewhere in the middle at 46.

The United Kingdom is the most prepared to fight cyber crime, taking the top spot, while Bangladesh has the poorest e-security, finding itself at the bottom.

The Philippine government has an above-average Internet presence.

Surprisingly, the Philippine government's above-average online presence—how its services are digitized or can be done over the Internet—hoists the country’s ranking for Electronic Government to 36.

Singapore, once more, takes the crown for having the most developed e-government, while Sri Lanka lags behind the rest at 85.

The study also observes that, for most, the e-security rating correlates with the e-government rank, as seen in the U.K., France, and Finland, all of which rank high in the indices.  

What does it all mean?

The numbers don’t lie. A poor showing in the study reflects the sorry state of connectivity in the Philippines, and this is negatively affecting the lives of Filipinos.

High costs mean limited access. Unstable connections decrease efficiency in work and enjoyment when you’re watching Netflix. Just think of the frustration when a movie stutters and then grinds to a halt.

The pandemic has only put a spotlight on the country’s Internet deficiencies. What should follow next is innovation.

Jeepney Modernization Program not antipoor

By Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 29, 2017 

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Under the program, jeepneys that are 15 years and older will be replaced by electric-powered or Euro 4 compliant vehicles. File

MANILA, Philippines — The modernization program for public utility vehicles, which starts next week, is not anti-poor as it guarantees profitability for the jeepney industry, Malacañang said yesterday.

“The Palace clarifies that the public utility vehicle modernization program of the Duterte administration is not anti-poor, contrary to the claims of some transport groups,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

“We assure Filipino jeepney drivers that this initiative of the government to improve our public transport sector will not put them out of business,” Roque said.

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“It was not designed to phase out jeepneys. In fact, the program aims to strengthen and guarantee the profitability of the jeepney business,” he added.

Under the program, jeepneys that are 15 years and older will be replaced by electric-powered or Euro 4 compliant vehicles.

The three-year phase out of old and dilapidated jeepneys will start next week, according to the transportation department.

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A motor vehicle inspection system will be activated to determine the age and roadworthiness of jeepneys.

Officials said the program would improve the country’s transport system as well as reduce harmful emissions.

Transport groups Stop and Go Coalition and the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide are opposed to the total phase out of old jeepneys, saying it would pose additional burden to drivers and operators.

Roque said the government is addressing the concerns of transport workers by offering financing schemes that will allow them to buy new jeepney units.

These include the Development Bank of the Philippines’ Support Alternative Driving Approaches (Pasada) program and the Landbank of the Philippines’ Special Environment-Friendly and Efficiently Driven Jeepney Program.

He said the finance department is offering a five percent equity, six percent interest rate and a repayment period of as long as seven years on top of the P80,000 subsidy per unit to cover the equity payment.

“In addition, there is zero or low maintenance cost of new units in the first three years, which translates to savings,” Roque said.

President Duterte has vowed to implement the transport modernization program in the first week of the coming year, even threatening to tow non-compliant vehicles.

Take it easy

But Sen. Grace Poe said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) should go slow on imposing the jeepney phase out as there might not be enough replacements yet for those that would be taken off the road.

Besides, she said, the standards for new units were still being worked out.

Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, noted that Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade himself had admitted at a recent public hearing that a phase out could not be accomplished overnight.

“Secretary Tugade said that for as long as the old jeeps pass the safety and emission standards, they can continue to operate within the three-year period of the phase out. Best to get the comments of Sec. Tugade himself if his pronouncements have changed,” Poe said.

The senator clarified that she is not against the modernization of the jeepneys, which she said “is long overdue.”

“But even if we wanted to implement this immediately, realistically, it cannot be done. DOTr itself does not have its act together when it comes to timetables, regulations and guidelines for the implementation,” Poe said.

According to the DOTr, the government would provide a subsidy of P30,000 for each of the jeepney owners to help finance their purchase of the new vehicles.

An initial P2 billion would be provided in the 2018 General Appropriations Act for this purpose, an amount which Poe noted is not even close to what is actually needed for the rollout of the modernization program.

“Besides, if they will give every jeepney driver 30K, the two billion allocation they have for 2018 is far from the P300 billion it will take to roll out the program,” Poe said.

“They need to coordinate and get their act together. The numbers will speak for itself,” she added.

Poe pointed out that the actual total cost of the program is P417 billion. – Marvin Sy