Our laws should lead us to God

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          WHEN Christ cured on a Sabbath a woman who had been crippled

by an evil spirit for eighteen years, he was corrected by the

synagogue leader for violating the law on the Sabbath. (cfr. Lk

13,10-17) That was when Christ made the following clarification:

          “Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his

ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of

Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to

have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?”

          I imagine that a simple exercise of common sense could

easily see the point of Christ. But many times, we fall into the same

predicament when we would just blindly follow the letter of the law

without discerning the true spirit behind it.

          Ideally, both the letter and the spirit of our laws should

be in perfect harmony. But that is hardly the case in real life. The

problem, of course, is that the articulation of our laws is

conditioned and limited by our human powers that cannot fully capture

the richness of human life, considering its spiritual and supernatural

character that will always involve the intangibles and mysteries and

the like.

          That is the reason why we can go beyond, but not against, a

particular law, when such law cannot fully express the concrete

conditions of a particular case. This is when we can apply the

principle of “epikeia.”

          But first, we have to understand that our human laws are

meant to lead us to our ultimate goal which is none other than to be

with God, to be holy as God is holy, etc. Irrespective of their

immediate temporal purpose, our laws should lead us little by little

to become God’s image and likeness as we are meant to be. They in the

end should serve the fundamental religious purpose of our life. That

should always be the constant purpose of our laws.

          All the other objectives of our laws, let alone their

technical requirements, serve only as an occasion, a reason or motive

for this ultimate purpose. Setting aside this ultimate purpose would

empty our laws of their real legitimacy, making them rife for all

kinds of manipulations and maneuverings by some shrewd men who may

enjoy some power at a given moment.

          We have to realize that it is Christ who ultimately gives

the real meaning and purpose of our laws. We have to disabuse

ourselves from the thought that our laws can be based only on our

common sense, or on our own estimation of what is good and evil

according to the values of practicality, convenience, etc., or on our

traditions and culture, etc.

          While these things have their legitimate role to play in our

legal and judicial systems, we have to understand that they cannot be

the primary and ultimate bases. It should be God, his laws and ways

that should animate the way we make laws as well as the way we apply

and live them. After all, being the Creator of all things, he is the

one who establishes what is truly good and evil.

          With the way today’s legal and juridical systems worldwide

are drifting toward extreme positivism that simply bases itself on our

perceptual experiences and people’s consensus and systematically

shutting out any input from faith and divine revelation, we need to

remind ourselves that God’s law is in fact the foundation, the

inspiration and the perfection of our human laws.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

The Foremost Horse in a Team

Are you a guide, a commander or a conductor? Are you a leader, who knows how to play the first card in the team? Do you know how to direct, to persuade or to precede?

The classic succession “horse race” pits two or three senior executives against each other in a battle over performance — the winner becoming the next chief executive officer.

Some executives and governance observers are uncomfortable with the horse race approach — which we define as an overt competition for the CEO role among several recognized candidates within an established time frame — out of concern about the potential impact that such a high stakes contest may have on an organization. Nevertheless, the horse race undeniably has been successful in helping many admired companies choose their next leader.

I found a very nice quotation shared by Dr. John C. Maxwell, the leading authority on leadership, who says, "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way!" "Nearly all men can withstand adversity. If you truly want to test a man's character, give him power", already stressed Abraham Lincoln. Character is what you are doing in the dark. By the way, nowadays, I wouldn't only mention "men"  alone when it comes to leadership. There are innumerable women holding their own. 

Remember and look around: in the past and at present one can observe someone at any corner offering us to lead our way. Politicians compete for our vote of confidence. Athletes and entertainers show us their pictures of success. A lot of different religious leaders pledge, promise and bind in flock gatherings.

Well, what are some of the traits that a great leader must have or develop character? Is character really enough? How about integrity? Are you, my dear reader, a leader? Is what you are saying AND  DOING, the same? Are your followers wholeheartedly convinced of your integrity?

Albert Einstein, one of my favorite idols, had said, "Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the important matters!"

Leaders in politics, leaders in clergy, leaders in business - many have been lacking this specific trait in the past, because, after all, what they said is not what they did.  A leader is someone with character, integrity, discipline, and the ability to influence others in a positive way.  A leader must be able to motivate his or her people around, rather than manipulate them or run away in times of difficult decisions... !

Albert Einstein claimed that he had no special abilities, only persistence. But that was enough to develop the General Relativity Theory. I learned from my Philippine mentor and book author (German-Philippine Relations), the late Monsignor Professor Dr. Hermogenes E. Bacareza already during the 1980's: "It's important to become your own best friend. Be your own coach. Take to your inner self  as if you were talking to another person you care deeply about. And, pray!"

Why do Filipinos like to make indirect potshots ("patama") ...

... instead of directly saying their issues to the person they're saying the remarks to?

Holly Benedicto

Bisaya. Has travelled all over the Philippines, some Asian countries and the United States. Scientific background. Has worked extensively with Americans.

Filipinos are non-confrontational.

We prefer passive aggression to actually getting into an altercation with someone.

There is a stigma against people who are too assertive, too “strong”, too vocal, especially when it’s a woman. But because we are non-confrontational, we just avoid these people or keep quiet until we reach a boiling point. Same approach with any problems. Many Filipinos strive for “peace” and love the quote, “be positive! “. To a point, it becomes toxic positivity.

That boiling point differs. For some, it never comes. For others, it might fizzle out. Some might never forget and it gets passed down from one generation to the next. But it never gets addressed.

What can one do to help enrich, contribute, and improve the Philippines and the Filipino culture?

By Holly Benedicto

Bisaya. Has travelled all over the Philippines, some Asian countries and the United States. Scientific background. Has worked extensively with Americans.

Don’t leave it and migrate to other countries. You can work abroad but don’t get a foreign citizenship. Brain drain is a HUGE problem here.

Buy Philippine-made products/support local. Market them on social media and in any international event.

Exercise your right to vote. When you allow the under-educated/uneducated masses whose votes were bought by a pack of groceries to vote but you as a well-educated and disenfranchised individual refuse to vote, you doom the country.

Speak up about cultural issues and problems. The reason why so many issues persist is because many choose to silent in the interest of “pakikisama”. Filipinos are conflict avoidant and pacifist. Have some self-respect. Fight for the future you want and deserve.

Our blindness and our faith

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THAT gospel character Bartimaeus, the blind man, gives us a

precious lesson with respect to a certain blindness that we all have.

Like him, we have to acknowledge our blindness and humbly beg Christ

for a cure by repeating Bartimaeus’ words, “Master, I want to see” (ut

videam). (Mk 10,51)

          Though we may enjoy good vision at the moment, we have to

realize that to be able to see things properly and completely, we

simply do not rely on our eyes nor any of our senses.

          Our eyes and senses can only capture a little part of the

whole reality that governs us. They can only perceive what are called

the sensible realities, still light-years away from the intelligible,

not to mention the spiritual and supernatural aspects of reality.

          Still what they get and gather are very useful and in fact

are indispensable, since the data they give are like the raw materials

that will be processed by our more powerful faculties of intelligence

and will. In this sense we can already consider ourselves as suffering

from some kind of blindness.

          We need to be more aware that nowadays there is a strong

tendency to base our knowledge of things mainly on the material and

sensible realities alone. That’s why we have these disturbing

phenomena of materialism and commercialism comprising our mainstream

world of knowledge and understanding.

          We have to correct this tendency because that simply is not

the whole of reality. Our senses can only have a limited view of

things. And what is worse, that limited condition is aggravated by the

effects and consequences of our sins that not only limit but also

distort reality.

          We should imitate Bartimaeus in that when he realized it was

Christ passing by, he immediately screamed, “Son of David, have pity

on me!” We have to acknowledge that we are blind and that we are in

great need of help that can only come from God who is our Creator,

Father and Provider for everything that we need.

          Being the Creator, God is the one who has designed

everything in the world. He is the one who knows its ins and outs,

what is real and not real, good and bad, etc. It is from him and with

his light that we can see things clearly and completely.

          We should not simply depend on our senses, nor on our

intelligence and will and the other faculties we have, like our

memory, imagination and other talents, no matter how excellent they

are. At best, they are meant to be mere instruments.

          We have to acknowledge our blindness, ask Christ for a cure

with a lot of faith, so that we can actually see and know things as

they really are. We need to humble ourselves so that our pursuit for

knowledge will always be inspired and accompanied by the desire for a

growth of faith, for an insistent faith like that of the blind man in

the gospel, so that that knowledge will lead us to have greater

charity.

          We should be wary of our usual problem which we should

resolve by always deepening our humility. If we notice that the growth

of our knowledge of things does not lead us to a greater love for God

and for others, then it is bogus knowledge no matter how scientific

that knowledge may appear to be.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

PSEi breaches 7,300 in steady climb

by James A. Loyola, Manila Bulletin

The PSEi continued to rally and has breached 7,300 level, as stocks were buoyed by positive developments locally and in the US.

The main index gained 14.64 points or 0.20 percent to close at 7,311.72 although sectoral indices were evenly mixed with the Mining and Oil and Holding Firms counters posting strong performances.

Volume improved further to 1.06 billion shares worth P10.15 billion as gainers beat losers 105 to 85 with 55 unchanged.

“Philippine shares closed slightly higher tracking the performance of the US market as investors parsed the Fed’s latest Beige Book reading,” said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan.

According to the report the US economy is growing at a modest to moderate pace, but remains under pressure from inflation and labor shortages.

“‘Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly shook off the China blues for a steady trading session,” he added.

Philstocks Financial Senior Supervisor for Research Japhet Tantiangco said “The local market climbed further as the improvements in our country’s COVID-19 situation continued to provide support to sentiment.”

He noted that, “Investors also cheered the Department of Energy’s proposal to temporarily suspend the fuel excise taxes which if pursued, is seen to mitigate the inflationary pressures in the country.”

Tantiangco said “Foreign investors also helped in Thursday’s gains with net inflows for the day amounting to P304.53 million.”

The Music of my Life IV

In the years that followed, the music of my life became more and more the music of the Philippines. Maybe it was because of the first radio shows I presented. The music archive was full of Filipino music, but it was rarely broad-casted. I thought that was a shame.

I asked myself: What makes Filipino music unique? My radio colleagues gave me an answer: such is the case of Philippine music which until today is regarded as a unique blending of two great musical traditions – the East and the West. ... The majority of Philippine Music revolves around cultural influences from the West, due primarily to the Spanish and American rule for over three centuries.

I learned from musicologist and professor of the University of the Philippines, College of Music, that after studying abroad, modern methods of composition were employed by Eliseo Pajaro and Lucresia Kasilag. Both were strongly influenced by American neoclassicism. Jose Maceda is considered the first legitimate Filipino avant-garde composer. He was the first Filipino composer to succeed in liberating Philippine musical expression from the colonial European mould of symphonies, sonatas, and concertos. Among the younger generation of composers, the first to respond to the challenges of new music were Francisco Feliciano and Ramon Santos. A still younger set of composers, all students of Ramon P. Santos includes Josefino Toledo, Ruben Federizon, Verne de la Pena, Arlene Chongson, and Jonas Baes. Since the 1950’s to the present, the trend of serious musical compositions in the Philippines has been towards a synthesis of traditional concepts of  structure, of time, of space, of melody, of performance medium with the new and experimental techniques.

Then, I met Ryan Cayabyab (born Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab; May 4, 1954), also known as Mr. C - a Filipino musician, composer and conductor. His compositional style makes much use of syncopation, extended chords, and chromatic harmony. He was the Executive and Artistic Director for several years for the defunct San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was named as National Artist of the Philippines for Music in 2018. His musical output consists of several masses, award winning film and television scores, short symphonic works, ten full-length Filipino musicals, a major opera, full length ballets, solo and instrumental works, orchestrations of Filipino folk, popular and love songs. I was fascinated by his stage performances.

[Ryan Cayabyab]

During her Europe tour, Imelda Papin crossed my way. Imelda Arcilla Papin (born January 26, 1956) -  a Filipino singer and one of the bigger names in the Philippine music industry. Dubbed the "Sentimental Songstress", Imelda Papin is responsible for songs such as "Bakit (Kung Liligaya Ka Sa Piling Ng Iba)" and "Isang Linggong Pag-ibig".

[Imelda Papin]

[Rico Puno]

In 2018, legend Rico Puno died. I experienced him, the foul-mouthed macho guapito and total entertainer, as he was described in 2005 during his performances in the Apo View Hotel in Davao City. "Grabe". The "Godfather of  Pinoy Soul passed away too early.

My encounters with Filipino music of all kinds were so colorful with the colors of a rainbow. During some of my stays in Manila, the Madrigal Singers performed the Philippine and German National Anthem. Goosebumps ... .

During their first performance in Berlin, I got tears in my eyes ... 

Filipino pop music, otherwise known as Original Pilipino Music or OPM, refers broadly to the pop music that first emerged in the Philippines in the early ’70s and has since come to dominate radio airplay and karaoke playlists in the Filipino market and beyond. But my radio shows brought me back to the classics by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Bach, Händel and more and more. 

(To be continued)

How culturally different is The Philippines from the rest of Southeast Asia today?

Bisaya

Barok and Takya Blog | Bisaya Podcast

Although the Philippines are primarily influenced by mainstream Asian culture, Filipinos proudly identify as unique from continental Asia's oppressive history. From not allowing Christian influences to enter until Spanish colonization to winning a bloody war against American colonization, Filipinos learned from their own mistakes and have an innate understanding of self-determination--something that often eludes other Southeast Asian countries. And with more than 100 distinct languages and almost 7000 local dialects, we're not limited to one set of cultural values any more than we are one language.

This is what most appeals to me about living here--the ability to experience national pride without feeling like I'm sacrificing my individuality or having my lifestyle decisions dictated by an oppressively narrow society."

Cruising in these tricky times

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          IN the Gospel, there is a part where Christ laments about

people seemingly knowing a lot of things and yet failing to read the

signs of the times and, thus, failing to make proper judgments and

unprepared to meet our Creator. (cfr. Lk 12,54-59) “You know how to

interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know

how to interpret the present time?” he asked.

          With this lamentation, Christ is actually asking us to learn

how to properly read the signs of the times or how things are going in

general, so that we can become men and women of good judgment and

direct ourselves to our proper end, which is none other than to be

with God in heaven for all eternity, as he wants us to be.

          Obviously, to be able to properly read the signs of the

times is no easy task, especially these days. Given the multiplying

forces and influences that go into our current culture, reading the

signs of the times has become a formidable task that approaches the

level of a nightmare.

          And precisely because of our complex, intricate and puzzling

world, this task has become more necessary. We need to stay away from

the grip of ignorance, confusion, error, the ingredients of perdition.

          Still, not everything is lost and beyond hope. The amount of

information, given our ever-developing technologies, is not only

massive and profound but is also much easier to access now.

          Besides, we are never lacking of people with great

potentials to effectively undertake this delicate task. We just need

to discover them and seek their help.

          What we need at present is the discipline to have an abiding

concern to read the signs of the times. This is no simple thing, since

it’s not just a matter of attitude, habits and skills, though they

figure prominently in this task.

          Yes, we need to learn how to collect data, compare notes,

dialogue with different parties, consult experts, study, reflect, make

conclusions and plan, etc., but all these are not enough.

          Rather, this discipline in the end depends on our living

contact and relationship with what we consider as our God, what we

regard as our ultimate source of light and understanding.

          Only then can we truly become men and women of sound

judgment. There is obviously a theoretical and practical side to this

affair. For one, we need to study the moral principles and the

doctrine of our faith as thoroughly as possible. We should aim at

nothing less than becoming masters and experts in this field, since

these principles and doctrine are indispensable. We should not have

second thoughts on this.

          We have to realize that this study should be an ongoing and

continuing concern, ever deepening and refining our understanding of

these principles and doctrine, such that we can distinguish the

nuances and fine points, and that they become part of our mentality.

          Together with study and meditation, we need to grow in the

virtues and to avail of the sacraments that keep us in the state of

grace. We should not be theoretical and intentional only. We have to

incarnate and express outwardly the things that we have learned in our

ongoing formation.

          Let’s realize that we can only see, judge and know persons,

events and things properly when we have a vibrant interior or

spiritual life, a vital link not only with theories and principles,

but with God himself.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Access to education in Brgy. Singapore now a reality

Barely after 30 days, Barangay Singapore’s call for a learning institution is finally answered.

On October 12, 2021, the provincial government of Davao de Oro officially turned over the One (1) unit, two (2) classroom buildings for the residents of the special barangay, making adequate access to education available for the community.

Putting up a school situated in higher ground was made possible through the coordination of PLGU-DdO with the Department of Education, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, LGU-Mabini, provincial employees and other stakeholders who relentlessly partake in the bayanihan build.

The community’s geographical location does not impede the “Bayanihan Spirit’, wherein hinterlands province-wide were given access to education for inclusive growth. Without settling for the bare minimum, PLGU-DdO continues to provide access for other necessities of its people such as water systems, farm-to-market roads, community electrification and livelihoods.

 

“Pag-abot sa kalsada, ikaduha ang kuryente, aduna nay dakong kausaban dinhi sa among komunidad. Ang among mga katawhan madasig na ug magbalay na dinhi sa Singapore kay duna namay mga dagkong kausaban. Dako usab namong kalipay ug pasalamat sa gobyerno kay gipatukuran nami diri ug eskwelahan, diin dili na maglisod ang mga bata ug baba para lang maka eskwela.” said Brgy. Captain Mauricio Paican.

Special Barangay Singapore was once inhabited by communists’ group, prohibiting progress to flourish in the remote community for years, and now that insurgency province-wide have declined in great figures, residents in the community starts to benefit government interventions.

 

"Ang atuang pamaagi sa pagwala sa insurhensiya, dili pinaagi sa gyera, kundili pamaagi sa paghatag ug kaayuhan sa katawhan nga maoy mag protektar sa ilahang komunidad. Singapore is a very good example, kini usa ka komunidad nga nag-hugpong o nagtinabangay para sa kaugmaon sa kabataan nato dinhi.” said Governor Uy.

Furthermore, the provincial government plans to construct an access road from Mabugnao, Maragusan to Anitapan, Mabini which will open opportunities for tourism, direct delivery of produce from local farmers to markets, and will also ignite future developments for the benefit of the residents.

 (Jasteen Abella, Information Division, Davao de Oro)