Bigger problem, stronger hope, greater grace

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

WE should always remember this comforting triad. When we encounter big problems in life, let’s react with stronger hope, and expect some extraordinary grace, favor and mercy from God, our Father.

This truth of our faith is somehow dramatized in that gospel story where Christ was confronted with a man so possessed by a legion of devils that “no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.” (cfr. Mk 5,1-20)

That gospel story somehow demonstrates what can happen to us individually or collectively as a society. If we are not careful, we can allow the devil to enter and possess us. And things can get worse when, God forbid, a demonic infestation can occur.

We should always be wary of the devils and be ready to handle them properly. They exist. And their only purpose of their existence is to do evil, to go against God and to everyone and everything that God loves. They were originally good angels who rebelled against God upon their creation.

Being pure spirits and therefore free and intelligent beings, the devils misused their intelligence and freedom by choosing to replace God upon their creation. That choice has plunged them, being pure spirits, into an irreversible eternal state of enmity against God and against everything else that comes from God and is still with God.

Many if not all the temptations that come our way originate or are being orchestrated by devils. The proper attitude we should have when temptations come is to reject these temptations immediately, never giving them a chance to advance in their plot by dialoguing with them, and to go to God immediately.

Let’s remember that when temptations come, it is because we have let down our guard. It means that our union with God has loosened, if not completely broken, often without even our noticing it. 

Thus, when temptations come, we really should intensify our prayers and hope in God’s merciful providence, since only with God can we resist them. We should also submit our body to some severe discipline because when tempted the body easily falls and drags our spirit with it.

We have to reassure ourselves, based on what Christ has promised and has actually done for us, that there can be no crisis that is too big for the grace of God to handle.

We have to remember that nothing happens in this life without at least the knowledge and tolerance of God. And if God allows some really bad things to happen, it is because a greater good can always be derived from them. 

We just have to put ourselves in God’s side to tackle whatever crisis plagues us. That is the real challenge we have to face. And just like what Christ did and continues to do to redeem us, we have to follow the formula he once spelled out: deny ourselves, carry the cross and then follow him. (cfr. Mt 16,24)

If we are willing to do that, then we can even gain a lot more than what we appear to lose and to suffer. In other words, we can say that the bigger, the more serious the problem is, the bigger, plentier and stronger also the grace God will give us. So, let us just be game and do our part of the bargain.

It’s not easy, of course. But neither is it impossible. If we consider God’s abundant grace, even the impossible can be possible for us.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Filipino films win at Sundance Film Festival 2022

The Philippines’ entries to this year’s Sundance Film Festival bagged major nods. Martika Ramirez Escobar’s directorial debut film “Ang Pagbabalik ng Kwago” (“Leonor Will Never Die”) took home the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Innovative Spirit, while filmmaker Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan’s featurette “The Headhunter’s Daughter” won the Grand Jury Prize in the Short Film category.

by John Legaspi, Manila Bulletin

“Hello, Sundance jury. Thank you for recognizing our team’s labor of love. This is special coming from a film set that felt like one giant friendship film. I’d like to say thanks to the entire Sundance team for treating us like family. I’d like to thank everyone who had showed their love and support for our film,” Escobar said during her virtual speech. “You are proof that finally after eight years, our film is alive.”

It took eight years for “Leonor Will Never Die” to complete its production. Its plot centers on Leonor Reyes, a retired action film writer and director in the ‘80s, who enters the world of her unfinished screenplay after experiencing a coma when a television landed on her head. Leading its cast is stage veteran Sheila Francisco as Leonor, alongside actors Rocky Salumbides, Bong Cabrera, Anthony Falcon, Rea Molina, Tami Monsod, Allan Bautista, and Dido de la Paz.

On the other hand, Eblahan, an Ifugao-Visayan director, isn’t new to having his works featured in international festivals. Among them are the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival, San Diego Asian Film Festival, and the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival where his short film “Hilum” won the Student Prize and Special Mention from the International Jury.

As COVID-19 infections decline, de-escalation of alert levels and easing of restrictions imperative

Manila Bulletin EDITORIAL

After nearly a month of severe restrictions, there is ample basis for a more hopeful scenario that would enable the government’s anti-pandemic task force to consider easing health and safety protocols to “pre-Omicron” levels.

Based on internationally-developed COVID Act Now indicators used by OCTA Research Group, Metro Manila — the epicenter of the “severe outbreak” since the start of the year — is now classified at “moderate risk” from a “high risk” due to the steady decline of COVID infections in the capital region.

An even more optimistic scenario is a further de-escalation to Alert Level 2 sometime in early February, if the rapidly declining benchmark indicators would justify this.

Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Jose ‘Joey’ Concepcion III has spearheaded the private sector’s thinking-through process. This would enable business and industry — as well as the citizenry in general — to make the necessary adjustments for resuming a more energetic pace that would be helpful to the country’s recovery on three fronts: health, the economy, and in learning and education.

Enforcement of a three-day quarantine for the fully vaccinated, which was approved and implemented prior to Omicron has been proposed. Home quarantine for fully vaccinated individuals has also been suggested in lieu of the facility-based quarantine.

Granting more mobility and exemption from mandatory testing for on-site workers should further incentivize vaccinations. In contrast, the unvaccinated will still have to undergo the more stringent quarantine and testing protocols. In particular, there is a “No vax, no ride” policy being enforced in public transportation that restricts the movement of unvaccinated individuals. Unvaccinated workers who have been exempted from the strict enforcement of this policy have been given only until Feb. 25 to get them vaccinated.

Fr. Nicanor Austriaco of OCTA Rsearch, who is also a doctor in molecular biology has expressed the view that the Philippines should follow Thailand’s “test-and-go” system where arriving passengers only need to spend one night in a hotel while they await their COVID-19 test results. He said that by the end of February, the National Capital Region (NCR) and the rest of the country will have moved past the Omicron wave, paving the way for the government to re-examine its travel and mobility protocols.

On the educational front, the easing of restrictions would enable more students to have increased opportunities for face-to-face classes. Prolonged school shutdowns aggravate serious deficits in the development of young learners’ basic skills and aptitudes.

Observing the sluggish pace of economic recovery in 2021 due to the on-and-off quarantine restrictions, Concepcion said: “The Philippines’ economic health is now a serious issue. Whatever we decide now will impact the country’s economy for years to come.”

Metro Manila now down to 'moderate' risk COVID-19 case classification—DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) said that Metro Manila is now under the “moderate” risk classification after a decreasing trend of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases was observed in recent days.

“Moderate-risk na po ang NCR (National Capital Region) kahapon pa. Bumababa na po ng husto ang ating mga kaso at nakarating na tayo sa moderate case classification (NCR is now at moderate-risk since yesterday. The cases are declining significantly and we have reached the moderate case classification),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during the Malacanang press briefing on Friday, Jan. 28.

(C) 2022 Manila Bulletin

Pagasa sees warmer days ahead

Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star 

January 29, 2022 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Though the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is yet to declare the end of the northeast monsoon season, it is now predicting warmer days ahead for Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

In a three-day weather forecast yesterday, the state weather bureau said the National Capital Region can expect temperatures ranging from 23 to 33°C from Saturday to Monday.

Baguio City, the country’s summer capital, is also starting to warm up a little, with temperatures ranging from 15 to 24°C during the next three days.

PAGASA said the shear line or the meeting of the northeast monsoon and the easterlies is affecting Northern Luzon, thus bringing warmer weather despite cloudy skies and isolated rainshowers.

The easterlies or the warm air coming from the Pacific Ocean will affect Central Luzon down to Mindanao, resulting in warmer weather but with localized thunderstorms.

PAGASA said no low-pressure area is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility until the end of the month.

The state weather bureau declared the onset of the northeast monsoon season in late October 2021 which was expected to cold temperatures to Metro Manila and the rest of Northern Luzon until January to February this year.

Uniform protocols for arriving int’l travelers starting Feb. 1

FILE PHOTO

By THIRD ANNE PERALTA-MALONZO

THE National Government will implement uniform entry, testing and quarantine protocols for all international arriving Filipinos and foreign nationals regardless of their country of origin, acting presidential spokesperson Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Friday, January 28, 2022.

Nograles said starting February 1, Tuesday, the government will no longer implement the Red, Yellow and Green country classification, the guidance being used to identify the entry, testing and quarantine protocols of arriving international travelers.

He said the entry, testing and quarantine protocols of arriving international travelers will already depend on their vaccination status.

For fully vaccinated international arriving passengers, they will be required to present a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours prior to departure from the country of origin.

Upon arrival in the Philippines, they will no longer be required to observe mandatory facility-based quarantine and should instead self-monitor for any signs or symptoms within seven days with the date of arrival as their first day.

Fully vaccinated arriving travelers are required to coordinate with their respective local government units upon the manifestation of symptoms.

They should also present their proof of vaccination recognized by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), such as the World Health Organization Certificates of Vaccination and Prophylaxis, VaxCertPH and national digital certificate of foreign governments that also accept the country’s VaxCertPH.

For unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or individuals whose vaccination status cannot be verified, they will be required to present a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours prior to departure from the country of origin and undergo a facility-based quarantine until the release of a negative RT-PCR test taken on the fifth day upon arrival.

“Afterwhich, they shall be required to undergo home quarantine until their 14th day,” said Nograles.

“The local government units of destination and their respective Baranagay Health Emergency Response Teams are tasked to monitor those arriving passengers undergoing home quarantine,” he added.

Nograles said children 12 years old and below who cannot be vaccinated should follow the quarantine protocol of their adult companion.

Those who are currently undergoing quarantine may avail themselves of these protocols by February 1. (SunStar Philippines)

IATF places 6 areas under Alert Level 3

by Argyll Cyrus Geducos, Manila Bulletin

The government’s pandemic task force has escalated six areas to Alert Level 3 due to the rising number of local coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.

El Nido is a municipality on Palawan Island. It is one of the most popular destinations in the Philippines thanks to its absolutely stunning islands and beaches. (Photo by Erwin Lim, courtesy of the Department of Tourism)

In a statement, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases decided to raise the classification of the following areas from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 3:

• Palawan
• Camiguin
• Davao Occidental
• Dinagat Islands
• Tawi-Tawi
• Sulu

The new risk classification will take effect on Jan. 28 and will last until Feb. 15.

As for Metro Manila, whose Alert Level 3 status will lapse on Jan. 31, Nograles had said that the IATF will make the announcement regarding its status this weekend or before Feb. 1.

4 out of 5 vaccinated Filipinos willing to get booster shots – SWS survey

By MANILA BULLETIN

Four out of five or 80 percent of vaccinated adult Filipinos are willing to get a booster dose of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed on Thursday, Jan. 27.

This figure is composed of 73 percent surely and 7 percent probably, SWS said.

The nationwide survey done face-to-face from Dec. 12 to 16, 2021, among 1,440 respondents also found that 7 percent said they are unwilling (3 percent probably not, 3 percent surely not, correctly rounded) to get a booster shot.

The little things as a way to God

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

MAKE no mistake about this. The little, ordinary things of our daily life can and should be pathways to reach and be with God. This truth of our Christian faith has been amply proclaimed by Christ in many of the parables he used to describe how the kingdom of God is.

“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how,” he said (Mk 4,26-27), practically telling us that the heaven can be reached through the daily routine we have.

Still more, he said, “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God…it is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” (Mk 4,31-32)

We have to be strongly reminded that God is everywhere and is always intervening in our lives. He is actually directing our life toward himself, since that is will for us, as it is for all his creation. He is never absent in our life, even in our worst moments. He is always solicitous of our needs, giving us light and strength, and showering us with his love that also teaches us how to suffer the unavoidable troubles we will have in this life.

The challenge for us is how to correspond properly to this truth of our faith, to this reality of our life. Again, we cannot overemphasize our need to spend time to develop a contemplative spirit even while immersed in our worldly affairs, so that we can always be in God’s presence and know how to correspond to his abiding interventions. 

And so, we can be sure that Christ is always in our daily routine and in the little, ordinary things of our daily life. We have to learn how to perceive the divine in the mundane. We have to learn to find Christ in the little things which comprise most of our day, if not of our whole life. 

Let’s always remember that Christ is God made man. As God, he is involved in our creation, in our getting into existence. As such, since its existence is involved in creation, he cannot withdraw from us, since by doing so would be like God withdrawing from our existence. Since we obviously exist, ergo, he is in and with us by the very fact of our existence.

As God and man, he is our redeemer, the one who, in a manner of speaking, would redo or re-create us after our original state of humanity has been damaged by our sin. 

As such, since we all need to be redeemed at all times, he neither can withdraw from us, since by doing so would be like God-and-man, Jesus Christ, withdrawing from our redemption. Since we need to be redeemed always, Christ is also always with us. He actually cannot help but redeem us, because of his great love for us.

We need to be more aware of this reality about ourselves, since we often do not realize it, dominated as we are with the merely material and sensible realities and with what is the here-and-now and what is immediately felt. We many times fail to go beyond this level.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

PH detects 618 more Omicron variant cases

File photo

By THIRD ANNE PERALTA-MALONZO, SunStar Manila

THE country has detected 618 more cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2, which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), pushing the total tally to 1,153, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday, January 27, 2022.

The 618 newly detected Omicron cases were among the 677 samples that underwent the latest genome sequencing.

The DOH said the “stealth Omicron” or the BA.2 sub-lineage, which was first detected in the country in December 2021, was found to be the majority of Omicron cases in the latest batch.

Of the 618 additional Omicron cases, 497 were local cases, while 121 were returning overseas Filipinos.

A total of 13 cases were still active, two had died, 560 were tagged as recovered and 43 were still being verified.

Of the local cases, 238 were in Metro Manila, 71 in Calabarzon, 30 in Ilocos Region and Western Visayas, 27 in Central Luzon, 20 in Central Visayas and 19 in Cagayan Valley.

Thirteen cases were also detected in Cordillera Administrative Region, 10 in Davao Region, six in Soccsksargen, two in Bicol Region, and one each in Mimaropa and Northern Mindanao.

Earlier, the DOH said five individuals who were infected with the Omicron variant have died.

It said all of the five fatalities had comorbidities. One of them was partially vaccinated, one was unvaccinated, while the vaccination status of the three were still being verified.

The country is experiencing another surge in Covid-19 cases believed to be driven by the Omicron variant.

On Monday, January 24, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said Covid-related deaths are increasing amid the Omicron-driven surge, with an average of 25 deaths per day. (SunStar Philippines)