Who do you think you are?

BY FR. ROLANDO V. DE LA ROSA, OP

Mar 2, 2025 00:07 AM 

THROUGH UNTRUE

In today's society, which places a strong emphasis on individual autonomy, freedom, and diversity, fraternal correction can often be perceived as intrusive or unwelcome. Negative feedback regarding a person’s behavior is frequently seen as manipulative, an overstep of boundaries, or an attempt to advance the critic's agenda. As a result, the person may defensively deflect attention toward the critic's authority and legitimacy by asking, “Who do you think you are?” 

Social media and digital communication have aggravated this discomfort with corrections, even when offered constructively. The way these are formulated is often brutal and impersonal, almost similar to public shaming.

Consequently, even those in positions of authority hesitate to offer correction, fearing they will be seen as intolerant, judgmental, or, worse, self-righteous. Pope Francis’s famous words, “Who am I to judge?” are frequently used as an excuse to remain silent, even when gross behavior is displayed in one’s presence.

At first glance, today’s Gospel reading seems to discourage fraternal correction. Jesus says to His disciples: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you fail to see the plank in your eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Luke 6:39-45).

However, a closer examination reveals that Jesus is, in fact, offering fraternal correction to the Pharisees, who, due to their pride and inflated sense of moral superiority, refuse to acknowledge their flaws and sins while harshly criticizing others based on self-defined standards of righteousness. Jesus encourages fraternal correction, but he wants us to do it with sincerity, good will, and humility. 

Now more than ever, fraternal correction is crucial — not only for improving our relationships but also for addressing the many socio-economic challenges we face. For example, our democratic institutions, which are vital to society, can only effectively function when we provide constructive feedback to our leaders, hold them accountable, and ensure their actions align with the nation's best interests.

History has shown that many leaders falter because those closest to them hesitate to speak out, fearing the loss of privileges or benefits. These individuals remain silent to maintain peace. But is this genuine peace?

St. Thomas Aquinas writes that true peace can only thrive in a community where members are not afraid to speak the truth. Unprincipled compromises that hide the truth do not lead to true peace. Instead, they foster shallow alliances — similar to those among criminals who remain silent, deaf, and blind to the wrongdoings of their peers in order to protect their mutual interests.

For those who have close relationships with our leaders but refuse to offer correction, even in the face of blatant wrongdoing, God says: “When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,” and you do not warn or correct him to save his life, that wicked person will die for his sin, but I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if, in spite of your warning and correction, the wicked person does not turn from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will save yourself” (Ezekiel 3:18-20).

The power of correction lies not in condemnation, but in offering a chance for redemption. A wayward leader, faced with a corrective intervention, may reconsider his choices and recognize the potential for positive change. This is especially true when the correction is framed constructively, focusing on the importance of ethical behavior for the betterment of society rather than punishing past wrongs. 

Forests for Life: A call to plant 3 million trees for a greener future

BY MANILA BULLETIN

Mar 2, 2025 00:07 AM 

The urgency of reforestation continues to be sounded by dozens of government and non-government organizations around the world, their targets for planting trees now in the trillions.  Still, there are forests that need more trees. 

Two weeks ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) unveiled the Forest for Life: 3M Trees by 2028 initiative, aiming to plant three million trees by 2028. It seeks to restore critical forest ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, improve water resources, and mitigate soil erosion. 

DENR officials led by Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga highlighted the pressing need for reforestation. Maps presented revealed that approximately 1.2 million hectares of forest land require reforestation. With three million trees covering roughly 6,000 hectares, it’s evident that substantial efforts are needed to address the vast areas awaiting restoration. This scenario presents ample opportunities for private corporations and organizations to support the reforestation initiative.

The Forests for Life program has identified specific areas for tree planting, including Ilocos Norte, Rizal, Leyte, Bataan, Bukidnon, and Lanao del Norte. The success of this initiative hinges on collaboration between government entities and the private sector. Private individuals and companies are encouraged to invest in the program, with packages starting as low as ₱100 per tree over a three-year period.

The Forests for Life initiative builds on the government’s long history of tree-planting programs. One of the largest and most ambitious was the National Greening Program (NGP), launched in 2011 through Executive Order No. 26. The NGP aimed to plant 1.5 billion trees across 1.5 million hectares of degraded forestlands from 2011 to 2016.

Reforestation offers a multitude of benefits beyond the mere presence of trees. It enhances biodiversity, creates livelihood opportunities, and promotes eco-tourism, thereby stimulating local economies. Moreover, trees play a pivotal role in carbon sequestration. The Forests for Life program aims for a cumulative carbon sequestration of 500,000 tonnes of CO2 from 2025 to 2028, and a total of 3.5 million tonnes by 2038. This significant reduction in greenhouse gases underscores the program’s commitment to combating climate change. 

On a global scale, the Trillion Trees initiative, a collective effort by BirdLife International, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and WWF, which started in 2016, strives to protect and restore forests worldwide. Their mission is to conserve, restore, and grow one trillion trees by 2030, emphasizing the critical role forests play in maintaining ecological balance and supporting biodiversity. Similarly, the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Trees initiative mobilizes the private sector, facilitates multi-stakeholder partnerships, and supports innovation to achieve its reforestation goals.

Whether it’s a million, a billion or a trillion trees, it all starts with one tree that a citizen plants today.  It also starts with an understanding on the life of a tree. A nonprofit organization in the United States named Neighborhood Forest started a reforestation program in 2010 to “give every child the priceless joy of planting and watching trees grow.” And they are not aiming for the big numbers, giving some 67,000 kids their very own tree last Earth Day and now aiming to reach 100,000 kids for Earth Day 2025.

The success of these programs underscores the importance of sustained commitment and collaboration. Reforestation is not merely about planting trees; it’s about ensuring their growth into healthy forests, protecting them from illegal activities, and integrating sustainable land management policies. Governments must provide robust support for these efforts, and every citizen has a role in preserving our natural resources.

A German Expt in the Philippines (II): Michiko and "Lola"

 

National Women’s Month: Celebrating achievements, advancing gender equality

BY MANILA BULLETIN

Mar 1, 2025 00:04 AM 

 

March is a significant month in the Philippines as it marks National Women’s Month, (NWM), a time dedicated to honoring women’s contributions and addressing pressing issues related to empowerment and gender equality. 

Globally, March 8 is officially recognized by the United Nations as International Women’s Day (IWD) to honor women’s contributions and advocate for gender equality and women’s rights. 

The 2025 celebration is particularly noteworthy because it commemorates several milestones in advancing women’s rights and promoting inclusive development. These are: The 50th anniversary of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW); 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA); 45th year since the Philippines signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); three decades since the introduction of the Gender and Development (GAD) budget policy under the 1995 General Appropriations Act (RA 7845); and the culmination of the 30-year Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (PPGD).

The NWM is a special time to celebrate women’s achievements across various sectors while confronting critical issues hindering women’s empowerment and gender equality. It emphasizes the importance of inclusive progress, ensuring that all women, especially those from marginalized communities, benefit from gender equality initiatives. The celebration also addresses issues such as violence against women, economic disparities, and the need for greater political representation.

The PCW, established in 1975, leads the celebration of NWM. As the primary policy-making and coordinating body on women’s concerns, the PCW spearheads various activities and programs throughout March. Collaborating with government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and civil society organizations, the PCW works on a comprehensive approach to addressing women’s issues.  

The 2025 theme is “WE for Gender Equality and an Inclusive Society,” a recurring theme from 2023 to 2028. “WE” stands for “women and everyone,” an affirmation of the commitment to advocacy.

A notable initiative in the NCW celebration is “Threads of Empowerment: Weaving Women’s Stories,” a year-long project celebrating the artistry and resilience of women across the country. Government agencies and women’s groups from various regions will contribute unique designs reflecting specific advocacies or issues, culminating in a collective tapestry symbolizing women’s experiences and aspirations. 

The month also commemorates other significant observances: Girl Child Week during the fourth week of March, under Proclamation No. 759, which emphasizes the importance of providing every girl under 18 with equal opportunities, adequate protection, and preparation for their role in community development, and Women with Disabilities Day on the last Monday of March, Proclamation No. 744, which advocates for the protection and integration of women with disabilities into society, ensuring they receive equal rights in legal matters and all aspects of human activity.

In the Philippines, the celebration of women’s contributions has been institutionalized through several legal mandates: Proclamation No. 224 which declares the first week of March each year as Women’s Week and March 8 as Women’s Rights and International Peace Day. Proclamation No. 227 which designates March as Women’s Role in History Month, emphasizing the vital part women have played in nation-building, and Republic Act No. 6949 which declares March 8 of every year as National Women’s Day, a special working holiday to celebrate women’s achievements.

The month is a time to reflect on the progress made and the challenges that remain. By honoring women’s achievements and confronting the barriers to equality, the Philippines moves closer to realizing a society where every woman can thrive, free from discrimination and bias.

BINI drops most exciting EP yet 'BINIverse'

Featuring six tracks including a collab with Korean-American artist eaJ

BY MANILA BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT

Mar 1, 2025 08:10 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• The highly anticipated EP has six tracks–”Blink Twice,” “Zero Pressure,” Secrets,” “Out Of My Head,” and “Cherry On Top” and “Cherry On Top BINIMO Remix.” 

BINI

The nation’s girl group BINI brings fresh bubblegum pop tunes with the release of their new EP titled “BINIverse,” now available on music streaming platforms.  

The highly anticipated EP has six tracks–”Blink Twice,” “Zero Pressure,” Secrets,” “Out Of My Head,” and “Cherry On Top” and “Cherry On Top BINIMO Remix.”   

“Zero Pressure” celebrates ambition and tenacity with its empowering lyrics and catchy synthesizer reminiscent of 80s pop. 

BINI’s collaboration with Korean-American singer-songwriter and former Day6 member eaJ called "Secrets" explores the delicate balance between vulnerability and trust in relationships. 

“Out of My Head” meanwhile captures the dizzying feeling of falling in love, blending vivid imagery with a playful sense of urgency.

The group’s recently dropped bop, “Blink Twice,” is a playful take on the push-and-pull of romantic curiosity. 

The EP’s first music release, Cherry on Top,” has already amassed over 100 million combined streams with its blend of sugary sweetness with spicy flair. Its remix version features popular Indonesian act Agnez Mo. 

The “BINIverse” EP follows the pop sensation’s 2024 EP “Talaarawan” which includes chart-topping hits “Karera,” “Pantropiko,” and “Salamin, Salamin.”  

Named Top Local Artist of 2024 by The Official Philippines Chart, BINI was the first Filipino group who had a sold-out concert at the Philippine Arena last Feb. 15 for the kickoff of their “BINIverse World Tour.” This milestone came on the heels of their sold-out three-day concert at New Frontier Theater and another sold-out three-day concert at the Araneta Coliseum. 

At PH Book Festival, Filipino authors are the star

BY PAM PASTOR

MARCH 1, 2025

National Artist Ricky Lee —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

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Sa buong Pilipinas, halos lahat ng bookstores, ‘pag pumunta ka, ‘yung mga librong sinulat ng mga Pilipino, nasa isang maliit at halos tagong section, samantalang ‘yung mga foreign authors, ‘yung mga libro nila halos sakop na ang buong bookstore, naka-display pa sa unahan at nasa mga window pa (Throughout the Philippines, at almost all the bookstores, books written by Filipinos can be found in a tiny, almost hidden section, while foreign authors take over almost the entire bookstore, with their books displayed at the front and even in the windows),” said Ricky Lee.

The National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts told the publishers, authors, illustrators, journalists, and content creators that had gathered at Pardon My French about how, when he was looking for his bestselling scriptwriting manual, “Trip to Quiapo” (considered a bible by many screenwriters), he found it lumped together with maps of the Philippines. “That happened more than once,” he said.

Lee continued, “Medyo nakakadismaya. Ganun na ‘yung scene nung panahon ko pa, nung bata pa ako, laging ganun na (It’s kinda disappointing. It’s been this way during my time, even when I was younger, it’s always been like this) … Kumbaga sa pelikula, para kaming mga extra lang. Kaya maraming salamat sa National Book Development Board (NBDB) dahil dito sa Philippine Book Festival, mga bida kami (In movie speak, it’s like we’re the extras. So thank you to the NBDB because at the Philippine Book Festival, we’re the stars).”

Be poor to be truly rich

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THIS is what Christ proposed to his disciples, and now to us. We need to be poor, to be detached from earthly things, so we can be filled with what truly enriches us. (cfr. Mk 10,28-31)

“Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come,” he said.

We have to understand these words well which at first sight can plunge us to disbelief, since we all know that we need brothers, sisters, parents, children, friends and everyone else in our life. We need houses and money and other material resources. God himself said that we have to love everyone, including our enemies.

He also wants us to “subdue the earth.” (cfr. Gen 1,28) We certainly need to be immersed in the things of the world if we want to subdue the earth. This can only mean that we have to deal with the things of the world, not to stay away from them.

What Christ’s words mean is that nothing and no one in the world, even those who are close to us, should replace our exclusive love for God that would actually give us the proper and inclusive love for everyone and everything in the world.

It’s when we fail to begin and end with God and to be with him in the whole course of life that we would put ourselves in danger, and of failing to gain God himself and everyone and everything in our life.

For us to live by this indication of Christ, we certainly need to continually rectify our intentions as we go through all our temporal and earthly affairs. We know how easily we can be trapped in the things of the world and forget the real way of dealing with them. 

We easily think that by forgetting God or putting him aside in our earthly affairs, and then giving our full attention to the technical aspects of our affairs, we would be achieving our true fulfillment, when in fact, it would be a real loss. Such an attitude toward our earthly affairs can only show that we are attached to the things of this world and that God is actually not important to us, he who is our “all in all,” as he should be.

How then should our attitude be toward the things of the world? It is to love them the way God loves them.

We have to embody that attitude articulated in the gospel of St. John: “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believes in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” (Jn 3,16)

It’s a love that carries out what God, its creator, commanded our first parents to do: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it…” (Gen 1,28) “To subdue the earth” does not only mean to master and dominate it, or merely to make use and take advantage of it, although all these go into that divine command. In fact, we have to develop as much as possible the good potentials of the world.

Our worldly affairs should be motivated only by love for God, and with that love, we can love everybody and everything else properly! It’s that love which can gain us a hundredfold of what Christ promised us and of eternal life itself. This is how we can be poor to be truly rich.

A German Expat in the Philippines (I): How it all started

 

LOSING FAITH?

 

A friend of mine started talking with me and mentioned the good old days. Yes, those were the days my friend! Well, we all know: times have changed. More natural disasters, more wars, more people all over the world who are losing their faith. 

To be or not to be. Sein oder nicht sein. Shakespeare. To say it clearly: without faith, we're really nothing.

Faith is belief; believe in us, in our works, talents and our personalities. We should also believe in our parents - or much better, in our whole family including the black sheep, which can be found everywhere.

We should believe in our friends, even though it seems to become very difficult many times.

Please remember, my dear readers: without faith will we reach the rock bottom. Don't say, it's a likely story.

The German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) has mentioned in his drama "Maria Stuart": "Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive!" Chapter I of Second Thessalonians gives encouragement to all Christians, who were undergoing persecution for or because of their faith. Yes, faith is really not everybody's thing, or "not everyone has faith".

"If I have faith, that can move mountains" (First Corinthians 13,2).

Faith is a tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner (German classical composer and poet, 1813-1883) found the following lyric: "Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith."

So, let's even continue believing in our governments or the institution church. Faith means also a belief specially in a revealed religion. Faith is trust or reliance. Faith is indeed a pledged word. Yes, I know.

Faithful love is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable love. Faithful love means even to love your enemy.

Allow me to close this column with a Chinese proverb: "People without faith in themselves cannot or will never survive!" - Worth to think about it!

Mabuhay ug Madayaw!

 Mabuhay ug Madayaw!

The Davao Region Pageantry stands as the premier platform for pageant-related content in the Davao Region.

What began as a small content creator, dedicated to supporting candidates and pageant events in Davao Region, has now expanded its reach across the entire Philippines.

The Davao Region Pageantry remains steadfast in its mission to highlight and champion local pageant events within the Davao region, offering exclusive scoops and the most captivating pageant content. This remarkable milestone serves as a testament to our unwavering dedication, passion, and the invaluable support of our loyal followers.

To every pageant fans, supporters, followers, and kings and queens who has been part of this incredible journey—thank you! This milestone marks just the beginning of something even greater. We are committed to continuing to elevate the Davao Region Pageantry, setting new standards, and pushing the boundaries even further.

Thank you so much to all of you!

Love,

Shane, Angel and Rolly

Davao Region Pageantry Admins