MY PSALMS OF LIFE

A psalm of life is an inspirational poem written by H. W. Longfellow as it gives the message to the coming generation. It gives the encouragement to find the purpose of life and achieve our goal. It describes all the difficulties that we'll find while achieving our goal.

Longfellow was thirty-one when he wrote “A Psalm of Life,” likely writing it to fight back the inertia of depression overtaking him after the death of his wife from the complications of a miscarriage in the latter part of 1835.

This poem is known for its optimism and the theme-right attitude of life. The poet gives out the message that pleasure or sorrow is not the goal of life. The purpose of life is to carry out all duties and responsibilities for the progress and good of all. We should realize life is shorter and quicker.

We are always in God's limelight.

Through the ages, people have experienced challenges that show God's hands - mothers and fathers, the young and the old, simple shepherds and popular scholars, soldiers and actors.

God watches over me - no matter how I feel right now: safe and secure in a wholly and warm hearted community or alone and feeling abandoned. God knows my doubts, worries, troubles and challenges in my daily life.

The Psalms became a very important part in my life. It happened purely by accident. Long time ago, I stayed in a hotel in a foreign country in Europe. I felt really uncomfortable. I'll not be boring you with details. I remember asking myself what the psalm writers also frequently did: "Where are you God? Why don't you help me?"

Yes, the presence of real enemies is also part of our daily life here and everywhere. Anyway, suddenly I found a bible in the bottom drawer of my night table. I started reading the Psalms... .

At the very center of the bible are these songs, the Psalms, rising up like a tune from the heart. They capture the innermost thoughts and prayers, and they still speak directly to our needs. For every emotion and mood, you can find a Psalm to match. The Psalms wrestle with the deepest sorrow and ask God the hardest questions about suffering and injustice. They do not tip flowery compliments to God: they cry out to Him, or shout for joy before Him.

In almost every Psalm you find the presence of God, not as a philosophical principle, but as someone, who can change your life, if you allow Him to do so.

I learned from my Philippine mentor, the late Monsignore Professor Dr. Dr. Hermogenes E. Bacareza, chaplain of the Philippine community in Berlin, said that the best way to read the Psalms is simple: to make these ancient prayers your own and speak directly to God. So many of the poems catch deep human feelings that you can't help but be moved by them.

It will take time to understand all Psalms; some might be boring or even self-congratulatory. Read them again and again. Psalms cries from the heart and songs of sorrow as well as joy - reflections for moods and experiences.

Since reading the Psalms, I learned and understood that for God, we're always in the limelight.

𝐏𝐋𝐆𝐔-𝐃𝐝𝐎 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞

 

Hundreds of Bagani leaders converged at the Laak Municipal Grounds, Monday, July 18, 2022 during the Araw ng Kapayapaan Celebration in Laak, Davao de Oro.

The Araw ng Kapayapaan recognizes each and every Bagani leaders in communities for their bravery and effort towards working hand-in-hand with the authorities to maintain the situation of peace and order in their respective communities.

In a statement, Governor Dorothy Gonzaga, expressed gratitude and honors every Bagani leader for their contribution to peace and order as determinants of progress and development in the whole province of Davao de Oro. 

Gov. Gonzaga mentioned that under her term as governor of the province, the administration will work closely with the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to grant the Bagani leaders with assistance coming from the provincial government aside from its LGU.

Gov. Gonzaga also plans to meet with the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army to further capacitate the Bagani leaders with the additional skills needed to perform their roles as peace contributors in the province. Moreover, the provincial government through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) offered rice assistance and canned goods for the participating Bagani leaders.

District II Representative Congressman Ruwel Peter Gonzaga also graced the event along with Mayor Antonio Libuangan of Laak, Vice Mayor Mark Anthony Honeyboy Libuangan, MGen  Nolasco A. Mempin of 10th Infantry Division, PBGEN Benjamin H. Silo, Jr. Regional Director of PRO XI, Provincial NCIP Juluis Mabini, and other dignitaries.

PLGU-DdO under the leadership of Gov. Dorothy Gonzaga will strengthen government initiatives and livelihood programs for the marginalized sector, thereby prohibiting the presence of communist movement in the province. (Jasteen Abella, 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜s 𝑏𝑦 𝐽. 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑧)

Pacquiao returns to boxing for charity

FOR A CAUSE Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao (left) and popular Korean YouTuber DK Yoo pose after signing the contract for their exhibition bout slated in December in Seoul, South Korea. The contract signing and press conference was held at the Bonifacio Hall in Shangri-La The Fort in Bonifacio Global City on Wednesday night, July 20, 2022. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

By Niel Victor C. Masoy, Manila Times

FILIPINO boxing legend Manny Pacquiao will fight in the boxing ring once more.

Pacquiao, however, is not fighting because he wants to fill his personal bank account but rather said he is returning to the sport he loves for a "charitable cause."

Aside from raising funds to rehabilitate the devastated areas in Ukraine and help the people affected in the Ukraine-Russia war, the 42-year-old Pacquiao said he is fighting martial artist and Korean YouTuber DK Yoo so he can continue his charitable mission of building houses to homeless Filipinos.

"This exhibition fight is a charitable event to continue my mission of giving houses to our homeless compatriots," said the former senator during the press conference for his exhibition fight against Yoo at the Bonifacio Hall in Shangri-La The Fort in Bonifacio Global City on Wednesday.

"Actually, I have a lot of 'Pacman village' left to be finished so the proceeds of the event will be used to continue our mission to help," added the only 8-division world boxing champion, who retired from professional boxing with a 62-8-2 win-loss-draw record.

The Pacquiao-Yoo exhibition match dubbed as "The Champ and The Master" is set in December in Seoul, South Korea. It will be a six-round bout and each round lasting for two minutes instead of the regular three minutes.

There is no agreed weight limit for the bout.

The 42-year-old Yoo is a popular YouTuber, a master of 15 disciplines of martial arts and the founder of Warfare Combat System.

He said he respects Pacquiao so much that he is facing him first in a series of exhibition matches he has planned for himself.

"Manny Pacquiao is my most respected player. After Manny, I'm taking on other opponents but he's the first," said Yoo.

"I'm not saying that I'm going to win. Actually, I know that I'm not going to win but I will do my best to pull off a surprise against him."

Germany and Hamburg legend Uwe Seeler dies, aged 85

Uwe Seeler, hands on a balcony, smiling, in black and white

By Jens Krepela, DW

The news of Uwe Seeler's passing was confirmed by his former club, Hamburg, on Thursday, citing information received from the late striker's family.

During his playing career with Hamburg and West Germany, which spanned from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, Uwe Seeler was known as one of the world's best strikers and had many honors bestowed upon him. 

Three times Seeler was voted West Germany's Footballer of the Year, in 1960, 1964 and 1970 — the year he was also awarded West Germany's Federal Cross of Merit. Even though he never won a title with West Germany, in 1972 he became just the second man to be named honorary captain of the national team. He helped Hamburg to a German football championship in 1960, three years before the formation of the Bundesliga, as well as a German Cup title in 1963.

However, his public image was formed not so much by his footballing achievements but more by his down-to-earth, straightforward and easy-going personality, which earned him the nickname "uns Uwe" (our Uwe).He was also widely respected for his sense of fair play, having only been sent off once in his entire career. His rejection of a high-priced offer from Inter Milan in 1961 also endeared him to the Hamburg fans.

Uwe Seeler was born into a sporting family in Hamburg on November 5, 1936. His father, Erwin Seeler, was one of the city's most popular footballers from 1920s to the 1940s, so it came as no surprise when he too joined Hamburger SV in 1946. He established himself as a top goal scorer in the Oberliga Nord (then the top tier of West German football) between 1956 and 1962. When Hamburg became one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963-64, Seeler became the new league's first top scorer with 30 goals.

West Germany coach Sepp Herberger gave Seeler his first call up to the national team in 1954 and he made his first appearance at the age of just 17. However, it was at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden that he established himself as an international star. Three years later, he wore the captain's armband for the first time. In 1966 he was a member of the West German team that lost 4-2 to England in the World Cup final in London's Wembley Stadium.

Four years later, though West Germany would get their revenge in the World Cup quarterfinals in Mexico as Seeler scored with the back of his head to give them a 3-2 win over England. Shortly after that World Cup, Seeler retired from international football, making his final appearance for West Germany against Hungary in September 1970. He played his last match for Hamburg in May, 1972.

However, even in his post-playing days, Seeler was never far from the game he loved. He successfully ran a clothing company and worked as a representative for a sporting goods manufacturer. He also served as president of his beloved HSV from 1995 to 1998.

A sculpture of a replica of Seeler's right foot, was unveiled in 2005 and stands in front of Hamburg's home ground, the Volksparkstadion.

Although he has now departed, in Hamburg and throughout Germany, Seeler will always be fondly remembered as "uns Uwe" (our Uwe).

𝟏𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐍𝐠 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧, 𝐠𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧

 

Sa milabayng semana, mahinumduman nga gisaulog sa katawhan sa Brgy. Tandawan, New Bataan ang pagselebrar sa 𝗶𝗸𝗮-𝟭𝟲 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗡𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗻 nga naay temang "𝗔𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗸𝗮𝗵𝗶𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗮𝘄𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗴-𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹" kaniadtong Hulyu 13-15, 2022.

Ang tulo ka adlaw na selebrasyon nagtumong sa pag-ambit sa mga gasang naabot ug muabot pa sa barangay ug kini usab ang adlaw sa pagpasalamat sa suporta sa katawhan sa mga pangandoy sa gobyerno sa paghatag sa mga batakang serbisyo nga gikinahanglan. 

Personal nga gitambungan mismo ni Governor Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga ug 2nd District Representative Ruwel Peter Gonzaga ang maong selebrasyon diin mihatag ug Php50,000 na pinansyal nga assistance alang sa pagpalambo sa unom ka purok sa maong barangay.

"𝘈𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘶𝘥 𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘯, 𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘺𝘶 𝘶𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰... 𝘶𝘯𝘺𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘥 𝘱𝘢 𝘯𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘨 c𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘶𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪 𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳," matud ni Cong. Gonzaga. Dugang niini, iyang gisulti nga pag-uli niya sa kongreso maghimo syag balaod nga himuon kini ug regular na barangay. (𝐽𝑎𝑦𝑛𝑢𝑠 𝐹𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑧 - 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 , 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑅. 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑠)

Involving the whole man

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

I AM referring to our relationship with God, as well as with everybody else. As much as possible, we should involve our entire humanity, and not just part of it, as in, we deal with God only spiritually and not bodily, only intellectually and not emotionally, etc.

We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel episode where Christ “complained” about people who “look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.” (cfr. Mt 13,10-17)

As that gospel narrates, the reason why Christ used parables instead of using a more direct language is because the heart of the people has grown gross. “They will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted,” Christ said.

In other words, the reason why the people failed to see and to understand what Christ is telling them is because they do not want to be converted. This is also the problem that many of us have. We need to be aware of this predicament and try to do something about it.

We really need to have a burning desire to be with God and with everybody else for us to be able to involve our whole humanity in all our relationships. Without that desire, which will also require the grace of God, we would not go all the way in dealing with God and with others. For all that we do that may appear as if we are doing a lot for God and for others, we would just end up indulging ourselves or simply affirming ourselves.

We need to discipline ourselves so as to involve our whole being in all our relationships. We always have the tendency to be fragmented and distracted, especially nowadays when we have a lot of things, a lot of novelties that can attract our attention at the expense of giving due attention to God and to others.

For this, we need to pause and do some spiritual exercises so that our belief and love for God and for others would really trickle down to our senses. In this regard, we have to give due attention to the need to educate our emotions and passions also.

As the Catechism tells us, our emotions and passions are “natural components of the human psyche; they form the passageway and ensure the connection between the life of the senses and the life of mind.” (1764)

Our emotions and passions therefore serve as a link between our body and soul. They are where we materialize what is spiritual in us, and spiritualize what is material in us. As such, they create a rich texture in our lives. They create the consistency proper to us as a person and as a child of God. They also help to give focus on our judgments, modulate our will, and add sensitivity to our reasoning.

In other words, they play a decisive role in achieving a happy and fully human life. They contribute to achieving the full potential of our humanity. But given the wounded condition of man, our emotions and passions need to be purified and thoroughly educated.

They should not be allowed to just develop at the instance of our hormones and instincts, for example, and the many other blind or short-sighted impulses and trends in our social, cultural, economic, or political environment. They need to be reined in, to be guided and given direction.

This is how we can aspire to involve our whole being in our relationship with God and with others.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗼 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆

The Mandaya Tribe residing in the upland community in Barangay Manurigao, New Bataan, one of the farthest barangays in Davao de Oro, celebrated its two-day 15th founding anniversary on July 14 and 15, 2022. 

Villagers from the eight Sitios opened the first day with resonating cheers and yells as they participated in the tribal games such as busog, sumpitan, kadang, bagudan, lyul'lot, and ball games in the Al'law ng Tipanod and Kabataan activity. 

Barangay Captain Marcos M. Lino said in an interview that the annual celebration showcases the Mandaya's diverse culture, customs, and traditions through dances, tribal songs, and rituals. It also signifies how firm and unrivaled the tribe is as one community despite difficulties from the past two years brought by the pandemic. 

“𝐺𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑜 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑠𝑎 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑎 𝑖𝑘𝑎-15𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑔𝑑𝑢𝑦𝑜𝑔 𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑔𝑎 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑦𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑔 𝑏𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑢𝑔 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎 𝑠𝑎 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑜. 𝐷𝑖𝑙𝑖 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑖 𝑘𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔ℎ𝑖𝑢𝑠𝑎 𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛, ℎ𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑖 𝑠𝑎 𝑔𝑢𝑔𝑚𝑎 𝑢𝑔 𝑘𝑢𝑠𝑜𝑔 𝑠𝑎 𝑚𝑔𝑎 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑎", Lino said. 

He added that the celebration is part of thanksgiving to their “𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑦𝑎” for all the blessings and developments poured into their community from the local and national government. 

Through the government programs, from once a haven of communist insurgency, Barangay Manurigao is now a progressive and peaceful community. 

Capping off the celebration is the Hiyas ng Barangay Manurigao, an activity initiated by the teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd), and participated by the youth of the community. 

Present during the anniversary were Governor Dorothy Gonzaga represented by Board Member Albert Camana together with Julius Mabini of Regional NCIP as the guest speaker, Mayor Gerald Ford Balbin, PNP personnel, Tribal Leaders, and Chieftains, and barangay officials.

 (𝑅.𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑛𝑜, 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑧 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝐶𝑅𝑂 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝐵𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑎𝑛)

DdO commemorates feast day of St. Camillus de Lellis

 

Davao de Oro --- The Provincial Government of Davao de Oro through the Provincial Health Office (PHO), offered a holy mass led by Rev. Fr. Arnulfo C. Tiplaca on July 14, 2022, as a commemoration of Saint Camillus (San Camilo) de Lellis, the universal patron of hospitals, nurses, doctors, and the sick.

St. Camillus was known for his violent temper, reckless behaviour, and habitual gambling. When he was wounded during the military engagement, the injury never fully healed during his lifetime, and it altered the course of his entire life.  

But where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. He confessed and offered his life to the Almighty. He died in Rome on July 14, 1614 and was proclaimed as patron of hospitals and the sick. He also declared as protector of all nuns who care for the sick.

This year’s celebration with the theme “Hope and Healing: An Old Faith in a New Normal Life”, aims at strengthening faith and ask St. Camillus and Our Lady of Good Health to intercede for all the sick, all the frontliners, and all who are experiencing trouble during this global crisis.

Dr. Antonio P. Ybiernas Jr., PG Department Head, said in a statement that everyone has a chance to become like St. Camillus, despite his vices, he changed the course of his life and devoted himself to rendered service, ministering to the sick and dying, and helping other people, especially those who are in need. 

Program proper followed after the mass, where employees of PHO showcased their talents in a festive dance competition critiqued by Executive Assistant Edward B. Macapili and Claire Joy R. Gonzaga from the Office of the Governor. The festivity was capped with a shared lunch full of grace. (R. Hortizano, Photos by PHO-DdO)

Are we taking God’s word seriously?

By Fr. Roy Cimagala*

WE are reminded of that question in the parable of the sower and the seed. (cfr. Mt 9,1-13) Yes, in that parable we are encouraged also to do a lot of sowing of God’s word, a responsibility that is incumbent on all of us. But we would not be a good and generous sower of God’s word if we don’t take God’s word seriously. We have to be a rich soil on which the seed of God’s word can flower a hundredfold.

Aside from the usual problems we have in this regard, like being lazy to study God’s word, treating God’s word in a routine and superficial manner, etc., we now have to contend with the danger of making our other man-made words coming from our philosophies, ideologies, sciences and technologies take precedence over God’s word or even replacing God’s word completely.

We have to protect ourselves from the thought that our man-made word is better, is more effective, or is more practical than God’s word. Nothing can be farther than the truth than that thought, but many of us actually succumb to it.

We need to understand that God’s word gives us the ultimate spiritual knowledge we need to return to God, from whom we came and to whom we go and spend our life in eternity. This character of God’s word is described in the following words in the Letter to the Hebrews:

“For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword, and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (4,12)

Its purely eternal, spiritual, sacred and transcendent nature is now subjected to the conditions of time, culture, history, etc., in view of how we are. But we should not forget that it is primarily purely eternal, spiritual, sacred and transcendent, which with our spiritual powers plus God’s grace we can manage to abstract from its temporal, material, mundane and prosaic condition.

Let’s remember that God became man. With his incarnation, the divine word assumes the nature of a human word. And just as God became man to bring man back to God, his divine word became the human word to bring and reconcile us with God.

Since God’s word is God himself and God is everything to us, we have to understand that it contains everything for our needs, especially our ultimate need to be with God. All things true, good and beautiful are contained in the word of God.

Thus, insofar as our philosophies, ideologies, sciences, arts and technologies contain truths, goodness and beauty, no matter how technical they are, we have to conclude that they also come from God’s word and belong there also. 

Anyone who does not acknowledge this truth about the human sources of our knowledge can be considered ungrateful and presumptuous. We need to overcome the dichotomy that detaches our sciences, arts and technologies from God’s word.

Our sciences, arts and technologies can only articulate the more mundane aspects of the Word of God. They should lead us to God. They should make us achieve a more intimate relationship with God, with everybody else and everything else in the whole universe.

We should make God’s word the primary and constant source of our knowledge! Everything else has to be animated by it.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Fast-track national ID distribution to hasten delivery of services, benefits

by Manila Bulletin

Even while recovering from a second Covid-19 infection, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. met via teleconference with Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who is also National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General, to order the faster distribution of national ID cards for use by all Filipinos by 2023. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), NEDA’s attached agency, is tasked to lead in implementing the national ID system that is mandated in Republic Act No. 11055, the Philippine Identification System Act.

According to the Philippine Postal Authority’s latest report, it has already delivered around 14 million ID cards. Although the law mandating the issuance of national ID cards was passed in 2018, it was not until last year that fixed and mobile registration centers were put up by the PSA. Alternating episodes of quarantine and lockdown also hampered registration of ID applicants. Despite these, the PSA has reported that around 50 million Filipinos — or close to half of the country’s population — have already been registered for the national ID by end 2021.

Toward the end of his term, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed impatience over apparent delays in the issuance of the national ID. A waiting period of six months to one year has been noted. As pointed out by Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, the national ID is a “trusted card used for the speedy distribution of cash aid, fuel vouchers, health benefits, and other basic services” needed by Filipinos to help tide them over the difficulties arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a recent Commission on Audit (COA) report, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas needs to catch up with the schedule of producing national ID cards for around 116 million Filipinos within a four-year period. With the easing of mobility restrictions, it is reasonable to expect a rapid ramping up of ID card production and distribution.

The law that created the Philippine Identification System or the PhilSys for all citizens and residents of the Republic, aimed “to promote seamless delivery of service; to improve the efficiency, transparency, and targeted delivery of public and social services; to enhance administrative governance; to reduce corruption and bureaucratic red tape, to avert fraudulent transactions and misrepresentation; to strengthen financial inclusion; and to promote ease of doing business.” In order to achieve all of these objectives, “a resilient digital system shall be deployed to secure the data collected and to ensure that the people’s right to privacy, confidentiality and other basic rights are at all times upheld and protected.”

Indeed, the issuance of national ID cards is a comprehensive program that requires utmost competence and efficiency on the part of government agencies that are tasked to ensure its effective implementation. Considering that more than four years have passed since the law was enacted, citizens and residents have every right to expect that the distribution of national ID cards will be fast-tracked so they could reap the benefits from its use.