Tag: April 24, 2002

LUMABAS kamakailan sa Inquirer ang isang liham na mula diumano sa nawawalang mamamahayag na si Arlyn Biasbas ng Net 25, ang istasyon ng Iglesia ni Cristo. Ilang buwan na rin siyang nawawala at nakumpirma ngang siya ay dinukot ng isang grupong nanggugulo sa Mindanao. Kilala na si Biasbas sa kanyang mga eksklusibong ulat hinggil sa hidwaan sa Katimugan. Siya ang kauna-unahang nakakuha ng panayam sa mga dinukot na foreign nationals mula sa Isla ng Sipadan, Malaysia.

WALKING along Ayala Avenue under the scorching heat of the sun with burning skin, aching feet, and a heavy portfolio was not exactly my idea of a relaxing summer afternoon. But, if I didn’t want to be unemployed for the rest of my life, I realized that I could not afford to relax. At least, not yet.

So even if it means that I have to sacrifice my vacation to scour the metropolis for job openings, I would.

I need work.

***

SATURDAY, 9th of March 2002. I was in the Varsitarian office doing the usual stuff—editing articles, talking to people, and contemplating. By 4 p.m., we had a Holy Mass.

On that same day up in a courtyard of a trendy cafe in Israel near the West Bank, some steps from Ariel Sharon’s residence, another 20-year-old was doing his usual stuff—talking to his friends and perhaps contemplating hard. It was not actually Fouad Hurani’s usual day because he, together with 11 others, died of bomb explosion. It turned out he was a Palestinian suicide-bomber.

FIRM ON its stand that justice cannot be served through death, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released a statement supporting 16 senators and a number of congressmen who filed a resolution to repeal the death penalty law last March 3.

“The Bishops are for the repeal of the death penalty law. They believe that justice should be given its due course without resorting to capital punishment,” the statement said.

WE BELIEVE in only one God.

This was the appeal of Pope John Paul II for Israelis and Palestinians to end the violence in the Holy Land.

God “can give the energies that are necessary to be freed from hatred and the thirst for vengeance, and to undertake the way of negotiation for peace,” the Holy Father said.

The Pope asked Catholics worldwide to unite in a day of prayer for peace last April 7, Divine Mercy Sunday.

“If the Creator had a purpose in equipping us with a neck, he surely meant us to stick it out.” - Arthur Koestler

GOD HAS a reason for every good or bad thing that happens in our lives. Whether we like it or not, we have to accept whatever God has thrust at us.

ALAM ba ninyong may hardin na tila isang naligaw na oasis sa loob ng UST?

Lingid sa kaalaman ng marami, matatagpuan sa tuktok ng silungan sa harap ng Main Building ang isang hardin na maihahalintulad sa isang munting paraiso.

Katatapos pa lamang ng digmaan nang pinasinayaan ang hardin noong 1947, 20 taon mula nang maitayo ang Main Bldg., upang magsilbing annex ng opisina ng Rektor. Kasabay nito ang paglalagay ng canopy sa gusali na silunagn habang papasok sa gusali. Ginagamit din ito sa iba’t ibang pagtitipon ng mga mataas na opisyal ng Unibersidad.

THOMASIANS, beware. Despite tightened security measures, UST is not crime free.

A Faculty of Pharmacy student is the latest victim of criminals who silently operate inside the University’s premises.

Dawn Angeli Bello, a resident of Sampaloc, Manila, was held at knife point by an unidentified hold-up man while walking along Quezon Drive last April 15.

According to Bello, the suspect was about 5’8” tall, 45 to 50 years old and had a clean-cut hairdo. Bello also noticed that the suspect had a companion who acted as a look-out.

Catholic tradition has it that the Son of Man died on the cross and sojourned in the depths of Sheol — Hebrew for the place where the souls of the dead go. But he went not as an ordinary soul who becomes trapped there, but as the redeemer who freed the righteous and took them into their promised inheritance.

He conquered the bonds of death on the third day. The temple was destroyed, yet it was rebuilt. Thus, he became the “first-born from the dead” because by his victory he made possible our own resurrection when he came back in glory.

I am used to the fact

that you are only a mere picture

on the wall of my room.

It is not important anymore

that I can only stare

at that dry bit of memory,

that I can only look

at those eyes

even if they look back

at another wall.

And as I lie on my bed

trying to grasp that one last frozen smile,

I can only comfort myself

with the thought of you,

gliding back, for a moment,

into my dreams: