Tag: September 16, 2009

THE RESULT of the August 30 parliamentary elections in Japan has undoubtedly showed the “loss of confidence” of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by former prime minister Taro Aso.

The new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan won by promising major changes amid economic difficulties and social problems.

After LDP’s dominance in the Japanese politics for more than 50 years, a new leadership will soon shape Japan’s future and its youth will take a significant role in this change.

Featured in TIME Magazine last August 31, a group of young Japanese students known as Katariba, a non-profit organization with a nationwide network of 5,000 volunteers, has been going around Japan encouraging their fellow youth to be more participative and sensible in their country’s political matters through workshops and seminars, among others.

CAMPAIGN period is almost upon us once again, and alongside this comes the usual “delights” that make campaigning here in the Philippines so memorable, and not in the good way.

As early as now, try to spend as much time as you can with your neighborhood walls; you won’t be seeing it for a while behind all the campaign posters bearing the faces of presidential hopefuls. Candidates seem to partake in an “agawan base” style of campaigning, wherein whoever gets the most walls covered wins some imagined pre-election contest. The only good thing is that these new posters managed to cover the remnants of the posters from last elections, some of which are already yellowed and drooping.

THOSE who want to vote next year have only a month to register with the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The first automated national and local elections are a history in the making, considering the dirty record of Philippine electoral system, which has always been characterized by violence and fraud.

But there is another thing that can make the polls next year an event to remember: participation of the youth. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo has called on the young people to be involved by practicing their right on suffrage and by contributing to voter education. Figures are not readily available to tell how much of the youth’s population have voted in the previous elections, but judging from the campaign the Comelec and other non-government organizations— and even the media— have been undertaking to capture the youth’s interest, there seems to be a long way to go.

LUNES

Hatinggabi na nang makauwi ako sa bahay. Naabutan ko na namang nag-aabang sa harap ng gate si Lola.

“Bakit ngayon ka lang? Hindi ba sinabi ko sa’yo umuwi ka ng maaga? Pinapasakit mo ulo ko e,” sermon niya sa akin na may halong paglalambing sa boses.

“Lola, sabi ko naman po sa inyo huwag niyo na po akong hintayin kapag gabi na ang uwi ko. Matulog na lang po kayo ng maaga.”

“Hay naku, bata ka. Ako pa ang pinagbilinan mo. Hindi ka ba natatakot umuwi ng ganitong oras? Alam mo namang delikado rito sa lugar natin.”

Kahit kailan, hindi ako nainis kapag pinagsasabihan ako ni Lola. Hindi tulad ‘pag si Papa ang sumisigaw sa akin, nakakabingi. Puro na lang kasi mga pagkukulang ko ang nakikita niya.

Ang sinasabi ng sinasabi ay mas mahalaga kaysa sa sinasabi.
—Gary Granada

Sapagkat ang verbo ay nagkatawang tao

nangangahulugan lamang na lahat
ng kanilang sinasabi ay nagkakatotoo:

Ikinasa nila ang mga salitang tulad ng pagbabago,
rebolusyon, kasarinlan at saka inasinta

sa mga inaakalang kaaway,
nakahandang bitiwan ang mga salita sa hudyat

na magsisilbing senyal para sa lahat.
Subalit maging sila pala ay hindi nagkakaunawaan.

Sa madaling salita, nangungusap sila
ng mga bagay na hindi nila lubos na nauunawaan.

*Mula sa “Sa Madaling Salita at iba pang tula” na nagkamit ng karangalang banggit sa kategoryang Tula sa Ustetika Taunang Parangal Pampanitikan noong 2008. Si Castillo ang itinanghal na Tomasinong Makata ng Taon noong Ustetika 2007.

“AUTHENTIC human development is the fruit of charity propelled in truth.”

This is the central message of Pope Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), which is the Pope’s third encyclical, but his first “social” doctrine.

Caritas in Veritate was inspired by Pope Paul VI’s Populorum Progressio as it made use of Populorum Progressio’s message of human development needing to be holistic for it to be authentic. However, Caritas in Veritate related this message to the current global economic crisis.

Pope Benedict XVI reiterated the Populorum Progressio’s previous message of every individual (and humanity as a whole) being important. He echoed Pope Paul VI’s message of recognizing the importance of travelling the path of development using the mind and the heart.

THE COUNTRY’S oldest book has found a new home.

An eBook version of Doctrina Christiana, first printed in the Philippines in 1593 by the old Imprenta de los Dominicanos de Manila, can now be downloaded online for free from several internet sources.

A popular digital library, Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org), has a vast collection of public domain and licensed works readable online, including the host site for the Doctrina Christiana, which comes in Spanish and version of Tagalog texts, written both in the Roman script and in the traditional writing system. Others also available are Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Just like the original copy, the eBook version of Doctrina Christiana contains basic prayers and teachings of the Christian faith, including the Ten Commandments in Spanish and Tagalog, as well as the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen and Apostle’s Creed.

LIFE as a high school student in UST was my son Tyrel’s best, so he lived it to the fullest.

In 1994, when Tyrel Napoleon passed the UST Pay High School entrance examination, he told me that he jumped so high with one fist raised to the heavens as he shouted, “Thank You, Lord, for Your Blessing!”

As an incoming freshman, Tyrel became excited yet apprehensive, knowing that high school meant more rigid schedules and serious studies just to achieve his own personal goals. But he had his ambitions and dreams with all his plans underway. It was in UST that Tyrel became focused—his moral values were molded, his direction became clear. He was proud to become a Thomasian.

Tyrel was also a kind and patient friend. No matter how busy and absorbed he was in his studies, he would find time to listen to his classmates’ problems and to give advice when needed. He was truly concerned for those who sought his help.

SOMETHING is apparently missing this month in the Saint Raymund de Peñafort building—the life-sized images of the Blessed Virgin Mary annually gracing the college’s hallways every September are nowhere to be seen.

In Pax Christi in Regno Christi in AB: Tranquility through Mary, Our Quest for Peace, the Arts and Letters Pax Romana unit, together with the Communication Arts Students Association, temporarily breaks tradition by withholding their distinctive showcase of Marian effigies to give way for a more participative celebration of the feast of the Blessed Mother.

AB Pax Romana President Lea Reyes said that they are trying “something new this year,” with activities lined up from September 8 to 11 such as photography, poster making competition, evening prayers, and film screenings for the spectators to engage in the celebration.

THE SANTISIMO Rosario Parish commissioned 65 new and former lay ministers on the occasion of the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary last September 8.

The ministers included 35 lay ministers of the Holy Communion and 24 ministers of the word (lectors and commentators). Six new altar servers were also named during the Mass.

“They were chosen not because of their qualifications but because of what they can do,” Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., said in his homily.

Headed by the Center for Campus Ministry, the celebration of the birth of the Virgin Mary kicked-off last September 3 with the opening of an exhibit Ang Mahal Na Ina at the ground floor chapel of the Albertus Magnus building.