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2 IMPACT • July 2006

 I MPAC T July 2006 / Vol 40 • No 7
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Playing with Human Lives ......................................... 25
COVER STORY
Public Education: SAME OLD PROBLEMS ............16
COVER PHOTO CREDIT: DENNIS BALDOZA DAYAO
ARTICLES
Pathways to Higher Education .................................... 4
Promoting and Strengthening Moral Values in
Philippine Politics ........................................................... 7
In Truth, Peace ................................................................. 10
Mainstreaming Natural Family Planning in Ipil
Prelature ........................................................................... 12
Consecrated Life: Its Place in the Local Church ... 15
New Sex Education Module Stirs Debates ......... 20
Year of Social Concerns ............................................... 22
STATEMENTS
Liberating Our Country from “Unfreedoms” ........ 26
“The Truth Will Set You Free” .................................... 27
DEPARTMENTS
Quote in the Act ................................................................ 2
Cinema Review .............................................................. 23
Quotes in Quiz ............................................................... 23
From the Blogs ................................................................ 24
From the Inbox ............................................................... 28
Reviews ............................................................................ 29
News Briefs ...................................................................... 30
Is the Constitution really the cause of our
problems? If it is, let’s change it, for God's sake—
and soonest so that our problems will disappear to
smithereens before the next impeachment trial makes
a carnival out of congress.
But is it really? Corruption tops our list of
national headaches. This is the gigantic leech that
is sucking the lifeblood of Filipinos depriving them
of proper education, health care, social services
and a dignified future. If changing the constitution
will bury all corrupt public officials and disable
them like a killer virus, then Charter Change is a tall
order.
But one has to be stupid to believe that chang-
ing the charter is a panacea. In fact, with the way
things are unfolding, without even mentioning the
lies, deceit and the political manipulations of the
day, changing the constitution now will only per-
petuate definitively all the corrupt officials cur-
rently wallowing in power.
Historian Lord Acton held that power corrupts
and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But Fili-
pino politicians have made Acton’s proposition
passé. They have mastered the art of corruption as
the best route to power. The bigger the corruption
is, the higher the returns of power. In the Philip-
pines, the scheme is: corruption gives power and
absolute corruption perpetuates it. So, if you want
perpetual political power, be corrupt. This is the
best formula of political success in the land today.
This is the reason why jueteng and PAGCOR
are here to stay—and maybe for eternity. Corrup-
tion is about money. The pork barrel, which is
wrongly called Countrywide Development Fund
(because it has never developed anything of no-
table consequence as yet), is a small fry compared
to money raised by gambling. Which is why the big
time power brokers will hold on to gambling money
at all cost, like the Columbians do with drugs. CDF
is no longer the best instrument of corruption.
Gambling is.
The Department of Education which has earned
the ire of Malacañang for telling the truth instead of
dancing with the showmanship of the present ad-
ministration is the meat of our cover story. In “Pub-
lic Education: Same Old Problems,” Marilou
Mahilum ventures into some concerns which may
be more serious than just the lack of classrooms and
chairs. But the budget of one billion pesos to elimi-
nate the reds and another billion to combat corrup-
tion looks fun in the face of real priorities. Read on.
Volume 40 • Number 7 3
 A R T I C L E S

T
he start of the new school year heavy for a poor family to carry. “Kung their skills and abilities as long as every-
brings with it much anticipation and hirap po kami, mas hirap sila,” Herbel states one is treated the same. The latter takes
excitement for the students who are of her classmates’ problems. more factors into account, such as those
eager to return to class, aware that educa- The stories of these two girls provide that equality usually overlooks.
tion will be their key to a better life in the evidence of a growing problem of provid- In essence then, and in the context of
future. Unfortunately, most of them are ing access to higher education for public higher education, providing ‘equitable’
unaware of the difficulties and challenges school students. It is a problem that, if left education is not so much about providing
that lie ahead of them as they progress to unattended, will eventually erode the foun- free tertiary education for all, although this
higher levels of education within our sys- dation of our basic education system in is the ultimate goal, but rather the provi-
tem that is seemingly biased towards those the country like termites starting from the sion of a just environment where individu-
who have more than to those with less. roof instead of just from the base of the als can fully realize their potential, regard-
Former classmates and best friends house. less of their socio-economic status.
Herbel Santiago and Jessica Lopez, both The first step to achieve this is by
16, are just a few of the fortunate youth Do all students have a fair further standardizing the competence lev-
who have been able to secure a college chance? els of our primary and secondary schools,
education. Herbel was the valedictorian of so that even public schools graduates can
Payatas High School while Jessica gradu- Equity as a concept has historically compete with their privately-schooled
ated with honors from Bagong Silang High been a tricky and difficult subject to pin counterparts not just during entrance ex-
School, both in Quezon City. Despite their down. For sure, it is not to be confused ams but also in the classroom. However
parents’ meager income, both of them are with ‘equality’, a term suggesting this is a daunting task considering the
entering respected private Universities this sameness and the provision of similar current developmental state of basic edu-
June with scholarships. cation in the country. Unfortu-
Though these two are the nately, most people equate better
exemptions to the usual fate of education with more of the same
most public high school gradu- While policy changes, things: more textbooks, class-
ates who do not go on to college, rooms and teachers instead of
the two honors students were not especially at the government looking at the competency and
spared the difficulties of finding a
school. Despite being the vale-
level, may take a long time quality of the service provided.
The goal of equitable educa-
dictorian of her class, Herbel was in the making, one tion is not simply the creation of
clueless when it came to college more structures and the acquisi-
application procedures and the organization has aimed to tion of more facilities, but more
scholarships available for her. address some of these importantly the improvement of
For Jessica, the fact that she instruction in our education insti-
had to get information about the problems with tangible tutions especially in the public
schools she was applying to from
her neighbors rather than from
results. Pathways to Higher sector. It is alarming, for example,
that only around 19% of the 53,000
her school gave her the impres- Education (Pathways) is a public school teachers around the
sion that her school did not give country passed the English profi-
importance to the future of its program that aims to assist ciency test conducted by the
graduates, “hindi priority ang deserving public high school DepEd in 2004 (PIA Press Release,
college para sa kanila, hindi 26 April 2006). Expectedly, only
(sila) concerned sa students.” students enter college and 5% of public high school gradu-
(Encouraging the students to go
to college was not a priority for
secure financial scholarships. ates that same year can speak En-
glish well enough for college.
the school).
Unlike their counterparts in Double standard
private schools, public school students opportunities. More than equivalence,
are given very little, if nothing at all, when equity is infused with the liberal notions of The current education system has
it comes to their preparation for college. justice and fairness—in contrast to the allowed for the co-existence of duplicity of
Private high schools provide free entrance more egalitarian if not utopian attitudes standards: one for private schools and the
exam reviews, career guidance counsel- embedded in ‘equality’. In practice, the other for public schools. The disparity
ing, and information on possible scholar- difference is reflected in the implementa- between both standards has grown wider
ships and application procedures while tion of just and considerate programs and over time, as evidenced by the poor perfor-
public schools simply wait for any enter- policies. Equality presupposes the notion mance of public school students in a re-
prising college recruiter to come and visit that what is given to one should be given cent international math and science test.
their schools. to all. Equity on the other hand acknowl- In public schools alone, more than half of
As a result, many talented but poor edges the existence of the individual po- those surveyed for the high school readi-
students are discouraged from pursuing tential and is focused on realizing these. ness test failed when the passing grade
higher education. With the cost of educa- The first does not bother so much with level was at 75%, when it was decreased to
tion rising yearly, even the 300 pesos en- what one can achieve in the future or the 50%, the number of passers increased only
trance exam fee becomes a burden too differences among individuals in terms of slightly. Without saying that the quality

44 IMPACT •• July
IMPACT July 2006
2006
Pathways to
Higher Education
by Zak Yuson and Boom Quina
of education in private schools is better,
there is definitely a need to raise both to an
equal level of competency and quality. But
in this deregulated industry, what mecha-
nisms have been put in place to ensure all
educational institutions, public and pri-
vate, are providing the proper quality edu-
cation proportionate to the amount par-
ents or taxpayers spend their hard-earned
money for?
Higher Education Institution— the
national situation
Currently there are around 1,880 higher
education institutions (HEIs) in the coun-
try recognized by the Commission on
Higher Education, and this list does not
include small vocational schools and cen-
ters offering short courses for “in-demand”
jobs today such as care giving, computer
technology, and nursing aide. Of this num-
ber, only 174 (9%) are public HEIs, while
1,605 are private schools (85%) (CHED).
But are these numerous private institu-
tions performing well?
Taking as a case the nursing licen-
sure examination and despite the prolif-
eration of private “specialized” centers
for training nurses, only 12 (7%) schools
had a 90% or higher passing rate. Of these
12, 4 are state universities (UP-Manila
obtaining a 100% passing rate, West
Visayas State University, Mindanao State
University-Marawi, and Pamantasan ng
Lungsod ng Maynila) (PRC). Within the
context of the bigger picture, the situa-
tion that these numbers paint is very
© Denz Dayao / IMPACT
discouraging considering that by the time
a generation of school-aged children
reach college, only 14% of the students
who entered Grade 1 would have known
how it feels like (the other 86% would
have already dropped out of basic school-
ing). It means that the best of the best, or
at least those that were left standing to
continue college, still fail to perform ex-
cellently in licensure examinations. But
again these numbers do not depict the
exact situation yet, considering that the
calculation is based only on the 89% and
61% of the school aged children who
enrolled in elementary and high schools
(DepEd). In short, there are others not
included in the numbers; children who
may never set their feet on a school in
their lifetimes.
Volume 40
Volume 40 •• Number
Number 77 55
 P a t h w a y s
Pathways staff, Rod
Ansagay, doing vol-
unteer work as a tutor
for a Payatas high
school class.
Responses to challenges
The solution to the current issues of
equity lies in long term policy changes and
the restructuring of our higher education
institutions. However, short term solu-
tions can help abate a crisis.
One obvious solution to address
these challenges is by providing students
sufficient funding to improve their chances
on getting in and sustaining their educa-
tion in a college or university. Local gov-
ernments and the National Government
should allot more funds to be used by
students to secure scholarships or even
test application fee waivers. The voucher
system currently being implemented by
the Department of Education is one such
way, although its sustainability is ques-
tionable. If poverty is the absence of op-
portunities, government and the private
sector should focus on creating its exact
opposite.
Another way to address this problem
is for the government to reinstitute the
now defunct National College Entrance
Examination (NCEE). The NCEE was used
from 1974 to 1994 but was abolished be-
cause it was not considered discriminative
enough (Clark, WENR 2004). A revised
NCEE will allow for a single assessment
test which colleges can then base their
admissions criteria on. While it is recog-
nized that schools have different stan-
dards and admissions policy, having a
standardized test, similar to the NMAT
and the SATs in the United States, will
reduce the operating costs of schools and
the need for students to take different and
redundant entrance exams in every col-
lege they apply to.
Moving from a student-centered to
an institution-centered approach, it is also
imperative that we improve upon our cur-
rent accreditation system which will not
6 IMPACT • July 2006
t o H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n
only rank programs but institutions based
upon several factors such as track record
in licensure exams, academic programs/
curriculum, student representation, tuition
fees, and facilities. Doing so may help
prevent unjustified “discrimination” be-
tween schools because criteria may vary
from one school to the other. Facilities may
not weigh heavily, for example, in the rank-
ing of a liberal arts college compared to a
technological college. This will also en-
courage students to apply to a wide mix of
schools instead of simply focusing on
Manila-based schools thereby diffusing
the demand in the more popular institu-
tions. Ranking can also provide incen-
tives for increased performance of HEIs,
and subsequently as a wake up call for
poorly performing HEIs, again in both
public and private schools.
Pathways— an immediate
response
While policy changes, especially at
the government level, may take a long time
in the making, one organization has aimed
to address some of these problems with
tangible results. Pathways to Higher Edu-
cation (Pathways) is a program that aims to
assist deserving public high school stu-
dents enter college and secure financial
scholarships. It originated in the Ateneo
de Manila University in 2002 and has since
spread to several partner universities
across the country.
Herbel and Jessica belong to the 4th
batch of Pathways participants who will
enter college this June. Pathways assists
scholars like them through a program de-
signed to not only prepare them for the
rigors of college academic life but for the
non-academic challenges as well, such as
developing the skills of critical thinking
and self-awareness.
With the aim of providing equity to
access higher education, Pathways has
partnered with several universities, local
government units, foundations and insti-
tutions to look for better ways to give more
opportunities to those who deserve them.
Its partner universities have agreed to
reduce their entrance fees or give free
entrance exams to Pathways accredited
scholars, a very significant initiative which
the organization hopes to replicate in other
universities. While on the other hand, the
local governments of Marbel, Marikina
City and Naga have partnered with Path-
ways and its parent organization, the
Synergeia Foundation, to find better use
of their Special Education Fund for educa-
tion reform programs such as an early
reading intervention program.
Pathways also employs a holistic ap-
proach to the scholar’s development, target-
ing the community and the families of these
scholars to provide a support system as the
student enters college. In many instances,
scholars fail to complete their college educa-
tion due to a lack of support from the family
and the pressure to find work instead. By
educating parents of the possible livelihood
opportunities available to them, the burden
on the student to find work to support his or
her family is lightened.
In Manila, Pathways has piloted its
projects in the public high schools of
Marikina and Quezon City, particularly in
Payatas and Project 4. The program main-
tains active offices in St. Louis University
in Baguio, Notre Dame of Marbel Univer-
sity in South Cotabato, and a satellite
office in Bulacan. Around 120 scholars are
now in college while another 4,000 high
school students have been given semi-
nars and tutorials by Pathways youth
groups nationwide.
The spirit and determination of Path-
ways scholars such as Herbel and Jessica
demonstrate that the potential of these
deserving but marginalized students can
be realized if they are only given a fighting
chance. Jessica, who tries out her new
college uniform everyday in excited antici-
pation, wishes that students like her are
given more value and concern, “sana
ipafeel (sic) sa mga estudyante na
importante sila” (I hope that students will
be made to feel important and valued). Her
request is made with a small voice but one
that resonates throughout the nation. I
(Zak Yuson and Boom Quina, in their twenty-something
or so, currently work as Project Officers of Pathways
to Higher Education, Ateneo de Manila University,
Quezon City. Presently also, they are conducting
research on scholarship programs for poor and
deserving students in the Philippines – Ed.)
 A R T I
PROMOTING and STRENGTHENING
Moral Values in
Philippine Politics
by Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
I
n its Final Report submitted to President Aquino in October
1990, one of the recommendations of the Fact-Finding Com-
mission was a recognition of the unique position of the
Catholic Church in the Philippines as an arbiter on moral issues
even in the realm of politics, asserting that:
The biblical passages condemning rebellion, the exhor-
tation against contributing to it, the moral duty to uphold
duly-constituted authority, provide the church with strong
moral persuasion to deter rebels and to unite people behind
democracy. Its influence should also be brought to bear on
solving the problems of gambling, graft and corruption, and
structural poverty. In the more immediate future, the role of the
church is to catalyze the peace process and to progressively
expand it, regardless of the obstacles placed in its path. The
success of the peace process would heal the festering wounds
of the nation and also pave the way to a meaningful electoral
process and democratic change in 1992.
C L E S
© Rowena Dalanon / IMPACT
In a republican and democratic government, such as ours,
government authority emanates from the people. Ours, however,
is not a direct democracy. This authority is expressed through the
people’s representatives who are of two general categories,
namely, the elective representatives and appointive representa-
tives. These representatives hold public offices which, by ex-
press mandate of the Constitution, are public trusts. The public
trust character of a public office demands from its holder account-
ability to the people at all times, utmost responsibility, integrity,
loyalty, and efficiency; and requires the holder to act with
patriotism and justice and to lead a modest life (Section 1 Art. XI,
Constitution).
Politics is deeply ingrained in governance in a democratic
and republican system of government. In its true essence, politics
is the art of good government and effective governance. It means
civilis ratio, or matters of state, state affairs, statesmanship, or
public service (Burton, Legal Thesaurus, 2nd ed., 372).
Volume 40 • Number 7 7
 Promoting and Strengthening Mora
It follows, therefore, that the foun-
dations of politics must be universal
moral values and principles. As an
adjective, Burton’s Legal Thesau-
rus (infra. P.342) gives these syn-
onyms of moral: bene moratus, com-
mendable, credible, decent, deserv-
ing, ethical, exemplary, high-prin-
cipled, honetus, honorable, idealis-
tic, incorrupt, incorruptible, noble,
praiseworthy, respectable, reputable,
righteous, spotless, trustworthy and
virtuous.
These moral values demand of a gov-
ernment official, especially of a leader,
moral leadership and moral passion. In his
book entitled Lives of Moral Leadership,
Robert Coles cites the following as among
the major components of moral values:
courage, dignity, decency, idealism, pru-
dence, vigilance, capacity for effective-
ness, and ability to get something done.
With the foregoing as our guiding
light or touchstones, let us address the
question: How do we restore or promote
moral values in Philippine politics?
Regrettably, Philippine politics, in
general, has not been known to have en-
joyed the qualities of the moral values of
the true essence of politics. I say “in gen-
eral” because there have been many who
were and there are still many who are true
and faithful to these values. They were
and they are the exceptions. The true brand
of politics, which I mentioned earlier and
which has no other end or goal except the
jealous guarding and faithful implementa-
tion of the public trust character of public
offices, and the promotion of the national
interest, the common good, and the gen-
eral welfare of the people has been prosti-
tuted by, inter alia, lust for power, mad-
ness for political survival, greed and pa-
tronage. Because of these, political dy-
nasties are maintained and new ones es-
tablished; votes are bought; the incompe-
tents, the immorals, the crooks, and even
the criminals are elected to office; political
turncoatism or opportunism are scandal-
ously practiced; and rainbows coalitions
are formed now and then not necessarily
for the common good but for political sur-
vival or for the sharing of the political
benefits of power. Then, too, it is not
common that holders of economic power
work to capture political power by financ-
ing electoral campaigns of well-known
politicians or direct lobbying in Congress.
A Japanese scholar Mamaru Tsuda,
who made a study of the concentration of
economic power in our country, concluded
that the economic centurions are keys to
8 IMPACT • July 2006
political power (A Preliminary Study of
Japanese Filipino Joint Ventures, 1978).
In another study, a group of University of
the Philippines economic professors con-
cluded that the most damaging economic
consequence of political monopoly is the
potential abuse of the state machinery and
its functions to dispense economic privi-
leges and positions to certain private en-
tities (De Dios, An Analysis of the Philip-
pine Economic Crisis: a Workshop Re-
port, 1984).
This lust of power, this politics of
greed, this politics for survival, this poli-
tics for economic power, this politics of
turncoatism, and this politics of patron-
age, are among the principal causes why
we cannot solve graft and corruption and
poverty, among other ills of society; why
democratic institutions are ever threat-
ened; and why we cannot achieve unity,
national development, economic prosper-
ity, and stability.
In my first attempt at politics in 1967,
I, together with some young profession-
als in Argao, Cebu, formed a ticket for
the local positions on a platform of good
government and to do battle against a
political dynasty in the town. But we
were roundly defeated despite the over-
whelming support from the people dur-
ing the campaign period simply because
on the eve of the elections the dynasty
sent its agents to buy votes at the rate of
P50 per vote in places where we were
expected to win. After the elections we
returned to the barangays to thank our
supporters and to find out the reason
why many “sold” their votes. To our
surprise and shock, the reason was very formation be accomplished? The genuine
simple. They claimed that the money was moral transformation means both external
given without their working for it. Had and internal transformation.
they worked for it, plowing or weeding a Our leaders must have the political
neighbors farm, it would have meant will to clean the system. When I was ap-
eight days of hard work. In any event, it pointed Chief justice I immediately pro-
did not matter to them who would win mulgated a vision-mission for the Judi-
because the government reached them ciary entitled THE DAVIDE WATCH: Lead-
only during tax collection days or during ing the Philippine Judiciary and the Legal
election campaigns. Then, too, as a prac- Profession Towards the Third Millennium.
ticing lawyer who constantly watched My vision was a “Judiciary that is inde-
the political scenarios and acted as coun- pendent, effective and efficient, and wor-
sel for many victims of political persecu- thy of public trust and confidence; and a
tions, I knew of many evil practices re- legal profession that provides quality,
sorted to by politicians. accessible and cost-effective legal service
We may have all the laws we need to for the people and is able and willing to
restore or promote moral values in our answer the call to public service.” Under
politics. But unless there is genuine moral the Policy Statement in this vision-mis-
transformation among all sectors of soci- sion, I warned that dishonesty, immorality
ety—most especially and particularly the and incompetence, inefficiency and any
public officials, the politicians, and those other form of unbecoming conduct are
who hold economic power—nothing much impermissible and will not be tolerated in
can be expected. And, how can such trans- the Judiciary and the legal profession. We
al Values in Philippine Politics
© Rowena Dalanon / IMPACT
articulated the vision-mission with the
introduction and implementation of the
most comprehensive judicial reform pro-
gram the Philippines ever had, under the
title Action Program for Judicial Reform
(APJR). The World Bank and many other
institutions recognize this as a model, which
other judiciaries may adopt. Under its six
components are projects to develop high
sense of moral and ethical values and
adopt measures to apply these values in
the performance of judicial duties. Among
other things, we adopted a New Code of
Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judi-
ciary and a Code of Conduct for Court
Personnel. At the same time, we imposed
disciplinary sanctions on erring justices,
judges, and court personnel ranging from
dismissal from the service, suspension
from office, impositions of fines, repri-
mand, censure to admonition. From Janu-
ary 1999 to 15 November 2005 alone, 747
Justices and judges were disciplined, 48 of
whom were dismissed from the service.
For the same period, 862 court personnel
were imposed disciplinary sanctions, 114
of whom were dismissed from the service.
Also, we used spiritual approach to
strengthen moral and ethical values. In
connection with the celebration of the
centenary of the Supreme Court on 11 June
2001, we adopted a prayer for the Courts to
be recited before meetings or activities of
the Supreme Court and the Judiciary and
before court sessions in all other courts.
The message I wish to put across is
that our leaders must throw the books, so
to speak, against all those who fail to carry
the sacred task as public servant or refuse
or neglect to honor the trust character of
their offices.
Incumbent public officials and politi-
cians must change their ways. They must
uphold and honor the public trust charac-
ter of their offices. This may be extremely
difficult to accomplish. But we can help
them. We can, little by little, prick their
consciences or help them improve not
their intelligible quotient or IQ but their
conscience quotient or CQ. The CBCP can
do it in a big way—the spiritual way.
Through the priests in the parishes na-
tionwide, the CBCP can effectively pro-
mote a spiritual renewal program for the
public officials and personnel through
various modes, such as, through pastoral
letters stressing the need for selfless ser-
vice and sacrifice, and a reminder of God’s
punishment for ill-gotten wealth. Prov-
erbs 1:19 says so eloquently: “this is the
fate of everyone greedy of loot: unlawful
gain takes away the life of him who ac-
quires it.”
Moreover, the parishes may hold regu-
lar workshops or focus group discussions
or ecumenical recollections for the local
government officials and personnel on the
same subject matter. In their homilies local
priests must also unceasingly stress moral
and spiritual values and moral leadership.
The parishes should maximize the
availment of the support of the various lay
religious organizations, such as the
Knights of Columbus, the Daughters of
Mary Immaculate International, the CWL,
and the Legion of Mary. When govern-
ment officials and politicians see or are
made aware that they are being watched,
they can hearken to the voice of con-
science.
And during election period, churches
should serve as watchdogs in the conduct
of the election to ensure that voters vote
freely and their votes are counted cor-
rectly. Long before and continuously until
election day, churches should denounce,
through any possible medium of commu-
nication, politicians who resort to dirty
practices to win, and emphasize the sanc-
tity of the ballot and the evils of selling
votes.
In short the Church must always stress
that the faithful should never glorify the
crooks in public offices.
Likewise, we must help cultivate in
our youth the values and virtues of politi-
cal morality and decency and the sacred-
ness of the task public officials are to
perform. Our educational system is princi-
pally called upon to do this. But the CBCP
again can do more because of its prestige,
spiritual influence, and credibility. It can
start with the Catholic schools. It can even
embark on a high profile project jointly
with the COMELEC, such as a project
providing moral formation for would-be
politicians. Or it can lend meaningful sup-
port to some renewal groups and church
organizations now focusing on moral val-
ues. Furthermore, the bishops may con-
sider assigning priests to focus on con-
science-formation work in the political
arena.
Finally, with the spirituality of the
desired transformation in mind, the CBCP
may purse projects and activities ensuring
the growth and strengthening of the beau-
tiful practice of daily encounters with God
by public officials. As a public official, I
had always started my day with a reading
of the bible. I still and will ceaselessly do
so, for it makes me feel good during the
day. Doing so also takes one way from evil
during the day. And 3 John 11 says: “Be-
loved, do not imitate evil but imitate good.
Whoever does what is good is of God;
whoever does what is evil as never seen
God.”
There are many more things we can
do. In short, we have no reason to lose
hope for the motherland. The Philippines
is still the best country for me. In this
unfortunate dilemma between good and
evil, the good will always triumph in the
end. The book of Revelation teaches us
that despite the painful vicissitudes of
devastations and adversities which we
may be subjected to and the occurrences
of evil from within or without, for so long
as we trust in the Lord Jesus, and faithfully
awaits His coming, we shall triumph for
Jesus is the Victor, the Alpha, and the
Omega. I
(This article is condensed from the paper delivered by
Chief Justice (ret.) Hilario G. Davide, Jr., during the
seminar of the Bishops preceding their 92nd Plenary
Assembly held at Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in
Manila on January 24, 2006)
Volume 40 • Number 7 9
 A R
T
he first message of Pope Benedict
XVI for this year 2006 is entitled “In
Truth, Peace.” It expresses the
Pope’s conviction that “wherever and
whenever men and women are enlightened
by the splendor of truth, they naturally set
out on the path of peace” (In Truth, Peace,
3). “If peace is to be authentic and lasting,
it must be built on the bedrock of the truth
about God and the truth about man. This
truth alone can create a sensitivity to jus-
tice and openness to love and solidarity,
while encouraging everyone to work for a
truly free and harmonious family” (ITP 15).
Jesus’ saying “The truth will make
you free” (Jo. 8/32) is the key to clear moral
behavior. “According to Christian faith
and the Church’s teaching,” Pope John
Paul II wrote, “only the freedom which
submits to the Truth leads the human
person to his true good. The good of the
person is to be in the Truth and to do the
Truth” (Veritatis Splendor, 84).
Human life from one perspective is a
warfare between good and evil. We must do
good and avoid evil. Now the Church teaches
that “there exist acts which per se and in
themselves, independently of circumstances,
are always seriously wrong by reason of
their object” (VS 80; Reconcilatio et
Poenitentia 17). Vatican II, in Gaudium et
Spes, gives a number of examples of such
acts: “Whatever is hostile to life itself, such
as any kind of homicide, genocide, abortion,
euthanasia and voluntary suicide; whatever
violates the integrity of the human person,
such as mutilation, physical and mental tor-
ture and attempts to coerce the spirit; what-
ever is offensive to human dignity, such as
subhuman living conditions, arbitrary im-
prisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitu-
tion and trafficking in women and children;
degrading conditions of work which treat
laborers as mere instruments of profit, and
not as free responsible persons; all these and
the like are a disgrace, and so long as they
infect human civilization they contaminate
those who inflict them more than those who
suffer injustice, and they are a negation of
the honor due to the Creator” (GS 27; VS 80).
The Pope reiterates: “If acts are intrinsically
evil, a good intention or particular circum-
stance can never transform an act intrinsi-
cally evil by virtue of its object into an act
‘subjectively’ good or defensible as a choice”
(VS 81).
The CBCP has entitled one of its re-
cent Pastoral Statements as “Renewing
Public Life through Moral Values!” Tak-
ing its suggestion, we can say that values
formation is an urgent and necessary step
towards social transformation. In order to
10 IMPACT • July 2006
T I C L E S
achieve or acquire values in life, other
values are required, the absence of which
renders the acquired values immoral or at
least questionable.
1. The value of wealth must be sup-
ported by the value of work. Wealth
without work means getting some-
thing for nothing. One earns but he
does not work for it. In this situation,
one starts telling rational lies to justify
his wealth taken from graft and corrup-
tion. Rather wealth must be the fruit of
honest work, not of deception, lies or
plain theft. St. Augustine said: “A
state which is not governed according
to justice would be just a bunch of
thieves.” (Deus Caritas Est, 28).
2. The value of pleasure must be accom-
panied by the value of conscience. To
be avoided, therefore, is pleasure with-
out conscience. Pleasurable activities
without social responsibility or ac-
countability surely leads to degrada-
tion of integrity and living a life of
double identity. Example of this is pros-
titution and trafficking of women and
children.
For the protectors of peace, there is
always the struggle to maintain consis-
tency in the truth of our identity both in
our public life and in our private life. As
we search for the truth and integrity in
our leaders today, we have to strive to
be credible prophets as well? let us
protect and check our ranks!
3. The acquisition of knowledge must
lead to development of character. To
be avoided, therefore is knowledge
without character. When one closes
himself to listen to the knowledge or
suggestion of others, believing that
he has the monopoly of knowledge by Angel N. Lagdameo, DD
and of truth, there lies the danger. He
will have a myopic view of the situa-
tion and his decision will be less character to face and accept the truth?
grounded. Present studies today show the truth that we made a mistake?
that a person need not only have IQ 4. What about business and morality?
(intelligence quotient) and EQ (emo- Economic and political transactions
tional quotient) but also AQ (adver- must ultimately be based on moral
sity quotient). Adversity quotient is foundations. People get into trouble
the capacity of the person to deal with when elements in the transaction are
the adversities of his life (Paul Stoltz, covert, hidden, secret. When they keep
Adversity Quotient: Turning Ob- hidden agenda and they rationalize
stacles into Opportunities.) Character even the wrong or immoral activities,
is the capacity to face the truth regard- when it is business without moral
ing the consequences of the choices values it will soon be bad economics or
that one has made in life. bad politics. Morality in business leads
There are times in the service we thought to trust, confidence and transparency.
we had made the best decision, be- 5. Science and technology must serve
cause the matter was thoroughly ana- the common good. However when it is
lyzed, but later it was found out that it developed for the advantage only of
was not correct. Will we have the some groups or individuals, then it
 In Truth,
Peace
does not serve the good of society.
Science without humanity can also be
exploitative of people and natural re-
sources. Those who want to gain from
scientific technologies may present
bias information giving emphasis on
the benefits but not pointing out the
negative effects to environment and
to people, such as happening with
some mining industry.
6. What about religion and sacrifice?
When the purpose of doing religious
ritual like prayer and offering Mass, is
only to save oneself, then such a reli-
gious act is wanting and not a product
of true religion. True religion produces
life giving relationships and maintains
this relationship by sacrifice. It takes
sacrifice to serve the needs of other
people ? the sacrifice of our own pride
and prejudice, the sacrifice of our com-
fort and pleasure, the sacrifice of our
time and treasure ? the sacrifice of our
life. Religion without sacrifice is not
a genuine religion
7. The same may be said about politics.
Politics must be governed and guided
by the values of principle. Politics with-
out principle is very dangerous: it can
be exploitative and is a disservice to the
welfare of the people it is to protect and
serve. The key to a healthy society is to
get the social will, the value system
aligned with correct principles. Prin-
ciple-guided politics will always be
purpose-driven politics and that is the
© Roy Lagarde / IMPACT
welfare of the greatest number.
What I have outlined are some seven
ways to truth and peace, some seven ways
of renewing public life through the corre-
sponding values. The combination of
wealth and work, pleasure and conscience,
knowledge and character, business and
morality, science and humanity, religion
and sacrifice, politics and principles. Keep
the pairs together. The first in the enu-
meration must not be without the other. In
the way to peace, personal, communitarian
or national, the truth of one must be guided
by the truth of the other.
(The foregoing piece is a talk delivered by CBCP
President Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo to the
members of the Philippine National Police on
May 15, 2006, Manila.)
Volume 40 • Number 7 11
 A R T I C L E S

D
uring the first weekend of February
2006, I joined a training seminar on
natural family planning methods in
Roxas City. This was sponsored by the
Archdiocese of Capiz which was inter-
ested to know more about our All-NFP
program for Responsible Parenthood in
Ipil Prelature. Hence, three trainors from
the prelature teamed up with two Manila-
based trainors from the Institute for Re-
productive Health to give the intensive
2½-day seminar on all NFP methods. In all,
there were 62 participants representing 29
of the 33 parishes of the archdiocese.
Some participants had already been
teaching the Billings Ovulation Method
in pre-Cana seminars. Only a few, how-
ever, had heard about the Standard Days
Method. And no parish at all had a moni-
toring system to follow up actual users.
Everyone agreed that much more needed
to be done to mainstream NFP
and to reach out to as many
ods too difficult to adopt?
From our pastoral experience in Ipil,
we realize that the majority of couples
today have three felt needs: a) They want
family planning—i.e., to plan the size of
their family and to space births; b) They
prefer natural family planning, if given
adequate information on fertility aware-
ness and NFP methods; and c) They want
to choose among NFP methods—to suit
their own circumstances and preference.
Our biggest challenge then may not
be to confront government or an interna-
tional conspiracy but rather to address
the felt needs of thousands of married
couples in our rural and urban poor neigh-
borhoods. For the most part, these are
couples who are looking for and are ready
to adopt any of the NFP methods that we
can show them to be safe, reliable, inex-
pensive, and practicable.
The objectives for our NFP program
include the following:
• To adopt a proactive pastoral approach
to address the felt needs of couples for
family planning;
• To offer an All-NFP program by making
available information on all modern,
scientific NFP methods; and
• To promote the value formation that is
integral to our Family Life Apostolate
and to enable couples to make an in-
formed and responsible choice, based
on the formation of a right conscience.
In the light of these vision and objec-
tives, we have adopted four pastoral
guidelines for our All-NFP program in the
prelature.
We are pro-life. This is our first prin-
ciple. We are at the service of life from the
moment of conception. Hence, we are
against abortion, which is also proscribed
by our Constitution.
We are for Responsible Par-

Our All-NFP program has

couples as possible. It is in this
light that the Capiz parishioners
were interested to know more
about our pastoral experience in
Ipil Prelature in promoting an All-
NFP program over the past 3½
years.
enthood. This is our goal—to
help parents to be aware of their
rights as well as their duties in
been greatly facilitated and the procreation and education
of their children. Planning one’s
sustained by our Basic family in order to adequately
care for every child that comes

Pastoral Situation
From a national perspective,
the latest Philippine demographic
and health survey indicates that
only 33% of currently married
Ecclesial Communities at
into the world is the right and
responsibility of Christian par-
ents.
the chapel and neighborhood We are for Natural Family
Planning. This is our recom-
cell levels. Indeed, our mended means in consonance
with the moral teaching of the

pastoral experience in Ipil

women are using modern contra-
ceptives, 16% are using tradi-
tional methods, and less than
one percent are adopting mod-
ern NFP methods. Conversely,
51% of all couples do not have
any family planning method at
all.
Despite more than three de-
cades of government-sponsored
promotion of practically free con-
traceptives, the question can
then be raised why only one-
third of all couples have accepted
contraceptive use. Is it because
the other two-thirds of Filipino
couples are still looking for a family plan-
ning method that is safe, reliable—and
natural?
On the other hand, a similar question
can be raised why less than one percent
of currently married women are adopting
modern NFP methods. Has the govern-
ment—as well as the church—failed to
promote NFP? Or are the earlier NFP meth-
Prelature indicates that
natural family planning is a
valid, viable, and vital
option for a growing number
of couples.
Vision and Pastoral Guidelines
This then is our vision: to mainstream
NFP by reaching out to the majority of
Filipino couples who are looking for a
family planning method that is effective,
suited to their own circumstances, and in
consonance with the Church’s moral
guidelines.
Church. NFP means the practice
of periodic abstinence accord-
ing to the natural fertility rhythm
of the human body. Our promo-
tion of NFP should include all
modern, scientifically-tested
NFP methods.
We are for enabling couples
to make an Informed and Re-
sponsible Choice. Within the
context of a secular and pluralis-
tic society, the government’s
focus is to refrain from coercion
and to provide information on
all family planning methods that
it deems legally acceptable for
couples to make an informed choice. On
the other hand, the church’s focus should
be to provide information on all NFP meth-
ods and to help couples form a right
conscience so that they are able to make
not only an informed but also a respon-
sible choice.
For the majority of couples who are
not using any family planning method at

12 IMPACT • July 2006


Mainstreaming Natural Family
Planning in Ipil Prelature
by Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, DD
all, the question can be raised whether or
not these couples are forced by circum-
stances to make uninformed and irrespon-
sible choices in a matter that is crucial to
their family life. Ultimately, neither the
government nor the church can make this
choice for couples. It is their inherent
right and duty as responsible parents and
citizens to have this freedom of choice for
themselves. This is the goal of Respon-
sible Parenthood that both Church and
State subscribe to.
Towards an All-NFP Program
Since the mid-70’s, the Prelature of
Ipil, which was then a Jesuit Mission
District of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga,
has been a pilot area for the earlier NFP
methods—such as the Basal Body Tem-
perature method (BBT) and the Billings
Ovulation Method (BOM). However, with
the dissociation of the church from the
government’s family planning program
and the end of outside funding by the
mid-80’s, the NFP program reached a pla-
teau and slowed down.
In October 2001, some of our prelature
workers visited Impasugong, Bukidnon,
where a new NFP method, called the Stan-
dard Days Method (SDM), was being
piloted among small farmer couples. Be-
cause of its simplicity in teaching fertility
awareness with the aid of a string of cycle
beads, practically all the parishes agreed
to include SDM in, what we now call, the
© Denz Dayao / IMPACT
© Denz Dayao / IMPACT
All-NFP program for the prelature.
SDM is a new calendar-based method
of family planning based on fertility aware-
ness. It helps a woman know her fertile
days by simply counting the days of her
cycle, starting with the first day of men-
struation. It identifies days 8-19 of the
cycle as the fertile period when preg-
nancy may occur if there is intercourse.
Days 1-7 and the rest of the days after day
19 are identified as non-fertile days.
SDM’s “fertile window” of days 8-19
has been standardized and is applicable
only for women whose menstrual cycles
range from 26 to 32 days. It is estimated
that three-fourths of all women are within
this cycle range. Hence, it is made clear
from the outset that SDM is not appli-
Volume 40 • Number 7 13
 A R T I
ease!
Rel
New cable to all women. In this sense, despite
its simplicity, SDM cannot be the exclu-
sive NFP method for the local church to
promote; but neither should it be the
excluded method.
SDM was developed by the Institute
for Reproductive Health (IRH) of
Georgetown University, the oldest Catho-
lic university in the United States. It is the
result of an extensive research process
spanning six years since the mid-90’s,
involving pilot sites in Bolivia, Peru and
the Philippines. It has been clinically
tested with a high effectiveness rate of
ovc.blogspot.com
95.25%.
To help women track the days of their
menstrual cycle, IRH devised a necklace
or cycle beads consisting of 32 colored
beads, representing the day of menstrua-
tion (red), the fertile days (white), and the
infertile days (brown). Hence, couples
can easily know the days when they
should abstain from intercourse if they
For Orders Contact: wish to avoid pregnancy. Or they may
also use the same beads to achieve preg-
National Matrimonial Tribunal nancy.
In July 2003, at the CBCP plenary
Office assembly, the bishops passed a consen-
Tel. No. (632) 5274160 sus vote recognizing SDM as a method
CBCPWorld Office that “could be used by a diocese in its
Telefax (632) 4041612 program of Natural Family Planning,” pro-
vided it was not combined with contra-
ceptives and it was not seen as part of the
Other books by government’s total Family Planning Pro-
Abp. Oscar V. Cruz, JCD, DD gram for population control. In effect, the
1. Marriage Tribunal Ministry bishops as a collective body gave their
2. Guide Documents on Parish, Vicariate and Nihil Obstat to SDM, but its Imprimatur
Diocesan Administrative/Pastoral Concerns was left to the local ordinary of each
3. Canon 290 CIC in the Service of Truth,
Justice and Charity
diocese.
4. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon
1097, 1098, 1102 A Five-Step Approach
5. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon
1103 Meanwhile in the prelature, All-
6. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon NFP training seminars were conducted
1095 at the vicariate level and in some par-
7. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon ishes. However, the approach was still
1101
8. Evidence in Marriage Nullity Cases haphazard, leaving the task of covering
9. Impediments to Canonical Marriage all the 19 parishes to a few prelature
10. Markers workers. After a series of consultations,
11. Penal Process for Dismissal from the Clerical by June 2004, the prelature designed a
State five-step program for each parish. This
12. Provincial Council, Diocesan Synod, would systematize and decentralize the
Pastoral Assembly
13. CBCP Guidelines on Sexual Abuse and All-NFP program to reach every chapel
Misconduct: A Critique community (kapilya) or barangay.
14. Board of Conciliation and Arbitration The five steps comprise: (1) an ori-
15. Viewpoints at the Onset of the New entation talk on responsible parenthood
Millennium and NFP for parish leaders and kapilya
16. Media in our Midst representatives; (2) a providers’ train-
17. Administration of the Temporal Goods of the
Church ing on All-NFP methods for kapilya rep-
resentatives; (3) an orientation talk on
18. Curia Management
19. Clergy Compensation All-NFP for the kapilya community; (4)
20. Call of the Laity individual counseling of couples by the
14 IMPACT • July 2006
C L E S
provider at the household level; and (5)
periodic reporting from the kapilya to
the parish up to the prelature levels.
In September 2004, our NFP parish
coordinators underwent a four-day re-
fresher course on all NFP methods, given
by the staff of the Institute for Repro-
ductive Health (Phil.), an affiliate of
Georgetown University which had de-
veloped SDM and other simplified NFP
methods. Starting with an overview of
fertility awareness, the IRH staff went
on to discuss the distinctive features of
each method to enable the participants
to have a comprehensive view of NFP.
This has been the content of the pro-
viders’ training seminars being given at
the parish level ever since. A total of
367 participants, including 68 couples,
have taken the training so far. They are
now servicing 182 kapilyas or 29% of
the total number of 626 chapel commu-
nities.
Progress reports
What then have been the results of
our All-NFP program so far? As of
December 2005, there were 1,125 con-
tinuing users. Of these, 742 (or 66%) are
SDM users, while 295 (or 26%) are BOM
users. There are also 77 breastfeeding
mothers, while eleven prefer the tem-
perature method or its combination with
the mucus method.
Although the number of NFP users
is still a small percentage of the total
number of couples, it is a promising
figure for a program that has reached
out so far to only about a third of the
total number of chapel communities.
Prelature and parish workers have also
been advised not to fast-track the pro-
gram—to make sure that seminar par-
ticipants are properly trained to be-
come service providers with values for-
mation and that each couple receives
adequate counseling.
Our All-NFP program has been
greatly facilitated and sustained by our
Basic Ecclesial Communities at the chapel
and neighborhood cell levels. Indeed,
our pastoral experience in Ipil Prelature
indicates that natural family planning is
a valid, viable, and vital option for a
growing number of couples. I
(Most Rev. Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, who used to be
the Prelate of the Prelature of Ipil, was installed the
Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro on
May 30, 2006. He is also the Vice-President of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and
concurrently the Chairman of the CBCP Commission
on Interreligious Dialogue.)

Its Place in
the Local Church
by Leonardo Y. Medroso, JCD, DD
T
he presence of the Conse-
crated life in dioceses and
other local Churches is
more often than not taken as a
matter of fact. Yet its impact on
the life of the faithful cannot be
denied. Hence, the need to study
its juridical status in its relation
to the local Church. It may ap-
pear to many as a tame topic, but
once one comes into it, he will be
surprised at how interesting it
really is. A case at bar will con-
firm the point.
The issue happened in the
Archdiocese of Palo. Some ten
years ago the Divine Word Uni-
versity of Tacloban was closed,
depriving Leyte and Samar the
Catholic university that stands
as a symbol of their educational
standard. The cause of the clo-
sure is some labor problems. The
employees were demanding for
better benefits. As no positive
response was taken by the reli-
gious congregation, the owner
and administrator of the said
university, the employees
brought the case to court for
proper resolution. After years of
litigation, the court handed down
a decision that was favorable to
A R T I
Consecrated Life:
the labor force. A substantial
amount was imposed on the ad-
ministration to pay labor. But it
appeared that the fiscal obliga-
tion was too onerous. It was
brought to the higher court. But
the court of appeal upheld the
decision of the lower court. So
the fiscal obligation remained.
The religious community, the
owner and administrator of the
university, on the face of such a
staggering amount declared it-
self bankrupt and officially closed
shop. Not reneging on the obli-
gation exacted by the court, the
religious congregation started
paying by installment. But it
soon discovered some irregu-
larities in the way the money was
distributed among the employ-
ees themselves. Payment was
stopped. Hope for the univer-
sity to open again was getting
dimmer.
Meantime, the Archdiocese
of Palo felt itself aggrieved by
the case, not only because the
people of the place clamored for
intervention, but also because it
has a ground to complain. As
history would tell, the lot on
which the university complex has
C L E S
© Roy Lagarde / IMPACT
been straddling was formerly
used as a parochial school. Both
the school and the lot were
owned by the archdiocese. Later,
for more efficient administration
it was donated to the said reli-
gious congregation with a spe-
cific condition that it be used for
Catholic education. When in the
future it will no longer be used for
that purpose, the lot has to be
returned to the diocese. The
contract had been drawn accord-
ing to this specification and duly
signed by the parties concerned
. Based on this, the diocese pur-
sued its right; the religious con-
gregation dilly-dallied. The
former requested Rome to inter-
vene. Rome obliged. And so all
parties, that is, the religious con-
gregation, the diocese, and la-
bor were called to resolve the
issue. Last February 21, 2006, all
the parties concerned finally
agreed on the final resolution of
the case. A Catholic school will
again be opened.
In the cited case, the Con-
secrated life which runs the uni-
versity is no longer a mere still
picture, nor an abstract defini-
tion lifted from canon law books,
Volume 40 • Number 7
but flesh and blood reality of
individuals in a tense struggle to
assert their rights. In doing so, it
ran counter to the rights of the
local church, the Archdiocese of
Palo. Both have rights and obli-
gations established and safe-
guarded by the Code of Canon
Law. In fact in the constitutional
part of the Code, the rights and
duties of each member of the
People of God are established
while the nature, roles and func-
tions of each structure and insti-
tution in the Church are sharply
defined. The reason is that in the
complexity of the exercise of all
these duties, rights and func-
tions, harmonious interplay and
dynamic order are to be observed.
Otherwise, chaos would set in.
As Pope John Paul II declared
when he promulgated the 1983
Code of Canon Law: “Since the
Church is established in the form
of social and visible unit, it needs
rules, so that the hierarchical and
organic structure may be vis-
ible; that its exercise of functions
divinely entrusted to it, particu-
larly of sacred power and of the
administration of the sacraments,
is properly ordered; that the
mutual relationships of Christ’s
faithful are reconciled in justice
based on charity, with the rights
of each safeguarded and de-
fined” (Ap. Const.: Sacrae
Disciplinae Leges, 25 January
1983).
What then is the juridical
locus of the consecrated life in
the diocese? This question be-
comes more pressing when we
take into consideration that
many of them have become inte-
gral part of the life of the local
churches, welcomed by bishops
and priests within the diocesan
and parochial structures, yet,
sustain some elements foreign
to the hierarchical church. These
are the structures of the conse-
crated life, the physical institu-
tions of the religious congrega-
tions.
At first blush it would seem
that the institutes of consecrated
life are pitted against the dio-
cese/parish as two contrasting
structures. The diocese/parish
Consecrated Life / p. 20
15
 C O V E R S T O

by Marilou Mahilum

A
pparently, President Arroyo’s outburst and the tongue-
lashing Acting Secretary Fe Hidalgo of DepEd received
during the May 30 Cabinet meeting would have spurred
a much-needed dose of good news for the country’s long
deteriorating educational system: that, as it were, the Arroyo
government has finally licked the perennial problem of classroom
shortage. This, Arroyo claimed to have done—and thus after
having publicly rebuked Acting Secretary Hidalgo for suppos-
edly reporting the “wrong” information on classroom short-
ages—by declaring the adoption of a double-shift class schedule
and the ratio of 100 students to a class.
Has President Arroyo’s decree, less her outburst, struck a
spot of cheer? Almost immediately, it did. Touted as creative
arithmetic, the Philippine Daily Inquirer in its June 6 editorial
rushed to point out that Arroyo’s decreed adoption of a double-
shift schedule and a ratio of 100 students to a class “miracu-
lously” solved, albeit as palliative measure, a very real shortage
of over 74,000 classrooms.
But it’s not all that well and simple—and informed critics
aren’t taking Arroyo’s “creative solution” hook, line and sinker.
That there is indeed a very real shortage of classrooms in the
country—74,115 classrooms, if estimated on the ideal single-
shift setting at 50 students per class—is a fact beyond dispute.
But that Arroyo’s creative arithmetic of double-shift and 100
students to every class would “miraculously” wipe out or solve
the over 74,000-clasroom shortage, critics cannot but remain
skeptical about such “miracle”. Even, as Yvonne Chua of the
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported, to go
double-shift at 50 students per class, which is reportedly the
President’s preferred strategy, there would still be a shortage of
6,832 classrooms, the figure which Secretary Hidalgo rightly
reported—and earned the President’s outburst.
“There is a serious shortage of classrooms nationwide that no
amount of ‘manipulation of numbers’ will do away wit it. And we
better face up to this fact rather than try to wish that shortage away
through economics or mathematics or whatever form of analysis
there is in the highest office in the land,” Chua pointed out.
Neither double-shifting class hours nor lumping 100 students
into small rooms like sardines is a productive solution to the ever
declining quality of education in the country. “The truth is that a
classroom should only be used by one class per day (especially in
the higher grades) because double or even triple-shifting takes
away class time from students. And as everyone should know,
cutting short class time will only serve to cut short learning time.
If students don’t learn because they have less time in class, that
is the crux of the low achievement problem,” Chua argued.

Same Old Problems

The ever escalating problem of classroom shortage repre-
sents only a part of the whole sordid picture of a long since ailing
educational system.
From the time of the Ferdinand Marcos regime when education
became a casualty subjugated over by security which then had
become necessary to prop up the dictatorship, down to the
Corazon Aquino administration whose language Talibans—with
the edict of enforcing Tagalog as a medium of instruction—set the
nation back further at the dawn of the age of information and
communications technology, and up to the present Arroyo
administration’s education-for-all agenda, the reality of the

16 IMPACT
IMPACT • July 2006
O R Y

Public Education:
SAME OLD PROBLEMS
©

Besieged year in and year out by the

same old education woes, the coun-
try remains yet stuck in the dark, what
with President Arroyo’s flaunted edu-
cation-for-all agenda and supposedly
“creative solution” to the problem of
classroom shortage.

Volume 40 • Number 7 17
 P u b l i c
country’s educational system yet remains
on the edge of a never-ending cycle of the
same old problems, faintly remedied, if rather
perpetrated, by mere politically-coated pal-
liative, and the measure of success of which
are as illusive as its political posturings.
“That the Philippine educational sys-
tem is in a bad shape has been known for the
past two or three decades, but nothing
really radical has been done to correct the
situation. Remedies have at best been
palliatives or stop-gap measures,” stated
the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s editorial of
last June 6.
More ostensibly, the same editorial
didn’t miss to mention the cyclical prob-
lems, apart from classroom shortage, that
continue bedeviling the country’s school
system. “Every year, the complaints are the
same: a shortage of classrooms, desks and
textbooks and a lack of trained teachers.
What is worse is that some of the textbooks
have been found to contain many errors.”
Not only is there a scourge of scarcity
of physical resources but the country is
undoubtedly suffering even more the curse
of a deteriorating quality of education pre-
cipitated by double-shift class hours, ex-
ploding student population in every class,
and overseas migration of competent teach-
ers.
The Inquirer editorial pointedly stated,
“The physical setting, of course, is second-
ary in importance to the content of educa-
tion. But is it the ideal setting for students
to be packed into small rooms like sardines,
or be made to rush through several subjects
in four-hour sessions, so that the next batch
can be accommodated for the afternoon
session? And how can we expect students
18 IMPACT • July 2006
E d u c a t i o n :
to learn a lot if five or six of them have to
share one textbook?”
“The teachers are the key people in the
educational system. But how can we expect
the teachers to teach well if they themselves
are ill-trained? There are many stories of
teachers who are semi-literate or who teach
their students the wrong things, or who are
just one chapter ahead of their students in
digesting the books they use in teaching.
The best teachers are leaving for jobs
abroad, and the mediocre ones are left to
teach the nation’s youth in the public
schools. How can we expect our children to
do well in school if they have poorly edu-
cated teachers?,” the Inquirer editorial
added.
Grim Statistics
If that litany of never-ending educa-
tion woes sounds like a repetitive hype,
it’s not. More than the continuing cycle of
the same old problems which likely have
already desensitized not a few Filipinos
vis-à-vis such problems, official statistics
on the current grim state of Philippine
education are themselves very telling even
more.
Alcuin Papa, in his Special Report
article in the June 5 issue of the Philippine
Daily Inquirer, reports the following reali-
ties as drawn from the Department of
Education’s data:
• Of the 57.6 million Filipinos aged 10 to
64 years, 9.2 million or 16% are “func-
tionally illiterate”. This means these
people are unable to read, write, sub-
tract and add, or understand simple
instructions—something that is nor-
© Denz Dayao / IMPACT
mally learned by a Grade 4 student.
• Roughly 1% of Filipino children, de-
spite of President Arroyo’s educa-
tion-for-all imperative, do not have
access to basic elementary education.
• Only 68% of students complete the
elementary grades, 42% finish high
school, and 14% graduate from col-
lege.
• Of the country’s Grade 6 kids, only 26%
have a mastery of English, 15% of
Science and 31% of Math.
• Only 7% of senior high school stu-
dents had mastered English; 2% Sci-
ence, and 16% Math.
• The national average score in the
TIMSS (Trends in Math and Science
Survey) in 2003 was 378 in Math—89
points behind the international aver-
age and 227 points away from the
highest score notched by Singapore.
“It will take the Philippines 11 to 12
years to narrow the gap with the world
average in achievement tests and 25 to 28
years to reach the Singapore level,” Papa
said, quoting the DepEd in a presentation
to the Cabinet in July 2005.
Licking the Perennial Woes
Given the undisputed enormity of de-
bilitating education woes and with a govern-
ment yet likely unable to forge any radical
reform, the country’s education sector yet
faces hard questions on how to put an end
to the cycle of same old problems.
Already, to date, some resonant voices
for reforms and other creative ways to lick the
ailing, if dying, education system have vari-
ably sprouted to the fore—largely from pri-
S a m e O l d
vate sector assistance, believed to one of the
rare bright spots in the current bleak public
school system.
One, according to informed observers
and critics, is to increase private and public
sector partnerships. A prominent example of
this is the GASTPE (government Assistance
to Students and Teachers in Private Educa-
tion) program, created through Republic Act
6728. Since the early 1990s, GASTPE has
paid private high schools an annual subsidy
so that lower-income families could enroll
their children in these schools. In school
year 2005-2006, GASTPE—lodged in the
DepEd budget—paid over 382,000 students
from low-income families to study in over
1,700 private high schools nationwide at a
rate of P4,000 per student. Managed by
FAPE (Fund for Assistance to Private Edu-
cation), the total budget for GASTPE was 1.5
billion in 2005 and 1.72 billion in 2006.
But not all went well though with
GASTPE. Private schools, mostly Catholic
ones, have decried the perennial delays of
the subsidy payment. As of March 2005 for
instance, according to CEAP (Catholic Edu-
cational Association of the Philippines) na-
tional executive director Mariano Piamonte,
roughly 50% of GASTPE beneficiaries in
private schools have not been paid yet their
grants for the school year 2004-2005. In some
cases, Piamonte added, back accounts of
GASTPE beneficiaries in private schools
would remain unsettled even after gradua-
tion.
In a new twist, GASTPE has recently
become a “voucher” program and in all like-
lihood the distribution of vouchers will now
be given to the local government units,
rather than to the education sector. With
this, critics believe, the program is being
hijacked for political rather than education
ends.
Private businessmen and corporate do-
nors have likewise contributed reform initia-
tives to the ailing public school system. The
Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII), for
instance, is the biggest and longest-running
private donor of classrooms, with 3,200 two-
room schoolhouses built since 1960. There
is also the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI)
which hopes to connect, in the next five
years, all 5,500 high schools nationwide to
the Internet. The Foundation for the Up-
grading of Education (FUSE), also, has pro-
duced a set of instructional tapes known as
Constel (Continuing Studies Through Edu-
cation) which have since been viewed by
around 10,000 public school teachers. And
lastly, the “Mentoring the Mentors” project
of the Foundation for Worldwide People
P r o b l e m s
Power has since been conducting skills train-
ing workshops to public school teachers
nationwide.
But still, even the aggregate initiatives
and contributions of these private groups
and corporations are yet deemed not enough
gleaned against a backdrop of a burgeoning,
if exploding, public school population
prompted by the equally wrenching eco-
nomic crisis.
A rather rational solution, echoed by
most critics and observers, to the ailing
educational system is to jack up the budget
outlay for the education sector. Thanks
though to the May 30 incident about the
President’s tongue-lashing on Acting Sec-
retary Hidalgo which, in an apparent stroke
of serendipity, has yielded a good result: the
members of the bicameral conference com-
mittee on the proposed 2006 national budget
agreed to increase the Department of
Education’s P102-billion outlay by about P4
billion.
Even so, critics decry, that such amount
is inarguably paltry enough to effect any
significant reform to salvage or rescue the
sinking state of education.
Education is supposed to get, most
observers believe, the biggest share of na-
tional budget, but it is not: debt service gets
the biggest outlay. In the current national
budget, the outlay for debt service is P301.7
billion or almost three times the P102-billion
appropriation for the Department of Educa-
tion.
DepEd’s current budget share actually
represents only 12-percent of the national
budget, way below the international bench-
mark of a 20-percent budget share for educa-
tion. Vietnam, which basically has the same
number of students as the Philippines, ac-
cording to former Education Secretary
Florencio Abad, is increasing education’s
share of its budget to 22 percent next year. It
is fielding about a million teachers for the
same number of students as the Philippines.
But, according to Abad, it is not a ques-
tion of money. It is about setting priorities
right. He points to the P300-billion-a-year
fiscal incentives program. “We are giving up
incentives to all sorts of businesses that, I
think, most anyway don’t need,” he says.
On the whole, hence, critics and non-
critics alike may yet agree that the key to
licking, once and for all, the wrenching pe-
rennial education muck in the country may
just lie on the question of “setting the priori-
ties right” on the part of the government.
Inarguably, the urgent imperative to reform
or rescue the ailing education system right-
fully calls for the government to precisely
make, through firm resolve or political will,
education as prime priority—in budget allo-
cation, and comprehensively as well in its
programs and strategies, devoid of political
posturings. This includes, for one, putting
an end to the era of palliatives and stop-gap
measures—like that of President Arroyo’s
“creative arithmetic”—or stripping away bu-
reaucratic layers and finding a mechanism to
make the bureaucracy answerable to the
people.
But, whichever means or ways, the tall
order of the day likely calls for setting, en-
forcing and realizing an authentic, lasting or
sustainable policy and program for educa-
tion, and thus ensure that every child is
better educated, and with better value. I
Volume 40 • Number 7 19

Consecrated Life / from p. 15
is hierarchical in its juridical embodiment
while the institute of consecrated/religious
life, notwithstanding its public juridical struc-
ture within the church, is charismatic in ty-
pology. Its existence is real, but non-hierar-
chical. Ordinarily, it exercises great influence
in the local community, yet it enjoys an
autonomy of life, programs and activities
that oftentimes are not within the purview of
the local authority. It possesses its own
communal yet private properties, assets and
liabilities and yet is not required to give a
regular accounting report to the bishop of
the territory. It seems that it is alien to the
hierarchical organization, yet it is a flesh-
and-blood reality within the church, with a
life ever pointing to something mysterious
beyond the horizon of the community’s natu-
ral consciousness.
Is duality of the hierarchical structure of
the diocese and the charismatic institutions
of religious institutes the accepted locus to
ground the relationship between these two
realities, ever invoking the dialectic of re-
spect for each others’ autonomy and inde-
pendence? Is it right to say that the Church
is constituted with two independent struc-
tures based on the dual contrasting, if not
opposing, principles, namely, 1) institution
and charism; or, 2) Christology and
Pneumatology? Or, are there other existing
ecclesial principles that could assure a closer
communion and participation between the
particular Church and the charismatic insti-
tutes of consecrated life?
In this regard, it is interesting to note
that Cardinal Ratzinger (who became Pope
Benedict VI), in his June 1999 address to the
bishops gathered in Rome for a meeting on
ecclesial movements in the Church, sum-
marily brushed off the attempts to resolve
the seemingly conflicting issues between
the local Church and the institutes of conse-
crated life by the invocation of the dialectic
of dual principles. He denies that the local
institution is in contraposition to charism.
For he averred that analyzing closely the
local church, it is not all human organizations
and structures. Deep within its life is its
dependence on the irruption of the Holy
Spirit. Hence, for the local Church not to
atrophy it must live its spiritual office
charismatically, that is, it must have an intrin-
sic openness to charisms. He also denies the
attempt of contrasting Christology and
Pneumatology, putting Christ in
contraposition to the Holy Spirit. For, “the
Spirit cannot be correctly understood with-
out Christ, but it is equally impossible to
20 IMPACT • July 2006
understand Christ without the Holy Spirit.
(www.crossroadsinitiative.com/
library_article/549/ Theological Locus of
Ecclesial Movements)
To clarify the issue at hand, the Cardinal
then presented the perspective of Church
history. He said that in the history of the
Church as a whole, the local Church with the
Episcopal office as its defining mark, is not in
contraposition with the apostolic movement.
The apostles were not bishops of particular
local churches, but responsible for the whole
world and for the whole Church that was to
be built. It is through this apostolic office that
gave birth to local churches. Hence, from the
very beginning, there existed two structures
in the Church, namely, the universal (apos-
tolic) and the local. They existed side by side
with each other with smooth interrelation-
ship. They are the supporting structure that
permanently upholds the edifice of the
Church through all ages. Hence, the bishops
must not forget this perspective of history.
In the thick of his activities in building up the
local Church assigned to him, he must al-
ways consider the Church as a whole and
therefore must go beyond the administra-
tion of their respective dioceses. They must
ensure the carrying on of Jesus’ mission to
make all nations his disciples and to bring the
gospel to the ends of the earth. They have to
sustain the universal dynamism of the
apostolate and must be opened to the work-
ing of the Spirit who has guided the Church
and caused irruptions of charisms, which
have prodded the rise of the great move-
ments that have built up the local Churches
as well as the Church as a whole. (Ibid).
It is for this reason that Cardinal
Ratzinger appealed for deeper understand-
ing between the two structures, the apos-
tolic (universal Church) and the local
Churches. He said: “All must let themselves
be measured by love for the unity of the one
Church, which is only one in all local churches
and appears as such again and again in the
apostolic movements.” He then concluded:
“The local churches and the apostolic move-
ments must constantly recognize and accept
the simultaneous truth of two propositions:
ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia – ubi episcopus, ibi
ecclesia. Primacy and episcopacy, the local
ecclesial system and apostolic movements,
need each other: the primacy can live only
with and through a living episcopacy, the
episcopacy can preserve its dynamic and
apostolic unity only in ordination to the
primacy. Where one of the two is weakened,
the Church as a whole suffers”. I
(Most Rev. Leonardo Y. Medroso, DD, is the
bishop of the Diocese of Borongan and the Chair-
man of the CBCP Commission on Canon Law.)
A teacher’s guide called “Adolescent
Reproductive Health” (A Population
Education Concept) has been stirring
debates among church circles and pro-
life groups. The lessons were based on
the Population Education Curriculum
and integrated with the competencies
in the Basic Education Curriculum 2002
of the secondary level.
While some applauded its bravado
in teaching sex education, others
voiced fear it could introduce minors
to a dangerous territory.
The module claims to help stu-
dents “understand their sexuality and
protect them from unwanted pregnan-
cies, sexually transmitted diseases, and
the subsequent risk of infertility.”
Critics of the project, initially
implemented in public schools in
Parañaque City and Payatas which
served as the “pilot schools”, de-
nounce its content especially on the
“active promotion of value free sex
education.”
It claims to foster values, restraint
and responsibility yet it implies that
sexual activity outside marriage maybe
acceptable for as long as it does not
result to ‘unwanted pregnancy’ and
sexually transmitted infections (STI)
by ‘protected sex,’ says Dr. Angelita
Aguirre of Human Life International.
However, interview with some
people reveal that they view the pro-
gram as reflecting reality more than
anything else.
On one hand, they view the pro-
gram as a commendable idea of incor-
porating sex education into various
high schools subjects.
Eighteen-year old Joan Santos
said, “At young age, children must be
taught to be responsible when it comes
to sex when they reach their reproduc-
tive ages.”
“It must be one of the youth’s
rights to properly know the things re-
lated to their very own body. And if the
parents can’t do the job, better give it
to the school institutions,” Santos
added.
For Alex Danao, however, some of
the contents are a bit “too much” for
students. Still, the sixteen-year old
said, “sex education is important.”
Some parents find the program “of-
fensive” and fear the promotions of
contraceptives are likely to interest
young people in trying out sex.
Had it not been exposed earlier,
the program might have been success-
 A R
New Sex Education
Module Stirs Debates
by Roy Lagarde
fully and quietly smuggled into vari-
ous subjects. But it was yanked by
inter-faith groups.
Getting the “negative” feedback,
DepEd Acting Secretary Fe Hidalgo
recalled the guides and ordered a de-
tailed evaluation and additional con-
sultation. “We share the Church’s con-
cern over such a sensitive issue and
we hope we can work things out with
them in relation to the issue,” she
points out.
The rationale for the module is
supposed to be “overpopulation and
poverty.” But for Archbishop Paciano
Aniceto, chairman of the Episcopal
Commission of Family (ECFL) and Life
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
T I C L
© Roy Lagarde / IMPACT
of the Philippines (CBCP), there’s more
for the DepEd’s new program than just
mere education on sexuality.
In truth, the modules are a way to
push the hidden agenda of the United
Nations Population Fund (UNPF) popu-
lation control program, says Aniceto.
And for Aguirre, it’s business as
usual. She said DepEd module pub-
lishers must study the data presented
by demographers and economists who
do not benefit from the birth control
industry.
The module is devoid of “full dis-
closure and truth telling” because it
fails to inform the students that a con-
dom does not guarantee 100-percent
protection from sexually transmitted
E S
diseases, Aguirre said. “As a contra-
ceptive it has also the highest failure
rate therefore more ‘unwanted preg-
nancies’ are to be expected.”
Studies show that among Filipina
women (regardless of their religion),
religious beliefs ranks one of the low-
est reasons for refusing to use the
abortifacients offered by foreign-
funded programs. The most common
reason for refusing to use these con-
traceptives is serious side effects and
complications. “Stop using the Catho-
lic Church as your whipping boy each
time your projects collapse,” Aniceto
lamented.
In countries where condoms are
actively promoted through school-
based clinics and widely available
through vendo machines, the infec-
tion rate is higher. In Thailand there
are 750, 000 infected with HIV, while in
the United States it is 700, 000.
“It has been shown that the inci-
dence of HIV parallels the number of
condoms distributed by USAID,” she
said.
The Billings Ovulation method, the
natural way for spacing children has
an effectiveness of more than 99-per-
cent, as attested to by the World Health
Organization (WHO), thus making it
comparable with the pill, with the added
advantage of not being an abortifa-
cient and free from adverse effects to
women’s health.
“The only problem why it is not ac-
tively promoted is because nobody makes
money out of it,” Aguirre said. I
Volume 40 • Number 7 21

Year of Social Concerns
by Fr. Roy Cimagala
I
’m happy to learn that our
bishops have declared this
year as the Year of Social
Concerns. I suppose it’s one
concrete way of sensitizing ev-
eryone of the need to develop
a deep and effective social men-
tality.
We cannot exaggerate
that need. We know that man,
while an individual person, is
also a social being. The two
positions, while distinct and
demanding specific require-
ments cannot be separated.
They always have to go to-
gether.
We just have to find a way
to blend these two dimensions
together, voiding the extremes
of selfish personal individual-
ism and pietism on the one
hand, and mindless, impersonal
socialism and activism on the
other.
With the Church’s stress
on social concerns for this year,
I guess the idea is to correct a
Christianity that tends to be
too ‘vertical’ in its attitudes
and practices towards God at
the expense of her ‘horizontal’
duties towards our neighbor.
Other ways of describing
this anomaly are a Christianity
confined to the churches and
22 IMPACT • July 2006
A R T I
alienated from the world, a
Christian life excessively con-
cerned with personal sanctity
but indifferent to the apostolate
in all its expressions.
Love for God always en-
tails love for neighbor. Our Lord
said, “As long as you did it to
one of your least brethren, you
did it to me.” (Mt 25, 40) Love
for God would be nullified if
there is no accompanying love
for neighbor.
But like Christ, we have to
know how to show this love for
neighbor, how this social men-
tality ought to be developed
and expressed. I believe we
have big problems in this deli-
cate area, not yet properly un-
derstood even by ecclesias-
tics.
One clarification can come
from Pope Benedict’s first en-
cyclical, Deus caritas est, where
he said: “The formation of just
structures is not directly the
duty of the Church, but be-
longs to the world of politics,
the sphere of the autonomous
use of reason...
“The Church has an indi-
rect duty in that she is called to
contribute to the purification
of reason and to the
reawakening of the moral
C L E S
forces…
“The direct duty to work
for a just ordering of society,
on the other hand, is proper to
the lay faithful. As citizens of
the State, they are called to take
part in the public life in a per-
sonal capacity—in the many
different economic, social, leg-
islative, administrative and
cultural areas… for the com-
mon good.”
I find these words clear
enough, and yet they are fron-
tally violated when some
Church leaders choose to take
concrete sides in social and
political issues.
With brazen show of primi-
tive clericalism, acting like prima
donnas, if not like clowns, com-
plete with shrill voices and
comic gestures, they directly
and actively participate in po-
litical activities, pontificating
on issues that are open to opin-
ion.
Some have managed to
convey to the press ideas that
are clearly dangerously impro-
vised, with hardly any basis
scientifically or pastorally. In
the end, only embarrassment
for the whole Church is
achieved.
Some even dare to quote
© Rowena Dalanon / IMPACT
gospel passages to justify their
actions, much like the devil
who, in tempting Christ in the
desert, also quoted Scriptural
lines with clearly twisted inten-
tions.
They say their cause is
just and useful. They fail to
realize that their actuations lead
to recklessly using the Church
merely to voice personal opin-
ions and partisan views, or to
develop social and political
theories, etc. Amazing!
At this age where informa-
tion come to us quick and fast,
it pains me to see these clerics
still out in the dark insofar as
proper Church attitude and
clergy behavior with respect to
social and political issues are
concerned.
Is this the way to unite the
Christian faithful, to strengthen
our sense of Church? Where
are the corrections, the mea-
sures to keep us away from
these leaders who are showing
clear signs of being false proph-
ets?
The clergy should concen-
trate on our specific field of
concern. That’s more than what
we can handle without stray-
ing into areas for which we
have no direct authority. I
 CATHOLIC INITIATIVE
B ased on the best seller Secrets of the Code by Dan
Burnstein, this documentary of the same title an
nounces right from the start that it wishes to
broaden the viewers' horizons through a deeper under-
standing of Dan Brown's controversial novel The Da
Vinci Code. It briefly recalls the latter's storyline: the
murder of the Louvre's curator, the clues planted by the
victim, the search for the so-called Holy Grail by
Langdon and Sophie, (Brown's main characters), which
is actually a search for the tomb of Mary Magdalene
whom they consider to be the Holy Grail. Then the
narrator Susan Sarandon reminds the viewer that like
Sophie and Langdon, everyone is also on a quest for the
"truth". This quest takes the form of visiting the places
associated with Magdalene in Brown's novel, decipher-
ing the clues placed in art works, and listening to con-
tradictory views of teachers writers, priests, rabbi and
others about Magdalene as the embodiment of the Sa-
cred Feminine and her relationship with Christ. Most of
the film is about Magdalene but at times, there are brief
digressions as origins and evolutions of various reli-
gions are touched on, or other subjects like the Inquisi-
tion, heresy, the Masada fortress incident or
Argameddon. All of these because the viewer is said to
be in search of answers to eternal questions like, where
did I come from and where am I going after death? But
always the film goes back to Magdalene harping on the
idea of her being the wife of Christ and the mother of
His child and how this idea was kept secret by the
Catholic Church for 2000 years.
Judging from the sparse attendance in theaters,
this documentary does not seem to arouse much interest
in the average moviegoer. If he goes to the see the film
and stays till the end, it is probably because of the good
photography, though camera movements in some parts
are painful to the viewers' eyes. This film is like a
travelogue as it presents a rich panorama of scenes and
places: the uncommon; the unheard of, as well as the
beautifully ancient. One sees prehistoric caves with
erotic etchings, abbey ruins and storied churches in
England, France and Scotland, modern cities, etc. One
also gets a fill of art works as if one were in a museum.
The music mostly of plaintive strings with absolutely
no brass nor percussions provide the right ambience for
ANSWER TO LAST ISSUE: IN SCIENCE THE CREDIT GOES TO THE MAN WHO CONVINCES THE WORLD, NOT TO THE MAN WHOM THE IDEA FIRST
OCCURS -- FRANCIS DARWIN
FOR ENLIGHTENED MOVIE APPRECIATION
CINEMA
REVIEW
Title: SECRETS OF THE CODE
Running Time: 101 mins
Lead Cast: Timothy Freke, Richard Leigh, Sean
Martin, Elaine Pagels, Susan Sarandon
Director: Jonathan Stack
Producers: Donald Zuckerman, Dan Burstein
Screenwriters: Jonathan Stack, Arthur Krystale
Music: Wendy Bearkstone
Genre: Documentary
Cinematography: Alex Vendler
Distributor: Kyle Films
Location: France, Scotland, USA
Technical Assessment: @ @ @
Moral Assessment: # # 1/2
CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18 and above
the places that serve as backdrop for the interviews. But for them to present more thoroughly their wrong ide-
because of the genre, most if not all of the scenes are ologies. Though, there is an attempt to "balance" the
talking scenes as resource persons are interviewed one presentation by presenting some priests and lay Catho-
after the other. The average moviegoer who expects lics (like Fr. Gerald Collins from Gregorian Univer-
entertainment in the theater may not be interested in sity, John Allen, correspondent for a Roman newspa-
philosophical musings and might find these scenes per, Terri Carron, Opus Dei spokesperson to counter-
"talky" or boring. Many parts of the documentary are act these false claims, somehow one feels the "rebut-
already known in other books published after the novel: tals" are either too short or inadequate. The serious-
The Da Vinci Code Hoax and Exegetical Review of Da ness of the discussion of Brown's ideas seem to give
Vinci Code. A video production, the Da Vinci Code the impression that Brown's book is not fiction and is
Deception already did those interviews as shown in the accepted as "truth" by these pro-Brown interviewees.
movie, The Secrets of the Code. The viewer must be for warned to exercise caution and
This documentary Secrets of the Code tries to discernment, to separate the chaff from the grain be-
reinforce the lies and fallacies espoused by Dan Brown cause the film, being a documentary, might mislead
in his Da Vinci Code. The interviewees giving their one to think that everything it contains is accurate and
erroneous views about Christ, Magdalene, the Chris- true. Even the 18-year-old high school student viewer
tian faith, the Bible etc. are the same people Brown who is weak in the faith needs guidance. In the end,
mentions in his novel's questionable bibliography, the film challenges the viewer to continue with his
such as Timothy Freke, Richard Leigh, Elaine Pagels, own honest quest for the truth.
Lyn Picknett and others. This movie is another venue (Date Reviewed: 23 June 2006)
Volume 40 • Number 7 23
 F R O M T H E B L O G S

and housing the poor. It precisely includes the

work to counter the cause itself of their poverty.
This causal factor of poverty in the country comes
in terms of some devious individuals and in form
of certain unjust structures.
Only those who are the authors and the ben-
eficiaries of such malevolent socio-ethical fac-
tors want churchmen to stay in their convents, to
shut up, and keep still. They are the characters
who are fast in invoking the separation of Church
and State as if the good and welfare of the citizens
were not the concern of the Church.
When the State is represented by an abusive
and manipulative, and wherefore discredited and
© Rowena Dalanon / IMPACT

distrusted administration, there is precisely a

pastoral necessity for churchmen to intervene on
behalf of the suffering people. The same church-
When Will We Ever Learn men would surely rejoice much if those holding
public offices would behave and act in favor of
the interests and aspirations of the people.
It is not hard to know the truth about the

L
ying, cheating and stealing, deception, op-
pression and exploitation, abduction, vio
lence and murder—these are definitely not
simply political issues but downright moral ab-
errations. Politics is the art of governance—not
the right to promote selfish political interests
over and above the dictates of justice and truth,
the demands of public good and common welfare.
Confronted by such falsity and malevolence
promoted or perpetrated by those in position of
political power and influence, it is a big betrayal
of their commitment to the Gospel truth if church-
men would play blind, deaf, and dumb and thereby
do nothing to counter such socio-political atroci-
ties. When people are downgraded in dignity and
violated in their human rights, woe to the church
when this says and does nothing about it.
The ministry of love by the Church certainly
includes the work of social justice. Love of neigh-
bor means much more than just feeding, clothing
social condition of the country. When churchmen
are quiet and in peace, this means that the govern-
ment is by and large doing well. But when they
begin to talk in public fora and act in public places
due to social issues, this is a marked indication
that there must be something that stinks in and
about the government.
When will the “trapos” learn -- if ever!
www.ovc.blogspot.com

T
o allow or to stop im-
peachment. To surface
the truth or to live in
doubt. To confirm legitimacy
or to govern under the shadow
of illegitimacy. These consti-
tute the big Malacañang pre-
dicament of the days ahead.
The choice among the
above alternatives will spell
what is in store for the adminis-
tration in the coming years. Will
it be a stable government or
one that is repeatedly chal-
lenged in its existence? Will it
be a trusted and respectable
government or one that has to
bear continuous accusations
and repeated indictments?
Unless the Malacañang
predicament is resolved for the
better, then it becomes the worst
for the government as well as for
the people. The adverse effects
of such a big predicament are
already on hard. They consti-
tute the basic causal factor of
national poverty and public dis-
orientation, the division of
people and the beclouding of
the country’s future.
Malacañang Predicament
Impeachment is said to be
a political matter. But is it purely
a political issue divested of any
and all moral elements? Con-
sidered a partisan issue, is im-
© Rowena Dalanon / IMPACT
peachment merely reduced to
the tyranny of political allies,
to the issue of majority party?
Woe to a country if politi-
cians were above the norm of
right or wrong, the difference
between licit and illicit, the dis-
tinction between what is moral
and immoral. Precisely, the
politicians who think and act
with utter disregard between
virtue and vice, are those who
are big social liabilities. They
are precisely the promoters of
public injustice, disorder and
discontent.
It is disastrous both for
social justice and peace if poli-
tics and ethics were altogether
divorced. If politicians and mor-
als were irrelevant to each other.
Precisely, at the bottom of all
government lies, cheatings and
stealing happen when those
holding public offices think, live
and act without ethical prin-
ciples, above moral norms.
Only the resolution of the
Malacañang predicament in
favor of justice and truth would
give a closure to the long on-
going public dissent and re-
sentment, would make the
country move on, would bring
about public order and peace.
www.ovc.blogspot.com

24 IMPACT • July 2006

 E D I T O R
Playing with Human Lives
S
paring some lives while killing many. Cer-
emoniously repealing the Death Penalty Law
while doing ritual investigations of down-
right murders. Receiving victors with big smiles
and praises, while being loudly silent about many
victims of disappearances and extermination. This
has become the expertise of the national leader-
ship—the hallmark of the present government.
What a sad spectacle in the country and in the
international community. There is too much deceit
and duplicity in the land. And the incarnation of this
two-faced policy is sadly found in the government
that is precisely meant to serve the people without
fear or favor. And these two realities are what are
specifically operative in the present administration.
When human life is not simply taken for granted
but even wasted here and there and practically
everyday at that, this in effect is a signal self-
depreciation of the lives of those responsible for
such atrocities. This is when the uncivilized prin-
ciple of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—a life
for a life—readily becomes operative.
When a government itself becomes a direct or
I A L
indirect agent of wanton killings and summary ex-
ecutions, that government becomes not only a dan-
ger to the citizens but also a marked target for
annihilation by those who survive it. And there are
too many for comfort, too resolved for disregard.
This is why the perceived repeated assassina-
tion plots against the national leadership plus the
unending destabilization moves against the govern-
ment come as a matter of course. This is along the
line of the principle of cause and effect, the norm
that says for every action there is an equal reaction.
No one—not even a distinctly powerful and
influential public official—may fool around with
human lives. Even the most despotic and authori-
tarian figure in the whole history of humankind has
not created a single human life, and has no right
much less prerogative of getting rid of it.
The government has all the Armed Forces, all
police manpower with all their corresponding intel-
ligence agencies and ballooning budget. Yet it is
incapable of bringing to justice the killers of one too
many political dissenters and media practitioners.
This is a shame and a sham.
Volume 40 • Number 7 25
 S T
Liberating Our Country
from “Unfreedoms”
W
e celebrate today the Philippine
Independence Day with grati-
tude for everything that has been
in our history. We honor the heroes big
and small, known and unknown, who have
worked for our liberation as a nation.
But while we succeeded in breaking
the yoke and chain of Spanish, Japanese
and American colonizers, are we succeed-
ing in breaking the yoke and chain of
fellow Filipinos? Ang masakit na
karanasan ng mga Filipino ngayon ay
bagamat nakalaya na tayo sa pang-
aalipin ng mga banyaga, ay mayroon
namang mga kapwa Filipino na
umaalipin sa kanilang kapwa Filipino.
Gathered in the atmosphere of prayer,
we invite ourselves to pray that we may be
delivered from the many “unfreedoms”
26 IMPACT • July 2006
A T E M E N
© Roy Lagarde / IMPACT
that we are experiencing.
In 1998 during the Centennial Celebra-
tion of our Independence, the CBCP al-
ready stated that “our liberty is eroded not
so much by foreign invaders, as by inequal-
ity and lack of participation, injustice and
exploitation, deficient cultural values and
mindset, destruction of the ecosystem, and
deterioration of peace and order.” Alas,
what we said then we can say again.
We have freed ourselves from the
punishment of death penalty. But we still
have to free ourselves from drug addiction
and drug lords, from jueteng addiction and
jueteng lords, from the temptation to extort
and to bribe, from exploitation of women
and children, from the killings of militants,
labor leaders and journalists without the
benefit of just trial, from torture and mal-
T
treatment of every kind, from graft and
corruption and subtle dictatorship. With-
out these the celebration of the Philippine
Independence Day in this Year of Social
Concerns would be more meaningful.
Civil society is moving on with a grow-
ing social consciousness for what is truly
good and just for the nation. We recall
what Pope Benedict XVI in Deus Caritas
Est wrote: “The formation of just struc-
tures is not directly the duty of the Church,
but belongs to the world of politics, the
sphere of the autonomous use of reason.”
What is the duty of the Church? “The
Church has an indirect duty (says Benedict
XVI), in that she is called to contribute to
the purification of reason and to the
reawakening of the moral forces.” What is
the duty of the civil society? “The direct
duty to work for a just ordering of society,
on the other hand, is proper to the lay
faithful. As citizens of the State, the Pope
says, “they are called to take part in the
public life in a personal capacity… in the
many different economic, social, legisla-
tive, administrative and cultural areas…for
the common good.”
The CBCP has already expressed in
former Pastoral Exhortations (“Building a
Civilization of Love” and “Renewing Our
Public Life”) its recommendations which I
now briefly summarize as follows: 1) that
the reform and modernization of our elec-
toral process be continued; 2) that the
election of 2007 be pursued in order to
offer our country a new breed and brand of
leaders; 3) that if charter change is to be
pursued, it should be through a Constitu-
tional Convention, whose delegates are
elected by the people. We are not against
charter-change per se; but we are against
charter-change by the present congress
converting itself into a Constituent As-
sembly. From history we learn that dicta-
tors are products of and supported by
parliamentary forms of government.
Philippine Independence Day is an
occasion to promote “a spirituality of citi-
zenship” which fosters a sense of patrio-
tism and of being responsible for our coun-
try. “It develops Filipinos into becoming
active and constructive participants in
social and political life. It enables the laity
to take their rightful leadership role in the
social transformation of our country”
(CBCP Pastoral Exhortation, “Building a
Civilization of Love”).
Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo, DD
June 12, 2006
(A Message read at the Inter-faith Prayer Rally at
Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila June 12, 2006)
 S T
“The Truth Will
Set You Free”
(Jn 8:32)
A Pastoral Statement by the Roman Catholic Bishop &
Clergy of the Diocese of Borongan on the touted ‘People’s
Initiative for Charter Change’
Beloved People of God:
I
t is publicly known that efforts known
as ‘People’s Initiative’ for Charter
Change are on-going in Eastern Samar
and in the Philippines. It is also publicly
known that such efforts are largely the
initiative of government officials, both
national and local. What is less known to
many is the fundamental principle that
“political authority, either within the po-
litical community as such or through the
organizations representing the state must
be exercised within the limits of the moral
order” (Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et
Spes, no. 74). We see signs of deceit and
misinformation. For this reason we, Your
Bishop and Your Priests, have to speak
because these are an affront to true justice
and morality. After all, as the Second
Plenary Council of the Philippines de-
clares, we your “pastors have compe-
tence in the moral principles governing
politics” (PCP II, n. 342).
We stand with the Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines when it
teaches that “changing the Constitution
involving major shifts in the form of gov-
ernment, requires widespread participa-
tion, total transparency, and relative se-
A T E M E N
renity that allows for rational discussion
and debate” (CBCP Statement, 2006). Like
them we also recognize and respect the
desire of a number of Filipinos to change
some aspects of the constitution for the
sake of better governance and more as-
sured attainment of the common good. But
we also “view with alarm…the present sig-
nature campaign endorsed by the govern-
ment. Signatures are apparently collected
without adequate information, discussion
and education” (Pastoral Statement on the
Alleged ‘People’s Initiative’ to Change the
Constitution, no. 2).
In many parts of Eastern Samar, for
instance, the CBCP’s general observation
has been verified by specific reports from
certain priests and responsible lay leaders
in our parish communities. Not only are
adequate information, discussion and edu-
cation on the proposed changes lacking;
in many cases signatures have been col-
lected using downright deception, for in-
stance, as people’s registration for
Philhealth. People have been prodded to
sign their names on vague promises of
“better times ahead under a new constitu-
tion” or even “better-paying jobs”. Signifi-
cantly forthright are admissions of some
local officials that the initiative is favorable
T
© Roy Lagarde / IMPACT
to them because they could save money
with the cancellation of the next elections
in 2007 under the amendments being pro-
posed. In a word, the CBCP’s twofold
parameter for a morally principled Charter
Change, namely, (1) “widespread partici-
pation, total transparency, and relative
serenity that allows for rational discus-
sion and debate” and (2) that “the reasons
for constitutional change…be based on
the common good rather than on self-
serving interests or the interests of politi-
cal dynasties” (CBCP Statement, 2006) may
have been violated in various parts of
Eastern Samar, if not the whole country
itself. As your pastors, we must denounce
such acts because, in violating morality,
they do not serve the people’s true wel-
fare.
May the Risen Lord empower us to die
to self-serving motivations and rise to
genuine character change, not simply char-
ter change, as a people and as a nation.
Yours in the Lord,
+Leonardo Y. Medroso, D.D.
Bishop of Borongan
Priests of the Diocese of Borongan
April 25, 2006
Volume 40 • Number 7 27
 F R O M T H E I N B O X

”Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she
replied.
Her mother brought her closer
A carrot, an egg, and a and asked her to feel the carrots. She
did and noted that they were soft. The
cup of coffee... mother then asked the daughter to take
an egg and break it. After pulling off
the shell, she observed the hard boiled
egg. Finally, the mother asked the
daughter to sip the coffee. The daugh-
ter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
Thedaughterthenasked,“Whatdoesit
mean,mother?”
Her mother explained that each
of these objects had faced the same ad-
versity:boilingwater.Eachreacteddif-
ferently. The carrot went in strong,
hard, and unrelenting. However, after
being subjected to the boiling water, it
softenedandbecameweak.Theegghad
been fragile. Its thin outer shell had
protected its liquid interior, but after
sitting through the boiling water, its
inside became hardened. The ground
Am I the egg that starts with a
malleable heart, but changes with the
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after
a death, a breakup, a financial hardship
orsomeothertrial,haveIbecomehard-
ened and stiff? Does my shell look the
same, but on the inside am I bitter and
tough with a stiff spirit and hardened
heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The
beanactuallychangesthehotwater,the
very circumstance that brings the pain.
When the water gets hot, it releases the
fragrance and flavor. If you are like the
bean,whenthingsareattheirworst,you
get better and change the situation
around you. When the hour is the dark-
est and trials are their greatest, do you
elevate yourself to another level? How
do you handle adversity? Are you a
carrot,aneggoracoffeebean?
Mayyouhaveenoughhappiness
to make you sweet, enough trials to
make you strong, enough sorrow to

A
young woman went to her
mother and told her about her
life and how things were so
hard for her. She did not know how she
was going to make it and wanted to
give up. She was tired of fighting and
struggling. It seemed as one problem
was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the
kitchen. She filled three pots with wa-
ter and placed each on a high fire. Soon
the pots came to boil. In the first she
placed carrots, in the second she placed
eggs, and in the last she placed ground
coffee beans. She let them sit and boil,
without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she
turned off the burners. She fished the
carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled the eggs out and placed
them in a bowl. Then she ladled the
coffeeoutandplaceditinabowl.Turn-
ingtoherdaughter,sheasked,“Tellme
what you see.”
coffeebeanswereunique,however.Af-
ter they were in the boiling water, they
had changed the water.
”Which are you?” she asked her
daughter. “When adversity knocks on
your door, how do you respond? Are
you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I? Am I
the carrot that seems strong, but with
pain and adversity do I wilt and be-
come soft and lose my strength?
keep you human and enough hope to
makeyouhappy.
Thehappiestofpeopledon’tnec-
essarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything
that comes along their way. The
brightest future will always be based
on a forgotten past; you can’t go for-
ward in life until you let go of your
past failures and heartaches. I
rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net

M
y mother used to ask me: “What is the
most important part of the body?”
Through the years I would take a guess at
what I thought was the correct answer. When I was
younger, I thought sound was very important to us as
humans, so I said, “My ears, Mom.” She said, “No.
Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it
and I will ask you again soon.”
Severalyearspassedbeforesheaskedmeagain.
Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated
the correct answer. So this time I told her, “Mom,
sight is very important to everybody, so it must be The Most Important Body Part
our eyes. She looked at me and told me, “You are
learning fast, but the answer is not correct because I was shocked when she asked me this now. I Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in
therearemanypeoplewhoareblind.”Stumpedagain, always thought this was a game between her and me. life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love
I continued my quest for knowledge. Over the years, She saw the confusion on my face and told me, “This and friends that you will always have a shoulder to
Mother asked me a couple more times and always her question is very important. It shows that you have cry on when you need it.” Then and there I knew the
answer was, “No, but you are getting smarter every really lived in your life. For every body part gave me most important body part is not a selfish one. It is
year,mychild.” in the past, I have told you were wrong and have given sympathetic to the pain of others. People will forget
Then last year, my grandpa died. Everybody you an example why. But today is the day you need to what you said. . .
was hurt. Everybody was crying. Even my father learn this important lesson.” She looked down at me Peoplewillforgetwhatyoudid...Butpeoplewill
cried. I remember that especially because it was only as only a mother can. I saw her eyes well up with tears. NEVERforgethowyoumadethemfeel.Trueornot,the
thesecondtimeIsawhimcry. MyMomlookedatme She said. “My dear, the most important body storymakesyoustopandthink.Beblessed. Beabless-
when it was our turn to say our final goodbye to part is your shoulder.” I asked, “Is it because it holds ing. Getyourshoulderready...andsharethismessageto
Grandpa. She asked me, “Do you know the most up my head?” She replied, “No, it is because it can everybodyyouknow. Theyalsoneedtoknow. I
important body part yet, my dear?” hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net

28
28 IMPACT •• July
IMPACT July 2006
2006

HEALING THE
PAST, BUILDING
THE FUTURE
Soundings from
Mindanao
Bp. Antonio J.
Ledesma, SJ
Mindanao has long since
been a wrenching scene of
seemingly inexhaustible armed
conflict, notably between radi-
cal Muslim elements and gov-
ernment forces. And not a few
have desperately given up the
hope of bridging the age-long
strife, with initiatives likely
having invariably remained as
elusive as the insurgents them-
selves. But, strikingly enough,
hope is not dead for Bishop
Antonio Ledesma who,
throughout his episcopal stint
with the Prelature of Ipil
(Zamboanga del sur), made a
remarkable wallop of initiating
peace dialogues among Mus-
lims and non-Muslims.
CALL OF THE LAITY
Abp. Oscar V. Cruz,
JCD, DD
This book is but one of the
several prominent selections
authored by Philippine
hierarchy’s consummate
R E V I
Ledesma’s winning formula is
rather simple: there is no peace
without development, nor de-
velopment without peace; but
neither can there be peace and
development without good
governance. Healing the Past,
Building the Future is
Ledesma’s take in forging a
coveted peace in Mindanao. It
is a must reading for those who
yet hope for a peaceful solu-
tion to the peace and order
situation in Mindanao.
Canon lawyer, Arch-
bishop Cruz or “OVC”
to his confreres. But
what makes Call of
the Laity stand out is
its refreshingly
‘novel’—or so it is,
from the eyes of the
Clergy, the Religious,
and the multitude of
lay faithful them-
selves—take on the
role of the ‘laity’ in
the Church. “It must
be admitted that there
are some human and
sacred truths about
the Laity in the
Church that are not
well known to the
Clergy and to the Re-
ligious, and most probably, not
known to a good number of the
laity themselves. It would be a
pity if these truths, which are
not only distinct and profound
but also relevant and practical,
are not given due attention,”
forewords Abp. Cruz. Call of
the Laity invitingly poses thus
to be an imperative reading.
E W S
GOD’S LOVE
As Experienced by Filipino Priests
Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD; Fr. James Reuter, SJ;
Fr. Ruben Tanseco, SJ
The reality of God, or more so of God’s love, poses as
abstract and farfetched especially gleaned against a Philip-
pine backdrop of political bickerings, economic instability and
mounting poverty. Is God
really part of the picture?
Three noted Catholic
priests—a director of a
missionary congrega-
tion, a “Filipinized” Je-
suit and inveterate media
stalwart, and a maverick
honcho on family minis-
try—dare to reckon head on
with the query. The result?
Three moving, personal ac-
counts of God’s imma-
nence, or loving presence,
interwoven into one under-
lying message: God lives
and he is ever present in the
lives of His people.
Ethical and Social lenges that perilously under-
mine ever more the time hon-
Issues facing LIFE, ored truths about the family—
LOVE & FAMILY not since the Cairo Conference
on Population and Develop-
Angelita Miguel- ment in 1994. Ethical and So-
Aguirre, M.D. cial Issues facing Life, Love &
Family candidly confronts
If the topic on family these challenges—as over-
sounds an age-torn hype, it’s population myth that per-
not. After all, grounded though suades parents to accept con-
on the oft-reckoned truism that traception, value free sex edu-
it is the basic unit of society, cation that undermines paren-
present-day realities have in- tal guidance, pornography and
arguably spun not a few chal- violence in the mass media,
abortion, and many more—and
resolutely charges that the glo-
bal population control agenda
and activities violate funda-
mental ethical principles. “The
most basic principles of truth
telling, autonomy, the principle
of full disclosure which is cru-
cial to an informed decision,
the fundamental right to life,
and the right of conscience of
health care workers are but a
few of the fundamental bioet-
hical principles often ignored,”
asserts Aguirre. Home spun,
the book is surprisingly wise—
it never cloys or condescends.
Volume 40
Volume 40 •• Number
Number 77 29
29
 N E
BAHRAIN
Alleged terrorists to be
acquitted
After not finding hard
evidence that would press
six Islamists who had
been charged with plot-
ting attacks in the emir-
ate, a Bahraini court said
it will issue a release or-
der for them, a French
news agency reported.
It said the court found
the section of the penal
code under which they
were tried was unconsti-
tutional. The six have been
ordered to remain at their
residence and are barred
from leaving the country.
CHINA
Court ends trial of NY
Times reporter
The closed-door trial
in Beijing of a researcher
for the New York Times
accused of disclosing
“state secrets” and
“fraud” ended recently
without the court’s
reaching a verdict.
Zhao Yan, 44, was
tried at the Beijing No. 2
Intermediate People’s
Court, but his family,
friends and journalists
were denied access to the
hearing, which was com-
pleted in a single day. He
pleaded not guilty to both
charges.
INDIA
Education for hapless
Indian children
A total of 230 children
of Tami Nadu see an
30 IMPACT • July 2006
W S B R
open door for a bright
future after they were
given by the Madrid based
Fontilles Association to
Fight Leprosy the chance
to enter school, accord-
ing to Fides Service.
These are children, 116
boys and 114 girls, who
have experienced leprosy
and suffered a lot and
because of social stigma
that isolates people with
such disease from other
people.
INDONESIA
HRW: Military business
threatens human rights
The Indonesian
government’s plan to re-
form military-owned busi-
ness do not sufficiently
address the human rights
problems fueled by the
current system, Human
Rights Watch (HRW)
said.
It said the military’s
“money-making” under-
mines civilian control that
instead of protecting its
citizens, troops are using
violence and intimidation
to further their business
interests.
JAPAN
Japan Catholic News
Goes Online
To reach a wider scope
of readers, the monthly
news letter of the Japan
Catholic Bishops’ Con-
ference “Japan Catholic
News” ceased circulation
of its printed version and
went online, after 57
years of service to the
local church and else-
I E F S
where. To continue serv-
ing English speaking read-
ers, news from the
“Katorikku Shimbun” will
still be translated and com-
piled in a section called
“Japan Scene.” The
online newsletter will be
available at the http://
cbcj.catholic.jp.
MALAYSIA
Genetic selection of ba-
bies to be banned
The use of pre-implan-
tation genetic testing
techniques to choose a
baby’s sex and looks will
be banned under a new
law being drafted, Ma-
laysian Medical Associa-
tion (MMA) said. Con-
demning this activity,
MMA the procedure
should only be used to
diagnose serious medical
conditions in high-risk
patients, and not to de-
termine the baby’s fea-
tures and abilities.
NEPAL
Maoist rebels accept role
in government
After a meeting with
top government officials,
the leader of Nepal’s
Maoist rebels known as
“Prochanda” announced
an agreement recently to
make his group part of
the Himalayan kingdom’s
government for the first
time.
He said an interim
agreement, which will
create a new constitution,
will be formed and will
replace the current na-
tional parliament as well
as the Maoists’ “people’s
government,” which rules
territory they control.
PHILIPPINES
RP kills death penalty
President Gloria Ar-
royo finally signed a law
totally abolishing the
death penalty. The sign-
ing ceremony took place
June 24, a day before she
left for Vatican to meet
the Pope.
“This could be another
important, nice step to go
on in showing that the
culture of life is alive and
important in this coun-
try,” said Archbishop
Fernando Filoni, the Pa-
pal nuncio in the Philip-
pines.
SAUDI ARABIA
King approves amnesty
King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia has announced an
amnesty for Islamic ter-
rorists during a cabinet
meeting in Jeddah, Saudi
newspaper reports re-
cently. The announce-
ment comes amid an on-
slaught on extremism in
the kingdom. In the last
two months, already 40
suspected terrorists have
been nabbed.
According to daily
Arab News, similar am-
nesty two years ago
pushed some extremists
within al-Qaeda network
in Saudi Arabia to sur-
render to police. They
were released after five
months.
Volume 40 • Number 7 31
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