MAYOR DELFINITO "JOJO" ALBANO: MAN OF THE MASSES BRUTALLY MURDERED BY COWARDS

It pained me to hear about the gruesome murder of Mayor Jojo Albano a day after I arrived from the Philippines. I was shocked in reading my mom's text message informing me of the mayor's ambush on that fateful night. I did not believe it at first. Not until I opened my laptop, searched the web and found out that the sad news was true. When his remains were brought back to Ilagan, I cried and sobbed no end at the sight of the thousands of people along the highway from Tuguegarao Airport to Ilagan who showered flowers at his casket (I watched through 24 Oras on inq7.net). Such is a manifestation of the Albano legacy in public service started by Lolo Delfin Albano (Congressman of the Lone District of Isabela in the 50's through the early 60's) continued by Tito Rudy, Kuya Rodito, Ate Millet, Kuya Tonypet (who, although not in public office, shares his blessings to those in need) and Uncle Jojo.

Before I first met Uncle Jojo, I heard from relatives that he looked like Kuya Rodito, his nephew (Congressman of the 1st District of Isabela). I also heard that he's got the charisma and kindness of Lolo Delfin (his father). I met him for the first time when I was already a priest in 1998. He was, at that time, the one incharge of the Ilagan campaign of Kuya Rodito for congress. I observed that he was really a man of the masses as people from all walks of life love him.

When he became the Mayor of Ilagan in 2001, the Town was transformed into one of the cleanest municipalities in the Philippines. I remember seeing him lead the street cleaners as early as 5:30 am while I was going to the sports center for my daily brisk walk. As the Director of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Ilagan, I have witnessed his love and concern for the poor and the oppressed. He lived a simple life. He is the type of man who will give his last centavo to those in need. He uses cheaper "subic" second hand vehicles rather than buy brand new expensive vehicles like those used by other politicians. His political rivals who never got even a third of the number of his votes concocted lots of issues against him but they never had the balls to bring him to court for such malicious allegations.

More than relatives, we became the best of friends. He would always seek my advices on things that pertain to social justice. I felt flattered having been always consulted by such a great man. When I left for my doctoral studies in Rome, he continued to serve the poor and the oppressed. He is not the perfect politician but he can very well be the best mayor Isabela ever had.

He was brutally murdered. He was alone, unarmed and unable to defend himself. Only cowards would do such thing! I join his family, friends and constituents in demanding justice!

He was buried this morning in Ilagan, Isabela (I was informed that thousands came to bid their last farewell to him).

Goodbye My Dear Uncle, My Dear Friend, Man of the Masses. With God on your side, justice will prevail!!!

G.C. UANAN
06 July 2006

Celebration of Life

To celebrate one�s day of birth is to celebrate life itself. It is a great event. It is a momentous occasion. It is a time of joy and thanksgiving. However, there is a need to look back at those years that have passed to be able to traverse the road of the future. I was born 36 years ago yesterday.

Looking back at those years, I experienced failures and successes, defeats and victories, triumphs and pains, happiness and sadness. There were moments of motivation and there were moments of humiliation. There were challenges solved but there were more left unsolved. Amidst these contrasting experiences I can only thank the Lord for the gift of life. These contrasting experiences have sculptured my personhood. There constantly emerged a new person each year.

I do not claim perfection for it belongs to the one from whom I received the gift of life. Neither do I claim fulfillment for it remains to be seen. But one thing I can be proud of is that I constantly try to live my life to its fullest. Endowed with the gift of vocation, my being was given a new dimension- my life became a life I can no longer claim to the confines of the self. There emerged a conviction for the service of others.

To my brother priests at the PCF, thanks for the greetings and for gracing the "canto" party last night. To my friends and relatives, thanks for the presents and greetings too.

G.C. UANAN
26 May 2006

ERAP ADMITS SIGNING AS JOSE VELARDE

If memory serves me right, the allegation that the then President Joseph Ejercito Estrada signed as Jose Velarde on an Equitable-PCI Bank account was one of the things that were vehemently denied and defended by his phalanx of defense lawyer�s during his impeachment trial in late 2000 and early 2001. Then Rep.Joker Arroyo even used a 500 peso bill to illustrate the similarity between Erap's signature and the one who signed the Jose Velarde account. Today, in his testimony at the Sandigan Bayan, Erap admitted that he signed as Jose Velarde . I will reserve my comments for the future lest I may be cited in contempt for discussing something that is already sub judice. I just want to remind my readers that the Jose Velarde account is one of the things that triggered EDSA DOS.

G.C. UANAN
24 May 2006

The Da Vinci Code "Ho-hum" Movie

I watched the Da Vinci Code movie with the thought that I will be better prepared to to answer the questions of those who are intrigued by it. The movie turned out to be "ho-hum" two and a half-hour long. I was amused at how the Opus Dei "Monk" was portrayed. He is dressed like a Franciscan (the Franciscans must be laughing no end). It is absurd! There is no such thing as an Opus Dei "Monk" and neither is there a self flagellation being done by the members of the prelature to atone for sins committed. How Dan Brown’s characters- Langdon and Teabing were so convinced about the Christ and Mary Magdalene relationship without any credible historical evidence is despicable. Even as Dan Brown claims to have based his allusion to the purported wedding of Christ to Mary Magdalene in the apocryphal “gospels” of Philip and Mary Magdalene, there is nothing in such writings that refer to the wedding theory. I do not think the film will have that faith-shaking effect anticipated by the modern day Judases who sell Jesus once more (this time for millions of dollars) to publishers and film-makers and unassuming readers with the hope of misguiding them as Fr. Cantalamesa (the Papal Preacher) said in his homily on Good Friday.

My impression on the movie? It is a PURE FICTION which lacks the convincing power of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST which is based on the GOSPELS--- our real source of the TRUTH. But even if it is merely a fiction the novel/movie should be subject to our critical judgement. What if it were a case of a fiction depicting Hitler as a Saint? We cannot just take it sitting down and be lame duck Christians. The Opus Dei should file a defamatory case against the author, publishers and producers of the novel/movie. I think they have a strong case because they were portrayed wrongly and maliciously. For our part, rather than call for the banning or boycott of the movie or go on a book-burning spree (which will make bigots out of us), we have to take it as an opportunity to educate our people on the Divinity of Jesus Christ our Lord.


Again I reiterate that the following online articles should be read especially by those who have read the novel or watched the movie:

http://www.catholic.com/library/cracking_da_vinci_code.asp

www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2006/dvh_excerpts1_jan06.asp

G.C. UANAN
22 May 2006

Year of Social Concerns

The declaration of the CBCP for a Year of Social Concerns in the Philippines is well-timed as the country is presently plunged in a political turmoil stemming up from a dubious presidential mandate that has been the bone of contention and the cause of disunity among our political leaders for almost a year. It is my ardent hope that the Social Concern catechesis would deal with the very issue of why the Catholic Church sets foot into the domain of politics. Explanations should be made in words that are palatable to the “masa” who comprise majority of our people. There were previous publications by CBCP such as the “Pastoral Exhortation of Philippine Politics” (1997) and the “Catechism on the Church and Politics” (1998), but they were too highly-worded for the masa and were not widely circulated to reach the grassroots.

The issue on the Church’s involvement in politics has been debated upon and rehashed for ages. Those who have been admonished by the Church would cry out that it is an intrusion, a violation of the separation of Church and State. On the other hand, for those who seem to have benefited from the Church’s pronouncements, the Church has the right to deal with the morality of politics.

Aside from declarations and exhortations, the Bishops must also put their acts together. It is disgusting to note that there were instances (quite a lot) wherein the CBCP issues its Pastoral Statement on a certain socio-political issue and on the very next day there are a handful of bishops who would tend to speak or do things contrary to such pronouncements. Such actuations send confusing signals to the laity. Dissenting opinions by individual bishops should be confined to their plenary assembly and not addressed through what seems to be self-aggrandizement through the media.

G.C. UANAN
13 May 2006

OF SPOON AND FORK

“Mommy, I don't want to eat anymore. My teacher is telling me that eating with a spoon and fork is yucky and disgusting.” These were the words of seven year old Luc Cagadoc to her mother. From what I have read from an article from the The Chronicle online ( http://www.westislandchronicle.com/pages/article.php?noArticle=6063 ), Luc is transferred by his school's lunch monitor to a table isolated from other kids whenever he is “caught” eating with spoon and fork. When the mother confronted the lunch monitor and complained to the principal. She was shocked to hear the principal’s reply: “Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.” And when she asked about the punishment of isolating Luc in a table, the principal remarked: “If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time.”

Is there anything wrong with using both fork and spoon? When I was a kid, I was taught by my mother how to properly use spoon and fork. When I entered the seminary, I learned the more gracious way of using both utensils through our “social graces” seminar. Using fork and spoon in eating is a cultural mores just like the use of chopsticks in other Asian countries. Saying that such manner of eating is wrong is like saying that our culture is wrong. How much more if they see us Filipinos eat “kamayan” style? I love to eat with my bare hands especially when sumptuous native meal is served (that would be tuyo, daing or salted egg with kamatis). Does that make me a pig or lesser human? Certainly not!

Four years ago, Bishop Eijk of the Diocese of Groningen, Netherlands (communio partner of our diocese) paid a visit to our diocese. Among the many affairs he attended was the Diocesan Youth Day. We ate “kamayan” style as it was a barrio-fiesta type of celebration. The couple who were part of Bishop Eijk’s entourage were betting whether or not he would use his hands to eat as it was anathema to do so in Netherlands. They were surpirsed when he began to wash his hands and he ate with his bare hands. I admired him for his flexibility and respect to a tradition. He did not feel degraded to eat with his hands and more so, he did not hesitate to do what was anathema in his homeland. More so, during meals at the Bishop’s Residence, he ate with both spoon and fork.

Punishing Luc for using spoon and fork is wrong. Saying that his manner of eating is disgusting is worst. It is plain discrimination under the guise of instilling table etiquette into Luc. I pity the child because the sad experience seems to have traumatized him.

Does using spoon and fork turn us into lower beings and turn the Canadians who eat with fork and knife into higher beings? NO!!!!

I hope that this is just an isolated case. Otherwise, some Canadians are bigots and racists.

G.C. UANAN
8 May 2006

FOR HOW LONG CAN SHE HOLD ON?

Since June 2005, the Philippines was plunged into a quagmire of political bickering and debacle. I have written in a previous blog that in the end it is the common Pinoy that will suffer while politicians would just shrug it off and go abroad if the situation gets bad or worst if revolution erupts. Such situation would not have much effect to politicians who can still buy the basic necessities even if the prices would have doubled because of the political tension. When there is a change in leadership, it would be easy for politicians to just throw their support to the new leader if ever the president resigns and there will be status quo of the benefits they enjoy at the expense of the people. But the poor....God help us, our politicians are feeding us to the dogs!

Almost a year from thence, the bickering continues. After the failed impeachment and a hodgepodge of expose' and hearings-in-aid-of-legislation and rallies that failed to attract multitudes, the opposition remained divided and unable to gather much footing from the masses and the decisive middle class. More so, they seemed to be busy only with criticism and fault-finding. Military adventurists tried but failed to “withdraw” their support. GMA seems to have an answer to everything thrown at her. I see the hands of a master political operator in everything that GMA used: the NO-EL scenario which appeared attractive to self-serving politicians, the EO 464, the CPR, the Proclamation 1017 and the much ballyhooed People’s Initiative for charter change. These schemes were designed to divert attention from the real issue of whether or not GMA cheated in the 2004 elections. There is a tell-tale sign on all of these schemes- there are gray areas on their constitutionality. But GMA’s political operator’s motto seemed to be that “these schemes are constitutional unless proven otherwise”. They put the burden on those who challenge the constitutionality of such schemes. GMA has succeeded in using such diversionary schemes pending the resolution of their constitutionality. The Supreme Court have so far decided against EO 464 and CPR and upheld Proclamation 1017 with certain caution on abuses. But by then, they have already served their purpose- to intimidate and to temporarily divert attention. The question is: How far can she sustain? I do not think such schemes have totally removed the cloud of doubt about her victory. Her defiant stance will only further plunge our beloved country into uncertainty as impeachment season begins come July. The semblance of economic recovery highlighted by the stronger peso which they have projected is superficial for it is based from the peak months of remittances from OFWs.

I must admit that in the past 10 months I have been against GMA stepping down because I dreaded the return of ERAP (as advocated by his sons and blind supporters). Nevertheless, after observing the ill-effects of GMA's obscure mandate, I am now one with those who clamor for SNAP ELECTION. To those who think that there are no visible alternative from among the opposition I say: Does the next president need to be an oppositionist? Have they ever considered the admirable meekness of a Magsaysay or the economics savvy of a Roxas? Does it have to be a Ping, an Erap or even a Susan? Besides, GMA can still run and if she really have the support of the majority then she can have a fresh mandate.

G. C. UANAN
3 May 2006