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Balik-Tanaw | Pentecost: Fear No One

Balik-Tanaw | Pentecost: Fear No One

It’s hard to be a prophet; it is difficult to tell and live by the truth, to raise our voice and denounce what is wrong. It is more comfortable to remain at the margins in silence and pretend not to see and hear what is happening, or to let the others talk. Still, if one wants a real change in our society, a community faithful to the Gospel and more docile to the spirit, if one aspires to a newness of life, prophets are needed. Like Jeremiah, may we have the courage to say what the Lord tells us, even at the risk of life.

Duterte is a paper tiger in strategic terms and is in the process of being torn apart

Duterte is a paper tiger in strategic terms and is in the process of being torn apart

In their tens of millions, the workers, peasants and the lower middle class are hungry and angry at the Duterte regime and are eager to move against it. The professionals and entrepreneurs have been deprived of income and have fallen into debt and bankruptcy and are ready to join the toiling masses in concerted actions to protest and make demands. Even the big compradors and landlords who are not his close collaborators now consider him a plague worse than the COVID-19 virus.

Republikang Basahan

Republikang Basahan

Sa panahong maramihan pa rin ang nakararanas ng malawakang kakulangan sa pinakabatayang pangangailangan ng pag-iral ng tao bilang tao – pagkain, damit, tirahan, kalusugan, edukasyon – nananatiling mahalaga na palalimin ang kahulugan ng kalayaan. Sa panahong maraming pagbabanta sa unibersal nang kinikilala bilang karapatan ng lahat ng tao – makapagpahayag nang malaya, mamuhay nang walang takot, makapagtipon nang hindi sinusukol – nananatiling may saysay ang pagtalakay sa kahulugan ng kalayaan.

Balik-Tanaw | Trinity Sunday: A Reflection on the Trinity, the Great Commission … and the Anti-Terrorism Bill

Balik-Tanaw | Trinity Sunday: A Reflection on the Trinity, the Great Commission … and the Anti-Terrorism Bill

COVID-19 has revealed the deep roots of systemic injustice and reminds us why seeking justice, pursuing peace is essential. We have seen thousands of cases of extra-judicial killings, of arrests, of the intensification of attacks and threats against community leaders, human rights defenders, and political dissenters. Living out our faith in Jesus is more than ever important when laws like the Anti-Terrorism Bill of 2020 are enacted. The current Human Security Act of 2007 which will replace it is problematic enough

Debunking government’s defense of the anti-terror bill

Debunking government’s defense of the anti-terror bill

Who have been declared “communist-terrorists” by state security forces and the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict? Practically all sectoral organizations advocating for reforms and genuine change. They did not spread terror or cause panic among the public but called on the government to act on legitimate demands of ordinary citizens.

FIRST PERSON | Bike commuting on the 1st day of GCQ

FIRST PERSON | Bike commuting on the 1st day of GCQ

I realized it is easier to see yourself, at least in my case, bike commuting when you are working in an air-conditioned office mostly doing mental labor. Riding a bike for maybe 5-10 kilometers then becomes a welcome form of exercise to make up for the lack of physical activity during those long hours seated at your desk. That you are not stuck in traffic and you lessen your carbon footprint are also encouraging. But this is a position of privilege many bike commuters do not have. Many of them are forced to take on this burden of additional labor before and after a day of performing backbreaking work in factories and other such places where you actually sweat it out to earn a living.

First Person | Si Karletz, ang bundok na di mapapatag

First Person | Si Karletz, ang bundok na di mapapatag

“Basta aksyon, Bad yon” tawa naming lahat. Siguro nga, kung si Ka Bea, bilang chairperson ang ‘nanay’ ng organisasyon, si Ka Inday iyung tita mong makulit, si Karlets naman ang inabutan kong tito na ‘bad boy’ ng kilusan ng maralitang lungsod. Hindi dahil pasaway siya o mahirap pakisamahan, pero dahil may taglay lang siyang swabeng angas na maganda kasama mapakwentuhan, sa init ng pagtuligsa sa bulok na gobyerno, at syempre sa pagharap sa masa.

Balik-Tanaw | Pentecost: Together in one place

Balik-Tanaw | Pentecost: Together in one place

As we continue to live every day under the pandemic, as followers of the God of justice, I hope that we may never give in to the temptation to be silent and be complacent as the State and the ruling class slowly reveal to us the “new normal” that would only selfishly favor their interests. If we don’t learn to speak the tongues of the people, if we don’t shout with them their calls #MassTestingNow, #AyudaNgayonNa, and #SerbisyongMedikalHindiMilitar, we fail to do our crucial role as church-people.

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