God knows everything. . . Trust Him

       
 "Sometimes you are delayed where you are because God knows there's a storm where you're headed.  Be grateful!"

I am truly grateful to God for protecting my brother Fernando from the corona virus that plaguing Wuhan China and spreading to other countries.  He came home to Manila from Xiamen China before the corona virus spread in Wuhan. 

 He was renewing his work permit and visa in Xiamen but documents from the Philippines did not arrive in Xiamen in time for his renewal of visa.  He was so stressed and disappointed because of the hassle it brought to him especially on his work.  I was the one working on his papers here in Manila.  I encountered a lot of problems and delays in requesting for his school record and its authentication from Commission on Higher Education and Department of Foreign Affairs.  He would follow up the status of his papers everyday through WeChat.  Almost every hour he would send messages.  Sometimes, I intentionally don't answer them anymore.  His patience got so thin because he will be forced to leave China when his visa expired and so, that what happened.  He went home to process his papers in Manila.  It costs him a lot but he cannot do anything but to it in Manila.

The consolation he got was our other siblings are in town too.  It was very rare that we get to be together.  Our sister a Poor Clare nun was in Manila for her medical treatment and our youngest brother was still in Christmas vacation. All of us is grateful to God for gathering us together.  Reminiscing our younger years made us feel young again.  It was really great and we were overwhelmed with joy.  We spent more than a week together before each one left for work and community.  

Fernando is still here in Manila processing his papers.  Looking back to the stressful days, I cannot help but say thank you to God for delaying things to protect my brother from the virus that is now in China.  Little did I know that God is just protecting him and the family from worries. God really works in mysterious ways. We may not know His plans but trust Him and have faith.  Things happen for a reason.  We may not know why this corona virus is plaguing us but as we go through the tunnel of uncertainty, we are assured of the light at the end of it.  

I pray for the people of Wuhan and the rest who are affected by the virus that healing be upon them.  May the authorities be guided in finding solution to this epidemic and the necessary help be given to the people.  In gratitude to God, I pray fervently on my knees that this corona virus be over and everybody can move on to their normal lives.

Alone Tonight

May the night be kind to me as I will spend the night alone.

Most of the time being alone means loneliness and fear.  I have been through many nights alone and lonely and I think I am on the road of getting used to it.  

When I am going through difficult times, I cannot easily share what I am going through with anybody and that consumes me and lonliness sets in.  I prefer to be silent to avoid arguments and misunderstandings and further hurt relationships. I have committed that mistake several times in the past and they were very painful. I do not want to hurt the people I love.  

I have learn to entrust to God for everything I cannot do. I entrust to Him all my loved ones.  I know He will restore all broken relationships and further strengthen whatever we have.  I have taken the apostolate to build relationships by simply being me, by my simple presence and little kindness to help them get through the day.

However, if I cannot reach them physically because of distance,  was pushed away or I am no longer part of their lives, my prayers will forever take care of them.  Being alone gives me more time to pray for everybody.  It gives me the freedom to love more beyond distance and learning not to expect love in return because in my deepest loneliness there is somebody who never left me and will never leave me. . . my God who is the source of all love. Because of His love that sustains me, I am sharing His love to everybody.  

Tonight, I am alone. Shiela and Yna are spending the night in a resort for a night swimming. My blood pressure is just starting to stabilize but I know my God will watch over me and the night will be kind to me. I am starting to befriend and enjoying the company of myself.  See, I am getting comfortable being alone.

Yes, I am alone but deeply in love.

Am I for Death Penalty?

Every morning after I have said my praises and thanksgiving to God, sent my hugs and kisses through prayers to my love ones, I open my radio and tune in to dzbb for the early morning news then check on my fb while sipping an aromatic mug of coffee.  This routine is so splendid and I love doing it while imagining sitting in a porch and breathing the fresh flower scent of the morning.

But these past few days my mornings are no longer as splendid as it used to be though I still do the same thing.  My quiet refreshing mornings are now disturb by the everyday news about drugs, extra judicial killings and death penalty.  I hear and read opinions here and there. Some friends in facebook are posting their indignation on death penalty or if one will do a fishbone scrutiny it points out not only about war on drugs but of President Duterte.

I can't help give my own reflective opinion. 

Like any other Christian, I believe we have to value and respect human life. Right to life is a moral principle based on the right of every human being to live and should not be killed by another human being.  Death penalty or any form of extra judicial killings therefore are violation of right to life however, others say that death penalty is not a violation of right to life because right to life should be done in respect to a sense of justice.

What am I to say about this? Am I with the Catholic Church and the Commission on Human Right (CHR) who keep on voicing and criticizing President Duterte on his war on drugs that is resulting to 7,000 deaths?

I am caught in between.  While I respect the right to life of every human being, I abhor drugs and any form of crimes resulting from drug abuse and proliferation.  I am speaking from the point of view of a niece whose beloved uncle was killed by a drug addict who ran amok in a bus terminal. I couldn't explain the pain our family felt during that time.  My siblings and I loved Tito Cesar so much, not because he was a good perfect man but because we grew up with him. We have shared many happy moments together and knowing he was stabbed by a drug addict and was left lying on the street was so devastating. When I saw him inside the coffin, I fainted and I could not bear the sight What is more painful was he died alone without us by his side to hold his hands. News about it reached us two days after the incident happened.  My brothers went to the funeral home to claim his body and saw him just lying on the floor. Our hearts were filled with so much anger that to see the assailant dead was not enough.  This happened many years ago but pain is still in our hearts. 

Today, we heard so many stories of the families of those drug addicts and pushers who were killed either by a legal police operations or by the so called extra judicial killings and our hearts melt knowing they have suffered so much pain of losing their loved ones. Human rights advocates and some religious groups have thrown their anger to the present government who is very serious on the war against drugs. But have they thought about the families of the victims, families who are now dysfunctional because their parents are into drugs, the pain of the parents seeing their children losing a bright future because of drugs. Have they experienced living in a community where drugs are just an ordinary thing?  Drug pushers when caught can easily get out of jail because their bosses can bribe the authorities. This community is where my uncle was killed. 

The gangs were killing each other long before Duterte became president.  They were all in the streets and not afraid of being caught.  The good and straight are the ones in hiding to avoid them. When Duterte won the election, people who are involved in drugs started to go into hiding and yes killings among them are now more often.  Authorities who are also of their kind are now liquidating their own people.

What would you think the residents of that community feel now?  The people are now somehow relieved.  If somebody is killed a sigh of relief is heard.  I am not saying that killing is good but when a community is being abused by these heartless people, a heartless response is also expected.

These are the people who voted for Duterte who  promised to eradicate drugs.  The president  is just few months in office. He inherited the big problem on drugs from the Aquino government who did nothing about it.  Had they worked on to solve the problem instead of letting it proliferate, maybe Mr Duterte did not win the election. The church was not as vocal as now during the time of the Aquinos. 

Will death penalty send shiver to the spine of these criminals? Maybe yes, maybe no and even if they are put into death, their lives are not enough to pay for the many lives they have ruined. 

Am I for death penalty? NO, I am not for death penalty because it is not enough. It cannot replace the lives that were lost. It will only hurt more families.  Anger and pain will fill the hearts of many Filipinos.

If the administration will stop their war against drugs and death penalty will not be passed in congress, what will happen to us now as a nation?  Are we going back to the time of the Aquinos, watch as our country deteriorates?  It will be a challenge to us who are giving these criminals the right to life.  I only hope and pray that  catholic church and all human rights advocates will go beyond criticizing the government but to put all efforts together  to help each family heal from anger and pain. Family, as a basic unit of a society should  be strengthened with values and love of God.

Well, I hope after giving my views on the issue, I can now breathe and feel the morning breeze again while sipping my brewed coffee.

The Future of the Adolescents

Dumagat youths of San Ysiro, Antipolo, Rizal together with the Porta Coeli staff. Porta Coeli Center helps the Dumagats plan their future through education.

Adolescence and Its Future Orientation

This is part of my report on Child and Adolescence. I hope this can help adults like me understand our youth. This is a result of my research thanks for all the writers and authors of Human development.

Adolescence is a distinct stage of preparation for adulthood. It is also the period of exploration. A time for planning for the future, this emerges as an important developmental task (Erickson). Adolescents develop an extended future orientation in which they are able to think, dream, and plan for their futures. It is a crucial link to the future of a society. It is the period when adolescents either become prepared for or enthusiastic for taking over adult roles or they rebel against the expectations and responsibilities of adulthood.

Future Orientation is a "complex cognitive motivational phenomenon". It has been explored in multiple literatures and related to adult competence, attainment and educational outcomes. It is used to predict behavior, planning and transition to adulthood. Personality, skills and cognitive factors influence the future.

Nurmi described future orientation through three basic processes: motivation, planning and evaluation. Motivation is an essential part of future orientation. Motivation is goal setting. Goals are reference points by which we evaluate our present state of behavior. Planning involves different schemas and cognitive processes. After goals are set motives and values in mind, one needs to plan how to realize them. Evaluation is the extent to which they expect their plans to be realized.

As the adolescents prepare for their future, we adults should help them realized their plans by making pathways available for them to be successful. Some of these pathways are the following:

• Civic Engagement, Government and Inter-Group Relations
• Media and Information Technology
• Research and Scholarships
• Policies and Programs which are tailored for the youth which will keep them at the center

Porta Coeli Center for Continuing Education is doing its share in helping the youth especially the indigenous people like the dumagat tribe of San Ysiro, Antipolo, Rizal in the Philippines. Porta Coeli is a distance education institute which offers scholarships to our youth and adult learners as well.

Adolescence as we have said is the period of exploration. May our youth find the right path to success and be the real hope of the future.

MT. BANAHAW

The aspirations and dreams of our President Sr. Mary Anne Sevilla of giving our poor and marginalized brethren an equal opportunity to college education have become my own. Definitely, I will not let any chances to bring our mission to the poor pass. And so, when it came to bring it to Mt Banahaw of course with the energetic team of Ms Chi and Roy, I grabbed it. I am just very lucky that I have this team who are really passionately in love not only with each other but also to volunteer works. And who can say no if you are smitten by the noble mission of Porta Coeli.

God has been laying the ground for us long before we decided to go out and offer our program outside Antipolo, Rizal.  In December 2011, Dr. Teresita Obusan referred to me the head of the NSTP Program of Miriam College Ms. Joan Tolibas for a possible community works of their NSTP students in San Ysiro.  However it did not pushed through. Then, last summer, I went to Miriam College to look for Community Development Curriculum.  I looked for Ms. Joan Tolibas for assistance however it was Ms. Chi Cammayo that I met. It was God’s plan because that was the start of our good team up with Ms. Chi and Roy. But God has other plans for us and Ms. Joan.  It took more than a year before He revealed it.  And maybe this is the time!



(L-R) Chi Cammayo, Matet Perdigon & Ms. Joan Tolibas

Igabay Kuya Dion, Ms. Joan, Matet, Roy, Chi & Ms Sallie

  Through Ms. Chi and Dr. Obusan, our path crossed again in Mt. Banahaw. The mysticsm of the mountain which has been attracting people for studies, healing and for the experience brought Ms. Joan, Chi, and I together. Miriam College through the office of Ms. Joan Tolibas has been doing community works in the place with the help of IGABAY headed by Mr. Dionisio Pullan. 



with Suprema Isabel Suarez

 There are several communities in the mountain with different religion, sects or cults. The people primarily depend on the mountain for their livelihood. Basic education is available however, tertiary education is just an option for those who can afford the expenses of sending their children in San Pablo City.  And so, Ms. Joan and ILAW AT GABAY (IGABAY) through its head Kuya Dion are interested to offer our program to the people of Bangkongkahoy.  Igabay is an organization of Dolores resident guides who sworn to protect and nurture the sacred mountain. We had an exploratory talk on how we can build our partnership. Ms. Joan is interested to bring our program to all their partner communities. However, they want to have a MOA on the partnership and to launch it formally.                         



Aside from Sitio Bangkongkahoy, we were able to introduce our program with the religious group of Suprema de la Iglesia del Ciudad Mistica de Dios. Ciudad Mistica is a religious sect which is known for uplifting the women as source and holders of sacred and spiritual powers.  It is headed by their Suprema, Isabel Suarez.  The group is widely known for their hospitality.  They welcome people of all walks of life and Brgy. Sta Lucia is one of nine barangays of Dolores,Quezon. It has been a sanctuary not only of indigenous flora and protected fauna but also to many religious devotions and patriotic personalities.

Trekking Mt Banahaw is always a great and mystical experience and what made it more meaningful and memorable is the opportunity to offer hope to its people.  I thank God for the allowing me to be a part of Porta Coeli and experience His wonderful creation.