By the Jal-o River

The sad event that pulverized most of the centuries-old churches in Bohol and Cebu last Tuesday, October 15, 2013 calls to mind the collapse of San Rafael Parish Church on June 14, 1990. Not to be taken as of equal weight with those declared National Cultural Treasures, the total destruction of the Balete Church by a 6.3 earthquake that jolted the Panay Island more than a decade ago has afforded the faithful of Balete a new face for their Catholicity. The rubble of a ruined Balete Church, June 1990 With the new structure forming as part of the facade of the Baleten-on community, the younger generations are without clue of the rubble underneath the modernized plaza of the Balete Church. Children of today are robbed of the pastime of pulverizing chips of bricks that toddlers of old used to polish their nails. Blocks of bricks and broken coral stones were everywhere in the vicinity of the St. Rafael Church and the convent. Old folks used to tell that they were remnants of the olde

My mentor and confessor, Fr. Rudy Arreza, OSA woke me up early today. Don't get me wrong. Fr. Rudy is long dead. As a matter of fact, today (October 11) is his second death anniversary. But it is true that he woke me up around three o'clock in the morning today. Here lies the remains of Fr. Rudy Rolling Hills Memorial Park, Bacolod City (Photo, courtesy of Fr. Pederito Aparece, OSA) I went to sleep early last night. I was tired of the long day that passed. Yet I managed to say the Compline before I hit the bed. Now that thing is unusual. (But that is going out of the topic) My sleep was however deep and restful, at least, initially. For by three o'clock, the slumber was interrupted by the barking of my dogs. Perhaps some fisherfolks are passing by, I reasoned out, or perhaps, some bearcats are on the prowl again, hunting for ripe Rambutan. So I tried to go back to sleep. Then, slowly, he wandered into my mind--Fr. Rudy.    I have maintained that it was no coi

Ro pilapil paadto sa Matalinhaga nga Daean Ano pa ron ha.   Bago pa man naka-obog rong mga conquestadores sa suba it Hae-o, rong katunggan nga makaron hay kilaea sa tawag nga Anao,  hay dati eon nga katilingban. Kato nga tiempo, ro katunggan hay baeay para sa mga nanari-sari nga tinuga, makita man o di makita it atong tawohanon mata. Para sa ratong mga tinuga, rong katunggan hay bukon eang it andang ueoli-an, bukon eang it andang daeangpan. Ro katunggan hay tawaya, bugana para sa pang-adlaw adlaw nga kinahang-ean, matawhay nga paeahuwayan, bunayag nga katilingban it tanan nga tinuga kung Makaako nga Kagamhanan. Sa ratong may mga galing—mga pinasahi nga nakig-angot sa Tuburan it Makaako, sayod nanda rong himaya nga nakatago sa katunggan. Naka-intiende sanda ko matalinhaga nga pagsinaeayo ku tanang bagay nga una sa tawaya. Ro tanan, makita man o indi, nagahueag man o nakatanum, tag-lugar man o mortal, sanda ron hay may bugay nga kina-iya para sa padayon nga pagbilog it Kab

The Call for a Culture of Encounter    The clergy in the Diocese is responding to the call of Pope Francis to proclaim the Gospel and promote a culture of encounter in their pastoral works. Such call requires a new approach to make all things new. A New Pastoral Orientation A new way of doing pastoral works in the parishes is being proposed by no less than than the chairman on Pastoral Ministry, Msgr. Pedro C. Frac. In a schema above, basic ecclesial communities (BEC) take central prominence suggesting a movement originating from the bottom struggling to live up to the promises of a new heaven and a new earth. The movement is focused on new catechism as a new way of doing evangelization. A New Catechism    The monsignor has pioneered in the Diocese of Kalibo a community-owned school-based catechetical program. The program, like a mustard seed, is silently thriving and gaining strong support among small communities in the whole municipality of Batan. Without wishing to, it

Be Forewarned: Ride at Your Own Risk! Diving into a zip line is like getting married. Once you took off, there is no getting back. You have to take the plunge, attend to your fears and leave the rest to the line. Like the married life, the zip line enables you to experience all-in-one, both attraction and dread, the challenge, the excitement, glory, ecstasy, regret, fulfillment. THE ATTRACTION Zip line always attracts, just like a pretty face is. But the zip line in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato is an irresistible elfin lady. It towers the Seven Falls that emptied from the lake at an elevation of almost 600 meters. It consists of two stations, the first extends to 700 meters (from Falls No. 1 to Falls No. 5) while the other is 400 meters (from Falls No. 5 to Falls No. 2). The lush vegetation, the panoramic scenery and the enthusiasms of those who queue to take its challenge are more than enough to enchant a restlesshiker like me to try giving into its seduction. So impulsively I

This piece is also posted in my other blog, " Our Restless Journey " Pope Francis'  commentary on Mark 9:38-40  last Wednesday, May 22, 2013 during the Feast of St. Rita de Casia, OSA, the patron of impossible things,  draws much attention  in a society that is fast becoming secular. His words were headlines and the next most shared item in social media. Why is that?  Sermo humilis ?  The other day, he was talking about the possibility of all men of goodwill entering the Kingdom of God, and he means, "all" including even those who refuse to believe in the existence of God. Yes, my friend! Even if you're an atheist or an agnostic, you can inherit New Heaven and New Earth. The proviso is simple. Do good works. Be good and shun evil.  Now, this reminds me of a youthful desire brought by an "entanglement" with Sartrean Existentialism. Human reality desires to be God. To Sartre, this is bad faith. Man is deluded to believe that he can be happy in

We could have talked extensively about Martin Heidegger's  Being and Time over several cups of coffee and later on exhaust ourselves on Sartre's Existentialism is Humanism over glasses of brandies. We could have philosophized about the quiet flow of the Jal-o River and collected common memories of its songs composed throughout the ages. But our roads were not meant to cross--even if our houses were only a few meters apart. I knew my neighbor only from third party. And that knowledge came only later when we were no longer neighbors. I befriended some of his brothers and cousins. I was particularly close to his grandmother, Lola Mabing (Mabina Pareñas Feliciano-Cortes). In my childhood, I had the privilege of turning her orchard into my playground with the perks of having to pick up fallen Rambutan and Chicos--in a time when Rambutan was still an exotic tropical fruit. When she and Lola Pining (Crispina Pareñas Feliciano) died in the 70's, La Mabing's daughter, Nay In

By the time Miguel Lopez de Legazpi declared the Philippine islands as a colony of the kingdom of Spain, the barangay  or pockets of kingdom throughout the archipelago were assimilated and their datus and families granted the privilege of continuing to govern their respective   barangays . Those nobles became the   cabezas de barangay  (later called Teniente del Barrios) of the barangays and the gobernadorcillos  (presidente municipales) of the   pueblos   or towns and were known then as the principalia . The principalia were a privilege class as consequence of their nobility. They were exempted from paying tributes (taxes) even as they were allowed to have real property. They were distinguished by the titles they carry, i.e., the Dons and Doñas of the Spanish Philippines and the only ones who can vote or be voted upon as officials of the pueblos as in the case of a local election in May 8, 1893.  Yet, it can be noted in the later time, the principalias were limited to only

Something inside urges me to write something today. I refused on many occasions. I argued that I am not inclined of writing something worthwhile befitting of this journal--err, blog. I prefer reading these days. Yesterday, I grabbed a label of an olive oil and tried hard reading the minute printouts written therein. Today, I visited this site hoping to read something that would interest me. It failed. So I decided to surf from the list in my dashboard and I managed to engage my mind into the gibberish that my fellow ghostwriters were trying to advertise. Then again, I got tired of tiring myself in indulging into those promotions. What the heck! Why not try Facebook instead, whispered an inner voice. " ¿Para que? ", my rational mind responded readily. I realized later, I was back at square one as if an automaton writing this hallow words with nothing in mind but the desire of tinkering the keyboard of my computer. At the back of my mind, something tells me that I have

A storm in a tea cup. That's the impression of most of my priest-friends concerning the release of the 2003 SWS Survey about the present state of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines as the latter tries to come up with its so called Catholic Vote in time for the May 13, 2013 elections. The good Archbishop emeritus of Lingayen-Dagupan however sees it differently. But then that is his opinion. The Roman Catholic chapel in Sitio Duduemon, Calizo, Balete In my interactions with the clergy, I have maintained that the 37% attendance during Sunday masses is almost realistic and questioned the basis in claiming the 64% turnout recorded in 1991. As we all know, the survey registered among others the following data: 81% of the Philippine Population are Roman Catholics 80% are of majority age (18 years old and above) 29% consider themselves very religious 37% go to church to hear mass at least once a week compared to the 64% in 1991 9.2% think seriously of leaving the Chur

My town, by local standards, has marked milestones over the years. The most prominent of which is when it was included among the 15 elite municipalities throughout the entire country to receive the much desired Seal of Good Housekeeping Award way back in 2010. Such feat it has maintained since then. Other towns in Aklan look at us in revered admiration whenever we are gathered together in certain occasion. Some, perhaps out of curiosity or of resolve to elevate theirs into our league, voiced out in wonder: Why is it that despite your poverty, you've done so much for your people? Responding to it, I simply state a fact: it is so because we are one.  The baffled sophisticated inquirer however would not settle for such a simple answer. He wants complicated yet verifiable systems or approaches that brought us into such pedestal. So perhaps, the following "road maps" could satiate his curiosity and inspire him to replicate the same in his area of jurisdiction: 

Back at the National Archives of the Philippines in 2010, I was tempted of scanning the renowned  Catálogo alfabético de apellidos of Governor General Narciso Claveria (©1849). The limited time and the objectives of my visit however prevented me from taking that detour.  For those who are not familiar with it, the  Catálogo  is a book published in 1849 that covers all the surnames used in the Philippines. It was published as an effort to address the complexity of collecting taxes by mandatory assigning surnames to those who until that time were still without one . The way it was implemented was however compelling as it was strictly imposed by the local authorities. Thus, the offshoot is noticeable in many a community, take for instance in our town, Balete.  Balete, Capiz was established in 1804 according to the book,  Historia Geografica, Geologica y Estadistica con Datos Geograficos, Geologicos y Estadisticas de las Islas de Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao y Jolo, y los que Corresponde

Silence and solitude. Those are the things I wish to have for the long "idle" Holy Week ahead. But I need a fulcrum to leapfrog into that difficult encounter, having accustomed myself to the busyness and voices in my day-to-day quest for relevance. The Desert Fathers' device for this is the Jesus Prayer while their oriental counterpart referred to it as either a koan or a mantra. I think, in my contemporary setting, I can make use of the current technology as my device to come into the quiet. What I have in mind is that as I begin my Holy Week retreat, I will indulge myself into watching a movie to set an ambiance of reflection. What particular movie then I am to watch? Methinks it appropriate for the time being to watch a 1991 film entitled, "The Doctor" starred by William Hurt. I have watched it during my seminary years when Megamall was still safe and less crowded. Considering that YouTube has an embedded stream of it, it would be easy for me to refer to

A batch of local officials from the constituent barangays of the municipality went to Subic for a three-day seminar on risk reduction management. A day before the culmination of the seminar, the wife of one of the barangay officials sent her husband a text message: " Ga, bak-ie ko't Tobleron ha. " (My dear, buy me some Tobleron, please.)  The husband replied in the affirmative--that he did even if he was on a quandary what on earth a Tobleron is all about. He leaned forward to ask a colleague in front of him: " Pare, anu do Tobleron ngara, brand it sapatos? " (Friend, is Tobleron some kind of brand name for a shoes?)  "No." replied the colleague. "Methinks, it is a local delicacy sold here in Subic."  "I see. Much like a pinipig , eh."

My sleep was restless. Something at the back of my tired mind is the thought, no, a proclamation: "Habemus Papam!" At daybreak (Philippine time) my lovely wife woke me up gladly announcing: " Gang, may Santo Papa eon kita! Taga-Argentina! " That was the news I was expecting to hear. It sent me scurrying for a seat in our family room and watched the progressing news on TV even as I was removing those specks in my eyelids. Somebody from Argentina. Was he a Liberation Theologian? He is to be called Pope Francis. After St. Francis of Assisi? Are we to journey together as Church of the Poor then? There are lots of questions playing in my mind. The coffee came in late but even then, I was already wide awake. As I surfed the net later in the day, most of my questions where answered. As I heard him addressed the crowd in genial Italian seeking for the faithful's prayer before giving off his blessings, I knew in my heart that the Church is graced again with a good

I am posting hereunder some relevant quotes which I have personally edited in Photoshop that might be useful for the Christian's 40-day Lenten journey. I am assuming that you are already familiar with the basics of this life-event of our quest in returning home to the House of the Father . I take advantage of the contemporary tools to approximate my so called personal legend. The season of Lent will start on Ash Wednesday (February 13), but I am posting this note early this year as I am aware of those in search for devices they will be needing for the forthcoming 40-day intramural in the desert of life. Our perspective for reflection is geared towards our celebration of the Year of Faith. The Pope has already released his Annual Lenten Message last February 1, 2013 and I took the initiative of highlighting the gist of that message. " Faith is knowing the truth and adhering to it (cf. 1 Tim 2:4) ; charity is 'walking' in the truth (cf. Eph. 4:15)...(F)aith is gen

       The landlord planned of leaving for a far off place. But before doing so, he saw to it that everything in his ranch are well taken cared of. For his flock, he hired a couple of shepherd. He called them by their name and entrusted to them his beloved sheep. "Please take care of my sheep until my return", he implored each one of them. Then he set forth on a journey into that far off place. On their first day alone with the flock, the elder of the two called for a meeting. He informed the other shepherd of his plan. The younger one however found the plan too conservative and presented what he thought was a better, radical and contemporary way of pasturing the flock. The discussion progressed for hours without the two reaching a consensus. A recess was agreed upon and the two shepherds have their lunch--separately, I should tell you, for even in such thing as lunch they could not agree what meals to have. After their siesta, the meeting resumed and their arguments

KANTA KU JAE-O Naga-eumpat ako sa bueogsukan kung Aeatubang Sa ilaya nga akon ginhalinan Sa kabukiran sa unhan pa it Benitinan Kun siin may maberde pang kagueangan. Iba eon ako makaron Ilig ko bukon eon it masueog Kon amat matin-aw pero eaban hay maeobog Bisan pa ako mat a ra sa gihapon. Naga-ilig ako sa dagasanan sa Kipot Sub-eangon ku rong sili pati sa kahoy rong siga ku mga aninipot Iya eon lang sanda mapabilin kumo ginahingabot Sa ilawod nga anay anda man nga palibot. Iba eon ako makaron Ilig ko bukon eon it masueog Kon amat matin-aw pero eaban hay maeobog Bisan pa ako mat a ra sa gihapon. Padayon rong haganas bisan pa sa tig-ilinit Sa kurbada sa may Takasan ni Ambit Sa balsa makaron ag ku baroto anay ni ‘lo Pantit Sa akon nga sueog naga-eupsi ro imo nga panit. Iba eon ako makaron Ilig ko bukon eon it masueog Kon amat matin-aw pero eaban hay maeobog Bisan pa ako mat a ra sa gihapon. Dag-onan ku nga ginadags