‘Commentary’ Archives
Handful of ashes
Ashes will be traced, in form of a cross on foreheads in Wednesday rites that start off :Lent Slum dweller “ walang ngipin at salawal, drug addict, jeepeny driver to embattled chief justice get the same reminder: “Remember man that you are dust . And unto dust you will return.” “Death plucks my ears and says: ‘Live – I am coming”, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote on his 90th birthday. Death also comes to presidents. Assassin [...]
Tunnel vision
TO give us more ideas and better nuanced understanding of what tunnel vision means and implies, we can list down some of its synonyms: blind spot, blind side, blinders, constricted vision, fixation, monomania, myopia, narrow outlook, narrow-mindedness, obsession, one-track mind, shortsightedness. It’s important that to be truly effective without unduly dominating others, our leaders and those who occupy positions of authority, power and influence, be it in politics or the academe or the [...]
The 7th C challenge
I’M referring to the 7th commandment of the Decalogue and the huge challenge it poses. In the Catechism, we are told that this commandment of “You shall not steal,” “requires respect for the universal destination and distribution of goods and the private ownership of them, as well as respect for persons, their property and the integrity of creation.” (Compendium 503) It also adds: “The Church also finds in this commandment the basis for her social doctrine which involves the [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
Unfazed by the difficulties of the US and Eurozone economies, remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) grew by 10.6% from US $ 1.61 B in 2010 to US $ 1.78 billion in November 2011. Remittances continue to support household consumption, which is a major growth driver of the domestic economy. While the men overseas receive higher pay, women’s contribution cannot be underestimated considering their sheer numbers and spending values. Researches proved that when women earns, their incomes [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
continuation.... Dateline Singapore: I met Yoly. 32 years old and married while she was doing part-time house cleaning and ironing for my host family. She comes from a family of 12. Women’s migration may have become a family tradition because two of her sisters are in Norway, two in Singapore and one in the USA. She has been working in Singapore for eight years and regularly remitted her monthly salary to her husband who takes care of their three children. Her world almost crumbled when [...]
Talking to God
FATHER, are you serious when you say we can talk to God? Questions like that are often asked of me by people who find it incredible that we can talk to God. They have come so often that my answer has become quite standard and routine. Of course, we can talk to God! It’s no big deal to talk to God. It should be the most normal thing to do, since in the first place God is always with us. While we cannot always have anybody to talk to, and sometimes we can even forget to talk with our own [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
In-law problems and a financially abusive sea-faring husband compelled Jean to leave her work in an orthopedic hospital and look for a job elsewhere. She worked as a physical therapist in Bahrain and then moved to the United States. Aside from supporting her child until she became a pharmacist, Jean also provided financial support to her parents and siblings. She is now an immigrant in the US with her new family. Rina’s husband was a drug user whom she thought would be reformed during [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
continuation... Permanent residence were also accorded to teachers, nurses, and physical therapists in the US and Canada. Sixty doctors from my city enrolled in a nursing school. There were women pediatricians, anesthesiologists, and obstetricians-gynecologists who joined the exodus of experienced nurses to the west. Enrollment in nursing schools surged while that of the medical schools declined. Hospitals in the Philippines have an ever-ready supply of fresh graduates who are eager to [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines Part II
My town mates Lala and Easter are sisters who held permanent jobs as government employees in our province. Both in their mid forties and with children who are studying in college, their dream of visiting the Holy Land while earning an income several times higher than their salaries in the Philippines came true when they had the opportunity to work as caregivers for the elderly in Israel. Their pragmatism is paying off, as they are able to save and gradually invest their income in real [...]
Be concerned!
THAT, in gist, is the message of Pope Benedict for this year’s Lenten season that will start on Ash Wednesday, February 22. It’s taken from a passage in the Letter to the Hebrews 10,24: “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.” From this, the Pope wants us to see the connection between our concern for the others, on the one hand, and its consequence and requirement of reciprocity (mutual cooperation) and personal holiness, on the other. [...]
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