June 1, 2007—The Catholic bishops’ leadership said they are “shamed and saddened” the country continues to record high in corruption and cases of human rights abuses. In a message for the celebration of the 109th anniversary of Philippine Independence, CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo stressed the said issues that continue to haunt the current administration are “negative” notes to the celebration of Independence Day.

The adage is true: health is really wealth. When you are healthy and in tiptop shape, money is of no consequence. But if you get sick, really sick, then, your loads of money will have gone away in a breeze. Even the wealthy would not want to get sick because they are aware that no wealth could match a truly healthy body. Much more so for us ordinary struggling citizens who have to work like horses to earn a measly income: we could not afford to get sick. We simply do not have the extra money for expensive treatments!

Bikolanos and visitors to the region who use the Quirino-Andaya National Highway to reach Camarines Sur often realize that they have left the Quezon province and crossed the border of Bikol because of the huge and numerous pot holes that welcome their vehicles. As it were, once the relatively smooth ride has ended, one is in Bikol.

It was the unanswered question of Pilate. Nowadays, not only does the question on the truth remain unsaid and unanswered, it has become the most sought after thing in this country. The rallies that took place on the last day of February attested to this. Drawing thousands of people from all walks of life, from nearly all political affiliations (except from the besieged ones), and from various sectors, the assemblies of people that were held last Friday demanded that the truth be told. That the truth be set free.

There was no ambivalence in the resolve of the Arroyo government to NOT celebrate the anniversary of People Power II or EDSA II, as there was no ambiguity in the reasons it put forward to explain this resolve. In an ambush interview, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita stated that the Arroyo administration has embarked on “reconciliation efforts” in order to hasten the “healing” of the wounds caused by EDSA II. He says “one of the legacy agenda of the President is healing the wounds of EDSA and we thought that maybe by not celebrating it will be one of the steps toward healing any hard feelings brought about by EDSA II."

I DID NOT WANT to write about Auschwitz after visiting it because the suffering inflicted on humanity by the Nazis cannot be captured in few sentences. However, the personal experience of seeing the extermination camp has kept me thinking about the power of evil to eliminate difference and at the same time the power of love to triumph over suffering and death. Millions of persons from the entire world have visited the grounds of the former concentration camp since the creation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum in 1947.

The 18th Philippine Catholic Congress on Deafness (PCCD) will be held at the Pili, Capitol Convention Centre on November 23-26 with the theme “WE CARE: Creating an Enabling & Inclusive Environment for the Deaf.” Initiated in 1989 by Fr. Luke Mootgard, the Executive Secretary of the Health and Handicap Committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines then, the annual Philippine Catholic Congress on Deafness is a gathering where insights and stories of the delegates are shared with other members of deaf organizations coming from the entire country.

Pili, Camarines Sur – About P13.1 Million in aqua-culture damages to government fishery facilities and privately operated fish ponds was declared by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional office in Bikol, as a result of heavy rains and flooding in this region since October 27, this year.

In 2006, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore presented the film-documentary on human-caused climate change or global warming An Inconvenient Truth. The film won worldwide acclaim and the 2006 Academy Awards for Documentary Feature and Best Original Song—Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need to Wake Up.” On October 12, 2007, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change”

Twenty two years after the first People Power triumphantly enshrined democracy in our nation's political culture, we find ourselves in the throes of yet another uprising. The past weeks have been tumultuous with events akin to those that took place 22 years ago: an autocratic ruler desperately clings to power, a people outraged by oppression and by revelations of corruption, a military whose loyalty to duty is undergoing a crisis, and the Church hierarchy advocating personal and social change.