Luis Taruc’s Surrender

17 May 1954. Luis Poblete Taruc, the noted commander-in-chief of the HUKBALAHAP (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Mga Hapon - People’s Army Against the Japanese), surrenders to President Ramon Magsaysay after a four-month negotiation with Benigno Aquino Jr. who served as Magsaysay’s representative.  Taruc, along with Casto Alejandrino and other revolutionaries, organized the Hukbalahap on 29 March 1942.  After the Japanese occupation, Taruc waged war against the US-backed Manuel Roxas government. Until his death on 04 May 2005, he remained committed to pro-poor reforms in Philippine society.

Source/Recommended Reading: Alfredo S. Saulo, Communism in the Philippines: An Introduction (Manila: ADMU Press, 1990), pp. 32, 128-141.

-

Rerum Novarum

15 May 1891. Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci (20 Feb 1878-20July 1903), more popularly known as Leo XIII, publishes his social encyclical, Rerum Novarum (”of new things”). According to Richard McBrien, the document “remains a benchmark of Catholic social teaching.” [440]

- McBrien, Richard P. 1997. Lives of the Popes : The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II. CA:HarperSanFrancisco.

International Nurses Day (IND)

We salute all our nurses here and abroad on this “International Nurses Day.” According to the International Council of Nurses, this year’s IND theme is “Delivering Quality, Serving Communities: Nurses Leading Primary Health Care.”

To all Pinoy nurses here and abroad, mabuhay kayong lahat!

***

Stats: 28, 924 out of 67, 728 examinees passed this year’s licensure exam for nurses; the US and Europe seek out 800,000 medical workers every year; each year, POEA deploys about 500 to the US (quota recently reduced due to the US’ economic woes), and deployed 13, 425 licensed nurses to various parts of the world in 2006, 5600 of whom were employed in the KSA; Japan had 1.1 Filipino nurses and caregivers in 2005; 5,000 Filipino doctors studied to become nurses in 2004.

Recommended Reading: “Trends in International Nurse Migration” (2004) by Linda H. Aiken, et al.

Related post: “PTs, Pittance, Pity“

Chandler’s Tribute to Mothers/Women

When Jesus was nailed upon the cross, the sad and pathetic spectacle was presented of the absence of the Apostolic band, with the exception of St. John… The male members of the following of the Nazarene did not sustain and soothe their master in the supreme moment of His anguish. But the women of His company were with Him to the end… [Women] were the last to cling to His cross and the first to greet Him on the morning of the third day…

This revelation from the sacred pages of the devotion of woman is reflected in universal history and experience… The night of sorrow never grows so dark that a mother’s love will not irradiate the gloom. The criminal guilt of a wayward son can never become so black that her arms will not be found about him. If we pass from loving loyalty to the individual, to patriotic devotion to the causes of nations, woman’s fidelity is still undying. The women of France are said to have paid the German war debt. The message of the Spartan mother to her soldier son is too well known to be repeated. When the legions of Scipio engirdled the walls of Carthage and desperation seized the inhabitants of the Punic city, Carthaginian women cut their long black hair to furnish bowstrings to the Carthaginian archers. - Walter M. Chandler, “The Trial of Jesus”

- Excerpted from Josh McDowell, The Resurrection Factor (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1981), pp. 174-175.

Parents’ Wish

Every time I watch this slideshow I remember Jonas Salk’s words: “Parents give their children roots and wings — roots to know where home is, and wings to fly away and exercise what’s been taught them.” Even while we live in a world where families often get fragmented, may we parents continue or prove to be a great blessing to our children and pillars of integrity in our respective communities…

“If Gas Prices Continue to Rise”

Money-saving strategies (forwarded by Anthony Herron; can also be accessed @ the last of the few):

Organizations to Institutions

Organizations have this nasty habit of becoming institutions. And institutions have this great tendency to fade into irrelevance. Movements become monuments. Inspiration becomes institution. The tragedy of this often-repeated story is that the older an organization gets, the less room there is for the entrepreneurally gifted. Mavericks are messy by nature, and calcified organizations chew them up and spit them out with their rigidity.

This is as true in the church as it is in the business world. There is a pattern that organizations follow, as they move from passion to paralysis, from the apostolic to the mechanistic. The pattern in fact seems to follow the very pattern of the human cycle. There is every stage from birth to adolescence to the most productive adult years to, finally, death. Even organizations that don’t die often look and act dead.

- Hans Finzel, The Top 10 Mistakes Leaders Make (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communication Ministries, International; reprint, Mandaluyong City, MM: Christian Growth Ministries, 2001), p. 67

Deconverting from Sectarianism (2): The Language of Exclusivism

[Previous Article: INTRODUCTORY NOTE]

THE LANGUAGE OF EXCLUSIVISM

Exclusivism¹ is a sectarian mentality that regards one’s religious party not only as superior to other parties, but also as the only legitimate proclaimer of divine truth. It is a set of discourses that seeks to reduce the universal church into a single sect, and that pronounces damnation to those who do not belong to this “right church.”

The Marks of the “True Church”

Many sectarians build their belief in the “rightness” of their church on the identity of their leader or founder and/or the name and other distinctives of their group. To illustrate, let me cite four sects indigenous to the Philippines that make this claim.

1. Members Church of God International. Mainly through its widely known TV program, “Ang Dating Daan” (The Old Path), this church finds confidence in the assertion of their leader, Eliseo Fernando Soriano, that he is “the only pastor” in the Philippines who teaches the whole, unadulterated truth of God’s Word.²

2. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name. The founder of this church, Apollo Quibolloy of Davao City, claims to be God’s “audible voice” today — he being “God’s Appointed Son.” Alluding to the Noahic deluge, he preaches that those who wish to be saved should “enter into the Ark of Salvation” (i.e., his church).³

3. Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch). Arsenio T. Ferriol is the apostle destined to lead the final “watch” in these last days, according to this group. I’ve had conversations with some of their members in Naga City who insisted that in order to be saved, everyone should submit to Ferriol’s apostleship and be a member of his church.⁴

4. Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ). This sect interprets the latter part of Revelation 6 and the first part of Revelation 7 to be a prophecy on World War I. The four angels were the “Big Four” (David Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, and Vittorio Orlando), and the 5th angel from “the East” (i.e. Philippines) was Felix Ysagun Manalo who, in 1914, founded the one, true church. He was God’s messenger for these last days, and everybody should be a member of the Iglesia to be saved from eternal damnation.⁵

Two other groups originating from abroad that are also known for their exclusivism are the Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim to be God’s sole “visible organization today”⁶ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which teaches that this group is “the Lord’s Kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.”⁷

I have also observed the same mentality among some Catholics who have interpreted Cyprian of Carthage’s expression, extra ecclesiam nulla salus (outside the church there is no salvation) differently from John Paul II who argued that the said dictum does not really teach “ecclesiocentrism” or “ecclesiological exclusivism.”⁸ I have also heard several Pentecostals, Baptists and other Evangelicals regard other Christians as “unbelievers” since these belong to what is perceived as a totally corrupt religious institution. Then there’s this friend who told me that his church must be the true one because it carries the right name — “Church of God, Faith of Abraham” (with great emphasis on the last three words).

Among Churches of Christ in the Philippines, many are still caught up in this mindset. They take pride in the CoC’s “marks of the one, true church” (right name, undenominational status, a capella tradition, etc.)⁹ and regard those outside this religious institution as outside of God’s grace.

I have met many CoC members in the Philippines though who somehow share the thoughts of three noted professors of Abilene Christian University (ACU) who wrote:

…we are repulsed by the spirit of exclusivism, legalism, and judgmentalism that still lives among us, and we question whether it has a truly biblical basis. We believe that those who assume that their understanding of truth is the understanding, and who tolerate little, if any, diversity of teaching or practice, do not reflect the teachings of Scripture or the spirit of Christ. Perhaps, more than any other factor, it is this exclusivist, judgmental spirit that has driven a wedge among our churches and fueled the polarization and divisiveness that has often characterized Churches of Christ in the twentieth century.10

In their analysis of this trend towards openness among many CoC members in the United States, these church historians cite three major factors: realization that a sectarian spirit is not consistent with Christian principles, studies on social factors influencing CoC doctrines, and exposure to a greater number of Spirit-filled Christians outside the CoC.11

The same factors, along with others, served as eye-openers to me, leading to my deconversion from sectarianism.

Facing up to Reality

As a hot-blooded sectarian more than a decade ago, I was smug in the belief that were Judgment Day to come, our little flock of 15-20,000 members plus a number of those who have already died were the only ones in the Philippines who would be privileged to stroll the streets of gold, dwell in eternal mansions fair, eat of the 12 fruits of the Tree of Life, frolic in the river that flows from God’s throne, and sing praises to the Almighty forevermore. For after all, in line with our biblical, restorationist slogans, we spoke where the Bible spoke and were silent where the Bible was silent; we called things by Bible names and did things the Bible way; we were just Christians — neither Catholic, nor Protestant, nor Jewish; we restored the purity of the gospel and the simplicity of the New Testament Church; choosing to be non-/undenominational, we kept our white garments unsullied from the corruption of denominationalism.12

It felt sad to think that a majority of well-meaning professed Christians would be shocked with the familiar verdict, “I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity!” but, on the other hand, it was a thrill to think that we the chosen ones would finally enter the narrow gate and hear those familiar, endearing words: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” 13

Thankfully, much of that hot blood poisoned by the venom of sectarianism has gone out of my system after submitting myself to “blood-letting” with the blade of reality and having the bad blood replaced with something fresh through the process of deconversion.

That new reality blasted away my self-assurance in the worthiness of a judgmental stance, and opened my eyes to the inauthentic life that I had lived under a legalistic system:

1. It didn’t matter that an overwhelming number of believers outside our fellowship have reflected the transforming power of the Cross far greater than most in my church have — we were still the chosen ones! They may have preached Jesus, but they were not “one of us”! 14

2. We casually denied the genuineness of the Christian experience of hymnodists whose compositions filled our hymnals. Fanny Crosby (”Praise Him, Praise Him”), Stuart K. Hine (”How Great Thou Art”), John Newton (”Amazing Grace”), Isaac Watts (”Joy to the World”), and many others may have written inspirational hymns, but they will have to suffer the eternal flames of hell — they were “denominationalists”!

2. We profited from the lifelong studies of a host of archaeologists, Greek/Hebrew lexicographers, Bible commentators, and preachers and yet arrogantly claimed that they haven’t studied the Bible enough to be able to “see the light.” Matthew Henry & Henry Thayer (Anglicans), Charles Haddon Spurgeon & Archibald Thomas Robertson (Baptists), Adam Clarke & William Foxwell Albright (Methodists), Albert Barnes & Francis Schaeffer (Presbyterians), Frederick Fyvie Bruce & Paul Eagelson Little (Brethren), and many others — the collective role of these Bible scholars in the advancement of Christian scholarship may have dwarfed that of our own, but still they had not advanced close enough to God! They simply did not belong to the right church!

The conversion stories of Boris Nicholayevich Kornfeld and Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Russia), Richard Wurmbrand (Romania), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Germany), Clive Staples Lewis (England), Charles Colson (USA), Zhang Boli (China), and many others are to be doubted — they had to be taught the right doctrine, baptized specifically “for the remission of sins” and be a member of the one, true church to be truly converted!

Too, the missionary works of Jozef De Veuster (Molokai), Hudson Taylor (China), Don Richardson (Irian Jaya), K. P. Yohannan (India), Martin and Gracia Burnham (Philippines), and many others resulted in the damnation, not conversion, of millions — they were or are not “our” preachers and some of their doctrines do not square with the plain teachings of the Bible!

We must recognize the importance of Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Girolamo Savonarola, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Huldreich Zwingli, John Calvin and many others in the development and reform of systematic theology. However, we must remember that they taught false doctrines and are therefore children of the Devil. Many of the Reformers brought us closer to the correct understanding of Gospel truth, but not close enough! The world had to wait for our group to restore the New Testament Church in our time!

Wasted Years?

Looking back to all these arrogant claims and inconsistencies we had in what we taught and practiced, I couldn’t help being ashamed of myself. There are times when I would ask myself whether my more than 12 years with sectarianism was such a terrible waste of time, and forsaking several promising career paths for the sake of “the Ministry” was such a great blunder. Upon further reflection, however, I realized that I might have lost some opportunities for secular advancement, but having gone through these religious experiences, I also gained a form of wisdom which I would not have gained some other way. I remain thankful that I do not have to get old until I realize a lifetime’s devotion to a pharisaical advocacy did not really make me a better person.

At least, I have come to an understanding that in the final analysis, only God knows who His genuine people are, that God saves us not by our membership to a particular sect but by our personal, individual response to His calling according to the “available light”15 we have been given. I have come to realize that the “True Church” transcends sectarian and denominational boundaries. I have come to the point that I don’t have to wake up each day consigning people to hell simply because they do not parse some sacred texts the way I do. I don’t have to require that a person be doctrinally and behaviorally perfect (according to my group’s standard of perfection) in order to be accepted by God.

Hope

I continue to hope that Christians will keep tearing down the fences they have erected that have kept them from engaging in meaningful dialogues with their religious neighbors, and from realizing that real unity can only be attained not through conformity, but through diversity. For again, as Ketcherside had well put it:

Unity in Christ is not conformity but community. We are one because we share a common faith, and not because we hold the same opinions. The only passage which declares there is one faith informs us that in our calling we must live “with patience, forebearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4.2). Patience and forebearance are not qualities of robots, but of thinking men and women. God made us to differ mentally as we differ physically. We can no more all think alike than we can all look alike.

We are not in the fellowship because we see everything alike, or because we like everything we see. We are together because God has called us all, and received us all when we responded to his call. God did not call angels, but men! We are human before we are called and we are human after we are called…

Being human, there is only one type of unity possible for us, and that is unity in diversity. If we do not accept this form of unity there is no other for us. Fellowship results from a mutual sonship, brotherhood from a common Fatherhood. We are not one in opinion, but one in Christ Jesus. To interpret the word of God to fragment those who are in the Son of God, and thus to justify their carnality and immaturity, is to do despite to the Spirit of Grace.16

Needless to say, exclusivists regard the above quote as “heretical” and continue to tell the world by their speech and deed that Christianity — and even God — must be consigned to a sectarian straitjacket. Or a cadaver bag.

I AM

Who I AM.

I am Freedom bound

by two leather covers, barred and walled by theologues.

I am the Infinite periodized

by the books, chapters and verses of sacred texts.

I am Eternity termed

by the language of cosmogony and eschatology.

I am the All-Present housed

in statues and sanctuaries, sects and selves.

I am the All-Knowing bedevilled

by my tasselled guides and the projects of my holy fathers.

I am the All-Powerful emasculated

by the ethos of my servants and their double-edged swords.

I am the All-Benevolent loathed

by those who have mud for bread and those who wish to have more than just the world for a footstool.

I AM… I???!!!

- smsaboy, 04-08

[Next: "The Language of Hate"]

♥♥♥

Notes

¹ Church of Christ historian Leroy Garrett has an excellent article on this topic entitled, “Our Costliest Sin: Exclusivism” published in Cecil Hook, ed., Our Heritage of Unity and Fellowship: Writings of Leroy Garrett and W. Carl Ketcherside (Beaverton, OR: by the author,[1991]), pp. 152-157; available online @ freedomsring. Another fine article online is Al Maxey’s “The Spirit of Sectarianism.” Edward Fudge also has an enlightening discussion on legalism/sectarianism with Bruce Edwards (click here).

² Click here for Soriano’s podcasts.

³ Apollo C. Quibolloy, “The Great Revolutionary,” Pinas: The Filipino’s Global Newspaper, 20 August 2005, pp. 9, 14-15, 24.

⁴ See a summary and critique of Ferriol’s doctrines @ here.

⁵ Bienvenido C. Santiago, “What We Believe and Why,” Pasugo: God’s Message, September-October 1988, 3; Feljun B. Fuentes, “Remembering God’s Messenger in These Last Days,” Pasugo: God’s Message, May 1994, 4; Antonio E. Bocobo, Jr., “Brother Felix Y. Manalo: A Brief Biography,” Pasugo: God’s Message, May 1994, 5-8, 10, 16; Nicanor P. Teosen, “‘Come to Me,…’: An Invitation to Salvation,” Pasugo: God’s Message, September 2007, 8-11.

For a critique of the Iglesia’s truth-claims, read this book: Ruivivar, Tino C. The Absurd Claims and Biggest Mistakes of the Iglesia Ni Cristo. Quezon City: Evangelical Life Publishers, Inc., 2005.

⁶ Watchtower & Bible Tract Society, You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (Brooklyn: Watchtower & Bible Tract Society of New York, Inc.), pp. 191-202; Par. 8 of the Introduction to The Book of Mormon, Triple ed. (Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1981), p. ix; cf. Gordon B. Hinckley, Truth Restored: A Short History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), p. 106. Cf. Donald Platt, Counterfeit (Manila: OMF Literature Inc., 1981), pp. 9-54, 73-85. Although published more than two decades ago, Platt’s book still stands as a popular resource for Filipino Evangelical Christians in their discussions with the Iglesia and the JWs.

⁸ John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1994), pp. 140-141. He pointed out in this same book that “Besides formal membership in the Church, the sphere of salvation can also include other forms of relation to the Church” by which he meant that other Christian groups are welcome partners in world evangelization (pp. 140-141). Since Vatican II, several Catholic and Evangelical leaders have been engaging in unitive dialogues which have been subsequently published. One good example is the book edited by Charles Colson and Richard John Neuhaus — Your Word is Truth: A Project of Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002.

⁹ Cf. Leroy Brownlow, Why I am a Member of the Church of Christ, 50th Anniversary Ed. (Fort Worth, TX: Brownlow Publishing Company, Inc., 1973), pp. 28-37, 186-192; Alan E. Highers, “What is the Church of Christ?” The Spiritual Sword 37 (July 2006): 1-3.

Recommended online readings on the “name” issue: Charles A. Holt, “What’s the Difference?”; Charles A. Holt, “Where are the Christians”?; Charles A. Holt, “The Non-Biblical Word: Church”; Neal Griffin, “Is the Church of Christ a Denomination?”; W. Carl Ketcherside, “The Name Pattern”; Dusty Owens, “Why I Left the Church of Christ” (or click on this link). I can email you these articles (Word format) should you have trouble accessing Charles Holt’s site.

On the issue of “instrumental music in worship” and related topics, go to the following websites: Al Maxey, Dallas Burdette), Edward Fudge, and Leroy Garrett. I also recommend this website and this discussion group by former CoC members.

10 Jeff W. Childers, Douglas A. Foster, Jack R. Reese, The Crux of the Matter: Crisis, Tradition, and the Future of Churches of Christ (Abilene, TX: ACU Press, 2002), p. 13.

11 Ibid. pp. 10-11.

12 Cf. Hugh Fulford, “Shall We Be a Denomination?” The Spiritual Sword 39 (January 2008): 5-8 & Stafford North, “How To Be Undenominational In a Denominational World,” in Jim Sheerer and Charles L. Williams, Directions for the Road Ahead: Stability in Change Among Churches of Christ (Chickasha, OK: Yeoman Press, 1998), pp. 199-212.

The impossibility of a church group to be truly “undenominational” is well noted by Koivisto:

..any group of related churches which find part of their reason for being a unity in the opposition to denominationalism have already defined themselves denominationally. An undenominational group has never survived, by definition, as a “non-denomination”….

One cannot, by definition oppose denominationalism without becoming one. Those who are attracted to an anti-denominational status ultimately unite in their opposition. This requires mutual support and relationship, the earmarks of denominational relations.

Rex A. Koivisto, One Lord, One Faith: A Theology for Cross-Denominational Renewal (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), pp. 96-97

13 Matthew 7.23; 25.34

14 Cf. Mark 9.38-40. It was quite a shock to many Philippine Bible College PBC) alumni that the school’s founder, the late Ralph Brashears, would write a few years before his death that “the kings of the earth [who will] bring their glory into the new city of God” include Pat Boone (considered an apostate to the faith by many CoC writers because of his defection to Pentecostalism), and other “non-Christians” or “false teachers” like David Livingstone, Socrates, Ronald Reagan, Paul Bunyan, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Jose Rizal, Isaac Watts, Augustine of Hippo, Louis Pasteur, John Wesley, John Calvin, William Shakespeare,and John Wycliffe. Ralph F. Brashears, The Revelation of the Christian Age (New York: Vantage Press, Inc., 1989), p. 427.

His 180-degree turn on the issue of instrumental music in worship is also known:

The doctrine that mechanical instruments of music, if used in Christian worship, is a sin, has not been proven by the Bible, logic nor authentic history, yet. John Calvin’s dictum, that whatever is not authorized by God is a sin if you do it, is a human doctrine. He forbade uninspired songs, four-part singing, and mechanical musical instruments to be used in worship by this dogma. Since it is not commanded or forbidden in the New Testament, it is an optional, and should not be used to cause division in the body of Christ (Rom. 14; I Cor. 7:25-28). There are many commanded essentials that Christians should inculcate in the Church and not make laws that God has not bound on us (Matt. 12:36; Luke 16:10; I Cor. 11:2-16; I John 2:15). pp. 458-459; cf. pp. 268, 291.

15 See these pertinent articles: “Did Gandhi Go to Heaven?” and “Grace and the Caveman.”

16 William Carl Ketcherside, The Twisted Scriptures (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing Company, 1976; reprint, Round Rock, TX: Cecil Hook, 2005), pp. 23-24.

Corregidor

06 May 1942. 27 days after the fall of Bataan, the combined US and Filipino forces of about 3000 under General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright in Corregidor finally surrender to the Japanese Imperial Army under General Masaharu Homma. Although the US Command in the Philippines folded up in June of that year, thousands of Filipinos carried on the resistance to Japanese occupation in a guerilla warfare. More about World War II in the Philippines @ bataandiary.com.

Nuwaubians

05 May 2003. The day “Nuwaubians” led by Dr. Malachi Z. York were supposed to be spirited away from the earth by a spaceship. York once claimed to be “the Supreme Being of this Day and Time, God in Flesh.” Read more about him here.

Our Attraction to Violence

Perhaps at some level, people are secretly fonder of violence than they generally acknowledge. After all, the entertainment industry has long known that violence sells. Newspaper headlines scream about the latest murder, rape, genocide, mutilation, abduction, arson, or robbery, never announcing that “No One Was Killed, Injured, or Threatened Today”… whether it is a matter of rubbernecking at the scene of an automobile accident or playing computer games, people are drawn to violence. viii-ix

- Barash, David P. 2001. Understanding Violence. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Kalinga Policemen and the Bodong

A new reader inquires about the effectiveness of the binodngan* policemen in enforcing peace and order in Kalinga (for background information, read this article).

I haven’t done any research yet on police work in Kalinga in relation to the bodong. All I know for now is a rumor I heard years ago claiming that many, if not most, Kalinga policemen are unable to strictly implement the law on fellow Kalingas for fear that accosting or arresting a suspect or a criminal at large might result in another tribal war. According to some observers, the arrest of a binodngan has been used by some unscrupulous individuals as a pretext to agitate for the severance of their peace pact ties with the arresting police officer’s tribe, which, of course, means a declaration of tribal war.**

To solve this problem, some have suggested that policemen assigned in Kalinga should come from non-binodngan areas (Ilocanos, Tagalogs, etc.) and Kalinga policemen should be assigned to other provinces. But even with this arrangement, I suppose the same problem may arise the moment a police officer is married to (naikamang) a Kalinga,

There are people in Kalinga far more knowledgeable about the issue than I am. One of them is Estanislao Albano, a dear friend with whom I had the pleasure of working as a fellow columnist in 1999 for a short-lived weekly paper in Tabuk. A prolific writer, he has penned many articles critiquing the bodong. Although we belong to opposite sides of the issue on whether to abolish the bodong (he is pro-abolition), I deeply respect his concern for the peace and order situation of our province and his valid criticisms against the said indigenous practice/institution. Although he is not really a native of Kalinga, I consider him as a serious student of Kalinga culture worth listening to relative to this topic.

He has given me permission to post his contact details for anyone who shares our querist’s interest and who wishes to consult him on the matter:

Email: casigayan@yahoo.com

Mobile Phone No.: 09105454524

====================

* Those belonging to any of the tribes of Kalinga, and are therefore covered by the indigenous peace pact system, the bodong.

** Contrary to the misconceptions of some outsiders, not all of the 31 subtribes of Kalinga engage in tribal war. I believe about 80 percent of the these ethnolinguistic territories have not engaged in any tribal conflict in the past two decades.

World Press Freedom Day

This “World Press Freedom Day” we remember and salute the 96 Filipino journalists killed from 1972-2004 (see Danilo Araña Arao’s article), as well as the 388 journalists slain worldwide from 2003-2007 (see UNESCO report).

“Kalinga Center for Culture & Arts” Inauguration

Nats Dalanao informed me via Chikka that the “Kalinga Center for Culture and Arts” in Awichon, Lubuagan will be officially opened tomorrow. For more information, email him @ natsm16@yahoo.com or contact him through his mobile phone, 09216023500.

No Scalpel Vasectomy

The National Statistics Office reported last April 16 that as of August 1, 2007 the Philippine population registered 88.57 million, and is poised to reach 90.44 million this year.

With the current rice crisis, our burgeoning population continues to demand that families take reproductive health issues seriously. However, in a country where these issues are still largely overshadowed by machismo and the unrealistic prohibitions of religious authorities, we are ensured that we’re going to be stuck in this population problem for the long haul.

I am aware, of course, that the solution to a complex problem as population boom can’t simply be reduced to getting rid of machismo or certain religious dogmas. But certainly it greatly helps when more couples will employ applicable family methods available, regardless of how some religious folks or a patriarchal community would react.

I advocate sparing wives from being submitted to a messy and literally gut-wrenching tubal ligation, so let me talk about No-Scalpel Vasectomy (NSV), a procedure that is simple, quick, nearly painless, and free (at least in the Philippines, as of the past five years).

In my interview with Ms. Marjorie Verroya, official nurse to the Baguio City Hall under the office of Dr. John Tinoyan, I gathered that from 2003 to date there have only been 73 males who submitted themselves to NSV despite the fact that it is free of charge (including medicines).

Among these males are four foreigners (2 Americans, 1 Aussie, 1 Swiss) and a Filipino-Spanish mestizo. The Americans must have been happily surprised that NSV here is free, knowing that back in the US a similar operation would have cost them as high as 600 USD. The rest are either from Ifugao, Baguio, or other areas adjacent to the city. Although patients include engineers, doctors, and teachers, the majority belong to what may be considered as blue-collar jobs.

A peek into their records reveal that over half of them are Roman Catholics (an encouraging number, given the hardline stance of the Pope against “artificial methods” of birth control), with a sprinkling of Methodists, Pentecostals (particularly, “Solid Rock”), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Iglesia ni Cristo, Church of Christ, and Lutheran.

While researches reveal that vasectomy in general has a .1% failure rate (if you want a 100% effective way, choose either castration or total abstinence), all of the 73 NSV cases above reported no unwanted impregnation.

There is certainly no problem with me and my wife, and we are content with our two beautiful kids (girl and boy)…

I think one major reason why, even when reproductive health workers in the country have been hollering themselves hoarse inviting men to undergo NSV, many men in the country still refuse to be enticed is misconception — misconception about their manhood and the nature of the family planning method itself.

I have had male friends who would say either in earnest or in jest after learning that I had vasectomy, “Ay, nagpakapon ka?” (Got yourself castrated, eh?). Or, “Di hindi ka na nakakapagbuhat ng mabigat?” (So I suppose you can’t lift heavy things anymore?). Or “Why???!!!” with a what’s-gotten-into-you look.

I’ve also had some women tell me, “Bakit hindi si misis?” (Why not your wife? Read: Tubal Ligation). Or “Masyadong maaga” (It’s too early).

I could cite one hundred and one other reactions, but the above would suffice. In response, I will just have to say that — pardon my immodesty — I still got balls (both literally and figuratively), I can still carry my big yFontok butt and a 25-kilo LPG tank over a considerable distance, I still feel macho as ever, and I continue to enjoy my God-given privilege of intimacy with my wife.

And with all the hardships my wife and I have gone through trying to make both ends meet, two kids are enough.

KMU

01 May 1980. The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) is established (during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos) to advocate workers’ causes.

Spanish-American War: Battle of Manila Bay (Cavite)

01 May 1898. Seven days after the US declared war on Spain, Commodore George Dewey’s squadron easily destroys Admiral Patricio Montojo’s fleet after a seven-hour battle in Manila Bay. 63 days later, the infamous (Mock) Battle of Manila would transfer Spanish control over Manila to the US. For detailed online accounts on this event, go to Home of Heroes and Spanish-American War Centennial.

Foreign Ideals and Local Traditions

A nation will not long endure if it is wrought in the midst of foreign and exotic ideals. Just as a tree will not grow up straight, strong and luxuriant, unless it is native to the soil and air, so a nation will not assume girth and strength unless its roots are planted deep in its own traditions. This does not mean that we should reject everything that is not Filipino, but it does mean that we should discard that false concept that everything foreign must be good and, therefore, must be imitated. We must use discrimination and prudence in adopting foreign models. If we have to follow foreign patterns, we should blend them with our own customs, traditions and ideals, but purifying them first of whatever grossness or imperfection they may have.

- Jose P. Laurel, Forces that Make a Nation Great (Manila: n.p, 1991), p. 27.

“No mamaid na ugale, mamaid tako abes”

One of the joys of blogging is that you get to meet new friends in this limitless cyberspace, folks who happen to relate to a particular theme you yourself are passionate about. In exchanging thoughts with them, your life continues to be enriched by their wisdom.

One of these friends is manong Martin Apopot who now lives in the US. In one of his mails, he quoted a song which says, “no mamaid na ugale, mamaid tako abes” (when our tradition/culture perishes, we also perish).

I was quickly reminded of this quote while watching a Lang-ay 2008 Festival video footage shared by Rafael Manuel, Jr. via YouTube (see below).

Without devaluing the men and their role, I have to say that the video impressed me with the fact that women in these highlands have always been at the forefront in the preservation or enrichment of our indigenous knowledge systems and practices. And, of course, in the defense of our natural resources against unwanted capitalistic incursions.

And the children too. I couldn’t keep myself from crying for joy seeing all these kids in their heart-warming performance of the tadek/sagni (native dance). Shame on you, these kids know our native culture better than you do, I kept telling myself.

That these kids did well during the street dancing parade speaks well of their parents and other older kakailyan who trained them. These kids issue a solemn challenge to a parent like me — continue teaching your children to look back to and take pride in their roots. These kids embody a message of hope — hope that the best of our native culture will continue to be passed on to our children’s children, hope that our native culture will continue to help enrich our collective, national heritage.

Sung Myung Moon

01 May 1954. Sung Myung Moon establishes the Unification Church. For a little backgrounder on Moon, visit this site.