So far, so good

What for should I ask more

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Never lost, always found (8): Emmanuel

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.

The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." - Luke 2:8-12




An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.

But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz.

The black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien.

The night was ordinary no more.

The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. His most powerful tools are the simplest.

from Max Lucado's Grace For the Moment

--==+==--

AN EXTRAORDINARY CHRISTMAS AWAITS US AND OUR LOVED ONES BECAUSE WE HAVE OUR GOD WHO IS ALWAYS WITH US!

--==+==--

The Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacques Stella, French, 1596–1657, Oil on canvas, from the Old Masters Collection of the Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery.

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

Last day in Manila of MV Doulos

UPDATE March 10, 2009: MV Doulos is back in Manila, from March 5 to 30, 2009. For more details, visit the official website of this floating vessel of knowledge.

--==+==--

Modified from ClickTheCity.com with additional information from the MV Doulos official website.

Good news, MV Doulos - the world's largest floating book fair is now in Manila.

Doulos has visited Manila five times, and during its previous visit in January 2007 people were lining up for hours to have the opportunity to step on board.

Now the bad news: This is the last visit from the world's oldest ocean-going passenger ship still active to Manila.

Doulos has been crossing oceans and building bridges between nations for over 29 years to promote Knowledge, Help and Hope. Over 20 million visitors have come on board. During this visit Manila the one millionth visitor to Doulos this year stepped on board. One of Manila's citizens was the lucky person who stepped up the gangway as the 1,000,000th visitor and received a special welcome.

Books for less cost can be found at the world's largest floating book fair. On offer are over 6,000 titles of books covering a wide range of subjects, such as Science, Sports, Hobbies, Cookery, The Arts, Philosophy, Children's books, etc.

Doulos was originally built as the freighter Medina in 1914—just two years after the famous Titanic— and since then went through different phases of remodeling and employment up to the purchase by its present owner, GBA (Gute Bücher für Alle e.V). It is a non profit charity organization founded in Germany meaning "Good Books For All".

Doulos is more than just a ship - Doulos is about people. It is home for 350 people from over 50 different nationalities. They have left their countries for one or two years to be apart of a cultural exchange program, where they live, learn and work together. They are ordinary people living extraordinary lives. Everyone, from the Captain to the Doctor to the men scrubbing the deck, work as volunteers.

We're all invited to come on board and experience Doulos and her crew. Don't miss it, come visit.

--==+==--

ClickTheCity.com lists the Port Information for the Doulos Visit to Manila as:
at the Manila South Harbour from Nov 30, 2007 to Dec 30,2007 10:00am to 9:00pm

HOWEVER

from the MVDoulos.org, the Port Information for the Doulos Visit to Manila is listed as:

Arrival Date: November 29th, 2007 - 00:00
Departure Date: December 26th, 2007 - 00:00
Opening Date: November 30th, 2007
Closing Date: December 23rd, 2007
Opening Hours: The book fair will be open to the public from November 30 to December 23, 2007. Tue – Sat 10am- 9pm, Sun - Mon 2pm – 9pm. (closed on Dec 10, only)

Sunday, December 23rd from 2-9pm is the last day of MV Doulos in the Philippines!

An entrance fee of 10 PHP is requested and children under 16 are free of charge, but need to be accompanied by parents or guardians.

Entry Fee: PHP 10 for adults
Port Notes: Ship Location:
Gate 1, South Harbor, Manila Pier 13 (Near Manila Hotel)

For more details, please call Doulos at (63926) 702-4342 or email: Doulos.manila@gbaships.org.

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Thursday, December 20, 2007

Blog, blag, blah

I haven’t done any Christmas shopping. I have loads of papers to write and check. I have piles of books to read. I have dozens of emails to answer. And so I escape the real world and indulge Ding’s meme.

Anything for shameless self-promotion =]

How long have you been blogging?

I officially started blogging on May 2003 using another platform and I moved to Blogger on September 2006.

What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?

I used to keep a handwritten journal back in medical school. One of the first things I learned in UP Med was that memories not written down have not been experienced at all which was seconded later on by another adage, that memories written down are experienced twice. As I became more religious in updating my online journal, my handwritten journal became a mere back up. But I still refer to it from time to time; it’s interesting to see how my reactions to life’s stimuli then have matured (or failed to do so!) vis-à-vis today.

I have always been surrounded by people and I am not averse to speaking in public, but in reality I am a sedate, solitary type of person, who’d much rather keep to myself. Hence, my love for Lego and blogging. Both allow me to do what I love to do, showcase it to the world, without me having to really offer my self out to be devoured by the world. In short, I am a cowardly show off =]

I only have one idol with regard to blogging, my own version of Sesame Street’s Aloysius Snuffleupagus. We’ve been friends, banter-mates, a most welcome tormentor for a good number of years already. His opinion with regard to my writing matters. He’s a pal because he heaps praises on me with wild abandon hahaha And he has his ways of supporting my Mission: I Heart The Philippines. He’s too self-deprecating though. He’s overdue for a Palanca, methinks. If only he’d be more courageous (than I). But as I am wont to do, I digress.

I often describe my blog as a chronicle of the days in the life of someone who wants to leave the world in a better state than when he arrived on it. I really do pray I stay true to my aim. So far, so good.

Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

While I love being a physician and a teacher, there are times I’d like to be able to blog full-time. So yes, I do wish to earn off of blogging- a nifty reward for doing I love doing anyway. At the end of the day, though, blogging is a foremost tool for sharpening whatever lackluster infantile writing skill I am conceited enough to brandish.

Tell me 3 things you LOVE about being online.

I love learning about other people’s world. One of the most memorable lessons I’ve learned in the UP from a Psychology professor is that each person has a story to tell- if only we’d take time to listen. So being online fascinates me no end, to learn about Alex’s life in the PMA or Doray’s travails and triumphs as a city councilor or how a new online buddy Ding merges his love for underserved communities and photography or what Saudi Arabia is like through the eyes and words of Ahmed, a Saudi national.

I love cerebral sparring and mental gymnastics with fellow online denizens- be it putting a controversial political idea across, reacting to a medical update, or bemoaning a showbiz issue.

I love reading and the Pinoy blogosphere is filled with good reads.

Tell me 3 things you STRUGGLE within the online world.

My blog is still searching for an identity.

There are life events worth blogging that I censor given their sensitive nature.

I am beginning to feel micro-pinches of the problems of people taking some of my online outputs, particularly my photos, without permission or at least proper citation.

WITH ALL OF THIS ALREADY SAID, I'm passing the baton to
Aryo the Islander
Carlo the Asker of Ar-wee-der-yet
Benj the MD/Master-Debater, and
Laud Claud.

Read: You guys are tagged!

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

On PGH duty: Christmas 2004

Christmas is a big family event in our home, with decors usually up soon after All Souls’ Day, get-togethers left and right. But the changing family dynamics over the last four years (my sister’s marriage and my stay in medical school plus my parents' eventual migration to the US) made this day extra special.

With six days to go before Christmas, nostalgia is an unwelcome guest, especially when the vistas it brings are wistful at best. A most memorable Christmas was in 2004. Here’s another blast from my blog past on why that particular Christmas was special.

And I hope I’d be able to endure this year’s…

--==+==--

December 23, 2004, 10.26 am

With most of my gifts left unwrapped, or worse, unbought; my Christmas cards unmailed, or worse still blank; and with the very cruel reality that I will spend Christmas eve for the first time outside of our home sans my family, and worse, in the hospital! since I am on duty from 7am of the 24th til 7am of the 25th: this Christmas is on the verge of becoming the worst Christmas of my life, displacing the current record-holder- being down with the flu while in Las Vegas last year (2003).

But then again, compared with Mary and Joseph’s constant rejection by innkeepers that first Christmas Eve and then our Lord and Savior eventual birth in a lowly manger soon after . . .

Yes, Virginia, I am Joe’s myopic, selfish, humble-pie-eating ingrate of a brain.

(Thank you, God, for the gift of Jesus, the Greatest Physician, the Most Eloquent Wordsmith, the Most Inspiring Leader, the Most Faithful Friend, the Most Obedient Son, the Most Caring Brother. May I become as close to the example He set as possible in my feeble humanity’s attempt to don these hats He’s worn.)


---==+==--

December 29, 2004 5.05 am

While most times I’d HATE it when I’m wrong, this Christmas, however, shooting way off target gave me immense joy and great relief. And how!

I thought going on duty during Christmas Eve was going to be sheer hell. While it still sucked, the timely apparition of my parents- and bearing food for us imprisoned slaves to boot!- did wonders in lifting my dreary holiday spirit. Just when I thought I’ve “outgrown” my need for parental warmth and affection, I received a megadose of TLC that almost wrung tears from eyes. The thirty minutes or so I spent with them that Christmas Eve was probably the most heartening half-hour we’ve had the past year.




And the food- aah yes- the food. My mom’s cooking was the stuff that made our Christmases at home complete. It was one of the major things I expected to be irreplaceable this Christmas. Nonetheless, our team on duty put together a meager dinner table so that we’ll all be as close to home as possible.

Our “meager” banquet- filled with potluck goodies brought with the idea that they should be enough to feed 30 or so people in mind- ended up as a feast that could have rivaled a Presidential State Dinner. Nope, the caviar and foie gras were ostensibly absent but in their stead, we had four different varieties of noodle dishes; delights from home like caldereta and deep-fried chicken; heaps of artery-clogging and corner-of-our-mouths-smearing pork barbecue; and most importantly- varied desserts ranging from ensaymadas, to puto, to chocolate cakes, and of course, the quintessential leche flan.

We had chow enough for us to come back for a second, third, even fourth round of Noche Buena feasting. We were only hampered by two things: One, that we were STILL on duty; thus we did carry on with our work in between trips to the buffet table. And second, we inevitably consumed all disposable spoons, forks, and plates. Then again, what are these hands for?! The feeding frenzy carried on into the wee hours of the morning.

One key factor that allowed us to observe the traditions of the typical Filipino Christmas Eve (read: stuff ourselves silly) was the relative dearth of patients who sought consult at the ER. There was approximately a 50% decline in the number of women who came to the hospital. We were expecting a deluge of women seeking to get the highly economical gift of co-celebrating their kid’s birthday with that of Jesus. God heeded our prayers: He delayed their labor pains for a few hours, enough for us to celebrate His Son’s coming the best way we could. And as for the babies He did give the honor of being born on the day His Son was said to have joined our party on earth- He gave their moms quick deliveries with just minor hitches here and there. For our entire duty, we didn’t list any morbidity or mortality.

As Ara Mina put it succinctly- you can never can tell. With all the good food, great friends, superb family, and safely delivered babies, I probably- unwittingly- had one of my most memorable Christmases ever.

Just 362 days til Christmas 2005.

I can’t wait.

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Taylor Hicks in Manila: The Glorietta 4 Park Show

The intimate venue, the excited crowd, the excellent musicians led by Louie Ocampo and his honest, soulful showmanship were the key ingredients to an hour-long treat from A.I. Season 5 champ Taylor Hicks.

Here are some snippets of his performance, Takin’ It To The Streets plus an uber-familiar tune. I apologize for the odd cuts and shots: either my hands were getting tired already, my camera was blocking somebody’s view, or my batteries were already giving up…





Yeap, Taylor, you do make the Soul Patrol proud!

If you missed the G4 show, you can still catch Taylor in the following shows:

Greenbelt: December 19, 2007
Greenbelt 3 Park
8:00 PM
Concierge Hotline: (632) 757-4853

TriNoma: December 20, 2007
Activity Center
7:00 PM
Concierge Hotline: (632) 901-3000

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Where I left my heart: San Francisco 2006

My second most favorite city in the US is San Francisco. It's a slower, more cozy version of New York, but equally interesting, with all its historical nooks and crannies, all sights for sore eyes.

We visited San Francisco en route to our parents' place in Greenville, South Carolina last December 2006. It is our first major online planned trip and that yielded good results. When we filed for our respective leaves in the office sometime during August or September, my sister and I swam through websites catering to travelers on a tight schedule and shoestring budget. We used Yahoo! FareChase for easy comparison of flights' and hotels' rates. The flights we ended up booking not online but c/o the travel agency that plans their company's trips. We got a great deal: Manila to the US via San Francisco with free domestic travel from San Francisco to South Carolina and then South Carolina to Detroit to Manila all for less than a thousand US dollars per head. Compared that with the $500++ one-way trip from MNL to LAX via PAL plus the $200++ cost of traveling one way from LAX to Greenville. It really helped that we left on the last day of the off-peak season hence our excellent rates.

The hotel we did book online. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near Fisherman's Wharf. Its location was perfect for walking to must-see places, or at least to the transport hubs to get to the other must-see places. Since we arrived in SFO at around 8am, the hotel allowed us to check-in earlier, which allowed us to roam around earlier since we only had three days there. Of course, it helped that the front desk officer was Pinoy.

While still in the RP, we surfed the official government site for travel to SFO, http://onlyinsanfrancisco.com. There we found a great tour package, courtesy of the San Francisco Comprehensive Shuttle Tours service. Excellent tour guide, considerate with regard to photo-op-hungry tourists, well thought of spots to visit. We booked a day before the tour- which is not advisable. Good thing there was still space in the tour, given the odd day of the month we were in town.

All in all, it was a great three days in San Francisco. We were combing through the city streets until 6pm of our last day, leaving enough time to get to the airport for 12.30am flight out of SFO. Planning was key, from arranging the date of our departure to get the best airline rates; to patiently rummaging through hotel websites to get the best value rooms; to comparing tour companies to maximize the limited time we had in the city. While it may not sound environment-friendly, we likewise grabbed any and all printed materials and maps we can get our hands on so we'll know how to fill our time with the must-do activities and happily find our way back to the hotel when we chose to get lost in the city's charm notwithstanding the chilly winds blowing into the city by the bay...



Long overdue post. One item in my to do list for the holidays - check!

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Taylor Hicks- in Manila! Mau Marcelo- in Jakarta!



American Idol fans- we're all in for a massive treat this December! Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks will be performing in select Ayala Malls starting next week!

This is the schedule I got from the Ayala Malls website:


Glorietta: December 18, 2007
Glorietta 4 Park
7:00 PM
Concierge Hotline: (632) 752-7272

Greenbelt: December 19, 2007
Greenbelt 3 Park
8:00 PM
Concierge Hotline: (632) 757-4853

TriNoma: December 20, 2007
Activity Center
7:00 PM
Concierge Hotline: (632) 901-3000

Meet & Greet after each show

AND do vote for our Philippine Idol- Mau Marcelo- in the Asian Idol finals this coming weekend! More info from the Asian Idol official website.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Wordsmith and me

I still believe that more than all his works, his most enduring legacy to humanity are his daughters, one in fact I've met earlier on in the College of Medicine and eventually became friends with when we attended the Global Health Course in Finland last August. Yasmin works as a community doctor in a municipality nestled on an island off mainland Quezon. She has, they say, his temperament, no nonsense attitude, and unwavering honesty. They may be working in divergent fields, but they share the same passion and penchant for treading paths uncharted, as a service to Filipinos.

--==+==--

I received a text message from her a week ago, sharing with me the sad news of her father's passing. The message was succinct, in true Yasmin fashion. An oh-my-God escaped from me- knowing all too well how precious Yasmin’s family is to her. With her father’s passing, a Filipino literary giant enters the realm of legend.

--==+==--

One time, we were talking outside the kitchen of our dormitory in Finland. I was telling Yasmin- nagging her even- to write her life as a community physician. Too few stories have emerged detailing the experiences and lessons learned from community development work and public health. She quipped that I sounded like her father, who seemed to always ask her to write. I inquired about her father. She told me he’s also a teacher at the U.P. in the College of Arts and Letters. And then it dawned upon:

Yas, oh-my-God. Tatay mo si Rene Villanueva?!

And as she is wont to do, she replied, Oo. Kilala mo yung tatay ko?

HELLO?! Any kid of our generation should know, nay, pay homage to the-now late great Rene Villanueva. Among the innumerable offsprings of his ingenuity is the well-loved television program Batibot.

I rushed to our other Pinoy classmates in the course to tell them that Rene Villanueva is Yasmin’s father. I was met by blank stares. The name finally rang a bell when I told them that detail about Batibot…

Suffice it to say, I never looked at Yas the same way again. She is Rene Villanueva’s daughter. Whoa. I’m not worthy.

--==+==--

Yas was the one who greeted Johann and I as we entered the Fir Chapel of the Sanctuarium along Araneta Avenue. Yas, Johann, and I plus another MD friend of ours, Lester, went together to the Finnish course. On the table beside the door, surrounding a crucifix and his photo, were a copy of each of dozens and dozens of books he’s written through the years. From that alone, I knew this wake was going to be different.

Yas was talking to a writer- friend of her father, who turned out to be a physician as well. The warm, unassuming guy was Luis P. Gatmaitan, author of numerous children’s books, and, like Rene Villanueva, is a Palanca Hall of Famer himself. He shared with us fascinating quirks and tidbits about Yasmin’s father, many of which she gamely validated, but I still believe should remain private. Dr. Gatmaitan shared his own journey as a physician and published author. After hearing the details, and a lot of his encouraging words, one can’t help but feel empowered to pursue the same track. Paraphrasing him, it’s tantamount to sinning when the talents given a person are not shared and nurtured…

--==+==--

Rene Villanueva, I met at the last day of his wake. We arrived a little over an hour before he was to be cremated. But from the newspaper articles written about him, testimonial from colleagues, stories from friends, the body of work he’s left behind, and the quality family he raised, I know enough for me to say that he really is quite the human being.

His passion for his craft is unassailable. His blog even has an entry right up to the day he was in the hospital, pneumonia notwithstanding.

He was true to his mantra, the one that arguably led him to reach his stature- he just kept on writing.

Gaya ng sinabi ng isang nag-iwan ng mensahe sa iyong blog,
Nawa’y pormal tayong magkita
At magkakilala
Sa langit na nakatawa…

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Farmers for the land, land for the farmers



Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Sunday, December 09, 2007

ThisJunction

However
I know the paper-thin chasm that separates us
We are on either side of a windowpane.
Privy to tears we cause but cannot wipe dry
To silent laughter and mirth-less joy.

And yet
I see every crease and line on your palm
As I struggle to feel its warmth against mine.
Tracing its outline- the map to our future
Running at arm’s length on parallel tracks, never to intersect.

In spite of
The duet we are trying to sing
Different lyrics to the same song.
While swans, they say, keep lifelong mates
I believe I hear the swan song already.

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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Close encounters with Sumilao farmers

At first glance, there is nothing special about the Sumilao farmers, except for the sunburnt skin coating their obviously tired but still very eager and resilient demeanor.

Health-wise, I looked sicker than them. Actually, I haven’t been feeling well over the past four days, a victim of a bug causing a rather bad bout of upper respiratory tract infection. But I digress.

In what is tantamount to a huge blessing, I was able to join the medical team who looked after the Sumilao farmers as they stayed for the night at the Ateneo De Manila University campus in Quezon City. We came with four of our clinical clerks- 4th year medical students- who are currently doing their community medicine rotation with us. The faculty grabbed the opportunity to expose the students to the plight of the Sumilao farmers as a way of giving a human face to all our talk in the UP about extending healthcare to the marginalized and vulnerable sectors of society.

We came upon the invitation of several UP Medicine alumni who have been working closely with the organizing committees of the Ateneo pit stop of the farmers’ Walk for Land, Walk for Justice – their 1500+-kilometer trek from Bukidnon in southern Philippines to Malacanan Palace to air their grievances to the President come December 10, International Human Rights Day. We were but a small part of the contingent of doctors, coming mainly from the UP College of Medicine, the Philippine General Hospital, the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, the Medical City, among other volunteers. In all, at least fourteen doctors saw a total of some seventy patients coming from the ranks of the marching farmers.

The marching farmers who are in the Ateneo now actually come from areas as varied as Sumilao, Bukidnon; Calatagan, Batangas; and Catanauan, Quezon- farmer groups who are suffering the same agrarian reform injustice. They have banded together along the route- many in San Pedro, Laguna- just before the main bulk of the marchers entered Metro Manila.

The medical interviews and physical examination and subsequent dispensing of medical advice ought to have taken less than 10 minutes per patient, again given the fact that the patients I saw looked and felt much, much healthier than I was. Really. But I took the opportunity to talk to the marchers, requesting them to share a little about their conditions, weaving their social concerns into the medical interview.

I got the chance to talk to Ate Marilyn, a 33-year old lady from Sumilao. She temporarily left her husband and three children to walk with her fellow farmers. I excitedly shared that I already had the chance to pass through Sumilao en route to Malaybalay. She joked that it was her first time to go to Manila, and never did she imagine that she’d reach the capital on foot. She had minor health concerns, save for her aching feet, which she joked has soles that have become so calloused I could poke them with a very sharp object and she’d most likely not feel a thing. Mabuhay ka, Ate Marilyn!

Then there’s Alwyn a 20-year old fisherman and coconut farmer from Catanauan, Quezon, which he described as about three towns away from Lucena City. He also described their problems with the ownership of their land, which is currently in the hands of a Filipino-Chinese businessman. He, too, suffers from a very minor health condition which I believed warrants immediate medical intervention in case it exacerbates in their town. I asked if there’s a rural health center in their area where he can consult. He says there is- but it was at least 20 pesos away by jeepney… Mabuhay ka, Alwyn!

And then there’s the ever-smiling Augusto, 25-year old farmer from Batangas. They, too, walked from their hometown of Calatagan and eventually rendezvoused with the Sumilao farmers before they entered Metro Manila. The two groups have very, very similar concerns since they were both engaged in a legal tussle with the food and beverage giant San Miguel Corporation. He, too, looked far more well than I, who had to excuse myself several times whenever I can’t keep myself from coughing. As I finished Augusto’s check up, I wished him well and I verbalized my expression of support to their cause. As a sign of my expectant faith, I told Augusto that I will never forget his name since I will invite myself to a free feast in his own hacienda should I find myself in Calatagan- a thought towards which he replied with a face-splitting smile. Mabuhay ka, Augusto!

I usually begin medical interviews and check-ups with Kumusta po kayo? Ano pong nararamdaman ninyo ngayon? (How are you? How are you feeling now?) Invariably, I would get Ok lang, Doc (I’m okay) which usually prompts me to probe further. Or there would be a patient who launches into his or her list of symptoms right off the bat. But a most curious thing happened to me, one of the handful of times that my question- Kumusta po kayo? Ano pong nararamdaman ninyo ngayon?- was met with a most blessed answer:

Masayang-masaya po. Very, very happy.

That they finally got to Manila.

That their grievances will soon find resolution.

The Sumilao farmers and the farmers who walk with them in their collective quest for justice are simple Filipinos. At first glance, nothing seems to be special about them. But that’s also how they describe the birth of this Somebody, some 2000 years ago. And yet we still celebrate His lowly birth up until this time.

Mabuhay ang mga Magsasakang Pilipino! Katarungan para sa kanila! Kalayaan mula sa mapaniil na pagkakatali sa lupa!

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Monday, December 03, 2007

Sumilao Farmers in Quezon City - December 5-6, 2007


I got this email from the organizers of the Sumilao Farmers' Walk for Land, Walk for Justice - QC/Ateneo-leg. Too bad I cannot join the December 5-6 activity (I have a class that cannot be rescheduled anymore). Nonetheless, I'd like to do my part by posting this useful set of information for those who can attend.

Please feel free to inform your friends and colleagues. Let's also pray for their continued safety and the speedy resolution of their land issue. (Photo above grabbed from the Multiply site created for the Sumilao Farmers show the farmers as they cross the San Juanico Bridge a few weeks ago. They enter Metro Manila today!)

Dear Dr. Gomez,

Peace in Christ.

Here is the detail of the March from Cubao to the Ateneo and the Overnight Vigil

Solidarity March:

Date:
December 5, 2007 (Wednesday)

Time:
2:00PM – 5:00PM

Route:
Cubao Expo to Ateneo de Manila University Campus

Place of Assembly:
Blue Eagles Gym

Time of Assembly:
1:00PM (leave for Cubao at 1:30PM)

Overnight Vigil and Mini Concert:

Dates:
December 5, 2007 (Wednesday) to December 6, 2007 (Thursday)

Time:
5:00PM (Dec. 5) – 8:00AM (Dec. 6)

Venue:
Bellarmine Field or College Covered Courts


Here is also a copy of the program for your perusal.


PROGRAM

DECEMBER 5, 2007

5:00PM
Symbolic Welcome of the Sumilao Farmers by Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and the Ateneo Community

5:05PM
Symbolic March to the Church of Gesu

5:35PM
Welcome Program
Welcome Remarks by:
Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ
President, Ateneo de Manila University

5:50PM
Eucharistic Celebration at the Church of the Gesu
Main Celebrant:
Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
Archbishop of Manila

6:30PM
Rest Period

7:00PM
Dinner

8:00PM
Overnight Vigil and Mini Concert at the Bellarmine Field
Video Presentation
Expression of Support
Development Studies Students
Sangguniang Mag-aaral ng Ateneo de Manila
Ateneo Administration Representative

Talk on House Bill 1257
Cong. Riza Hontiveros
SALIGAN
BALAOD Mindanao

Testimonial
Yoyong (Sumilao marcher)

Open Forum
SALIGAN
BALAOD
Soc Banzuela (PAKISAMA)
Nong Peter Duminghay (Sumilao)
Yoyong (Sumilao)

9:00PM
Short presentation of a theatrical play by Entablado

9:10PM
Prayer Service

Breakout Groups (group sharing and processing)

9:30 PM
Start of Acoustics Night
Bands
Indigenous Music
Ateneo Glee Club
Bayang Barrios
Noel Cabangon

DECEMBER 6, 2007

4:00AM
Coffee and Bread for the Sumilao Farmers

5:00AM
Rise

6:30AM
Breakfast

7:30AM
Eucharistic Celebration

8:00AM
Send-off

Final Blessings to be given by:
Bishop Francisco F. Claver, SJ
Bishop Emeritus, Bontoc-Lagawe

Please extend also the invitation to your friends and colleagues. Hope to see you. God bless.


JESS PAUL M. PASIBE
Project Officer for Political Affairs
Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan

Mobile: 0927-3382282
Landline: 426-6101 local 4331
Telefax: 426-5968
web: www.slb.ph
http://simbahanglingkod.multiply.com

Listen to CGE: Citizenship by Good Example
(An SLB - Radyo Veritas 846 Radio Program)
Every Saturday from 11:15AM to 11:55AM

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