Monday, April 14, 2008

ECMI bestows award to OFW children achievers

TEN outstanding sons and daughters of overseas Filipino workers who have shown excellence in their academic studies, leadership qualities and socio-civic involvement received the Gawad Anak OFW in an awarding ceremony at the National Commission on Culture and Arts Auditorium (NCAA), Intramuros, Manila, April 11.

The Luzon wide search of finalists for Ten Outstanding Sons and Daughters of OFWs Student Achievers (TOSDOSA) Award or Gawad Anak OFW was spearheaded by the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI).

Edmund Ruga, ECMI project coordinator of the program said the search was organized to highlight the achievements of the sons and daughters of OFWs, as they are the hope of the present generation.

“We want to show through this program that even though there may be problems among the children of OFWs, there are also achievers among them,” said Ruga.

Ruga expressed hope that despite the absence of a parent still these teens can be productive members of society and this is what they want to show to the public.

Those who participated in the search both came from Catholic and public schools in the dioceses were the SDO program is fully implemented.

Ruga revealed that because of the implementation of the program in the schools, it has been noted that the problems involving children of OFWs have diminished.

He said the program has been endorsed locally by the Department of Education (DepEd).

Twenty finalists were initially chosen from 4 schools in Isabela, one in Pampanga, 4 in Batangas, 4 in La Union, 5 in Nueva Viscaya and 2 in Cavite.

The contenders were trimmed down to 10 during the final interview at the CBCP-ECMI office last April 10.

The top 10 candidates who received the Gawad Anak OFW were Madeleine Jamille Fernandez, School of Our Lady of Atocha, Alicia-Isabela; Jorel Jade David, Angeles University Foundation-Integrated School, Angeles City-Pampanga; Mariella Rocillo, Our Lady of Caysasay Academy, Taal-Batangas; John Paulo Laguerta, Nueva Vizcaya General Comprehensive High School, Bayombong-Nueva Vizcaya; Noemi Baculo, St. Francis Academy, Mabini-Batangas; Kriziaoumo Orpia, Saint Louis School, Solano-Nueva Vizcaya; Rolyne Mae Pajarillo, Bacnotan National High School, Bacnotan-La Union; Gerald James Lingayu, Solano High School, Solano-Nueva Vizcaya; Geraldine Mores, Bintawan National High School, Villaverde-Nueva Vizcaya; Clyd Marvin Tito, Jesus Good Shepherd School, Imus-Cavite.

A Merit Award was also given to the twenty finalists and their respective schools.

ECMI chairman Bishop Precioso Cantillas, SDB, delivered the keynote message at the awarding ceremony.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Easter is time to see witnesses with credible lives, says Lagdameo

IN a catholic country like the Philippines, the message of hope and peace that come with the Resurrection could not have been more opportune at this time in the face of political strife heightened by the coming midterm elections, a bureaucracy tagged by international agencies as most corrupt, extrajudicial killings left unresolved, and many other social ills that hound the nation.

Saying that the essence of Easter is in re-living its story, CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo proclaimed in his Easter message April 8 that the Resurrection of Jesus has brought us Catholics hope for a renewed life.

“The gift of Easter is to see Jesus again, to remember what He taught and did, to live and celebrate our resurrection in Jesus,” the message said.

Lagdameo said the meaning of the Resurrection for us in our time is seen in a life lived in credibility.

“For us in our time to see the Resurrection is to believe in the witness of credible lives through the centuries,” he said in his statement.

Recalling the Holy week celebration which started in the celebration of Palm Sunday and culminated on Good Friday, Lagdameo stated that the real gift of Easter is the re-living of the story of salvation. He explained that the real message of Holy Week is not only that Jesus Christ died for us, but that His rising to life has given us hope for new life.

Lagdameo highlighted the Gospel narrative of the four evangelists which tells of the testimony of women-disciples led by Mary Magdalene, a former sinner; that Jesus has risen from the dead.

“This Gospel detail shows that sinners are also objects of the Resurrection news and can be channels through whom the Good News will spread,” said Lagdameo.

In a separate message, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales emphasized peace and unity, the fruits of Easter, saying that, “in Christ there should never be any division, nor competition, but one vision of pursuing the love of God and the good of every human in the level ground of helping and inspiring everyone to share in the Kingdom of one Father of all.”

Rosales opined that through his Paschal Mystery, Jesus has “perfected all human experience over difficult means---slavery, poverty, ignorance and oppression;” and made himself “a model and a source of hope in human stories of liberation and salvation.”

“Jesus Christ is the only way and model for humans to save and develop self into a person who is fully human, fit for God’s Kingdom, and able to accept that what is good for him is also good for others,” said Rosales.

As the solemn atmosphere of Holy Week has been replaced by the joyful atmosphere of Easter, election “campaigners are back on trail pursuing their personal projects, [and] those who reflected and prayed come back to work with some hope even over an unwelcoming future,” according to Rosales.

The observance of the Holy Week celebrations brought halt at least temporarily to a political campaign frenzy that has engulfed the nation since the campaign period started last February 3.

Church officials called on the faithful to spend their Holy Week celebrations meaningfully by reflecting on the mystery of the Cross and what it meant to the lives of Christians.

Holy week celebrations in the country have, in some cases, been characterized by commercialism and performing religious practices that others say bordered on fanaticism.

To a growing number of people nowadays, the observance of Holy Week has been reduced to spending time in the beach, or going off a mountain escapade.

The Church also frowns on traditional practices such as flagellations and crucifixions performed by devotees on Good Friday, saying those practices bordered on superstitious beliefs and done only to promote tourism.

“The traditional Holy week celebrations for many [have] become cultural, if not tourist attractions, bereft of spiritual meaning,” according to the San Jose, Mindoro Apostolic Vicar-Emeritus Vicente Manuel, SVD.