Thursday, January 21, 2010

Filipino natives, IPs, to get titles to .5 M hectares of land-Katutubo Party

CATHOLIC PRIESTS TO GO ON A ONE-WEEK RETREAT: To the Catholic faithful, don’t be alarmed if you will not find the parish priests in your towns and cities from January 25-29, 2010 (Monday to Friday next week)---they have not resigned, and neither have they absconded from their duties.

According to Butch Unias of Palatiw, Pasig City, in his report to BATAS INTERNET TV and BATAS INTERNET RADIO (both of which can be accessed at the Internet website www.batasradio.com) on Thursday, January 21, 2010, Catholic priests from every nook and cranny of the Philippine archipelago will go on a joint retreat at the World Trade Center in Pasay City for five days next week.

Butch (who is a lay minister of the Catholic Church in his barangay) told me that the retreat was authorized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Hopefully, Butch said, the retreat will awaken a deeper understanding of Catholic doctrines among its priests and will make them more effective workers of God.

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.5 M HECTARES OF LANDS WILL BE TITLED TO NATIVES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: KATUTUBO Party List, one of the first party list groups duly accredited by the Commission on Elections to participate in the May 2010 elections, will work to have some 500,000 hectares of lands all over the Philippines titled in the names of Filipino natives or indigenous peoples.

In an interview during the program “Batas Media Reports” over BATAS INTERNET TV and BATAS INTERNET RADIO (www.batasradio.com), Thursday, January 21, 2010, lawyer Jose “Jopet” Banghulot Jr., the secretary general of the Mindanao-based KATUTUBO Party List, said this is going to be the primary advocacy of KATUTUBO if it will win in May.

Banghulot said it is a sad commentary of Philippine society that, despite the fact that Filipino natives or indigenous peoples number about 12 million nationwide, they have no representatives in Congress that will protect their rights and address their needs, so that the benefits supposed to be enjoyed by them by existing laws are not reaching them at all.

“KATUTUBO will work for the interest of these natives,” Banghulot said.

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TOURISM TO SUFFER IN SUBIC BAY GATE CLOSURE: Dan Steakley, a former US serviceman stationed in Subic who has decided to become a permanent resident in the Philippines, is greatly concerned that one of the gates being used by residents and citizens of Zambales, Olongapo City and Subic Bay will be closed by Subic Bay Metropolitan Bay Authority (SBMA) starting February 5, 2010, just to give way to the construction of a mall owned by the Ayala Group of Companies.

Well, Dan is not exactly worried that the gate will be closed. What he is really worried about is the seeming lack of concern on the part of the authorities from Olongapo City, Subic, Zambales and from Ayala about the adverse effect such closure will have not just on the flow of traffic in these places, but also on the chaos and disorder that a big number of vehicles suddenly crisscrossing Olongapo’s main thoroughfares will bring.

In reports Dan made during his broadcasts over BATAS INTERNET TV and BATAS INTERNET RADIO (www.batasradio.com), he said there seems to be no plan at all as to how to redirect traffic on the site, to ease the expected convergence of many vehicles on Olongapo’s roads.

“This could also affect the tourism business of Subic, Olongapo City and Zambales, which, as per data from government agencies, is ranked number four when compared to other tourist destinations in the country,” Dan added.

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SCOURGING OF JESUS AT THE PILLAR: The “Scourging of Jesus at the Pillar” is the second mystery in the “Sorrowful Mysteries” of the Holy Rosary of the Roman Catholic Christians. Unlike all the other mysteries of the Holy Rosary, however, this second Sorrowful Mystery is the only mystery which is very tersely depicted.

In the Gospels of Matthew (27:26), Mark (15:15), and John (19:1), the scourging of Jesus at the pillar is described in just one sentence: Pilate had Jesus flogged.

In the Gospel of Luke, there is even no direct reference to it whatsoever.

This makes one wonder: what then is the importance of the scourging of Jesus, so that it merited to be included as one of the mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Roman Catholic Christians?

To me, the significance of this event is to show the wickedness which man could descend to, if he has become totally separated from God, unwilling to comply with His commands, laws and decrees.

While man is a dearly loved creation by God, he could become a beastly creation, rejecting even God and His Son the moment he stops believing and hardening his heart against God’s teachings and direction.

This situation is of course to be avoided, for it leads us to nowhere but hell.

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