Lessons in humility

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo “I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.”—Lao-Tzu Much has been said about the standoff between Makati Mayor Junjun...

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Christmas messages from the ruins

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Sorrow is just next door. Sorrow can be the word on top of one’s mind while one contemplates the series of tragedies—earthquakes, supertyphoons, storm surges, landslides, road accidents, armed conflicts abroad—that claimed countless Filipino lives and left families in grief while the Christmas season was approaching. “Pasko pa naman”—not “na naman”—is the oft-repeated refrain. What difference a letter makes in a phrase. And while many of us may remain physically, materially, or financially...

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aka Rolihlahla, Dalibunga, 46664, and Madiba

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo One of my favorite autobiographies is “Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela, published in the 1990s after he came out of 27 years in prison (where he was known as 46664) and rising to become the first black president of South Africa. Madiba, as Mandela is also fondly called, died last week at the age of 95. “Long Walk” is an awesome sweep spanning the generation before Mandela was born,...

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Is world ready for climate change refugees?

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Last week Agence France Presse reported on the case of a Pacific islander who had sought refugee status in New Zealand by arguing that his homeland, the island-nation Kiribati, is known to be sinking. His case received media attention. But the judge dismissed his case as “unconvincing” and “novel.” Ioane Teitiota, 37, whose visa had expired, pleaded through his lawyers that he should not...

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New Bantayog heroes, martyrs honored today

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURES/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo  Inquirer file photo   Three individuals and a group of 19, mostly teenagers, are to be honored Tuesday as martyrs and heroes in ceremonies at Bantayog ng mga Bayani (Monument of Heroes) in Quezon City. Their names will be added to the list etched on the black granite Wall of Remembrance, bringing the total number to 223. To be honored are Inocencio Tocmo Ipong (1945-1983), a church...

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'Waray Waray,' let's rock!

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/ by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Before anything else, let me share what my friend, actor-activist Joel Saracho of T’bak-Pilipinas, posted on Facebook last Sunday (during the Pacquiao-Rios boxing bout in Macau) which got lots of “likes” and “LoLs”: “I have this nagging suspicion that today, a lot of people will temporarily cease being disaster management experts. They will become boxing commentators and sports analysts.” This caricatured the blamers, finger-pointers, flame-throwers and I-told-you-soers who added to the...

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Benedictine nuns amid the ruins

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo The Divine Word Hospital (DWH) in Tacloban City was the only hospital that continued to operate in the immediate aftermath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” which wrecked almost everything in its path in the morning of Nov. 8. Operated by the Missionary Benedictine Sisters—and funded, too, through their unrelenting efforts—the 160-bed hospital became a hub of life-saving emergency activities that challenged...

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Media's heroic coverage of 'Yolanda'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo The first images of the fury of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” that were sent from the eye of the storm to the outside were from the media persons who were themselves trapped, battered and in near-death situations when the horrific onslaught from sea and sky began and continued for several hours. The sounds and images did not come out fast and easy from devastated Central Philippines. For many hours,...

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Fr. Joe shook hell in 'job heaven'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   Fr. Joe Dizon, 65, passed away on Nov. 4 because of complications due to diabetes. He will be missed by his fellow social activists, street parliamentarians, brother priests and, most of all, countless workers whom he helped through the Workers Assistance Center (WAC) that he founded and ran for almost 20 years. A celebration-fundraising (for his hospital bills) is being organized...

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"The Nameless' virtual monument

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo This All Saints-All Souls Day weekend there is much to remember. Memories crash in like a strong wave coming from a great distance. We fall on our knees to pray and be grateful. “We are nameless and all names are ours.” This is the subtitle of the website “The Nameless” run by the Project Nameless Collective. The website is yet another way to remember and celebrate the heroic lives of individuals...

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Benedictines from all over meet in PH for educational thrust

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo MANILA, Philippines—Educators from schools run by members of the Benedictine Order in different countries are holding a four-day global conference in Manila on the theme “Benedictine Education: A Gift to the World.” Some 100 religious sisters, monks and their lay collaborators are gathered for the Benet 2013 Conference, which opened on Wednesday and will end on Saturday, on the St. Scholastica’s College Manila campus. The Benedictines are monks, nuns and lay brothers who are members of...

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'Repair my house'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo The first images of the destruction wrought by the killer quake that struck the island provinces of Bohol and Cebu on Oct. 15 were those of ancient churches that crumbled to the ground like polvoron. Only later, after the media had arrived, were more images seen and voices heard from ruins in remote places. Churches, being the prominent landmarks and tourist-drawers in hard-hit Bohol, became,...

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"Poverty porn'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Sunday, we were reminded, was “Extreme Poverty Sunday.” Today, Oct. 17, is the “World Day for Overcoming Poverty,” declared so by the United Nations in 1992. Do you know that in Rizal Park (Luneta), there is a marker that serves as a reminder? It was installed there through the efforts of ATD-Fourth World, a nongovernment organization whose French founder, Fr. Joseph Wresinski, was the inspiration...

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'New evangelization' and plunder

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo I can bet my month’s earnings that most of the suspected, accused and guilty (the guilty know they are guilty even before they are proven guilty or innocent in court) in the blockbuster multibillion-peso plunder case under investigation are Catholic Christians by affiliation, or profess to be. At least one of them had, at some point, surrounded herself with members of the clergy, and reportedly...

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