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Dream of peace, work for justice

BAGUIO CITY (July 24) — “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step,” a popular Chinese adage says. On the day Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) would deliver her State of the Nation Address (SONA), however, Catholic bishop Carlito Cenzon said, it does not begin with a first step but with a dream.

In his speech assuring the people before the ecumenical mass that gathered several Baguio residents earlier that day at the St. Vincent Gym in Campo Filipino for a popular version of the holy mass, Cenzon said we have to shape our collective dream.

“We cry peace for the bombing of Lebanon, where many overseas Filipino workers stand to lose their jobs, but we also cry peace for the basic insecurities that stem from the lack of a dream,” Cenzon said. He recalls how the old folk in Baguio refer to a period “peace time” in reference to a “war time”.

He said there has to be a mental upheaval and pay attention to the social concerns. He specifically attacked the people’s sense of values and challenged everyone to get into the life of another person and call him “your brother”.

Cenzon upheld the homily by Rev. Dave Tabo-oy of the Anglican Cathedral of the Resurrection, who said that peace and life are realistically threatened when the state called members of the church enemies. Tabo-oy referred to a power point by the military, which named several legitimate people’s organizations as communist fronts and therefore enemies of the state.

Not only church personalities spoke during the ecumenical mass, but also local officials, community folk, ordinary students, workers, drivers, peasants, including a widow of a political activist killed recently.

Manny Loste, Bayan Muna national Vice-chair encapsulated the national situation by saying that the majority of the workers, peasants, urban poor and professionals are engulfed in extreme poverty and that the people who seek redress for grievances are persecuted.

Plunging economy

Loste cites that the cost of social services have gone up and specifies that electricity increased by about 300% since the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) took effect. In contrast, the basic worker’s pay barely went up, with many people underemployed or have no regular paying job.

The economy plunged into a depth that pushes many jobseekers to be overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s), Loste said, despite threats to life and peace.

The urban poor are always robbed off their jobs, social services and decent housing, according to Loste. Ignacio Pangket, Ornus chairperson agreed with Loste saying seven out of 10 experience hunger pangs, more students are forced out of school and the sick among the poor do not get proper hospitalization of medical attention.

“The delivery of basic social service is not a priority in the national budget,” Pangket stressed, adding that debt servicing gets a large portion of the budget pie.

Pangket maintains that the picture of the nation is painted in the faces of the majority of impoverished peoples. “Nu ti kaaduan a nakurapay ket marigatan a mangsapol ti makan ken saan a makabaddek iti iskwelaan wenno ospital, daytoy ti sasaaden ti pagilyan itatta,” (When the poverty-stricken majority could barely find food, education and medical services, this is the state of the nation) he said.

Lobbying city dads

The urban poor, who are constantly threatened by demolition, braved the rains that day and stormed city streets with their chanting. Streamers and placards in tow, they marched from the ecumenical service to the city hall to demonstrate their opposition to Jadewell Parking Systems’ operations and remind legislators of their duty to act in their behalf.

According to Geraldine Cacho, chair emeritus of the Organisasyon dagiti Nakurpay nga Umili ti Syudad (Ornus), they later dialogued with city Councilor Faustino Olowan after submitting a petition, which called for additional members to the Task Force Irisan Mayor Braulio D. Yaranon earlier formed.

In her SONA that afternoon, GMA had another version of the Chinese adage, saying, it does not start with a single step but with the means with which to complete the journey successfully. GMA, however, run short of presenting the state of the nation in terms of gains in economy, politics and social services. She instead ran an impressive power point presentation on planned infrastructure from north to south. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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