The Buck Stops Here

The late US president Harry S Truman used to keep a sign with this phrase while holding office at the White House. For him, it served as a constant reminder that as president he has to make the decisions and accept full responsibility for those decisions.

Since that day of infamy when the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) allowed the burial of Ferdinand Marcos' remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB), mass protests, commentaries, statements, etc have been made denouncing the decision and vilifying the 9 associate justices who were in favour of such burial, the heirs of the former dictator for their deviousness in having the remains buried secretly at the LNMB, and Ferdinand Marcos himself for his 20-year rule of oppression and plunder.

There have been some commentators who were quick to point out that the blame for such an unthinkable burial shouldn't be put on the SC nor the Marcoses. The blame or the buck stops at President Rodrigo Duterte.  I totally agree. For wasn't Duterte the one who promised during the presidential campaign to have Marcos' remains interred at the LNMB? And when he won the elections, didn't he give orders to his subordinates to implement his promise? By the looks of it, the SC, Marcos Family, AFP, PNP, etc just took the cue from the President!

I think protests actions should not only highlight that the late strongman is not a hero. Protests should not only underscore the SC's failure to look beyond the letter of the law. Protests should not only bring to the fore the Marcoses' notoriety for using subterfuge on many, many occasions (when they were still in power and now that they feel entitled to such power, thanks to the President). 

The protests that are being organised across the country and beyond should also condemn Duterte's callousness for letting Marcos be buried in a cemetery reserved for heroes and for dismissing the atrocities of the Marcos dictatorship as though they were kuwentong kutsero. 

Had Duterte steered clear of the Marcoses, had he been more aware and sensitive of the plight of the Martial Law victims, had he acted more as a statesman rather than a politician our country would not be in this mess! I find it strange that Duterte seemed to have forgotten that his late mother fought against the dictatorship. And that his rise to power began when Cory Aquino appointed him OIC Vice Mayor of Davao.

Duterte should be called to task for showing his real colour: a tuta (lapdog) of the Marcoses.

Now that's one sign we should see unfurled during these mass protests!

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It's the start of the Advent season this Sunday! Let this season be a moment for us to rethink of our past, of our values, of all our gains and losses. Let Advent be an opportunity for us to realize where we are going to. Is it back to the manger of Bethlehem or nowhere? Let this holy season be a time for us to rediscover that only in Jesus could we find the light which will defeat in the darkness our country is in. From November 29 to December 7, let us say at least a decade of the Rosary, asking Mary Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (our country's patroness) to lead us to Jesus, to yearn for the Promised Messiah: O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Orient's Pearl!

Reduced to Clear

A few days ago, while buying my lunch in the nearby convenience store, a shelf in one corner was loaded with various items. Each one was labelled "Reduced to Clear" - their prices were reduced to give way to new products for Christmas.  And if you go through these items, you might be lucky to find something at a lower price.

Last weekend, we started a new liturgical year via the season of Advent.  For the next 4 weeks, we turn our gaze at the Advent wreath, lighting the candles one by one each week, asking the Lord to come.

And yet, asking someone to come to our place or our very lives isn't that easy. You have to make sure that the home is tidy, that provisions such as food, clothing, transportation, toiletries, etc. are available, that you have time to be with this someone. Relationship-wise, you have to be committed to this person.

To ask someone to come means to identify those things or aspects in our lives that need reducing.  Is it our pagpapaimportante? Take for example an appeal for help in our community. We know very well that we can assist, but why can't we? Are we waiting for the band to serenade and fetch us? 

How about our sense of entitlement? We sometimes want people to respect us because perhaps of our age or position, even if we are wrong.

How about our Pharisaical tendencies?  We may be devout, learned or better off and yet look down at others. I remember Msgr Albert Salonga (currently Rector of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Divine Mercy in Mandaluyong City) discouraging people from saying "Hindi ako bababa sa level niya" (I am not going down to his level.).

And our backstabbing moments? In a religious organization's gathering, a priest told his audience "Kapag may putok ang kapatid mo, pagsabihan mo" (If your brother/sister has a body odor, call his attention). Body odor or not, we indulge in telling other people about someone else's defects. Sadly, the person concerned is the last person to know.

Whatever it is that hinders us from welcoming Jesus into our lives this Christmas, Advent is the opportune time for us to reduce these hindrances to nothing so that our lives would become clear for the Lord.  I suggest we read and reflect on St John the Baptist's call for people to prepare the way for the Lord. The coming weeks' Gospel readings would feature him and his crusade.

Furthermore, a renewed devotion to Mary, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, is recommended. She, who was conceived without sin, became the Mother of our Savior.  She who received and nurtured Him will lead us to the Lord.

Let's be expectant hosts this Christmas and not cold strangers to the King who is to come!

Jesus Christ is Coming to Town

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception today gives us a feel of how Christmas is fast approaching. Not because on this day we celebrate Mary conceiving Jesus in her womb – a misconception that I have discovered in a recent survey held by Tanghalang Anluwage on its Facebook page – but because Mary, the future Mother of Jesus, was conceived without sin in her mother’s womb!

Part of the confusion perhaps was due to the Gospel reading (see our God-speak special edition on this feast day) where the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary her selection to be God’s mother and her conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit’s power. We have been used to Gospel readings which are directly related to the event such what is proclaimed during the Midnight Mass at Christmas or that of Easter Sunday. There is, unfortunately, no direct story in the Gospels about Mary’s immaculate conception. As one priest would have put it, the Gospel for this great feast is actually the end of the story of the Immaculate Conception.






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Before Nidz and I moved to our present home, we lived next to May Wyer, an octogenarian widow who lives by herself. We call her ‘Lola’ (Grandmother) without her knowing it. Although advanced in age, she would frequent the Bingo centre (a few steps from our place) or do shopping in town. She would also do some gardening and likes to have a chat with people (sometimes unaware of how the time has passed). One summer, Nidz and I spent a few days away and when we came back, she told us to let her know so that she could keep an eye on the house. She may sound nosy, but it’s heart-warming to know that someone has that ‘malasakit’ (concern) for you. Indeed, when we moved house, she would still contact me to pick up from her some letters that arrived at our old home. She even called us just to vent her frustration at her new neighbour. We invited her to attend Chiara’s christening, but due to a bad cold, she was unable to do so. Instead, I went to see her for she has a gift to our daughter - a pink teddy bear!

We thought of paying her a visit this Christmas, the first time she will be seeing Chiara. The previous weekend, I heard from a former neighbour that she passed away six months ago - alone.

Lola May, thank you for your concern and care. You will be sorely missed. God bless your kind soul!




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Prayerful wishes to His Excellency Luis Antonio G Tagle, Archbishop-elect of Manila, who will be installed at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception this Monday, 12th December. This date marks his 10th ordination anniversary as a bishop. I haven’t met the guy, but from what I gathered from people, he is the right person for the job. I have hoped then, when rumours that Benedict XVI has accepted Cardinal Rosales’ resignation, that Tagle would succeed Rosales. Although there have been some quarters mentioning a different name, I felt that it would be a good break from Tagle to be appointed.

Although Imus is Imus and Manila is Manila, I hope that he would effect changes necessary for the growth of the Archdiocese and, in effect, the whole country through his preaching and his living. One of the changes I look forward to is a regular reshuffle of parish priests which has not been felt in the old administration.

There have already been hints that he can be a ‘papabile’ (a candidate for the papacy). I hope he becomes one as the Church deserves to be represented and led by those from continents having great numbers of Catholics.




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We should be thankful too for Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales who has led the Archdiocese for 8 years. His simple life, as told by his private secretary on the Archdiocese’s website, is something that should be emulated by everyone, especially our leaders. I think this simplicity has made him dear to the poor. Living simply is a much powerful message than slogans such as “ ______ para sa mahirap”.




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By Sunday, we are mid-way of our Advent journey. Purple vestments are set aside for pink ones. The pink candle (or its equivalent) on our Advent wreath is lit. The readings invite us to rejoice. Indeed that should be our attitude. I thought of a famous song which Chiara loves to sing – especially after seeing this jolly man with white beard and in red coat in his grotto this weekend. I have rejigged it and although it may sound corny, I hope you’ll keep this in mind as celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent (a.k.a. Gaudete Sunday):






You better watch out

You better not cry

You better not pout

I’m telling you why:

Jesus Christ is coming to town!



He’s making His way

Don’t get caught by surprise

He’s gonna find out

Who’s naughty or nice.

Jesus Christ is coming to town!



He sees you when you’re sleeping

He knows when you’re awake

He knows if you’ve been bad or good

So be good for goodness’ sake!



You better watch out

You better not cry

You better not pout

I’m telling you why:

Jesus Christ is coming to town!

What Roof?

“Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; speak but the word and my soul shall be healed”, said the commentator in one Sunday Mass in Gagalangin, Tondo. This happened many, many years ago and I told myself how come this commentator used rather old words rather than what was the usual response. (This commentator is notorious for resorting to ad lib not only in reading out the announcements, but in the responses at Mass.) Twenty-five years later, much to my chagrin, similar words would be used in the new English translation of the Mass: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

This is one of the changes that I find myself unable to proclaim. If I were a Mass commentator in the UK (I’m glad there’s none!), I might not control myself to laugh or at least grin at these words.
The Gospel reading for last Monday (Matthew 8:5-11) is the source of prayer before the distribution of Holy Communion. A prayer inspired by the faith of the Roman centurion (a pagan) in Jesus’ power to heal the centurion’s slave.

Sadly, the translation principles followed by the new edition of the Roman Missal has made the prayer sound fundamentalist and limiting. Some critics of the new translation asked what ‘roof’ was being referred to. Was it the roof of the mouth? I can’t blame them for this because, if you come to think of it, the prayer is said before we receive the Body of Christ through our mouths. Surely there is a better way to translate the centurion’s word without making it sound ridiculous.

I can’t imagine how our kababayans at home would feel about saying this at Mass. We could ask those in the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan (Pangasinan) – they have already introduced the people’s responses since Lent of this year. (No idea why the rush when the CBCP agreed to implement the change in Advent 2012.) Furthermore, I couldn’t think how the Filipino translation would sound like, in case the current translation requires an overhaul.

Apart from the word ‘roof’ another word catches our attention: ‘soul’. I know that it’s the soul that would enjoy the reward or suffer the punishment in the afterlife. But mind you, the Lord came healing all sorts of diseases, not just those that afflict the body such as leprosy or fever, but the soul as well such as driving away demons, etc. With this new change, it’s as though Jesus was only after the good of our souls. I’m not saying that the soul is less important than the body. The soul has to be taken care of as much as we would need to look after the body. And we need Christ’s healing on both (if needed) which is why, I think, the translators of the 1973 edition opted for “I” rather than “my soul”. Didn’t St Irenaeus once said “The glory of God is a human being fully alive…”?

Lord, humbly we admit that we are unworthy to receive You. And yet, You come to us, offering Your Body and Blood as our food and drink. Touch us by Your healing love, cleanse us by Your precious Blood, nourish us by Your sacred Body. In our physical, emotional, psychological weaknesses, in our deepest yearnings, in our sins, we affirm our faith in You: only say the word and we shall be healed. Amen.

Farewell, 2nd Edition (?)

The Christmas countdown gets more intense as we head for Advent this coming Sunday. Amidst the purple hue of the priest’s vestments, the omission of the “Gloria”, and the lighting of the Advent candles among other things, there is a certain excitement and hope in the forthcoming celebration of the Lord’s Birth. This is made more exciting by my daughter who keeps on telling me and her Mom, “I like Christmas!”

There is however an issue that makes me dread Advent. I have never realized it until a few days ago that last Sunday would be the last Mass that I would be hearing the 1973 Roman Missal. Our parish gradually introduced the people’s response towards the end of September/beginning of October -other parishes in England and Wales, instructed by the bishops conference, began the introduction during the first Sunday of September. Next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, the 3rd edition is to be fully implemented.

The 1973 Roman Missal (a.k.a. as the 2nd edition) has been in force all my life. It won’t be easy for me to just part ways with it not only because I got used to it, but also because that edition was easily pronounced and understood. As one home insurance company would say, that edition used “Plain English”.

I have spoken my mind on the new English translation on many occasions in this column. During our Rosary devotion last month, I have presented some facts on this to fellow Filipinos and from what I have gathered, there is a feeling of anxiety. It is sad to see how the Mass has become a cause of division rather than a sign of unity among believers. Furthermore, it is sad to witness how the Mass has become more of a wall rather than an open door that welcomes Christians from all denominations to prayer. To illustrate, the 1973 version of the Nicene Creed was actually written in agreement with other Christian denominations. With the new version being recited, it’s as though the Catholic Church has just thrown ecumenism out of the window!

For at least 2 Sundays in a row, I have sat at the back pews, having arrived a few minutes when Mass was about to start. It was a revealing experience for me as I had a feel of how my pew mates were responding – some still using the old responses such as “And also with you” and in a bit of a murmur. And I have done the same thing although I have my own Missal (with the new translation). I am lucky to have one as it helps in following the priest when he says the presidential prayers. It just made me think, what if I don’t have a guide? Borrowing Jose Rizal’s words in “Noli Me Tangere”, even the statues of the saints in the church might shut their eyes and doze off because of the lengthy words used in the new translation. Example: “…that I have greatly sinned…through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault…”(new “I confess to Almighty God”). Culturally, this would do your heading. “Ang kulit!”, Filipinos might say. “Yeah, I get it!”, English speakers would retort.

I sometimes feel not looking forward to another Sunday going to church because of what is happening. Are we prepared for the new regime? Perhaps. Is this a good start for the new liturgical year? Absolutely not!

What should keep me faithful to the Church in spite of these controversies is Jesus. As what was pointed out to me by my elders in Manila, it’s because of Him that I am serving the parish and worshipping in church every weekend. It is because of the Lord.

Lord, You once said that the “Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath”. In our Advent journey, fill us, Your disenchanted people, with the Holy Spirit as we face the challenges and controversies related to the changes in the Mass. May our hearts continue to recognize You and glow in Your love in this holy celebration, a celebration we have loved for ages. And if we falter, forgive our leaders for failing us. Forgive us too. Amen.