Message of Ambassador Henrietta de Villa

On the launching of PnP Catechetical Modules on September 10, 2004 at the Paco Catholic School Auditorium at 1:00 p.m.

I was just told last night that I have to be here to talk to you about Pondo ng Pinoy. We have an event today for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta since we have a visitor, the Archbishop Emeritus of Birmingham, England. I have to beg off for the afternoon happenings because when Msgr. Gerry calls, no is never in my vocabulary. Besides, this is for the catechists and the education committee people of parishes, and we owe you a lot.

I must congratulate you for what you have just launched, the 12 modules of Pondo ng Pinoy, the handiwork of Msgr. Gerry, the Archdiocesan Catechetical Ministry and MAPSA, make up in essence the Bible of Pondo ng Pinoy. And what you have done now is very good. I shall recommend to the Board that the catechists give us a sample of what you did today – na mailahad nyo rin sa Board members ang mga aralin na inyongbinuo para sa pagpapalaganap ng PnP sa mga pamily at parokya. Thank you…thank you really….on behalf of the PnP Board of Trustees.

Since its launching on June 11 and 12, where is PnP now? What has been the progress of its becoming the “patungong langit” ng ating mga yagit, pati na rin ng mga sakim? Yung “Anumang magaling, kahit maliit, basta’t malimit ay patungong langit” vision of Archbishop Rosales, what is its status now?

Let me go to the technicals first:

• The PnP board of Trustees has been formed, composed of 8 bishops, 2 priests, 1 religious sister and 4 lay people…chaired by Archbishop Gaudencio B. Rosales.

• PnP is already registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and its temporary office is housed at Caritas Manila.

• To date some 2M pesos have been counted as donations (in the form of checks, bills, coins mostly) from various entities

• 4 basic committees have been organized: 1) Executive Committee composed of the Chairperson, Vice-chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, and the chairs of other 3 basic committees (election of officers will be held on Monday 13 Sept. during the BOT meeting; 2) Program Committee - in charge of education, promotion and screening of projects; 3) Finance Committee – in charge of fund management; 4) Audit Committee – for check and balance (fiscalizer)

• The Program Committee which carries the load of moving the PnP has met twice. In its first meeting, many questions from the public and from the participating dioceses surfaced…some of which were

• How will the PnP program blend with existing or projected diocesan and parochial pastoral plans?
• What is the relationship between the Church and the PnP as a community foundation
• How will the eternal and local offices function …their connectedness and coordination
• How do we envision the education and promotion aspects of PnP

• To respond to these basic issues and concerns, the Program Committee has prepared a Position Paper for presentation to the PnP Board of Trustees during its meeting on Monday Sept. 13.

• Perhaps of interest to you, would be a recommendation of the Program Committee that for inclusive language , we shall shift to using education in place of catechesis / catechetical

• Another recommendation is to adopt the concept of subsidiarity in relation to the central and local organization of PnP (the foundation can have a subsidiary in every participating diocese and apostolic vicariate)

• We shall also be needing as soon as possible another set of education modules for the other sectors like offices, markets, commercial institutions, the “unchurched” groups, etc.

Let me share with an incident which perhaps is the best gauge for evaluating the status of PnP in the consciousness of our people.

Last Thursday 9 September, the Holy Redeemer parish invited my husband to give a sharing on his devotion to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, their patroness. It seems that when they browsed the internet for the history of the devotion to Our Lady, the name of my husband was mentioned as a faithful devotee and promoter of devotion to her here in the Philippines.

After his sharing, one parishioner told me, “Naku kailangan pala lahat tayo maging devoto ng Our Lady of the Sacred Heart – kasi hopeless na ang Pilipinas. Sayang yung PnP ni Archbishop Rosales – ito n asana yong hope nating mga hopeless. Ngayon nasapawan na ng Bayanihan Funds. Lahat doon na nag-co-contribution, sa gusto man o sa ayaw.

I wanted to tell him that he got it all wrong. Because putting PnP in line with Bayanihan Funds is reducing it to merely a fund raising activity. PnP is not simply a fund raising - activity It is greater than this – greater and beyond this. It is life. Buhay – buhay na nakakaranas ng langit ngayon ditto sa ating lupa, sa ating panahon. At uri ng buhay rin na magpapatotoo ng langit para sa atin sa kanilang buhay. Kaya dalawang buhay ang sinisuguto ng PnP – buhay ngayon at buhay na darating.

It is true that PnP has a fund-raising component. Fund-raising is not its raison d’eter…the 25 centavos, the savings are our tools for our workout, like the treadmill or the stationary bind we grind to dissolve the fat of selfishness, greed, corruption, while at the same time building our muscles of sharing, caring, gathering. The 25 centavos daily saving is what we may call the concrete expression of the interior disposition, the mindset, the heart decision that sees and accepts the other, especially the poor and marginalized as part of me. When PnP is lived this way , then Pondo ng Pinoy will be understood and appreciated as not only a value or a method or an operation – but a personal and collective paradigm for fraternity – the courage of a new humanity.

You, each one of you here, you will be the movers of PnP education, catechesis is the churchy term. Yes you will be the prime movers, the forwarders of the PnP education. But you have to become its first converts. Because Pondo ng Pinoy calls for, requires and demands a conversion – a change of heart. Nothing more and nothing less. A change of heart that will re-discover the meaning of fraternity, of compassion as being present to others in their suffering. More than that, of being pro-active in removing the root cause of their suffering, aware that doing so could cost you your suffering, too. A change of heart that will re-discover and re-present the meaning of love as all that I am and that I have, I give to you – today, everyday, all the days.

Other than this, we have no option actually. Now it is fiscal crisis. Tomorrow it could be death. Worst of all, forever and ever it could be hell.

It is up to you. It is up to all of us in this auditorium to make Pondo ng Pinoy work. To give Pondo ng Pinoy as the new impulse and the new hope for our people.

Think about it. Better still, get moving and do it.

SPIRITUALITY OF THE “CRUMBS”

Homily of Archbishop Gaudencio B. Rosales

Launching of Pondo ng Pinoy Community Foundation, Inc.

Folk Arts Theater, Roxas Boulebard, Pasay City

11 June 2004

9:00 a.m.

WHAT IS PONDO ng PINOY?

The Situation

Today Manila has more than half of its population as poor (52% to be exact). The Makati, Mandaluyong and Ortigas skylines and the many condominium complexes around may not have the intention to deceive, but they certainly conceal the true state of life for more than one-half of the country’s people. The GDPs and GNPs do not tell the true picture and stories of our less fortunate brothers and sisters. These economic indicators always speak of averages. The poor cannot eat economic product “averages” no matter how well they are prepared. All told the unassailable story of the Philippine economy is revealed daily at the meal plates (if they still use plates) of families in the slums, shacks, cardboard homes and makeshift sheds you see in Metro Manila (and under Metro Manila bridges).

The majority of the poorest families among our poor survive on less that $1.00 a day for food (PhP 52.00 a day).

Do I still need to tell you where the poor are? They live mostly in Baseco, Smokey Mountain, Payatas, along esteros, in shacks built along and against the walls, fences, along rivers, under the bridges and along the railways. (Pinagkakakwartahan ng nga iyang “along the riles”, sila pa ang bida). By the way there are nearly one million people living along both sides of the railroad tracks from Tutuban-Kalookan to Sampaloc-Balic-Balic-Paco-Makati, Magallanes, Alabang to the boundaries of the Rizal-Laguna provinces.

The national socio-economic profile is worse than the Metro Manila figure. Independent surveys (done by ICSI, Ateneo de Manila University, Assisi Foundation, Pulse Asia, UST Socio-Economic Research Center) all show in the national survey results that 63% of the Filipinos are poor.

The Disadvantage

The 2001 World Bank (WB)-International Monetary Fund (IMF) study on Combating Corruption in the Philippines revealed that ca. 40% of the annual budget of the Republic of the Philippines are lost to graft practices and corruption. Our country is one unique country in the world where candidates will spend tens to hundreds of millions of pesos for a position that pays only a few tens of thousands of pesos. “Your country is the only one in the world where a family and its descendants actively stay in and control a city, town, district, province and region for two continuous generations and still claimed “aggrieved” when replaced in a democratic selection.” This is the only place in the world where no one, since the time of Manuel L. Quezon, (who claimed preference for a “political hell with Filipinos” rather than “a political heaven with non-Filipinos”) has lost an election. In this country nearly every election loser claimed she/he was “cheated”.

Our protected political system is such where families and interest groups hold on to government positions like it was theirs by right, by inheritance, as a domain or a dynasty.

In 1998 and 1999, the Economic Intelligence Unit made the survey on critical problems of large corporation investment and operation in the Philippines and it identified the lack of proper infrastructure as the main disadvantage to development investment. The 2000 study of the same EIU revealed that corruption, cronyism, ethics, transparency and governance as the most glaring weaknesses in the Republic of the Philippines.

“What has happened to the Philippines?” our neighbors in Asia are asking. And do you think our national and local politicians can answer that? No! How do you explain the regression, the corruption, repression in the country? The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in a studied reflection and exhortation on Philippine politics has the answer. “There is one main reason: Philippine politics – the way it is practiced – has been most hurtful of us as a people. It is possibly the biggest bane in our life as a nation and the most pernicious obstacle to our achieving full human development.” (Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Politics, Sept. 1997).

Our politics is so full of self, ambition, pride and greed. Mahatma Gandhi once said that the world has everything for everyone’s need but not for one man’s greed. Our Lord Jesus Christ counseled a friend “Watch and be on your guard against greed of any kind.” (Luke 12:15). Philippine politics is so full of selfish ambition and greed and the obvious results are what today the country has harvested – corruption with an economic catastrophe.

The consequence of the country’s present political ethos is now all too evident in the much damaged Philippine economy. The sad turn of such a political confusion is such that the disvalues it created in the economy are now slowly eating its way to the heart of our once rich culture. The devil knowing nothing of goodness thought it was only grabbing your money and your vote, but it really had both his hands on your soul. They are robbing the Filipino people of their Psyche – the Filipino soul.

Where have we been?

In the past we always claimed that we have suffered from centuries of misrule. We had our favorite “whipping boys” then.

But the greatest misrule in this country is the tyranny done to us by our own leaders, our blood brothers. Where have we been? They tried martial law; they tried dictatorship; the supporters of the same are still with us. We came from two EDSAs and a half. They tried more than half a dozen Coup d’Etat, several more political and military adventurism, the leaders and fomenters of which are still with us. We had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of an impeachment for an immoral leader and countless series of investigations, etc., etc. Political and military adventurisms are perpetual scarecrows to foreign investments, development programs, tourist’s visits and vacations.

The country needs people who seek what is truly good for its citizens without being blinded by narrow selfish ambitions. We call these people statesmen. And when we say we need people with that selfless perspective and longing only for what is the good of the whole man and of every man, we mean YOU … and not the politicians!

We are going to move towards the full development of our brothers and sisters, especially the poor who now make up the majority of the Filipinos in our country. The poor can no longer afford another misadventure of any kind by any group. Money and resources had been wasted in the past. They had thrown away our reputation and name. Now they are even wasting precious time.

We will no longer allow the poor in our midst to be used or taken advantage of (Ang dukha kapag may eleksyon inaakit; pag may “rally” ginagamit). In the Gospel of Jesus Christ the poor, the lame, the beggar, were not objects. They are rather subjects, like Lazarus in everyone’s front yard or door, who, through the power of the Gospel, will help “to affect and upset criteria of judgment, determining values, sources of inspiration and styles of life that are contrary to the Word of God and His plan of salvation.” (EN, 18).

Where are we going?

We are headed for the development of every Filipino, but starting with the very poor. And we will use only the true ways available to us who believe in and accept the goodness and love of God, our Father, as He shared this with us in Jesus, His Son with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Love will be the one motivation we have. Compassion is the only influence we will use. You and I will be surprised at what love of God will do in us and among us.

We will call this from now on, THE THEOLOGY OF THE CRUMBS. It is about a miracle, a wonder of God’s love that begins with the small. The Lord Jesus once told the story that a very rich man feasted on good food everyday, while a poor beggar whose leg wounds were licked by dogs, lay by the door waiting only for crumbs to fall from the rich man’s table. The poor man died and was brought to Heaven, Abraham’s bosom; the rich man also died and was sent to Hades (Hell). (Luke 1:19-31). Take note that the rich man was not sent to Hell because he was rich. He was condemned because he did not allow even a small thing such as a “crumb” to fall in the way of Lazarus. Selfishness and greed (no matter how it is expressed) is what keep Hell going.

What was the issue?

Lazarus, the beggar, was not asking to be seated with the rich; neither was he asking for the food of the wealthy man. The question here is neither of wealth nor of position. The poor was only asking for crumbs, useless scraps that fell from the rich man’s table of daily living. When the quarrel is over millions and billions, the stake is for the devil; but when the issue is about crumbs and morsels the obvious destiny is heaven as the saying goes “Ano mang magaling, kahit maliit, basta’t malimit ay patungong langit.”

How true to the Lord’s teaching on littleness as the beginning steps to the Kingdom of heaven. Feeding the poor and providing for the needs of the disadvantaged will begin with as little as crumbs we gather everyday.

We have already weighed a crumb and its value is 25 centavos. Every Filipino believer in the goodness and love of God, as expressed in Jesus His Son, will set aside “a crumb”, 25 centavos everyday. An educational component, called catechesis, will always accompany the witnessing to the values of Pondo ng Pinoy. No one gives more than one peso a day. (Of course for others, crumbs can be relative in size or value.) The practice will make love and compassion a way of life.

Pondo ng Pinoy is about the love of God lived by us. It is about the littleness in the expression of the love of God in behalf of our brothers and sisters. It will involve all of us – rich and poor, strong and weak, young and old, educated or untutored, priests, bishops, religious, brothers, sisters, the laity, teachers, students, anyone – who accept the love and goodness of God in His Son Jesus.

Pondo ng Pinoy is for all.

PONDO ng PINOY will be registered at SEC as a community foundation whose resources will support and maintain the development and charitable programs for the poor and needy.

The Church is the initiator. The Church is the motivator. The Church is the steward.

But again do not be deluded into thinking that PnP is merely a resource enhancing movement. It is an evangelization tool and a development process. Through its catechesis, Pondo ng Pinoy is slowly going to clarify the person’s vision and it will set an aim in life. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls that life he wanted to give us as “fullness of life.” (John 10:10). The Church calls this now as “integral evangelization”. Through the love of God and the poor Pondo ng Pinoy will help purify one’s values. Participated in collectively, a community of believing citizens will slowly transform to a community of a “built up” people who belong to the Father’s Kingdom and not just to an uncaring nation.

Make sure that daily every Filipino will have just enough love for God and brother or sister even only the size of “a crumb”.

If you have that love, join us in this movement!

If you cannot spare God and his poor that little morsel then do not join us. Take your “crumb” with you, and go where the rich man in the parable was told by God to go.

PnP is PONDO NG PINOY.

PnP is PAGIBIG NG PANGINOON.

PnP is PAGASA NG PILIPINO.

Maraming Salamat sa Inyong Lahat.

G.B. Rosales

Folk Arts Theatre

11 June 2004

Report of the First Day of Pondo ng Pinoy Launching

FR. DENNIS ESPEJO
Pondo ng Pinoy
Folk Arts Theater

Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.

Nagsimula ang araw kahapon sa pamamagitan ng pagdating ng mga masigasig na mga delegado mula sa iba't-ibang sektor ng lipunan at mga delegado mula sa ibat ibang diyosesis at arkideyosesis.

Pormal na nagsimula ang palatuntunan kahapon sa pamamagitan ng pagdiriwang ng Banal na Misa na pinangunahan ng Lubhnag Kagalang-galang Gaudencio B. Rosales, D.D., Arsobispo ng Maynila. Kasama sila Lubhang Kagalang-galang Deogracias Iñiguez , Obispo ng Diyosesis ng Caloocan at Edgardo Sarabia Juanich , Obispo ng Apostoliko Bikaryato ng Taytay.

Binigyang diin sa homilya ang tunay na kalagayan ng bawat mamamayang Pilipino sa

- maynila halos kalahati ng populasyon ay maralita o mahirap
- ang mga nagtataasang mga gusali at magarang tirahan ay patunay lamang na pagsasalarawan ng totoong sitwasyon ng bawat isa.
- ayon sa isinagawang pambansang pananaliksik 63% ng mga pilipino ay mahirap.

Ito ay sa kadahilanang halos 40% ng pera ng Gobyemo ay napupunta lamang sa mga mapagsamantalang nilalang na kung tawagi'y pulitiko---- bunsod nito ang pulitika sa ating bansa ay nababalot ng pagkasakim at pagkagahaman.

Ang mga nagaganap na ito ay isang tanda ng panahon na magsisilbing hamon para sa bawat isa.... Ang isang makabuluhang pagmamalasakit at pagmamahal natin sa ating mga kapatid, ang muli nating hindi pagpapabaya na mangyari " ang dukha kapag may eleksyon inaakit, pag may rally ginagamit."

Ang Ebanghelyo mula kay San Lukas hinggil sa isang mayaman at si Lazaro. Si Lazaro na isang taong mahirap ay walang ninais kundi ang magkaroon man lamang ng mumu na nahuhulog mula sa mesa ng lalaking mayaman.

Ang mayamang lalaki ay hindi napunta sa impierno dahil sa siya ay mayaman bagkus ang pagkakait nito kay Lazaro ng mumu upang maibsan nito ang gutom.

“ Ang anuman magaling, kahit maliit, basta't malimit ay patungong langit."

Ang paglulunsad ng pondo ng pinoy ay tugon sa panawagan at mithiin ng Diyos para sa ating lahat .... mayaman man o mahirap, malakas o mahina, bata, matanda, may dunong o wala.... Ito ay ang pagkakaroon ng kaganapan ng buhay na kasiya-­ siya...

Ang Pnp o Pondo ng Pinoy ay para sa lahat
Ang PnP ay pagibig ng Panginoon
Ang PnP ay pag asa ng Pilipino

Pagkatapos ng banal na Misa ay nagkaroon po ng merienda at ilang pampasiglang bilang at paglulunsad ng Theme song ng Pondo ng Pinoy na pinamagatang " Kahit isang Kusing" na nilikha ni Reb. P Carlo Magno na inawit ni Noel Cabangon at mga kasama.

Ang ang mga panayam ng mga paglalahd tungkol sa m ga tanda ng panahon ay pingangunahan nina:

Dr. Ernesto Gonzales , na nagmula sa UST Social Research Center
Dr. Mina Ramirez , ng Asian Social Institute
at Sr. Andy Collantes, OSB ng St Scholastica's College.

Sa kanilang pagsasalita , kanilang inilahad ang kalagayan ng Pilipinas sa pananaw na pang ekonomiya, pulutika, kulturang panlipunan at Kristiyanong spiritwal.

Tinuran sa paglalahad na pulitika ang dahilan ng patuloy na pagbagsak ng ekonomiya. At hanggang hindi natin tinatangkilik ang sariling atin, patuloy na maghihirap tayo.

Bagamat mahirap tayo, ang Pilipino ay mahirap lamang sa pera subalit mayaman naman sa kaloob ng Diyos.

Sa ganap na alas-dose y naganap ang pagdarasal ng orasyon sa pangunguna ng l ubhang kagalang-galang Ramon Arguelles, arsobispo ng lipa.... kasunod nito ang pagkain ng tanghalian.

Pagkatapos ay tinuloy ang ikatlong paglalahad. Ang kakulanagn ng katahimikan ay malaking dahilan kung kaya't di natin nadidinig ang tinig ng Diyos at malaman ang tunay niyang kalooban para sa atin.

Ang kasalukuyang kalagayan natin ay inihalintulad sa " pagaagaw ng dilim at liwanag" na ito'y maaring tanda ng dapithapon o maari din namang tanda ng isang bagong umaga, ang pagbubukang liwayway.

Matapos ilahad ang mga tanda ng panahon, nagbigay ng panayam at pagninilay ang Obispo ng Imus , Obispo Luis Antonio "Chito" Tagle, D.D. sa diwa ng pananampalataya. Ipinahayag niya ang saligang prinsipyo ng Pondo ng Pinoy, ang teolohiya ng mumo. Sa kanyang pagninilay, binanggit niya na natukoy ng Panginoong Hesus ang uri ng karamdaman, isang pananampalatayang maysakit , kaya nagkasakit ang ekonomiya, pulitika, pamilya at lahat-lahat na.

Ayon sa pagninilay ni Bishop Chito, may 3 sintomas ang maysakit na pananampalataya:

Una ekonomiya ng pagkamkam
Ikalawa politika ng pagkamanhid
Ikatlo relihiyon ng itinatagong Diyos

Kung may sintomas o may sakit, mayroon ding tunas:
sa sakit na ekonomiya ng pagkamkam
Ang lunas ay ekonomiya ng pagtitiwala sa Diyos
sa sakit na politika ng pagkamanhid
ang lunas ay politika ng pagmamalasakit
sa sakit na relihiyon ng itinatagong Diyos
ang lunas ay relihiyon ng buhay na Diyos

Nagkaroon din ng bahaginan kahapon ang magkakatabi ukol sa mga panayam na sinundan ng pananalita at pagbabahagi ng mga Obispo.

Ang maghapon ay binigyan ng kulay ng mga pagtatanghal at pampasiglang awit na pinagunahan ng mga kabataan ng Batangas at ng Oasis of Love Music Ministry.

Ang daloy ng palatuntunan naman ay pinamahalaan ng ating mga buhay na buhay na emcees na sina Ces Quesada at Reb. P Eric Santos.

Nagwakas ang palatuntunan sa pamamagitan ng panalangin ng takipsilim.

Umuwi po tayong lahat bagama't pagod ang katawan, ngunit masigla naman ang diwa't isipan dahil sa isang mayaman at makabuluhang maghapon.

Isang magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat!
Mabuhay ang Pondo ng Pinoy!

Reports

• Report of the First Day of Pondo ng Pinoy Launching