One of the formulae used in the impositions of ashes on this day is: “Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” I am not sure how old this particular formula is. It is a formula that reminds us all that we are mortal, made from the dust of the earth, alive, surprisingly alive, wonderfully alive, but subject inexorably to death, the decay of the flesh, and its return to dust.

It is a formula that begins the season of Lent, the 40-day season of fasting, penance, and preparation for the celebration of the suffering death and resurrection of the Lord. Reminding us of our mortality, the formula helps us appreciate the importance of time, that whether we live for twenty years, or forty, or sixty, or ninety, or even a hundred and ten years, time ends. Our time ends. Time, limited, is therefore time precious. Do not waste it!

Of course, the cynic can say: If our time comes to an end, there is no need to care for it. For as life comes from dust, it all ends in dust. That is why the formula, “Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return,” is totally false and misleading if taken out of context; it needs to be complemented by another formula, “Repent and believe in the Gospel!” Because time is precious, recall the Gospel, the Good News of God creating time, of God creating space, of God creating this world, and us in this world, and loving us beyond imagination.

With the imposition of ashes, then: Remember man, remember woman, how precious time is, and how much it is that God loves you!

God loves you in your parents, in the manner in which they cared for you as children, in the sacrifices they make to give you an education. Remember that! God loves you in your teachers, in their labors to help you learn, in their dreams to see you succeed. Remember that! God loves you in your students, in their smiles of recognition in the corridors, in their gratitude for all your work, in their achievements through all you have given them. Remember that! God loves you in your spouses, in the intimacy of their love, in the warmth of family life. God loves you in your children, in the wonder of their smiles, in the warmth of their hugs… Remember that! God loves you in your friends, in the dancing and cheering of college days, in the studying and shared work to get the projects done, in the shared efforts to help victims of typhoons or floods.

Remember God’s love, and so this day, remember the incongruences that come with this memory. Remember how you could get so wrapped up in what you are doing, that you forgot… Remember how you were so intent on succeeding that you didn’t think twice about cheating. Remember how you needed to get ahead, and you did so at the expense of your friend. Remember how you were so much in love, that you violated boundaries dictated by love. Remember when you were so desperate, you did not tell the truth, you lied, and violated the trust that had been reposed on you. Remember how in your pigheadedness you sometimes did not care how much you hurt others, how in your cynicism you often deflected the truth from your self, how with all your intelligence, you were able to rationalize almost anything that you did, even though your conscience was crying to be heard. Remember how in glancing at a church on a Sunday or in looking at a Crucifix you walked away.

Remember… And with the imposition of today’s ashes, remember the Gospel, that is, remember the love of the Lord. Remember the love of the Lord in the gentleness of the breeze or in the wetness of the rain. Remember it in the darkness broken by the flickering candle, or in the night overcome by the rising sun. Remember it in the tears of your weeping, or in the paralysis of your depression. Remember it, in the words of the Lord addressed to the paralytic brought to him by his friends, “Your sins are forgiven you. Take up your pallet and walk.” Remember it in the eyes of the crucified Lord gazing into yours with love.

The Lord’s message today, no matter how far you have wandered from the Lord, no matter how seriously you know you have sinned, no matter how damned intelligent you are, is: “Return to me!” This ring of your birthright, these sandals, this coat of many colors: they are yours. “Return to me! Return to my embrace!”

If in response to this invitation, you feel you wish to disintegrate in ashes of shame, you feel confused that despite your many pimples you can still be considered desirable, or despite your cancer you still can be called to life, or despite your not having taken a bath, your being smelly and sweaty and dirty, you are being pulled into God’s embrace, be encouraged. That is grace. That is a grace you can stay with throughout these forty days of Lent. The Lord says, “Rend your heart, not your garments.” Perhaps in these feelings of shame and confusion, you are already rending your heart.

Be encouraged, even in shame and confusion. Sometimes we think we have the world all figured out. Until we make a mistake. Then, that disappointment with myself comes! Then, that heart-rending bewilderment that I could have done what I did! Pray, indeed, for shame and confusion – which is really a function of self-respect. Or, of God-respect! Little is more disgusting than people who are offensive to other persons and have no shame. Little is more insulting in the Philippines that to have to hear, “Walang hiya ka!” We have to wonder how we can be so offensive to God and feel no shame. We have to wonder how we can rationalize our wrongs and feel no confusion, cause so much disorder and have no insight into our disorder.

Perhaps it is in shame and confusion before this God both just and merciful, that one can finally come to a point where one says, “I’m sorry.” “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offence… For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always. Against you alone have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps. 51).

Our reading says: “The Lord is kind and merciful. He is slow to anger and rich in mercy” (Joel, 2:13) It is in this kindness that you are able to look at the truth of your life. It is in this mercy that you know you have hope.

In this Lenten season: Remember man, remember woman, that you are dust, and unto God you must return!

Fasting means that one who is healthy limits ones eating to one full meal. Anything eaten beyond one meal does not equal two meals.

Abstinence means one who is healthy refrains from eating meat.

When I was a kid I remember the Church required fasting for every day of lent except Sunday. All Fridays were days of fast and abstinence. In our family, those were Church prescriptions which were observed.

That rule of the Church has been removed in favor of a much more lenient prescription today. Fridays in Lent are still days of abstinence, but the requirement of abstinence can be fulfilled in doing a good work for another.

On Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, however, abstinence is still required of those who have reached the age of 14, and fasting is still required for those who have reached the age of 18 and who have not yet reached the age of senior citizens (sixty years of age).

It is probably not fruitful to try to enforce this as a requirement “under pain of sin.” Too frequently, people who sin habitually are numb to its pain. And people too frequently – and disastrously – are calloused to the meaning of “sin.” That is something that can be reflected on during the season of Lent.

Fasting and abstinence and similar practices can be considered in the context of our freedom or lack of freedom. There are some practices which help me become a freer person, free me from disorders in my life, or free me from “disordinate attachments.” Fasting is like that. If I habitually eat what I want to eat, or habitually capitulate to a compulsion to it, and so become unfree even in eating, the exercise of fasting, saying no to eating this or that, may exercise me in freedom.

Exercising oneself voluntarily in freedom, in a world where there is so much unfreedom, may not be a bad idea. In fact, for those who are serious about spiritual growth, which I hope all of us are, it is an imperative.

For if we do not voluntarily learn how to say no to a piece of chocolate or to a cigarette or to just one more helping of rice and adobo when I have already eaten what I require, how would I be able to say no when I am tempted to betray my integrity for the pleasures of a night of abandon or to betray my God for thirty pieces of silver?

It is for this reason that St. Ignatius was keenly sensitive to interior motions that draw us away from God – proposing things that bring us away from God as pleasurable, or things that bring us toward God as undesirable. He called these “desolation.” And he proposed that we work against – “agere contra” – desolation, that is, that we work against our unfreedoms in our relationship with our selves in our relationship with God. This is in his “Rules For the Discernment of Spirit.”

“Agere contra” is as much a principle of Ignatian Spirituality as is “magis” or “finding God in all things” or “ad majorem Dei gloriam.” It is what fasting and abstinence are all about, especially in the season of Lent.

Concretely, if you habitually postpone doing your homework because you just have to watch TV for two hours every night, “agree contra” may mean that you decide to watch TV less. If you truly dislike the person who grates against your spirit at work, “agere contra” may mean that you decide to communicate with and understand that person better. If you normally think you know everything better than others and so have the right to lecture all who approach you, “agere contra” may mean that you consciously pause and listen to what others have to say.

Lent is a season of preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mysetery. It is a season of “spiritual exercise, ” of exercising ourselves in freedom – as an indispensible requirement of love. It is in this context that one can understand the Church’s description of this season as a joyful season.

That we have been able to celebrate our thirteen new doctors this afternoon in this elegant manner gives me great pleasure.

We are celebrating doctorates in various disciplines: Clinical Psychology, Educational Management, Political Administration, Mathematics, Engineering, Research Administration, Education, and Philosophy. That is a bonanza for our university and the many disciplines that we are engaged in.

But in this diversity, we also celebrate in the one spirit of the “Ph.D.” or of the “philosophiae Doctor” or the “Doctor Philosophiae.” “Doctor” in Latin refers to a teacher or to “a wise person.” For how can one undertake to be a teacher of others, unless one possesses wisdom? And wisdom needs to be pursued.

The pursuit of wisdom, however, no matter what one’s particular field of specialization may be, is an unending, infinite concern, an ongoing pursuit, entered upon when one has finally realized – often after much personal pain – that no matter what levels of higher learning one may have achieved, one has really not attained enough learning. For truth is always larger than what we grasp with our limited minds, and truth often demands life-realizations of personal integrity and moral rectitude that are not studied in books, but are commanded, lived, attained, and paid for dearly, in wisdom. No matter one’s academic degrees, wisdom is elusive. That is the ironic truth about what we celebrate today: the PhD. We certainly do not celebrate just a piece of paper; nor even just an inadequate increase in monthly compensation that comes with that piece of paper. We celebrate the person wise because in that person’s pursuit of wisdom, he or she has not yet attained wisdom.

Our first reading from the Book of James in this morning’s liturgy may have something to say to us: The person who is wise should be able “to show this by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom” (Ja: 3:13). With the doctorate, one certainly has what many refer to today as “bragging rights.” And especially in the world of academe it is nice to be called Dr. Castrillo rather than just Ms. Castrillo or Dr. Fenecios rather than just Mr. Fenecios On the other hand, the person who is wise, understands his or her imperfection, and lives wisdom in a good life and in humility – endeavoring to live goodness not as an animal nor as a machine, but as a human being, not being haughty in erudition, nor vain in humility, nor arrogant in achievements – but acknowledging the truth that one has not yet attained wisdom but lives to be worthy of this in grace. God knows: there are many pedigreed doctors who fail in wisdom, and many who have not even finished elementary education who are far wiser than many doctors. This is the context in which we celebrate the PhD today.

Originally, the doctorate certified only a high level of scholarship. In the 19th Century however the German Universities began demanding that those who attain the doctoral level shall have contributed to the expansion of knowledge through a unique contribution to research. It is from this requirement that the doctoral dissertations emanated. The requirement of the German Humbolt universities was taken over by the American Yale University, then adopted by the universities of the United Kingdom. It is in this tradition that the PhDs that we recognize in the Philippines require a dissertation, an actual contribution by the scholar to the expansion of knowledge. The reason why I lost a good deal of my hair was because my dissertation was on the concept of “the Future” in the works of Karl Marx, which required an understanding of dialectic in the systematic philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, whose German even for Germans is rather tortuous. There were many times I wanted to give up (and save my hair). I guess, it was wise that I didn’t.

It is in this context that at ADDU we situate our doctors in the rank of Associate Professor where the new expectation, noblesse oblige, is that they continue to teach with authority, as much as possible, within their discipline; already we are contemplating major structural changes in our university that will allow this to actually happen. There is the expectation, furthermore, that they continue what they have already shown they can do in attaining their doctorate, that is, to expand knowledge in their fields through research. This belongs pre-eminently to the nature of a university and is what we refer to as: “doctoral- or PhD-level research.” Here, research is done not only to tell people what other researchers have discovered (secondary research), but to work in a rigorously disciplined manner to discover new truth (primary research), especially that truth that would contribute to the realization of our university vision and mission, e.g., truth about the human person, truth about human society, truth about God, truth about creation, about nature, about the environment, about technology, truth about what is right and what is wrong. We ask of our PhDs who are our senior academicians to be the senior implementors of our mission here at the Ateneo de Davao.

Allow me to end this then with a word of thanks. PhDs are important not merely because of CHED or PAASCU requirements for universities. PhDs are CHED and PAASCU requirements for universities because without them the universities cannot function as they must. My word of thanks to you for undertaking to attain the doctorate, for staying the course despite many near shipwrecks, and for finally achieving the doctorate you once merely dreamed of achieving. Thank you for making the sacrifice, and for today committing yourselves anew to enhanced service as academicians to the university community. Today we honor you with our gratitude, our hopes, and our prayers. As our new PhDs, doctores philosophiae, may your search for wisdom continue in genuine humility, but in your ongoing search, may you help ADDU in magis to better teach the truth, to better discover the truth in a manner relevant for our people, to better serve our communities of humanity in Davao, Mindanao, and the globe.

May all truly be for the greater glory of God!

• In my address to the Corporation and to the Board of Trustees, I described the ongoing renewal in the university that was emerging from the earlier approval of the Vision and Mission Statement of the University that itself emerged from the “Shared Passion, Shared Mission” workshop in Eden last May 22-16 in Eden. This has been complemented by a series of echoing workshops in Eden, that has contributing bringing all on board in this renewal. In this manner the Vision Mission is not just a statement. Participants reach inward to their own personal passion or soul resonating (or not resonating…) with the Vision-Mission or “soul” of the University. This is perhaps the most important process unfolding at the ADDU today. Very perceptible in this renewal are the new activity in research and relevant (=controversial) outreach activities “from the center of the University.”

• The presentation by Architect Christopher Ong of the revised building plans for the Jacinto Campus. Fr. Provincial Jojo Magadia, S.J. had asked that the approved pricey convention center be removed from the plans since its operation, including its risks, was not integral to the vision-mission of the university. He also asked that the general plans be downsized in order to be able to conserve more of ADDU’s resources into an endowment fund for ADDU.

The downsized plans now envision a twelve-story Community Center cum University Chapel facing Roxas Blvd., and a Multi-Purpose Sports and Assembly Bldg. The community center will house an elevated plaza, a floor for student study, four floors for faculty and the Academic Vice President and Deputy Academic Vice President, a floor for research, a floor for outreach, a floor for university guests, a floor for the Jesuit Community, and restricted floor for archives or special displays. The separate Sports and Assembly Building will have an elevate plaza, two floors of parking (to accommodate 300 cars when fully operated), four basketball courts and a stage – expandable in the future by three mezzanine floors. Between the two buildings there will be a swimming pool. Fr. Provincial has approved these plans, and he has brought them to Rome to present to Fr. General for his approval. If they are approved, I am hoping that we can commence construction in the summer break.

• The approval for ADDU to implement K-12 beginning SY 2012-13. Fr. ADDU, this will mean that this coming school year, all incoming first graders will be told they will need 12 years of basic education in order to qualify for the ADDU College, and all first year high school students will be told that they need six years more of basic education to reach college. At ADDU we will implement the additional two years to Basic Education through a Career Academy, the first year of which is common work, but the second year of which shall lead the students either to work immediately after graduation or to various college courses based on CHED newly-published “College Readiness Standards.” My thanks to Dr. Gina L. Montalan for her presentation of these plans to the Board and to the entire team planning our K-12 implementation headed by our AVP Dr. Jessie Manuta.

• The approval of the MA in Tropical Risk Management. This formally approves the work being conducted by our Tropical Institute for Climate Studies (TropICS) in developing local governments, as in South Cotabato, for risk and disaster management.

• The approval of the MA in Anthropology. Under Dr. Leah Vidal, we have assembled an impressive array of experts in anthropology – the study of culture – for this graduate program. Since ADDU as a Jesuit University appropriates the mission of the Society of Jesus – the service of the Faith, the promotion of Justice that Faith impels, sensitivity to culture(s), and inter-religious dialogue – it shall now be offering graduate anthropology. This is especially important within the rich cultural diversity of Mindanao. At ADDU cultures will be appreciated specially in their relationship to environment.

• With strong recommendation from the Search Committee, the appointment of Atty. Arlene L. Cosape, DPA, as Dean of the School of Business and Governance for a term of three years. Our thanks to Dr. Danny Te for his many years of service to the ADDU as Dean of SBG.

• The re-appointment of Ms. Suzette D. Aliño as Headmaster for the Grade School for another term of three years.

• The approval of the budget for SY-2012-13 based on a 6% increase in tuition and a 6% increase in the energy fees. There will otherwise be no increase in fees.

• The approval of the purchase of the 10,200 sqm. “Yamson property” practically adjacent to our Matina campus. Presuming the approval of the Frs. Provincial and General, we will acquire this to build out the sports facilities of the Matina campus, etc. Already, the High School has requested that its swimming pool be built here in order to preserve the high school area from its expected noise; we will also study how the property may be used for an auditorium for basic education. We will also be able to use this to construct more football fields.

There is no special Valentines’ Day liturgy today. There is no liturgical instruction to wear red. There is no injunction to devotional prayer in celebration of love.

For all intents and purposes, Valentines Day appears to be a secular celebration. After all, outside of Christmas, the most sanguine sales on gifts are on this day.

In fact, however, Valentines Day may have had a liturgical origin. Originally, this was the day in which the memory of the fourth -century Roman martyr, St. Valentine, was recalled and celebrated. Not much, however, was known of St. Valentine – other than that he and his companions shed their blood and died for the faith. St. Valentine’s feast, therefore, was suppressed. In its place is today’s celebration of the brothers, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the “apostles to the Slavs.”

Meanwhile, since the Middle Ages, and particularly with the works of the poet, Chaucer, this day became a day for celebrating romantic love. Love would be manifested through flowers, confectionaries and cards with hearts. The latter were called “valentines.” Valentines’ Day was the day to celebrate love.

Secular as this may seem, two thoughts emerge as we celebrate love on this day.

First, it is wonderful to be loved. It is wonderful to love. It is wonderful to be in love. But love is not just secular. Love is profoundly sacred. For God is love.

Our first reading states: “Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone who loves is begotten of God. He [or she] who does not love, does not belong to God. For God is love” (Jn 4:7-8). Further on: “Herein is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us first and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. … God is love; and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (John 4:10. 16b).

On this day, therefore, celebrate love – genuine love. It leads you to God.

Secondly, love is a command. Love is a gift. It is a privilege. But at the same time it is not just optional. Jesus said: “This is my commandment, that you love one another” (Jn 15:12a). As his disciples, we are commanded to love one another. The quality of love that he sets is not mean. “Love…even as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12b). As Jesus emptied himself in love on the Cross in love for us, so are we to love. Everytime we look at the crucifix before us, we see the standard of love to which we are commanded.

Therefore, on the Valentines’ Day, love!

In this context, I would like to encourage you to the following:

If you are in love, show it. Don’t be shy. Don’t hide it. Let it be known – with a bottle of wine, with a statement, “I love you..,” with a response, “I love you too,” with a hug, with a kiss. [Those who are not married may stop here…!]

If your love has passed through many trials and tribulations, yet endures, cherish it. Continue to care for it. Never take love for granted. Value it. Treasure it. Tell your loved one how much you treasure it. Tell your beloved how much you love him or her. Do not sin against your love. In love, be faithful.

If your love is waning, renew it. If you feel your love is diminished, exert effort to increase it. Look for ways to rejuvenate it – to make it young and fresh again. Go on an excursion. Take a trip. Go out to dinner. Write a letter, author a poem, compose a song. Care for yourself. Go out of your way to make yourself presentable. And desirable.

If your love is real, find God in it. Love manifests God in our world. God manifests himself in love. Marital love is precisely that: a sacrament of God’s presence, an ecstatic manifestation of God embracing us and ourselves embracing God in love!

Pray, therefore, that our love not be plastic, mechanistic, fake, insincere, manipulative, selfish. Pray that our love be genuine, faithful, pure, constantly alive, interesting, compelling, self-giving, so profoundly human, that is divine. For God is love.  And Divine Love became flesh.

Why am I telling you all this? Because this is what Jesus told us. He said, “I have told you this: so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11).

In the end, there is no need for any special Valentines’ Day liturgy. Every Mass is a celebration of God’s love. Every Mass is a reminder of his command that we love one another.

Happy Valentines Day!

At the risk of dating myself, may I know how many here remember the movie, “Ben Hur”?

I am glad that some of you do! “Ben Hur” is a movie that I saw when I was a kid. It was about a wealthy Jew in Palestine in the time of our Lord, Judah Ben Hur (Charlton Heston) and his friend Messalah (Stephen Boyd), who eventually became local head of the occupying Roman forces. It is a story of friendship, friendship betrayed, and revenge. I remember: one dominant image of this movie is that of the great chariot race. The other prominent image is that of leprosy. Ben Hur’s mother, Miram, and his sister, Ester, contract leprosy. Among the most poignant of the scenes in the movie is that of the caves of disease, despair and death to which they as lepers are relegated. Cast out of regular society, they must live among the other lepers with all the horrors of swelling, blisters, boils, flesh decaying, and bodily extremities rotting away. How Ben Hur defies convention to communicate love and affection for his loved ones is among the more powerful scenes in the movie.

Only a Hollywood movie, of course! But for me, those scenes provided me my operative images of the horror of leprosy since my childhood. Leprosy of course was not only material for the big screen. Here in the Philippines, lepers were shunned, feared and cast away from society. For over a hundred years the Jesuits served the leper community of Culion among the Calamianes Islands of Palawan with the St. Paul sisters. Guest of our community now is Fr. Rudy Fernandez; he served the lepers of Tala Leprosarium in Novaliches for over twelve years. The lepers were ministered to. But because theirs was a dreaded disease, they were feared. And outcaste.

Our first reading from Leviticus is addressed to lepers. It was presumably Jewish society’s way of managing lepers. Lepers were to go to the priest. They were to be declared “unclean.” They were to tear their garments, and keep their heads uncovered; that is, they were to draw attention to their being different, their being sick.. They were themselves to warn people about themselves by calling out, “Unclean, unclean!” They were to be shunned in their sickness, considered incurable and contagious. They lived in self-loathing and despair.

This Sunday, our responsorial psalm (Ps. 32) provides the framework of our readings and announces the Good News. The response declares, “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.”

“I turn to you in trouble, Lord, and you fill me with joy…” This is illustrated in our Gospel reading (Mk 1:40-45). The leper, suffering, turns to the Lord and says: “If you wish, you can make me clean.” The Lord responds with compassion. He stretches out his hand; he touches the untouchable. “Be made clean!” he commands. Immediately, the leper is made clean. He is cured. His joy cannot be contained. Despite Jesus’ appeal that he should not tell others, he spreads the news of the Lord’s goodness.

But our responsorial psalm, and for that matter the whole of Jesus’ preaching, insists that his curing is not just of physical ailments. Remember, when they let down the paralytic through the roof? Jesus first intervention was to forgive his sin. For us, there meanwhile may be a medical cure for leprosy. But no medical treatment can cure the malady of sin, which is objectively worse than leprosy. “Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered” (Ps 32.1). The Lord’s cure is here however hinged on an admission of guilt. “When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer…” The admission is explicit and deliberate, hoping in the willingness of the Lord to forgive: “I acknowledge my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’; then you take away my guilt” (Ps. 32.3).

I confessed… It is like the leper, who in recognizing his illness, cries out, “Unclean! Unclean! I am unclean!” Only here, “confessed” means: I have stopped the rationalization, stopped the self-deceit, stopped the denial, and looked at my moral illness in the face. It is moral illness evidenced not in swelling and boils and decaying flesh, but in the persons I have wronged through my hard decisions, the persons I have cast out; evidenced in the characters I have assassinated in my chatter, the reputations I have ruined; evidenced in the wealth I have gathered and guarded, not necessarily in huge bank accounts whether peso or dollar, but possibly in my disordered relationship to my car, which for me had become more important than my personal relationships; or in my disordered relationship to my celfon, which for me had become more important than truth; or for me my disordered relationship to my secret credit card, which for me had become more important than my integrity. I was trapped in a rut. I could not help myself. So: “I turned to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you filled me with the joy of salvation.”

In the movie, Ben Hur, the lepers, Miriam and Ester, are cured. Today we can appreciate: that is not only Hollywood. That is our Gospel message: God responds to those who turn to him in distress. God cures. Not only the physically sick, but also the morally depraved. Nothing is impossible to God. “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy. You fill me with the joy of salvation.”

Turned to the Lord, we have hope. In the Lord turned to us, we are grateful.

“The behavior and conduct of judges must re-affirm the people’s faith in the integrity of the Judiciary. Justice must not merely be done but must also be seen to be done.”
(section 2, Canon 2 of the New Code of Judicial Conduct)

Introduction

Acting on a petition filed by PSBank through its President, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court (the Court, for brevity) preventively cutting short the inquiries conducted last February 9 2012 relative to the accounts owned and maintained by Chief Justice Corona, specifically, as regards his foreign currency deposits (FCDs).

The basis lies in section 8 of Republic Act 6426 (as amended by P.D. 1035, and further amended by PD 1246) which declares and considers all foreign currency deposits as absolutely confidential in nature and in no instance shall these deposits be inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau, or office whether judicial or administrative or legislative, or any other entity whether public or private EXCEPT upon the written permission of the depositor.

This development is truly an unfortunate turn of events in what was otherwise perceived by the Filipino as an avenue for authentic institutional reforms in the Judiciary. Not only is the political process of Impeachment being challenged as a violation of the theory of “Co-Equal Branches of Government” if the Supreme Court steps in to discusss an impeachment issue, but it has also created in the minds of most Filipinos — an image of the Supreme Court sitting as a collegial body, that has a fondness of “protecting one of its own.”

As their institution’s primary figure, Chief Justice Corona of the SC wields considerable authority and influence and can therefore set an example to others occupying high positions in government, by allowing or providing his written permission to open his foreign currency deposits in order that the truth can come out.

The CEAP, a national association comprising 1,252 private educational associations, believes that a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can set the tone for authentic judicial reforms by letting the Impeachment proceedings run its course and not insist on meeting the Legislative and Executive branches “head-on” with this issue, lest it would stir conditions ripe for a constitutional crisis in our country.

Moral Integrity

“Judges shall ensure that not only is their conduct above reproach,
but that it is perceived to be so in the view of a reasonable observer.”
Section 1, Canon 2 New Code of Judicial Conduct.

In his book Legal and Judicial Ethics (2009 ed.), Dennis Funa* describes a judge as someone who occupies a position in government that gives a tangible semblance to an otherwise intangible concept – “justice in society.” In fact, some judicial pronouncements even describe judges as the “visible representation of the law and justice.” (Arban vs. Borja, 143 SCRA 634)

This must be so because the people’s faith in the legal and judicial system is not based only on the magnitude of legal knowledge and diligence of members of the bench but also on the highest standard of integrity and moral uprightness they are expected to possess. (Dawa vs. De Asa 292 SCRA 703)

Simply put, it is about integrity. In the Judiciary, moral integrity is more than a cardinal virtue, it is a necessity. (Pascual vs. Judge Rodolfo R. Bonifacio, 398 SCRA 695.)

If this ethical standard is made to apply to all judges, this admits of no exceptions, not even for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In fact, with all the more reason should this standard of behaviour be made to apply to the Chief Justice of the highest court of our land.

Thus, when Chief Justice Corona conveniently hides behind the mantle of protection offered by this TRO issued in favor of PSBank, it reveals his questionable character leading one to logically posit this question – if Chief Justice Corona is truly innocent as he so claims, then why is there resistance in the request for a disclosure of his foreign currency deposit accounts?

Without belaboring the technicalities of whether or not the Supreme Court, in having issued the TRO, was already interfering with the powers of the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court, and without favoring any one of the parties involved in the Trial of this impeachable officer, the CEAP calls on the Chief Justice to be a shining example to all members of the bench by exhibiting the kind of moral uprightness demanded of them as best exemplified if he provides his written assent to the disclosure of his foreign currency deposit accounts.

Propriety

“As a subject of constant public scrutiny, judges must accept personal restrictions that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen and should do so freely and willingly. In particular, judges shall conduct themselves in a way that is consistent with the dignity of the judicial office.” Section 2, Canon 4 New Code of Judicial Conduct.

Like all positions in government, a judicial office is also regarded as a public trust. As such, his actions must be viewed closely by the public as any betrayal of his sworn duties only serves destroy that trust reposed on him by the people and only contributes to the further erosion of the people’s faith in the Judiciary.

Thus, when it is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the propriety of his actions are at issue, he must take all steps necessary to restore the people’s faith in him. Regrettably, a few days after the issuance of the questionable TRO, Chief Justice Corona opted to elicit sympathy from his co-workers instead, theorizing that the current impeachment proceedings is an affront to the institutional indepence of the judiciary as a whole and not simply against its Chief Justice.

While the New Code of Judicial Conduct explicitly recognizes in sec. 6, Canon 4 thereof that judges, like any other citizen, are entitled to basic constitutional freedoms – his freedom of expression, assembly, including his right to privacy in relation to his financial records – the same proviso is also clear that in the exercise of such rights, the judge must always conduct himself in such a manner as to preserve the dignity of the judicial office and impartiality and independence of the judiciary.

Thus, the CEAP believes that the Chief Justice should be the embodiment of proper conduct that is to be expected from a member of the bench. This must be so in order to preserve the dignity of the judicial office.

To that end, if there is truly nothing that Chief Justice Corona is hiding in his foreign currency deposit accounts, the CEAP strongly urges CJ Corona to take heed and permit the disclosure of the same. Not only is this consistent with ethical standards, the same is likewise consistent with the requirement in section 7 of Canon 4 requiring a judge to be financially transparent by informing them about his personal fiduciary interests as well as those of his family members. That way, he avoids being caught up later on in financial entanglements.

A disclosure of these foreign currency deposits also strengthens the capacity of the people to have access to relevant records not ordinarily available to them, an essential component in the public’s right to know whether its servant, the judge (the Chief Justice) is properly performing his duty. As held in Cowley vs Pulsifer (137 Mass. 392):

“It is of the highest moment that those who administer justice should act under the sense of public responsibility, and that every citizen should be able to satisfy himself with his own eyes as to the mode in which a public duty is performed.”

We therefore urge CHIEF JUSTICE CORONA to heed our call.

In the interest of truth and justice, allow the disclosure of these foreign currency deposit accounts in order that the Impeachment Proceedings can fully and fairly take place.

We pray that the Chief Justice recognize the impeachment proceedings as a vital part of our political exercise desiged by the 1987 Constitution for the protection of the body politic, and therefore must take all steps to ensure that this political exercise enshrined in our Constitution be faithfully carried out.

Finally we hope that CHIEF JUSTICE CORONA is one with us, in our collective call for authentic and long lasting reforms not only in the judiciary but also in other branches of government – characterized by a high sense of accountability to the public, financial transparency and utmost integrity, one that not only restores but re-affirms the faith of our people in its public servants.

The celebration of our College Days falls on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. Under Jewish law, on the fortieth day after the birth of the firstborn male child, it was to be offered to the Lord and redeemed with an offering. In the case of Mary, Joseph and Jesus this was a pair of turtledoves. After they had complied with the law, they encountered the old man, Simeon, who in his old age had been waiting for the coming of the messiah. Upon seeing Jesus, he is filled with joy, and he utters his famous Nunc Dimittis, which is to this day prayed everyday in the Liturgy of the Hours: “Now you may dismiss your servant, Lord, for my eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou hast prepared…” (Lk 2:29). In this prayer the Child is referred to as “light” – the reason why this Feast bears it special name, Candlemas or Candelaria – “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk 2:32).

It is a light, however, that is associated with upheaval, adversity and suffering, for it is light set against darkness. “Behold this Child is set for the rise and fall of many, a sign that shall be contradicted…” (Lk 2:34). Addressing Mary, the Child’s mother, Simeon predicts, “…a sword shall pierce through your own soul” (Lk 2:35). As we celebrate our College Days, we recall the theme of the Christmas epiphany: “the people that sat in darkness have seen a great light, and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up” (Mt. 4:16). Light is set against darkness.

In the celebration of our college life, how are we light set against darkness? We are this in learning, in teaching, in research, in service to the community and advocacy.

In the transmission of knowledge, the training of skills, in the formation of values, in the preparation for professional lives, we are light set against darkness. When we take a high school graduate and prepare him or her to be a civil engineer or a chemical engineer, or an electronics engineer; or, when we take a young person and train him or her to be savvy in the use of communications media; or, when we train a young person to care for the sick and mitigate suffering; or, when we empower a young person to set up computer systems, organize meaningful data bases, and create useful programs; or, when we help young people to appreciate the human condition, the importance of the lived relationship with God, and help them not only to know the difference between right and wrong, but to actually choose the right over the wrong… we are light set against darkness. That is what we celebrate in our College Days.

In research, in the search for truth against lies, often at the cost of painstaking collection of data, analysis, reflection, documentation, writing, discussion and debate, we are light set against darkness. We are this when we bring to light the truth about corruption in government, or speak the truth about the environmental hazards of large-scale mining, coal-fired power plants and industrial spraying, or when we work to honestly reform the educational system, or even labor to make solar panels work for us, we are light set against darkness. That is also what we celebrated in our College Days.

In outreach, in sharing of this truth with others, in living our Christian Faith in Jesus Christ so that this rubs off on others, we are light set against darkness, even though some may not like the light. Self-interested miners call us bogus universities. Corrupt politician counsel us to stick to academics. Secularists scorn the acknowledgement of a sacred realm. But that is what being truth set against darkness entails. Truth draws forth contradiction. The most innocent of hearts, a sword shall pierce. But in celebration of College Days we know the university cannot thrive on dated regurgitated truth in cans. It cannot keep its discovery of knowledge for itself. It must share of this, even when it means pain, pain to the person hit by the truth, pain the person speaking the truth. That we accept and embrace this, that is what we celebrate in College Days.

But I wish to offer another consideration of how we are light set against truth beyond instruction, research and outreach. Consider: friendship. In friendship, we are light set against darkness.

Friendship is so much a part of our college experience. It cannot be made at will, it cannot be bought, it cannot be imposed. It is a gift. For many, it is arguably the most important gift received in the context of college life – a gift of life, often for life.

It is wonderful the way it comes about. People come together to learn. They share classrooms, teachers or students, books, tasks, assignments, projects. They converse about recent readings, insights in learning, about movies, music, computer apps, life, and life’s challenges. They laugh, they converse, they sing, they dance; they go to movies, go to parties, meet in discos. They even meet in prayer and worship. In coffee shops, they do what young people do today: they bond. They become friends. They share meals, problems, accomplishments, life.

One of the greatest gifts that happen at the Ateneo de Davao is when people move from acquaintance to friends, to good friends, to deep friends, to best friends, to friends forever, to soul mates – and even sometimes to lovers. This is a gift that goes “beyond borders,” transcends the boundaries of the studentry, faculty, staff and administration; penetrates even the wall between the employed and the agency workers. Friendship is a gift. And since it is set against loneliness, and all the darkness and morbidity that comes with this, we are light set against darkness. As a community, we are powerfully networked lights set against darkness.

Here, there is an even deeper level: friendship in the Lord. Friendship is deepened in shared friendship with the Lord. Networked friendship is deepened when warmed by shared experiences of being loved by God, or challenged by shared discernment of being missioned by God in this world.

In friendship, shared friendship, we are light set against darkness. For this we can be profoundly grateful as we celebrate College Days.

Simeon recognized the Child as light. In our learning, our instruction, our service to the community, and in our shared friendship, let us appreciate that in the Lord we are light set against darkness. This is a responsibility for which we can be grateful as friends – friends in the Lord.

AWARE of the current state of the mining industry in the Philippines driven by corporate greed and the existing policy framework promoted by the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and inherited by President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III,

AWARE of the confession of the government that ‘there is no standard resource and environment valuation’ and institutional issues need to be addressed to ensure sustainability of the country’s fragile environment and natural resources’ (Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, pp. 310, 320-322),

AWARE that harsh effects of mining on water systems, biodiversity, air, land and island ecosystems lead to environmental destructions and disasters aggravating the impacts of hydro-meteorological hazards and threatening agriculture and food security,

AWARE that the Philippines is the most vulnerable to typhoons in the world; ranked third in disaster risk and natural hazards; and sixth considered in extreme risk due to climate change,

AWARE that the mining industry’s available economic data on value added, employment, exports and revenue contributions are aggregated, thus not helpful in economic analysis; and revenue shares of national and local government amounting to only 0.91% average contribution to Gross Domestic Product,

AWARE that mining companies in collaboration with concerned government agencies have been grossly violating human rights of communities and advocates through threats, extra-judicial killings, Investment Defense Force, mining militias, fabricating ‘free, prior and informed consents (FPIC)’, dividing and exploiting indigenous peoples communities and perpetuating other acts degrading human dignity,

AWARE that small-scale miners and workers have been blamed for various environmental disasters by the Chamber of Mines in favor of large mining companies, however, further aware that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and other agencies failed to fulfill its mandate to provide technical and, when displaced, extend immediate sustainable economic assistance,

AWARE that the number of local government units who are standing up to oppose mining in their respective jurisdictions is increasing, however, not recognized by the national government and mining companies,

AWARE of the aforesaid REALITIES,

We, therefore, call for the promotion of sustainable, responsible and equitable management and utilization of our natural resources, toward the conservation and protection of the environment and rehabilitation of mined areas.

We call for the REPEAL OF THE MINING ACT OF 1995 (RA 7942) and REVOCATION OF ARROYO’S REVITALIZATION OF THE MINING INDUSTRY (EO 270 and 270-A), which are ANTI-FILIPINO, ANTI-ENVIRONMENT AND VIOLATIVE OF HUMAN RIGHTS,

We call for the ENACTMENT OF THE CONSOLIDATED ALTERNATIVE MINERALS MANAGEMENT BILL pending in the House of Representatives,

We further call for an IMMEDIATE MINING MORATORIUM and suspension and cancellation, if applicable, of all mining operations, licenses and applications, while the relevant mining policies are being reviewed; and concerned government agencies be held accountable.

With this declaration, we therefore INVOKE

OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO A BALANCED AND HEALTHFUL ECOLOGY IN THE SPIRIT OF PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE AND INTER-GENERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Reiterating the words of our bother MACLIING DULAG, an environmental martyr of the Cordilleras:

“Such arrogance to speak of owning the land, when you shall be owned by it. How can you own that which will outlive you?”

LET THIS DECLARATION RECLAIM THIS LAND FOUGHT FOR BY THE HEROES AND MARTYRS OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.

ALL THESE FOR TRUTH, COUNTRY, AND THE COMMON GOOD.

In the name of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and of the Ateneo de Davao University it is my pleasure to welcome you to this International Conference on Mining in Mindanao. As a Catholic, Jesuit and Filipino University, it belongs to the mission of the Ateneo de Davao to “engage vigorously in environmental protection, the preservation of bio-diversity, and the promotion of renewable energy.” Grateful for the vast cultural wealth of Mindanao in its many diverse peoples, the university is also missioned to promote “communities touched and transformed by the faith, culturally resilient yet able to adapt to the modern world.” In addressing through this Conference concerns related to mining in Mindanao affecting its environment and its peoples, we echo the oft repeated concerns of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as well as of the Dioceses of Kidapawan, Marbel, Digos and Davao about the effect of especially large-scale mining but also of small-scale mining on the environment and on the peoples of Mindanao.

In a local advertisement of a company engaged in mining in Mindanoo, there is an image of a pick breaking the earth, then of a sapling emerging from the earth wonderfully developing into a tree; the voiced-over declaration then is, “Mining is about forests…”

Our view however is that in the real world mining is about business. It is about returns on investments. If the investments soar into billions and billions of dollars, mining is about taking the necessary means to assure that the investments return appropriate profits, even if this entails felling precious old-growth rainforests, damaging local bio-diversity, compromising the fresh water supply of the region, shamelessly shortcutting processes of free- and prior consent of the affected local communities, gaining local consent through payouts of short term benefits, and disrespecting the ordinances of the local government units against open-pit mining. In the context of national policy governing mining today, our view is that mining in Mindanao is about short-term benefits for some at the cost however of serious, long-term environmental destruction for all; it is an activity within policy framework that provides foreign investors with a legal permit to rape our environment with impunity, leave a hole in it 500 hectares large and 800 meters deep, use precious fresh water to transport toxic slurry through a 150 km pipe to the Davao gulf, then alienate the minerals patrimony of the Filipino people with a bottom-line benefit to the Filipino people “from zero to nil.” Contrary to the ads in the media attributing roads, development and trees to mining, our view is of mining bringing irreparable environment damage to Mindanao, cultural alienation, undermined local government, destroyed prospects of sustainable economic activities in agriculture, agri-business, and tourism, prevarication, lying, bribery, and the murder of such environmentally concerned pastors of the people as Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio.

It is in this context that I welcome you all to this International Conference on Mining in Mindanao. I welcome you who represent government, local and national, the Churches, the Muslim and Lumad communities, academe, non-government organizations, local supporters and friends. I welcome especially those of you who have come from the other side of the globe to share of your expertise with us today. May this Conference be an opportunity for all of us together to search for truth, to grow in insight and courage, and to further network in friendship towards a reformed national policy environment, complemented by a corps of capable enforcers, that would effectively govern if not eliminate mining in the Philippines today! May our Powerful and Compassionate Creator-God bless you in your concern for the environment and peoples of Mindanao! May he strengthen you and in one another fill you with hope!