THREE YEARS OF JUBILATION: ZAMBO CATHOLICS ARE SET TO ENTER A NEW FAITH EXPERIENCE Friday, May 16, 2008 02:36:43 PM
IF A biblical jubilee is “a year of favor from the Lord”, then the
three consecutive years – from 2008 to 2011 – of the Zamboanga
Archdiocese’s double centenary celebration should make the local
Catholic community thrice-blessed. On May 19, the Archdiocese will
mark its golden anniversary as archdiocese; on April 10, 2010, it will
commemorate Pope Pius X’s papal bull issued in 1910 that appointed
Zamboanga as the first diocese in Mindanao and only the fourth in the
Philippines.
“Zamboanga today, its unique culture, its Chavacano language, its
songs, its dances, its people’s heart and charm, its festive and
respectable character, its people’s piety and sense of the divine, all
this has been greatly shaped, influenced and sustained by the presence
of the Catholic faith among our people”, Archbishop Romulo G. Valles
said.
3rd Nat’l Assembly for the Pastoral Care of Nomads and Badjaus in the Philippines Friday, May 16, 2008 03:18:39 PM “SAMA-Bajau”
is a name tagged to a group considered the poorest among the poor
tribes known especially in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Zamboanga
Peninsula. It would not then be a surprise that the Samal-Bajau was
the center of discussion and direction-setting of the 3rd National
Assembly for the Pastoral Care of Nomads and Bajaus in the Philippines
held this April 4 - 6, 2008 at the Jardin de La Viña Hotel and
Restaurant, Gov. Alvarez Avenue, Zamboanga City. Being the third, this
assembly is an offshoot of two others.
Rubber Industry in Basilan Now Bouncing Back Friday, May 16, 2008 03:11:53 PM By Darwin Wally Wee
Isabela City, Basilan – THE
distinctive aroma of unrefined rubber is unpleasant to the nose, but
for Domingo M. Narciso, who is managing the biggest rubber plantation
in this province, that smell could easily equate to gold. "Aside from
coconut, rubber has been the major source of income of people here," he
told PeaceWorks at the cooperative's plantation, located halfway
between the cities of Isabela and Lamitan.
More than 10 years after the University of the Philippines Land Grant
turned over its 4, 018 hectares of land to the more than 1,000
planters, the Sta. Clara Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Integrated
Development Cooperative now tries to revive the "rubberdom" of the
province.
Bashing Local Media Friday, May 16, 2008 02:46:34 PM IN his message on the occasion of the
observance of 42nd World Communication Day last May 4, Pope Benedict
XVI underscored the “extraordinary potential” of social media. He said:
“Without their contribution it would truly be difficult to foster and
strengthen understanding between nations, to breathe life into peace
dialogues around the globe, to guarantee the primary good of access to
information, while at the same time ensuring the free circulation of
ideas, especially those promoting the ideals of solidarity and social
justice.”
The Pope, however, warned in the kindest of terms that media “does not
hesitate at times to have recourse to vulgarity and violence”. He
rhetorically inquired if “it is wise to allow the instruments of social
communication to be exploited for indiscriminate ‘self-promotion’ or to
end up in the hands of those who use them to manipulate consciences.”
