Shrine for the poor

Call it congruence, synchronicity or what, but this week brought a couple of church-related news that are good news.

Rising fast in Tandang Sora in Quezon City is a shrine, Santuario de San Vicente de Paul, dedicated to the cause of the poor of the city. It is named after the 17th-century French saint who dedicated his life to the very poor.

The Santuario’s raison d’etre sounds best in Pilipino: ``Ang tunay na esensiya ng Santuario de San Vicente de Paul ay hindi tumutukoy sa malamig na semento at matayog na pader. Ang Santuario ay ang mga taong bumubuo nito. Ang mahihirap ang tanging buhay ng Santuario, at ang mayayamang nais magbahagi ng kanilang biyaya sa mahihirap ang magiging katuwang nito na magsisilbing kamay at paa para sa patuloy na paglago. Ang Santuario… ay yayakap sa lahat ng uri ng tao, mayaman man o mahirap. Misyon ng simbahang ito ang bigyan ng sapat na atensiyon at pagkalinga ang mahihirap at kulang palad.’’

For those who don’t understand Pilipino: ``The essence of Santuario de San Vicente de Paul lies not in the cold concrete and the high walls. The Santuario is the people who form it. The life of the Santuario draws mainly from the poor, and the rich who want to share their blessings with the poor are the partners who would serve as hands and feet so that it will flourish. The Santuario will embrace all, both the rich and the poor. This church’s mission is to give attention and care to the poor and the less fortunate.’’



The Santuario will cost P100 to P150 million, I am told. Structures could vanish in a wink, but the spirit and vision behind them, if nurtured and built into hearts, could remain for all time. Church is more than just structure, we all know that, and this shrine that is taking shape is already showing in concrete how a church lives and breathes and thrives. But this is jumping the gun.

The cost would have made me groan had I not known about the spirit behind the project. Well, it wasn’t as if the money was all there in the beginning and suddenly it was all going to be poured into a cold structure. But, as the saying goes, if you build it they will come. The funds came as the building progressed, and the poor, yes, even the poor, continue to give their widow’s mite, because the shrine is theirs, and they know they belong. This is their cathedral. They say it speaks to them of hope.

Come to think of it, the so-called ``church of the poor’’ need not literally be a replica of the hovels that the poor live in, though I also do not want to see a gilded edifice soaring in the midst of destitution and the people who run it enjoying five-star comfort.

The Santuario is within the six-hectare seminary grounds of the Vincentian Fathers who run ministries in that part of Quezon City. Yes, they’re doing an amazing job over there, especially at the Payatas garbage dump.

According to Father Atilano Fajardo, the awe-struck project director who has not ceased being amazed by how fast the dream is becoming a reality, they started with a mere half a million pesos. I hope the P150-million ``investment’’ will multiply a hundred-fold and generate more concern of the city’s most neglected.

Held last Sunday, on the eve of the feast of St. Vincent, was a ``lakad alay’’ (walkathon) that started from the QC Hall and ended at the Santuario site. Walking together were the poor and the not so poor of the church as well as city officials. Mayor Feliciano Belmonte read the city ordinance declaring St. Vincent the ``patron of the urban poor of Quezon City.’’ (A city ordinance? Isn’t this crossing the church-state demarcation line?)

The structure is, first and foremost, a place of worship. It is a gathering place. A bridge between people, between rich and poor, Fr. Atilano says. It will be a ``listening church that becomes the voice of the unheard.’’ To be built into it are programs to help the poor. These should form the centerpiece, if you ask me. The city government has promised to be involved in the programs. But I hope politicians keep their hands off or it will be messy.

The church is a combination of classic and modern complemented by Filipino highlights. The history of the Philippine church and ``preferential option for the poor’’ will be depicted on the stained glass windows and the walls. Noted artists are donating their talents for these. The church will seat about 2,000 people. There will even be a catwalk for stage presentations. At the ossuary in the basement, one can view a depiction of Filipino burial customs.

Why build the shrine in these difficult times? The primer answers: ``Precisely because of the poverty we see around us, the shrine will serve as a visible representation of how one’s life should be dedicated to the service of the poor, while at the same time serve as an inspiration for all Filipino Christians to be of service to those most in need.’’

Indeed, it is a sign of contradiction. I say this as a compliment.

If you want to be involved, contact Fr. Fajardo at afajardo@cmphilippines.org.ph or 9309387. Don’t’ lose your cool if the woman who answers the phone asks: ``From what company? And what are you going to talk about (with Father)?’’. I wanted to tell her I was an ailing prostitute who wanted to help.

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Ongoing in Manila is the international convention of the United Evangelical Mission which is tackling globalization, human rights, the AIDS crisis, economic injustice and violence against women. The UEM is an organization of 34 member churches in Asia, Africa and Europe. High on its agenda is the negative effects of globalization.

VP Noli writes re `riles’

Very welcome is the letter to this column from Vice President Noli de Castro in response to our concern about the poor families living along the railroad tracks. Tens of thousands of these families will have to go when construction of the modern railway system (the North Rail) starts in a couple of months. The railway project is part of the Strong Republic Transit System, a flagship project of the Arroyo administration.

VP de Castro’s letter is welcome because it would be a gauge for those in the ``Bantay Riles’’ (non-government and people’s organizations) in monitoring how the government handles the human side of this project that will change the landscape and they way people live and travel.

Sure, we all need new ways of doing things and the long awaited modern transit system is welcome but we also need to preserve the dignity of human beings, the poor most especially, who live dangerously along the tracks.

As to the big illegal structures built along the way by the non-poor who wanted to free-load, bulldoze them tomorrow.

Note that VP de Castro does not use the word squatters. He uses the word settlers.
``Thank you very much for your concern over the plight of `riles’ settlers who will be affected by the railway rehabilitation project, which you wrote about in your Sept. 9 column, `Bantay Riles.’



``As Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) I would like to give you seom background information and updates on the resettlement of the `riles’ settlers.

``While actual work for the North Rail project is yet to begin, the difficult task of relocating the `tens of thousands of families along the railroad tracks’ as you put it, has already commenced as early as last year according to the resettlement plan which HUDCC helped to prepare.

``In fact we have completed the clearing of the Right of Way (ROW) along the Kalookan alignment of North Rail which involved the relocation of 626 informal settler families who either opted to resettle at the Towerville housing project in San Jose, Del Monte or availed of the `Balik-Probinsya’ program, with an assistance package worth P15,000 for transportation, as well as food vouchers.

``From 2002 to March 2004, seven consultations have been held in Kalookan alone which were convened by HUDCC, NHA, an attached agency of HUDCC, and participated in by the concerned agencies including Philippine National Railways (PNR), North Luzon Railway Corporation-Bases Conversion Development Authority (NLRC-BCDA), National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), Philippine Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Education (DepEd), and the Department of Health (DOH), as well as NGOs such as the Urban Poor Associates.

``In all these consultations, the concerned families and communities were fully informed of their relocation options. We also made it clear that the resettlement program will be beneficiary-led and in-city, to the extent allowed by the budget. This is to minimize the adverse effects of dislocation among the affected families.

The resettlement program likewise provides for an assistance package amounting to P201,970.00 per family. This amount covers serviced home lots, housing materials loan, livelihood assistance, water/power connections as well as food allowance. As indicated earlier, we are also offering the Balik Probinsya program to families who will opt to go back to their provinces.

``We are now prioritizing the clearing of the ROW for the Malabon alignment which will connect to the Kalookan segment. This will affect 3,399 families, of which 400 have already expressed their desire to vacate the area voluntarily.

``While the HUDCC-NHA has already held previous consultations with communities who will be affected by future clearing and relocation operations in the Malabon area, local inter-agency committee (LIAC) meetings are continuously being convened every two weeks by the local government of Malabon. These meetings are participated in by various agencies such as the PCUP, DOTC, NAPC, HUDCC-NHA, and representatives of various people’s organizations.

``Meanwhile, parallel consultations are also being undertaken weekly by the HUDCC-NHA and PCUP with the affected residents. We would like to invite you to attend these consultations to observe how they are conducted and to give you a better idea of the issues and concerns of the various sectors involved.

``AS to the funding aspect, the resettlement program for both North and South Rail settlers will require an estimated P8 billion. HUDCC is now in the final stage of contracting a loan from the National Development Company (NDC) amounting to P3.5 billion. This will be sourced from a planned flotation of NDC bonds.

``The Department of Budget and Management, on the other hand, committed to immediately release P100 million to NHA, and another P150 million within the month for the project. This will be used to start the relocation along the Malabon alignment by the end of this month.

``Much of the work still lies ahead of us, and we remain firm in our commitment to protect the welfare of the families to be relocated.

``As the new HUDCC chairman, I bring to this position my long-time personal and professional experience in dealing with and serving the Filipino masses. Thus, I can personally guarantee you that I will exert every effort to make sure that the families living along the railways will not have to ``go through a worst phase’’ in the course of giving them a better life away from the dangers and the poor living conditions which they have had to bear with for a long time.

``Thank you very much.

``Sincerely yours,
Vice President Noli de Castro.’’

1,347 unfound

They went missing and have not been found until today. They are the 1,347 victims of ``enforced disappearance’’ from 1971 to 2003. They are the so-called desaparecidos (disappeared) who walked into the darkness and were never seen again.

Sept. 21 is upon us again. It will rake up painful memories and open wide the wounds that never quite heal. It is a time to pause to see where we have healed and where still we bleed. Justice still eludes the countless who had suffered while those who caused the suffering walk with their heads high.

Thirty two years ago on Sept. 21, 1972, when Pres. Marcos declared martial law, many people feared for their lives and their loved ones. But that day, they could not have imagined the greater horror, the sorrow, the darkness that would later visit countless lives.

Although some families already had a foretaste of what was to come the year before (the first case of disappearance happened in 1971) they had no inkling of what still lay ahead. The Reign of Terror would later cut a wide bloody swath across the land and for 14 years the dictatorship would hold the nation in its tight grip.



Next week, on Sept. 22, at 10 a.m., the ``Bantayog ng mga Desaparecido’’ will be unveiled at the Redemptorist Church grounds in Baclaran. The Bantayog includes the refurbished Flame of Courage Monument created by artist Lito Mondejar in 1994 and the new 21 granite slabs on which the names of the 1,347 victims are etched. The Bantayog was designed by painter-sculptor Bessie Rifareal who began work in 2003.

This place is dedicated to those who offered their lives for the country and whose ideals remain an inspiration for many who work for a just and free society. It is also dedicated to the families who carry the burden of loss and continue to bravely face the future while continuing to pick up the shards of their lives.

The Flame of Courage Monument depicts the figure of a woman holding a lighted torch. She is in search of someone. With her is a little child holding a picture of the one they are looking for. The life-size monument symbolizes struggle and undying hope.

Come, pray and remember in this hallowed place. Come, pray and make a vow never to let unbridled tyranny destroy lives again.

Behind this endeavor is Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND). FIND has been behind projects helping the families in their search for the missing and for justice as well.

FIND continues to document cases of disappearances. Yes, abductions and summary killings continue to this day. The latest case happened in 2003. FIND documents ``state perpetuated’’ cases only. Cases that were, at first, thought to be the handiwork of the military and later proven to have been part of the communist ``purge’’ or wrongful execution of communist militants by their own comrades have been removed from the list. A FIND staffer however said that FIND continues to assist the families of victims of these executions because they have become part of the FIND family. They now have their own memorial at the University of the Philippines’ sunken garden.

Just a little footnote. I’ve always had a problem with what the acronym FIND stands for. FIND stands for Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance. How can one be a victim of one’s own disappearance, be it voluntary or involuntary? Disappearance is the result, not the cause. Like there is no such thing as a victim of death. One is a victim of abduction, torture, oppression, etc. but not of disappearance or death.

``Families of the disappeared victims of tyranny’’ (or whatever) is more precise although it would not fit the four-letter acronym. Here the word disappeared is a noun (not a verb) and is the English translation of the Spanish desaparecido or the missing. Desaparecido was commonly used in Latin America where military dictators ruled with impunity.

Sorry ha, but that’s been bothering me for years. What’s in a name? A lot.

One of the known victims of military abduction is Father Rudy Romano, a Redemptorist priest who disappeared in 1985 in Cebu where he was assigned at that time. The Redemptorists’ hospitality to the memorial for the disappeared partly stems from the fact that one of their own has been missing for almost 20 years. The search for Fr. Romano was long and arduous. It sparked international interest and led to the highest court of the land. And just like in any search, it had its share of rumors, bum steers, hoaxes and hearsay. The details are in the biography ``Romano of the Philippines’’ written by Lilette Chan-Santos.

At a small media dinner I attended some years ago, a military general said he believed Fr. Romano was abducted ``by the PC’’.

Johannes Barroso was arrested in 1975 together with Eugenio Flores and Nenita Luneta in Cabanatuan City by members of the 5th Constabulary Security Unit of the Philippines Constabulary and brought to the PC headquarters in the city. Barroso would later disappear without a trace. The military denied having arrested him.

And there is 20-year-old UP-Los Banos student Gerardo Faustino who was arrested in Makati by a military intelligence group in 1977. There is Prudencio Bati-on of Sta. Cruz, Manila who disappeared on March 1, 1999. By the way, the Inquirer editor in chief’s first cousin, Leticia Pascual, is also among the disappeared.

The last line of the dedication at the Bantayog reads: ``Para sa ating lahat na nagpapatuloy ng laban na sinimulan ng mga desaparecido para sa katarungan, kalayaan at pagkakapantay-pantay.#

Bantay riles

So what is everybody waiting for, the President wanted to know.

There’s no stopping the North Rail project, we are told, and I couldn’t help thinking of ``The Runaway Train’’, the 1988 bone-rattling movie that left viewers breathless and all shook up.

Ten hours after she returned from her state visit to China, Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo expressed impatience over the slowness of the North Rail project that would span the Manila-Clark (Pampanga) distance. Actual work on the ground has yet to start. China had already released the $400 million for the first phase that would connect Manila to Malolos, Bulacan.

Ms. Arroyo’s trip to China had a lot to do with this project. The Chinese Eximbank has also approved the second phase. During her pulong bayan held at the Cubao LRT station, the President, reports said, was impatience personified. She even called for North Rail president Jose Cortez Jr. who was having coffee in another LRT platform. Start now, she ordered. There were no reports about Cortez spilling his coffee and getting scalded.

The Strong Republic Transit System is one of the President’s flagship infrastructure projects meant to boost economic growth and employment. Who does not want to have a modernized railway system that would get people and products faster to their destinations and minus the hassle of road travel? Who does not want a clean, well lighted train speeding with a humming sound, minus garbage bags piling on its roof?



But wait. How do you uproot the tens of thousands of families living along the railroad tracks? Most motorists see them only on the periphery of their vision as they cross the tracks. If you are on a helicopter you’d have a better view of the colonies clustered on both sides of the tracks.

Many would probably ask—how in heaven’s name did homes proliferate in these dangerous areas? Dangerous is an understatement. Many homes are a foot away from the tracks. A few months ago I did a two-part series on the dangers of living along the riles. I’ve interviewed some survivors of train hits and I couldn’t help thinking that it seems a miracle that the number of casualties is not bigger than what is listed.

Riles denizens are a death-defying breed indeed. Why, they’ve even invented the foot-propelled trolley that runs on the tracks and ferries passengers from point to point.

But the question now is not how communities grew along the tracks. The question now is how to uproot them from there, how to relocate them in a manner that is humane. Some 35,000 families are going to be affected by the North Rail project alone. The south is another story. From the north to the south there are about 70,000 riles families.

Relocation does not mean dislocation in the physical sense only. There are psychological, socio-cultural and emotional factors that have to be considered. A whole way of life is going to vanish, hopefully to be replaced by a better one. But what if life gets worse before it gets better? Must the poorest go through a worst phase?

This is the issue that Representatives Mario Aguja, Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel and Loretta Ann Rosales of Akbayan Party want to address.

They recently filed House Resolution 165 directing the committees on Housing and Urban Development and on Civil, Political and Human Rights ``to investigate the North Rail and South Manila Commuter Rail rehabilitation projects and its effects on the residents living in areas adjacent to the railway tracks.’’ Fourteen other representatives co-authored the resolution, among them, Alan Peter Cayetano, Roilo Golez, Reylina Nicolas, Miles Roces, Luis Asistio and Eduardo Zialcita.

They cited article XIII of the Constitution that says that ``urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwellings demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner.’’ The Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 also prescribes for a ``just and humane eviction.’’

Because of the great number to be affected by the railway rehab projects, Aguja, Hontiveros-Baraquel and Rosales are calling on government agencies concerned in the North Rail and South Manila Commuter Rail Projects to present to Congress and to the public their concrete resettlement plans.

These agencies are the Philippine National Railways, NEDA, Department of Transportation and Communication, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, National Housing Authority, project proponent North Luzon Railways Corporation. The local governments too.

Where are the resettlement sites for the families to be affected? What are the social preparations being made? Have public consultations been conducted? What are the timetables?

What is the budget, what are the sources of funds for this massive resettlement operation? What are the lead implementing agencies that will assure that the process complies with laws and respects human rights?

Aguja has recommended that lawmakers from districts to be affected set aside portions of their pork barrel for the riles dwellers’ resettlement. He has also commended the efforts of Bantay Riles, a new coalition of organizations monitoring the railway projects.

The north’s first phase will be 32.2 kms. The total project cost is US$503 million. It will have four stations located in Caloocan, Valenzuela, Marilao, Bocaue, Guiguinto and Malolos.

Phase 2 will be a branch line to Subic. Phase 3 will connect Caloocan to Fort Bonifacio Global City. Phase 4 goes all the way to San Fernando, La Union. Partial Operation is in 2006, project completion in 2007.

Bantay Riles is watching. I hope church groups would do the same. Yes, the bulldozers are sure to come.

Asian idols, Asian stars

Star-struck, star-studded, star search, star quality, star factor, star complex, star potential, star in a million, stardom. It’s all about stars. The young are bombarded with star images, dazzled by star dust, enticed with the possibility of becoming instant stars themselves.

TV shows like ``American Idol’’ surely spawned a lot of ``idol’’ contests all over the world. The local electronic media networks are trying to outdo one another in flaunting their latest finds, showing the mesmerized world how good they are in their business of entertaining you and me.

But what’s a star?

If we go by the pop searches and contests on TV here and abroad in the recent past, the stars are those who have captivated their audience and, of course, the ``star’’ judges, with their vocal talent, originality in projecting themselves, persistence, never-say-die attitude, physical stamina and beauty, the quality of their delivery. One could go on and on.

It’s a battle of nerves too and those who endure and survive to the finals, even if they don’t make it to the top three, are stars too. You have to give it to them.

It all looks so open too. The audience is sometimes even privy to the physical make-overs. People listen in to the judging, the cutting remarks, the grudging compliments of the judges. They are witness to how these star wannabes go through the wringer. Why, the TV viewers even participate in the star-making through the use of their thumbs, by texting, that is.

Then, suddenly, a new star, a new idol, is born. The star-making machine continues to churn out more. Some of these finds stay long in the limelight, others fade away too soon. Not a few become victims of their own celebrity status.



I don’t know how long this star craze will be foisted on the young and the old, how long it will sell to advertisers, when the audience will become weary of it and when it will be replaced by something totally different.

But surely the high-rating entertainment olympics which saw the young go through vocal paroxysms and make facial contortions in order to impress the audience with their lung power has raked in oodles for both the networks and the contestants and their coterie.

And one has to credit these young people who continue to enter the race and push themselves to the limit. One could only hope that their experience broadens their world view and their grasp of their surroundings. They should not get fixated in a star mold or in outer space. Otherwise, Houston, we have a problem.

There is a problem when the words star and idol become interchangeable as the entertainment olympics seem to have projected. For by idol, we mean someone worth looking up to and emulating.

Stardom, as we know it, comes about because of a person’s great talent, beauty, intelligence, physical strength and agility as in the case of those in sports. Add charisma and you have a blazing star. Media packaging and projection do wonders too.

Persons gifted with the above become idolized. One can’t discount the possibility that some will graduate from being idolized stars to being true idols/models indeed.

But there are persons whose greatness comes not just from the wealth of gifts they were born with and have honed to near perfection and exhibited under the glare of publicity. The shine because of the greatness of their spirit, the greatness of their giving. They shine through, not because of borrowed light, but because of their deeds for others. These are true idols indeed. And these idols need not be stars.

Searching for idols for the young? The book ``Great Men and Women of Asia, Volume 1’’ was launched last Monday by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation and Anvil Publishing. Between covers are 15 stories about RM awardees in the early years of the RMAF which began its work in 1958. More stories will be written, I promise you. We owe that to the young.

Here are the first 15. The titles tell you something about greatness.

Mother Teresa: Wanting the Unwanted, Loving the Unloved; Akira Kurosawa: the Filmmaker as Humanist; Sir Henry Tristram Holland & Ronald Holland: Healers in a Forgotten Land; Y.C. James Yen: Dreamer, Doer, Citizen of the World; Augustine Nguyen Lac Hoa: Lifesaver, Refugee, Soldier, Priest;

Tee Tee Luce: Savior of Street Waifs; Mochtar Lubis: Freedom Fighter, Truth Teller; Verghese Kurien: Milkman to India’s Millions; Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein: Leadership without Fanfare; Satyajit Ray: Poet of Great Cinema;

Tarzie Vittachi: Warrior of the Printed Word; Helen Kim: Freeing Women’s Minds and Hearts; Akhter Hameed Khan: One with the Poor; Lawrence and Horace Kadoorie: A Lifetime of Philanthropy; The Dalai Lama: The Simple Monk from Tibet.

The writers: Pennie de la Cruz, Ester Dipasupil, Angelina Goloy, Ma. Socorro Naguit and myself. Lorna K. Tirol edited and Yasmin Ong illustrated with pen and ink.

The book is cheap at P280. It will be launched again, sometime soon, at Powerbooks. Anvil (6373621) or RMAF (5213166 to 68) if you can’t wait.

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If you have telephone directories piling up in your house, why not donate them to the livelihood program of the Alay Kapwa Christian Community? These will be transformed into beautiful ladies’ bags and gift baskets and earn income for the poor who make them. You will find some of these products at the Alay Kapwa stall in Rockwell.

Please, if you are able, drop your old phone books at the residence of Maring Feria, 3 Taurus, Bel Air, Makati, tel. 8956234. Or, if you have gathered many, they could be picked up. Thank you, thank you.