Of saints and martyrs

A few days ago, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo said that a canonized saint—Saint Teresa of Avila no less!—and two future possible ones belong to the Arroyo-Tuason-Pidal family tree. Mr. Arroyo made the claim while aboard the flight that took the First Couple to the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. He revealed this even as the Arroyo administration is being accused of committing a variety of unsaintly acts.

This makes one review and reflect on what really makes a saint, particularly a martyr, canonized or not, in this day and age.

The Philippines now claims two canonized saints, both males—San Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod (whose name I couldn’t immediately recall) who were canonized in 1987 and 2000 respectively. These two men from a long-ago century left the saintly and daring Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, founder of a major Filipino religious congregation for women, whose cause has been well documented, out in the cold.

In the 1970s the Philippines needed a canonized saint, and so the proponents searched for one. That was how it was in the case of Lorenzo Ruiz who was killed, along with Dominican missionaries, in Japan several centuries ago. I had read the book on the search by Antonio Delgado, ambassador to the Vatican during the Marcos era, and was shocked to learn that there was no candidate at that time. In the beginning there was no name, no face, no place, no event to speak of. But the Philippines had to have a canonized saint and so the search was on. Lorenzo Ruiz surfaced.



As I asked in 1987, why couldn't it have been the garotted Fathers Burgos, Gomez and Zamora? Or for future canonization, the two Kabankalan lay Church leaders German Moleta and Alex Garsales who were murdered in the bitter sugar cane fields of Negros in 1980? Wasn't their death a proclamation not only of their Christian beliefs but also, and more importantly, of their faith in Christ's teachings about the Kingdom of Truth and Justice which these latter-day martyrs helped bring to fullness?

Well known theologian Karl Rahner questions the traditional concept of martyrdom which is simply that of a “free, tolerant acceptance of death for the sake of the faith” which excludes death in an active struggle. Rahner pleads that this concept be broadened. “The death Jesus `passively endured’ was the consequence of the struggle he waged against those in his day who wielded religious and political power. He died because he fought: his death must not be seen in isolation from his life.”

Rahner questions why Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador who was slain while fighting for justice, a struggle he waged out because of his conviction as a Christian, is not officially called martyr. "Certainly, (Romero) was prepared for his death,” Rahner insists. He also finds it strange that Maximilian Kolbe who offered to die in the place of a family man in Hitler's concentration camp was canonized as a confessor and not as a martyr which he should be.

Controversial Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff adds: "Jesus did not go unsuspectingly to his death…He remained radically faithful to his message, to the Father and to the course he had chosen. He did not avoid his adversaries, nor flee from the crisis in Galilee, but `resolutely took the road for Jerusalem' (Luke 9:51) for the final confrontation."

There are several kinds of martyrs, Boff says. There are martyrs because of their public profession of a faith that de-absolutizes and de-divinizes the powers of this world. History is full of such martyrs, he says, from the time the Roman emperors were declared divine to those who speak out against modern fascist tyrannies.

There are likewise martyrs, he adds, on account of their Christian practice derived from following Christ. Formerly, Boff says, Christians undertook actions, in recto religious, which had political consequences; today, more and more Christians, particularly in the Third World, are carrying out actions, in recto political, which originate in faith and the Gospel.
Christian martyrs or simply heroes? Only God knows where to draw the line. Enda McDonagh, author of “The Making of Disciples” tries to put the issue to rest: “It would be foolish to resist extending the range of Christian martyrdom to those who give their lives for their neighbor in political contexts. It would be equally foolish to interpret all deaths for political causes as unambiguous instances of Christian martyrdom.”

Isn’t the assassinated Protestant Rev. Martin Luther King,Jr., Black champion of civil rights in America a saint whom Catholics should emulate? What about the Hindu proponent of non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi? Or, the four Catholic women missionaries who were massacred in El Salvador, and recently, Sr. Dorothy Stang who died defending the Amazon forest and its inhabitants?

Filipinos do not have to search in musty archives. We have our own modern day Christian saints who remain alive in the hearts of those they lived and died for.

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“Seven in the Eye of History” has been compacted into a new cheaper version, “Mga Bagong Bayani: Modern Filipino Heroes” (edited by Asuncion David Maramba) and is now sold in bookstores. These seven heroes, including Ninoy Aquino, lived and died before the turn of the century. I wrote the one on Macli-ing Dulag.

Claretian Publications has a reprint of “All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets and Witnesses for our Time” by Robert Ellsberg. It’s a great mix of Therese of Lisieux, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Benedict, Paul VI, Hildegard of Bingen, Hammarskjold, George Fox of the Quakers, Dorothy Day, Takashi Nagai, etc. for 365 days.

A college for indigenous peoples

I wrote in the future tense then, I write in the present tense now. I had some doubts then, I don’t have those doubts now.

Late last year I wrote about Pamulaan, a special tertiary school or college for indigenous peoples (IP) that was being built in Mindanao. The target date for its opening was the opening of classes this June.

The dream has come true. Pamulaan recently opened with 47 IP students (from 19 tribes from all over the Philippines) enrolled in the college program.

Pamulaan means seedbed. The college aims to strengthen the potentials of indigenous youth for community leadership. It is a college education program for the IPs in the Philippines and a response to the IPs' dream of an educational program that is rooted in their life, culture and aspirations as a people.

Pamulaan is under the president of the University of South Eastern Philippines. The site is in USEP's Mintal campus in Davao City. IPs from North America recently came to visit and were surprised to find something so special and so focused.



Pamulaan is the first of its kind in the country, says founder and co-director Benjamin Abadiano who also dreamed and founded the successful Tugdaan Training Center for Mangyans in Occidental Mindoro. The center is now ably run by the Mangyans themselves with the help of the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters (SSpS).

Unlike Tugdaan (which also means seed bed), which is for high school and livelihood training, Pamulaan offers degree programs such as BA in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development, BS in Indigenous Peoples Education, BA in Peace Building and Multi-Cultural Studies, BS in Indigenous Agriculture. Pamulaan also offers ladderized and modular courses leading to an associate degree as well as short-term courses for community leaders and development workers.

Abadiano, 43, is one of the main driving forces behind the endeavor. A 2004 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Emergent Leadership, he was recently elected president of Assisi Development Foundation, of which he used to be executive coordinator. He took the place of Ambassador Howard Dee (his mentor and model) who is now Assisi’s chair. Assisi recently turned 30.

A dreamer and doer, Abadiano pulled all the stops to make the IPs' dream come true. He was not disappointed. Help came quietly like spring water flowing to seeds waiting to burst into life. Pamulaan was among the grantees of the recent World Bank-sponsored Panibagong Paraan funding campaign.

Pamulaan is the fruit of the partnership of various government and non-government agencies such as the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples, Assisi Development Foundation, Cartwheel Foundation, the Office of Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., and Ilawan Center for Volunteer and Leadership, which Abadiano also founded.

Pamulaan aims “to create culturally appropriate and relevant pathways of professional training and formation for indigenous youth and leaders.”

Assisi Foundation and other foundations have pledged scholarship funds. This means full tuition, miscellaneous fees, dorm stay and full board and lodging and travel expenses to project and practicum sites.

Important features of Pamulaan are the heritage house and library that showcase the richness of indigenous culture. The dorm within the campus gives IP students the chance to live together, exchange experiences and go through value formation programs.

Pamulaan is not just for the IPs of Mindanao. It is open to IPs from Luzon and Visayas and to non-IPs working for IPs.

Pamulaan is indeed a great dream whose time has come.

But why is Pamulaan attached to USEP, a government institution? Abadiano says making government one of the stakeholders would give Pamulaan a better chance of sustainability. Pamulaan “is not a fund-driven” project, Abadiano says. There was no funding in the beginning, but the moment the project was made known, funds just poured in. Of course, part of Abadiano's RM Award prize money (more than a million pesos) was earmarked for this project.

Abadiano is one of a kind, a rare find indeed. Deeply spiritual, this Jesuit-educated development worker is ever on the go. The IPs are the love of his life. It is among them that he experienced epiphany and enlightenment.

There are around 12 million IPs in the Philippines. They could be classified into 120 ethnic groups. Most of them have little or no access to “a culturally sensitive, appropriate and relevant education.” It is their right, both God-given and by law, to receive basic services, including higher education.

The IPs' rights are enshrined in the 1987 Constitution. In 1997 Congress passed the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA) which strengthened their right to be duly recognized and protected.

But some things are easier said than done. Many IPs continue to find difficulty in relating personally, culturally and academically with mainstream realities. It is hoped that education, such as is offered by Pamulaan, would put the IPs in step with the mainstream while being affirmed as proudly IP or PIP.

Pamulaan hopes to see the IPs proudly “owning” the education program that drew from the life-giving wilderness and communities whence they arose.

So while our national leaders continue to engage in verbal and political acrobatics, and while many of us are suffering from political diarrhea and dementia, there are special Filipinos who continue to dream dreams and do their own part as if there indeed is hope for this benighted nation.

Fake drugs could kill

The Inquirer is one of the institutions behind the current campaign against fake drugs. It is not every day that this paper joins a campaign. We’re quite choosy, you see.

Counterfeit drugs could kill. This was the title of the first part of the three-part series I wrote some years ago. At that time the Philippines landed on the list of proliferators of fake drugs released by the Drug Information Association that was meeting in Canada. Another concern at that time was adverse drug reaction (ADR). For while even genuine drugs could cause ADR, how much more the fake ones whose components only the fakers know about?

Listed as an ADR is ``failure of efficacy’’ or Type F. This is what sends patients asking, ``Why is the drug not working?’’ Therapeutic failure could be due to a drug that has little or nothing in it. In other words, some illegal manufacturers could have tampered with a brand’s contents and unless the doctor and patient get the drug tested, they have no way of knowing the cause of the problem.

A change of prescription could be the next option and if the new drug is not fake, it could work. That is, if it is not too late and the patient has not crossed the bridge of no return.

There has been a debate on whether or not brand names of drugs that have been counterfeited should be published so that the public may know. (I did provide a list.) Legit drug companies whose brands have been counterfeited could raise a howl and say they are getting a double whammy because sales of even the genuine items could suffer because consumers will stay away. That is the short-term adverse effect.



But there is a positive long-term effect. Exposing the counterfeit could put the evildoers’ work on hold. The informed public would pay more attention to what they are buying. In the end, the genuine drug makers would profit from this kind of vigilance.

Fake drugs are not like fake signature jeans or watches that could serve their purpose in much the same way as the original, and they’re even cheaper. Fake drugs sell like the genuine ones but they have reduced or no efficacy. Worse, they endanger lives.

According to R.A. 8203 or The Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs, counterfeit medicines refer to

1) the drug itself, or the container or labeling thereof or any part of such drug, container, or labeling bearing, without authorization, the trademark, trade name or other identification mark, or imprint or any likeness to that which is owned or registered in the Bureau of Patent;

2) a drug product refilled in containers by unauthorized persons if the legitimate labels are used;

3) an unregistered imported drug product, except drugs bought in the country for personal use as confirmed and justified by accompanying medical records;

4) drugs that contain no amount of, or a different active ingredient, or less than 80 percent of the active ingredient it purports to possess, as distinguished from an adulterated drug including reduction or less of efficacy due to expiration.

The first two would seem like stealing of intellectual property, much like faking signature jeans. Not that this crime should be condoned but if it were merely brand stealing but the essence of the product is as good as the genuine one (much like a fake Rolex would tell the same time as the genuine one) the poor would probably go for the fakes.

A pedicab driver/handyman told me the other day that he buys the medicine of his wife (whom I know and who’s recuperating from a stroke) tingi, that is, two pieces at most. After a long day’s work, he passes by a drugstore to buy ``dalawang piraso lang.’’ What if he learns about cheaper ones sold somewhere?

Number 4 (less than 80 percent active ingredient) is the one that could be life-threatening.

The Bureau of Food and Drugs has initiated once again a nationwide campaign against counterfeit drugs. There have been buy-bust operations and closure orders of drugstore selling fakes. How long will this zeal last?

I’ve been seeing TV info-ads on counterfeit drugs and how citizens could help curb the illegal activities the past weeks. Alas, the words and numbers on screen go so fast one wonders whether the viewers could catch them at all. So here is the toll-free hotline that you can call to report a counterfeit or a counterfeiter: 1-800-10-FAKEMED.

The Coalition Against Counterfeit Medicines is among those behind the awareness campaign. It encourages people to be more vigilant so that drug stores would sell only the real thing. It calls on the government to enforce the laws, and on lawmakers to even tighten the laws against counterfeiters.

The 12 members of the coalition are the Departments of Health, Justice, and Trade and Industry, Philippine Medical Association, Drugstores Association of the Philippines, Mercury Drug Corporation, Watson’s, Zuellig Pharma, Pfizer, Philippine Pharmaceutical Association, GMA-7 and the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

How to tell a fake? A suspected counterfeit has these tell-take signs: the appearance of the packaging or the medicine itself is different from the registered product. The printing on the packaging is somewhat blurred or of poor quality. There is no expiration date, lot or batch numbers. In some cases lot or batch numbers are excessively repeated. The brand name is larger than the generic name. The authenticity indicators such as holograms and tamper-evident seals are not always reliable as the counterfeiters can replicate these.

I just hope the campaign to separate the genuine branded drugs from the fakes does not kill the generic drugs and their manufacturers. I hope it does not put fear and doubt in the hearts of generic drug users who cannot afford the brand names.

Letter from East Timor

It wasn’t so long ago (2002) when I wept while I watched on television East Timor’s declaration of independence after being under the Portuguese for 400 years and Indonesia for almost 30 years and Xanana Gusmao taking his oath as the first president.

I was in East Timor so very briefly in 1995 for the Ahi Naklakan Solidarity Tour (Ahi Naklakan is Tetum for light) with human rights activists. After several days we were found out and promptly rounded up by the Indonesian military and brought to the airport.

When independence was nigh in 1999 violence erupted and many were killed, among them religious missionary sisters. Foreign journalists left in haste but thanks to information technology and e-mail, the world knew what was happening there. Even while surrounded by bursts of gunfire, missionaries e-mailed letters some of which I used in this space (``Epistles via e-mail’’, 9/23/99).

East Timor is again in the throes of war. (It is now supposedly the other Christian country in Asia besides the Philippines but what does this mean really?) Here again is a letter from a missionary whom I know and who had worked in the Philippines. She was assigned to East Timor a few years ago. For reasons of security I have removed names from her letter.

``Yesterday 28 May, I decided to temporarily leave East Timor via one of the evacuation flights to Darwin, Australia…



``The situation in Dili (the capital) became more and more chaotic with roaming youth gangs terrorizing the city. They have been burning houses, looting, threatening people, etc. It is a very complex and confusing situation. It is very hard to understand just what is happening.

``Saturday night there were pistol shots in the compound where I live. I was in my house with five Timorese friends who had sought refuge. The complicating factor is that my landlord is related to Prime Minister Alkatiri who is disliked by most of the population. Some of the homes of people related to government officials have been burned. I feared that my place may be burned even though it is at the back end of the Australian Embassy and adjacent to the Australian-East Timorese Defense Cooperation Program compound…

``On Saturday night my friends and I went to the airport and joined other internally displaced persons (IDP) there. We slept under the stars. By yesterday at noontime, the reports said that the situation was becoming more dangerous. The rebels were allegedly on their way to attack Dili.

``Around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday I decided that I would leave the country temporarily…Around 3:00 p.m. I just walked to the airport entrance and told an Australian soldier that I was an American with an Australian visa and would like to evacuate to Darwin…We left Dili around 8:00 p.m. on a C-130 with Timorese and other internationals.

``I am determined to return to Dili once the situation becomes more calm… I am willing to do anything to help East Timor. Let me start by writing what I know has been happening there…

``On the night of 27 May there was heavy shooting near (a Timorese friend’s) home and it continued until Saturday morning. They finally evacuated to a Catholic seminary at Fatumeta about one kilometer from Surik-mas. Yesterday afternoon while I was waiting for my flight to Darwin, I received a text from a friend who is British, that the seminary was being attacked. I immediately informed an Australian soldier at the airport and asked them to send troops to the seminary. Later I received another text message that the attackers were going to burn the vehicles to be used to evacuate the people from the seminary…

``A colleague and his family made it safely to Baucau on Friday afternoon. There was terrible shooting and burning of houses in Becora and Kuluhun since Saturday. (Someone) called me yesterday while I was at the airport and told me that his home and (our NGO’s office) have been burned…

``Other friends of mine have left their homes. There are thousands of IDPs at the airport, church compounds and religious communities. Some have been attacked.

``Around 1,800 Australian troops are on the ground but as far as I know they cannot attack; they can only fire if they are fired upon. One of my friends witnessed a house being burned by gangs in the presence of Australian troops who only fired shots in the air. I was told today there are road blocks put up by the gangs in different parts of the city. I experienced one on my way to the airport yesterday…

``I understand that the Prime Minister is under pressure to resign. President Xanana finally has complete control over the national and international forces. Up until last night Alkatiri was saying that he also was in control of the military forces. The police force collapsed and is totally dysfunctional. This is a very critical period for Timor. I believe that if the Prime Minister steps down now there is a chance that much of the violence will stop. But if he doesn't, I fear there could be all-out war.

``Please pray for us. The people have suffered so much. It is so tragic to see them at makeshift refugee camps. Men, women and children in their tents, on the ground, with kerosene stoves, sacks of rice, plastic bags filled with their belongings, just sitting and waiting, hungry and cold.

``The evening I slept on the ground was quite cool. So far there has been no rain. But if it should rain, I don't know where the people will go. My heart is weeping and I am also so angry with these power hungry men who lead countries for their self-interests and have no concern whatsoever for the people they are supposed to be serving. It is so unjust! Sometimes I just want to scream and ask, `Where is justice?’

``Please keep all of us in your prayers.’’