One final act of love and the end of all human sacrifices --Good Friday

March 30, 2018
By Frank J. Hernando

Scripture Text: John 18:1 - 19:42

1. It is Good Friday. Commemorating the death of Jesus on the cross should not be called good at all. It should rather be called Violent Friday, if not Martyrdom Day! In many countries where the Lenten Season and the Holy Week have red letter days such as Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, people would rather spend time with family and spending leisurely time on the beach because of the simmering heat of the dry season rather than stay put, spend the days in self-introspection and spiritual retreats reflecting on the meaning of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Have solemn religious commemoration been eroded with the need to escape from work places and from the pressures of daily life?

2. Good Friday has been claimed to be good for humanity because Jesus Christ, the Son of God was offered by God as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. Theological articulation of God’s offer of salvation to humanity through a human sacrifice is a once and for all a sacrifice that replaces the scapegoat at the altar of sacrifice. In Christian theology there is what we call ‘soteriology’ or principles and understanding of salvation. It focuses on God’s saving act through the Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for propitiation of the sin of the world or of humanity.

3. Our Judeo Christian theology or understanding of salvation goes back to the Old Testament books, especially the Book of Exodus which is considered the watershed of God’s purposive acts of salvation from concrete social oppression of the Hebrew people in the land of Egypt and searching, journeying and settling in the land of promise where a nation of mix tribal origins forged their unity through a socio-religious covenant. God’s initiative for salvation of God’s people was articulated by Moses and the succeeding leaders, like the judges, kings, prophets, and later through Jesus Christ.

4. The suggested Good Friday texts for this year is from the Gospel of John. In the pericope we can read the sequence of events from the eve of the Passover Feast when Jesus and his disciples had supper and where Jesus disclosed Judas betrayal. From my reading of the narrative the sequence of the events on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday:

Sequence of events:
The arrest at the Garden, Judas identified Jesus to the Roman soldiers
Peter’s use of sword to defend Jesus
Jesus brought before Annas, then to Caiaphas, the high priest
At Pilate’s court, flogging on Jesus, the crown of thorns and the purple rob
Peter’s 3 times denial of association with Jesus
Pilate and judgment by public outcry/trial
Pilate found no fault in Jesus, he was initially asked, ‘Are you king of the Jews?’
Pilate was scared about the public trial, asking questions, “what is truth?” and “where are you from?”
The verdict of the crucifixion, Jesus suffering on the cross
Last words of Jesus on the cross, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ The two other last words were, ‘I am thirst’ and ‘It is finished.’
The last rites for a dead body and burial of Jesus

5. The focus of Good Friday events in the Gospel narratives is atonement. In atonement God initiates the means for the propitiation of sins of humanity. It also discloses the victimization of an innocent scapegoat who should bear the sins and its blood provides the remission of sins. The theological understanding of atonement and victimization from anthropological perspective has been articulated by Rene Girard and his associates.The following paragraphs were culled from an article Atonement and Mimetic Theory:

The biblical and Christian power of understanding phenomena of victimization comes to light in the modern meaning of certain expressions such as “scapegoat.” A “scapegoat” is initially the victim in the Israelite ritual that was celebrated during a great ceremony of atonement (Lev. 16:21). The ritual consisted of driving into the wilderness a goat on which all the sins of Israel had been laid. The high priest placed his hands on the head of the goat, and this act was supposed to transfer onto the animal everything likely to poison relations between members of the community. The effectiveness of the ritual was the idea that the sins were expelled with the goat and then the community was rid of them.

b) This ritual of expulsion is similar to that of the pharmakos in Greece, but it is much less sinister because the victim is never a human being. When an animal is chosen, the injustice seems less, or even nonexistent. This is no doubt why the scapegoat ritual doesn’t move us to the same repugnance as the “miraculous” stoning instigated by Apollonius of Tyana [described in ch. 4]. But the principle of transference is no less exactly the same. In a distant period when the ritual was effective as ritual, the transfer of the community’s transgressions onto the goat must have been facilitated by the bad reputation of this animal, by its nauseating odor and its aggressive sexual drive.

c) In the primitive and archaic world there are rituals of expulsion everywhere, and they give us the impression of enormous cynicism combined with a childish naivete. In the case of the scapegoat the process of substitution is so transparent that we understand it at first glance. It is this comprehension that the modern usage of “scapegoat” expresses; in other words, it is a spontaneous interpretation of the relationship between the ancient Jewish ritual and transferences of hostility in our world today. These latter are no longer part of religious ritual, but they always exist, usually in an attenuated form.

d) The people participating in rituals did not understand these phenomena as we do, but they observed their reconciling results and appreciated them so much, as we have seen, that they attempted to reproduce them without feeling shame. This was the case because the operation of transferring sins from community to victim seemed to occur from beyond, without their own real participation. The modern understanding of “scapegoats” is simply part and parcel of the continually expanding knowledge of the mimetic/imitative contagion that governs events of victimization. The Gospels and the entire Bible nourished our ancestors for so long that our heritage enables us to comprehend these phenomena and condemn them.

e) “But never,” you will tell me, “does the New Testament resort to the term ‘scapegoat’ to designate Jesus as the innocent victim of an escalation of mimetic/imitative contagion.” You are right, no doubt, but it does use an expression equal and even superior to “scapegoat,” and this is lamb of God. It eliminates the negative attributes and unsympathetic connotations of the goat. Thereby it better corresponds to the idea of an innocent victim sacrificed unjustly. Jesus applies another expression to himself that is extremely revealing. It is drawn from Psalm 118: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” This verse tells not only of the expulsion of the single victim but of the later reversal that turns the expelled victim into the keystone of the entire community. (pp. 154-156)

f) The point to which Girard is leading is that the Lamb of God is taking away from us this sin of the world. Scapegoating is becoming increasingly difficult. He writes: Because of Jewish and Christian influence scapegoat phenomena no longer occur in our time except in a shameful, furtive, and clandestine manner. We haven’t given up having scapegoats, but our belief in them is 90 percent spoiled. The phenomenon appears so morally base to us, so reprehensible, that when we catch ourselves “letting off steam” against someone innocent, we are ashamed of ourselves.

g) It is easier than in the past to observe collective transferences upon a scapegoat because they are no longer sanctioned and concealed by religion. And yet it is still difficult because the individuals addicted to them do everything they can to conceal their scapegoating from themselves, and as a general rule they succeed. Today as in the past, to have a scapegoat is to believe one doesn’t have any.

6. As Christians we are concerned about the our personal and social life and that concern springs from our faith that because God in Jesus Christ forgiven our sins through the death of Jesus on the cross, our neighbors near or far should as well accept this sacrifice Jesus did for the remission of their personal sins. Perhaps your personal belief in the atoning power of God’s love in Jesus death on the cross enables you to live a life of love and compassion. But this faith of ours should not only be a personal possession to keep. Isn’t that true that Jesus’ mission was in the first place social and secondly personal?

7. In the context of forces labor and marriage migration, millions of Filipinos, not less than ten million scattered in many countries in the globe, or 5,800 individuals leave the country every day, have opted to seek jobs outside of the country. Many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) did not live long to see the fruits of their labor because they came home in a box due to unfortunate experiences of abuse and consequent violent deaths. Thousands, at least 4,000 suspected street-level drug addicts were killed in the course of conducting the anti-drug war of the Duterte government in less than 2 years. Many indigenous people were killed for defending their ancestral lands.

8. All these are the transferences of scapegoating in the Philippines. Christians should recognize this, because the lives of the scapegoats are ours and those who benefit from our people’s blood, sweat and tears are those who concentrated more power and wealth in their hands and families. May Good Friday’s meaning enlighten us and God’s love in Jesus Christ save our society and the world. Amen.

Saturday night reflection

Fourteen (14) degrees Celsius today was cool. Given that it is a Saturday a good number of people went out to the parks and spending time with family and friends. I was on my bike after a week of standing by as winter temps came back for  a week or so. Today I was looking for signs of Spring and there were very few flowering plants that are budding. Very hopeful signs indeed. But nature in Gyeonggi Forest Park is predominantly dry, golden brown and trees are still bare. As the Passion Sunday comes tomorrow and the Holy Week approaches it is good to reflect on the meaning of the passion and death of Jesus. +

Maundy Thursday--The final wash for love and a morsel of bread for the way

The final wash for love and a morsel of bread for the way
Maundy Thursday
March 29, 2018
By Frank J. Hernando

Scripture Text: John 13:1-35

1. It has long been I have not led a Maundy Thursday liturgy, I estimate it to be sixteen years and similarly with Good Friday service. Both liturgical events I have missed leading in Korea because the Presbyterian local churches we are connected with do not hold these services during the holy week but do not miss to hold Easter Day services. No holy week holidays here in Korea, like Maundy Thursday and Good Friday like what we have in the Philippines. These two important days in Lent are celebrated in the weekly or monthly Lord’s Supper liturgy.

2. Maundy Thursday as captured in the liturgical sequence is part of the Passion narratives in the Gospels. The events that takes place at the Jewish Passover feast which Jesus and his disciples observed took place in a place temporary leased for the occasion. In the Passover meal that Jesus and his disciples prepared resembled the established Jewish ritual meal which is comparable to the descriptions of the Passover meal in the book of Exodus. The narrative of the John provides the details of how Jesus dealt with the impending betrayal of Judas and how he directed the fluidity of emotional tide among the disciples. We can follow Jesus lead in the Passover meal and the post meal disclosures of Jesus with the disciples.

3. First, Jesus knew that on the night of the Passover Feast is the time when he willingly accept the reality of betrayal, violence and death that his betrayer and persecutors will do and inflict on him. There is that resolute resolve that his love for his people and humanity as whole outweighs the anxiety of separation from family and disciples and the pain of physical violence and the dying process that leaves a human person helpless and would rather choose to be shot by a bullet from a gun than from wounds that torture one until the last breath.

4. The extent of pain that humans endure can be unbearable. But when someone is there to assure us that after the experience of severe pain, the amount of pain is not like we think it to be. Our mental and psychological response to relational break ups, such those of lovers, or marriage partners, and other forms of social relations, all depends on how we are willing to go through and endure the pain for a greater goal or cause. This is very essence of John’s capture of Jesus resolve, “...knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself”(v.3-4). The inner predisposition has been put into action.

5. The intrinsic tendencies of betrayal in Judas and in everybody in that dining room were awakened and it looks like a bomb that can explode and destroy all that are in close proximity to it. Worse still is the characterization of intent to betray as the devil, a personification of a destroyer doing maniacal or one ready to do a frenzy killing spree. But first it must find a willing host.

6. In many ways, betrayal and malignant evil is nourished in the mind and unleashes its destructive force in an opportune time. That is the reason why Jesus has to counter the growing restiveness among the disciples when he hinted that one of them will betray him. The restiveness was one of witch hunt and a mixture of self blame for not doing much for the movement for the kingdom of God and self preservation as there was an impending threat from the Jewish and Roman authorities are spying on them and any time they could be arrested and jailed.

7. So Jesus started to wash his disciples’ feet as he intended. Aside from Peter all of them allowed their feet to be wash from the water that Jesus poured in a basin. Peter as one of the closest disciples refused the washing of his feet, but Jesus explained that he may understand the meaning of this act plainly, but he will, later. Water cleansing as symbolic of cleansing of impure intentions and desires is what Jesus indicated to Peter. The disciples were clean Jesus said, but one of them is not, referring to Judas betrayal.

8. While the foot washing ensued Jesus mentioned that one of them will betray him and this awakened discordant feeling toward and so Jesus made a hint, that at meal time when the disciple he loved asked, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” (Jn 13: 26-27).

9. A morsel of bread, a sop dipped in a dish and given to Judas was the act of identification of the betrayer. The act of dipping a sop in a liquid at dinner serving as a toast for an important guest joining the meal is an honorable gesture. The intent of giving Judas a sop dipped in wine or olive and honey was an expression of love and hospitality for the one who may be have desired death and destruction for Jesus and put into danger fellow disciples.After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” Judas left the place and in the dark of night pursued his intention to betray Jesus and received the payment for handing over Jesus to the Jewish and Roman authorities.

10. Maundy Thursday is significantly about the remembering the Last Supper Jesus celebrated with the disciples in Jerusalem on the Feast of the Passover. The other Gospel narrate about the words Jesus uttered during the meal, “For I tell you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. (Lk 22:19-20).

11. John’s Gospel emphasized the centrality of God’s unconditional love even for those who hated him and posed a threat to the disciples and followers. In the entire pericope of John 13, Jesus emphasized that God’s love is incomparable to the love humans have known. However, learning and living his commandment to love will somehow change their lives. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13: 34-35). May God’s love in Jesus Christ reconcile us to God and to one another. Amen+++

Assertiveness for freedom and peace-Passion/Palm Sunday Reflection

Assertiveness for freedom and peace
Passion/Palm Sunday
March 25, 2018
By Frank J. Hernando

Scripture text: Luke 19: 28-40
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[b]
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”


I woke up at 6:00 A.M. on Palm/Passion Sunday morning to go to my Children’s Sunday School service at PROK Kangnam Church in Kangseo-gu, Seoul. At eight I was out of the house and walked hurriedly to the bus stop near Hongdae subway station with a cool mist of the morning but only to know the fog was of high level of fine industrial dust that pollutes Seoul’s atmosphere. At the bus stop there were passengers waiting for their bus ride to Incheon airport and to other destinations in Seoul and the Gyeonggi Province. A woman cuddling her baby and standing beside her husband with two huge luggages were refused a ride in an airport limousine bus. But the other two single passengers were allowed on the bus. The bus driver was signalling an “x” sign with his hands. They might be travelling to Kimpo Airport and the bus will not pass by that way. I waited for mine, it was either bus 5712 or 604. I saw on the overhead digital screen that my buses come after 3-4 minutes. Bus 5712 came first. The 25 minutes bus ride was very routine every Sunday morning and the streets were not as animated as it would be on weekdays. There were no sounds of roosters’ crowing, nor the early morning sound of religious procession from a local catholic church, with a slow beating of drums in a processional march rhythm that is less symphonic to hear.

Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday is celebrated with display of young coconut palm tree branches with intricate designs by local artists and some are accented with colorful ribbon ties. It is just an ordinary Sunday morning in Seoul and most people were asleep until late in the morning, aside from those who need to go early morning Protestant services either at 7:00 or 9:00. Our Children’s worship started at 9:15 and after singing songs led by one of the teachers I gave my children’s sermon on Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. I did some revision and improvisation of the sermons4kids.com script. I introduced cheers and yells for Team Korea Winter Olympic medalists who were coming to town in a parade. The children joined in and participated well during the sermon.

The praises or cheers to Jesus as he rode on a donkey into Jerusalem was probably loud, when they shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” It was a spectacle for the onlookers and the unsuspecting residents of the city. But for those who have been anticipating a some kind of revolt, or perhaps a sort of “terrorist attack,” Jesus parade on the city streets could have awakened the anxiety of political and religious leaders at the center of Jewish religion and the center of control of the Roman empire in first century Palestine. In this parade, Jesus was acclaimed as “king” and in other Gospel texts, he is a king in the lineage of David. Of course Korean kids made an easy reference to their Korean monarchial history. Herod Antipas tetrarch of Judea and Perea was the ruler of the Jews under the control of the Roman empire.

This parade looks very spontaneous not just by the disciples but also by the grassroot people who were following Jesus’ teaching, preaching, healing ministries and exorcisms. The people exercised their basic freedom of assembly and of raising their own king, who is the opposite but greater than Herod Antipas. That assumption from the people was taken as rebellion and the leaders of this movement to overthrow the Jewish and Roman leaders in Judea, must be arrested and punished. But Jesus’ parade was about peace, not war. Hear what the people yelled, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Was peace in itself a threat? Or the absence of peace or shalom was the real threat to the people? I think it is the second. The absence of peace threatens the people’s wellbeing and prosperity.

Marcus J. Burg describes the socio-economic situation in which Jesus did his ministry stating that 90 percent of the people were peasants and 10 percent comprise the ruling elites. Meanwhile 66 percent of the wealth was concentrated in the hands of the ruling elite while only 33 percent was thinly scattered to the 90 percent. People who live in the present with similar circumstances with that of the people in the first century Palestine, would assume similar stances with those who were looking a peaceable king. They called him “king” and he came in the name of God. Well, Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor knew very well that this kind of mass action is a challenge to their power.

The peasants who joined the joyful entry of Jesus into Jerusalem did not hesitate to shout out and to claim their freedom to raise a peaceable king. They have overcome their fears and have given their time and resources to participating in a meaningful and purposeful program that will change their lives in the long term. However, members of the ruling elite saw and heard what the people were doing and the possible impact of their actions on the existing structures of economic and political relations in society. So in verse 39, Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” That means, tell them to stop because they are disturbing or rocking the social order. Jesus replied to them “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (v.40).

Tagalog version Luke 19: 39-40:
39 Sinabi naman sa kanya ng ilang Pariseong kasama ng karamihan, “Guro, patigilin nga po ninyo ang inyong mga alagad.”

40 Sumagot siya, “Sinasabi ko sa inyo, kapag tumahimik sila, ang mga bato na ang siyang sisigaw.”


Interestingly, at the point of harassment and political repression Jesus asserted the people’s right to speak out and to join their people’s movement for genuine social change. Can the stones cry out? The muted stones are the mass of peasants who have been left on their own and fend for themselves or survive just as lifeless stones on a dry river or weary roadside, will shout out for their release from bondage into freedom. They may silenced Jesus’ disciples because Jesus has command on them, but not the peasantry or those who have been silenced for long.

We are witnesses to how the masses of people in millions have toppled down a corrupt government in South Korea, or how the Filipino people have ended Marcos despotic regime, and other experiences of ordinary people and Christians committed to justice and peace who are sacrificing their life and limb so as to bring about genuine social change. Now the struggle for respect for human rights, peace and social justice continuous in the Philippines under the Duterte regime. The masses of people who are suffering cannot be repressed forever. For like the inanimate stones that the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jesus’ time believed to be trampled upon only have started to shout out and risen up. In the long run, Jesus entry into Jerusalem was not so much about Jesus’ personal triumph, but the triumph of God’s empowered people.

On the personal level, Jesus entry into Jerusalem is an invitation for every person regardless of social class or race to reconsider one’s perspective on peace. Personal and family economic and social security is not detached from the greater issues in society and the world and inversely as well. In the afternoon of Passion/Palm Sunday our cellphones sounded the emergency alarm that high level of concentration of fine dust particles will occur on Monday and the entire week. People in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province especially must wear face masks to protect their lungs from lethal impact of the industrial pollutants floating in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile the Korean people have very strong political stances on their erring political leaders, like former presidents Park Geun-Hye convicted of corruption while in office and Lee Myung-Bak being arraigned for corruption cases are right now both imprisoned and are facing long jail sentences ranging from 30 to 40 years. It is expected that people will also be strong willed in controlling environmental pollution by reducing the use of personal and family cars and use public transportation which are very convenient as well.

Incumbent President Moon Jae-In has been making unprecedented strides toward negotiations for peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula. Inter-Korean exchange visits and dialogue has been going on since the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. He also sent the Director for National Security to Washington DC to invite US President Donald Trump for personal meeting and dialogue with DPRK Leader Kim Jung-Eun and it has been scheduled in May this year. All these will be triumphant when the masses of people will support these positive initiatives for lasting and sustainable peace and eventual reunification will take place. May God help us understand God’s will this Holy Week.+++

NDFP suggests release of political prisoners from presumptive Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

“While we look forward to the realization of the general and unconditionalamnest y of all political prisoners extended by presumptive president
Duterte, we also push for the immediate dismissal of trumped-up charges against National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace
consultants,” Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said at today’s hearing of multiple murder charges against Benito and Wilma
Tiamzon, Adelberto Silva, Vicente Ladlad, Randall Echanis, Rafael Baylosis, Satur Ocampo and Prof. Jose Maria Sison.



The Tiamzon couple and Silva are among the 18 peace consultants of the NDFP who are detained under the BS Aquino government; while Ladlad, Echanis, Baylosis and Ocampo are temporarily released on bail for the same recycled criminal charge. Sison, the NDFP’s chief political consultant, has been a political refugee based in the Netherlands since 1988.



“The Tiamzons are also facing fabricated charges of kidnapping with serious illegal detention at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, murder and frustrated murder in Laoang, Northern Samar and illegal possession of explosives in Toledo, Cebu,” Palabay said.


“The continued detention of the NDFP peace consultants violates not only the GPH-NDFP agreement on safety and immunity guarantees, but also an
expression of how the Aquino regime turned against the peace negotiation in derision.”


“Wilma Austria-Tiamzon, is currently suffering from “spondylolisthesis”, a displacement of a vertebra, while Silva already underwent triple
angioplasty, “which makes their release our urgent call,” Palabay said.


“While we await for the release of all political prisoners, we also prepare to send the biggest criminal in jail—BS Aquino, for all the crimes he committed against the Filipino people,” she added.


Karapatan cited the 318 victims of extra-judicial killings, 30 enforced disappearances, 583 cases of frustrated killings, the 106,068 victims of forced evacuations mostly in Mindanao communities, and the 543 political prisoners who are all victims of BS Aquino’s counter-insurgency program

Oplan Bayanihan. ###

http://www.karapatan.org/Karapatan%2C+progressive+groups+call+for+immediate+dismissal+of+false+charges+against+peace+consultants

Thirty years of EDSA UPRISING

*Press Statement*
*February 25, 2016*
 
*Reference: Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Chairperson, 0917-5616800
*
* Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580*

*30 years of EDSA uprising:
<http://www.karapatan.org/30+years+of+EDSA+uprising%3A+People%E2%80%99s+discontentment+persists%2C+rage+mounts>People’s
discontentment persists, rage mounts
<http://www.karapatan.org/30+years+of+EDSA+uprising%3A+People%E2%80%99s+discontentment+persists%2C+rage+mounts>*
http://www.karapatan.org/30+years+of+EDSA+uprising%3A+People%E2%80%99s+discontentment+persists%2C+rage+mounts
 
Thirty years after the people’s victory to overthrow the Marcos fascist,
corrupt, and puppet regime looms the threat of the return of the Marcos’
son, confidently inching his way to the realm of power with his well of
resources from the loot of the past. The past that Marcos Jr. arrogantly
refers to as the country’s glorious days.
Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Karapatan chairperson said the threat of the return
of the Marcoses “Clearly, shows that after 30 years of EDSA and five
succeeding regimes later, the same unjust social structures that
necessitate a revolution persist,” adding that, “only a determined people
and their decisive action can bring about a genuine change—freedom and
prosperity, a humane society and just and lasting peace.
 
The five regimes who held the reins of power, she said, “not only failed to
uplift the nation, but also to truly serve the majority of the poor
Filipinos. They harped on the wrongs of the preceding regimes to cover up
the essentially the same oppressive and exploitative system they
perpetuate. The masses have been anesthetized for a second after EDSA have
awakened to the same harsh realities, unchanged by the promises and hopes
of EDSA.”
 
Hilao-Enriquez added that the BS Aquino regime, the latest of the regimes
that followed the dictatorship “desperately failed to sustain the people’s
victory and fulfil their hopes. Instead, like his predecessors, he
continued to deceive the people with statistics of a farce development,
albeit the statistics of the increasing number of poor and hungry,” which
is ironic, she said, because B. S. Aquino III is a son of a Martial Law
martyr, Ninoy, and the so-called icon of democracy, Cory.
 
BS Aquino, like his predecessors, catered to his clique and foreign
master’s interest to the detriment of the greater majority. He compromised
sovereignty with his signing of the controversial Enhanced Defense
Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). He gave up patrimony by allowing foreign
corporations to engage in unbridled exploration and extraction of the
country’s mineral resources.
 
“Unemployment, landlessness, corruption, dwindling social services, low
wages and pensions that could not cope with continued spiralling of prices
of basic commodities, criminal negligence of victims of disasters, high
cost of education worsened by new policies, such as the K-12, and a lot
more debacles characterized the B. S. Aquino regime.”
 
Worse, Hilao-Enriquez said, “he adopted past administrations’ solution to
quell the people’s unrest. He activated his killing machine with a
rehashed counterinsurgency operational plan, Oplan Bayanihan, courtesy of
Pentagon.”
 
As Aquino steps down, he leaves behind a grim statistics of 306 extra
judicial killings, 27 enforced disappearances, 15 massacres, 108,938
evacuees mostly from militarized areas, 557 political prisoners, including
19 National Democratic Front peace consultants.
 
Realization from experience is a catalyst. No substantive change will occur
for as long as the interest of the ruling elite and its US imperialist
master is top of the agenda. No substantive change will occur for as long
as the great majority remains in its dire plight. “Only the people’s
collective and decisive action can reverse the oppressive and exploitative
system we are all in,” ended Hilao-Enriquez. ###
 
 
 

The Philippine govt should Stop political harassment of labor orgs and progressive churches

AN URGENT APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY AND ACTION

Dear NCCP friend and supporters:

I write to you that you help us raise protest against the recent harassment of the family of one of our NCCP staff members and the ongoing harassment against the government employees union COURAGE. 

On June 28, 2015, Raquel L. Toquero, national staff of the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE), and her husband Mervin H. Toquero, the acting program secretary of the Program Unit on Faith, Witness and Service of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), were having breakfast at their home in Cavite with their three children and preparing to attend church. At about 8:00 a.m., two men claiming to be soldiers suddenly appeared at their kitchen door asking for Raquel. They refused to show their identification cards or their mission orders. They said that “they wanted to talk to Raquel for they know what she has been doing ....” 

What Raquel “has been doing” is fighting for workers to enjoy their rights and receive decent wages. COURAGE contends for a national monthly minimum wage of 16,000 pesos per month, or about US$350, for private as well as public workers. Since April 2015, COURAGE union officers and organizers have had to face more than 20 incidents like this one involving Raquel and Mervin Toquero. The incident left the family agitated and threatened as it happened inside their family compound where Mervin’s father, Bishop Solito K. Toquero, a retired bishop of the United Methodist Church and former vice chairperson of the NCCP also resides. Naturally, the Toquero family is concerned about their safety, especially in the current environment of impunity that prevails in the Philippines. Indeed, human rights defenders in the Philippines who have had similar experiences to those of the Toquero family earlier often faced continued harassment and became victims of even more serious human rights violations, including arrest on false charges, extrajudicial killings and disappearances.

It is in this grave context that NCCP now seeks your solidarity and action to call on the Philippine government to stop its harassment of trade union organizers. This recent spate of harassment against leaders and officers of COURAGE, and of other defenders of the constitutional and international human rights must stop. We also covet your prayers for our ongoing efforts for human rights. Thank you very much.

Grace and Peace

Rev. Fr. Rex R.B. Reyes, Jr.

General Secretary

National Council of Churches in the Philippines

 

Please write to:

H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III

President of the Republic

Malacañang Palace

Manila Philippines

E-mail: op@president.gov.ph

 

Atty. Leila De Lima, 

Secretary, Department of Justice

Padre Faura Street

Ermita, Manila 1000

Republic of the Philippines

E-mail: lmdelima@doj.gov.ph / lmdelima.doj@gmail.com

 

Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire Gazmin, 

Secretary, Department of National Defense

Camp Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City

Philippines

 

Commission on Human Rights Of The Philippines

SAAC Building, Commonwealth Avenue

UP Complex, Diliman, Quezon City

Philippines

You can also release statements of support for the COURAGE unionists and to call on Philippine state agents to stop such attacks.

Write letters of concern to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Protection of the Rights of Human Rights Defenders via defenders@ohchr.org , to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression via freedex@ohchr.org , to the UN Special Rapporteur on Peaceful Assembly and of Association via freeassembly@ohchr.org , and other relevant international human rights mechanisms; 

The following letter may serve as a guide as you express your concern

Dear ...

 

We are alarmed to learn from the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) that one of its staff, Mervin Toquero, and his wife, Raquel are being harassed by persons claiming to be members of the military. We strongly condemn this brazen act of harassment perpetrated against Mervin and Raquel Toquero and their family.

The harassment incident took place on June 28, 2015 at the residence of the Toqueros in Cavite. Two men appeared at their door at 8:00 a.m. claiming to be soldiers and looking for Raquel,  a national staff  of a government employees union, Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees ( COURAGE). The men refused Mervin’s request that they show their identity papers and mission order and that they have their conversation in the balcony. Instead, the men peered through the window and called to Raquel, who was inside the house, to say they know her activities and offered to help her, handing her a paper with the name, Delia, and the number 09261430628 on it.

The incident left the family feeling gravely threatened. They have reason to be concerned about their safety given the climate of impunity in the country. In most cases, the extrajudicial killings of human rights defenders were preceded by systematic harassment of the victims similar to the one experienced by Mervin and Raquel Toquero and their family. 

We are concerned that the harassment perpetrated against Mervin and Raquel Toquero and their family may be part of your Government’s national security policy and legitimizes the use of threats, harassment and intimidation to quell dissent and protests against government policies. We are aware that this is an ongoing campaign of harassment that has been targeting union activists, in particular the officers, staff and organizers of COURAGE (Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees). In the last several months, COURAGE has documented 20 cases of union members being harassed by persons claiming to be members of the military and the police. 

We call on you to ensure that the legitimate rights of those involved in labor organizing are respected and that people be protected from forms of harassment and intimidation.

Mr. President, the violation of the rights of Mervin and Raquel Toquero, COURAGE members and other human rights defenders must be stopped immediately.

We call on you to guarantee their safety by ordering the military and police to halt immediately this campaign of harassment and threat against Mervin and Raquel Toquero and their family, COURAGE leaders and members and all human rights defenders.