7 And this is what he [John the Baptizer] proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
8 I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.”
9 It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
10 On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
10 On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
11 And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Take some time and imagine yourself to be one of the spectators in the picture.
What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? This is the Beloved Son of God – filled with the Spirit.
A REFLECTION and PRAYER
Ritual cleansing of one sin in a flowing stream or river is not uncommon. For sure, John the Baptizer was one of the many who is continually, like the prophets, calling the people back to God. Quite significant in this gospel reading today is that Jesus enters fully into the human situation, he will be baptized although he is without sin. John understood this, but Jesus said it is to fulfill all that has been written.
Our reflection today will focus on the gift of the Spirit as symbolized by the dove coming down upon Jesus. What did this mean for Jesus – and, in the same way, what does it mean for you and me?
Can I take a few moments for some important observation? This week – the last week of the Christmas Season – the Gospels at Holy Mass are focused on the early activities of Jesus – preaching and healing. But there is one special gospel story this week that set the tone for a good part of the gospel story. It concerned the visit to his own town of Nazareth and his activity in the synagogue on the Sabbath.
Please be patient to read this carefully – Luke’s Gospel Chapter 4, verses 16-22
Jesus visits Nazareth after his baptism and ministry in Galilee
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read
17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed, go free,
19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
21 He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
Can we ask for this same gift of the Holy Spirit? Do we want this gift – healing and comfort for others sharing with those in need
forgiveness given that those who have hurt us – much to ask for – we are believers, we want the same Holy Spirit that Jesus received.
Father, give to us the Spirit of Jesus –that we may help renew the face of the earth.
Pray this prayer often today and every day of this week
Father Bill Kreutz, SJ, Loyola House of Studies, Scripture from the New American Bible
Tex Paurom, SJ (second from L, standing) with JHWC staff members and Jesuit priests.
No Jesuit is ever without a mission. The men in the Jesuit Health and Wellness Center (JHWC) are missioned to pray for the Society of Jesus and all of God’s people. These men are our prayer warriors, our constant intercessors both for the mission of the Province and especially for all our benefactors, our partners in mission.
Aged and infirm Jesuits have spent long years as teachers in our Ateneos, as parish priests, retreat directors, and counselors. Now they need care themselves.
From formation until death, the Philippine Province assumes costs of training, living, health and medical expenses of our priests.
On average, there are 25-27 men in the JHWC. Cost of care are as follows:
Per Month, PHP
Per Year, PHP
Monthly medicine costs
529,000
6,348,000
Total cost of the JHWC
1,505,000
18,060,000
Figures as of 2016. Excludes diagnostic charges and professional fees.
Your support for their continued wellbeing is welcome. Click here to make a donation.
Please support the mission works of the Jesuits in Mindanao. To learn more, click the link below. Donations in the Philippines can be coursed through the Philippine Jesuit Aid Association (PJAA).
I wish to share with you some updates regarding our mission.
This is certainly not complete but it’s just to give you an idea about some of the things going on in Zamboanguita:
1. Parish- a new chapel is being constructed for the community in Purok 6, Silae- one of our most vibrant and active parish communities. They have taken turns to assist the paid laborers and feed them. They have raised a substantial amount to supplement what was raised for the construction. The foundations and walls have been laid down, the next step is to put the roofing so that they could now have their services there instead of the makeshift structure they have been using for the past two years.
Chapel construction, Purok 6
Meanwhile, the rest of the parish is preparing for the beginning of Lent on Wednesday (March 6, 2019). There is a proposal to initiate a Sunday school for the little children in the parish. We could mobilize the older youth and share with them Fr. Martin Licup’s new book Sunday Gospel for Kids as a resource. This would be a good Year of the Youth activity.
A donor has donated a new bell for the parish. We have reinforced our bell tower to accommodate this wonderful addition to our church. We are hoping to hear it ring for the first time soon.
2. St. Isidore HS- The school will be celebrating its 28th foundation day on March 12 by holding alternative classes on that day. We have invited several speakers to give talks on topics such as Disaster Risk Reduction, Barangay Governance, What Really Happens at Mass, HIV/AIDS awareness, and many more, including a showing of Ditsi Carolino’s Bunso (with no less than the director leading the discussion afterwards). During the Mass on that day, we will specifically praying for all our benefactors.
SIHS recently participated in two inter-school sports competitions. The G12 students completed their required 80 hour work immersion in Xavier University as student assistants in the various offices and feedback has been very good from both ends.
Fr. Randy Lumabao Friendship Games
G12 batch one during the first day of their work immersion in CDO
The G10 students completed the retreat in the Jesuit Retreat House in Malaybalay. Both G10 and G12 students are excited for the coming Junior Senior Promenade, with prom gowns flown-in from donors from Manila. Barangay Zamboanguita has asked the school to represent it in the coming street dance competition for Malaybalay’s Charter Day celebration on March 16. We also held our Parents Day on the same day as our Third Convocation. Instead of inviting a guest speaker, we showed the film Magnifico which everyone enjoyed. We also held a Family Got Talent competition.
Lumad scholars get first dibs on the prom gowns
Parents were teary-eyed at the end of the showing of Magnifico
A family participates in the Family Got Talent competition
Dance
Graduation and Completion ceremonies will be held on March 29. Our guest speaker will be Jason Menaling, an alumnus who has had the good fortune of meeting Pope Francis in Rome because of this work in Environmental Science for Social Change.
School wall nearing completion
We are finally close to completing the cementing of the school walls, thanks to the PTA funds. We got inspected by the fire department and some violations were pointed out. We shall be working on them within the month. Meanwhile, the book collection of SIHS is growing fast with donations of old and new books. Usage has also been very encouraging. We will have to create a new space for our library soon and look for more training opportunities for our lone paraprofessional librarian.
We are hoping to do some major renovation projects in the school during the summer.
3. Lumad Scholars- During the last convocation period, 16 out of 28 scholars received some academic recognition. As a reward, our top 6 awardees received hand-painted bags made by a child being treated for cancer in PGH while the 10 with honorable mention received a blanket each donated by MTQ parish.
Top 6 lumad scholars- consistent honor students
This summer we hope to begin construction of the lumad dormitory that will help address key formation and management issues. Plans are also on the way to have a gathering of dorm managers and prefects from the other mission areas- a sharing of best practices and an aligning of formation goals and admin policies.
One of our live-out scholars qualified for the Xavier University ALGCIT tech-voc program. It is 100% free quality education and the qualifying exam was highly competitive. We are proud of JM Luranza for being the third Isidorian in the program (two made it last year).
January birthday celebrants at the lumad dorm
Thank you again for all that you have done and continue to do to support the mission here in Zamboanguita.
God bless you all.
Harvey Mateo SJ
Director, SIHS
Asst. Parish Priest, Parish of Our Lady Mary Mediatrix
(Written by Ms. Cecile B. Simbajon and Fr. Antonio F. Moreno SJ, This article initially appeared in The Windhover, 2010)
The Promotion of Peace
We have heard it said time and again that peace is elusive. Indeed it is not only elusive but can be perceived as divisive by others who have different notions of peace. The promotion of peace is a campaign to address very complex issues often connected with poverty, marginalization and cultural profiling. In several hotspots of Mindanao, conflict areas have deep historical roots spanning from the Spanish and American occupation down to the current marginalization of peoples by the national and local government. The deep ethnic cleavages within and among the settlers, indigenous and the Bangsamoro peoples, and experiences of political, economic and social exclusion, weak and in some cases absence of governance, the prevalence of local bossism and warlordism in several areas have all contributed to the complexity of the problem.
Our work for peace is not simply oriented to promote and preserve tranquility, that is, the absence of war or armed conflict. In persistently conflict-laden societies in Mindanao, however, the mere absence of war can be a great success. Cessation of armed hostilities can save lives even when people continue to live in fear. Nonetheless, our understanding of peace goes beyond simply the cessation of conflict. Peace is comprehensive, development-oriented, culturally embedded and constructed by manifold sectors and communities within society.
In an effort to respond to the many challenges to promote peace and culture, in 1991, then Ateneo de Zamboanga (AdZ), under the leadership of Fr William H Kreutz SJ, established the Institute of Cultural Studies for Western Mindanao (ICSWM). This was AdZ’s way of assisting the people of Western Mindanao to work for peace in a multicultural and multireligious society. Peace promotion was geared toward cultural understanding and dialogue. ICSWM aimed to bring about harmonious and peaceful relationships by helping people overcome the ignorance, prejudices and animosities of the past through cultural regeneration and intercultural dialogue. We realized that the work of peace championed by ICSWM needed to be complemented with a task that focused on peace advocacy, peace education and interventions that address issues that breed violence and armed conflict. Thus the Ateneo Peace Institute (API) was created in 1999.
API initially assumed the following goals: 1) to coordinate, develop, implement and monitor peace education programs in all levels of instruction and formation in the curricular and co-curricular areas; 2) to link with and assist other schools, both private and public, in similar or related peace education and formation efforts; 3) to offer programs and activities related to developing a culture of peace in various government offices, non-government agencies, church and mosque communities, military and other non-school entities; 4) to engage in research activities related to the school’s peace activities beyond the school; 5) to develop persons to be peace advocates who will have the expertise to actively assist in conflict management and conflict resolution activities among those who seek such aid; and 5) to actively bring the Ateneo to linkages and network with other like-oriented organizations and groups.
Through the years, both ICSWM and API worked for peace in different streams, although many a time they would be working collaboratively. Both institutes would be tapped to instill a culture of peace on campus, generate activities and programs around peace education, network with other organized groups in the city and the region to address burning issues on peace and development, convene major stakeholders and attempt to forge consensus on matters concerning peace, security and the peace process.
In 2009, ICSWM and API were merged to form the Ateneo Peace and Culture Institute (APCI) to make it clear that the work of peace cannot be dissociated from culture. Under the engaging leadership of Ms Cecile B Simbajon, APCI has upscaled its operation and clarified its location in the task of peace building and conflict resolution. APCI was a key player in the integration of peace in our curriculum from Grade One to Fourth year college. This peace curriculum has been shared in different conferences for Catholic Schools in Mindanao and beyond. APCI’s main focus is the generation of a culture of peace on campus and beyond. To this end, a culture of peace survey is nearly completed to assess areas of success which we can celebrate and shortcomings which we can embrace and learn from.
APCI convened numerous fora and roundtable discussion sessions among key leaders of Zamboanga City to discuss a wide range of issues including the contentious Memo of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) concerns, peace process in Mindanao, and the armed conflict in Basilan and Sulu. APCI has been our lead group for fostering a consciousness of peace (e.g., Week of Peace, interfaith assemblies for peace). Local and national peace groups and movements, the local church, local government units, business groups and civil society organizations have made sought the assistance of APCI on peace and development issues. Many individuals, national and international agencies have likewise approached APCI for consultations and partnerships. APCI at one point hosted the Mindanao Emergency Response Network (MERN) for relief operations in our region.
Zamboanga City-based Interreligious Solidarity Movement for Peace gave a “Special Peace Citation” to APCI on 20 November 2009 “(f)or offering meaning time and generous services to the cause of harmony and solidarity among the different multicultural peoples in Zamboanga City and Mindanao; for its untiring support and outstanding advocacy for peace amidst the conflicts and violence in the region.” The Philippine Star in its 20 December 2009 front page issue featured APCI along with the Center for Peace and Development of the Western Mindanao State Universities as “centers (that) help heal Mindanao.” These citations do not simply appear to APCI as “recognitions” but more as challenges to translate its commitment to work for peace into real substantive actions that have profound impact on our society.
We are all eternal beginners in the work of peace. Peace is elusive, but this doesn’t give us an excuse to disengage, but a challenge to pursue. This is our experience here in Western Mindanao: wage peace and hope will follow.
Lumad students from the Binhi Te Peglaom Dormitory
Caring for Lumads: The Fr. Leoni Mission Foundation Inc. (FLMFI)
The Fr. Leoni Mission Foundation, Inc., is a non-stock, non-profit organization established in 1998 by Fr. Mateo Sanchez of the Society of Jesus in honor of the late Italian Jesuit, Fr. Ferrucio Leoni, SJ.
The Foundation was established in response to the growing concerns of the Lumads in Bukidnon. The indigenous people in Bukidnon have long been isolated from opportunities that lead to improved lives. The exploitation from unsavory characters have only worsened their condition. Thus, FLMFI started the literacy, livelihood and education programs for the Lumads.
For a time, the literacy, livelihood and scholarship programs ran successfully even with the constant change of the foundation leadership as appointed by the Society of Jesus. However, the drive to become sustainable has come to fore because of volatile US and Europe financial markets where majority of its donors come from. With the leadership of its new president, Fr. Braulio M. Dahunan, SJ, the foundation is embarking on reviving the program to continue the mission as it stands. LUMAD (Life for the Underprivileged and Marginalized through Advocacy and Development) Program aims to not only continue the literacy, livelihood, and scholarship programs of the foundation but also achieve sustainability by gradually entering into social enterprises that will eventually support its programs in the future.
As IP Ministry Coordinator of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines, SJ, Fr. Dahunan SJ set up the“Kahungyaman Cultural Center for Peace and Development” on January 17, 2013. Currently, the center serves as the base for the programs and projects of FLMFI. In the said center, the “Binhi Te Peglaom (Seed of Hope) Lumad Scholars Dormitory” for elementary and high school scholars, Heritage House, Mission House, Organic-Agriculture Production Demo Farm and Food Production and Livelihood Center are located.
Vision-Mission statement
We envision a holistic human formation of the Indigenous Peoples in their process for self-determination and for the sustainable development of their communities that is respectful to their culture and in accordance with their needs and aspirations.Thus, we need–
1. to deepen Jesuit presence, accompaniment and involvement with the Indigenous Peoples in the spirit of solidarity with them;
2. to provide direction in their struggle through community organizing participatory action research;
3. to empower their communities and leaderships through communal discernment and strengthening of roles and responsibilities in sowing good seeds for future generations to nurture and uphold;
4. to promote authentic dialogue and integration of culture and faith through a mutual enrichment between the indigenous culture, spirituality, religion and the Catholic Christian faith.
LUMAD programs: (Life for the Underprivileged and Marginalized through Advocacy and Development Programs)
LUMAD is a Visayan term that means “native” or “indigenous” person. They are more referred specifically to the natives or indigenous people that can be found in the Mindanao Region of the Philippines, a region that has often been associated with war and violence over the years. While many LUMADS suffer first-hand, the collateral damages of war such as displacement, loss of basic necessities, livelihood and housing, many also suffer neglect and exploitation brought about by loss of opportunities and inability of government to provide the basic necessities that would constitute what we call LIFE.
IP YOUTH EDUCATION AND FORMATION PROGRAM
Community-based Literacy program (kahungyaman literacy centers)
This program aims to provide non-formal basic education to Indigenous People (IP) communities.Since many of the children and adult IPs are unable to read and write because of lack of access to formal basic education, they are vulnerable to the deceptions of lowland traders and politicians.We have literacy centers for day care pupils and alternative learning system for adult and out-of-school youth.These centers are ran by volunteer para-teachers who reside in the area.Educational materials and food during school days are provided to help the learners in their learning and to free themselves from household chores that may take them away from learning.It is hoped that with this program, we will lessen the percentage of illiteracy among IP communities
Formal basic education scholarship program (binhi té péglaom lumad scholars dormitory)
This program aims to provide formal basic education to IP youth who have the capacity to go through the rigors of formal education.Since public schools are far from their homes, most often they would stop schooling due to lack of sufficient food for their weekly consumption.Thus, we have taken scholars to live in the “Binhi Te Peglaom Lumad Scholars Dormitory” to go through formal education in a nearby public school in the Poblacion for elementary students and in Fr. Leoni Memorial School for high school students.Aside from providing them with quality education, the dormitory provides holistic formation to the scholars with the hope that they will become future leaders who will serve in their respective communities.
Lumad Scholars
Lumad students from the Binhi Te Peglaom Dormitory
Volunteers for IP communities & enhancement program
This program aims to develop our scholars who graduated from high school to become more equipped and ready for college education as they prepare to take examinations for scholarship grants while they are also engaged in teaching, organizing, social enterprise and entrepreneurial activities of Fr. Leoni Mission Foundation, Incorporated.This program will also serve as an on-going formation with regard to personal development, as well as, leadership and communication skills of our scholars.
College aid and vocational support program
This program aims to facilitate our high school graduate scholars to get scholarship grants or sponsorships either for college or voc-tech courses according to their capacities and capabilities.They will still continue to be closely monitored by Fr. Leoni Mission Foundation, Incorporated, while at the same time they will continue with their involvements with FLMFI activities and formation programs.We instil a sense of responsibility to our scholars so that they will hopefully go back to serve their own people and develop their communities.
We now have five college scholars who get scholarship grants but we are supporting them for their living allowances:Jession Diwangan is a DOST and XU scholar taking up BS-ECE in Xavier University; Mitchell Ayawon is a Monark Foundation Technical Institute scholar; Reymond Ally, Margie Tumalas and Gia Sarinao are BIC scholars taking up BS-Religious Education in San Isidro College.We need Php 118,200.00 every year to support them in their studies.
SUSTAINABLE ORGANIC-AGRICULTURE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
This program aims to sustain all our programs by generating income through organic-agriculture production and social enterprise.This will also provide sustainable human and community development through trainings on organic-agriculture and entrepreneurship that will ensure food security and livelihood.This program will also ensure the protection of the environment and proper management of natural resources. Apparently this program develops a deeper sense of cooperation and solidarity amongst the Indigenous Peoples for sustainable development of their particular communities and for lasting peace at large.
Growing organic vegetables
We just started this recently, and so we need assistance in order to develop this further and be able to produce more products.Thus, we need a start-up capital of Php 200,000.00.
IP LEADERSHIP ENHANCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
This program aims to empower IP leaders who will be responsible in realizing sustainable development and lasting peace in their communities in the spirit of solidarity and in the promotion of the common good.Thus, it is crucial to accompany these leaders in their process of becoming credible and trustworthy leaders: who will safeguard their beautiful cultural heritage and tradition; who will have vision for their people; and who will carry-out their mission in the manner befitting of a good IP leader.Seminars, workshops, trainings, and formation programs will be provided in order to capacitate and equip leaders.
We need Php 124,000.00 every year in order to support the activities of IP leaders in their Social, Political, Economic, Communal and Spiritual (SPECS) formation.We are also facilitating seminars, workshops and trainings that will capacitate and equip them as leaders.
Donate
You can course your donations via:
Credit Card – Visit www.phjesuits.org and click on “Give Online”
Bank of the Philippines (BPI) Branch – Make a bill’s payment to “PJAA”; indicate name in place of reference number.
BPI Online, ATM or Phone – Enroll “PJAA” as a biller/merchant and make a payment. (Note: Please send us acopy of your transaction slip by fax to 926-8150 or by email to aid@phejsuits.org and include your contact information so that we can properly acknowledge your donations.)
On the occasion of its Golden Jubilee celebration, Loyola School of Theology and the Theology and Ministry Program, in cooperation with Jesuit Communications, has released a short audio-visual presentation entitled, “LST: Leading and Serving Through Theology”.
According to the annals of LST, “On 12 July 1965, the Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines, Fr. Horacio de la Costa, with the authorization of the Jesuit Superior General Fr. PedroArrupe, opened the present School as an institute of philosophy and theology incorporating within it the faculty of ecclesiastical studies of San Jose Seminary. After one academic quarter at San Jose, the School moved to Loyola House of Studies on the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University. First classes at the new site were held on 18 September 1965″[1].
The Literacy Program in Culion, Palawan aims to develop the reading and writing skills of both the adults and children in selected Tagbanua communities. The program also aims to preserve the Tagbanua’s local culture and develop stronger and more confident communities.
Jesuit presence in Culion
In 1904, Gov. Wright of the American Commonwealth, established Culion as a leper colony paving the way for the first batch of 370 lepers from all over the archipelago to settle in 1906. In the same year, American Jesuits were sent to Culion to start chaplaincy work for the lepers and employees of the Philippine Health Service. Over the years, the Loyola College of Culion was established and has seen the chaplaincy to La Inmaculada Concepcion Parish grow and flourish.
Fr. Bok Arandia SJ, during his stay in Culion wrote, “after the establishment of the leper colony, the indigenous Tagbanua communities who were the original inhabitants of the Culion peninsula were forced to settle in remote islands, with limited access to basic social services and education. They manage to survive through fishing, food gathering, and primitive agriculture. However, because of their inability to read, write and count, certain devious individuals have taken advantage of their ignorance, cheating them to sell their produce and catch at scandalously low prices. Politicians have likewise used them to secure victory during elections, gathering and containing them in undisclosed holding areas distant from the influence and access of their political rivals.”
In 2006, the Philippine province re-examined its mission in Culion. Since there was no need for chaplaincy work due to the fewer number of lepers in the island, the Province decided to help the Tagbanuas, an Indigenous People community, through a literacy program.
In 2008, through the help of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, a literacy program was began with some teachers from the parish. In 2011, Cartwheel Foundation brought their expertise and modules to help aid and systematize the program. Since then, the parish, SPC and Cartwheel have been partners in this endeavor.
The program
Before 2011, literacy programs that were introduced had no sustainability mechanisms in place. Hence, there was a crucial and urgent need to establish one that will remain a fixture in order to equip members of the communities with essential literacy and life skills.
The first six-month cycle of the new program began at the end of August, 2011 with forty (40) adult learners from two (2)Tagbanua communities – Alulad and Marabal.
In June 2013, the adult capability-building program ran its third cycle, further expanding operations to four (4) indigenous communities from the original two (2) pilot areas. They have also instituted an early childhood education program for the Tagbanua communities in Culion.
Fr. Errol Nebrao, SJ in center. Photo by Bryan Olorvida Arevalo, SJ
Photo taken from Wikipedia.
Tagbanua children
Currently, the Adult Literacy Program is run by the Cartwheel Foundation, Our Lady of the Immaculate Concepcion Parish and the St. Paul of Chartres Sisters. Fr. Arthur Nebrao, SJ is currently Parish priest of La Inmaculada Concepcion.
Culion after Typhoon Yolanda
Typhoon Yolanda hit Culion with devastating effects. These photos were taken during the visit of the Ateneo Disaster Response and Management (DReaM) Team and the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan in Culion, Palawan last December 5 to 9. The team visited the different areas and islands devastated by Typhoon Yolanda.
Why help?
Indigenous Peoples, like the Tagbanuas are generally discriminated not only because of their physical appearance but because many of them have low self esteem due to the lack of reading and writing skills.
Please donate to support the Literacy program and help build their lives in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda! The Literacy program’s next steps are:
Collaborate with the Loyola College of Culion to house an IP school that would receive students who are ready for formal education through the Literacy Program.
Bring the Literacy Program to other far-flung communities.
Conduct Train the Trainors workshops among previous beneficiaries to ensure continuous execution of the literacy program.
Click the Blue box above to make an on-line donation. Or else, click here.
Fr. Noel "Weng" Bava, SJ with Talaandig youth, Miarayon, Bukidnon
St. Therese of the Child Jesus was established by Jesuit missionaries thirty (30) years ago. It subsists largely due to the generosity of the foreign and local benefactors, mostly friends and relatives of missionaries assigned in Miarayon, who see the wisdom in educating the youth of the mission area alongside delivering spiritual nourishment of the people.
When the pioneer missionaries get transferred to other assignments, benefactors and donors of the school stop supporting the school or transfer their support to other projects of the previous missionaries. Often, the school is left operating on a shoe-string budget and on many occasions, borrows funds from the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus for the needed upgrade and upkeep of its facilities.
The passage of The Enhanced Basic Education Act (R.A. 10533) in 2013, which seeks to increase and improve compulsory education from 11 to 12 years, adds to the burden because of the need to accommodate a greater number of students.
Miarayon is a barangay of the fourth class municipality of Talakag, Bukidnon. It is a community of tribal minorities: Talaandigs (80%), Dumagats (15%), Maranaw Moslems (4%) and Igorots (1%) comprising about 5,000 families. The local dialect is Binukid but most could speak the Visayan language. The area has limited access to water and electricity and the roads may be accessed mainly by motorcycle (habal-habal), horse-riding or walking. There is no reliable signal for telecommunication yet.
THE TALAANDIGS
The Talaandigs are friendly people. They are deeply religious and value family and social kinship. They are reliable and industrious. Despite these traits, many remain poor because of the lack of opportunity to get proper education. To know more about the Talaandigs, view the full video made by Symantec Tooth and Gum Care here.
ST. THERESE SCHOOL OF MIARAYON
St. Therese School of Miarayon is the only High School operating in the area covering about five (5) barangays or villages with about seven (7) or so public elementary schools. The next available High Schools are some sixty (60) or so kilometers away from the centro. In 2015, there are approximately 320 students. However, this figure dips radically due to students who drop out within the first quarter of the school year. Of the students who continued, approximately 500 students have graduated and a good number have gone on to college and earned their degrees.
Our work for peace is not simply oriented to promote and preserve tranquility, that is, the absence of war or armed conflict. In persistently conflict-laden societies in Mindanao, however, the mere absence of war can be a great success. Cessation of armed hostilities can save lives even when people continue to live in fear. Nonetheless, our understanding of peace goes beyond simply the cessation of conflict. Peace is comprehensive, development-oriented, culturally embedded and constructed by manifold sectors and communities within society.
