Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Hearts of Eagles

Lets take a little diversion from the Fr. Tulabings and "Restoration" villages. I think maybe they'll need a little time for thinking and listening to their hearts.

Fr. Tulabing, I hope, will take a look at this blog, open his eyes and discern with the heart the Lord gave him. I am also hoping our hard hearted brothers who blocked entry at the Remarville GK site will look beyond greed, prejudice, and pride, and figure out that this issue goes beyond a mere name or title. I'm collecting documents, images, and evidence, but I'd like to give them some time to have a change of heart.

I draw your attention now to another speech made by Tony Meloto at the All Ateneo Alumni Convention that was held in Chicago, USA last July 5th.

The Eagle is Not Too Old to Fly
By Antonio Meloto
July 5, 2008
All Ateneo Alumni Convention held at Hyatt Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Image from lightwalks.com

Please pardon me for looking odd as your guest speaker in my khaki pants and tight barong on this gala night of the All Ateneo Alumni Convention. My plane lost an engine and had to land in Seattle instead of Detroit . I lost my luggage and had to fit in this shirt from a generous soul who is twenty pounds lighter.

Thank you Ateneans USA President, Dr. Jun Farrales, for inviting me. Greetings to Ateneo de Davao President Fr. Ting Samson, S.J., the man who made me look intelligent by giving me a PhD in Humanities Honoris Causa last year. Good evening to all co-alumni and guests. While this is a mixed age group of Ateneo Alumni, a gathering of the brightest and the best of our graduates of all ages who now call America home, the focus of this message is for those who are over fifty years old, if there are any around besides myself. I hope those below fifty listen well because there is a lot of inspiration and lessons to be learned from the journey of my generation.

Career-wise, most of us reach our peak at fifty. At that point, we are at the summit of our life in experience and influence. We who have traveled far and struggled hard to get there still have much energy left to fly, no longer for self, but for greater causes that can harness the expertise and resources we have built over the years.

I believe that this is the reason why I was invited to speak to you tonight. After building your American dream, the apple of your eyes now is the Philippines and you want to explore new ways of expressing your affection for her. Not that you have stopped caring or helping in the past, but most of you are eager to do it at this point when you have the time to really make a difference. What is clear to me is that the eagle is not too old or too tired to be a hero for our country. Many of you have passion for golf or basketball which is good for the body. I hope you can add to this the passion for nation-building which is good for your soul.

Being a hero to your family is no stranger to you. You have slaved long hours, endured the worst bosses on the planet, and survived the coldest winters in America that your body is not accustomed to for the love of family. That is heroism that every human parent is designed for, especially Filipinos. To do otherwise would be a betrayal of that nature. Filipinos in America have succeeded exceedingly well in that field of struggle – building the most comfortable nests that are probably empty when they reach fifty and raising children equipped with the best education and a sense of independence to make it on their own.

Now you have the freedom to retire and relax here to enjoy your success which you deserve or to extend yourself beyond family and beyond this country and share your success with the people and the places where it will matter most in the land of your birth.

We are inviting you to come home and be a hero to our people, to be hope to the hopeless, to visit the abandoned and the forgotten, to help us seek the least and the lost. Tonight, I honor those who have responded to this call and the many others who will follow.

We are inviting you to visit our Gawad Kalinga communities and discover what is good and true in the Filipino because every village is built with nobility and the greatness of the spirit of our people that inspire even foreigners to help. Many Fil-Ams and foreigners have come to build, others to experience and study the phenomenon, some for their masters and PhD dissertations. The recent builders came from Georgetown and Yale; six non-Filipinos from Loyola University of Chicago stayed for six months as members of the first GK Builders Corps. Something good from the Philippines is catching global attention.

Yes, this is an invitation for us to build a nation that we can all be proud of, raised not just by our collective genius but by our common resolve to stop living in shame as a people. Many Filipinos, starting with myself, are guilty for what our country has become, but feeling guilty alone will not bring a nation out of poverty. We have to convert regret to reform, concern to action, shame to honor. We have to raise Filipinos to be first-class citizens in the Philippines so none of our people will feel second-class anywhere in the world.

Wherever I go in the United States, I sense a longing here for our homeland. This growing nostalgia is opening channels for philanthropy and investment unseen before. Almost four hundred out of our 1,700 GK villages are funded and visited by partners and volunteers from the United States , and more are coming. Gawad Kalinga is bringing out the best in the Fil-Ams by showing them the best in our people at home.

They are inspired when they meet former istambays who give up vices and start to work, some even taking two jobs like Filipinos abroad. They now understand what many of us knew all along: the Filipino is not lazy when he is in the right environment. The problem of poverty in our country is not the lack of work but the lack of motivation to work when there is no hope or aspiration. GK provides them the environment, the values, and the motivation to be productive citizens. In our experience, poverty and corruption are behavioral, cultural, and moral issues before they are economic.

Our resident Pilosopo Tasyo from Ateneo Class of ‘69 remarked about this phenomenon in GK, “When it was clear to me that poverty was not primarily about economics, when it was clear to me that corruption was not primarily about law, it also became clear to me that despair perpetuates poverty, perpetuates corruption. I learned this because the entry of hope changes everything, as though hope were the light that transforms night to day. I learned that what Gawad Kalinga does, which is the most important, is to rearrange the ingredients of life so that hope can emerge with basis.”

Gawad Kalinga brings great hope to the nation because it inspires great generosity from an army of volunteers who help the needy when they themselves are in need. Many are building homes for the homeless when they themselves are still renting or living with relatives.

Gawad Kalinga invites trust because it inspires Filipinos to be trustworthy, even politicians. One truly bright spot in our country today is the emergence of young and capable leaders preparing their towns for investment and development by land banking and building sustainable GK communities and farms to address homelessness and hunger. This removes a major roadblock in our effort to scale up as lack of trust is oftentimes the excuse of many for not helping although the heart wants to.

To build a nation is to have direct impact on the lives of the poor, fifty million of them in our country as of the last count, and to influence those who have the power and the means to help them. The effort has to be visible, transformative, and empowering; otherwise, it will not be massive or sustainable. It can start with charity but it must be a work of social justice to even the playing field and to recognize that all Filipinos are equal in worth and dignity. It begins with the heart where love resides, but it must be sustained with excellence and stewardship. Without love, there is no justice; without justice, there is no peace. Despite our abundance in material resources and talent, our nation will not prosper unless we learn to love our country and work for justice for our people.

Philippine Daily Inquirer, in choosing me as Filipino of the Year in 2006, cited Gawad Kalinga as a gift from God to the Filipino people, which one day will be the gift of the Filipino people to the world. In receiving this award, it was clear to me that I was just doing so on behalf of the multitude of heroes who have made this miracle possible. It has not been my habit to speak about my role in a work that humbles me, but tonight I will give you a glimpse of my life as a late bloomer in social development who discovered that it is never too late to love country beyond self. Perhaps it will help you find new expressions of what it is to live for others.

The first fifty years of our life is an invitation for success; beyond that is an invitation for greatness. Success is to accomplish for self; greatness is to accomplish for others.

I come from Ateneo class ’71, AB Economics, the batch of Jun Ross, the more famous one among us in college who needs our prayers now in his battle against cancer. Please pray for his quick recovery so he can continue to fly with us. This year I turned fifty-eight, normally a good age to slowdown and reduce the amount of stress in a man’s life. But I am a restless fifty-eight. I am consumed with two goals at the second phase of my life. First, I dream that the Philippines will be the first Christian country in Asia that will rise from poverty. Second, I want my children to be among the first generation of Filipinos who will live with pride and honor in our country.

These are big dreams that have captured my heart at this time when my blood pressure is no longer stable without maintenance from Pfizer, and my psoriasis is uncontrollable without the aid of Wyeth. I mentioned these two pharmaceutical companies because their CEOs are Ateneo graduates and close friends who are concerned with my health and those of the poor in our Gawad Kalinga communities.

They, too, are not too old to dream of a better life for our people. Unlike most of you, my being Atenean was more by destiny, not by privilege of birth. It was Fr. Thomas Steinbugler, SJ, the Dean of Admissions forty years ago, who broke convention and changed history by opening the door of the Katipunan campus to ambitious young men like myself from public schools who had no pedigree; only big dreams and the determination to build a better life than the one we had.

More than the equipment for success in whatever career path I chose, Ateneo planted in me the seed of what it is to be Filipino and Catholic – to be a man for others.

As part of the scholarship package, I worked as a porter in both Cervini and Eliazo dorms with other scholars like respected columnist Conrado de Quiros. In my four years at the university, I was accepted as a friend and equal by everyone who knew that I came from the lower class and a different background. It was my first taste of a non-discriminatory, inclusive community in what was a traditionally exclusive environment. It was liberating for someone like myself who always felt second class in Bacolod City where I came from. The rich were not unkind to me, but somehow I never felt I was an equal to them. I did not blame them either. Somehow I knew it was not their fault that they inherited a way of life where human value was measured by the size of one’s land or the sound of one’s name.

My time at the Ateneo was also a period of societal change. The dark clouds of the First-Quarter Storm were brewing in the campuses, and there was growing unrest in the countryside. Jesuit Fr. JJ Jesena, my guardian and relative by affinity, shocked the public and upset the landed aristocracy of my home province with his revealing and disturbing book on the miserable life of our sugarcane workers; the sacadas of Negros . What was disturbing to others was normal to me because I grew up with them.

All the social conscientization of the time plus my deep admiration for friends and martyrs, Emman Lacaba and Ed Jopson, were not compelling enough for me to drop my ambition and join the cause. I was the young eagle then who was eager to fly away because I had nothing to give back to those I left behind in Negros . There was no reason for me to go home. I had no land, no money, no pedigree. There was only massive hunger and insurgency waiting for me.

So I stayed in Manila and tried to build a life, just like the squatters who flock to the city because there is no hope for them in the province. The big difference was that I had an Ateneo education while most of them barely had anything. I raised my family inside exclusive subdivisions; they raised theirs in squatter colonies outside my walls. Heaven and hell were just a few meters away from each other. Like most Filipinos, I found comfort in religion but had no time to give comfort to poor Lazarus outside my gate.

Oftentimes, we curse the squatters for making our world ugly, for the threat to our safety, and for being a burden to society. Yes they are…because we forgot to practice our Christianity on them. Our failure in social justice deprived them of land and home, of dignity and honor, of dreams an aspirations, to build a future in the towns where they were born. They are impoverished squatters in a country with so much land and wealth in the possession of a few.

It is the same migratory pattern like most of you who flew to the United States as poverty, corruption, activism, and militarization grew in our country. It is but natural for us to escape threats to our safety and comfort and to search for our oasis where we can thrive and prosper. No one has the right to judge anyone of you for leaving the country, as no one has the right to judge the poor for leaving their province to seek survival elsewhere.

Unlike them, you were driven by hope because you were designed to succeed while they were forced to leave out of desperation, oftentimes because of calamity, conflict or hunger. You prospered in the most competitive economy in the world with your strong motivation and great capacity for hard work, while the poor, who are congesting our cities, failed to make life better for themselves and for everyone else. They know how to fish, but the big city is no fishing ground for them. Our goal in Gawad Kalinga is to make life in the province more attractive for them not to leave and for those in the city to go back. And for those who do well to come home and help.

Like this eagle who flew back to Negros, In 2003, a young Englishman, who fell in love with GK, my country, and my daughter…in that order, gave my wife and me an unusual gift on our silver anniversary – one hundred homes to give to the poor in our respective hometowns. We built fifty homes for her in Concepcion , Tarlac, where she hails from, and fifty homes for the farm workers where I come from in La Carlota City. Today, there are thirty-two GK villages in nineteen towns and cities in Negros Occidental and more to open up…and more hacienderos giving land for homes and farms to the poor. I am finally home.

We are now calling on all patriots-in-exile in the US and Canada to come home and help us build our nation. The Philippines is claiming back her best talents on loan to other countries with interest. Please go back to your towns and provinces, not just to your families but to other families in need, not just with your balikbayan boxes but with your balikbayani hearts.


Our local heroes are waiting for you. The thirteen Blue Eagle GK villages in Quezon City, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Bicol, and Davao look forward to your visit and support. We have over 400 mayors and governors and thousands of volunteers and GK residents willing to match your heroism – love for love, sweat for sweat, skill for skill.


We need immediate help for Panay which was devastated by typhoon Frank last week. Relief agencies are all over the island easing the misery of 80,000 families needing food, medicine, and temporary shelters. Soon Gawad Kalinga will start building sustainable GK communities in relocation sites, safe from floods, landslides, and earthquakes. We will need a big army of heroes to do this on a massive scale in partnership with our town officials. We call on all Ilonggos particularly to help Panay and all of you to help the poor in the region where you come from. Let us not allow the Filipino to remain a victim in his country forever.

In this room are the natural leaders of an initiative that will raise the image of Filipinos from Third-World to one that many other countries will follow in order to confront and defeat poverty in their own respective homelands. It is in the hands of Filipinos privileged by wealth or talent to take leadership positions, but they can do so only if they have the heart of heroes.

It is only heroes who can rescue a failing nation and a suffering people. It is only heroes who will extend their power and resources to help others, beyond themselves and family. To love our family is a gift; to love the poor is grace. Caring for our family brings us closest to them; caring for the poor brings us closest to God. It is only the hero in you that I appeal to, to bring our people out of poverty and you nearest to God.

In the past, nations were built by young heroes in their teens because fighting for the motherland was their purpose in life. Their average life expectancy was short at thirty-five years old, war being their main business. Now our young are pressured with college, career, and family with little time to think about their country. Those who do are extraordinary.

So we call on those over fifty, who have fewer responsibilities, more resources, and longer life expectancy. Those at fifty today are at their prime, equivalent to a fifteen-year-old two centuries ago. It is to all of you that I make this appeal. Be a hero to the poor in our country.

Show the world that the eagle is not too old to fly. Use all your energy to lift our country out of poverty and our people out of shame. Make this your offering when Ateneo celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2009, in tune with its theme, “Building the Nation.” When we all do, our national hero and the greatest Atenean, Dr. Jose Rizal, will finally get his wish. And we would have been justified: With an Ateneo education comes great responsibility for God and country.


God bless the Philippines.

82 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just want to make 2 wishes in relation to TM's speech:

1) I wish that, regardless of our background and status in life, we will be moved into urgent action with passion & compassion to help free our poor brethren from the chains of poverty.

2) I wish that there will be NO rejoinder, fault-finding commentary or negative analysis to this speech because this is NOT going to achieve anything productive. If you are NOT willing to share your time, talents and treasures to our poor brothers & sisters, kindly spare us your "spiritual" assessment or analysis of the contents of this speech.

Please just read it and let it be.

God bless,
DBC

Anonymous said...

The truth can hurt...

“...the entry of hope changes everything, as though hope were the light that transforms night to day. I learned that what Gawad Kalinga does, which is the most important, is to rearrange the ingredients of life so that hope can emerge with basis.”
- Pilosopo Tasyo quoted by Bro. Tony Meloto

Nice quote...

In the context of CFC and Gawad Kalinga, I believe the basis for such hope is the faith that has been embedded in the heart of a CFC follower and the truth of Jesus fully revealed in the Catholic Church.... I refer here to the hope that is borne by volunteers who've committed to show the face of Jesus in poverty-stricken areas.

I would have wanted to see some doctrinal references stressed along those lines before a gathering of eagles who certainly are not too old to grow in Christ through love of neighbor, and who might not be wary about giving to charity through GK.

I bring in WillyJ:

“There could conceivably be a 'relativistic attitude towards Catholic doctrine so prevalent in certain sectors in CFC-GK', and we should be terrified as well...”

There is cause for some concern, indeed...

Anonymous said...

While I want to beat the most to the rallying call of Bro. Tony Meloto (meaning I want him to get as much adherents to GK from the blue eagles grouped in the US of A and the Americas), I sort of sense something missing - I think it has to do with the "driving spirit" of GK, which is about a directive to be charitable, the command of Jesus of love one another. Perhaps Brother TM did not find it necessary to emphasize charity, and the Jesuit teaching of being man for others, before his fellow Ateneans (who are presumed to live by it). That is why I seem not to find a in there a a strong advocacy for it in his speech. K lang naman; it's not earth-shaking.

But then, I just wish to suggest that 'yung pangtusok, the key ingredient to the GK apostolate, which is conversion to CFC or adherence to CFC principles, must not be lost at all...

Suggestin lang naman ito.

Otherwise, let me express my deep respect for the points raised by Bro. Tony in bringing before a class of successful Filipinos in the United States the case of GK as a measure for nation-building here in the Philippines.

Last but not least, I lift to God the health and enthusiasm of all those who participated in the symposium of Ateneo alumni. God Bless You All!!!

Anonymous said...

Why don't we also spend time putting speeches/talks given by our IC Leaders in this blog?

Anonymous said...

Tanong ko lang mga kapatid. Shouldn't Tony Meloto, by this time, respectfully decline invitations for giving speeches related to GK? He is NO longer the "official" GK Director right? If there's anybody who should really be "selling" GK now, it should be Luis, right? Tanong lang mga kapatid, wala pong mapipikon. I just dread that in the future, we will fail to realize that we'd already fallen to the cult worship of Tony Meloto which is just as bad as the blind obedience being displayed by our FFL brethren towards FP.

Anonymous said...

RE: Shouldn't Tony Meloto, by this time, respectfully decline invitations for giving speeches related to GK

Even though he is no longer the director of GK, I believe he is still committed to doing his best for GK in whatever capacity he can serve. What I see in what he's doing is he is campaigning for GK. If one believes in GK and its cause, that person should campaign for GK, doesn't matter whether you are low-profile CFC member or GK volunteer or a well-known personality. As long as he is not giving speeches about what direction/mission/vision that GK should take (or anything that should be reserved for the GK leadership), I think he is still within propriety. His speeches seem to be about sharing his experiences and being a witness to God's Love. I don't see how it's any different from our sharing in CFC households or assemblies, except we are focused on helping couples/families whereas he is focused on helping the poor.

It's very likely that there is an understanding between the GK leadership, TM and the IC in terms of their roles (either implied or explicitly discussed amongst themselves). They probably have mutual respect of what their boundaries are.

I do understand the need to be watchful, as per the warning by the anonymous questioner (which I am thankful for). I put my trust on the IC (and God) that any such trend to go into that direction will be stopped at its tracks. As imperfect and emotional humans, we are certainly susceptible to the temptation or tendency of cult worship, blind obedience or glorifying personalities. One thing that makes me less worried is that I think those of us who remained in CFC are now in a much better shape to resist those, given that we just passed our previous test on this and have, thus, acquired some experience.

God bless!!!

Anonymous said...

"Tanong ko lang mga kapatid. Shouldn't Tony Meloto, by this time, respectfully decline invitations for giving speeches related to GK? He is NO longer the "official" GK Director right? If there's anybody who should really be "selling" GK now, it should be Luis, right? Tanong lang mga kapatid, wala pong mapipikon. I just dread that in the future, we will fail to realize that we'd already fallen to the cult worship of Tony Meloto which is just as bad as the blind obedience being displayed by our FFL brethren towards FP."

Wala naman akong nakikitang mali kung tanggapin ni Bro. Tony ang imbitasyon na magbigay ng speech regarding GK. Lahat ng naniniwala sa magandang layunin ng GK, lalo na si Bro. Tony, ay dapat ipagpatuloy ang kanyang ginagawa. We all instrument of God di ba?

Tungkol sa pagiging "Kulto" na iyong binanggit, hindi naman siguro ito mangyayari sa CFC. We are all in our right mind to know what is best for all of us. We as members of CFC knows what is right and what is wrong and who to follow. This is the reason why we are still in the community called Couples for Christ.

God bless us all.

Larry

Anonymous said...

The main difference between Bro Tony and his fellow Ateneo Alumni who are not yet in the renewal movement is Tony's having experienced God in his serving in CFC. Without Tony's CFC formation,GK would not be what it is today. So maybe one blogger here is correct in suggesting that he should give emphasis to his conversion,CFC experience and doctrinal references in all his speeches.We all know that without CFC there is no GK. Maybe he can wear a CFC Shirt or his CFC pin and I.D in his speaking engagements. There may be GK volunteers and workers who are not CFC working with the poor and they might be spiritualy mature and passionate about GK,but it is my humble opinion that the CFC GK volunteer who is also faithful to his CFC Covenant has a built in advantage over the non CFC GK volunteer in the long haul.
JUst for the record let me once again honor the nameless GK volunteers and GK fulltimers, Tony most of all for there perseverance. I would also like to honor the CFC leaders who continue to serve in CLP's ,the CFC who continue to evangelize so that this world would be inhabited by more Tony Melotos and Mother Theresas. To the CFC's who have not yet accepted the responsibility to be household heads and facilitators please help in reminding them that the harvest is great but the laborers are few.

WillyJ said...

Anonymous of 15:08 7/22/2008,
said:
"In the context of CFC and Gawad Kalinga, I believe the basis for such hope is the faith that has been embedded in the heart of a CFC follower and the truth of Jesus fully revealed in the Catholic Church.... I refer here to the hope that is borne by volunteers who've committed to show the face of Jesus in poverty-stricken areas. "

Now this is not just a nice quote from you but a very profound one, even in its brevity. I BELIEVE so too, and very emphatically. For everyone involved in GK, it is primarily an encounter with God who in Christ has shown us his face and opened his heart for us, so that we know we are redeemed through the hope that it expresses. This is the precisely the hope that Pope Benedict XVI expresses in Spe Salvi as the life-changing and life-sustaining hope. It is the hope for the Redeemer, that anyone who does not know God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope. Social Doctrine must be appreciated in the light of its moral- theological nature, in what TM says that GK should bring us closer to God. It is in this sense that the human promotion in the Church's social doctrine is integral to evangelization, and is tightly linked, as one cannot disassociate the plan of creation with the plan of redemption. And yes, we should always be wary of the evil one, who does not rest in seeking to subvert the good in GK.

In GK, it is not the face of Tony Meloto or Luis Oquinena, or anyone for that matter that shows. It is the face of Jesus.

God bless you bro, and thanks for that. You've made my day.

Good Morning everyone!

Anonymous said...

I beg to disagree with our anonymous bloggers here. If your heart is really into helping the poor or your country, no position or person can hold you from doing it. Provided that you are within the norms of what is acceptable and true.

TM is merely helping in the work of GK. If his heart is not enough, then I don't know what men are made of.

Danny, WB said...

Q: Should Tony Meloto stop doing good works for GK?

A: Have you not heard of the sin of omission?

Q: Are we following a "Tony Meloto Cult"?

A: Definitely not.... Otherwise, we should change our ID's to Couples For Tony... Hmmm... parang may ganyang community na ah... yung sumusunod sa Tao... ano nga pangalan nun? Hmmm...

Anonymous said...

tama nga siguro! everytime TM is invited to talk, "someone" gets jealous :-)

i think TM should not stop talking about GK. i agree with Deo.

here in our office, i was asked to talk about GK too. eh sino ba naman ako? alam lang nilang member ako ng CFC so they asked me about GK, and i gave a "talk".

i think i inspired them. maybe it's in the same way that TM inspires many in a bigger way when he gives talks. yung talk ko, hindi naman na publish sa blog or somewhere gaya nang kay TM hahahaha

so mga kapatid, minsan, aside from doing the labor, we also need to talk about GK --- in our office, with our friends, with our families. you'll be surprised that a lot are still NOT aware about GK. so, yes, kailangan natin someone (it could be TM, Luis, ikaw, ako) to rally people for GK awareness. it's God's gift, so we need to share it.

God bless you mga kapatid.

jonitanitayturin said...

No, brother rocknroll, TM is NOT “merely helping in the work of GK”; TM IS A CFC COMMITED TO GK.

And the only TRUTH that commits us to 'bleed for the poor through GK', yes, Brother, the only TRUTH is we have embraced the Scandal of our God bloodied and hanged on the Cross - there in the havens of the damned that are slowly blooming in HOPE.

Thank you that your kind of disagreement precipitates our obsession to cast in stone this mantra that the ‘embodiment’ of CFC must be permanently etched in 'corporate GK' and as well as in the heart of each committed GK supporter.

Anonymous said...

Isa lang pong panukala para madali pong maunawaan at maipaliwanag sa mas nakakaraming members. Panukala din noon nakaraang coops general assembly sa ateneo na mag usap sa tagalog. Baka pwedeng mag create ng mirror site sa tagalog. Salamat po.

Anonymous said...

wag na nating bigyan ng ibang kulay kung bakit nagsasalita sa TM sa gathering na ito..Eh kapwa niyang mga taga Ateneo naman ang audience.

Sana we wish them and not only them, MORE POWER!, sa lahat ng mga nag re-reunion na mga classmates, saan mang sulok ng mundo!

Anonymous said...

Reminders to all cfc and ffl members. Paki alis yun car stickers nyo kung hindi na kayo ang owner. Nag rereflect kasi sa organization nyo ang mga hindi tamang asal ng driver. Salamat po.

Anonymous said...

Mga kapatid,

In our efforts to evangelize and to help the poor, its always better to let our action do the talkings. However, no matter how passionate we are in our service, there is a need to rub that passion to others. How are we going to do that? By expressing ourselves and share it with as many as possible. This is what tito Tony is doing.

As we find our personal fulfillment in serving the poor, we need to share that blessing to others. In our actions, it shoould not be for our self glorification. We should let Jesus shine through us. Its not ours but His name...

God bless,
RJ

Anonymous said...

OK, so it is desired that one may not be coy about being CFC when talking about GK. There is a point being made here that a GK worker's main horse is CFC. So, why not ride high with it when opportunity calls for it.

But, it is also useful to be realistic, i.e., to acknowledge that many factors in the 'real world' make it safer to be less transparent (just like my writing in this blog now as an 'anonymous'), where it is also useful to 'hold onto one's horses...for the time being"...

Now, here's my "sharing": I have high respects for the sincerity and magnanimity of Brother TM, and I am concerned that he may have missed a golden opportunity...

I refer to that unique gathering of successful Blue Eagles in the USA, where Brother TM could have explicitly made known to them, as a comrade and true-blue Atenean, what his CFC Horse was made of, now that he is gallantly galloping towards the sunset of his life after hitting Gold.

Anonymous said...

Tony Meloto

"A legend in his own time"

Frank Padilla

"A legend in his own mind"

Yun lang po.

Anonymous said...

One thing a lot of us miss when we talk about GK is the driving force behind GK. I still have not heard a leader of GK Glorify God when giving a talk about GK and in the end it is GK that is Glorified not God. I hope this changes.

Bentot said...

Anonymous said: Tanong ko lang mga kapatid. Shouldn't Tony Meloto, by this time, respectfully decline invitations for giving speeches related to GK?

The premise of your question is that Tony Meloto was invited to speak because of Gawad Kalinga. I am afraid that's not the case. Tony Meloto has been invited to speak because he is Tony Meloto.

Then you may ask, who is Tony Meloto? In the eyes of his fellow Ateneans, Tony Meloto is a fellow Atenean and a passionate advocate of Gawad Kalinga. If his fellow Ateneans chooses to listen to him, that's not an option that the CFC has. That's the option of the Ateneans.

Now hold your breath for a minute. Shouldn't that be the dream of every CFC member who is passionate about GK? One blogger here recounted that he was asked to talk in his office about GK because his officemates learned that he's CFC.

I'd say, that's the spirit!

But let me state this with equal passion. GK has very passionate advocates within CFC. Someone has chosen to champion it, and did very well at that. To me, it is an inspiration for the other ministries within CFC to become bolder too.

How many ministries do we have? If each of these ministries has a Tony Meloto that moves the ministry to unprecedented levels, then let's all gird up for the tremendous explosion that's about to happen all over the world. There will be great revivals all over the world. Then we shall truly live up to our vision:

FAMILIES IN THE HOLY SPIRIT RENEWING THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

The Round-Eyed Toddler

Bentot said...

“A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”
John Maxwell

In a few words, John Maxwell said what I wanted to say in my earlier post. Whew! I couldn't say it any better. Let me say it again,

“A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”

Who has exhibited passion? and who thinks position is it?

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

I'd say I go for passion. People, and Filipinos most especially, are hungry to hear from people with passion. We have too much positional leaders already...in our offices, in politics, and, well also in CFC, especially the years prior to Feb 2007.

People have been telling me to burn someone's books. After July 20, I began to seriously consider it. It may be the kind of therapy I need.

The Round-Eyed Toddler

Anonymous said...

Wala namang Mali, Hindi naman kasalanan Na si Tony ay laging invited to give a talk.

Every CFC member and GK volunteer including non CFC IF GIVEN a CHANCE to TALK about GK SHOULD DO IT, To encourage, challenge the people who still not aware or helping GK.

Kapatid, I never see TM as god and look at him to be like in cult as one.

HE IS A CFC member who love the poor so much to help them and very passionate to HELP GK IN ANY HE CAN.

IKAW KAPATID? do you have that love and passion for the poor?

I cant really fathom why still other people Cant see positively of what TM is doing.


Max

Anonymous said...

Tony gave another good speech and it was meant to be what it was - a call for Filipinos to pay back the country that nurtured them through our GK work/ministry. People will read anything that they want with Tony's speech but maganda at effective para sa akin.

Kaya nga lang - the Salvador Maciases out there will always find fault, split hairs and denigrade this call to heroism in our times as another "veering away" from Tony's original roots - CFC. Haay.... Salvador is SAVIOUR and Macias is a play of MESSIAH. Salvador Macias or the Saviour Messiah. Hmmm... parang kilala ko siya!.... The one who styles himself as the messiah of our times! Saviour of the cherism?

Jonathan Rickard said...

Anonymous said: "Tanong ko lang mga kapatid. Shouldn't Tony Meloto, by this time, respectfully decline invitations for giving speeches related to GK? He is NO longer the "official" GK Director right? If there's anybody who should really be "selling" GK now, it should be Luis, right? Tanong lang mga kapatid, wala pong mapipikon. I just dread that in the future, we will fail to realize that we'd already fallen to the cult worship of Tony Meloto which is just as bad as the blind obedience being displayed by our FFL brethren towards FP."


As a GK volunteer myself, a couple of things stand out in this area.

1. Tony Meloto is now a GK volunteer. He and his son-in-law Dylan Wilk are both passionate promoters of GK. That is their calling, to promote GK. TM is freed to perform this calling because GK has such capable leadership in its Executive Director Luis Oquinena.

2. The fact that GK has such capable leaders in Luis Oquinena and Issa Cuevas-Santos speaks to the type of leadership that TM exhibited when in the past he was Executive Director. He was not some superstar leader who upon stepping down had not raised and mentored others to take his place. On the contrary, in Luis and Issa GK have two leaders who would be extremely valuable in any organization - non-profit or commercial. And they were raised and mentored on TM's watch.

To my mind, if a leader is the type upon whose watch others are also raised to become leaders, something is being done right.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

"One thing a lot of us miss when we talk about GK is the driving force behind GK. I still have not heard a leader of GK Glorify God when giving a talk about GK and in the end it is GK that is Glorified not God. I hope this changes."

By the CFC and CK Controversy, almost alam na sa lahat na ang GK is one of the pillars of CFC and CFC is a Catholic Renewal Organization.

By their Actions God is Glorified Kapatid, the poor see GOD through the actions of these GK Workers and Advocates not by just words that GLORIFY GOD.

Kapatid, I am a CFC member but HINDI pa ako naka pag volunteer sa GK, nakakatulong ng kaunti sa Fund Raising Activities, nagbibigay ng kaunti for GK BUT I dont expect our Advocates and GK workers SHOUT and GLORIFY GOD, BY THEIR ACTIONS that GOD IS GLORIFIED!

Marami dyan including myself SHOUT AND GLORIFY GOD and PRAISE GOD PERU LIP SERVICE KAPATID.

Maraming pa sigaw sigaw dyan peru wala namang GINAGAWA (actions) that REALLY GLORIFY GOD.

IKAW Kapatid?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
One thing a lot of us miss when we talk about GK is the driving force behind GK. I still have not heard a leader of GK Glorify God when giving a talk about GK and in the end it is GK that is Glorified not God. I hope this changes.

July 23, 2008 5:20 PM

Yan na naman ba ang issue? Medyo palasak na ah..

Anonymous said...

I am the master of this house. I remember that sentence from my english teacher when I was a high school freshman. The lesson was that the meaning of the sentence changes depending on which word you stress. And each different meaning implies a different context.

Being in Europe I work a lot with different nationalities. When the British sets up a meeting for half-ten he means half PAST ten. But when a German says "halb zehn" (half ten) it means half an hour BEFORE 10. The context (being British or German) changes the meaning. Ask Dylan, he's British.

When a friend says to another "yung ano ni ano naano mo na ba?" or "ku-ana na ang ku-an nimo" yet still be understood, it is the context that gave the meaning.

Context is essential and everytime we second guess someone, more often than not we miss the point.

When Tony gave that speech he was most certainly giving it in a certain context. Unless we know that context it is counter-productive to second guess him.

If you want Tony to verbally glorify God in his speeches, ask him to do it when he prepares the speech. Better yet, be his speechwriter. If you want all GK-related speeches to always include passages glorifying God, then get the GK Board to make it a rule. That would set a certain context and a standard common to all speeches.

But to judge a speech as if it did not satisfy a standard without setting the standard beforehand and without knowing the context of the speech is unfair.

In 1 Cor 9:20-23, St. Paul writes: "And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law;
to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law.
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it."


Who says that to be a man for others does not mean being an Atenean to the Ateneans and a poor man to the poor man? Who among us can say that using the concepts of heroism and nation-building to win people for GK will not ultimately lead to God's glory? If St. Paul did all things for the sake of the gospel, should we not use as many tools as we can including calls to heroism, calls to help the poor, visions of the only Christian country in Asia entering the first world and appeals to the Filipino heart?

Kapatid, God knows what each of our intentions are. He knew what was in Tony's heart. And He is glorified when, in service to His work, we make use of our talents and everything we have, including devices of elocution worthy of Edmund Campion.

- TE

jonitanitayturin said...

THE EAGLE FLIES

“Now is the time to follow the wind, to walk alone
And the stars will show the way,
Above the clouds beyond the sea,
And now is the time…And now and farewell
And as we part…You taught me well, you gave me strength,
You showed the way, I’ll not forget you…
Like an eagle I will soar above the clouds
I will spread my wings and fly into the sky…”


-------------------------------

I don’t have the exact lyrics, I write them as I hum the song…Hope my recollection is correct.

I hope to later try to sort this out; but it seems like there is something there that wants to “fly out” of the discourse here. It is about BEING, DOING, and SHOWING CFC and GK:

“Being CFC in “doing” GK and yet not really “showing” CFC
versus
“BEING” AND “SHOWING” CFC WHILE “DOING” GK”

worse:
“Not “being” and “showing” CFC while “doing” GK”

worst:
“Showing off” by neither “being” CFC nor “doing” GK”

The eagle in each of the CFC follower and GK worker wants to fly and needs the “pabaon”, the kind of learning and teaching that will give strength as he ultimately faces the lonely “job” at the top where he would have tested the limits of his God-given strength and ability…

GOD BLESS FOR THE NEW DAY!!!

Anonymous said...

Tara na!! lets all evangelize para dumami CFC. Pagdumami CFC maraming support sa GK work with the poor baka di na kailangan magbigay ng speech, diba sabi ni St. Francis we don't need to talk but to act. Umpisa SOLD/HOLD CLP Aug 9 7PM sa Villamor Marketing,hardware ni Dale Villamor sa commonwealth. Mag invite na kayo, sabi nga the best defense is offense,sugod mga kapatid!

Anonymous said...

CFC is blessed to have in its membership rolls a person with a passion like Tony Meloto.

I understand that the GK Ministry is not the only Ministry that TM 'pastored and led'. I do understand likewise that he was also very passionate in the Family Ministry that he once led.

So if TM is very passionate about GK, then he is just living and showing his true self -- a passionate man in the service of God.

The only difference now is that his passion while being the Head for the Family Ministries was being seen only within the community of CFC; now his passion for GK is being seen nationwide and worldwide!

How did that happen?

Well, GK involved CFC in the bigger work for Christ! Remember the life of Jesus? He was an unknown maN in his growing up years with Mary and Joseph, but when He read the scroll of Isaiah, the launch pad of his public ministry -- word about his existence quickly spread all over, even if the were no TV, newspapers, cell phones nor internet at that time.

So word about GK is spreading because it is 'public ministry' -- an all inclusive program planned by God specially for the poor of whatever color race or creed! And God chose CFC to handle it, but within CFC He chose to have TM lead! Why? Maybe because God knew that this brother does things with passion -- hindi lang sulat ng libro at nagbibigay ng passionate talk na lumalabas ang litid ng leeg. Si TM lumalabas ang pawis sa init ng araw sa GK site, kahit na yun eh hindi mabuti sa kanyang psoriasis.

I am not idolizing TM, but I am one of those leaders in the North Sector of CFC who worked with TM in the early days of GK. Just like all of us, TM is not perfect -- sometimes he too falls into the temptation of being proud in his talk. But let us pray for the man -- ourselves too -- so that God will continue to use TM, us, our CFC community and the 'public ministry' of GK to follow Jesus in His Steps!

Anonymous said...

If Passion leads one to better leadership, then in these days in the life of CFC we are being told that such passion too should not lead to one's thinking of indispensability in the organization that we lead!

Rather our passion in the work for CFC and in whatever Ministry or position we are assigned, our passion should lead to a higher level of passion in focusing on Christ, living in Christ, dying in ourselves for Christ!

Yet we all realize that all these statements are easier said than done!

So we always need Jesus Christ!

He can always make it happen in us!

Anonymous said...

Let us not contest that the leadership of TM opened up a sense of consciousness in the plight of the poor but with the distinct difference of having that sense and doing something about it. There are people who also have a sense for the poor. Just a sense, period.

Of course, TM knows he did not do it and does not do it by himself. He knows that he was not / is not alone in doing the great work of GK, HE KNOWS CFC is the one that helped GK get to its renown status in our country in some places in the world!

If the Chapter Level leaders of CFC, who took on the responsibility of caretaker people for GK, did not believe that GK is God-mandated, God-ordained & God-sustained - GK would not have flourished.

Let's be joyful in TM's passion, but let's not forget and let's also celebrate the obedience of the members of CFC - from the International Council down to the member for everyone's involvement in the unfinished work of GK!

Beyond CFC, we owe gratitude to those corporations, academic institutions, national/local government units, clergy & dioceses, balikbayans, Filipinos abroad (OFW or otherwise) civic organizations, ordinary men & women & the youth - particularly students who don't mind the intramural of CFC & FFL and just continue to help support GK! To them we lift high the banners of God's Love!

Anonymous said...

I hear a small minority of former GK supporters no longer support Tony Meloto and have in fact distanced themselves from GK.

However, I am informed that they did not also go to Frank Padilla's Playboys group, because they also do not believe in the real purpose for the Restoration Villages.

Last thing I heard of them is that they'll have a GK-like project in Pampanga.

Just a realization that great works will always have its share of contrarian thinking.

Anonymous said...

Attention CFC and FFL;

Suggest you rally and support this man. I heard over a dzmm interview yesterday that a case was filed against him for simply donating to Gawad Kalinga even if the funds came from the personal pocket of employees and properly disclosed and documented with receipts. Works of some crazy government offcials.

Prosecutor Villa-Ignacio standing his ground


By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:16:00 07/23/2008


MANILA, Philippines -- Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio is not backing down from what he said were moves by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and her allies to unseat him.

“They will have to shoot me,” said Villa-Ignacio whose seven-year term does not end until February 2010.

The prosecutor who led the team that successfully obtained the plunder conviction of deposed President Joseph Estrada is now fighting off ouster moves himself.

According to Villa-Ignacio, an estafa (fraud) case filed against him by a special prosecutor in the Ombudsman’s internal affairs board was part of the pressure being placed on him.

He said Gutierrez wants him out so she can appoint her own man to the job. He declined to name the prosecutor being eyed to replace him.

“That’s pure harassment. You can attack my management style, but not my integrity. I’ve been protecting my integrity for years,” he told reporters in his office at the Sandiganbayan.

The complainant, Elvira Chua, said she filed the case on her own and not on the orders of Gutierrez.

“This is not a demolition job against him,” said Chua who faced the media with a group of Ombudsman officials and prosecutors, everyone of whom voiced support for Gutierrez.

Gutierrez was supposed to appear at the press conference, but decided against it.

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro advised Villa-Ignacio to face the suit, and assured him that he would be accorded due process.

‘Face the music’

“He has to face the music,” said Assistant Ombudsman Jose de Jesus, the spokesperson for the Ombudsman’s Office.

Chua claimed that she handed over to Villa-Ignacio P26,600 for the installation of water pumps for victims of Typhoon “Milenyo” in Quezon province in 2004. However, she found out later that the funds had been channeled to a Gawad Kalinga project. She filed the fraud case against Villa-Ignacio last March.

Villa-Ignacio countered that the money was coursed through the Ombudsman, and ended up in the GK since it had a similar project for typhoon victims. He said the disbursement was well-documented.

“Is that estafa? I’ll let my freshmen students at the Ateneo de Manila handle it and I’m very sure they can handle it,” he said.

Villa-Ignacio said Chua was trying to get back at him because he had “disciplined” her in a case involving Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno. He said Chua had failed to attach a document in the case against Puno stemming from a cancelled purchase of a radio system resulting in the case being dismissed by the Supreme Court.

According to Chua, Villa-Ignacio was asked to submit a counter-affidavit on her estafa case by the Ombudsman’s internal affairs board, but went to the media instead. Villa-Ignacio denied this, saying he has not received any notice to file his comment.

“It was given due course faster than the complaint against Joc-Joc Bolante,” he said, referring to fugitive Jocelyn Bolante, a former agriculture undersecretary who was charged over the P728-million fertilizer fund scam in 2004.

Villa-Ignacio said if the Ombudsman rules against him and suspends him, he would take the case to the Supreme Court.

Anonymous said...

thank you bro jonitanitayturin.

perhaps the anonymous bloggers here are jealous to see and hear of TM's passion and converting what he preaches into actions. unlike their leaders who blah blah blah with fantastic stories to neverneverland.

while many of us members of cfc and ffl alike may have less or no zeal at all for gk, we should strive to be inspired by people whose actions speak louder than words.

those anonymous bloggers who use this blog as a way to find satisfaction in justifying why they are in ffl or why we should not support gk will never be satisfied. in the end they will still feel empty because of sins of ommission, lukewarmness and pride.

there's no point in justifying why you are with ffl. many of your accusations have boomeranged back at you. haven't you realized yet that choosing to be with ffl has more mistakes than truths in it?

we should walk the talk and avoid preaching like the pharisees of old who are always wanting to look righteous in the eyes of other people.

me an my wife works in our gk site alone now. it feels lonely working alone most of the time but we get our inspirations from our kapitbahayans no matter how "pasaway" they can be because we feel love for them.

God bless people like TM and Dylan. People who don't need to work in GK but moves out of their way to extend a helping hand.

to those of you who logs in here and downplay TM and GK and our CFC brethren, shame on you. and may God enlighten you before the weeds are sorted from the wheat.

Danny, WB said...

I remember one of the issues Frank raised in his GK #3 paper, where he said "Tony Meloto is NOT the founder of GK".

Yet, he does not lift a finger to correct some of "his" Bishops' claim that "He is the Founder of CFC".

Bakit kaya hindi ITAMA ni Frank ang mga maling ito?

Siguro kasi pabor sa kanya...

Danny, WB said...

To the Brother or Sister who wrote:

"One thing a lot of us miss when we talk about GK is the driving force behind GK. I still have not heard a leader of GK Glorify God when giving a talk about GK and in the end it is GK that is Glorified not God. I hope this changes."

Ito lang ang masasabi ko...

"He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'

"And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

--- Matthew 25:33-40

Anonymous said...

we ask prayers for cfc remarville to overcome the issues...we thanks our leaders who continue to support us for this crisis in our life...walang iwanan!!!!as what Bro.Luis Oquiñena Said..


viva CFC Remarville

Anonymous said...

This song dedicated to FAP:

JEALOUSY
by Queen

Oh how wrong can you be?
Oh to fall in love was my very first mistake
How was I to know I was far too much in love to see?
Oh jealousy look at me now
Jealousy you got me somehow
You gave me no warning
Took me by surprise
Jealousy you led me on
You couldn't lose you couldn't fail
You had suspicion on my trail

How how how all my jealousy
I wasn't man enough to let you hurt my pride
Now I'm only left with my own jealousy

Oh how strong can you be
With matters of the heart?
Life is much too short
To while away with tears
If only you could see just what you do to me
Oh jealousy you tripped me up
Jealousy you brought me down
You bring me sorrow you cause me pain
Jealousy when will you let go?
Gotta hold of my possessive mind
Turned me into a jealous kind


How how how all my jealousy
I wasn't man enough to let you hurt my pride
Now I'm only left with my own jealousy
But now it matters not if I should live or die
'Cause I'm only left with my own jealousy

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
One thing a lot of us miss when we talk about GK is the driving force behind GK. I still have not heard a leader of GK Glorify God when giving a talk about GK and in the end it is GK that is Glorified not God. I hope this changes.

---------------------------

Joke ba ito? Hindi mo ba nabasa yung i-speech na "I Want to be a Good Catholic"?

Anonymous said...

I think it’s difficult to compare TM to FAP by this time. As we all know TM choose to stay as an ordinary CFC member while our beloved FAP refused to give up his being a Director or Servant General as what he is by now. This is a clear reminder to all of us that the more we clings to have more we just simply wake with nothing, the more we bow down the more God will lift us up. Sayang . . . FAP could have been a Legend if he did choose as what TM did, and most all a Legacy to our CFC community. Anyway, it’s better late than never, he could still do the lesson we learned from the Prodigal Son . . . and I’m sure there will be great jubilation to the whole CFC world!! Let’s just all pray, who knows perhaps the Holy Spirit will still work in him. . . . jocken

Anonymous said...

I think whether its for CFC, GK or any pillar of our community, whether we are just a member or a leader, nothing should stop us from speaking and witnessing to others about God's work. Tony has shown that you don't have to have a position in the community to work for the Lord. For me, that's true servanthood.

God bless to all.

George Fournier
CFC-Calgary

Athrun Atreides said...

Tito Frank,

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Sleepless in NJ said...

no you didnt... quoting Harvey Dent. Must be a batman fan... we have read spiderman quotes, now batman, next starwars clonewars hehehehe...

change of pace from the traditional scriptural quotes.

I cant wait to hear another soon.

Anonymous said...

Reminder to Athrun:

The villain role for your favorite former leader was taken by him last July 2007.

And he took along with him small villains...but the worst offenders are the men in the cloth who parlayed, supported and even embellished the lie the Servant General invented.

and what are those lies?

here's a short list

1. that he is founder
2. that he is keeper of charism
3. that he has authority to have he gull to instruct the elected International council members to resign last July 16 2007
4. that GK is supporting anti-life move simply because it has a MOA with a drug company who supported a health training program for GK beneficiaries.
5. that CFFC has veered away because he was not nominated to be elected as one of the members of IC again
6. dagdagan ninyo pa...

Anonymous said...

to not one in the pit:

6. we are veering away...
... from his books and teachings because we pulled it off our Flames stand. har har har!

7. they are restoring the old cfc charism...
...have you heard of the CLP being reduced to about 9 talks? talk about restoration.

8. that talk#2 Who is Jesus Christ will be one of the topic being ommitted...
...and they still want to cling on the name of Couples for Christ.

Anonymous said...

here's more for the list:
9. they want to cling on the name of Couples for Christ...
... yet they don't want to wear their old CFC shirts anymore
10. they want to use the name of Couples for Christ...
... yet they took off the CFC stickers in their cars

Anonymous said...

Ang inggit ay inggit, bakit hindi kayo maglingkod sa mahirap. Makihalubilo at mahalin sila, baka maimbitahan din kayo na magsalita. Mahirap kasi ang poro salita kaggaya ni FAP, tapos inggitin pa, pati sa mebers at bishop nya nagpapaimbita pa pra lang pakinggan.

Anonymous said...

It is saddening if indeed Talk 2 in the CLP -- Who is Jesus Christ-- is one of those to be taken out, for purposes of the CLS.

Contrary to some views that this talk is mainly based on protestant teachings, the first and major part of Talk 2,-- historical figure, preannunciation and JC being absolutely unique-- is actually based on the first chapter of Bishop Fulton Sheen's book, The Life of Christ.

The second part -- liar, lunatic, or Lord argument, is based on C.S, Lewis writings. C.S. Lewis was an Anglican, but his books have been respected enough to find their way even in the bookstores of the dioceses.

The foregoing are just my opinions.

Arnel M. Santos
CFC WB3

Unknown said...

Did you notice that in the FFL stickers there is no more Crucifix and Dove. Hmmmmmm..... no symbol of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Anonymous said...

to david v:

brother they took away the cross and the dove because we should know by now that CFC FFL stands for the CFCs who Followed Frank for Life

simple logic and reason should dictate that we follow the what is right and not what FP preach. This is evident in the teachings of his books that he did not put into practice.

he is like Saul who haunts David because he cannot accept that the Lord has chosen a new instrument for his flock.

Anonymous said...

I agree that we should post speeches of the IC here. I'm requesting everyone who has a copy of speeches given by the IC please e-mail them to CD.
Mahirap na.. baka sila naman mag break away kung di na p-post speeches and talks nila dito..

Who do you think can talk to TM to tell him to respectfully decline speaking engagements? Our brother is right. He doesn't have a position in GK anymore so he should stop talking about loving the poor. He has no right to do this anymore because he doesn't have a position in GK. He should just retire and be a farmer in bacolod.. raise fighting cocks maybe..

Anonymous said...

to my brothers and sisters who think TM should decline invitations to give talks:

if the Spirit continues to inspire you to do good then you should act on it. beware of the sin of ommission.

it is precisely why evil in this world today is triumphant -- that is because if good men opt to do nothing.

the world is changed by men of action and not by men who are full of gas! mahal na nga ang gasolina di ba.

Jonathan Rickard said...

jocken said...

This is a clear reminder to all of us that the more we clings to have more we just simply wake with nothing, the more we bow down the more God will lift us up. Sayang . . . FAP could have been a Legend if he did choose as what TM did, and most all a Legacy to our CFC community. Anyway, it’s better late than never, he could still do the lesson we learned from the Prodigal Son . . . and I’m sure there will be great jubilation to the whole CFC world!! Let’s just all pray, who knows perhaps the Holy Spirit will still work in him. . . . jocken


You know, for many months thoughts rattled around in my head regarding what might have been different had Tito Frank taken his sabbatical, as he planned to prior to being convinced to join the plan by the Easter Playboys and Bunnies...

What might have been?

Might he have taken a leaf out of St Paul's book, and moved to the wrong end of town, worked with his hands, and used his talents where he is the first (now) to point out they are needed?

If the problem (daw) is not enough preaching and teaching in GK villages, it would have been wonderful to have Frank there in the villages, raising up a new generation of preachers and teachers from the most impoverished ranks of CFC members!

Some of the apostles were fishermen - hardly a rich occupation - but look how God used them.

The experiences of our CFC members in GK villages are precious in their potential legacy to give to those who follow in the next generations, even more so if the Philippines were to eventually become a first-world nation!

Just as I can open an issue of Kerygma and see more 'Preachers in Blue Jeans' whom Bo Sanchez has mentored and introduced to larger audiences, it would have been a mighty legacy had Tito Frank gone to GK villages, worked with our up-and-coming disciples, mentored and raised up a whole new group of authors, preachers, and teachers.

Preachers in Blue Slippers, perhaps :)

What a legacy!

Unknown said...

Can someone please tell us the whole story behind how EFI and TEODORA were taken over by ex-CFC-turned-FFL leaders and now claimed as theirs ?
Related to this, how many GK sites have funds that have not been completely turned-over by their ex-CFC-turned-FFL leaders ?

Diczen Young
SB-8E

Anonymous said...

Brod "Publisher", I DO NOT AGREE that "we should post speeches of the IC here."

Brother Jonny, I think this is misleading: "Frank...being convinced to join the plan by the Easter Playboys and Bunnies...

I think CD is not obliged to post anybody's speech here! It is just common sense that whatever is posted or published here is up to the blog author, who may not be compelled for whatever reason.

Next, FAP was the prime mover of the Easter group; any kind of soft-pedalling, like making him a kind of lamb or puppy being pulled or "convinced" to do a thing or two is simply out of line. You cannot do that to FAP, nor can you do that to us who have tried to defend CFC against his attacks!

Besides, musing about FAP's missed opportunities for greatness are generally OK, but let us be careful in hinting melancholy to the point of romanticizing his talent. There are plenty of our Brethren out there similarly endowed who are consistently truthful, loving and trustworthy unlike this leader who turned his back against his people, spewing all the evil words he could to damn them.

God Bless, brethren.

Anonymous said...

"Although written last year, this article has again made the rounds in an effort to explain the motivations and actuations of what the author calls the "Evangelical Catholics." In an effort to explain as well that the CFC situation cannot be overly simplified to a case of "patrolling doctrinal boundaries" and raising " the exclusivity of Catholicism," Our contributor, Bro. Salvador Macias, raises a more fundamental point: The CFC issue lies in the life and mission of the community itself and how its spiritual moorings have been barnacled by the overdrive on the social mission, when the latter ought just to be a vehicle to the former.
________________________________________

PINOY KASI
Evangelical Catholics
By Michael Tan
Inquirer
First Posted 00:52am (Mla time) 09/05/2007

Much has been said about the "crab mentality" in the split within the Couples for Christ (CfC). I wouldn't throw out this angle, but I worry that the focus on alleged jealousy could become self-defeating, not just for CfC but for the NGO sector in general. Already, I'm getting "You see, I told you so!" feedback from Filipino-Americans who have always been reluctant to support local organizations because they are said to be prone to in-fighting and corruption.

The "crab mentality" has always been subject to misinterpretation even by journalists who use it to make the CFC split look like a mere power play. As author Michael Tan writes, there is more to whereof the split comes from. As such, too little knowledge becomes dangerous. And pontificating from the balcony and from the lofty pedestal of respected columnists, without the benefit of full information and the need to balance both sides, makes one prone to the very "crab mentality" phenomenon respected journalists accuse the Frank Padilla's group of.

Fundamentally, there is a misplaced definition of "crab mentality" here especially if one closely observes what happens in a basketful of crabs. The action focused upon is on the pulling of each other down. And yet, there are those in that same basket who are also pushed up and make their way to the top and out of the basket. Thus, it becomes denigrating to this delectable crustacean to be consigned as a character of the denizen clothed with ill motives because we choose to focus on a glass that is half empty rather than one that is half full.

And so it is with the CFC split. Splits are no strangers to the ranks of the Church. And yet Christianity saw its full blossoming at the initial stages when Paul and Barnabas decided to go their separate ways, thereby leading to the mass conversion of the land of the Gentiles (non-Jews). Even the large and venerable religious congregations such as the Dominicans, Franciscans, Benedictines, etc., soon opted for loose federations to pursue their different callings bound by the core values of their respective Founders. Of more recent vintage was the departure of the beloved Mother Teresa from her mother congregation, the Sisters of Loreto, so that she and her sisters could form the Missionaries of Charity and focus on the work in the slums of Calcutta. Closer to home, faith communities such as Ligaya ng Panginoon saw the spin-offs of CFC, BCBP, the Women for Christ; while Bukas Loob of the late Fr. Adorable saw the formation of groups like Buklod, etc. Marriage Encounter has seen the formation of other ME groups like ME Worldwide, CFM Marriage Encounter, and others.

The point being stressed here is the use of the same name is not a sole birthright and spin-offs can produce salutary effects for the upbuilding of the Church. They are not necessarily of the same category as that of the "crab mentality" we Filipinos would like to call this phenomenon at times when we decide to go for some self-flagellation.

My take here is that we are dealing with two groups that have big differences in the interpretation of what it means to be a Catholic organization. On one hand, we have Tony Meloto and Gawad Kalinga, who have worked, in his own words, on "the Filipino values of integrity, honesty and bayanihan" to mobilize communities around housing, health and livelihood projects. Meloto's approach has come into conflict with what we can call "evangelical Catholics," represented by Frank Padilla and his breakaway restoration movement.

My take here is CFC was one united faith community bound by a common vision, mission and values until the time the social mission was overstressed and overstretched to the detriment of the real end goal---being Christ-centered, evangelistic and missionary . There should have been no real dichotomy except that the signs became clearer when membership declined dramatically. Then there are the issues of financial transparency and accountability that hounded the social aspect of the mission. To top it all, the Christian identity of CFC was overtly being hidden from the whole social mission for fear of ostracizing donors and benefactors. Past showcases of the social mission, with shelter as its centerpiece, were already being abandoned by its former occupants because of lack of sustainability. Thus, it would appear that the differences Mr. Tan seem to be referring to do not seem to jibe with the Filipino values Mr. Meloto would have wanted to promote in the face of hard realities now confronting CFC's social mission. The absorptive capacities of the vaunted social mission, heralded to be wholistic in approach, do seem to be wanting because outside of housing, the other components related to livelihood, education, health have been found to be either scarce or completely absent. Proofs are the various abandoned sites proclaimed before as showcases, the considerable delays in a lot of sites, the failure to match disbursements with the number of houses promised each donor and benefactor.

There also seems to be a contradiction when the columnist refers to Frank Padilla's group as a "breakaway group" while acknowledging the fact that it is a restoration movement. The fact that it restores means that it wishes to bring back the original life and mission of the community. So reference to it being a " breakaway" appears to be misplaced. This stands to reason more now with the pronouncement of the Vatican that Padilla's group can co-exist with CFC Global in any part of the world. On top of this, the approval of the local Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provides the same group with the legal license to operate in the Philippines.

Padilla says Gawad Kalinga has moved away from the CfC's original mission, if not run counter to the Catholic Church's teachings. One example they've been citing is Gawad Kalinga's acceptance of money from corporations that are in favor of "population control." Although he didn't name the corporations, I think Padilla was referring to Pfizer, which is supporting Meloto's health projects. Pfizer produces the injectable contraceptive, Depo Provera.

Padilla seems especially strident in his opposition to family planning, given the way his group is called: CfC FFFL (Foundation for Family and Life). Meloto has been civil in his response, saying that he subscribes to the Catholic Church's pro-life teachings, his statements suggesting a wider definition of life to include homeless children and families living in slums.

The author's reference to a wider definition of life misses the point because the issue is about being pro or anti-life with respect to the issue of population. If one meanders into the whole definition of life as providing opportunities for the less fortunate, there can be no issue at all as to the merits of what Meloto is saying. But that sadly misses the point.

This brings us to the need to cut through the heart and core of making us believe that compensating life for life is morally justifiable. Are Pfizer and CFC/GK morally absolved of the sin of killing unborn children because these are compensated anyway by the many lives they save by providing medicines and curing illnesses such as cancer, TB, etc., particularly in depressed areas? This is precisely the danger the Vatican wishes to avoid when a compensating philanthropy is used as a justification for wholesale abortions.

Defending Catholicism

With the majority of Filipinos claiming to be Catholics, it is important that we understand what's going on in the Church's corridors of power, both in the Vatican and in organizations.

I got the term "evangelical Catholicism" from an article in the Aug. 31, 2007 issue of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), a liberal American Catholic periodical. The article, "The Triumph of Evangelical Catholicism," was written by Fr. John L. Allen. There was no mention of the Philippines in the article, but I was struck by how the description of evangelical Catholicism resonated with the CfC controversy.

Allen proposes in his article that "beginning with the election of Pope John Paul II in 1978, Catholicism has become a steadily more evangelical Church." During John Paul's papacy, the head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith was the ever vigilant and ever orthodox Josef Cardinal Ratzinger. The cardinal is now Pope Benedict XVI.

Allen wrote his article in the light of two events, both occurring within three days in early July. The first was Pope Benedict's allowing priests to celebrate the Latin Mass without permission of the local bishop. The second was a declaration from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which states that the Church of Christ "subsists in" Catholicism.

These two moves by the Vatican are, for Allen, "robust assertions" of an evangelical impulse, with three major objectives: accenting the authority of the Pope and the bishops, patrolling doctrinal borders and asserting the exclusivity of Catholicism as the way to salvation.

Allen's term is new, but these evangelical Catholics have been around for many years, reacting mainly against what they see as a dangerous global drift toward secularism, and to what the Pope has called "the dictatorship of relativism." They worry especially about the latter, which suggests a situational ethics that calls for more understanding of the circumstances which might lead to "sin," for example when a person steals out of desperate poverty. They also oppose the view that all religions are equally valid, thus the recent insistence on the use of the word "subsists," which according to Allen, is a way of saying the "true Church of Christ endures" in Catholicism alone.

Evangelical Catholics see doctrinal purity as a response to a secular and pluralistic world. In 1997, Pope John Paul II issued a document, "Ad Tuendam Fidem," setting penalties for dissent from "definitive teachings." Such teachings make no claims of divine revelation, but are there by "logical necessity," meaning they have to remain simply because they have been taught by the Catholic Church over the centuries. Ratzinger at that time cited the ban on women priests, the ban on euthanasia and the immorality of prostitution and fornication as examples where there could be no compromise. Today, we see that absolute stand taken by local evangelical Catholics against contraception.

Evangelical Catholics are still a minority, but are "undeniably dynamic," according to Allen. To be sure, there are variations, too, in how hard-line they can be. In the United States, an entire town, Ave Maria, is being built as an evangelical Catholic community by Tom Monaghan, who made his fortune on the Domino's pizza chain. I watched him in a recent CNN interview clarifying that the community would not require that residents be Catholics. He also backed down on a previous plan to forbid the sale of contraceptives in Ave Maria, after he was told such a ban would be illegal.

With the way the author describes the Evangelical Catholics, one gets the impression he considers CFC/GK, of which Meloto is a part of, not to be such. We surely hope this is not the case because CFC/GK considers itself to be still part of the evangelical mainstream based on its core values, although much still has to be proven in deed and act after it veered away from the original life and mission of CFC. But while we believe it may not be so, Mr. Tan could have a more authoritative source that CFC/GK may just be on the verge of uprooting itself from its evangelical foundations?

Witness

There's more then to this CfC battle than meets the eye. Padilla and his restoration movement is only one of the more recent manifestations of evangelical Catholic energy. Over the past few years they have been vocal in trying to get the government to follow a conservative Catholic line in suppressing family planning efforts.

This topic spawns more controversy because the Catholic line in family planning has been described as " conservative" and "suppressing." It may interest the author to know that out there in far-off Nicaragua, the success rate of natural family planning efforts for those living in depressed communities is a high of 98% of samples selected. It goes without saying that the perceived population problem is not caused by raging hormones but the lack of sharing among those who can afford to share their resources among the less fortunate.

I admire the way Gawad Kalinga has taken on a social development agenda, and I can only hope Meloto and his followers prove that Catholicism can be advanced, too, by taking up our share of social responsibilities in a pluralistic society.

The socially engaged Catholic is not unique. A strong "humanist Buddhist" movement has emerged in Taiwan and spread throughout Southeast Asia. One group, Tzu Chi, recently moved all the residents of an urban slum area in Jakarta into a housing project they had built, complete with schools -- and a mosque. Like Meloto and Gawad Kalinga, humanist Buddhists have sometimes been criticized as having diluted their religiosity, but they explain that Buddhism has to go beyond prayers.

I couldn't help thinking, too, of how the Filipino diaspora includes quite a number of Catholic priests sent out as missionaries to all the corners of the world. It would be interesting to see if they pursue a path of aggressive evangelism through preaching and claiming to being the only true religion, or instead choose to bear witness to Christ by serving people and communities.

We are glad the author provides us the opportunity to discuss this seeming dichotomy separating evangelization and social action based on his dysjunctive proposition, an either/or thing. But where lies the dichotomy? Or is it a continuum? For those who see it as an either/or proposition. It does seem that evangelization is telling others about Jesus and in expressing one's belief, acceptance, submission and surrender to Him as the center of our lives, the be-all and end-all of our existence here and the after life. Social action is doing what Jesus tells us to do because we do not intend to stand before God on Judgement Day and try to explain in great length why we chose one over the other.

While these may strike some as a mere play of words, they do cut across the heart and core of the matter. In choosing to place primacy on evangelization, CFC-FFL does not put aside the need for social action but looks at it as a consequence and extension of evangelization and transformation. Believing in Jesus is a requisite before following Him and working side by side with Him. We ought to have an intimate knowledge and acceptance of Jesus and talk about Him to others before knowing why we should obey Him. This is not fence sitting but working both sides of the fence with an awareness of what the priorities ought to be.

This simply means there is no room for a dichotomy between the two because they function as a continuum, where we recognize the proper beginnings as well as the requirements of the journey to reach the ideal end-state. It requires distinguishing between the enabler or the vehicle vs. the end-state. In the same token, Jesus said that the preeminence of our love for God has primacy over all. In fact, in exhorting Peter "to feed my ship" and "to tend to my flock," three times, He also made sure He prefixed such redundancies with another series of redundant questions. He asked Peter three times as well," Do you love Me?" We find this very same prioritization echoed when Jesus told the irritated Martha not to be angry with her sister Mary because the latter "has chosen the better part."

In more recent times, Mother Teresa always required her nuns to come in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament for an hour before they administer to the poor people of Calcutta and another hour after their work with the poor in prayer and thanksgiving before the Lord.

Herein lies the crux of a continuum which finds its proper beginnings in loving God and ending up at the ideal state of achieving perfect unity with Him. Where lies the in-between and when do we provide room and emphasis on extending that love for our neighbor, particularly the less fortunate? One of the mainstreams towards reaching the end-state is listening to what St. James wrote: "Faith without works is dead." However, by inference, Jesus also tells us that works without faith is not exactly ideal either. The secret to unlocking the horns of a seeming dilemma is realizing that the beginning and the end is our relationship with God while acknowledging, at the same time, that one of the means to have a good start and achieve a proper ending is to feed, to take action, to do something positive, to change conditions, to alter circumstances, to make a difference.

And there lies the difference in charisms. CFC-FFL knows where its priorities lie because of the lessons and mistakes of the past. It dares to ask the following questions: Will a better Filipino spirituality and soul arise simply because houses have been built? Will breaking the chains of hopelessness and centuries of social mistrust only happen within the confines of community building, and make us discern with our eyes whether building communities absolves us of our duty to restore a nation under the Headship of God? To answer these questions, we need to know, live and witness by observing the proper beginnings and being mindful of our true north---unity with God as a nation of believers. Then and only then can we take comfort in the thought that closing the abysmal divide between the poor and the rich are enough, not only for the present moment but also for preparing to build His kingdom here while we are on earth. In other words, the Lord exhorts all of us to make the temporary also eternal.

Salvador Macias"

------------------

mtan@inquirer.com.ph says:

Fundamental differences in thinking really. I feel one shouldn't be a
vehicle for the other. The spiritual is social and vice versa. My concern about an evangelical brand of Catholicism (or of any other religion) is that it can be accused of using social projects to convert people or to make them conform to, let me use the term again, doctrinal boundaries. I am disturbed by reports, which I have not been able to confirm and which I hope are not true, that villagers practising family planning would not be allowd to avail of GK housing. And this is supposed to be the "liberal" wing.

I think of Tsu Hsi, a Buddhist group, that has many social projects in the Philippines and Indonesia without an agenda of conversion, at least not in a direct sense. In Jakarta, they transferred an entire slum area to a new site with homes. . .and a mosque.

Christianity, even more than Buddhism, had its origins in
faith-by-witness, with people living out and dying for their faith. That is the Christianity I subscribe to.

Mike

Anonymous said...

TE..
Belib jud ko nimo! kanang sige panaway kang TM ug sa mga speeches sa mga GK leaders wa nay nahimo sa tinud-anay lang..Because God says " Not all who call me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of Heaven." Ing ana ang mahitabo sa sigeg pamantay! Ha ha ha..selos lang kayo..."It is something in the way you move that attract people and God." Jesus did not say, "Whatever so say to the least of my brother, you say it to me." But said, "Whatever you do to the least of my brother, you do it to me." Kaya kapatid na Glorify God magtrabaho kana lang sa GK para makita mo kong tama yang sinasabi mo! OK! May God bless us all!

Anonymous said...

When TM received plenty of awards, nag selos kayo, now that TM has plenty of speaking invitations, nag selos na naman kayo! Ano ba kayo? Walang nag bigay awards at nag invite for speeches? Practice muna kayo sa GK at sa CLP natin baka meron maka rinig at makakita sa inyo, mabigyan kayo awards at maimbitahan mag commencement speaker sa grade schools. Buti na lang muna sa umpisa! he he he..Happy weekend mga kapatid! CLP pa kami dito sa LA mamayang gabi! God bless us all!

Anonymous said...

2k2k,
pwera buyag, bro. Dominggo ra ba ron.

- TE

Anonymous said...

Mr. Anonymous,
Brother, you just wrote that YOU DON'T AGREE that we should post speeches of the IC here.. do you have any special reason for this? Don't we also deserve to read their inspiring messages? inspiring messages from our wise leaders Joey Arguelles, Lito Tayag, Joe Yamamoto, Joe Tale, Melo Villaroman, Etc.
We want to be inspired! Please CD post inspiring speeches or messages by these people!

Anonymous said...

Dear everyone,

I would like to point out two glaring points in the Macias article above.

"This stands to reason more now with the pronouncement of the Vatican that Padilla's group can co-exist with CFC Global in any part of the world. On top of this, the approval of the local Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provides the same group with the legal license to operate in the Philippines."


What "pronouncement of the Vatican" is FAP talking about here? Is there a new letter from the PCL?

"This brings us to the need to cut through the heart and core of making us believe that compensating life for life is morally justifiable. Are Pfizer and CFC/GK morally absolved of the sin of killing unborn children because these are compensated anyway by the many lives they save by providing medicines and curing illnesses such as cancer, TB, etc., particularly in depressed areas? This is precisely the danger the Vatican wishes to avoid when a compensating philanthropy is used as a justification for wholesale abortions."

FAP has now publicly accused Pfizer, CFC and GK of killing unborn children! So this is how FAP and FFL see the GK workers and GK supporters all over the world as well.

My friends, are we going to let these statements stand unchallenged?

- TE

Anonymous said...

When TM received plenty of awards, nag selos kayo, now that TM has plenty of speaking invitations, nag selos na naman kayo! Ano ba kayo? Walang nag bigay awards at nag invite for speeches? Practice muna kayo sa GK at sa CLP natin baka meron maka rinig at makakita sa inyo, mabigyan kayo awards at maimbitahan mag commencement speaker sa grade schools. Buti na lang muna sa umpisa! he he he..Happy weekend mga kapatid! CLP pa kami dito sa LA mamayang gabi! God bless us all!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hindi naman sa nagseselos kapatid. I'm just wary that these over admiration towards Tony Meloto may lead to cult-worship later on, which is not far fetched considering that he truly is a charismatic leader. If you would like to deny this, then I'm giving this simple challenge:

Please give me three, just three wrong things that Tony Meloto had done in the context of what's happening now in our communities. Tatlo lang kapatid, so I can rest my case. God bless.

FFL-Global

Anonymous said...

Sagot ko sa iyo Brother Published or Publisher... re:

"Brother, you just wrote that YOU DON'T AGREE that we should post speeches of the IC here.. do you have any special reason for this?"

My answer: GRAMMAR! I disagreed with the word, S-H-O-U-L-D.

God Bless.

Anonymous said...

Macia's statement:

"This stands to reason more now with the pronouncement of the Vatican that Padilla's group can co-exist with CFC Global"

completely destroys his integrity and invalidates whatever he has said. I felt that this article was a vehicle to promote the lie that Padilla's group has Vatican blessings, but disguised as a thought provoking commentary. I feel bad for the Vatican that is misrepresented here. May God have mercy on he who misrepresents.

WillyJ said...

This tiresome charge about "killing millions of unborn children" is an old-hat accusation against GK, which was first stated in that silly half page ad of Mr. Nonong Contreras. I cut-and-paste some portions of comments in the the "FAITH AND REASON" post to reiterate that said charge has already been roundly refuted:
/
[my comments]
The absurdities in Nonong's statements are breathtaking:

(Nonong said): "...the good Bishop [Claver]would like to make us believe that such good deeds absolve the evils wrought by the killing of millions of unborn children...to subscribe to this notion of compensating philanthrophy is dangerous because put to extremes, it can justify a lot of evil masked as good."

Nonong, accepting donations from pharma companies for the poor wroughts "killing of millions of unborn children"? The act in question here is about accepting donations, please relate that to the effect of "killing millions of unborn children". I know you must understand the concepts of mediate, unintended, remote, indirect, and objective facts. You do however appear to understand the concept of seriously proportionate reasons, since you yourself have stretched it to ridiculous extremes.

We know of course that contraceptives and abortifacients are "patently opposed to Church teachings". Whoever here says otherwise? Again, examine the ethical principle if by any stretch of the imagination you see any shred of evidence that GK shares the contraceptive mentality.

...With this recent pronouncement of Bishop Claver, together with the widely known position of the late Cardinal Sin, Cardinal Rosales and Bishop Iniguez, we may conclude that the controversy on "tainted donations" revolves around the ethical principle of "double-effect". One one side, we have the licit morality of helping the poor, and on the other side, we have the immoral act of causing scandal. In the case of GK, this scandal has been defined by Cardinal Rylko in his response to a previous query by Bishop Reyes that "Accepting such funding creates confusion among the faithful, as they give the impression that abortion, and the production, distribution, and use of contraceptives and abortifacients are acceptable practices".

The fourth condition of the principle of double-effect, which states that "The good effect must be sufficiently desirable to compensate for the allowing of the bad effect" now comes into play. The question may now be framed in this manner: Does lifting thousands of poor families from abject poverty compensate for creating possible confusion among the faithful on the morality of contraceptives? While pondering this question, one must validly inject known facts about the issue at hand. Which side is more grounded on realities, and which side is more grounded with hypothetical projections...
...
[Oca, M.D.] said...

For those who may not fully understand willyj's comments on the principle of double-effect, may I shed a little light on the subject. (I have been a student of ethics and continue to help students in their quest to become ethical doctors in the future.)

A. The ACT whose morality is being debated upon is - THE ACT OF RECEIVING HELP OR PARTNERING WITH PHARMA COMPANIES WITH CONTRACEPTIVE PRODUCTS AMONG OTHERS

B. The DOUBLE EFFECTS are - 1. Good effect - being able to help the poor in the GK villages
2. Bad effect - scandal is caused among the people who might be confused as to whether they should support contraception since GK accepts money from manufacturers

C. The PRINCIPLE - The following conditions must be met:

1. The directly intended act must not be contradictory to our fundamental commitment to God and neighbor

2. The object or intention of the act must be the good effect (morally good)and not the bad effect

3. The good effect must be greater or at least equal to the foreseen bad effect

4. The good effect must come directly as a result of the action and not as a result only of the bad effect. The good effect must not be a result only of the bad effect.

Now, that should help everyone (including the harshest critics of GK and CFC) in figuring out the morality of "receiving money from tainted sources."
/

Anonymous said...

to FFL-GL0BAL who is asking 3 wrong things about TM.

I just wonder why this people are always looking and digging for faults or wrong things about an individual like TM. Bro.or sis., can you not focus on the good things that God has granted each of us as His creation through His love and mercy. Please read Matthew 7:1-5 before you look for faults. I love you bro. or sis., and may God bless you always.

CFC Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

Anonymous said...

Sometimes, it is necessary to ban a "repeatedly introduced" idea in order to safeguard the "sanity" of those who must "inevitably" read about it simply because it is "paraded" before their very eyes. I refer to FAP aka Salvador Mecias who peddles old issues about GK's partnership with pharma companies, similar to that old Arabian tale of a peddler wanting to exchange "old lamps of new".

CD, you will NEED TO exercise "moderation" by disapproving the posting of rehashed FFL arguments. FAP may be desperate because nobody wants to really "buy" his ideas. The next time around, we will read a veiled advertisement of his unread, unsold books.

Thanks. Good Day! God Bless.

Anonymous said...

Yong nagsabing magka- cult worship tayo kay TM dahil daw over believe tayo sa kanya, hindi mang yari yon! Kasi yong mga leader ng culto mga masamang tao yan, walang diyos, karamihan mukhang pera at babae, kay TM wala yan..at saka yong mga membro nang culto yon yong mga madaling mauuto kasi mahina ang reasoning in short mangmang! Dito sa CFC na genuine,mga matalino tayo..kong ayaw kang maniwala kay TM, huwag kang mangdamay o manira, hindi ka naman pinipilit..yong naka isip nang ganyan..magdasal ka! mahina ang isip mo..kailangan malinis palagi ang isip..kaya habahabaan mong dasal mo brod..masama yang magdududa sa mga magandang hangad natin..God bless us all!

Anonymous said...

To FFL-Global,

Three wrong things done by TM;
1. NONE
2. NONE
3. NONE
Hindi kasi ako fault finder kaya wala akong nakita! Sorry! May God bless us all!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, in the matter of the Arbian nights of the 'Alladin' fare, a man peddled his "new lamps for old".

About being forced to read unwelcome and repetitive arguments, some large families welcome a repetition of birth (having a family of live 14 children, for instance) although each repetitive cycle of birth is not unwelcome at all!

Perhaps it will be more authentic of FAP if, rather than engineering the rebirth of cloned ideas or assigning them a foster father (messy of a Mecias, for instance), FAP himself fathers an original child... an idea, that is (or an idea of it, if he so insists, ha-ha-ha...) How about him walking his talk, too!

Anonymous said...

TE,

Kabalo kaba unsa English sa Pwera buyag?...Thank you! Kay kon Amerikana imo ingnon you are beautiful..Thank you man tubag! Pero kon bisdak imo ingnon gwapa ka....pwera buyag dayon tubag! he he he..CD pls..Happy Sunday!

Anonymous said...

I have no question about the sincerity of the GK workers on the ground. I know of their passion and love to serve the poor and by this, God is glorified individually by them. When I give talks to the GK beneficiaries, I make sure that I talk about Gods Love first and foremost and make it clear to them that if not for Gods Love none of us would be here helping them. This is the most important aspect of my service in GK that all the focus be on God and my service anywhere is a reflection of Gods Love in my life.

I commented on GK being glorified more than God because that was the basic argument of the group of Frank Padilla when they said that GK was veering away. This argument of theirs is a reflection on the leadership of GK not on the people on the ground who do the work. We say that CFC is GK and GK is CFC. I have not seen a major event of GK wherein we started with full worship of our Lord and a praisefest to end it like what we do in CFC. Even the GK movie had no mention of CFC. Most of you say that the glorification of our God is implied but when someone accuses us of veering away from God shouldn't we boldly proclaim that God be Glorified?

I hope that in the next major event of GK this coming October there will be a difference. I hope we start with full worship like what we do in CFC and end it with a praisefest regardless of who the audience will be. By doing this we boldly proclaim that God is the supreme ruler and he will definitely be Glorified and it will not be implied this time. Then we can truly say that CFC is GK and GK is CFC as of this moment the question of veering away remains.

Jonathan Rickard said...

To Anonymous (please, if you're able, leave a label - made up or whatever - to address you with :) )

With regards to the role Frank played in the Playboys and Bunnies planning, I was thinking of earlier discussions he had earlier had (IIRC) with Joe Tale, asking Joe to help in placating those that eventually came to be the Playboys and Bunnies (including Frank as one of the prime movers from that point).

I wasn't intending to mislead there, so apologies if in some way I did.

"Besides, musing about FAP's missed opportunities for greatness are generally OK, but let us be careful in hinting melancholy to the point of romanticizing his talent. There are plenty of our Brethren out there similarly endowed who are consistently truthful, loving and trustworthy unlike this leader who turned his back against his people, spewing all the evil words he could to damn them."

I'll be the first to agree with you that there are many talented and great preachers, writers et al, in CFC.

My thoughts were regarding what Frank could have done with his inheritance of leadership power, from his years in CFC leadership.

I'll be the first to state that we have a rich resource of thinkers, preachers, writers, musicians, song-writers etc in CFC.

Perhaps in future we can have a range of books, songs, and resources by many authors, available through our stores...we certainly need not purchase from just one.

God bless.

Unknown said...

I have often wondered why many of our highly educated and intellectual friends and elders in FFL have not seen through the lies and deceit of Frank to this day ?
Is it because they prefer to "nagbulag-bulagan and nagbingi-bingihan" ? Or are they embarrassed to return as that would be an admission of their lapse in judgment ? Or maybe they were never allowed access to the truth ?! How about if all of us make a concerted effort to inform our FFL friends of our website and blogspot ?

Diczen Young
SB- 8 E

Anonymous said...

To Mr. Salvador Mecias a.k.a. Saviour Messiah a.k.a. Saviour General.,

You asked kung ang Pfizer and CFC/GK are absolved of the sin of killing unborn children, eh papaano na ang mga Dominicans sa UST at ang mga Jesuits sa Ateneo? Tatanongin mo rin ba kung alsolved na ang mga kaparian sa dalawang universities na nabanggit dahil UST at Ateneo are partners ng Pfizer. UST ay recipient hanggang ngayon ng help from Pfizer sa UST medical school. Pfizer ay major donor ng mga computers na ginagamit ng mga medical students at teachers sa Learning Resource Center. Ateneo naman ay nakikinabang sa Pfizer na partner niya sa Leaders For Health Program kasama rin si Manny Pangilinan ng Smart.

Naku, kay dami ng mga responsible pala sa "killing ng mga unborn children" kaya CFC/GK, UST, Ateneo at MVP - magsisi na kayong lahat, ayon kay SM (Saviour Messiah) kung ayaw ninyong mapasa-impierno!

Nakakaintriga talaga ang mga theories at pronouncements ni SM. Nakaka-scandalize pa ng mga kaparian. Tulad ba ng mga pronouncements din ni NC, Nonong Contrary na naka-scandalize ng mga obispo at pari na pinagbintangan niyang nag-twiddle ng thumb at nag-smoke ng pot!

Anonymous said...

Brother jonny:

Very good to have you as a discussant and to have an open mind. Bless you Brother. May you continue to 'suavely' meld and melt with CFC's clear patterns left for doubters to see.

As for the other question on FFL talents not seeing the truth or feigning blindness, they better be careful. I am not "EE" medical practitioner/expert, but they may get what they want! Some Hitler sycophant was quoted to have said that a lie that is repeated for so long becomes the truth. If these FFL faithful continue to believe everything was OK in their organization with FAP because they have not heard or asked, or simply refused to, then their ears "can fill" and their mouths can "constrict"? Like I said I am no expert, but yeah, certainly something bad can occur to these kind of pretenders, that I am sure about!!!

Anonymous said...

Brother Diczen Young:

If they chose neither to see nor hear our / CFC's side of the Truth, then attracting FFL talents' attention like concertedly informing them of our website and blogspot may be still be futile.

I remember an old saying: mahirap talagang gisingin ang taong nagpakunwaring tulog (it is so difficult to waken up someone who pretends to be asleep). (And I wish to add: lalung-lalo na yung mga matalino - especially the talented ones.)

GOD IS GUD!

Anonymous said...

My opinion, TM is an advocate and can still give a speech. Just as many of us can be advocates and give speeches in our own little ways. Let us not limit the gifts that God has bestowed on us.

Anonymous said...

My opinion, TM is an advocate and can still give a speech. Just as many of us can be advocates and give speeches in our own little ways. Let us not limit the gifts that God has bestowed on us.

Anonymous said...

"Walay aso nga makumkom" (roughly: there is no smoke can be kept inside a fist).

Like an idea or a smoke, Bro. Tony's enthusiasm to help the poor cannot be suppressed, kept, or hidden.