RELIGION | A Christian nation

Christianity gave Cebu and most of the Philippine archipelago its unique place in Asia as the continent's only Catholic nation.

Just like our Malaysian and Indonesian brothers, we, Cebuanos or Sugbuanons (we don't know how to call the country and its people other than what the Spaniards named them.), have to carve our niche in a predominantly Buddhist, Hindu, Confucian and Taoist Far East.

We have to make our mark under the long shadow of the Chinese and Hindu people and their great civilizations. For the Malaysians and Indonesians, it is Islam that gave their countries their identities and place in Southeast Asia. For us in Cebu and the rest of the archipelago, it is Christianity.

But it has not been smooth-sailing for us. We have to find our own way out of the mesh created by years of foreign subjugation while remaining true to our Christian faith. It shouldn't be difficult as Christianity had its roots in the Middle East, not in Europe or the Americas.

We have to get our acts together. Lest, we give Christianity a bad name. Many foreigners are asking why are we called the "sick man" of Asia while remaining as the region's only Catholic nation. Christianity unifies us all: rich or poor, native or mestizo, powerful or powerless. Yet, we leave our faiths behind in our day-to-day lives as public servants, government officials, businessmen, ordinary workers, etc.

We have to integrate our faith with our history before our colonization and with who we are as a people now so it doesn't come out as something just forced upon us but a matter of choice, an exercise of our own free will.

A Visayan saint

The Philippnes will have its second saint in San Pedro Calungsod, a Visayan martyr who was with the Jesuit mission in Guam led by Blessed Diego.Luis de San Vitores. Thousands of Filipino faithfuls, especially Cebuanos are in Rome to witness this rare event to unfold on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.

Claims have been flying as to the saint's genealogy following his canonization. There are those who say he is from Ginatilan in Southern Cebu. Some say he is from Bohol and others say he is from Iloilo. There are only two clues to help us based on his name in official Spanish records which was Pedro Calonsor Bissaya. He was from the Visayas which was then part of the Cebu archdiocese. And that his surname is Calonsor. (read more>>>)

The glory that was Butuan

Hindu-Buddhist goddess Kinari found
in Butuan. Photo from Wikipedia

BY JD VELEZ

Before there was the Philippines, there was Butuan.

I was in Butuan sometime in the early 90s during an exposure trip by Anthropology students of  the University of San Carlos in Cebu. What I saw there left a lasting imprint in my mind

Butuan is one of its kind. No other site has yielded such rich, enormous finds. In what is said to be a dried up portion of Masao river we saw an endless array of Chinese porcelains in all shapes and sizes, testament to its trade with China. There is evidence indicating that Butuan  was in contact with China.

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THE PEOPLE | European encounter

Blood compact by Manuel Panares

Indigenous Cebuanos, the original inhabitants of the island of Cebu were full of tattoos and adorned with gold earrings, bracelets and necklaces as depicted above in a painting by Manuel Panares. In this painting, Rajah Humabon had a blood compact with Magellan , captain of the Spanish expedition that landed in Cebu.

After the blood compact, Magellan went to war with Humabon's enemy, Lapulapu who killed him. The rest of Spanish men who were in Humabon's court were butchered. So much for mixing blood as symbol of brotherhood and unity. The natives thought they could use the European's military strength to their advantage in their war against Lapulapu. . Unfortunately, Lapu-lapu, killed the leader of the Spanish conquestadores. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi conquered the Philippines for good in 1565.

Today, most of the natives are powerless, poor, marginalized. What happened since then?

THE ISLAND | SanFran is Disaster Resilient : UN

Vice Mayor Al Arquillano (left)
receiving the trophy from UNISDR

In May 2011, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) recognized San Francisco's  disaster preparedness and awarded it the Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction for its “indigenous solutions to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation through its Purok system.”

San Francisco won the prestigious award after beating 25 other nominees coming from from other nations who also vied for the recognition. Former San Francisco mayor and now vice mayor, Al Arquillano went to Geneva, Switzerlad to receive the award.

Indigenous solutions and `the people's role in disaster-preparedness won for San Francisco the award. While other nominees can boost of better technology, know-how and communication equipments, many cannot get as much cooperation and coordinated response from the people as San Francisco can.

THE PEOPLE | And this is democracy?

BY J.D. VELEZ

The Filipino elite have pulled a fast one on the Filipino majority the past one hundred years. And they still do up to now.

I know some sectors and development workers who are working to end this by capacitating communities so people can chart their own furure and decide what is best for them.

But until then, the masses have to leave the country and work abroad so their lives would be better. The elite have no plans of improving their plight. They corner key government contracts, get themselves elected to government positions after agreeing with each other how positions are to be distributed among themselves. They enrich themselves in office and act as patron who dispense favors to gain loyalties and persecute those who oppose them.