A phenomenon of the Roman Catholics

2005 August 21. I’m in Asingan, Pangasinan hearing mass. In front of me to my left and right are thick lines of communicants. In my youth, I never saw such lines before; now I see them everywhere: Los Baños in Laguna, Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija; Manaoag in Pangasinan. But I’ve neither seen nor heard of impressive lines of confessors. And I have heard one Roman Catholic priest mention it in his homily the increase in people receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion and decrease in people receiving the prerequisite sacrament of Confession. No more confessions; confessions are passé! Having been involved in the Catholic charismatic movement in the 1990s, I think this is an unintended effect of bringing the people closer to God without the direct intercession of the priest. Catholics feel closer to God more than to the priest. The success of the Catholic charismatic movement has made the confessor an endangered species.

Asingan: HIstory and race

Yesterday, 2005 August 20, I was reading the 2004 souvenir program for the town fiesta in my brother’s house in Sanchez, Asingan, Pangasinan (I’m writing the draft of this now on the bus going back to Los Baños), and after reading ‘The Town’s Profile’ (if I remember the title right), I remember saying to myself, ‘That’s not right. It’s all wrong.’ What was titled a profile was in fact a brief history (one page) of the town, not a profile of the people, the place, the progress (or lack of it), the products, the potentials.

The history was incomplete and incorrect too. It said that the Aetas were the first settlers and they were hostile (na-asing). Then the Malays came and drove the Aetas to the mountains. It turned out that the Malays were themselves hostile (na-asing) to other peoples, including the conquering Spaniards.

Incomplete about the name: What I know is that it became ‘nagasingan’ (place where people were hostile) and over the centuries became ‘Asingan.’

Incorrect about the wave theory of migration: This theory of how the Philippines was populated in the unrecorded century by Professor Otley Beyer has already been debunked in the 20^th century by Professor William Henry Scott, an American missionary who lived and loved (the Filipino people) in Sagada, Mountain Province.

And surprise! In the 19^th century yet, somebody already reputed the claim that Filipinos came from the Malay stock, someone who loved the Filipinos more – Dr Jose Rizal himself. His analysis of history told him that, instead, the Malays and we probably came from the same stock, that we have the same ancestors.

‘Good morning, Mr Prime Minister.’

Somebody was telling me that if I wanted my townmate FVR to be tickled pink, the next time I see him I should address him thus: ‘Mr Prime Minister.’ Or words to that effect. It’s not my style to say hello to people that way even if they happen to be ex-Presidents, but it makes sense. He is working hard to keep GMA current and not past or passé, and he has convinced me (or I have convinced myself) that the parliamentary system of government is what my country needs now. Am I convinced that he will make a good Prime Minister? He should.

The Prime Minister is actually the head of government. He appoints the cabinet members, and therefore has power over them. He is usually the head of the party who wins the majority of seats in the parliament, and therefore the party has power over him. And therefore, in a parliamentary system, the party is the one in power, not a single person. And therefore, if we want the parliamentary system to work in this country, we have to make sure that the parties contending in elections offer us viable alternatives for growth and equity. If we the people don’t do that, then it would not have been the politicians who failed us – we would have failed ourselves.

FVR: He came, he saw, he conquered

2005 August 24. Last Saturday, (former) President Fidel Valdez Ramos came to town, his hometown, Asingan, Pangasinan, for a historic meeting with selected leaders and persons of this municipality in the heart of Central Luzon. Historic? It would be, because it was right after the breaking out of the insidious imbroglio which (current) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been thrown into. I was there as a sectoral leader/consultant in information & communication for Dang-gay Foundation, a non-government organization in town. There were at least a hundred heads in attendance, including Mayor Guillermo Piso and the NEDA Regional Director of Region I based in San Fernando, La Union. The Mayor and the NEDA Director reported on the progress of development projects in Asingan, and I noted that they touched on production, development, problems and constraints, but no one did touch on management. I also noticed that FVR’s mind was on something else. He did not comment on the reports like I thought he should have. He was after a bigger prize: Charter Change, the cha-cha he initiated when he was President in 1992.

This is how I knew. At one point, I stood up and pointed out that Ester Lomboy was saying that she was expecting the local government units to pay attention to the NGOs and ask them for help. I remarked to the effect that why do the NGOs have to wait for the LGUs to ask them for help? I pointed out: ‘It takes two to tango.’ Right after my remarks, FVR said, ‘By the way, the dance is not tango anymore. It’s cha-cha.’

Everybody laughed. A little later, FVR elaborated on why the Philippines needed to dance the cha-cha. He gave four reasons, but I didn’t catch them all because I wasn’t really listening. I was already convinced that the time has come for the Philippines to adopt and adapt a parliamentary form of government. To stop the corruption. To stop the politicking. To stop the wolves in sheep clothing from proclaiming their gospel and buying their way into political power. To change the system without bloodshed.