There used to be this store in Downtown Tacloban with a Chinese-sounding name that sold imported products. Additionally, it includes a broad selection of things, including everything from garments to sweets to imagined sauces.

My grandfather warned me that purchasing from that store was not a patriotic act.
Patriotism is a feeling of love, devotion, and loyalty to one’s country. It is not only about fighting wars or defending the nation from external threats, but also about caring for the well-being and prosperity of the country and its people. Patriotism can be expressed in many ways, such as respecting the national symbols, celebrating the national holidays, honoring the national heroes, and following the laws and regulations. However, one of the most important and practical ways of showing patriotism is by supporting the local products and industries.

Buying local products means choosing goods that are made in the Philippines by Filipino workers and entrepreneurs. It has many benefits for the country and its citizens, such as:

• It boosts the economy and creates more jobs. When we buy local products, we help the local businesses grow and expand. This in turn increases the demand for labor and creates more employment opportunities for Filipinos. Buying local products also generates more income and tax revenue for the government, which can be used to fund public services and infrastructure projects.

• It protects the environment and preserves the natural resources. When we buy local products, we reduce the carbon footprint and environmental impact of our consumption. Local products have less transportation costs and emissions than imported products, which often travel long distances and use more fuel and packaging. Buying local products also supports the sustainable use of the natural resources, such as land, water, and minerals, that are abundant in the Philippines.

• It promotes the culture and identity of the Philippines. When we buy local products, we appreciate and celebrate the diversity and richness of the Filipino culture and heritage. Local products reflect the creativity, innovation, and craftsmanship of the Filipino people. They also showcase the unique flavors, colors, and styles of the different regions and provinces of the country. Buying local products helps us preserve and promote our culture and identity to ourselves and to the world.

True patriotism is buying our own , so our own workers and economy can live.
Therefore, buying local products is a way of expressing patriotism that does not involve going to war or risking one’s life. It is a way of loving our country by supporting its development, protecting its environment, and promoting its culture. It is a way of showing that we are proud to be Filipinos and that we care for our fellow Filipinos. Buying local products is not only good for ourselves, but also for our country.

The Israel prime minister had set a deadline to all people living in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to vacate the area to avoid civilian casualties. This warning was issued as the Israeli Defense Forces had taken been bombarding the territory where the Hamas are situated. The death toll on both sides had been escalating day by day as the bombing continues. So much funds are being wasted in this protracted war and there is no clear indication on who is benefiting from the war.

But some sectors from various parts of the globe are taking sides on who to support. Already, American forces had moved to a strategic position with their aircraft carrier ready to launch near the enemy. Amid the bombings from both sides, the Hamas are reportedly campaigning against the order of the Israeli forces for people to vacate the target area of their next offensive. Such move is seen as a strategy by the Hamas to continue using civilians as human shield.

There is a valid concern among the people about the huge budget to bankroll this war. It may be better if the funds are allocated for humanitarian programs that would benefit the people in that war-torn area. This senseless war that results in the mass killings that include innocent people is indeed abominable. It is an act that is contrary to the will of God and the warring leaders need to heed the call of the affected people who are the hapless casualties of the conflict.

But the great concern is whether the deadline could indeed be beaten by the people who are forced to flee on foot. Media reporters covering the war opine that it is humanly impossible to beat the ultimatum for people moving on foot with their entire family to reach to the northern portion of the territory.

The nagging question is when will the war end and peace be achieved. Why do people engage in war if the desire is peace?
comments to alellema@yahoo.com

The World Bank (WB) approved $176 million to enhance the Philippines fisheries output. The WB fund is specifically for the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project (FISHCORE) “aimed at improving fisheries management and the value of fisheries production, as well as increasing income in selected coastal villages. The beneficiaries are 1.15 million fisher, small-to-medium businesses, residents in coastal communities.

The FISHCORE project will be implemented in 2 fisheries management areas (FMAs) established by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), specifically FMAs 6 and 9 – known major fishing grounds. The 2 FMAs are in NE Luzon, and in waters between Visayas and Mindanao.

The WB expects to address the declining fish stocks by an average of 20 percent over the past decade due to over exploitation, destructive fishing methods, habitat degradation, and negative impact from land-based activities.

Specifically, the FISHCORE project funded by WB “will help the Philippines design and establish improved fisheries management systems in the selected FMAs coastal and municipal waters, law enforcement, capacity-building, infra-structure resilient to extreme weather conditions, and other necessary investments, e.g. fishing gear and aquaculture equipment providers to balance increasing productivity while conserving the natural resources.”

MY COMMENT:
The management of the WB $176 fund is critical as the FISHCORE project has a two-pronged objective, namely increased fish production to address food security issue and assist the coastal/municipal fishers enhance their livelihood.
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IT’S an idiomatic expression that means “to not understand or appreciate a larger situation, problem, etc., because one is considering only a few parts of it.” It’s an expression that aptly describes what was dramatized in that gospel episode where Christ was accused by a Pharisee who invited him for dinner of not observing the protocol of washing hands before the meal. (cfr. Lk 11,37-41).

“Oh, you Pharisees!” Christ said. “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”

With those words, Christ was trying to tell his host that he, being the son of God which the Pharisees could not believe, ought to be exempted from that detail of washing since he was trying to show them that he was the maker of both “the inside and the outside” of things.” In other words, the host missed to get the bigger and more important point Christ was showing him due to a tiny detail that blinded him from seeing it.

It’s a danger that we should be most wary about, because it can also happen to us quite often. It’s when we become too legalistic or too formalistic in our interpretation of certain things that we miss the more important part of a situation or issue. We would be missing the true spirit of a law, or get so trapped in the details that we fail to see the whole picture.
We need to be keenly aware of this common danger and do everything to protect ourselves from it and to fight it, since it will always be around, given our human condition here on earth.

The secret again is to be in vital union with Christ, referring everything to him, especially our legal and judicial systems, and the ways we make, interpret and apply our laws.

Christ clarified this point in so many words when he told the Pharisees who questioned him about why his disciples were doing something that was forbidden in the sabbath, that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” (cfr. Mk 2,23-28).

We have to understand that all our laws should be based on what is known as the natural law that in the end is a participation of the divine eternal law of God, our Creator and the first and ultimate lawgiver.

And that part of natural law that is specific to man is called the natural moral law that would recognize, as its first principle, God as our Creator and source and end of all laws. It is the law that would lead us to be God’s image and likeness, and children of his, sharers of his divine life.

A legal system not clearly based on this fundamental principle about laws would already be a system that is defective ‘ab initio.’ A legal system that is based only on some human consensus would put the spirit of the law in full subservience to the letter of that law.

This kind of legal system is what is referred to as legal positivism. This means that the laws are valid not because they are rooted in moral or natural law, but because they are enacted by some human authority and are accepted by society as such.