THAT series of “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites,” (cfr. Mt 23,13-22) that Christ heaped on some of the leading Jews remind us of the sad and common phenomenon nowadays where we can be doing some good and yet miss the real and ultimate good meant for us.

And precisely because of that miss, those involved cannot help but get involved in some forms of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. As Christ observed, the many religious practices that those involved did, since they are not properly motivated and oriented to their ultimate goal, simply became a ground for some spiritual and moral irregularities.

The proper priorities were not observed. Things were done more for show than for anything else. Inconsistencies marked the relation between words and deeds, intention and action.
This phenomenon continues to take place today, especially in the area of imparting skills to young people. While we cannot deny the importance of teaching skills to the youth for the immediate and practical reasons of providing them a source of income and a chance to develop their talents, we should never forget that these skills should first of all be understood as the means, occasion and reason to bring them to God, to make them saints as we are meant to be.

There is still that deep bias of separating our ordinary work and circumstances in life from the ultimate purpose of our life which is our own sanctification. The idea of sanctifying our work and skills to sanctify ourselves and pursue the ultimate purpose of life is still foreign to most people despite the many centuries of Christianity all over the world.

To many, our work and skills should just be ruled by temporal and technical laws. Many of us don’t see the intimate relation that these dimensions of our life have with respect to the ultimate purpose of our life here on earth.

Thus, we would not know how to sanctify our work and skills, which is actually just a matter of doing them mainly for the glory of God out of love for him and for everybody else. If we would just be aware of the purpose of our work and skills, then we would always be motivated to do them well, with as much technical perfection as we can give them, and always offering them not only for themselves, but mainly for God and for others.

Our work and skills would then be an expression of love, and of our pursuit to become more and more like God as we are meant to be, since we have been created in his image and likeness.

Our work and skills are not just for practical purposes, and much less just for us to get rich and well-placed in our society, or to be powerful here on earth. We need to realize deeply that our work and skills are actually an intimate, personal participation of the continuing work of God which is his abiding providence over all his creation.

As image and likeness of God, we live and do everything, including our work, with God always. Even without realizing it, the objective truth is that our life, and everything in it, is always a life with God.

Our work therefore is not just ours. It just does not correspond to some purely natural and human needs. It is by definition a work with God. We need to be most aware of this truth, so we can also consciously and freely work in sync as much as possible with God’s will and ways, as is proper to us as God’s image and likeness.

The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections are scheduled to be held on October 30, 2023. The Barangay is the smallest government authority in the Philippines and is commonly translated as “village”. The election shall elect the Barangay captain or the chief executive of the Barangay, and seven of eight members of the Sangguniang Barangay, or Barangay council, in 42,027 Barangays throughout the country.

Elections for the reformed Sangguniang Kabataan (SK; youth councils) will also be held at the same time. The youth shall elect among themselves an SK chairperson, who will automatically serve as ex officio member of the Sangguniang Barangay, and seven SK councilors, in each Barangay.

The results of this Barangay election will be very significant in the next years to come. The Barangay is the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies and programs.

Under Philippine laws, the Barangay officials are vital cogs in any government initiative. Most government programs must begin or end with the Barangay officials. Specifically, under the Local Government Code, the Barangay officials are mandated to take the lead in delivering several vital services and initiatives of the most important or priority programs of the government.

A total of 672,432 seats are up for grabs as the Philippines returns to the polls on October 30 for the long-delayed barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections (BSKE).
The breakdown is as follows:

42,027 seats for barangay chairperson
294,189 seats for Sangguniang Barangay members
42,027 seats for Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson
294,189 seats for Sangguniang Kabataan members

In light of all this we the people demand better barangay leadership, one that would create good change for our people. One that is not swayed by interest groups that has nothing but self vested interest in mind. One that is not motivated by the kick backs from projects dangled by the higher officials and given as payment of political debts. One that cannot be forces that furthers evil like that of the Brgy. Chairman who instead of sheltering Elvie Vergara, had given her back to the devil in their masters torturer whose steady staccato of punches blinded Elvie. We don’t need Barangay Officials who are part of the enablers of Narcotics nor instead of ensuring peace creates troubles. We don’t need those who uses their power and authority as a pretext to use materials of the village as her or his own.
It’s the fundamental component of government thus, it must aspire to be the ancestor of good governance and thus, creating great things emanating from its good shine.
We need good governance and it must start in the barangays.

CLEMELLE L. MONTALLANA,DM, CESE, College President, Abuyog Community College/0918-479-4967

Moderna, a giant US-owned Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology firm has informed Malacañang about its plan to build a production facility in the Philippines being a “perfect location” for its expansion in Asia. This was sealed during the recent state visit and meeting between Moderna officials and President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr. at the Blair House in Washington.

It should be remembered that Moderna was one of the biggest donors and source of COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. By locating its manufacturing plant in the Philippines (its first investment in the Philippines and in Asia), makes the country the 3rd external site of Moderna after Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and Warsaw, Poland in Eastern Europe.

The Legislatures are happy to welcome the proposed Moderna facility in the country as “… the facility is expected to provide opportunities to Filipino health professionals” and health front liners as well. Some senators say that Moderna shares service facility for pharmacovigilance in the Philippines. While the US pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology firm’s primary products will be vaccines not only for COVID-19, but would include medicines for other diseases. Also, the presence of Moderna in the country is important “so that the health services needed to make the Filipinos healthy, safe and productive and closer to source.“

MY COMMENT:
Looking back, 2 years ago this column was pregnant with articles vehemently supporting the idea of the country setting-up its own medicine and vaccine manufacturing firm to see the Philippines prepared for pandemic eventualities and availability of appropriate medicines and vaccines.
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From the time he promised during the campaign period, until the two state of the nation address for the past two years of his doubtful presidency, the repetitive narrative of bringing the prices of rice at twenty pesos per kilo deafens the eardrum of the Filipino. In latest media statements, the doubtful president is still nagging that the country is towards that direction. Such declarations are being repeated to condition the public mind akin to his namesake despot who shared his belief and practice that lies when constantly repeated is believed by the gullible lot as truth.

Despite the glaring facts pointing to the opposite direction of what the doubtful president is constantly telling the public, he still continues with his deceptive tale with the aim of convincing his blind followers and the gullible public of what he is proclaiming. Government data regarding the price of rice is clearly towards an unabated rise. But he insists on his belief and makes all efforts to justify his utter failure to realize his promise by raising reasons such as the onslaught of calamities and disasters that affected rice production.
Such justifications were never raised during the period of promising as boldly declared that he can bring the price of rice to twenty pesos per kilo. Else, he could have placed beforehand such conditions that might affect the fulfillment of his promise. The boastful declaration practically duped the people into voting for his presidential bid, hoping that what he is telling is true. Verily, the gullible lot took his promises hook, line and sinker despite the glaring falsity and impossibility under the economic nosedive brought by his predecessor.

People took a deep and long slumber before waking into the dim situation they had been pulled into. The bleak future is now presently felt as prices of basic commodities are skyrocketing while income remain too low to support a decent life of the family. The lack of opportunities to earn is aggravated by the skewed government policy that favors the capitalists who are strong influencers in policymaking. Meanwhile, the people are riding the repetitive tale as the doubtful president appears enjoying his trance.
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