Saturday, June 18, 2011

Fr. Joel E. Tabora's Inaugural Address as President of the Ateneo de Davao University 18 June 2011

Inaugural Address as President of the Ateneo de Davao University
Good afternoon.
First, a word from my heart: I am thrilled that you are here! Thank you all for coming – from Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cebu, Las Piñas, Manila, Hong Kong and Connecticut! I thank especially Dr. Licuanan and Bro. Armin for taking time out from their busy schedules to be here; I feel specially honored. I thank Fr. Jojo Magadia and all my brother Jesuits here, including the Presidents of the other Ateneos: Fr. Tony Moreno of Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Fr. Bobby Yap of Xavier University, Fr. Jun Viray of Ateneo de Naga University (AdNU) and Fr. Jett Villarin of Ateneo de Manila University. Warmest thanks to all who are here from the AdNU and the city of Naga. I thank the friends of my youth and my relatives who are here from far and wide. When I was studying at the ADMU and my sisters at Maryknoll, Joe Mari Chan used to bring us to school in his car; I am so happy that he and his wife, Mary Ann, are here. I am overjoyed especially that my step-mother, Mom Es, and my father have come to grace this occasion – with all his 92 years of life, love and wisdom. I thank all of you who represent the community of the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU). I am thrilled! I take it: you are here, in good will, in love, in friendship and in support of the mission that has been given to me by the Board of Trustees of the AdDU. It is a mission, I believe, that comes to me as a Jesuit ultimately from God. It is a sacred trust for special service. Your being here affirms me in this mission, inspires me, gives me courage, and shall always be a special source of inspiration and strength as I meet the challenges ahead.
Second, another word from the heart: I am also thrilled to be here! Those of you here from Naga know how much I love the Ateneo de Naga and how that love can never die. I went to the AdNU in 1999 with only one friend; when I left AdNU a little over a month ago, it was being separated from hundreds of friends that was most difficult. Your surprise send-off at the airport brought me to tears! These have been friends who helped me learn the ropes of University administration, meet challenges of ongoing improvement in delivering quality basic and tertiary education in Bikol, helped me discover and accept responsibilities in contributing to the improvement of education in the Philippines. Despite today’s pain of separation, it was you who empowered me with the knowledge, insight, and the experience that enables me to face the challenges of Ateneo de Davao today with equanimity and a smile. For this, Ateneo de Naga, thank you! I thank you as a graduate thanks an alma mater for preparing him to face the challenges of the world. And as a well-trained graduate is not daunted but thrilled by the challenges that the world brings, I am thrilled to be here at the Ateneo de Davao!
I am thrilled to be here also because of what I have experienced since I arrived a little over a month ago on May 15.
First, Mindanao is beautiful! My hobby is photography. My camera is in love with Mindanao, and I feel I am on a honeymoon! On a trip to Koronadal in South Cotabato we were awed at the beauty of Mt. Matutum in the morning light. We travelled further to marvel at the beauty of Lake Sebu in the late afternoon light, after being dumbstruck at just one of its seven waterfalls. One Sunday, despite the rain, we went wild photographing incredible flowers on the way up to Lake Agco on Mount Apo; it was close to the steaming medicinal mud of this lake that I resolved one day to climb this highest mountain of the Philippines; I have since applied through Mr. Benjie Lizada for inclusion in the challenging mountaineering group called, “The Social Climbers.” Recently, on the suggestion of some of our student leaders, we travelled along the scenic Pacific coast of Davao Oriental, admiring gentle beaches and rolling waves, eventually to reach Cateel and its cascading Aliwagwag Falls. It took my breath away. On the way back through the highlands leading to Compostela valley, we saw trees as high as ten stories, giant ferns, and lush primary growth forests, and we prayed that all that natural beauty be preserved for future generations.
It is in this context of natural beauty, that I have met members of the community of the AdDU, and some of the people with whom they work. In the encounter with its faculty, staff, teachers and students, I have met another type of beauty: people responding courageously to problems in society and in the environment, even as they continue to care for and love their lives, their jobs, their families and their friends; people believing that the Jesuit, Catholic and Filipino University in Davao has a major role to play in this response. I have met people seriously interested in the defense of the upland watersheds, struggling with how to respond to politically powerful personalities who allegedly grab lands and take lives with impunity. I have met government officials and church officials appalled by 800-plus summary executions carried out locally; they are now calling for mass action on July 1st to demand that this stop. I have met people who passionately believe that the air we breathe must be free of the toxins brought by chemical agricultural spraying. I have met people who are convinced, rightly, that the deathblow to our forests is the deathblow to the future of our planet and of our race. I have met people passionate about protecting our mountains, our rivers, streams and coastal areas from the ravages of open-pit mining, and people deeply concerned about climate change, and the need to protect the environment against human industries that further pollute or damage it. I have met people passionate about peace in Mindanao, passionate about “waging peace” in an area of our country where too long, due to deep misunderstandings between clashing cultures, people have been waging war. In waging peace, I have met people hungry and thirsty for justice and judicial reform as indispensible requisites for waging peace, even as they are aware that this hunger and thirst can put them in harm’s way. I have also met people passionate about eliminating corruption and what Dr. Ronnie Amorado calls the “Kakistocracy,” that is, “the rule of the unprincipled, unethical and the unqualified” both in the public and private spheres. Among these I have also met people committed to eliminating smuggling in our city’s ports, no matter the cost. I have also met people deeply concerned that life and its demands are increasingly pulled away from the current concerns and diminishing influence of the Catholic Church, and that society seems to have yielded its moral leadership to the priests and priestesses of secular fashion, consumerism and hedonism.
When I was still in training as a Jesuit scholastic, I got involved in Jesuit vocations promotions through a group called the Jesuit Contacts. Our Provincial Superior at that time, Fr. Benigno Mayo, told us: “When you look for prospective Jesuits, search for the wild horses. Wild horses you must tame – only tame. If you get the lazy horses, you will have to push them from behind. When you do so, they kick you!” I am happy that the people I have encountered here at the ADDU are not lazy horses, but wild steeds, passionate in their desire to respond to the problems of society. I am certain as President I will not have to be pushing them from behind. What I think I will be doing is pulling them together, helping them to run together, and not apart from one another, and certainly not against one another! What I think I will be doing is clarifying to where we are all running together and why, bringing to bear the concerted, thunderous power of wild steeds running together onto the problems that challenge us.
What We Already Share
We will not have to push from behind. Together, especially after the multi-sectoral University Planning Workshop we conducted in Eden Nature Park last 19-23 May, 2011, we know we are first a university committed by that fact to instruction, research and community service.
We agree that our instruction must be excellent, providing not only quality basic education and competent professional training in such as engineering, nursing, communications, and entrepreneurship, but just as important, providing competent human training., forming our students to use their freedom to grow as human beings: to learn avidly, to love fully, to recognize the difference between right and wrong, to choose right over wrong, and so to take their place responsibly in society. We agree that we have not done this well enough, that many who are corrupt in high places have come from our classrooms, and that we must work hard to improve our output here. We agree that university research must be done, not just by certain individuals or institutes from the periphery of the university, but from its center. It is the same with outreach. Outreach must not be outsourced to individuals or institutes on the fringes of the University, it must emerge from its center. We agree, instruction must be enhanced by our research and outreach, just as our research must be enriched by what is learned or not learned in the classroom, and informed by what is encountered in serving our communities. We agree that outreach must be driven by the commitment to communicate truth to our students and the commitment to search for truth for our world.
That is the university. But we also agree that our university must be Catholic, Jesuit and Filipino. As Catholic it must proceed ex corde ecclesiae, from the heart of the Church. Its heart must be Jesus Christ, whose Love for us even today manifests the Love of the Father for ourselves and our world. As Jesuit, it must appropriate the fourfold mission of the Society of Jesus, committing itself , first, to the proclamation of the Faith; second, to the promotion of Justice without which the Faith is a lie; third, to sensitivity to cultures, and fourth, to inter-cultural and interreligious dialogue at the frontiers of today’s world. As Filipino, it must prepare its sons and daughters to engage the world locally and globally as trained and savvy Filipinos; it must allow the world to impact on it with openness, but also with critical self-possession.
On these, we agree. This is our shared mission. Here, we will not have to push horses from behind, but we will harness the passions and energies already within to move forward.
Moving Forward Together
But we will move forward together. How shall we learn to come together more?
I will invite all to come together more as a community of professionals and of friends in the Lord, even while respecting the right of members of our community to organize within the parameters of law. I will invite all especially to open themselves to a more intimate friendship with the Lord, who shall lead us to a deeper friendship with each other as he missions us to greater university engagement with our world. I will invite all to discover this friendship and the joy of this friendship especially through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola complemented by a formation and spirituality program to introduce new faculty and staff to the culture of the Ateneo de Davao, and to nurture those who commit their lives to its service in this spirituality. I will pray that these efforts – fully dependent on God’s grace – succeed in his power and his Spirit, in the hope that this intimate friendship with the Lord can be better shared with our students and the communities we serve.
For this, with the approval of the Board of Trustees and religious superiors, we will build and create structures to support our coming together – in work, in reflection, in study, in sports and recreation, in prayer and in worship – among these a Community Center and a center for the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in Samal. We will also work hard together to better compensate performance in mission-based instruction, research and outreach.
In this spirit of friendship in shared mission, where will we go?
With St. Ignatius and the Philippine Province, I shall invite all to a deeper openness “to thinking with the Church,” especially the local Church. The local Church of Mindanao has distinguished itself in discovering life and vibrancy in basic ecclesial communities; it has also distinguished itself through the Bishops-Ulama Conference in dialogue with the Muslim Community. As a Jesuit and Catholic University we will continue to work with the local Church in these areas. But also in a grateful proclamation of our belief in Jesus Christ, and the beatitude of belief in him for human wholeness and hope in an increasingly secular and troubled world.
Further, I will invite all to deliberate and discern on how we can best address the concerns specifically of Mindanao. The concerns of Mindanao are myriad.
Among them are the challenges to belief in a loving God of peace, the challenges to dialogue, a deeper understanding of our plural cultures in Mindanao, the call for inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue. In this context, I propose that AdDU become the center of anthropological instruction and research in Mindanao, in order that we might better appreciate and celebrate its plural cultures and improve our service to our students and families in contemporary society.
There are painful concerns with problems of individual and social justice, of crass violations with impunity of human rights, the right to life, and the right to private property. I propose that AdDU, especially through its law school, be a center of judicial reform in Mindanao and in the country. I propose that the University through the law school also come to the service of the national community in helping draft and advocate laws that complement our outreach services.
Of deep concern to members of our University community are problems related to the environment. What can be done to protect the environment from irresponsible mining activities? What can be done to mitigate the ill-effects of human activity on climate? I propose that we make ADDU a vibrant center for environmental conservation and preservation, and that we ally ourselves with other similarly-minded universities and NGOs for this purpose nationwide and worldwide. In the context of our ongoing and increasing need for energy, I propose that we make the ADDU a center for instruction, research and outreach in renewable energy – hydro and wind energy, but especially solar energy.
I am certain, as our dialogue and discernment within the university progress, we will more deeply recognize to where we are being missioned as a University. With the ample yet limited resources we have, we must look at the issues and prioritize the areas of our intervention, even as we continue to ally ourselves with other Catholic schools and universities through the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) or with other like-minded colleges and universities through the Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA). Our interventions must be university-level interventions, well-researched and well-thought out. We will not satisfy ourselves, nor help others appropriately, with mere appeals. We will labor and search for solutions.
Finally with the CEAP and the COCOPEA, and in the presence of Bro. Armin and of Dr. Licuanan, allow me to say that we will do all in our power to improve the quality of our own instruction in basic and in higher education through our own structures of quality assurance. In this context, we will proactively support the efforts of government to improve our national educational delivery through the K-12 program. This is clearly an educational adjustment that will not only affect basic but tertiary education as well. Next year, we will be telling our incoming high school freshmen that they will have six more years to study before reaching college. I propose, Bro Armin and Tatti, that you allow the ADDU and other similarly minded private schools to take the initiative in designing years 11 and 12 so that our graduates of this program would be ready either for work or for college by 2018. If allowed, the pioneering efforts of a University such as ours may offer the nation a paradigm of educational excellence for the future.
As Friends in the Lord and in His Mission
Together, as a university, Catholic, Jesuit and Filipino, I know we can surge forward. We do so profoundly conscious that we will build on the achievements of those who have preceded us. We build on the administration of Fr. Ting Samson who wisely led our community away from what has been referred to as its “dark ages,” brought the university to its coveted PAASCU institutional accreditation, and wisely shepherded the resources of the university to the powerhouse it is today. We build on the achievements of Fr. Ed Martinez, who presided over the bold expansion of the AdDU, building out its academic programs and facilities, giving AdDU, despite its limitation in land size, world-class instructional facilities. We build on the insight, sensitivity, vision and energy of our founding father, Fr. Ted Daigler, SJ. Just as we build on the excellence of such as Fr. Rudy Malasmas, Fr. James Donelan, Fr. Jorge Esguerra, and of our lay partners such as Ms. Zenaida de los Santos, Mr. Orlando Darang, Ms. Luzviminda Ilagan, Ms. Aida Rivera Ford, Ms. Connie Echevaria, Atty. Epiphanio Estrellado, Atty Hildegardo Iñigo. We surge forward knowing that our strength shall always be in running together as friends in the Lord, powered by our shared mission from the Lord, caring for each other and caring for those whom we are privileged to serve.
In this service, today, together we pray for generosity, begging the Lord to teach us his generosity, to teach us the service that he and our people deserve, finding our deepest joy in knowing that we do his holy will.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Passion of God (The Homily of Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ, Mass of the Holy Spirit, 16 June 2011)

The Homily of Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ, Mass of the Holy Spirit, 16 June 2011

The Passion of God

Mass of the Holy Spirit.
The theme for our Mass of the Holy Spirit is: “Shared Passion, Shared Mission.”
Have you ever met anyone with a passion for photography? The one who has a passion for photography is one who goes out of his way to get the “perfect shot.” There is a Jesuit in Naga who is passionate about photography named Fr. Jun Embile. He goes out of his way to go to the Camsur Watersports Center in order to get the perfect shot of wake-boarders – even if he doesn’t know them. Fr. Ritche Elot is also passionate about photography. He does not balk at climbing a mountain in order to get the perfect shot. I knew some photographers of churches. They would study the way natural light falls on a church days before the shot, then shoot the church at precisely the right moment. The passionate photographer is one who goes out of his way to get the shot just at the right time, just with the right expression, just with the right texture or mood.
There is a lady I know whom you may also know. Her name is Gina Lopez of the ABS-CBN Foundation. She is passionate about the environment. She addressed our graduating class at ADNU and urged our graduates not to use their education, their energy, their resources to harm the environment. Her passion was also not confined to words. She saw the garbage and filth in the Pasig River, and she worked hard to clean it up. She saw the dying watershed of La Mesa Dam, and she worked to reverse the destruction. Recently, after the murder of her colleague, Dr. Jerry, she got passionately involved in protecting the forests of Palawan from destruction due to mining. Her passion is contagious.
Of course other people have other passions. There are some whose passion is: to sleep. It is incredible: whenever they have a free hour, or a free day, bliss is going to sleep! There are others whose passion is watching movies, or reading books, or shopping. Some people love to go into the malls and department stores to taken in the infinite possibilities of what there is to buy! Some are passionate about Facebook. Others about running. Yet others, among iPad users, about “Angry Bird”!
In the context of many distinguishable passions, one can ask today: Where is my passion? Where is for me the feeling, the fervor, the zeal, the ardor that centrates my energy and my activities? For some who’ve never thought of this before, it may be rather indistinguishable. Some may think they have no passion, and find their life rather drab, dry, and boring. For others, passion is a strong, amorous feeling, and an enduring, compelling drive to love and to be loved. For others, passion is a compulsion to give a command, and know the command obeyed, a compulsion for power. Whatever it is, it is good to be in touch with your passion.
Then, at such a Mass as this, it is good to step back and ask: Is this passion worthy of you. Or is there a jarring “disjoint” between your current passion and what or who you really know yourself to be. I know a lawyer.  As a student he worked passionately to learn his law and pass the bar. Now he is working in one of the best law firms of the country. Yet, even as he has arrived at the best of the legal worlds, he asks, “Is this really all that there is? Is there not something I am about that is more than this?”
This is the Mass of the Holy Spirit. There are many ways in which you can look at the Holy Spirit. One way of looking at the Holy Spirit is as Love. Or as Wisdom. Another way is as the Passion of God. The Holy Spirit is the Passion of the Father looking at humanity in suffering and confusion, not turning his back on it, but saying yes to it. The Holy Spirit is the Compassion of the Father expressing itself, incarnating itself in our world. It is the Passion of Jesus Christ facing the selfishness, superficiality and suffering in the world and proclaiming: the Kingdom of God, insisting on: the God of Love. He did this so effectively, that he called forth opposition from those who were selfish, superficial, violent and Godless – causing his passion and death. But he was raised up, we know. God is still passionately loves us in our world.
Where is your passion? You were baptized into the life of God, into the Spirit of God. You were confirmed in the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ descended on the Church in the form of tongues of fire. Have you been set aflame by this fire? Does this fire burn within you? Does the Passion of God affect you, rub off on you, become part of you, even becomen a driving force within you? Does the Spirit of God become your passion so that you care for people with the care of God? Or that you care for creation with the creativity and delight of the Creator? Or that you care for justice with the truth and power of the merciful Lord?
We pray that it does. To share in God’s passion is to share in his mission – in his involvement and engagement in our world.
As we get in touch with our passion, we pray that your education at the Ateneo de Davao help you to share in God’s Passion, to receive the Holy Spirit and to experience his Peace.
[ADDU, 16 June 2011]

Friday, June 10, 2011

We Musn't Blink in front of the Chinese tiger (On Philippines' Spratlys dispute with China)

No doubt, by its pronouncements that the Spratlys and its contiguous group of island as it historical sovereign domain, China is now posturing itself as a big leaguer in international politics. There must be no ifs nor buts as regards China's claim as stated by its spokeperson Hong Lei: "“China asks the Philippine side to stop harming China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, which leads to unilateral actions that expand and complicate South China Sea disputes,”(Philippine Star 09 June 2011). And such was further bolstered by the pronouncement of China's Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao "to rival claimants to the disputed Spratlys island group to stop searching for oil in the contested region without permission from China." (Inquirer 11 June 2011). People musn't be deceived to thinking otherwise, despite today's (11 June 2011) photo of DFA Secretary and the said Ambassador in a seeming cheerful handshaking gesture.

I don't think it's but a coincidence that China's ballpark-bully posture comes at a time when it's preparing to launch its first ever aircraft carrier. According to ABCNEWS:
The 990 ft., 67,500 ton carrier, long-rumored to be in development, is being constructed in the north-east port of Dalian, the report said. While Chen refused to give a specific date, the vessel is reportedly near completion and tests are expected to start later this year. It took an army of workers five years to transform the Soviet-era hull, which was initially bought by a company with ties to the Chinese army who claimed they were building a floating casino destined for Macau.
Itar-Tass/Newscom
The former Soviet "Varyag" aircraft-carrier... View Full Size
PHOTO: The former Soviet "Varyag" aircraft-carrier
Itar-Tass/Newscom
The former Soviet "Varyag" aircraft-carrier in the Ukrainian port of Ilyichevsk in this June 19, 2000 file photo


"All of the great nations in the world own aircraft carriers -- they are symbols of a great nation," Chen's assistant chief, Lt. Gen. Qi Jianguo, assistant chief of the general staff, told the Hong Kong Commercial Daily. But Jianguo also emphasized that after the carrier was deployed it would "definitely not sail to other countries' territorial waters." This said statement itself simply essays China's self-perception: that it's now a great nation (aka superpower). Having its own aircraft carrier makes China belong to only other 9 countries in the world having their own aircraft carriers (US 11; UK 1; France 1;  Italy 2; Spain 1; Russia 1; India 1; Brazil 1; Thailand 1). And China's Varyag carrier will be second only to the US' Nimitz class carriers in size. Even if Chinese military officials themselves are quick to admit that the Varyag is but a refurbished derelict of the Soviet era, one musn't be naive to non-chalantly dismiss the existence of the said carrier.  Years ago, people would basically equate "made in China" products to second-class, if not third class, status.  Today, not anymore.  What with the fact that China has just more recently leap-frogged over Japan as the world's second largest economy. Military muscle plus economic muscle, indubitably is formidable muscle. In addition, it won't hurt if we don't forget Sun Tzu the war tactician himself saying "When strong, make your enemy think you're weak."

With China's growing status, thus we must always be on the alarm despite its above latter statement that it "would definitely not sail to other countries' territorial waters."   It must be remembered that China, as earlier stated, has strongly said that the Spratlys is part of its domain. Thus, it mustn't be so surprising if one of these days if the Chinese leviathan Varyag is sailing along the Spratlys one of these days, as it considers the Spratlys as but part of its suzerainty. As Lt Gen Qi Jianguo, Assistant Chief of the General Staff of China's People's Liberation Army said "We are now facing heavy pressure in the oceans whether in the South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea or the Taiwan Straits," he said.(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13692558). South China Sea is where the Spratlys are.

With all of these, thus it's but proper for any self-respecting sovereign state like the Philippines, despite its miniscule military and economic might compared to the gargantuan China, that it must continue to use everything at its disposal to stem and stop these incursions of China into its own state's territorial sealanes as provided by the UNCLOS provisions. While we believe in diplomacy as a foremost instrument in settling the muscle-flexing of China, we musn't mistake cowardly retreat as diplomacy. If a bully collars you, and demands that you give him the money you have in your pocket because it's his, and then you unresistingly gave him your money, that's not diplomacy. That's cowardly surrender. I hope that some of our Senators saying that we must settle the dispute with China "diplomatically" because it's a superpower so terrifying to resist, will come to their senses that they're not helping our country's cause at all. To them I'd say "Mabuti pa si Asiong Salonga, ipinaglalaban ang mga mahihirap kahit pa na mga malalaking tao ang kalaban nya sa pag-gawa nito."  That is, though of course, it would be going against prudence for our government to rattle the sabers versus China, however, we musn't blink in front of the Chinese tiger. We musn't lose our chutzpah despite the bully's bullying stance. Real diplomacy must only be from a position of strength, never from weakness. Thus, our government leaders must show real fire-from-the-belly when dealing with the humungous China. Para kay Inang Bayang magiliw!