The war for peace
IT’S, of course, intriguing that while Christ is known to often greet his disciples with peace, as in “Peace be with you” (cfr. Jn 20,19; Jn 20,21), he also said at one time: “Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth; I...
Category Archives: Opinion
The Philippine Saging is Sagging (Part 2)
From 1969 to 2010 we were Asia’s no. 1 and only saging exporter. There was no 2, 3, 4, etc. Davao City boomed. About 80,000 plus hectares were saging. Two laborers per hectare times 80,000 hectares equals 160,000 Laborers. Add the office staff, the packing...
SoCCom: Proclaimers of the Good News like Peter and Paul
(An excerpt of the Most Reverend Romulo G. Valles D.D. in his Homily during the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul and San Pedro Cathedral Parish, 177th Parochial Fiesta, June 29, 2025.) Kining pyesta karon, ang Archdiocese sa Davao, very special, kita ang host sa...
Consecrated Persons a Sign of Hope in the light of Our Lady of Mt Carmel
A mother of a two-year-old girl approached a Consecrated Person or a madre and asked: “Sister, do you think that God will answer my prayers that my daughter will be healed of her sickness? The sister answered, “How do you see this situation in the...
Lessons from the parable of the Good Samaritan
THE obvious lesson we can immediately gather from the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10,25,37) is that we should have true empathy and compassion with everyone, irrespective of how those involved are, whether they are friendly or not, of our type or kind or...
All the way to the gates of hell
THAT’S how willing we should go in our apostolic tasks if we truly dedicate ourselves, as we should, to Christ’s continuing work of human redemption. We should not be afraid of anything, the effort, sacrifices and all sorts of contradictions that may be involved along...
How to be both idealistic and realistic
THESE should be the abiding traits we ought to have in this life. Given the fact that we are just having a pilgrimage toward our eternal destination in this life, we should see to it that we don’t lose sight of the idealism meant for...
When our dormant weaknesses get enkindled
WE have to be wary of this possibility. Given how things are nowadays, we should be prepared to deal with this phenomenon that, sad to say, is getting more common. We should realize that instead of feeling sad when such thing occurs in us, we...
Learning the art of sifting and discerning
WITH the way the world us currently developing, with so many things coming out that can easily grab our attention and interest, we really would need to hone our skills at sifting and discerning, since these developments can easily give us a lot of dangers...
With faith, miracles can happen
THAT’S the conclusion we can draw from that gospel episode where a woman with a 12-year illness was cured instantly, and a dead girl was made to rise back to life again. (cfr. Mt 9,18-26) These two miraculous events highlight Christ’s power, showing us how a...