Acts of God? Yes, but...

My fellow worker in this newspaper Garry Lao has just been to the Holy Land (see TF, 10/4). Me, I haven’t even been to Lindogon yet.

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But no matter. I have an altar in my home where there’s an icon of Mama Mary like the one in Lindogon and an image of Jesus Christ like the one in the Holy Land.

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When I attended the catechism (which us kids called ‘katekisis’ ) at the Cathedral in my youth, one catechist said to us boys and girls that God is everywhere. So a boy from Barrio Ciudad (now barangay San Roque) whispered to me: “Di na kinahanglan mosimba ... Naa man ang Ginoo bisan asa.”

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This young Pilosopo Tasyo, whose name I vaguely remember only as Ekong, grew up to be seminarian but eventually ended up as a soldier. He fought in Bataan under the USAFFE. I don’t know where he is now. Up there or still down here.

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They say that natural disasters like what we’ve been suffering from are “acts of God.” Maybe yes. But don’t you think that God acted because we abused nature too much?

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Typhoons, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis happened because people did not — still do not — give proper care to God’s creations. There is widespread neglect of the earth and the environment which are God’s.

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It’s good to know that the local shopping malls are encouraging shoppers to use paper bags instead of plastic bags in order to help save Mother Earth. SM Cebu has launched its “Save a bag! Save the world!” campaign. Every Wednesday shoppers are urged to bring their own bags when marketing at the supermarket. So no plastic bags are given out on this day. Big deal.

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Five pesos (P5) still means a lot today to a lot of people. Its value is reflected on bus passengers who’d rather wait for the bus along the roadside than pay the amount as entry fee at the bus terminal.

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But there are those who don’t mind shelling out P5 to get into the bus terminal. One TF reader said she’s even willing to pay P25 as entry fee because passengers, she said, are now safe inside and the departure area is now airconned. Well, the importance of P5, it seems, depends on how deep one’s pocket is.

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E-mail from Necita Sanchez, a Cebuana in New Jersey: “You know, Sir Jabat, I’m very proud of my being a Cebuano. Everytime there’s a calamity anywhere in the country, Cebu is always out there extending help. Ug dili lang ginagmay nga help, Sir, binarko gyud. I also chipped in my own little help here during the hat-passing fund raising for the typhoon victims in Manila.”

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That’s the spirit, Necita. Always uphold the Cebuano dignity. Always prove that Cebuanos are people with a heart for other people in need.

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TRIVIA — Good news for Banat News readers, especially the fans of Rosalie V. She’s coming up with Part Two of one of her novels that has caught the imagination of many readers. This is in response to public demand, so to speak. Watch for it.

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