Today is Indigenous People’s Sunday. As I have previously expressed, with a deep sense of awe and reverence, let us honor God’s loving presence among our indigenous brothers and sisters in the Lord — from the Aetas to the Ifugaos, Dumagats, Mangyans, Tagbanuas, and all other indigenous Filipino tribes. They are as much the people of God as are baptized Christians. “On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations….” (From today’s First Reading, Is. 25: 7).
Our indigenous brothers and sisters are well-known for their respect for God’s nature all around them and their love for God’s creation. Indeed, they are humble practitioners of creation-centered spirituality. They feel the Creator’s presence in the green leaves of the trees in the forest, in the chirping of the birds and the crowing of the roosters, in the living water flowing down the brooks and streams, in the animals that roam the forest. They respect and protect the land from destruction and abuse. When they take the fruits from the trees, they take only what they need, and leave the rest for others who may need them, too. The fruits of the earth are for all.
In our world of today, what our indigenous fellow-Filipinos need is to update and maximize their skills and resources for their own benefit and to protect their human rights from being violated. What they need most is education. It is in this connection that I want to single out a young professional, John Ong, who joined a mission among the indigenous Mangyan communities in Mindoro. As the mission was about to end, a Mangyan elder requested him to stay and teach them the skills needed in connection with their ancestral lands and their rights to these.
John spent a sleepless night, discerning where God was calling him. He was able to make a radical decision to stay and work for the Mangyans. Moreover, he discovered that before he could help them file their claims to their ancestral lands through making 3-D topographic maps and related skills, they lacked the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. He had to start from scratch! To make the long story short, he accepted God’s mission for him “to love and serve.” What an inspiring young man.
Now, let us move on, this time to an inspiring young woman, Anabel Ungcad. She was the first college graduate of her Bagobo tribe of Mount Apo. She came from a really poor family. Her mother was a housemaid, and her father sold vegetables, even as he was already suffering from an illness. He passed away when she was just in first year college. But she fulfilled his dying wish to finish her college education, going through all kinds of human hardships.
Today, Anabel teaches at the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (ALS). She was assigned to her own community to teach her own indigenous tribe. What a dream come true! Over the years, there have been changes in their community, like sari-sari stores, better waste disposition, better care for their health, and others. Anabel’s contribution to all this is no less than phenomenal.
Side by side with Indigenous People’s Sunday, today is also Extreme Poverty Day. In this context, let me single out another young Filipino, Jomel Lapides, a UP nursing graduate and topnotcher of the recent board exams for nurses. With his credentials, he could choose to go abroad for a well-paying job and a more promising career. But he decided to stay home in our country. Why? He wants to serve the many indigent patients in our public hospitals, like the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), where he spent his on-the-job training. “These are the people who really need help,” he expressed. In fact, he has decided to apply there after he receives his license. Without a doubt, his heart is for the poor.
Putting together the life-stories of our three, young Filipinos, I cannot but conclude that with God’s loving providence, there is indeed hope for our country. There are many more young Filipinos like them. Mga bayaning kabataan ng Pilipinas. And it is in this context that we have to understand the real meaning when we say that the Church of God is the Church of the Poor. This means both the materially poor and the poor in spirit. And who are the poor in spirit? Those who generously share their time, talents, and treasures with those who need them more. Both for the private and public sectors, this is our mission from the Lord.
Our President Aquino has been appointing public officials who are known for their moral integrity and professional competence. Side by side with this, more leaders in the business world are developing a God-inspired compassion for the poor. Over all this is our resiliency as a people, which we are now going through after “Pedring” and “Quiel.”
Tayong lahat ay humaharap sa isang napakalaking hamon at paanyaya: ang magmahal at maglingkod sa Diyos at sa bayan. Ibigay natin ang lahat ng ating makakaya. At kung kakailanganin — pati na ang ating buhay. Ang mabuhay at mamatay para sa Diyos, sa pamilya, at sa bayang Pilipinas. Ano pa kaya ang ating hinahangad?
Sa harap ng Diyos at sa harap ng buong mundo: Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!