Sharing feedback re goals

We are happy to share with you certain feedback regarding our suggested goals for 2012.

Re our suggested goal #1, Sr. Rose of Japan emailed the following:

“Thank you for the articles for awareness and faith deepening reminder for all of us. I suggest that since the church bells don’t toll in the morning and in the evening here in Japan, we can just remind our kababayans to say a simple prayer for these intentions when we hear the 12:00 lunch break. It will not just remind us of eating lunch but also remember the needs of our country parallel to our need to fill our stomach at this time of the day.  Perhaps one particular intention for each day of the week (one at a time), not necessarily mentioning all six goals in one sitting.”   

We should be thanking you instead, Sr. Rose, for reminding us that our overseas Filipinos can also join us pray for our goal to be a prayerful nation wherever they are. Our migrant Filipinos can pray and get together during time schedules and in ways that best fit their own circumstances abroad.

Can you imagine millions of our overseas Filipinos praying with us daily for our nation and our people? Thank you in advance to all our migrant kababayans for sharing their daily prayer time with us for our nation this year!

Related to our goal for a prayerful nation, our sister Len from Pasig relayed to us that she was able to share our prayer and campana campaign suggestions to some local government officials and priests during a gathering. She mentioned that they liked the suggestions. We are both praying that somehow, someday soon, some parishes will really start the campana practice. We are also praying that religious leaders of all denominations pick up the idea too to start daily prayer brigades for our nation this year!

Moving on to another feedback re our goal #3, providing homes for the homeless, no less than Councilor Alvin Dizon shared his precious time and views with us as follows:

“There is a housing backlog for homeless and underprivileged residents in Cebu City. In fact, there are even urban poor families living in public cemeteries. 

As a highly urbanized city, more and more people are coming into the city to look for employment and other opportunities. This increases the demand for affordable housing.     

 However, the current housing supply mostly caters to the rich and middle class since land within the city is every expensive. As a result, many urban poor are forced to live in slum areas with limited basic services.

It is a challenge for the city government to provide decent and affordable housing to our urban poor residents. However, we currently have limited resources for our housing programs so we are looking for ways how to improve and strengthen this. 

Last year, I filed Ordinance 2254 or the Cebu City Shelter Framework Plan for 2011-2016. The framework plan basically identifies 7 housing strategies that will serve as a blue print and guide for the city in pursuing various housing programs. One of the activities identified is to study innovative housing projects which can be replicated in Cebu City. I hope with the help of the national government and NGOs will be able to address the housing needs of our people. 

Thank you, Councilor Alvin, for your informative feedback! Thank you to all others who shared their kind feedback too!!!

We hope there will be those who will join hands with Councilor Alvin and share their creative but inexpensive housing designs for our needy homeless. We also hope that there will be those as well who will share their time to help build the homes for our poor. Remember how one father killed himself for not having been selected as one of the tent beneficiaries among the Mindanao typhoon victims? Remember how many more lost, not only their homes, but their loved ones as well because of disasters?

So much needs, so much to do for our people and our country. Can we all imagine moving ahead together in prayer and in collaborative ways to construct a better society especially for our needy for this new year?

We can all start with a collective prayer each day. God will listen to a sincere, prayerful people.

* * *

Email: [email protected]