Stand Point

Come September 11, 2017, it will be a holiday in Ilocos Norte Province. This is not new in the sense that Ilocanos have been annually celebrating the birth anniversary of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. This Monday is distinguished because it would be the 100th birth year of Marcos, and no less than a proclamation issued upon authority of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has designated that it be a special non-working day in the province.

The Environment is doomed Our environment is at risk, not from climate change, not from natural hazards, but from mining!

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCC-USA), bound by our faith in Jesus Christ and our common witness for the fullness of life, reaffirm a shared commitment to support the formal peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples Rights and its partner indigenous communities commemorate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. On this occasion, we offer our observations on how the government has addressed the rights of indigenous peoples. Despite the enactment and implementation of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) 20 years ago and the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) 10 years ago, we find no significant changes to the situation and enjoyment of rights of indigenous peoples in the Philippines.

We look for the president’s promise of change: the socio-economic reforms and political reforms that require the president’s political will to control the resistance of the oligarch and political dynasties to fundamental change. However, the president has out of control on his cabinet, they control him and his peace policies and effort. These are the Christian challenges – a peacemakers challenge, my challenge, our challenge. A challenge that requires faithfulness and perseverance whatever it costs- comfort or even life.