The delegates began the process of deepening their insights on the complex phenomenon of trafficking  to facilitate the task of reformulating a new vision, mission and organizational structure for APWRATH, taking the first steps toward a stronger and broader anti-trafficking network.

Presenters from the AMRSP Women and Gender Commission, the Visayan Forum, the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Coalition Against Trafficking, Talitha Kum, Asia-ACTs, and a woman survivor of trafficking shared their insights on the human dimensions of trafficking and useful information about anti-trafficking laws and methods of intervention and prevention.

The conference ended with a poignant and painful reminder of the importance of fighting human trafficking, as the delegates visited a shelter for young girls who have been victims of labor and sexual trafficking .

The delegates have now returned to their home countries, with a deeper commitment to build their counter-trafficking network as they work toward an Asia-Pacific free of modern-day slavery.

Talita Kum, the International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons, is a network within UISG  (International Union of Superiors General – www.uisg.org) which originates from a project implemented in collaboration with International Organization for Migration and funded by the US government’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

The network aims to share and maximize the resources that Religious Life has on behalf of prevention, protection, assistance, awareness raising and the denouncement of trafficking in persons.

We, ninety six (96) Women Religious Superiors in the Philippines representing eighty nine (89) congregations, together with our Mission Partners, gathered at the Little Flower Retreat house inBaguioCity, from March 15-19, 2012 to reflect on the theme “Indigenous  Spirituality and Mother Earth – Towards Transforming the Web of Life”.

In the midst of a constantly changing world characterized by modernization and globalization, we continue to witness glaring social injustices, human rights violations and environmental destruction:

The government’s policy on large and small scale mining continue to destroy the indigenous peoples’ cultures and ancestral lands, denuding old forests and posing life threatening geophysical hazards.

Poverty takes on new forms with more displaced families, the children and the elderly making the streets their homes, and many young vagrants abusing drugs to alleviate hunger. Full employment for the many jobless and unemployed still eludes millions, while the government’s labor export policy deprives the country of the much needed expertise and skills of Filipino professionals and erodes the integrity of the family as the basic unit of society.

Abject poverty, unemployment, lack of income and savings as well as landlessness have always been the perennial problems of the urban poor, the lowland and upland farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, women and the elderly in the rural areas, because the government’s economic policies continue to favor privatization, multinational corporations and import liberalization.

These social conditions and economic policies exacerbate trafficking in persons, syndicated crimes and modern day slavery.

Meanwhile, the most basic human rights of many citizens continue to be violated with impunity, showing the government’s inability to bring perpetrators to justice, which constitutes a denial of the victims’ right to justice and redress. Impunity thrives in countries that lack a tradition of the rule of law, suffer from corruption or that have entrenched systems of patronage, where the judiciary is weak or members of the security forces are protected by special jurisdictions or immunities.

In this context, the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women in thePhilippinesdeemed as urgent the need to understand ourselves as a people – who we are, where we come from, what our distinct identities are and how we can better care for Mother Earth. We believe that despite our diversities and differences, we are one in our common aspiration for the transformation of the Web of Life. We believe that rooting ourselves in the indigenous spirituality of our people will enable us to discover the primal vision of indigenous cultures in caring for Mother Earth and all peoples.

This gathering revealed a new understanding of caring for Mother Earth and the Web of Life: Each One of us is the Web of Life.

Today, we affirm and acknowledge that the uniqueness of our identities are affected by three elements: our birth in a particular sacred place and space, our own “Nazareth”; our genealogy is our being both ancestor-descendant, allowing us to connect with our ancestors and leave our legacy for future generations; and, our encounters with the Sacred, in places and moments which seem ordinary and insignificant but which are serendipitous moments to encounter the Divine.

We learn from our indigenous brother and sisters, our resource speakers and facilitators Fr. Oscar Alunday,SVD, Sr. Imaya Calingayan, OSB and Ms. Lourie Victor, that in the Web of Life, the ancestral land is the  locus of their encounter with their God and the Sacred. It is their encounter with their beings, the best of who they are in God’s creation.

Indigenous Peoples’ Spirituality is in fact dancing and flowing with the spirit in tribal rhythms – that  comes out naturally when grounded in one’s culture. They have encouraged us not only to discover our own roots as a people, but also our unique charisms and identities as religious in our congregations.

REMEMBERING  is what holds the Web of Life together and our connectedness in it. Therefore, we commit ourselves to remember:

1. Our origin from the primal fireball 13.7 billion years ago, and the sacrificed dying of a star birthing our solar system. From this dying star, life evolved through a process of emergence from simple life forms to what we are and have now. We remember that relationship is a Cosmological Principle – to be is to be related to all that is.

2.  Our ancestors, our pre-colonial past, and what we lost in the process of colonization but which continues to affect our daily lives today in the form of globalization.

Colonization corrupted our cultures, maligned the Pilipino’s indigenous identity and debased our personhood. Our beliefs, sacred rituals and practices were demonized. In time we forgot our indigenous selves and our proper relationship to the land.

3. Our collective memory, who we are as a people and as a nation. Our colonial history has been unkind to our ancestors.  As children of Mother Earth, we reclaim our integrity and pride as a people and nation. We embrace the goodness of our personhood, nationhood, and creature-hood.

4. To participate in the transformation of the Web of Life with sensitivity, in active silence and meditation rooted in our authentic selves.

Remembering asks of us to be sensitive to and respectful of peoples’ cultures. Remembering asks of us, in all humility to also critique death-dealing cultural practices and traditions that undermine, discriminate, oppress, exploit and debase the other, specially the natural world, the poor, women, children and the elderly.

Remembering asks of us to consciously proclaim a culture of life.

5. Our Judeo-Asian-Christian ancestors as members of our community of faith. As consecrated women we should also remember our congregational genealogy. These root us in our humanity, our divinity and in our place in God’s infinity. This is the salvation promised to us and all of Creation.

6. The importance of inter-religious dialogue with the indigenous peoples’, their spirituality and our Judeo-Asian-Christian theology and evaluate our congregational approaches to vocation recruitment, formation, leadership, education, mission, and ministry. 

To be rooted more deeply in our own indigenous culture is to make the Church more alive and our living of our religious life more vibrant and creative.

7. OurMissionPartners. We recognize and affirm that the work of the Mission Partners are living expressions of dialoguing with life, are new forms of engagement in mission work and pro-actively uphold the peoples’ dignity and human rights and protect the environment.

8. Our heritage and patrimony.  We commit to responsibly and consciously protect these by caring for the environment, vigorously protesting all forms of corruption, logging, mining and the destruction of all life forms in the air, land, waters and seas.

In the name of all that is Sacred, the Triune God, the Abba of Jesus Christ,

we Commit our Life to the on-going Transformation of the Web of Life!

Participants of

AMRSWP National Convention

March 15-19, 2012

Little Flower Retreat House

13 Villamor Street, Baguio City

This issuance of the Temporary Restraining Order by the Supreme Court is indeed disappointing since the Impeachment Trial is an invaluable political process to restore, renew and strengthen the integrity, transparency and accountability of the Judiciary and Philippine governance.  It is even more disappointing that 13 Senators voted to obey it because this means acknowledging the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over them but it is clear in the Constitution that the Senate Court is supreme in matters regarding impeachment. And the only question they should have asked themselves before voting was: “Will the TRO serve to discover the TRUTH or will it hinder it?”  The answer is obvious.

Chief Justice Corona says that he will open his foreign account in due time. Our question is, if he is not hiding anything, why can it not be opened now? Instead, Chief Justice Corona remains steadfast and adamant in his relentless drive to declare the Impeachment Trial as unconstitutional and a violation of his human rights. And to challenge and question the Senate Court and the entire impeachment process, Chief Justice Corona continually seeks refuge in the Supreme Court for protection and solace. This is against decency and “delicadeza” because he is asking this of Justices who are under him.

The Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women in the Philippines (AMRSWP), a gathering of 275 women religious congregations in the Philippines strongly believes the impeachment proceedings will strengthen the foundations of democratic governance in the Philippines.

The impeachment trial against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona is not a battle against two warring government bodies, the Judiciary and the Executive. Nor is the Impeachment Trial a personal contest between two powerful politicians – Chief Justice Renato Corona and President Benigno Aquino III.  

The Impeachment Process is a political process to protect the integrity, transparency and accountability of a democratic government. Essentially, this impeachment trial will decide on the integrity, transparency and accountability of Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona.   

We therefore implore Chief Justice Renato Corona to listen to the stirrings of truth, justice and respect the Senate Court and the impeachment proceedings. 

We also urge the Senate Judges to remain steadfast in their duty and to assert their sovereignty in the pursuit of the TRUTH. 

Each and every Filipino citizen is asked to act with integrity, to maintain a sense of decency and honesty, and to be held accountable for actions which have grave ramifications on the common good.

We ask no less of a Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

ASSOCATION OF MAJOR RELIGIOUS SUPERIORS OF WOMEN IN THE PHILIPPINES  (AMRSWP)

 February 17, 2012

All 72 of them were at the La Consolacion Convent in Santolan Road, San Juan for a seminar to counter modern-day slavery, also known as trafficking in persons and human trafficking.

On February 18, 2012, seventy-two religious nuns, teachers, novices, parents, seminarians and priests committed themselves to the struggle to counter trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The organizations present at the one-day seminar co-sponsored by APWRATH (Asia-Pacific Women Religious Against Trafficking in Humans), APAC (Asia-Pacific Augustinian Conference- Commission on Apostolate) and the ASOLC Advocacy Desk (Augustinian Sisters of the Our Lady of Consolation) were:

•Colegio San Agustin, Binan, Laguna
•Colegio San Agustin, Bacolod
•La Consolacion School, Balagtas, Bulacan
•La Consolacion College Novaliches, Caloocan City
•La Consolacion College Binan, Laguna
•La Consolacion University of the Philippines, Bulacan
•Asumpta Academy Bulacan
•La Consolacion Convent, San Juan
•San Agustin Center of Studies
•San Agustin Major Seminary
•Quezon City Parent – Teacher Conference Association Federation
•SP Congregation (Sister Josie Lenios)

Father John Paul Zsura, OSA, with 20 years of experience in international lobbying work at the United Nations, started the input on the Augustinian presence as an accredited non-government organization at the United nations in New York.

The Augustinians “seek to encourage awareness and prepare Augustinians for their mission of educating and promoting human rights and a Culture of Peace, and to familiarize the laity with the declarations, projects and activities of the U.N., particularly in the fields of education, human rights and the eradication of hunger.” (http://www.midwestaugustinians.org/justpaxun.html)

He emphasized the importance of the Augustinian spirituality in our work for justice and global peace and to end modern-day slavery. Fr. Szura said Saint Augustine’s life and spirituality, then and now , was founded on the respect for the dignity of each and every person, the promotion of the common good and the sharing of all God’s good gifts among all people.

He then challenged the participants to look into how college courses on tourism, hotel and restaurant management can be used to lure students into being trafficked.

The main speaker, Jean Enriquez, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking of Women Asia-Pacific emphasized two points: one, that any one of the three elements – transport, coercion and force – constitutes human trafficking; and two, that gender inequality and discrimination are key reasons why human trafficking persists and continues to grow.

Ms. Alicia Lozano, a feminist and Basic Ecclesial Community leader, shared her life experience as a survivor of trafficking who herself also trafficked young women into prostitution. Despite the horrors of working as a prostituted woman, she shared that the key to her transformation was her faith: an acceptance of God’s goodness and of her own goodness as a woman. Ms. Lozano is now an active advocate for gender-fair relations as GAD (Gender Awareness and Development) focal person in her barangay.

APWRATH staff member Odalie Adiao-Garcia, building upon Alice Lozano’s testimony, explained how the Christian tradition overflows with faith-life testimonies of God’s presence in the peoples’ struggle against injustice, exploitation and violence. Human trafficking, she said, is “our Exodus. To counter modern-day slavery we must remember God’s message in the Exodus that He is with us.”

Finally, the participants grouped themselves according to their organization and came up with viable plans they can implement in their workplace. The planning was facilitated by Sr. Flolyn Catungal, OSA. Below is a synthesis:

PREVENTION

•Launch education campaign in schools
•Orient /re-echo the seminar to the faculty security guards, parents, school personnel and students on human trafficking
•Integrate human trafficking in curriculum= values education, theology, hospitality operations (thrust: human dignity and gender sensitivity)
•Information campaign on human trafficking using ads, fliers, posters, school website
•Orient students enrolled in HRM and Tourism on human trafficking as part of their On-the Job Training (OJT)
•The Parent-Teacher National Capital Region Federation will spearhead activities and parent seminars on human trafficking for the Quezon city Federation

Target date: April 14, 2012

Venue: Ponciano Bernardo Elementary School in QC

Target participants: four districts of Quezon city PTCA Officers.

NETWORKING

•Work with NGOs on similar campaigns
•Integrate human trafficking education IN adopted communities or out-reach programs
•Request for fliers, materials to counter trafficking from NGOs, international agencies
•Network with alumni associations and Parent-Teacher Association Board, pastoral councils, religious congregations and parishes
•Coordinate with Barangay Council for the protection of children

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FOR WE HAVE HAD MORE THAN OUR SHARE OF SCORN,

MORE THAN OUR SHARE OF JEERS FROM THE COMPLACENT,

AND OF SCORN FROM THE PROUD…”  (Psalm 123) 

We, the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, join the Philippine Church, and the tri-people of Mindanao in condemning the treacherous killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME.  This act is a manifestation of heartlessness and ruthlessness on the part of the perpetrators and criminals. With this heinous crime, we are sad to note the persistence of the climate of impunity even under the new administration.

The AMRSP remembers  Fr. Fausto, a member of the Rural Missionaries, as a person who selflessly gave up his life by immersing himself in the lives and struggles of the people, especially the marginalized tribal Filipinos in Arakan, Cotabato.  He was the voice of the people in their struggle against mining and the destruction of ancestral lands. He relentlessly took up the defense of the poor and the oppressed against every form of social injustice. 

AMRSP denounces any form of repression especially through extrajudicial killings. Life is a gift from God and no one has the right to deprive anyone of it unjustly and with impunity. We demand justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio!  We call on the present government to order an immediate and thorough investigation to ensure that justice be served. We enjoin the people to be vigilant for the perpetrators are still at large and may claim other victims. This is also a wakeup call for all religious to be cautious but never to be cowed by this brutality. Instead, it calls for our commitment to continue the cause for which Fr. Fausto has given up his life: namely the cause of the poor especially the  indigenous people and the protection of the environment. May this occasion urge the government to seriously take action on behalf of the indigenous people and to put an end to activities such as mining and logging that are wantonly destroying our environment. Then Fr. Fausto will not have died in vain.

AMRSP extends its sympathy to the PIME and to the family of Fr. Fausto and we assure them that his life will forever be remembered by all who work for justice and peace and the protection of mother earth!

May the God hear the cries of all victims of violence and may they obtain justice!

Justice for Fr. Fausto! Justice to all victims of extra-judicial killings!

Signed:

Sr.  Mary John  R.  Mananzan, OSB                 Fr.  Quirico  T. Pedregosa, OP

                                            AMRSP Co-Chairpersons

The AMRSP and its Mission Partners participated in Haribon Foundation’s Tree Planting Activity last September 3, 2011 at Tanay, Rizal.

Please click on the link for the CNN iReport:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-668513

The participants of the AMRSP 2011 Biennial Convention at Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Humankind is standing at the edge of a deep chasm due to an increasing global warming and we realize that we are losing our foothold. We cannot allow this to happen.  We have to get our act together to hold our ground and prevent our fall.

We, the members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, were gathered for our Biennial Convention, on July 4-8, 2011, at St. Ezekiel Moreno Spirituality and Development Center, Puerto Princesa.   In this “cleanest and greenest city”, we were privileged to see the grandeur of creation in the Underground River, the lush trees of this city within a forest, the rich mountains, the pristine rivers and seas. We were awed by its magnificent bounty and beauty, re-affirming that all these are gifts from God, flowing from our Creator’s limitless love.

On the other hand, we are grieved by the continuing denudation of our forests, the plunder of our mineral wealth through reckless mining, the destruction of our biodiversity and the increasing depletion of our marine life and fresh water resources. We are losing our agricultural lands to subdivisions, malls, memorial parks and golf courses.  Our waters are contaminated.  The air we breathe is polluted.  All this environmental degradation across the country, contributes to global warming, which has, in turn, resulted in “climate change.” This climate change is already wreaking havoc on our earth, bringing death and disease to our peoples, damaging property and infrastructures, destroying crops, bringing in much flooding, soil erosion, and landslides. More of this will happen and worsen, unless something is done NOW.

In the face of such contrasting realities, together with our mission partners and resource persons, we have reflected deeply in prayer, study, and discernment on our convention’s theme – Climate Change: Its Impact and Challenges.

It disturbs us to recognize that even as we are agents of change and protectors of nature, we also intrude on her, and disturb her rhythm. We often forget that the web of life connects us all: what we destroy will destroy us in return. We realize that we must reclaim a sense of responsibility for nature, for the earth, for creation, because this is a mandate from God, and because this helps us provide for a sustainable future for succeeding generations. We should continue to develop and strengthen a spirituality that approaches nature with reverence, listening to it with respect, recognizing and understanding its language, accepting that humankind is not the center of creation.

As bearers of the Gospel, we accept the challenge to be agents of hope, ever striving to overcome the temptation to frustration and despair. We insist that we can still make a difference, even with seemingly small initiatives, in our communities, in our religious congregations, and in the Association itself. In this, we draw inspiration from various stakeholders in Puerto Princesa – the local government’s political will to preserve, protect and nurture environment’s integrity, the prophetic role assumed by the local church, and the witness and sacrifice of life by Dr. Gerry Ortega, and by many simple folks in Palawan who fight to save the environment.

We are challenged to assert our collective responsibility as God’s co-creators and stewards.  Creation has a soul and we have to recover the spiritual energy to assist in the healing process.  We are challenged to help avert environmental disaster by contributing to the greening of our forests, the de-silting of our rivers, the reduction of greenhouse gas emission effects, the management of our waste disposal, the conservation of energy, and protests against indiscriminate mining and logging.

We therefore re-commit ourselves to sustainable development.

• We will help combat climate change through information dissemination regarding the man-made factors causing it and its atrocious effects on the world’s ecological systems. We throw our support behind advocacy activities for the environment – signature campaigns, lobbying, mobilization and networking on the local and international levels.  We will participate in programs for reforestation, zero waste management (including recycling and waste segregation), composting and the use of organic farm inputs.
• We will exert effort towards the reduction of greenhouse gas effects, through the use of renewable energy and by water and energy conservation.   Such activities will be undertaken, like carpooling, biking, and using public transportation more to cut down on gas consumption. Likewise, the critical use of technology and her gadgets – cell phones, i-pods, the internet, and air condition units – will serve the same purpose.
• We will work for disaster risk management, in order to prevent the occurrence of climate tragedies. This will mean promoting consciousness-raising, environmental science in the curriculum, and disaster preparedness in our communities and institutions.
• We will continue to challenge the local and national government to implement already existing environmental laws and amend environmental policies contributing to environmental destruction and global warming.
• We affirm the work of AMRSP’s Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission and other Mission-Partners and call for the organization of fact-finding teams that will address the environmental concerns. 
• We take a stand alongside the many advocacy groups that work for the preservation of the remaining rich biodiversity in the country, like the “No to Mining in Palawan Movement”.  We express our solidarity with the families of the victims of violence against the “champions” of the environment and join them in their cause to obtain justice for their loved ones.

We anchor all our efforts on a Creation-centered Spirituality. In the end, we humbly entrust all our resolve to protect, care for and love our planet Earth to the Lord of creation and universe, the ultimate source of all life and being, who alone can make our dreams come true and renew the face of the earth.

Participants  of  the

AMRSP Joint Biennial  Convention

 July 4-8, 2011

St.  Ezekiel Moreno Spirituality & Development Center

San Jose, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

Details:

1.   Theme:  “Climate Change: Its Impact and Challenges”

2.   Venue:   St. Ezekiel Moreno Spirituality & Development Center, San Jose, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

3.   Inclusive Time:

Arrival at the Convention site                   2:00 pm onwards of July 4, 2011

Convention officially starts                       4:30 pm with the Eucharistic Celebration

Concluding Eucharist                             11:00 am      July 8, 2011

3.   Resource Speakers:  Dr. Esteban C. Godilano, Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn, Ms. Gina Lopez, Sr. Perla Macapinlac, ICM and Atty. Rowena Guanzon

4.   Eco – Tour:  Underground River on the 2nd day of the Convention

For more details, feel free to contact us at the AMRSP office during office hours at telephone numbers (02) 7244434 and (02)4485644,

In this light, the AMRSP in coordination with the Socio-Pastoral Institute (SPI) will launch the First Facilitators’ Training-Workshop on SPIRITUALITY OF SERVICE/STEWARDSHIP with the theme : Renewing and Sustaining a Just, Moral and Humane Society through the Spirituality of Stewardship to be held at Villa Consuelo  Retreat House,  King Luther St. Del Rey Ville 2 Subd. Brgy. Camarin, Novaliches, Caloocan City  on May 13-14,  2011

Objectives:

1. To understand  Stewardship as  a way of life, a Call / Vocation which requires fidelity, accountability and transparency,
2. To realize that the Spirituality of Stewardship has the power to change individuals and the society,
3. To  reclaim one’s own giftedness and be willing to  share for the common good.

Resource Speakers:

            Fr.  Ramon Antonio Aldana, SDB and the Socio-Pastoral Institute Resource Pool

Should you wish to participate in this training workshop or want to know more details, please call the AMRSP Secretariat on or before May 9, 2011.