The following are the rationale of this upcoming convention:

1)   The Universal Church is celebrating the Year of Faith and, as a local church, we also celebrate in communion with them.

2)   The Philippine Church is also in its preparation for the celebration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines; hence this is our own share in reflecting the Faith in the Philippine context 500 years after.

3)   The just concluded separate conventions reflected on inculturation and indigenous spirituality, the 2013 convention will sum up the separate reflections by reflecting on Faith and Inculturation.

Please contact the AMRSP Secretariat for further details.

SEEKING THE SACRED

“Inculturation by Listening to the Indigenous Peoples”

Journeying from different parts of the country, we, the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Men in the Philippines (AMRSMP) with our mission partners, came to Bontoc to encounter the culture of the indigenous Igorot. Immersing ourselves in the rich traditions of the Cordilleras has provided a unique context to revisit the very important question of inculturation, in this year of the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II and with the call to renewed evangelization.

We listened to input on the historical and current concerns of indigenous peoples, and wrestled with the theological and pastoral challenges and difficulties of inculturation, and considered its relevance to religious life and formation. But the greatest impact of these days came with the actual experience with the people. We witnessed some Bontoc rituals, symbols, and sacred spaces. We were amazed by the diversity of color, language, and songs. We were inspired by their strongly-held values and their spirituality as a people. We basked in the warmth of their welcome and friendship. We recognized in all these the Spirit of God moving in the culture. Particularly striking were their respect for and sense of oneness with all of creation and the web of life, their recognition of and love for their ancestors whose spirits continue to accompany them, their solid sense of community with and collective responsibility for each other, their deep reverence for relationships.

This very positive and enriching experience of otherness drew deep respect from us. It likewise awakened in us a recognition that deep in our hearts, we share these same values, and the reflection that it is because along with our Bontoc sisters and brothers, we are truly one Filipino nation.

It is tragic that these powerful life-giving values have been undermined by colonial and political powers that have sought to subjugate and extract the wealth from indigenous lands. They have been subverted by laws enacted and projects devised in far-away Manila that failed to factor in the Cordillera ways of life, “minoritizing” them, and limiting ancestral domain to shallow considerations of land and territory only. Today, the indigenous peoples and their cultures are endangered even more, this time from the negative effects of globalization that can slowly suck the life out of their unique identities, and assimilate them into the indistinguishable universal masses, unless they continue to be cautious, watching and protecting themselves from destructive incursions.

As AMRSMP, we join the bishops of Northern Luzon and apologize for having been part of efforts to subtly dismantle local indigenous ways, in the name of evangelization. Yet, we also realize that the good news of the Lord can also offer them an affirmation of their long-held indigenous values, and a depth of communion and consolation. We are also gladdened that there have been times when the indigenous peoples have found among many in the Church, authentic allies and friends.

Nevertheless, we, as representatives of AMRSPMP, are challenged to pursue the mission to all, including the indigenous peoples, and be evangelized by them.

1. We are called to listen to what the indigenous people feel as sacred in their hearts.
2. We need to learn their languages, and at times, speak against transgressors on their behalf.
3. We must reflect with them and offer healing when needed.
4. We must mediate the continuing conversation of faith and culture, that leads to conversion.
5. We must be able to recognize the sacred in the customs of the indigenous peoples, the local church, and allow indigenous communities to seek ways of creatively integrating themselves in the Church’s rites, catechism, spiritualities, theological reflection, and pastoral methods.

We must do this, precisely because we are bearers of a Gospel that preaches inclusiveness and not imposition, respect and reverence and not ridicule, humility and not superiority. This is inculturation at the core.

Awakened by the call to mirror the heart of Christ among indigenous peoples, we commit ourselves:

1. To bring the learnings of these few days back to our religious communities and institutions, and deepen reflection on inculturation that can result in concrete action. We will review our own religious life and lifestyle, and move towards discerning new ways of doing mission. We will pay special attention to formation, to do our best to produce missionaries who will always be sensitive to local cultures. We will encourage the development of local expressions of indigenous theology and spirituality, through academic papers, art, music, and other media. We will strive to humbly listen once more to our indigenous sisters and brothers, and learn from them the depth of self-determination as children of God.

2. To address the difficulties and challenges of internationality and interculturality in our communities. As we consolidate our learnings from experiences in inculturation, we will join efforts to prepare Filipino missionaries to work with people of other cultures, and non-Filipino brethren to integrate more fully in the Philippines.

3. To intensify our works for the environment and the integrity of creation, justice and peace, in solidarity with the indigenous peoples who remind us of the sanctity and connectedness of all life on earth. It is important that along with the work should come the reclamation of a new lifestyle, mindset and spirituality.

4. To participate in the activities of the IP desk of the AMRSP, and help to provide resources. More specifically, we encourage the IP desk to systematize initiatives and existing practices that indigenize rituals celebrating faith-life celebrations. New activity guides might also be developed, that can inculturate the faith through new expressions in the local languages and cultures, along with modules for anthropological sensitivity training and cultural literacy.

5. To cooperate in all efforts to bring about sustainable development to indigenous peoples, while continuing to respect their rich cultures. Examples of these are laws that benefit the IPs, units of government that promote IP welfare, civil society organizations that advocate IP causes, and even other religious groups that speak for the IPs’ good and work for social justice.

6. To study the IPRA Law closely, and critically engage its implementors to work for its improvement.

In all that we seek to do, we implore the grace of God. We are strengthened by our ancestors and the communion of saints. We draw inspiration through our various congregational charisms. We are moved forward by the Spirit, as expressed in the ugug-fu, a manifestation of collective oneness with and concern for the other and the community.

Participants of the
2012 AMRSMP National Convention
Teng-ab Retreat House, Bontoc,
Lagawe, Mountain Province
July 2-6, 2012

The “Walk for Freedom” activity, jointly organized by the Visayan Forum Foundation, Inc. (VFFI), the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), and Walk Free, drew supporters from various sectors, including government, non-government organizations, the private sector, the academe, religious groups, and civil society, among others.

“This is an inspiring show of support for the campaign to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery,” remarks Mr. H.E. “Bud” Scruggs, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Walk Free. “We are cognizant of the Philippines’ efforts to lead this campaign across all fronts, with its push to ratify ILO Convention 189 and with this remarkable display of collective solidarity toward addressing one of the world’s biggest challenges.”

The campaign to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery becomes more significant in the Philippines, given that more young women leave their homes in the country than anywhere else in the world to seek a better life elsewhere by working as maids and nannies, with some as young as nine years old. VFFI estimates that the number of domestic workers in the Philippines ranges from 600,000 to 2.5 million. Meanwhile, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that there are 1.9 million Filipina domestic workers overseas and internally for affluent, middle-class, and even average income families.

To learn more about the “Walk For Freedom” activity at Ayala Triangle Gardens, visit http://www.visayanforum.org/portal/index.php?option=cms&id=50

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