UTSEM.NET

Introduction
1. I would like to thank Rev. Everett Mendoza, Vice-President for Theological Education and Academic Dean, Union Theological Seminary – PCU, for the invitation to speak before the 2012 UTS graduating class today. It is an honor and privilege for me to speak before you. My youngest brother Rev. Dr. Felicisimo Cao, graduated from this institution in 1990 with a Master of Divinity (Cum laude). He eventually went on to Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California to get his Doctor of Ministry in 2004. He has been serving as Pastor in the United Methodist Church in the U.S., his present assignment being at Wayside United Methodist Church, Vallejo, California. I would like to think that Pastor Fel is considered among the more successful alumni of UTS. Pastor Fel was just in UTS recently together with some Fil-Ams for an exposure/immersion program.

Another alumnus I have been in contact with recently is Pastor Reeve Velunta, who is Associate Professor of New Testament and Cultural Studies in UTS. He is also one alumnus UTS should be proud of.

Pastor Fel, Pastor Reeve, and many others like them will be joined by you as UTS alumni as you GRADUATE from UTS today.
I congratulate you all for this achievement which I am sure meant a lot of individual and collective sacrifices from you and your families and loved ones; what you have achieved is no mean feat! Of course you would not be here today without the support of your families (wife, husband, parents, and church members). They should be congratulated as well, for this is as much their accomplishment as it is yours! I also congratulate the local churches who supported the studies of many of you, many of which I believe are looking forward to your return armed with a UTS graduate degree.

I also congratulate the faculty, you have done well as well, for you have been important components of the education and training of the graduating students.

2. Initially I had some hesitation in accepting the invitation, I asked myself “What can I possibly share with the UTS graduating class of 2012?” Given my experience in budgeting and resource generation for a government institution like the University of the Philippines,I thought I will just share some insights in connection with funding and resource generation of theological schools. Of course, I am no longer with the UP but am now President of Manila Tytana Colleges, formerly Manila Doctors College or MADOCS. Manila Tytana is a member of the Metrobank Group of Companies. Doña Tytana was the mother of George S.K. Ty, founder of Metrobank. We offer BS Nursing, Psychology, Information Technology, Holistic Nutrition with Culinary Arts, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Accountancy, Entrepreneurship and Business Administration with five (5) majors, also Caregiver. Some of these insights I have already shared with members of the STEP, or Samahan ng Teolohikal na Edukasyon sa Pilipinas when they had their General Assembly last year at the Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary in Baguio City.

Manila Tytana is only one of 2,180 HEIs in the Country, 110 of which are State Universities and Colleges or (SUCs), 93 are LUCs and the rest are private HEIs. UP used to be the only State University; but now there is a State University or College in almost every province.

While UP used to get almost all the budget for higher education, now it has to compete with the other SUCs for the budget for higher education every year. Of course, it still gets a large chunk of the budget, something that the other SUCs resent and understandably so! The need to defend UP’s lion share of the SUCs budget is among the reasons why there was a need for UP to be declared as The National Unversity. This identification, it is argued, justifies the grant of a big budget for UP.

Interestingly, UTS itself is only one year older than UP, having been established in 1907 when the Presbyterians’ Ellinwood Bible School and the Methodists’ Florence B. Nicholson Seminary merged in 1907 to form Union Theological Seminary. UTS is the only ecumenical ministerial formation center in the country, and is faced with challenges posed by denominational seminaries sprouting left and right.

According to the list of membership of the Association of Theological Schools in South East Asia (ATESEA) there are 26 member theological schools in the Philippines. They are also spread out in different regions in the country. How does UTS position itself in this big community of theological schools, with very varied program offerings and wide variances in quality?

Maybe some lessons can be learned from the experience of the University of the Phlippines (UP) as the National University.

On April 29, 2008, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Republic Act 9500 into law, “An Act to Strengthen the University of the Philippines as the National University.

The new UP Charter mandates UP as the National University to “carry out its unique and distinctive leadership in higher education and national development”;

Specifically, as the National University, UP must:
(a) Lead in setting academic standards and initiating innovations in teaching, research and faculty development.
(b) Serve as a graduate university by providing advanced studies and specialization especially for those who serve on the faculty of state and private colleges and universities;
(c) Serve as a research university in various fields of expertise and specialization.
(d) Lead as a public service university by providing various forms of community, public, and volunteer service.
(e) Serve as a regional and global university in cooperation with international networks of universities in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world;

I want to adapt, and maybe, “paraphrase” the above listed five (5) purposes to fit a suggested mandate for UTS to carry out a similar “unique and distinctive leadership” role in theological education.

There are so many theological schools. I believe that UTS should not just be “one of those”. It must take a leadership position, among the community of theological schools, and be a leading innovator in theological education. UTS must
(a) Lead in setting academic standards and initiating innovations in teaching, research and faculty development in theology.
(b) Serve as a graduate university by providing advanced studies especially to those who serve on the faculty of other theological schools and seminaries.
(c) Serve as a research university in various fields of expertise and specialization in theology;
(d) Lead as a public service institution by providing scholarly and biblical-based advice and technical assistance to the government, the private sector, and civil society;
(e) Serve as a regional and global theological institution in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world;

To do this, UTS must invest heavily in
(a) Faculty development; rewards and incentives; faculty retention
(b) Research capability development; research grants, research dissemination (e.g. funding for conferences)
(c) Internationalization efforts and networking
(d) Infrastructure development, among others.

Of course, these investments require a huge amount of financial resources. The question is: How does UTS get funding to achieve these objectives?

Sure, students must share in the cost of their education by paying tuition, no matter how heavily subsidized they are. Their local churches have to share too. (Question: Why should local churches pay for their education when it’s very likely that after graduation they will be assigned; or they will ask to be assigned somewhere else, even in churches abroad!)

But raising tuition is said to be a most unimaginative, or uncreative mechanism to raise generate resources. How else should we raise funds?

The New UP Charter provides in Section 22, (c) The Board may plan, design, approve and/ or cause the implementation of land leases: Provided, That such mechanisms and arrangements shall not conflict with the academic mission of the national university;

I understand that UTS has a lot of real properties. If and when UTS so decides to pursue this direction, it has a lot to offer to prospective developers. It must of course define its own terms of reference for any partnership or lease agreement mindful of the mission of the school.

Consider also the following question: Can the University borrow or take out a loan? What collateral will be used?

Under Section 22 (d), The Board may allow the use of the income coming from real properties of the national university as security for transactions to generate additional revenues when needed for educational purposes. This provision allows the UP to borrow or issue securities with the payments of lease rentals as or collateral. This is in fact what was intended for the rental income from the UP-Ayala Techno Hub Property in Diliman, a 38-hectare property developed by Ayala Land.

Another provision Sec. 22 (e) says,”The Board may approve the implementation of joint ventures.”

The idea of “Joint ventures” suggests the pursuit of Academe-Industry Partnership. Education Institutions, even theological education institutions, can benefit from partnerships with the private sector, joint ventures being one of them. These can also include support for endowments for Professorial Chairs, Scholarships for students and faculty development, support for “laboratories” or resource centres, etc.

Finally, how can UTS exploit donations as a rich source of funding?

In Sec. 25 (b), the new UP charter says “Allowable deductions for donations (to the University of the Philippines) shall be equivalent to 150 percent of the value of the donation.

This is a very helpful provision that encourages donations to the university. It means for example that if an individual or a corporation donates P10 million to the University, they will have tax credits equivalent to P15 million! That is, if their tax due for the year of the donation is P15 million exactly, they will not have to pay anything to the BIR!

I don’t know how a similar provision can be done for UTS or if it is even possible! Maybe a miracle will happen and the BIR will agree to such a provision! But my point is that the UTS must find an incentive mechanism to encourage donors and corporate partners to donate and partner with the School; otherwise it will be difficult to convince them to part with their own hard-earned financial resources and give them to UTS.

Having said all of the above, the discomfort by most people when we discuss these things is “Is this not commercialization of education?” Or more specifically, is this not “commercialization” of theological education?

This question is something that is, and has been asked, in the University of the Philippines, where many are of the ideology that it is the State’s responsibility to provide free education to its people.

(In the program, p.8, “Our hope…)

But I am a realist, mindful of the real environment of decreasing resources and support for education. I believe that funding or financial support for churches and theological schools have also been steadily dwindling in recent years. This is a situation that higher education institutions can no longer ignore. We must find ways and means to survive the ever increasing cost of providing quality education. And I don’t believe that asking students to pay tuition, partnering with private sector for lease agreements for real properties or real property development projects, asking donations from the private sector, and similar initiatives for resource generation, are necessarily “Commercialization” of education! If undertaken to support academic, research, and infrastructure development, and to upgrade student services, they fall within the framework of fulfilling the academic mission of the University or the school.

There are other issues and concerns that theological education institutions must put some serious thought to. These include:
1. Efficiency issues; when we are able to generate financial resources, do we use these money wisely? Are we efficient in the utilization of money?

2. Internationalization; how do we balance the need to have internationalization of the curricula and faculty? Should we hire foreign faculty? How many should we hire? How should we pay them? Can we do this without destroying the “ecology” of the institution in terms of faculty profile? And therefore leave local faculty demoralized?

3. How about language policy or issues? Are we preparing well our students to be leaders in local churches if we continue to use English as medium of instruction?

4. How about distance learning? This is the direction that many education institutions are already pursuing. How about UTS?

5. There are also governance issues. In the case of the UTS and its relation to PCU, what governance concerns that are presently gray areas should be discussed and addressed? If UTS real properties will be developed what is the sharing agreement on the income? These are just some of the governance and relational issues that have to be faced head on.

I am sure there are more issues and concerns that I have not touched on.

The question in your mind, I’m sure is: What is this to you?

If UTS were to carry out a distinctive leadership position in the community of theological education institutions, how do we measure its success in performing this mandate?

Matthew chapter 7: verse 20 says “By their fruits ye shall know them.”

Do UTS alumni take on leadership positions in local churches, communities, or institutions they get connected with? Are they good pastors? Are they good teachers? Do they make informed decisions backed by validated research experience? The answers to these questions will place UTS in an enviable leadership position among theological schools in the Philippines.
Dear graduates, MAKE your Institution proud. God bless you all.

104th Baccalaureate Service
Union Theological Seminary
Palapala, Dasmarinas City
March 22, 2012

Preaching the Word, Journeying towards Jubilee
Leviticus 25:8-12
Luke 4:16-21

Introductory Remarks

Good morning!

First, let me congratulate the graduates this year. After long and hard years of struggle with your studies, at last you are graduating. You will reap the fruits of what you have sown.

Secondly I thank the Seminary administration for inviting me to be the speaker in today’s Baccalaureate service. It’s a big honor to be able to speak in this “school of the prophets.”

Your theme, “Preaching the Word, Journeying towards Jubilee” is most timely and appropriate given the happenings in our country and the world at large these days.

Journeying Towards Jubilee

Let me first tackle the second part of your theme.

We have just celebrated our second Jubilee five years ago, at the time when I was seriously sick and confined in the hospital that I was unable to join your celebration. We are now on our way to our third Jubilee which is 45 years from now, that is in 2057.

As we journey towards it, let us review what the Biblical Jubilee is all about. We find it in Leviticus 25. It says that the 50th year is to be proclaimed a Jubilee Year. Jubilee comes from the Hebrew word “jobel” which means “ram’s horn” or trumpet, so-called because Jubilee was to be announced by blowing the trumpet on the Day of Atonement.

The 50th year is the year after the seventh Sabbatical Year. That is an important year to God. Its concept is more profound than the Sabbath Day and the Sabbath year. In the Genesis account, the Sabbath day is a day of rest for the Creator and for the Israelites which they were to keep holy by worshiping the Lord their God. The Sabbath year in Leviticus is observed by giving rest to the land. The land is to lie fallow for one year and allow it to regenerate.

The Jubilee has three primary components which can be summarized into 3 R’s:

Restore the property
Release the prisoners
Rest the land

In the year 2000 which Pope John Paul 2nd declared as Jubilee Year, a Jubilee campaign in the Philippines added a 4th R: Recall the debt if I recall correctly. But I understand that in Israel of old, prisoners were in prison by reason of debt. For other crimes, the perpetrators were punished by stoning or hanging them to death. This 4th R was then necessarily part of the 2nd R.

But in our own time, debt, especially foreign debt, is a separate issue altogether as it has become a modern form of enslavement.

Restore the property. The property which the original owner has sold or lost due to poverty is to be reverted back to him. This gives him who had become poorer the opportunity to begin his life all over again. He does not have to be poor in perpetuity. At the same time this prevents the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few. No one person can own the land in perpetuity for ultimately, God is the owner of the land as God is the owner of everything.

Release the captives and prisoners. On Jubilee, prisoners are to return to their families and homes. Consequently their debts are cancelled. They, too, can start their lives anew.

Rest the land. On the 50th year, the land shall lie fallow for one or two years. Some Bible commentators say it is one year, others say it’s two. In these years, the owners of the land shall neither sow new seeds nor gather its wild fruits. These fruits are intended for the poor, the slave, the stranger and the cattle (Exodus 23:10-11).

According to Smith’s Bible Dictionary, God instituted the Jubilee “to be a remedy for those evils which accompany human society and human governments; and had these laws been observed, they would have made the Jewish nation the most prosperous and perfect that ever existed” (p. 325)).

Unfortunately, this law was never observed.

Be that as it may, it was and is God’s desire to abolish poverty among God’s people. The Jubilee is for the poor that they may not remain poor all their life. It also tended to preserve “families and tribes to be perfectly distinct, and their genealogies faithfully recorded in order that all may have evidence to establish their right to ancestral property” (Smith Bible Dictionary, p. 326).

Jubilee, then, is for the poor, the peasants and the indigenous peoples. The Jubilee is good news for them.

Preaching the Word

Let us proceed to the first part of your theme, “Preaching the Word.” The word is the Gospel, the good news of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. Preaching the word is directly related to the journey towards Jubilee. This is the concept presented by Luke in chapter 4, verses 16-21. After reading from Isaiah 61:1-2, Jesus said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). The good news to the poor, the captives and the oppressed were proclaimed by Jesus in person. The promise of Jubilee is fulfilled in the person of Jesus who he said “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b).

In our present world where it is claimed that 99% are poor and have been in that state for centuries now, preaching the word and journeying towards Jubilee is in order. In the Philippines and in other countries, many are forced to sell their land or are robbed of their land, especially the peasants and the indigenous peoples. The number one culprit is the foreign transnational and multi-national corporations.

In our country, foreign companies are allowed to own 100% thousands of hectares of land for them to exploit and in the process, the residents who are mostly peasants and indigenous peoples are displaced. The indigenous peoples who had been in the area since time immemorial get parted from their ancestral domain. Those who resist become target of military and police atrocities, including extra-judicial killing. Prisoners, especially political prisoners who should not have been imprisoned in the first place because our Constitution’s Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of belief [Section 18. (1))], are languishing in jail on trumped up charges. Properties, especially land of poor peasants and indigenous peoples, had been grabbed by political lords and other powerful, wealthy and greedy people. Our land is exploited by big foreign mining corporations and given no rest at all. Our country is mired in foreign debts. What do we, preachers, do?

Some of you, if not most, are already full-fledge preachers of the word even before you entered the Seminary. Others may just be beginning after graduation. But all of you have the common task to preach the word in today’s context, in present day realities.

The Bible has a clear bias for the poor or the “Anawim.” The anawim referred primarily to the poor in material things. But it also referred to those who have no power, influence or special standing, and were therefore oppressed and downtrodden by the powerful. We find pro-poor pronouncements in the Laws, the Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles. But due to time constraint I don’t have to read them.

Exodus 3:7-9a: Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”

Deut. 24:19: “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back and get it. It shall be left to the alien, the orphan and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings.”

Psalms 132:15: “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.”

Proverbs 14:31: “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor Him.”

Isaiah 58:6-8: “Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your hearing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”

But I’ll have to quote what Jesus finally said in Luke 6:20: “Blessed are you who are poor. For yours is the Kingdom of God.”

The Jubilee is God’s design for all to enjoy creation. The creation is not intended for a few powerful and wealthy people. Equal distribution of resources and opportunities is the Jubilee’s promise to the poor. It gives hope to the hopeless.

To preach the word is to help usher in the vision of the Jubilee. You are to preach the 4 R’s.

Restore the property. Land should be reverted back to the original and rightful owners as God’s stewards. Ancestral land should be given back to the indigenous peoples, the more than 100 highland tribal groups that constitute approximately 3% of the country’s population from up North down South.

In Luzon, these include the Ifugaos of Ifugao Province, the Bontocs, Kalinga, Tinguian, the Kankana-ey and Ibaloi in the Cordillera Central of Luzon; the Isnegs of northern Kalinga-Apayao Provinces, the Gaddangs of the Border of Kalinga-
Apayao and Isabela provinces, the Ilongots of Nueva Vizcaya Province and Caraballo Mountains; the Negritoes who formerly dominated the highlands but are now scattered throughout the islands, and the Mangyans in Mindoro.

In Southern Philippines, “among the most important groups found on Mindanao are collectively called the Lumad, and includes the Manobo, Bukidnon of Bukidnon Province, Bagobo, Mandaya and Mansaka who inhabited the mountains bordering the Davao Gulf; the Subanon of upland areas of Zamboanga; the Mamanua in the Agusan-Surigao border region; the Bila-an, Tiruray and Tboli in the region of Cotabato province, and the Samal and Bajau in the Sulu archipelago” (From Wikipedia). The biggest group is the Moros who used to occupy almost the whole of Mindanao which until now they are claiming and had been the principal reason for their insurgency. Most of the IP’s are peasants who earn their living from land. They had effectively evaded colonization by foreign powers, but now they are enslaved by Philippine authorities.

The ancestral land of the Moros and Lumad, when returned to them, will bring them peace, and peace to Mindanao and the Filipino nation. Returning the land to the Aetas and Mangyans and other indigenous peoples will bring dignity back to them and alleviate their sufferings. Giving the agricultural land of the Hacienda Luisita to its farmers and farm workers will give justice to them who, for decades now, had been robbed of what is properly theirs. Better still, implementing genuine agrarian reform program will be to the best interest of the Filipino peasants and the Filipino nation.

More than 70% of the Philippine population belongs to the peasant class who live in the rural areas. They used to own small parcels of land which they themselves tilled. But little by little, they were driven away from their property by big landlords due to their debts, or their land was out-rightly grabbed from them with the use of force.

More devastating to them was the entry of big foreign corporations through the so-called foreign land deals covering up to million hectares of land. According to IBON, “the implications of foreign land deals are tremendous, especially on farmers’ rights, food security and national sovereignty. Foreign land deals refer to purchases or long-term leases of large tracts of productive lands in the poor countries by rich countries and their corporations, which need resources to produce crops either for food, feedstock, or bio-fuels in commercial and export quantities. These have been referred to as “land grab” because of the usually unfair terms by which they have been transacted. While most of these deals pass through legal government channels, consultation with the communities of farmers and indigenous people is lacking.”

The land reform programs of the government such the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which had already expired but was extended through the CARPER, do not respond to the needs of peasants because free distribution of land to the tillers is ruled out. A bill filed by progressive party list representatives in Congress called Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) guarantees free land distribution to the peasants who will till the land themselves, and with support services and subsidies to remove their vulnerability to usury. GARB will definitely improve the life and livelihood of farmers, increase their capacity to buy, and contribute to the economic activity of the country.

Rest the land. Big foreign mining corporations had been exploiting our land for decades, even centuries now. In the process, our environment had been destroyed and ecological balance adversely affected. This, in turn, brings disaster to our communities because of the landslides, mudslides and floods that it causes. God’s desire in Jubilee is to give rest to the land, prevent it from over-production and over-consumption and exploitation.

Cheamson Boongaling, in his article titled “The Threatened State of Philippines Forests” in Feed Back, official publication of the Center for Environmental Concerns Philippines, said: “Forests play a crucial role in our environment as they affect all other ecosystems and natural processes deemed essential for the sustenance, development and general well-being of the people. Our forests are a source of life; any threats to the survival of our forests threaten our very existence…”

Of our total land area of about 30 million hectares, 2,964,000 hectares, or about 8.8%, are covered by various agreements with foreign corporations as per data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Forest Management Bureau.

In another article by the same author in the same paper, he stated: “As of March 2011, existing mining concessions cover 1,140,136 hectares or 3.8% of Philippines’ total land area – many of these operating within the country’s remaining forests and key biodiversity areas.

“Mining projects are usually situated in mountainous and forested areas. However, the extent of damage and desecration by mining on the country’s few remaining forests is alarming: nearly 63% of our remaining forests are to be affected by government-sanctioned mining projects. Corporations and the government attempt to assure the public through using terms such as ‘sustainable mining’ and ‘corporate safeguards’. In contrast, hundreds of well-documented cases in the MIMAROPA, Bicol, CARAGA and Cordillera regions show the negative impacts of mining on the environment and communities…”

During the forums on mining conducted by the Ecumenical Bishops Forum in Luzon and the Visayas, we saw the actual mining sites. In one barangay in Sta. Cruz, Zambales alone, more than 2,000 hectares are being explored by four (4) foreign mining companies. However, we could only view them from a distance because we were not allowed to come near to them in spite of our letter to the Mayor of Sta. Cruz. Our guide who was a former barangay kagawad told us: “Sa bilang ninyong iyan, isang magazine lang ng armalite, lipol kayong lahat.” (Given your number, it will take only one armalite magazine to wipe out all of you.)

In Lingayen, Pangasinan we heard of the black sand mining when the ship carrying the black sand capsized.

In Tuburan, Cebu, we saw the open pit mining. Big haulers which were much taller and bigger beside us looked like small toy trucks due to the depth of the excavation done on mountain covering 168 hectares.

If this trend on mining continues in our country, only God knows what will happen to us. Severely exploited by businessmen who are only after profit and don’t care about our country, our people and the generations to come, our land is not given rest.

The Philippines Mining Act of 1995 which allows and encourages this highly disastrous activity has to be repealed, and a new law which is pro-Filipino such as the proposed Peoples’ Mining Bill passed.

Release the Captives and prisoners. Because of our faulty and imperfect justice system, innocent people languish in prisons, especially the poor who could not afford to hire a lawyer. Moneyed people have the means to hire the best lawyers, or even buy the fiscals, judges and justices. Fortunately for CJ Corona, accepting bribes is not among the articles of impeachment filed by the prosecution against him. The rich, therefore, in spite of their crimes, they are able to elude the prison; but not the poor, not the political activists.

On September 21 last year during the anniversary of the declaration of martial law, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda asserted: “To our knowledge, we have no political prisoners…” Brig. Gen. Eduardo del Rosario, AFP-Civil Relations Service chief followed this up saying only convicted criminals or those charged with criminal offenses are locked up in various state detention facilities.

However, in the meeting of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) with the negotiating panels of the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines about a month ago where PEPP offered to take recognizance of the imprisoned NDFP consultants and provide sanctuary for them, Atty. Alex Padilla, the head of the GRP Negotiating Panel agreed. Meaning, he acknowledges the presence of political prisoners. But the offer has still to come to pass.

Our authorities should honor our laws, especially the Bill of Rights, as well as the international laws and conventions on human rights to which our country is a signatory.

Recall the debt. Our foreign debt as of the end of 2010 stood at US$65 billion (or P2,762,500,000,000.00 computed at an exchange rate of PhP42.50/dollar). Every one of the 92 million Filipinos has a debt of PhP 30,027.17 if my computation is correct.

Most of these loans were acquired during the time of the dictatorship, and most of these did not go to the people but allegedly to Marcos himself and his cronies. All governments after Marcos increased our foreign debts. And we are paying an automatic debt service of more than 1/3 of our annual budget. This was not even an act of the legislature but a Marcos decree. When President Corazon Aquino rose to power in 1986 and proclaimed a revolutionary government, she could have cancelled the debts without question from the creditors. But she went to the US and sheepishly (or arrogantly?) declared that “we will honor our obligations” and will pay all our debts. Now we are still bound to this pledge.

What are its effects on us? Art. XIV, Sec. 5 of our Constitution provides for the highest appropriation in government budget for education spending. The United Nations prescribes that governments must spend an equivalent of at least six (6) percent of their country’s gross domestic product in educating their citizens. The Philippines, because of its monstrous debt burden, spends more or less two (2) percent annually (see House Bill No. 1862 introduced by Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymund V. Palatino).

It’s not only education that suffers but all social services including health care, water and electricity (the latter two had already been privatized). The money could also be used to subsidize our farmers who are losing to imported products, our fisher-folks who are losing their fishing grounds due to water pollution, our bus and jeepney drivers who are at the receiving end due to the never-ending rise of fuel prices, and to support our scientists and inventors as they help improve our economy. It can also definitely feed our starving people.

There is need to repeal the decree on automatic appropriation for debt service in order to address the grave crisis that our country is suffering from. Or better still, cancel the debt altogether. That will indeed be Jubilee for the Filipino people.

Restore the property.
Rest the land.
Release the captives and prisoners.
Recall the debt.

When Jesus came he said as he was reading: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The year of the Lord’s favor can be interpreted as the Jubilee. He calls us to proclaim the
same.

Conclusion

Dear sisters and brothers, dear friends, dear graduates:

The challenges ahead of us, the challenges ahead of you, are enormous. It is no easy task to preach the word in these critical times. Let us then brace ourselves.

Let us keep ourselves abreast with the contemporary situation of our people and nation in particular and the world in general.

Let us discern God’s will as it is expressed and seen in the written word and in life and history.

As graduates of the School of the Prophets, let us have the courage of the prophet Jesus our Lord and Savior as we serve the people.

Let us preach the word in season and out of season as we journey towards our third Jubilee.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Union will hold its 104th Commencement Exercises with Dr. Sergio S. Cao as Graduation Speaker and Bishop Elmer M. Bolocon as Baccalaureate Speaker.
Bishop Bolocon will speak on Thursday, 22 March, at 9 in the morning while Dr. Cao will speak at 9 am on Friday, 23 March. Bishop Bolocon, a UTS alumnus, is a former General Secretary of the UCCP and the recent Chair of Union’s Commission on Theological Education. Dr. Cao, served UP Diliman in various capacities for 29 years, the last being its Chancellor, and is now President of Manila Tytana Colleges.

This year’s Graduating Class includes 16 seminarians receiving a Master of Divinity degree, 2 a Bachelor of Theology, 1 a Certificate in Theological Studies, 6 with Doctor of Ministry, 5 with a Master of Ministry, and 7 with a Bachelor of Ministry.

UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY (PHILIPPINES):
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CHURCHES
SY 2011-12

Introduction: It is with gladness and thanksgiving to God that I present this report to the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines on the life and work of Union Theological Seminary during the SY 2011-12. This Report was also prepared having in mind the achievements and hopes of the centennial celebration in 2007 and the forthcoming 50th year of the Seminary’s transfer from the Manila campus to Dasmariñas, Cavite which will be celebrated in the incoming school year. The UTS Report will cover the following areas: (1) curricular and co-curricular programs, (2) faculty, students and staff, (3) scholarship and finance, (4) institutional relations, and (5) development.

Curricular and co-curricular programs
UTS offers three types of programs: a residential program, both graduate (M. Div.) and undergraduate (B. Th.); theological education by extension with two levels of degrees, Master of Ministry (M. Min.) and Bachelor of Ministry (B. Min.); and a doctorate in ministry (D. Min.), a professional enrichment degree for theological trained clergy and lay. Two graduate programs – M. Theol. and D. Theol. – are being offered in cooperation with the ATESEA Theological Union (ATU). New programs – a Master of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies with various majors and a short-term academic certificate program for lay formation and clergy continuing education – are under study.

1. Master of Divinity and Bachelor of Theology residential programs.
The two degree programs are in the 5th year under the Centennial Curriculum and is due for evaluation next year. The Centennial Curriculum is characterized as Maka-Dios, Maka-Tao, Maka-Bayan, Maka-Kalikasan. The residential programs also observed the Revised Critical Asian Principles adopted by the Association of Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA). The B. Th. offers three majors: Pastoral Leadership, Christian Education, and Church Music. It’s worth noting that the former Bachelor of Religious Education (B. R. E.) has been absorbed under the B. Th. major in Christian Education. The M. Div. is considered the standard international basic theological program. While the overall enrollment of the two programs has gone down, the B. Th. program suffered even more in the decline. As of the Second Semester, only 11 students were enrolled: 3 in Church Music and 1 in Christian Education who is an intern. Should no one enroll in Christian Education next year, there would be no else enrolled in that major field. In Church Music, the three will be enrolled in three different class levels – 5th or senior, 2nd year and 3rd year. The courses offered to these three students are going to be called “missionary” courses for its unfavorable income to expense ratio. This development is quite abnormal in that the need for Christian Educators in the local churches and church-related educational institutions remains huge and has actually increased rather than slackened. The same is true with music-trained church workers. This situation is an area that needs to be looked into in the comprehensive review of academic programs.
2. Theological Education by Extension (TEE)
This off-campus program is spread out in four areas of the country and one on Hong Kong. It is run by a faculty director who gets an academic credit equivalent to 6 units aside from the actual number of courses that he is teaching. In the current school year nine regular faculty members and two adjunct instructors carried TEE teaching load at the two centers at Ellinwood Church and UTS campus. However, none of the resident faculty is involved in teaching at other centers. Pastors with M. Div. degrees are being coopted to serve as adjunct instructors in those centers using modules prepared by the Seminary. A process of reviewing the TEE program is being discussed by the faculty. A committee on review of UTS academic programs has been formed and has started meeting.
3. Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.)
Started in 1985, the Doctor of Ministry program has produced over a hundred graduates including from other parts of Asia. Among its graduates are 11 bishops (8 Korean, 2 Philippines, 1 Myanmar). Over 10 graduates have become presidents, deans and heads of institutions. At present, it has an enrollment of 21 students, two are on dissertation writing. Of the 10 foreign students, one is a Korean, another an Indonesian and the rest are from Myanmar. Run by a coordinator, its administrative and financial operations are autonomous although the program makes use of the facilities and services of UTS staff. The distribution of D. Min. loads is determined outside the regular faculty loading process, and regular UTS faculty who handle D. Min. courses are considered part-time contractual teachers under PCU. Their compensations are computed separately and differently from the regular pay. Under the present administration, some changes have been made. The faculty loading system now integrates both the regular and the D. Min. and TEE teaching loads. The VPTE did not endorse to PCU the contractual employment of regular UTS faculty. But the compensation system remains the same.
4. Master of Theology and Doctor of Theology in cooperation with ATESEA Theological Union (ATU).
The two programs are designed especially for faculty development of seminaries. Two of the active D. Theol. candidates are members of the faculty: one is about to defend his dissertation, another has passed the comprehensive and preparing to submit her dissertation proposal. Another UTS faculty has reactivated his doctoral program and is currently preparing for his comprehensive examination. There are 3 students in the M. Theol. program, two of whom are on the UTS faculty development program.
5. The Faculty has approved the recommendation of the Academic Affairs Committee to start the process towards the offering of a Master of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies program (with various majors) and an academic certificate training program for lay formation and clergy continuing education.
6. Institutional Centers – Centers provide the bridge to the larger community and society and venue for dialogue through forums, dialogues, research, publications, art shows, workshops, UTS Theological Journal, physical center, interdisciplinary research, library and other materials.

Currently, there are six Centers that also offer special short courses and grant Certificates of Theological Studies: (1) Center for Peace and Justice, (2) Center for Arts, Liturgy and Music, (3) Geocentric Applied Theology (UGAT), (4) Center for Pastoral and Spiritual Formation, (5) Center for Ecumenics and Mission, and (6) Center for Women, Youth, and Children. Each Center is run by a regular member of the faculty. The various Centers receive special funding, notably from the GBGM of the United Methodist Church, and submit their respective budget and reports to the UTS Administration.

Faculty, Students and Staff
1. As of the Second Semester of SY 2011-12, UTS has 13 full-time faculty, 5 part-timers, and a missionary, or a total of 19 academic personnel. Aside from the Bishop-in-Residence, three are retired and one is retiring second semester of next year. Of the remaining teachers, 7 have Master of Theology degrees or equivalent master’s degrees, one just defended his dissertation, and 2 have doctorates. Of the 7 aforementioned, 3 are completing their Ph.D. dissertations. In the 5-year faculty development plan Union will have 8 doctorates by the end of the period. Barring any drastic change in the student population and curricular programs, that would be a complete complement of highly qualified faculty by ATESEA standards both for basic theological degrees and for graduate programs. A total of 23 employees – secretarial, library, business, maintenance, driver – compose the staff support. All of them are regular and their salaries adjusted to comply with the minimum wage requirement. None of the librarians has the qualifications of a theological librarian, but one member of the faculty is on faculty development for theological librarianship.
2. Student Body. There are 17 candidates for graduation in this coming March. A total of 118 students were enrolled in the 2nd semester SY 2011-12 (compared to 130 in the previous school year): 12 B. Th., 81 M. Div, 21 D. Min., 2 D. Theol. and 2 M. Theol. One student has been suspended and sent back to his church for serious violation of school policies and of laws of the land. International students – a total of 14 international students are currently enrolled, 10 in the D. Min. and 4 in M. Div. Two come from South Korea, 1 from Indonesia and the rest from Myanmar. The processing and renewal of visa is now being handled by PCU.

Student services – there are two chaplains (one is a volunteer) and a full-time guidance counselor and psychometrician who is also a faculty member. The Office of the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs has general oversight of the student life and also deals with specific student concerns including student scholarship and work grants. The designated artist-in-residence also serves as coordinator of cultural affairs and community relations and as manager of the men’s dormitory. Two cultural performance groups have been formed named SaYahweh for UTS seminarians and SaYahweh for Kids involving their children.

Scholarship and Finance
1. For the current school year, UTS contributes 50% of the educational fees from its own funds. On top of that, scholarship grants coming from individual and church donors are distributed according to individual needs. The rest is shouldered by the student’s family and supporters. This year, the Seminary put up a work grant program, called Bayanihan, to help students pay off outstanding school accounts and also to augment their income.
2. Finance – UTS operates on a P15.5 million annual budget, P8.4 million of which is sourced from a PCU subsidy of P700 thousand a month, which is designated for payroll (P450,000 monthly ) and utility bills. Other revenues come from tuition, rentals of facilities, farm (mango) sales and interest earnings of its bank deposits. Cash flow is often affected when the subsidy gets delayed, but otherwise the Seminary is not operating on a deficit and has no bank liabilities. An external audit has just been completed for the year preceding.
3. The NAPOCOR fund that had been in custody of PCU since 2005 was turned over to the UTS in October, 2011. Only P25 million remained from the original P41 million since, according to the PCU management, part of the amount was used for the UTS Centennial celebration in 2007.
Institutional Relations
1. Based on the PCCL By-Laws, the Commission on Theological Education (CTE) is UTS’ governing body and enjoys a large measure of autonomy from the BOT of PCCL although it is amenable to it in all respects. In the same vein, UTS administration is directly governed by CTE and also enjoys a good measure of autonomy from PCCL administration but is also amenable to it in all respects. As an integral part of PCCL, UTS is ultimately subordinate to it.
2. At the moment, UTS is in the process of reviving its corporation that has been left dormant since the merger of 1978. Inquiries at the Security & Exchange Commission reveal that the PCCL, the merger corporation, failed to complete the process of incorporation, hence unregistered. We also have information that PCU has already revived its own corporation. Given these developments, the UTS Corporation appears to be in a limbo: it is part of a corporation (PCCL) that never came to be, but neither is it an integral part of the newly revived PCU Corporation. In practice, however, UTS enjoys fiscal autonomy from PCU but in all other aspects it operates as an academic unit of the University.
Prospects for Development
1. As originally envisioned by its founders, UTS would eventually achieve material and financial self-reliance and independence through the development of its properties both in Manila and Dasmariñas. This was to be done together with PCU, which was one of the main objectives of the merger of 1978 as well as of the merger review of 2004. Actual practice, however, fell short of the vision. UTS remains dependent on PCU subsidy for 54% of its entire operation (salaries, programs, utilities, government fees, etc.). The seminary operation could collapse anytime it fails to receive its subsidy.
2. The matter of developing the Dasmariñas estate has been a concern of UTS administration ever since. Today, some initial steps have been done to continue to get it moving. With the approval of CTE, a small company engaged in water and power resource development is putting up a small water treatment facility for delivering water to the Dasmariñas Water District. The company will rent the leased portion of 2,000 sq. m. for P20,000 a month plus an offer of providing water at P13 per cu.m. from P46 per cu.m. it pays now to the DWD. The same company has also offered to do project studies on two other possible projects at their own expense without string attached. The thorough make-over of the bathrooms & toilets of both the men’s and women’s dormitories have recently been completed at the cost of P2.1 million. It is being funded through a two-year local and international fund-raising named, “Home of the Prophets” campaign. This Administration has written a concept paper outline for the development of the Dasmariñas property that was presented to the Faculty and approved in principle by the CTE.

Conclusion: UTS continues to offer regular courses and programs for the training of pastors for the ministry of the church. It also offers programs for lay people of various professions to have theological education for lay leadership in the church. In the field of Christian Education and church music, however, it appears be getting less and less accessible despite the fact that church workers majoring in these fields are sorely needed by the churches. However, UTS cannot continue to improve its capacity to serve the needs of churches unless it achieves a more stable and sustainable financial capability to support its operation.

(SGD) Rev. Everett Mendoza, D. Theol.
Interim VPTE and Academic Dean
12 March 2012

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CHURCHES SY 2011-12
By Rev. Everett L. Mendoza, D.Theol.

Introduction: It is with gladness and thanksgiving to God that I present this report to the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines on the life and work of Union Theological Seminary during the SY 2011-12. This Report was also prepared having in mind the achievements and hopes of the centennial celebration in 2007 and the forthcoming 50th year of the Seminary’s transfer from the Manila campus to Dasmariñas, Cavite which will be celebrated in the incoming school year.

The UTS Report will cover the following areas: (1) curricular and co-curricular programs, (2) faculty, students and staff, (3) scholarship and finance, (4) institutional relations, and (5) development… [Get the full report here UTS Report Official2]

UTS published seven books for its Centennial celebration. “Anumang Hiram Kung Hindi Masikip ay Maluwang” was the first and is now on its 3rd printing. The electronic version in PDF format is attached. anumang_hiram_CD

We join a multitude of women from different parts of the world who resist all forms of domination and imperialism. We affirm our commitment to be participants in the struggle for dignity and life. And we remember and celebrate what women have done, what women are doing, and what women can still do.
Mark 7:24-30, narrates how a Gentile woman falls at the feet of Jesus begging him to cast the demon out of her daughter. Jesus’ response was, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Not only does Jesus deny healing to a sick child, he insults the mother by saying that her child was just a dog compared to the Jews who were the so-called “children of God.” This is no different from how the early Filipino migrants in the U.S. were dehumanized. According to some novels and articles, in some restaurants in the United States just a few decades ago, a familiar sign read – “Filipinos and dogs not allowed here.” Under colonization and neo-colonization we Filipinos have been humiliated and have been called ‘little brown monkeys’ and have been mistaken for ‘native pigs.’ And so when we encounter Jesus in this particular text, some of us can say that Jesus’ statement to the woman was racist.
Is this the same Jesus who said “suffer the children and forbid them not to come to me for to such belong the kingdom of heaven.” (Luke 18:16) How could he have responded to the woman with such apathy and cruelty? In the same breath, we must ask ourselves, are we not guilty of the same? In the face of the growing number of hungry children on the streets and despite the cries for land and justice by peasant farmers and laborers, many of us continue to worship in our churches proclaiming that we are “children of God.” Amidst earthquakes and killer floods, which have killed families and destroyed communities, caused mothers and fathers to commit suicide, our churches gives no statement against mining. Whether we accept it or not, many of us who call ourselves Christians and children of God have shared nothing but crumbs to those who need God the most. We must ask ourselves, have we treated them like dogs?
In the preceding chapters in Mark, just before Jesus encounters the Gentile woman, Jesus went about feeding, healing and preaching, ceaselessly. In fact, when he came to the region of Tyre where the woman came to him, the text says he was so tired he wanted no one to know that he was there. Is it hard to imagine Jesus being tired and weary and, for moment, want to forget that there were so many people in need? As churchworkers, don’t we sometimes feel overwhelmed by everything that needs your attention and action? Like Jesus, we often begin our ministries committed to changing lives and transforming communities. Like Jesus, we each have our shining moments when we truly understand our call and live it out. And like Jesus, we can also forget, for a moment or for a long time, what we set out to do at the very beginning of our ministries. Do we still remember for whom we felt compassion? Do we still feel the passion for people in our ministry? Are we still prepared for advocacy and action in places where we are needed?
Many of us have an image of Jesus preaching and teaching about loving neighbor and what the kingdom of God means. But in our text, Jesus learned from a woman. When she hears Jesus’ response, the Syrophoenician mother argues for the right and survival of her daughter – “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Her statement is not a sign of submission but an assertion of her daughter’s equal right to Jesus’ healing. When I was a child, we loved and always had dogs. My mom told us about her own dog when she was still a child in Nueva Vizcaya. She said people would ask her what her dog’s name was and she would answer, “karuprupam.” ‘Karuprupam’ means ‘kamukha mo.’ And so if the name of the person she is talking with is Junilo, he would think the dog’s name is Junilo but it is really ‘karuprupam.’ I would like to think that this was what the Syrophoenician mother was saying. We may think and treat other people like dogs, as if they are only fit for our leftovers, but truly they are no different from us as they too are ‘children of God.’ Karuprupam.
Some Feminist theologians celebrate the Syrophoenician woman for causing Jesus to have a change of mind. Some even say that she taught Jesus a lesson. Whatever it might have been, Jesus example in the narrative teaches us that even Jesus had the humility to learn from others, especially from women. We have much to learn from women. Most of us have been raised by mothers and sisters; our churches are sustained by committed women; and we have witnessed the strength and resilience of mothers like Edith Burgos, Erlinda Cadapan, and Conepcion Empeno, whose children have been tortured and killed under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We are surrounded by women who will stop at nothing to defend life and dignity. When we learn from and with them, we bring into each other’s lives healing, transformation and liberation.
What can we do for the people in Cagayan de Oro who continue to live in crowded refugee camps? What can do for IPs struggling against transnational mining companies for their ancestral lands? What will it take to heal the world? What can we do to eradicate poverty? What is our task for a future with hope? What is our discernment in these critical times? After the Syrophoenician woman asserted the right of her daughter for healing, Jesus parting words to her were – you may go. It is the same for us. Jesus does not require us to continue to hound him, seeking his healing and blessing, forever thanking him for his mercy and grace. Jesus tells us to go. Go – where people are crying out for life. God is already there. Amen.

Lizette G. Tapia-Raquel

Luke 2:8-15

Introduction: The passage in Luke is a marvelous Christmas scene. Nay, it is a scene for all seasons for it shows the overcoming of the unbridgeable divide between heaven and earth. It displays in one brief moment the heavens opening up and pouring out to earth “a great company of the heavenly host” with a message of peace to the world. What an amazing sight it must be to the shepherds who knew of nights disturbed only by insect bites and occasional sounds of animals. Christmas season or not, this is a moment in history when our society, the whole world, could use peace for a change.

Ours is a time of confrontations, conflicts and warfare. The sudden and simultaneous rising of the Arab people in the Middle East and North Africa, known as the Arab Spring, has punctured the myth of world peace under the auspices of the so-called pax Americana or American peace. In a space of several months various parts of our country, including peaceful Dumaguete, have been hit by killer storms and flooding even as fighting between government forces and insurgents goes unabated. There is widespread poverty and displacement of people everywhere in the world, including rich America. Then the usual fare of modern human life: deadly diseases, broken families, addiction and youth suicides, lonely old people. The list is longer.

What is the meaning of peace in times like this? There is this peace proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds. First, it is a kind of peace that comes from heaven. It is “peace to people on whom God’s favor rests.” This peace is not something achieved by means of suppressing or wiping out trouble-makers from the face of the earth. All the bombs of the world, all the jails and rehabilitation centers cannot silence the restlessness inside the hearts of the discontented. This peace from heaven is not created by material wealth and comfort since many people of superabundant means may have to take bottles of alcohol and sleeping pills just to buy a few hours of sleep.

This peace comes upon us as a gift from God. There is nothing we can do to achieve it no matter how hard we try. All that we can do is to yield to God, submit to God’s will, put our restless souls in God’s hands trusting alone in God’s mercy and love. But this is done without the thought that it is by our submission to God that peace is attained. For, again, that would be peace achieved by human effort rather than a free gift.

Second, the peace proclaimed by the heavenly host to the shepherds is not automatically given to all. It comes to people “on whom God’s favor rests.” Only those favored or having God’s goodwill may receive it. I like the English translation of the old King James Version that renders the Greek eudokia as “goodwill” rather than “favor”. The word “favor” suggests an unfair capricious bias, whereas “goodwill” indicates a well-grounded, spontaneous and consistent disposition of the heart. But since the God that we find in Jesus Christ is a totally generous and hospitable God, it would be more consistent to say that nobody is excluded from the benefit of God’s goodwill. The view that God has goodwill to some and ill-will to others is quite inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus. But that is only to answer human curiosity. For God to choose who will receive divine favor is also consistent with the view of God’s absolute freedom and sovereignty.

But one thing is clear: peace comes in a package together with goodwill. Peace and goodwill are one reality. This means that God’s peace is available on account of God’s goodwill. Peace is a fruit of the goodness of God’s heart. Not only that, divine goodness is not a passive attribute of a distant God but rather an intentional and purposive motion of the One who is in heaven towards earth as the angels sang, hence, goodwill. Many a troubled hearts have found peace this way. One of these was Martin Luther who discovered that God’s justice is nothing else but his mercy. Luther later developed a theology of the cross for the comfort and consolation of those who suffer much in life. He said that believers may find themselves afflicted by God’s hand, but God’s other hand also has a balm that soothes and heals the hurting soul. There is no pain in the world that God’s balm cannot overcome. It is by this soothing and healing balm that people who are hurting from any kind of affliction or misfortune may find peace in life and hope for the future.

The divine motion of peace and goodwill is a paradigm for the work of peacemaking. Every effort for peace won’t work or last unless it is built on goodwill. Gestures of peace are hollow, if not hypocritical, if they proceed from ill-will. A handshake or an embrace, a smile and kindly words, a peace agreement and guarantees of compliance are but tactics for continuing a conflict and sustaining hostility. As a pastor, I’ve seen things like this happening in the church. The same thing has also happened to several peace agreements between government and rebels.

Even worse, relationships tend to turn from cordiality to outright hostility without goodwill. At one time or another we have had a share of having been stabbed on the back by people we thought were our friends. When there is ill-will anything that we do is seen with suspiciousness. Behind what appears to be constructive criticism or an effort to set things right is actually unsuppressed malice and cruelty. Malice and cruelty are beyond rational thought. Ill-will muddles the mind and loads feelings with a perverse sense of righteous indignation. Hurting acts and words against the object of ill-will lose their sting and don’t bite the conscience. In the end, ill-will poisons human community and turns it into an arena of perpetual warfare, open or silent. It is truer in human relations and communities that only those who are favored may have peace.

The off-and-on peace process between Government and MILF and Government and NDF is a reason to be hopeful to end the long war. The formal agenda on the negotiating table are very promising but if skeptics are to be believed it’s really nothing but part of a strategy to achieve victory via military conquest. But that depends on what lies in the hearts of the protagonists. Is it goodwill or ill-will? There is no doubt that decades of fighting have caused deep wounds on each other. A great load of political and emotional baggage is on the shoulders of the negotiators. They certainly look at each other with suspicious eyes. At any rate, they’re there carrying the hopes of the nation. Perhaps, the process itself would be able to generate a modicum of goodwill to carry it through to the end. That measure of goodwill at the negotiating table may multiply itself and spread out to the rest of Philippine society.

There is no genuine peace without goodwill. Goodwill, however, does not prevent mistakes or behaviors that hurt others. But whenever they happen, forgiveness which is the basis of reconciliation is not far behind. When there is goodwill amongst members of a community, there is patience, understanding and consideration for human weakness and shortcomings. Goodwill is perhaps more enduring than love in that love needs passion for it to be sustained. Goodwill, on the other hand, is like the constant flowing of a great river whose source comes from the bottom of the earth. The waters of a great river are in fact clearer during summer when it’s not being fed by the rains. The steadiness and constancy of goodwill makes genuine peace possible and sustains it through trying times.

Conclusion: As we celebrate Christmas Day, may it be a day of hope and prayer for goodwill to be born in the hearts of all in and our midst. But hoping and praying for goodwill from God has a cost that must be paid first: repentance. True and effective repentance requires clearing our hearts of ill-will by surrendering them all to God. God’s compassion is bottomless and able to contain all of our anger, resentments, mistrust, malice, disappointments, vengefulness – all of which may have filled us up with ill-will and leaving no room for God’s goodwill to dwell in us.

May the glory of the new-born Messiah shine upon each one of us and fill us with goodwill and peace.
—————————————
Rev. Everett Mendoza, D.Theol.

Exodus 6:6-7; 2 Samuel 19:43-20:1-2

Introduction: On this the 104th anniversary celebration we have also started the countdown of the 50th anniversary of the transfer of UTS from Manila to the Dasmariñas campus. It is real time jubilee that we are moving towards, but jubilee is also symbolic of the long struggle of the Seminary to achieve a vision. At the same time, the journey and struggle have given shape to the vision from gains and losses encountered along the way.

Two words in our anniversary theme, “Journeying” and “Jubilee” are a mixed metaphor and a fusion of two visions. One, Jubilee as understood in the history of ancient Israel signifies the return and restoration of an inheritance. The story in 2 Samuel is an obscure Jubilee story about Sheba, a descendant of Saul who blew the jubilee horn declaring revolutionary independence from David’s kingdom. The royal chroniclers of the Davidic dynasty called him a “mischievous” person but this act was a precursor to the eventual separation of the northern tribes from the Davidic kingdom.

On the other hand, journeying evokes the primal event that defined ancient Israel’s history, the Exodus from Egypt and the possession of Canaan. The Exodus and Jubilee gave rise to two distinct but closely related theological paradigms adopted by Christians for the articulation of the Christian faith.

I

In the faith-history of ancient Israel, the jubilee in 2 Samuel was invoked by a segment of society that had been dispossessed of their inheritance. It was a unilateral declaration to reassert possession of inalienable territory that was removed from them under duress and unjust circumstances. The Jubilee as described in Leviticus 25 was a piece of social legislation designed to correct an injustice. People might have lost their land inheritance because they were weak, foolish or oppressed. But for whatever reasons that misfortune should not be passed on to the next generation. The succeeding generation should have a chance to have a fresh start in life and not burdened by the mistakes or weakness of their parents. Jubilee was a promise to be claimed by the new generation.

But the Jubilee had invariably failed to realize its goals owing to its cooptation by the rulers of the nation that had gained control of the people’s inheritance. They lost control of their inheritance not because they were powerless, for contrary to what they are made to believe people are never without power. Misled and deceived, they turned their power against themselves by their in-fighting, petty rivalries, betrayal, compromise and opportunism. Their inheritance rightly belonged to them but they couldn’t do the right things together as a people. Eventually they lost their spirit and dignity, and began to look upon their own despoilers for their salvation. Turning their backs on their vision, they looked over to an imaginary golden era of the past. A vision of the future became nostalgia for a past that never was.

On the other hand, the Exodus was a vision of freedom from foreign domination, for self-determination and self-rule. It was a vision from the standpoint of the nation’s leadership that considered governance as the principal problem. The main solution was to break out of national bondage in order to set up a free and sovereign nation. From the start, the journey was fraught with problems. The leaders alternated between making wars and building alliances. They had to deal with grumblings and dissent from among the people and must use extraordinary powers to suppress outbreaks of rebellion. The leaders had to constantly guard themselves against poisonous intrigues, coups and countercoups. In the process, the rulers gained more and more power for themselves and got infected with the expansionist ambitions of despotic kings around them. The vision of Exodus turned into an ideology of domination and colonial expansionism.

The history of ancient Israel is a history of failed visions. But that’s only the prelude that sets the stage for God’s mighty act of redemption. At the crucial juncture of ancient Israel’s history two great prophets emerged – Jeremiah just before the Exile and on the eve of Restoration, an unknown prophet who used the name of a venerable predecessor, Isaiah. Jeremiah saw a vision of a new Israel where God’s law would be carved not on stone tablets but on the hearts of the people. And to show his faith in the new vision, he bought a piece of land – actually an inheritance from his family – just when the whole land was devastated and put under colonial occupation.

The other prophet announced a cosmic vision that encompassed the whole earth, nay a new heaven and a new earth. This new vision is superimposed on the original vision of the Jubilee, and transcended thereby abolishing the vision of the Exodus. In this super-vision, the whole earth becomes the inheritance of all creatures. Instead of rulers governing the rest of society, the division between rulers and ruled disappear, the contradictions that make enemies of nations and of different creatures are erased from the minds and hearts of every inhabitant of the earth. The roots of conflicts and domination by one over another are forever removed. Jesus’ life and work was governed by this vision. By his passion, suffering and death, Jesus demonstrated what it would cost to make the vision come true. By raising Jesus from the dead, God made the guarantee that the vision was a divine promise made at creation.

II

As a student of the life-history of Union Theological Seminary I find it as a confluence of the Jubilee and the Exodus. It is a fusion of two visions. Underlying its historic struggle for autonomy is the Exodus paradigm. The movement for separation from the merger agreement demonstrates the drive to break free from institutional bondage. Indeed, its loss of sovereignty as an institution devoted to serve the church’s theological tasks has stunted its own development and capacity to realize its calling. The drive for autonomy is the historical expression of the Seminary’s deep longing for freedom and identity.

The Jubilee paradigm underlying the Seminary’s journey and struggle , on the other hand, has been there alongside the Exodus paradigm but lately a new and stronger wind appears to be blowing behind it. It has been occasioned by the fact that PCU is going through a debilitating institutional condition that has largely sapped its capacity to fulfil its institutional commitments to UTS based on the merger agreement. Contemplating on its own future, UTS is experiencing a new appreciation of its land inheritance. Following the merger with PCU, UTS has relinquished direct management of its land and financial resources having the mistaken idea that its energies are best suited for purely theological endeavours and should not be distracted by worldly tasks. A lesson has been learned: receiving an inheritance carries a responsibility. We don’t deserve an inheritance if we don’t take care of it.

Jesus’ Parable of the Talents comes to mind. The third steward thought he was faithful when he buried the talent under the ground. Little did he know that keeping an inheritance untouched is a sign of unfaithfulness and disloyalty. The parable is about the kingdom that must grow and prosper before the end of time comes. There is a time of reckoning for those whom the mission of advancing the cause of the kingdom has been entrusted. In the same manner, the inheritance entrusted to UTS is not just a property to enjoy but also comes with a mission to develop it in keeping with the changing times.

In addition, a new vision may be needed in view of the emergence of new historical realities. The old vision may now be short-sighted as it was restricted by the horizons of the time. It was the experience of a new vision that gripped Jeremiah and Deutero-Isaiah. They saw God in a new vision that surpassed the old one, a vision with a new faith in a God who was absolutely greater than the one showed to them by the older prophets. For us at UTS, there may a need for a renewed vision, not a rehashed version, much less a mere piece of it.

Conclusion: But first, we must achieve Jubilee – to recover our rights to the land in order to be true to a vision of 50 years. The struggle to achieve Jubilee is not going to be forever, like reaching for the horizon that recedes farther away with every step. It has a time to achieve because if we fail to act within the time, it will be taken away from us as in the Parable of the Talents. There is one critical point in Jesus’ parables of the kingdom that often escape us: there is a definite timeframe to accomplish a mission and its tasks. And when the time is up, those who are entrusted with it will be judged. The doors of the kingdom will be shut, some will enter to inherit it while others will be shut out and dispossessed.

There is this tendency to leave an urgent task to the next generation of administration, faculty and students. Perhaps, that’s what the UTS community of several generations ago did, that’s why today the promises of the Jubilee have yet to be realized. But more probably, the fullness of time has not come then. In this year’s gathering we must resolve in faith that the time has indeed come.

On the eve of the Jubilee, we remember with gratefulness God’s accompaniment through the years. Let’s ask for God’s forgiveness for moments when we wandered away from the straight path. And at this moment, we stand before God as we make the pledge to finish the journey.

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Rev. Everett Mendoza, D. Theol.
Union Theological Seminary
30 November 2011

Please check out home newsletter 5.

As of October 5, we have received PhP482,500 in pledges for the dorm renovations. This is from 39 alumni, 43 seminarians, 23 faculty and staff membes, and 27 friends and partners. We have also received a PhP400,000 pledge for McLennan repairs.  A friend of the seminary who wants to remain anonymous has pledged to sponsor renovations for one wing of the dorm. PhP112,600 in cash have been received from our pledgers.

Renovations on the dorms’ bathroom facilities are now on its 3rd week. We have spent PhP 285,634 so far. Visit qik.com/unionseminary for live streams of the on-going work.