BETTER DAYS During the recently-concluded International Trade Forum held in Taguig City, the Marcos administration unveiled its Philippine Export Development Plan 2023 to 2028 (PEDP), a comprehensive strategy on how to grow our exports and make it at par with our neighboring countries and even the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 10:37-42 The First Reading narrates the story of the kindness of the woman from Shunem. When she had a room built for the prophet Elisha, the prophet rewarded her with the promise of a son she and her husband had long longed for. They were rewarded by God for their...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Gospel, Jesus warns the people of false prophets who may appear meek as sheep but in reality are wild as wolves. In addition, Jesus uses the analogy of grapes as good trees that bear good fruit, and thornbushes as bad trees that produce only thistles. He uses this image to...
REFLECTIONS TODAY There are important lessons we can learn from the “Golden Rule” as enunciated in a positive way by Jesus. We are reminded of the prudence and appropriateness necessary in living with one another. Our actions speak of who we are, and our words express what is in our heart. The...
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Stop judging, that you may not be judged” ((v 1) is one of the most popular lines in the Gospel. Here Jesus strongly reminds the people to refrain from passing judgment on others. How commonplace it is for people to see the faults of others rather than their own. Jesus...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Mt 10:26-33 Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who...
REFLECTIONS TODAY God’s ways are not our ways. The neighbors and friends of Zechariah and Elizabeth expect that the couple’s child will be named Zechariah after his father, but to their surprise, Elizabeth gives him the name John, which the muted Zechariah confirms by writing on the tablet....
REFLECTIONS TODAY “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (v 21). How true is this saying of Jesus! A person or an object which captures our attention and heart is our “treasure”—great or small the object of our desire may be. Matthew presents Jesus’ concern for his...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Jews strive to observe the Law given by God to Moses, and they religiously pass this practice from one generation to the next. Jesus was brought up in this tradition and is observant of the Law, like praying to God, observing the Sabbath, and especially the Decalogue or Ten...
REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Jewish law, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (v 38) is an expression of justice. It ensures that the other end does not retaliate, does not get even, nor inflict more than the harm being done on a person. In the Gospel, Jesus is offering another model of...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Matthew 9:36—10:8 At the sight of the crowd, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest...
BETTER DAYS Last February, as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, we conducted a hearing on the bill providing for Protected Geographical Indications (GIs) of locally produced agricultural or natural products, processed products, or any products of...
