The Ilocos Times

Is this what our future is going to look like? With climate change accelerating, sea levels rising, and floods becoming the “new normal,” I think we should at least entertain the possibility. And if that future does come, it won’t be entirely unfamiliar. After all, floating gardens and houses on stilts already exist—not only in faraway places, but right here in the Philippines. In many ways, these designs are not futuristic at all; they are ancient, time-tested responses to living with water rather than against it. The Bajau Laut in the Sulu Archipelago have lived in stilt houses above coral-rich shallows for centuries. In Bangladesh, floating gardens—known as dhap—keep food production going even during months of flooding. In Myanmar’s Inle Lake, floating tomato farms stretch across the horizon. And in Mexico, the Aztec chinampas remain as living proof that agriculture can thrive on water. So, if others have done it, why can’t we? But here’s the bigger question: Should we ch...

THAT’S what we can learn from that gospel episode about Christ’s disciples caught in a storm while in the middle of the sea. (cfr. Mt 8,23-27) They, at first, were gripped with fear, a very understandable reaction. And when they noticed Christ simply sleeping in the boat, they woke him up, expressing their fear. That’s when Christ simply stood up and calmed the turbulent sea, leaving them greatly astonished. But Christ faulted them for their lack of faith. Yes, we too can easily be frozen in fear when we encounter the different forms of life’s storms. But like Our Lord’s disciples, we should just go immediately to him and ask for his help. And to be sure, he will always be there to help, but maybe in ways that may escape our understanding. In this, we should not be surprised and start to loosen our faith in God’s powerful and wise ways. There’s really no reason to be too worried and anxious when we encounter some difficulty in our life. In fact, we have every reason to be conf...

By Carlos V. Cornejo The third kind of anger is the good one.   It’s sometimes referred to as just anger or rightful anger.   The Psalmist implies this when he writes, “Be angry, and sin not” (Psalm 4:4).   It is the kind of anger of a parent for example to a child who has not done his school work because the kid was busy playing computer games the whole day.   The parent has to express clearly his or her emotion of anger so as to send the message to the kid that what he has done was very wrong.   Otherwise, if the mother will just put on a sober face while reprimanding the child, it could be misinterpreted by the kid that mommy is not angry after all and therefore I could do it again.   St. John Chrysostom says, “He who is not angry when he has cause to be, sins.” If we don’t get angry when we are supposed to be angry, more bad things happen.   If the mother had tolerated the misdeed of her child, it would have made the kid lazier. The same sa...

  Recycling is increasingly becoming a viable means of livelihood in the Philippines—especially through community-driven initiatives, social enterprises and LGU-supported programs. It offers income opportunities while promoting environmental stewardship and circular-economy principles. Here’s the basic change we need to accept: anything that has commercial value is not garbage. If something can be sold, reused or turned into income, it stops being wasted. In that sense, recyclables have value—therefore they are not garbage. We have already tried our best to promote recycling in the Philippines, yet the level of compliance remains low. Many Filipinos still ask: “What’s in it for me (pakinabang) if I recycle?” Telling someone that recycling is good for the environment no longer suffices. But what if we shift the narrative: “It’s good for your pocket.” What if recycling becomes directly linked to income every time you participate? That is precisely my idea: create livelihood ...

  THE story of the leper who took the effort to get close to Christ, asking for healing, (cfr. Mt 8,1-4) teaches us several powerful lessons about faith, humility, God’s authority and the right use of good works. As the story goes, a leper approaches Christ, kneels and begs: “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” And Christ responds not so much with power as with mercy as he stretches out his hand and touches the leper: “I do choose. Be made clean!” Let us remind ourselves that though we may not have the condition of leprosy, we cannot deny that we are dirty, no matter how much we try to be clean, and we gravely need to be healed, to be pardoned and purified. Our weaknesses and sinfulness will always be with us all our life. We always need to go to Christ, begging for spiritual and moral healing. But, yes, whenever we have physical illness or problems regarding our bodily health, we should not hesitate to go to Christ, asking for healing. Let’s imitate the example of ...

In our urban centers, disaster-victims can often be found with relative speed: the roads, addresses and communications are more or less in place, and rescue teams know where to look. In remote areas, however ­– mountain villages, far-flung barangays, communities cut off after storms and landslides ­– the challenge is far greater. And that leads to the question: How do we track down disaster victims in these remote, hard-to-reach zones?   The promise of technology Today , a host of modern tools are available: remote sensing , GIS , GPS , and increasingly, AI-powered localization systems . Put simply: Remote sensing : satellites and drones can scan large swathes of land, detect terrain changes, collapsed structures, heat signatures or other signs of human presence. GIS (Geographic Information Systems) : integrates spatial data (maps, terrain, infrastructure) with reports and sensor inputs so that responders can visualize where victims might be stranded. GPS : tracks the l...

Using satellite technology for flood control and land use planning is certainly a good practice in science-driven governance. But let us be clear—it is not the only tool we need for these urgent problems. Sometimes, I wonder whether our government is too enamored with “new” technology when in fact there are already existing data sets available, even without satellites. I am very sure that PHIVOLCS, NAMRIA, MMDA, DENR, and the now-quiet UP Project NOAH already have valuable maps, surveys, and models in their files. Add to that, LGUs are supposed to maintain their own land use plans using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These systems are not futuristic—they are here and should be working. So, why aren’t we making better use of them? Having said that, let me also recognize the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) for working with the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA). Their idea is to use satellites to detect land use violations that cause flooding in Me...

THAT’S because of our undeniable tendency to enclose ourselves in our own world, practically unwelcoming and even hostile to God who actually gives us the proper spirit of our humanity as his image and likeness. We have to find ways of how we can live out this basic necessity of ours. There’s certainly a need for tremendous effort. But we should not forget that the first thing we need to do is to humbly ask for God’s mercy and grace. We need to be humble, first of all, which is an effect at least of what is called as God’s actual grace, before we can successfully proceed with the effort to empty ourselves in order to be properly filled with God’s spirit. Christ himself told us that this should be the law that should rule our life. “He that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.” “Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, shall save it.” “He that hates his life in this world, keeps it unto life eternal.” The same idea, the same truth and ideal, is reiterated...

ONCE again , we celebrate the very wonderful Solemnity of the Assumption of our Lady to heaven, reminding us that like her, we too are meant to be both body and soul in our definitive state of life, hopefully in heaven, at the end of time. Let’s remember that man is always a unity of body and soul. He is not just pure body nor pure spiritual soul. And as our Catechism teaches us, the body, properly animated by the spiritual soul, shares in the dignity of the “image of God.” (cfr. CCC 364) This is how the Catechism explains it: “The human body shares in the dignity of “the image of God”: it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit. Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity.” The Catechism further teaches that, “Through his very bodily condition he (man) sums up in himself the elements of the material world…He is obliged to regard his body as go...

I understand the urge to keep planting our traditional crops—especially those with deep roots in our history and culture. But what if demand is falling? What if the farmers who grow these crops are slipping deeper into poverty because the prices that they once relied on are no longer there? And what if the product itself is increasingly viewed as harmful to public health, with fewer acceptable uses each year? That, sadly, is the problem facing the tobacco industry. Is the market for cigarettes and cigars really shrinking? Government should be able to measure that with precision. A simple dashboard would do that: excise-tax–paid removals from BIR (a proxy for sales), PSA data on area planted and farmgate prices, NTA’s leaf procurement and farmer counts, DOH smoking prevalence, and DTI export/import figures for leaf and finished products. If those lines are trending down together, the signal is clear. If government confirms the problem, we need a two-track response. First, find new ...

THIS is indeed a most intriguing and mind-blowing teaching of Christ. “Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose it, shall preserve it,” he once told a crowd. (Lk 17,33) We really need to pause and try to figure out how we can reconcile these words with even the most basic common sense we have, since at first glance they definitely involve contradictory ideas. Indeed, this is where we have to go beyond our common sense and our reasoning and try to penetrate the spiritual and supernatural message these words are trying to teach us. Christ, the very “way, truth and life” for us, the very source of all that is good, true, and beautiful, just cannot tell us things that may sound to us as nonsense. First, we must consider the context in which these words were spoken. He prefaced this teaching by warning the crowd about the danger of worldly entrapment and self-indulgence which are actually a clear and present danger to us. “As it came to pass in...

By Carlos V. Cornejo Today we are bombarded with millions of moving images. It used to be on TV and movie theaters only, but with the emergence of the internet and along with it You Tube and the many social media outlets there would not be a day we don’t see videos. The problem that comes along with this is the dumbing down of people. TV, movies, and You Tube replace books. Thus, images replace words, passivity replaces active thinking. Life and You Tube have become inverted:   instead of You Tube being in life, life is on You Tube. When we read words, we actively create images with our imagination. When we just watch, only our senses are activated, hardly any reasoning and no critical thinking. Myths comes from images, pictures, visions, and dreams, not from reason. You often hear the clique “Image is everything.”   Meaning physical appearance and the appearance of having fun becomes the most important things in life. It’s not God, not the family, not others, not the con...

WHAT criteria to use in choosing our leaders and public officials? Definitely, we should hold integrity and competence as indispensable requirements. We need to investigate the background of each candidate for public office whether these criteria are met. Integrity ensures ethical decision-making, transparency and accountability that can foster public trust. It makes a leader consistently following through on his commitments and promises. It safeguards the well-being and interests of others, approaching them with empathy and understanding. Competence requires the leaders and public officials to have the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to perform their job effectively. It enables them to navigate complex challenges that are sprouting, especially these days. There should be a process of leadership development that highlights these two requirements since leadership plays a crucial role in organizational growth. Such development programs should enhance the skills and kno...