Something stupendous happened last Tuesday 27 January 2009 at the Argao Training Center in Argao, Cebu, the venue for the first ever gathering called “4 Ps for Peace Partnership.” Argao is about one and a half hours south of Cebu City and is the town of Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr. and other notables. The visionary leadership of the local executives has installed wi-max, which provides wireless internet access in the public plaza and other places.
The “4 Ps” stand for Pulis-Pari, Presinto-Parokya attempts to bring together two groups of people – and their respective areas of responsibility – that play key roles in promoting the common good, particularly at the community level. After all, both priests and policemen serve the same people, although with differing ultimate goals. Yet, as community leaders, both have contributions to make to the common good. By coming together, they want to be part of the solution to problems confronting their communities.
21 policemen, most of whom were chiefs of police, 7 priests, and 15 lay workers attended the whole-day seminar, a first step in concretizing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed last 30 October 2009 by the PNP, the Archdiocese of Cebu, and Dilaab movement represented by PNP Dir. Gen. Jesus Verzosa, Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, and the undersigned, respectively.
The said MOA is the fusion of several streams of transformative energies: the Integrated Transformation Program of the PNP and its focus on leadership at all levels; the 2008 and 2009 Archdiocese of Cebu thrusts on the Bible and the Church, respectively; and Dilaab’s Heroic Christian Citizenship and Leadership Program.
Mayor Edsel Galleos of Argao provided the venue, meals, and snacks while PSSupt. Carmelo Valmoria, Cebu Provincial Director, set the example of sincere presence. The parish priest of Argao, Monsignor Jose Montecillo, also attended. His parish, St. Michael the Archangel, also happens to be the patron of the PNP. The presence of the individuals, and their willingness to share resources, captures the essence of bayanihan – there was spontaneous counterparting for the success of the endeavor.
Ret. PNP CSupt. Samson Tucay and the undersigned set the pace for the seminar by sharing their journey together as companions towards integrity for the common good. Gen. Tucay had headed the Values and Leadership School (VLS) and set the pace for God-centered leadership at the 17 Regional Training Schools (RTS) of the PNP. Many of the 3000 plus graduates of the VLS had expressed the need for a support mechanism when they would return to their police stations. As one graduate had put it: “There are millions of temptations out there.” The 4Ps Partnership project is an answered prayer.
Our tandem with Gen. Tucay focused on the realization that beneath the uniform and the sotana are human beings created in God’s image and likeness, sharing the same dignity as well as experiencing the same weaknesses and temptations; hence, both need God and each other. The friendship seeks to transcend utilitarian and narrow interests in favor of the common good. Ang sarap pala magpapakabait, as Kuya Sam (as he is popularly called in Dilaab circles) puts it. The undersigned, for his part, is unabashed in declaring that he has become a better priest because of his friendship with Sam.
A game followed, facilitated by two Dilaab volunteers, Maritess Tejero and Gladys Ceniza. The fun approach to learning some personal details about the other participants was quite successful, judging upon the laughter and some answered questions. Winners took home T-shirts marked with Pwede Pala Pinoy, a Dilaab project seeking to ignited spaces of hope for ordinary citizens. This had been launched last 29 November 2008 in Cebu.
For lunch, we had a boodle fight, a single row of tables covered with banana leaves, with rice, fish, meat, and mongo laid out on it. When the signal is given, all mouths break loose. It is really a great way of laying down one’s guard and allowing others to enter into one’s space. In short, it is a good way to make room for others and feel at home with one another.
Making their own contributions, were two members of local rock bands, known as Bisrockers. Emping Kiskisan and Nash Maquiling rendered songs to the delight of the audience. They pair now are known as Peace-rockers, enabling them to become part of the emerging 4Ps network.
Another game ensued. This was followed by a brief talk on lectio divina given by the undersigned, and an actual session. Lectio divina is the “diligent reading of the Bible accompanied by prayer.” The gospel exposition was on the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4). The 4Ps project envisions police precints as venue for a weekly encounter between police personnel and that of the parish. This would called “Jacob’s Well.”
“Encounter” took on a new meaning during the seminar. It was pointed out that encounter in military parlance has the element of chance and surprise for all the parties involved, in contrast to raid or ambush. The hoped-for emergence of Jacob’s Wells (i.e. a place and time for encounter) in the precints is first of all a “room” or “sanctuary” where people can be themselves and encounter God and each other through the Bible.
The last sharer was PSSupt. Cesar Binag of the PNP Program Management Office (PMO). The latter is a unit that ensures that the integrated transformation program is sustained despite changes in personalities and leadership. Col. Binag shared something closest to his heart: his family and the key importance of the family and the formation of its members to nation building and social transformation. Cesar is a member of a Protestant congregation and his presence is a sign of Dilaab’s commitment to work with other Christians.
4Ps is a step towards healing the wounds of sin and division in our country manifested in graft and corruption. When the latter – for which we are all answerable – penetrates a culture, the result is fragmentation. When there is lack of integrity, the result is disintegration. A symptom of this condition is the lack of trust among social sectors and the tendency to blame one another. Another tendency is to be inward looking and to engage in sectoral or group “in-breeding.” The latter is always harmful. There is, then, the need to exchange places or, to put it in more theological terms, to engage in pastoral accompaniment or communion.
The late John Paul II had this to say regarding communion:
A spirituality of communion also means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body, and therefore as "those who are a part of me". This makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship. A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God: not only as a gift for the brother or sister who has received it directly, but also as a "gift for me". A spirituality of communion means, finally, to know how to "make room" for our brothers and sisters, bearing "each other's burdens" (Gal 6:2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy. Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would become mechanisms without a soul, "masks" of communion rather than its means of expression and growth. (Novo Millennio Ineunte 43).
John Paul II, pray for us.
Sincerely,
FR. CARMELO O. DIOLA
