This
is will be my 7th and
last Christmas here in Baclaran. My resignation from
CBCP takes effect on Dec 31, but I have already started saying goodbye during
the National Gathering of BEC Directors and Coordinators on Nov 27-30 in Tagbilaran, during the CBCP
Employees' Christmas Party on Dec 13, and during the formal turn-over to Msgr.
Gabriel on Dec 18, two days before the start of the Christmas break of the CBCP
offices.
I haven't said goodbye
yet to my Redemptorist confreres here in Baclaran. That will happen
when I come back from the U.S. in February. I will be leaving for Chicago on
the 2nd week of January to give a talk in DePaul University on “Extra-Judicial
Killings in the Philippines and the Church's Response” on January 25. I will also give a talk on EJK in Columbia
University before I fly back to Manila. Then I will send my clothes and books
to Cebu and ride my bicycle across Southern Luzon, Samar, Leyte, Northern
Mindanao up to Iligan and from there take
the boat to Cebu.
When
I was appointed as
CBCP-BEC Executive Secretary over six years ago I decided to come to Manila on
foot. Thus, I ran-walked for Life & Peace from Davao to Aparri covering over 2000
km in 56 days. My appeal was to put a stop to EJK in Davao & other cities,
resume the peace process, put an end to mining & illegal logging. As I
begin a new chapter of my life I will be biking 1,500 km for life and peace. My
appeal will still be the same: stop the killing (EJK) all over the country,
stop the war and resume the peace process, stop destroying the environment
(stop mining, illegal logging & coal-fired power plants). The biking
priest rides again! I biked for life & peace around Mindanao in
2006 and around the Philippines in 2008. I did the Climate Ride in 2014 – from
Manila to Iligan via Davao. This is
probably my last ride. I am already 63 yrs old.
I will be starting a different mode of existence as a hermit - living a
life of solitude, silence, prayer and writing till the end of my days. I have
planned this a long time ago. I already received the permission of my
superiors.
Some
of my friends and
confreres are asking if this is the right move at this time especially with
what is happening in our country. I should be more actively involved in
the resistance against an evil, dictatorial, brutal and corrupt Duterte regime. Am I fleeing
the world or escaping from reality? Have I given up the fight? I have
done my best. Through the years I have been part of a group
that monitored, exposed and opposed the activities of the Davao Death
Squad. I have biked and ran for life and peace. I have helped the Commission on
Human Rights and the Human Rights Watch
investigate the killings. I have
been featured in various local and international documentaries on the killings.
My summary report on DDS has been widely circulated and is now part of
the documentation submitted to the International Criminal Court. I helped set
up a network of clergy and religious that provide sanctuary to key witnesses of
the EJK including former members of DDS . I
have been a convenor of the Network
Against Killings in the Philippines. I have joined various prayer and
protest rallies. Now, I am witnessing a growing movement of resistance to this
authoritarian and brutal rule.
The
time has come for me
to shift to less active and more contemplative mode of existence as a hermit in
a mountain far from the city. This does not mean that I will cease being
prophetic. I will continue to speak out, using my laptop computer. I will continue to
write in my blog, my regular column, my articles and books. My voice will
echo from the wilderness to cyberspace. Above all, I will continue to
resist evil through prayer and fasting. As St. Paul writes: “For our struggle is not
with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the
world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.
(Eph 6:12).” In the struggle to exorcise evil in society, there is another
weapon that Jesus recommends to his disciples: “This can only come out by
prayer and fasting. (Mk 6:9)” I believe
that just as in the past God did not abandon his people but empowered them in
their struggle against darkness, God will again do so now and in the future.
Thus, day and night I will be praying. I will fast, eating daily – eating only
at night. This how I expect to live in the remaining time I have left on earth.
This is what I look forward to this
coming new year 2018.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Friday, December 22, 2017
Priesthood and Martyrdom
Over 14,000 Filipinos have become victims of extrajudicial
killings since the beginning of Duterte’s reign. In recent times, the targets have not
only been the poor – mostly suspected of being drug users and pushers -- but
also those tagged as leftists and
enemies of the state. Human
rights activists have constantly been threatened. What is alarming is that
religious leaders have also been added to the hit list as shown in the recent killings of a Protestant pastor
and a Catholic priest – Fr. Tito Paez - a 72-year old
priest of the diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija.
So, priests have once
again become targets of the death squads. This is reminiscent of the Marcos
dictatorial era. We can still remember
Frs. Godofredo Alingal, Zacarias Agatep, Rudy Romano, Tulio Favale. Around the same
period, in countries under dictatorial regimes like El Salvador, priests were
also victims of extrajudicial killings. Among them were Fr. Rutilio Grande, the six
Jesuit priests led by Fr. Ignacio Ellacuria, and Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Romero’s beatification as a martyr is Rome’s recognition of a martyrdom that is a consequence of
fulfilling the prophetic mission -- of
denouncing social evil and the culture of death, of injustice, oppression,
violence, etc. and announcing the Gospel of love, peace, justice and
liberation.
Under the present Duterte Regime, with its
authoritarian and repressive character, lack of respect for human rights and
due process, and enmity towards the Church, Fr. Tito Paez might not be the
last priest-victim of EJK.
Of course, priests need not fear the death squads if
they live a one-sided, one-dimensional model of ministry. There is nothing to
fear if they simply say Mass and administer the sacraments, if they preach
platitudes and remain blind, deaf and silent in the midst of evil – while
majority of the people live miserable lives, victims poverty, injustice,
violation of human rights. During this
Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons, we priests are being reminded and
challenged to live our priestly vocation to the full – to a heroic degree, and
avoid mediocrity.
We need to go beyond the cultic model of priesthood and
live according to the broader and integral model of the ordained ministry as
promoted by Vatican II and PCP II.
This means avoiding being
in-ward looking and living luxurious lifestyle and operating on a maintenance
mode. This requires leaving our comfort zones, and go out to the peripheries –
among the poor, the marginalized and alienated from the Church. This requires
pastoral and missionary dynamism.
We are called to be
renewed servant-leaders -- good shepherds -- forming and leading truly genuine
Christian communities in our parishes and Basic Ecclesial Communities –
communities that live in communion and actively participate in mission.
We are called to be
prophets that denounce evil in all its form and announce the Good News of
salvation and liberation, of peace and justice, of life and human dignity and
human rights. We are called to be the conscience of society, calling people to
conversion, and enabling our communities to be truly prophetic.
We are called to act and mobilize our communities to
make the kingdom of God a reality. This means enabling our communities to
become agents of social transformation, that works for liberation and total
human development, peace and justice, and that defends the environment.a
We are called to embrace evangelical poverty, make an
option for the poor and the enable the poor to actively participate in the
Church’s life and mission.
As priests, we are called not just to preside in and
celebrate the Eucharist but also live the Eucharist in our day to day life – a
life of communion with God and our flock, a life of prayer and thanksgiving, a
life of total self-giving and self-sacrifice.
“Do this in memory of me.” Our priesthood is expressed
not just in our celebration but also in giving up our life in martyrdom –
following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Martyrdom is the consequence of a prophetic ministry and
the supreme expression of priesthood and of being a servant-leader and good
shepherd.
This is how Fr. Tito Paez lived and this is how he died. As priests, not all of
us will be required to give up our life
in martyrdom – that is a grace not given to all. But what matters most
is how we live our priestly life and ministry to the full.
Saturday, November 25, 2017
From the Year of the Parish as Communion of Communities to the Year of the Clergy & Religious
The Year of the Parish as Communion of Communities is about
to end and we are about to begin the
Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons (or Religious).
The focus of this year
has been building up the parish into a
network of small communities – of Basic Ecclesial Communities.
There have been a lot of
efforts made in forming BECs as agents of communion, participation and mission.
This should continue even
beyond 2017.
The Greek word “Paroikia” from which “parish” is derived is associated
with “sojourner” - journeying together.
Thus, the parish and the BECs within it
may be regarded as a “journeying community” – a pilgrim community. This is what
the Church is.
The journey towards a new
way of being Church continues .
Focusing on the Clergy and Religious in 2018 does not mean
forgetting the themes of the previous
years: the parish &BECs, the family & Eucharist, the poor, the laity,
integral faith formation.
All of these are
interrelated and should be linked with the Clergy and Religious.
The sub-theme for 2018 is
the Renewed Servant-Leaders of New Evangelization.
This is apparently drawn from PCP II where the discussion on the
Clergy and Religious is placed in part IV – Agents of Renewed Evangelization.
The section on the clergy in PCP II provides a holistic vision of the ordained ministry
based on Vatican II: the clergy are servant-leaders of the Christian Community
which by nature and mission are:
Prophetic and
Evangelizing Communities
Priestly &
Eucharistic Communities
Kingly, Servant
Communities.
This can be correlated
with part III of PCP II document which affirms that renewed integral
evangelization has three components:
Renewed catechesis, renewed
worship, renewed social apostolate.
The vision of the
ordained ministry based on the ecclesiology of Vatican II and PCP II has five constitutive
dimensions:
A ministry
of pastoral leadership and communion
(building up the parish as communion of communities & BECs)
A prophetic ministry -
a ministry of evangelization, integral faith formation, of denunciation
of evil and formation of conscience
A liturgical/sacramental
ministry - presiding over the priestly, worshipping community, promoting active
participation in liturgical celebration
A ministry of service,
of social action –working for integral development & liberation, justice
& peace, promotion of human rights, environmental advocacy.
A ministry to the poor
in the Church of the Poor.
The five dimensions may be applied to the religious,
consecrate life to a certain degree.
Pope John Paul II , in
Vita Consecrata, affirms that
religious life has often been the bearer of the communion model of the Church
and that religious are experts of communion and should be engaged in the
promotion of communion.
The apostolic, missionary
character of religious life should be
constantly emphasized.
Religious communities are
called to be prophetic communities and must take the lead in the work of evangelization, integral faith formation,
formation of conscience, of denouncing
and resisting evil in society.
Religious should take the lead in promoting active participation
in liturgical celebration, in prayer and contemplation as an integral part of
the Christian life.
Religious should also take the
lead in social action – in works of charity, development, in justice and peace,
in the defense of the environment, in the promotion of human rights.
Religious must take the lead in making the Church of the Poor a
reality as they embrace evangelical poverty and a simple lifestyle, in the their love and option for the poor
and in enabling the poor to actively participate in the Church liberating
mission.
As the Clergy and
Religious exercise their role as servant leaders in the Church that is
called to be a community of missionary disciples , they must do this in active collaboration with the lay
faithful who also share in the Church’s mission by virtue of their baptism.
The coming year , 2018,
provides an opportunity for the clergy and religious to reflect on their life
and ministry and assess how they have lived up to the holistic and mission-oriented vision of the
ordained ministry and religious life provided by Vatican II and PCP II
It is high time to go
beyond a narrow, cultic and exclusively spiritualist view
of the ordained ministry and
religious life characterized by maintenance mode and lacking in missionary
dynamism.
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
I don't believe in your god
No, I don't believe in your god.
The god who tolerates
your evil ways
who doesn't mind when you violate all the commandments
when you curse all those who oppose you
when you commit adultery and boast about your sexual conquests and rape fantasies
when you lie and bear false witness against those who oppose your rule
when you lie and bear false witness against those who oppose your rule
when you enrich yourself
and stash your loot in bank accounts (and you refuse to sign the waiver).
No, I don't believe in your god whom you claim ordered
you to kill
over 14,000 people suspected of being users and pushers
while you fail to go after
the big drug lords - who are your friends and members of your family.
No, I don't believe in
your god, Digong.
A god without mercy and
compassion.
A god who is unjust, a god without love.
A god you made in your image and likeness.
Your god is the lord of
darkness
Soon, you will join your god
In Hell.
Friday, June 30, 2017
Annus Horribilis - A Horrible Year
Annus
Horribilis – a horrible year. A
bloody year. This is how Duterte’s first year in office
can be defined. Daily, the newspapers and TV are filled with images of those
killed in the streets, urban poor communities, prisons and those in the bombed
out city in Marawi and in some NPA base areas.
The War on Drugs has
resulted in over 10,000 deaths perpetrated by death squads – in uniform and out
of uniform. Even those that surrendered in the Tokhang campaign were not
spared by the death squads. There has been no investigation even as these cases
have been re-named DUI (deaths under investigation).
The Armed Conflict
between NPA and Govt’ forces continue
–with the peace negotiations stalled. NPA units have increased their tactical
offensive in various parts of the country. This
year also witnessed the emergence of
ISIS-affiliated Maute group which led to
the battle of Marawi and the imposition
of Martial Law in the entire Mindanao.
“In 3-6 months I will
end drugs, crime and corruption and I’m putting my honor on it. I will
immediately resign if I am not able to do this.” This was Duterte’s promise during the
campaign period. He has failed to fulfill this promise. After one year, illegal drugs continue to
proliferate, drug addiction has not stopped, drug lords get off scot-free ,
criminality has not abated. Many of those tasked to carry out the War on Drugs
are themselves involved in criminality, in drug distribution, extortion, kidnap
and murder.
Corruption is still around. To ensure a supermajority politicians
charged with corruption have become his allies in the senate and congress.
There has been no systematic campaign against corruption in the government
bureaucracy.
He promised to end “endo” – contractualization of labor-- but has failed to do
so.
He failed support the
confirmation of Gina Lopez as secretary of DENR whose priority to defend the environment undermined the
mining industry.
What is most worrisome for
this administration is the obsession on the War on Drugs. It is based on an
exaggerated claim that there are 4 million addicts (1.8 million users according
Dangerous Drugs Board whose chairman was fired for insisting on this figure).
It is also based on a faulty assessment of
the situation and problems of the country and a faulty strategy that
relies on the killing of suspected
addicts and pushers as the solution to the problem. The obsession on the War on
Drugs leads to a neglect in addressing the other major problems facing the
country such as poverty, corruption,
ecological destruction, the armed conflict, and the growing terrorist threat,
Peace remains elusive as Duterte failed to fulfill
his promise of achieving a peace agreement with the communists.
What is also worrisome is Duterte’s autocratic style
of leadership which a threat to democracy manifested not just in the
declaration of Martial Law but in other moves that undermine the rule of
the law such as Extra-Judicial Killings
(EJK), the failure to call for a joint
session of congress that will determine the validity of the factual basis for
declaring Martial Law in the whole of Mindanao. I fear for our country and
democracy as he consolidates and expands his autocratic rule, with a
subservient legislative branch and a judiciary that is being bullied to
submission. The system of check and balance has weakened. Congress has not
convened a joint session as mandated by the constitution to determine on the
validity of imposing Martial Law in the entire Mindanao when only Marawi City was attacked by
the Maute group. He keeps
talking about Martial law for the entire country and a revolutionary government
as a quick solution to the country’s problems and achieve change.
Yet Duterte’s ratings in poll surveys remain good. What does this
show? It could mean that many Filipinos
are either blind to the reality of the situation or their consciences have
become dulled that they are unable to
discern right from wrong, good from evil. Many of his supporters have come to
believe that there is nothing wrong with
whatever he says and does: whether extrajudicial killings, cursing the bishops and priests as hypocrites
and threatening to destroy the Church, or telling soldiers that he will cover them if they rape,
or defending policemen engaged in EKJ, or spreading false news, threatening to
behead human rights advocates. He could as well break all the commandments and he would
still come out good to many. He is their Messiah, their savior. This is
worrisome.
However, popularity rating is ephemeral. While
Duterte’s ratings is still
good, it has already gone down. Estrada was also very popular in 1999 but that
did not prevent him from being ousted in 2000.
After one year Duterte has already brought
serious damage and ruin to the country with his style of governance, his
incompetence and brutality.
If he continues to
govern like this in the next five years it will be a disaster and tragedy for
our country. The bodies will pile up and could reach 70,000 by the end of his
term. The democracy and rule of law would be undermined. There could be increasing terrorist attacks as
the Philippines become a magnet to extremists. There are factors that can lead
to economic crisis: the European Union suspension GSP + status on
Philippine goods entering Europe due to human rights concern, flight of foreign
capital due to unstable situation, debt servitude to China for high-interest
loans to fund infra-structure projects, etc.
The situation appears to be hopeless. It seems that
there is very little that can be done within the country. The possibility of
people power seems to remote. We can
continue speaking out but it will not make a big difference. One source of hope
is the complaint or information filed in the International Criminal Court will
progress and there will enough international pressure that can slow down or
minimize EJK.
His state of health
remains a mystery. He has been out of public view from 4-6 days several times fueling rumors or
speculation that he is terminally ill. He has not been transparent about this
although the public has a right to know. The question in many people’s mind:
will he be able to finish his term?
In this seemingly
hopeless situation, we can only rely in God’s help to deliver us from evil.
While continuing to struggle against evil, there comes a time when what is left
for us to do is to pray and cry out. God did not abandon his people in the
past. Miracles can still happen.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Martial Law - Again!
Finally, President Duterte has declared Martial
Law in Mindanao after threatening to do so several times since last year. He
said he is thinking of extending it to Visayas or even the
whole country. There is no doubt he will do it when he find the excuse.
Apparently, this is what he always wanted to do which is consistent with the
only leadership style he knows - autocratic. This is the model used by tyrants
and dictators including his idols - Hitler and Marcos.
Was declaring Martial Law in Mindanao (with a land area of 105,000 sq km) necessary when the only place affected was Marawi City (land area 33 square km)? The Maute group which expressed allegiance to ISIS does not even have a sizable force and mass base. What has been happening is neither a rebellion nor an invasion. It was a PNP/AFP operation to arrest ASG Isnilon Hapilon that had gone awry and which transmogrified into the hostage-taking of Fr. Chito Suganob together with some parishioners and the burning of the cathedral and other buildings to evade capture. The report that the hospital of Amay Pakpak was taken over was false, so was the supposed beheading of the chief of police. These were cited as part of the justification for Martial Law.
The Secretary of National Defense denied that he recommended the declaration Martial Law and he admitted that the situation can be resolved even without Martial Law. It appeared that the president made the decision to declare Martial Law all over Mindanao while he was far away in Moscow lacking due consultation and deliberation. Meanwhile, there is a humanitarian crisis as thousands of families have fled their burning city that has been bombed. Meanwhile the PNP chief is echoing the president's story that the Maute group is being supported not just by ISIS but also by drug lords.
Was declaring Martial Law in Mindanao (with a land area of 105,000 sq km) necessary when the only place affected was Marawi City (land area 33 square km)? The Maute group which expressed allegiance to ISIS does not even have a sizable force and mass base. What has been happening is neither a rebellion nor an invasion. It was a PNP/AFP operation to arrest ASG Isnilon Hapilon that had gone awry and which transmogrified into the hostage-taking of Fr. Chito Suganob together with some parishioners and the burning of the cathedral and other buildings to evade capture. The report that the hospital of Amay Pakpak was taken over was false, so was the supposed beheading of the chief of police. These were cited as part of the justification for Martial Law.
The Secretary of National Defense denied that he recommended the declaration Martial Law and he admitted that the situation can be resolved even without Martial Law. It appeared that the president made the decision to declare Martial Law all over Mindanao while he was far away in Moscow lacking due consultation and deliberation. Meanwhile, there is a humanitarian crisis as thousands of families have fled their burning city that has been bombed. Meanwhile the PNP chief is echoing the president's story that the Maute group is being supported not just by ISIS but also by drug lords.
Majority of the senators and representatives have expressed their
support for Martial Law and did not convene as a joint body as commanded by the
Constitution to discuss and debate the validity of the martial law declaration.
This can give a signal that the president can freely expand Martial Law
over the whole country without any opposition. He has vowed to defy the Supreme
Court should it rule against Martial Law. In the absence of check and balance,
the country is sliding to another dictatorship.
This
president behaves as
if he is above the law - that he is the law. He has ignored the rule of law,
and human rights, which has led to
Extrajudicial Killings of over 10,000 people, mostly users and majority of them
from the lower class. He promised that the killings will continue and will
reach 50,000. He threatened to behead human rights advocates. These are not
empty threats or jokes.
Meanwhile, the peace negotiation with the NDF has been
suspended as the CPP ordered the NPA to
step up tactical offensive as a response to Martial Law. The MILF is still
waiting for the implementation of the peace agreement. Unless this is
implemented the armed conflict will persist and drive more Muslims to the side
of the more radical and extremist Moro groups like the BIFF and Maute. Martial Law cannot
solve the Mindanao problem.
As in the past, the Church remains the only institution
that can stand up against this
autocratic rule. Will it continue to do so? Can the new
CBCP leadership that will be elected and
soon take over have the courage to be prophetic in this dark period of our
history as a nation? Will the clergy, religious and lay people overcome fear
and apathy and speak out?
We who survived and
struggled to end the Marcos dictatorial rule cried out: Never Again! Will this be an empty wish?
Sunday, April 30, 2017
The Nature of Addiction
I've been trying to understand the nature of addiction. The most helpful, so far, is a
book written by Dr. Gabor Mate - In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close
Encounter with Addiction.
Here's a poem I wrote based on insights I gained from the book and my own
reflection on the “War on Drugs” waged by the present government.
Addicts
You lurk in the shadows
craving for your next fix,
filled with terror
knowing the death squad/police
will finally find you and end your misery.
But you cannot help yourself
even if you have already surrendered
because your name is on the list.
You must have your fix.
Are you still human?
They say you have lost your right to life.
You will kill, steal, rape, and push
just to get your next fix.
Isolated, rejected, hunted,
you have lost control of yourself.
You must be stopped, neutralized
eliminated, terminated
like the zombies in the movies
because you are a threat to all of us.
This is war. You are the enemy.
That's what we have been made to believe.
Are you really the enemy?
What kind of pain & stress does your drug
try to alleviate or soothe?
What childhood trauma keeps haunting you?
What abuse was inflicted on you?
Why couldn't your parents provide you
with their consistent loving care & presence?
Why do you always feel anxious and insecure? Why the
emptiness?
What effect did poverty and violence have on you?
Or even if you lived in comfort & luxury why still the pain?
Is this why your brain can’t produce your own
endorphins and dopamine to soothe the pain, and make you feel loved,
alive and be energized?
Is this why your cortex that regulates your
impulses is impaired
that you can no longer say NO and stop your
addiction?
Do you really deserve to die?
Or languish in a stinking, overcrowded prison cell?
All you need is to experience mercy and compassion,
to be healed, to feel alive, to be accepted, loved,
embraced, fed
as brother, sister, part of the family.
You are not the enemy.
You are us.
You are our shadow.
You are our dark side and our mirror.
You remind us that we too are like you
or can be like you.
The only difference is our drug of choice.
Cocaine? Shabu? Fentanyl? Rugby?
Alcohol? Nicotine? Gambling? Sex? ? Food?
Sugar?
Shopping? Power? Killing? Stealing? Accumulating wealth?
Your condition reveals to us the nature of our society:
a society that breeds addicts to numb the pain that it
inflicts.
That is why many - especially the president and his
minions - hate you.
You remind most of us of who we really are or can be.
Addicts.
The reason why the War on
Drugs is bound to fail is ignorance about the nature of addiction. Unless we
know what addiction really is all about, we will not be able to deal with the
problem. The “War” metaphor is the wrong approach. Drug addiction is just one
form of addiction. The War on Drugs is based on the presumption that drugs –
such as shabu, heroin, cocaine and
even marijuana -- cause addiction which is regarded as the main cause of
criminality – murder, theft, rape, etc. Thus, the main targets of the War on
Drugs here in the Philippines are drug users and pushers – most of whom are
poor. In other countries, the drug lords and their minions are the key targets
but not here in the country. It seems that the War on Drugs is being used to
satisfy one man’s addiction to absolute power. This War also feeds on the
addiction of many police officers to the accumulation of wealth. They, together
with politicians and drug lords, are making a killing from this War on Drugs.
This War brings out the worst and the dark side of every one – especially those
in power and authority.
The drug trade follows the so-called “law of supply and
demand.” The War on Drugs does not address adequately the “demand” side – the
addiction itself. It is based on the fallacy that addicts will stop using drugs
out of fear of being killed by the death squads, imprisonment or the scarcity
of supply due to interdiction or elimination of pushers. The fear and anxiety heighten the cravings
and they will continue using drugs since the impulse control of the cortex is
impaired, and the root cause of addiction is not addressed – which is the pain,
trauma and stress which increases the need for endorphins and dopamine that
drugs provide. For as long as there is widespread demand for drugs, there will
always be drug lords in connivance with the politicians and police that will
take care of “supply.”
The “War on Drugs” metaphor – which is a brutal and
ineffective approach -- should be abandoned and replaced with the “Healing”
metaphor which is more holistic and radical. What is needed is a more
compassionate, communitarian, scientific and spiritual approach to the problem
of addiction. This should not just focus on the problem of drug addiction but
all forms of addiction caused not by drugs or any substance and behavior but by
the trauma and stress of the prevailing social environment and condition – such
as poverty, breakdown of the family, inadequate nutrition and parental care,
violence, sexual abuse, individualism and lack of solidarity. A community-based
rehabilitation program should therefore be adopted that should include
poverty-alleviation, counseling, a sense of belonging or communion, friendship,
physical exercise, prayer and meditation. All of these can help overcome
addiction by increasing the endorphins and dopamine levels in the brain without
drugs or destructive behavior. What is most important is to transform
communities and society that will no longer be a breeding ground for addiction.
The antidote to addiction is communion - the experience of belonging, friendship, support and loving care.
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