CARMEL NEWS

A Bi-monthly Publication of Carmel Philippines

PHILIPPINE
COftTilISSARIAT
REGIONAL
CONUENTIONS
2OO2

Luron Regional ConYcntion opcn3 center/communities, results of imple-

scries ol conYcntions mentation, perceptions of people
Opening the series of regional and communities, development of
conventions this April was the Manila members and recommendations for
Regional Convention last April 3-5, the intensification of goals. Strong
2002 at Titus Brandsma Center. emphasis was given to individual
All friars, student friars, co-work- members contribution, relationship,
ers, TOC delegates and associates and endeavor in relation to work and
attended the convention except for the personal growth as well as the relation
third day, intended only for friars and to the Carmelite mission, communities
associatessince the discussion revolved and various concerns of the Commis-
around the dynamics and life of friars. sariat.
Preparations were made through turn to next pageog
the various committees delegated for
specific tasks. The Secretariat was in
charge of the registration and docu- What's flnslde
mentation (Normie Lacanilao and Jofti I drthrrlngof Crrmc-lltc
Villena). While the Liturgy committee
A|3och!3g *** l0
was tasked to prepare the opening and
closing liturgies for the three-day event n lltr lrandsne
[Bros.Amel Glodobe, Rico Sabanaland Cenlrrrl0ylr old
Fr. TotoJaranilla, O. Carm]. The second n{ tl
day of the convention concluded with
tl lllur lrandsnr
a Socialization Night or the Socials/Ice
Breaker committee planned for the
Awerd Phlllpplncr
Participants conusnsllnelfury
programme by Fr. Aris Escobal, O.
Regional
Conventions
in Action! ilrrmben **** ll
Carm and Rhayan Lee.
The official timekeeper was Bro. tation of plans in the local communi- tr lloulccr Go on
Eman Vallega, O. Carm. All these ties during the first one-and-a half-year
preparations were spearheaded by the of the triennium. Also, to identify the
SteeringCommittee headed by Frs. Tim facilitating and blocking forces in the tl llGC llortcd thc llcciing
Jusayan, Marlon Lacal, O. Carm and processof implementation; undertake cl3t Arlhontof
Noel Valencia with the latter two unification on the concept of commu- Padur-loboso**-*- 13
functioning as the over-all facilitators. nity and people as a critical element of tr four Graduatcs
Moreover, centers/communities wrote the Carmelite mission; and, suggest crprcrs.d thcir intcntion
their plan reports in advance, as part concrete recommendations for the lo continue thc ncxt
of the preparation, since these were intensification of the Carmelite mission sttgg of lornation,
used in the discussion and group and goals. lhe Postulancf--**-- 1l
sharing sessions. Discussions and group sharing
This three-day convention was revolved around the following content tr 8{'TOCllational
mainly to see, assessand reflect on areas:three-year plan of action of the ConYcntion*-....**."'t6
what has happened in the implemen- Philippine Commissariat and regional
 !l runncH-APRTL
2oo2 GARMEL IIEWS
UisayasRcgional Conucntion the small group followed by the ple- Attendees reacheda total of 45
The recently concluded Carmelite nary. The second day was a workshop participantsplus the Council. Partici-
Visayas Regional Convention was on the different apostolates of the pantswere from the four parishes:San
hosted by EscalanteCommunity last Carmelites. The end of the second day Francisco,Bahbah-Prosperidad, Patin-
April 17-79,2002.lt was participated was highlighted with a gathering at ay and Rosario.Among them were
in by 42 delegatescomposed of 8 Cabli Beach.The third day, which was representativesof the Parish Pastoral
friars, 9 associatesand 25 lay people, attended by friars and associates,was Council (11),Carmel Youth (10),Pas-
representingthe lay community in held at Tubod Karmelo. Important tors (5),Schoolrepresentatives(2),TOC
Cebu and the ParishPastoralCouncils resolutions pointed to more openness (5), Friars (5), Associates(4), College
of St. Francis of Assisi Parish-Old of each member in the community, Seminarians(2) and Postulants(2).
Escalanteand Our Lady of Mount improved prayer life, more participa- M a j o r i s s u e sw e r e d i s c u s s e d ,
Carmel Parish - New Escalante.The tion of every member in decision although settlementof other vital con-
first day opened with a liturgy making, finding ways and means to cern was again turned over to the
preparedby the committeeheadedby generate funds for the Commissariat, parishesfor further clarificationsand
Fr.Paul.The two facilitators,Mr. Noel improved time management, more discussions.Problemsdiscussedwere
Valenciaand Fr.Marlon Lacal,O.Carm. attention to |PIC work, and looking from among four major areas:TOC,
presentedthe stressof the three-year orr.rrard to the summi.g rp of work in CarmelYouth,parish and school.
program of the Philippine Commis- the different parishes as a basis for a Recommendations werealsogiven
sariatin order to situatethe participants renewed parish program. with emphasismore on formation
into the whole flow of the convention. educationand in the implementation
The main objectiveof the convention llindanao RcAional Conucntion of new approaches,fund sourcing,
was evaluation of the one and a half Concluding the convention series parish support to the four major areas,
yearsprogram of the Commissariat. was the Mindanao Convention held integrating Carmelite charism on
The first workshop drew attention last April 24-26, 2002 at the Sacred C h r i s t i a n e d u c a t i o n c o u r s e sa n d
to individual reflectionswith guide Heart Parish, San Francisco, Agusan defining the level of autonomy and
questions.The results were shared to del Sur. decision-making.

ett-nssociates meeting held last April 6-8, Z002atOur The All-Associates meeting was attended by the
fne
r L a d y o f M t . C a r m e l P a r i s h , E s c a l a n t eC i t y , N e g r o s Superior, Fr. Tony dela Cruz and a Council member, Fr. Toots
Occidental carried the theme: "Contemplation and Service Buenafe, who is also the prior of Escalante community.
Among the People". Both shared valuable insights, which guided the associates
Associateswho attended were Nol and Angging Van in setting directions.
Vugt; Aloy and Wenwen Ranoco from Mindanao. From Cebu One unique feature of this year's associates'meeting
came Hein and Moring Neulen and Len Negapatan. Jan was the gathering of their children for a visual arts work-
Lansink and Titin Afrora failed to attend for health reasons. shop on the theme: "Me and My World". The objectiveswere:
From the host community of Escalantecame Franz and Inday to establishbonding among children of Carmelite associates,
Koerkamp, Linda Barairo, Saling Ombion and Herman and be more aware of one's self and social realities thru art
Wekking together with his wife, Evelyn, who expressedthe expressions. Two wonderful artists, Shawie and Jarvs of
intention to be reintegratedas a Carmelite associate. Silliman University were invited as workshop facilitators.
The main focus of the plenary sessionswas the assess- The joint gathering of Carmelite Associatesand their
ment of associates'performance since last year's gathering children opened with a creative liturgy and was closedwith
at San Alberto Formation Center in Cebu City, together a Tayada at Kable Beach. On both occasions,the friars of
with the community priors last April 5-6,2001. Escalante community actively participated and everyone
Discussions were also on organizational matters like celebratedwith joy!
consolidation and expansion. Attempts were made to Funds for the joint gathering of associatesand their
develop a formation manual for Carmelite associates,set to children were pooled from the Commissariat, local commu-
be finalized next year. nities, associates'counterpart and CMC.
a a a a a a a a a a a a aa a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a o a a a a a a a a a a a a a o a a a a t

Editoiat Board: MARLON tACAt ' EDGERLOCK . TOTOIARANILLA

r ALAINBATASABAS
Lay-out Artisf: JOFTI .
VILLENA EncodenNORMIE TACANILAO
O CONtTibUtOTSJ
TOOTSBUENAFE T PE"TERKRAMIf,I JUDECABATLERO. DIGOYBAUTISTA. WENGRANOCO
. i
AYARANOCG.BERNARD ROOSENDAAT . r
UNDABARAIROPETE .
MANILAG NIMFATANGCUANGCO :
a a ia a a a ae a a ao a a or at a aa a aa a o a o ao a a o a aaa aa a a alaa a a aa a oo a
 ......ThisCenter, A few months later, on March 1,3,1992,Jaime
in memory of Titus Brandsma, CardinalSinblessedthe Titus BrandsmaCenter.Itwas
Carmelite, the beginning of the Open SpaceMinistry: seminars,
lournalist, workshops, retreats, recollections and fora, a resting
Aman of Goil, place for transient Filipino and foreign guests, occa-
Witness against Nazism and Eacism, sional liturgies and ecumenicalservices;coursesin
Aman, zelousfor the poor, Spirituality,weekly hour of silencewith meditationon
is a place iconsor mysticaltextsand an hour of Zen-meditation.
of commitmentand education It was alsoa humble start a few yearslater in 1998
for the Carmelitefamily in the Philippines, for the media program.
anil for groups anil iniliaiiluals ']..3,
On March 2002 Friars and Staff of the Titus
inspiredby the heritageanil spirit of Carmel, BrandsmaCenter commemoratedthe 10 years Open
the exampleof Titus Brandsma, Spaceministry with a simple dinner and a short
anil the gifts of Asian culture, Program.
to deaotethemseloes A total of 110,753guests,mostly belonging to the
to the struggle of the Filipino People, NGOworld, religiousgroups,the Carmelitefamilyand
for justice, peaceanil the preseroation of Creation", a good number of foreign exposurists,were registered
in the Centerduring its 10 yearsoperation.
These words form the second part of the Scroll We wish the Titus BrandsmaCenter many more
buried towards the end of 1991,by Prior General Fr. years of fruitful Open SpaceMinistry in the midst of
JohnMalley, in the concreteniche at the foot of the Titus an overcrowdedcity.
Brandsma stafue at the entranceof the Center.

TitusBrandmsaAward -PhilippincsGonuencs
The organizationalmeeting of
the Foundation last Februarv was
followed by the meeting of tn"
final jury membersof the TBAward-
Philippines this March aspart of the
preparation for this year's Award
ProPer.
The meeting was held last
March 22, 2002at Victoria Plaza,
Davao City. In responseto the
proposal of Ms. Carolina Malay,
board member, the search was
geared towards journalists of the
South who manifestedacts of
bravery in their continuousstruggle
for TRUTH. Developing this
agendafurther, the Board agreedto
choose Mindanao-basedmedia
practitionersto give more credibil-
ity to decisionsto be made later on
and included a Moro on the jury
team.Thesejury membersare not
only respectedin the media indus-
try but have a deepergrasp of the
Finalfury llcmbers
Finaljury memberof TBAward-Philippines
(L-R)Fr.Ed Tanod-tanod,Ms. RufaCagoco-
Guiam,Fr.MarlonLacal,ReyCaigoyand
TootsBuenafe
i s s u e o f t h e p e a c es i t u a t i o n i n
Mindanao.
jury members include: Fr. Ed
Tanod-tanod,CEO of Notre l)ame
BroadcastingCorporation(NDBC);
Ms. Rufa Cagoco-Guiam,Director,
Centerfor Peaceand Development
Studiesat Mindanao StateUniver-
sity; Ms. GraceRebollos,Director,
P e o p l e ' sC e n t e r f o r P e a c ea n d
DevelopmentInitiative at Western
Mindanao State University
(Zamboanga), and member of
PeaceAdvocate Zamboanga;Frs.
ReyCaigoyand ChristianBuenafe,
O. Carm, Carmelitefriars.
The Jury of the TBAward-
Philippines 2002is composed of a
five-personteam, with two mem-
bersof the Philippine Commissariat
of the Order of Carmelitesas
appointed by the Commissary
Provincial-CommissarvCouncil.
The other threejurors arbrespected
media practitionersin the country.
Membersof the jury are tasked to
assessand evaluate the top five
media productions in each of the
two categories:Outstanding Print
and BroadcastJournalists.
Both Jury and the Preliminary
ScreeningCommittee shall base
their assessmenton the following
criteria:relevanceto the spirit of the
times;substance;presentationand
style;courageouspursuit for truth.