Mission & Justice

Tarra Quismundo; 7/7/08

Imelda Marcos-not the former first lady but the OFW-was forced by poverty to leave her home in Nueva Ecija province four months ago to try her luck as a nanny in Dubai. But verbal beatings and overwork broke her spirit just two months into her stay there, forcing her to run away from her employer and seek refuge at the Philippine mission. “It was so hard … I tried to be patient but I was really maltreated. They (employers) shouted at me and made me do all the house chores when I was hired as a nanny,” Marcos told reporters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Sunday, tears streaming down her face. Just as emotional was 34-year-old Zenaida Calanda who, in five months, went through three employers who had the same heavy hands. “They forced me to do all the housework, and they abused me, they slapped me.”

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28/5/08

Women in the Church in Asia are looking for a different, deeper type of recognition that bishops need to address, says a noted Asian theologian. Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Imus, the Philippines, a member of the Office of Theological Concerns of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), spoke to UCA News during a May 12-16 meeting at the Redemptorist Centre in Pattaya, 100 kilometers southeast of Bangkok. The meeting’s theme - “The Bishop: Harbinger of Hope (Bishops, Women, Gospel and Communion)” - was inspired by Pastores Gregis (shepherds of the flock), Pope John Paul II’s 2003 apostolic exhortation presenting the fruit of the 2001 Synod of Bishops assembly on episcopal ministry. Thirteen women, 10 bishops and two priests attended the meeting organized by the Women’s Desk of the FABC Office of Laity and Family in cooperation with the Office of Theological Concerns. They came from Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

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