Spirituality and Core Values

   All we heard was a sharp yelp. Then there was silence.

After mass, we proceeded to our office dining room for afternoon snacks. I let in Micah, Dilaab’s toydog-turned-watchdog. His head (Micah is male) was tilted somewhat obliquely to the ground. Then I noticed his left eye was blood-shot. He had been bitten by another dog he had probably tried to befriend. Micah had poked his nose where it was not supposed to be. 

Seven years ago, a group of friends did a Micah and initiated an proactive outreach work to OFWs and their families. Little did they know that the seed they had planted was to be the beginnings of Dilaab (“conflagration” or “tongues of fire”), a volunteer-driven, Church-based movement for a transformed Filipino nation through heroic Christian citizenship.

Presently, this seed has sprouted into the Heroic Christian Citizenship and Leadership Program (HCLP) which is inspired and supported by the insights, efforts, and fruitfulness of three Dilaab volunteers and partners: PNP Gen. Samson “Kuya Sam” Tucay who initiated the PNP Values and Leadership School (VLS) and is helping in the gradual transformation of this government agency; Ms Selene “Selene” Yu who goes around the country giving the S (or God centered) Leadership seminar to various organizations and restoring God into the center of the leadership paradigm; and Atty Alexander “Alex” Lacson whose book, “Twelve Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country,” and talks are slowly making patriotism fashionable.  

While the HCCLP program is intended for all Filipinos who desire to connect their faith with their being citizens, other initiatives have emerged in response to the need to encourage individuals and groups to do something about specific social problems.

Dilaab ignites spaces of hope. It does so by articulating a spirituality of social transformation, developing and channeling technologies for concrete action, and connecting individuals and groups for united action. This trio of services enable a Christian presence in proactive outreach work to OFWs and their families, in the fight against narcopolitics, and in promoting a graft and corruption-intolerant Philippines.

We have poked our noses where they were not supposed to be. Unwittingly, hope was ignited. And the hope we are igniting includes our very own.

This hope needs to be shared and spaces of hope expanded. We try to do this with history as a starting point. During the so-called People Power 1 and 2, a euphoric gathering of people got rid of two negative realities: a dictatorship and a corrupt presidency. This, however, led to a vacuum, not of seekers and holders of power but of positive, organized, and sustained engagement by heroic citizens and groups who sought the common good above their own interests. The results have been a mixed bag and much failure in the area of governance.

Yet, it is not only government that has fallen short. All of us are in this together, as part of the problem – principally resulting from our apathy - and part of the solution – if we exercise heroic Christian citizenship. Modifying somewhat a saying, we get the nation we deserve.  

It is an experience of deep consolation and joy to see others and ourselves become part of the solution. Young rock bands (“Bisrockers”) creating music that affirm sheer existence and effectively promoting civic virtues. A family reaching out to a public elementary school and its constituents, and accomplishing more than what local elected officials have done. A parish priest exhorting his people not to sell and buy votes and getting a positive response from his listeners. A chamber of commerce standing up before a corrupt local government and getting support from others.

A bishop and a governor engaged in concrete critical collaboration to promote the common good. Former seminarians working as staff members of a governor, trying to live authentic lives. A priest-turned-governor as a breath of fresh air in the polluted world of contemporary patronage politics. Appointed officials trying to be honest and effective in the fight against corruption.

Dilaab is a way of being in the world that aligns and integrates personal conversion and family renewal with social transformation.

As the elections of 2010 approaches, Filipinos need to lay the groundwork for a new politics characterized by faith-impelled solidarity, i.e. “the firm and persevering determining to commit oneself to the common, i.e. the good of all and of each individual because we are really responsible for all.” (Catechism for Filipino Catholics, 1194).

More concretely, this solidarity, as it is emerging at Dilaab, is comprised of matrices of support and templates for action that are essential if we are to avoid the aforementioned vacuum. Interestingly, the matrices have P in common: accountable stewards in network (ASIN) composed of policemen, politicians/public servants, priests/prelates, propietors (businessmen), poets (artists), professionals, and the people/public. We are seeing templates for action and change emerge at the barangay, city, and provincial levels; also in schools, parishes, and a government agency.

As we celebrate the Dilaab Day of Thanksgiving and Covenanting on 24 November 2007, we are indeed grateful for all the surprises and graces of the past seven years. We look forward to the future with renewed hope.

We need to do more Micahs, even if we get our noses bloodied, because to be human and Christian is to do good and to be involved.