PCOO extends sympathy to Cebu solon’s family

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Tuesday offered sympathy to the family of former Deputy Speaker and Cebu City First District Rep. Raul del Mar who passed away Monday evening.

Del Mar, who served as congressman of Cebu City’s north district for nine terms since 1987, died in a hospital in Manila. He was 79.

House of Representatives Secretary-General Jocelia Bighani-Sipin confirmed del Mar’s death.

“We pray for the eternal repose of his soul, and for his family and loved ones to find strength in this time of grief,” Andanar said in a statement.

Andanar said del Mar’s commitment to his work will be remembered by the constituents he served during his tenure, particularly the underprivileged.

He also hailed del Mar for helping the growth and development of his district on matters of infrastructure, social services, and poverty alleviation.

Andanar also cited the late lawmaker for his legislative work on media concerns.

Del Mar was the principal author of Republic Act No. 11122 of 2018 which declares September 21 of each year as a working holiday in the cities and province of Cebu in celebration of the Cebu Press Freedom Day.

“Being the son of a journalist and a manager of a local newspaper, his dedication to promote and improve a free yet responsible journalism and media landscape is truly worth noting, which led to people hailing him as ‘Kampeon sa Medya,’” he said.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, in a separate statement, expressed his deepest condolences and sympathies to the family of the former Deputy Speaker.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and his constituencies in the first district of Cebu City, whom he had served well despite his health condition,” Velasco said.

Velasco noted that del Mar has proven his passion and commitment to public service by attending virtual plenary sessions and public hearings of the House while in hospital to fulfill his duties and mandate as a lawmaker.

“Never a day in his job was he absent. His contributions to Congress and the nation cannot be overstated,” he said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1122146

What Does It Mean To Take Up My Cross?

 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20 

It is no sin to be a Christian, for sure.  But I have to confess, at times it is mighty inconvenient.  It interferes with what you want to do.  Your conscience condemns you and refuses to let you do what you would probably have done, had you not met Him who said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).

When Jesus called people, He interrupted their goals, their plans, their life works and their consciences as well.  The more they know Him, the more they came to understand that following Jesus was not a part-time vocation but an absolute, all-encompassing commitment.  And that is why on more than one occasion, some turned away and ceased to follow him.

Why couldn't Christ have rallied the troops around something more attractive than a Roman gallows where losers ended up and all hope was destroyed?  Could His teachings not have been more esoteric? More talk about love and life and less about death and dying? God apparently thought not, because He gave His son, and from the cloths which became baby blankets to Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, the cross loomed on the horizon.

"And," said Jesus, "if you are to follow me, you, too must take up your cross."  There is one difference, however, between what Jesus did and what He expects us to do.  It's all found in the one word which Luke included.  It is the word daily, which shifts the location from a hill outside of Jerusalem to the front room of my house where I live.  It becomes planted in the office where less-than-nice people annoy me, where I am forced to decide if something is unethical or immoral, or just "good business."

Instead of one heroic "go for it" commitment, it becomes an ongoing series of decisions and judgments which changes my lifestyle.  John Henry Newman had this in mind when he wrote, "To take up the cross of Christ is no great action done once for all; it consists in the continual practice of small duties which are distasteful to us." (Newman as quoted by Elisabeth Elliot.

In a very real and practical sense, taking your cross means you are no longer in control or at liberty to decide some issues.  Your morality is at stake, the way you do business is an issue, your language, your politics, your leisure, your money, your time all become cross-related issues.  Yes, taking your cross and following Jesus can be quite confining.

A man whom I have admired, A. W. Tozer, in his book Of God and Men, wrote, "The man with a cross no longer controls his destiny; he lost control when he picked up his cross.  That cross immediately became to him an all-absorbing interest, an overwhelming interference."

There is one more thought which I must leave with you.  Biographies have always been of interest to me.  I think it's come from the desire to try to learn what qualities are found in the lives of godly people which I can incorporate in my life, thus making me more effective for God.

But here's my point.  Never--whether it is in the memoirs of the great heroes of the faith or of little-known figures of history who were devout and committed--have I found anyone who came to the end and said, "I regret that I crossed the great continental divide of faith, or drew a line in the sand and stepped across it as I took up my cross and followed Jesus."

But I have met thousands of men and women all over the world, including saints in China and Russia who paid dearly for taking up that cross, who have said, "I'd do it again, and walk every step of the way all over again."  That has to say something.

Resource reading: Mark 15:1-47

https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/what-does-it-mean-to-take-up-my-cross/

Internet connectivity issue interrupts crucial Senate budget debates

(UPDATE) - The Senate on Tuesday abruptly suspended budget debates in plenary due to internet connectivity issues as most of its members are participating through online video conferencing.

The livestream of the Senate budget debates was cut around 2:30 p.m., shortly after internet provider Converge announced a nationwide outage.

"There was a sudden power surge in some areas. Nadamay ang internet (The internet connection was affected)," Senate President Vicente Sotto III told ABS-CBN News in a text message.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology "immediately troubleshot our connections," he said.

In a Facebook post, Converge apologized to its subscribers, admitting that it was "experiencing issues" in its data center. It was unclear whether they were related to recent storms which damaged power and communication infrastructure. 

"Our technical team is already working to resolve the issue at the soonest possible time," Converge's post read.

Prior to Converge's November 17 nationwide outage, senators have already been complaining about connectivity issues in the chamber after several hearings had to be suspended.

'Comedy of errors': Hearing on PH web status suspended over poor internet connection

In March, the Senate began allowing its members to participate in hearings and plenary sessions remotely to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Senate's session resumed at 2:52 p.m. 

'Converge' trends on Twitter

Amid the outage, the word ‘Converge’ trended on Twitter Tuesday as some of its customers across the country experienced internet connection problems.

‘Converge’ reached the second spot among Philippine trends following the announcement of the service outage due to a ‘power issue.’

Third year management accounting student Karl Dailisan told ABS-CBN News that this scenario is not new for him as he usually experiences internet connection problems with the internet service provider. 

“So far, it's okay. It's fast, I'll give them that. However, there are times when the connection will be lost without notice. The real struggle is, it's very hard to contact their customer support,” the Converge user of more than a year told ABS-CBN News. 

“And when you finally get a hold of their customer support, it has a long queue because of the numerous complaints,” added the University of Santo Tomas student doing distance learning in Cainta, Rizal.

Working from home, social media specialist Angelo De Vera, 21, said many Filipinos rely on their internet service providers heavily amid the pandemic. 

“[Napapadalas] talaga 'yung pagsira niya and now na mas maraming taong nagwo-work from home at nago-online class talagang mas marami ang nakaka-experience nung effects ng walang net sa bahay, hence we tweet and post online,” he said.

(Frequently, there are internet connection problems and more are now working from home or doing online classes and a lot of people are experiencing the effects of not having internet connection at home, hence we tweet and post online.) — with a report from Josiah Antonio, ABS-CBN News

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/17/20/internet-connectivity-issue-interrupts-crucial-senate-budget-debates