Pubdate: Sat, 24 Dec 2016
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Jonathan Kaiman

PREDAWN SERVICES AND THE PALL OF THE DRUG WAR MARK CHRISTMAS IN THE 
PHILIPPINES

At 4:50 a.m., the stragglers dashed through Manila's darkened streets,
hoping for a spot in the pews.

But they were too late. Hundreds of worshipers had already packed the
Sto. Nino de Paz Community Greenbelt Chapel, a low, white dome in a
sprawling outdoor shopping complex, for Friday's Simbang Gabi
Christmas Mass.

So at least 100 more crowded on the pavement outside, singing "Glory
to God" beneath a crisp crescent moon.

Christmas in the Philippines is a long, spirited and, to many,
exhausting affair. About 90% of Filipinos are Christian, and they take
the holiday seriously. Stores start playing Christmas music as early
as September and don't stop until early January. Christmas trees
spring up in malls and public parks. Carolers go door to door singing
"Jingle Bells," "Silent Night" and "Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit", a lively
Tagalog tune celebrating Jesus' birth. The holiday delicacy is lechon
- -- whole suckling pig, a Filipino delicacy.

But nothing captures the Philippines' Christmas obsession like Simbag
Gabi -- nine consecutive days of early morning Mass, ending Dec. 24.
Some services start as early as 3 a.m.

Portuguese and Spanish missionaries brought Christianity to the
Philippines in the 16th century, and in those days most converts were
farmers. The holiday fell during harvest season, so Mass began early,
allowing them to tend their crops at daybreak. The tradition stuck.

By his count, Seuk Doo Kim has climbed Mt. Baldy nearly 750 times and
aims to log 1,000 summits by next year.

Increasing numbers of migrants from outside Latin America are
traversing a circuitous and dangerous path up the spine of South
America, Central America and Mexico in hopes of reaching the U.S., a
new migrant route that is straining countries along the way and
presenting new challenges for securing America's southern border.
(Video by Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Increasing numbers of migrants from outside Latin America are
traversing a circuitous and dangerous path up the spine of South
America, Central America and Mexico in hopes of reaching the U.S., a
new migrant route that is straining countries along the way and
presenting new challenges for securing America's southern border.
(Video by Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Toy shopping around Christmas, a 78-year-old climbs Mt. Baldy 750
times, mothers who have lost multiple children to homicide, and an
immigration pipeline into America.

Toy shopping around Christmas, a 78-year-old climbs Mt. Baldy 750
times, mothers who have lost multiple children to homicide, and an
immigration pipeline into America.

Politically, the Philippines has endured an unusual and highly
controversial year, casting a pall over Christmas celebrations here.

President Rodrigo Duterte, a former city mayor, campaigned on promises
to kill tens of thousands of criminals, and since his June
inauguration, more than 6,000 suspected drug dealers and users have
been shot to death by police and vigilantes.

The vast majority have been poor, and few, if any, of their killers
have been brought to justice.

"I'm only human, so I'll still say Merry Christmas to drug
traffickers, thieves, corrupt criminals and those who've made life
hard for Filipinos," Duterte said in an early December Christmas
message. "If you don't stop and the violence continues, this will be
your last Merry Christmas."

On Wednesday, a Simbag Gabi Mass in Laguna province, about 20 miles
south of Manila, was racked with violence. A man providing security
for a Binan City church, Allan Fernandez, was on an illegal drug
watchlist, according to the Philippine Inquirer. A gunman on a
motorcycle arrived at the Mass and opened fire, killing him and a
12-year-old girl and wounding another bystander.

The priest reportedly ordered the church's doors closed, and the Mass
proceeded.

At the Redemptorist Church in Paranaque City, near Manila, church
workers have installed a prominent exhibit of images from the drug war
in an effort to raise awareness of its human cost. Large, framed
photographs line the paths near the church entrance. Some show
grieving families. One shows a victim lying on the pavement next to a
cardboard sign reading "pusher," his head wrapped in electrical tape.

Amado Picardal, a priest in the church, said the exhibit would run
through Christmas Eve.

"This is meant to mirror what is happening in our society today, even
in the midst of Christmas," he said. "During this time, you would like
to awaken the conscience of our people. There are a lot of people, a
lot of families, who are grieving during this period of Christmas,
during this war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings, and we'd like
to pray for them, and do what we can to stop the killings."

At the Greenbelt Chapel -- tucked in amid a Starbucks, a Banana
Republic and an Urban Athletics outlet -- Friday morning Mass began at
5 a.m. A white-robed priest spoke slowly and softly, drifting freely
between English and Tagalog. He did not mention the drug war.

"Good morning, sisters and brothers. How are you -- surviving, or
growing? There's a big difference," he said. "I ask you that question
because many times we just let the days pass by without realizing how
much the Lord is blessing us every night."

He went on to deliver a sermon about loving one's parents, the lessons
of John the Baptist, and the "graciousness of God."

Aivee Remo, a 27-year-old banker, said this was her third year of
attending every Simbag Gabi Mass. "With all the Christmas festivities,
it tends to make you tired," she said. "Because you have parties,
Masses, gifts -- it all adds up."

"It dies down eventually," said her husband, Don, 43, a technology
worker. "Usually it stops once you've seen all your friends and
relatives, in the first few weeks of January."

By 6 a.m., when the choir sang "Let's Have a Christmas Celebration,"
the moon was invisible, and as the sky brightened to turquoise, the
crowd quietly dispersed.

Dozens of migrants braved jungles, seas and bandits to reach the U.S.
Then they were sent home.
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MAP posted-by: Matt