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MANILA: Actually, knowing of Pope Francis' 5-day Philippine visit, 15-19 January 2015, had me so inspired many days before, that on Christmas Day 2014 I started writing my book on him; I finished the book on the 15th of January; that is to say, in 21 days, I had written 13 chapters, 11 chapters of which are directly on his words and works – POPE FRANCiS: Champions of Faiths, Champions of Science – 103 pages of 38,000 words, camera-ready; I don't think anybody else can write a good nonfiction book faster than that, whether Roman Catholic or not. No, it's not hagiography; yes, you can write for a free pdf copy ( frankahilario@gmail.com ). My inspiration continued up to the last sight of his plane leaving Philippine soil aboard Shepherd One of Philippine Airlines, with the President of PAL going along for the ride. Pope Francis, you made my days. The next day, 20 January, I was a bit shocked when I learned, and checked, that Pope Francis had used a particularly sad simile to

Amid the trash, after Pope Francis, I mean. After he said, "We need to see, with the eyes of faith, the beauty of God's saving plan, the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person." We don't remember. The trash makes us forget. 21 January 2015, Wednesday, I'm reading on Facebook that Au, Edna, Nonoy, Moj and everybody else are complaining about the garbage that EcoWaste has complained about, left by people at Rizal Park after the Papal Mass last Sunday, 18 January 2015, that according to the MMDA report was equivalent to 138 tons of garbage (Mike Frialde, 19 January 2015, philstar.com ). 23 truckloads. Actually, that's not correct. Garbage means kitchen refuse ; what they are talking about is trash, that is, worthless, rubbish . Look at what they call garbage: plastic wrappers, bags, raincoats, styro food containers, barbecue sticks, fruit peelings, cardboard, food leftovers, candy wrappers, plastic bottles, tarpaulin. Trash. T

MANILA:What did Oscar Wilde say about the doughnut again? Between the optimist and the pessimist / The difference is droll: The optimist sees the doughnut / the pessimist the hole! Now, between a pessimist in Facebook and a pessimist at the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website, whom should I choose? Between Facebook and the CBCP, I choose the optimist, me! Now I would like to fill up the two empty basins. Our Facebook friend Lex Librerowrote a day or two before Pope Francis left the Philippines: When the Pope leaves the Philippines, would there be any changes at all in the political and even religious, never mind socio-economic, thinking and behavior among our leaders? My comment was this: Thinking, yes. Action? That remains to be seen! Preaching is for the Pope; practice is for politicians, including us. I mean us? Yes, us, not US, not anybody else. They say, "The trouble with our leaders is that they are corrupt." Not me, I don't write bad words like t

MANILA: I wanted to be somewhere in Rizal Park today, 17 January 2015, Sunday at or before 3:00 PM where the mass will begin, but here I am unable to move and I'm not going to the park anymore. I know, Fr Federico Lombardi said, "If there is only rain, the Pope has no fear of rain – we see him in St Peter's Square, he is ready to be in rain" (quoted by Janess Ellao, 15 January 2015, thepoc.net ). Today, the weather is predicted to be windy and rainy, and unlike you I'm afraid of the rain. I'm not like that girl in Tacloban yesterday who was praying fervently while the rain fervently fell on her and everybody else. I wanted to meet you or, at least, see you in the flesh. I know – mind the message, not the messenger. But, Pope Francis, I wanted to see you because I wanted to give you a copy of my new book, inspired by you, 11 out of 13 chapters about you, your words and your works, what you preach and what you practice (the other 2 about the practice of Roman C

MANILA: The image is from Facebook and from Brother BoSanchez; I find it a perfect quote for what happened at the castle of power when yesterday, 16 January 2015, Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church of the big, wide world, was the guest at Malacañang Palace of President Noynoy Aquino, head of the Government of the Philippines, a small country: "You can't govern without loving the people and without humility." Right! Noynoy Aquino said in the presence of his guest, "There was a true test of faith when many members of the Church, once advocates for the poor, the marginalized, and the helpless, suddenly became silent in the face of the previous administration's abuses, which we are still trying to rectify to this very day" (Andreo Calonzo, 16 January 2015, gmanetwork.com ). He said more but it's not worth repeating. Man, that is pride at the expense of courtesy in your own home, which is your castle. "When pride comes, then comes dis

As I write these lines, 15 January 2015, I just finished producing printout copies of my new book, POPE FRANCiS: Champion of Faiths, Champion of Science . This is the one I started 3 weeks ago, on Christmas Day, Thursday, 2014. This is my personal contribution to the celebration of the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines 15-19 January 2015. I was very happy to have thought of writing this book even given the tight schedule that I imposed on myself, and to finish it in time for Pope Francis' arrival in Manila. That brings me to 2 world records I suppose: Earlier I finished a book on science in 3 months (158 pages, 49,600 words), and now I have finished a book on faith in 3 weeks (103 pages, 40,200 words) – including desktop publishing for both, as for my books I always do the DTP myself, as a one-man band. So now I'm thinking of 18 January 2015, when I will be in the periphery of Rizal Park and with a copy of my book on hand waiting for Pope Francis to pass by me, or near

MANILA: Even the farmers should be listening to Pope Francis when he opens his mouth and exhibits that smile – it brings out the sun. Farmers in the field should be able to generate their own sunny smiles, but they cannot because it seems that everything is against them, including the environment: typhoons, heavy rains, flash floods – and the opposite, droughts. And having studied agriculture in school (at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture in Los Baños, Laguna), and having further studied agriculture in the many and diverse technical papers I have been editing during the last 40 years or so, and having served as consultant to the Department of Agrarian Reform, and being a wide reader, I know that the farmers are to blame for climate change. And they don't know it. The sinners are always the last ones to know. You know, man-made climate change / global warming has to do with too much greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. And do you know – they don't – wher

MANILA: Last year, 2014, the Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate of Manila came out with a stand-up 12-month "Pope's Calendar" – it's lovingly written I want to reproduce it here month by month word for word before it gets lost to history. January 2014: Bergoglio's Early Life Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Flores, Buenos Aires, on 17 December 1936, and was the eldest of five children. His father, Mario Jose Bergoglio, was an Italian immigrant and worked in the railways; his mother, Regina Maria Sivori, was born in Buenos Aires to a family of Italian origins. He attended the elementary at the Salesian School in Ramos Mejia, and the technical secondary school at the Escuela Nacional de Educacion Technica . Having graduated with honors in Chemistry, he worked for a few years as a chemical technician in a food laboratory. [No one] could have never suspected what God had in wait for him. February 2014: His Vocation Story On 21 September 1953, Feast of St Matthew, after