Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he made history as the first pope from Latin America and the first non-European pope in over a millennium.

As the first Jesuit pope, Pope Francis was a member of the Society of Jesus, a Catholic religious order renowned for its commitment to education and missionary work.

He was widely admired for his humility and simple lifestyle, both before and during his papacy—choosing to live in a modest apartment, preparing his own meals, and relying on public transportation rather than luxury vehicles.

The arrest came after Duterte and his entourage arrived in the Philippines at 9:20 a.m. on March 11, 2025, aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX 907 from Hong Kong.

According to a statement from the Presidential Communications Office, the warrant was officially received by Interpol-Manila earlier today, and the Prosecutor General promptly filed an ICC notification for the former president’s arrest.

It was also confirmed that the arrest was conducted by Philippine National Police (PNP) officers who wore body cameras during the operation to ensure transparency.

“Duterte and his entourage are in good health and have been examined by government doctors,” the statement read. “They have assured that he is in good condition.” The former president is now in the custody of the authorities.

The arrest stems from accusations of crimes against humanity related to Duterte’s war on drugs during his presidency. The ICC has been investigating the deaths of thousands of drug suspects allegedly executed during his anti-drug campaign, which has drawn widespread international condemnation.

Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022, has been known for his controversial rhetoric and actions. He has frequently made headlines for insulting international figures and organizations.

Notably, during his presidency, Duterte verbally attacked foreign diplomats, including ambassadors from the European Union and the United States, for criticizing his brutal anti-drug measures. His most infamous remarks were aimed at Pope Francis, whom he called a “son of a b****” for causing traffic jams during his visit to the Philippines in 2015.

These instances of provocation added to the strained relations between the Philippines and several foreign governments, as well as the international community’s concerns over human rights abuses under his administration.

As the legal process unfolds, attention will remain focused on whether Duterte will face further international legal scrutiny and what ramifications this arrest may have for his political allies.

   Ateneo de Manila President, Fr. Bobby Yap, S.J.

“A tsunami of evermore complex issues.”

That’s how Ateneo de Manila President, Fr. Bobby Yap, S.J. describes the challenges faced by everyone, especially educational institutions, amid this pandemic.

Speaking to thousands of teachers and administrators at the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) Congress 2020 held digitally last September, Yap characterized the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak as a landscape crisis.

“The outbreak has the hallmarks of a ‘landscape crisis’,” Yap said. “That means there’s an unexpected sequence of events of enormous scale and overwhelming speed. There’s a high degree of uncertainty and this has given rise to disorientation, the feeling of lost control, and strong emotional disturbance.”

He shared that the pandemic has caused a litany of problems, from an economic downturn that has affected the livelihood of countless Filipinos, to anticipating what the ‘new normal’ will bring to schools across the country. But Yap has a few tips that can help any educator prepare as children go back to school in the time of COVID-19.

He espoused the 5Rs of getting back to school — Resolve, Resilience, Return, Reimagine, and Reform. He said that administrators should have the resolve to focus on the immediate health threat the pandemic posed on the school’s stakeholders. They should also have the resilience to deal with near-term challenges, from dealing with cash management to setting up remote learning and making sure that vulnerable students are not left behind. Return is about dealing with the reopening of schools and ensuring that there’s remediation for any lost learning for students. Yap also said that educators should reimagine and anticipate what the new normal or the next normal will be like so that they can prepare better for any eventuality. And last is reform, which means that educators should be open to reconsider their education priorities in light of lessons learned.

He shared that being adaptable to the changing realities on the ground proved important even for a large educational institution like Ateneo. Yap said that this adaptability was a key component of Ateneo’s goal to espouse resiliency amid the unprecedented threats posed by the pandemic. But more than being able to withstand the challenges, Ateneo needed to be resilient in a way that allowed them to adjust and transform.

“Resiliency is much more than that. It’s not going back to business-as-usual, it’s not going back to pre-COVID, it’s really resilience meaning we’ve become stronger under the pressure, that Ateneo becomes stronger despite the pandemic and because of the pandemic,” he added.

Another thing that Yap underscored is that an educator during this difficult time must communicate openly with all stakeholders. He said that it is essential to maintain transparency and provide frequent updates to teachers, employees, students, and parents. He also placed immense importance on empathizing with all, as this crisis is stressful, if not tragic, for many.

But aside from communicating clearly and effectively and showing genuine care for the people, a leader must also ensure that they must also spend some time for self-care because it will enable them to deal better with the crisis at hand.

“The leader during this time must turn outward, really try to connect with the stakeholders and the partners in the mission as much as possible. And then second, the leader must also turn inward and must really take care of oneself during this difficult time,” Yap said.

Aside from effective management tactics that educators can employ as they handle the pandemic’s impact on their schools, Yap also zeroed in on the importance of spirituality of crisis leadership. He said that he was inspired by an interview Pope Francis gave early in his Papacy, in which the Pontiff called God a God of Surprises. Yap postulates that this statement by the Pope may be influenced by his Jesuit background, as the statement has close semblance to the words of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. St. Ignatius said that God is Deus semper maior—God who is always greater.

“During this crisis, we are invited to open spaces in our hearts for the ever-greater God, to listen to the God of surprises, and to allow God to lead us out of our comfort zones to create freedom, greater service, and deeper joy. I think this is the spirituality we are asked for, invited to practice during this time, when it is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous,” Yap concluded.

For more information about Ateneo de Manila University please visit, www.ateneo.edu.

Isn’t that an irony that where Jesus went and healed once upon a time is now the areas of tension between Israel and Palestine? The bloody conflicts here affect children and the images are shocking.

Seeing Palestine children suffering inflame sentiments of being discriminated among Muslims. At our YMPN Prayer Gathering at Ayala Centrio last week at Macau, we prayed for understanding and end to persecution of minorities around the world. We not only pray for peace but do things together as Muslims and Christians.

Year 2020 is significant that the Pope and Vatican declared it be the Year of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Dialogue. Foundations which support interfaith work and multi-culturalism must be the embraced this 2020 because one way to prevent violent extremism to hire peoples from various faiths.

I quote the 2012 CBCP Pastoral Letter which described what the year 2020 entails: Ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue requires building bridges rather than walls as we focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. This means recognizing that we are brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends, fellow Filipinos. This requires finding ways to carry forward the dialogue of life and faith as well as the dialogue of action. There are common issues that we need to address together: poverty, drug addiction, the armed conflict, human rights violations, extra-judicial killings, environmental destruction/climate change, natural calamities, etc.

As the Church celebrates 2020 as the Year of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Dialogue, there is a need to look back and seek forgiveness, reconciliation and healing for the wounds that resulted due to the absence of tolerance and dialogue. It is also important that we appreciate the achievements over the last 50 years and continue what has been started and search for new ways and form in carrying out the dialogue of life, prayer and action in our time and the decades to come.

What is shame and how can it be put to good use? And have we indeed lost it?

As we ponder these questions, perhaps we can look at various scenes not uncommon in our country.

A government official is charged in court for serious corruption allegations. A business leader or a town official makes indecent jokes against women while speaking at a public event. A popular, high-profile personality is sued for private videos uploaded on the internet.

What happens following these episodes merit a deeper look into our ethical standards.

The public official continues to be invited to parties by his friends and neighbors, and not a few of them ask him to stand as godfather to their children. The speaker who makes the crude, off-color remarks sees many women laughing in his audience which later gives him a resounding applause. The popular figure is constantly swarmed by admirers and autograph-seekers, even at the height of the court case.

Sadly, nowadays, we seem to be unable to distinguish when one deserves a place in the Hall of Honor or a spot in the corner of shame.

What we see today is that people who wield power or fame usually remain extolled and praised by many, even when they commit what appears to be a serious breach of ethical conduct or sometimes, of laws or regulations. When they easily find defenders who provide a ready excuse whenever they misbehave, why then should the offenders feel any shame?

People who tolerate such negative behavior professed to have values no different from those that our society recognizes. They have expressed beliefs in honesty and integrity, respect for women, justice and ethics. What happened then to consistency between their avowed ethical values and their specific actions?

Why do we see differences between beliefs and actual behavior?

This inconsistency has oftentimes been attributed to our so-called culture of personalism, the very self-interest Pope Francis has cited. We focus more on family, community, and friends—our own circles—rather than prioritizing the common good. We usually react only if we or those we care about are directly prejudiced. We do not risk views or actions that might be deemed unwarranted by others, especially the powerful.

Our culture also seems to be too forgiving to a fault, especially towards people we know. But should we not ask ourselves if this quiet acceptance or tolerance, especially when seen by our children or others, could be upsetting ethical norms? Does forgiveness mean enduring or even supporting something opposed to principled conduct and appropriate behavior? What does this say of our culture, our values, our scruples?

The tolerance of misbehavior may be primarily responsible for incidence of corruption or unethical behavior in this country. Indeed, how many public or corporate officials would engage in unprincipled practices if they risked not just prosecution in courts or termination of their position, but also the more hurtful threat of losing the respect of their communities and friends?

Many agree that the risk of rejection or being shamed or ostracized, even silently, by people around you could be an effective weapon against corruption and abusive conduct.

Would it still be rewarding to crack crude jokes if these were met with silence or cold stares rather than laughter? Could the dishonest savor fruits of corruption or illegal liaisons if most of their neighbors did not show up at the parties thrown at their palatial homes? Would their children enjoy riding a luxury car to school if their classmates looked at them with disdain?

Unfortunately, amassing wealth or power, even through illegal or unscrupulous means, normally brings an almost equal reward of awe and deference, if not envy. There is acceptance, fatalism (“we can’t do anything anyway”) and justification (“so many are doing it”).

That “many are doing it” seems to provide an acceptable cloak of justification. But, it is far from the moral truth. As a lawyer-friend declared, “That many are doing it does not right a wrong or mitigate an offense; on the contrary, it makes all offenders collectively guilty.”

People forget that tolerating the wrong, the unjust, the unethical, is slowly diminishing our values, our principles.

What to do?

We should articulate the right messages at work, in schools, in organizations, and in public fora, to extol what is good and avoid applauding what is wrong. Otherwise, we truly become part of the problem: we confer a mantle of acceptance on what the offenders do.

We need to develop our nation’s culture founded on ethical values and principles: values to uphold and defend, principles to respect, and solid foundations to build upon. And as for what we believe or know to be wrong, we need to rediscover shame and the good its proper use brings.

As Pope Francis’ message goes, let us rediscover shame in doing wrong. And shame in ignoring wrong.

Sherisa P. Nuesa is a FINEX Director and Vice President for Ethics and Governance. A former Managing Director of Ayala Corporation, she is currently a Board Director of various foundations and corporations, among them Manila Water Company, Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc., ALFM Mutual Funds, and Far Eastern University. She is also a Board adviser of the Vicsal Group. She was the 2008 ING-FINEX CFO of the Year.