Human transformation—personal and collective—rarely unfolds in a linear or painless way. Across Scripture, psychology, history, and political economy, transformation follows a recognizable rhythm: orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. This triadic pattern, articulated most clearly by Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann, offers a powerful interpretive lens for understanding spiritual-ethical, psychological-physical, social-political, and economic-ecological transformation in a decolonizing world. Transformation, in this sense, is not merely change. It is re-formation—the dismantling of old meanings, identities, and structures, and the emergence of new ones rooted in truth, justice, and relational wholeness.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2026/01/05/orientation-disorientation-new-orientation-going-through-a-process-of-transformation/
The Philippines celebrates Christmas this year amid overlapping spiritual-ethical, psychological-physical, socio-political, and economic-ecological crises that challenge families across the nation. Many experience deep moral fatigue and despair, yet bayanihan (communal sharing or koinonia) and community compassion continue to spark ethical renewal. Rising living costs, despite easing inflation, create physical and psychological strain, but shared meals and local celebrations help restore resilience. Political distrust grows due to corruption and inequality, even as more citizens demand transparency and engage in grassroots solidarity. Economic indicators show mixed progress, with declining poverty overall but persistent vulnerabilities, especially in rural and climate-impacted communities. Still, generosity through remittances, donations, and community aid becomes a grassroots safety net for struggling households. Amid hardship, Christmas emerges as a season of quiet transformation — affirming dignity, hope, and the resilient Filipino spirit.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/12/20/were-celebrating-christmas-in-the-context-of-current-philippine-realities/
This article, sent today by PBCI Board Chair Emil Jonathan L. Soriano to Bishop Noel Alba Pantoja, critically examines the participation of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). While the task force promotes a “whole-of-nation approach” to peace and development, its record of red-tagging and militarized posture has made it a controversial institution within the peacebuilding community. Drawing from field-based perspectives of peace practitioners, civil society critiques, and academic literature on faith-based peacebuilding, this essay analyzes the opportunities and risks inherent in PCEC’s engagement with NTF-ELCAC. The paper argues that while PCEC’s involvement presents a possibility for moral oversight and community engagement, it also carries the dangers of co-optation, erosion of prophetic distance, and complicity in harmful state practices. The analysis concludes by proposing conditions under which faith actors may engage state programs while safeguarding ethical commitments to human rights and civilian protection.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/12/18/church-state-and-counterinsurgency-a-critical-peacebuilding-analysis-of-pcecs-participation-in-ntf-elcac/
For many Christians, the Nicene Creed is a sacred summary of faith—timeless, universal, divinely inspired. But when we peel back the layers of imperial history, the Creed looks less like a purely theological achievement and more like a carefully engineered imperial document produced in service of Constantine’s political project. What emerged from Nicaea in 325 CE was not simply a consensus of early Christian spirituality. It was a consensus manufactured inside the machinery of empire. This blogpost critiques the imperialist religiosity behind the Nicene Creed by grounding the discussion in historical data and scholarly research.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/12/04/constantines-nicene-creed-a-decolonial-reflection-on-empire-shaped-christianity/
Today, 30 November 2025, thousands of Filipinos rallied across Manila and throughout the country against corruption in flood-control projects, with left-wing activists, faith-based groups, youth, and community organizations raising diverse demands. While each group highlighted legitimate concerns, their separate messages created fragmentation that limited the collective impact of the mobilization. From my perspective as a peacebuilder, corruption affects all sectors, so resistance must be multi-sectoral, integrating diverse voices around shared values of justice, dignity, and transparency. I propose People’s Assemblies, Community Action Hubs, regular Solidarity Convergences, and a diversity-of-tactics approach to unite differing strategies toward sustained civic transformation. Ultimately, this multi-sectoral unity can turn indignation into meaningful action that restores integrity, protects human dignity, and fosters long-term social change in the Philippines.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/11/30/reclaiming-moral-political-solidarity-my-take-on-the-anti-corruption-rallies-in-the-country-last-30-november-2025/
Typhoon Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, struck the Philippines in early November 2025, leaving a trail of destruction across the Visayas islands and affecting communities nationwide. Its sustained winds of up to 165 km/h and prolonged rainfall caused flooding, road disruptions, and displacement for hundreds of thousands of residents. While Mindanao experienced only minor flooding, the Cordillera highlands and the National Capital Region faced localized landslides and urban congestion. Our PBCI–CFP network, spanning Mindanao, Visayas, Cordillera, and NCR, monitored impacts on both our partner communities and the general population. In the Visayas, farmer-partners and cooperatives suffered crop damage, flooded homes, and operational disruptions. The typhoon exposed systemic governance weaknesses, including unfinished flood-control projects, highlighting the deadly consequences of corruption. The experience reinforced our commitment to disaster-resilient, climate-conscious, and integrity-driven peacebuilding across the Philippines.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/11/08/reflective-report-on-typhoon-kalmaegi-tino-lessons-on-strength-vulnerability-and-integrity/
There are moments in global politics when a small spark of hope shines through the heavy fog of rivalry. The recent meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea, felt like one of those moments to me. On October 30, 2025, the two leaders met face-to-face for the first time since 2019—this time amid the strains of economic sanctions, trade wars, and intensifying competition across Asia (ABC News, 2025; Reuters, 2025). Held during the APEC Summit 2025, their nearly two-hour conversation seemed to ease some of the bitterness that has long defined U.S.–China relations. Reports from Reuters and The Guardian confirmed that both sides agreed to reduce damaging trade barriers and reopen cooperation in key sectors like agriculture and critical minerals (The Guardian, 2025; Reuters, 2025).
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/11/02/xi-jinping-donald-trump-meeting-in-busan-hopeful-lessons-for-the-philippines/
