Republic of the PhilippinesHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TWELFTH CONGRESSThird Regular Session

HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 1390__________________________________________________________________________________

Introduced by Rep. SATUR C. OCAMPO, JOEL G. VIRADOR and SIEGFRED D. DEDURO__________________________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION HONORING THE LATE SR. CHRISTINE TAN, RELIGIOUS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD SISTER, AS AN

EXEMPLARY FILIPINO NATIONALIST FOR COURAGEOUSLY FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE AND TIRELESSLY SERVING THE POOR AND OPPRESSED FOR OVER FOUR DECADES

WHEREAS on the early morning of October 6, 2003, Sr. Christine Tan of the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS), 72, finally ended her seven-month bout with cancer to be with her Creator. Her death put to a close over four decades of service as a nun who served and lived with the poor and oppressed;

WHEREAS in 1954, Sr. Christine joined the religious life after graduating from St. Scholastica’s College where she majored in mathematics. She was the fifth of seven children of Judge Bienvenido Tan and Salome Limgenco;

WHEREAS in 1970, Sr. Christine became the first Filipino head of the Religious of the Good Shepherd in the Philippines, a congregation founded in France over a century ago;

WHEREAS as head of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women (AMRSP) in the 1970s, Sr. Christine rose to prominence as a staunch anti-Marcos dictatorship activist as she spearheaded activities and programs promoting people's rights at a time when it was most dangerous to do so;

WHEREAS during martial rule when the dictator Ferdinand Marcos muzzled the media and monopolized it, the Signs of the Times was published weekly by the AMRSP which featured the struggles and aspirations of the peasants, workers, urban poor, indigenous peoples and other marginalized sectors of society. The dictatorship closed down the publication, but the Major Superiors published the ICTHYS thereafter;

WHEREAS progressive members of the Church, with Sr. Christine among those at the forefront, took up the issues and concerns of the marginalized and oppressed such as the demolition of homes of the urban poor of Tondo, the layoff of the batilyo workers of Navotas, the unjust detention of political prisoners and the struggle of Cordillera’s indigenous tribes against the Chico Dam project which would destroy their ancestral lands and culture;

WHEREAS after the overthrow of the Marcos regime in 1986 through People Power I, Sr. Christine participated in the National Movement for Civil Liberties. That same year, she became a member of the Constitutional Commission;

WHEREAS Sr. Christine’s nationalist stand became most known when she firmly opposed the retention of the US military bases in the country. She was among the prominent personalities who led and joined mass actions against the US bases and worked for the abrogation of the RP-US Military Bases Agreement in 1991;

WHEREAS during the Estrada administration, Sr. Christine was appointed as director of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office but was removed from her post after exposing anomalous transactions involving the First Family in 2000. Sr. Christine alleged that substantial PCSO funds were being diverted to the First Family. She fearlessly revealed that the PCSO released P430.2 million in compliance with the requests of the President and the First Lady, while other beneficiaries of the PCSO received only a total of P65.3 million;

WHEREAS Sr. Christine’s exposé was followed by more revelations of official corruption which further fueled the mass movement that eventually toppled the corrupt Estrada government;

WHEREAS Sr. Christine’s life is well-known to have been spent living and integrating with the urban slum dwellers, especially those in Malate, Manila whose lives she has touched and made a difference in;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives honor the late Sr. Christine Tan of the Religious of the Good Shepherd as an exemplary Filipino nationalist for courageously fighting for freedom, human rights and social justice and tirelessly serving the poor and oppressed for over four decades.

Adopted,

SATUR C. OCAMPO JOEL G. VIRADOR SIEGFRED D. DEDUROBayan Muna–Party-List Bayan Muna–Party-List Bayan Muna–Party-List