Abstract: Opening Remarks by Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ:

Respice. Adspice. Prospice. examine the past, the present, and the future. With these words, I welcome you to this forum on Philippines-China Relations, sponsored by the Center for Politics and International Affairs (CPIA), under the leadership of its energetic director, Ms. Rhisan Mae Morales. I welcome all faculty members, students, and guests to what promises to be a very interesting presentation, considering that our guest of honor and main speaker is none other than the Honorable Jose Santiago Sta. Romana. I regret and apologize for not being here personally. What was originally scheduled for March 1st was disturbed by the sudden declaration of that day as Araw ng Dabaw.

Respice. Looking back more than fifty years ago, Chito Sta. Romana was the tall and debonair, street parliamentarian who fought to change the world using the compelling categories of Marxist-Maoist dialectic. Somehow, I was also there on the streets, inspired by Fr. Jose Blanco, Ed Garcia, and ultimately, Mahatma Gandhi, convinced that the world could be changed through the compelling interior power of nonviolence struggle. Chito’s activism led him to forty years of residence in China. Mine led me to a study of Hegelian and Marxian philosophy in Austria and Germany.  

Adspice. Fifty years later, I am running a Jesuit University in Davao and Chito is now the honorable Ambassador of the Philippines to China. I