Marilyn Cahatol

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The public should open their eyes to the corruption, lies and sufferings that plague the nation this Advent season, a bishop said during the ongoing Trillion Peso March Sunday, November 30.</p><p>“Jesus is telling us, magising kayo (wake up), open your eyes. Look at what is happening around you. Do not let corruption become ordinary. Do not let lies sound like the truth, do not let the suffering of the poor fade into the background noise,” Most Rev. Elias Ayuban Jr., Bishop of Cubao, said during his sermon.</p><p>A Holy Mass, presided by outgoing Catholic Bishops&#x27; Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David and concelebrated by other bishops, is part of the Trillion Peso March program held at the People Power Monument along the historic EDSA.</p><p>Ayuban said corruption is more than just a sin, but the robbery of a nation’s supposed promising future.</p><p>It kills the hope of each Filipinos who dreamed of a just, peaceful, and progressive country, he added.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/30/various-groups-sectors-arrive-at-people-power-monument-for-trillion-peso-march-0956"><strong>Various groups, sectors arrive at People Power Monument for Trillion Peso March</strong></a></div><p>His Excellency related the protest to the first season of Advent, when people prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ. </p><p>He said: “Advent is not a season of passivity, Advent is a season of holy vigilance, pagmulat ng mga mata, paggising ng mga puso at pagbangon ng bayan.”</p><p>(Advent is not a season of passivity, Advent is a season of holy vigilance, opening of eyes and heart, and rise of the nation.) </p><p>“Gising na, ang gabi’y lumipas na at malapit naang bukang liwayway,” he said.</p><p>(Wake up, the night has passed and the dawn is coming.)</p><p>The Cubao bishop acknowledged that it is easier to feel tired, disappointed and hopeless with the billions of pesos worth of corruption scandal the country faces.</p><p>But he said, quoting Prophet Isaiah: “Ang hirap magmahal ng bayan kapag paulit-ulit kang niloloko ng mga dapat naglilikod sa iyo, at tayo naman paulit-ulit din tayong nagpapauto, nagpapaloko. But here, the words of Prophet Isaiah, ‘Come, let us work in the light of the Lord.’”</p><p>(It is hard to love the country if those who should be serving deceive you, while we let ourselves be deceived.)</p><p>“Kung ayaw, magbago ng lipunan, tayo ang magsimula. Kung hindi magising ang mga nasa kapangyarihan, tayo ang unang gigising at hindi natin sila tatantanan hangga&#x27;t hindi isauli ang kanilang mga ninakaw,” he added.</p><p>(If the society does not want to change, let it start with us. If those in power do not want to wake up, we will wake up first and we will not leave them until they return what they stole.)</p><p>Ayuban challenged Filipinos to “accept the light of the new dawn” and to “wake up and help others to also open their eyes.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/30/as-protesters-return-to-ppm-and-luneta-what-has-happened-since-september-21-1142"><strong>What has happened since the September 21 People Power Monument and Luneta rallies?<br/></strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DX1PQsruI4o?si=WxSsuzgl3siXWGGs" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div>

<p>The public should open their eyes to the corruption, lies and sufferings that plague the nation this Advent season, a bishop said during the ongoing Trillion Peso March Sunday, Nov. 30.</p>

The public should open their eyes to the corruption, lies and sufferings that plague the nation this Advent season, a bishop said during the ongoing Trillion Peso March Sunday, Nov. 30.

‘Magising kayo’: Cubao bishop says public should open eyes to corruption, lies, suffering this Advent season

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‘Magising kayo’: Cubao bishop says public should open eyes to corruption, lies, suffering this Advent season

Marilyn Cahatol,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 30, 2025 12:56 PM PHT

Read More:

Trillion Peso March

Holy Mass

People Power Monument

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