Catholic News, paiigitingin sa Pinas!

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Setyembre 19, 2009) – Pinaiigting ng Union of Catholic Asian News o UCAN ang operasyon nito sa bansa upang lalong pagtibayin ang mga balitang may kinalaman sa Katolismo.

Ang Pilipinas ay ang natatanging Katolikong bansa sa Asya at ito ang pinagtutuunan ng UCAN upang maipabatid ang magagandang pangyayari na may kinalaman sa mga komunidad hindi lamang sa mga Kristiyano kundi maging ibang relihiyon.

Pinangunahan ni Norma Jean Viehland ng UCAN-Manila ang pagtitipon sa Davao City na dinaluhan ng mga beteranong mamamahayag, peace advocates, at pari.

Ang UCAN ang pangunahing source ng mga ibat-ibang bansa sa mga balitang may kinalaman sa mga Katoliko.

Bukod sa UCAN ay ang Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines ay naglalabas ng mga balitang ukol sa Simbahan at mga mahahalagang isyu. (Mindanao Examiner)

Church joins protest against Jolo rapes

People at the Jolo rally protesting the increase in rapes. (Photo by UCAN)

JOLO, Philippines (UCAN) - A Jolo vicariate official has joined the call for action against gang rapes in his southern Philippine town, where at least 25 rape cases have been reported in the past two months.

Oblate Father Romeo Villanueva, director of the vicariate's Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation commission, denounced lack of government support for victims of the reported rapes, mostly young Muslim women returning from night classes.

Father Villanueva addressed hundreds of people representing more than 60 civil society groups in Sulu province demanding government action to stop violence against women.

Jolo vicariate, based in the provincial capital, covers Sulu and neighboring Tawi-Tawi province, which comprises 457 islands and islets. Roughly 2 percent of the territory's 1.1 million inhabitants are Catholics, while the vast majority are Muslims.

Under a sweltering sun, young women from religious and government schools carried placards at the September 4 rally demanding action to stop the rapes as well as justice for the victims. One placard read, "Women must be loved and respected and not abused."

The rally resolution, read out by Anwar al-An, convener of the interreligious and multisectoral Sulu People's Congress (SPC), lamented local authorities' failure to act competently and protect women.

Father Villanueva urged local authorities to document the abuse carefully, so their investigations could lead to successful prosecution of wrongdoers.

The government also should promptly provide protection to victims, he said at the rally, broadcast over local radio.

The priest also signed a two-page resolution prepared by the SPC.It appealed to the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of nvestigation, Commission on Human Rights, other government bodies and elected officials to create immediately a fact-finding mission on the mounting rapes.

Father Villanueva told UCA News on September 17 that one recent victim, an 80-year old woman, reportedly was raped by 10 men. He added that he went to see her, but was told she fled Jolo out of fear the rapists would return for her.

Fear is common among the victims, who complain that police do not follow up on their complaints, he added.

"Usually, the reports about gang rapes involve young Muslim girls walking home after classes, usually alone," the priest said. He described the attacks as coordinated: "A number of motorcycle riders who spot a victim contact a covered van that then picks up the victim, who the gang will rape."

He said no Christians have reported being raped, but pointed out that if some had become victims, they might be reluctant to report this to police.

"We are upset because the police are in a state of denial and refuse to accept the accounts of the victims," he stated.

Father Villanueva explained that his Church commission joined the prayer rally because its role is to promote human rights and freedom and to share the task of peace-building. Catholics, though a minority, form networks with other civil society organizations hoping to help transform Sulu, he said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Women's Desk of the Sulu provincial police conducted a two-week information drive on the Anti-Violence against Women and Children law in all high schools and colleges in Jolo, since majority of the victims are students.

The National Statistical Coordination Board ranks Sulu 13th-poorest among the 80 Philippine provinces. (UCAN)


Link: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/09/18/church-joins-protest-against-jolo-rapes/

RP Military Yields Voice Clip Of Kidnapped Italian Clergy

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 17 Jul) – The Philippine military has sent a compact disc containing the recorded voice of kidnapped Italian Catholic missionary to the Papal Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) in Zamboanga City.

The PIME said the voice could belong to the 57-year old priest Giancarlo Bossi, who was kidnapped June 10 after celebrating mass in the coastal town of Payao outside Zamboanga City, said fellow Italian priest Luciano Benedetti.

Benedetti told the Union of Catholic Asian News that he listened to the recording and it sounded like Bossi’s voice. He said military officials refrained from saying how they got a copy of the 20-second voice clip.

He did not give details about the content of the compact disc, except that the voice was recorded on July 2. “PIME priests do not give much credit to this voice recording and would prefer to receive photos of Father Bossi as proof of life,” he said.

Benedetti said Italian missioners would like to hear more reports on progress of military search operations for Bossi.

He said the military has become silent about the search after 14 marines were killed by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels on July 10 in Basilan province. The soldiers, ten of them beheaded, were attacked while searching for Bossi in Al-Barka town where MILF rebels were said to be holding the priest. (Mindanao Examiner)

Support Each Other, Mindanao Clergy Urged: UCAN

MATI, Philippines (UCAN) -- A regional clergy convention has stressed support among "brother priests" in the southern Philippines, especially for priests who live in isolation, with little basic supplies, in dangerous areas.

It is important for priests and bishops to support each other in the diocese, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Zamboanga told 405 priests and bishops at the 34th Annual Convention of the Diocesan Clergy of Mindanao (DCM).

Organizers of the Feb. 12-14 convention at Clergy House of Mati diocese chose the theme "Nobody Gives Up on a Brother Priest" to emphasize the value of mutual concern among clergy, especially during trying times, according to outgoing DCM president Father Elmer Abacahin of Cagayan de Oro archdiocese. Mati, 1,025 kilometers southeast of Manila, is the capital of Davao Oriental province.

In his keynote address, Archbishop Valles reminded participants that though they have been brought into "communion with God" through priestly ordination, they still need support among "all clergy in brotherhood."

This support, he clarified, is not only for seeing each other through practical difficulties but also for building a "counter-culture" to the growing materialism of modern society, which threatens to weaken the priesthood.

The ecclesial territories of the Mindanao region include five archdioceses, 12 dioceses, one vicariate and three prelatures. Nearly a fourth of the country's 76.5 million people live in Mindanao.

All the ecclesial territories were represented, except for Isabela prelature, which covers Basilan province. Fourteen bishops from outside the region also attended.

After a Feb. 13 session, Bishop Angelito Lampon of Jolo spoke with UCA News about conditions in his vicariate. He said priests around Jolo town live in fear, in "ever-imminent danger of being shot or killed."

Abu Sayyaf extremists, bandits and Islamic rebels thrive in mountainous areas of the vicariate that covers Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces, which comprise 457 islands and islets. At the same time, there are ongoing military operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

Bishop Lampon recalled a priest serving on an island who "literally takes his life in his hands each time he gets on a boat" to reach his parish because the seas get rough from August to January, and pirates can attack. As for basic needs, he said at times the priest cannot buy fish because fishermen prefer to sell their catch at a higher price to middlemen. Moreover, with electricity lasting only up to six hours a day, he cannot stock up on food.

The bishop also said some priests face isolation and boredom because Catholics make up only two percent of the 1.02 million people in the vicariate. Priests in remote areas communicate with the bishop and each other through their sideband radios.

Bishop Lampon said he hosts clergy meetings every three months for prayer, discussion and "much-needed" fellowship.

Isolation is also a concern for Father Herminigildo Alinas of Malaybalay diocese. He said most of the 76 diocesan clergymen in his diocese are alone in distant parishes. Only four parishes have more than one priest, he observed, which is why the convention is helpful in "strengthening the priestly life."

During the rest of the year, he continued, Malaybalay priests nurture their community by meeting every two months.

Most priests who shared after Archbishop Valles' keynote address reported that they gather at least once a month for a diocesan clergy meeting. Others said they have one meeting and one prayer gathering a month.

One priest said when he was challenging a paper company to stop destructive logging in his diocese last year, it would have encouraged him if fellow priests supported his efforts. Others recalled then-Bishop Valles' inter-island biking trips with his priests in Kidapawan prior to his elevation and transfer to Zamboanga in January.

Participants at the recent convention elected Father Danilo Fuentes of Mati diocese as DCM president for the next three years. They decided to hold their 2008 convention in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte province.

In 1973, Mindanao priests organized the first DCM convention in Davao City, during a time when Church personnel and workers suffered persecution under martial law. "With or without martial law, the Church of Mindanao is growing fast" and diocesan priests must do their share in ministering to the "missionary, migrant and vibrant" Church in the region, they said in their first DCM convention statement.

In their 25th-anniversary booklet, DCM members described their ministry as Gospel witness among the region's "tri-people," meaning Christians, Muslims and lumad, the collective term for the area's indigenous peoples.

After their convention, the priests broke up into diocesan teams for basketball, lawn tennis and a bicycle race. Some spent the afternoon at a nearby beach. (UCAN)

Philippine Bishop Resigns From Killings Probe Body After Submission Of Findings

MANILA - Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan has resigned from a government commission that recently tagged the military, communist rebels and politicians as among those responsible for extrajudicial killings, the Union of Catholic Asian News reported Tuesday.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who created the Melo Commission last Aug. 21, has stressed the need for continuing the commission's work to "strengthen" its report, which her office officially received on Jan. 30.

The same day, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters the "initial" report is "not comprehensive," because commission members relied heavily on testimony from military men and Task Force Usig (prosecute), set up by the Philippine National Police to probe killings of media people and activists.

He said militant groups did not participate.Because of this, Ermita explained, the president's office will not publicize the commission's "first report," to keep it from overshadowing subsequent ones.

He also announced that all members of the Melo Commission, except for Bishop Pueblos, have agreed to extend their work.On Jan. 31, Bishop Pueblos told UCA News he had resigned from the commission and would not reconsider his decision, because he will be very busy in his diocese.

Butuan diocese is based in Butuan City, 820 kilometers southeast of Manila. It serves Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur provinces. Some extrajudicial killings have been reported in its territory.

Interviewed on television on Jan. 27, Bishop Pueblos said: "We have identified that there are killings really perpetrated by the military." The commission found the military responsible for a "majority" of the killings, while leftists, "goons of some politicians" and "hooded men in motorbikes" committed other killings, the bishop added.

The commission is recommending that military officers be held culpable for murders done by their soldiers, and is "encouraging the president to make a statement to stop killings in whatever form," he continued.

On Feb. 2, retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, who headed the five-member commission, told UCA News it could not publicize findings contained in the report submitted to the president.

"We want to tell everybody about our report, but not until it is released by the Office of the President," he said.

However, he confirmed that what has been reported in Philippine media is "essentially accurate."

The Jan. 30 edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer had reported the 74-year-old justice as saying that the commission found a "majority of the victims were leftist, activists, militants," and that suspected perpetrators are military personnel. "But we don't want to tag the whole military establishment, only elements of the military who were allowed to do their thing without supervision from higher officers," a quotation read.

Melo reportedly specified that the commission has recommended that retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. be held accountable for killings done by soldiers serving with the Philippine Army's 7th Infantry Division in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, 90 kilometers north of Manila.

Palparan, who headed the army division from September 2005 until he retired in September 2006, has denied responsibility for the killings.During the television interview, Bishop Pueblos described the commission's interviews with Palparan as "irritating."

The bishop cited "irresponsible comments" by the general, such as his dismissal of data as "fabrication" by the NGPO Karapatan (rights), which he termed "left-leaning."

Since that televised interview, Bishop Pueblos has said he could not talk about the matter further "unless the nuncio gives the go signal."

The apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, the Holy See's representative to the country and the local Church, is Archbishop Fernando Filoni.

In an address on Jan. 30 for the Philippine National Police anniversary, Arroyo said there is much to think about and do with regard to the Melo Commission's report. Her government will work with the Church, activists, journalists, government officials, the international community and Melo to strengthen the committee's findings and "put teeth in the recommendations," she added.

The president said the government would invite international cooperation, protect witnesses, field special prosecutors and create special courts to try cases of extrajudicial killings.

The other Melo Commission members are National Bureau of Investigation Director Nestor Mantaring, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno and University of the Philippines Regent Nelia Torres Gonzales.

Karapatan lists 830 people as victims of extrajudicial killings since Arroyo became president in 2001. They identify 365 of those killed as activists. Three of the slain are from Butuan diocese, including a worker of the Good Shepherd Sisters' Tribal Filipino Ministry.