THE verdict is out. On January 28, performance artist and cultural activist Charles P. “Carlos” Celdran was convicted for “offending religious feelings” by Judge Juan Bermejo of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court’s Branch 4. Celdran was sentenced to a prison term — ranging from 2 months and 21 days, up to 13 months and 11…
“WHEN you quit when you experience frustration, and you do not try again, you cannot succeed. But when you try again, and you somehow succeed, you no longer need to quit, you simply continue. When you are clear about your goals, God knows it. [Goals] are for your own good, as well as others, therein…
FOR Father Rey Bersabal, growing as a priest is of vital importance. Bersabal is the pastor of St. John the Baptist in Folsom. Last year, he participated in a new program that provides priest with leadership training called “Good Leaders, Good Shepherds.” The program is designed to help priests be better leaders after the example…
FOR Father Benjamin Escosura Alforque, the Parochial Vicar at St. Catherine of Alexandria in Riverside, California, activism is an important part of his life. Aside from serving God, Alforque is a spokesperson for People’s Rights International Solidarity Movement (PRISM) and president of The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON-US). He’s also a priest of the…
LAST June 2011, Fr. Eurel Manzano, 26, became the youngest priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston following his ordination. But Fr. Eurel did not get the “call” early. He originally planned to become a doctor and went to the University of Washington where he studied pre-med. Then, came God’s call to the priesthood and Manzano…
“WE ALL have different gifts. It would be sad, if we [live in a] cookie cutter world. I like to bring the joyfulness that my faith brings – like the joyful presence of my pastor in the Philippines who changed me – to persons that I meet,” Fr. Freddie Chua, 2011. It was an…
“I FIND fulfillment as a priest when I serve and minister to the people, the faithful, whose marriages and status in life before the Church need help. I believe in this ministry of justice, truth, healing and reconciliation, for even though truth might be difficult, it is what it is, that some folks are not…
WHEN Father Jo-Andre Beltran tells you he comes from a religious family, he really does come from a religious family. Beltran, the associate pastor at Notre Dame de Chicago, is the fifth priest among his Beltran relatives not including that several cousins who are also priests but not with the Beltran surname. “Our house was…
REV. Jose Glenn Diaz was born and raised in the Philippines. He took up his high school and college at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Palo, Leyte. Then, the entered the UST Central Seminary in Manila where he graduated in 1986. The following year, 1987, he was ordained as a priest in the Archdiocese of…
FR. RAMON Bolatete was born and raised in the Philippines. He studied at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines, before entering the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City, where he earned his Master’s Degree in Philosophy. He also has a Master’s Degree in Missiology, from Ottawa, Canada. Fr. Bolatete belongs to the…
FATHER Evelio “Toto” Buenaflor Jr., a native of M’Lang, Cotabato, Philippines is a pastor at St. Andrew Church in Amelia, Louisiana. Last year, Buenaflor celebrated his 25th anniversary of priesthood. Ordained in 1985, Buenaflor arrived to the United States in 2005 and first served as an associate pastor at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux. After…
ON May 19, 2007, when Bishop William E. Lori ordained Filipino priest, Fr. Cyrus Bartolome, for the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut, along with three other priests, (from Poland, Colombia, and Puerto Rico), he mentioned that it just shows the increasing diversity of the family of faith in the Diocese. Held at the Saint Augustine…
FATHER Arturo Balagat is the pastor of St Anthony’s Catholic Church in San Jacinto, CA. Balagat is a popular priest known for his work as an activist in the Filipino community. Aside from serving as pastor, Balagat has served as president of the US Filipino Catholic Ministry, president of The National Asian and Pacific Catholic…
“WHY not a regular Tagalog Mass here at the Transfiguration of Our Lord Church?…To feed the deep spiritual thirst and hunger in the hearts of Filipino-Americans and Filipino expatriates residing in Chicago and its suburbs and their pastoral needs waiting to be addressed. A regular celebration of the Holy Eucharist in Tagalog could be a…
“I FIND fulfillment as a priest when I serve and minister to the people, the faithful, whose marriages and status in life before the Church need help. I believe in this ministry of justice, truth, healing and reconciliation, for even though truth might be difficult, it is what it is, that some folks are not…
“LAND for them (referring to the Manobos and Higaonons) is not only life, but also it is a repository of culture, their ancestors are there. Land is the repository of their faith, their beliefs, if they are dispossessed of their land, they are dispossessed of their culture. They must have their land to preserve their…
“BECAUSE of the mining, the roads are so rough on the way from Carrascal to Cantilan [Surigao del Norte], there are no trees, there are no people, and there are no cell sites. Ang tulisan ay nakapila, malapit sa dagat, naghihintay sila. Yet, somehow I escape the queue of the robbers [be able] to spread…
“THE [50-year] celebration will be good for me, but it is more important to build the school [St. Catherine of Siena in Reseda] to make good Christians, good Catholics to replace us…my dream is for you to accompany me and to support the school.” – Fr. Raul Cortes, 2012. “The church was dead,” said Olga…
LOCAL residents to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of world-renowned Healing Priest Fr. Fernando Suarez,MMMP on May 12, 2012 at the Quiet Cannon Country Club, 901 Via San Clemente Montebello, California 90640 with a Dinner reception. The celebration will feature a Mass that will start at 6:00 P.M. to be celebrated by local priests and con-celebrated…
AFTER a long wait under four administrations (Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo), victims of the Marcos tyranny have more reasons to celebrate the 27th anniversary of EDSA People Power Revolution this year. In three weeks, Filipinos will commemorate the February 1986 event which brought the People Power Revolution. In this historic uprising, the voice of…
As of press time, the USS Guardian ship is still stranded at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Tubbataha Reef. Amid all the outrage caused by the unfortunate accident, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) made clear that the annual Balikatan Exercises between the Philippine and US troops will still push through. In a statement, AFP…
AFTER a 10-day convoluted tirade between Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the two senators finally called a “ceasefire” on what has become a bitter (and possibly, life-threatening) diatribe. The very publicized feud and conflict between the nation’s two top officials started over Sen. Enrile’s distribution of P1.618 million each among members…
IN travel and leisure, it seems that politics are set aside. Contrary to its implications, the escalating conflict in the ongoing territorial dispute over the Spratlys does not interfere with travel plans of Chinese tourists to the Philippines. On January 9, China’s Oriental Morning Post hailed the Philippines as one of the “Best Tourist Destination for 2012.”…
LAST month, President Aquino was quoted in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) anniversary as saying that the “rusty” days of Philippine warships were over. Because of the “overflowing trust” that the Filipinos have in the local troops, the president said that modern warships will be acquired and deployed this year to better ensure…
THE Philippines, which celebrates one of the world’s most raucous and dangerous New Year, welcomed 2013 with a bang – literally. Beginning January 1, a series of gun-related incidents has disrupted the New Year revelry. The Philippine National Police (PNP) reported at least 40 indiscriminate firing cases during the celebration. The highly publicized death of…
FR. JAMES Reuter, SJ may not have been Filipino by blood, but he was definitely Pinoy in heart and mind. The revered and beloved 96-year-old American priest (who was also known for being an academic, singer, athlete, artist and political activist) passed away on December 31 from lung and heart failure. The entire nation mourned over his…
THIS week, we glorify the heroism and gallantry displayed by American and Filipino World War II veterans. This celebration encourages those of us who are now enjoying freedom, to pay tribute to all these freedom fighters — those who survived and perished when world peace was compromised. Former President Franklin Roosevelt vowed that Filipino soldiers…
And just like that, the highly-anticipated 2012 US presidential elections is finally over. In what turned out to be one of the closest and costliest presidential races in history, President Barack Hussein Obama secured a second-term, snatching the gilded seat of chief executive away from Gov. Mitt Romney by almost a hundred electoral votes. At…
Hurricane Sandy is behind us, and so is Athena, the nor’easter that threatened to cut the power of the people who just regained theirs and made life more miserable for those who do not have power nor heat. As a foundation, Handang Tumulong was born because of a need to help our kababayans back in…
Despite Hurricane Sandy’s wrath, the shows went on. The Bayanihan, the national dance company of the Philippines, performed before sold-out audiences in New York and Washington, DC on the same week that Sandy ravaged most of the eastern seaboard. The dance group succeeded in putting the country back on the American stage as it sang…
