A Tribute To Bishop Fortich at Diocese of Bacolod, Philippines, Bacolod City, Philippines 6100 PH - President Attending Funeral

Msgr. Vic Rivas visiting the Bishop.

More officials laud Fortich's work for poor BY CARLA GOMEZ Among the reasons President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is attending the funeral of Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich tomorrow, is her recognition of his contributions in solving the social problems of Negros, her Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Waldo Flores said Saturday. The advance party of the President arrived yesterday to finalize arrangements for her brief visit to Bacolod Tuesday morning to attend the funeral mass for Fortich at the San Sebastian Cathedral where he will also be buried. Flores, who was at the wake for Fortich Saturday evening, said he had the opportunity to work with the prelate when he was working for the Philippine National Bank, and its then chairman Daniel Lacson Jr. assigned the task of assisting the Dacongcogon sugar mill to him. Dacongcogon, in the hinterlands of Kabankalan, is a brainchild of Fortich to help small sugar planters. Flores said they were able to convince the PNB board that Dacongcogon was a viable and worthy project so financial assistance was made available for it to weather a crisis. I hope that, without Fortich there now, its leaders will get their acts together and avoid the consequences of a power struggle, Flores said. Flores said it was Fortich who convinced the national government to pay more attention to the problems, especially of the people of southern Negros. Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, who cut short his vacation in the United States to attend the Fortich funeral, said the prelate stood for righteousness all throughout his term as bishop and the people of Negros owe him a lot. It will be hard for anybody to fill his shoes, Puentevella said.*CPG . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gloria attending funeral; Cory, FVR laud Fortich BY CARLA GOMEZ President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is expected to attend the funeral of Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich on July 15, while former presidents Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino yesterday lauded Fortich for his work for the poor. Rafael Golez, Sugar Board member and close ally of the president, and presidential brother-in-law Ignacio Arroyo, yesterday confirmed her attendance at the funeral. "I am saddened at the passing of Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich even as I thank the almighty God for blessing our country with such a good bishop and a great friend of the poor," Former President Corazon Aquino said in a signed statement sent to the DAILY STAR. "I got to know Bishop Fortich because of his 'Pagkaon' project for the starving poor of Bacolod. In answer to his appeal, I was able to collect donations from relatives and friends and I personally delivered the check to him in Bacolod," she said. Fortich had started a campaign to help the malnourished children of Negros towards the end of the Marcos regime as Negros reeled from a sugar industry crisis. Former president Fidel Ramos, in a letter to the family of Fortich yesterday, said "May you all receive consolation from the thought that he did not only live a full and meaningful life but also did his substantial share in faithful service to God, country and people." Ramos said he and his family "express these sentiments also to the entire Catholic Community, and to all who admired and loved Bishop Antonio Fortich." The Philippine flag at the Bacolod City Hall and Bays Center flew at half mast yesterday in honor of Fortich. Fortich is considered an institution in Bacolod, we strongly feel he deserves the honor of a half mast, Bacolod Mayor Luzviminda Valdez said yesterday. Thousands of people from all walks of life are filing past the casket of Fortich at the altar of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City, Msgr. Victorino Rivas, Vicar general of the Diocese of Bacolod, said. Fortich, 89, succumbed to systemic infection concomitant with multiple organ failure secondary to diabetes mellitus Wednesday. The bulk of the crowd comes in the afternoon and evening, Rivas said. He said since Wednesday noon up to yesterday about 3,000 people have filed past the casket of Fortich. They attend the masses and wait their turn to view the bishop, he said. A tribute to Fortich and a people's vigil will be held at the Bacolod Public Plaza 8:30 p.m. on Monday. On July 15 members of various parishes will assemble at Goldenfields, City Heights, West Negros College, and the capitol lagoon park in Bacolod City at 7 a.m. for a march to the Bacolod Public Plaza at 8 a.m. There will then be a procession of the bishops, priests and faithful around the plaza with the remains of Fortich at 9 a.m. to be followed by a funeral mass at the San Sebastian Cathedral. He will be buried on the right side of the altar of the cathedral. Negrenses have lost one of the biggest inspirations in the quest for social justice, the Philippine Sugar Workers Council, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Partido ng Manggagawa, KPML and KAMPI Negros said yesterday in a joint statement on the death of Fortich. "We are saddened that the strongest pillar of the sugar workers has come to rest but we know, wherever he may be he will continue to guide us until what he has fought for has been achieved," the statement said, citing Fortich's dedication to serving the poor. Fortich never surrendered his principles and was never afraid to speak up for the poor, the statement said. "We join the Catholic Church in mourning the loss of the champion of the poor but rejoice with the spirit and inspiration he has left," it added.*CPG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fortich a great loss, Arroyo, Estrada say BY CARLA GOMEZ The death of Bacolod Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich is a great loss to the Filipino people, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said yesterday. "He was a champion of the poor and oppressed, a courageous vanguard of peace and justice. He was blessed by a great faith in God and in the people, whose love and affection he will carry forever," Arroyo said. Former President Joseph Estrada yesterday said he is "deeply saddened by the news of Bishop Fortich passing away. Not too many bishops in our country are like him, he was so dedicated and sincere in helping the poor, and his record of accomplishments in social reforms and peace have inspired me greatly in my own quest to liberate the less fortunate from poverty. "Now my determination is stronger in the pursuit of social justice, knowing that the good bishop has made himself an icon and a living example of Jesus' love for his neighbor. I will remember him well in my prayers and daily reflections as I journey the path towards justice. "Fortich's struggle to liberate the poor must continue no matter how hard, no matter how long," Estrada said. When Fortich turned 89 on Aug.11, 2002, he had said, "I am happy, I have no regrets I have seen that the work I have done is bearing fruit, especially among the masses." "The work for the poor is not excluded from the package of retirement," Fortich, had said, when he retired in 1989. Fortich, who championed the cause of the poor when it was unpopular and dangerous to do so, was actually born to a wealthy family. The eldest son of Ignacio Fortich, a Spanish Meztizo, and Rosalia Yapsutco, who was half Chinese, he was born Aug. 11, 1913, at the Silliman University Hospital in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. The Fortich family owned land in Sibulan, Negros Oriental planted to rice, corn and sugar as well as fishponds. They also had a turn-of-the-century sugar mill producing the brown sugar called muscovado. But his parents did not spoil him, he had to help at the farm and mill to earn pocket money. He told the DAILY STAR, during a 1995 interview, that, during those years, he witnessed the hard life of the laborers. Fortich said his parents were very religious and at a young age he already wanted to be a priest. "My mother had a free clinic in the hacienda for the workers, and that gave me the idea that I wanted to serve the people when I grew up," he said. In 1933 Fortich went to study at the Jesuit-run San Jose Seminary in Manila. During vacation time Fortich returned to Negros where he worked part time at a local town hall. On March 4, 1944 Fortich was ordained a priest. It was World War II and the Japanese had invaded the Philippines. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arroyo arrives in 'foul mood' BY GILBERT BAYORAN President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appeared to be in a "foul mood" yesterday, and allegedly snubbed twice the delegates of "KGMA (Kaibigan GMA)", a non-government organization, who had always welcomed her at the Bacolod Airport, for still unexplained reasons. A similar treatment was experienced by local reporters who inched their way through the mammoth crowd that attended the funeral of Bishop Emeritus Antonio Fortich, for an ambush interview with her as she left the San Sebastian Cathedral. The "taray attitude" of President Arroyo yesterday may have been triggered by the escape of a top Filipino-Indonesian bomb expert and Abu Sayyaf bandits from Camp Crame under mysterious circumstances, according to her staff. Arroyo was reportedly mad over the escape of Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian bomb expert, who confessed to his involvement in the Dec. 30, 2002 twin bombings in Metro Manila, that claimed the lives of 22 persons. Upon descending from a private jet and reviewing the Army honor guards with AFP Central Command chief Jacinto Ligot, Arroyo immediately boarded her vehicle after very brief handshaking with Governor Joseph Marañon and several other local government officials. Arroyo arrived at the requiem mass for Fortich at the San Sebastian Cathedral, 20 minutes after it had started. Observers noted that Arroyo spoke in Ilonggo but could not be understood easily. Local reporters tried to press their luck for an interview with her after the mass, to no avail. Arroyo responded merely by shaking her head. Upon arrival at the airport after the mass, she again avoided the KGMA delegates who had stationed themselves along her way, and immediately boarded the presidential UH-IH Huey helicopter, bound for Iloilo. President Arroyo is known for what has been described as her "taray attitude" and even for berating public officials in front of the media. On Monday, she reportedly stopped Australian Prime Minister John Howard from commenting on a question asked by the media, on whether he will encourage her to run for president in 2004. Streamers calling on GMA to run for president in 2004 have sprouted in key areas of Bacolod City and other cities in Negros Occidental. Arroyo has not revealed if she is backing out of her announcement that she will not run for president, despite persistent pleadings from her supporters and political allies to do so.*GPB

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