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Latest News in Bacolod

Fortich, ‘poor man’s bishop,’ dies at 89

By Inday Espina-Varona and Ma. Ester Espina, Correspondents

The man they called Kumander Tony died on Wednesday, 8:15 a.m., in Bacolod City.

Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich would have turned 90 on August 11. His doctor at the Riverside Medical Center, where he had been confined since April 28, diagnosed the cause of death as sepsis comitant with multiple organ failure and diabetis mellitus.

Fortich, who served as Bacolod diocese bishop from 1967 to 1989, had been ailing from a succession of mild strokes since November, but his death still surprised many. Perhaps it was because of his larger-than-life image, the clout he retained even after retirement.

Over the weekend, President Arroyo, whose husband, Jose Miguel, comes from Negros, urged prayers for Fortich.

“He is singularly distinguished for his commitment to the poor and for guiding the Church toward the less fortunate among us,” Mrs. Arroyo said.

Former Presidents Corazon C. Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos had also called up the hospital to ask about Fortich’s health. As did deposed President Joseph Estrada, who enjoyed bantering with the bishop.

The Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin, said the Church is blessed for having a valiant pastor like Fortich.

“I am sure that wherever he is, he will continue to intercede for us, so that genuine justice and peace may dwell in our land,” Sin said.

Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), described Fortich as a great disciple of Christ and a faithful messenger of the gospel of Love and Justice.

“He is a vigorous defender of the poor,” he said.

CBCP secretary-general Msgr. Hernando Coronet said the bishops will miss Fortich’s dedication to his work and that his commitment to justice, peace and development will always be remembered.

A great loss

In Bacolod and the rest of Negros Island, the loss is felt at a deeply personal level, by both clergy and laymen, including non-Catholics.

News of Fortich’s death caused many to break down in the middle of work.

Rowena Guanzon, a lawyer, was in a Davao City courtroom when she heard the news.

“I wanted to cry,” she told The Times. Guanzon, who is cutting short a provincial trip to pay her last respects to Bacolod’s fighting bishop, said, “Fortich’s work and life should be remembered as a beacon of light, at a time when the Church faces a great upheaval over tawdry sexual scandals.”

“I thought he would live forever,” sighed Councilor Celia Flor. “In his ailment and old age, he accommodated to say early-morning Mass, with only three of us celebrating with him. This was early last year. Few flock ever had such a good shepherd.” Not all of Negros Island’s Catholic faithful agree.

In the late 1980s right-wing landowners organized rallies to protest Fortich’s strong stand on agrarian reform. They called him and other priests subversives and communists, for fighting against socioeconomic conditions that earned Negros a reputation as a “social volcano.”

In his temporary residence, at Domus Dei, where Fortich stayed following a fire that gutted the Bishop’s Palace beside the San Sebastian Cathedral, landowners would square off with evacuees from military operations and militant sugar workers.

Fortich spent tens of millions in Church funds for social work, especially at the height of the sugar crisis, also during the term of former President Aquino, when hundreds of malnourished children died. In one of his homilies, he said the scope of hunger and poverty, worsened by Negros’ hacienda system, had expanded the seasonal tiempo muerto (dead season) into tiempo del muerto (a time of death).

People skills

Many of his critics, however, would later change their views. Many of the causes Fortich and his loyal clergy fought for have been vindicated with the passage of laws and the gradual shift in government policy, though Negros remains a hotbed of insurgency.

The vicar general, Msgr. Vic Rivas, said Fortich, born to landowning parents in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, “learned how to use influence and power not for himself but always for others.”

Rivas cried in remembering the bishop, who remains a role model for Filipino priests.

“His only extravagance was his fondness for entertaining people, being hospitable to friends, and ensuring that the rich contribute to help the poor,” he said.

Fortich never lost his temper with the landowners or with military officers who had made Negros a laboratory for what they called “low-intensity conflict.”

He would thunder from the pulpit but would have a ready smile, a firm handshake and jokes aplenty for visiting personages from the other side of the political divide.

Alluding to the Church’s present-day challenges, Rivas said of Fortich: “If you lived with him, you would be comfortable because of his kindness and compassion.”

Fortich was so famous that Vatican officials swarmed around him during a trip in the 1990s.

He was known for his fierce defense of the oppressed and his belief in stretching the limits of the Church’s “preferential option for the poor,” Rivas noted. “Yet his people skills were so good that he never really earned enemies.” And even conservative Vatican officials were drawn to the prelate with ever ready one-liners, and the ability to seamlessly blend theology with homespun wisdom.

Larger than life

Fortich was big in all ways. Tall with a nose veering to Roman stature. He walked with gravitas and laughed with his belly. His playful slaps on the back could hurt.

Every day at the Bishop’s Palace and his Domus Dei residence was open house.

He was charismatic and earned admiration worldwide when he persuaded the visiting conservative Pope John Paul II to include in his 1980 homily a denunciation of institutionalized injustice in the sugar industry and the Marcos dictatorship in general.

Fortich’s humor put him in good stead as he tried the almost impossible task of mediating between the haves and have-nots among his flock.

He would stride out to greet demonstrating landowners, grinning and dishing out gruff jokes. Journalists would be reduced to laughter as men and women who’d screamed at Kumander Tony minutes before would be reduced to kissing his ring and laughing at his comments.

His championing the poor led to earlier brushes with death. In 1987 members of a right-wing vigilante group lobbed a grenade into the Domus Dei.

The attack was clearly aimed at the bishop, who survived only because the grenade landed on the branches of a nearby tree.

Past midnight, he greeted journalists with a slain sparrow cradled in his hands. The bird, he told us, was just like any poor citizen caught in the crossfire of contending ideological forces.

The next day he had the sparrow stuffed and mounted on his desk.

Even his critics were horrified by the attack and Negros’ elite sent out a firm message: rallies were all right but the bishop was untouchable. The incident did not douse Fortich’s fire. At the height of Operation Thunderbolt in 1989, when military officials tried to block Church food missions to evacuees, claiming supplies were being diverted to communist rebels, the bishop delivered another classic line: “A hungry stomach knows no color.”

Fortich would eventually broker the return from the hills of Brig. Gen. Raymundo Jarque, the officer who masterminded Thunderbolt and then joined the rebels when caught between feuding landowners.

Surveying Jarque’s press conference, Fortich laughed. “Surreal,” he said. “Only in the Philippines.”

A priest’s bishop

So well loved was Fortich by priests that his successor, retired Bishop Camilo Gregorio, found himself scrambling to fill a giant’s shoes.

“He was always there for us,” Rivas said. “He would scold us if we did wrong but he would always go to the mat for a priest in trouble.”

At that time there was little talk of sexual abuse. Almost immediately after taking over Fortich’s post, Gregorio drove off the evacuees that had taken shelter at the Domus Dei. Irate, the rural folk marched to the remodeled Bishop’s Palace, where the new bishop had taken to holding exclusive cultural affairs. They set up camp with the help of priests. Landowners came to Gregorio’s rescue, manhandled a few of the priests, and started a war of attrition between the new bishop and priests weaned on Fortich’s activist ways. Gregorio would later retire.

Rivas said it was not the bishop’s fault that a number of Negros’ best and brightest priests and nuns joined the communist movement. The times merely called a few to a higher struggle, he explained. The list of Negros’ rebel religious is illustrious:

Luis Jalandoni and Connie Ledesma came from landed clans. Frank Fernandez, alleged head of the regional party committee, was a top scholar and being groomed for higher posts, as were Vicente Pellobello and Alan Abadesco.

Other rebels from the Church ranks were Ben Escrupulo–who has since returned to the clergy–and Norma Muger, his wife in the underground movement; and Sol Fuentespina and Carlos Alones.

Fernandez and the Jalandoni couple are with the mainstream communist movement; Fuentespina is with the rejectionist faction. Alones is still involved with the legal labor movement.

“He was an inspiration,” said Fr. Greg Patino. “At that time, the Church marched to a different drum beat.” Perhaps not, but as Lakas Rep. Apolinario Lozada Jr. of the Fifth District, Negros Occidental, said, “Fortich broke down the walls between the rich and the poor–or tried his best to do that.”

A people’s pastor

“Negros is grieving,” said Gov. Joseph Maranon, “at the untimely demise of a good man who exemplifies the character of a true pastor of the Church, especially amid current developments.”

Fortich won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1973, the only Filipino clergyman to do so, with his establishment of the Dacongcogon Sugar Cooperative, composed of small, almost subsistence-level landowners and sugar workers. The cooperative now runs the sugar mill and remains the clearest proof that the “great unwashed” and the less educated can take charge of their lives if given training and opportunities.

Fortich was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, together with then-President Aquino, for his work in the peace process.

But he was not all activism. He established the Barangay ng Virgen, which has grown into a national movement of Marian devotees. He admitted the organization was aimed at attracting devotees among the poor but, ever the social equalizer, he persuaded several of Negros’ more enlightened rich to join the group.

Fortich was born in 1913 to Ignacio Fortich and Rosalla Yatsutco. He joined the Jesuit seminary in Manila in 1933, but transferred to the San Jose Seminary in Iloilo.

He braved a banca ride from Iloilo to Bacolod at the height of World War II for his ordination on March 4, 1944.

His first assignment was as assistant priest at the San Sebastian Cathedral until 1949, when he became parish priest of Binalbagan town.

He was recalled to Bacolod on December 31, 1952, and appointed vicar general. He became the third bishop of the diocese on February 24, 1967, until he retired in 1989.

Fortich will be buried on July 15. His wake will be at the San Sebastian
Cathedral.
With Ferdinand G. Patinio, Correspondent

Arroyo, Ramos seeking
prayers for Fortich
BY CARLA GOMEZ

"I am asking our people, especially my fellow Negrenses, to join me in praying for Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said in a call last night.

Arroyo aired the appeal after learning from the DAILY STAR that Fortich is seriously ill.

"Bishop Fortich is singularly distinguished for his commitment to the poor and for guiding the Church toward the direction of the less fortunate among us.

"For this the faithful will always hold him in grateful remembrance. Let us all join in praying for our good bishop and implore the Almighty to bless him always," Arroyo said.

Former President Fidel Ramos, in a letter to Fortich, also informed him that he, his family and friends are continuing to pray for the prelate's recovery.

Ramos' letter was read to Fortich last week when he was still conscious and could still give a weak smile or wink at people who came to visit him, although he could no longer speak.

He was also able to express the pain he was feeling through his facial expressions.

Then, four days ago, the condition of Fortich, who turns 90 on Aug. 11, took a turn for the worst. He no longer responds to people who speak to him, nor show any reaction to pain.

His system appears to be failing, doctors said.

Msgr. Victorino Rivas, Fr. Greg Patiño and close friends were keeping watch over Fortich yesterday.

Last week former President Corazon Aquino also inquired about the condition of the former bishop of the Bacolod Diocese.

Ramos, in his letter to Fortich, said he, his wife, Amelita, and their children were praying for the prelate's recovery.

"We pray that the good Lord will continue to bless you and through

your intercessions - the country and Filipino people in continuing service to God," Ramos wrote.

Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra has called for prayers for Fortich, who is being kept alive through a respirator at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City.

Fortich, 89, was in the Intensive Care Unit from April 28 to May 16, but has since been transferred to a private room.

In November, Fortich suffered a mild stroke due to fatigue and was hospitalized for about 10 days.

When he returned to the Domus Dei where he lives in Bacolod City, he lost weight gradually because he found it difficult to swallow his food and in February was hospitalized again for two weeks.

The bishop who had slightly recovered and was still ambulant, went to Dumaguete City over Holy Week to visit an ailing sister.

On his return, his situation worsened and he had to be hospitalized.

He has lost his capacity to breath on his own that is why we have been put him on a respirator, his doctor, Angel Araneta, said earlier. He had a tracheotomy, to allow a tube to go down the trachea to provide a breathing channel.

Fortich has had diabetes since 1990 and has suffered several small strokes, Araneta said.*CPG

Bishop calls for prayers
against spread of SARS
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Prayers for Fortich urged BY CARLA GOMEZ Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday called for prayers for Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich, who is currently being kept alive through a respirator at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City. I am calling for prayers that he will not suffer from his present situation, Navarra said. "Who knows God might give him a miracle, it is difficult but he might recover," said Navarra. Fortich, 89, was in the Intensive Care Unit from April 28 to May 16, but has since been transferred to a private room. In November, Fortich suffered a mild stroke from fatigue and was hospitalized for about 10 days. When Fortich returned home to the Domus Dei where he lives in Bacolod City, he lost weight because he gradually found it difficult to swallow his food and in February was hospitalized again for two weeks. The bishop who had slightly recovered and was still ambulant went to Dumaguete City over Holy Week to visit an ailing sister. On his return, his situation worsened and he had to be hospitalized. He has lost his capacity to breath on his own that is why we have put him on a respirator, his doctor, Angel Araneta, said yesterday. He had a tracheotomy, to allow a tube to go down the trachea to provide a breathing channel. He has had diabetes since 1990 and has suffered several small strokes, Araneta said. We are trying to keep him from getting pneumonia, the doctor said. A frail Fortich, who cannot speak and can barely move, responds to friends who visit with a wink or a weak smile. And people close to him try to keep the conversation cheerful when they visit him that elicits smiles from the bishop known for his sense of humor. Fortich had retired as bishop of Bacolod in 1989.*CPG

SARS updates

The Filipino-Canadian doctor who treated an elderly Bukas Loob sa Diyos member who died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has died of SARS too, a Filipina patient of his said yesterday.

This brings to 15 the death toll from SARS in Canada.

Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday called on the faithful to continue to pray that the deadly SARS will not spread to the Philippines.

I also call for continued prayers that our Filipino brothers and sisters in other countries are spared from the dangers of SARS and are not infected by it, he said.

The bishop also called on the faithful to continue to push for world peace and to pray that the dangers of war will not spread.

Gerardine Alcalde, a former Bacolod reporter, who lives in Canada said her doctor whose name health authorities in Canada asked to be withheld, died at North York General Hospital in Toronto Friday night, after two weeks of confinement.

A source at the hospital who said his body was to be cremated would not give details saying they are confidential, Alcalde said.

"I feel bad about this because my doctor was a nice person but I thank God for diverting me from his clinic when I had a fall two to three weeks ago," she said.

Alcalde had not gone to the clinic because she called to check first if her doctor was in and learned that he had been placed under quarantine.

She said she and her Filipino friends have been receiving calls and text messages from worried friends and relatives and she wants to assure them that they are okay.

Earlier 500 Bukas Loob members in Toronto were put in quarantine after the death of member Eulalio Samson. Thirteen had been confirmed to be infected including three doctors and three children, Alcalde said.

"But SARS did not get in between man and God here this Holy Week," Alcalde said.

Alcalde, a member of the religious group called Handmaids of the Lord, said the SARS situation in Toronto is really a test of faith for devout Christians.

"Despite the recent development of infections spreading among the BLD members, people of different races still flocked the Catholic churches for the Last Supper and the washing of feet ceremonies. I attended the celebration at the St. Thomas More Church in Ellesmere Road and the church was full-packed of people who showed no signs of fear for SARS."

"We still observed the 'Peace be with You' with the shaking of hands and the usual way of receiving the Holy Communion. Priests continue to give confessions despite the fear of having close-contact," she said.

But the Churches will observe the request of Health Officials to do away with the kissing of the cross during Easter, she said.

"I checked with other Churches and the turn-out was really overwhelming. The Couples for Christ and Handmaid's of the Lord ministry had a day-long retreat on Holy Saturday at Immaculate Conception Parish at Woodbridge, Ontario with some 300 women-participants.

"Some Protestant churches still continue with their hugging and kissing among members, too," she said.

Earlier, Health and City officials in Toronto expressed fear for a greater opportunity of SARS spread during the observance of the Holy Week and has urged the Church leaders to make precautionary measures.

The province of Ontario counted 291 probable and suspected SARS cases, and a whole condominium known as Elton Tower in Scarborough, Toronto is now under quarantine after two of its residents were diagnosed among the probable cases, Alcalde said.

Two nurses at Markham-Stoufville hospital have also been diagnosed as probable SARS cases this week, she said.

Health officials believe the nurses probably breached their infection controls. With this developments, officials started examining whether they can use electronic tracking devices (bracelets) to keep an eye on people who are supposed to be in isolation.

But Dr. James Young, Ontario's commissioner of Public safety said there are still legal and supply issues to overcome before even considering the drastic measure, Alcalde said.*CPG

Bishop reiterates call
for more peace prayers
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday said he will continue to exhort the faithful to continue offering prayers and making sacrifices for the sake of peace and for their own sake.

The bishop, who was reacting to the bombing incidents in Davao City, said "We hope and pray that we will be preserved from all these untoward incidents that have claimed the lives of many innocent people".

Meanwhile, Navarra, Fr. Rolly Escubido and Fr. Aniceto Buenafe, celebrated their 41st, 11th and 9th Sacerdotal Anniversaries, respectively, with a Holy Mass at the Bacolod San Sebastian Cathedral yesterday.

"I believe God has a purpose for making me His priest, His bishop and that is what comforts me and inspires me despite the many hardships I have encountered in my ministry," Navarra said.

He vowed to continue serving his people and the church despite his limitations because he loves his priesthood and treasures it since it is the greatest gift he has received in life, he said. I pray that the people will continue praying for the priests, especially those also celebrating their anniversaries, that they may preserve their commitment and serve the people more, and better each day.

Navarra said that if one renews his commitment every day, it will remain fresh and always meaningful. The priesthood demands that one humbles himself in order to be able to listen to his people and to be an effective servant-leader, he said.

During the launching of Alay Kapwa 2003 yesterday, Navarra asked the people not only to lend their material wealth but to lift up the program by totally giving up oneself to help his neighbors. He also asked them to campaign to others to support the program.

The launching of Alay Kapwa 2003, with the theme "Banal na Pamilya, Banal na Sambayanan," yesterday was attended by more than 1,000 participants. It is a Lenten education and evangelization - action program of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.

The CBCP declared April 13, Palm Sunday, as "Alay Kapwa Day".*CGS

CBCP cites 7 local officials
FOR CAMPAIGN VS. ILLEGAL GAMBLING
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines yesterday cited seven local government officials of Negros Occidental for their relentless drive against illegal gambling.

The Negrense officials were among the 60 local government units and officials nationwide who were awarded with citations last night in Metro Manila by the CBCP and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina. The Negrense awardees in the CBCP search for "Marangal Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng", that was initiated by Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Dagupan, are Mayor Santiago Barcelona of Escalante City; Mayor Carlo Gamban, Silay City; Mayor Enrico Elumba, La Castellana; Rep. Monico Puentevella, Rep. Jose Apolinario Lozada, Board Member Emilio Montalvo and Mayor Luzviminda Valdez.

The plaque of citation for Escalante City was received by Barcelona and Senior Inspector Castor Laluma.

Laluma reported last night that there is no gambling financier operating in Escalante City, because of their intensified campaign against illegal gambling.

The 35 police chiefs and commanders in Negros Occidental signed a covenant in January, and pledged to voluntarily resign if they fail to act on the proliferation of illegal gambling and prohibited drugs in their respective areas.

Police records show that "guerilla-type of illegal gambling operations" have continue to exist in some municipalities and cities in the province.

Seven police officers in Negros Occidental are up for transfer effective April 8 and 15, respectively, as part of the efforts of PNP provincial director Vicente Ponteras to streamline local police organization.

To be affected by the revamp are Supts. Norberto Boston, Michael Bisagas, Larry Decena, Modesto Sanson, Chief Inspector Iver Apellido and Senior Inspector Samuel Mina.*GPB

Terrorists' attacks feared,
Navarra calls for more prayers
BY CARLA GOMEZ

President Gloria Arroyo yesterday warned of "collateral terrorist attacks" in the Philippines as a US-led war with Iraq appeared imminent, even as she held out hope for a last-minute peaceful resolution of the crisis.

"We have more than enough oil, rice and essential public needs," she also assured, amid fears of an increase in the price of basic needs as war nears.

She also assured that security measures were being put in place.

President George W. Bush yesterday gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to flee Iraq or face war. Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday called for special prayers and acts of penance amid the impending danger of war.

It seems that the US is bent on attacking Iraq that will do a great harm to many so let us double our prayers, and reinforce them with acts of penance, he said.

"Let us entrust ourselves into the hands of the Almighty," he said.

"Let us not panic but believe firmly that no matter what happens God is still in control and knows what is good for all of us," Navarra said.

Msgr. Victorino Rivas, Vicar General of the Diocese of Bacolod, yesterday called on the faithful to continue to pray for peace and for Bush to call off his plan for war against Iraq.

Even as the United States is on the verge of attack, Rivas said prayers are needed for many innocent lives that will fall victim to war.

The United States war on Iraq is not just about disarming it of weapons of mass destruction, but US economic advantage when it gains victory, he said.

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon said a contingency plan is in place to meet the needs of Negrenses should commodities be affected by war in Iraq.

Filipinos are resilient and will be able to cope with the effects of a US war on Iraq, he said.

A US war on Iraq is expected to be swift, it could be over in 24 hours or at the longest a week, he said.

Rep. Jose Apolinario Lozada (Neg. Occ., 5th district) said he is sad that the United States did not listen to allies in the United Nations and is going ahead with war.

Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella said he was not hoping for a change of heart from Bush but is praying for Saddam to leave Iraq to avert war.

Let's all pray for the innocent who will be affected by this holocaust, he said.

"We keep our hopes high that the precarious situation can be resolved by a consensus of the international community and pray that Saddam Hussein will take all steps to avert war and pave the way for a peaceful resolution of the conflict," Arroyo said yesterday. She added: "We must be proactive against collateral terrorist attacks." Arroyo met her Cabinet yesterday to mobilize the "whole government machinery" including the military and police to protect the public interest. "I call on the private sector, civil society and indeed all our citizens to cooperate and coordinate with them in safeguarding our communities," she said.

Arroyo said contingency measures have been put in place in the case of war and government had stockpiled "more than enough oil, rice and essential public needs."

She also instructed the foreign office to take all measures to ensure the safety of some 1.5 million Filipino workers in the Middle East who may be affected by war.

Meanwhile, riot police armed with clubs broke up a small group of anti-war protesters who gathered outside the US embassy yesterday shortly after Bush delivered his ultimatum on television.*CPG/AFP

Join no to war crusade,
pray for peace - Bishop
BY GILBERT BAYORAN/CARLA GOMEZ

Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday called for prayers for peace throughout the Diocese of Bacolod, and for everyone to join the "No to War" crusade as the United States edges closer to war with Iraq.

Navarra also called on Negrenses to join an interfaith prayer rally with the theme "Peace in Possible" at the Bacolod Public Plaza 5 p.m. Thursday.

Parishes and chaplaincies outside Bacolod should hold simultaneous observances of prayer rallies, he said.

Feb. 10 to 18 are days for Prayer for Peace, he said, adding that the call to prayer should be marked with the ringing of church bells.

In anticipation of a war in Iraq, Philippine National Police Chief Hermgenes Ebdane, who was in In loilo City Saturday, said the police and military are now formulating contingency plans for "worst case scenarios" involving terrorist attacks.

The PNP is closely coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other government agencies, he said.

Ebdane, however, said he hopes they don't have to implement these contingency plans.

Chief Supt Marcelo Navarro Jr., PNP regional director, said the police has established an Area Coordinating Center, bomb centers and a Boracay defense force to thwart any terrorist attacks on Western Visayas.

Gregorio Rosal, spokesman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, earlier said the New People's Army will launch tactical offensives against the military and police as he criticized President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for supporting the United States in its war of aggression against Iraq.

Navarra told the DAILY STAR Arroyo should reflect the sentiments of the Filipino people for peace, rather than supporting US President George Bush position on Iraq.

Arroyo last week said she was convinced that Iraq is maintaining "weapons of mass destruction" as well as links to terrorist groups.

She urged the United Nations to act with dispatch and force should Iraq fail to disarm.

The majority of the Filipino people's sentiments are for peace, Navarra said.

She should take into account the safety and security of our people by pushing for peace, the bishop said.

In a circular letter released yesterday, the bishop said "certainly peace is possible through respect and dialog, prayer and reconciliation."

Navarra said as Pope John Paul II clearly puts it - "dialog is the only just and noble path to agreement and reconciliation, and that the patient and wise art of peacemaking is especially blessed by God."

Navarra called yesterday a day of Prayer for Peace and directed that all liturgical celebrations be intended and offered for peace.

He also asked that the official statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on "No to War" be incorporated in homilies "so that the faithful might be enlightened and be compelled to pray always for peace.

"A war would seriously inflict great damage on the people of Iraq and their neighbors. Our own economy and people would most certainly be affected," the CBCP statement said.

The CBCP called of the United States and the United Nations to "settle without recourse to arms the grave issues that threaten to become the causes of war."

It called on the US and UN to persevere in the dialog for peace, and Iraq to cooperate fully with the UN by allowing unimpeded weapons inspections.

"War is always a defeat for humanity," it said.

The CBCP also appealed to Philippine authorities not to support a pre-emptive strike on Iraq.

"We ask our people to pray ardently for peace and to work for peace, knowing that God's cause must truly be our own," the CBCP said.*CPG /GPB

Navarra Apologizes
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

'If I have hurt his sensibilities, I am sorry.'

The statement was made yesterday by Bishop Vicente Navarra after Gov. Joseph Marañon expressed his disappointment of having been criticized that they have been "inept" in solving the massive forest destruction in Salvador Benedicto.

"I really mean nothing personal about this whole thing, but I hope he will be encourage to really make his (provincial) office work and do something about the situation," said Navarra who is referring to the immediate solution of the timber poaching activities in the forest reserve area of northern Negros.

Navarra expressed his lamentation that the provincial government and agencies involved in the preservation of the Northern Negros Forest Reserve Area have themselves to be "inept or conspiring, or without the political will" in solving the massive illegal logging activities.

Marañon dismissed allegations that they have been inept in their duty, saying the timber poaching activities in Brgy. Bagong Silang, Salvador Benedicto, would not have been uncovered if not for their initiative, through the efforts of the Task Force Ilahas.

Anticipating Marañon's reaction, Navarra said, "I have to correct something about how his office reacted to the Salvador Benedicto illegal logging problem".

I am just complying with my obligation and duty, to bring out in the open for the consumption of the general public, on what should be really known and what should be done, Navarra added.

Marañon maintained that they have not been remiss in their duties, saying he even brought the problem to the attention of President Arroyo and Justice secretary Hernando Perez who promised to send DOJ investigators to Negros Occidental.

On the offer of Marañon for them and civil society to join the probe of DOJ in the massive forest destruction, Navarra said, if that happens, I would be very happy.

But it should be the proper authority who should investigate the whole thing, he added.

The forest carnage in Salvador Benedicto led to the discovery by Task Force Ilahas of 600,000 board feet of timber cut by poachers and slash-and-burn farmers.

Jose Maria Valencia, a consultant of Marañon in the anti-illegal logging campaign, said the participation of the civil society and the church in the DOJ has already been approved by chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zunio.

Navarra said he is available for a dialog with Marañon anytime. "I have nothing to hide; I want to help and I don't want to hurt people. It is Negros that we are trying to protect", he added.

Marañon ordered Mayor Cynthia de la Cruz to submit within 15 days an official report on the forest destruction in Brgy. Bagong Silang, Salvador Benedicto.

De la Cruz, who cried foul at the persistent allegations linking her family to the timber poaching activities, said the accusations have a political color.

Navarra joined the call of Marañon for de la Cruz to explain the forest destruction in Salvador Benedicto. At the same time, he said "it is very obvious that there had been a negligence on the part of Salvador Benedicto municipal government." *GPB

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74th Birthday of Cardinal Sin

HIS Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin, is celebrating his 74th birth anniversary tomorrow. A national figure in Filipino affairs, Cardinal Sin will receive greetings from many religious and political leaders today.

Cardinal Sin, a native of Aklan, was born on August 31, 1928. Ordained as a priest in April 1954, and as a bishop in 1967, he served the archdiocese of Jaro from 1967 until 1974 when Pope Paul VI appointed him archbishop of Manila. Those were difficult days for the church. Sin had to steer a balanced course of renewal in accord with the directions of the Second Vatican Council (1963-1965) while at the same time leading the bishops in living with the political tensions provoked by President Marcos' martial rule.

When martial law began to show signs of corruption and moral bankruptcy, Cardinal Sin declared a policy of "critical collaboration'' with the government. Sin managed to criticize the political foibles and crimes of the government without totally alienating the Marcoses and their political allies. It was no small task. Sometimes Sin was sharply critical of the government and boldly prophetic. Yet, in the next week, he could join a birthday celebration in Malacañang.

Understandably, church people were divided about how to respond to the Marcos dictatorship. Some of the laity took up the armed struggle, as did some of the clergy and religious. Sin leaned toward a policy of active nonviolence. For the "snap election'' of January 1986, decreed by Marcos, Cardinal Sin urged Corazon Aquino to run as a unifying opposition candidate. After the election, when the reports of election irregularities poured in at the Namfrel offices, Cardinal Sin rallied the church to press for justice.

Finally, in 1986, as the fateful events of late February unfolded, Cardinal Sin used Radio Veritas to urge people into the streets, to pray and to protect then General Fidel V. Ramos and then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile at Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame. That was EDSA One; it spelled the end of President Marcos' rule. EDSA Two also with Cardinal Sin's support removed President Estrada from office.

Cardinal Sin has urges broad consultation with experts and with ordinary Catholics who constitute the church, promoting the church's commitment to the poor, as seen in his call for the church of Manila to become a "church of the poor'' as envisioned at the 1991 Second Plenary Council. Cardinal Sin has defended human rights and called for radical reform in the church. His actions and statements have provoked harsh criticism, especially in his recent efforts to stop capital punishment and political analysts have offered assessments of Sin's efforts but the final verdict belongs to the Filipino people. Whether in agreement or not, no one can overlook Sin's contributions to the Catholic Church and to the welfare of the nation.

Happy birthday, Cardinal Sin! May the Lord bless you with strength and good health so that you will be able to continue to serve the church and the nation.

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Colegio de San Agustin Celebrates 40th Year

Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod celebrated its 40th Anniversary and the feast day of its Patron Saint, St. Augustine, on Aug. 28 with the theme "Reminiscing the Unforgettable and Bountiful Years of CSA-B."

The celebration started with a holy mass in honor of St. Augustine at the school gymnasium with Fr. Generous Gonesto, ordained priest, as the main celebrant and Fr. Raul Marchan, O.S.A. school president, the homilist, a press release from CSA-B said.

Marchan, in his homily, encouraged the Augustinian youth to begin a life of greatness and have the image of God in their lives.

Augustinians also commemorated the 23rd sacerdotal anniversary of the school president, Fr. Raul Marchan, O.S.A; thanksgiving of the newly ordained priest, Fr. Gonesto; the blessing of the groundfloor of the five-storey Student Center Building and the unveiling of the image of the newly canonized Augustinian Saint, Alonso de Orozco, O.S.A.

The occasion was also attended by Fr. Richard Pido, O.S.A, Prior Provincial, Augustinian Province of Sto. Niño de Cebu.*

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Gov't inept in solving Illegal Logging, Bishop Laments
BY ANTONIETA LOPEZ

Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday lamented that the provincial government and the agencies directly involved in the preservation of the North Negros Forest Reserve have shown themselves to be 'inept, or conspiring, or without the political will' in solving the massive illegal logging in Don Salvador Benedicto town.

The bishop, in a pastoral letter distributed to the various parishes under the Diocese of Bacolod, said the government has been dragging its feet in catching the culprits and mastermind(s) of what he called as an "insensitive and criminal vandalism for profit."

Presidential Assistant Franklin Fuentebella yesterday said that he has brought to the attention of PNP chief Hermogenes Ebdane the opposition of the bishop and the civil society to the offer of the RPA-ABB to help in the campaign against illegal logging.

Ebdane, he said, promised to call on PNP regional director Rolando Garcia to discuss the issue.

Fuentebella also said that he will request DENR regional director Raoul Geollegue to brief Ebdane on the situation.

Navarra said the people cannot be blamed if they have become skeptical, and entertain suspicions that there is either collusion between the people in government and the criminals, or, there is an official attempt to whitewash the case.

"We appeal to our provincial government, to the office of the governor, and all the other government agencies concerned that they expedite the solution of this case, and sincerely and courageously fulfill their duty to stop further illegal logging and any form of destruction of our forest," the bishop added.

Reacting to the Bishop's statement, Gov. Joseph Marañon, expressed his gratitude to Navarra for "reminding" them of their obligation as he also said the bishop is just being true to his calling as "shepherd of the flock."

He, however, refuted the allegation that they have been inept in their duty, saying that the illegal logging activities in Brgy. Bagong Silang would not have been uncovered if not for their initiative and through the efforts of the anti-illegal logging Task Force Ilahas.

Marañon also said that his office has immediately brought the issue to the attention of the national government, even discussing it personally with Justice Secretary Hernani Perez.

The governor had also earlier challenged the civil society and the Church to break their silence and denounce illegal logging activities.*ABL

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Church Leads Protest Against Pro-Abortion Bill

Conservative groups within the Roman Catholic Church are apparently in a war path against advocates and pillars of House Bill No. 4110, otherwise known as the Reproductive Health and Rights Act, which they claim clearly promotes the legalization of abortion in the Philippines.

Church sources yesterday disclosed to DAILY STAR that support versus H.B. No. 4110, whose principal authors are Reps. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo (Aurora Province), Darlene Magnolia Antonino-Custodio (First District, South Cotabato and General Santos), Cielo Krisel Lagman-Luistro (First District, Albay) and Loretta Ann Rosales (Akbayan Party-list), is snowballing and is expected to end in a massive campaign that will include the mobilization of the faithful next week in an effort to counter the deceptive provisions of the proposed law.

This developed as Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, one of the 51 co-author of the controversial legislation, withdrew his support to the House Bill a week ago.

House secretary-general Roberto Nazareno, in an Aug. 20, 2002 memorandum addressed to his deputy for operations and plenary affairs bureau executive director, disclosed Puentevella's withdrawal of support to H.B. 4110.

This left only three Negros solons, Reps. Alfredo Marañon, Jr., of the Second District; Jose Carlos Lacson III, Third District, and Emilio Macias II, as among the supporters, who also included Reps. Ma. Imelda Marcos, Gilbert Remulla, Carlos Padilla, Lynette Punzalan, Ma. Victoria Locsin, Eileen Ermita-Buhain, Clavel Martinez, Rozzano Rufino Biazon, Antonio Abaya, Gabrielle Calizo, Nerissa Corazon Soon-Ruiz, Ruben Torres, Cynthia Villar and Willie Villarama.

Oppositors to the proposed Reproductive Health and Rights Act expressed alarm over the provisions of the legislation, which in effect allows even a 13-year-old to undergo abortion.

Section 3 (Definition of Terms) of H.B. 4110 stipulates that "adolescent sexuality refers to the reproductive system, gender identity, values or beliefs, emotions, relationships and sexual behavior of young people as social beings. The term especially the subjective elements (values, beliefs and emotions) should be seen from the perspective of young people to become meaningful. Adolescent pertains to people aged between 13-24."

In pushing for the bill's passage, the authors argued that every Filipino woman's reproductive health and rights are embodied in the 1987 Constitution and that the Philippines, being a signatory to the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, among others, is duty-bound to take "affirmative measures to ensure that reproductive health care is available and accessible to all women and girl-children".

They also cited the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the body that monitors compliance with the Women's Convention, declared under its general recommendation that State Parties should "ensure universal access for all women to a full range of high quality and affordable health care, including sexual and reproductive health services."

CEDAW further called for a review of laws criminalizing medical procedures only needed by women, and that punish women who undergo these procedures, they pointed out.

Other legal barriers to reproductive health, CEDAW added, are laws that prohibit abortion, restrict advertising of contraception, require a spouse's consent to obtain contraception, and criminalize voluntary sterilization.

The four main authors - Castillo, Custodio, Luistro and Rosales - also pushed for amendments to provisions of the Revised Penal Code penalizing women and those aiding them in all kinds of consensual abortions.

"The Code should be amended to allow consensual abortion under exceptional circumstances," they said.*

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Bishop Lauds Fortich on 89th Birthday
BY CARLA GOMEZ

A great defender of human rights and a protagonist of the church stand on social issues - that was how Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday described Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich.

Navarra had joined a concelebrated mass at the Sacred Heart Shrine in Bacolod City to mark the 89th birthday of Fortich.

Navarra said he prays that the Lord will continue to bless Fortich, because that, "in a sense, will be a blessing to us, too, in the Diocese of Bacolod."

The presence of Fortich is very, very powerful in the sense that he has endeared himself to all of us and is a very great inspiration to us in the Diocese of Bacolod, Navarra added.

Navarra also wished the other celebrator, Msgr. Victorino Rivas, a happy birthday.

"I hope his health will improve and he will continue journeying with us in the Diocese of Bacolod," he added.

"We really need his expertise and his powerful personality. I assure him of my prayers and support," he added.

Meanwhile, Navarra yesterday reiterated his stand "that premarital sex can never be condoned by the church."

"This is totally erroneous and morally wrong" he said in reaction to a statement of Sister Purification Mendoza at the Visayas AIDS Convention in Bacolod City last week.

"Boys also go through the 'rite of passage' to be 'full-fledged men' by encouraging them through their first sexual relation or experience," she said.*CPG

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Bishop Civil Society Buck RPA Mobilization For Anti-Illegal Log Drive

Bishop Vicente Navarra and the civil society in Negros yesterday expressed their opposition to the mobilization of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade guerillas in the anti-illegal logging campaign in Salvador Benedicto.

"We are not in favor of rebels to be designated as a body to enforce law and order. That should be the work of our military and police, otherwise, it can be construed that there is a parallel military force that is recognized by the government, which the government does not want to admit, but it appears like that," Navarra said.

Top military and police officials in Negros Occidental yesterday said the RPA-ABB mobilization is only in support of "providing information" to government agencies primarily involved in the campaign.

However, Col, Alphonsus Crucero, 303rd Infantry Brigade commanding officer, and newly-designated Negros Occidental police director Vicente Ponteras said the RPA-ABB should desist from carrying and displaying their firearms.

Navarra who met yesterday with former Governor Rafael Coscolluela, the civil society and various environment groups, said even the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have supported the call to oppose the RPA-ABB mobilization in the anti-illegal campaign.

Coscolluela said Navarra, the civil society and environment groups agreed that concrete action is needed to protect the remaining forest cover of Negros Occidental.

"You can expect the civil society to take an active role in different ways," Coscolluela said, referring to the anti-illegal logging campaign.

Navarra confirmed plans to hold a caravan-mass at the timber poaching site in Brgy. Bagong Silang, Salvador Benedicto, which is expected to be participated in by all sectors of society in Negros, on Sept. 5.

He said the expected massing of people in Salvador Benedicto does not mean that they want to project a show of force. " I believe it is the duty and responsibility of the Church to take make its stand clear and to call on the conscience of the people to really take this matter seriously," Navarra said.

We want also to touch the conscience of perpetrators of the plunder of our forest to make them realize that they are really putting the lives of so many people, even our own natural resources into a great danger, even to the extinction, he added.

DENR personnel in Negros Occidental got the ire of the RPA-ABB and Bagong Silang Brgy. Capt. Vicente Bacordo for holding him responsible for the massive destruction in the Salvador Benedicto forest reserve area.

Navarra said he believes that the provincial government can manage to address the (timber poaching) issue by getting support of all government agencies as well as the general public.

Jose Maria Valencia, a consultant of Governor Joseph Marañon in the anti-illegal logging campaign, had said that the RPM-P-RPA-ABB leadership will mobilize their members in the anti-illegal logging campaign and to implement the total log ban in Negros.

The recent arrest of 12 timber poachers in Salvador Benedicto was facilitated by the RPA-ABB and Bagong Silang Brgy. Capt. Vicente Bacordo, who turned them over to the Task Force Ilahas and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the filing of charges against them.

Ironically, Bacordo, his son, Eden, and five John Does suspected of being members of an armed group, were also charged for violation of PD 705, known as Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.*GPB

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