Monisgnor Jeffrey Malanog, during the Regional Lay Leaders Conference in Tagbilaran, reminded the Laity not to separate our faith from our actions! True! It is...
Pope Francis marked 2024 as the Year of Prayer, in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year. Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, together with the Diocese of...
The long-awaited International Labor Organization (ILO) High-Level Tripartite Mission (ILO-HLTM) to the Philippines is finally happening this January 2023. Representatives of governments, employers and workers from the ILO will visit PH this coming January 23 -26, 2023 to investigate the reported alarming state of freedom of association in the country.
The Philippines has consistently ranked poorly in the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index, listing it as one of the 10 Worst Countries for workers, in the past six (6) years citing that trade unionists and labor rights advocates are being killed to silence them, preventing them from organizing and pushing for the welfare of the workers.
Meanwhile, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) has documented 56 victims of killings among workers, unionists and labor rights defenders. 27 unionists and labor organizers also remain in detention for trumped-up cases and planted evidence. Thousands of unionists fear for their safety due to continuous red-tagging, harassment and intimidation perpetrated by the NTF-ELCAC. Unionists, organizers and rights defenders are continuously being hounded in their homes and workplaces to force them to disaffiliate from their unions/organizations.
Various policies have been used against the people and led to further shrinking of our democratic space such as the Martial Law in Mindanao, Executive Order 70 that led to the creation of the NTF-ELCAC, the Joint Industrial Peace Concerns Office (JIPCO) and the Anti-Terrorism Law.
In this regard, the Church People Workers Solidarity (CWS), United Labor, Citizens Rights Watch Network (CRWN) and the Labor Rights Defenders Network (LARD-Net) join unionists, workers and rights defenders in its efforts in intensifying our campaign against violations of labor and human rights in the Philippines and in calling for justice and accountability.
We invite you to join us in an Ecumenical Solidarity Gathering for the Victims of Trade Union Repression on January 20, 2023 at Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) Conference Hall (Taft, Manila), 3:00 in the afternoon. Together, let us pray that this mission be successful and instrumental in achieving justice for all victims of workers’ and human rights violations and in forging a more democratic space for Filipinos to be able to fully enjoy their rights and realize dignity at work.
“We don’t want our sea to be uninhabitable to marine life, resulting in the disruption of our ecosystem”
LiCAS News January 17, 2023
Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan. FILE PHOTO
The Catholice Diocese of Balanga vowed to continue its fight against plans to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).
“We don’t want to put life on the brink of danger, in the shadow of impending death, and in a future with no certainty of goodness, safety, and beauty,” said Bishop Ruperto Santos in a pastoral letter.
“We acted then and will continue to act today. We are against it. Stop it. Enough. We do not agree. We are against any ideas or plans for the rehabilitation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant,” added the prelate.
“The Diocese of Balanga objects and it cannot be changed. Life is more important to us than profit or money from low-cost electricity or just to satisfy someone’s personal selfish motives,” he said.
The House Special Committee on Nuclear Energy has begun talks on the development of nuclear power, including the possible revival of the Bataan plant, to fix power shortage.
The diocese maintains that nuclear energy remains a high-risk technology, will be harmful to the environment, and the amount of waste it will produce “will be tremendous and so does the cost to dispose it.”
“We don’t want to put life on the brink of danger, in the shadow of impending death, and in a future with no certainty of goodness, safety, and beauty,” Bishop Santos said.
“We don’t want our sea to be uninhabitable to marine life, resulting in the disruption of our ecosystem. We don’t want our soil to be poisoned and no longer viable to be cultivated. We don’t want our livelihoods to be destroyed,” he said.
The late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr ordered construction of the 620-megawatt nuclear facility in the 1970s.
Beset with safety concerns and corruption allegations, the project was mothballed after Marcos was ousted in 1986 and in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
“The government should provide financial incentives or subsidies to help our farmers grow more onions and lower the cost of production”
CBCP News January 17, 2023
A group of women farmers and their supporters under the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women stage a demonstration outside the main office of the Department of Agriculture in Quezon City, Philippines, on Jan. 16, 2023, to demand an immediate solution to the rising prices of food in the country. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
The Catholic Church’s social action and advocacy arm urged the government to provide farmers with needed assistance amid the soaring prices of onions in the market.
Caritas Philippines issued a statement on Monday, January 16, calling on the Department of Agriculture to help farmers increase onion production at less costs in a bid to lower prices in the market.
“The government should provide financial incentives or subsidies to help our farmers grow more onions and lower the cost of production,” said Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Caritas Philippines.
“This will make them more competitive with producers from other countries, who are already receiving large subsidies and other forms of support from their government,” he said.
Aside from the financial support, the bishop also urged the Department of Agriculture to improve onion farming infrastructures in the country.
“Another thing that can be looked into is infrastructural investments that would improve the productivity and efficiency of onion farms,” Bishop Bagaforo said.
“More cold storage facilities should be established to lessen the cost surplus of our farmers and meet the rising demand for agricultural products in the market,” he added.
Caritas Philippines issued the statement as prices of local red onions are now between PhP500 to PhP720 per kilogram, while local white onions are priced at PhP600.
The amount is far from prices in 2021, when the prevailing price of locally produced onions
Kalikasan urged the Department of Environment and National Resources to immediately stop and review megadam projects
LiCAS News January 17, 2023
An activist displays a placard during a demonstration on Dec. 30, 2022, calling for justice for what human rights groups described as a massacre of Tumandok indigenous people in 2020. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
Environmental activists and a tribal people’s group called on the government to pull out soldiers who were reported to have been deployed in indigenous people’s communities in the past weeks.
“We call on the [police] and the [military] to pull out their troops immediately in the Tumandok areas,” said read a statement by Beverly Longid, national convener of Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan sa Pilipinas.
Longid said police and military operations in the ancestral lands of the Tumandok indigenous tribe in Calinog, Iloilo, and Tapaz, Capiz, “are causing alarm and fear for the Tumandok.”
In 2020, state forces simultaneously raided two Tumandok communities in Iloilo and Capiz, killing nine community leaders and arresting 17 others.
The Jalaur megadam in the island of Panay has faced controversy in recent years due to alleged human rights violations.
Just last week 300 soldiers again conducted military operations in the Tumandok communities, causing widespread fear there that a repeat of the 2020 massacre would occur.
“Civil-military ops like this often lead to human rights violations, intimidation, and disunity in the IP communities,” said Longid, adding that it causes fear and confusion among the people.
“Like in the past, this might lead to dispossession and displacement,” she said.
Kalikasan People PNE, an environmental group, also expressed alarm over the recent deployment of military troops in the ancestral lands.
The group said the soldiers are not there to “keep the peace,” but instead have been sent there to “quell the resistance” of the Tumandok people against the controversial Jalaur megadam project.
“On top of violating Indigenous peoples’ rights, these megadams cause large-scale environmental destruction in the long run,” said the group in a statement.
Aside from the Jalaur megadam, other dam projects across the country have also been met with community resistance in recent years.
The San Nicolas church was built between 1787 and 1804 under the supervision of Augustinian friar Ambosio Otero
Philippine News Agency January 17, 2023
Interior of the San Nicolas de Tolentino Church in San Nicolas, Cebu City, before it was destroyed during the Second World War. The San Nicholas parish is considered one of the oldest in Cebu.
Parishioners of the San Nicolas de Tolentino Shrine in a village known during the Spanish time as “el primer pueblo de Filipinas,” or the first town in the Philippines, celebrate the feast of the Sto. Niño or the Child Jesus with a thanksgiving Mass.
Monsignor Rogelio Fuentes, the shrine’s moderator, traced the thanksgiving celebration at the 457-year-old Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño to the relationship between the friars of the Order of St. Augustine and the residents of the country’s oldest “pueblo.”
“Long before the pandemic, the priests from our parish would be called to celebrate the thanksgiving Mass. Why is that? Perhaps, it is because of so many connections between the Basilica and San Nicolas Parish,” said the priest in his homily.
He reminded devotees that San Nicolas, the old settlement during the Spanish time and at the same time the first parish ever established in mainland Cebu, was founded by the Spanish Augustinian friars in 1584.
As the mother parish, San Nicolas was instrumental in creating major parishes in Cebu such as the Sta. Catalina de Alexandria in Carcar City (1617), Nuestra Señora Virgen de la Regla in Lapu-Lapu City (1711), San Francisco de Asis in Naga City (1829), Sta. Teresa de Avila in Talisay City (1836), Sto. Tomas de Villanueva in El Pardo, Cebu City (1933), Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu in Guadalupe, Cebu City (1933), and five other parishes.
On Saturday, eve of the festivities, every image of the “Sto. Niño de Teniente” from San Nicolas will have to arrive to guard the Basilica for the entire duration of the solemn foot procession of the holy image of the Sr. Sto. Niño de Cebu.
As a tradition, Msgr. Fuentes said the Augustian friars are the ones who celebrate the fiesta
Msgr. Fuentes, who also is serving as Archdiocese of Cebu vicar general, said he finds it proper that as the oldest of all the parishes in Cebu, the parish priest in San Nicolas would lead the Holy Mass in thanking God for the three graces – the grace of history, the grace of the celebration, and the graces that each one received from the Lord.
“In the grace of history, we have many things to thank about as we have just commemorated the 500 years of Christianity, a grace that Cebuanos are grateful to God for it is in our midst that the blessing of this Basilica and the image of the Sr. Sto. Niño gifted to Queen Juana on the occasion of the first baptism here in Cebu,” he said in Cebuano.
According to a publication, Balaanong Bahandi, the San Nicolas church built in honor of an Italian saint, St. Nicolas de Tolentino, also served as a town known before as Cebu el Viejo or old Cebu back to the time of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, 439 years ago.
The adjacent settlement up north was Villa San Miguel, the city created by the Spaniards while farther away was called Parian where the Chinese lived and traded.
The San Nicolas church was built between 1787 and 1804 under the supervision of Augustinian friar Ambosio Otero. The bell tower was added in 1812 and the parochial house in 1825.
However, the church building was destroyed by aerial bombing during World War II. The present-day church was built in 1942 and was finished in 1965.
“Tandaan ninyo ito: kapag hindi kayo nagbago at tumulad sa mga bata, hinding-hindi kayo mabibilang sa mga pinaghaharian ng Diyos!”
Homily ni Bishop Broderick Pabillo para sa January 15, 2023; Feast of Sto Nino / Holy Childhood Day
Bishop Broderick Pabillo January 15, 2023
A devotee inspects an image of the Santo Niño that is on display at a shopping mall in Manila on Jan. 11, 2023. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
“Sino ang pinakadakila sa kaharian ng langit?” Ang tanong na ito kay Jesus ng mga alagad ay siya ring tanong natin. Palagi tayong naghahanap tayo ng daan tungo sa kadakilaan pati na sa langit! Nakakabigla ang sagot ni Jesus. Ang dakila ay ang maliit. Less is more. Ang bata ay hindi lang ang dakila. Kailangan tayong tumulad sa mga bata upang makapasok sa kaharian ng langit.
Mabigat ang salita ni Jesus: “Tandaan ninyo ito: kapag hindi kayo nagbago at tumulad sa mga bata, hinding-hindi kayo mabibilang sa mga pinaghaharian ng Diyos!” Mas lalong matularan natin ang bata, mas dumadakila tayo sa mata ng Diyos.
Ano ba ang katangian ng pagkabata na mahalaga sa Diyos? Ang bata ay hindi nagmamalaki, hindi nagmamayabang, at siya ay mapagtiwala. Wala siyang tinatago kaya hindi siya mapagkunwari. Kailangan natin ang mga katangiang ito sa ating pakikitungo sa Diyos. Malakas ba ang ating tiwala sa Diyos? Umaasa ba tayo sa kanya? Sumusunod ba tayo sa kanya? Ang kasalanan ay pagmamayabang na mali ang Diyos at hindi tayo magiging maligaya kung susunod tayo sa kanya.
Ang pagiging maliit at mapagtiwala ang kadakilaan ng mga bata at iyan din ang kahinaan niya. Dahil sa mahina sila, maliit at mapagtiwala madali silang linlangin, utuin at abusuhin. Kaya sinasabi din ni Jesus na huwag nating hamakin ang mga ito. Ganoon kasama ang pag-aabuso sa mga bata na sabi niya na mas mabuti pang itapon sa dagat na may nakataling malaking bato sa kanyang liig ang gumagawa ng masama at nagbibigay ng masamang halimbawa sa isang bata. Marupok ang mga bata. Pagkaingatan natin sila. Ang sugat at ang lamat na natatanggap nila sa murang edad ay dala-dala nila sa kanilang buhay. Sinasabi ng mga psychiatrist na maraming mga issue natin sa buhay ay nanggaling sa pagtrato sa atin noong tayo ay bata pa.
Malakas ang debosyon nating mga Pilipino kay Jesus na niño, kay Jesus na bata. Kaya ngayong araw ang daming fiesta ng Sto Niño sa buong bansa at kahit na sa ibang bansa kung nasaan ang mga Pilipino. Marahil dahil din ito sa katangian nating mga Pilipino na malambot ang ating puso sa mga bata. Naaakit tayo sa kanila. Naaakit tayo sa Panginoong Jesus bilang bata. Hindi tayo natatakot sa kanya.
Pero tandaan natin na dahil si Jesus ay bata huwag lang natin siyang pag-laru-laruan. Huwag natin siyang utu-utuin. Bata nga siya ngunit siya ay ang ating Panginoon. Kaya malahari ang kanyang damit. May korona siya at hawak niya ang setro, isang baston na nagpapahiwatig ng kanyang kapangyarihan. Hawak niya ang daigdig sa kanyang kamay. Bata siya pero hari siya. Ang kanyang paghahari ay hindi nakakasindak. Hindi siya nakakatakot. Nagdadala siya ng katarungan at katwiran hindi sa pamamagitan ng pananakot kundi ng pang-aakit at ng pagmamahal. Kaya nga kahit na bata si Jesus, sundin at tularan natin siya. Iyan din ang hamon sa atin ng Sto Niño.
Kailangan natin ang hamong ito kasi kahit na katangian nating mga Pilipino na maging malapit sa mga bata, dito sa ating bayan mayroon ding nangyayari ng pang-aabuso sa kanila. Isang madalas na pang-aabuso sa mga bata ay ang pagsisigaw at pagmumura sa kanila. Dahil sa kanilang murang edad nakatatak sa kanila ang tinatawag natin sa kanila. Naaapektuhan ang kanilang paningin sa kanilang sarili kung tinatawag natin silang tanga, tamad, walang pakinabang, pasaway o pini-PI pa. Nandiyan din ang physical abuse. Oo kailangan ng disiplina ang mga bata pero hindi sa paraang violente o madahas, lalo na kung walang paliwanag bakit sila pinapalo o kinukurot. Huwag natin ibunton ang ating galit o hinanakit sa mga bata.
Sinabi ni Jesus: “Ang sinumang tumatanggap sa isang bata dahil sa akin, ako ang tinatanggap.” Isipin natin sa ating pag-aalaga ng mga bata na si Jesus ang inaalagaan natin. Kaya ang mga nag-aalaga ng mga bata – mga magulang, mga lola at lolo, mga ate at kuya at mga yaya – palagi kayong tumawag sa Santa Maria at kay San Jose na tulungan kayo paano mag-alaga sa mga maliliit tulad ng pag-alaga nila kay Nino Jesus.
Mabuti ang pagpalaki ng Banal na Mag-asawa kay Jesus. May disiplina si Jesus sa sarili at matiisin siya dahil sa kanyang mga magulang. Bata pa si Jesus gusto na niyang mapalalim ang kanyang kaalaman sa Bibliya kaya nagpaiwan siya sa templo. Saan nanggaling ito? Sa kanyang mga magulang. Ang pagiging matulungin niya sa mga mahihirap ay nanggaling din sa kanila. Oo, si Jesus ay Diyos pero siya ay tunay ding tao at ang pagkatao niya ay hinubog ng kanyang mga magulang. Humingi tayo ng tulong kay Maria at Jose paano palakihin ang mga anak natin tulad ng pagpalaki nila kay Santo Niño.
We are infinitely grateful for the High Magisterium of Benedict XVI, and for his precious testimony of faith and Christian life
Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life
On the occasion of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life want to express their gratitude to the Lord for the gift of “this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church”, as Father Francis called him. We are infinitely grateful for the High Magisterium of Benedict XVI, and for his precious testimony of faith and Christian life. In his memory, we propose some extracts of speeches/homilies concerning: Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, the World Youth Days, and the Family.
The Ecclesial Movements and New Communities are one of the most important innovations inspired by the Holy Spirit in the Church for the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. They spread in the wake of the Council sessions, especially in the years that immediately followed it, in a period full of exciting promises but also marked by difficult trials. Paul VI and John Paul II were able to welcome and discern, to encourage and promote the unexpected explosion of the new lay realities which in various and surprising forms have restored vitality, faith and hope to the whole church. Indeed, even then they were already bearing witness to the joy, reasonableness and beauty of being Christian, showing that they were grateful for belonging to the mystery of communion which is the Church. We have witnessed the awakening of a vigorous missionary impetus, motivated by the desire to communicate to all the precious experience of the encounter with Christ, felt and lived as the only adequate response to the human heart’s profound thirst for truth and happiness.
An image of the Santo Niño on display at a shopping mall in Manila ahead of the celebration of its ‘feast.’ (Photo by Jire Carreon)
Ang tumatanggap ng kanyang kaliitan sa harapan ng Diyos ay mas madaling makaunawa at magmalasakit sa mga “maliliit” sa lipunan
Homiliya para sa Pistang Santo Niño, Mt 18:1-5,10
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David January 15, 2023
Niregalo ni Magellan ang orihinal na Santo Niño de Cebu sa pamilya ni Rajah Humabon noong 1521. Tinambangan siya at pinatay ng mga kawal ni Lapu-lapu sa Mactan. Muling natuklasan ang imahen ng mga sundalo ni Legazpi noong 1565. Pumatay daw siya ng mahigit sa limandaang mamamayan ng Sugbu (Cebu) at nanunog ng mahigit limang libong kabahayan dahil ayaw daw magpasakop sa kanya ng mga katutubo. Gusto ba ito ng Santo Niño?!!
Isang sundalo daw ang nakatuklas ng imahen matapos ang paglusob. Natagpuan daw ang isang baul sa isa sa mga bahay na sinunog. Naroon sa loob ang imahen ng Santo Niño! Nang makita raw ito ni Legazpi naghahagulgol daw siya. Tinuring daw niyang isang palatandaan ito. Palatandaan ng ano?
Iba ang interpretasyon ko sa hagulgol ni Legazpi. Palagay ko ang mensaheng nakuha niya sa maliit na imahen ng Santo Niño ay: “Hoy, Señor Legazpi, hindi porke’t malaki ka ay may karapatan kang apihin ang mga maliliit. Kung gusto mong magtagumpay, huwag kang maging marahas. Makipag-usap ka, magpakumbaba ka, huwag magmamalaki.” (Siyempre, interpretasyon ko lang naman iyon. Iba ang interpretasyon ng kanyang mga chroniclers.)
Kapag piyesta ng Santo Niño, binabasbasan natin ang mga bata. Ibig bang sabihin nito na ang Santo Niño ay para lang sa mga bata? Oo. Pero higit sa lahat, ito’y para sa matatanda rin, lalo na iyong mga nawawalan na ng pagkabata. Ito’y tungkol sa ating lahat, dahil lahat tayo ay “tumatanda.”
Ang katawan ng tao kapag nagkakaedad ay unti-unting nanghihina sa ayaw natin at sa gusto, nagkakasakit, hanggang sa mamatay. Kapag sumabay ang kaluluwa sa pagtanda ng katawan, sasabay din ito sa pagkamatay ng katawan. Puwede bang hindi? Oo naman; ito nga ang isa sa mga misteryong ating pinanghahawakan bilang mga Kristiyano. Tayong naniniwala na nabubuhay tayo sa katawan ng muling nabuhay na Kristo na hindi tumatanda.
Ang landas ng pagiging alagad ni Kristo ay landas ng ispiritwal na pagkabata; ang pagpapanatili sa pagkabata ng kaluluwa habang tumatanda ang katawan. Naniniwala tayo na habang tumatanda ang katawan natin, dapat unti-unting bumabata ang kaluluwa, upang ang ating pisikal na pagkamatay ay maging okasyon ng ating ispiritwal na pagsilang. Ito ang tinutukoy sa atin ng ikalawang pagbasa mula na sulat ni San Pablo sa mga taga-Efeso na isa sa mga “biyayang ispiritwal” na kaloob sa atin ng Ama sa pamamagitan ni Hesukristong Anak niya — na tayo ay mahirang na maging banal at musmos sa kanyang paningin.
Isang malalim na palaisipan at landas ng kabanalan ang Santo Niño. Isang debosyon na pinaunlad ng mga Carmelites at pinalaganap bilang isang ispiritwalidad ni Santa Teresita ng Lisieux, kaya siya tinatawag na “Santa Teresita ng Niño Hesus.” Isa sa mga inspirasyon nito ay ang huling bahagi ng ating narinig na ebanghelyo ngayon Mat 18:3 “Sinasabi ko sa inyo ang totoo, kung hindi kayo magbago at maging tulad ng maliliit na bata, hindi kayo mapapabilang sa kaharian ng Dios.”
Ibig sabihin, ang kaharian ng Diyos ay hindi maaaring manahin ng kaluluwang hinayaang “tumanda;” ito ay para lamang sa mga yumayakap sa landas ng ispiritwal na pagkabata.
Palaisipan ito. Sa Santo Niño, ibig ng Simbahan na ating maaninag ang larawan ng ating kaluluwa. Larawan ng ating mismong sarili, bilang kabahagi ni Kristo. Kapag tayo’y sumunod kay Hesus, susunod din tayo sa kanyang landas, ang tinutukoy ni Santa Teresita na “landas ng kaliitan.” Ang landas na ito ang nagpapabata sa kaluluwa habang tumatanda ang katawan.
Kailan mo alam na tumatanda na ang tao, hindi lang sa katawan kundi pati na rin sa kaluluwa? Kapag natututo na tayong magtanim ng galit, mainggit, at makipagpaligsahan katulad ng maraming nakatatanda.
Kapag istorbo na ang tingin natin sa mga bata. Kailan ba natin tinatawag na “pangmatanda lamang” ang mga ginagawa natin? Kailan natin sinasabing “hindi kasali ang mga bata” sa gagawin natin? Anong mga gawain ang “for adults only?” Lahat ng may kinalaman sa kalaswaan, karahasan, kalupitan, atbp. Kailan tayo biglang nagiging maamo at bumubuti ang asal? Kapag tayo’y nasa piling ng mga bata!
Minsan tinanong ako ng isang matandang biyudo: Father, dalawang beses po akong nag-asawa at dalawang beses din nabiyudo. Pagkamatay ko, sino sa dalawang naging asawa ko ang magiging asawa ko? Hindi kaya sila mag-away at magsabunutan sa langit? Nakakatawa ang ganyang klaseng tanong, pero aminin natin, sumasagi din sa ating isipan ang ganyan. Ano ang magiging itsura natin sa langit?
Ang sabi ko sa matanda, wala naman pong matanda sa langit. Dahil ang langit ay nagpapabata, ang lahat ng papasok dito ay magiging mga mistulang “bata.” Kung magkikita kayo nga mga napangasawa ninyo sa langit, hindi ninyo sila makikita bilang asawa, kundi bilang kapwa bata; magiging mga musmos tayong lahat sa piling ng Diyos.
Ang “Santo Niño” ay “landas ng kaliitan.” Bukod tanging ang mga marunong magpakumbaba sa harap ng Diyos ang tatanggap ng kanyang awa at patawad. Ang marunong magpakumbaba ay mas madaling makaunawa sa mga nasa mababang kalagayan. Ang tumatanggap ng kanyang kaliitan sa harapan ng Diyos ay mas madaling makaunawa at magmalasakit sa mga “maliliit” sa lipunan.
Ang mga nagmamalaki, ang mga masyadong malaki ang pagtingin sa sarili ang natututong yumapak at mang-alipusta sa mga maliliit. Ang marunong magpakumbaba ay hindi pagkatakot at paglayo ang mararamdaman sa piling ng Diyos. Tulad ng bata, lulundag siya na walang takot sa kamay ng tatay nya, dahil alam nyang sasaluhin siya Nito.
A dancer carries an image of the Santo Niño during a street performance in honor of the Child Jesus at the Bago Bantay village in Quezon City in the Philippine capital on Jan. 14, 2023. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
LICAS News Photo
Filipino Catholics across the country celebrate the “feast” of the Child Jesus, known as the Santo Niño, every January.
In the village of Bago Bantay in Quezon City in the Philippine capital, devotees perform street dances similar to the traditional Dinagyang, Ati-Atihan, and Sinulog festivals on Jan. 14, 2023, in honor of the Child Jesus.
The devotion of Filipinos, especially people from the central province of Cebu, to the Child Jesus has deep historical roots.
The image of the Santo Niño was brought to the country by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on April 14, 1521, as a gift to Queen Juana of Cebu. She and her husband, Rajah Humabon, and about 800 natives, were baptized, thus establishing Christianity in the country.
In 1565, when Spanish conqueror Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu, a Spanish soldier found the image inside a burned house of a native. Legazpi then named Cebu as the “City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.”
Today, the image now known as Santo Nino de Cebu, is considered the oldest Christian relic in the country. (Photos by Jire Carreon)
A Devotee holds the image of the Child Jesus (Santo Niño) during the religious procession before the Eucharistic celebration to mark the feast of the Santo Niño in the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in Diliman, Quezon City, on Jan. 15, 2023. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
Jire Carreon LICAS News Photos January 15, 2023
Devotees of the image of the Child Jesus, popularly known in the Philippines as the “Santo Niño de Cebu,” would cry on top of their voices “Pit Senyor!”“Pit Senyor!” is supposed to be short of the Cebuano “Sangpit sa Senyor!” or “Call on the Lord!”
Devotees of the image of the Child Jesus, popularly known in the Philippines as the “Santo Niño de Cebu,” would cry on top of their voices “Pit Senyor!” as they dance in honor of the Child Jesus during its “feast every third Sunday of January.
In the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in the village of Diliman in Quezon City, women wearing traditional Philippine dresses dance to the church with images of the Child Jesus before the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Jan. 15, 2023.
The devotion of Filipinos, especially people from the central province of Cebu, to the Child Jesus has deep historical roots. The image of the Santo Niño was brought to the country by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on April 14, 1521, as a gift to Queen Juana of Cebu. She and her husband, Rajah Humabon, and about 800 natives, were baptized, thus establishing Christianity in the country.
