The 1st list of Cebuano political candidates

Since it is election season already, allow me to inform those people living in Cebu that the national party PDP-Laban has given the Certificate of Nomination (CON) to its candidates in Cebu during a general assembly at the Grand Convention Center in Cebu City last Sunday. The biggest news is that Third District Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia is the party’s official candidate for Governor although she has yet to announce her running mate, which political insiders believe would be a make or break for Rep. Garcia.

For Congress, this political group is backing Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante as representative for the Second District, while Pablo John Garcia is seeking to represent the Third District, while Janice Salimbangon is seeking to represent the Fourth District, and Lolypop Ouano is vying for the Sixth District supported by this political aggrupation.

This group is also supporting Talisay Mayor Eddie Gullas of Alayon for the First District. Speaking on behalf of Alayon, current First District Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas said his group will support candidates endorsed by PDP-Laban at the provincial level. In return, PDP-Laban will not endorse candidates running against Alayon. In the 5th District, Cebu Port Authority Commissioner Duke Frasco of Lakas-CMD former Liloan Mayor is seeking to be voted to represent the Fifth District.

In Cebu City, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella posted his group’s lineup for next year’s polls. Labella is running for Mayor under the Barug Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (Barug PDP Laban) and former Mayor Michael Rama for vice mayor, Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera for South District Rep. in Congress, and actor Richard Yap for North District Rep.

Majority of the group’s candidates for councilor in the South District. This is not the first time that incumbent 1st District Rep. Raul del Mar is facing an entertainer in this political race. Last time it was Annabelle Rama to challenge Rep. Raul del Mar. But he still won his seat!

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Last Thursday, Cebu was blessed to play host to the Heart of St. Padre Pio of Petrelcina. This was the relic of the incorrupt saint’s heart. Last year while we were in Rome, we hired a van with a Filipino driver to drive us to see the incorrupt remains of St. Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo. It was a four-hour drive from Rome and we were lucky to go there on Sept. 22nd the eve of the Feast of Padre Pio. Yes we were blessed to see the great Saint whom we felt was merely asleep. But we didn’t know that he didn’t have a heart inside his body anymore.

I had a visitor from Los Angeles for dinner that night who had his kidney transplant three days after I had mine. His name was Jerome Romea. So that dinner was something like comparing notes of kidney transplant patients operated by the same doctor Dr. Alvin Roxas. So when I told my friend that Cebu was so blessed that that evening he could see the heart relic of St. Padre Pio, we went to the Metropolitan Cathedral so we could view this relic. Little did we realize that Cebuanos were followers of Padre Pio.

When we got into the surroundings of the Cathedral, we could no longer find any place to park our car. We also realized that with the healing mass at 10:30 p.m. so many people lined up the streets not only for the Holy Mass, but also to view the remains of the heart/relic. No we couldn’t go down, as we couldn’t park. But since we’ve seen the entire body of Padre Pio, we decided to let the others see this relic. The following day the relic was transferred to the International Eucharistic Convention Center (IEC) and the lines didn’t dissipate.

Just to remind you, during the Sinulog procession, Cebu gets to see more than a million worshipers attend the procession of the Señor Sto. Niño. But no, there was only a short procession done by the Archdiocese of Cebu around the Cathedral, but in the end I did not realize that St. Padre Pio had a huge following in Cebu and for sure many other places like Bohol or Negros Oriental which is only a short travel away to Cebu City.

It was a great way to see for my eyes the spirituality of Cebuanos. Since it is the year of the Clergy and Consecrated Life during our Holy Mass with the Sons of David, our priest Fr. Ciano Ubod told us that this relic gave him a lesson to continue with his non-belief in cremation. In his homily, Fr. Ubod told us, “Imagine if Padre Pio was cremated, we wouldn’t know if he was incorrupt and we wouldn’t be able to see his incorrupt heart. Indeed this is a very good argument against cremation.

I have no doubt that the Philippines have been so blessed by the visit of the Heart/Relic of St. Padre Pio as it visited practically many places in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. As the prayer of St. Padre Pio goes, “You pray, you hope and you don’t worry!

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