A third saint for our country

Earlier this month, Pope Francis issued a decree in the Vatican advancing the sainthood cause of Bishop Alfredo Maria Aranda Obviar, the first bishop of Lucena, declaring him “venerable.” This is the first important step toward sainthood. The pope must then recognize a miracle attributed to the late bishop to declare him beatified and then one more miracle will be needed for canonization.

At present the Philippines has two saints – Lorenzo Ruiz who was canonized in 1987 and Pedro Calungsod who was canonized in 2012. Obviar may soon follow in their footsteps, which would be another great honor for a Catholic country like ours. He was the founder of the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese, a religious congregation of nuns with missions across the Philippines, and was born and ordained in Lipa, Batangas. I would be quite proud having a fellow Batangas native declared a saint for the country as the Katigbak family all hail from Batangas.

Another interesting bit of news I came across recently was from Fr. James Matthew from the Holy Cross Community at Loyola Heights in Quezon City. It was during the wake of a beloved Tuesday Club member that Fr. Jimmy told me that the Vatican has also declared Fr. Patrick Peyton “venerable.”

I’m sure many of you still remember Fr. Peyton, but for those who don’t, he spent quite a bit of time in the Philippines and is most remembered for his slogan that still lives on today – “the family that prays together, stays together” from his rosary crusade. I was a member of his Family Rosary Crusade in Manila in the mid-70s and continue his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Child Jesus to this day. He gave me a very touching letter upon his departure and it’s something I still treasure. It is heartening to hear that this truly kind man is also on his way to sainthood.

So now we will just have to wait and see what comes next. It’s very nice to see two religious figures that mattered to so many Filipinos getting recognized for their dedication and faith.

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It would appear that after over 100 years, the famous Balangiga Bells are finally coming home to the Philippines. I remember writing about them in a previous column when I touched upon repairing US and Philippine relations and what President Duterte said it would require in the past. The bells symbolized things that were taken from us by the Americans and needed to be returned to show true reconciliation and a strengthening of our present relationship.

The bells were rung by the Catholic church in Eastern Samar many years ago to signify the attack by our countrymen against the Americans for liberation during the Philippine-US revolution. American soldiers took them in 1901 in retaliation to bolo-wielding Filipinos who ambushed the Americans while they were having lunch. The bells have been in their possession ever since and despite numerous demands for them to be returned back they have remained in the United States all these years.

But now it looks like they are finally coming home. A Philippine-American war memorial plaza may be established in Balangiga town in Samar once the bells are finally returned to commemorate an important piece of our history and the sacrifices made by our ancestors in the name of their freedom those many years ago. I am looking forward to finally seeing this happen.

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I wrote about members of President Duterte’s administration getting moved around like musical chairs recently and it seems there’s going to be more movement soon. The president announced that he was set to fire another member of his Cabinet for potential corruption – although he did not mention any specific names.

The president has been under fire from critics because despite his attempts to “clean house,” corruption has been just as rampant – if not even more so than ever before. All of the officials he has been removing (or just moving as it were) have not made an impact on the overall state of corruption in the government and it looks as if all his efforts have been in vain.

What will it finally take to really weed out corruption in the Philippine government? That’s a complicated question to say the least but the answer is quite clear that it’s going to take much more than what is currently happening now.