Indonesian doctors
visit Bacolod

Six hospital directors from Indonesia paid a courtesy call on Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, and were welcomed by City Administrator John Orola, at the Bacolod Government Center yesterday, a press release from the city said.

The delegation, led by Arif Wijanto, president of the PT. Perkebun Nusant Ara XI group from Indonesia, plans to collaborate with local physicians on various projects and programs, the press release said.

Orola informed the guests that Bacolod has been named “The Best Place to Live”, and a “Child Friendly City in the Philippines”. He told them that Leonardia will arrive from the US soon, and urged them to visit tourist places in the city, the press release added.*

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‘NOPSSCEA vocal
winners deserved award’

The trainer of the first and third place winners in the vocal solo competition of the Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports Cultural Educational Association said her contestants deserved their prizes and did not violate the criteria.

Norma Garbanzos, their vocal trainer, made the explanation after a complaint was filed by Jerrilyn Pflieder before the office of Education Secretary Armin Luistro.

Pflieder complained that the winners, Samantha Caña (1st place) of the University of St. La Salle, and Berrylane Barredo (3rd place) of Joy Christian School violated one of the criteria, which was that they had to sing any Visayan (Cebuano) composition. She said that their pieces were “Sa Kabukiran” and “Ako’y Kampupot” written by Manuel Velez.

In her letter to the DAILY STAR, Garbanzos said the pieces were originally written in Cebuano and were translated to Tagalog, English, and Spanish, and the Tagalog version became very popular.

She said DepEd Supt. Dr. Juliet Jeruta validated the authenticity and originality of the songs before she signed them up with Grace Porter of NOPSSCEA. She quoted the criteria “any Visayan composition” to validate the songs of the contestants.

The Cebuano dialect is also Visayan, that means they did not violate the criteria, she added.*LTG

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Visit of St. Therese
pilgrim relics slated

Preparations for the third visit of the pilgrim relics ofSt. Therese of the Child Jesus to Bacolod and Negros Occidental are in full swing, and pre-visit activities will be launched Jan. 2, 2013, her 140th birthday.

On that day, a mass will be celebrated at The Carmel of St. Joseph in Mandalagan, Bacolod City, and devotees named after her are especially invited to join the “Yahong ni Therese,” the feeding arm for the visit, that will serve food during the affair.

The pilgrim relics of St. Therese will arrive in the Philippines Saturday to begin a four-month tour that will include visits to 48 archdioceses and dioceses of the Catholic Church throughout the country, including Negros Occidental.

The relics will visit Negros Occidental with its first stop in Kabankalan City. On March 5, it will travel to Bacolod in a grand motorcade that will have whistlestops in churches along the highway, a detour at the provincial jail in Bago City before it proceeds to the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City for the welcome honors and mass.

It will stay at the cathedral for a few hours, and then take off in a motorcade to Carmel in the afternoon.

The relics, which are bone fragments of the beloved saint housed in a special reliquary, and venerated by the faithful as a reminder of St. Therese’s life and spirituality, will travel from the Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux, France, and will arrive in Manila, with the Shrine dedicated to her in Newport City, Pasay City, as its first stop.

Called “the greatest saint for modern times,” Therese joined Carmel at 15, under a special papal dispensation that allowed her despite her young age. She died nine years later, leaving behind a slim autobiography.

That autobiography, published as “Story of a Soul”, became a bestseller. In it, the saint laid down what is now known as the Doctrine of Spiritual Childhood that popes and theologians have hailed as a sure path to salvation.

This is the third time the pilgrim relics of St. Therese will visit the Philippines. The first two visits, in 2000 and 2008, were marked with miracles and thousands of devotees gathering to pray in its presence.*EFJT

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