Vol. LXXII| No. 46 | Cotabato City | Saturday, December 26, 2020 |10 Pages | P10.00
SECOND PAGE CHURCH SANDUGUAN
BARMM explains delayed salaries/P2
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Pope: Christmas 2020 ‘a chance to help others without complaining’/P6
he year 2020 was a year unlike any other. There is no simple way to sum up this year — tumultuous, terrifying, wearisome, resilient, heroic, hopeful. There was no way of knowing at the end of 2019 what the onrushing train of 2020 would bring. Just weeks into the year, COVID-19 upended life as we knew it — in Cotabato City, across the country and the world. This year has given us scores of new words, phrases, expressions and metaphors. This time last year, concepts such as “lockdown,” “new normal,” “no movement Sunday” and “social distancing” were unknown to most of us. Today they are part of our everyday language as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact all aspects of our lives.
What are your hopes for 2021?/P11 failure to meet standards in modular learning and the suicide of 19-year-old Teduray in South Upi for undergoing a 14-day isolation in a facility prompted calls for guidance and introduction to mental health awareness.
Good news The COVID-19 pandemic certainly dominated the headlines this year, but looking back on 2020 there are several good stories and accomplishments to share. Three stories from The Mindanao STRENGTH IN OPTIMISM. Or at least that’s Pantone Color Institute’s forecast for 2021: Cross (for the months of July and August) a color story that combines vitality and fortitude. The Color of the Year 2021 is neutral were given recognition by the Philippine Ultimate Gray and vibrant yellow Illuminating which highlight how different elements Press Institute as part of its project: come together to support one another, best express the mood for 2021. COVID-19 Chronicles: Sharing Stories, Caring for Communities. The stories are ‘Inaul: From fashion to function’ and ‘Church feels financial impact COVID-19 on pandemic’ by Valerie Ann Lambo, and ‘Most Filipinos believes Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with in importance of faith in fight against COVID-19, survey says’ 77.6 million confirmed cases in 190 countries, 43.8 million by Jose Torres, Jr. recoveries and 1.7 million deaths as of this writing. While other countries such as United Kingdom begins vaccination, the Philippines caseload climbed up to over 462,000 confirmed cases, 429,000 recoveries and 8,957 deaths.
Since Cotabato City was placed on quarantine on March 16, it logged a total of 1,030 confirmed cases, 48 active cases, 37 COVID-19 related death and 945 recoveries as of December 22. While the Bangsamoro region recorded a total of 2,744 confirmed cases, 115 active cases, 71 deaths, and 2,558 recoveries. A Lanao del Sur resident who died on March at the Cotabato Regional and Medical was the first COVID-19 fatality to have been reported by health authorities of Region-12. The patient is among the 215 Tabligh missionaries who joined a religious gathering in Malaysia. The pandemic brought about changes in the way religious and cultural activities are held. Night after-meal prayers called Tarawi were suspended as well as the congregational worship on Eid’l Fit’r. While some Catholic activities were cancelled and devotees have opted to pray in their homes and observe these rites in accordance with the guidelines set by the Catholic Bishops Council of the Philippines. Even the church felt the financial impact of pandemic as it continued to sit empty during the enhanced community quarantine. As the country developed novel strategies to fight the virus, local government units have transformed non-health facilities or Ligtas Covid Centers into temporary isolation facilities for managing mild COVID-19 patients who do not require hospitalization.
2020
THE YEAR IN
REVIEW
Ten law graduates from Notre Dame University (NDU) were among the passers of the 2019 Bar Exams. Three of those who passed the physician’s licensure examination last March and September 2020 were from Basilan. For the first time in the history of NDU, graduation rites for the Class of 2020 was done virtually due to the pandemic. Aldrin Ray Deputado, a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering student, is this year’s summa cum laude. He is, however, the only awardee for excellence in studies. Oblate charism Three Filipino and three foreign novices professed their first religious vows amid pandemic. Fr. Gerry Gamaliel de los Reyes, OMI has been appointed as the new Provincial Superior of the missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) in the Philippines. Fr. Charlie M. Inzon, OMI has been named by Pope Francis as the sixth apostolic vicar of Jolo Vicariate in Sulu. He was installed by Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, OMI, the archbishop emeritus of Cotabato, and his successor Archbishop Angelito Lampon, OMI at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel during her feast day in Sulu. Fr. Eduardo ‘Ponpon’ Vasquez, OMI went viral for wearing white personal protective equipment (PPE) with his Oblate cross visibly displayed around his waist while going from house to house in poor communities in Manila. In doing so, he took a step forward in implementing one of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate’s vision of helping those in need during difficult situations.
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Controversy had hounded the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, which grants a P5,000 to P8,000 monthly cash subsidy to low-income families for two months, after many supposed beneficiaries ended up not receiving the cash aid. Thus, the Bangsamoro region sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation to settle the issue on SAP. The number of people taking their own lives has increased drastically. The death of grade 11 pupil in Tupi for alleged
OMI priests plant vegetables, feed the poor during pandemic
URBAN GARDENING. Fr. Eduardo “Pon-pon” Vasquez, OMI initiated the ‘GRACE’ program at the Shrine of our Lady of Grace parish in Caloocan City to help families the community through backyard gardening. OMI i-Watch
FILIPINOS especially the poor have lost their jobs and easy access to food. The streets in Metro Manila are spawned with even bigger problem – hunger and poverty. While most average and rich families can afford to buy their own medicines and daily necessities, the poor can hardly put some food on their tables. Fr. Eduardo “Pon-pon” Vasquez, OMI, an Oblate Catholic priest assigned in the Shrine of our Lady of Grace parish in Caloocan City took the advantage of
this dire situation. As parish priest, he initiated the “GRACE” program. The program aims to help families for an easy and accessible food on their tables through backyard gardening. Also, it provides food for the hungry and poor people living on the streets. Fr. Pon-Pon is from Bicol before he entered the OMI congregation. He was assigned in different ministries of the OMI congregation as parish priest of San Isidro Labrador in Nuro,
LGU in Teduray bastion is LogFA awardee
AMONG the 54 local government units that won last week’s pioneering Local Government Functional Appraisal Award (LoGFA) from the Bangsamoro government was that of Upi, Maguindanao, four times recipient of the vaunted Seal of Good Local Governance citation in recent years. Upi, a hinterland town in the first district of Maguindanao, is main bastion of the ethnic non-
Moro Teduray community in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM. Upi Mayor Ramon Piang told Mindanao Cross Monday he and his Muslim, Teduray and other were elated with their LGU’s having received from BARMM last week the LoGFA award. The LoGFA is similar to the yearly grant of SGLG by the office of Local Government Secretary Eduardo
Año to deserving municipal, city and provincial governments in the country. “This LoGFA yearly award is a good program of Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government in BARMM and the office of the Regional Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim. We in the LGUs in the autonomous region ought to perform well to win this award which, for us, is a
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Photo courtesy of MAAP Productions
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FEMALE GRAD. Midshipwoman Aileen Ines, 25, from Makilala, North Cotabato, is one of this year ’s 188 graduates of a male-dominated Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific.