BAR OPS 2010: EXCLUSIVE LIONS ROAR TWENTY FOUR SALUBONG 2010 BLAST: WHEN THE LION BECAME PREY
Bedan Community Holds Vigil for 2010 Salubong Victim
By Dugie Dela Cruz
At exactly five o’clock in the afternoon of September 28, the Abbey of San Beda College Manila was filled with black, white, and green when the students, alumni, and faculty of the College of Law gathered to offer a mass for the victims of the 2010 Salubong Blast. Rector President Rev. Fr. Aloysius Ma. A Maranan headed th celebration of the Eucharist together with the other Benedictine monks. The League of Lady Barristers, the sorority from which most of the victims are members of, sponsored the mass. Before the priests gave the final blessing, Dean Virgilio Jara gave a brief address to the crowd. He avowed with conviction that the administration would never stop until they find out who are responsible behind the abominable incident. He also assured the parents and the students that they would continue to give their full support in trying to restore the lives of the innocent victims of the 9/26 tragedy. Silence echoed the church when the mother of one of the victims stood at the altar to express her thoughts about the dreadful occurrence. She narrated how it was awfully difficult for her child and their family to deal with the trauma. But as a mother, she strives to be strong to shed a glimpse of courage and hope to her daughter. She said “…And I just want to tell her that I love her so much; and that I don’t blame anybody here because it was an accident.” Later on, the priests asked five victims who are present during the mass—Jam Joya, Elizabeth Bongalonta, Ethel Arriola, Kc Camba and Charlotte Sayson, to approach the altar. It was a solemn moment when the crowd raised their hands to pray over them for their speedy recovery. After the Eucharistic Celebration, everyone proceeded to the Grandstand inside the campus for the vigil. The Bedan community fervently offered their prayers for all the victims. Amid the darkness of the night, candles illuminated the grounds to remind each and everyone that the Bedans, as one family, will remain to be the light of hope in the darkest hours of their brothers and sisters.
Bedans Unite in Prayer for the Salubong 2010 Blast Victims By Ma. Katerina Santiago and Aretha Eugenio
On October 1, 2010, San Beda College Alabang – School of Law (SBCA – SOL) offered a Healing Mass for the victims of the September 26 explosion. The activity was held at the SBCA Chapel on a grey Friday afternoon, five days after a grenade attack at the De La Salle University – Manila marred the end of the 2010 Bar Examinations. Close to 50 people were injured in the blast, many of whom were students of San Beda College of Law in Mendiola. Law students and faculty from all year levels took time out from their busy schedules and came together to attend the Mass and pray for the recovery of their wounded brethren. Attendees were requested to come in white as both a sign of sympathy for the victims and a cry for the justice due them. Strips of black ribbon were distributed before the Mass began, and worn as armbands to symbolize mourning for the senselessness and cruelty of the attack. Fr. Olegario Commeleran, OSB, presided over the Mass, with the assistance of Dom Clement Ma. Roque, OSB. Among those specially prayed for were Raissa Laurel, Jokat Ledda, SBCA – SOL’s own Diane Hazel Canita and Argel Cabatbat, who was injured in a separate incident. Fr. Oleg delivered a long and heartfelt homily on loving and forgiving one’s adversaries, and gently entreated his listeners against nursing hostility and bitterness. After the Mass, Dom Clement read to the assembly the school’s official statement “condemning the attack and calling for solidarity and support from the Bedan community.” In his short speech, a visibly somber and reserved Dean Ulpiano Sarmiento III conceded that “we who live in such difficult times may come to doubt in God’s love for us, and in what He has planned for us. However, he also assured the gathering that while the Lord does not answer the questions we have for Him, He certainly understands why we ask them”. Dean Sarmiento reminded his audience that “challenge is a way of life. Though the bombing undoubtedly changed many lives, as Bedans we must challenge this change rather than change the challenge.” He implored everyone “to remain willing to be vulnerable, even in times of suffering, and to keep a strong and unwavering faith in God. With such fervent trust and belief,” he said, “we could jump off a cliff with but a word from God, and either land in His loving arms as He catches us or take wing as He teaches us how to fly. Through our faith,” he asserted, “nothing can go wrong.” It was with that final note of hope and courage that the Mass ended, as quietly and solemnly as it began.