CBCPNews

MANILA, August 21, 2010- Caritas Philippines urged the Filipino faithful to help provide aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan as the 20 million people made homeless grew increasingly desperate.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the agency's president, said they are already trying to make consultations with other bishops on how they could help the relief efforts.

While they are still waiting official reports from Caritas Internationalis, he said they are already preparing to make a public appeal for assistance.

MANILA, August 13, 2010- Tarlac Bishop Florentino Cinense brushed off criticisms on the settlement agreement with the Hacienda Luisita Inc. and said the decision to accept it or not should be left to the farmers.

Cinense said the concerned parties have more to say on whether to discontinue the land reform mechanism or continue with the compromised deal.

NAGA City, August 1, 2010- As the investigation gets underway, a prelate urged the public to avoid unnecessary speculation on the death of Fr. Baltazar Acompañado Jr., and wait for more information to become available.

Following media speculation that the priest committed suicide, Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi said people should avoid it as a matter of respect for the 35-year old priest.

Acompañado was found dead inside his room at the Pre-College Seminary in San Jose town in Camarines Sur last Wednesday with a 38-caliber revolver near his body.

MANILA, July 22, 2010- A Catholic bishop has criticized the Manilad Water Services Inc. for "mismanagement" causing a water crisis affecting a large portion of Metro Manila.

Bishop Jose Oliveros of Malolos said the blame should go to the company because million liters of water are lost daily due to its leaked water pipes.

"They should have done something about this long time ago... they are just making repairs now," Oliveros said over Church-run Radyo Veritas.

MANILA, July 22, 2010- An official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called on President Benigno Aquino III to publicly state his position on a measure that seeks to promote birth control.

Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP's Commission on Family and Life, said Aquino should clarify his stance on the Reproductive Health bill when he delivers his first State of the Nation Address on July 26.

As the country's new chief executive, he said it would be best if Mr. Aquino lays out his plan regarding family planning.

MANILA, July 9, 2010- With the anti-child pornography law taking effect next week, the Catholic hierarchy is hoping for strengthened fight against the "alarming" problem.

Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, media office director of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said the church has been building momentum with its anti-child porn campaign.

The agency in 2007 tied-up with the Optical Media Board (OMB) to help the government stamp out child pornography through the instrumentality of an "ad hoc committee" headed by Ambassador Henrietta de Villa.

MANILA, July 1, 2010-One of the strongest defenders of civil rights among the bishops at the height of strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos' Martial Law passed away at 2:41 AM today at the Intensive Care Unit of pulmonary embolism at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Medical Center in San Juan, Metro Manila.

Pulmonary embolism is a condition that occurs when one or more arteries in one's lungs become blocked. Medical professionals say in most cases, pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that travel to the lungs from another part of the body and most commonly, from one's legs.

MANILA, July 2, 2010- Former President Gloria Arroyo only showed her funny side when she filed a bill seeking for Constitutional amendments, a priest said.

Constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas said it's "humorous" that Arroyo herself is seeking Charter Change (Cha-cha) just a day after she began her first day as Pampanga's 2nd District Representative.

While he has nothing against amending the Charter, Bernas said Arroyo's move is "too early" as process for it should not be initiated until next year.

MANILA, June 25, 2010-Incoming Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro said he will conduct a comprehensive review of the sex education program as soon as he assumes his post.

Luistro of the La Sallian Brothers, a Catholic religious order, vowed to take steps to make sure the sex education modules do not contradict Christian values.

While there are programs of the education department that needs to be continued, he said, the issue on sex education is something that needs careful assessment.