Filed under: architecture, history, manifesto, news, opinion | Tags: 19th century, alegria imperial, concern, convento, Father Fidel Albano, Ilocos Norte, lease, Philippines, prominent, religious sisters, rumor, sacredness, San Nicolas, San Nicolas de Tolentino Catholic Church, Santa Rosa Academy, school, signifcance, SM, transpire
San Nicolas Catholic Church
MANIFESTO
We, the undersigned Catholics of the Parish of San Nicolas de Tolentino and other concerned Catholics respectfully bring to Your Excellency our serious concern about the seemingly imminent lease or probably sale of a southern portion of the lot on which the Catholic Church stands. We only came to know this from some concerned Catholics of the town. Although we do not have a direct knowledge about this rumor, we are convinced it is true.
Visualizing what may happen next, this is the scenario we believe will transpire: that the southeastern portion of the Catholic lot immediately adjacent to the Catholic Church will be leased or maybe sold to SM, a giant commercial corporation that operates malls in different parts of the Philippines. How big the land to be leased is only a matter of our imagination but it could be the site of the convent and probably to include the eastern side of the original building of Santa Rosa Academy.
The size of the land rented or leased whether small or big is not important to us. What concerns us is the desecration of a sacred ground and the invasion of the privacy of our Catholic Church and Sta. Rosa Academy considering the fact that the commercial building will be built just beside the Catholic Church on its southern side and adjacent to the old building of Sta. Rosa Academy on its eastern side.
Please note Your Excellency, that the said place to be leased constitutes the most prominent portion of the lot of the Catholic Church. It is, to us, of sacred significance. The prominent location of the place is the reason why Father Fidel Albano, a parish priest of San Nicolas, selected the place as the site of the present convent. That was in the twilight of the 19th century. The construction of the present convento was necessary after Father Fidel Albano handed the old convento (now the main building of Sta. Rosa Academy) to the religious sisters who were asked to administer the school.
The present convento was constructed by the Catholics of San Nicolas under the leadership of the parish priest, Father Fidel Albano. We object to its being torn down and relocated.
True, renting the site of the convento and some buildings of sta. Rosa Academy on its eastern side will generate millions of pesos in revenue. But for what purpose? And at what expense? Will the end justify the means? Does the Catholic Church of San Nicolas, which comprise the Catholics of the town, need that money badly? Is the revenue of the church as of now failing so badly? On the contrary, the revenue of the church is sound. It is good!
It is worthy to note that while a house of worship and a school should be insulated from the material world, at San Nicolas a design is in the making to define the sacredness of the church by building, a mall just beside it and pollute its spiritual atmosphere with materialism. The presence of the mall just beside Sta. Rosa Academy will destroy its academic dignity. This will scandalize us, the Catholic faithful.
Relative to the operation of a mall, just beside the church, we are reminded of the scene when Jesus witnessed repulsive materialism that corrupted a church of god (temple). He saw people making money right in the temple of God, and in anger, He protested and cried aloud, “Take those things (referring to the objects sold in the temple) and do not make the house of my Father a house of business.” (John 2:16). Is not placing a mall for the sake of money, just beside the church a desecration of the church of God?
At Laoag City business establishments are indeed located around the Cathedral and this situation maybe used as justification for the building and operation of the mall beside the church of San Nicolas. However, the situation at the Cathedral of Laoag and the Church of San Nicolas are two very different things. The business establishments such as Chowking, Jollibee, McDonald’s etc operating on land owned by the Cathedral are at a decent distance from the church. At San Nicolas, SM will be sitting just beside the Catholic Church. The very thought of it is not only shocking but obnoxious and repulsive to the decency of the concerned Catholics of San Nicolas.
The undersigned would have no opposition to a mall built on the church property on the vacant lot north of the church as long as it is built at least at a decent distance of about 30 meters away from the northern wall of the Catholic Church. The Catholics of San Nicolas however desire transparency and involvement in the project itself.
In case the needs of the church for repairs is made as an excuse for the lease. Throughout the centuries when the church was destroyed by typhoon, fires and earthquakes, the Catholics of the town were forthcoming in producing the funds for such repairs.
In the construction of the floor of the church and other projects, did not the Catholics of San Nicolas (with help from other people) make the projects a reality? No less than Father Danny Laeda said so during the closing ceremony at the Plaza during the feast of Christ the King on November 2010. Therefore, there is no need to lease the site of the present convent and its surroundings to SM just to produce money.
Premises considered the undersigned and all other Catholics who may not have signed this Manifesto but support its cause voice their strong objection to the lease of the lot where the present convent stands and adjoining lots. They strongly oppose the transfer of the convent to the lot north of the Church.
Truly yours in Christ:
Ma. Cielito Valdes-Lejano (Quezon City, Philippines)
Leonardo B. Lejano (Quezon City, Philippines)
Alegria Albano-Imperial (Vancouver, Canada, formerly of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte and Manila)
Elizabeth Medina (Chile)–granddaughter of the late
Gov. Emilio Ortega Medina of Dingras, Ilocos Norte
Victoria Rosario Albano (Vancouver, Canada, formerly of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte)
If you support this ‘plea’, you may want to add your name in this manifesto by leaving it as a comment and I’ll add it here.
Dios ti agngina ken sapay koma ta denggen ti Apo daytoy a dawat tayo.
Also posted at www.iluko.com
As allegations of election anomalies rage in the Philippines and myriad issues for the survival of communities as well as layered concerns for the recovery of national integrity and respect assail its citizens, Filipinos in every part of the world follow unfolding scenarios with mixed feelings. Hope is high on the list but this is as fragile as spring blossoms that now lie like torn rags after the rains and winds. Concerns closer to home like racism have since taken over.
More than a hundred years ago since Filipinos started settling in almost all parts of the globe, most communities are still struggling with racism. In Canada where nurses and other professionals have settled since the 60s and where 97 percent of caregivers–in a change of professional demographics–practically raise Canadian children today, the issue remains a gaping wound as Silangan News and Views editor Ted Alcuitas wrote in his column, Magkape Muna Tayo, last March.
‘Adding salt to such wound’ is how he describes the Vancouver City Council’s rejection of a resolution to join the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination. This follows on the heels of the Vancouver Olympics and its exclusion of minorities in its opening ceremonies and merely presenting the Four First Nations Host. His fire stoked like no other, here is how Alcuitas has unraveled the deepening imbroglio:
“To think that two Chinese Canadian councilors played significant roles in blocking the coalition’s approval is beyond me. In responding to the outcry, the two told the Georgia Straight that they wanted the resolution ‘vetted’ first by the city’s own multicultural committee.
But why did the two think of this issue just now? When we researched about the coalition, it turns out it was launched in 2005 by no less than the UNESCO. About 20 municipalities have since joined the coalition including Calgary, Toronto, Winnipeg, Windsor and Montreal among others.
Why in heaven’s name does Vancouver choose not to join it after all these years?
The answer to my mind is a question of class bias. The so-called minorities in this city (by the way, if these councilors need to be reminded, we are no longer ‘minorities’) do not see any need to protect people from racism or discrimination. Even if they come from the Chinese community, they do not seem to see themselves as belonging to the ‘class’ that needs laws and regulations to protect them. Perhaps, these two councilors feel that the Chinese belongs to a class other than or higher than ‘minorities’. Maybe they have never experienced racism or discrimination in their lives, and that’s why they cannot empathize with the issue.
While I am appalled at the conduct of these two politicians—and joining it would have been symbolic at best—I have no high hopes for the coalition. In the 70’s, cities used to have race relations committees, which purported to ‘improve’ the municipalities’ relations with its citizens.
In fact, as it happened in the City of Winnipeg’s so-called Mayor’s Race Relations Committee, it was nothing but mere window dressing. It was an inutile body stacked by the mayor’s appointees who were more interested in their own than the interest of the people they were supposed to serve. In the end the committee died a natural death.
I have long ago accepted the fact that in the struggle against racism and discrimination, we in the minorities should not be fooled into believing that ethnic politicians will fight for our issues.
Years ago, when the federal government under the Conservatives took away the tax deductions for monies sent to help dependants abroad, not a howl was heard from politicians of ethnic backgrounds including a Filipino Member of Parliament. The same thing happened when the Conservatives started charging for immigration. You can hear their silence from sea to shining sea.
Ethnic voters should be more questioning when these politicians come around begging for their votes, never failing to remind them of their ethnic roots. Some non-ethnic politicians would even don a traditional Chinese dress or the Filipino barong in order to win votes.
True, they are not elected just for Filipinos or Chinese alone. We are not saying that they should only take up these issues, but if we cannot depend on them to speak for us, who will?”
Racism as an issue remains unchanged in most parts of Northern America. It is as New York-based Filipino feminist, activist, novelist Ninotchka Rosca says, “a monkey on our backs,” that no matter what Filipinos do, especially its women, such as study, work, even attain high marks as they are told, its grip seems tighter as decades come.
In a multicultural society, which Vancouver is turning out to be and where Filipinos have been pulled out as a now visible minority, racism as Alcuitas has presented has taken on a more complex nature–an invisible divide has thickened between Asians.
But would Filipinos rather go back home than stay and suffer through a persistent token-visible status? Random interviews have revealed indecisiveness among long-time immigrants. Nostalgia for “the free life back home” is a constant thought but when confronted with realities they have long left behind such as corruption in government and mismanagement of resources that have led to chronic unemployment, which have driven most to leave comfort zones for alien sometimes hostile grounds, they favor staying no matter the often unspoken feelings of denigration from racism.
NOTE: some names in the quoted text have been edited. filipineses09
