Philippine Travel Update: Cheaper Flights | A Customs Warning for Travelers

Good news for those who will be booking their flights! Meanwhile, Immigration expresses airport issue… January Travel Protocols: https://youtu.be/1vtWPRfdxrg All passengers bound for the Philippines must register to E-TRAVEL: https://etravel.gov.ph/ Source of Info: https://iatf.doh.gov.ph/wp-content/up... Philippine Exit Requirements for Foreign Tourists, Balikbayans, Duals, and Filipino Residents Abroad: https://youtu.be/Qb9bm73yQDY Going back to the US? UPDATED & COMPLETE TRAVEL GUIDE TO THE US FOR FILIPINOS & US NATIONALS: https://youtu.be/j00HglOrvNM Filipino Tourists departing the Philippines may be required by Philippine Immigration to secure travel medical insurance. For this, you may check out Safetywing: https://www.safetywing.com/a/24818256 Foreign Tourists, except those covered by Balikbayan Privilege, may be required by airlines and immigration show an exit ticket of not more than 30 days since arrival. You may rent a ticket here to satisfy this requirement for just $14: https://onwardticket.com/jennifer ( FYI - The links above are affiliate codes/links. This means I may get a reward at no additional cost to you when you use them. Thanks in advance because it helps support the channel :) Want to stay longer than 30 days? It’s easy!: https://youtu.be/FONR9zBwYUI

Davao town receives P1M for prefab coffee storage

By Ruth Palo

DAVAO CITY: The regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has turned over P1 million to the local government unit (LGU) of Bansalan in Davao del Sur for the construction of a prefabricated coffee storage in Sitio Gagpang, Barangay Alegre in the town.

The project aims to ensure coffee quality and available supply for marketing.

In a turnover ceremony on Wednesday, January 18, in Davao City, DA 11 regional executive director Abel James Monteagudo said the project is part of the intensified support of the agency for coffee farmers in the Davao Region.

"Coffee beans from the foothills of Mt. Apo are regarded as one of the best in the country and even made headlines as they have won the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition since 2018," Monteagudo added.

With this project, according to him, the number of local and international buyers could increase and there is a need for postharvest facilities to help the coffee farmers meet the required quality and demand.

He said a postharvest facility determines the quality of coffee cherries as every step of postharvest activities can cause significant quality loss and lead to a lower market price.

Here’s the newest basilica in the Philippines

 

The St. Dominic Parish in San Carlos City was formally declared a minor basilica during Mass presided over by Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, on Jan. 14, 2023. (CBCP News)

By Roy Lagarde via CBCP News 

The church of St. Dominic in Pangasinan province’s city of San Carlos was formally declared a minor basilica Saturday, making it the first church of such stature in Asia under the patronage of the founder of the Order of Preachers.

At a Mass on Saturday, Jan. 14, the parish was formally declared a minor basilica, and the church will now be known as the “Minor Basilica of Saint Dominic”.

The liturgy was presided over by Archbishop Charles Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, with Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, his auxiliary bishop Fidelis Layog, and Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner, the Master of the Order of Preachers, as concelebrants.

At the start of the service, Bishop Layug read the decree from the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments designating the 250-year old church as a minor basilica.

Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila then blessed the special insignia of a minor basilica: the “ombrellino” or a large umbrella highlighted with alternate red and yellow silk stripes, and the “tintinnabulum” or a bell mounted on a pole.

In his homily, Fr. Timoner said that the new basilica under the patronage of St. Dominic is the fifth in the world— three are in Italy and one in Argentina that were declared basilicas shortly before or after the 7th centenary of the death of St. Dominic.

“This is the first, and perhaps, the only one after the 8th Jubilee celebration,” Fr. Timoner said.

Of the approximately 1,800 minor basilicas in the world, the Philippines is home to 21 and two of them are in the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese.

A minor basilica is a special designation conferred on churches from the Vatican based on, among others, architectural beauty, historical or cultural significance and liturgical celebrations.

Minor basilicas are located throughout the world while major basilicas are all located in Rome.

A basilica ranks in importance right below the principal church of the archdiocese, which is St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, the archbishop’s church in Dagupan City.

Various privileges and obligations such as plenary indulgences are attached to visits to a minor basilica by the faithful.

Cardinal Advincula said the basilica also shows Pope Francis’ “closeness with us all”.

“He has given official recognition to the depth and intensity of our devotion to St. Dominic, and he urges us to invite more people to come closer to the Lord to experience his great love,” the cardinal added.

The rich Catholic history of San Carlos, originally known as Binalatongan, dates back to 1587 with the arrival of Dominican missionaries that evangelized Pangasinan. The town’s first church was made of bamboo and nipa.

The church’s original site was moved to higher locations three times in the 17th and 19th centuries due to seasonal flooding.

In the 18th century, most churches were built of bricks and the largest bricks produced then were from San Carlos. After the Palaris revolt in 1765, a new church in its current site was built and completed in 1773.

Santo Domingo Ybanez de Erquicia who received the crown of martyrdom in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture and San Francisco Gil de Federich who died for the faith in Vietnam’s Gulf of Tonkin were both Dominican missionaries who once ministered in the parish.

We have the same mission as Christ

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

IT’S intriguing to note that Christ would just appoint as his apostles practically anyone. It would look like his choice was done purely at random. He would even choose someone who would betray him. And many times, he would scold his apostles for their lack of faith and understanding. And the severest rebuke was even given to Peter, the head of the apostles, whom he told, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mt 16,23)

We are reminded of this fact when in the gospel of St. Mark, Christ simply chose 12 out of the many disciples who followed him. (3,13-19) What we can derive from this observation is precisely that we, being meant to be conformed to Christ, the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity, are also meant to be apostles, to be involved in his mission. Christ treats us the same way he treats himself.

We have to be more aware of this truth about ourselves and try our best to act on it. To be an authentic Christian is not simply to be interested in one’s own sanctification. He also has to be involved in the sanctification of everyone. A Christian is at once interested in sanctifying himself and in sanctifying others as well.

To be sure, if we have the proper Christian frame of mind, we know that every event, circumstance, situation and condition in our life is an occasion to do apostolate. Even when one is isolated for one reason or another, he still can do apostolate, because this duty is not limited to dealing with others in a direct, physical way. It can be done with prayers, sacrifices and intentions. Indeed, there is no moment in our life when we cannot apostolate!

We also have to realize that our pursuit for sanctity cannot be genuine if it does not involve doing apostolate. In fact, the tasks of sanctification and apostolate mutually help each other. One cannot be without the other.

When we are active in the apostolate, we get the chance to deal with our weaknesses and shortcomings better. Temptations can hardly affect us when we are occupied with this business of doing apostolate.

Obviously, if we are sincere in our pursuit for holiness, we would also feel more strongly the urge to do apostolate. If our prayer is authentic, if our sacrifices are generous and purely intended, if our recourse to the sacraments and the waging of ascetical struggle are stable, there can be no other effect than for us to get involved in the lives of others for their own sanctification.

What should ideally happen is to have the same drive and zeal that Christ had in carrying out his mission. He once said: “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!” (Lk 12,49) This will obviously require a lot of effort and discipline. But let’s never forget that we have to ask for God’s grace for this ideal to take place.

We can be sure that by earnestly pursuing this duty of ours as Christians, we would receive the joy and peace that the world cannot give, a joy and peace that, while involving a lot of effort and sacrifice, will always be palpable.

This is what we can see in Christ and in all the saints!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com