As the entire country has just been placed under the state
of calamity due to the escalating spread of coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19), we offer our prayers for our people, particularly the poor and most
vulnerable sectors, who will bear the heavier burden caused by the present
crisis.
With the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) we also acknowledge our responsibility to participate in addressing this
national emergency: “This is a time of difficulty but also a time for growing
in true discipleship as we strive to follow the Lord in selfless love and
service of others.”
The Duterte regime’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was
too little, too late. While the epidamic was rampaging in China and nearby
countries, government officials led by Duterte himself belittled the threat. A
travel ban from China’s affected areas should have immediately been put in
place. Government should also have made provisions for massive testing and
extensive contract-tracing in preparation for the eventual arrival of the
disease in the country. Measures should have been taken for the public health
system, down to the community level, to prepare for the crisis. But these were
not done.
By March 18, 2020, only 1,030 have been tested for COVID-19,
a miniscule number compared to the 75,000 possible infections in the last three
months, according to the DOH. Currently, more there are more than 200 confirmed
cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines and the number is expected to grow
dramatically in the coming days.
The current lockdown, euphemistically called “enhanced
community quarantine” in Luzon is a result of the widescale neglect and late
response to the crisis that was already foreseen in early February. Worse,
government planners failed to take into consideration the conditions and needs
of the sectors most vulnerable to the negative consequences of the lockdown.
There is an urgent need to halt or significantly delay the
spread of COVID-19 considering it is incurable and will most likely cause many
deaths of vulnerable sections of the population. This is the most immediate
task that government has to address even as it needs to provide socio-economic
support to those most affected by the lockdown.
Our calls
The following are our demands in the light of the lockdown
and other measures to address the COVID-19:
Medical measures:
Provide adequate funds for free testing, treatment and containment of COVID-19, as well as the rehabilitation of our health services. Immediately tap the P13 billion Contingency Fund, P16 billion Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund, and the President’s more than P4.5 billion Confidential and Intelligence Fund, aside from funds alloted for counter-insurgency, tourism, debt servicing and others. Congress should immediately act on the P1.6 billion supplemental budget for COVID-19 measures.
Provide free and systematic mass testing. Test all those suspected of COVID-19 infection (Persons Under Investigation or PUI and Persons Under Monitoring or PUM) especially in high priority areas (surveillance or sentinel testing) to identify who are infected, where and how it is spreading in order to come up with concrete plans and measures against its spread. Priority should be given to those with symptoms like sore throat, colds, cough, fever, pneumonia – whether severe or not – and those exposed to confirmed COVID-19 victims. In relation to this, increase the number of available testing kits, build more testing centers and laboratories with trained personnel.
Provide hospitals with additional equipment, supplies and personnel. Assign COVID-19-specific hospitals (public and private) in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with adequate equipment, supplies and trained personnel to provide free treatment to suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients. Add isolation rooms and ensure no less than 3,000 ventilators to be distributed to various hospitals. Subsidize private hospitals if necessary. Implement mass hiring of nurses and other health workersto fill the 17,000 vacant plantilla positions in public hospitals and the 42,000 nurses needed to complement current health staffing in our community health centers. Tap those taking the March 2020 Medical Licensure Examination to complement the number of doctors.
Build community-based sanitation facilities and quarantine centers. Establish handwashing facilities, sanitation tents, disinfection facilities, and quarantine centers at various levels – baranggay, municipality, city and region – to halt the spread of the disease and provide care to patients. Home quarantine is not realistic nor practical in our many small and crowded communities, aside from there being a lack of proper care and monitoring of PUMs and PUIs sent home.
Ensure support and protection to our frontliners. Provide adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to health workers, doctors, nurses, medical and ex-ray technicians, and others directly involved in anti-COVID19 efforts. Provide them adequate transport services to and from work. Ensure safe and healthy working conditions – nutritious food, rest, hazard pay, free and regular COVID-19 testing, and other forms of support. This includes both hospital-based personnel, those in triage areas outside hospitals tasked to screen patients, and those deployed to collect specimens for testing. Community health workers that help in public information, education and sanitation drives should be provided PPEs like masks, alcohol, gloves, etc.
Improve systems and protocols to address COVID-19 down to the community level. Ensure correct, timely and understandable public information about COVID-19 and how to avoid infection. Provide clear instructions on the nearest and facility for suspected COVID-19 patients. Provide transportation to patients needing hospital care. Train Barangay Health Workers (BHW), relief and disaster management personnel, and volunteers for their effective participation in anti-COVID-19 efforts. Fix the loopholes and deficiencies in the unified and comprehensive health system and management of the crisis. Issue clear guidelines and support mechanisms from the national to the local governments, recognizing each LGU’s capabilities and limitations. Use persuasive and participatory mechanisms instead of repressive measures and intimidation for people to follow quarantine protocols.
The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas at this time of crisis encourages all our Lay Organizations and Members to heed the call of the government to observe the Community Quarantine and to use this time by staying home and to build a stronger spiritual stamina.
Let us all pray for those affected, those at the front lines and those in government who are trying their best to stem the tide of this pandemic. We are also praying for the whole world, especially for those countries badly affected, that they might recover soon through the mercy of God.
Let us ask for the intercession of ST JOSEPH, Patron of the Universal Church, to GUIDE US, FROM CRISIS TO WHERE CHRIST IS. Lastly, pls join and pass this announcement for the Worldwide Rosary tonight.
For the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas Bro. Rouquel Ponte National President
LiCAS News Jose Torres Jr. and Mark Saludes, Philippines March 17, 2020
Soldiers man a checkpoint in the northern boundary of the Philippine capital Manila ahead of the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
The social action arm of the Philippines’ Catholic bishops’ conference has urged dioceses across the country to set up “kindness stations” in poor communities affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The government has placed the entire island of Luzon, home
to over 57 million people, on “enhanced community quarantine” starting March 16
in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Under the order, strict quarantine for all households is
implemented, transportation is suspended, and provision for food and “essential
health services” are regulated.
Father Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the social
action secretariat of the bishops’ conference, said community-based efforts
have to be done because the operations of humanitarian organizations are
paralyzed due to the lockdown.
“We need to de-centralize the giving of assistance,” Father
Gariguez said. “We need to mobilize communities to help the most needy and
vulnerable members,” he said.
“Kindness through community solidarity must be promoted,
more than the usual centralized aid assistance,” he added.
Father Gariguez said fund-raising can be done at the
community level so that village leaders can have the capacity to respond to the
need of the people.
A policeman checks the temperature of a commuter at a checkpoint in the outskirts of the Philippine capital Manila on March 16, first day of the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines warned of a “humanitarian crisis” in the wake of the “enhanced community quarantine.”
Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza, general secretary of the
Protestant council, expressed grave concern for workers and for the poor.
“Unless the poor are considered and provided with economic
relief and unless medical services are enhanced and made accessible for them,
the community quarantine will defeat itself,” he said.
“This will just lead us to further humanitarian crisis,”
said the bishop.
President Rodrigo Duterte announced the implementation of
the enhanced community quarantine on March 16, a day after a community quarantine
took effect in the capital.
The enhanced community quarantine expanded the coverage to
the entirety of the main island of Luzon.
“We are doomed to suffer a more serious humanitarian crisis
altogether if the social and economic concerns of the poor remain unaddressed,”
said Bishop Marigza.
He said massive job and income losses and inaccessible basic
social services “will worsen the plight of millions of Filipinos already
suffering from poverty and hunger.”
The main highway that traverses the Philippine capital is almost empty of traffic as authorities implement a 30-day lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by Angie de Silva/Rappler)
Church leaders divided on lockdown
Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, said the public should give authorities “the benefit of the doubt” and let them work on addressing the threat of the pandemic.
The prelate, however, called on the Philippine government to
“give subsidy to the poor and the people who depend on their daily work.”
Bishop Roberto Mallari of San Jose said his diocese in the
northern Philippines “will comply” with the government decision to limit the
movement of the population “for the good of our people.”
Father Warren Puno of the Diocese of Lucena has expressed
worry on how local governments will be able to feed the people if a strict
lockdown will be imposed.
“Is there really a comprehensive plan before they decided to
impose this?” asked the priest.
“There are many poor Filipinos who rely on their daily
wages. Can the government provide for all of them?” he said.
Father Puno said he is not against any move to combat the
spread of the disease “but we need to prove to the public that we can provide
their basic needs and that they will not die of hunger.”
Redemptorist priest Oliver Castor said the lockdown “was too
late.” He said the country should have implemented a strict ban on all incoming
flights to Manila as soon as the outbreak started.
He said the Filipino people is now suffering because of the
“inability” of the government to handle the situation one step ahead.
“A strategic approach to address COVID-19 is needed,” said
Father Amado Picardal.
He said the recent deployment of security forces to close
every border and to limit the movement of the people is “inadequate and only
contributes to the spread of the virus.”
“A community quarantine or lockdown must be accompanied by
massive test and detection, immediate response to cases, adequate protective
equipment, and food supply,” said Father Picardal.
He said the long-term lockdown “without addressing the basic
needs of the poor run the risk of chaos when the choice becomes either catch
COVID-19 or die of hunger.”
LiCAS News Mark Saludes, Philippines March 18, 2020
Shoppers form a line outside a grocery store in the Philippine capital on March 17 as the “enhanced community quarantine” took effect in the country’s main island of Luzon, which includes Manila. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
Catholic Church leaders in the Philippines called on the government to “plug the gap” in its efforts to address the impact of the new coronavirus on the poor.
The church’s social action arm said the “welfare of the
poorest and the most vulnerable” should be considered during the implementation
of the lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
Father Edwin Gariguez, executive director of Caritas
Philippines, released recommendations he gathered from various social action
ministries and civil society groups across the country.
“We decided to issue an appeal because we want to help the
government in responding to this crisis,” he told LiCAS.news.
“We need to help the government find a proper response to
this problem,” said the priest.
Caritas Philippines urged the government to distribute free
food and medical assistance and give priority to depressed areas in the
country’s main island of Luzon during the 30-day lockdown.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier put all of Luzon under an
“enhanced community quarantine” until April 12 to stop the spread of infection
from the new coronavirus.
Policemen accost a motorist as authorities implement the “enhanced community quarantine” in the country’s main island of Luzon. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
Duterte said public movement would be restricted to only buying food, medicine, and other essential items necessary for survival.
In a phone interview, Father Gariguez said the presidential
office should consider “freeing up” its $182 million intelligence fund and use
it “to support the daily basic needs of the impoverished.”
The priest stressed the need to provide emergency assistance
packages to workers and low-income earners to compensate for the loss of wages
during the forced-quarantine period.
“It should be in the form of comprehensive financial
assistance and unemployment benefits and not loans,” said the priest.
On March 17, the country’s labor department issued
guidelines for workers affected by the lockdown.
The guidelines include one-time financial assistance of $100
“to cover the remaining unpaid leave of the affected workers.”
Father Gariguez, however, said the amount is not enough to
help workers survive the month-long quarantine.
“It has to be more than that amount,” he said.
In its appeal to the government, Caritas Philippines also
noted that treatment for those infected should be made readily available and
paid for by the government.
“Mass testing should be conducted in all areas as a
prevention and containment measure,” read the statement released by the group.
“There is emerging evidence of best practices from other countries
on how testing can be ramped up and scaled up,” it added.
Father Gariguez said a plan for a “house-to-house approach”
in mass testing and disease detection should be developed, considering that
hospitals are already full because of other illnesses.
The Philippines has a 101,688-bed capacity in all its 1,224
government hospitals. Private hospitals only have a capacity of 54,317 beds.
Caritas Philippines urged the public and private sectors to
help the government in doing “mass disinfection” in areas where people usually
congregate.
The social action arm also called for the deployment of
health professionals at checkpoints instead of military personnel.
“We are confronting a health crisis, not a military problem.
Extreme compassion should be exercised at all times,” read the Caritas appeal.
Other recommendations include a moratorium on public
financial obligations.
“Filipino families must be un-burdened with these
obligations at a time when the preoccupation should be prevention, containment,
and treatment,” said the group.
A police vehicle patrols in the Philippine capital Manila following the implementation on March 17 of the “enhanced community quarantine” in the country’s main island of Luzon. (Photo by Basilio Sepe)
The Catholic humanitarian arm called for the establishment of a “community-level citizens desk” that will serve as “feedback, grievance, and action mechanism.”
It urged the government to “speak in a unified voice,”
adding that the health department should be the sole source of information and
direction to avoid confusion and miscommunication.
Father Gariguez said the recommendations aim to improve the
country’s response to the crisis and “avoid civil disobedience or a possible
uprising because of the disgruntled public.”
The priest also encouraged church institutions and civil
society groups to prepare their respective humanitarian responses, especially
after the imposed enhanced community quarantine.
“The government will be needing our help in assisting the
public, especially the poor and the impoverished, stand on their own feet
again,” he said.
“The real and harder challenge will come in the coming days.
We must be ready to extend our arms to the government. We must be always ready
to care for the poor,” said the priest.
LiCAS News Inday Espina-Varona, Philippines March 18, 2020
Shoppers stand apart as social distancing measures, amid concerns of the coronavirus, while queueing outside a supermarket in Manila on March 17. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered about half the country’s population to stay home for the next month in a drastic bid on March 16 to curb the rising number of new coronavirus cases. (Photo by Maria Tan/AFP)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has expanded the government’s COVID-19 lockdown to include all provinces in the Philippines’ main island of Luzon.
Aides pre-taped the president’s address, hoping, in vain,
that he would stick to a script laying out do’s and don’ts for Luzon’s 48.5 million
residents.
The result was greater confusion, with Duterte undermining
lockdown goals by joking of the Justice Secretary’s refusal to shake his hand
and insisting on doing the rounds and joining checkpoint forces, many of whom
still do not have protective gear.
“I will go out. I do not believe in that … because I have a
different doctrine in life, that if it’s my time, then it’s my time, whether I
go via COVID, a bullet, or a crash,” said the president in the national
language after threatening defiant citizens with arrests.
As Duterte spoke, the camera showed Justice Secretary
Menardo Guevarra wincing and Health Secretary Francisco Duque struggling to
maintain his poker face.
(As of 12 noon on March 17, the Philippine Health department
listed 45 new cases of COVID-19 in the country, bringing the total number of
cases to 187. A total of four people have already recovered, according to the
Health Department while at least 12 patients have died.)
The unusually high death-case ratio is due to under-testing.
The health secretary said the country lacks kits. Many under-the-radar carriers
have led to community transmission.
Many of the new cases have not traveled to outbreak areas,
neither do they have known contacts with confirmed COVID-19 cases.
There is no doubt of the need for a lockdown. At least four
million of Metro Manila’s 12 million residents live in slums, where five to ten
people cram into shanties as small as ten square meters.
The national capital’s train system is beset with
overloading, with lines of commuters spilling over from stations to streets.
Congested roads have forced workers to patronize motorcycle rides.
But the government’s cavalier attitude toward the poor adds
to the risks they face during this contagion.
Children play outside shanties in a coastal urban poor community in the Philippine capital Manila. (Photo by Vincent Go)
Duterte’s March 16 address came hours after workers living in the border towns of Rizal province, just east of the capital region, panicked after police announced they would close the main bridge link.
Scenes of people begging to pass, racing on foot to pass
before the lockdown, went viral. They had been told to report on March 16 by
companies struggling to decipher the previous metro-wide quarantine order,
which government officials modified by the hour. They endured four hours of
travel to their workplaces and more hours going home.
Everyone, save for those in the food delivery and health
sector, were told to stay home during the new lockdown phase. The thriving business
process outsourcing and telecommunications sectors were asked to trim workforce
to skeletal levels. Construction has ground to a halt.
Feeding the poor
Duterte, whose contingency and intelligence funds make up
more than half of his office’s US$159 million budget for the year, demanded
that private companies help feed the capital’s poor, many of whom also have to
buy their drinking water.
He also asked private firms to advance money to displaced
workers but stressed they had no legal obligation. He ordered grassroots
governing bodies to take charge of feeding the poor but offered no clear
mechanism.
“Just go around, check who are hungry,” he said, threatening
reprisals against under-performing village officials.
The Social Welfare Department, citing health risks,
suspended its unconditional cash transfer program and other aid to 420,000
registered indigents (people in need), instead promising to course food packs
through local government units.
But the list of indigents does not include the working poor,
who comprise from 20 to 38 percent of the capital’s 5.7 million labor force,
who live mostly in slum districts.
Because they are categorized as “underemployed,” they do not
receive indigent benefits.
“As usual, it is the poor who suffer the most when a first
world concept (like lockdown and social distancing) is applied in a third world
setting,” lamented Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan.
“They have no social benefits … They have no days-off, no
maternity/paternity leaves, no vacation, no paid leaves,” said Bishop David.
“It’s always no work, no income for them. And no income means no food on the
table. Period.”
Health experts have warned that urban poor communities are most vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus disease because of congestion and poor sanitation. (Photo by Vincent Go)
In the urban poor communities, he added, ten to 20 percent of residents are undocumented with no basic legal documents to present for welfare services.
The Interior Secretary, Eduardo Año, said those not covered
by food pack services should go out and buy a week’s supply of food to ease
health pressures.
There is an appointed time for everything (Eccl. 3:1).
To the People of God in Metro Manila:
“There is
an appointed time for everything,” (Eccl. 3:1) the Holy Bible says. Let us heed
the signs of our time and respond to them appropriately. The government has declared a community
quarantine in Metro Manila from March 15 to April 14 to stem the spread of
COVID 19. We bishops of this region met to discuss common pastoral actions in
the light of this development. We have been guided by fidelity to the faith,
service to the people, and the common good of the community. After much discussion and discernment, we
have decided on the following points which we will implement in our
ecclesiastical jurisdictions in the Archdiocese of Manila, in the dioceses of
Cubao, Novaliches, Pasig, Kalookan, Parañaque, parts of both the diocese of
Antipolo and Malolos that belong to Metro Manila, and some parts of the
Military Vicariate of the Philippines.
1. We will abide by the government’s
directive to suspend all large gatherings from March 15 to April 14. So there
will be no celebration of the Holy Mass with a large congregation within this
period, plus other religious activities during the Holy Week which usually
attract huge crowds of the faithful. We heed the instruction of the CBCP which
reads: “We should continue to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and Holy Week liturgical
celebrations even in the absence of a congregation. In spite of the fact that our faithful cannot
be physically present in the Eucharistic celebration, the crisis gives us the
opportunity to unite ourselves with one another in the bond of spiritual
communion through the digital technology” (CBCP circular 20-14).
2. The Baptisms, Confirmations, and
Weddings scheduled within these dates, which can no longer be postponed due to
the enormity of the preparations involved, may push through, but will be subject
to severe restrictions as to the number of participants and attendees, and
proper social distancing should be observed.
All other celebrations of these aforementioned sacraments are to be
temporarily deferred.
3. Since the dates for the Metro Manila
Community Quarantine will coincide with the last three Sundays of Lent, and
Holy Week, it would mean that the liturgical celebrations during those days,
including Palm Sunday, the rest of the Holy Week and Easter Sunday will not be
open to the public.
4. There will be no public blessing of
palms, Visita Iglesia, Siete Palabras, Good Friday procession and Easter
Salubong. We encourage the faithful to
stay home and follow the said activities on TV, Radio, or online. The faithful
are called upon to pray the Rosary as it is a good prayer to meditate on the
mysteries of the life of the Lord that we intensely celebrate in the universal
Church during the Holy Week.
5. We call for days of penance, prayer,
and fasting during all the Fridays of Lent (March 20, 27, and April 3),
including Good Friday (April 10). This is our response to the CBCP appeal: “We
are enjoining all the Local Ordinaries and the Diocesan Administrators to call
for a Day of Prayer and Fasting for all those who are infected with the COVID-19
and those who have died, and for our deliverance from this pandemic” (CBCP
circular 20-14).
6. The month-long community quarantine
will affect the poor and the daily wage earners heavily. Let our parishes and
church institutions, in close coordination with their local government units
(LGUs), be creative in going out of
their way to help the people in their basic needs. We appeal for donations to
help the poor and the sick.
7. Let the bells of our Churches be heard
at 12 o’clock noon and 8 o’clock in the
evening to call all the faithful to pray the Oratio Imperata together with the
praying of the Angelus at noon and the family rosary in the evening. Let us all
earnestly turn to the Lord in prayer. Together with the psalmist, let us pray:
“I love you, LORD, my strength, LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, My
God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!” (Ps. 18:2-3)
Our present
situation is very fluid. For the moment these are our common actions in our
dioceses. Other developments and subsequent instructions may come in the
future. Let us all be vigilant. We offer to the Lord the difficulties and
uncertainties that confront us in the spirit of Lent, which is the spirit of
fervent prayer, penance and generosity. We are assured of Easter. Life will
overcome death. This virus will pass us by. We say with St. Paul: “We even
boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and
endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not
disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts” (Rom.
5:3-5).
Let us
entrust ourselves to the maternal care of Mary, Mother of the Afflicted.
Yours truly
in Christ:
Most Rev. NOLLY C. BUCO Most Rev. PABLO VIRGILIO S. DAVID Auxiliary Bishop of Antipolo Bishop of Kalookan
Most Rev. FRANCISCO M. DE LEON Most Rev. OSCAR L. FLORENCIO Bishop of Antipolo Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines
Most Rev. ROBERTO O. GAA Most Rev. JESSE E. MERCADO Bishop of Novaliches Bishop of Parañaque
Most Rev. BRODERICK S. PABILLO Most Rev. HONESTO F. ONGTIOCO Apostolic Administrator of the Bishop of Cubao Archdiocese of Manila
Most Rev. MYLO HUBERT C. VERGARA Most Rev. DENNIS C. VILLAROJO Bishop of Pasig Bishop of Malolos
TO ALL
THE BISHOPS AND THE DIOCESAN ADMINISTRATORS
Your Eminences,
Your Excellencies and Reverend Administrators,
The Department of Health has raised the alert system for the COVID 19 to Code Red Sub-level Two (2). It is now the time to respond together as a Church with greater seriousness to the potential havoc that a more widespread transmission of this virus can cause on our people. With our communal efforts we can help the government control the further spread of this disease.
We are morally obliged to cooperate and
support all the precautionary measures that our health officials and government
leaders offer us to keep our people safe and healthy.
We hereby offer to all the local
ordinaries and the diocesan administrators of our country updated
recommendations in the light of this recent development. Our two previous
instructions are to be taken as complementary guidelines to this new one.
Each Local Ordinary must discern the seriousness of the situation in his Local Church in the face of the spread of the COVID-19. He does this in consultation with the local medical and civil authorities. We cannot take lightly the DOH recommendation on “Social Distancing” and, whenever possible, avoid large gatherings. This is still the proven and effective measure to prevent and lessen the transmission of the virus.
Depending on the given circumstances, the Local Ordinaries may exercise their prerogative to dispense the faithful from the Sunday and the Holy Days of Obligation.
Such a dispensation, however, does not excuse us from our duty to provide the faithful with spiritual nourishment especially in time of crisis. Every diocese must therefore provide for the celebration of the Eucharist, other liturgical services and spiritual activities, transmitted live through the Internet, Television, or Radio. We should encourage the faithful to avail themselves of these and pray together in their homes as a family or in their small Christian communities (BECs).
We should continue to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and Holy Week liturgical celebrations even in the absence of a congregation. In spite of the fact that our faithful cannot be physically present in the Eucharistic celebration, the crisis gives us the opportunity to unite ourselves with one another in the bond of spiritual communion through the digital technology. In the absence of digital technology, we remind our faithful that a mere desire to be part of the Eucharistic celebration, with the given circumstances, already unites us spiritually to the Body of Christ.
We recommend the cancellation or postponement of recollections, pilgrimages, conferences, processions and other activities that gather people together in big numbers.
Our churches should be kept open so that those who need to pray and seek prayerful moments may find solace and strength in these trying moments.
We ask all our parishes to sound together the church bells at 12:00 noon and 8:00 pm and pray the Oratio Imperata.
We encourage the bishops, religious and the clergy to spend time in silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for the safety of our flock and the healing of the sick.
We continue to minister to the sick by offering them the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick but following the necessary precautions proposed by the DOH, in particular the wearing of face mask.
We are enjoining all the Local Ordinaries and the Diocesan Administrators to call for a Day of Prayer and Fasting for all those who are infected with the COVID-19 and those who have died, and for our deliverance from this pandemic.
We continue to remind everybody to keep the hygiene protocol and the cleanliness of our churches and church facilities.
Muling naglimbag ang Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas ng Daan ng Krus Para sa Buhay. Mabibili ang bagong edisyon ng Daang ng Krus sa mga tanggapan ng Sangguniang Laiko at Radyo Veritas.
Pwedeng i- download ang kopya ng Daan ng Krus Para sa Buhay dito.
TO ALL THE BISHOPS AND
THE DIOCESAN ADMINISTRATORS
Your
Eminences, Your Excellencies and Reverend Administrators,
RE:
PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY – COVID-19
“For God has not destined
us for wrath, but to obtain through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so
that whether we wake or sleep we might live with Him. Therefore, encourage one
another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians
5:9-11)
The Department of Health (DOH) has declared a
state of public health emergency in the country. This according to our health
officials is a call to greater preparedness if the spread of the Corona Virus
continues to affect greater number of the population. This has caused more
fear, anxiety, and genuine concern. We need to take all of these seriously. We
have already issued some guidelines in the recent past on the matter but we
need to respond to the situation now in consistent efforts together.
As Catholics, we believe that God uses
material instruments to bring to us His blessings and presence. This is the
reason why we use material elements in our sacraments and sacramentals.
The same material elements that bring us God’s
blessings are also subject to the broken nature of our fallen world. Science
and our God-given reason demand that we use every means available to protect
ourselves and our families against the spread of COVID-19 and any other
disease. In the face of this world wide pandemic we are demanded to exercise
vigilance as a Church, lest our churches become venues of transmission of the
disease.
The measures we are strongly recommending do
not change the traditions of the Church but rather are temporary precautions
during this time of crisis.
We continue to appeal to our priests and
faithful to follow the hygiene protocol that the DOH has consistently requested
to everyone, namely, the proper washing and sanitation of hands and avoidance
of body contacts. There is nothing more effective measure in this crisis than
the best effort to stay clean.
1. We recommend those feeling unwell physically to refrain from
liturgical assemblies until they are certain of their diagnosis. Taking the
basic steps of wellness as recommended by the health authorities is not only
sensible, but wise and considerate of others. In truth, it is an expression of
genuine charity. For vulnerable populations like elderly, those who are
immunocompromised, they may view the celebration of Holy Mass on TV and the
social media.
2. Clergy and the faithful alike should use best practices
through careful hand-washing and frequent cleaning of liturgical space and
objects (e.g. sacred statues and sacred vessels). Our liturgical spaces should
be disinfected/sanitized after every liturgical services. We should also
provide hand sanitizers at the doors of our Churches for the use of our church
goers.
