the olw sun monday april 28, 2014

TWO POPES,TWO SAINTS

MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2014 � 8 in provinces, free onlineolwsun.wordpress.com

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Holy: St. John XXIII (left) and St. John Paul II (right) on a postcard, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis was seen greeting each other, as always, after the canonization rites

13 PAGES OF PICTURES FROM THE HISTORIC CEREMONY

SPORTS: WRITERS ONSTRIKE . . . !

SEE WHY: PAGES 26-32

The OLW Sun, Monday, April 28, 2014* * *

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4 day forecastPlace Today Tuesday Wed. Thurs.

Manila 34c 34c 35c 35c

Baguio 25c 26c 25c 25c

Tuguegarao 37c 37c 36c 36c

Batangas 33c 32c 33c 33c

Legazpi 33c 33c 33c 33c

Palawan 33c 33c 33c 33c

Iloilo 33c 32c 32c 33c

Cebu 33c 32c 32c 33c

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CDO 33c 32c 32c 33c

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The whole country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunder-storms mostly in the after-noon or evening. Light to moderate winds blowing

from the east to northeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and coming from the northeast over Mind-anao. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate.

37c

35c

34c

33c

33c

33c

33c

32c 34cdMODERATE

3

dMODERATE

dMODERATE

11

3

F C100 40 80 30 60 20 40 10 20 -10 0 -20-20 -30

INSIDE: Canonization 2, Sports 32, Leader Article 18, Crossword 32

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Strong: Pope Benedict XVI just before the ceremony AFP/GETTY

A historic moment for all of us

Pope Francis on Sunday proclaimed as saints his influential predeces-sors John Paul II and John XXIII at an historic ceremony attended by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square.

“We declare and define as saints the blessed John XXIII and John Paul II,” the Catholic leader said in a Latin prayer, as pilgrims and foreign dignitaries applauded and chanted: “Amen!”

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, 87, who is the first pontiff to step down since the Mid-dle Ages, made a rare public appearance in his white papal cassock and Francis em-braced him before the ceremony.

Commentators defined the event as a “four-pope day”.

Many faithful waved the red-and-white

flags from John Paul II’s native Poland and one pilgrim held up a banner reading: “Two pope saints in heaven, two in St Peter’s Square”.

“We are followers of all four popes who have all been close to the people. This is an historic day but one that you really feel in-side,” said Luisa Tomolo, a member of an Italian religious movement.

Thousands also followed the ceremony on giant screens set up in picturesque spots of Rome, witnessing an event seen as a way of uniting conservative and reformist wings of Catholicism.

The ceremony was shown in 3D at hun-dreds of cinemas across the world from Francis’s Argentina to Lebanon and was live tweeted by the Vatican’s vicariate of Rome under the hashtag #2popesaints.

Francis was co-celebrating the mass with Benedict XVI and hundreds of bishops and cardinals — the first time that two living popes say mass together.

It was also the first time that two Catholic Church leaders were being declared saints on the same day.

By Daniel Sta Ana, Annabelle Rosario, Rupert Sanchez, Kaye Dela Cruz, Jack Donalds from New York, Harry Sanchez from Vatican City and news agencies

The OLW Sun, Monday, April 28, 2014 * * *

A historic moment for all of us

Pope Francis incenses the altar (left) while cardinals gather for the mass AFP/GETTY, AP

The charismatic, globe-trotting John Paul II helped topple Communism in East-ern Europe and John XXIII is best remem-bered for launching a process of reform of the Catholic Church in the 1960s.

Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl paid tribute to John Paul II in an editorial for Il Messaggero.

“He played a decisive role in making the fall of the Berlin Wall possible,” Kohl said, adding that the pope had been “a fearless fighter for freedom”.

Francis has reached levels of popularity not seen since the days of John Paul II but experts say he is more comparable to John XXIII — a unifying figure with the kindly manner of a parish priest.

By sainting them together, Francis “is speaking not just to the outside world but to rival camps within the Catholic fold who see John XXIII and John Paul II as their he-roes”, said US-based Vatican expert John

Allen from the Boston Globe.The Vatican said 98 foreign delegations

were present including former Polish presi-dent and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa — an ally of John Paul II — and the kings of Belgium and Spain.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe also attended — despite a ban from enter-ing the European Union, which does not apply in the Vatican City, the smallest sov-ereign state in the world.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatse-nyuk had been due to come but was forced to cut short his trip after meeting with Pope Francis on Saturday because of the spiral-ling tensions in his country.

Among the attendees was also Floribeth Mora, the Costa Rican woman whose heal-ing from a brain aneurysm has been de-clared the second miracle in John Paul II’s

TURN TO PAGE 4


name required for sainthood sta-tus.

She carried a reliquary contain-ing John Paul II’s blood onto the altar. A piece of John XXIII’s skin was also brought to the cer-emony as a relic.

There were 10,000 police on patrol along with 3,500 official volunteers on hand, including 25 Polish cultural guides and 20 psychiatrists trained in dealing with panic attacks.

A Vatican smartphone app en-titled Santo Subito! (Sainthood Now) — the phrase chanted by

the crowd at John Paul II’s fu-neral — provided practical tips for pilgrims and quotes from the two pontiffs.

The Polish pope (1978-2005) be-came a media superstar and sur-vived an assassination attempt by Turkish extremist Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981.

He was known as the “Pilgrim Pope” and was the first to pray in a synagogue, to enter a mosque in an Islamic country and to pre-side a meeting of leaders of all the world’s main religions.

But he drew sharp criticism for

his clampdown on leftist move-ments in the Church and his fail-ure to tackle child sex crimes by priests which became a wave of scandals at the end of his pontifi-cate.

The acceleration of his saint-hood, which has been the fastest since the 18th century when the current rules were adopted, has been controversial.

Francis also sped up John XX-III’s sainthood cause, granting it with only one supposed miracle to his name instead of the two usually required.

Respect: Pope Francis incensing the altar AP


They came for the two saints: Esti-mates point that 2 million went AP


Yawn: A kid pope in Eastwood, Quezon City EPA

Miracle: Flo-ribeth Mora claimed she was healed by John Paul II, while dif-ferent heads of states and churches pose for the cameras AP

Swaths: Dif-ferent peo-ple of dif-ferent races waving flags outside the Baslilica AP


In a historic match-up of papacies past and present, Pope Francis and emeritus Pope Benedict XVI will hon-or Popes John XXIII and John Paul II in the first ever canonisation of two popes.

For such a momentous occasion, the ceremony is actually quite short and surprisingly straightforward, with the added benefit that the relics of the two new saints will be presented for universal veneration by the church for the first time.

Here are five things to look for - though beware, the rite is celebrated mostly in Latin, the official language of the Catholic Church. 1. THE CEREMONY

• The preliminary part of the cer-emony begins at around 8am UK time with prayers, hymns and culminates with the chanting of the hypnotic Litany of Saints, the roll call of the church's saints, each one followed by the refrain ‘Ora pro nobis,’ or ‘Pray for us.’

• After Pope Francis and concel-ebrants process to the altar, the can-onisation rite begins immediately.

• The head of the Vatican's saint-making office, Cardinal Angelo Ama-to, asks the pope three separate times to include John XXIII and John Paul II among the saints. In the rite for be-atification, there is only one such peti-tion.

• The three repeated requests for

canonisation ‘signify the importance of this celebration,’ noted the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lom-bardi. 2. THE PRONOUNCEMENT

• Pope Francis then says: ‘For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exal-tation of the Catholic faith and the in-crease of the Christian life, by the au-thority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assis-tance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we de-clare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be saints and we en-roll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church. In the name of the Holy Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ 3. THE RELICS

• Relics of the two new saints are then brought to the altar. In the case of John Paul, the same relic - his blood - used for his 2011 beatification is be-ing used.

• For John XXIII, a small piece of skin taken after his body was exhumed for his 2000 beatification is being used.

• Relics - the physical remains of a new saint or things he or she touched in life - are used to help the faithful venerate.

• Amato then thanks Francis and asks him to draw up an official docu-

ment attesting to the canonisation. • Francis responds ‘We so decree’

and the rite ends with the singing of the ‘Gloria.’

• The Mass then proceeds as usual. 4. BY NUMBERS

• The Vatican said Saturday that Francis would preside over the Mass and Benedict would concelebrate along with 150 cardinals and 700 bish-ops. It's the first time Benedict has joined Francis in celebrating Mass in public since his resignation in 2013. Benedict attended the February cer-emony in St. Peter's Basilica in which Francis installed 19 new cardinals, but as a spectator.

• About 600 priests will distribute Communion in St. Peter's Square and 210 deacons will distribute Commun-ion to the throngs of people expected to line up along Via della Conciliazi-one, the main boulevard leading away from the square.

• 93 official delegations attending, in-cluding an estimated 24 heads of state. The kings and queens of Belgium and Spain are expected, as are royals from Andorra, Britain and Luxemburg. Po-land is sending one of the largest del-egations with the current president and two former presidents, including Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity movement that toppled communism in Poland, which John Paul supported, 20 Jewish leaders from the U.S., Israel, Argentina, Poland and Rome.

HOW THE RITES HAPPENED

PROFILE: JOHN PAUL II1920: Born Karol Wojtyla in Poland1946: Ordained priest1964: Becomes Archbishop of Krakow1978: Elected Pope aged 581981: Seriously wounded in shooting2001: Diagnosed with Par-kinson's disease2003: Celebrates Silver Ju-bilee at Vatican2004: Papacy becomes third-longest ever2005: Dies after heart attackJohn Paul helped topple communism in Poland through his support of the Solidarity movement. His globe-trotting papacy and launch of the wildly popular World Youth Days invigorated a new generation of Catho-lics. And his defence of core church teaching heart-ened conservatives after the turbulent 1960s.

PROFILE: JOHN XXIII1881: Born Angelo Roncalli, Italy1904: Ordained priest1953 Appointed the Pa-triarch of Venice1958: Succeeds Pope Pius XII aged 771962: Calls the Sec-ond Vatican Council1962: Named Man of the Year by Time1963: Dies of stomach cancer2000: John, known as the 'Good Pope', is beatified by Pope John Paul IIJohn is a hero to liberal Catholics for having con-vened the Second Vatican Council. The meetings brought the church into the modern era by allow-ing Mass to be celebrated in local languages rather than Latin and by encouraging greater dialogue with people of other faiths, particularly Jews.

PROFILES

1 millionjoined tothe partyOne million worship-pers from all over the world have gathered in Rome ahead of the ‘unprecedented’ dou-ble canonisation of two former popes.

Over the last 24 hours, crowds have arrived and camped out in Vatican City ahead of the canonisation of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII at St Peter’s Square.

The ceremony, to be held later today, will be an un-precedented event in Cath-olic history, as two living Popes will be in attendance – the current Pope Francis I and Benedict XVI, who stood down last year and now holds the title Pope Emeritus. Former pontiff John Paul II is due to be canonised alongside John XXIII, who was Pope from 1958-1963, in a ceremony which is expected to be watched by millions of peo-ple around he world. For the past year Benedict has largely dedicated himself to prayer in a monastery in the Vatican grounds. It means today’s ceremony will be his highest-profile appearance since he retired.

Francis, who lives in a guesthouse elsewhere in Vatican City, has been quite welcoming to his predeces-sor, occasionally paying a call on Benedict. It was Francis who sought to in-clude Benedict in the cer-emony, which is expected to draw crowds of more than one million tourists and pil-grims.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi ex-plained Benedict’s involve-ment, saying he will be in St. Peter’s Square for the can-onisation of John and John Paul, where he will ‘concel-ebrate’ the Mass with Fran-cis and other cardinals.

‘Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the in-vitation, and has let Pope Francis know that he will be present tomorrow morning at the canonization cere-mony and will concelebrate’ along with other prelates, Lombardi said.

‘That doesn’t mean that he will go up on the altar’ on the steps of St. Peter’s Ba-silica, Lombardi said of the outdoor Mass.

He noted that during the ceremony, cardinals and bishops will be seated on one side of the esplanade, with, presumably, Benedict, among them. ‘We will all be happy to have his presence’ at the ceremony, the Vati-can spokesman said.

Benedict also attended Francis’ ceremony to el-evate churchmen to cardi-nal’s rank in February.


The night before - how the audience was campers first . . .


Swaths: Thousands of people in front of the St. Peter Basilica AP


Swaths: Thousands of people in front of the St. Peter Basilica GETTY


Files of Napoles photomansurrendered to OmbudsmanWedding and fashion photographer Patrick Uy submitted a suit-case of photographs taken at the parties and special events hosted by Janet Lim-Napoles to the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), according to a source close to the photographer.

The source said Uy “sur-rendered” all his files to the Ombudsman after he was issued a subpoena to pre-sent them in connection with the office’s investiga-tion of the P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly mas-terminded by Napoles.

“He was hesitant to sub-mit all his files because it might jeopardize his liveli-hood, but he had no choice but to yield to the subpoena of the Ombudsman,” the source who asked not to be named told the Inquirer.

Uy was subpoenaed by the OMB based on the state-ments of the whistle-blow-ers who named him and his Pacific Light Studio as Na-poles’ official photographer.

Among the photo files submitted to the OMB were those taken during the sil-ver wedding anniversary of Napoles and her husband, Jaime, at the Shangri-La Mactan in Cebu City.

“He is usually there to supervise and shoot, oth-erwise he sends his crew of photographers,” the source said. The source said Uy’s studio had photographs of the birthday parties of Na-poles and her children.

He was also hired by Na-poles to take photos dur-ing the birthday of Msgr. Fernando Ramirez, a close friend. He also photo-graphed the anniversaries of Napoles’ JLN Corp. at Discovery Center in Pasig City, which were attended by politicians and show biz personalities, the source said.

He also has photos of gov-

ernment officials, show biz personalities and lawmak-ers who attended the first death anniversary of Na-poles’ mother, Magdalena Luy, at Heritage Park in Taguig City.

The source added that Uy’s studio was also hired to photograph the birthday celebration of the father-in-law of Napoles held in Kida-pawan City in 2012.

Uy is a much sought-after photographer, particularly by the rich and famous.

He was among the few photographers invited to photograph the king of Bhu-tan’s coronation in 2008.

He has also photographed many celebrity weddings, including those of Aga Muh-lach and Charlene Gon-zales, Jackie Ejercito and Beaver Lopez, Mikey and Angela Arroyo, and Dato and Victoria Arroyo.

He was elected president of the Camera Club of the Philippines in 2004 and headed the Advertising Photographers of the Phil-ippines in 2005.

By Annabelle Rosario


American soldiers will stay for 10 years more in new pact

The two faces: Left-leaning militants rally against Obama’s visit (left) while in a file photo, President Obama and President Benigno Aquino shakes hands PHILIPPINE STAR, COURTESY OF YAHOO! NEWS

The United States and the Philippines have reached a 10-year pact that would allow a larger US military presence in this Southeast Asian nation as it grapples with increasingly tense territorial disputes with China, according to two Philippine officials and a confidential government primer seen by The Associ-ated Press on Sunday.

The Enhanced Defense Coop-eration Agreement, which would give American forces tempo-rary access to selected military camps and allow them to prep-osition fighter jets and ships, is due to be signed Monday at the Department of Defense in the Philippine capital, Manila, short-ly before the arrival of President Barack Obama, the officials said. Obama’s visit is the last leg of a four-country Asian tour that also took him to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. The two officials spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the pact ahead of its signing.

A Philippine government prim-er on the defense accord did not indicate how many additional US troops would be deployed “on temporary and rotational basis,” but it said that the num-ber would depend on the scale of joint military activities to be held in Philippine camps.

Hundreds of American military personnel have al-ready been deployed in the southern Philippines since 2002 to provide counterter-rorism training and as advis-ers to Filipino soldiers, who have been battling Muslim militants for decades.

The Philippine Constitu-tion bars permanent US military bases. Under the agreement, a Filipino base commander would have ac-cess to entire areas to be shared with American forc-es, according to the primer.

Disagreements over Phil-

ippine access to designated US areas within local camps had hampered the nego-tiations for the agreement last year. The agreement would promote better co-ordination between US and Filipino forces, boost the 120,000-strong Philip-pine military’s capability to monitor and secure the country’s territory and re-spond to natural disasters and other emergencies.

The presence of foreign troops is a sensitive issue in the Philippines, a former American colony. The Phil-

ippine Senate voted in 1991 to close down major US bases at Subic and Clark, northwest of Manila. How-ever, in 1999, it ratified a pact with the United States allowing temporary visits by American forces. That paved the way for hundreds of US forces to hold coun-terterrorism combat exer-cises with Filipino troops dealing with insurgents in the country’s south.

This time, the focus of the Philippines and its under-funded military has increas-ingly turned to external

threats as territorial spats with China in the potential-ly oil- and gas-rich South China Sea heated up in re-cent years. The Philippines has turned to Washington, its longtime defense treaty ally, for help modernize its navy and air force, among Asia’s weakest. Chinese paramilitary ships took ef-fective control of the dis-puted Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground off the northwestern Philippines, in 2012. Last year, Chinese coast guard ships were de-ployed to another contest-

ed offshore South China Sea territory, the Second Thomas Shoal, where they have been trying to block food supplies and rotation of Filipino marines aboard a grounded Philippine navy ship in the shallow waters of the remote coral outcrops.

The Philippines’ desire to bolster its territorial de-fense has dovetailed with Washington’s intention to pivot away from years of heavy military engagement in the Middle East to Asia, partly as a counterweight to China’s rising clout.

By Daniel Sta. AnaChief Correspondent

Palace braces for more anti-Obama rallies todayMalacañang said security

measures are now being pre-pared for the visit of United States President Barack Obama on April 28 and 29.

Presidential Spokesperson Ed-win Lacierda said security prep-arations are also being carried out for mass actions that would be held by militant groups op-posing the American leader. "There would be people who would be staging protests and rallies. We expected this," Laci-

erda said in a televised press briefing on Thursday.

Lacierda said as the host coun-try, the Philippines will extend "grace and hospitality" to the American visitors next week.

“We are preparing, as we would prepare (for) any visiting head of state. They are here as our guests, and as host, we will provide them the necessary se-curity,” the Palace official said.

On Wednesday, police armed with truncheons, shields and

a fire hose clashed with more than 100 left-wing activists who rallied at the U.S. Embassy in Manila to oppose Obama's visit.

The authorities blocked the flag-waving activists near the heavily fortified embassy com-pound but the protesters slipped past them, sparking a brief scuf-fle. According to an Associated Press report, the police sprayed the protesters with water from a fire truck to push them away.

A police officer, meanwhile,

was punched in the face in the melee but no arrests were made. Some of the protesters carried paper U.S. flags with the message: “Obama, not wel-come.” Obama arrives in Ma-nila on Monday for an overnight stop after visiting Japan, South Korea and Malaysia on an Asian trip in which he is expected to reassure allied nations involved in a long-standing territorial disputes with an increasingly assertive China.


S AY S

Now, what happenedto the missing jet?PRESIDENT Obama on Sunday de-fended the Malaysian government’s handling of its fruitless search for Ma-laysia Airlines Flight 370, saying officials are working hard to find the aircraft that is believed to be deep at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Obama made the comments at a news conference in Malaysia Sunday, follow-ing talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on bilateral trade and hu-man rights.

But, May 8 will be approaching, and guess what, no plane yet. Let us expect that the passengers are, sorry, dead, but we need to find evidences if the theories presented are really true.

Especially, a new report from the Dai-ly Mail said that more pings are found. Too talk, act now if you’re really work-ing tirelessly for the plane.

No fun, but we tryCULTURAL activist Carlos Celdran has a good thing going in his Facebook page “It’s no fun in Pagasa.” Started last April 20, the page calls on readers to donate various items, particularly books, that would help a tiny Filipino community ease the tedium of living on the farflung island in the crosshairs of powerful neighbors in the West Philip-pine Sea. “[They] are hungry for mental stimulation,” Celdran said in an e-mail interview with Inquirer.net.

It’s a creative way of harnessing social media toward educating the public on the Philippines’ Kalayaan Islands. Cel-dran’s noteworthy goal is “to educate Filipinos about issues of patrimony and sovereignty over our share of the Spratlys,” he said.

This is a great example of people’s hardwork. Celdran was known to be a wild activists which shown up in the Manila Cathedral years ago. This is one great way to add a soft touch to what the government’s hardline actions to make our islands still 7,107.

More reasonsWE printed yesterday that the RH law have weak foundations. This received many complaints from our readers say-ing that we are very much at work to complain against the RH law. We have affirmed previously that we’ll not force something impossible.

A win- win for RH lawby a justiceA

s soon as the Supreme Court decision (Imbong vs Ochoa, April 8, 2014) on the RH Law (Republic Act No. 10354) was announced, both the petitioners and the respondents instantly

burst out with cheers of victory.Not unconstitutional. After reading the

106-page ponencia written by Justice Jose Catral Mendoza (plus the separate opinions of CJ Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno that is writ-ten in elegant and idiomatic Filipino, and of Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Teresita J. Leon-ardo-De Castro, Arturo D. Brion, Mariano C. Del Castillo, Roberto A. Abad, Bienvenido L. Reyes, Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe and Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen), I understood why both sides were jubilant.

Cheered by the pro-RH respondents was the decision’s emphatic fallo, that RA 10354 is “NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL (emphasis in original) except (italics in original) with respect to [eight] provisions which are de-clared UNCONSTITUTIONAL (emphasis in original).” (p.103)

Further, the “Status Quo Ante Order” (SQAO) was LIFTED, thereby allowing the immediate enforcement of the entire law, ex-cept for the said eight provisions.

Thus, the government and pro-RH activ-ists may now “provide Filipinos, especially the poor and the marginalized, access [to] and information [on] the full range of mod-ern family planning methods, and ensure that [the RH Law’s] objective to provide for the people’s right to reproductive health [is] achieved… [and make] it mandatory for health providers to provide information on the full range of modern family plan-ning methods, supplies and services, and for schools to provide reproductive health edu-cation.” (p.23)

In short, with the emphatic fallo and the lifting of the SQAO, the RH Law may now be used as “an enhancement measure to fortify and make effective the current laws on con-traception, women’s health and population control.” (p.23)

Major victory. On the other hand, “[t]he Court… agree[d] with the petitioners’ con-tention that the whole idea of contraception pervades the entire RH Law.” (p.35) Thus, the prolifers prayed for the unconstitution-ality of the entire RH Law. They focused on Sec. 4(a) which allowed the use of con-traceptives that prevent the fertilized ovum from reaching, and being implanted in, the mother’s womb. To them, this is plain abor-tion because life begins at fertilization—that is, upon the union of the human sperm and egg. The Court’s assent to this focus and its unwavering protection of the fertilized ovum is a major victory for the anti-RH petitioners. The tribunal held that “every human being enjoys the right to life. Even if not formally established, the right to life, being grounded on natural law, is inherent and, therefore, not a creation of, or dependent upon a particular

law, custom, or belief.” (p.38)“While the Court has opted not to make

any determination, at this stage, when life begins, it finds that the RH Law itself clearly mandates that the protection be afforded from the moment of fertilization (bold type in original). As pointed out by Justice Car-pio, the RH Law is replete with provisions that embody the policy of the law to protect the fertilized ovum and that it should be af-forded safe travel to the uterus for implanta-tion.” (p.49)

Notably, the constitutional framers, espe-cially Commissioners Bernardo M. Villegas and Hilario G. Davide Jr., stressed during the constitutional deliberations that when the Charter spoke of protecting life “from the moment of conception,” it truly referred to the moment when “the ovum is fertilized by the sperm.” (p.43)

Ruled the Court: “In all, whether it be tak-en from a plain meaning, or understood un-der medical parlance, and more importantly, following the intention of the framers of the Constitution, the undeniable conclusion is that a zygote is a human organism and that the life of a new human being commences at a scientifically well-defined moment of con-ception, that is, upon fertilization. For the above reasons, the Court cannot subscribe to the theory advocated by Hon. [Edcel] Lagman that life begins at implantation.” (p.47)

Other victories. While the State cannot be prevented by religious objectors from pro-moting the use of nonabortifacient contra-ceptives, nonetheless, it cannot force health professionals, whether from the public or private sector, to use or prescribe the use of any contraceptive, device or procedure.

Neither may these conscientious objectors be forced to refer to other health providers “a patient seeking information on modern reproductive health products, services, pro-cedures and methods.” (p.72)

The Court said that prolife health provid-ers cannot be compelled to “do indirectly what they cannot do directly.” (p.72) To force them “to act contrary to [their] religious be-lief and conviction would be violative of the principle of non-coercion” enshrined in the Charter. (p.73)

While, as a rule, no one can be obliged to render healthcare procedures contrary to one’s religious belief, the Court made an ex-ception in life-threatening cases of the moth-er or the child, because the right to life has preference over the right to religious belief.

Likewise a prolife victory is the unconsti-tutionality of the provisions (1) giving ab-solute authority to the spouse who would undergo a procedure and barring the other spouse from participating in the decision, on the ground that it endangers “the mar-riage and the family, all for the sake of reduc-ing the population” (p.83), and (2) foregoing parental consent for minors who undergo such procedure. Comments to [email protected] Reprinted from the Philippine Daily Inquirer


Tragedy on Prince Harry’s comradesas 5 dead on attackFive British troops, including personnel from Prince Har-ry’s former Army unit, have been killed in the UK’s worst helicopter crash in Afghani-stan.

The tragedy happened when the Lynx helicopter, believed to be on a reconnaissance mission, came down in a mountainous Taliban strong-hold close to the Pakistan border.

Soon after the crash at 11am local time, Taliban insurgents claimed they had shot the helicopter down with a rocket.

But military sources told The Mail on Sunday that the British-made helicopter, which has an excellent safety record, suffered a catastroph-ic technical failure and that no en-emy action was involved.

Those killed are thought to be two passengers and three crew mem-bers from the Army Air Corps, the unit Prince Harry belonged to when he flew Apache helicopter gunships

in Afghanistan last year.Last night Royal sources said the

Prince was deeply concerned to hear of the incident.

Lynx helicopters are flown exclu-sively by the Army Air Corps but with some Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel on attachment.

The Ministry of Defence said last night that it had completed a pro-visional identification of those who died. There was speculation last night that some of those on board may have been special forces.

It is the first time British helicop-ter crew have been killed in more than a decade of flying in Afghani-stan, and comes just months before all combat troops on the Nato-led mission pull out of the country.

The crash brings the total number of UK personnel lost in Afghanistan to 453. It was the most deadly air in-cident involving UK forces since 14 personnel were killed when an RAF Nimrod crashed in 2006.

Last night the families of those

who lost their lives were being in-formed by MoD welfare officers.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan the crash site was sealed off by troops as an investigation got under way into the circumstances behind the tragedy. The MoD said: ‘We can con-firm that a UK helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan. The incident is under investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment until families have been notified.’

A spokesman for the Nato opera-tion, known as the International Security Assistance Force, added: ‘Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends affected by this tragic event.’

The helicopter crashed near a vil-lage in the Takhta Pul district, near Kandahar city in south-east of Af-ghanistan, and only a few minutes’ flying time from the helicopter’s base. There were no reports of en-emy activity in the area of deserts and mountains which is outside Britain’s main theatre of war.

Baseballplayer’s a big modelOn April 21, Alfredo Olivares coached the Big League Pa-layan City to victory over Antipolo City, 22-4, in the fifth inning regulation game of the Philippine Series in Marikina City.

The next day, April 22, Olivares, 22, a former catcher of the Na-tional University (NU) baseball team from 2008 to 2013, signed a contract and got a visa to join the Shinano Grandserows, a semi-professional team in the Baseball Challenge League of Japan.

“It’s somehow painful to leave the team of young, great people, but I have to face the new chal-lenge that I consider a big break in my career,” said Olivares, who started coaching the Palayan team only on

April 1 on the invitation of his former coaches, Francisco Barto-lome, Reynaldo Esguerra, Franklin Duldulao and Ronald Reyes, and Palayan Mayor Adrianne Mae Cue-vas.

Mayor Cuevas, in a statement, said she wanted Olivares’ success to inspire other baseball hopefuls in this city.

The city government is currently helping young baseball players here achieve their dreams of mak-ing it big not only in the national, but also in the international base-ball scene, her statement said.

Aside from helping provide equipment and uniforms to chil-dren involved in baseball, Mayor Cuevas said the city planned to build a baseball diamond that local baseball players would be proud of.

The city’s current baseball hero, Olivares, is the youngest in a brood of five. He was raised in Barangay Malate, started playing baseball in 2005 as a sophomore at the gov-ernment-run Palayan City High School.

He received informal training from his siblings, playing on a va-cant lot in their neighborhood. He continued playing even as he transferred to Roxy Lefforge Foun-dation Colleges, a private school.

But his early skills in the game de-nied him the joy of joining village-level summer field competitions, which most youths would want to experience in communities such as his. “They did not want me to join these leagues because I had been playing for our school team,”� he said. Olivares was born to a farm-ing family. His parents, Alfredo Sr. and Zenaida, till a small parcel of land planted to vegetables. Dur-ing harvest, his mother would sell their produce at the flea market in this city or at the Sangitan public market in nearby Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija province.

His family’s situation inspired Oli-vares to dream big by enrolling at NU, grabbing a five-year contract to play for the school in the Uni-versities Athletic Association of the Philippines. He was part of the NU team that emerged champion in the 2011-2012 season.


I never read the OLW Sun.

Manila Bulletin reader, 76.

. Champion of the masses.


. Champion of the masses.

22 The OLW Sun, Monday, April 28, 2014* * *

Due to a conflict with the sports editor, we will leave this sports pages blank. He said

he will resign without early notice. We are sorry for the inconvenience, and the editor of this newspaper have no plans to

edit the sports section.

23The OLW Sun, Monday, April 28, 2014 * * *




25The OLW Sun, Monday, April 28, 2014 * * * Basketball




26 The OLW Sun, Monday, April 28, 2014* * *Basketball





SPORTS NEWSPAPER AND WEBSITE OF THE YEAR

The OLW Sun. Published by the Free Press Company, Lingayen, Pangasinan. Its headquarters are at the OLW Sun headquarters, Room 5, R&B Kitchenette, 6 5th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City 1101. Issue number 94 (April 28, 2014). All rights are reserved. All stuff published are copyrighted by the OLW Sun and the news agencies.

QUICK CROSSWORD NUMBER 21

Across1 Rehearse (8)5 Relating to the iris of the eye (6)9 Attacks (8)10 Be against (6)12 Draws through a straw (5)13 Blimps (9)14 Dried grape (6)16 Cigar (7)19 Seeing (7)21 A style of architecture (6)23 Pasta (9)25 A mendicant preacher (5)26 Stableboy (6)27 Thoroughly soak (8)28 Faery (6)29 Hated (8)

Down1 Kudos (6)2 Companion (9)3 Guided journeys (5)4 A native member of a state (7)6 Be a delegate for (9)7 Hindu loincloth (5)8 Distilled wood tar (8)11 Heroic (4)15 Most meager (9)17 Not reproductions (9)18 Eludings (8)20 Fence door (4)21 A contorted facial expres-sion (7)22 Pal (6)24 Plays a role (5)25 An unpleasant woman (5)

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the olw sun monday april 28, 2014

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