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Monday, April 21, 2003
Vidal wants peace beyond Holy Week
AS OFFICIALS expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the Holy Week activities, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal wants local government units (LGUs) and the police to continue ensuring peace and order in the parishes even on ordinary days.
Acting Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Alexander Abadinas was glad to announce that the observance of Holy Week in Cebu City went on without a hitch.
He added that this year was even more peaceful than last year because the crowd was divided when different churches in the city held their own activities.
Abadinas held a conference with the station chiefs yesterday morning and congratulated them and anti-crime volunteers for a job well done.
Abadinas also received praises from the committee members who organized the Metro Cebu Church-State Security Awareness seminar, for keeping the city peaceful and orderly during the Holy Week.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who heads the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), attributed the success of the parish security committees in maintaining order in their communities to monitoring and getting the cooperation of the public.
City Government officials also helped check the city’s 26 parishes and the Celestial Garden in Banawa during Holy Thursday and Good Friday.
Rama also observed that volunteers from Bantay Bayan and Lungsod Batok Salaod (Lubas) contributed much to the maintenance of order in the communities.
He is also open to Vidal’s request to continue the effort even after Holy Week and is set to call a meeting with those involved in the program for better coordination.
Even if police and LGUs think that churches are possible targets for terrorist attacks, the cardinal is not amenable to frisking churchgoers and inspecting their belongings if only to ensure their safety.
At the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral where the archdiocese’s Holy Week activities were held, policemen and barangay officials who were trained during the Metro Cebu Church-State Security Awareness seminar were on patrol 24 hours from Holy Wednesday to the Sugat yesterday.
“So far, I’m very happy because I was told that those who were trained were around. I hope they will continue with that kind of arrangement because it’s not only during the Holy Week that we come together as a church. I hope they will continue, after all, it’s a kind of volunteerism that is very much encouraged these days,” Vidal said.
Aside from Lent, other church celebrations such as feasts in the parishes also call for tight security measures.
He said, though, that such measures need not include frisking and inspecting the belongings of the parishioners, as these might turn off churchgoers and may leave a bad image of churches.
“I do not like us to be like we are police in the streets. I don’t know if there is a need for that anymore, after all, we have already celebrated the Holy Week, which was very peaceful. And in Cebu, I trust our people, that they won’t cause harm,” he told reporters in an interview yesterday.
What the people need to do, Vidal said, is to be vigilant at all times, especially that all places face the threat of terrorism and violence.
“There’s no need for frisking on ordinary days but on the other hand, are we going to wait for another thing to happen? And to do that everyday, it will make our churches ugly. People will not come anymore or if they do, you will have a long line,” he continued.
Police were very visible in the different activities held in the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Archbishop’s Palace, Redemptorist Church and along the route of precessions during the Holy Week.
A total of 15 crime incidents occurred between Holy Thursday and Black Saturday.
Only four incidents ended in violence but there were no casualties. None of the stabbing and shooting incidents occurred within the vicinity of a church.
No complaints reached the police regarding the loss of belongings near the churches.
In his homily during the Easter Sunday mass yesterday, Vidal called on everyone to focus on making peace after the war and other conflicts in the country.
He also urged the faithful to continue the religious fervor of Lent and their efforts at conversion so that peace and order will be maintained. MEA/LCR/CYR |
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