Monday, July 19, 2004
Body of Fr. Damalerio arrives in city; family in mourning
THE body of Fr. Antonio Damalerio arrived in Cebu City yesterday from Tabogon town, three days after a tragedy befell him.
Damalerio’s siblings Sisinio, 59, and Virgilia, 52, who arrived from Bohol, said yesterday that upon learning about the accident, they initially blamed God.
But they eventually realized that it could just be part of the trials of the family to strengthen their faith.
Damalerio’s body now lies in state at the Tanchan Building inside the Arch-bishop’s Palace on D. Jako-salem St., Cebu City.
Sisinio said Damalerio’s body will stay in Cebu until Wednesday morning. His body will then be brought to his hometown in Calape, Bohol at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
He will be buried at the Calape Public Cemetery on July 26.
Damalerio, 55 (not 51 as earlier reported), parish priest of Tabogon town, Cebu, drowned last Thursday night while crossing a swollen river in Barangay Labangon.
Damalerio and his companions John Rey Compra, an altar boy, and Joel Figuracion, the parish’s secretary, just came from a meeting in Barangay Canao-canao when he decided to go home at 9 p.m. to Barangay Poblacion, some 10 kilometers away.
While Damalerio’s companions survived, the priest, however, was taken away by the river’s strong current and was found dead early the following morning.
Damalerio, a lawyer of the Canon Law and a member of the Ecclesiastical Matrimonial Tribunal of the Cebu Archdiocese, was a native of Barangay Sta. Cruz, Calape, Bohol and the third of four siblings.
Sisinio, an older brother, and Virgilia, the youngest of the four, said in an interview yesterday that the priest, known to close friends and family as Tonton, was thoughtful, kind and charitable.
Damalerio was also a source of comfort to the family, as he always had advice when one of the siblings had a problem.
Sisinio and Virgilia said that when they learned about it, they blamed God for the tragedy.
“Why Lord? We pray to you. We worship you everyday. Nganong naa man ni, Lord? Nganong imo man siyang gipasagdaan?” (Why have you forsaken him, Lord?) were their initial reactions.
Sisinio and Virgilia, however, eventually realized that the death of their brother could just be a test of faith.
Sisinio said Damalerio’s decision to enter the priesthood was already evident at a young age.
Damalerio spent most of his childhood serving as an altar boy at the St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Calape, then under the administration of Fr. Sa-turnino Felicitas.
Fr. Felicitas, Sisinio said, was one of the personalities who influenced Damalerio to enter the priesthood. JST
(July 19, 2004 issue)
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