POPE FRANCIS IS ATTUNED TO THE PLIGHT OF OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS
Pope Francis left us three recurring themes in homilies he delivered at events during his five-day pastoral visit of mercy and compassion.
The pontiff expressed his concern for the plight of the poor, the protection of children and responsible parenthood. He voiced these concerns during his meeting with the youth at the University of Santo Tomas grounds and also with Filipino families at the Mall of Asia Arena. These concerns come at
a time when the country is grappling with drug addiction, child trafficking and a rising crime rate which are interlocking problems facing society. With a runaway population of 102 million, this social malaise can also be traced to broken homes— which makes Pope Francis’ meeting with Filipino families timely and relevant.
“The economic situation has caused families to be separated by migration in the search for employment and financial problems strain many households,” said the Holy Father who is attuned to the plight of overseas Filipino workers. Among those in attendance at the gathering of families with Pope Francis was Buhay Party List Rep. Lito Atienza who tried to be as unobtrusive at the MOA event as much as possible so as not be misconstrued as a politician out for attention. Coming with his family, he could not help feeling, however, that he has been on the same page with the pope and traveling on this road the Church shepherd was telling his flock to take. Since he started public service, Atienza has always been pro-poor, pro-family and pro-life. He was at the forefront in the fight against the controversial Reproductive Health law passed by a conscripted Congress that followed President Aquino’s order to prioritize the RH bill.
As Buhay Party List representative, Lito Atienza has always been promoting a culture of life. This is an advocacy that looks after the interest of the young and the and the elderly. With his wife, Beng, the Atienzas run a halfway house for abandoned babies. Called the House for Angels, the twostorey house on a corner lot in San Andres, Manila so far has saved 475 babies left abandoned in toilets, garbage heaps or sometimes at other people’s doorsteps.
House for Angels serves as temporary shelter for these unwanted children until such time the Department of Social Welfare is able to find families willing to adopt them. It is not always a happy ending for society’s most vulnerable victims. Sometimes a child is left with no one willing to adopt it because of infirmities like a harelip, or in the case of a child with a defective brain who’s still at the shelter staffed by two full time care-givers and a rotating complement of neighborhood volunteers.
One would wish more of our congressmen could be as compassionate and generous in sharing their pork barrel funds with those who have less in life.
PAL’S SHEPHERD ONE FLIGHT
With a brewing storm that cut short his visit to the victims of typhoon Yolanda in Leyte, Pope Francis listened to the wise counsel of Philippine Airlines chief pilot, Captain Roland Narciso, who told him they had to leave Tacloban before the weather got worse. The Pontiff placed his life in the cusp of Capt. Narciso’s hands and PAL’s Shepherd One crew as the flight was appropriately called. Narciso consulted with his co-pilot Capt, George Alvarez; they informed the Pontiff they had to leave at 1 p.m. — four hours before their scheduled departure.
After factoring in the cloud ceiling, wind condition and visibility, Capt. Navarro concluded the weather was still within the limits of the Airbus A320. It was a difficult decision for the 41-year old pilot but he knew he could not leave the Pope stranded in Leyte as a mammoth crowd was waiting for him to celebrate Mass at the Rizal Park on Sunday.
True enough, the veteran pilot and devout Catholic flew Pope Francis safely back to Manila in time for his Sunday Mass at the Rizal Park. To his surprise, the Pope entered the cockpit after the PAL plane touched down smoothly at Villamor Air Base and thanked the crew for the safe flight. A recordbreaking crowd of six million stayed under steady rain for the two-hour High Mass.
Aside from his emotional visit to typhoon victims in Tacloban and Palo, the Rizal Park scene will surely be the one Pope Francis will remember most during his papacy as it affirms the Filipinos’ abiding faith in God in the face of great hardships.