Tag: Bishop Gerardo Alminaza

Marañon declares Negros Occidental ‘coal-free’

BACOLOD CITY — Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. has issued an executive order (EO) declaring the entire province of Negros Occidental as coal-free, amid the ongoing protests against the proposed coal-fired plant in San Carlos City.

The governor announced his move before an estimated 2,000 Negrense youth who joined the “Youth Strike for Negros” protest rally, held at the Provincial Capitol Grounds here on Wednesday afternoon.

EO No. 19-08, signed by Marañon on March 6, is an order declaring the province as a source of clean and renewable energy.

“It is about the future. Climate change is here already, so we must protect our environment, we must conserve,” the governor said, adding that environmental protection is “inter-generational” and concerns everybody.

Some of the 2,000 Negrense students who participated in the “Youth Strike for Negros” rally, calling on the provincial government to immediately declare Negros Occidental as coal-free, at the Provincial Capitol Grounds in Bacolod City Wednesday (March 6, 2019) .
Photo by Erwin P. Nicavera

Marañon said that before coming up with the order, he tasked the Provincial Environment Management Office to make a thorough study on coal-fired power plants.

In the order, he cited Local Government Code of 1991, stating that the provincial governor shall adopt adequate measures to safeguard and conserve land, mineral, marine, forest and other resources in the province in coordination with mayors of component localities.

He also mentioned the Renewable Energy (RE) Act of 2008, which provides that it is the state’s policy to encourage the development and utilization of RE sources as tools to effectively prevent or reduce harmful emissions and thereby balance the goals of economic growth and development with the protection of health and environment.

“More and more countries have been decommissioning coal-fired powered plants due to the damage it has caused to the environment and in fact have been shifting to RE projects,” he said.

San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, who also attended the “Youth Strike for Negros” rally, said they are thankful and elated that the governor made a very clear stand in favor of their advocacy for a clean province.

“That’s a good affirmation in itself,” said Alminaza, a staunch supporter of a coal-free Negros movement.

Alminaza, along with three other bishops in Negros, had earlier issued a collegial pastoral statement to protect the environment by opposing the reported proposal of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. to develop a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in San Carlos City.

Wednesday’s protest rally, attended by students and youth from different schools and parishes under the Diocese of San Carlos and some from Bacolod City, was considered the biggest youth-led mobilization on climate change and anti-coal initiative in the country, according to The Climate Change Reality Project.

Krishna Ariola, lead convenor of Youth for Climate Hope, said they have been holding protests for four consecutive Wednesdays now to express their anti-coal sentiments.

She added that they are calling for the immediate action of the Provincial Board to support the proposed ordinance submitted last October by Marañon, seeking to declare the entire Negros Occidental a coal-free, clean energy, and environment-friendly province.

Moreover, the governor said that since the proposal has been with the Provincial Board for quite some time already, the board members should vote on it so the public would know who are in favor or against the measure.

Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said they are not delaying the process, but said the committees on energy and environment are still conducting a series of hearings related to the proposed ordinance. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1063875

NegOcc diocese ‘shocked’ by sexual abuse rap vs. priest

BACOLOD CITY — The Diocese of San Carlos in Negros Occidental has expressed sadness and shock over the sexual abuse accusation faced by one of its parish priests in Cadiz City.

“We are greatly saddened and shocked that a young child is alleged to have been molested by one of our clergy,” Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Diocese of San Carlos Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services on Thursday.

Alminaza issued the statement after the Cadiz City Police Station Women and Children Protection Desk on Wednesday filed a rape complaint before the Cadiz City Prosecutor’s Office against the priest for allegedly molesting a four-year-old girl.

Although the statement acknowledged the incident, the bishop did not name the priest, who has already been relieved from his assignment.

“I have assigned a priest to take over temporarily the shepherding of the parish concerned,” he said.

This will “give the accused time to spiritually prepare himself to face the allegations and to give way for an impartial investigation,” he added.

Alminaza, however, said they are “not hiding the accused to protect him from the charges.”

“We are proceeding with our own canonical process as dictated by church law by providing pastoral care to the accused while allowing the legal process to take its course,” the bishop said.
He also said that while the Diocese of San Carlos “acknowledges the right of the accused to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” they are also “steadfast to assist the victim and cooperate in the process so the truth will come out and justice is served.”

Alminaza described the incident as “painful” which “creates a deep wound and hurt not only to the victim and the victim’s family but also to the communities and to the entire clergy of the Diocese of San Carlos.”

The bishop said they have also reached out to the family of the minor.

“We assure the family that we are concerned that their child is given proper care and intervention and we have asked our parish leaders to reach out to them on our behalf,” he said.

Alminaza added the Diocese of San Carlos is “committed to search for truth and to make sure the process will be fair and just to both parties and whoever is responsible will have to face the consequences.”

Chief Insp. Robert Mansueto, officer-in-charge of Cadiz City Police Station, said in a media interview that the girl’s mother informed them on February 23 that her daughter was sexually abused by the priest on February 8.

The mother, who serves as the parish secretary, would usually bring her daughter to the church, but eventually the girl seemed hesitant to go with her.

According to the police, medical results showed the victim was negative of laceration. However, the incident can still be considered as rape since there was a reported sexual assault involving the girl’s private part, it added. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1063192