FIL-AM DOCTOR TO GET U.S. EXCELLENCE AWARD
BAYOMBONG, NUEVA VIZCAYA, MARCH 24, 2008 (STAR) By Charlie Lagasca – A Filipino doctor who spearheads yearly medical outreach projects in far flung and depressed areas of the country will be one of 50 medical practitioners in the United States who will receive the prestigious American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award.Dr. Christopher M. Guerrero, who hails from this province, is a US-based medical practitioner and will be the first Filipino-American to receive the award, considered the equivalent of the US medical excellence award, whose recipients are outstanding medical practitioners worldwide.
“This is the fruit of our labor. I realized that my success is not the product of just my own talents but the result of many people helping me over the years – my family, my colleagues and my countrymen. I just hope that my fellow kababayans here abroad will be encouraged to look back to where they came from and share their blessings and successes, especially with the less fortunate ones,” Guerrero said in an email to The STAR yesterday.
Since 1997, Guerrero has been sharing his blessings by leading medical missions in his province and in other parts of the country, saying this is his way of giving back to his countrymen.
The leadership award, accorded to medical practitioners “who exemplify the highest values of altruism, compassion, leadership and dedication to patient care,” is given yearly by the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation Excellence in Medicine Awards in partnership with the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative.
Guerrero and the other recipients will be conferred the AMA’s highest honor during awarding and recognition rites at the Grand Hyatt in Washington D.C. on March 31, after the AMA National Advocacy Conference to be attended by renowned medical practitioners worldwide.
Guerrero was cited for his display of strong non-clinical leadership skills in advocacy, community service, public health and education.
He has also been a recipient of the 2006 Medicine Award from the Chicago-Midwest Filipino-American Community and a Faculty-Mentorship Award on student leadership from the University of Illinois’ College of Medicine in April 2007.
Aside from the AMA Foundation Leadership award, other awards to be given are the Pride in the Profession Award honoring US-based physicians whose lives encompass the true spirit of being a medical professional by practicing medicine in areas of challenge or crisis or by devoting their time to public service; the Dr. Nathan Davis International Award for physicians whose influence reaches the international patient population; and the Jack B. McConnell, MD Award for Excellence in Volunteerism for senior physicians who provide treatment to patients who lack access to health care.
Pope greets Rosales on 50th year as priest Sunday, March 23, 2008
Today is a double celebration for Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.
Not only is it Easter Sunday, he is also marking his 50th year as a priest.
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday led the Catholic Church in the Philippines in extending his congratulations to 75-year-old Cardinal “Dency” Rosales.
On Holy Thursday, during the Chrism Mass at the Manila Cathedral, Cardinal Rosales was elated when he announced that his golden anniversary as a priest coincided with this year’s celebration of Easter Sunday.
He was surprised, however, when toward the end of the mass, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Edward Joseph Adams, went up to the lectern and read the message from the Holy Father.
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Manila said the Cardinal was surprised by the greeting and covered his face in disbelief. The congregation broke out in applause twice during the reading of the message.
The Pope said, “As the fiftieth anniversary of your presbyteral ordination happily approaches, it is indeed fitting that among things, the entire community of Manila surrounds you with distinguished signs of honor. Not only your family and relatives commemorate the event, but also the faithful themselves, the sacred ministers, and your brother bishops who associate with you in the apostolic work.”
The Pontiff added that the community of Manila now enjoys the benefits of his pastoral zeal so that it continues to flourish and spiritually progress.
The Papal Nuncio also relayed his own message to the Cardinal.
Archbishop Adams said they are united in showing their affection and gratitude to Rosales, “who has exercised the fullness of the priesthood for more than 33 of those 50 years, sharing the joys and hopes, sufferings and tribulations of God’s people.”
Despite the milestone in his priestly service, Rosales had said that he would only have a simple celebration to mark the occasion and would spend the day with his priests.
There would also be a Mass, attended by priests, at the Arzobispado chapel tomorrow.
Rosales, who was born in Batangas on Aug. 10, 1932, was ordained a priest in 1958 and was assigned to teach for 11 years in the seminary of the Archdiocese of Lipa.
In 1970, he was given his first parish assignment in a barrio named Banay-Banay.
Four years later, he was named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Manila and took care of the ecclesiastical district of Antipolo, as well as San Juan, Mandaluyong, and Grace Park.
In 1980, he was briefly assigned as rector of San Carlos Seminary and on June 9, 1982, he was appointed coadjutor bishop to Jesuit Bishop Francisco Claver of Diocese of Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
In Malaybalay, he joined the local church in its struggle against commercial and illegal logging.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) declared a total logging ban for the province of Bukidnon in 1990, perhaps the only logging ban declared for a province, as a result of the efforts of the local church whose priests and deacons were declared forest guards with proper training from the DENR.
In December 1992, Pope John Paul II asked Rosales to return to the Archdiocese of Lipa where he wrote and studied an acculturated catechesis, the book Aral ng Batangueño, from which was created the community foundation Pondong Batangan (PB).
Rosales was appointed Archbishop of Manila on Sept. 15, 2003 by Pope John Paul II. On March 24, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI made him Cardinal during the consistory. – Evelyn Macairan
More Pinoys deported from US By Jose Katigbak, Star Washington Bureau Sunday, March 23, 2008
WASHINGTON – A record number of 280,523 illegal immigrants including 521 Filipinos were deported from the United States in fiscal year 2007 compared with 186,000 a year earlier, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
It was the largest number of undocumented immigrants ever removed from the United States in a single year and an official said the increase was attributable to a revised policy of arresting, prosecuting and jailing those who enter the country illegally.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Ernestine Fobbs told The STAR that nearly 3,000 Filipinos have been deported from the United States over the last five years – 521 in fiscal year 2007, 516 in FY 2006, 614 in FY 2005, 652 in FY 2004 and 659 in FY 2003.
A total of 136,712 Mexicans were returned home last year, 67,793 of whom were identified as convicted criminals, she said.
Fobbs said 94,237 illegal immigrants have been deported so far this fiscal year which started Oct. 1, 2007 and ends Sept. 30, 2008.
The revised policy of the DHS no longer targets only criminal aliens for removal but seeks eventually to apprehend, charge and deport all those who cross illegally into the United States.
“Under this program, individuals who are caught at certain designated high-traffic, high-risk zones (along the US-Mexican border) are prosecuted and, if convicted, are jailed,” The Washington Times quoted Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff as saying.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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