Santosh Digal

A member of PIME, the missionary has promoted interfaith dialogue and peace between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao for 40 years. At the next session of the bishops’ assembly in July, he will receive the award named after Mgr Jorge Barlin, the first Philippine bishop.

Under the Parish Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), volunteers will act as independent observers. Barangay elected officials implement and monitor locally all government programmes.

In 2015, Pope Francis invited them to fight the "ideological colonizations that try to destroy the family". The Philippine Constitution states that "marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and must be protected by the State". Legal separation and civil annulment provided for by law. Fears of the repercussions of the provision on children.

The handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus started the Rainbows of Love Livelihood Center in Santa Rafaela (Legazpi) to help women to put their skills to good use, making bed sheets, bedcovers, pillows, and clothes to sell on the Internet. Sister Nette M. dela Cerna tells their story.

For the Bishops’ Conference, the apparent remedy “might end up destroying even those marriages that could have been saved”. Card Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, calls on married couples to make decisions for the good of their children. The Couples for Christ movement is against the bill because of the “sacredness and indissolubility of marriage”.

Citizens complain that local governments do not sufficiently protect abused women as required by law. However, international surveys reveal that the Philippines has recently achieved excellent results in the pursuit of gender equality. Through the Catholic Women's League (Cwl), the Church is engaged in numerous initiatives for women's rights.

"Inspired by our Patroness, the Virgin of the Poor, and founded by the venerable Aloysius Schwartz, the Schools of the Sisters of Mary direct their energies to the poorest youth in the country". In the last 33 years, the nuns have taken care of over 63 thousand students, in the four institutes that they run. Food, clothing, housing, medical and dental services, high schools and technical education are free for approximately 11,245 students.

The project stems from "the ease with which they can relate to and teach young children.” Groups of 45 women or more attend two-day classes. Training involves specific modules on various aspects of catechesis. Nuns and lay people act as mentors.

“Working with our brothers behind bars has been both frightening and, at the same time, fulfilling,” priest says. Quezon City Jail is the second largest prison in the Philippines. Built for 800 inmates, it currently holds 3,600.

About ten million Filipinos work abroad. From January to November last year, they sent home about 1.4 trillion pesos (US$ 2.6 billion). They often endure abuse and exploitation. The country’s bishops back the government’s "the total ban" on workers going to Kuwait.

Farming is the main activity for 80 per cent of the population of a region known as the country’s rice greenery. The local Church has undertaken various social development initiatives, including women’s empowerment and a feeding programme for children.

Gay sex is responsible for 83 per cent of new HIV cases. Two out of three new HIV infections occur among men aged 15 to 24 years. The Bishops’ Conference (CBCP) urges people to act and behave responsibly. For Fr James McTavish, “the true solution to the epidemic is not the distribution of condoms, but the humanisation of sexuality.”