Two new Bishops appointed by Holy Father

Manila (AsiaNews) - Among those appointed by the Holy Father as bishops, is Redemptorist Father Emmanuel Cabajar, who will be installed Bishop of Pagadian in August. He will be the fourth bishop of the diocese. Father Cabajar was born in Cebu on October 1942 and ordained a priest on December 1966.While based in San Fernando, Bukidnon in Mindanao, he organized the basic Ecclesial Communities, and was the coordinator of the Redemptorist Mission Team. He supported the people of San Fernando in staging peaceful protests, making human barricades on the roads against logging in the country. His former Bishop, Gaudencio Rosales, presently the Archbishop of Manila and who is also a staunch anti-logging advocate, supported him. This protest then prompted the Environment Secretary, Fulgencio Factoran, to order a logging ban in the province, while Senator Aquilino Pimentel filed a bill calling for a 25-year total log ban, though it was not passed due perhaps to political pressure from logging concessionaires. Bishop Ramon Arguelles has also been named to be the new Archbishop of Lipa, replacing Archbishop Rosales now in Manila. Bishop Arguelles, chair of the Commission for Pastoral Care for Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI), is a staunch supporter of the rights of Filipinos who worked abroad.