Maniolas

Dry run for Pope Francis arrival starts. One of three Popemobiles for the five-day visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines arrives at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on Monday, January 12, for simulation and dry run. The Pope will be in the country from January 15 to 19, a trip that will be highlighted by visits to disaster-hit Tacloban City and Palo town in Leyte. Danny Pata Some passengers along a portion of Manila’s Taft Avenue were stranded Monday evening while authorities simulated Pope Francis’ Jan. 15 arrival. A Vine video tweeted by radio dzBB’s Manny Vargas showed people waiting for a ride at Taft Avenue near the Apostolic Nunciature. The video showed many people choosing to walk while police deployed along the expected papal convoy route.   Police asked the public in the area for understanding, saying it was a dry run to ensure the Pope’s safety when he arrives Jan. 15.  The area was reopened to traffic at about 7 p.m. Earlier, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said the roads in the path from Villamor Air Base to the Nunciature – where the pope will stay during his visit – would be closed 5 p.m. in time for the dry run at 6 p.m. Another video Vargas posted showed police personnel along Andrews Avenue and Roxas Boulevard during the dry run. — Joel Locsin/ELR, GMA News

A two-year-old boy is in a critical condition after an alleged case of malpractice at the Philippine Heart Center, the parents said in a TV  report on Monday.  Stephen Gabriel Valencia has Down Syndrome and Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect that causes low oxygen levels in the blood and blue color to the skin. Thus, the term “blue baby.”    Because of his condition, Valencia experiences irregular heart rhythms that prompted his parents, Tyrone and Sarah, to have him confined at the hospital on December 10, a report on 24 Oras said. They said he was getting better until a nurse allegedly did something wrong during his treatment.  GMA News has asked the Philippine Heart Center for comment regarding the case but it is yet to respond to the request. According to the office of the executive director of the hospital, the case is under investigation.    Valencia’s parents said they saw the nurse hastily putting a cannula or tube into the child’s humidifier and oxygen tank without checking the pressure. The doctor only instrcuted for the two-year-old for an X-Ray.  After the incident, the baby suddenly had a hard time breathing and water went out of his nose and mouth.  But, the nurse kept on pushing in the cannula.  His father, also a nurse, knew something was wrong.  “Binabalik pa niya ‘yung cannula para siguro bigyan ng oxygen baby ko, or nataranta na rin siguro siya, ‘di niya alam anong gagawin niya. Kahit may tubig pa, pinipilit Read More …

Philippine postal employees help install a huge tarpaulin heralding this week’s pastoral visit of Pope Francis at the post office building Monday, Jan. 12, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. AP MANILA, Philippines—Pope Francis is trying to learn Tagalog for his visit in the country but finds it “difficult,” according to a report of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). “We were able to talk with him. That’s why before that day, I practiced my Italian, what I would tell him,” a Filipino seminarian based in Rome said of his encounter with the pope before the Te Deum and Vespers on December 31, 2014. “He asked me if I spoke Tagalog. He said, ‘You speak Tagalog?’ I said, ‘Yes!’ Then he said, ‘I’m trying Tagalog but it’s difficult,” Bro. Francis Dominic Vergara of Congregation of the Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate recounted in a CBCP News report. Meanwhile, Archbishop Socrates Villegas said on Monday that Pope Francis is prepared to say the phrase “Sumasampalataya ako” during the credo in his Mass at the Quirino Grandstand on January 18. “I think he is prepared to say ‘Sumasampalataya ako.’ It would be stressful for the Pope to recite the Apostles’ Creed in Tagalog. Mercy and compassion for the pope,” Villegas said in during the Inquirer Conversations forum in the University of Santo Tomas. Earlier reports stated that Pope Francis will use English in his Masses in Tacloban City on January 17 and in Rizal Park on January 18. The Mass to be Read More …

President Benigno Aquino III. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – Anticipating the surge of people during Pope Francis’ visit this week, President Benigno Aquino III appealed to Filipinos to practice “bayanihan” to ensure the safety of the pontiff. “Walang duda na sa malaking pagtitipon tulad nito, posible ang gulo maski walang banta ng terorismo at lalo na kung may planong magpasimula ng gulo,” Aquino said in a statement sent to media. “Nagbabadya ang peligro na magdadala ng pinsala sa napakaraming lalahok.” (No doubt that in a large gathering like this, trouble is inevitable even without the threat of terrorism and especially if there is someone who is planning to initiate it. Danger, which may threaten the participants, is looming.) The President said that the public should instead exercise unity and the concept of bayanihan. “Malinaw na napakalaki ng hamong dala ng pagbisitang ito ni Pope Fhrancis sa ating bansa. Nakataya rito ang kaligtasan niya, ng napakaraming dadalo sa kanyang mga gawain at magaabang sa kanya,” he explained. (It’s clear that Pope Francis’ visit to the country is a large challenge for us. His safety and the safety of those who will attend his events will rely on this.) Aquino warned that the honor of the country will be at stake in case something happens to the pope. “Do we want the history of the Philippines to be marred by tragedy related to the Holy Father?” he asked in Filipino. He pointed out that in 1995, when the World Youth Day Read More …

For the next three days, the Philippine National Police and other government agencies will hold more dry runs of their responses to various scenarios that may occur during Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines. The PNP went on full alert for the papal visit on Monday, canceling and all leaves and with police officers expected to be at their posts at any time, radio dzBB reported. “Ang PNP at ibang ahensyang kasama [sa seguridad] ay 100 percent ready… May ginagawang mobilization ng personnel natin actually from other regions para mag augment sa NCR,” PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor said. Among this augmentation force are police officers from the Ilocos region, who arrived Sunday and are billeted at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Also, starting Monday, senior PNP officials will hold daily walk-through inspections of venues which the pope will visit. An inspection was held on Sunday at the Mall of Asia area in Pasay City, where the pope is scheduled to meet with families. Pope Francis will be in the Philippines from Jan. 15 to Jan. 19. He is scheduled to visit Metro Manila and Leyte. Pope Francis will be visiting Metro Manila and Leyt efrom Jan. 15 to Jan. 19. — Joel Locsin/DVM, GMA News