UBAS in Cebu: Changing Street Children’s Lives

More than a year since it was re-launched,  Ugnayan ng mga Barangay at Simbahan (UBAS), the collaboration between church and barangays, is making huge strides in addressing problems at the grassroots levels, thereby changing people’s lives.


Reporting on an UBAS project to help street children in Cebu, Fr. Melo Diola worked with other advocates on a very simple project. The children were initially invited to the parish on a Saturday morning. There, they were allowed to bathe, have a haricut, a hot meal, and newly-washed clothes.
As they became comfortable in the parish, they were given tutorials and values formation.
About 500 children from catholic families are being prepared for their first holy communion, in time for the upcoming 51st Eucharistic Congress in Cebu.


Their approach is ecumenical and inter-faith, since they also have Muslim beneficiaries and participants. To make things easier for the street children, the UBAS team came up with an acronym, ‘TLIG,’ or ‘True Love Inspired by God.’ TLIG also broadly stands for T = come on Time, L = fall in Line, I = follow Instructions, and G = manage your garbage.

The children are also given pastoral companions who are ates and kuyas (big sisters or brothers) who also come from mission areas. Promising street children are also given scholarships while their families are also provided community and livelihood training.


Already,  35 street children have gone  back to school; they were provided with meals and transport allowances to keep them  in school. Two of these 35 street children even made it to the top of their class. Due to this encouraging result, two more community-based outreaches were launched, bringing 100 more street children back to school. Thanks to UBAS, most of the street children now have a sense of time and responsibility. They are now happy and excited for their birthdays.


“The most important fruit of the UBAS street children project is the gradual restoration and reintegration of the children into society. It has been a faith-filled journey marked by community-based efforts of committed and competent partners and companions,” Fr. Diola said.

As a result of this "best practice", other barangays are now poised to partner with four more parishes in the Archdiocese of Cebu, with the help of the police, barangay officials and priests, who would have distinct but inter-related roles.


Fr. Diola cited Barangay Usman Dako, headed by its chairman, Ernie Manatag, as one of the earliest adopters of the street children project. In the past, the barangay saw the street children as ‘nuisances'. Now, Chairman Manatag sees the 32 street children beneficiaries every Sunday morning and looks after them as if they were his own children.


If your barangay or parish in interested in working together for the common good, we will be happy to help. You can email me at vickypg@gmail.com.

The original article was written by Tessa Mangahas which I have edited to fit my blog.

Davao Archbishop Valles on Mar Roxas

DAVAO ARCHBISHOP: ROXAS HONEST, VERY GOOD MAN

“It was a meeting of good, old friends.”

 

This was how Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles described the visit of Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Mar Roxas at the prelate’s local residence in Davao City last August 14.

 

Valles’ statement came after Roxas paid a courtesy call at the bishop’s residence when the secretary flew to Davao City as the guest speaker for the Mindanao cluster conference of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

 

“A good friend—very honest and hardworking—has just visited me and we are happy that he [Roxas] is here in Davao,” Valles said.

 

The bishop clarified that there was no politics involved during their meeting saying it was more personal than political.

 

“I just want to let you know that the archbishop of Davao knows Mar Roxas, personally, back in the days when he was still at DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] and I was archbishop of Kidapawan,” Valles explained to reporters.

 

Valles said he first met Roxas when there was an inauguration and blessing of a huge public market in downtown Kidapawan several years ago when Roxas was still secretary of DTI and he was the archbishop of the province.

 

“His persona was very friendly, very warm when he walked through the door and greeted me. He even noticed the basket full of fruits at my table and ate a banana. He is very down to earth and honest in expressing his feelings. He shows his real self. Isa lang ito sa mga naaalala ko noong una kaming magkita,” Valles said.

 

The bishop said he sees Roxas as a man of integrity and action, as seen in the secretary’s performance at cabinet official of Daang Matuwid.

 

“I pray that the good Lord bless Mar Roxas—a very good and honest man. Bless him for keeping all our hopes alive,” Valles said of Roxas.

 

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