GLIMPSES

The Church in the People

NONNETTE C. BENNETT

ABATAN, BUGUIAS, Benguet -- This busy town north of La Trinidad and at the crossroads of Halsema Highway will host the most beautiful church in the Cordilleras thanks to its 43 Basic Ecclesial Communities. This is what the church is, the church in the people more than in the physical façade of a building.

There is reason for the people to be proud because for seven years now, they have continually raised the necessary funds to see their dream parish church come to reality. In fact, they have begun to give tithes to support the financial needs of the operations in the construction of their church.

Lino Dopiano, 40, the Parish Pastoral Council president, said that the members started giving tithes last year to support the food that they served the volunteers who gave free labor to the construction. He said that the PPC was engaged in several fund raising activities that raised the necessary funds for the church and the high school facilities that were part of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Abatan. He explained that the five-storey building also housed the San Isidro High School in the lower floors.

Pedro Bestre, 71, one of the first PPC presidents said that among the means of raising funds were raffles, "tambiolo" or number draws, second collections, and the tithes. He noted that sometimes the Sunday collection would go as far as the third collection when special needs arose from the church construction. Bestre said that the raffles needed a lot of preparation and had a higher overhead cost compared to the "tambiolo" draws. According to him, it was the women who designed this particular type of fund raising.

Betsy Inciong, 45, Secretary of the Parish Finance Council, explained that the women decided to sell numbers in the "tambiolo" which merely required that they print out two sets of numbers that they gave to the number buyer and one for their copy. During draw dates, pingpong balls were drawn to determine the winning numbers. She said that the only cost was the paper and the prizes, the net income for the construction was bigger. She said that the recent January draw gave the church fund almost P350,000. Many people were willing to contribute to the funds through these types of activities.

Bishop Carlito J. Cenzon, CICM, DD, during the thanksgiving celebration last February 3, told the people that the people had a reason to be happy because soon the Cordilleras would be flooded with overflowing love from many donors and sponsors to their church. He explained that since the beginning of the Bishop's Cup Golfing For-a-Cause project which was inspired by the request of the BECs in Abatan, more and more people have placed Abatan in "the map of their hearts". He said that now, more and more people were willing to help the church project because the people themselves were showing the world that they were helping themselves.

Bishop Cenzon had raised funds for the church through golf tournaments that were held and also sponsored in Baguio Country Club and the Camp John Hay Golf Club. Bishop Cenzon had introduced Ireneo Pama, a representative of the Asahi Glass Company that had volunteered to donate the window panes for the church. He said that the needs of the church were being given in kind by other generous companies when they learn of the community efforts.

The parish church was first built in 1961 and the land donated by Gavino Bay-an and Basilio Tumpap Jr. The first parish priest was Fr. Jose Waterschot who was assigned by the late Msgr. William Brasseur.

Eduardo Apolonio, 62, Overseer of the Construction and former Vice-Governor, said that there were so many volunteers in the construction that sometimes makes it difficult to manage. He said that even if they requested that only two or three persons from the different zones come to work in shifts, there are still more than four who participate daily.

Architect and consultant Bismark Paran said that the church was estimated to be only 70% complete. There was more work to be done in the church. He also had no deadline for the project because after the church, the community would also rebuild the former house of the priests into a modern building that could also accommodate the visitors of their parish.

Bishop Cenzon remarked that this was truly what the new church was. It was the church of the people who responded to their own needs and concerns. The church here was self-sufficient because the people were themselves the church that was being built.