MANILA (UCAN): Father Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of Caritas Philippines, raised the “problem and impacts” of coal pollution during the 2018 Green Asia Forum in Korea on October 5. 
 
“Environmental pollution is of great concern in the Philippines because of our unbridled and continually increasing carbon footprint,” the priest said in his address to the gathering.
 

MANILA (UCAN): Bishop Ireneo Amantillo, the former bishop of Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, the Philipines, died on October 11 at the age of 83. He had been suffering from prostate cancer.
 
The Diocese of Tandag announced that the bishop, who championed the education of tribal children especially in Mindanao, passed away at the Redemptorist House in the central Philippine city of Cebu.
 

COTABATO (UCAN): A year after the end of the conflict in Marawi, in Mindanao, the southern Philippines, over 100,000 children have yet to return to school, according to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Almost half a million people were affected by the five-months of fighting that ensued after extremist gunmen from the Maute Group attacked the city in May last year.
 

Aklan (UCAN): An Ati-Atihan, a festival in honour of the Child Jesus traditionally held every third Sunday of January, will be celebrated to mark the reopening of Boracay Island, the Philippines, in honour of the island’s patron, the Santo Niño.
 
The island, known for its turquoise waters and powdery white sand, is ranked as one of the top tourist destinations in the world, but was abruptly closed down in April by the president, Rodrigo Duterte, to facilitate a clean up. It is slated to reopen to tourists on October 26.
 

General Santos (UCAN): “The mere suggestion of affiliation to a terrorist communist group poses a serious threat to the lives, dignity and security of the persons singled out,” Sister Susan Bolanio of the Oblates of Notre Dame, said on October 2, condemning her being red tagged—labelled a Communist rebel—by the military, describing it as a “farcical lie.”
 
The sister called on authorities to investigate those behind efforts to red tag her, saying it endangers her life.
 

MANILA (UCAN): Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila has expressed regret over the decision of the president, Rodrigo Duterte, to dismiss a top labour official for allegedly failing to put a stop to workers’ strikes.
 
Bishop Pabillo said the president’s decision to fire Joel Maglunsod, which was announced on October 2, was “very unfortunate” because the official understood the plight of workers.
 

Koronadal City (UCAN): “As a diocese, our stand is no to gambling,” A campaign against gambling recently launched by the Diocese of Marbel, in south Cotabato, Mindanao, the Philippines in is proving a success after a mayor pledged to remove lottery booths in the city.
 
The diocese is conducting its campaign against gambling not only from the pulpit, but also among Christian communities.
 
The move comes after financiers set up lottery kiosks around the city of Koronadal (also called Marbel) and nearby towns.

MANILA (UCAN): Catholic humanitarian agencies from around the world have vowed support for Philippine relief and rehabilitation efforts in the wake of the devastation wreaked by Typhoon Mangkhut (Ompong) in the country’s northern provinces.
 
Caritas Internationalis launched an appeal to help finance relief operations for thousands of families affected by the super typhoon.
 
“After the storm has passed people will need help to restore their livelihoods,” it said in a statement.
 

MANILA (UCAN): At least 65 people were reported killed while 43 others remained missing in the wake of Typhoon Mangkhut (known in the Philippines as Ompong) that savaged the northern part of the Philippines on September 15.
 
Most of the fatalities came from the northern Cordillera Administrative Region where the search for people trapped in an abandoned mine continued on September 17.