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On Mama Mary's birthday, Quiapo vicar seeks enlightenment for PH leaders

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Devotees offer prayers outside the Quiapo Church on Aug. 6, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/09/08/20210806-covid-quiapo-church-prayers-ecq-jc-6.jpg"/><figcaption>Devotees offer prayers outside the Quiapo Church on Aug. 6, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATE) </strong>— What was supposed to be a &quot;big celebration&quot; as the Catholic faithful marked the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary turned out to be a &quot;prank&quot; after government rescinded its implementation of a looser lockdown, a church official said Wednesday. </p><p>&quot;Isang ano po ito sana big celebration. Sabi nga namin, isang regalo sana sa ating lahat na magkasama-sama at i-celebrate &#x27;yung birthday ng ating ina,&quot; Quiapo Church parochial vicar Fr. Douglas Badon told TeleRadyo.</p><p>(This was supposed to be a big celebration. Like what we said, this was supposed to be a gift to us, of coming together and celebrating the birthday of our mother.)</p><p>But, it turned out, &quot;it&#x27;s a prank,&quot; he said, as the government decided at the last-minute to defer the implementation of general community quarantine in Metro Manila. The stricter modified enhanced community quarantine will remain in effect until Sept. 15. </p><p>&quot;Na-prank tayo kasi masayang-masaya na tayo at excited tayo na magkasama-sama tayo sa misa hindi lang &#x27;yung virtual,&quot; he told Teleradyo. </p><p>(We were pranked because we were so excited to see each other during the Mass and not only virtually.)</p><p>&quot;Although okay naman tayo sa virtual, kaya lang &#x27;yung excitement natin na magkikita-kita tayo tapos biglang nabawi na bawal ulit,&quot; he added.</p><p>(Although we&#x27;re fine with having a virtual [Mass], we were excited to see other then it was deferred again.)</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/07/21/gcq-deferred-ncr-to-stay-under-mecq-until-sept-15">Gov&#x27;t backtracks: Metro Manila to stay under MECQ, GCQ with alert levels deferred</a></li></ul><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="On Mama Mary" s="" Quiapo="" vicar="" seeks="" enlightenment="" for="" PH="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/09/08/mama-mary.jpg"/></figure></div><p>While in-person masses are still prohibited, Badong urged the faithful to pray for enlightenment for leaders and politicians during the Nativity of Mary.</p><p>&quot;Magdasal tayo sa tulong ni Maria na maliwanagan talaga &#x27;yung mga isipan, lalo na, diretsahin ko na &#x27;yung mga politician natin na ngayon ay, &#x27;yung mga lider natin kasi abala sa kani-kanilang mga political agenda, mga away-away,&quot; he said.</p><p>(Let&#x27;s pray through the help of Mary that they will be enlightened, especially, I&#x27;ll say this straight, our politicians and leaders who are preoccupied with their political agenda [and] fights.)</p><p>&quot;Lalong nahihirapan ang mga mamamayan natin. Nagugutom na, walang trabaho, may bagyo pa. Tapos sila puro meeting, puro kung ano-ano, tapos nakalimutan &#x27;yung mga importanteng bagay.&quot;</p><p>(The public is suffering. Many are hungry, have no work, and there&#x27;s a storm. Then, they are all having meetings and whatnot and have forgotten what&#x27;s important.)</p><p>The Palace had earlier announced that Metro Manila&#x27;s 13 million people would shift to GCQ with alert level system from Sept. 8 to 30. </p><p>The inter-agency task force on COVID-19 &quot;deferred the pilot implementation&quot; of the shift just on Wednesday night, it said.</p><p>Under MECQ, physical religious gatherings remain prohibited.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1768433" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;NABOLA TAYO&#x27;</strong></div><p>Fr. Aris Sison, parish priest of St. John Paul II Parish in Quezon City, called on the government to get its act together.</p><p>&quot;Binilang ko kanina, 18 mos na pala tayo. Parang nakakalito na lang everytime. &#x27;Di ba dapat by this time, may sistema na tayo. Sumusunod naman eh. So, the simpler, the better,&quot; he told TeleRadyo.</p><p>(I counted it and we&#x27;re already 18th months [into the pandemic]. It&#x27;s confusing every time. By this time, we should already have a system. People follow. The simpler, the better.]</p><p>He said announcements should be made days ahead and communicated clearly so the public could prepare. Quarantine classifications should also be announced together with guidelines.</p><p>&quot;Parang ewan ko ba. Parang lahat nalito, kasama sila,&quot; he added.</p><p>(I don&#x27;t know. It&#x27;s like everyone&#x27;s confused, including them.)</p><p>As the 2022 elections nears, Sison urged Filipinos to choose their leaders wisely as the pandemic is expected to linger.</p><p>&quot;Kailangan natin ng mga pinuno na kaya tayong tulungan na makabangon, makaahon mula dito,&quot; he said.</p><p>(We need leaders that could help us rise up from this problem.)</p><p>&quot;Ang nangyari, nabola tayo. Marami kasi ang nabilib dun sa mga mabulaklak na pananalita nung kampanya tapos inamin na joke lang pala &#x27;yun,&quot; he added.</p><p>(What happened was we were fooled. Many were impressed by the flowery language during the campaign then later they admitted they were just joking.)</p><p>Sison also criticized the convention of PDP-Laban in which 400 party members are expected to attend in San Fernando, Pampanga.</p><p>&quot;Hindi kami pinayagan mag-misa tapos tuloy convention ng PDP-Laban. Bakit ganun?&quot; he said.</p><p>(We were not allowed to hold Mass but the convention of PDP-Laban is. Why is that?)</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1768483" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

It's a prank, said Quiapo Church parochial vicar Fr. Douglas Badong as the government decided on the last-minute to defer the implementation of general community quarantine in Metro Manila.