Amid Blessed Mother's prophecy on China, a prayer for PHL protection

Despite the 2016 letter of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith saying that the 1948 Lipa, Batangas apparitions of the Blessed Mother was "of no supernatural origin," Filipino Catholic leaders, including laymen like myself, strongly believe in the supernaturality of the events surrounding the late visionary Carmelite nun Teresing Castillo.

So does my uncle Lipa Archbishop Emeritus

Manuel Arguelles who had once declared the apparitions to Teresing was authentic before the Vatican declaration which he had to respect with much sadness.

So did the late Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who, before his death, took efforts to spread the messages of the Blessed Mother from Lipa, messages that include prophecies we now see unfolding. He was archbishop of Lipa before he became Cebu archbishop in 1982,

Vidal retired as Cebu archbishop in 2010 and died in 2017. Teresing, the daughter of former Batangas Gov. Modesto Castillo, died the year before.

I have shared some of the messages in a past column, but they bear repeating because there was reference to dangers from China that we now see amid an unusually China-friendly Pres. Duterte, aggressive Chinese expansionism and a pandemic that is now reputed to have originated from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan.

This, as devotion to Mary Mediatrix of Grace, which was the supposed title of the Marian apparitions in LIpa, remains allowed by the Vatican. Thus, the Mediatrix icon is ubiquitous in Batangas province and the Carmel church in Lipa where Teresing experienced Marian apparitions.

“It is thus to the Queen of Prophets under her title of Mediatrix of All Grace to whom we will have recourse in order to avert the buildup of tension and to check the territorial ambitionsof thisAsian superpower,”wrote Vidal.

Cardinal Vidal, in a 2014 letter to the Catholic Bishops’ of the Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said one of the “secrets” of Lipa as revealed to Teresing was a Chinese move to invade the Philippines and the rest of the world.

The Department of Transportation DOTR chief said he checked the actual construction of the world class airport terminal.

"Personal ko 'hong nilibot ang terminal, upang makita ng malapitan ang kinalabasan ng konstruksyon," Tugade said.

He added that the capacity of the old terminal will triple once the new one is opened.

“Oras 'ho na mabuksan ang bagong terminal ng Clark International Airport ay aabot na sa 12.2 milyong pasahero ang kaya nitong maserbisyohan, kumpara sa dating bilang na 4.2 milyong pasahero lamang," Tugade said.

Domestic flights at the new terminal will start in July while international routes will commence in September, according to the DOTR boss.

“Sa Hulyo po ay magbubukas na ang bagong terminal para sa domestic operations, samantalang sa Setyembre naman ito magbubukas para sa international oper at i ons."

Clark airport will spur economic growth and provide convenience to the passengers, Tugade said.

“Malaki tulong ‘ho ito para sa kaginhawahan ng ating mga pasahero, at marami din ‘ho itong long term economic benefit sa ating bansa, lalo na sa larangan ng turismo, sa pagbibigay trabaho, at iba pang oportunidad para sa ating mga kababayan."

Some 1,600 individuals were employed in the project amid the Covid 19 pandemic, the official added.

“Sa katunayan, sa gitna ‘ho ng pandemya ay mahigit 1,600 na manggagawa 'ho ang nabigyan noto ng trabaho, at asahan 'ho ninyong dadami pa ito oras na maging full scale na ang operations ng paliparan."

“You wait and see— this is a real 'world class' terminal. It's coming up, it’s coming up in Clark. Thanks to LIPAD, the men and women of the Clark International Airport are really very good," Tugade said.