Parochial Vicar
Phone: (916) 624-5827 ext. 218
Address:
Parish Office
4450 Granite Drive
P.O. Box 824
Rocklin, CA 95677
I was born in 1963 in a small town in Mindanao in the southern part of the Philippines. I am the eldest of eight children. My father is a retired mechanic-painter of a logging company, and my mother assisted as a catechist in our parish.
I was an altar boy during my younger days and I think it was then that my vocation to the priesthood started to grow. I grew up in a logging company in a very remote barrio of Butuan City on the island of Mindanao during the time when there was so much chaos in my country because of the declaration of martial law by the late President Marcos. I was a witness to so many deaths because of the insurgency problem in my country. I discovered a strong desire to fight for the poor and the oppressed.
After high school I started my studies in the seminary. I followed seminary disciplines, studies, and prayers, and at the same time fought for the rights of others. I finished my seminary studies in March of 1991, and was ordained a priest in the Mission Society of the Philippines on January 19, 1991 by the late Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila.
I worked in the Archdiocese of Manila for one year, and then I was sent to work as a missionary to South Korea, where I worked up to December of 2007.
In my ministry as the director of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center for Filipino Migrants, I encountered many heartbreaking cases. While much of my work with the Korean communities was mainly administering the sacraments, with the Filipino community I was more involved with the temporal needs of the people. During the first part of my apostolate with the Filipinos, I found out that many of their visas and their legal papers expired, and that they did not speak the language. With no working visa and the incapacity to express themselves many of them encountered problems in the factories and with their Korean neighbors. I spoke for them and mediated when they had conflicts with their employers. I also accompanied them to hospitals to interpret for them, became the guarantor if they had no money, and I visited them in the immigration detention centers.
In addition, I worked with the police to rescue Filipinas who are prostituted in the bars. The Catholic center sheltered these women and the Filipinas with their small children who escaped from their Korean husbands because of domestic violence, and gave them free accommodations and food. Eventually we started a 24-hour nursery to take care of the children of these women. It became part of my work to lobby for laws like legalization of the undocumented migrant workers and the creation of the law against prostitution.
I worked closely with the Archdiocese of Seoul and the different non-government organizations; otherwise I would not have achieved the things that are beneficial to the people that I served. In fact, during my time in the Filipino Community, I received a Presidential award from the Philippine President for the work we did in trying to uplift the status of the Filipino migrant workers. From the Mayor of the City of Seoul, I was awarded an honorary citizenship for starting a nursery for children and a shelter for battered wives, and for assisting them in their desire to upgrade the life of the Filipino migrants in Seoul.
I know that America does not have the problems I mentioned above, but I believe God is calling me to a different kind of ministry. I am starting to see His ways and to discern where He is leading me now.
I am a missionary belonging to the Mission Society of the Philippines. I am here because my superior sent me to assist and collaborate with the Diocese of Sacramento in its mission to continue the missionary work of the church. I hope to learn and become a part of the continuing growth of the Catholic Church in America.
I was an altar boy during my younger days and I think it was then that my vocation to the priesthood started to grow. I grew up in a logging company in a very remote barrio of Butuan City on the island of Mindanao during the time when there was so much chaos in my country because of the declaration of martial law by the late President Marcos. I was a witness to so many deaths because of the insurgency problem in my country. I discovered a strong desire to fight for the poor and the oppressed.
After high school I started my studies in the seminary. I followed seminary disciplines, studies, and prayers, and at the same time fought for the rights of others. I finished my seminary studies in March of 1991, and was ordained a priest in the Mission Society of the Philippines on January 19, 1991 by the late Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila.
I worked in the Archdiocese of Manila for one year, and then I was sent to work as a missionary to South Korea, where I worked up to December of 2007.
In my ministry as the director of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center for Filipino Migrants, I encountered many heartbreaking cases. While much of my work with the Korean communities was mainly administering the sacraments, with the Filipino community I was more involved with the temporal needs of the people. During the first part of my apostolate with the Filipinos, I found out that many of their visas and their legal papers expired, and that they did not speak the language. With no working visa and the incapacity to express themselves many of them encountered problems in the factories and with their Korean neighbors. I spoke for them and mediated when they had conflicts with their employers. I also accompanied them to hospitals to interpret for them, became the guarantor if they had no money, and I visited them in the immigration detention centers.
In addition, I worked with the police to rescue Filipinas who are prostituted in the bars. The Catholic center sheltered these women and the Filipinas with their small children who escaped from their Korean husbands because of domestic violence, and gave them free accommodations and food. Eventually we started a 24-hour nursery to take care of the children of these women. It became part of my work to lobby for laws like legalization of the undocumented migrant workers and the creation of the law against prostitution.
I worked closely with the Archdiocese of Seoul and the different non-government organizations; otherwise I would not have achieved the things that are beneficial to the people that I served. In fact, during my time in the Filipino Community, I received a Presidential award from the Philippine President for the work we did in trying to uplift the status of the Filipino migrant workers. From the Mayor of the City of Seoul, I was awarded an honorary citizenship for starting a nursery for children and a shelter for battered wives, and for assisting them in their desire to upgrade the life of the Filipino migrants in Seoul.
I know that America does not have the problems I mentioned above, but I believe God is calling me to a different kind of ministry. I am starting to see His ways and to discern where He is leading me now.
I am a missionary belonging to the Mission Society of the Philippines. I am here because my superior sent me to assist and collaborate with the Diocese of Sacramento in its mission to continue the missionary work of the church. I hope to learn and become a part of the continuing growth of the Catholic Church in America.
