Church bares accredited solicitors some Pedro funds not accounted for

CEBU, Philippines - Apparently there are people who were supposed to help raise funds for the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, who have not turned over the funds to the church.

After receiving reports of such activities, the committee on the preparations for the canonization has released a list of 20 individuals and couples, who are the only ones allowed by the church to solicit funds.

This is meant to ensure that the money given would indeed be used for what they are intended.

All those on the list are well-respected members of the community.

The public notice was made yesterday by Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the over-all chairman of the preparations for the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod along with his co-chairman, Archbishop Jose Palma.

Aventurado was rushed to the CCMC after he was bitten by a Philippine cobra he caught inside the zoo Tuesday afternoon.

Around 7 p.m. yesterday, he received two doses of anti-venom and was given a third shot two hours later.

Hospital authorities, who are closely monitoring Aventurado, are hoping that his condition will continue to improve.

 Four vials of anti-venom were flown to Cebu in a special trip from Camiguin through the Aviatour, a flying company.

City Traffic Operations Management chairman Jack Jakosalem said Captain Joseph Bahinting, the owner of Aviatour, sent his Cessna plane to Camiguin to retrieve the anti-venom vials around 10: 15 a.m.

By 1:15 p.m. four vials arrived at the CCMC, almost 24 hours after Aventurado was bitten by the snake.

“After reading about yesterday’s snakebite incident just this morning on FREEMAN website and assuming everything was okay already, as I wrongly thought snake anti-venom could be found here in Cebu,” Jakosalem said.

But he said he learned that the victim is still in critical condition and that there’s no anti-venom in Cebu. 

“Dr. (Alice) Utlang then told me that they found eight vials of the anti-venom in Camiguin but the only way to get it here was either by LBC (which would take another day) or bring it to Cagayan and fly it here. So I called Captain Joseph Bahinting,” said Jakosalem.

He thanked Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia for calling Camiguin Governor Jurdin Jesus Romualdo for help.

Romualdo initially refused to release the anti-venom because snakebite is common in Camiguin and that the province only had eight vials.

“Anyway after making many phone calls earlier this morning I was told that DOH (Department of Health) is sending 12 vials by tomorrow (today). We will just keep them as reserve if we won’t finish them on Ronron,” Jakosalem said.

Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Rama wanted a stock of anti-venom medicine, believing that there could be other Philippine Cobra snakes lurking in the city’s upland areas.

Rama said he would request the DOH to extend anti-venom vials to Cebu just in case another snakebite incident happened.

“I think it would be better if we have stock because Cebu is 85 percent upland,” Rama said.

He believes the snake that bit Aventurado came from the mountain to look for food. Rama said he called up DOH Secretary Enrique Una when he learned that there was no anti-venom in Cebu.

He said he understands why DOH is not giving Cebu a stock of it because snakebite is not common in the province. —/LPM (FREEMAN)