PNoy expected to attend 75th birthday celebration of Cardinal Quevedo

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  --- Organizers of the joint thanksgiving, 75th birthday, and 50th ordination anniversary celebration of Orlando Cardinal Quevedo are expecting  President Benigno Aquino III to grace the event here on Tuesday.y.

The office of the Philippine Information Agency in Region 12 said the President is coming over to attend the affair.

Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, city police director, said they will impose tight security measures in connection with the event, to be attended by leaders of the Catholic community from across the country, and foreign dignitaries.

Quevedo’s 75th birthday celebration co-incides  with the 75th year in the country of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), the congregation where he belongs.

The OMI, whose pontifical base is in Rome, has been operating various humanitarian missions for Muslim and Christian communities in Central Mindanao, and in the island provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi since before World War II.

Quevedo is involved in various programs propagating Muslim-Christian solidarity in Central Mindanao. He is also a staunch supporter of the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Tuesday’s events will begin with a thanksgiving mass at the Immaculate Conception cathedral here, according to OMI sources.