Oldest in the region to acquire the infection

TACLOBAN CITY- A 101-year old man from San Jorge town in Samar province was among the new patients from Eastern Visayas due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The centenarian patient, the oldest COVID-19 patient in the region, was said to get the infection from her granddaughter who worked as a nurse, said a personnel of the town’s rural health unit (RHU) who requested not to be named.
“He is now at the Gandara District Hospital and he appears to be asymptomatic,” he said.
The Gandara District Hospital is located at the nearby town of Gandara, also in Samar.
The San Jorge RHU has been close for disinfection as some of its personnel were infected of the virus.
It was learned that the 101-year old man swab samples were among the 63 samples submitted by the RHU to the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH) last Sunday.
Of these samples, 10 turned to be positive with the result released Tuesday (Dec.1) by the DOH.
Aside from the 101-year old man, six other members of his family were also tested positive of COVID-19.
At present, San Jorge has 71 confirmed COVID-19 cases of which 39 have recovered from the dreaded virus.
Meantime, the number of persons who died due to complications caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the region has now reached to 94.
On Thursday (Dec.3), health officials confirmed three new deaths from Samar provinces: an 80-year old man from San Antonio town in Northern Samar; an 86-year old woman from Villareal town in Samar; and a 37-year old man from Balangiga, Eastern Samar.
The two COVID-19 patients from Northern Samar and Samar provinces both died on November 30 while the one from Eastern Samar died on Dec.2. He was said to be an employee of the local government unit.
Meantime, Balangiga Mayor Randy Graza issued an executive order on Wednesday declaring a border lockdown to end until Dec.16.
The measure aim to prevent further spread of COVID-19 in the historic town.
With the border lockdown imposed, only few would be allowed to enter the town like the governor and vice governor and members of the provincial board; and medical and humanitarian cases, among others.
Businessmen would only be allowed to purchase their goods outside the town only once a week but need to secure a travel pass.
The town has recorded 15 COVID-19 cases.
In Baybay City, Mayor Jose Carlos Cari reported that among their new cases involved two medical health worker and a teacher who are now at their isolation facility.
The city mayor said that Baybay has now 57 total COVID-19 cases.
But despite of its increasing number, Cari assured his people that the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the city is due to their extensive contact tracing activity wherein all close contacts of positive persons are being swabbed.
He said that unlike some local government units, not all close contacts are being swabbed and were just quarantine for 14 days.
“(Our) situation here in Baybay is manageable and under control,” Cari said.
Meantime, the DOH reported that Eastern Visayas’ total COVID-19 cases now reached to 8,881 with 42 new cases.
The new cases were from Leyte with 35; three each from Samar and Eastern Samar; and one from Northern Samar. (JOEY A. GABIETA/LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)

After 32 years of being ‘lost’

TACLOBAN CITY – After more than three decades, the Señor Santo Niño de Malitbog has finally returned to His home, the Malitbog Church.
Prior to His return to the Malitbog Church, the Child Jesus first visited the Santo Niño Church here in the city last November 27 where He was welcomed by Señor Santo Niño de Tacloban and Señor Santo Niño de Limasawa at the entrance of the church.
Devotees and religious leaders were also present when the image arrived.
Señor Santo Niño de Malitbog was brought back to the region by Francis Ong, a collector who was in possession of the image since November 2019 after its previous owner died.
He was accompanied by Prof Eric Zerrudo, priest from Malitbog, and the lead dancer of Malitbog festival contingent to Sinulog when it was lost.
A blessing was offered by priests of the Santo Niño Church when the image arrived last night.
Last Saturday (Nov.28), a formal turnover of the image was held at the Santo Niño Parish Malitbog which was accepted by Maasin Diocese Bishop Precioso Cantillas at the more than 200-year old Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Maasin commonly known as the Maasin City Cathedral from Ong.
In his message, Bishop Cantillas shared the great joy of the diocese and the rest of the faithful on the return of the image which he compared to the Gospel story when the child Jesus was lost in the temple and was later found by Mary and Joseph.
Bishop Cantillas added that the finding of the lost Santo Niño de Malitbog will never happen without the help of Francis Ong whom he referred as “used by the Santo Niño” for the diocese to find him.
“For this Mr. Francis Ong, the Diocese of Maasin are grateful for you for the coming of Santo Niño de Malitbog and in the Diocese of Maasin,” he said.
After the turnover of the image to the Diocese of Maasin, a motorcade from the Maasin Cathedral to the Malitbog church, which is more than 60 kilometers away, followed.
The motorcade was welcomed with a festive mode by dancers and hundreds of faithful in Malitbog town.
A Eucharistic celebration was held at the Santo Niño Parish Malitbog after the motorcade.
The Santo Niño image believed to be crafted by local artisans in the 1720s “to be a replica of Cebu’s Santo Niño,” was first enshrined inside the parish in Malitbog town after its church construction in 1857.
The image was lost in 1988 after the contingent from the town joined the Sinulog Festival in Cebu.
Last September 18, Ong said that he found an article with photos about the missing statue and had “uncanny semblance” to an image in his collection.
With the help of his friends, Jayson Maceo, who is creating a Sto. Niño that the Diocese of Maasin will use for the 500th anniversary of the first Mass in Limawasa next year, on March 31, 2021 and was working as an apprentice to Dr. Rafael Lopez, a protégé at restoring antique pieces, they immediately get in touch with the Diocese of Maasin, which confirmed is in fact Malitbog’s lost icon.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)