Bishop Jose Alan Dialogo(Photo courtesy: CBCP) MANILA - The Diocese of Sorsogon has ordered the indefinite suspension of Rev. Father Emmanuel Alparce from his ministry for participating in the May 9 polls. A circular dated April 4 signed by Bishop Jose Alan Dialogo said Alparce's joining in the national and local elections as candidate for councilor in the municipality of Bacacay, Albay violates the code of canon law forbidding clerics to assume public offices, which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power. "The Directory on Ministry and the Life of Priests urges clergy that priests "ought to refrain from actively engaging in politics, in order to be a central point of spiritual fraternity." The "Directory" further states that the "reduction of a priest's mission to temporal tasks, of a purely social or political nature, is foreign to his ministry, and does not constitute a triumph but rather a grave loss to the Church's evangelic
Lolita Hizon, owner and founder ofPampanga's Best, Inc.. (Contributed photo) CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - The founder of Pampanga's Best, a well-known brand of pork "tocino" and other processed meat products, died as a result of renal failure at the age of 84 on Sunday, it was announced on Monday. "With deepest sorrow, unceasing gratitude and unwavering faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, our family announces the passing of our beloved matriach, Mrs. Leticia Lolita Olalia Hizon," Angelica Hizon Pierson, a daughter of the deceased, said in a social media post. Hizon, who was known to many as "Apung Lolet", was an educator by profession and the inventor of the traditional Kapampangan "pindang" or fermented pork called "tocino", which has become a favorite viand for breakfast by many Filipinos. Her tocino business story started when her neighbor, who was a meat vendor, asked for help about unsold pork. Hizon came up with a formula