Kuya Boy Moulic earlier sent pictures taken on the occassion of Msgr. Oscar Aquino's birthday celebration held last February 10, 2007 at the Astor Manor, New York City. The event was well attended by big names in New York considering that Msgr. Aquino is highly regarded in the area. Some of the guests were Mr. Lauro Baja, Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations and Mrs. Cecil Rebong, Philippine Consul-General in New York. Also present were Tony and Emily Tubig as well as Rowena Domagas-Quinto, niece of Msgr. Aquino.
Here's a brief on Msgr. Aquino.
Msgr. Oscar A. Aquino, JCD
Judge, Metropolitan Tribunal, Archdiocese of New York
Administrator of the church of St. Lucy, New York
Msgr. Oscar Aquino was born in Mangaldan, Pangasinan on Feb. 7, 1937, the second son of three brothers and two sisters, to Mr. & Mrs. Urbano R. Aquino. Since he was a little boy, his family was visited regularly by the archbishop of the province, who always greeted by singing, "How do you do, Fr. Oscar?"
So it was natural that he was destined to be a priest, entering the seminary at age 11. By the time he completed his seminary training in the Philippines, he was first in his class and earned the rare honor of taking his graduate studies in Rome. There he received his doctorate in canon law from the pontifical university of St. John Lateran. His dissertation was so outstanding that it was published by the Vatican and distributed to all pontifical universities worldwide. Pope Paul VI personally awarded Fr. Aquino his doctoral degree and blessed his ministry and his parents for encouraging him.
Returning to the Philippines, the young Fr. Aquino soon recognized the need for the establishment of more catholic schools in the archdiocese of Pangasinan. He proceeded to create seven new schools and served as their director. He was also made the chancellor and oeconomus of the archdiocese and superintendent of schools, then vicar general. When Pope Paul VI visited the Philippines in 1973, Fr. Aquino served as the pope's secretary and general coordinator of his visit. For this and his other achievements he was made a monsignor as protonotary apostololic in 1974, one of the youngest ever awarded that title at that time. As vicar general for an ailing archbishop, Msgr. Aquino eventually had to assume virtually all the leadership duties of the archbishop. He also established the archdiocese's metropolitan tribunal and served as its first judicial vicar.
While vacationing in the United States and Europe, Msgr. Aquino was passing through New York City when he was approached by many struggling Filipino workers who were experiencing severe difficulties with their immigration status and their employers. They needed an advocate and someone with stature to represent them and Msgr. Aquino responded wholeheartedly. Changing his plans to return to the Philippines, he decided to stay in New York for awhile to help his people get accepted as Filipino-Americans. Soon he became involved with all sorts of problem-solving within and beyond the Filipino-American community in the greater New York area. In east Harlem, he mediated disputes between rival gangs and stopped the killing cycle involving drug dealers and youth groups in the area, substituting sports programs and other activities to redirect their energies. Working with Fr. Robert Lott of St. Francis de Sales church, Msgr. Aquino helped rehabilitate abandoned buildings to offer more than 100 units affordable housing in east Harlem for the poor. He helped establish the Robert V. Lott residence for assisted living, a model home for the elderly on upper 5th Avenue.
Currently, Msgr. Aquino is serving as judge in the metropolitan tribunal of the archdiocese of New York and as administrator for the parish of St. Lucy. He is also the spiritual director of several Filipino-American associations.
Hallo to all. Thanks a lot for your very inspiring comments. In addition, here are some updates of the Thanksgiving Party yesterday. But,first of all, I would like to make corrections on the number of volunteers during the Mission. There more than 20 medical doctors, over 30 dentists and around 50 nurses were present, with over 5,000 constituents served. We learned about these, this when Bona and I went over the Registration of the medical and dental personnel volunteers yesterday in Mangaldan.
Back to the updates.Though am based here in Metro Manila, upon graduation from high school in 1975, I didn't let the opportunity pass without attending the Medical and Dental Mission Thanksgiving Party, as the Corodinator, and the Silver Annivesary Celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Mechor Parayno held last night at the STCS gym in Mangaldan. When the couple learned that I will be attending the affair and take the 1:00 a.m. bus trip back to Manila,(so I could report to Office today, Friday ),and since they were still at their condominum at Rockwell Makati City yesterday, Bona rang me up that they gonna pick me up at the Office by lunchtime. So we were together in their van on the way to Pangasinan. We arrived in Mangaldan just in tme for the affair.
It started with the Thanksgiving mass celebrated by STCS Director, Father Ymson and the blessing of the couple's 25th Wedding anniversary. It was attended by more than 200 volunteers, doctors, nurses, including our batchmate ,Fe Suque- Maramda, based at the Regional hospital in Dagupan, dentists, barangay captains, rural health workers, teachers and students our former adviser Mr. Soco and of course, the alumni of Batch '75, as the lead batch.
There were short messages, lead by Ms, Bona and some singing and dancing with the music "Itaktak MO, Boom Tarat Tarat, and the like. There was also a Ballroom dancing exhibition, wherein the graceful dancing powers of Bona was shown. Wala pa rin siyang kakupas- kupas eversince our high school days. Everyone had fun and enjoyed the party which lasted till 10:30 p.m.
As a gift to the couple on their silver Wedding Anniversary, the sumptuous food served by the caterer including the singer and dance instructor were sponsored by Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim, a long time family friend and business partner of the Paraynos. He graced the ocassion with his beautiful wife. He also gamefully rendered a few Pangasinan songs and dance numbers with some Batch 75 as back-up singers and the STCs students as dancers.
Stayed a little longer with some batchmates,(core group),evaluated and commented on the results/ impact of the project,- strengths and areas for improvement, so that next time, will have a better and greater project.
Rode the 2:00 a.m. Five Star bus in Dagupan back to Manila. So back to the office now at TESDA, a governmnet agency. That's why am able to give you an up-to-date news of the celebration.
Cheers and Mabuhay ang mga taga Mangaldan...
Will email the photos to sir djoma and jdeguzman for better appreciation of the mission. Thank you very much po...