Cardinal Sin Statue to Rise In New Washington

By JUAN P. DAYANG

A towering statue of Jaime Cardinal Sin, the late archbishop of Manila, will soon rise in his birthplace, the bustling and scenic coastal town of New Washington, Aklan.

To be sculpted by the renowned Castrillo design studio, the statue will be erected on the town’s sprawling public plaza which has been named after Cardinal Sin, the prelate who helped transform the Philippines from dictatorship to democracy in the 1986 "people power" revolt.

Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, a philanthropist and a long-time friend of Cardinal Sin, will finance the project to honor and preserve the memory of the "prince of the Church" and for his devotion as a servant of God.

The statue will be unveiled on August 31, 2007, Cardinal Sin’s birthday.

Aklan Bishop Jose Romeo Lazo earlier described the proposed statue as a "beautiful and laudable project." He said the local diocese is very much honored to be part and parcel of this "magnificent endeavor."

New Washington Mayor Edmund Peralta said local officials and the people of Aklan eagerly await to seeing the rise of Cardinal Sin’s statue on the town plaza just in front of the church.

"The plaza is where Cardinal Sin used to play when he was still a child," Mayor Peralta recalled, noting that the playground is just across the ancestral homes of the Sin family.

He said, the plaza is being spruced up as part of the preparation in the run-up to the unveiling of the statue which is expected to be witnessed by provincial and national government officials and religious leaders.

Plans are afoot to hold a colloquium in New Washington where invited speakers will share their thoughts about the life and times of the late Cardinal Sin, one of the central figures in the 1986 civilian-backed military revolt.

Expected to speak at the colloquium are leading personalities during the Edsa revolution and those from the academe, media, religious, laymen and other sectors.

Mayor Peralta said the local government in New Washington and Aklan province will leave no stone unturned in ensuring the success of all commemorative activities honoring the late Cardinal Sin, widely hailed in Aklan for his various missionary and charity projects.

"As a proud son of Aklan, Cardinal Sin’s memory will reign forever in our hearts and that the statue to be erected in his honor is also our own way of saying thank you to a great man," Mayor Peralta stressed. /MP