0 Pedrito and the love that keeps on giving

Aldrin and Matthew were
certainly as adorable as
Pedrito, especially with their
hearts of gold. San Pedro,
these kids are yours!

Cousins Aldrin and Matthew made my heart melt today. While selling Pedrito dolls for our ‘Abante Bisaya’ campaign, these two cute boys, together with Aldrin’s dad came to us with 2 plastic bags filled with one-peso coins, saying they want to help the typhoon victims, as well as have a Pedrito doll. They were so excited to get a doll, but then while counting, we realized they only got Php 200 (The doll costs 650).  Unfortunately, I was the one tasked to tell the dad, “Sir, the doll costs Php 650.”

My heart broke into pieces as I watched as the excitement in the eyes of these two boys went from excitement to sadness. I wanted to cry as they told me, the money came from their own savings. They just wanted to help. So, together with their dad, they told us, “Okay, we will not get Pedrito anymore, but we will donate the money.” And so they left… I so wanted to give them a doll.

Pedro intervenes…

Five seconds after they left, six of us, YouthPinoy volunteers, who were there decided that we couldn’t just let them leave like that. They deserve to have that doll. Each one took his wallet and gave what they could to raise the amount needed to purchase the doll. We then looked for them;  one searched all over from the 5th floor to the 1st; one hurried over to the information booth; one ran to the other building of the mall, all the while praying to San Pedro, St. Anthony, Mama Mary, to Jesus, calling all the saints, “Where are Matthew and Aldrin?”

Finding Jesus

It was a moment of grace when we found them and handed our little gift to these two young boys. It was like walking on the clouds with Jesus. We were full of smiles and laughter as we talked more with them, got to know their family and just thanked them for what they had done.

Matthew and Aldrin reminded us to keep on giving and sharing — without asking for anything in return. We found Jesus in them that day. And as we celebrate the first week of Advent, we can’t help but be thankful for the grace of knowing Matthew, Aldrin and the dad.

Truly a glorious way to start Advent.

by Jandel

0 Leveled-up ‘Pedrito’ fundraising to benefit typhoon victims too

MANILA - The youth group that earlier re-launched the sale of limited-edition Pedrito Dolls to support Church-led relief operations in Bohol and Cebu after the killer earthquake last month has decided to upgrade its fundraising project to also benefit the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Samar and Leyte.

YouthPinoy has gotten in touch with selected parishes in Metro Manila, looking at the possibility of directly selling Pedrito Dolls to parishioners as well as quickly raise funds for the displaced typhoon victims. The group has reportedly sold 500 dolls for the first three weeks of its fundraising via online sale. YouthPinoy officers April Frances Ortigas and Nirva’ana dela Cruz have flown to Tagbilaran to remit the proceeds of the sale to Bishop Leonardo Medroso last November 7.

“With all the recent events now in the Visayas, our task became bigger.  The call to help out our brothers and sisters in need became more urgent—not only in Bohol and Cebu but to the whole island of the Visayas,” Ortigas said.

Ortigas said the decision also stemmed from the request of followers of the Saint Pedro Calungsod Facebook fanpage—which YouthPinoy administers—for Pedrito Dolls to be readily available in the market. As of press time, ordering Pedrito Dolls is still done online and payment is coursed through the bank—a process which patrons find tedious and inconvenient.

In an online poll, Facebook users supported the idea of selling Pedrito Dolls in the parishes. More than 1,000 fans have “liked” the idea of aggressively marketing the Pedrito Dolls a day after the online poll was mounted.

A certain Facebook user Ruby Beloved Joy said “yes please, that would be a lot easier to avail them. Not all parishioners have online access plus the fact that those of the purchasing age are not that techie to order online.”

The feedback from netizens has convinced the group to upgrade the sale of Pedrito Dolls, especially as proceeds are meant for the relief drive for the Visayans. Calungsod himself was a Visayan, who was claimed as a native of Cebu, Bohol and even Iloilo.

“There’s a lot of people who are willing to help and many of them sent us message through social media, text and email, requesting to have more Pedrito Dolls available.  There’s a flood of orders, and we are grateful that these orders not only comes from people who wants to have a Pedrito Doll, but people who have generous hearts for the Filipinos,” she added.

Ortigas said that YouthPinoy volunteers—who tag themselves as Online Missionaries for using social media as a tool for evangelization—are offering their time and energy not only to raise funds for the victims of calamities in the Visayas, but to also continue promoting the life and martyrdom of Calungsod.

“The call to help, the call to reach out and the call to extend this mission is strongly present in our hearts because too many have lost their lives and properties. Too many people need help so we are extending more of St. Pedro.  Through these dolls, we could help more people and we could touch more lives.  Letting them know that St. Pedro Calungsod is praying for us and is with us amid these trying times,” Ortigas said.

YouthPinoy adviser Msgr. Pedro Quitorio said proceeds of the upgraded Pedrito Doll sale will be channeled primarily to the diocese of Borongan in Eastern Samar and archdiocese of Palo in Leyte. This excludes the dioceses of Tagbilaran and Talibon in Bohol and the archdiocese of Cebu, which were the initial beneficiaries of the fundraising after being hit by a 7.2 –magnitude earthquake last October 15.

Meanwhile, thousands of Visayans are reeling from the aftermath of the devastation caused by Yolanda, which made land fall in various Philippine islands over the weekend. At least 10,000 unidentified people are feared to have perished due to the strongest typhoon recorded in world history.

Each Pedrito Doll is sold at P650 and under the YouthPinoy fundraising project, the P100 proceeds of each doll will be donated to Church-led relief operations in the affected dioceses. Pending the announcement on which parish will host the Pedrito Sale, placing of orders is still coursed through youthpinoy.com. (YouthPinoy)

0 Bohol bishop thanks ‘Pedrito’ buyers for generosity

TAGBILARAN City - The Bishop of Tagbilaran expressed his gratitude to the hundreds of ‘Pedrito’ doll patrons after receiving the first remittance of donations from the sale of the said dolls.

“I thank these people who buy these dolls of San Pedro Calungsod…They were not afraid that they would be deceived. They were so generous,” Bishop Leonardo Medroso said in an exclusive interview upon meeting YouthPinoy Vice President Sky Ortigas, who flew to Boholto remit P50,000 in initial donations from the sale of ‘Pedrito’ dolls to the Diocese of Tagbilaran.

Willingness to help

Bishop Medroso praised ‘Pedrito’ buyers for not just wanting to have a ‘Pedrito’ doll of their own, but for being willing to give money that will “help other people suffering in Bohol.”

This intention, according to him, is admirable and demonstrates Filipinos’ readiness to help others.

“They know that this money of theirs that they used to buy this small [doll] will go to the relief, rehabilitation and restoration of our communities here in Bohol destroyed by the earthquake,” Bishop Medroso added.

Still recovering

Since the earthquake, everyday life has yet to return to normal with super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ cutting off power and water supply in the province of Bohol.

At present, the city of Tagbilaran enjoys water and electricity rationing, while the power situation in nearby towns like Calape, Loon and others is expected to stabilize within a month with most areas suffering from daily brown outs.

Online orders for ‘Pedrito’ may still be made through http://youthpinoy.com/home/order-your-own-pedrito-doll/.

From the P650.00 sale price of one ‘Pedrito’, P100.00 goes to the restoration and rehabilitation of Bohol.

For more information, email pedritodolls@gmail.com [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]

by Jandel

0 ‘Pedrito’ dolls relaunched to help rebuild Bohol churches

Emely Lingat, 20-year-old, a staff of the New Media
committee of the National Commission for Calungsod
canonization shows some of their Pedrito dolls in honor
to patron Saint Pedro Calungsod. Some priests suggest that
 instead of robots, Pedrito dolls is a perfect gift for children
this christmas. The doll is worth 650php at CBCP.
INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines – Buy a stuffed doll fashioned after Pedro Calungsod, the country’s second Filipino saint, and help the victims of the Central Visayas killer quake.

The Catholic group YouthPinoy has relaunched Pedrito, the Calungsod doll, to raise funds for the restoration of the churches damaged by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu provinces as well as to help bring the calamity victims’ lives back to normal.

For every Pedrito doll sold, P100 will be donated to Church-led relief and restoration operations in Bohol and Cebu.

Each doll still costs P650, the same price at which it was sold a year ago for the October 21 canonization of Pedro Calungsod.

LOBOC CHURCH (Bohol)
Located on the banks of the Loboc River,
the Parish Church of San Pedro and San Pablo was built
in the 17th and 18th centuries by the Jesuits.
It was enlarged in the 18th and 19th centuries by
the Augustinian Recollects. The 19th-century additions
included a bell tower, porticoes in the façade and the
funeral chapel. Paintings were added in the 20th century.
The church was converted into a major part
of a three-story convent

According to YouthPinoy officer in charge April Frances Ortigas, it is just fitting for Calungsod, considered a native son of the Visayas, to “help” in the restoration of the Church in his hometown after the loss of lives and properties, including that of centuries-old churches, due to the powerful earthquake.

“We are relaunching the Pedrito dolls, with the proceeds of the sale to go to the victims of the earthquake in Cebu and Bohol. We in YouthPinoy believe that St. Pedro Calungsod is telling us to help his kababayan rebuild the Church there, by which we mean not only the structures but the hearts of the people and their faith in God,” Ortigas said in a statement.

She added that the Pedrito dolls would also remind Filipinos that they could be “little saints” themselves by helping the needy, especially those who are displaced and left homeless by the calamity.

“We can be little saints in our own ways. Through these Pedrito dolls, we are helping propagate the life and example of St. Pedro and also helping rebuild the Church in the Visayas,” Ortigas said.

The 15-inch Pedrito doll, conceptualized by the New Media Committee under the National Commission of the Canonization of Pedro Calungsod, was brought to Rome as a way of sharing updates about Calungsod’s sainthood.

The doll, which carries a “missionary” sling bag and an iPad cum Doctrina Christiana, was said to be the personification of a missionary youth or “lakwatserong misyonaryo.”

The “traveling and embraceable” image of the martyr has already been to the Vatican City during the canonization of Calungsod and to Rio de Janeiro for the recent World Youth Day in Brazil.

LOAY CHURCH (BOHOL)
The Church of Santisima Trinidad was built in 1882.
It was declared a national historical landmark
on Aug. 18 2003.

In an interview with YouthPinoy, New Media Committee head Eilleen Esteban explained how Pedrito was meant to adopt the very Pinoy culture of “picture-picture” by having Pedrito meet pilgrims, have his picture taken with them and post them on social media as part of a geotagging tracking of his whereabouts.

More Pedritos became available to the general public due to a high interest generated by the doll.

Esteban cautioned that the dolls should not be mistaken for religious images to be venerated on altars.

Calungsod, born in the Visayas, was a lay catechist who died while conducting missionary work in the Ladrones Islands, later named Marianas Islands, on April 2, 1672. He was struck by a spear and his skull split by a machete blow. His body was later thrown into the sea.

BACLAYON CHURCH (Bohol)
The Baclayon Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate
Conception is one of the oldest churches
in the Philippines. The church, made from coral stone
cut from the sea, was completed in 1727.
It was declared a national historical landmark in 1994.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 5, 2000, and was canonized on Oct. 21, 2012.

Those interested to buy Pedrito dolls may visit www.youthpinoy.com/home/order-your-own-pedrito-doll to make a reservation.

Ortigas said buyers would receive instructions regarding payment and pick-up or shipment in an e-mail confirmation of their reservation.



By Tina G. Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer