Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The FILIPINO CATHOLIC COMMUNITY APOSTOLATE

The Filipino Catholic Community Apostolate or FCCA is a Catholic migrant center of the Diocese of Hualien for the Filipino migrant workers who attend the liturgical rites and activities at St. Paul's Catholic Church at 34 Min Guo Road, 970 Hualien City, Taiwan Republic of China. The FCCA is actively linked and serves the Filipino migrant workers in conjunction with the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) of the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference. The FCCA is designed to cater to the pastoral and support needs of the Filipino migrant workers in Hualien County and in the adjacent counties such as Yilan to the north and Taitung to the south which are all located along the eastern coast of Taiwan. The Filipino migrant workers in the area are mainly marble factory workers, caregivers, and domestic helpers in Taiwanese households whose human rights are constantly being violated and who are frequently being abused and maltreated by their employers. They are also constantly being cheated, exploited, and manipulated by their unscrupulous brokers. These are the main migrant labor problems and issues that our program aims to address.

The head of FCCA is our parish priest, a French missionary by the name of Fr. Jean-Pierre Richard, MEP. The FCCA is administered, managed and supervised by me, Mr. Baldomero Paelmo Bejosano, a Filipino lay Catholic missionary and catechist of the Diocese of Hualien. I am assisted by a group of volunteer church workers who form the leadership core group. The program is actively participated in by Filipino migrant workers from Hualien and nearby counties. Based on the latest official count, there are about 750 Filipino migrant workers in Hualien County, 1,152 in Yilan, and 215 in Taitung. These figures do not include the number of undocumented workers, illegal entrants, and overstaying aliens who are more vulnerable to abuses, maltreatment, exploitation and manipulation by unscrupulous members of Taiwanese society.

The mission of the FCCA is to provide pastoral and social services to the Filipino migrant workers in and around Hualien County so that their spiritual and moral well-beings are properly maintained, their rights as laborers are duly protected, their human dignity is upheld and secured, and their Catholic faith is strengthened.

The FCCA envisions a community of Filipino migrant workers in St. Paul’s Catholic Church who live according to the Gospel truths and Church moral teachings; who are aware and cognizant of their God-given rights and duties as laborers and stewards; secured and protected in their workplace; fulfilled in the performance of their tasks; and contented and grateful with the fruits of their labor and with the blessings of God.


To effectively fulfill the mission-vision of the FCCA, the program provides the Filipino migrant workers with activities whose objectives conforms with the mission of the priest in the church. The FCCA recognizes the role of the laity in effectively performing the mission of evangelization of the Church and the collaboration of the non-ordained faithful in the pastoral ministry of the clergy. The mission of the priest in the Church are as follow: minister of the sacraments, teacher of the Word, and loving pastor of the flock. As minister of the sacrament, he leads in the worship of God; as teacher of the Word, he preaches and educates; and as loving pastor of the flock, he serves the people of God. The lay faithful collaborate and participate in these priestly ministies, and from that precept, the three general objectives of the FCCA are drawn, and as follow: 1) to worship God; 2) to preach the Gospel and educate the people; and 3) to serve God by serving others.

With the collaboration of the Philippine mission office (MECO-OWWA) in Kaohsiung City and Taipei City, we have already assisted and successfully helped so many Filipino migrants here with their labor problems like the following recent cases:

1. RODEL PEREZ and FERDINAND GOROSPE: unpaid salary, forced repatriation;

2. SUNNY ALSADO COYAO: occupational accident, a slab of marble stone fell on his lower right foot that severely fractured the bone;

3. NITA M. ELVAMBUENA: illegal work, violation of contract;

4. NORIBETH VALDEZ PILE: maltreatment, physical abuse;

5. MARIDEL GARABELLES: illegal employer, illegal work, no day-off.

The FCCA gets its operational funds from Sunday collection and donation from conscientious individuals. However, the Sunday collections have been dwindling and our fund is fast depleting, thus, our financial status is in bad shape. I am inviting you then to participate in the performance of our lofty mission through your prayers, material donations, and financial support.

We do hope to receive positive and encouraging response and reaction from you. Thank you very much. Mabuhay ang mga manggagawang Pilipinong migrante!!!


BALDOMERO P. BEJOSANO

Lay Missionary Catechist
St. Paul’s Catholic Church
34 Min Guo Road, Hualien City 970, Hualien County
Taiwan Republic of China
Tel: (03) 833-5763
CP: 0928716764
email: bejo_sano@yahoo.com.ph
sir_buddy@hotmail.com