CEBU City, May 23, 2012―Cebuano youth are all out in their support of the newly-launched +Big Movement, a movement to promote Blessed Pedro Calungsod’s example and values among Filipinos.
Marlito Cabigas, a member of the Archdiocesan Youth Ministry of Cebu core group, said, “The Archdiocesan Youth Ministry of Cebu will surely give its 100% support [for +Big]. It’s a movement that doesn’t need a lot of money…It’s also something that we can start anytime and anywhere.”
Cabigas, who first heard about +Big during the Archdiocese of Cebu’s local celebration of the 27th World Youth Day last March, said that Cebuano youth could be part of +Big by propagating Calungsod’s values through “education, social networking and real-life models.”
+Big could complement what the youth ministry in Cebu is already doing.
Clare Maristela Galon, a physics student at the University of San Carlos, shared that “We somehow need this kind of movement because this would be an eye-opener to people most especially the youth, to set Pedro Calungsod as our role model.”
Galon observed that young people nowadays are prone to abusing their freedom, unaware of the consequences of their actions.
Cebu’s ready welcome for +Big could be attributed to the fact that many young Cebuanos claim Calungsod as their own, despite long-standing debates of whether he was from Cebu, Iloilo or Bohol. Anne Enriquez, a Catholic singles’ ministry worker from Banawa, Cebu, said, “Pedro Calungsod is one of our own. He’s not only Filipino but Visayan and he is an excellent role model for the youth, ‘yung dapat tularan (who should be emulated).
As the movement continues to gain momentum, Cebu is set to become a hub for +Big’s activities and events, precisely because the province also plays a pivotal role in preparing for Calungsod’s canonization on October 21.
Two of +Big Movement’s founders, Catholic lay missionary Sky Ortigas of Molo, Iloilo City and businessman James Arela of Cebu city first promoted the movement in Cebu last March to some 3,000 youth. [Nirva’ana Delacruz]
