News
Four to be Ordained Priests for Archdiocese
of Manila
 Four
deacons of the Archdiocese of Manila will be ordained to the
priesthood during the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass at the Manila Cathedral at 9 a.m. on Saturday, August
30, the eve of the 75th birthday of Jaime L. Cardinal Sin,
Archbishop of Manila.
The four deacons are Rev. Alvin Avila Fullon, Rev. Leo Angelo Suguitan
Ignacio, Rev. Benjamin D. Jugueta, Jr., and Rev. Venusto Fullente Suarez.
The first three studied and underwent formation at the San Carlos Seminary
while Rev. Suarez went to the San Jose Seminary.
On the same occasion, a French national, Matthieu Dauchez, will be ordained
to the diaconate.
The ordination rites will be performed by Bishop Socrates
B. Villegas in the presence of Cardinal Sin.
The ordination to the priesthood and the diaconate is one
of the highlights of the celebration of the 75th birthday
of Cardinal Sin.
Following is a brief profile of the deacons...
 Rev.
Alvin Fullon is the eldest and only son among the six children
of Lazaro Fullon and Isabel Avila. He was born in Bagong Ilog,
Pasig, where he spent most of his childhood, studying at the
Bagong Ilog Elementary School and later on at Rizal High School
before his family moved to General Santos City in Mindanao.
The 27-year-old Fullon says he was drawn to the priesthood largely through
the influence of an aunt who worked at the Sta. Rosa de Lima parish in
Pasig. Through his aunt he would be exposed to the company of seminarians
and priests. His aunt promised to support him through college but instead
of finding himself in the university he got admitted to San Carlos Seminary.
Fullon admits that while his main motivation was to finish his studies,
his vocation deepened in the seminary and now feels that he is ready to
give himself totally to the ministry. His diaconal assignment was at the
Ferndando de Dilao parish in Paco, Manila. On the eve of his ordination
he feels that the priesthood is truly a giving of self to God, and that
once given cannot be taken back again.
 For
Rev. Leo Ignacio, the calling to the priesthood would seem
natural. His father, Lope Ignacio was an ex-seminarian, and
his mother, Lovina Angelo, also encouraged his vocation. Thus
did he find himself at the Guadalupe Minor Seminary of the
Archdiocese of Manila right after graduation from elementary
in Obando, Bulacan, where he was born.
After graduating from the Minor Seminary he went on to finish Philosophy
and Theology at the San Carlos Seminary. Ignacio is also an only son.
He has two sisters. His diaconal assignment was at the Mary Queen of Peace
Our Lady of Edsa Shrine
The road to the priesthood for this 26-year-old deacon was uneventful
and even threatened to be boring. He had to persevere to combat the tedium
of academics and day-to-day routine. A breakthrough for him was his involvement
in extra-curricular activities, such as being a server in various outside
liturgical events. It opened to him a new dimension of the priesthood.
Ignacio believes that God held, continues to hold, his vocation for him.
“I cannot hold this by myself,” he says.
 Rev.
Benjamin D. Jugueta, 31, was drawing great guns in his career
as an aircraft mechanic for Philippine Air Lines when decided
to enter the priesthood. The only boy in a family of four,
Rev. Jugueta calls his vocation story “mahaba, ma-drama.”
It started with an aunt who would regularly bring him to church
in their parish, Perpetual Succor in Sampaloc, Manila. While
his father, Benjamin, Sr. was deeply religious, his mother,
Yolanda Dugan, was not. His mother died in 2001. After finishing
high school, he went on to PATTS College of Aeronatics but
was soon after taken in by PAL in its apprentice program for
aircraft mechanics.
Jugueta found the job fulfilling and he was headed on for great things,
having passed the 747 Ground Engineer’s Course. He admits that his
heart was divided. The call was more insistent, it seems, and he found
himself applying at San Carlos Seminary, almost going beyond the required
age limit. Being accepted to priestly studies, he says, was like breaking
away from the string the held him back.
Jugueta’s diaconal assignment was at St. Matthew the Apostle Parish.
 Days
before his priestly ordination, Rev. Venusto Fullente Suarez
cannot help but feel a bit fearful about his future as a priest.
The scandals in the clergy have affected him, as they did
many in the Church. But he kept wondering, “if that
could happen to them, what about me?”
But Rev. Suarez has worked long and hard to become a priest and his
ordination will be his crown of achievement.
Born and raised in Balut, Tondo, Suarez, now 30, was already
in college when he applied for admission to San Jose Seminary.
He had to buck the objections of his mother, Necitas, and
his father, Vicente, who feared that being priest would make
him grow old alone.
Undeterred, Suarez persevered and soon enough his parents were convinced
of his determination.
As a young boy Suarez. The sixth in a brook of seven—three girls
and four boys—was active in his parish, San Rafael in Balut, as
a member of the Apostleship of Prayer.
His diaconal assignments were Sta. Rita de Cascia parish in Philamlife
Homes, Quezon City and National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati.
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