It was 28 years ago today that Fr. Rudy Romano, a Redemptorist missionary priest, was kidnapped by armed men in barangay Labangon, Cebu City.
The Redemptorist missionary priest was popular for protecting the poor and leading the campaign against human rights abuses during the reign of former president Ferdinand Marcos.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma urged parishes to remember Romano’s disapperance today.
To commemorate his disappearance, the Redemptorists fathers will lead a wreath-laying ceremony at the site where he was kidnapped at 8:30 a.m. today.
At 5:30 p.m., a Mass to “remember Fr. Romano” will be held at the Redemptorist Church in Cebu City.
Palma said Fr. Rudy and other church people stood tall in defending the rights of the poor.
“They did this even when doing so meant alienation or persecution from the rich and powerful,” the prelate said in a statement published in Bag-ong Lungsuranon, the official newsletter of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
“Fr. Rudy showed us how to be advocates for social renewal. He showed us how to be like Jesus, who loved the poor, lived and died for the salvation of all,” Palma said.
Palma noticed that the campaign Romano fought for seem to remain unaccomplished until now.
“Until today, the poor peasants, fisher folk, workers, urban poor, and other marginalized sectors continue to strive for their human dignity to be upheld,” he said.
At the time of his abduction, Romano was a known leader of the anti-Marcos protest movement in Cebu.
He was the vice-president for the Visayas of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
The Cebu City government installed a marker in barangay Labangon where Romano was abducted by armed men of the deposed Marcos regime.
The Cebu provincial government also passed a resolution “adopting Fr. Romano as a son of the province of Cebu” since the priest promoted human rights and rendered concrete assistance and social service to less-privileged Cebuanos.
Romano, a native of Samar, also made Cebu a bastion of the people’s successful fight for freedom and justice during the dark years of Marcos’ dictatorship. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol