Colleagues, admirers extol Fr. Joe Dizon, activist priest

Fr. Joe Dizon INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines—Fr. Jose “Joe” Dizon will always be an “activist priest” who fought for a good cause.

This was the message of the clergy, workers and militants who gathered to pay tribute to the street parliamentarian at San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City on Wednesday night.

Dizon, 65, died Monday night from complications of diabetes. His remains were brought to the cathedral and were transferred yesterday to the Parish of the Holy Rosary in Rosario, Cavite, before burial at the Bishop’s House in Imus City on Nov. 11.

He is survived by two brothers and a sister.

The tribute began with a concelebrated Mass led by Manila Auxillary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who highlighted the many issues and advocacies Dizon had fought for over the years.

“When we look at Fr. Joe’s life from the perspective of time, we could say that he was still young at 65 years old, or 40 years in the priesthood. But if we look through what he had done, he had done so much to protect the poor, the oppressed, the workers and the needy. He was oftentimes misunderstood, but this was him, sending his own message of love,” Pabillo said in his homily.

Msgr. Manuel Gabriel said after the Mass that Dizon had influenced him greatly on directing his attention to the poor and needy.

“We took great inspiration from the message of the Second Vatican Council and of the First Quarter Storm then. Both drew focus to the people and their sufferings. If there is someone who should be accorded the title ‘activist priest,’ it is Fr. Joe. He is the original activist priest, a constant presence in the streets, listening to the cries of the poor,” said Gabriel.

Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair Jose Maria Sison in a statement said Dizon had for a time sheltered him and other underground activists during the Marcos regime.

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said Dizon “wore many hats,” with his work in the mass movement described as “multifaceted.”

“He would always celebrate Mass for us in rallies, especially when policemen said they would disperse us. We’d find him, and he’d immediately set up a table and celebrate Mass. That way, the policemen couldn’t disperse us,” Reyes said.

Actress Bibeth Orteza, who had joined Dizon in his crusades, notably against poll fraud through Pagbabago, Kontra Daya and Automated Election System Watch, recalled that Dizon “spent so much time for Kontra Daya that he forgot his own Kontra Daya-betis.”

Sr. Mary John Mananzan, who had also fought alongside Dizon on many of his causes, noted how she had hurriedly left the convent, only penning a short note to her superior, to join the La Tondeña workers strike in 1974 where she met Dizon.

“That was my baptism of fire. After I saw how the workers were beaten by the military, I said this cannot continue. And I have been with Fr. Joe ever since. He was very consistent, no matter what you called him, communist or otherwise. He was for the people. Maybe Pope Francis would canonize him as the first saint-activist-priest. And he would be the patron saint of activists. But even if that doesn’t happen, he is already our patron saint,” she said.

Despite his deteriorating health, Dizon in September joined a series of antipork barrel protests.

In an interview in Rosario on Oct. 22, weeks before he was rushed to the hospital, Dizon said President Aquino should heed the calls to abolish the pork barrel lest he lose his popularity before he steps down in 2016.—With a report from Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon