Palo town to offer daily masses for ‘Fallen 44’

Priests in Palo town in Leyte, one of the areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, will offer daily Masses for the 44 Special Action Force troopers slain in a clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25, some of whom are sons of the Eastern Visayas.

 

The CBCP said Fr. Apolinario Abing had been offering Masses at the Philippine National Police Chapel since Tuesday for the slain police officers.

 

He said these Masses for the fallen 44 will go on for two weeks.

 

Other priests in Palo Archdiocese like Fr. Isagani Petilos have also offered Masses for the slain 44.

 

Petilos, head of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Social Action Commission, was deeply saddened over the brutal death of the 44.

 

The CBCP said that among police officers killed in the clash are PO2 Noel Balaca of Oras, Eastern Samar, PO2 Glenn Bedua of Dulag, Leyte, and PO1 Mark Lory Clemencio of Carigara, Leyte.

 

It said Clemencio was a former information technology professor who taught at schools including the Eastern Visayas State University in Tacloban City before joining the police.

 

Meanwhile, the municipal government of Carigara, Clemencio's hometown, has tentatively scheduled a simple rite to honor him on Feb. 2. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News