An elderly Catholic Filipino priest was hit by a stray that injured him while celebrating the New Year at about 12:15 a.m. on January 1, 2024, in the northern city of Baguio, according to news from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Medical personnel rushed the 60-year-old, whose name was not identified, to the nearest hospital for treatment and scheduled an operation on his fractured collarbone. The diocese’s AM radio station, DzWT, reported he was already “in stable condition.”
He is assigned to a parish in the city’s Irisan district. The CBCP and the local diocese earlier appealed for prayers for the speedy recovery of the priest and to the public for any information that may aid in the investigation.
Recovered from the incident was a slug from a 9-millimeter-caliber handgun, and authorities have launched a search for the suspect.
Renewed calls for stricter gun control and responsible firearm use echo throughout the city.
The Department of Health said that compared to previous years when the country was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in New Year’s Day revelry-related injuries.
It said there have been at least 116 new fireworks-related injuries reported following New Year’s Eve celebrations. Most of these (113 cases) were from Metro Manila.
Police Col. Francisco Bulwayan Jr., city police chief, said on the Baguio City Police Office Facebook page that they have the means to track down the perpetrator and advised him to surrender and admit.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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