ALL’S for the best, said UST’s top three officials whose resignations had been accepted by the Master of the Dominican Order due to Rome’s disagreement with their redevelopment plan for the UST Hospital.
“I am leaving excitedly for Letran Calamba,” said resigned UST rector Fr. Ernesto Arceo, O.P., who would now be a resident faculty of the Philippine Dominican Province’s school in Laguna.
Father Arceo announced his post-UST plans during a farewell dinner tendered for the three priests by Acting Rector Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa at the UST Central Seminary gymnasium last October 3.
The dinner was an opportunity for Father Arceo and the two other top UST officials — resigned Philippine Dominican Province prior provincial Fr. Edmund Nantes, O.P. and resigned vice-rector Fr. Juan Ponce, O.P. — to formally bid goodbye to the UST community as well as come clean on the issues that led to their resignations.
“When I was in Baguio for vacation, I was able to see things in a better perspective,” Father Arceo said. “I think as Christians, most importantly as Dominicans, we are supposed to be optimistic. After September 8, I tried to be optimistic and it paid off.”
September 8 was the date when Fr. Carlos Alfonso Aspiroz Costa, O.P. the Master of the Order of Preachers, accepted Father Arceo’s resignation. (The resignation was officially announced September 11.)
As he spoke, the former rector’s secretary, Fides Carlos, wept along with his former staff. Father Arceo referred to Carlos, who served him the 10 months he was rector, as the person who knew him “better more than anyone else.”
But apparently seeking to alleviate what he called as the “apparent chaotic situation of the University” as a result of the resignations, Father Arceo made things light. He referred to himself and the two other resigned priests as “Sibak boys,” the Tagalog-English slang for “kickouts.”
The humorous vein of the farewell dinner was actually started by the spiel of UST Secretary General Fr. Isidro Abaño, O.P., who, as master of ceremonies, said the dinner was to express UST’s gratitude to the three priests.
“Please do not be mistaken that we are grateful because you resigned,” Father Abaño said. “Instead, we are thankful for the wonderful days we have shared and for the friendship that will continue afterwards.”
Father De la Rosa went along with the mood of self-deprecation and easy banter of the evening by teasing Father Abaño for wearing clerical black.
“Did somebody die?” Father De la Rosa asked.
‘Personal liberation’
Father Nantes admitted the resignations arose out of the Dominican curia’s displeasure with the decision of the UST leadership to commercialize the operations of the UST Hospital and to contract a multi-billion loan to finance the expansion.
He disclosed he had offered to resign last summer, but the Master apparently acted on it only last September when the latter came to Manila for his traditional canonical visit.
“All these issues arose with our involvement in the signing of the P3-billion loan agreement for the hospital,” Father Nantes said.
The former provincial said there was “conviction” on the part of the UST leadership that Fr. Aspiroz had “appreciated” the hospital redevelopment plan.
“But it turned out that the Master disagreed with what we did and upon noticing this fact, I already tendered my resignation on the 29th of May,” Father Nantes said. “He said we would just talk it over during his scheduled canonical visit to the Philippines.”
Father Nantes described the Master’s acceptance of his resignation as a “personal liberation.”
He said that with his resignation, his long-postponed dream of doing missionary work in Indonesia would now become a reality.
“The Lord is paving the way for that dream to come true, so shortly after September 8 (the resignation date), I went to a bookstore to look for Bahasa Indonesia books that could help me spread the Word in that country,” Father Nantes said.
Meanwhile, Father Ponce said he resigned “in obedience” to the Dominican Master.
“In obedience to the wisdom of my superior, I now take my leave, I make my departure with no uncalled-for bitterness,” Father Ponce said.
“But I must confess that I am leaving with a heavy heart because I am leaving an institution which has been a blessing for me and along with it, the friends I’ve cherished most.”
Father Ponce also characterized his resignation as an opportunity for reflection. He will now be a resident faculty of Letran in Intramuros, Manila.
Delivering the closing address, Father De la Rosa expressed UST’s gratitude for the three priests.
“We are grateful to our three brothers — Fathers Nantes, Arceo, and Ponce — for placing their time and energy at the service of the University and for sharing with us their unique personalities and idiosyncrasies,” said Father De la Rosa.
“As the letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians reminds us, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
“I wish you good luck in your new assignments and may you continue to be thankful to God for the blessings you receive in every situation where you find yourself.” Danielle Clara P. Dandan and Hershey D. Homol
