The Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance honors the late Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz, a leading figure in promoting and upholding social values in Philippine society. While a stalwart in the Catholic church, Bishop Oscar Cruz was bettter known to be a fighter of society’s evils like illegal gambling and corruption in government.
The outspoken archbishop died last August 26 at the age of 85.
The fiery Cruz was a regular speaker of one of the major projects of PILG which is the “Batang Transformer” a movement to foster understanding between young Filipinos from diverse social and religious backgrounds.
Arcbishop Cruz is remembered in PILG as the man who advocated human commonalities in the midst of a society full of diversity.
Outspoken retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz emphasized “commonality in community” during the our Batang Transformer Seminars.
Archbishop Cruz simplified the concept of commonality before youth leaders attending the four-day camp, who came from different cultural and religious backgrounds.
He explained commonality refers to the usual sayings we all encounter like “All for one. One for all”, or “United we stand. Divided, we fall” Or “In unity there is strength. In disunity there is debility” Cruz also stressed the elements of community which begin with the family being the core unit of society.
Community expands in breadth to our respective neighborhoods, to society, and to the entire country. In his talk, Archbishop Cruz involved the youth participants in a workshop in groups where they were made to answer three questions, which are: “Ano ang ibig sabihin ng batang transformer (What is meant by Batang Transformer)?” “Ano ang ibig sabihin ng community (What is meant community)?” “Ano ang ibig sabihin ng commonality (What is meant by commonality)?”
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz was born Nov. 17, 1934 in Balanga, Bataan. He was ordained a priest on Feb. 8, 1961 and ordained a bishop on May 3, 1976. He served as auxiliary bishop of Manila from 1976 until he was appointed Archbishop of San Fernando, Pampanga. His next appointment was as Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan on July 15, 1991. There he established Caritas Dagupan to help give the poor livelihood and health projects. The prelate was instrumental in the formulation of an Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan for Lingayen-Dagupan.
He was President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines from 1995 to 1999 and has served as a judicial vicar of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Tribunal of Appeals. He was also a director of the CBCP Legal Office.
What his biodata failed to say is that Archbishop Cruz is articulate and witty, able to capture his audiences with his ability to explain in simple terms such dense subject matter as Cannon Law, of which he is an expert.
Archbishop Cruz, who has always stood for the truth, is perhaps best known for his valor. He has opposed the dissolution of marriages when some solons wanted to impose a 10-year validity on marriage contracts, and more recently, despite death threats, he exposed and opposed the proliferation of jueteng (illegal gambling).
Archbishop Cruz retired on Sept. 8, 2009. His successor, Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, described Archbishop Cruz as a “a great man of the Church, an epic who is himself larger than life” and who is “unique and irreplaceable.”