San Roque Quasi-Parish – Manlurip, Tacloban City

The chapel of San Roque Mission Station is located along the National Highway (from Airport to Palo route). From the San Jose Rotonda it is more than a kilometer away, but highly accessible since there are multicabs and pedicabs plying this route. We have a National High School, an Elementary School within our territory and some small business enterprises.

In the 1960’s, when San Jose was under the Redemptorist Parish, its missionary priests encouraged the lay faithful of Manlurip to have a Chapel built in their area so they could celebrate the Eucharist at least once a month. Through the efforts of dedicated and determined community members a chapel was built. It was a structure made of wooden posts and second hand GI sheets for its roof. Walls around the structure was concrete but built half-way to provide ventilation as there was no plan yet to provide windows or doors. It was a small, humble, open chapel. But the Redemptorist fathers came faithfully for monthly mass and people would come for the celebration. The feast of St. Roque was celebrated annually with the traditional nine-day novena masses and with the community of believers in impressive members in attendance. Other annual religious celebrations like the Flores de Mayo and Santa Cruzan were also observed. All these were properly sponsored, coordinated and managed by the kapunungan ni Sr. San Roque which was composed of members and officers who were all dedicated, working for the good of the Chapel as well as the lay faithful of Manlurip.

For several years the chapel remained as such; a small, obscure and open structure. However, the population in Manlurip was growing and more and more people were coming for the monthly mass. Although some minor improvements were made, it remained a quaint little chapel. Things changed for the better when Ms. Letecia Chua volunteered to take on the hermanidad for the year 2000. She spearheaded the renovation of the chapel. This kindled the spirit of volunteerism in the community of believers in Manlurip.

In the year 2004, another lady, Ms. Natividad Lamirez volunteered to be the Hermana for the year’s annual feast day celebration of St. Roque. Her improvements included putting up of ceiling and providing partial lighting for the chapel. Funds solicited from friends and donors were deposited in the bank as “sinking fund”, at her suggestion. It was then that the kapunungan ni Sr. San Roque was reactivated after being dormant for a time; to actively engage in the task of building up the chapel and its lay faithful.

Thus started a series of volunteers who generously gave their time, talent and treasure to help build a chapel to its present structure. Families, individuals and residents of subdivisions gladly participated in the several religious activities of the chapel. Attendance to novena masses in honor of St. Roque was remarkably high. It is noteworthy that the lay faithful of Manlurip were supportive of all its religious activities as well as the improvement of its chapel (structure).

Perhaps it is for these strong qualities of the lay faithful of Manlurip that the former parish priests of San Jose, Msgr. Benedicto Catilogo and Rev. Fr. Hector Villamil recommended that Manlurip Chapel become a mission station.