MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews) – The Diocese of Malaybalay announced Tuesday the death of another of its priests due to COVID-19 complications.
The announcement said Fr. Pablo Salengua, parish priest of the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Dalirig, Manolo Fortich town, died at 12:15 p.m. It quoted that the attending doctor at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City declared him dead after days of bout against COVID-19 complications.
The 67-year-old Salengua served as priest for 34 years. He served as chair of the Indigenous Peoples Apostolate (IPA) in previous commissions. Currently, he is a member of the IPA under Fr. Cris Aninloy.
Salengua was the fourth diocesan priest in Bukidnon who died this year, and the second to succumb to COVID-19.
Fr. Diomedes “Jojo” Brigoli, of the Jesus Nazareno parish in Libona, died on May 1. Fr. Rene Regalado was shot in January by still unknown gunmen while Fr. Joel Tuquib died of cardiac arrest last month. Another priest in the diocese, 84-year-old Fr. Columbano Adag, OSB of the Abbey of Transfiguration, also died last month but not due to COVID-19.
The Dalirig and the Libona parishes were both closed due to COVID-19 – for the death of Fr. Brigoli and the infection, and eventual death, of Fr. Salengua.
The Diocese also locked down the Bishop’s House in Malaybalay City. But in a Facebook post today, the Diocese announced that all the tests conducted on all bishop’s house personnel turned out to be negative.
“The Bishop’s House compound lockdown will only be from May 2 to 6, 2021. They announced further that the SID Press, the Chancery Office and the Bishop’s House Office are temporarily closed and services will resume on May 7, 2021 or until further notice. (MindaNews)
