Santo at sikreto (documentary ni Howie Severino)

On the occasion of the canonization of Cebu native son Pedro Calungsod, Howie

Severino and his documentary team venture into Calungsod's hometown of Ginatilan, Cebu

which has long venerated the 17th century martyr.

 

They find the local genealogist who plowed through dusty centuries-old archives for proof of the Calungsod family lineage in the town, and a possible descendant who has just declared his candidacy for local office, convinced that he can reap a political bonanza from his last name even without much accomplishment.

 

But despite the celebratory mood in the province, the canonization comes at an inauspicious time, soon after the greatest scandal ever to hit Cebu's powerful clergy. The province's church hierarchy is still smarting from public revelations that a respected local priest may be hiding a dark and shameful past.

 

Further investigation by Severino's team reveals that other priests in the province and other parts of the country have largely gone unpunished for other offenses, part of a spreading global church reputation for protecting priests who have violated the law.

 

Caught up in the fever-pitch revelry over the Philippines' second saint, these issues seem to have taken a back seat.

 

Join Howie Severino in “Santo at Sikreto” as he tackles how the church is confronting shocking revelations, and adapting to an age when it is getting harder to hide painful truths. An I-Witness documentary, GMA-7, Monday night in the Phlippines, 11:30 p.m., right after Saksi. -- GMA News