CLARK FREEPORT – Noted Kapampangan architect Nestor Mangio has cited circumstances that seem to indicate the “hand of Divine Providence” in the ambitious plan to build a P1-billion shrine featuring a gigantic statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Monte Maria in Bantangas City.
In an interview with Punto, Mangio, project development manager and chairman of the committee on construction for the project, said the shrine, which will be highlighted by a statue of Mary taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty, is expected to be finished by 2011 to serve primarily the poor.
The project was conceived by priest-healer Fr. Fernando Suarez who has been traveling worldwide on a healing ministry. Only last Jan. 11, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales officiated Mass at the site of the shrine where hundreds of Catholics and even-non-Catholics gathered for physical healing.
“Fr. Suarez’s discernment is being followed in the design of the shrine,” Mangio said, amid recent circumstances that, he noted, could indicate the “hand of Divine Providence in the project”.
Mangio related that there has been a decision to use resin for the huge statue of the Blessed Virgin whose design is to be patterned from her apparitions in Banneux , Belgium in 1933.
“Concrete will not do for such a huge statue while metal might rust since the location of the shrine is near the sea, so it was decided to use resin which was also used in a big statue in the Netherlands ,” he said.
“In our search for someone who could help us build a resin statue, we came across one who manufactures big resin statues in Angeles City ,” he said. The manufacturer supplies statues of Mickey Mouse and other such characters exported to Disneylands in various parts of the world.
“What’s uncanny about this discovery is that firm is owned not only by a Belgian, but one who hails from Banneux, “ Mangio noted.
Mangio is a noted architect. He is the chairman of the Clark International Airport Corp., a director of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation (FBDC), Expo Filipino and Land Owner representative of the Pacific Plaza towers Inc. (PPTI). He has served as national president of the prestigious United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) for two consecutive years. He is also a fellow and past chancellor of the United Architects of the Philippines and fellow of the Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA).
Mangio said Mary’s statue will be 110 meters tall, including its base whose height would equal that of a four-story building. The height of the Statue of Liberty in New York is only 92.9 meters, including its base.
Groundbreaking for the project was held on Jan. 7 last year.
Mangio lamented criticisms from those who have urged that the cost of the project be spend directly for the benefit of the poor.
“The shrine will be primarily for the poor, those who want to be healed through Fr. Suarez,” he said. He recalled many instances in which poor folk who otherwise could not afford medicines and other medical needs have been cured through Fr. Suarez.
Mangio also noted that shrine will be built solely from donations of those who also want to see the shrine finished.
He also said that while the intent of the project is to extend Jesus Christ’s healing ministry through Fr. Suarez, the shrine will also inevitably boost the economy through tourism.
He noted that in Marian shrines in other parts of the world, such as in Lourdes in France, local economy was boosted.
“The statue itself will be an attraction. One can go into it and take an elevator towards a viewing deck at the top. The shrine grounds will have lodging houses, a rosary garden and Stations of the Cross and the base of the statue will have several chapels including one for Eucharistic Adoration,” he said.
Suarez was born Feb. 12, 1967 in Taal, Batangas. He finished a chemical engineering course at Adamson University in Manila.
He later enrolled at a seminary in Canada where he later joined the newly formed Companions of the Cross. He was already reputed to have cured many sick persons, including terminal ill ones, when he was ordained priest in 2002 at age 24.
He founded the Mary Mother of the Poor-Healing Ministry or Mary Mother of the Poor Foundation (MMP) supported through donations from many countries.
In an interview with Punto, Mangio, project development manager and chairman of the committee on construction for the project, said the shrine, which will be highlighted by a statue of Mary taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty, is expected to be finished by 2011 to serve primarily the poor.
The project was conceived by priest-healer Fr. Fernando Suarez who has been traveling worldwide on a healing ministry. Only last Jan. 11, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales officiated Mass at the site of the shrine where hundreds of Catholics and even-non-Catholics gathered for physical healing.
“Fr. Suarez’s discernment is being followed in the design of the shrine,” Mangio said, amid recent circumstances that, he noted, could indicate the “hand of Divine Providence in the project”.
Mangio related that there has been a decision to use resin for the huge statue of the Blessed Virgin whose design is to be patterned from her apparitions in Banneux , Belgium in 1933.
“Concrete will not do for such a huge statue while metal might rust since the location of the shrine is near the sea, so it was decided to use resin which was also used in a big statue in the Netherlands ,” he said.
“In our search for someone who could help us build a resin statue, we came across one who manufactures big resin statues in Angeles City ,” he said. The manufacturer supplies statues of Mickey Mouse and other such characters exported to Disneylands in various parts of the world.
“What’s uncanny about this discovery is that firm is owned not only by a Belgian, but one who hails from Banneux, “ Mangio noted.
Mangio is a noted architect. He is the chairman of the Clark International Airport Corp., a director of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation (FBDC), Expo Filipino and Land Owner representative of the Pacific Plaza towers Inc. (PPTI). He has served as national president of the prestigious United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) for two consecutive years. He is also a fellow and past chancellor of the United Architects of the Philippines and fellow of the Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA).
Mangio said Mary’s statue will be 110 meters tall, including its base whose height would equal that of a four-story building. The height of the Statue of Liberty in New York is only 92.9 meters, including its base.
Groundbreaking for the project was held on Jan. 7 last year.
Mangio lamented criticisms from those who have urged that the cost of the project be spend directly for the benefit of the poor.
“The shrine will be primarily for the poor, those who want to be healed through Fr. Suarez,” he said. He recalled many instances in which poor folk who otherwise could not afford medicines and other medical needs have been cured through Fr. Suarez.
Mangio also noted that shrine will be built solely from donations of those who also want to see the shrine finished.
He also said that while the intent of the project is to extend Jesus Christ’s healing ministry through Fr. Suarez, the shrine will also inevitably boost the economy through tourism.
He noted that in Marian shrines in other parts of the world, such as in Lourdes in France, local economy was boosted.
“The statue itself will be an attraction. One can go into it and take an elevator towards a viewing deck at the top. The shrine grounds will have lodging houses, a rosary garden and Stations of the Cross and the base of the statue will have several chapels including one for Eucharistic Adoration,” he said.
Suarez was born Feb. 12, 1967 in Taal, Batangas. He finished a chemical engineering course at Adamson University in Manila.
He later enrolled at a seminary in Canada where he later joined the newly formed Companions of the Cross. He was already reputed to have cured many sick persons, including terminal ill ones, when he was ordained priest in 2002 at age 24.
He founded the Mary Mother of the Poor-Healing Ministry or Mary Mother of the Poor Foundation (MMP) supported through donations from many countries.
