Saint John Paul II Parish Profile

Saint John Paul II Parish
Los Amigos, Tugbok District, Davao City
Telephone No. 082-295-2040

Saint John Paul II Parish is one of the seven (7) Roman Catholic Parishes belonging to the Vicariate of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is also one of the seven (7) Vicariates composing the Archdiocese of Davao.

Its inception began sometime in 2010 when the then Archbishop of Davao, Archbishop Fernando R. Capalla, assigned Rev. Father Pedro B. Maniwang as Assistant Parish Priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish of Calinan, Davao City. While Father Pete was serving as Assistant Parish Priest, he was also commissioned to find ways in the possibility of putting up an additional parish in Tugbok District. Sometime in 2011, Father Pete became acquainted with fellow Boholanos living in Los Amigos, Tugbok District, Davao City, in the person of Mr. & Mrs. Pablo Relampagos, who are among the successful businessmen in Davao City and own big tracts of land in Barangay Los Amigos and Barangay Ula, Tugbok District, Davao City. When informed about the plan of putting up another parish in the locality, Mr. & Mrs. Pablo Relampagos expressed interest in donating a portion of their land for the purpose. Succeeding negotiations between the Relampagos Family and Father Pete in coordination with Archbishop Capalla prospered, so that, by the middle of 2011 the Relampagos Family decided to donate a one (1) hectare lot to be the site of the new parish compound, eventually named Blessed John Paul II Parish.

Upon the acquisition of the lot by way of Deed of Donation executed by the Relampagos Family, the Archdiocese of Davao mandated that fifteen (15) GKKs (Gagmay’ng Kristohanong Katilingban) from the Sacred Heart Parish of Calinan, Davao City, and ten (10) GKKs from the Immaculate Conception Parish of Mintal, Davao City, shall form as part of the new Blessed John Paul II Parish. To formalize its erection, a concelebrated Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was held on October 22, 2011, at the donated lot and officiated by the then Archbishop of Davao, Msgr. Fernando R. Capalla, assisted by Rev. Pedro B. Maniwang and company, and attended by the Relampagos Family, the leaders and members of the 25 GKKs to compose the new parish, and visitors from the Sacred Heart Parish of Calinan and the Immaculate Conception Parish of Mintal.

By the second semester of 2011, a formal meeting of all the PSK (Pangulo Sa Katilingban) of the twenty (25) GKKs mandated to form part of the new Blessed John Paul II Parish was conducted at the Sacred Heart Parish of Calinan Auditorium presided over by the first appointed Parish Priest, Rev. Father Pedro B. Maniwang. It was then decided that the fifteen (15) GKKs coming from Sacred Heart Parish of Calinan shall take charge of the construction of the temporary parish church, while the ten (10) GKKs from the Immaculate Conception Parish shall take charge of the construction of the temporary parish convent and putting up of the perimeter fence. Father Pete also required for the designation of a point person from each group to act as the leader in the generation of funds and in reporting to him the progress of the respective assignments regularly. From the group of GKKs coming from the Sacred Heart Parish of Calinan, Sister Lolita Tecson, PSK of GKK San Francisco De Assisi, Cutson, Biao Guianga, acted as the point person, while Brother Julian C. Cañete, Sr., PSK of GKK San Agustin of Barangay Ula, was the point person for the group of GKKs coming from the Immaculate Conception Parish of Mintal, Tugbok District, Davao City.

Having no money to begin the construction of each group’s assignment, various ways and means had been resorted to in order to raise the much needed funds, such as, requiring each GKK to contribute money and/or construction materials and in soliciting funds from kind hearted individuals within and outside the new parish.

With the joint and concerted efforts of its leaders and members and the personal supervision of the incoming Parish Priest, Rev. Father Pedro B. Maniwang, the temporary parish convent and church were progressively constructed for a period of about six (6) months, specifically described as follows:

1. TEMPORARY PARISH CONVENT

   The temporary Parish Convent is approximately 80 square meters in floor area composed of the reception area, parish chancery office, dining room, kitchen, Parish Priest’s bedroom, guest room, and room for the parish workers.

   It is made of a concrete flooring, galvanized iron roofing, coconut lumber for its posts, trashes, door jams, window jams, and wall dividers, plywood for its ceiling and inside walling, and decorative bamboo splits (“kalakat”) for its outside walling.

2. TEMPORARY PARISH CHURCH

   The temporary Parish Church is approximately 300 meters in floor area composed of the open (no wall) people’s worshipping area, the altar, comfort room & dressing room at the left side of the altar, and storage room at the right side of the altar.

   The materials used are G.I. sheets for its roof, coconut lumber for its trashes, posts, door and window jams, plain cement for the floor, plywood for the ceiling, inside wall of the comfort & dressing room, and storage room, and again decorative banana splits for the outside walling.

SCOPE OF PARISH COVERAGE, ITS PARISHIONERS AND MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD

The twenty eight (28) GKKs presently composing the Saint John Paul II Parish are located within the eight (8) barangays of Calinan District, and Tugbok District, namely Riverside of Calinan District, New Carmen, New Valencia, Biao Guianga, Biao Escuela, Balingaeng, Los Amigos, and Ula, all of Tugbok Districts.

Majority of the land in the parish is agricultural and planted with coconut, rice, corn, and fruit trees, such as, durian, bananas, mangoes, lanzones, rambutan, marang, and mangosteen. Actually most of the fruits delivered to the markets of Davao City and other cities come from within the parish. It’s just unfortunate that only the caretakers are living within the area while most of the owners of the big tracts of land located within the parish are staying in the downtown area.

Thus majority of the parishioners are from low to medium income earners, making it hard therefore for the Parish Finance Committee to raise funds for the construction of the permanent Parish Convent and Church.

LATEST UPDATE:

As of this writing, Saint Paul II Parish of Los Amigos, Tugbok District, Davao City, already has the approved Building Plan for its permanent church and convent. The Parish Church has a setting capacity of 800 persons. The Parish Finance Council and the Parish Pastoral Council has an annual fund raising campaign to raise the amount for the cost of construction through the holding of Annual Raffle Draw and Muya Ng Parokya, which are held during the Annual Parish Fiesta every October 22. (Julian C. Cañete, Parish PSK Coordinator as approved by Fr. Pedro B. Maniwang, parish priest)