DAVAO CITY—It was not easy for the local parish church to grant funeral rites Saturday for Mariannet Amper, 12, a poor girl who hanged herself over alleged depression because of her family’s poverty, according to the priest who held the liturgical Mass here.

Fr. Zenon Ampong, parish priest of the St. Francis of Assisi church in Maa, south of downtown Davao City, told the BusinessMirror he had to consult with other Church leaders in the Archdiocese of Davao City before he broke the “good news” to family members of Mariannet.

Amper hanged herself on November 2 over her inability to attend regular classes and even regular Sunday Masses. Many Filipino communities hold the belief the Church would not grant Church rites to suicides.

“Our assumption here is that the mind of the person who commits suicide is already impaired,” Father Ampong said, “and therefore he cannot decide fairly well on what he would be committing.”

He said he sought the advice of Auxiliary Bishop George Rimando and other Church officials. “We have to discern the cases before we would allow to say Mass for the remains.”

In his homily on Saturday at the Santa Cruz chapel near the house of the Ampers outside the middle-class Yñiguez Subdivision in Maa, Ampong cautioned church attendees “that while we are gathered here for the Mass of Mariannet, the Church does not encourage other people to think that it would be okay to commit suicide because it would be okay for the Church to hold Masses [for them] anyway.”

“On the contrary, her suicide should serve us a lesson, that death is only the effect of sin,” he said. “In our society, there are many who have become victims of injustice, that many have been forced to commit criminality, and who would victimize others.”

Eduardo Lucero, a head of the Liturgy of the Basic Christian Community (BCC) in Maa, said that “actually the Canon law has been explicit in its provisions that the Church should not deny the faithful the sacraments.”

Lucero, who finished his theology in the seminary but did not continue with the priesthood, said that “many priests have been saying Masses for cases of suicides.” He officiated the necrological rites at the Maa Public Cemetery.

Aurora Lariosa, head of the BCC in Maa, said she welcomed the Parish’s decision to celebrate Mass for Amper. “We are very glad with this.”

DAVAO CITY—It was not easy for the local parish church to grant funeral rites Saturday for Mariannet Amper, 12, a poor girl who hanged herself over alleged depression because of her family’s poverty, according to the priest who held the liturgical Mass here.

THE task force formed by the National Police to investigate cases of unexplained killings has so far pinpointed 239 suspects in 141 validated incidents of unexplained killings, with cases already filed in court against 55 of them, a report to the Department of the Interior and Local Government revealed.

DAVAO CITY—A missing person here was found in the custody of Civilian Armed Forces Geographic Unit (Cafgu) personnel in a remote northern village of this city after the militiamen asked members of his family to take him back, the human-rights group Karapatan said.

CRIMINAL and administrative complaints were filed with the Ombudsman on Friday against the head of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), who allegedly authorized the purchase of overpriced coal.

THE League of Filipino Students (LFS) on Sunday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to stop the collection of unnecessary school fees following the death of 12-year-old Mariannet Amper in Davao City, who despaired of never being able to finish schooling on account of poverty.

IMMIGRATION Commissioner Marcelino Libanan has ordered the arrest and deportation of a suspected Palestinian terrorist who has been illegally staying in the country for the past several years.

THE House Committee on Justice will start on Monday the deliberation of the impeachment case against President Arroyo to determine if it is sufficient in form and substance.