The ‘healing’ of Manong Ernie

Talk to Manong Ernie these days and you could almost see a halo over his head. He exudes an unmistakable aura of deep spirituality. He is at peace with himself and with the world, thanks to his devotion to Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, foundress of the Congregation of the Religious of Virgin Mary which is behind the Mother Ignacia Healing Center in Bagumbong, Caloocan City, where Manong Ernie was healed of all his wounds – physical, emotional, spiritual.

Manong Ernie is Ernie Maceda who’s running again for Senator (with the FPJ Ticket), promising to continue his rudely-interrupted role as Mr. Exposé.

The "healing" of Manong Ernie was completed last year when he survived an accident which left his car totally wrecked but him with not a single serious injury.

"It was a miracle," recalled Manong Ernie, one perfect to be dramatized on Charo Santos-Concio’s Maalaala Mo Kaya or Mel Tiangco’s Magpakailanman. "I believe that there was a divine intervention that’s why I was saved. If you saw the wreckage, you wouldn’t believe that somebody, anybody, could survive. It was a miracle."

Manong Ernie was on his way to Clark Airbase at around 6 p.m. after hearing Mass (he sometimes acts as sakristan) at the Mother Ignacia Healing Center, headed by Sister Gloria, when the accident happened; it happened so fast that the next thing he knew, he was under the smashed car, his chest hurting, his head seemed to burst in pain, and his arms and legs paralyzed.

Although pinned under the car, Manong Ernie managed to call Sister Gloria on his cellphone and Sister Gloria promptly gathered the RVM sisters and they started praying for him in what Manong Ernie called "a distant healing." Later, Sister Gloria would tell Manong Ernie that she was guided by the Holy Spirit in that "distant healing" during where she had a vision of Mother Ignacia on top of Manong Ernie’s car.

"At that moment," said Manong Ernie, "Sister Gloria told me (during their cellphone conversation), ‘You can get out now.’ So I did. Up to now, I don’t know how I was able to get out of that wreckage but I did without any difficulty."

The next day, Manong Ernie went to the St. Luke’s Medical Center for a check-up and – surprise, surprise! – he was diagnosed to have no injury at all. When they inspected the car wreck later on, they discovered that the bottle of the believed-to-be-miraculous water (all of five gallons) placed beside Manong Ernie was not damaged.

"It served as my protection," said Manong Ernie who has been carrying the bottle anywhere he goes.

That car accident radically changed the course of Manong Ernie’s life.

"I was convinced beyond doubt that it was a miracle," he reiterated.

Before he started going to the Healing Center in 2002, Manong Ernie was not really religious, even if, as a Law student in Ateneo, he was forced to say The Rosary everyday, a practice he soon dropped but resumed after he was introduced to the Healing Center. "Now, I say The Rosary again every day, often in my car while caught in a traffic jam."

At first, Manong Ernie confessed, he was skeptical when a former classmate who was cured of cancer, brought him to Sister Gloria.

"But I thought I had nothing to lose so I went with him," said Manong Ernie.

At that time, he was suffering from depression brought about by various causes (disillusionment with the government, etc.). He lost his appetite and lost a lot of weight; he couldn’t sleep. He was almost like only a shadow of his old self (he has spent 46 of his 69 years in government and politics, starting at age 18 when he campaigned for the likes of Sen. Claro M. Recto and Lorenzo Tañada).

"My skepticism disappeared as soon as I met Sister Gloria. It turned out that she’s a clairvoyant. She can tell what’s wrong with you just by looking at you. I like to believe that she has a pair of ‘X-ray’ eyes. After only two visits, I started to feel better. My appetite came back; I regained weight. My depression disappeared."

Soon, Manong Ernie became a regular at the Mother Ignacia Healing Center and became some kind of a sakristan. There, he said, he witnessed the sick being healed, the lame able to walk again and cancer patients being cured after several visits (during which the sick are given a "healing bath").

"Before long, I, too, was completely healed physically, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically. I realized that I felt better serving the sick than serving the government."

Three or four times a week, Manong Ernie would go to the Healing Center, bringing with him friends and colleagues (among them former President Joseph Estrada who said he "felt better" after Sister Gloria gave him the "healing bath"). So far, Manong Ernie has brought to the Healing center eight senators, 12 congressmen, 12 governors and a motley of leaders from various fields (business, showbiz, etc.). I was with him on one of his visits, together with his wife Marichu Vera Perez and my fellow movie writers (Ethel Ramos and Mar Cruz among them).

Asked what’s the difference between Ernie Maceda then and Ernie Maceda now, Manong Ernie said, "I have elevated my priorities to a more spiritual level."

And why does he want to go back to the troubled and troubling world of politics?

Manong Ernie smiled.

"Sister Gloria gave me an assignment – to unite all sectors of government."

Quite a tall order, isn’t it?

I’m sure Manong Ernie needs "divine intervention" to accomplish that "assignment."

But then, he insisted, believe and nothing is impossible.

"I am the living proof," he said.

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