Sweets offered for sunny summit

CEBU — Taking no chances, this province’s governor has offered chocolates and other food items to the heavens — through a group of contemplative nuns — in return for friendly skies for the twin Asian summits that were postponed last month because of an approaching typhoon.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said her offering to the Almighty for good weather during this week’s summits in Cebu was made through a local group of Carmelite Catholic nuns, in keeping with a local belief.

"We... offered bags of grocery items like chocolates, noodles, canned goods," Garcia said. "It has worked in times past, God answers our prayers in His own way."

Many devoutly religious residents of Cebu, a province of 3.4 million people, traditionally offer trays of eggs to God through the Carmelite nuns who maintain a convent in Cebu City. The offerings are made so their petitions, usually for good weather, will be granted. The custom is also popular in Metro Manila and many other parts of this predominantly Catholic country.

"If you have a special petition, you go to the Carmelites," Garcia said.

But officials admit that they gave nuns some eggs last month, too, and the summits were still postponed.

Said Garcia: "God answers our prayers in the ways that He sees fit."

The annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations and East Asian summits will bring 15 heads of state to this rapidly industrializing province, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Originally set for Dec. 10 to 13, the gathering was abruptly postponed by the government who blamed an approaching typhoon — not warnings of a terror attack. The typhoon largely spared the province. Officials are keen to avoid trouble the second time around.

The Carmelites hold a special place in the history of the overwhelmingly Catholic nation, as former President Corazon Aquino sought sanctuary at a Carmelite monastery here before she was swept to power in a 1986 revolt.

Cebu also has a special niche in the Philippines’ religious history because a Spanish expedition is said to have first landed there in 1521, bringing Christianity to the land. — AP, AFP