August 27, 2015
On Friday August 21, 2015 a mass baptism was celebrated at the St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Ladol, Alabel, of the Sarangani province in the Philippines which was newly accepted as the fourth parish of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Philippines.
The Facebook page of the Philippine Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate reported that in total 239 Filipinos were baptized in the ocean into the holy Orthodox Church, including several former clerics of the Philippine Independent “Aglipayan” Catholic Church, which had its cathedral see at the parish of St. John.
“Bishop” Esteban Valmera was baptized as Stefan, “bishop” Rogelio Ringor as Gregory, “priest” Elieser as Eleasar, “priest” Dioscoro Bergado as Alexy, “priest John Collado” as Timothy and “priest” Renato Buniel as Romanus. The group, baptized by Frs. Kirill Sckharboul and George Maximov, also included five candidates for seminary studies in Russia. A series of mass baptisms at twenty-nine more Filipino parishes is expected in the following weeks.
