Fr. Jorge I. Barlin = Baao: Facts about The First Filipino Bishop; something to be proud of

This is an excerpt from the December, 1995 issue of "Kaiba".

First, he was the first clergyman to become civil governor (of Sorsogon) from September 20, 1898, until the coming of the Americans in 1900.

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Second, he was the first and only person (up to this time) to have headed and governed a province both politically and ecclesiastically.

He was the political and ecclesiastical head at the same time during the crucial period of our history when our country was being torn between two foreign loyalties, Spain and America.

photo credit from: www.bigberto.blogspot.com

Third, he was the first and presumably the only priest to whom the supreme prelacy of the Philippine Independent Church, a.k.a. Aglipayan church, was offered.His response to Padre Gregorio Aglipay's offer as supreme head was as curt as it was devastating:

"Prefiero ser lampazero a ser la cabeza de su iglesia cismatica,"

(I prefer to be floor sweeper than to be the head of your schismatic church.)
(he lambasted that fucktard who own that church along Taft Avenue...)

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Fourth, he was the first Filipino to have received two distinguished ecclesiastical honors from two Popes.

Pope Leo XIII made Barlin a Papal Chamberlain, and his successor, Pope Pius X made him Protonotary Apostolic Ad Instar Participantium (making him a member of the chief order of prelates.)

These two promotions and honors were conferred between 1903 and 1905 when he was the Apostolic Administrator of the vacant See of Nueva Caceres.

Meaning, during the time when there was no bishop in Bikol, he was the head in acting capacity.

Fifth, Barlin was the first and to date, the only priest, whose name is immortalized in Philippine Jurisprudence.

In court rulings Barlin vs. Ramirez case (Philippine Jurisprudence No. 41) decided in 1904 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 1906 is resorted to, court rulings "on peaceable possessions of properties." The Supreme Court's decision was an irreparable blow to the Aglipayan movement whose schismatic priests in possession of of Catholic churches and properties in some parts of the Islands were or-dered to vacate (said churches) in favor of the Catholic Church. Lagonoy Church, Fr. Vicente Ramirez' Agli-payan stronghold and where the case originated, had to be surrendered to the Catholic Church, that time under Msgr. Barlin.

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Sixth, Jorge Barlin E Imperial was and is the First Filipino Bishop.

He was not only the "First Filipino Bishop under the American Regime" as some misled historians claim, but the First Filipino Bishop of all times.

Some historians also claim that Barlin was the "First Filipino Bishop of Mixed Blood."

We maintain in spite of his "un-Filipino" tall stature that he was a Filipino "de pura cepa" a full blooded Filipino... by blood, by aspirations, by all aspects including his penchant for hot food--
gulay he ate with gusto, cooked the Baao or Bikol way especially for what us now known as the Bicol Express, gulay na sili.

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Last but not the least, Bishop Barlin was the first to have been invited to deliver the Invocation of the Inaugural Session of the Philippine Assembly in October 16, 1907.

He was then the only Filipino bishop and all other dioceses were headed by American bishops--Manila, Cebu, Nueva Segovia and Nueva Caceres.

For the first time Bikol or Nueva Caceres was in the limelight not only nationally but internationally, according to an American historian.

All because of Bishop Jorge Barlin e Imperial.

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These facts are just few of the many things that would prove he is Baao's most prized possession and most popular personality of course. His passion and dedication to the Catholic Church and to God is something that should be imbibe in the hearts of many Filipino youths especially my fellow Baaoenyos. Baao has always been known to be the "Religious Capital" of the Archdioces of Nueva Caceres due to its outputs of numerous priests and nuns and something that is missing today.