OMI heritage house, museum open in Midsayap

Midsayap, Cotabato (Aug. 28 /NDBC)– The Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) today officially opened two significant landmarks at the parish Church as the OMI celebrates its 75th year of daring missionary presence in Mindanao, a priest said.Fr. Bert Layson, OMI, who officited the blessing ceremony, said the shires arethe Archdiocesan Shrine of Sr. Sto. Nino Parish, the Gerard Mongeau Heritage House (GMHH) and the Midsayap Museo Oblato (MMO), both found beside the Sto Nino Parish Church.The GMHH evolved from the then two-storey wooden OMI convent house in the 50s and is now a half concrete and wooden structure housing pastoral offices on the first floor and the Midsayap Museo Oblato on the second floor.The MMO showcases the journey of the pioneering OMI Fathers and the priests who have served the parish. Likewise, it presents the evolution of the church, both physical and human, as well as Midsayap’s history in capsule.It is a repository of artifacts of the church and those that come from the pioneering migrants of the parish.The MMO has also been declared as the municipal museum based on SB Resolution No. 091 series of 2012.Fr. Rizalde T. Orola, OMI, parish priest, together with Fr. Lino Razon, Fr. Bert Layson, and Parish Pastoral Council president Greg Tanudtanud, unveiled the two markers of the heritage house.Atty. Amalia L. Casabar, Heritage House Committee chair, and Dr. Jacinta T. Pueyo, Museum Committee Chair, together with Vice Mayor Albert Luis Garduque, Engr. Gerry Pieldad, Arch. Cherry S. Garcia, and Arch. Rizza G. Funa, of the construction team, cut the ribbon.LGU officials, parishioners, students, and school officials joined the affair which started with a liturgical celebration at the church. The construction of the GMHH and MMO is part of the preparation of the parish for the OMI’s 75th anniversary celebration on September 28, 2014. (Jacinta Torres Pueyo)