FITTING TRIBUTE TO CARDINAL SIN
Monument unveils on his hometown
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

TRIBUTE TO CARDINAL SIN. Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila (right) displays the artist's perspective of the Cardinal Jaime Sin Monument Project. With him is Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, chairman of the project.

KALIBO, Aklan – Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc (PAPI) president Juan P. Dayang said a monument in memory of the late Cardinal Jaime Sin will be erected in his hometown in New Washington, Aklan.
Dayang stressed the unveiling and blessing of the monument will be held at New Washington public plaza named after the illustrious Archbishop of Manila on August 31, which also marks the birthday of Cardinal Sin.
"Sin leaves a legacy of freedom and justice, forged in deep personal courage. He was a guiding light that illuminated the Filipino spirit. His advice and wisdom was well sought by the nation’s leaders,” Dayang said.
Dayang added "the monument is a fitting tribute to the man whose martyrdom was instrumental in the first People Power in 1986."
He said Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, and Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua were named honorary chairman and chairman respectively, of the Cardinal Jaime Sin Monument Project.
National Artist Eduardo Castrillo, one of the country’s most renowned and dominant sculptors of national monuments and who sculpted the brass “Pieta” of Loyola Memorial Park and the People Power Monument, will designed the Cardinal Sin statue.
Jaime Lachica Sin died last June 21, 2005 of lingering illness. He was born on August 31, 1928 in New Washington, Aklan.
Known as “Amie” in his younger days, Sin was the 14th of the 16 children of Juan Sin and Maxima Lachica. Sin’s father was a Chinese merchant from Amoy .
Sin is survived by four siblings: Ramon, a former dean of University of Sto . Tomas School of Medicine; sisters Mary and Ceferina and Manuel, a former math teacher at Far Eastern University.
Sin’s father, whose Chinese name was Puatco, left Amoy and settled for some time in Manila , before moving to Aklan where he met Maxima, a Spanish mestiza. He converted to Catholicism and was christened Juan.
Ordained on April 3, 1954, he began his ministry as a missionary in the Archdiocese of Capiz; in 1957, he became the first rector of St. Pius X Seminary in Roxas City. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Jaro, Iloilo on Feb. 10, 1967, becoming a bishop in the same year.
Sin was 45 years old when he was appointed Archbishop of Manila on Jan. 21, 1974 and installed two months later.
Elevated to Cardinal on May 24, 1976, he retired on Sept. 15, 2003 at age 75. At the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines , he served as vice president in 1974, president in 1977 and again in 1979.
Sin never obtained a master’s degree but was appointed bishop and elected cardinal due to his holiness. He has 29 honorary degrees from different universities all over the world.
During the Martial Law years, Sin often found himself at odds with the Palace, but then President Ferdinand Marcos never threatened him nor retaliated for his scathing criticism.

He was later instrumental in driving Marcos from office in 1986 during the first People Power revolt. In 2001, he called on then President Joseph Estrada to resign amid a scandal over illegal gambling payoffs, and supported his replacement by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.