It was when they were assigned as Shepherd Couple of the Most Blessed Sacrament (MBS) Prayer Group in South City Homes, Biñan, Laguna, that Tito Dong and Tita Joy Lara felt the need to spread the Word of God through the Marriage Encounter experience to other couples not belonging to the Biñan, Laguna area.  The idea of conducting an outreach ME Seminar immediately gained the full support of then MBSPG Pastoral Head Tito Ed and Tito Ledy Gatpandan, Tito Boy and Tita Josie Di, Tito Rudy and Tita Chato Magno and Tito Art and Tita Belen de Leon.

 

The group set out to identify where they could launch the program.  In this regard, they sought the counsel of Rev. Fr. Ichabod Baraan, OFM Capuchin, who was the rector of the school of Tito Dong’s son Julio.  Fr. Ichabod introduced them to Fr. Rudy Senilla, OFM Capuchin, parish priest of San Jose Manggagawa (SJM) Parish in General Mariano Alvarez (GMA), Cavite, which was under the care of the Capuchins.

 

The first task of talking with Fr. Rudy proved successful.  Fr. Rudy was most welcoming and very supportive, considering that the center of GMA was then a mecca of other religions. There were the Iglesia ni Cristo, fundamentalists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.  Some sects were offering free education in exchange for attendance in their services. 

 

The second task was getting the support of the Pastoral Council of SJM Parish.  During the first meeting with Tita Belen Allam, she expressed her support but was honest enough to admit that they lacked financial resources.  Because recruiting candidates for the Marriage Encounter Weekend Seminar entailed more time and effort, and in light of the active recruitment of the youth by other religious sects, Tito Dong, who was then also the Shepherd Couple of the Youth Ministry, offered to conduct a Singles Encounter (SE) at SJM.  Several SEs were held at SJM.  Graduates of the SEs were brought to the HJMPC First Friday General Assemblies and introduced to the whole Community.

 

Meanwhile, pooling meager resources, the first ME Outreach Program of MBS Prayer Group at SJM Parish was finally held on June 23-24, 2001. This was followed by several more ME Outreaches, during which many more members of the MBSPG began showing their support.  Graduates of the SJM ME Outreaches were also invited to the prayer meetings of MBSPG in order to develop the feeling of belonging and to teach them how to run their own prayer meetings.  This resulted in the birth of the San Jose Manggagawa Prayer Group (SJMPG).

 

On April 14, 2003, SJMPG became an affiliate of HJMPC under the functional control of MBSPG.  Three (3) years later, on February 07, 2006, SJMPG became the 13th regular prayer group of HJMPC.

 

The servant leaders called by the Lord to lead and guide MBSPG through the years are:

Year	Pastoral Head	Shepherd Couple
2002-2005	Tonet/Belen Alega	Ed/Ledy Gatpandan
2005-2006	Efren/Louisa Macatigos	Ed/Ledy Gatpandan
2006-2007	Efren/Louisa Macatigos	Noel/Ritz Dueñas
2007-2009	Mio/Gina Vivero	Ed/Ledy Gatpandan (2007-2008) Ernie/Thess Hernandez (2008-2009)
2009-2011	Mario/Luz Ofenda	Doming/Cora Solis
2011-2013	Sweto/Trining Macatigos	Ed/Norma de la Cruz
2013-2015	Aneng/Gerlie. Villareal	Orly/Jessica de los Santos (2013-2014) Mio/Gina Vivero (Resident Shepherd Couple, 2014-2015)
2015-2017	Mio/Gina Vivero	Louie/Nini Guerra
2017-2019	Ben/Thess Rubio	Louie/Nini Guerra
2019-2021	Noel/Tonette Magbanua	Boyet/Jane Medina

 

SJMPG has conducted a total of 38 MEWS for more than 600 couples and a total of 10 SEs for more than 200 Youth.  It has also spread the love, care and compassion of the Lord to the residents of GMA through its various medical and/or dental missions/outreaches held on March 6, 2012, December 28, 2015, October 19, 2017 (at Bukal ng Kapayapaan) and November 19, 2018.

 

For its 15th Anniversary Celebration on September 21, 2021, SJMPG will be distributing in the first week of September gift packs to 50 SJMPG families and 150 non-SJMPG families.  The gift packs will consist of rice, canned goods, coffee, face mask, face shield, rosary and rosary guide.

• ACTIVITIES:
  * Prayer Meeting: Every Tuesday - 6:30 - 8:30 pm
  * Church Service during Sunday Mass:
      > Lay Ministers and Commentator
      > Altar Servers (Youth)
      > Usherettes and Entrance Registration Staff for 6 am Mass
      > Church Sanitation at 7:00am
      > Music Service every third Sunday of the month