THE UNITED

METHODIST
CHURCH
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya 3700 Philippines
Tel. No. 321-2142

Rev. PEDRO M. TORIO, Jr.

Bishop, The United Methodist Church
Baguio Episcopal Area
Baguio City

Bishop:

We wish to furnish you herewith information circumstances relative to the temporary suspension
of the Vesper Services of the Bayombong United Methodist Church (BUMC).

 There were two lockdowns due to CoVid 19: one in March to June 2020, and the other in
August to September 2020.

After the 2nd lockdown, face to face services resumed following the minimum health
protocols mandated by the IATF and our local government.

Initially, there was only one service at 7’clock in the morning. After insistent requests of
moving service to a more convenient time, it was moved to 8:00 o’clock in the morning by
virtue of Res. No. 70 s. of 2020. (Attachment A – 3 rd Regular Minutes of Meeting BUMC
Administrative Council (AdCo), p4). This was done after our very own Administrative Pastor
and family were afflicted as CoVid 19.

 Another request came through the BUMC AdCo group chat (GC)for a clamor to to move
the service to 9:00 o’clock in the morning; it was granted by virtue of Res. No. 74, s. of
2020. (Attachment B Minutes of the 4 th BUMC AdCo Regular Meeting, November 22,
2020).

 Then came series of text messages to the church workers (Attachment C – page 1) and
messages via UMYAF GC (Attachment C- page 3). As an offshoot, the BUMC AdCo
 convened for a special meeting on January 24, 2021. After a lengthy deliberation, the
AdCo passed Res. No. 14, s. of 2021 (Attachment C – Minutes of Special Meeting).

After the action of the BUMC AdCo, through its Chair and the Administrative Pastor, sent
Mr. Daniel Ramel a letter asking him to conduct a survey as to the number of would-be
attendees which will be used as a basis of an action on the resumption of the Vesper
Service (Attachment D- Letter to Mr. Daniel Ramel).
 As there were succeeding messages and rants through the BUMC UMYAF GC (Attachment
D- GC BUMC UMYAF), the BUMC AdCo convened again on January 31, 2021. After another
lengthy and thorough deliberation on the PROs and CONs of the issue, the AdCo passed Res.
No. 15, s. of 2021 (Attachment E- Minutes of Special Meeting).

 On February 11, 2021, a letter was received by the AdCo from the UMYAF President and
other officers (Attachment F- Letter of UMYAF President). The request was listed among the
set Agenda for the AdCo’s Regular Meeting set on February 28, 2021.

On February 18, 2021, a letter to the Administrative Council, coursed through Dr.
Nathanael Vidad, Chairman Administrative Council was received from Mr. Daniel Ramel,
and you were then copy furnished. It says, the “Vesper Community” as letter-writer, but
sadly attached list of alleged vesper attendees is not authenticated/credible as there was
no signature. Likewise, those named in the list are either abroad or in neighboring towns
and provinces or attending vesper services intermittently, only few are regular attendees.

Taking into consideration the official letter of the UMYAF President and some officers, the
Adco in its 2nd Regular Meeting on February 28, 2021, passed Res. No. 21, s. of 2021
(Attachement F – Minutes of the 2nd BUMC AdCo Regular Meeting).

Surprisingly, the following day (March 1, 2021) Rev. Micah Ryal Ramel, an older brother of
Mr. Daniel Ramel posted on social media @change.org, Happening Now in Bayombong –
Open Bayombong UMC Vesper Service, soliciting 100 signatories (Attachment G).

You may notice that in all their messages and rants they use the term “closed” while in fact
the decision of the BUMC AdCo is a “temporary suspension” until such time that situation
will be safe for the holding of the Vesper Service. It appears that they are misleading the
congregation especially those who may not have seen the letter to the council.

 On March 1, 2021 a rant was sent to Rev. Jona Domingo, Associate Pastor of BUMC
from Mr. Mark Ramel (Attachment H).

 The province of Nueva Vizcaya and municipality of Bayombong continues to have

intermittent surge of CoVid 19 cases. Our local governments are implementing
localized lockdowns and maintaining stringent monitoring for the detection of variants
to contain infection, as well as the constant reminder to our countrymen that we
should not be complacent at this point.
 Here are some of the conditions and recent threatening cases considered by the BUMC
AdCo, as bases of the temporary suspension of the Vesper Service:

 The Divine Service held every 9:00 o’clock attended by an average of 60 composed of
young, young adult, WSCS and UMM with live streaming. The attendees have not even
reached the 50 percent capacity of the church.
 It is true that other churches are already holding more than one service, however the
location of the BUMC hinders us to hold such. The BUMC is located within commercial
establishments (SAVEMORE, Mercury Drug, and other stalls) and the night market just
across the street where people converge especially during late afternoons, a risk of
contacting the virus.
 Likewise, most of the attendees of the Vesper Service are young people and students
from other towns and nearby provinces. Hence, no students are around this time due
to the no face to face classes.
 If the Vesper Service will open, young people may attend, but we fear of their behavior
of bonding together and not getting home immediately after service.
 Recently, a retired government worker who was frequently seen at the night market
talipapa just across the street died of CoVid 19.
 There is also a clustering of cases in the purok where one of our church staff resides.
 Days ago, a health practitioner advised us mag-ingat po tayo Covid 19 caes continue to
rise in our locality.

 Our dear Bishop going back to the text messages, you may have noticed that the language
used by the writers was foul and derogatory. At one time, there was even an attack on the
personality of our Chair as a health authority and practitioner. We cannot continue to
allow this to happen. It is an insult to the conference appointees. They have destroyed
the image, not only of the BUMC AdCo but of the entire _____ church in the area.

If this behavior continues, we may resort to take action against them based on
“Chargeable Offenses” pp 2701-2702, par 2702 #3, letter j of the Book of Discipline of the
United Methodist Church.

We remain

Very truly yours,

For and on behalf of the BUMC Administrative Council

NATHANAEL B. VIDAD, MD
Chairperson, BUMC Administrative Council