Most Rev. Benjamin Almoneda, Bishop of Daet in the Philippines from 1991 to 2007, died on January 6, 2003 at the age of 92. He was the first non-Canadian bishop to come to our congress in Rougemont in 2004, paving the way for several bishops from other countries. (He had written to us earlier asking how Social Credit could be applied in the Philippines; we invited him to our congress, and he accepted).
Bishop Almoneda subsequently came to Rougemont several times for our congresses and study sessions, and liked to describe himself as "the first Social Credit bishop". In October 2004, he invited our full-timer Melvin Sickler on a two-month tour of the Philippines, ensuring, among other things, that Economic Democracy was presented to all the Filipino bishops. (Bishop Almoneda sent the Money Myth Exploded flyer to each bishop as a Christmas present that year.) He then had our main writings translated into Tagalog (the language spoken in the Philippines), including, of course, the Money Myth Exploded.
Here is what Bishop Almoneda said at our Rougemont Congress in 2007: "In the 15 years that I have known Social Credit, I have discovered a treasure, as we call Social Credit a treasure. But during this week, I appreciated this treasure even more. As Miss Tardif said many times, this week has been a great light. What I learned during this week is that the important thing to do now is education, to educate. They say that the mark of an educated person is someone who is able to communicate with anyone, the highest person to the lowest person...They talk about me as being Bishop Emeritus of Daet. Emeritus means retired. To understand this means you have to do something else after. And that is what I will continue to do even more: to share the ideals of Social Credit."
Thank you, Your Excellency, for all your efforts. We are certain that God will reward you a hundredfold, and we ask Him to send us other "Social Credit bishops" like you!
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