Bishop tells PHL youth delegates: Don't overstay in Spain

A bishop has warned Filipinos attending the World Youth Day (WYD) in Spain against overstaying to avoid "tainting" the Philippine image, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Sunday. In a statement posted on the CBCP website, Bishop Joel Baylon of Legazpi, Albay, said the CBCP does not want a repeat of the illegal overstaying in Rome by Filipino WYD delegates in 2000. Some youth delegates in 2000 WYD went beyond the prescribed number of days in their Schengen visas and slipped to other Schengen states to look for work, said Baylon, who also chairs the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth. Baylon said if the Rome incident happens again, “it will only taint our image with future WYD organizers." In particular, he said that a similar incident could lead to a ban on Filipino delegates in future WYD events. “Do not rob young people with legitimate motives of the opportunity to participate in the next WYDs. Stick to your itineraries and don’t overstay," Baylon said. The bishop noted that as a safeguard, his commission will keep the passports of the 427 Filipino WYD delegates and will only return their passports during the August 22 re-entry session or when they are bound to fly back to the Philippines. Earlier, the CBCP said it was implementing a stringent screening process to make sure that the WYD delegates do not end up as illegal aliens. — LBG, GMA News