Featured Tsinoy

Jaime Lachica Sin, the 30th Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, is best known for his role in Philippine political affairs. He was acclaimed in the Philippines and all over the world for his moral leadership and defense of freedom, justice and peace. Some say that Cardinal Sin was too involved in politics, but for Southeast Asia and the world, he is an exemplar of religious faith that is non-violently engaged for social change. Millions heeded Cardinal Sin when he called for the citizenry to go out into the streets and peacefully defend revolutionaries during the 1986 People Power Revolution. Throughout his 29 years as Archbishop of Manila, Sin fully immersed himself in the affairs of the state – providing a moral compass, becoming the moral conscience of politicians and public servants.

Born on August 31, 1928 in New Washington, Aklan, a small coastal town on an island in central Philippines, Sin was the seventh of nine children of Juan Sin, a Chinese businessman who had migrated to the Philippines from Fujian, China, and Maxima Reyes Lachica. After early education at the New Washington Elementary School in his hometown, he entered the St. Vincent Ferrer Archdiocesan Seminary in Jaro, Iloilo in June 1941. His studies interrupted by the outbreak of the WWII and the subsequent occupation of the Philippines by Japanese forces. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 3, 1954 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Roxas City, Capiz.