By Leslie Ann Aquino

The Philippines has a new “Servant of God”.

According to a CBCP News post, the Vatican declared on March 29 Darwin Ramos as “Servant of God,” the preliminary process for sainthood.

The declaration was made by Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in Rome.

This means that the Diocese of Cubao now has the green light to initiate the process for beatification and canonization of the teenage boy.

“The Vatican has given us the go signal to go deeper in his life how he lived his faith and how he gave witness to Jesus to whom he was very close,” Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, who started the process at the request of The Friends of Darwin Ramos Association, said.

The prelate added that the Vatican declaration “reminds us that we are invited to give witness to our faith in concrete ways”.

Ramos spent his early years in the slums of Pasay City. In order to help his family, he became a scavenger in the streets, with his younger sister.

Unfortunately, the initial symptoms of what will later be diagnosed as Duchenne muscular dystrophy appeared. Progressively, he could no longer stand and his muscles weakened.

In 2006, after getting acquainted with a group of street educators from Tulan ng Kabataan (TnK), Ramos entered in one of its centers helping street children.

Discovering the Catholic faith, he received the sacrament of baptism in the same year and the first communion and the sacrament of confirmation in 2007.

Along the years, Ramos’ physical condition deteriorated. But despite it, he uplifted the staff and other children at the center by the way he lived with his illness.

Ongtioco said that Ramos developed a deep personal relationship with Christ, and not a day passed that the boy did not take time out to entrust himself to Jesus.

In 2012, Ramos’ condition worsened suddenly: he felt pain while breathing and was then brought to a hospital.

Even in these moments of suffering, he continued to maintain a friendly attitude, thanking everyone for helping him.

Ramos died at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City on Sept. 23, 2012, at the age of 17.

“Darwin is an example of holiness. Being a street child, afflicted with myopathy, he is closely united with Christ in his suffering and joy,” Ongtioco said.

Declaring Ramos Servant of God is the first step towards recognizing him as a saint.

Other steps towards sainthood, are declarations of Venerable, Blessed and canonization.