It's Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season, and the Baclaran and Quiapo churches have been seeing a steady stream of Catholic devotees since dawn. They had the sign of the cross marked on their foreheads with ash to symbolize mourning, repentance and their desire to share in the sufferings of Christ. The head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), meanwhile, called on devotees to practice material poverty through simplicity of life. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas also urged the faithful to condemn injustice and help the poor. ANC Dateline Philippines, March 5, 2014