26 December 1974: I will always associate Fr. Acong Sevilla to that night 34 years ago when I knocked at the Sevilla residence at the “Short Cut” in Lucena City and requested him to help me escape from two armed men who were pursuing me. He was seated on what looked like a rocking chair and he swiftly got up after hearing my reason for coming to his place.
Both of us rushed to his jeep parked by the road. He started the engine and promptly asked me where I would like to go.
For a moment, I could not speak. Then I managed to squeak out the name of the place where I would like to pick up a friend and our clothes and other personal stuff. I guess his calmness sought my frayed nerves and I managed to tell him bits and pieces of the story; how two young men blocked my path while I was walking on the road beside the Lucena Elementary School in Iyam district, in front of our high school; how the two walked with myself in the middle; and how I felt the nozzle of a gun on the left side of my body; my swift decision to parry the gun and free myself from their hold.
The two young men ran after me, but I managed to elude them or, probably, they would not want to risk getting notice by the neighborhood. I was able to reach my relative’s home and told the family what had happened. I decided to leave so as not to involve the family and a young boy volunteered to accompany me in the dark until I reached the main road.
Still no sign of the two young men, but I had the feeling they were just observing from a distance. I rode in a passenger jeepney and to ensure I would not be followed, I got off after the Iyam bridge and followed the familiar unlit and stony path leading to the Sevilla home. In fact, I remember I ran unmindful of the barking dogs.
Looking back to this incident, which I did many, many times during the last three decades, I had the same feeling of relief that Fr. Acong, at that moment of extreme anguish, did not hesitate to help me and a friend find ourselves out of a difficult situation.
We were being pursued like rats on account of what we stood for at that time against what we perceived as injustice committed against our people and the more than thirty of our friends who had been persecuted and just disappeared without a trace.
By extending help at a time when we needed it most, Fr. Acong demonstrated what it meant to be a shepherd to his flock, including those who had strayed off the path. When my friend and I finally decided to leave the underground, two weeks after Fr. Acong brought us to a safe haven, you can doubtless say his singular act of kindness had influenced for the most part that crucial decision. ####
Nestor M. Pestelos
Kuching, Malaysia
28 January 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
A Week to Remember
Now it's Monday, 14 Jan 2008. What a relief! I have just gone through a nerve-wracking, energy-sapping, emotion-draining week!
Gardy Labad and I met with Director Ted Romo of the Department of Social Welfare and Department, Region 7, last Monday. We went through the basic concepts of creative industries and what is known as ABCD or Asset-Based Community Development.
The following day we had the consultation meeting with Mayors and/or the representatives of the six municipalities of Bohol where the Kalahi Creative Industries Development Project (KCIDP) would be implemented on a pilot basis. The Mayor of Pilar would like the project implemented immediately in his municipality. The others preferred to be assisted first in explaining the project to key sectors in the municipality, most especially the barangays.
KCIDP is not the type of projects municipalities are used to. This will be focused on creative industries considered as assets at both community and household levels. What everyone is used to are projects on basic needs: water supply and santitation; roads, clinics and other infrastructure; assistance for malnutrition or households with school dropouts, etc. Teatro Bolanon will present a cultural showcase to help communities be aware of their cultural and arts assets. Hence, the planning for creative industries will start not with the usual identification of needs and problems.
Local planning will start with a process of identifying assets. BLDF has taken the challenge of producing the survey methodology and the software for this revolutionary approach and link these tools to Poverty Databased Monitoring System (PDMS) developed as pro-poor targeting tool based on basic needs approach.
On Wednesday, I had to fly to Manila to meet friends from UNICEF and CIDA in efforts to get some support for developing the ABCD tools. There's some hope we could get CIDA to co-share with BLDF the support for the IT programmer and specialist. In exchange, BLDF will make available data that could be used by CIDA for writing up case studies.
Habitat Malaysia waits eagerly for the outputs which can be used for a community survey in cooperation with University of Malaysia Sabah.
Thursday I had to spend almost half a day with Habitat Philippines so we could finalize my work plan for the first quarter of the year. We had to agree on the case studies to be undertaken and on the role I have to play in implementing the ADB urban project.
Friday I had to pick up the CD on a friend's funeral from Guadi. We had to meet for this at the Greenbelt chapel. By late afternoon, I was back to Bohol to meet Erin Hoffman and the BLDF team. Erin had arrived earlier from Boston College to start a four-month internship with BLDF.
Saturday I had to meet them again at our place in the village. Then the news was broken to me gently by Jojie about the passing away of my close friend, Atty. Nitz Cambangay, who just retired as Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator. All of us were shocked by the news. We met with him 04 January to finalize plans for the registration of a new entity, the Institute of Poverty Studies and Governance.
Afternoon of that Saturday I had to rush back to Baclayon Church to serve as sponsor in the wedding of Toby Martin and Dagni Aya-ay. Prior to that I had to attend a wake for the mother of the former Mayor's mother. Shortly before midnight, when the wedding reception ended, I went with the family to visit Nitz at Funeraria Gomez. The place was full of people. We emphatize with Helen's situation, who now must confront a future without Nitz.
Early Sunday, after attending morning Mass, we went back to Nitz where he seemed only sleeping there and for the first time during the week, I had moments to recall how we conspired to make poverty not only a "showbiz" issue, but the overarching theme of all development plans here in Bohol.
We will go on with this journey and this is probably the best way to remember our friend and colleague, Nitz Cambangay.
Gardy Labad and I met with Director Ted Romo of the Department of Social Welfare and Department, Region 7, last Monday. We went through the basic concepts of creative industries and what is known as ABCD or Asset-Based Community Development.
The following day we had the consultation meeting with Mayors and/or the representatives of the six municipalities of Bohol where the Kalahi Creative Industries Development Project (KCIDP) would be implemented on a pilot basis. The Mayor of Pilar would like the project implemented immediately in his municipality. The others preferred to be assisted first in explaining the project to key sectors in the municipality, most especially the barangays.
KCIDP is not the type of projects municipalities are used to. This will be focused on creative industries considered as assets at both community and household levels. What everyone is used to are projects on basic needs: water supply and santitation; roads, clinics and other infrastructure; assistance for malnutrition or households with school dropouts, etc. Teatro Bolanon will present a cultural showcase to help communities be aware of their cultural and arts assets. Hence, the planning for creative industries will start not with the usual identification of needs and problems.
Local planning will start with a process of identifying assets. BLDF has taken the challenge of producing the survey methodology and the software for this revolutionary approach and link these tools to Poverty Databased Monitoring System (PDMS) developed as pro-poor targeting tool based on basic needs approach.
On Wednesday, I had to fly to Manila to meet friends from UNICEF and CIDA in efforts to get some support for developing the ABCD tools. There's some hope we could get CIDA to co-share with BLDF the support for the IT programmer and specialist. In exchange, BLDF will make available data that could be used by CIDA for writing up case studies.
Habitat Malaysia waits eagerly for the outputs which can be used for a community survey in cooperation with University of Malaysia Sabah.
Thursday I had to spend almost half a day with Habitat Philippines so we could finalize my work plan for the first quarter of the year. We had to agree on the case studies to be undertaken and on the role I have to play in implementing the ADB urban project.
Friday I had to pick up the CD on a friend's funeral from Guadi. We had to meet for this at the Greenbelt chapel. By late afternoon, I was back to Bohol to meet Erin Hoffman and the BLDF team. Erin had arrived earlier from Boston College to start a four-month internship with BLDF.
Saturday I had to meet them again at our place in the village. Then the news was broken to me gently by Jojie about the passing away of my close friend, Atty. Nitz Cambangay, who just retired as Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator. All of us were shocked by the news. We met with him 04 January to finalize plans for the registration of a new entity, the Institute of Poverty Studies and Governance.
Afternoon of that Saturday I had to rush back to Baclayon Church to serve as sponsor in the wedding of Toby Martin and Dagni Aya-ay. Prior to that I had to attend a wake for the mother of the former Mayor's mother. Shortly before midnight, when the wedding reception ended, I went with the family to visit Nitz at Funeraria Gomez. The place was full of people. We emphatize with Helen's situation, who now must confront a future without Nitz.
Early Sunday, after attending morning Mass, we went back to Nitz where he seemed only sleeping there and for the first time during the week, I had moments to recall how we conspired to make poverty not only a "showbiz" issue, but the overarching theme of all development plans here in Bohol.
We will go on with this journey and this is probably the best way to remember our friend and colleague, Nitz Cambangay.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Back to Blogging
Now let me see: almost 18 months I have not had any entry to this blog site. Long time, yes. Long time to prove if somebody will care if I don't blog. Hahahahah! It's really missed.
So why return to it? The answer is probably more of a wish to get things documented and hope somebody else will read it and spark a thought or two that everybody will profit from in terms of new insight or for just the share pleasure of knowing somebody somewhere shares the same thought.
For the long absence, I do not have to cite the same excuse about being busy. It may be true, but if you really want to do something, you will always find the time to do it. Or it could be poor planning, being unmindful of how to allocate time based on priorities. Or it could be plain and simple fatigue, a certain tiredness of the spirit, a physical inability to do things which are not directly related to one's work.
Whatever it is, those 18 months are gone, as far as my blog is concerned.
Among my friends, only Vanni Villafuerte of the Philippine Business for Social Progress, commented about the blog during the long period of its absence. In a visit to Bohol a few months back, he said he read my blogs because it deals with a common interest we share: poverty. Of course, it's not all about poverty; sometimes I renege and deal with with some topics remotely related to poverty. I must admit it's tiring to think and talk poverty all the time, especially if your friends want to talk about something else - which is often!
Let's try again going into this blog with the regret that some incidents or experiences I have had during the last 18 months are gone forever - except perhaps in images I have stored in my digital camera or captured in scribblings on my notebooks, faithful companiorns since I am 11 years old.
Thanks to Arnold Seloterio for facilitating my access to the blog spot. Now let's see how long I can sustaing blogging this time.
So why return to it? The answer is probably more of a wish to get things documented and hope somebody else will read it and spark a thought or two that everybody will profit from in terms of new insight or for just the share pleasure of knowing somebody somewhere shares the same thought.
For the long absence, I do not have to cite the same excuse about being busy. It may be true, but if you really want to do something, you will always find the time to do it. Or it could be poor planning, being unmindful of how to allocate time based on priorities. Or it could be plain and simple fatigue, a certain tiredness of the spirit, a physical inability to do things which are not directly related to one's work.
Whatever it is, those 18 months are gone, as far as my blog is concerned.
Among my friends, only Vanni Villafuerte of the Philippine Business for Social Progress, commented about the blog during the long period of its absence. In a visit to Bohol a few months back, he said he read my blogs because it deals with a common interest we share: poverty. Of course, it's not all about poverty; sometimes I renege and deal with with some topics remotely related to poverty. I must admit it's tiring to think and talk poverty all the time, especially if your friends want to talk about something else - which is often!
Let's try again going into this blog with the regret that some incidents or experiences I have had during the last 18 months are gone forever - except perhaps in images I have stored in my digital camera or captured in scribblings on my notebooks, faithful companiorns since I am 11 years old.
Thanks to Arnold Seloterio for facilitating my access to the blog spot. Now let's see how long I can sustaing blogging this time.
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