I was with senior citizens touring the Canadian Rockies. I just got back then
from Butuan where I visited the abandoned senior's home in Libertad. On our way
to the mountains, I used the bus intercom to tell stories about my vacation. I
related how their counterpart lived at Por Cristo. Everyone was in somber
state after I spoke. I must have ruined the lively mode of tourists in the bus.
A hat was passed around and they were eager to give a helping hand.
We experienced the same feeling when we left Por Cristo that May afternoon in
2004. No one spoke a word inside the van. What we witnessed was beyond
comprehension that it absorbed us completely in depressing silence. I was with
the company of local Butuanons and their reaction showed that this tasteless
dereliction towards the elderly was not common knowledge in the city. It was
therefore fitting to bring it out to public awareness.
Many Butuanons had comparative gesture with the tourists in the bus. Expression
of empathy surfaced abundantly. Donation came from Butuanons everywhere.
International and local organizations in Butuan also did their thing.
With this response, Por Cristo was able to relocate to barrio Abilan. With open
space and fresh air from the sea, the elderly people once languished in cruel
depravation found improvement in living condition. They have rows of new
nipa-roofed dwellings and connecting paved pathways to their sawali partitioned
rooms. They have empty spaces to spare for new comers. They have a chapel, a
vegetable garden and a big playground. An artesian well was under construction.
Their food was decent and good mannered volunteers took care of them. There
were still things needed to be done. But they way it was last spring, I was
already impressed.
What transpired in Libertad was not entirely on poverty issue. The inhumane
condition facing homeless senior citizens in big centers has been on going for
a long time. While responses in other places were merely shrug of cold
shoulders, ours was different. We were concerned and we reacted. We can't
simply accept the fact that this ugliness emerged in our backyard. We presumed
that all was fine and things like this would hardly happen in our community at
all.
Libertad scenario was another wake-up call. We failed to learn from previous
ones. We didn't bother getting out of bed when our mountains were abused. We
pretended to be asleep when greed assaulted our wet land. What we are seeing
today is the consequence from our neglectfulness. Mayapay is a beckoning
memorial of our insensibility. We ignored an age-old logic about the cat being
away.
But that was long ago. What was ruined can not be put back again. Maybe, it can
be mended. I stated once that a flower growing on a mud pile has its own
distinct beauty too. It's totally naïve to prospect about restoring it to
what it was. This idea is bordering between fantasy and illusion. It can't be
done.
Hence, it resolves nothing to be continuously crying over spilled milk. It is a
dawn to another era. The present awakening of the now generation emits
invigorating and generative promise to a brighter tomorrow. Mentality changes
with time. This change is currently noticeable on people. It is also manifested
through apparent competency shown from the helm lately.
It is demandingly paramount that we shall be always vigilant. Our city is what
we make it. This perceptible track to correctness is not written in stone.
Self-serving people can easily thwart it down anytime. An open avenue is
already feasible with the lifting of the logging ban. It's wise that from time
to time we look back and learn from the sins of yesteryears. We should never
allow it to occur again.
The plight of the abandoned seniors at Por Cristo gives us hope. It reinforces
a notion that there is still a degree of compassion and willingness left in us.
We've gone a fair distance away and after years of searching for prominence
elsewhere, our instinctive thinking still imposes us to reconnect home to help
fix the ills of the place that gave us first light.
I am however disappointed that a newly registered group "will not be involved
in charitable projects." Composed mostly of outstanding Butuanons around the
globe, this noble body could have been heaven-sent to our poor. But it isn't to
be so. Their plans are on other worthy causes as there are many charitable
organizations in Butuan already.
The enlightenment and ingenuity acquired from experiences somewhere are very
useful to counter economic impairment to the less able. The Butuanon helping
Butuanon concept is an excellent mechanism, more so when it's filtered down to
family level. The trickle down strategy to improve living condition is a
shallow profit-oriented tactics of the rich. It doesn't resolve the issue of
poverty. What is effective is the direct application of initiatives to impel
the poor to rise from the bottom up.
As we know it, destitution is not the only headache in town. Maybe, it's the
most painful and obvious like Por Cristo, but our city's dilemma is not on this
alone. Various predicaments are to be worked out. This necessitate many
charitable organizations to work in different endeavors.
In this regard, charity associations should adhere to a premise that the
exercise of benevolence towards a cause has one and the same intention. It is
to help overcome predicaments. What makes it different is in choosing
priorities. Those that deem environment over human suffering indeed have its
righteous reason. In the same token that any project has its own merits too.
None is better or less than the other. To be "in the minority" as one called
it, is in essence inaccurate and can even be construed as being impolite.
We are seeing today some healthy signs of a city headed for greatness. Never
before did so many wants to get involved. In every woe and worry someone is
there to lean on. The omen is discernable. The ingredient is right and though
attitude is still frangible, it is already positive.
When this combination is sown on fertile ground and nurtured with fervor and
trustworthiness, it will undoubtedly bear magnificent fruits. Good standing
reputation therefore at the helm is consequential. If this march to progress is
expected to be unimpeded, it is fundamentally imperative that city governance
conforms with proper conduct and commitment to duties.
Yes, we see the light. It's still a long road ahead, but abandoned they are not
anymore.
