The Philippine Online Chronicles

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brethren! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:49-50)

The faces shine not only with the brilliance of the morning sun in Aborlan, Doc Gerry Ortega’s birth place. They also radiate the light and heat of a living faith which celebrates the life of one who has won over fear and selfishness and now enjoys the infinite blessing of eternity.

Those smiling faces speak so eloquently of a place now dear to me, Palawan. Was it an accident that God led me here? At a time when my heart pined for a father, there he was just a few feet away from me. Someone egged me to approach him and ask if it were possible for me to do some work with him. Nothing was clear as my life at that time was full of uncertainty. Since I left my own Bishop and brother priests in 2006, my life was never the same. I experienced a variety of situations which various cultures would have peculiar ways of describing. I remember the few times I visited Australia and listened to descriptions of the Australian ‘walkabout’ and dream time. I remembered those discussions in my classes in religious anthropology where we discussed the South American Indian practice of using hallucinogenic drugs to connect with the shaman’s multi-tiered world. And then there was Francis whose love for Lady Poverty made him wander the streets of Assisi in the same way that lepers and various social outcasts did.
But the wandering cannot go on indefinitely. Even St. Augustine recognized the heart’s sweet fatigue when he sang, “My heart is restless until it rests in you.” It was my restless heart that told me, stop and look around, perhaps you will find a father, a mentor, a friend, a protector or someone who will take you in and give you space for your heart to find the rest it seeks.
That man was Bishop Pedro Arigo. I gingerly asked him if I could go to Palawan to do whatever providence may want me to do. I didn’t even know what I could possibly do which other priests can do much better than me. The good bishop smiled and simply said, “Welcome, you can stay with me.” “Aren’t you in any way apprehensive that my going to Palawan might create problems for you?” I remember asking him. Again, he smiled and in his own words assured me that he was not afraid. At that moment, it was clear, very clear that God was calling me to Palawan.

This was more than three years ago in July 2009. Shortly after I arrived in Palawan, I met Bishop’s other friends, and one special friend was Doc Gerry Ortega. My first few months in Palawan were spent simply listening to people. I was happy to be on the receiving end this time. I was quite at home and felt, yes, this is a quiet place and my life will definitely have less if not entirely no controversy here. More than a year of wilderness bliss was Palawan’s gift to me. Mornings and evenings were spent just contemplating the sea, the mountains, and the unhurried fisher folks’ life that made up the mystical tapestry constantly greeting me beyond the Bishop’s veranda. All that changed when a cruel slug pierced Doc Gerry's skull. Bliss turned into indignation. Indignation drew people together in a way that normalcy cannot. From Doc Gerry’s death to the present, something has likewise died in order to give life to something radically new and exciting. It happened because a father, a mentor and friend let me into his house. It happened because Doc Gerry’s mother, his siblings, Patty his wife and children, his friends and colleagues have opened the doors of their hearts to me….To Palawan…to my family and friends in Palawan…Thank you.