Recharged

The 77th commencement exercises in UP Cebu High School was not like other previous graduations. First, it had to be held at the UP HS stage and grounds because the Cebu Cultural Center had been damaged by the 7.2 earthquake.

The graduates had an especially uplifting afternoon. The college dean usually introduces the guest speaker. Dean Liza Corro had been a student of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago so her introduction was complete and had a personal touch. She recalled that in the UP College of Law, Santiago would ask a student to remain standing if he or she did not know the answer to a question, or gave an incomplete or unsatisfactor answer. Sometimes the class was full of standing students. I liked that because it was a reminder for the graduates, as well as other students and teachers of the demands of UP scholarship.

Dean Corro also mentioned the senator’s outstanding performance as a student, including her having been editor in chief of the official school paper, the UP Collegian, a position held mostly by males during her time. She discussed Santiago’s thirst for learning that led Santiago to take several graduate degrees as well as post-graduate courses abroad. Santiago had served in all three branches of government and reaped awards for her achievements combined with integrity, including the Magsaysay Award for her anti-corruption efforts.

It was very striking that a person with great intelligence, competence and sophistication believed in God. Santiago would even urge the students to listen to this Spirit who could be heard through their conscience.

Santiago, the constitutional expert, lamented the violations of important features of the Charter, citing the blatant disregard of its anti-dynasty provisions. She assumed that UP graduates had the competence, even excellence to bring about change in the scandalous state of public service. The introduction, the speech, and Senator Santiago’s public service record blended very well in an energy that recharged all of us, especially the graduates.

Progressive elements have often found graduations a good time to assert their views and hold a rally or demonstration. UP administrations often found these embarrassing and looked for ways to neutralize such efforts. Not this time. They were given time. Their freedom of expression was respected, allowing them to put a streamer on the stage skirt with the words SERVE THE PEOPLE in bold red letters. They used the time provided to make a vigorousl call to the graduates to be true to all that “iskolar ng bayan” stands for.

Doray, Portia, Nene and I had gone to Bohol to be resource persons for a gender training for the Agriculture Training Institute. The only trip we could take was scheduled early Sunday morning. Fortunately, we had Claire Jabines, a former student who was now a part of the UP Social Science Cluster and coordinator of the Learning Resource Center. So after brunch of BEE Farm food (vegetarian pizza, sweet potato with latik, halo-halo with special BF ice cream and cool BF drinks), Claire fetched us for a very experience. First, we visited the ruins.

The roads and bridges along the way to Maribojoc town have been repaired. Claire described how the hills had looked right after the October earthquake and how landslides had left roads impassable then. After viewing the ruins of Loon Church and the tent that was used to replace it, we proceeded to the Bantayan (watch tower built against Moro retaliations against Spanish invasions) of Punta Cruz. It had only been partially damaged. But beside this was the sea that had receded, which has actually been a tourist spot. The municipality had a place where small entrepreneurs conducted business. There were other conveniences for tourists here.

Then we went to view the ruins of the Maribojoc Church. It was Sunday, the day before the town’s fiesta and the Mass was held under a tent. People were there listening to the parish priest’s homily, girls were selling the customary candles.

We visited Mayor Leoncio Evasco, Jr., a friend from our younger, more daring days. He discussed how the great challenges for local government units immensely increased after the earthquake.

Things were difficult even for a nontraditional politician. Helping people rebuild involved a great balancing act even if his locality was organized before the earthquake. From the mayor’s residence we saw the new dwellings of quake victims.

We went to the Jabines home. The day before the earthquake, Mary Ann Jabines had shopped for groceries. During the earthquake, the one-story Jabines residence remained intact but the entire concrete fence on one side collapsed. With the supplies she had just bought, Mary Ann extended help to earthquake victims. On the day of our visit, the bisperas or eve of the fiesta of San Vicente Ferrer, everything was truly festive. They have a beautiful well-maintained garden with avocado and tambis trees bearing fruit. The tambis tree was laden with dark crimson fruits ready for the picking, within our reach. Inside, we had a feast of lechon, humba, biko with Mary Ann’s special touch.

There were other delicious fish recipes, too. The vegetable-fruit salad had an array of dressings to choose from. After the meal, she reminded Claire about the firefly watch. Mary Ann is Maribojoc’s tourism officer.

We went to the little port for the river boat journey along the Abatan River and put on life vests. So, prepared, we rode the riverboat for that exceptional experience. We had a crescent moon and very bright stars, we felt they were near enough for us to reach out for them. Then we came to the trees full of fireflies. The entire night sky was sensational! I stretched my back and bent back to try to get the fullest view of the sky. Truly breathtaking and awe-inspiring. On the return trip, the boatman explained the biology of the male and female firefly, their life span, and other facts. He also told us about the mangroves, their different varieties, for these were the trees in which the fireflies flourished.

He said a visit during the day of the mangrove forest would be another exciting exploration. We cannot thank the Jabines family enough and the Creator with whom we had a special encounter that glorious evening.