Heart-warming sojourn with the elderly

July 18, 2015 was the second time I brought third and fourth-year Redemptorist seminarians to an educational tour. The first time was on August 16, 2014 when we went to the tomb and museum of Archbishop Teofilo Camomot in Valladolid, Carcar City. Camomot is a candidate for sainthood. The process of his beatification is in progress. Sr. Charina, DST was a very good guide and catechist.  She gave us a  detailed and interesting profile of the life and works of Archbishop Camomot and graciously guided the group to the museum where the seminarians held the objects Msgr. Camomot used, wore his  vestments, lay on his bed, glossed over his notes where he wrote his homilies. By December 2014, the students  came up with their Spirituality 4 Journal named “Pulong” (The Word) where they wrote their reflections on the life and ministry of Msgr. Camomot vis-à-vis Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium. A copy was given to the DST (Daughters of St. Teresa) Congregation founded by Archbishop Camomot.  The DST was so elated with the Journal that they asked permission from the director, Fr. Glenn Tito Pascual, C.Ss.R. to reprint several copies to be distributed to their various communities. Permission was immediately granted.

This time around, I brought this year’s third and fourth-year Redemptorist seminarians to the Hospicio de San Jose in Barili, Cebu to let  them interact with the elderly.  We had an excellent guide and hostess in the person of Ms. Azucena “Baby” Pace who made the necessary contact and permission  as early as the opening of classes. The seminarians were greeted with musical numbers from the elderly and in return they entertained the elderly, some of whom cried because they were so touched by the young visitors. The Hospicio de San Jose was founded in 1927 by Don Pedro Cui and his sister Benigna. The siblings belonged to the Cui family, one of the prominent families in Parian who moved to the southwest of Cebu particularly in Barili where they greatly prospered. To pay back for the economic prosperity they enjoyed,  the siblings established the Hospicio for homeless and abandoned elderly in Cebu and  other parts of the Philippines. The institution has been well-managed by the Cui family. To date, there are 47 elderly residents at the Hospicio (the institution can accommodate as many as 60). Two-thirds are women, most of whom are single. The seminarians talked to them in groups of two to four for 30  minutes since another group (senior citizens from the city) was waiting for their turn. From  their feedback, most of the elderly residents were abandoned by their families and were  brought to the Hospicio by friends and relatives because there was no one to take care of them. There was the problem of buying medicines for their maintenance. Some used to have stable jobs but were abandoned by their families after retiring. They have not been visited by  family members, relatives or friends. They always pray that one day a loved one, relative or friend would visit. They were so happy to have visitors that day. The seminarians enjoyed their interaction with the elderly because it was just like talking to their lolos and lolas. There is a lot to reflect on beyond giving them financial assistance or discount in restaurants, groceries, pharmacy, buses and movie houses. I look forward to the students’ reflections which will be in their Spirituality Journal this year.

After the stopover at the Hospicio, we went to the Mantayupan Falls where we asked the seminarians to climb just before a sumptuous lunch at the foot of the Falls called Tilapiahan (so called for it was indeed a large tilapia pond). The more than 90-foot-high falls fascinated the seminarians who wanted to take a dip but had no time since they were expected for lunch. The meal was  sumptuous for it was the birth anniversary of Baby Pace’s mother, who was Barili mayor for 33 years (There was  crispy lechon, a  local salad,  St. Peter’s fish or tilapia and  deviled eggs as the special feature).  The dessert,  piñato de Barili just swept the seminarians off their feet. Then the group went to Baby Pace’s house where she guided the seminarians to her folk museum which overwhelmed them – from the traditional yoke used in farming, the different sets of plantsa or flat irons, the old record player played manually, the weapons, the  huge keys to the doors of the church, an old banca, the old bells used to announce the death of a resident, the huge head of a crocodile, an original Juan Luna painting, the traditional traveling bags called basag, the old tartanillas, to the collection of Sto. Niño images from other countries, were among the items that amazed the seminarians. The museum visit was enriched and made colorful with the stories behind each item and how Ms Pace collected them – either locally, that is, from neighboring towns, or from her travels abroad.

Ms Baby Pace lived and worked for 28 years at the Philippine embassy in Spain where she was an interpreter, translator and librarian. She came back to her hometown of Barili when her mother got sick. She  stayed on after her mother passed away. Baby has done so much for the preservation of Barili’s history and culture. She has written two books on Barili’s town history and parish.

She has done  research work  on Barili’s cultural heritage in their local publication. Her most recent work is  “A Brief Survey of What Was and What Is the Diocese of Cebu in the Philippine Island,” the English translation of Fr. Redondo y Sendino’s “Breve Resena de lo que y lo que es la Diocesis de Cebu en las Islas Filipinas” (1886) published by the University of San Carlos Press in 2014.  Baby Pace is one of the Sugbuanang Tag-una (Cebuana Trailblazers) recognized in 2011 by the Provincial Women’s Commission through a deck of Heritage Cards.