Raquel Cabiles (ADB 1971–1997)
All Eyes on Antipolo. On Monday, 23 April 2012, six AFE–ADB volunteers—Ben Hombre, Midi Diel Kawashima, Aida Lizarondo, Oskee Nunez, Nini Tibay, and I—plus one ADB staff member, Vagie Collanto-Leon, trooped to the Soriano-Leyble Medical and Maternity Hospital in Antipolo for the Yonkers Millennium Lions Club First Philippine Medical Mission.
We volunteered because the president of the Yonkers Millennium Lions Club is Emma Dumalag, current treasurer of the New York–New Jersey AFE–ADB chapter; she hails from Antipolo and is also part of the East Group of the AFE Philippine Chapter.
We arrived at 7 am and were met by the owner, Dr Divina Soriano-Leyble, She was also the Mission’s overall coordinator and member of the Antipolo Host Lions Club. The Yonkers Millennium Lions Club members arrived shortly thereafter, and we began the serious work.
Midi and Vagie were at the registration table. At the releasing section, Ben, Oskee, and Aida sorted the eyeglasses by grade while Nini minded the logbook that beneficiaries signed. I gave the prescreened beneficiaries their prescriptions for presentation to the releasing section, with two other AFE–ADB volunteers, Aida Mortell, who is an Antipolo Lion, and California-based Normita Marquez.
Beneficiaries came in droves.
The volunteers were given white T-shirts with the logo AFE–ADB Yonkers Millennium Lions Club. That evening we were invited to the Twinning Ceremony at which the Antipolo Host Lions Club and the Yonkers Millennium Lions Club formed an alliance. At the ceremony, the two clubs exchanged banners, and certificates of recognition were given, including to us volunteers.
Vision in Virac. On the April 25–28 mission to Virac, Catanduanes, I was the lone AFE–ADB Manila volunteer in the 19-person mission. In Virac, we went to the Catanduanes Eye Center and witnessed a cataract operation by Dr Joselito Urgel. The 20 patients who had cataract operations during January to March 2012 participated in a short program organized by Dr Urgel and thanked the Lions. Dr Urgel awarded certificates of appreciation to the Lions. I was also given a certificate and a purple Lions T-shirt for being a volunteer.
Then we went off to Viga to distribute eyeglasses to the townsfolk and on to Panganiban, where Mayor Robert Fernandez met the mission and led the distribution of eyeglasses.
We then proceeded to the house of Lion Jocelyn Archimedes for snacks. I felt weak. Luckily I was with a number of nurses. They all agreed I was dehydrated. With water and paracetamol, I felt better. Then we went to an island for the night. The whole mission doted on me. I was embarrassed because, as a volunteer, I should be the one assisting them.
The next morning, Mayor Odilon Pascua and several people awaited the mission at Bagamanoc. Again, Emma Dumalag distributed eyeglasses to the townsfolk. That was the end of the mission, and Mrs Lina Villaluna, Virac Overall Coordinator, gave us yellow Lions T-shirts before we rested at Twin Rock Resort.
The trip back was by ferry to Tabaco City, where we had a good view of Mt Mayon. We had lunch with my sister Beng and her husband Bayani Rodriguez, then continued via Naga City to Manila—a long but enjoyable journey in the company of many good Lions.
A Schoolhouse for the Aeta. Jennifer Wallum, who is the founder and president of the Entrepreneurs Volunteer Assistance Charity Foundation (EVACF—see www.evacf.org) and wife of an AFE–ADB member, asked me to represent EVACF and the MacKenzie Ross family at the inauguration of a new school. Funding for the school was provided in memory of the late barrister David MacKenzie Ross (DMR), who died in Hong Kong in 2008. I was very pleased to agree, as am a volunteer member of EVACF and had been the personal secretary cum caregiver of DMR.
The DMR Memorial School was inaugurated in Sitio Flora, Maruglo, Capas, Tarlac, at 10 am on 17 May 2012— it is the 45th school EVACF has built for the Aeta children.
First Time Experiences. The first time I met Marta Pangan, Planning Officer and EVACF Project Coordinator and Josephine David, Tribal Affairs Assistant of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), was at the EVACF annual general meeting on 15 May, where we discussed the logistics of the inauguration.
I drove alone to San Fernando, Pampanga, to the NCIP Office and spent the night there. The next day, Marta, Ms. Jones Conception Binwag (a geodetic engineer with NCIP), and I drove to Capas, Tarlac. In Capas, we picked up Juliana Manalili, head of the NCIP Technical Division and implementer of the school project. We brought bags of school supplies for the children and the teachers. In Patling we changed to a 4-wheel-drive vehicle for the journey to Sitio Flora. Gilbert Cuero joined our team. Gilbert was the first EVACF indigenous person scholar and now works with NCIP as a clerk in the NCIP office in Tarlac.
For the next 1-1/2 hours we negotiated 10 kilometers of rough dirt roads, including 13 river crossings and driving along stony riverbeds. Driver Weng was very competent with the roads, as he drives to and from Sitio Flora picking up farm produce for selling in Patling. He had also delivered the materials used for constructing the DMR Memorial School.
Inauguration. At Sitio Flora, we met the tribal chieftain, Andres Victoria, to whom we turned over the school. The Honorable Kennedy Molina, the first indigenous person representative to the Municipal Council of Capas, Tarlac, and staff also attended the inauguration. Unfortunately, no representative came from the Department of Education (DepEd). DepEd was to provide two teachers, chairs, and tables to the school.
The children received their school supplies and will all start at preparatory or grade 1 level until DepEd evaluates them and categorizes them into grade levels. (As of this writing, the school is operating with two teachers and 60 pupils: 30 in preparatory level and 30 in grade 1.)
Gilbert emceed the simple inaugural ceremony. He translated the message from Bernadette MacKenzie Ross into Pilipino, which I read. The Aetas, who have their own language, also understood Pilipino. Then Juliana read the message from NCIP Commissioner Conchita C. Calzado and NCIP Regional Director Atty. Ronaldo M. Daquioag, who were very grateful for the donation by the MacKenzie Ross Family through EVACF. The Aeta children then serenaded the group.
Returning home. Shortly after lunch served by our Aeta hosts, we left Sitio Flora for the 1-1/2 hour drive back to Patling. Then I drove to Capas, and, after a night in San Fernando, Pampanga, returned home to Cainta.
It was a tiring but a great adventure and an interesting experience. I thank the NCIP team for their kindness and hospitality and Jenny Wallum and the MacKenzie Ross family for giving me the privilege to be their representative.