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ENCOUNTERS
WITH THE TAUSUGS IN SULU
(Continuation...)
Opening Springs
for Peace and a New Beginning
At
the Jolo School of Fisheries, Dr. Yoly Derecho
examined a teacher with an ovarian cyst. She shared
how she had been healed by God from a tumor just
by prayer, and offered to pray for the lady. The
lady consented and even wept as Dr. Yoly prayed,
declaring afterward that she felt much better.
“My heart went out to them,” Dr. Yoly
shared. “One of them even pleaded that we
stay on. She said, please come and stay at our
house, it's big enough to accommodate you!”
Over
3,251 Tausugs suffering from typhoid, malaria,
scabies, ulcers, hypertension and other diseases
were treated by the OB team. Some were interred
in hospitals under OB 's expense. One was Jijet,
a deathly pale, skeletal Tausug dying from Cholera
And Malaria. OB rushed him to a Jolo hospital,
three of the OB team gave him their blood and
prayed for a miracle. Jijet survived and even
kissed and held to his heart a copy of the “Kitad
Injil” (New Testament) given by the team.
In all 6 sites, a total 771 received dental treatment,
153 were circumcised, 2479 children were dewormed,
and 2376 more received toy yoyos and cellphones,
rubber slippers, candies and cookies, and other
gifts.
But
the greatest healing came from OB 's simply being
there, at considerable personal expense, braving
the dangers, the hardship, the unknown, to share
the burdens of a people who had once lived on
a paradise island but were now broken, impoverished
and oppressed.
“This
is probably the first time these children have
laughed like this,” remarked OB team escort
Mark, a reformed Tausug warrior and gunrunner,
who was deeply moved as children all around him
jumped, ran and squealed with delight during a
sack race. This was in Barangay Samak, Talipao,
which had been shelled, howitzered, torched and
razed to the ground by warring Abu Sayyaf terrorists
led by Kumander Robot and the military during
the infamous Sipadan hostage crisis of 2000. They
had lost their childhood, but regained it, perhaps
for the first time, as OB became the first NGO
to dare venture here in four years and bring back
the sound of laughter, play and thanksgiving.
“Nobody
lived here for more than three years since the
hostage crisis,” described Barangay Captain
Hadji Darren Limpasan of Talipao, where the Abu
Sayyaf had fortified themselves and held over
20 hostages from Europe and Asia , most of them
kidnapped from the Malaysian beach resort of Sipadan
in the year 2000. Negotiations for the hostages'
release were conducted in this town before the
military attacked in full force in 2001 and the
village became a war zone. “The whole village
was burned down and everyone evacuated to other
towns. This became a ghost Barangay. But now that
the rebels are surrendering, we can rebuild the
town and start all over again,” he shared
enthusiastically.
OB
also pledged to Barangay Captain Limpasan to provide
two deep wells in Samak to bring flowing, sparkling
water that would draw more people and life back
to this once burnt-out no-man's-land. OB had already
dug five wells in five different communities in
Sulu where water costs a prohibitive P7.00 to
P10.00 a gallon. “I want this to be a model
barangay,” declared Limpasan, eyes gleaming
with hope, encouraged by OB 's offer of help.
During
the day-long mission in the once-abandoned schoolhouse
of Talipao, many Abu Sayyaf and MNLF rebel returnees
came for treatment, including men in their 20s
who needed to be circumcised, an operation they
could not avail of while hiding in the jungle.
Dentists Gina Chua, Ruth Albacea and Nanette Valle
treated several ex-rebels, including one former
Abu commander. “I could tell he had (been
through so much), his eyes were sunken and tired,
and he seemed to be detached and in deep thought,”
Dr. Nanette related. “He told us that he
was weary of running in the jungles, tired of
being hungry. When he was with the Abu, he had
not seen his family for three years, and his hair
had grown so long, down past his shoulders.”
Many of the ex-rebels confessed they just wanted
to settle down and farm their naturally rich lands,
and see their children through to a better life.
“The
last big typhoon in Jolo was in the Thirties,”
related Lt. Col. Alan Arrojado, commanding officer
of the Makamandag 35 th Infantry Battalion in
charge of Talipao. “There are no storms,
only frequent, but very light showers, so they
can have several good harvests during the year.
It's a very rich land, if only the people can
enjoy long-term peace and order.”
With
soldiers of Makamandag and some doctors, Dr. Kim
visited two widowed farmer's wives who the AFP
had been helping with occasional food aid. OB
provided Gemma Concepcion, who had seven children,
and Cabila Taraan, who had eight, with groceries
and rice. The joint effort was indicative of the
restoration and development that was possible
for Sulu if different groups worked and contributed,
laying aside self-interest. “Government cannot
do it by themselves, the people here cannot do
it by themselves, the military can't do it on
their own, and neither can (civic groups like)
us from OB ,” Dr. Kim observed. “But
together, we can make a big difference. There's
power in unity.”
In
deeply divided Sulu, where long-standing grudges,
vendettas and bitterness over the past have deeply
scarred and wounded the populace, healing springs
of forgiveness and reconciliation have hopefully
been opened. “Blessed are those who receive
than those who give,” remarked OB representatives
Rudy Montas and Mark as they inaugurated and turned
over an OB “Living Water Well” to Barangay
Upper Alat in Kumander Robot's former hideaway
town of Indanan . Celebrating villagers did not
sleep through the night as they bathed, filled
pails, and drank from the first bursting gushes
of fresh water, declaring delightedly that it
tasted “sweet!” It was sweet indeed
to give to Sulu's Tausugs from whom so much had
been stolen, plundered and seized. And to have
the gift received with joy and thanks. Inscribed
on the well is a quote from Isaiah 55:1: “Ho,
everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.”
In Sulu, many who thirsted for peace and a new
beginning did come and drank deeply.
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