WALKWAYS OF THE TWO SAINTS JOHN
This article should have found its place in the infinite pages of this wonderful world called the Internet much earlier but bureaucratic red tape prevented this writer from doing it. Let me tell you a story.
Sometime in September of last year, the newly-elected barangay council of my adopted place passed a resolution installing an electric light bulb at the right side of our backyard and through its barangay captain asked me and the missus if we would be kind enough to likewise install a similar light bulb at the left end to complement what they just did for the benefit of the fishermen who dock in the night. He promised the council will provide the electrical materials but since their funds are low, would we be generous enough to shoulder the continuing cost of electricity? Realizing that our backyard can also serve as a mini-park for the residents of the place especially in the early evening when humidity is hot, we answered we will be glad to do so as requested.
But the promised materials were slow in coming and impatient at their usual turtle-paced behavior, we decided to buy the needed materials ourselves and had the town’s electrician do the job. The barangay captain was of course profuse in his thanks and forthwith mentioned that it is also his dream as newly-inducted barangay leader to have the cut portion of the seawall joined by a steel bridge and thus allow his constituents, including the schoolchildren, to walk by the seawall up to the public market, the church and the school and thus save on tricycle fare. I did not comment but silently mused that what he said would indeed be a worthwhile and laudable project to adopt and support.
So it was that when me and the missus enjoyed our Christmas holidays in the metropolis, one of my more important goals was to contact VW Juanito P. Abergas, PDDGM and Regional Director of Region VII of the DPWH, and a revered elder of Mandaluyong Lodge No. 277 The specific task was to ask him if he would be kind enough to facilitate the installation of a walkway at the eastern end of the district that is nestled right on the seashore and also construct a six-meter steel bridge that will connect the cut portion of the seawall and thus enable the residents to go straight to the market like what the three little pigs did in the children’s immortal rhyme of the ages?! Surprisingly, the kind brother said he will!! He of course admonished it should just be between us, no political color nor interference should mess up with the project.
We returned to our haven early in January and my first task was to take pictures that will serve as guide on what the proposed project was all about and posthaste sent these together with the covering letter to VW Abergas. He in turn immediately referred these to his District Engineer whose office was based in Guindulman town. The District Engineer then ordered his subordinates to draw the design for the project and prepared the cost estimate which turned out to be a whooping P180,000!! The project caught itself in a quagmire; from where will the funds emanate??
April came and we went to the metropolis for a four-week visit with me also attending the 2003 ANCOM. I also hoped to chance upon VW Abergas again, but this time was unsuccessful.
Upon our return to our den in May, we noticed that the project was at a standstill. We attempted to call VW Abergas twice at his office in Cebu City but on both instances, were told that he was out of town. The missus also called the District Engineering Office in Guindulman but their reply was unclear; the Assistant District Engineer said a bidding was already made but upon close scrutiny it turned out that the it was for another undertaking. The missus was agitated; the residents of the place were already expecting its realization, more especially because we transferred the electric bulb to a place nearest the sea thereby serving as beacon lights for the fishermen that return home in the darkened night. The sixty four dollar question therefore was: "Will the project ever be realized; and not just a fleeting vision on an imaginary trestleboard?"
And then came the month of June. Until finally the missus was able to contact District Engineer Aramis Torrefranca who assured her that the project ain’t dead yet. As a matter of fact, VW Abergas has just called instructing him to see to it the project be pushed through. And the needed funds will be coming, the DE said, but did not say whether it will come directly from his superior’s personal pocket. In addition, her nephew who is the Engineering Draftsman, was tasked to re-evaluate the plans and specifications to tone down the estimated cost.
As of this writing, this chronicler has already cooked up the appropriate names for the two walkways; the first will aptly be called "Walkway of Saint John the Evangelist" while the second will be known as "Saint John the Baptist’s Steel-bridge." The first will honor a Gospel Teacher and thus inspire the school children who will trek through it on their way to school to enable them to study more seriously, while the second will commemorate the memory of the Baptist who allegorically washed away mankind’s original sin. And never mind if at the length of only six meters, it is just a little longer than a nose-bridge.
But will the beneficiaries ever know that that these two patron saints are being venerated by brethren who, many of their ignorant folks suppose, are Godless?!
This article should have found its place in the infinite pages of this wonderful world called the Internet much earlier but bureaucratic red tape prevented this writer from doing it. Let me tell you a story.
Sometime in September of last year, the newly-elected barangay council of my adopted place passed a resolution installing an electric light bulb at the right side of our backyard and through its barangay captain asked me and the missus if we would be kind enough to likewise install a similar light bulb at the left end to complement what they just did for the benefit of the fishermen who dock in the night. He promised the council will provide the electrical materials but since their funds are low, would we be generous enough to shoulder the continuing cost of electricity? Realizing that our backyard can also serve as a mini-park for the residents of the place especially in the early evening when humidity is hot, we answered we will be glad to do so as requested.
But the promised materials were slow in coming and impatient at their usual turtle-paced behavior, we decided to buy the needed materials ourselves and had the town’s electrician do the job. The barangay captain was of course profuse in his thanks and forthwith mentioned that it is also his dream as newly-inducted barangay leader to have the cut portion of the seawall joined by a steel bridge and thus allow his constituents, including the schoolchildren, to walk by the seawall up to the public market, the church and the school and thus save on tricycle fare. I did not comment but silently mused that what he said would indeed be a worthwhile and laudable project to adopt and support.
So it was that when me and the missus enjoyed our Christmas holidays in the metropolis, one of my more important goals was to contact VW Juanito P. Abergas, PDDGM and Regional Director of Region VII of the DPWH, and a revered elder of Mandaluyong Lodge No. 277 The specific task was to ask him if he would be kind enough to facilitate the installation of a walkway at the eastern end of the district that is nestled right on the seashore and also construct a six-meter steel bridge that will connect the cut portion of the seawall and thus enable the residents to go straight to the market like what the three little pigs did in the children’s immortal rhyme of the ages?! Surprisingly, the kind brother said he will!! He of course admonished it should just be between us, no political color nor interference should mess up with the project.
We returned to our haven early in January and my first task was to take pictures that will serve as guide on what the proposed project was all about and posthaste sent these together with the covering letter to VW Abergas. He in turn immediately referred these to his District Engineer whose office was based in Guindulman town. The District Engineer then ordered his subordinates to draw the design for the project and prepared the cost estimate which turned out to be a whooping P180,000!! The project caught itself in a quagmire; from where will the funds emanate??
April came and we went to the metropolis for a four-week visit with me also attending the 2003 ANCOM. I also hoped to chance upon VW Abergas again, but this time was unsuccessful.
Upon our return to our den in May, we noticed that the project was at a standstill. We attempted to call VW Abergas twice at his office in Cebu City but on both instances, were told that he was out of town. The missus also called the District Engineering Office in Guindulman but their reply was unclear; the Assistant District Engineer said a bidding was already made but upon close scrutiny it turned out that the it was for another undertaking. The missus was agitated; the residents of the place were already expecting its realization, more especially because we transferred the electric bulb to a place nearest the sea thereby serving as beacon lights for the fishermen that return home in the darkened night. The sixty four dollar question therefore was: "Will the project ever be realized; and not just a fleeting vision on an imaginary trestleboard?"
And then came the month of June. Until finally the missus was able to contact District Engineer Aramis Torrefranca who assured her that the project ain’t dead yet. As a matter of fact, VW Abergas has just called instructing him to see to it the project be pushed through. And the needed funds will be coming, the DE said, but did not say whether it will come directly from his superior’s personal pocket. In addition, her nephew who is the Engineering Draftsman, was tasked to re-evaluate the plans and specifications to tone down the estimated cost.
As of this writing, this chronicler has already cooked up the appropriate names for the two walkways; the first will aptly be called "Walkway of Saint John the Evangelist" while the second will be known as "Saint John the Baptist’s Steel-bridge." The first will honor a Gospel Teacher and thus inspire the school children who will trek through it on their way to school to enable them to study more seriously, while the second will commemorate the memory of the Baptist who allegorically washed away mankind’s original sin. And never mind if at the length of only six meters, it is just a little longer than a nose-bridge.
But will the beneficiaries ever know that that these two patron saints are being venerated by brethren who, many of their ignorant folks suppose, are Godless?!
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