Correction
Correction
Updated 01:03am (Mla time) Dec 09, 2004
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the December 9, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
I HAVE to make a correction. The story that came out in the news about Fr. Charlito Colendres wasn't exactly accurate. The truth is far richer and more dramatic. It takes nothing away from Father Cha's heroism. It only points to the heroism of a lesser-known figure, who was his companion, a convent assistant named Dionisio Cadungog.
Dionisio, a strapping youth born to poor folk and used to hard work, told this version of what happened during the last night of Father Cha's wake at Mt. Carmel last Monday.
Before night fell on Nov. 29, Father Cha and he hurried to Barangay Canugao. A fierce wind was already blowing then, accompanied by driving rain, which foretold of dire things to come. Father Cha worried about Barangay Canugao because it was a low-lying area that easily flooded. And by the looks of things, it wasn't going to be an ordinary storm. Before they left, Father Cha told Dionisio half-jokingly, "Eat your fill, we are going to have a long, long night."
It was 7 p.m. when they got to the barangay, the darkness broken only by shafts of light from fluorescent and kerosene lamps through windows. They banged on the doors of the houses and asked the people to board a couple of jeepneys and a 10-wheeler truck. The barangay was in grave danger, they said, the folk had to get to safer ground. It took a while to convince the people to go, many of them saying that if they left, they would die, too. They would have nothing to live on.
But by dint of pleading and cajoling, they finally persuaded the folk to pack up. While people were rushing to and from their houses to fish out their things, Dionisio noticed an infant who seemed to have been lost. He picked up the child and delivered it to a woman on one of the jeepneys, charging her with its care until its mother came along. When they were finally done, they lumbered on toward Infanta.
Shortly before they got there, they found their way blocked by rocks and mud and debris. But it was high ground, so they decided to camp at the sitio nearest there.
Not so Father Cha. He worried no end about kin who had come to visit him and whom he had left behind in Infanta. He could see the lights of the convent in the distance, which made the compulsion to reach it greater. He asked the sturdier men in their group if they would accompany him through the fields and make their way to Infanta by foot. By then the fields were already covered by water. The men replied that they were good swimmers but they would not risk wading through the fields in the dark. Father Cha thought about it, and decided to walk alone.
When he was but a few meters gone, Dionisio ran after him. Bahala na, he thought, but he would not leave the priest alone. Father Cha had brought along a 30-meter rope and they tied themselves to it so they wouldn't get separated. They hadn't gotten far when the water rose, climbing up to their chests with startling rapidity. It was no longer possible to go forward, but by then it was too late to turn back. They tied the other end of the rope to the wires of an electrical post that had toppled over and decided to wait for light or for the waters to ebb, whichever came first.
Then without warning, they heard a thunderous roar and before they knew it, a column of water fell on them. And along with the water, mud, debris and logs. Piles and piles of logs, raining on them with the force of hurled missiles. Instinctively, Dionisio, who was in front, tried to cover Father Cha with his body. But a log hit him in the ribs and as he pitched forward another grazed him in the head. While his head spun, he heard Father Cha cry out, "Save yourself!" And then he lost consciousness.
Dionisio woke up hours later imagining himself dead and floating with a bloated belly. His belly certainly gave that sensation. He realized he was alive only when he retched mud again and again. He was holding on to a log and standing on water that reached up to his neck. He tugged at the rope but felt no one there. He shouted Father Cha's name, but got no response. He was alone. Later, they would find Father Cha's body floating underneath the logs.
Dionisio loosed himself from the rope around his waist, and summoning whatever remained of his strength swam to a nearby coconut tree. He clung to it, and waited for daylight and salvation or a new avalanche of mud and water and death, whichever came first, too. He prayed. He asked forgiveness for his sins and prepared to meet his fate.
And then he felt a strange sensation. He lost all sense of fear. He felt a calm descend on him. As he pondered his fate amid the buzzing in his ears and the fuzziness in his brain, he saw things with a shaft of clarity. Whatever happened to him now, he thought, his life had been worth something. Father Cha and he had saved more than a hundred lives the night before. If they hadn't gotten the folk of Barangay Canugao to leave for higher ground, those folk would now be in the same position he and Father Cha were.
His mind suddenly drifted to the lost infant he had spotted in the barangay, and wondered if its mother ever found it. He dozed off again.
When he woke up, a gray light was peeping in the east, and the water was almost gone.
* * *
We're putting up a small benefit concert for the victims of the storms on Dec. 20 at Conspiracy Café on Visayas Avenue. Cooky Chua and Ria Villena have offered to give up their December slot at Conspiracy and play. Other artists who have volunteered their services are (as of this writing): Bayang Barrios, Cynthia Alexander, Gary Granada, Joey Ayala, Mon David, Noel Cabangon, Noli Aurillo, Susan Fernandez. I expect more to follow; I haven't gotten in touch with the others yet. Gate is P100. But donations and pledges will be more than welcome.
Please come. Please help.
Updated 01:03am (Mla time) Dec 09, 2004
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the December 9, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
I HAVE to make a correction. The story that came out in the news about Fr. Charlito Colendres wasn't exactly accurate. The truth is far richer and more dramatic. It takes nothing away from Father Cha's heroism. It only points to the heroism of a lesser-known figure, who was his companion, a convent assistant named Dionisio Cadungog.
Dionisio, a strapping youth born to poor folk and used to hard work, told this version of what happened during the last night of Father Cha's wake at Mt. Carmel last Monday.
Before night fell on Nov. 29, Father Cha and he hurried to Barangay Canugao. A fierce wind was already blowing then, accompanied by driving rain, which foretold of dire things to come. Father Cha worried about Barangay Canugao because it was a low-lying area that easily flooded. And by the looks of things, it wasn't going to be an ordinary storm. Before they left, Father Cha told Dionisio half-jokingly, "Eat your fill, we are going to have a long, long night."
It was 7 p.m. when they got to the barangay, the darkness broken only by shafts of light from fluorescent and kerosene lamps through windows. They banged on the doors of the houses and asked the people to board a couple of jeepneys and a 10-wheeler truck. The barangay was in grave danger, they said, the folk had to get to safer ground. It took a while to convince the people to go, many of them saying that if they left, they would die, too. They would have nothing to live on.
But by dint of pleading and cajoling, they finally persuaded the folk to pack up. While people were rushing to and from their houses to fish out their things, Dionisio noticed an infant who seemed to have been lost. He picked up the child and delivered it to a woman on one of the jeepneys, charging her with its care until its mother came along. When they were finally done, they lumbered on toward Infanta.
Shortly before they got there, they found their way blocked by rocks and mud and debris. But it was high ground, so they decided to camp at the sitio nearest there.
Not so Father Cha. He worried no end about kin who had come to visit him and whom he had left behind in Infanta. He could see the lights of the convent in the distance, which made the compulsion to reach it greater. He asked the sturdier men in their group if they would accompany him through the fields and make their way to Infanta by foot. By then the fields were already covered by water. The men replied that they were good swimmers but they would not risk wading through the fields in the dark. Father Cha thought about it, and decided to walk alone.
When he was but a few meters gone, Dionisio ran after him. Bahala na, he thought, but he would not leave the priest alone. Father Cha had brought along a 30-meter rope and they tied themselves to it so they wouldn't get separated. They hadn't gotten far when the water rose, climbing up to their chests with startling rapidity. It was no longer possible to go forward, but by then it was too late to turn back. They tied the other end of the rope to the wires of an electrical post that had toppled over and decided to wait for light or for the waters to ebb, whichever came first.
Then without warning, they heard a thunderous roar and before they knew it, a column of water fell on them. And along with the water, mud, debris and logs. Piles and piles of logs, raining on them with the force of hurled missiles. Instinctively, Dionisio, who was in front, tried to cover Father Cha with his body. But a log hit him in the ribs and as he pitched forward another grazed him in the head. While his head spun, he heard Father Cha cry out, "Save yourself!" And then he lost consciousness.
Dionisio woke up hours later imagining himself dead and floating with a bloated belly. His belly certainly gave that sensation. He realized he was alive only when he retched mud again and again. He was holding on to a log and standing on water that reached up to his neck. He tugged at the rope but felt no one there. He shouted Father Cha's name, but got no response. He was alone. Later, they would find Father Cha's body floating underneath the logs.
Dionisio loosed himself from the rope around his waist, and summoning whatever remained of his strength swam to a nearby coconut tree. He clung to it, and waited for daylight and salvation or a new avalanche of mud and water and death, whichever came first, too. He prayed. He asked forgiveness for his sins and prepared to meet his fate.
And then he felt a strange sensation. He lost all sense of fear. He felt a calm descend on him. As he pondered his fate amid the buzzing in his ears and the fuzziness in his brain, he saw things with a shaft of clarity. Whatever happened to him now, he thought, his life had been worth something. Father Cha and he had saved more than a hundred lives the night before. If they hadn't gotten the folk of Barangay Canugao to leave for higher ground, those folk would now be in the same position he and Father Cha were.
His mind suddenly drifted to the lost infant he had spotted in the barangay, and wondered if its mother ever found it. He dozed off again.
When he woke up, a gray light was peeping in the east, and the water was almost gone.
* * *
We're putting up a small benefit concert for the victims of the storms on Dec. 20 at Conspiracy Café on Visayas Avenue. Cooky Chua and Ria Villena have offered to give up their December slot at Conspiracy and play. Other artists who have volunteered their services are (as of this writing): Bayang Barrios, Cynthia Alexander, Gary Granada, Joey Ayala, Mon David, Noel Cabangon, Noli Aurillo, Susan Fernandez. I expect more to follow; I haven't gotten in touch with the others yet. Gate is P100. But donations and pledges will be more than welcome.
Please come. Please help.
posted by Dante at 7:37 PM
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