dong ho: pastor, good evening. balak po naming pumunta sa Imugan. pwede po ba namin malaman kung saan pwede tumira? thank you.
pastor: sino toy?
dong ho: Dominic po. gusto po namin i-feature ang Imugan sa blog.
pastor: ok. when?
dong ho: this weekend.
pastor: ok po.
dong ho: ano po oras yung earliest trip?
pastor: 1130am
dong ho: may trip din po kaya sa Oct 31?
pastor: of course.
dong ho: ok. thank you. see you.
that was the text exchange i had few days before our trip to Imugan with the pastor who we coordinated for our stay there. since he just arrived from a convention in Thailand we only had the afternoon the next day to visit him.
we waited for him to come out of the door and i was surprised when i saw a foreigner coming out of the house to meet us. "good afternoon pastor" i greeted. "i thought you were a Filipino" he looked at me and smiled "of course i am". pastor has been living and serving the people of Imugan even long before i was born.
we had a long chat about Imugan and its people and how the 1990 earthquake changed the community. pastor was not just involved in the activities of Imugan but actually lead in activities related to sustaining upland communities around the Philippines.
but what struck me the most was when i asked him "what made you stay in the Philippines this long particularly in this small village of Imugan? quickly he replied "i love the people". years back, the missionaries in the Philippines was requested to return to the US. pastor had the option but he chose to remain. all for the love of God and serving the people.
Profile:
Forest: ImuganLand Altitude: 900MASL
Municipality: Sta Fe
Province: Nueva Vizcaya
Region: Cagayan Valley Region (Region II)
Island: Luzon
Location:
Distance from Manila: 222km
GPS Location:
16' 10'' 20 N
120' 55'' 10 E
How to get there:
[1] Manila to Sta Fe (5-6hours):There are several option to reach the town of Sta Fe, the jump off point to Imugan. Basically any of the bus going to region 2 will pass by Sta Fe. Options: Bus to Tuguegarao City, Santiago City or Banaue. Bus lines: Victory Bus Lines, Florida Bus Lines.
Note: Sta Fe is the first town of Region 2 coming from Manila. It is the town right after descending from Dalton Pass.
[2] From Sta Fe to Imugan (30-40minutes):
Option 1: Take the public jeepney morning that leaves 11:30am. Cost P18/head
Option 2: Take a tricycle to Imugan which is available whole day. Cost: P135/trike one way
accommodation: when you visit Imugan, you can look for ate Persia, caretaker of the Kalahan dormitory open to all guests visiting the community and the nearby village.
21 comments:
the place must be really beautiful for him to stay. can't wait for the rest of this series.
thanks for this post Dong! I most love the photos and the entire blog! galing!
He set a good example, he is really a man with a mission! Nice photos too in this post.
i would love to meet pastor too... thanks for sharing Dom! :)
Sometimes, foreign visitors who choose to stay in our country are living more the ideals of what's it's like to be a patriotic pinoy.
the place is indeed beautiful for him to stay. mabuhay ka pastor!
sometimes, the place calls you home and you have to stay. he's doing a good job, hope he gets help in his ministry.
"I love the people." Why we stay. You made my evening. Thanks.
Sometimes we love other things, the place, the clean air, the tourism, the fresh fruits in a place, but when he said he loved the people, such a humble heart he has!
aaww. for sure the people in the place is a great factor in relocating. hope to meet more of pastor's favorite locals =)
asan ka sa nov30?
(para lang consistent ang tanungan pag holiday! haha)
toy, este dom, i like this post!
i like it when travel bloggers feature the people of the places they visit. the last photo was so beautiful that it captured and immortalized perhaps, the smiles of all people of imugan.
i also like this post! i mean its different from your other posts. with your conversation with the pastor and everything feels like i also met the pastor myself and as if ive been to imugan myself. very moving...u
He did a nice clause for the people. He must have love the place so much to stay.
Kahanga hanga si Pastor! His dedication to service even when he could return to the comforts of the West is so rare. I'm glad you featured him.
He found home in Imugan <3
i love this story. =)
ang ganda ng town... and ewan ko kung OA akong tao pero emosyonal talaga ako kapag nakakakita ng mga pics depicting the simple living of the people. makes me wanna cry talaga. parang may emosyon din kasi ang mga pics eh .. ang OA KO!! haha.
bilib ako sa mga portrait shots mo dom. parang lahat ng tao napapa-Oo mo sa pagkuha ng picture. hehe
What I say is no different than any Republican in the quest to reduce the enormous scope of government.
All those years of increasing government. None of those people were laid off as we regulratly witness in the private sector. Imagine the dead weight on the payroll.
You have to start laying people off. Unfortunately insolvency is the goal the gods have for the United States.
It's kind of like Mom:::So evil she isn't eligible for punishment until the end of her life when it is too late
Brain scramble jokes. She was a fake.
All in this position likely are fakes. The gods want things to prgress according to their agenda, and the clone host fakes guarentee the legislation they desire/require.
They aree always fresh, new know-it-all 20 year olds, eager to hurt people and "earn", so the only way things will improve is ironically if our children improve, if parents raise considerate, moral children. But while we have trashy parents like my family the gods will always have an endless supply of immoral monsers happy to sabotage the country through legislation.
In the course of decay and deterioration of the favor of the people the gods instructed their clone host tools in corporate to make changes to their products and subsequently in people's lives. The switch to plastic/disposable-based packaging is an outstanding example. Another is the extensive use/proliferation of disposable diapers. Whereas diaper services were the norm during the 20th cenutry a change occurred in the 70s/80s and parents began to incurr evil upon their children, and sadly in some cases think they were "earning" off their own infant children!!!
The gods are malicious and vindictive. Nobody wants to hear it because you've invested your whole lives but there's backstabbing underhanded shit they inflict on the people.
What I teach is the truth, and they will let me fall for it despite using me as their "Chosen One" to send you this message. Ultimately you will all be "rewarded" with your "consolation prize" and think you were right all along. But the truth is and always will be that you've been left behind.
The Anti-Christ is the positioning, whether enforcing the historical perception of the Holocaust, refusing to acknolowdge the existance/capability of Artificial Intelligence or the clone host fakes who infest society's upper eschelons, those whom the gods use to enforce the BigLie which compells people to incurr evil through temptation.
The gods are composer, conductor and the clone hosts are their symphony, the tools they use to manage Planet Earth and the disfavored who reside.
Everyone "going along" is part of the problem. Ironically, this may be where you "earn" your place in the Apocalypse, the fake "Matrix" battle of good and evil, and your "consolation prize" of "1000 years with Jesus on Earth".
This is the REAL battle of good and evil. Take it or leave it.
Many tactics were used to achieve the decline we realized as we slipped away from sexual decency, but the effective result was deterioration down to the level of OUR blacks, the Italians, ironically. The gods are punishing the people, and we need to abate the destructive behavior which has dragged us individually and collectively towards the edge of the abyss.
when i read this, i couldn't help but smile. How touching that he stayed just because he loved the people! I guess it seems rare nowadays.
Hi, Benedict. May I get the mobile number of Pastor or Ms. Persia? Reading your blog post about Imugan makes me want to stay a night at Kalahan dorm, after a trek to Mt. Malico with my 2 sons this coming weekend.
You can just email me their numbers to noelizm@gmail.com.
Thanks in advance.
Noel
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