cateel -(draft112905)
Who said it was going to be easy?
It started as an adventure, wanting a place
to belong to, finding a place to discover independence, finding ones worth as a
person and finding true love.
No, it’s not about looking for Mr. Right,
it’s about my work.
I remembered Spur Dos in Cateel, Davao
Oriental my first fact-finding mission. It opened my eyes to so many truths. I
remembered waking up with a small piece of paper and a pen jotting down notes
for that day’s statement…then came more work, more ffms, pickets, discussions,
etc. until I couldn’t find the time to do anything else including my real
paying-job. After a couple of more years I decided to marry this job and it has
been a love-hate relationship. Not your perfect love-affair, as other couples dream
to have, but like the rest of them, something on which we can all survive with.
I do love this job, I enjoy it. No, of
course I don’t enjoy counting those killed, missing, tortured, detained, etc.
nor do I enjoy reading my cellphone, evertime it lets out an alert tune even in
the dead of the night or at the crack of dawn only for me to read that someone
was shot or that we need to run to the police station because someone got
arrested. I do dread them, I wish I didn’t have any of those messages, but the
fact is, the situation is getting worse by the minute (5 killed in less than 24
hours; 2 killed within 10 hours, etc.) and our work necessitates us to respond.
That’s the essence: respond. Respond to seek justice, who cry out in
helplessness and then later see hope and move on, much stronger than before.
It’s not easy choosing this job. It’s not
easy doing this job, but it’s not just a job. It’s my commitment.
