“The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least.” Unknown.

We were making our way back to Tuguegarao City from Manila one chilly night last October when our Officer-In-Charge informed us that we will be making a short stop in the Municipality of Cabarroguis, Quirino. I was ready to put my weary feet on my bed that night but duty called, so we made another stop before finally heading home.

It was about an hour past midnight when we traversed the rustic province of Quirino. It wasn’t all that dim that night but the lights weren’t as bright as it was in the city. We reached our destination, the place where we will be spending the night, at about two in the morning and after doing my normal night rituals, I fell asleep.

I woke up at six, not really enough to recharge my body but I felt fine. We ate fried fish and had some coffee and that was enough to get me going. I remember seeing how the clouds were ready to pour rain that day but luckily for us, it didn’t.

While I thought that reaching the town of Cabarroguis was the deepest we would go on the trip, I was mistaken when I realized that the festivities that we will be gracing was still a few knots away.

Our Officer-In-Charge informed me that the program we will be going to is a core shelter inauguration. The roads we took to get to the place were not yet paved, it was bumpy and I swear our driver might have needed to change tires after completing the trip that we had. But I was eager to see how the core shelter looked and how it could somehow enhance the lives of the people that these houses were given to.

The Arrival

I saw a large smoke as we reached the area and I thought someone might have burned something unnecessarily but I was glad to know that the community in the area were just preparing lunch for the festivities. First thing I did after getting out of the vehicle was to take pictures, first of the core shelter houses, second was the people there and third, the view of the mountains behind the houses. The view was breathtaking indeed. I didn’t know how such a nice place can hide in a little-known place for so long. I might not have been the first to take pictures there but I’m sure glad I took one.

While I was roaming around the community, passing time while waiting for the program to start, I happened upon an unsuspecting couple who were gladly talking to our officer-in-charge. My curious side wanted to get near to get to hear the conversation so of course I did.

The couple were both warm when talking but they were also guarded, given that we were strangers to them. They were talking about how happy they were that they can finally have a dwelling place strong enough to take rains and typhoons. Their youngest child was busy clutching her mother’s left leg while we were talking to them.

Michael and Mylene Ramos as I saw at that time, weren’t different from my previous encounters with beneficiaries of the different programs and services of the agency. They were poor yes but through the assistance that they were getting and also their hard work and dedication, they were finally getting themselves out of the clutches of poverty. Little did I know that there was more to them than meets the eye.

Mr. and Mrs. Ramos have four children ages 18, 16, 10 and six. Michael does fishing and Mylene, corn farming. They said that on good days they would gain about P200. Good enough, they said, to buy their necessities on a daily basis. Again, these information weren’t unusual for remote rural dwelllers.

Time in the Cave

What really got me was when they talked about the time they spent living in a cave near the core shelter area years ago. Mylene said they were forced to vacate their former dwelling place after a storm battered their house to the point where it was uninhabitable anymore. Fearing for their safety as a family, they decided to leave their house and run to a nearby cave.

They brought nothing but themselves. After the storm passed, the couple went back to their wrecked house to see what they can salvage. They got a few wet clothes and a few cooking utensils. Michael said it wasn’t much but it was more than enough. He said the fact that they weren’t hurt was way more important than saving as many house tools as possible.

They started almost from scratch. Michael said doing his job was harder given that he had to walk farther than usual to go fishing. Mylene also had a hard time cooking as woods were scarce in the cave. They also had to deal with making sure their children are taken cared of especially since they had a toddler at the time.

They lost their house and almost all that were in it but what wasn’t lost was their determination to push through, start over and build themselves back up again. They slowly learned to adapt to the place they were staying. They said the nights were lonely because they had no lights, it was cold and they had to deal with the fact that serpents can come and harm them. Couple those with the fact that their children were growing and staying in a cave wasn’t really ideal to their development.

Luckily, the couple were chosen as Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries. They said the help they have been constantly getting has been really helpful and that they were able to stay afloat because of it. Through all of their troubles, they were able to send their children to school because they were determined to make the lives of their children better than theirs.

The family stayed in the cave for three years. An eternity for others, even for the less fortunate ones. But help would come in the form of them becoming core shelter beneficiaries. The couple said that the day they were informed that they would be provided a new home, a real home that is, was one of the best days of their lives. The family didn’t really desire for it to happen, they were happy with what they had, but they were nonetheless thrilled to accept the new house. They thought about their children, not necessarily themselves. Giving their children a decent place to stay in was what they were aiming for.

Fast forward to today and the family is in a better place. I was surprised to hear that the couple said they wouldn’t change anything that happened to them. They said the experiences they had in the cave can’t really be replaced by anything else. However hard and unpleasant it might have been, there really is beauty in the struggle.

The Departure

So I took photos of the houses, of the families, of the program, even the pets roaming around the place. We were there for about two hours but it seemed like it went by faster. Suddenly I didn’t want to leave the place. We had to, of course.

I never wanted to leave them. It felt as though I had more to ask them.

My father died a couple of days after our visit in Quirino. Tragedy can really change your perspective on life. Departing Quirino wasn’t the only sad thing to occur to me, my father departing was even more painful. I didn’t know how to go on, I still don’t after how many months. He has been there, at least the fact that he was alive, for my whole life and now he isn’t anymore. But I always go back to my visit to Quirino and meeting the Ramos Family and I realize that we are more than capable of withstanding tragedies than we’ll ever know. They were determined and they survived. They were strong. Maybe I am too.

“There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, people we can’t live without but have to let go.” Nancy Stephan ### By: Chester Carlo M. Trinidad, OIC-Regional Information Officer