There is never a feeling as dreadful as being in a place ridden by opposing forces whose singular focus is on eliminating the people on the opposing side with any means necessary. Surviving such a situation gets more difficult when you have to battle your fears along with your aim of staying alive. The gun fires and explosions can rattle even the bravest folks. It is not surprising for soldiers, after being in the battle ground for quite some time, to come back forever changed. Some even experience mental and emotional trauma that last until they pass away. Heck, watching gun fires on films can make a lot of people scared. The horrors of war are true and they haunt even the best of us.

When you take a job, you don’t really think about what may go wrong. We usually think about how we will adapt to the new working conditions that we’ll put ourselves in and the stress that it can give us or how you will go about interacting with your new colleagues. You never really think farther than that. You expect tough times but not to the extreme that it changes you. Working in the midst of life and death situations is usually out of the question.

Mr. Joseph Valdez, a resident of Baggao, Cagayan, applied for a Listahanan field staff position in DSWD Field Office 02 hoping to land a job that can support him and further his professional career. He braved the scorching heat of the sun on that screening day to take the screening exam and interview. He was one of the lucky few who were able to pass the screening and assume a field staff position.

He started out okay as he recalled, receiving complaints from residents from the different barangays of Baggao to be given to the Local Verification Committee (LVC) members of the municipality for their judgment as to which of the concerns merit assessment or re-assessment. He swiftly shifted to assessing and re-assessing the approved households after that.

The Encounter

The first few days of assessing households were okay as he recalled. He jumped from one household to another to collect information that the Listahanan database needs to verify if the households are poor or non-poor routinely and without any problem. Then the encounter happened.

“Nag-assess ako sa Sitio Hot Spring sa Baggao (noong December 5) na malimit na nagiging sentro ng labanan ng militar at mga rebelde. Habang nasa bahay ako ng isang ini-interview ko, nakarinig ako ng putok,” Mr. Valdez said of how the incident started.

Despite hearing the gun fire, Mr. Valdez kept his attention to the interview, with an aim of finishing it as fast as possible to move on to other households.

“Tinanong ko yung interviewee ko kung ano yung narinig ko pero sabi niya normal nalang yun sa kanila kaya nagpatuloy nalang ako sa pag-assess,” he added, focusing on what needs to be done more than the initial fear that he experienced while hearing the gun fire.

He was about to finish the interview when he heard gun fires again, explosions that were so loud so as to indicate that the encounter is becoming closer and closer to his place of interview. His interviewee asked him to leave for his safety and to avoid being a part of the casualty. He kept being calm despite the unraveling that the gun fires and explosions gave and rode his vehicle. The road wasn’t safe but he needed to find a way to leave.

“Patapos na ako sa interview nung dumami ang mga putok at may mga pasabog na kong naririnig kaya sabi ng interviewee ko na umalis na ako at ayaw na rin niyang magpatuloy sa interview dahil sa takot. Ayaw ko noong umalis kasi nga takot ako sa daan at kabundukan pa naman pero tinibayan ko nalang loob ko,” Mr. Valdez recollected.

Just as he was speeding away from the fighting, he chanced upon a military truck that stopped him from going further. The military men asked Mr. Valdez to not leave just yet because he may encounter rebels on his way down the mountain and to follow them to a school which serves as their temporary base and hideout.

“Habang nagmo-motor ako ay may nakasalubong akong sasakyan ng militar tapos pinapunta kami sa elementary school ng Sitio Hot Spring at talagang nanginginig ako sa takot. Kinopya nila (military) travel order ko at binigay mga area na hindi ko muna dapat puntahan at hintayin ang text nila kung okay na,” Mr. Valdez said.

Mr. Valdez stayed in the school for the rest of the day. He claims that the fighting lasted from 9 am to 12 pm. After the rebel forces were subdued later that day, he decided to go down the mountain and in to safety in the town proper.

Call of Duty

It took 8 days before Mr. Valdez got a confirmation from the military that it is already safe to go back and resume assessing the households that were not assessed yet. Despite his experience, he never had second thoughts about resuming his obligation.

“Okay lang na bumalik kasi trabaho ko yun at kailangan kong gawin,” he said.

He said that his experiences are indelible and though he often gets scolded by his family members about the dangers of working in a war-torn place, he considers it a great honor to work for DSWD because of the challenges that he was able to overcome and the memories that he had while doing his duty.

“Salamat sa DSWD dahil sa mga naranasan ko at natutunan na kahit pinapagalitan ako ng pamilya ko, alam kong malaking honor ang makapagtrabaho sa gobyerno,” Mr. Valdez concludes.

Joseph is now employed as a teacher in his hometown, continually using the passion that drove him to great dangers just to do his work to teaching the next generation of kids to have that same desire to do what is necessary to be able to accomplish their responsibilities.

Listahanan is the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s database of poor families. It is the basis for identifying families who can become beneficiaries of social protection programs and services. Reliable, complete and accurate, that’s Listahanan. ### Written by: Chester Carlo M. Trinidad, Listahanan Information Officer