Note: I found this piece in my digital file. Let me share with you.
26
December 1974: I will always associate Fr. Acong
Sevilla to that night 34 years ago when I knocked at the Sevilla residence at
the “Short Cut” in Lucena
City and requested him to
help me escape from two armed men who were pursuing me. He was seated on what
looked like a rocking chair and he swiftly got up after hearing my reason for
coming to his place.
Both of us rushed to his jeep parked by the
road. He started the engine and promptly asked me where I would like to go.
For a moment,
I could not speak. Then I managed to squeak out the name of the place where I
would like to pick up a friend and our clothes and other personal stuff. I
guess his calmness sought my frayed nerves and I managed to tell him bits and
pieces of the story; how two young men blocked my path while I was walking on
the road beside the Lucena Elementary School in Iyam district, in front of our high school; how the two walked
with myself in the middle; and how I felt the nozzle of a gun on the left side
of my body; my swift decision to parry the gun and free myself from their hold.
The two young men ran after me, but I managed to elude them or, probably,
they would not want to risk getting notice by the neighborhood. I was able to
reach my relative’s home and told the family what had happened. I decided to
leave so as not to involve the family and a young boy volunteered to accompany
me in the dark until I reached the main road.
Still no sign of the two young men, but I had the feeling they were just observing
from a distance. I rode in a passenger jeepney and to ensure I would not be
followed, I got off after the Iyam
bridge and followed the familiar unlit and stony path leading to the Sevilla
home. In fact, I remember I ran
unmindful of the barking dogs.
Looking back to this incident, which I did many,
many times during the last three decades,
I had the same feeling of relief that Fr. Acong,
at that moment of extreme anguish,
did not hesitate to help me and a friend find ourselves out of a difficult
situation.
We were being pursued like rats on account
of what we stood for at that time against what we perceived as injustice
committed against our people and the more than thirty of our friends who had
been persecuted and just disappeared without a trace.
By extending help at a time when we needed
it most, Fr. Acong demonstrated what
it meant to be a shepherd to his flock,
including those who had strayed off the path. When my friend and I finally decided
to leave the underground, two weeks
after Fr. Acong brought us to a safe haven,
you can doubtless say his singular act of kindness had influenced for the most
part that crucial decision. ####
Nestor
M. Pestelos
Kuching, Malaysia
28 January 2008
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