This was not how Dennis imagined his job would be. He was expecting flocks of people going in and out of Saint Peregrine Parish almost every minute. After all, the church dedicated to the patron saint for persons suffering from serious illness is situated along Tunasan, the southmost barangay of Muntinlupa, and thus attracts Catholic faithfuls from both the city and neighboring Laguna.
However, the lockdown imposed by President Duterte on Metro Manila, later expanded to the whole of Luzon, made the parish management decide to suspend all its activities—daily mass, wedding, baptism, everything. The 40-year-old Dennis is left alone to guard the church from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening. The coronavirus disease, he said, it’s terrifying.
Dennis got his designation as security guard for Saint Peregrine Parish in February. He was just getting the feel of witnessing families, friends and individuals go to church to attend mass, to celebrate a wedding, to welcome a new Christian, or even to just pray, when the virus crisis hit the Philippines. The parish in a snap became empty.
He understands people will prioritize their health over anything else. The community quarantine that prohibited public transport is the problem for him. In spite of the suspension of activities, Saint Peregrine Parish is open to anyone who would like to say a prayer in these trying times, but only those with private cars can do that under the existing setup, he observed.
It’s not what the Church stands for, Dennis was firm on this. The Church, he argued, knows no social status. That’s why the security guard is feeling blue in his 7-to-7 rotation: I’m changing because he’s only been riding in the last few days.
By the looks of it, Dennis will feel blue for quite a period of time.
Image credits: Elijah Felice Rosales