IN Barangay 286 in Tondo, Manila, they too have a Bayanihan bill. But this one is based on their abiding faith in Divine Mercy—that despite their poverty, each one helps any fellow human being in need, because there is always God’s infinite mercy to hold the line for all.
The Sunday we visited the village was the feast of Divine Mercy, an important date in the Catholic calendar, when believers are reminded to hold on to the Lord’s promise to Saint Faustina, that he will pour out his boundless love and mercy for all those who make a real act of contrition.
That capacity to hold on to such boundless love and mercy was very much manifest on that Divine Mercy Sunday. It had just been a mere three days since a fire razed over 200 homes, and people were taking shelter in tents provided by the city government and good samaritans.
One of the fire victims is 42-year-old Glovy Zuñiga, born and raised in this slum community. She lives with her husband, two children and a 69-year-old mother.
She tends to a small sari-sari store under the Delpan bridge in Manila, and has a humble corner raising plants.
With the fire, she is certainly not happy, but says she has a reason to smile. No one was hurt in the hour-long fire that engulfed her barangay and left 295 families homeless.
They are temporarily sheltered in barangay tents at the sidewalks and inside parts of the Jose Abad Santos High School in Binondo.
Bayanihan as way of life
She is breathless as she describes, with nary a pause, how people in their community live in harmony, sans the bitterness usually associated with the city slums. “Ipinagmamalaki ko, kahit slum area po kami, ganito kahirap ang sitwasyon namin, ang mga tao po dito nagtutulungan po. Kung ikaw ay nagugutom, kakatok ka lang sa kapitbahay mo, hindi pwedeng hindi ka nila bibigyan. Ganoon po dito magmalasakit ang mga tao. Kung ikaw ay may sakit, naghihingalo ka diyan, lahat dito ay nagtutulungan. Dadalhin ka sa ospital, ganoon po ang bayanihan dito sa barangay namin [I am proud of the fact that, although we are in a slum area, and our situation is this hard, the people here look out for each other. If you’re hungry, just knock on your neighbor’s door, and it’s impossible for them to turn you away. That’s how caring people here are. If you’re sick, or dying, everyone helps. They’ll bring you to the hospital. That’s the bayanihan spirit in our barangay].”
This is why, she said, they were deeply pained by the bashing they got on social media, from people who did not bother to find out their situation. Nearly choking with tears, she said, in an exasperated voice, “Mga pasaway daw kami. Pumunta po sila para makita po nila ’yung sitwasyon, kung gaano po kabuti ang mga puso ng mga tao dito [They call us wayward and hardheaded. Let them come here and see for themselves how good the people are].”
She may be poor, but Glovy hates being idle. So, after reading about aquaponics, she tried raising her own plants, using discarded plastic containers and whatever throwaways could hold them: kangkong, kamatis, pechay, luya and oregano, among others, which she notes are very nutritious, especially during the pandemic when people need to boost their immunity.
She has given away many of these, especially the oregano and the ginger, to neighbors who sought relief from minor colds, coughs or throat irritations.
This cooperative spirit is why, she said, the bashing they got from netizens really stung.
She saw most of the comments from a social-media post which she at first thought came from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), because she saw its logo in one post.
“Parang sila po ’yung sa Inter-Agency sa post po nila na may nasusunog, napakaraming comment po doon. Napakasakit [It looked like they came from the inter-agency in that post that a village was on fire. There were many comments in that thread. Hurtful ones].”
Teary-eyed Glovy recalled the netizens’ comments: “Tama at dapat lang daw ’yun dito na masunugan daw, kasi hindi raw kami sumusunod sa gobyerno, mga pasaway daw kami kay Isko Moreno. Hindi po kasi nila alam ang sitwasyon, sino ba ang gusto masunugan [They said it’s just right that our homes were burned, because we’re not following the government, not following Mayor Moreno. They don’t know our situation. Who wants to be a fire victim]?”
And then she said something that reflected how deeply the teachings of Divine Mercy have taken root in her heart. The fire started from a man mourning his wife’s death, she said, and they—neighbors—are not blaming him.
“Kung totoo po ang dahilan po ng sunog, e hindi ko siya masisisi kasi nagluluksa iyon. Nagtirik ng kandila, ang pagkakamali lang niya e ’yung tinirik niyang kandila. Namatay ang babae sa cancer, nagtirik ng kandila si lalake [If it’s true that the fire began there, then I cannot blame him, as he was grieving. He lit a candle. His only fault was it was unattended for long. His wife died of cancer, and this man lit a candle].”
She recalled that she and her husband had to rescue her 74-year-old auntie at the start of the fire across the street where they lived.
“Kahit ano ang dahilan ng sunog e tumulong na lang kaysa manghusga. Gusto ko nga matapos na itong quarantine. Kasi ayaw ko umasa sa gobyerno [Whatever caused the fire, we should just help each other and not be judgmental. I hope this quarantine ends soon, because I don’t want to rely too much on the government].”
She said she is a beneficiary of 4Ps or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, and is grateful for that, but believes all beneficiaries should still pull in weight. That is why she tends to her modest urban garden, among other ways of eking out an income.
“Hindi lahat ng tao dito tamad. Mas maganda po ’yung naghahanapbuhay tayo, na kumikita tayo sa sariling pagsisikap natin kaysa asa tayo nang asa sa ini-rarasyon ng gobyerno. Mga inutil daw ’yung sa iskwater nakatira. Hingi lang nang hingi ng ano, hintay lang nang hintay ng tulong ng gobyerno. Masakit ’yun, kasi dito ako nakatira sa 286. At hindi ako ganoong klase ng indibiduwal [Not everyone here is lazy. It’s better that we all work, that we all earn something from our labors and not keep relying on government rations. Some say slum dwellers are inutile, they keep asking the government for everything, they wait for the government to provide every need. That hurts, because I live here in Barangay 286. And I’m not that kind of person].”
In parting, she asked people to understand each other in these hard times, and prove they really have the bayanihan spirit. Now is the time to show compassion and mercy to one another, a great way to showcase the bayanihan spirit, she stressed. Spoken from the heart of one who truly believes in divine mercy.
Image credits: Bernard Testa