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Heavily guarded in Malaybalay City
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MALAYBALAY CITY, June 05, 2006. I thought that the world around me would be a perpetuity of all kinds of pollution, and all these so-called “cha-cha” movement from both concerned citizens and activists. All the while, I realized that this place where we are into is surrounded by splendid beauty of mountain ranges and hundreds of arrayed pineapple farms. I even noticed that most of us pulled over just to take a picture from the captivating view of nature i.e., that includes the pineapple farms and the mountain ranges whose form is a woman lying on her back. This we took advantage so that at the same time we could stand and move around after traveling for almost two hours. We could not imagine it was like going up to Baguio. Why? We experienced the sharp curves and the going up and down from Cagayan de Oro to Malaybalay City save for the smooth and well-engineered road which was our consolation.
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After all the poses for picture-taking in front of San Antonio de Padua Parish, we left for Malaybalay City at 1:57 P.M. A lot of thanks to the working committees of the said parish for making this caravan a grace-filled and successful one. Without knowing, due to the fixed mind set on the caravan, it was Monday and there were pupils and students along the highway who walked home. Around 3:48 P.M. in the afternoon, I guess the pupils and students should be home then, or, attend the healing mass in the cathedral! The caravan was escorted by the police and we never expected that as we arrived in front of the San Isidro Cathedral the street would be closed and secured by armed police officers. We were informed later that it was to be executed for security purposes. Rev. Fr. Jose “Jojo” Sumastre welcomed the group and invited us for snacks which for us, was like a big meal for lunch or dinner, courtesy of the mayor of Malaybalay.
After the conferences on OAR history and St. Ezekiel Moreno inside the cathedral, the Parish Youth Choir Cathedral sang the entrance song. That was 4:42 P.M. and that time was the right time for most patients to attend the healing mass of Fr. Soy. The estimated number of participants was more than a thousand. By 7:00 P.M. the healing mass and the veneration of St. Ezekiel’s relic were over. The blessing of bought images of St. Ezekiel ensued. A certain Nestor Pontoras from DXDB Radyo Bandilyo 594 approached Fr. Soy at the sacristy to interview him on the purpose and relevance of the caravan.
Indeed, God has been and is always gracious to those who work for his vineyard. This we can proclaim confidently because we never missed a bountiful meal since the start of the pilgrimage. The same was true in Malaybalay City where the bishop of Malaybalay Diocese, Most Rev. Honesto Pacana, S.J., D.D.and company welcomed us at EMS Fast Food. There Our dinner, sponsored by Ang Buhing Pulong Community, was served.
It was about 8:40 P.M. when all our conversations had to be wrapped up. We still had the next day and our bodies needed more rest. Well, it was not in our thought that we would still be accompanied by four policemen, with their M16 rifles and 45 caliber handguns, say armed-to-the-teeth, in going to our accommodations. More so, they stayed and watched over the security of our accommodation. By the way, we were accommodated in the Benedictine Monastery. A so quiet place...filled with serenity and peace just enough to lay our heads on holy ground.
-- Bro. Jose Teodulfo A. Jadulco
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