[New post] Crossing Rivers, Surmounting Mountains: Dansoy from JAS
Kurt Comendador posted: " RM and I hunched over our laptops that settled nicely on counter height while we sat on highchairs abreast of each other. We were at a voguish, dimly lit coffee shop somewhere in downtown General Santos City. The place's ambience, sparse confines, 24-hou" Kuku Notebook
RM and I hunched over our laptops that settled nicely on counter height while we sat on highchairs abreast of each other. We were at a voguish, dimly lit coffee shop somewhere in downtown General Santos City. The place's ambience, sparse confines, 24-hour service, and unlimited free Wi-Fi were exactly what we needed that night.
But most importantly, we needed each other's company to keep us awake as we race against our deadline which was the following morning. Of course, that and the much-anticipated caffeine boost (for him; he drinks coffee) and sugar rush (for me; caffeine makes my stomach feel queasy and gives me the sudden urge to use the comfort room) that we'd receive once our orders arrive.
"More often than not, however, when our minds both arrive at an impasse, that was when we'd stop and browse social media through our phones. "
Constantly, we stared at our laptop monitors while we clacked away on our keyboards. Occasionally, we'd look up and stretch our necks or straighten our backs and try to engage each other with small talk. More often than not, however, when our minds both arrive at an impasse, that was when we'd stop and browse social media through our phones.
While I could no longer recall the events leading to that point nor the contents of our conversation, I remember that he was having some trouble at work. He had to finish a few documents, some of his deliverables needed a few revisions, and that's not all, he was scheduled to leave for another city in the following morning while lacking proper sleep.
A couple of months later, RM is leaning against the railings overlooking the central dome of one of the bigger local malls. He was waiting to meet up with me—well past 6 PM, when he said he'd be in the city. Even at a distance, there was no mistaking RM for someone else, at least for those who are already familiar with him: an unassuming, young male of median height, large build whose mass is nicely distributed around his torso supported by his equally compact yet noticeably stocky legs. Upon closer look, his familiar features become more apparent: broad stubby nose, skin with a slightly dark complexion, and a couple of traits from his roots that RM has so much pride for. His curly hair is trimmed so close to his head bringing more prominence to his facial features.
Even at a distance, there was no mistaking RM for someone else, at least for those who are already familiar with him...
A few pleasantries were exchanged when I finally caught up to him. The time shows 7 PM and I could feel the hunger creeping in, and I was willing to bet that he was feeling it too. That time, I actually wasn't sure where were supposed to go that's why I had to ask him.
"Simple ra man akong kalipay…" I like to savor the simple things, he replied, "Chao Fan ra sa ChowKing."
And that's how we found ourselves sharing the same table once again, and this time, we were sitting face to face.
While I refer to him as RM, his parents call him "Dan-Dan'. To his cousins, he is known as "Dansoy". For his casual friends and professional peers, however, it's best to stick with his given name: Raydan. RM and I attended the same university and graduated in the same year although we were enrolled in different colleges. While my entrance to the university was relatively easy, RM's road was longer, harder, and more troublesome both speaking figuratively and literally. While I only had to pass the university entrance exam, Raydan, had to go against great odds even before entering the campus.
RM and I sharing anecdotes about our college life.
I once ran into him I exited my practice-teaching class for the department that he was enrolled at.
He was walking barefoot but he doesn't appear to be fazed by the matter. Considering that this was Mindanao State University we were talking about, where plenty of indigent students flock in from far and wide to overcome fate and surpass the insurmountable challenge of acquiring quality education without putting too much financial strain on those who send them there, to those who have entrusted upon them the hope of a better tomorrow and RM was only one of the hundreds of students who fit the bill although such fact was still unbeknownst to me during the encounter. His reason why he didn't have shoes, I do not know.
At that exact moment, I was honestly taken aback by the sight, and more so because he doesn't seem to mind it. In fact, the way he was bouncing while he walked made him seem like a goofball that's oozing with positive energy–he flashed a smile when our eyes met and continued along as if nothing happened, as if he didn't owe me, or anybody else, an explanation—no matter how brief—about his foot wear's whereabouts.
Where he got this level of positivity, I don't know as he apparently came from a very humble beginning to his college life. After he graduated as valedictorian in High School, he embarked on a journey away from his hometown in Jose Abad Santos, the southernmost municipality of mainland Mindanao under the province of Davao Occidental. According to him, all of his belongings were crammed into a single cardboard box that used to be filled with Maggi Instant noodles. The eldest among five siblings, money was hard to come by as his family also has plenty of mouths to feed at home. So much so that he only has P500 in his pocket the moment he arrived in General Santos City.
"RM often had to survive with as little as P150 a week that his parents were able to scrape together and send to him via kwarta padala or money transfer."
"I got off in front of Gaisano Mall, and rode a single motorcycle to MSU," he narrated. "The driver asked for P200 and I spent P100 on food so I was down to my last P200."
And that was only the first day. With nowhere else to go, he had to beg the in charge of the campus dormitory to give him a place to stay. Because of his insistence and the mercy of the dorm master, he was ushered to Room 11, which, according to RM, have remained unoccupied for years prior to his arrival. (The reason behind it, we can only speculate but I asked RM if he felt anything "weird" or experienced something "supernatural" during his stay there and he only answered with a hard NO.)
RM often had to survive with as little as P150 a week that his parents were able to scrape together and send to him via kwarta padala or money transfer. When I asked him if this, in any way, tainted his relationship towards his parents, his response was rather more morose than what I have expected.
"It's not about the money, but the things I experienced when I was little," he began to say.
"My father struggled with alcohol when we were young and whenever he was drunk, he became physically abusive. My mother suffered the most as she received the most beating. Plenty of times, my father will grab my mother's head and smash it into what little concrete we had in our house.
"Plenty of times, too, when my mother had enough and ended up reporting my father to the police: he had a few nights where he had to sleep in the prison cell. But the thing was my mother never filed a case against him.
"Me, personally, I even experienced being shoved into a sack before being hoisted up a tree before getting a flurry of blows from my father."
His father, a half-Manobo/half-Blaan, worked as a carpenter while his mother, a full-blooded Manobo, worked multiple jobs before landing a job in the Local Government Unit as a street sweeper where she still works until now. The two met each other in Manila where they fell in love and got pregnant with RM. Eventually, they had to come home to Jose Abad Santos due to financial constraints. It was there that they found out that their ancestry shared the same roots.
"They were actually second cousins. Their respective families occupy two adjacent mountains separated only by a single river flowing in between them," said Raydan.
"The good thing is that in our tribe, marrying someone from the same family tree is widely accepted but only if both parties are second cousins—my father and mother just happen to fall right into the threshold."
When asked if a family of his clan existed, RM revealed that he is currently working on it. Anything that concerns his family or his tribe, he takes seriously. In fact, his identity and experiences as an Indigenous Person shape who RM is as a person and motivates most, if not all of his actions. He made it his life's mission to ensure that the Indigenous People not only has a voice but that it could be heard as well. He was very particular about the discrimination and bullying he had experienced while growing up.
While attacks can come from anywhere and from anyone, perhaps the hardest to take in was the time when RM's elementary teachers made him a subject of ridicule and more frequently, used him as a bad example. Words like "baho" (smelly) or "bugo" (stupid) were commonly thrown around to describe him, or even his fellow native children.
"It didn't end there: I even remember one of my teachers saying to me directly that I am both a 'distraction' and a 'destruction"."
"I didn't like any of it, of course, but I just used it as motivation to become who am I today which is a far cry from who I was yesterday."
The same year after graduating college, RM immediately took the Licensure Examination for Teachers and was able to pass it in one take. He says he's pretty thankful as it serves as the culmination of all his struggles, hard work, and accomplishments during his stay at Mindanao State University. However, RM plans to reach even greater heights by enrolling in Law School and becoming a Lawyer who can fight for the rights of the Indigenous People.
Despite his strong motivation and unshakeable resolve, life still got in the way and RM was forced to take a leave of absence from Law School, albeit for multiple positive reasons. For one, he was able to find employment at a Non-Government Organization which is in line with his passion for Sustainable Development Work which puts him in a better position to manifest the transformation that he's yearning for, while giving greater flexibility than he'd receive as a lawyer—that's according to him.
RM as a practice teacher in my High School Alma Mater.
A couple of months from now, he'll fly off to New Zealand as one of the delegates of Mindanao Young Leaders Program 2023. When asked what he'll do once he feels he has done all the work that needs to be done, RM said he'll probably return home, to his little town in Jose Abad Santos, and plans to teach the new generation of JASenyos and JASenyas who will reach great heights just like he did before.
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