Pito, may God bless his soul, and Gopi, was with us at the Ivory Charities
Foundation from the very beginning.
Pito was among those who were touched by the sad plight of so many Butuanons in
abject poverty. Yet there are many others who are wallowing in luxury. The
glaring disparity between the rich and the poor was, and still is, the bleak
and dark side of our society today. It is as if we are in darkness. And when
it's dark, some people bitch and complain about the darkness. But not Pito and
the small band of Butuanons. This group, who would become the Ivory Charities
Foundation, did not complain of the darkness. Instead, they elected to find a
candle and light up the lives of the poor. Ivory Charities Foundation was born
a decade ago with this vision of an enlightened Butuan, and with a mission to
help bring light and happiness to Butuanons. It is a group of Butuanons Helping
Butuanons.
To this end, Pito and Ivory Charities members, did charity work, visiting
distant barrios, providing microlending to non-bankable barrio folks in Maibu,
Bilay, Sumile, Bancasi, Dulag, many others. Pito once got ankle-deep in the
mud as he and a benefactor from the U.S., helped push our vehicle out of a
ditch along the slippery road to Maguinda. At another time, Pito, along with
others, acted as barrio pharmacist in Taguibo during one of Ivory Charities.
free clinics. Pito, with the group, also saw rural folks funded by Ivory
Charities Foundation, producing nipa, and distilling laksoy in the swamplands
of Babag. Pito was with the group in the hinterlands of Tagulahi distributing
rice, corned beef, sardines and noodles to bring Christmas cheers to the poor
farmers. Pito truly loved to help Butuanons. As recently as 4 weeks ago, Pito
was directing the distribution of rice and noodles to the 315 families, all
victims of a fire that gutted Langihan, now miserably housed temporarily in a
nearby school building.
There was a time that Ivory Charities donated an artesian well in Tungao, and
thereafter the group of Pito rode in a baroto without outrigger to cross the
Agusan River to Florida to turn over another two artesian wells, Pito wiggled
his hips along with us to balance the canoe as we braved the river currents,
fearful of the waves in the wake of a passing riverboat. Artesian wells were
also constructed in Banza, MJ Santos, Agusan Pequeno, Taligaman, Mahay, Los
Angeles, Bancasi, among other barrios.
At another time, we visited Kamayahan where we saw yellow squash being
harvested and sold so scandalously cheap that one lady member of the Ivory
Charities Foundation bought several kilos, more than she needed, and only
after bargaining hard with the perspiring farmer to increase his price as a
favor to her. I thought that was weird, the customer pleading 'sigi na Noy' to
make it more expensive for her. Truly, the heart of Butuanons can not be
fathomed and sometimes defies logic.
Butuanons, in many ways, are indeed helping Butuanons through Ivory Charities
Foundation, with Pito as its active Vice President. A donor from Atlanta,
Georgia in the United States provided funds for the artesian wells, another
donor from Los Angeles, California are currently funding hundreds of school
children to learn and appreciate the Butuanon dialect, culture, history, and
even the games children of yore used to play. A lady in San Francisco,
California, and her sister in Sydney, Australia donated through Ivory Charities
the Library for English at the Agusan National High School. A sister
foundation in Los Angeles, California is helping Ivory Charities provide free
neurosurgical services at the city hospital. Butuanons in Texas are among those
who are helping Butuanons here.
The Butuan Medical Center, the Agusan Provincial Hospital, the Maternity and
Children's Hospital, the Nasipit District Hospital, the Cabadbaran District
Hospital, and many barangay health centers were recipients of equipment donated
through Ivory Charities Foundation, including respirators, ultrasound machines,
anesthesia machines, electrcardiograms, dialysis machines, wheelchairs, canes,
commodes, electrocautery machines, cardiac monitors, refrigerators,
airconditioning units, dental chair, surgical instruments, and sundry other
supplies, equipment, and medicines. Pito was there at the forefront in all
these charitable work. Ivory Charities, and the barrio folks, will surely miss
his passing. Yes, Pito is Ivory Charities, a Butuanon Helping Butuanons.
He was with us during one particular visit to Taguibo, Pianing, and Anticala in
one long afternoon, visiting microlending borrowers. We arrived back in Butuan
way past sunset and the moon was already up. To our surprise, Pito did not get
home. And he left his vehicle home this time. It turned out that he and
another male member of Ivory Charities Foundation rode with a priest who
dropped them off in Pianing where they looked into the microlending project
there. Gopi was getting worried and frantic because he did not even call. It
turned out that there was no cell phone coverage in those mountains. It also
turned out that the only transport vehicle in the hinterland was a tricycle
that Pito refused to ride on. He was finally rescued late that evening. All
these travails he went through, expending time, effort, money, sweat, and
concern, all these and more, just to be of help to the poor in his hometown.
His love for charity work knows no bounds. That's the Pito that the barrio
folks, and Ivory Charities will always remember and deeply miss. May he rest
in Peace.
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