Lingkod Timog reaches out to Mindanao tribal minorities

Lingkod Timog r= eaches out to Mindanao tribal minorities

Karla Vizcarra, Jan 30, 2007
MANILA – Some things come together so seamlessly as if by divine help. What else would you call the desire of two naval officers to change the military’s image, a calling felt by their wives, and the grateful cooperation of a whole community that just needed t= hat little push?

When he met retired Philippine Navy captain and Naffaa= executive director Armando “Doy” He= redia, Philippine Army Gen. Juancho Sabban was a colonel and a student at the Naval War C= ollege in Newport, Rhode Island. Doy= was Sabban’s sponsor, helping him locate = and settle in a host family in the U.S.

NaFFAA executive director Armando ‘Doy’ Heredia, Lingkod Timog Philippines volunteer Ning Warren and = Lingkod Timog president Cecilia Heredia work with the <= span class=3DSpellE>Aetas of Zambales in thei= r first medical mission in 2005.

Sabban’s Chavacana wife, Irene, through the years had seen the harsh realities and inequalities suffered by the poor in Zamboanga. She had seen= how its tribal communities urgently needed proper medical attention, for the so= le reason that they were Muslim minorities.

Cely Heredia, Doy’s wife and president of Lingkod Timog, shared, &#= 8220;If these people need to go to the hospital, the receiving nurses will not even look at them. They could die right there.”

The seafaring Badjaos, discriminated against even by their fellow Muslims, are the most marginalized tribes in Mindanao. It was = for this reason that in a meeting of Hope International Foundation, an organiza= tion headed by Doy and involved in conducting medical missions in tribal communities, the Sabbans sug= gested helping especially these people.

In 2005, the first medical mission for Badjaos = was done. The tangible and emotional success it brought marked the beginning of= a deeper commitment in everyone— growing eventually into a U.S. non-profit 501(c)3 organization group called Lingkod Timog. (Lingkod meaning “serve,” and Timog meaning “south.”)

The little team decided to commit themselves to this corner of the Philippines and concentrate on these very people that the system ignored. Doy differentiates Lingkod Tim= og from his past missions as being more grassroots.

“The others are always big affairs. Here we want to stay where the bu= lk of the problems are. Right now it’s in Zamboanga City,” he said.

The Heredias and only a small group of members = from the U.S. fly out for the mission every year— last week they were join= ed by neurologist Andrew Wilner, Maj. Steve Travis of the U.S. JSOTF of Zamboanga, and Dan Mitrione of 3P Foundation from Seattle. Most of people come from the = Zamboanga community itself, which Irene Sabban coordinate= s from her end. The result is a bustling team of local volunteers: a gathering of = city and barangay health care providers, private and military doctors, nurses, surgeons and civilians who have come to anticipat= e Lingkod Timog’s pre= sence and the sense of brotherhood and unity the missions have come to bring.

“Much of the work we do is in the end, developmental. We generate the resources, we mobilize the community and create a sense of enthusiasm and cooperation…which we hope later on will be carried out even without t= he U.S. volunteers.” Doy said. “Ultimately = we would want to move into education and concentrate on preventive measures.”

The group also brings in medicine—donated by major Philippine pharmaceuticals, from the Joint Special Task Force Philippines and from consignments—which is handed out to the patients after their check-up= s. More than 1, 000 people benefited from last week’s mission, most of w= hom needed treatment for respiratory ailments, skin diseases, tuberculosis and = some minor surgery.

“We are always limited by supplies and time,” Doy explained. “It is hard to ask for grants from the U.S. be= cause we are targeting Philippine recipients, so it is the FilA= m community that we are mobilizing.”

Cely continued, “We’re so blessed t= o be living in America, and= we know the needs of the people in the Philippines. We need to share= even just a little of those blessings.”

Lingkod Timog raise= s funds through activities, like last October’s Broadway and classical concert that ballooned into an all-out musical extravaganza, thanks to friends and chances that just fell into place. Cely even fo= und herself playing the piano and the organ, being once a music teacher at Manila International School for 18 years. “God has ways of having everything come together,” she said.

“You use whatever you have — I use my Philippine military connections, Cely uses her professional school = and music connections, our friends use their connections — you really can= not do everything by yourself.” Doy went on. “And you find out that there are really a lot of good Filipinos and Americans in the U.S. = and the Philippines. It’s a community effort, and that’s what’s so wonderful a= bout it.”

Because travel advisories to Zamboanga have bee= n less than encouraging, Lingkod = Timog finds it difficult to get more FilAm volunteers= to actually come to the missions. But the group is bent on reaching even high-= risk areas like Jolo and Basilan soon, given proper = time and resource. They are confident, after all, of their U.S. and Philippine military support. Doy proudly pointe= d out that Lingkod Timog = may be the only NGO aided by the U.S. military.

“The FilAm community should know that the= U.S. mi= litary is helping us. Their presence in Southern Philippine= s is not restricted to anti-terrorism, but also to win the hearts and minds of the people,” he declared.

Likewise the Philippine Marines and Navy. “= ;They really love doing this,” Cely revealed. “Deep in their hearts they want to help. They don’t want to be known only as military men.”

She told the story of a young woman who, during one of their missions, sudd= enly became emotional and thanked their group with tears in her eyes, saying nob= ody had ever done that [medical mission] to them before. A = Marine who was with the group turned to the woman and very sincerely said, “= Alam mo, mahal namin kayo. Dapat nagmamahalan tayo, kaya naming ginagawa ‘to. [We love you. We should all love each other. That’s= why we’re doing this.]”

And that, ultimately, is what makes everything worth it.

(Lingkod Timog also does outreach programs for the people of Bagong Silangan, Payatas. Visit their website at http://lingkodt= imog.com/ to find out how you can be part of the community.)

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