Bantayan Island, The Philippines: Community Portrait

As the Head of State insists on staying neutral on the issue of family planning, the lower Government officials are left to battle it out in a never ending discussion consisting of endless rhetoric. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, remains by its stance as a conservative and traditional religious organization. In places, for example such as Bantayan Island, this means however that the ever influential voice of the Catholic Church and what it actually stands for, remains as misunderstood as the Bible itself.

The philosophy of the right to life comes in many forms. As the Catholic Church voices its strong opinion of anti-family planning, anti-contraceptives, anti-sex education, celibacy, these amongst others, it has yet to offer plans that actually support the community and support life. Asian Development Bank figures show that an ignorance in family planning causes for Filipinos with larger families to be poor. The same figures point out that six in ten Filipina women have unwanted pregnancies. Where should those go with six or more children, aging parents and close to no income? What is happening with the (out-of-school) youth who do not pursue an education, do not have a job and in many cases are drugs and alcohol users?

In 2007, a seriously ill 16 year old from Bantayan Island died a painful death in a Cebu City hospital following a rapid deterioration of health. The Catholic hospital refused to give the patient painkillers on religious grounds. The hospitalization, the medication and all related expenses added up to a sum that the family could not afford to pay. They had nowhere to turn to. Not even the Catholic Church.

The boy’s illness and eventual death was diagnosed as Chronic Alcoholism, leading to resentment on the part of the Catholic Church. Not only did it fail to give financial support but came the refusal to provide funeral services. My family’s private pick-up car had to personally pick up the body, upon returning to Bantayan island. As the tradition goes, the car needed to be blessed. A request for payment followed. Only Church appointed people are allowed to work on the Church premises, adding labour costs and causing also for a delay as it took longer than expected to build the grave.

The Catholic Church failed the family as it did not play a supportive role, though it was happy to lend its services in return for money.

As people we make our own decisions but circumstances dictate our choices nonetheless. This having been said, several factors contribute in poor decision making. As it is, with little or no money there is barely any chance to take a deep breath. Though, as people have unspoken responsibilities towards one another, the Catholic Church has a profound responsibility towards people. It needs to think thoroughly about it’s responsibilities. The Philippines prides itself on being a mostly Catholic nation (85% of a population of 90 million is Catholic), thus more is expected from the Catholic Church. It needs to understand the following it has. It is supposed to maintain a solid support system for communities... This is merely the message of Christ to be implemented and passed on…

Kindly take note.

- Scenes & Angles -
(C) Anthony Jake Huiskamp Atienza

Bantayan Island, The Philippines:Community Portrait

Bantayan Island, The Philippines:Community Portraits

- Scenes & Angles -
(C) Anthony Jake Huiskamp Atienza

Legazpi Stories - Photos -

LegazpiStories

- Scenes & Angles -
(C) Anthony Jake Huiskamp Atienza

Legazpi Stories - Foreword -

LegazpiStories

Foreword


Beauty can be found in all that exists. There where the senses fail to trace fulfillment and a sense of joy, there it lingers waiting to be experienced.

Time is constant. Never-ending, never will it slow down. Yet how we experience time differs vastly from day to day. As it is commonly known, time or life as we know it is build by periods of seven years. Every year is a part, an organ of the body of life which is built up by these periods. These seven year periods are chapters in life. Change is a natural result shaped by experiences and an individual’s character is shaped by circumstances and environment.

Referring to time, its consistency and how one experiences it, it is a given that it can be dissected into decades, years, months, weeks, days and in hours. So it can be dissected into moments.

A moment is merely a snapshot of a lifetime. Therefore it is an event, be it of significance or not. It can be a brief part of a reaction or it can be a causative action. Moments are in a sense dictated by emotion. Have we all not experienced bitterness in a moment of distress? Have we not all experienced laughter, a sudden rush of joy, with family when worries pile up?

Realistically all our situations differ. People react differently from one another to situations and events depending on their background and character. Characteristically speaking though, there are several traits that put us all at equal heights.

Traveling throughout the Philippines I have witnessed various situations and have met individuals who live in these various situations. These have all been very extreme situations and have given me a peek at life in poor conditions as well as witnessing great wealth.

In May 2007 my sister Martha Atienza, who is a video artist (http://www.marthaatienza.com/), filmed a Bio Sand Filter project by an Ngo named A Single Drop (www.asdforsafewater.org/.com) in Legazpi, Albay. I took this opportunity to assist her with filming as well as making photographs. This region had in the second halve of 2006 been in the pathway of numerous typhoons, of which the most destructive proved to be Typhoon Durian (locally known as Typhoon Reming).

I was able to witness firsthand how the region had been affected and how it had dealt with the situation. One of the main tings I have become fascinated with since my visit is the manner in which the community had dealt with and still is dealing with the after effects of the typhoon and the loss of life. Among several things I want to have a better understanding of people’s reaction to certain things and events. I wanted to take this opportunity and write about human behaviour with regard to this.

With special attention to its people, focusing on the human aspect of the circumstances with the aim of observing how people react differently to certain events, I started gathering notes I had made during the course of time. I started writing my observations and in the meantime taking a second and a more thoughtful look at the photographs I had taken.

The report shall consist of stories. Each story shall tell of a specific emotion of a person/family and will describe the situation including outside persons and outside factors. Each emotion shall correlate with one or several levels of forgiveness. The combination of the stories together with the fact giving introduction shall give an insight and understanding of the situation.

The most important thing is that I tell the stories of the community and certain locations. The stories shall, as mentioned, be put in context with outside factors such the political climate with regard to the response to the situation. Above all, the essence of the stories and eventually the report shall be behavioural patterns. Each story shall have a different perspective or focus on the observation of these behavioural patterns. The basic information such as government and Ngo response to the calamity shall be present but serve no more than a guide for understanding the development of the situation.

Always have I intended for these situations to be documented and not influence or introduce any form of interruption into my work. Manipulation of the subject is confined to how I understand it, how I have interpreted the situation and what the eventual aim of the report is.

Nature is beautiful as much as it is harsh. Beauty however can be bittersweet. The fields that used to serve agricultural purposes have become graveyards. The ocean with its soothing voice whispers the names of those swept away by the landslides yet it continues to be a livelihood for the community. Life and death are significant in nature’s cycle. Beauty and its definition is connected to our attitude. Some have turned with hatred towards the soil that has buried lives. Others find comfort in the flowers that grow out of the same soil. I think that beauty is a very significant concept that must be understood.

Always have I been fascinated by time and how we experience it. Time certainly will be an interesting test for the community of Albay. Life has been very overwhelming, uncertain and unstable for them. Times have been very tough for the survivors. They have to move on with their lives, meanwhile dealing with what has happened and perhaps come to terms with certain issues. As time will go by the community will look back at this whole ordeal and situation and look at it as history. If anything they will look back (consciously or unconsciously) and see what has changed and what they have learned. Time is a great healer and does not ask one to forget history but it merely offers understanding and growth.

I always pay my attention to details the greatest. This is evident in my style of writing. When the stories, my writings are stripped to the core, essentially what will remain are descriptions of people and the scenery with as background the situation of the subject.

I am currently in the Netherlands. Therefore all photos will be from my visit to the region in 2007 and as far as facts are concerned I will depend on the internet, from online newspapers to websites from Ngo’s, to keep me updated. In the time coming I will publish excerpts along with photographs on this blog from the report that I am currently working on.



I welcome you to check in on my blog once in a while for updates on this report and voice your opinion.


Regards

- Scenes & Angles -

(C) Anthony Jake H. Atienza