Sharing obstacles and challenges

Every eventologist, organizer or planner is always expected to do all the preparations, with the assistance of their staff and crew. They have to check every detail needed for the particular event to make everything smooth, less hitches if there should be any. In fact, even the sound system should be checked. The best sound system is a must. If tokens are necessary, all these should be prepared since day one.

So everytime there is a seminar, I always brief my participants of what to bring and what should not be brought. There are secrets however that should not be told to the participant especially if the seminar is the 3-day, stay-in Catholic Life in the Spirit Seminar, because there will be surprises during the seminar especially on the third day which is the graduation day.

But the latest 3-day stay-in LIS Seminar (for Batch 41) which was as usual held at the Echo Tech Center last October 18 to October 20 was probably a little different as I had observed, because there were more lapses despite all the preparations by the serving batch, batch 40, and the regular auxiliaries, shepherds and servants.

On my part, there were already some signs. First, one of my participants, my grandson Jojo, younger brother of Val Relatado of the serving batch, could not make it due to sudden illness. I found a replacement, one of our group in the long running telestorya, “Tres Metros” named Raprap (his real name is Kenneth Banch). I had to make a last-minute briefing for him, so we had an appointment. I waited for the whole day, two days before the seminar, but he did not show up. So, I told myself, it was not yet time for him.

On day zero, October 17, Wednesday, the serving batch and the regular members of the Ministry of General Services (the elder counterparts of the serving batch) which also included the secretariat committee, the food committee, conference room committee, the liturgy committee, the media committee, the medical and the people in charge for the Prayer Room, were there headed by elders Brother Jimmy Gabuya, Brother Allan Abelgas, Brother Andrei Badayos, shepherds sister Linda Oliva and brother Art Panuncillo, among others. Everyone in-charge of the different committees were checking on everything so that the service for every participant and their tokens would not be overlooked. A member of the serving batch, brother Jaime de Guia who could not be a member of any committee because he just got out of the hospital, treated the serving batch with a sumptuous lunch at the Royal Concourse. His presence during the three days of the seminar was really felt because he was always there.

Day 1. The schedule for registration was supposedly 5:30 in the morning. The first participant who arrived was my participant, Mat Abaincia Jr. He was also number 1 in the list since his family name started with Capital A. But he had to wait for more than an hour because the secretariat was not ready. Comedian Lorte Cabrera and newcomer Pinky Jomao-as later arrived. Their names could not be found in the list, and their sponsor was not yet there. I was already a little bit worried. The snacks for the serving batch could not be served at the Food Room because the usual Food Room was under renovation, so the serving batch took their snacks in an open space. Luckily, meals during the following days were already okay.

I was surprised but very happy to learn that one of the participants was broadcaster and “Balita Karon” anchorman Manny de los Santos Rabacal, while Dante Luzon was one of the speakers. Dante shared his experiences with the giant network ABS-CBN and God’s gift, his talents, that he had been using, including his talents for painting, singing and acting, without due recognition of the giver of these talents, God. He said that he never realized that because he never gave time to thank God for all his talents was the reason probably why he experienced ups and downs. He also shared his worst nightmare, when ABS-CBN reassigned him to Davao City because all the responsibilities fell on his shoulders. He had to manage one AM and two FM radio stations and a TV station with a quota. He said that the hardest part was the quota. After sharing, he sang the very beautiful song of Marco Sison entitled, “My Love Will See You Through.”

The other speakers were Bro. Jimmy Gabuya, the undisputed “Singing Crying Lady” Sister Annie Alo (who had her own story to tell too which was about her very dramatic experience with her two sons who were into drugs), Sister Shirley Belleza who told her story about a dead person, Brother Allan Abelgas who claimed he became a philandering husband when he became a popular PBA player, Head Servant Nonito Lim Chua and Sister Dianne Lim Chua, and again, the very controversial school superintendent Brother Leonilo Oliva who related his sad experiences, as he challenged everyone to keep calm and always have faith in God despite the deluge of intrigues and controversial events.