Magsaysay awardee takes part in other people’s dreams

The sword of Damocles dangles over the head of this development worker but neither insurgency nor the risks of volunteerism will stop him from taking part in the dreams of war victims and indigenous Filipinos.

"I became part of other people’s dreams," Ramon Magsaysay awardee Benjamin Abadiano told a public lecture yesterday at the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Manila, in which he encouraged Filipinos, especially the youth, to be empowered by the "spirit of volunteerism" to make a difference in the lives of Filipinos in indigenous communities and outcasts of the drawn-out conflict in Mindanao.

Only 41, Abadiano is this year’s recipient of the Magsaysay Award for emergent leadership for his "steadfast commitment" to improve the lives of indigenous Filipinos.

The risk of dying from a bullet in a crossfire or getting the cold shoulder from distrustful indigenous people has time and again tested Abadiano’s will. But he took it all in stride and never lost sight of his mission: to serve others without expecting anything in return.

His story of inspiration, Abadiano said, began when as a young volunteer fresh from college he encountered the Alangan Mangyans of Mindoro in 1989. Initially they were suspicious of him but he lost no time in gaining their trust. "It was hard to establish trust. You can’t blame them because some people took advantage of them before."

At the advice of Christian missionaries that he focus on the basic needs of the natives, Abadiano proposed an education program that would emphasize literacy, livelihood and leadership skills and uphold Mangyan values and traditions.

This gave birth to the Tugdaan Center for Human and Environmental Develoment. Tugdaan in Mangyan means "seedbed."

After serving hundreds of students, the school later earned recognition from the Department of Education. Eventually Abadiano’s mission was extended, inspired by the Mangyans’ desire and commitment for a more humane and just society.

"Rather than dreaming of things to gain and self-recognition to achieve, we have to let ourselves take part in the dreams of others. We ought to welcome the simplicity of being active participants in the building up of lives that are not our own," he told his audience in the lecture, mostly students.

Abadiano had led other like-minded volunteers in replicating in Mindanao their work in Mindoro. "We had nothing except the right intention and the desire to be of service to others, especially to the indigenous peoples."

In 2001, Abadiano led efforts in the conflict-ridden south to assist hundreds of thousands of people, uprooted by war, to return home and re-establish normal lives.

He told The STAR he was once almost caught in the middle of a massive military offensive ordered by then President Joseph Estrada against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "We had to take that risk," he said.

After working tirelessly and carefully with the military and the Muslim separatist rebels, Abadiano helped establish 52 "sanctuaries of peace" across Mindanao. At the same time, he connected with the south’s indigenous tribes or Lumad.

The greatest obstacle in the development of indigenous peoples there is what Abadiano called "institutionalized injustice," which is imposed by powerful individuals and business interests in violation of their rights and freedoms. Land grabbing is one such institutionalized injustice where there is "forcible disenfranchisement of indigenous people from their ancestral lands."

Another is "human security" concerns that involve the plight and welfare of refugees displaced by war. "Ultimately, human security is work that enshrines a human being’s right to self-protection and survival. It fights for people’s right to live normal lives in communities of peace, free from the sufferings and trauma of continuous armed conflict and free to exist and develop as productive citizens," Abadiano said.