Of cellphones and miracles

It’s a tough crack getting a hard-nosed editor to believe in miracles. My colleague Tony Paño, who edits the Nation, Travel and Networks sections of our paper, found himself on the receiving end of one last week.

In a cab on his way to work last Sunday around noon, Tony realized that he had lost his cellphone, a fancy high-tech Sony Ericsson model. He retraced his steps and attempted to look for the tricycle he had ridden in in hopes of finding the phone, then returned home just to make sure he hadn’t left it there. Feeling totally disconnected and discombobulated, he came in to work, psyching himself up to accept the fact that his phone was gone. The week before, on a tech trip to Singapore, he had won a limited edition Escada designer phone in a raffle; perhaps, he thought, this was the flip side of his good fortune. Throughout the afternoon he tried calling his number but could not get through. Finally around 6 pm he got an answer, and it wasn’t at all the answer he expected.

His phone had slipped out of his pocket in the tricycle he took from his house. After dropping Tony off, the driver, Ramon Cuenca, picked up another fare. As he was loading bags of sand for this fare, he spotted the phone on the seat of the tricycle. He continued about his business and later in the afternoon, after his tricycle rounds I assume, Ramon went to service at the Camarin Fundamental Baptist Church in Kalookan City. There he sought the help and advise of his brothers in the faith. They took Tony’s sim card, put it in another phone (his is such a high tech phone you need advanced training to operate it) and called a couple of Tony’s friends, who in turn called him.

Tony finally got to speak to Ramon, who told him to come over to the Camarin church to pick up his phone. After closing his page, Tony hopped into a cab and headed for Kalookan City. Along the way they got lost and had to ask for directions. They stopped a tricycle driver, who offered to lead them straight to the church. There, before the congregation gathered for Fathers’ Day service, Ramon gave his testimony and the phone was returned to Tony.

"Mahal ako ng Diyos (God loves me)," was all Tony could say. From this experience Tony may perhaps find much more than his cellphone.