Long-time Gawad Kalinga (GK) volunteers like Dr. Jerome Paler and his wife Gina devote most of their time building homes for the poor in Southern Leyte and know too well the demands of volunteer work for GK. As head of the GK Southern Leyte, Paler oversees the houses being built for the destitute.
Despite all the hectic demands of the work, the Palers managed to make another personal sacrifice – they adopted a boy they found neglected in an impoverished village in Leyte.
Nurturing the boy they named Michael, they found out, was a challenging task. The Palers, who already have three children, experienced a lot of difficulties rearing the child.
Dr. Paler remembers seeing Michael for the first time on April 7, 2002 during a Couples for Christ Medical Mission in Leyte.
They walked into a barangay that was very far from the main highway and could only be reached through a slippery path. Worse, the community had no electricity, no water system and one semi-functional toilet.
When Dr. Paler examined the children, he found out they were malnourished and worm-infested.
While Dr. Paler was examining the children, he noticed a scraggly boy looking forlorn in one corner. He found out the boy named Michael was suffering from bloody stools due to a compulsion to eat stones.
Dr. Paler found out Michael’s parents deserted him when he was a baby and left to the care of his foster parent Erning, who was always out earning a living.
Hearing Michael’s sad tale prompted Dr. Paler to adopt the boy. After seeking permission Michael’s uncle, he brought the boy to the hospital for medical treatment. Michael suffered from severe anemia.
After a week’s confinement, Michael was slowly nursed back to health and started to smile again.
When Michael’s uncle gave a go-signal for adoption, Dr. Paler brought the young boy to his house.
Dr. Paler’s wife and children happily welcomed Michael into the family.
But days following the adoption, they began to realize the challenges that come with caring and loving an adopted boy.
Michael was basically a precocious kid and always found himself in trouble.
He would sneak out of the house and into the street where once he was hit was by a motorcycle, which gave the Palers much anxiety.
Michael caused further headache to the Palers when, without permission, he ate street foods and contracted hepatitis A. In school, he drove a teacher to tears and resignation because of his precociousness.
One time, Michael had the Palers in a panic when he got an asthma bout and had a cardiac arrest. For three minutes he stopped breathing. Luckily a hospital was near their house and he was immediately resuscitated.
At eight years old, Michael is also illiterate and can only identify colors.
But despite all his precociousness, Michael is affectionate and courteous, ready to kiss the hands of elders and that is why the Palers did not easily give up on him.
The Palers added that not only was Michael transformed from a lonely, malnourished and unloved boy, the community where he came from was also transformed into a panoramic village called the GK Mabuhay House.
Dr. Paler never fails to bring Michael to the village to reconnect with old friends and relatives.
He recalled an instance when a few weeks after Michael was discharged from hospital, and tried to munch down stones and even taught his sister, Panpan, to eat one too.
After a gentle reprimand, Dr. Paler said, Michael did not do it again and now no longer eats stones. Michael turned 12 last year.
The story of the Palers and their struggle to raise Michael is part of the trilogy of the Gawad Kalinga movie "Paraiso." The episode "Ang Kapatid Kong si Elvis" (My brother Elvis) stars Michael V. and Carmi Martin who play characters based on Dr. Jerome and Gina Paler.
Upon coming home to Southern Leyte, the couple immediately started searching for a potential site driven by criticism from others that they had not started a process of social transformation in their home province.
"However, when I was exposed to the people living in unimaginable conditions, the hurt ego turned into guilt then later on love and then compassion. The passion deepened when I saw apathy, gross negligence and even people taking advantage of the poor," Dr. Paler said.
Gawad Kalinga built a slew of villages in typhoon-ravaged Southern Leyte through a concerted effort of the local government, the church and ordinary people.
"Attacking poverty is indeed doable giving me inspiration that it can be done; nothing is impossible (because it is) God’s work. The tragedy in Southern Leyte even shifted the work of GK into high gear to go beyond relief," Dr. Paler said.
These days Dr. Jerome and wife Gina juggle family time with GK work, proud that all their children are involved in GK service.
Dr. Paler looks forward to serving the poor full-time and shares his dream for the country,
"It is just a matter of time that I will submit myself fully to the service of the Lord, with the rate we are going, I claim that we will be able to raise up this once proud nation again."