Beyond the call of duty

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – When he entered the police force 20 years ago, the only thing on his mind was to fulfill his basic duty as a policeman, that is, to maintain peace and order in the community. A break from his usual police work in December 2013, however, interrupted his routine and changed his life forever.

Chief Inspector Arthur Gomez, aside from serving as chief of police of the third class municipality of Malinao in Albay, also leads a unique program he calls ‘Ilaw Ko, Kinabukasan Mo’.

The program started from an incident that took place during a routine check in the poblacion of Malinao before Christmas 2013.

While conducting a routine patrol at around 9 in the evening, Gomez’s team chanced upon two female teenagers writing in notebooks under the post of a street light. The girls were sisters Clarisse and Jennlyn Bonaobra of Barangay Bagumbayan. They were in their fifth and sixth grades, respectively.

Gomez was touched by what the Bonaobra sisters said.

“We do not have electricity at home. It’s the light from this lamppost that lets us read and write our assignments,” Gomez quoted them as saying when they were asked why they were out in the streets in the dead of night, when the rest of the neighborhood in this sleepy town would already be in slumber.

“We accompanied them for a few more minutes and escorted them back to their residence about a hundred meters away from the lamppost,” Gomez recounts.

The incident changed his life forever.

Having come from a poor family himself, Gomez said the encounter with the two pupils made him think that he had to do something to help them.

“At first, we passed the hat in the police station to help the two girls. With the money we collected, we bought rechargeable lamps and gave those to them,” the official said.

The story would not end there, Gomez said, because local reporters heard of the incident and interviewed him as well as the two students. The story spread like wildfire in Malinao and nearby towns and provinces.

Gomez started receiving phone calls, texts and even emails from individuals and groups who wanted to do their share to help the two students.

“It made me realize that many people are willing to help, and it inspired me to launch Ilaw Ko, Kinabukasan Mo,” he said.

Gomez said his team started to roam the remote villages of Malinao and, with the help of barangay leaders, identified students whose houses are without electricity, like the first recipients of the program, Clarisse and Jennylyn.

“We began distributing the rechargeable lights as soon as they were delivered to us by donors,” he said, adding that some donations included school supplies.

To date, Gomez said his police team have already distributed lights and school supplies to pre-identified indigent recipients in at least 10 remote villages of Bagumbayan, Kinarabasahan, Bagatanqui, Burabod, and Balsa, all in Malinao, which comprises 29 barangays.

One of the recipients of the program, Janella Lelis, is a young girl who braved rampaging floods at the height of typhoon Juaning in 2012 to save the Philippine flag in Malinao town.

Gomez said they would continue helping poor but deserving students as long as there are people who are willing to help through them.

“We are targeting at least two recipients per barangay a month. But should more donations arrive, we will cover more beneficiaries,” Gomez added. 

He admitted that distributing donations in remote villages means more work for him.

“But every time I see the recipients very jubilant as they receive donations, I feel so gratified and fulfilled,” he said.