CEBU, Philippines - Sometimes too much adversity comes to one’s life, too much for the person concerned to comprehend, let alone survive. The usual reaction is to question God: “Why?!†Often there’s no answer.
Often it is up to the person himself to make out the meaning of his sad experience. Maybe there’s something about it to bring on something better. And adversity sometimes is the best motivating factor to awaken a slumbering spirit.
Paterno R. Tano was on a motor boat that turned upside down amid a tempest on December 11, 2001. A tropical storm had hit his hometown, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental. Many other small fishing boats were caught at sea.
Dondon, Paterno’s nickname in their community, had been stranded at sea for the third day when the horrifying big waves buffeted their group of small boats. “Daghan kaayo naabotan sa bagyo; daghang nangamatay atong higayona,†he recalled those who were with him during the turbulence and the many who died. After struggling to resist the pounding by the waves through the night, their boat finally gave in by six in the morning.
The few of them remaining were all left floating, trying to hang on to any floating debris they could find. As the storm eventually subsided, a fishing boat that got lost earlier at the height of the typhoon came to sight. It had come to rescue them. They were brought to Tambobo Bay in Siaton, where they stayed in the home a good fellow named Gaston.
“Buotan kaayo na siyang tawhana kay mao’y nagtabang namo… gipakaon mi, gihatagan mi og sinina. Unya gihatagan pa gyud mi og pamasahe pauli sa amo sa Sta. Catalina.†Every act of kindness that came with the rescue was big miracle for the survivors. Dondon himself was immensely grateful to the person who helped them. His view of life had also been changed by the experience.
Dondon had quit being a fisherman. He tried his luck in Manila, where he found a job as a company driver for a laundry supplies distributor. Within 12 years, he rose up the ranks. From being a driver, he became a chemist’s assistant, then production manager at the factory, where all the products would have to pass through him for quality assurance.
He thought that he was already having a good job, but when he computed his earnings for a whole year it turned out he only had pittance left. He thought about the family’s future, the children’s education, and what if anyone of them got sick? He realized that living in Manila was really costly.
He decided to send his family to Samboan, Cebu. Three months later he followed. Life seemed not done playing its cards on Dondon. He arrived in Samboan with no prospects for a job whatsoever. But with a family to look after, he took whatever job was available – climbing coconut trees for a fee. He kept at it for a year. At times while climbing the coconut tree, his tears would fall thinking about how hard life had been for him. But it never crossed his mind to give up; he would do everything just so his children could live.
Just when he was getting resigned to the idea that life was just meant to be miserable for him, a job offer from a nearby resort came. He was hired as a gardener, carpenter and driver. Later on when the tour guide of the resort resigned, he became the immediate replacement since he was already familiar with the places of interest in the town.
Today, Dondon is an all-around employee in the resort. He is contented and happy; his life, he says, is much better than before.
This story of Paterno Tano is definitely no rags-to-riches tale, but certainly his life is a living testimony that when one has the right anchors he just survives any storm that comes his way. And that is treasure enough!