AFTER spending almost the entire morning during the middle of last week with him, I told Spanish Abelardo Garcia Gutierres that my faith in humanity was restored.
Well, it was never really lost. I still and continue to believe that there are a lot of good-intentioned people out there that do a lot of work, far away from the spotlight, that, in one way or another, provide for individuals and communities to enjoy better lives.
It is just that, sometimes, my perspective gets a bit blurred from what I read in the news and see in the streets.
Look, I know it is the election season already, and every politician out there is imploring love of country and of the Filipinos all over again. But is that really it? These politicians spend millions in the campaign trail.
Given that they might have campaign contributors, please do not tell me that all they really want to do is provide service to our countrymen. Filipinos were not born yesterday. We are starting to understand that as a country.
And it leaves me really exasperated that politicians are willing to go to great lengths, including invoking the dead, in their quest to get elected.
If politicians really want to serve the country, why not just channel, instead, what they are spending during elections to the poor communities and the needy. I am pretty sure these people are not hard to find, despite the improving economic conditions in the country.
Gutierres, or Lalo as friends and colleagues in Remar Rehabilitation Center of the Philippines Inc. commonly call him, said they have, for a long time, approached politicians to provide them with aid, but received absolutely zero support for the work they do.
Lalo, Remar’s manager in the country, told me the standard response to them was the lack of funds. There were other excuses given, which, he said, were very frustrating. But, at the same time, Lalo said they have to stay the course and survive.
I know most in the country are unfamiliar with Remar (Rehabilitation for the Marginalized). It just makes the work they do more compelling and honest. It is something we all can support and help succeed.
Remar started in Spain back in 1982, in the city of Vitoria by the husband-and-wife team of Miguel Diez and Maria Carmen Jimenez, along with Maria’s two brothers, Javier and Angel.
They come from a privileged Spanish family but chose to receive in their home marginalized people and started to put into action what they have learned from the Bible—feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, and mercy toward the needy.
Lalo said 95 percent of those who go to Remar are drug addicts, prostitutes and probably even murderers. They are accepted to the facility for free and, once rehabilitated, they are deployed to the 70 countries where they have operations.
Lalo should know. He used to be one of them. He was a former drug addict who, at one point in his life, also became a drug dealer.
Lalo started using drugs early in his teenage life. He found employment in a mining company where he worked for 11 years, but used all his earnings to buy drugs.
Get this, back in the 1980s, Lalo was already earning P50,000 monthly. That was a lot of cash for someone who lives with his parents and without any obligation to pay utilities.
Lalo is shaking his head while telling that to me. He could have been living a comfortable life in Spain now. But he said God had other plans for him.
Lalo entered Remar back in 1991, after his mother told him about the program. Even though he did not want to hear about religion, Lalo told me he had an enlightenment.
He told me God is now at the center of his life and that he has found his calling—helping other people. He said that, with drugs, he was only helping himself.
He described that during the 1980s all the way to the mid-1990s, drugs menaced all parts of Spain.
Lalo said there are drug issues in the Philippines now, with shabu available to ordinary people, while heroin and cocaine are present to those who can afford it. He also discussed the children that sniff rugby in the streets.
Lalo added that the right path is by assisting other people. True religion, to him, is not only about speaking about it but by acting on it. He is happy that God saved his life, unlike 50 of his friends who have all died from drugs.
He said that in Spain now, the Catholic Church has to deal with trust issues, as priests have been seen drunk or inside clubs.
Lalo arrived in the country in December 1998, but lost his suitcase in Paris during his flight. He remembers the view of squatters around the airport when his flight was touching down and the four-hour traffic from the airport to Quezon City.
During his first year in the Philippines, Lalo was telling himself that he could die in the country and was hoping that he would be ordered to return to Spain.
By 1999 Remar opened one of the first Spanish restaurants in the country, Restaurante Verbo at the corner of Mother Ignacia Street and Edsa in Quezon City, to support their programs in the country.
It quickly gained patronage, even among the country’s high society. Lalo said House Speaker Sonny Belmonte, along with the Ayalas and the Sorianos, is a patron of the restaurant.
The restaurant eventually closed, as none of them had managerial experience in running a restaurant. A store that sells brand-new and secondhand furniture, appliances, clothing, books, toys and everything else in between eventually replaced it. To date, it remains the source of Remar’s funding.
In the country, Remar has a 4,000-square-meter compound in Caloocan City, which Spanish government funded to purchase the property. It has three buildings and has the capacity to house more than 100 individuals.
Lalo said they would never discriminate. Everyone is welcome in their compound and can stay there for as long as he/she wants. Once inside, individuals are provided food, clothing and a place to sleep.
Lalo told me they have already hosted more than 1,000 Filipinos in their compound since it opened. However, the sad part about it is that those they have welcomed even stole items and cash from them. Still, Lalo said they hold no grudges and will even welcome those individuals back.
Lalo starts his day at 5:30 a.m. by cooking breakfast for those who are staying in their compound. Then he goes to their Quezon City shop to take care of paperworks, and then goes to local government offices or government agencies, as necessary. He ends his day in their compound by 7:30 p.m.
Remar’s Assistant Director Francisco Lopez, who runs its day-to-day operations while also giving Bible lessons to those hosted in the compound, joins Lalo in their shop. Lopez, who is a rehabilitated drug addict in Spain himself, has been in the country for 15 years.
Lalo and Paco both told me that they would never go back to doing drugs. If someone offered them drugs, they will explain its dangers and then invite that individual to Remar.
They said that it is a miracle for them to be here in the country and that people should accept God when He comes knocking into their lives.
For comments, suggestions, and reactions, I can be reached at raalzona@yahoo.com.