New Frontier Ministries (NFM), Consolidated & Integrated Development Program of CPBC

M E M O R I E S: Life and Time of Pastor Rudy Bernal, his Glimpses on History & t he People;s Struggle for Freedom

Chapter 45- New Frontier Ministries (NFM), Consolidated & Integrated Development Programs of CPBC  Churches and Communities from 1977 -1987… (PART 1)

The first phase of my ministry with CPBC started in 1977 with the Pilot ministry on Urban Industrial Mission (UIM) under Rev. Moley Famillaran and Rev. Edwin Lopez, CPBC President and General Secretary respectively, with focus on education, organizing, livelihood assistance and labor education.

Our ministry expanded with the UIM projects in 6 municipalities in Central Panay - Duenas, Passi, Lambunao, Bingawan and Calinog in Iloilo and Tapas, in Capiz. UIM was assisted with funding from the Protestant Association for Cooperation in Development (EZE), a church program in West and East Germany.

During the CPBC General Assembly in Roxas City, May 1977, the delegates “expressed grave concern on specific areas of life, specially –poverty, malnutrition, ill-health, human dignity, environmental problems, violations of human rights and mental and physical tortures” suffered by many Convention Baptist constituents and the general populace under the military of President Marcos dictatorial regimes.

To respond, the CPBC leadership expanded the ministry of Urban Industrial Mission (UIM), and organized the New Frontier Ministries (NFM), with wider mandate and program coverage to meet the pressing needs of our people. The aim of NFM was to help provide relevant and responsive ministry to people presently struggling and suffering under an oppressive, unjust, and exploitative economic and political system, that existed since the colonization by Spain of the country.

This was followed up under the imperial designs of the United States from 1898 to the 1946, a colonial rule that took more than 2 million Filipino lives by the American soldiers, from Luzon, Visayas and the Muslims in Mindanao. This situations was aggravated further with the imposition of martial rule by President Marcos.

The exploitations of the Filipino people expanded under the colonial government of the United States, with the Treaty of Paris of 1898. The Filipinos could have improved their lives after they defeated the Spaniards in 1897. But the Americans came, defeated the Philippine revolutionaries and returned all Spanish properties taken over by Philippine revolutionary forces, including properties of the Roman Catholic churches that were already taken over and were now in hands of the Iglesia Filipina Independente (IFI).

The Americans returned this properties to the Spaniards and their descendants. This evil land ownership system of the Spanish era, was the major cause of more than 200 wars and rebellion fought by the Filipinos against Spain. It was also the cause of the continued wars waged by the Communists and other rebel forces against the government of the Philippines since 1938 to the present.

The New Frontier Ministries, CPBC’s development arms, now expanded with projects that were implemented in strategic areas in the country. These were pilot projects, in strategic areas to serve as center for peoples' education and training. It provided beneficiaries & partners development education, leadership formation, peasants, workers and fishermen organizing, community based health projects, projects for the disabled, practical farmers training, appropriate village technologies, organizing of cooperatives and farmers associations, labor education and organizing of sugar workers.

It’s Biblical studies touches the evils of Roman Imperialism experienced by the people of Israel, who continued the struggle and fought for many decades, exemplified by the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. These Jewish struggle against the Romans, were similar to the struggles of Filipinos fighting the Spaniards, and then, the Americans to regain the land given them by God, but taken over by the powerful and rich Filipinos and Americans and their descendants. Filipino nationalists, the communists and Muslims continued the fight to regain these lands for almost a century.

With the CPBC Assembly mandate, despite some apprehensions and fears under Marcos martial rule, we undertook the implementation of UIM and New Frontier Ministries, pushing to make it a real national development arms of the Convention. It started with building Core groups in different municipalities, that covered Panay Island, Negros Occidental, Romblon, Mindoro, some part of Manila and some areas of Mindanao.

Here were some of the development projects under taken by the New Frontier Ministries, with strong staff components, adequate financial resources and continued expansions to help members of the Baptist churches and the communities within its parishes. We foresaw , that with the continued implementation of this project in 20 years time, from 1977 to 1997, the Convention Baptist Churches in rural areas will be lifted economically, socially and politically together with the communities, that were made part of the CPBC’s strategic development efforts.

1) In 1978, the Urban Industrial Mission project was undertaken in 6 municipalities in Iloilo – in Duenas, Lambuna, Calinog, Bingawan, Passi and Tapas, Capiz. The project has a component of 4 full time staff and one parttime worker to help on some needed tasks. It’s program was community organizing, labor education and labor organizing, practical farming trainings with appropriate village technology, animal dispersals and community health trainings.

The staff were Rev. Job Santiago, Project Coordinator, Hernani Bautista, agriculturists and Hector Belloga and Bonifacio Castronuevo, Community organizers. To enable them to move will in the area of operations, they were provided each with a 125-CC Honda Motorcycle with assistance for gasoline. After working for 3 years, they have helped strengthen our village churches and have reached out to nearly 1,000 villages in 6 municipalities were development education, community organizing, livelihood projects and labor education and organizing. It was funded by EZE of West Germany.

2) In 1978, In Upper South Negros, CPBC started 3 female carabaos, 5 horses and 3 female cows. It was under the leadership of Ptr. Sam Antonio. The horses were envisioned to provide transportation to pastors and lay pastors working in Upper South Negros mountain areas. While the cows and carabaos will provide labor and meat. It was assisted by Board of International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches, USA.

During that time, Pastor Samuel Antonio and his father, Rev. Antonio were working in 24 mountain churches, under the Upper South Negros Conference. After two, years the horses, cows and carabaos were expaned and doubled. The projects were invisioned to help strengthen our ministries in the mountain areas of the Upper South. The project was supported by the Board of International Ministries, USA.

Pastor Samuel Antonio, with intensified military raids in Upper South Negros, later joined the New People’s Army together with his wife.

3) In 1979, at Camp Higher, we started a Pig Breeding Project and Dispersal, that was conceived to provide sustained sources of piglets for pig dispersals to churches and communities in Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique. The piglets provided people, now suffering from ill-health and poverty due to intensified military and NPA activities, some sources of food, rice, vegetables, chickens and piglests

We raised 36 sows and 5 boars at Camp Higher Ground. After 18 months, the project was able to dispersed nearly two hundred piglets to churches and communities in Panay. The dispersed piglets were paid by the projects that were now implemented and existing in different areas in Panay – Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique.

The piggery project also envisioned to provide continues sources of manure and compost fertilize for use in some Camp Higher Ground properties, about 50 hectares, so that it will be made productive and helped provide needed food for the people – upland rice, corn, vegetables, bananas and root crops. In the small river way down, we have started planting maggui, for fiber and possible weaving projects in the future.

The Camp Higher Ground Pigs Projects in 1979 has two (3) full time staff. It was headed by Ptr. Amec Buenafe, a graduate of the Agriculture in a government school and a graduate of College of Theology. The project was assisted by the Australian Baptist World Aid of the Australian Baptist Convention under Rev. Geofrey Parish.

We dreamed that at Camp Higher Ground we would have developed a bigger piggery project, with sustained source of piglets for the New Frontier Ministries livelihood projects, under that difficult situations of martial law. We have started to make a nursery for planting seeds of cacaos and rattan to be planted beside the trees, for future use. The piggery project, will surely provide the needed manure and composts to expand farming in the area of CamP Higher Ground. Under the new leadership the piggery losses and in 2 years was closed.

4. NFM have also started 1985 SACADA Development Project, serving churches and hinterland communities in 7 municipalities of Antique -- Barbasa , Culasi, Vaderama, Patnongon, San Remigio, Sibalom and San Jose. Two full time staff were employed for 3 years - Rev. Felomino Mosquera and Eupresito Galuego, a CPU agriculture graduate. They were assisted by one part time worker. The project has labor education and organizing components, community organizing, pigs dispersal and livelihood assistance, and organizning of farmers associations in villages. It has a Bible Study component with Biblical and historical guides.

It was designed to enable the sacadas who go to Negros every sugar cane crop season to be organized and involved in unionism in Negros. And those who remained in Antique, will be trained and mobilized for skills development and income generating projects. Sacada Development Project was supported by the Board of International Ministries and the Baptist Union of Sweden.

After working for about two year, in hinterland villages where NPA operates, the project became hot with the military. But the staff remained committed and worked with ingenuity, sometimes training also NPA cadres on farming technologies and technology transfer.

Despite the hot political situations and military suspicions, the project continued in its mission. Rev. Felomino Mosquera, who became politically hot with the military, joined the elections, running for Councilor of Patnongon, under the left political party, headed Bernabe Buscayno, known as Commander Dante, who ran for Senator with other senatorial candidates of the Left.

5) In 1985, the North Iloilo Relief Assistance Project was undertaken in response to the devastation of Typhoon Ondang. Three villages in Batad, 6 villages in Estancia, 2 villages in Balasan and 6 villages in Carles were assisted and supported by the Baptist Union of Sweden and EZE in West Germany.

The villages selected were areas where other agencies have not come and provided support assistance. The project has a component of 8 staff-- Betty Solacito, Social Worker, Pastor Jessie Albestor, Susan Panes, Lorna Lapido, a Nurse, Evelyn Saavedra, Social Worker, Melinda de la Cruz, Teacher, Pastor Rex Abanilla and Ms.Frash Ortiz. Partime Staffs were Ptr. Delfin Domingo, Pastor Anting Coloso, Ptr. Raffy Lamputi and Ernest Carvajal.

They staff all worked hard to implement the project – rice distributions, some cash assistance, providing materials to help build the victims homes -- bamboos, nails, coco lumbers for the “sintas” and “sukog” of the homes. Education and training for livelihood assistance.

The project provide half sack of rice per family and P500 cash assistance . We purchased several thousand pieces of bamboos from Maasin, Janiuay, Badiangan, Pototan, Calinog, Lambunao, San Miguel, Alimodian and Leon with some 15 pieces of bambos per family to help rebuild their small homes.

We bought 5 Chain Saws and mobilized 10 operators to cut fallen coconut trees, making them coco lumbers to provide families with coco lumbers to them rebuild their destroyed homes. It has a community organizing and cooperative development works.
(To be continued)