Chapter 23 - The Unfortunate CPBC Decision to Terminate the 4 UIM Staff

                                                         Chapter 23

            The Unfortunate  CPBC Decision    to Terminate  the  4 UIM Staff

                                                                                           

The decision of  top  CPBC leaders to terminate the services of  the 4 UIM staff without valid cause and started  training 34 new staff for  UIM,  was I think   one of   unfortunate incidents  in mid-  1988.

The   4 UIM staff,  were terminated  as their  3 years contracts was about to end. I believed it was a wrong decision made by the top CPBC leadership. The four UIM staff have made very good records in their works in UIM. I recommended them  in the new proposal, to served as leaders  of the 30 new staff  that were recruited and trained for UIM, the Panay Integrated Develoment Project.

Their skills, training,  experiences and capacity to managed people were very  important for the new project to succeed. The new project was approved for funding by the Protestants Association for Cooperative & Development (EZE), West Germany and Diakonia of Sweden. Behind the Panay Integrated Development Projects were Heinz Haverkorn of EZE,  Bo Forsberg of Diakonia,  Olof Lindstrom and Leo Liljengren of the  Baptist Union of Sweden.

 The four UIM staff were needed for the implementations of the expanded project, Panay Integrated Development Project, a UIM program that   need  34  full time staff for 1988 -1991.

The four terminated  staff were     Rev.  Job Santiago,  Project Coordinator, Hernani Bautista, Project Agriculturist, Hector Belloga and Bonifacio Castronuevo, Community Organizers.  There terms as staff of the project were ending,  but they were  part of the new  project proposal that  we wrote,  presented and   approved  by  the  CPBC Board of Trustees. 

As Director and head of the UIM &  NFM.   I   was  the  key  persons  to train   the 30  new recruited staff, assisted by the  4 UIM staff. The new  trainees  came from Central Iloilo, Aklan and Capiz.

Our project proposal  in 1988,  was approved for funding  with  P3 million a year for 3 years.

 It was the biggest project of the New Frontier Ministries with 34 full time staff.

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With proper directions and implementations of CPBC projects,  we  saw a brighter future for CPBC churches and the    communities  they will served.  With a  components of well trained and highly committed  people,  the possibilities for  success was very  high.

One  evil in our country, was  the land ownership system of the Spanish era, used   in the Philippines and  perpetuated by the Americans from 1898. These evil systems of land ownership, was the major causes  of  more than 200  revolts  by the  Filipinos against Spain in different parts of the country. It was also the cause  of the continued wars by  the communists  and other rebel forces against the Philippine government  until today, year 2017.

To help alleviate the economic and social  situations, the  New Frontier Ministries, expanded with economic development  projects that  covers areas in the country where CPBC churches were organized and operates.  It provided  project participants with  development education, leadership formation, peasants, workers, fishermen organizing, community based health projects and labor education.

 It carries trainings and developments of the physically  disabled,    appropriate village  technologies. organizing of  cooperatives and farmers associations, legal &  labor education, rehabilitations projects for   victims of disaster and  defense of   human rights violations. These trainings were needed, as most farmers and farm workers in  many  parts of the country were landless.

The lands were already owned by big land owners, who owned big  parcels of lands, some by  the thousands of hectares. Even they small huts they were living, were owned by the big landowners.

Our  Biblical studies  sometimes, touched  the evils of Roman Imperialism experienced by the people of Israel, who continued  the struggles   and fought for many decades, that was exemplified by the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ.  These    struggles was  similar to the  Filipinos struggle from the Spanish time and  the American rule that were fought hard by the nationalist Filipinos and  the Communist Party of the Philippines for more than a century. 

With the CPBC Assembly mandate, despite some apprehensions and fears, under Marcos martial rule, we undertook the implementation of New Frontier Ministries and Urban Industrial Missions, 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 and  Mindoro, some part of Manila  and Luzon  and some areas of  Mindanao.

From the experiences of these  involvement, we move fast  and organized development projects in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Central Negros, Upper South Negros, Romblon and Northern  Negros, as a response to call of the Convention Assembly for a dynamic program that responds to the need of the people under martial law.

We started preparations for the implementations of “ Panay Integrated  Development Project”   jointly assisted by  Diakonia of Sweden and EZE of West Germany,   thru  Rev. Olof Lindstrom of BUS &  Bo Forsberg of Diakonia  and  Mr. Heinz Haverkorn of West Germany. 

With the implementations of UIM – Panay Integrated  Development Project,  the resources committed by International funding partners   in Iloilo and Capiz  will  be transferred to Mindanao where  CPBC   churches  and communities  were already organized.

The New Frontier Ministries with strong financial resources and a potentials of nearly a  hundred  full time staff trained in organizing and mobilizations, was becoming a strong spiritual,   social, economic  and political  force in the Baptist Convention.

Three things have developed in the social and political situations  during these times.

First, the  top leadership of the Baptist  Convention from 1984  to 1986,  has started to weaver.  There were  two  things that they were deeply concerned. They began to feel their traditional leadership  was being  weakened with the emerging strength and political forces from the   UIM and NFM staff that have strong holds on the leadership of churches  in the provinces. Some top leaders of the Convention began to feel  their leadership  were being   threatened by  the emerging new social  forces.

Second,    the leadership   wavered  at the  strong pressure of the military on them.   With the four (4)   raids and arrests  made by the military --   at   CPU College of Theology, the raid of  Rudy Bernal, as Pastor of Cawayan Baptist Church in their home,  raids and arrest of UIM staff and seminar participants in Cabudian Baptist Church in February 1984.

These was  followed by the 4^th raids  of the UIM, NFM and URM staffs and seminar participants in Guevara Beach, Oton, Iloilo in  April 1984.

The  UIM  Guevara Beach raid, was followed by a daily barrage of  news and commentaries,for nearly 2 weeks, from different Radio  and TV commentators,  partly hitting CPBC leadership for keeping mum and silent, despite the  human rights violations of her people.    I believed the  CPBC leadership felt  grave apprehensions.

Together with  these incidents, was the arrest of  Rev.  Nestor Bunda at restaurant near Jaro Plaza one night, brought to unknown places until he was left at the rice fields near the Iloilo airport, with hundred Baptists and ecumenical groups looking for him, visiting the police stations, calling radio stations asking for his where abouts  through the night, lead by an American missionary, Mrs. Sandy Mosher was an event the time.

These was further followed,  several months later, when an  ecumenical rally of some 50 people  were arrested and detained at  Jaro Police Headquarters for  two days  together with Pastor  Sharon Joy Ruiz Duremdez, CPU College of Theology professor  in  Jaro, Iloilo City. 

In the national level,   the     arrests and detentions of several  NCCP staff and raids of    NCCP related projects in Luzon, Visayas and in  Mindanao, has chilling effects  on the top leadership of the Convention in those days.

By that time,  the military  have    succeeded  in their propaganda that the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), where the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC) was a member,  together with  the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and the Philippine Independent Church (PIC),  with some 30 other national organizations in the country,  were  communist’s  front organizations.

 The   military propaganda,   affected the faith of some CPBC leaders.  Pastors and church leaders who showed the spirit of militancy  were  forced to be   submissive to President Marcos’ martial law regime. Some were   subjected to possible job terminations,  if they were employed at CPBC.

The    CPBC leadership  decided to   terminate the  UIM and some NFM who who were militant in their orientations,  and  staff  whose contracts of 3 years were  ending. The first group targeted for  for termination were the  UIM staff.   These will be will be followed with the possible  termination of  Urban Rural Mission staff –Rev Felomino Mosquera and Eupresito Galuego.   Rev. Joel Valdes  was on next line, as coordinator of the CPBC Woodcraft  Project.   

The  4 full time UIM Staff   were sent official termination  letters. Their contracts was ending that month.

The termination letter of Rev. Sacapano was clear. Their  works will end that month. They were advised to return the Honda Motorcycles assigned to them.   They will work  until the end of this   month

When I  came to the General Secretary  and asked him why I was not involved in the training of the 30  new UIM staff,   he told  me, that was the instruction of the  President. When,  I  went to Rev. Lopez and  asked why he did not  involved  me in UIM Staff   training,  he  told  me  it  was the instruction  of the President.

I felt, I was given a strong message. I am not  needed in the job anymore. I have to resign from my job.   It was a painful feeling. But it  sometimes happened  in some organizations,  both in secular organizations and church organizations. 

I left the room where the  30 UIM staff were having their training at CPBC  Board Room. Rev. Edwin Lopez was leading the training.  I looked  at them.  I have helped identified   some of trainees.  I have helped find the financial resources for this project. Now I have also to   leave them.   I have no choice!

The CPBC leadership have  done to us, what they  had done previously to  other   CPBC projects, like the  “Health Aid to the Needy for Development (HAND)”  headed by Johnny de la Fuente, former President of CPBC. The same thing happened to   “Center for Education and Research (CER)”, formerly headed by  Rev. Conrad Brown, now headed by Rev. Sammy Formelleza - two potential development and educational projects  of the Convention. 

I made the decision to  resign  as Director of  the  New Frontier Ministries. I felt the pressures. It was a hard for the heart.   To continue working under this situation will be impossible.  I will be Director of the 4^th Program of CPBC,  without authority.  I will be  a big   “Flower Base” in the CPBC Office.

After my silent prayer, I wrote my resignation letter. I gave it to Rev.  Penuelito Sacapano. A copy of the resignation, I left  at the GS Office   for the President and the Chairman of the New Frontier Ministries Committee.

I sat  on my desk. I looked out of the window.  I looked at the  blue skies that was growing a bit darker with heavy clouds.   I felt sad and lonely.  It was not sadness for myself.  Neither was it sadness for losing a job.

 It was sadness  for a  lost opportunities of service we could have worked together for the future.  Me and the  4 staff of UIM,  the 3 staff of Sacada Development Project that will soon,   be terminated  their contracts ending in 3 months time. I felt sad for the 30  new staff being trained for the Panay Integrated Development Projects.  I felt in my heart, they may not get the job.

I felt sad for the lost  opportunities we and CPBC  could have done for our churches and the people  of communities  we have committed ourselves together  to serve.

Again, I prayed for God’s guidance and strength after I gave  my resignation letter. It seems, I heared His voice, whispered  in  my heart:  “I will not leave you, nor forsake you.” I closed my eyes again. I tried to capture  the deeper and wider   meanings  of the Lord’s words, whispered in my heart.