It took me four hours to write my Eagle Eyes column for Tuesday but its a labor of love as it honors a friend and mentor, Pastor Delbert Rice. The Ateneo de Manila University is honoring Pastor Rice on Tuesday so I thought it would be good to publish this then. Below are the opening and closing paragraphs of the column entitled A big but very gentle footprint: Today, 16 September 2014, together with five other remarkable individuals with extraordinary contributions to our national life, the Ateneo de Manila University confers posthumously on Reverend Delbert Rice the 2014 Parangal Lingkod Sambayanan. The university award is in recognition of Pastor Rice’s pioneering efforts in sustainable upland development, agro-forestry, land rights protection, education for indigenous peoples, and institution building. To me, however, and to many of us who knew the good reverend up close and personal, the award is for much more than that. xxx Indeed, until the end of his days, Pastor Rice taught me. The last time I saw him was in Cagayan de Oro. It was sunset and we were looking down at the Cagayan river from the house of Nonette and Chip Fay, and I remember asking him: “How do you do it, Delbert; in your 80s, you are still up and about, still pushing for change, retirement seems to be not an option?” He looked at me, with that gruff smile, and said: “It’s a matter of duty, Tony.” Surrounded by his family and friends, at age 86 years old, Pastor Delbert Rice passed to eternal life on 8 May 2014 in his beloved Imugan. Immediately, when I heard the news, I posted this in Facebook: “I could never imagine that he will one day leave us. Pastor Delbert Rice, who influenced me in so many ways I cannot count them. American but more Filipino than many of us, the most idealistic but also pragmatic to the extreme, always frank and spoke truth to power, but never unkind and violent. He was a friend of indigenous peoples, who lived among them without judgment and much love. Once, when I was a high level government official in charge of the environment of the country, he insisted that I go up the mountains with him to see the truth and breathe the good. And there I saw him with his people and how much they loved each other. And there I saw a witnessing of a faith that does justice, lives integrity and brings mercy. Borrowing the words of Nina Galang not to grieve but to celebrate a life well-lived, with a footprint so big yet gentle, because indeed Pastor Rice was a giant who lived among us.”
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 16:30:14 +0000
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