In 1992, Bapa looked so happy with his eyes sparkling with gratefulness. I called him "bapa" (read:meaning uncle in the Maguindanaon dialect), and he was the community leader of some displaced Tiruray families in a town in the province of Maguindanao, one of the component provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines.
Some Tiruray families in Maguindanao, belonging to the cultural minority group in the province, were internally displaced by a pocket war between a Moro group and a logging company in that said year. During that time, efforts of government officials were being sustained to assist the displaced families survive the post-war condition.
I was then the head of the Office on Cultural Affairs of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (OCA-ARMM) under the leadership of my father, Atty.Datu Zacaria Candao, the first elected Regional Governor of the ARMM in 1990.
Primordial for me during those ill-fated times was to do something for the displaced families, mothers,their children and the husbands who lost their means of livelihood owing to the incident. My staff and I went to the area in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development of the ARMM then to make our joint mission possible.
What amazed me was the purest expression of gratitude of bapa and his people for the help we had extended. They even danced to show us how happy they were for our presence.
Deep inside, I was really overwhelmed by their gesture. Little did they know that I was on cloud 9 for the fulfillment derived from their smiles was unexplainable.
Doing things beyond ourselves will really give us an internal boost that is enough to keep us going and going for the best. The knowledge that I was able to help the truly deserving people through my own little way was indeed very inspiring.
I don't advocate nor encourage the dole-out mentality and it is imperative that government agencies should be systematic and sensitive enough to know the limitations of social assistance. For there are instances when government's help is being abused and this leads to socio-economic dependency that cripples self-reliance among community members.
That is why it is important that we know who the right beneficiaries are with the right reason at the right time.
Helping others is also being helpful to ourselves too for it will enhance our understanding of our importance in the community, to fill the empty space requiring commitment from us so that we can think and act beyond ourselves for those who are not as privileged as we are.