By ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
www.nordis.net

It was raining one early evening. At the garbage drop point of our barangay, he was there ensuring that the garbage brought by residents were segregated. As in most instances these garbage in bags were not segragated, biodegradable from non-biodegradable, and he took on the task of segragation and garbage managment in general.

Every Monday, whether it was raining or not, he was at the drop point to ensure that the garbage are segregated for pick-up by the city government truck on the early morning of the next day.

The man I am referring to is simply known in our barangay as Kap. He was Kapitan Joseph S. Del-ong of Barangay Puliwes, one of the 128th barangays of the city.

Kap Del-ong will be known not only for performing his role as the father of the Puliwes community.

I have known Kap to always ensure our garbage is segregated at the community level. And if somebody did not do his job he did it without reservation. Hence I understood how he felt when one time, barangay Puliwes was declared by the city as one of the dirtiest barangays.

Like him, I vehemently protested against the city’s declaration that our barangay was one of the dirtiest. To show my concern when he raised the issue personally to me, I told him that only the barangay residents can attest to that if we are among the dirtiest barangays, and to what extent he remissed on his duty of ensuring our garbage is managed properly. Not those who visit once or who never visited our barangay can claim that the Kap, the offcials, and the residents remissed on their duties.

In my conversation with Kap, I told him that I pass through several barangays on my way to work everday and I have observed that in some of the barangays their garbage are not segragated, nor neatly placed in the assigned dropping point area before they are taken by the city’s garbage trucks. Yet these barangays – which failed to segregate and manage their garbage – are not among those declared dirtiest. What an irony!

I tried to cheer up Kap. And we agreed that we will take the experience of being the dirtiest as a challenge especially for among us residents. Anyway, we, the residents, in time of joy and sorrow, will be lending our hands to each other. And his smile was an approval of such challenge.

Kap was a good man. While his term as a BoCap (Barangay Captain) has yet to end, such was shortened when he had an “attack” the last week of August; he passed away 10:10 PM on August 31. His passing away was unexpected due to the illness that had not shown earlier before the attack, then his hospitalization, and finally his death. Yet it was his decision to join his creator.

Yes, the family, the relatives, the community of Puliwes and the city lost a man dedicated to serve his people. But as they say, we don’t own our lives, we borrowed it from the Creator. May his good deeds serve as an example for us and need to emulate. And as he will be burried by Saturday, September 8, I say Kap: Rest in Peace and in Peace you rest. # nordis.net