January 9, 2006VOL. 44, NO. 1Oakland, CA

Bringing water, hope and justice to Bicol’s poorest

By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

Deacon Stanley Lee probably sees more effects of injustice, hunger, disease, and political corruption in a month than most Americans will witness in a lifetime.

In 2001, Lee left his position as director of the Filipino Pastoral Center in the Oakland Diocese for his Philippine homeland to work with the poor – those neglected by government services, rural squatters, those living in urban barrios – and with the unchurched, whom he also counts among the poor.

During a recent visit to the East Bay, he described the challenges facing him as director of the Christian Life Community in the Bicol region. “We need everything, especially food,” he said.

“Many people in the communities I organize are sick because of poor nutrition and sanitation.” He opened a photo album and pointed to a funeral procession led by small children with wooden crosses. Behind them a group of adults carries a small red coffin. A baby is inside.

“He vomited one day and was dead the next,” said Lee. The child’s immune system just wasn’t strong enough to fight off disease brought about by hunger and malnutrition.

The prices for basic commodities such as rice have risen sharply and the cost for public transportation has also gone up, said Lee, but “the minimum salary for work has not increased for the past four years.”

Many students have dropped out of school to help support their families. With parents and the older children all working, often the little ones and sick elderly are left at home to fend for themselves.

Bicol area peasants eke out a living on the small parcels of land that are available to them. Years ago, land grabbers came into the mountains from the lowlands and forcibly took over property which had been in the natives’ families for generations. “The indigenous people are shy. They won’t fight for their rights,” he explained.

Lee travels throughout the mountains with a local priest, collecting and documenting evidence to help long-time residents reclaim what lands are theirs. He takes photos of significant landmarks, such as family burial sites, and records the ancient names of streams and trees that only the indigenous people would know.

He is scheduled to present the completed paper work to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples soon. “By law the government has to give them their land back,” he said.

Although the farmers manage to raise some crops and have a few fruit trees, there is no guarantee they will reap the benefits of their harvests, said Lee. One family, for example, wanted to give Lee a papaya – the last one -- from their tree. They suggested he come back the next day when it would be ripe. “But somebody stole it during the night,” said Lee, shaking his head sadly.

He wasn’t particularly surprised by the severe poverty which awaited him five years ago. He grew up in the Bicol region. Before moving to the U.S. in 1982, he had organized small faith communities there.

While living in the East Bay he had served as a part-time chaplain with the Port of Oakland, ministering to seafarers – 25 percent of whom were from the Philippines. These young men worked 10 months out of every year on container ships to support their hungry, needy families. He had heard their stories.
Now as director of the Christian Life Community in the town of Pamukid, Lee has again become deeply immersed in the lives of the villagers.

He organizes communities around improvement projects such as installing water pumps. Paid for with donations from the Oakland Filipino Cursillo and diaconate communities and from former Philippine CLC members who are now successful businessmen, these pumps mean at least 10 communities now have clean water.

He gives retreats at his Community Life Center and trains lay leaders, who fan out among their neighbors to work with and inspire others. A cadre of nine families is clearing a small plot of land belonging to one of them. The plot will become a community-supported agricultural project and will bring nutritious vegetables and grains to the villagers.

To enable these lay leaders to attend retreats and training sessions, Lee pays for their transportation and food. Otherwise, he said, they could never afford to participate. He also gives to the villages such items as children’s shoes, clothing, batteries, paper and pencils, all purchased with funds from supporters of his ministry.

Shortly before his East Bay trip, Lee celebrated the dedication of a new chapel, made with bamboo and palm leaves. It was his second such event in four months.

“The first chapel fell down from a typhoon in August,” he said philosophically. A more permanent chapel will be built when the CLC community relocates to a permanent lot that members are trying to purchase, said Lee. The sturdier version will be constructed with $5,000 in donated funds from supporters in the Oakland Diocese and will be named for Bishop Emeritus John Cummins, he said.

Meanwhile, dealing with adversity, both physical and political, is a way of life for most Filipinos.

“The condition of the poor is really neglected right at this moment,” said Lee. “We are in the middle of a political crisis. Corruption up to the highest level of government is blatant.”

Two percent of the population – the wealthy – owns everything. “And all the politicians are corrupt,” with nepotism and cronyism ruling the day, he said. “A husband will become mayor. When his term is up, his wife takes over. Then he runs for governor.”

Bribery is common. When Lee first arrived in the Philippines, he spent four days in an immigration center, filled with rows of desks.
But the bureaucrats working there were in no hurry to serve the long waiting lines.

Those who paid money got attention. As a matter of principle, Lee refused to pay these so-called “fixers.” By the fourth day of his wait, Lee’s papers had found their way to a bureaucrat’s desk. The man looked up and said, “Father, over here. I help you.”

“My papers said ‘clergy’ so they thought I was a priest,” said Lee. Anyone with a title eventually receives attention, he added. Being poor does not count as a title, however. And they do suffer.

To help Deacon Lee with his projects, donations can be sent to: Leandro Abadia, 1215 Tea Rose Circle, San Jose, CA 95131. Make checks payable to the; ABS-CBN FOUNDATION, INC. with the memo: Stan’s Ministry.

Deacon Stanley Lee

A family stands in front of their home in an area frequently hit by typhoons.

Workers plant trees in front of a chapel dedicated Sept. 10, 2005. The original building was destroyed by a typhoon in August.

Inside the bamboo chapel, the altar, ambo and cross are made out of tree stumps and other wood found in the jungle. The chapel has a dirt floor and is open on three sides.

Children enjoy an art project during the youth summer camp organized by Deacon Lee and his Christian Life Community.

A group of Christian Life leaders meet in the chapel in September to discuss action plans for their Bicol community.

DEACON STAN LEE PHOTOS

back to top

home