18th Rosa Mystica Mission in the Philippines (5)

Baluntay and Poblacion

The last three days of the mission were less adventurous. However, the medical activity is more intense. There were no more perilous climbs in the mountains; it was the barangays of the Alabel plain that were visited. The population density is very high there and the misery, both physical and moral, seems more pronounced.

In Baluntay, Islam is very present, and it is a militant Islam that is developing under the influence of radical Islamist currents. On the island of Mindanao, in fact, more than 20% of the population is Muslim. After many years of bloody conflicts and negotiations, a Muslim autonomous region was created in 1989, which was replaced in 2019 by the Bangsamoro autonomous region.

The Sarangani region, where the Rosa Mystica Mission operates, is not included in this autonomous region located further northwest of the island. However, the Muslim presence there is significant, mainly in the plains and coastal regions.

Many women and even little girls wearing the hijab have attended the mission. Its openly Catholic nature did not put them off. The mission is of course open to all. But Yolly, the permanent nurse at ACIM-Asia, noticed that the mission's Catholic identity had alienated the most convinced Muslims. 

Many baptized Catholic women convert to Islam through marriage. But Notre Dame des Pauvres [Our Lady of the Poor] did not move from the Ardennes to the Philippines for nothing. A woman in her 60s and a 19-year-old girl confided in Yolly that they wanted to return to the Catholic Faith.

The older woman was perfectly aware of the danger she was courting, but seemed determined to face it. The younger lady asked Yolly for discretion, because she was under the supervision of her uncle. Timothy Pfeiffer was able to remind them of their early catechism on the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation of the Son of God. They are great stumbling blocks in Islam.

The two days in Poblacion opened the mission to the surrounding barangays. The crowd rushed to register the sick in the early morning. Already, in Baluntay, the optician and our surgeon had not been able to serve all the patients, and had been obliged to have them come back the next day. More than 500 patients were consulted.

In Poblacion, on Friday, saw the sam level of activity: 469 patients, including 91 children, were received by Dr. Viray. 15 surgical interventions could not be performed and were postponed to Saturday, which was the last day of the mission.

A thanksgiving procession closed the last day of the mission. Our Lady of the Poor – carried by two soldiers and followed by the volunteers who leaned over her children during these six days – went around the immense and new municipal buildings of Alabel.

The mayor, who had dedicated his municipality to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 2016, joined the entire Rosa Mystica team in Pinobre Park for the traditional dinner. In his speech of thanks, he invited the Mission to return next year to his territories.