A Person With So Much Goodness: A Tribute to Bert Cacayan

CEBU CITY (MindaNews) – When Bert Cacayan decided in 2022 to publish his memoirs with the title – So Much Goodness, he asked me to write the book’s Foreword. And this is what I wrote: “In every generation, there always arises a group of young men and women whose clarity of vision, strength of commitment, courage of purpose, brilliance of ideas, authenticity of spirit, kindness, and graciousness make them stand out as that generation’s model.”

I meant every word that I wrote and it came from the heart as Bert had not only been one of my closest friends but I considered him a younger brother. When I heard the shocking news on Tuesday (February 13) that he died after spending almost two months in two hospitals in Davao City (since Christmas Day 2023) and undergoing the transurethral resection of the prostate or TURP which is the surgical removal of the part of the prostate gland, like the members of his family and his circle of friends, I was devastated and heartbroken.

News spread quickly across the archipelago and overseas for Bert had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances on account of his work experiences and a variety of engagements in the NGO world. When I posted a notice of his death on Facebook Tuesday, messages of condolence for the members of his family swiftly came one after another from all across the country and the different corners of the world. It amazingly showed the hundreds of people whose lives were touched by this gentle, kind and compassionate soul!

Bert, who was from Buenavista, Agusan del Norte had entered the Regional Major Seminary in Davao City. However, I did not remember meeting him when he was a seminarian. I can recall first meeting him when he was working with Fr. Carlos Abesamis SJ in promoting the Third Look of Jesus Bible seminars under the National Secretariat of Social Action, Justice and Peace (NASSA) circa mid-1970s while he was based in Manila. Eventually he returned to Mindanao and the Board hired him to join us at the Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference Secretariat (MSPCS), helping to take care of the Alay Kapwa Program and run seminars including the Bible seminars. He had decided not to pursue his original intention to become a priest but remained single for a while.

As the MSPCS staff members were in constant move traveling to the various Dioceses across Mindanao for meetings, consultations and seminar-workshops, we found ourselves journeying in pairs and oftentimes I was with Bert. Those were difficult and scary years as we had to make sure not to compromise our security. Nonetheless, we thoroughly enjoyed the travels and being involved in a variety of activities. Being young, healthy and open to all possibilities life could offer, we found the days we shared quite exciting and enjoyable.

We easily bonded together and became close friends as we found our different personalities gelling together. What strengthened the bond was our shared commitment to be part of the resistance movement to oppose martial law and our faith options. He was such an asset in our office and provided me a lot of support as head. Bert was our Bible scholar and theologian. He was also a good writer and editor while also excelling in giving talks and facilitating meetings.

When the Alay Kapwa program was set up by NASSA and we served as the regional center to promote it among the different Dioceses, he served as Coordinator. To help the participants of the Bible seminars to have a reference material they can refer to, Bert produced a Manual that became like a textbook for his students. Being in Cebuano, this became a best-seller as many church workers found it most helpful including the BEC leaders.

While faced with a lot of excitement and fun in those years we were together, those were also years of living dangerously! Thus we were not just close friends but we were comrades-in-arms watching each other’s back. We knew – like the others in our merged Secretariat – that we were constantly at risk because we were in constant surveillance by the military intelligence agents. There was always a possibility that our office would be raided; in fact we got raided once when the military looked for “subversives” who were supposed to have transacted business with us in our office.

There were also personal problems that arose. Naturally we worried about problems cropping up in our own respective families. As Bert and I were the eldest sons in our families, we constantly tried to make sure we would be available when our parents called on us for help to look after the younger siblings.

Eventually, Bert explored romantic possibilities and made his choice to court Agnes Miclat, who was in our MSPCS-MISSSA merged office. She was in-charge of the Indigenous Peoples Ministry. Soon we knew that they had fallen in love with each other. Everyone in the office and the network of their friends were jubilant when they got hitched together and later when they knew of their wedding plans. This was the kind of love nurtured in a time of turmoil and struggles. When they decided to tie the knot, Bert asked me to be his best man at the wedding ceremony. I was naturally happy over having a role to play at the marriage ritual.

Executive Secretaries of the MSPC in those years only had a three-year term which was non-renewable. I had taken over in 1976 so by 1980, a new Executive Secretary was to be elected by the Conference delegates meeting at the MSPC IV scheduled in Pagadian City. The staff and many of our supporters were unanimous