MABALACAT CITY – A constituent from this city, through a letter, expressed her appreciation to Mayor Crisostomo Garbo, saying his leadership came “at the right time”.
“You were meant to be our mayor. Dacal pu talagang salamat,” said Anna Liza Presco-Perez, a “proud Mabalaqueño”.
According to Perez, it took her a while to write the letter, for fear of being misunderstood or misquoted. She merely wanted to thank “those people who mattered, not only in my life, but to many like me, struggling, in sickness and in endless pain” before the year ended.
Perez said she never cast a vote in the past, losing hope.
“Life is what we make it. Magsipag mu, for sure misadsad ka. Akalingwan ku, evil will never win with God, that amidst the darkness there will be light. Until you came,” Perez said in her letter to Garbo.
Perez also said that although weak, she managed to attend the mayor’s victory party because she “didn’t want to miss that special event – a triumph against the wicked.”
“You really came in (sic) the right time, and that was God’s plan,” she said. “Thank you pu at ikayu pu ing meging instrument para mibangun ya ing Mabalacat, para ding tau mika sense of hope la. Pandemic changed so many lives, robbed so many hopes, others even lost sanity. Kagaling na talaga Lord, he makes all things beautiful, in His time,” she said.
Perez told the mayor that she has been suffering from pancreatic cancer since 2018 – the most dangerous and painful of all cancers and with only a 5% chance of survival, according to research.
“Gagawan ku lang balitug reng painkillers and alang aldo na eku danasan ing pain angga pa ngeni. I have savings but meant for the future of my children, and epu biru ing gastus king treatment – paulit-uli na chemotherapy, tomotherapy, laboratory, etc. Magigisan din pu pera. I am a hard worker pero this time gang bisa ku pang magobra until wee hours, limited ing kanakung sikanan,” she said. “Dacal pung salamat, you were so generous in your medical assistance program. Itang balu mung atin sumaup keka king katatakan asnang karagul pung bage. You just don’t help materially; you also give us assurance na atin kaming kayantabe esp (sic) when things go wrong. You were meant to be our mayor. Dacal pu talagang salamat.”
She ended her letter with a bible verse from Ruth 2:12: “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
Garbo, for his part, answered the letter: “Napuno ng galak ang puso ko pagkabasa ko, tila ba lahat ng pagod, kahirapan, at sakripisyo sa taong ito ay napunasan at nawala. At sa aking pagnilay-nilay, ang liham na ito ang para bang nagsasabi na, ‘keep the strength’.”
“Alam kong hindi pa rin madali ang haharapin natin pero tila ba ako ay sinabihan na, ‘tuloy lang ang laban, tuloy lang ang paninilbihan.’ Sa puso ko, yes, that is what I am going to do in 2022 with full determination and renewed strength,” Garbo said.
He also told his constituents, ‘Tuloy Lang Ang Buhay, Kaya Natin Ito!’ Huwag tayong mawalan ng pag-asa, tuloy ang pakikibaka sa buhay. God loves us. He had shown that in many ways this year. He will never abandon us,” he added.
Garbo then thanked the letter sender, for giving him renewed strength.
“…binigyan mo ako ng regalo na hindi nabibili ng pera. Salamat sa iyo,” he said.
