By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
LITERALLY and figuratively speaking, there’s this tyro cop in Bacolod City whose “bellicose for life” is forever fixed for his family composed of five blinds. Truly an inspiration! His story can really “move mountains”.
He’s Police Officer (PO1) Val Liansing, 24. His parents and three siblings are blind. Their blindness is genetic and almost beyond cure. It’s an “unwanted inheritance” from their ascendants from their mother’s side.
Science termed such as “inherited retinal diseases” (IRDs) – a group of diseases that can cause severe vision loss or even blindness.
Each IRD is caused by at least one gene that is not working as it should.
And, worse, IRDs can affect individuals of all ages, can progress at different rates, and are rare.
Well, I have to admit that talking to this lad via a face-to-face radio interview on Radyo Negrense was no ordinary conversation. In every question I threw and every answer he delivered, it can be sensed that it is as if there’s this sort of hidden force directing us both to be unemotional.
Bits and pieces per se of his life story seem to be “cryable”. However, Val’s inner strength is holding back his tears. Formidable.
But what made me “melt” was when Val confessed: “Nag-abot sa punto nga ginapamangkot ko ang Diyos kon nga-a amo ni nga sitwasyon ang ginhatag niya sa akon.”
Gosh! Questioning God sometimes leads someone to have an untrusting heart. But Val said, “Now, I know… I am blessed! Ginluto gid ko sang husto sang mga pagtilaw sa kabuhi ko. So, as the time goes by, nabaton ko na gid man ang akon kapalaran. ”
‘HARD TO SKETCH’
Too, Val confided that his life, for ordinary beings, is somehow “hard to sketch”. But left with no choice, he himself drew it using his day-to-day struggles as “patterns and coloring mediums” until he almost perfected everything.
The output: superb!
“Wala na siguro sang pinaka-budlay nga butang sa kalibutan nga wala ko naagyan – magtuytuy sang bulag nga nanay, kadlawan kag i-bully sang mga classmate, mangabuhi nga gutom kag wala-wala gid kag mag-serbi nga mata, kamot kag tiil sang bilog nga pamilya,” Val narrated.
“But then,” he stressed, “all these made me even stronger and tougher during my college days at the West Visayas State University (WVSU)-Calinog Campus in Iloilo, and until I joined the Philippine National Police (PNP) two years ago.”
But believe it or not, highlighting his struggles leading to a positive appreciation and optimism in life was the strange “guava-eating” moment.
“Sang wala nag-abot ang allowance ko sa 4Ps sa sulod sang duha ka bulan, tapos wala man sang ginpadala ang ginikanan ko, so, isa ka adlaw gutom na gid ko sa sulod sang WVSU-Calinog Campus. Kay wala na gid may mahimo, namuksi na lang ko kag nagka-on bayabas bilog nga adlaw para lang maka-survive,” Val imparted.
Val, for everyone’s info, was a former academic scholar of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSDWD) Pantawid Pamilyang PilipinoProgram (4Ps).
He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture major in Crop Science, but opted to join the PNP instead.
FOCUS, DETERMINED
For more than two years now in the police service assigned at the EB Magalona Police Office, Val’s focused is splendid. He already bought a lot and built a house through a salary loan. He said he was really determined to give his family “all the best” he can afford.
Val stressed he’s really more than content hearing his blind mother and siblings “nga nanami-an gid sila nga tiles na ang amon salog, may shower ang amon banyo, kag may air-con na kami sa kwarto.”
He also treats his family from time to time with sumptuous food.
“Pwerte gali ka sadya. First time ko ni nga na-experience,” he said in jest.
“Abi ko indi na ni namon malab-ot – ang maka- kaon sa guwa sang mga manamit nga pagkaon. Imagine, nagdaku ko nga dependent sa kita sang pag-body massage sang ginikanan ko kag kon wala na gid… sa rasyon lang halin sa Home for the Blinds.”
“But all this,” he stressed, “gina-balikan ko lang ang sakripisyo sang akon ginikanan. Kag luyag ko ipabatyag sa akon mga utod nga sa pihak sang ila kahimtangan, ari ko gihapon nga maga-sakripisyo sa ila.”
So, Val vowed: “I’ll never get tired because of them.”
FEAR NO MORE
And whatever happens next, he exclaimed: “I fear no more!”
Val is optimistic that his future kid(s) will be spared from their family’s unwanted inheritance.
“But if things will be the same,” he enunciated, “I have no choice but to embrace another round of personal battle.”
In case he’ll finds someone to love, he hopes she’ll have the “heart” to accept his family.
But for now, Val said, “I’ll just focus on helping my siblings finish their studies and be professionals like me.”
His (partially blind) elder sister is taking up BS Business Administration at La Consolacion College (LCC) thru ETTEAP (Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation). She’s using microscopic lens.
His “normal” younger sister who is now a 10th grader is planning to take up Nursing.
And the other two (totally blind) younger siblings in Grades 4 and 6 are also doing well at the Special Education (SpEd) Center of Rizal Elementary School in Bacolod.
I can’t help but be awed by this gentleman. Being born and raised inside the “Home for the Blinds” in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City ain’t an easy fate.
Toughened by poverty and societal discrimination, he used both “oddities in life” to fuel his enormous desire to become a professional for one noble purpose: family’s sake.
Nonpareil, indeed!
Hence, kudos, PO1 Val!/PN
