“Throwback sa Payag”

As the sun was about to set, people started arriving at our mission house in Purok Matatag, Barangay San Isidro, Gen. Santos City. Near the registration table, a photo wall was set up, where groups can have their picture taken. There was on the spot t-shirt printing as souvenir for the affair. Banners colored red, blue, green and yellow lent a festive mood to the gathering. A lechon was being cooked on site and there were tables and chairs arranged for dinner. To invite people to gather together, the band from Davao City named “Saved and Sound” started playing praise and worship songs. Fr. Jude Roquero, OP and I welcomed everyone to the affair. Three of our brother priests who were formerly assigned to our mission house in Gensan were also present. After a while, the pot lock dinner was ready to be served. A long table was also set without plates and spoon and fork. It was covered with banana leaves and served with rice and viand, as in a “boodle fight”. It was the night dubbed as “Throwback sa Payag”, a reunion of former youth who, once during their younger days, took shelter or refuge in the “payag”, with the warm welcome of the Dominican Fathers who were residing there. That was the birth and the beginning of the Dominican Youth Center in Gensan.
Our missionary activity in Gen. Santos City started in 1995 with two of our brother priests being housed at the Mother Francisca Spirituality Center of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Barangay Lagao, Gen. Santos City. Our missionaries then administered the sacraments and gave retreats and recollections not only to the Dominican sisters, students and teachers, but also to other groups in the area as well.

The following year, two of our young priests were assigned to our mission station in Gen. Santos City. Fr. Ching Salibay, OP and Fr. Jude Roquero, OP, were the first residents of the “bahay kubo” or “payag”. By that time, more and more young people have started frequenting the “payag” of the Dominican Fathers. They were mostly students whom they have encountered while giving retreats and recollections. After a few years, our missionaries found a place of their own and transferred to Purok Matatag in Barangay San Isidro, Gen. Santos City. The place had a lot of space and the surrounding was green and welcoming. It has a small house, which served as the Fathers’ residence, and it also has a “bahay kubo”. Thus the youth would fondly refer to the Dominican Mission House as the “payag”. But “payag” for them was not just a house or a physical structure. They found a home in the “payag”, where they were welcomed. They found a place where they can be who they are and still be accepted, regardless of personal background, educational attainment or even faith or religion. It was their home away from home, with the Dominican Fathers as their “tatay”, “kuya” or “barkada”. Our missionaries willingly accompanied the youth in their journey. Together they shared their hopes and dreams, their joys and victories, their failures and frustrations. They grew as one big happy family – one in faith, hope and love.

This humble “payag” later evolved to become what would later be known as the Dominican Youth Center. Through the years, many groups and batches of young people would look back to their younger days with gratitude to this place they once called “home”. They would look back to the “payag” as a place that afforded them hope in times of despair, joy in times of sorrow, and faith in times of fear.

As in any other reunion, those present, who are now professionals, (doctors, engineers and lawyers, among others) recalled the good old days. Recollections of the past never failed to bring smiles of happy thoughts. Every now and then, boisterous laughter breaks in the air, as stories were told and recalled, and as the evening grew deeper. Just for this time, these men and women felt young again, as they recalled the good old days in this “Throwback sa Payag”.