BCDA Collective | Issue 3 2018

FREEPORTS AND ECOZONES
I“I am very hungry. My friend, can you help me?”
“Those were his first words when he first
approached us,” said Patricio Gutierrez as he
described their first encounter with the man who
had been missing for 33 hours, roaming around
and searching for his way out of the mountain.
“Patrick” as he is fondly called by many, was just
having a normal day bonding with his friends in
their area in Sapang Bato when a tall white man
with clothes covered in mud emerged before
them.
The man was Scott Alan Washburn whose name
was all over the news as a massive search for him
was conducted.
“If I remember it correctly, it was a Tuesday
when he was reported missing. Now that I think
about it, I thought that day was also a blessing
in disguise for me and Rafael Pan. Maybe he
was also sent by God to give us grace, only in a
peculiar way,” said Patrick as he recalled how
Washburn met them.
Seventeen years ago, in the month of June,
Lieutenant Scott Alan Washburn from Celina,
Ohio, was part of a group of US Navy hiking
along the slopes of Mount Pinatubo when they
were unexpectedly attacked by a heavily armed
communist group. During the attack, Washburn
got separated from his group while his other
team members were able to return to their base.
Emerging from his hiding place when the rain
started, Washburn was determined to find his
way home and the thunderstorm did not stop
him. He followed the path of a river and walked
for more than three hours until he found an area
occupied by the Aeta in Sapang Bato.
As he reached the area, he encountered Patrick
and Rafael Pan who helped him and brought him
to the Clark Security Office and later be reunited
with his family.
“When we saw him, we were startled. I was
hesitant to offer him any food because we were
only eating cassava. The others were also afraid
to take him because they thought if we helped
him, we might be accused of kidnapping him.
But I told them we should help him and bring
him to the authorities, and guide him back
home,” Patrick said.
Patrick, along with Pan, took the courage of
guiding the foreigner. It created a mark which
would later change their lives.
“After taking him to the Clark Security Office we
were offered reward money, but I said we don’t
need the money. I said that more than anything,
we want him to return to the U.S., and for him to
tell his countrymen that we, especially our tribe,
are a group of good people,” Patrick narrated.
Recognizing their effort, Patrick Gutierrez and
Rafael Pan were given formal jobs at Clark
Development Corporation (CDC).
“The opportunity of being part of CDC was
probably more than enough to change not only
my life but also the life of my family. I was only a
worker earning P150 a day which is not enough
to make ends meet. But being here at CDC, I have
been able to provide the needs of my family. More
importantly, we are able to show others that we,
as Aetas, can also do it and live the life we want.”
When asked what he would want to say if he
were given a chance to meet Washburn again
he said, “His mom’s last words to me when they
were about to board were ‘thank you’, so I’ll also
say those same words to him. I will say ‘thank
you’ so much for coming into our life. Because
of you, we were able to be in this position, and
you are a person sent by God to change our lives
forever. We saved him but I think, in a way, he
also saved us.”
Before we ended the interview, Patrick summed
up his philosophy back when he helped the lost
man. “Honesty is what matters most. Whoever
we are, whatever we do, as long as we don’t step
on other people, let us help those other people in
need because God knows what we do and He will
always return it a thousand fold.”
COLLECTIVE 29