He Was Not Perfect But To Me Was The Best, Happy Father’s Day
For many of you who were in Mountain View College before the mid-1980’s you may have known or met my father, Pastor Anastacio Berial Gayao. He was one of the pioneers of that school spent most of his professional career there as a teacher and administrator.
For me and my fellow siblings, we could very well say that we have been very fortunate to have him as our papa. When he was in his early teens, against the advice of his father, he left the farm for school in Bukidnon Normal School, which was run by American teachers as a government pensionado because he wanted an education. This love and hunger for learning has led him to a successful career as a minister, teacher, and administrator.
I was born when my father just came out of the military. He was a member of the United States Arm Forces with the Guerilla Forces Service in the Philippines during World War II. He was in the firing line against the enemy when he was captured by the Japanese Imperial Army on May 11, 1942 and held prisoner till he escaped February 21, 1943.
During his incarceration, he learned to speak Japanese and was made in charge of other prisoners. He lead his fellow prisoners in military drills in using Japanese commands. He, however, contracted malaria during in internment. Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans. He was very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and felt so weak that he thought he would die. The mortality rate of the malaria he contracted was 15% if untreated. He was honorably discharged from the US Army on June 1946.
Through the US Army GI bill, after his discharge, he enrolled Philippine Union College as a working student. In 1949 he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology. He was then employed a high school teacher at his alma mater.
I was the eldest of for siblings. Early on, he was a very strict disciplinarian. As a child, I never saw somebody so fast to get out his belt to give me a whipping when I did something wrong or answered disrespectfully. After he became a Bible teacher that changed, he would talk to me about what I did wrong, then we would pray and then I would get my spanking. The spanking were were just one or two with no expression of anger in his part. The rest of the younger siblings rarely got any spanking growing up.
I remember when one period in my life I was living a life not consistent with my Christian faith, my father told me, “Boy, I have tried my best to teach you what is right, but if you decide just to eat, drink, be merry, and just live for this world, I would like to let you know that I still love you and wish you luck and happiness even if I don’t see up yonder.”
At home he was a well-regimented individual; we had regular morning and evening devotions. We studied the adult Bible School lessons, finishing each week’s study on Wednesday and on Thursday we had to know the answers to the all questions. Friday nights he read to family one chapter of either the books Great Controversy or the Desire of Ages. He expected all members of the family to be at the table during mealtime, and it was a fun time for family interaction. Of course there was a lot uninterrupted conversation because we did not have telephones or cellphones.
One thing I admire about my father is he never spoke ill of anybody. If he did, I never witnessed him do so. He always reminded us, “If you can’t say anything good about someone, don’t say it.” He also never discussed things related to problems he encountered at work at with us at home.
I observed he was not so attached to material things. We would give him clothes as gifts, he would tuck them away, then give them away to folks when he visited the Philippines. After retirement between his social security and retirement checks, he could still support a lay minister back home and rebuild his hometown church in Kalasungay, Bukidnon.
As for his work ethic, he always told us, “Do more than what they expected you to do, because that is your greatest guarantee for job security.” This mindset must have served him well because he retired as the president of Mountain View College.
It has been almost over twenty years when we laid him to rest in the beautiful campus cemetery of Mountain View College, Mt. Nebo, Bukidnon, but I could still picture him in my mind he sitting down in our dining table reading his worn-out Bible and taking notes.
To me, I could honestly say that I have a better understanding of my heavenly Father because of my earthly father. I just wish I could pass on his legacy to the generations that come after me and hope I could be even just a fraction of the man that he was.
I miss you papa Tatoy.
Happy Father’s Day to all fathers out there!!
Laurence Tabanao Gayao
