In the Game

Spent the Holy Week with my family in the beautiful and remote Batanes islands of the Philippines.  I’d like to say I’ll blog about traveling to Batanes but I still have to make good on my promise to blog about Palawan.

Got an unexpected but pleasant surprise during the trip when as we were driving out of Basco (the capital) on our way to tour the island of Batan, our tour guide remarked that we were now driving along the “Paderes Highway.”  I did a double take and our guide confirmed that I heard him right.  The locals refer to a 1 km stretch of the national highway as the “Paderes highway.”  He then pointed to a small white concrete structure along the highway which they call the “Paderes house.”

The story goes that a certain Mr. Paderes, not from Batanes, out of the goodness of his heart and using personal finances, oversaw the concretization of this portion of the national highway which used to be nothing but dirt road.  This section has to be one of the most scenic highways in the world, certainly in the Philippines.  It winds around lush mountains on one side with cliffs dropping majestically down the South China Sea on the other.  At a particular spot with a spectacular view stands the Paderes house which served as Mr. Paderes’ home during the duration of the project.  Interestingly, since the completion of the project some thirty years ago, Mr. Paderes has never been back.  But he is fondly remembered by the locals.  Every local I asked since that day knows about Mr. Paderes and his highway.

Nobody seems to know his first name nor where he is from.  I asked my geologist uncle who has done several structural projects for the government but he was equally surprised and this was the first he had ever heard of this story.  Googling didn’t produce any leads either.  The hostel owner where we stayed promised to text me his full name when she finds out.

There are few Padereses in the Philippines so he is most certainly a relative, at least I’d like to believe so.  It’s good to know that a distant relative somehow found it in his heart to undertake a project out of his own pocket that has benefited thousands of Ivatans (Batanes locals) only to disappear into anonymity.  Few outside Batanes may have heard of him but he is deeply remembered and appreciated in this remote island.

My connection to him may be very loose but I am proud that a namesake has left such a legacy to a precious people in one of the most beautiful islands of the Philippines.  May we all live our lives in a way that honors God, blesses others, and leaves a wonderful legacy and example for our children.