PATIKUL in Sulu has a reputation for being one of the most difficult towns to serve in the southern Philippines. But Gabriel ?Bong? Canizares did not seem to mind.

He was a teacher for 12 years there before he was recently named acting principal of Kan-ague Primary School.

?Bong was always tireless and full of ideas. He attended community activities, taught dance to the students, and supervised school or community programs, and he still found time to see friends,? said a colleague.

The eldest of eight children of Manuel and Feliciana Canizares, Bong was born on June 18, 1972, in San Raymundo, Jolo, Sulu.

He studied at the Tulawie Central School and the HBSAT then took up Education at the Notre Dame of Jolo College. All he needed was his dissertation and he would have earned his master?s degree in education from Sulu State College.

Canizares was among the young educators in the area who took advantage of teacher training programs extended by foundations and international aid agencies.

According to one such agency, Canizares and his team were getting ready to mentor other teachers in the area in science, English and math.

In July, however, Canizares started to get death threats. For his safety, he was allowed to report to the division office in Jolo.

?But Bong was truly an educator. He decided to report again to Kan-ague,? said Sulu education supervisor Hadji Eufremio Canaria.

On Oct. 19, Canizares was singled out from among the passengers of a public vehicle and taken by suspected Abu Sayyaf elements. In exchange for his freedom, his abductors allegedly wanted P2 million.

Canizares? severed head was recovered near the Jolo town hall on Nov. 9 after his family failed to raise the amount.

At his interment three days later, fellow teachers tried not to weep because they knew Bong would have hated the gloom.

But the tears could not be helped because Canizares was well-loved, because his passing was a great loss to the students and their parents, as well as to his colleagues who considered him a leader, and because no one deserved to die as he did.

Canaria said Canizares? only fault was that he had ?committed his life to educating Tausug kids.?

?He was the kind of person who would tell you life was good and beautiful. He left no room for sadness,? said a Kan-ague teacher who wanted to be identified only as Rita. ?There was never a dull moment with Bong around.?

She said Canizares always brightened the spirits of his colleagues especially when they were feeling low, like when their salaries were delayed.

?He made funny faces and made us laugh. He joked that our tummies could endure another day of biamban and tamban (steamed cassava and fried bony fish),? Rita said.

Prof. Octavio Dinampo of the Mindanao State University said Canizares represented ?Muslim-Christian unity in diversity.? Dinampo himself was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last year but was released unharmed.

He said Bong was a Christian teacher who tried in his modest way to call attention to Sulu?s educational needs.

He said Canizares? death should open the eyes of authorities and make them realize teachers were ?very vulnerable.?

?My friend faced danger to make sure his students got the education they deserved,? said Rita.

?Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao