‘Fr. Bayong’ to some, simple man to others

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—In his league, Fr. Raul de los Santos is a rare sight in Pampanga. Among priests in the province, only De los Santos totes a bayong (native basket) for as long as anyone can remember.

Altar boys, when pestered by the curious, say the bayong serves a purpose. It holds De los Santos’ Bible, crucifix, holy water, wine, host and other items he needs to celebrate Mass.

Because of this, many have taken to calling De los Santos as “Fr. Bayung,” instead of the more common “Among Rau” (“Among” is how Kapampangans call their priests). Obviously, the 53-year-old priest likes the moniker, as shown by his e-mail address—frbayung@gmail.

com.

Still, over the years, nobody had asked him just why he was fond of carrying a bayong. His parishioners just let him be.

But Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, after Mass held on the silver anniversary of the ordination of De los Santos on March 1, let out the explanation.

The bayong, Aniceto said, was “Among Rau’s reminder for us to be simple and to live in simplicity.”

“It’s also a call for spiritual renewal,” Aniceto said, stressing that the root word of bayong is bayo, which means “new” in Kapampangan.

De los Santos burst out in laughter as he heard Aniceto tell about 1,000 well-wishers of his “love affair” with the bayong.

“My heart is overflowing with love,” he said.

And it can’t be all stored in that little bayong, he said. He had poured many of this love in the daily reflections he wrote in the Bible Diary 2011 for St. Paul’s Publications.

He said the bayong will stay, and so would some of his poems he compiled in the booklet, “A strange journey after high noon.”

An image of the bayong, etched by his friend, Marianito Mallari, appears beside the poem, “The back pack.” <strong><em>Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon </em></strong>