Church ministry helps nurture ‘signs’ of love
DAPITAN CITY—In the presence of their ecstatic families, Ian Porlas and Mary Jane Abubutal saw their dream of a lifetime come true: to exchange marriage vows before a priest inside the church.
Throughout the ceremony, a priest had acted as sign language interpreter for the couple.
Amid the expectant chatter of those present, Porlas and Abubutal exchanged “I dos” in the silence of hand signals that loudly conveyed their deepest feelings for each other, with Fr. Khim Caermare, who is also skilled in sign language, as the solemn witness.
As Caermare announced the formal union, the crowd offered a long celebratory applause.
—PHOTOS BY FREDERICK LIM
The wedding on Feb. 8 was historic for the centuries-old St. James the Greater parish here as it was their first to hold such a ceremony for a deaf couple, which was also the first of its kind in the entire Catholic diocese.
While presiding over the sacrament of matrimony to Porlas and Abubutal, Caermare was filled with a sense of fulfillment that the ministry for the deaf that he started seven years ago had facilitated a pair of hearing-impaired Catholics to commit for each other through thick and thin replete with the symbols and rites of the faith.
For Porlas and Abubutal, their faith had imbibed in them the longing to be wed by a priest. But their disability is hindering that dream from becoming a reality, both lamented to the Inquirer, through a sign language interpreter.
“I love her and I am willing to sacrifice for my family. Jane thinks I am handsome,” said Porlas, a 29-year-old construction worker.
“I fell in love with him and finally proposed in May 2019 at Dapitan City plaza,” recalled Abubutal, 34, a laundrywoman.
Both had been living together since 2019, but their respective families don’t see a church wedding for them as important.
Abubutal said her mother supported their continued cohabitation. And Porlas’ family just adopted a “come what may” stance about the couple’s wedding plans.
Things changed when they came across Caermare’s ministry.
Historic union
Last month, Caermare and Eva Jalon Sularte, a special education teacher at Dipolog Pilot Elementary School, helped facilitate the planning of the couple’s wedding.
Abubutal looked forward to the ceremony as she was then three months pregnant.
Caermare said former teachers of Porlas and Abubutal volunteered for the wedding gown and suit, friends who are also known with special needs offered video and photography services for free, some donated for food and drinks, others for makeup and other needs.
“It is with great joy to share the first ever deaf wedding in this oldest parish of our diocese,” said Caermare.
His ministry for the deaf turned seven years old on Feb. 4, its initiative started with having sign language interpreters during the celebration of Holy Mass.
Only two churches in Zamboanga del Norte province say Mass with interpreters—the Saint James parish in this city and the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Dipolog City.
“We observed that we have several differently abled populations here. Many were ostracized, in fact, even by their family members. We see the Church has a big role in reaching out to these communities,” Caermare said.
Productive society members
The priest said the ministry has more than 60 active members, and there are also organized small groups of differently abled and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the 50 barangays of the city.
Unfortunately, he said, many suffered in silence at home. Many of them completed only elementary schooling, never pursuing further studies.
“We fervently hope to witness a community here where the PWDs and differently abled persons are considered productive members of the society, where family members, neighbors, and the local government are working together in building a community where human rights, economic rights of our PWDs and differently abled are observed, promoted and respected,” Caermare said.
Remryan Rebutazo, head teacher of Dipolog City Special Education (SPED) Center, admitted that they were still struggling as a community to be accepted in society.
“The number of students is growing every year. In 2024, we have 170 learners, now we are attending to 338 learners with various disabilities,” Rebutazo said.
The school has only 13 trained SPED teachers, attending to the 338 learners, 72 of whom are diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
“These students with special needs all came from different towns nearby, not just from Dipolog and Dapitan (cities). We are fortunate here for having very supportive city officials, but it’s not always the reality in remote towns and barangays,” Rebutazo adds.
Showing his inborn club hands, Rebutazo hopes the overall community “accepts them as one of them,” referring to Porlas and Abubutal.
“In my younger days, I love to play basketball, but kids of my age don’t want to include me because of my hands. When there was a kid with special needs who passed the entrance exam at Philippine Science High, we were all proud and excited that kids with special needs can compete with regular kids,” Rebutazo said.
Being good
“Let’s just wait for the society to be more open to us. We also dream of no segregation of disability, we would be working as one. We are not [carrying a] contaminating illness, put us together along with you, we can do better and we can work with you well,” Rebutazo adds.
Caermare explained that deaf communication is currently English-based. “That is the sad reality, but they communicate well using electronic gadgets,” he said.
Caermare hopes to inspire more people through the ministry.
“This has been our mission and strength right from the start: to care for one another, to show each other the goodness in our hearts, to be an instrument of God’s generosity and charity. To contribute to the creation of ordinary and wonderful miracles with the deaf,” he said.
“To fulfill it is to manifest greatness and to walk on the path of heaven. We only need to sharpen our commitment to the noble, good, and loving part of who we are.”
