Fr. Joel Barut, SVD of the Diocese of Laoag (Ilocos Norte, Philippines) is the priest I am referring to.
Though I have not spoken to Fr. Joel one-on-one, I know him well. Every first friday of every month, highschool students of Holy Spirit Academy of Laoag are required to attend the mass in St. William’s cathedral beside our school. Different priests are invited to hold mass for us and every time it is Fr. Joel who is assigned on a particular friday I am always relieved. And why is that? Fr. Joel Barut, of Laoag City is one of the very few priests in Ilocos Norte who give short but “quality” sermons, who speak audibly and input humor into it. I mean no offense to the other members of the clergy, for Catholics like me are taught to listen attentively to a priest regardless of the quality and length of sermons they give. But it cannot be denied that we can be discriminating at times and choose the masses we attend depending on who will officiate. And if it is Fr. Barut, I would often tell myself, “Hay salamat.”
A few weeks ago, my cousin who owns a preschool (Caterpillar School) in Laoag had Fr. Barut to officiate mass for their school event. It was my father, a lay minister in our province who chose and requested Fr. Barut to perform the mass celebration and the good priest readily agreed.
Unknowingly to my family, particularly my dad, all the while that they were communicating with Fr. Joel, the latter was falling in line in government charitable institutions and various foundations seeking financial assistance to pay hospital bills that almost reached Php 1 M. His mother suffered Hemorrhagic stroke and underwent brain surgery in Makati. On the other hand, I and the priest’s youngest sibling and only sister, Odette Barut, were having a correspondence via e-mail.
Odette Barut is a former schoolmate in highschool who is one year ahead of me. Odette rarely sends personal email messages to me. If ever she does, she sends frivolous or funny emails like letting me know that she edited my friendster profile photo with different hairdos or inviting me to join her business. However, one late afternoon I received an e-mail with a different tone from her. She shared to me what just had happened to her mother.
Mrs. Isolde C. Barut, their mother went to Manila to spend her birthday on July 27, 2008 with Odette. However on that fateful day, she suffered her first stroke. From Odette’s email:
“My mother had a Hemorrhagic Stroke. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel bursts inside the brain. The brain is very sensitive to bleeding and damage can occur very rapidly, either because of the presence of the blood itself, or because the fluid increases pressure on the brain and harms it by pressing it against the skull.
It was on her birthday when this incident happened. We were about to sleep when, she told me that something hot had rushed through her head. She even added that she is having the worst headache of her life. After the headache, she began vomiting and worst, she was noted to have decreased in sensorium (note: the term sensorium refers to areas of the brain that process and register incoming sensory information and make possible the conscious awareness of the world, source: wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn).
I was crying when she told me that she is dying. This was the most traumatic event in my life.
When we reached the emergency room of Makati Med, the nurses had her BP checked and it was 190/100. She had her CT scan immediately. Per her CT SCAN her brain has been coated with blood already and medication will not help but a brain surgery.”
The children had no choice but to let their mother undergo immediate craniotomy (brain surgery) and clipping of aneurysm inorder to save her life.
Their father, a farmer and a retired soldier also took care of their mother. The small amount of income he makes through farming is not enough to cover the entire hospital bill.
Fr. Joel Barut and his four younger siblings have resigned from work while others took a leave to take care of their mother. Jessie, Joseph and Jasper, the three younger brothers who are all married with children of their own sacrificed their time for work and for their families to be with their mother. Odette shared to me how proud she is of her older brothers who made such sacrifices most especially to the eldest, Fr. Joel Barut.
I have great admiration for Fr. Barut who with all humility sought help from foundations and government agencies to seek financial aid for their mother. He fell in line like an ordinary individual in PSCO to ask help while he has a parish to manage and attend to in Ilocos.
Mrs. Isolde Barut, a retired public schoolteacher is relying solely on her children at this time. All of them have jobs, but their meager salaries are not enough to keep up with their running hospital bill in Makati Medical Center.
Odette shed tears as she related to me this story. Like any mother, Mrs. Barut has raised all her children well and loved them all unconditionally. Odette would reminisce her mother’s goodness - loving them more than her herself and giving up her own happiness for the sake of their welfare. Though she was not born rich all her children were sent to good schools. She is well-loved by her peers and would do everything she can to help other people. She treated her pupils like her own children.
At this time, her mother is recuperating. Through the prayers of her family and friends she has survived a life-threatening stroke.
We, the friends of the Barut family are still continuously asking for prayers. Vasospasm and hydrocephalous could still occur, hence, their mother is not stable yet. The children have exhausted all their resources and still have a remaining balance in Makati Medical Center.
A rough estimate of their expenses: (As of October 2008)
Hospital Bill - Php 923, 607.45
Doctor’s Professional Fee - Php 399, 653
Their bill has been reduced through:
Philhealth and Senior Citizen benefits- Php 202,677
World of Hope - provided financial assistance for medicines
Aspire Recruitment and Staffing Dept. - provided financial assistance
Currently their remaining balance is Php 475,000 at the Makati Medical Center payable in 6 months.
Now, why did I write about this?
I believe in the power of blogging.
If one youtube video can gather hundreds of thousand viewers, or a Brian Gorell blog can gather as much as 2 million, with faith, prayers & God’s providence, I hope that through this blog, we can help a family pay a hospital bill that can gather the financial aid needed.
Financial aid would be much appreciated at this time. Come to think of it, if each person would give Php 1,000, it would take 400 people for the family to pay their current balance of Php 400,000:
Php 1, 000 x 400 people = Php 400, 000
Remember that Php 1, 000 is only 22 U.S. dollars today.
To those who want to extend financial help (any amount would do), Please contact:
Odette Mediatriz C. Barut
Celphone no. +639284561758
Email: rouze_teenspirit@yahoo.com
You may also deposit thru (esp. to those who prefer anonymity):
Bank Account Name: Odette Mediatrix C. Barut
Bank Account no. 2976 0172 25
Bank Name: BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands)
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:3)
Thank you very much and God Bless!!!
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The family would like to thank Dr. Victor & Dr. Jayson Ranada (Neurosurgeons) & Racquel Alvarez (Neurologist) who helped their mother on her recovery. Many thanks also to Dr. Anthony King (Cardiologist) Dr. May Ortiz Sison (Endocrinologist) & Dr. Gregorio Ocampo (Pulmonologist).
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You might want to help us spread the word. I really want to help this family pay their hospital bills.
You may copy-paste them and spread the word through your sites.
Thanks again,
Naomi
ERRATUM: Yesterday, Oct. 8, 2008, Fr. Joel Barut was mistakenly described as an “SVD priest” at the beggining of my article but is actually a “Diocesan priest” from the Diocese of Laoag. Odette gave an honest mistake in relaying this information and we apologize for the error which is now rectified above.
