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Elrik Jundis
United States
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Championing Landmark in Manila
I owe my “passion for life” attitude and my pride in my heritage to my parents. They always taught me to appreciate the different aspects of my background. They taught me the term, Pilipino is one expression of that pride. The term Pilipino comes from two words: pili, which means to choose and pino, which means the finest.
I grew up in San Francisco. My first visit to the Philippines was several years ago when I went to teach and study martial arts. I felt a very strong connection to the country and in the back of my mind made the commitment to making a difference in that country. After I returned to San Francisco, I worked with several non-profit organizations helping Pilipino-American youth, but it wasn’t until I took The Landmark Forum that I had a real sense of how I could make the difference I wanted to. Here was a program that left people empowered and in action in their lives in whole new ways.
I chose to play a key role in bringing Landmark programs to the Philippines. I soon learned there was already a group in Los Angeles called Mabuhay2020, headed up by Romel Axibal, working to make this happen. I started working with this group and found myself one of a team of people accountable for having the first Landmark Forum in the Philippines. Later, I moved to the Philippines for several months to spearhead and coordinate our efforts.
We started by hosting small introductions twice a week, and we worked with graduates around the world to contact their family and friends who lived in the Philippines. There were ups and downs, but eventually having Landmark’s programs be available took on a life of its own and the first Landmark Forum, led by Jerome Downes, was held with some 118 people. Jerome, who is based out of Japan and is the Regional Landmark Forum Leader for Asia, was a relentless stand that we would have a Landmark Forum in Manila and championed our efforts from beginning to end.
Landmark in Manila really came together because of an amazing team of people. The people I worked with were spectacular, and in particular, I’d like to mention three people: Father Gregg Banaga, a Catholic priest who is the Dean of Adamson University in Manila. Evelyn Cu-Unjieng who is a beacon of possibility – she simply never gives up. Also, Aljor Perreras, an American of Pilipino descent, who moved to the Philippines more than a year prior to my going. He led many of the introductions and created many of the opportunities for us to work together as a team and make this happen. He has now made Manila his permanent home and is heading up Landmark’s efforts there.
It meant a lot to me having my Godfather in the Manila Landmark Forum. He is a coach at the Philippines Sport Commission and an International Referee for Sports Silat, a Southeast Asian martial art. He was the only Muslim in a course filled mostly with Catholics. He’s a Yakan tribesman from a war-ravaged part of the Philippines called Basilan. Being an indigenous person, he was unique in the course. In fact, ordinarily someone like him would not be together with this sector of the Philippine population except as opponents on the battlefield.
My godfather was late to the course on Saturday because he was taking part in a family ceremony for one of his 14 children. When he returned he was wearing his traditional clothing that indicated he is Muslim. He walked to the front of the course room to share and told me later it was clear to him that these were not the same people he had been with on Friday night. Something had shifted. He said, “As salaam alaikum,” a traditional Muslim greeting meaning “peace be unto you.” The room full of Catholic Pilipinos returned his greeting in Arabic! More importantly you could tell they meant it.
I never thought this could happen between Catholics and Muslims. After the course was over, many participants told my godfather how glad they were that he had been there.
In the same Landmark Forum, there were a number of Catholic clergy members. Given the Philippines is a largely Catholic country, people are extremely respectful of the church and tend to put priests and nuns on a pedestal. In this Landmark Forum there were seven nuns in the course who stepped out and participated freely. They shared intimately about their lives, including places where they were struggling. This allowed everyone to relate to clergy members more as people and inspired the other participants to be more self-expressive and share their own stories and lives.
Today, I am living back in San Francisco. Aljor Perreras is heading up the Landmark operations in Manila and if you are interested in finding out anything about The Landmark Forum in Manila please call the Landmark office in the Philippines.
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