Remembering you. You are sorely missed.

still can't believe, that you already leave
you leave our hearts broken, so many words left unspoken
♥️ ♥️ ♥️

A tribute to Dante Adan by Maricoy Obias-Bonnefoy

REST IN PEACE, DANTE ADAN

I’m very sad as I write this. Dante’s untimely death stunned me and I would be remiss if I did not share my personal story to honor his memory. Dante had a lot of friends and each one has his or her own story of how he touched their lives. This is mine.

My friendship with Dante Adan started in 2010. I had been living in the U.S for more than 30 years, was already retired and took turns with my siblings to go home to San Jose to care for our elderly mother. I was looking for a lawyer to represent my family in the settlement of my grandfather’s estate and I found him on Facebook. He seemed to be a good fit—being from the same hometown as me, speaking the Bicol dialect, and being familiar with the Partido area which was an important requirement for us.

His proficiency in the Bicol dialect was impressive. “Maogma akong maray na nakanupar nin mga arog saindo na may mga kaparehong kaisipan, may pagmakulog sa banwaan, asin may ginigibo ngani mabago an mga sala.” On our shared love for our hometown, he wrote: “nakalubong an satong inulnan sa trankahan kan satong harong na namundagan”. It didn’t take long for us to discover that we had many common interests—our soft spot for San Jose, advocacy for farming and poverty alleviation, the arts and literature. Whenever I’d go home, he’d come by and we’d spend hours talking about ideas for community development and looking back on fond memories of our respective childhoods in San Jose.

Dante loved poetry and composed poems in the Bicol dialect. One time he messaged me asking if I was in my husband’s hometown in Chile. “Are you in Santiago? I dream of going to Pablo Neruda’s Isla Negra, La Sebastiana, and La Chascona someday.” He got excited when I shared some anecdotes of Claudio’s personal encounters with the great poet.

As a lawyer, Dante was thorough in his research and comprehensive in drafting documents. When necessary, he even translated legal documents into Bicol. I’ll never forget the first document he presented to my family, a 25-page Legal Memorandum which was part family history, part legal opinion. When I praised him for its brilliance, he confessed that he went to the Camposanto and prayed to my grandfather to guide him in his work. He encouraged me to do the same—"talk to your Lolo, Manay, he was my inspiration in writing the Legal Memorandum.” That remark touched my heart and it will always stay with me.

We were disappointed when Dante had to drop his clients, including us, to be the Chief of Legal Staff of Supreme Court Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. We were happy for him, though, having reached the highest point of his professional life. A few years later, he returned to private practice, and came back into our lives.

During my mother’s long illness, my visits to the Philippines became more frequent but they were short stays of up to three weeks at a time. Mama was in and out of Mother Seton in Naga and Dante was kind enough to accommodate my busy schedule by meeting me in the hospital, in the hotel lobby, in SM, and a number of times even at the airport, to discuss legal matters. Even during this past pandemic year, I called him a few times when I had legal questions, but always the conversation would digress to topics of personal interest. A few months ago, he called me at 1:30 a.m. Philippine time to return a missed call. I said, “Dante, matanga na diyan. Makahalat man ako kang apod mo saaga.” He said he was wide awake since he had fallen asleep in the afternoon after spending an exhausting day working on his NGO.

The last time I saw Dante was on February 23, 2020, my last day in San Jose. He found out through my sister’s Facebook post that we were there. He came while we were having breakfast with visitors from the U.S. and Sorsogon. He told us about his newest endeavor, Group Initiatives for Better Opportunities (GIBO). (Dante had a flair for creative acronyms…he once suggested that the name of our family foundation should be OBIAS, and proceeded to tell me what each letter stood for, which I now wish I had written down because it was ingeniously appropriate!) He said that GIBO (which means “to make” in Bicol) will be helping farmers by organizing consumer coops in our province. He had brought two bottles of coconut aminos for Dulce and me. I could tell how proud and excited he was telling us about his NGO, of which the coconut aminos was one of the products. Not expecting that I had visitors, he went back home to pick up more bottles as gifts for my friends. Shortly thereafter, the pandemic shook the world.

In one of our recent Messenger chats, I asked how Tiang Ellen was and he said “Nanay is ok. We take all precautions na dai siya maka-contract ning virus.” I was shocked when last Friday he sent me a selfie from the ICU and asked for prayers. I had not been active in Facebook for a long time and had missed his health status updates. That’s when I learned for the first time that he was Covid positive and was already in the ICU. My heart sank when he said there was bleeding in his left lung, an ominous sign. I was devastated when I found out the next day that he had expired. His personal message was his way of saying goodbye.

Dante was a deeply religious man. His unwavering faith was the guiding principle for his strength of character and integrity. Years ago, Dante told me of his dream to someday take the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. He had it all planned to the last detail—which route to take, which stops to make, down to the inns where he would stay the nights. Little did I know then that he would take a short cut to heaven so early in his life. He still had a lot of things to do for the betterment of our community, his task was not finished, but his Maker had other plans for him. We lost him but heaven gained a good man.

Remembering Dan on this his would-have-been 54th birthday with fondness. Rest in eternal peace amigo.

Maraming Salamat Dan at mahal ka namin! Ipanalangin mo kami lagi :)

Tribute for our friend Dan
Before I begin, I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Adan Family in behalf of some of the IPD staff who are now residing in different places here in the Philippines as well as abroad.
This is a bit hard for me to write because of one main reason. I am now in the pre-departure age and recalling what I was supposed to do a few seconds ago has oftentimes become an ordeal. So to help me make a more complete eulogy, I had to request my former colleagues to come up with a coherent recollection of Dan’s stint at the Institute for Popular Democracy from the time he took over my post as finance and admin. officer until he resigned.
One of us remembers Dan waiting to get hold of a sewing machine, a puzzle for her inasmuch as he already had two professions, that of being a lawyer and a Certified Public Accountant. Only later did she realize that it was in relation to his desire to help the others with livelihood projects for those who were in dire financial state. He was always thinking of ways on how to help augment the incomes of teachers, farmers and many others. In fact, many of our chat marathons were precisely on plans for livelihood projects to help coco farmers in my home province of Eastern Samar.
When it came to finance work, he was very meticulous on the correct entries and description of book entries in the office financial reports. As an accountant, he was very strict with cash advances and would not sign any check if he thought they did not hew to standards of the office.
Dan was a fun-loving person, and at the same time serious and strict when it came to finance work. He would go out with the Admin. staff for better bonding. A colleague remembers receiving a Christmas gift from Dan with a dedication that said something about not losing the essence of being the child in her. (For me, this comes as a requisite for being grounded and happy. Maybe Dan meant the same thing? I would like to think so.)
A colleague says she remembers feeling very lucky that Dan accepted the post at IPD. Dan’s main role was office management and administration but he also helped out in some of the work of DevWatch on local governance. Pwede siya sa office management development work, tapos artistic pa siya. A renaissance man, gayud!
Our bookkeeper remembers being encouraged by him to take the CPA exams and he even offered to lend his notes so it is obvious that he gave value to the staff’s skills and capacity development. He was open and frank when it came to discussing same-sex relationships making us more conscious and educated not only on gray but gay matters as well!
He was last seen personally by one of us before the pandemic lockdown in Cubao when he jokingly grabbed her handbag. Little did she know that it would be the last time she would see him in person.
I would like to go now to more or less recent times. In April 2020, I asked for Dan’s opinion on the significance of Kate Raworth’s magnum opus called the Doughnut Economics and this started our chat marathon spanning from 3 to 6 hours at most. We made plans for novel livelihood projects using coco water, root crops that are indigenous to E. Samar and many more. These were accompanied with computations on costs and profits too. I had an image of Dan with a built-in calculator.
Our last chat was in the afternoon of April 30 when he described to me what happened after he was picked-up by the ambulance and what he was going through up to the time he was brought to the ICU complete with a selfie with all the contraptions he was connected to. His last post on his FB page made me pensive, my interpretation was that he was already resigned to go and was in fact, prepared to do so. But I still had a hard time believing all the RIP comments on his page the following morning! Our legal and financial consultant chose to leave us on Labor Day, a significant way to exit if you ask me.
Thank you Dan, for being you and for sharing all of you with all of us. We love you and you will always remain in our hearts.

I would like to acknowledge colleagues who helped Mother O , as I am called in the office. They are the following: Susan Coballes who was our cashier at that time, resides in San Mateo; Juvalen Dionisio was and still is the bookkeeper of IPD and lives in Quezon City. Susan & Juvalen worked closely with Dan. Vangie Cagungon Carnaje is a Bulakena and was the first person you would encounter when coming in to the office. Carmille Ferrer used to work as a researcher on local government in another department but could still remember Dan from our annual Christmas party, she resides in Kyusi; Maricar Cruz was originally at the front desk , later became the assistant of the IPD Executive Director and now works as a laboratory technician in Calgary, Canada; Delfin Gamotea was our pogi all-around guy, he relocated to Vancouver, Canada after he got married; Jennifer Rebustre was actually working in another department but was almost always in cahoots with Dan for fun events, she now lives Dallas, Texas managing a branch office of Bank of America and Charmaine Ramos was also from DevWatch, presently a professor in the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Last Sunday, I woke up to the devastating news of the passing of lawyer Dante Adan. He had just tested positive for Covid a few day ago and I was hoping he would make it.

My former student in UP Law, Dan was brilliant and got the highest grades. More importantly, he was passionate even as a student about God and country - lahat ng ating ginagawa ay dapat para sa Diyos at Bayan (we do everything for God and country). A true Atenean (from Naga) and Isko: he combined honor and excellence in a person for others! I saw that when he worked from 2014-2016 in an anti-corruption project in the Ateneo School of Government when I was Dean.

When Dan died, I posted: I do not know how to cope with my sadness but I suppose I will just follow your example of such great faith, which for sure will carry you to the beyond with a little help from the angels Ina, our Lady of Peñafrancia to whom you were devoted, and the Risen Christ, whose Cross you welcome and bore, sent to you after you posted this prayer:

“I love you, Dear Jesus, though many times I go against your will and choose to do what displeases you. Forgive me, Lord. Thank you for letting me experience, even for very short whiles, the parched throat you suffered while hanging at The Cross. Thank you for letting me feel, even in a very minute way compared to what you suffered while dying on The Cross, this shortness of breath. My left lung seems to collapse every time I have a fit of incessant coughing and it continues to bleed at the moment.

I unite all my physical sufferings to your suffering on The Cross and embrace Your Cross deep in my heart and offer it for the continuing conversion of sinners. I am consoled by Your Mother, Mama Mary, who also accompanies all her suffering children, the way she never abandoned You at the foot of The Cross. Thank you, my Dear Jesus. Thank you, Mama Mary.

I shall not ask healing if it will separate me from your friendship, but if through granting me complete recovery will glorify The Father, through the life mission you have given us through GIBO (an NGO Dan founded), Thy Will Be Done. I unite my prayer with every Sacrifice being offered in every Mass throughout the world right now. Cover me with Your Most Precious Blood. Amen.”

Dan’s death is one Covid death too many. But his indifference to death consoles me. For sure, this Filipino who loved the poor and the Church, who combined righteousness and kindness in a way I rarely see, has shared one final lesson: we must not lose sight of the big picture where death is just a moment, a terrible and sad one, but not the final one in God’s plan for us.

Rest now Dan in God's loving presence. Your memory will live forever as you lived an extraordinary life.

In our family we call him Manoy Dante, Manoy Titing, Manoy Titoy, Atorni..

He is our Big Brother.

He who chose not to marry but can be considered a Family man. For him family comes first. He is ever present in every milestone of the family. He knows everyone even a very distant relative.

He was with me when i was struggling with life here in Manila, just a text and he will immediately reply and meet me. He was our only witness when i got married (civilly, even if it was a day after Ondoy when most parts of Manila was flooded) and was also there in my first-born’s 1st birthday.

He would talk to me about his dreams and plans for fellow Bicolanos. I am the social worker but he was the one whose into community work and people empowerment.

I remembered him nagging me into taking up law. He once shared about an election book he was making and hoping to have it published before the last presidential election but because he was into other important things and advocacies that i guess that was put aside.

He would always give his warm hugs everytime we meet and would jokingly make “mano” even he’s the older one. He loves walking that he would always tell me he would rather walk from San Jose to Goa than take a bus or a jeep. That’s how he was, always being at the moment, always appreciating small things, always very warm to everyone and very much low key despite his BIG achievements.

During the time our Lola Toma was bedridden, i saw him lovingly talk to her and would make her laugh. He loves our elders in the family and everybody from the oldies to the youngsters loves him and misses him just as much.

Manoy, you will forever be loved and missed...

#whoisDanteAdan

Rest in Peace and Love and help us divine whatever justice there may be in all this, after all you've given and much more you were to give. Dios mabalos!  VIVA, DAN! 

Dan: Fellow dreamer, activist, and partner-in-crime

Dan, we've been friends for more than 20 years. In all that time, we've dreamed for the country, embarked on crusades, and had many exciting adventures together. We rejoiced in each other's successes, consoled each other in times of seeming defeat, and encouraged each other to keep fighting the good fight. Thank you for always being there for me. Among many precious memories I have of you, I will always cherish the time I spent in Bicol with you and your family (and being mistaken as your girlfriend!) back when we were in law school. I will always be grateful that you lovingly prepared the beautiful bridal bouquets, created the floral arrangements, and decorated the chapel for my wedding. I will also cherish all those late night conversations when we talked about anything and everything.

Dan, you were always larger than life, and you always had big plans, big hopes, and big dreams. And you always dreamed not for yourself but for others. You dreamed of an empowered citizenry, of self-sufficient communities and economies, of a Bicolano people fiercely proud of its culture and heritage. You launched enterprises to help provide livelihood to your kababayan. You worked to exonerate the innocent, to expose corruption, to reform systems that weren't working, to empower farmers, to call out people on their greed. You designed, planted, cooked, sculpted, wrote, organized, and did so many other things that channeled your intense creativity and numerous talents into the world.

I hope you know that you have done so much good and touched so many people in the course of your intensely productive, creative, and meaningful life.

I am still in shock at how you left us so suddenly and so soon. But I am consoled by the fact that we were able to really talk last week, and that you still were able to text back until late last night. I also sensed that you knew that it was time, and I take comfort in knowing that you were ready to meet God.

I know that you still had so many plans and dreams, but God has decided that your work here is done. And maybe He has even more important work waiting for you on the other side, who knows?

You can lay down your earthly burden, Dan. We will continue the work that you have started. Go with God.

Thank you for the honor and privilege of journeying with you, Dan. My life has been enriched beyond measure because you were my friend. I will truly miss you. <3