Just recently I viewed with rapt attention a viral series on YouTube, about a heart-warming story of a Dutch man who has lived most of his life in Belgium, and had successive misfortunes while visiting the Philippines. Bjorn |(his real first name) was featured in a six-part series of interviews/reports by popular TV personality Raffy Tulfo, now elected as a member of the Philippine Senate and appointed as cabinet secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) by current Philippine President, Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
Tulfo appears regularly as host for the program “Raffy Tulfo in Action” on TV 5. The series can be accessed through YouTube (YT), by the title “Raffy Tulfo in Action: Bjorn” (Parts 1-6).
An average wage-earner as a welder and operating some business or other on the side, Bjorn became acquainted with some Filipino women on the social media, and agreed to meet up with them one after the other here in the Philippines.
This brought him first to Maasin, a town in Southern Leyte province on the island of Leyte in the Visayas region. For about a year Bjorn had a relationship with the woman there (Lina), but at the end of that period they broke up when he couldn’t obtain necessary documents for their business/marriage and his money had about run out. This forced Bjorn to move to nearby Cebu City on the island province of Cebu, a notable commercial and cultural hub in the southern Philippines. (Cebu has been dubbed “the queen city of the South.”)
After staying 7-8 months with another woman there (Vilma) whom he had known on social media, Bjorn relived the same story of a split-up when his money almost ran out and she dumped him for a moneyed Saudi Arabian guy. Somehow he was able to scrape up enough money to fly back to Belgium, where he continued to chat up with another female contact in Cebu City. Having recovered financially in Belgium, Bjorn flew back to Cebu City. This time he lived with this other contact (Shantal) for 5-6 months and, when the job/business she promised him didn’t pan out, he became practically penniless, and she just disappeared! In a talk with Bjorn, Tulfo described her as a “walker” — a “dame of the night.”
With barely anything to sustain him, Bjorn ended up living on the streets of Cebu City for some five months. He survived with the help of some street boys (called “Rugby boys” because they got their “high” from inhaling the fumes of a contact cement with the “Rugby” brand), who gave him some food and money. Other people who saw him sleeping on the streets and sides of buildings took pity on him and also handed him food and money whenever they could. Bjorn struck them as a good person [“mabait“]. They saw him give food or money to those who asked him, though he was himself needing help. One landlady mercifully allowed him to sleep at the side of her lodging house, gave him access to her water to shower and wash his clothes, but this arrangement didn’t last long. His job as a stainless steel welder with a small-time shop owner didn’t pay him enough, the owner eventually closed shop, and the landlady “burned the end of her candle.” She let Bjorn go, and he was back on the streets.
Then, one day a boy and a girl (Kim and Karyle), students at the City Central High School, inadvertently spotted Bjorn sleeping under the shade of a tree, with a folded carton box for a bed, without a blanket and shivering from cold after being soaked by rain. When Bjorn woke up they asked what he – a foreigner and a white man at that – was doing, sleeping on the ground and looking scruffy, and hungry. Moved by his condition, the students scraped up some change and bought him food, which he thankfully received and ate. With their phone cameras, they took shots of Bjorn in his city haunts and posted them on the internet, in hopes that some people would notice the need, and send help. One local lady (Lavele) caught sight of the post, contacted the pair and joined them in visiting Bjorn. A call center agent, Lavele then offered to give Bjorn lodging in an inexpensive pension/guest house, where he could clean up and get decent sleep. Others who saw the same media post suggested that the pair of students contact Raffy Tulfo on his TV program so Bjorn could get major help.
That’s when things began to really take a turn for the better for Bjorn!
Tulfo’s staff soon flew down to Cebu to meet with the three benefactors and Bjorn. To make a long story short, Bjorn was flown to Manila to meet with Raffy Tulfo. He was booked into a nice hotel, brought to a shopping mall to get some new clothes, shoes and a new suitcase. “Idol Tulfo,” as Raffy is also called, paid for all the purchases and the hotel bills. He also arranged to pay the Bureau of Customs and Immigration Bjorn’s overstaying penalty (P18,000), bought his plane ticket for his flight back to Belgium, plus pocket money of 1,000 euros. By doing this, Tulfo wanted to show to the world that while there are bad [“balasubas“] Filipinos, there are also a number of kind-hearted [“mababa-it“] Filipinos. He said, “Because it was some of our own folks that mistreated [‘nang-walang-hiya kay’] Bjorn, we owe it to him to help him, to make amends [‘bayad, kung baga‘] .” Bjorn has been profuse with his “Thank you; God bless you” remarks to Tulfo and the other folks who have helped him.
When Bjorn first returned to Belgium from Cebu, he became friends with some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there who had watched Tulfo’s earlier on-line series about his plight. Tulfo’s staff contacted them to request them to to meet Bjorn at the airport on his arrival. Because he had had a bad relationship with his family, who deprived him of his rightful share in the family inheritance and have virtually disowned him, Bjorn has no more place to call home in Belgium. These Filipino folks housed him, strung him along until he could find work and become financially viable again. Bjorn proved that he has the inner strength that kept him from losing his marbles in the face of the severe challenges thrown at him. Bjorn likes the positive attitude of people here and intends to eventually return to the Philippines, find a wife and settle down here for good.
While bidding Raffy Tulfo his final goodbye, Bjorn said: “Thank you very much, ‘Idol,’ for all you’ve done for me! God bless you, and God bless the Philippines!”
That reminded me of a recent article I published on this website, titled One More Voice for Israel. What has this got to do with Bjorn?
Not realized by most, the Dutch people are actually descendants of Zebulun, one of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel. So are the Belgians, of the tribe of Asher. You can check this out in my article God’s Kingdom and Israel. See also this link: https://www.herbert-armstrong.org, click ENTER HERE, select “Books & Booklets” and scroll down to the book or booklet titled “The United States and Britain in Prophecy.”
Bjorn’s parting words to Tulfo also reminded me of a song I once heard former Philippine First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos sing on a TV clip (also found in my elementary school music book):
Heaven watch the Philippines, keep her safe from harm!
Guard her sons and her faithful ones in the city and on the farm!
Friendly with America may she always be!
Heaven watch the Philippines and keep her forever free,
And keep her forever free!
While much of the world hates Americans, Britons and Jews, most Filipinos are friendly to them. Many Filipinos may suffer poverty and a low quality of life, but the Philippines gets along well with most other nations, and is way up there when it comes to the “happiness” index.
The greatest blessing of all
To me, the greatest blessing that Filipinos have received for having “blessed Israel” (America) is the gift of true spiritual knowledge that has come from the work and ministry of the present-day remnant of the true church that Jesus established: the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) with headquarters in Pasadena, Ca., USA, and founded by Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA). Go back to the Armstrong link mentioned above, and scroll down to the booklets titled “A True History of the True Church” and “The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong.”
I am still in great awe and wonder at the fact that, as a result of my connection with the WCG and HWA, I have come up with this my website (www.pool-of-siloam.com) and have been inspired to write articles that I hope and trust have helped you readers to know and worship our Creator God more! [See: About the Author.]
I can’t feel more blessed, in this life, than being a voice for God in these our end-times! What blessing may God have in store for the Filipinos who have truly received Christ through the work of the WCG/HWA and mine, and are ready to welcome Him at His soon return to earth to set up God’s everlasting kingdom here? For a glimpse of this, go back to the above-cited Armstrong link, and select instead “Good News 1934-1986),” then 1960-1969, scroll down to the GN issue of October-November 1966, and turn to the article titled “Why the Philippines?” on pages 7-11, 21-22. This was written by Arthur W. Docken, then regional director of the WCG regional office in Manila.
God bless us all as we bless Israel!
Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
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