A Tribute to Atty. Manuel “Maning” Revilla Ravanera
There is a saying that goes, “There is no greater grandeur sight in the world than a young man, fired with a great purpose, dominated by one unwavering aim. He is bound to win; the world stands to one side and let him pass; it always makes way for the man with a strong will in him.” Oozing with courage out of love for the environment and the poor and oppressed Indigenous Peoples, he defied harassments and threats. Atty. Maning’s environmental advocacy has now come of age and has become the urgent call of the time due to environmental crisis. Although he had already leaped-up to the Great Beyond, he will forever remain in our heart, thus, this tribute to him at this time of his 2nd death anniversary.
Deepak Chopra, my favorite new age philosopher said that life and death are not enemies but are entwined aspects of one life. Such was beautifully expressed by the great Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore when he wrote: “The night kissed the fading day with a whisper, “I am death, your mother, from me you will get new birth.” Indeed, all of us have to go but we don’t know when. My dear brother, Atty. Maning Ravanera, had leaped-up to the Great Beyond on November 26, 2022, a day after our beloved mother, Nanay Mading, died who is now in the loving embrace of our dear late father, Vic. Seldom do you see mother and son together in a funeral parlor at the Divine Sheperd and all of us the remaining six siblings with our families grieved no end but with a firm belief that our beloved mother and brother ended up in God’s loving embrace for a life full of service and love.
My loving memory of my brother went back that fateful day on the same date 12 years ago when he almost died after suffering from hemorrhagic stroke, so severe that the attending physician had given him a slim chance to live. But as always, Atty. Maning did remain his true self, an intrepid warrior, when facing great adversities and even in the most critical time, when battling death itself. Watching him bravely fighting for dear life at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital with a face so full of life and courage, I knew then that just like in so many court “battles” that he fought championing the cause of the environment or in defending the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed Indigenous Peoples, this time, not even death could prevail over his strong will to live.
Together, we have faced the threatening advocacies during the past decades when we were taking direct actions to protect the remaining dipterocarp forests in the uplands of Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon and Lanao Provinces which were then wantonly being decimated by the well-armed illegal loggers. I remember that when we staged human barricade to stop the flow of illegally cut log from 1991 to year 2000 with some 3,000 Indigenous Peoples, the farmers and fisherfolk in the highway fronting SEARSOLIN in upper Carmen, the highly well-armed loggers went to threaten Atty. Maning in his residence in Carmen, brandishing their “starlight” high powered guns but never had they been successful in stopping my brother to continue his legal and extra-legal battle against them. There were times when more than 3,000 Indigenous Peoples, farmers, women, fisherfolk and non-government organizations came together to rally to have a dialogue with the officials of the DENR to seek redress against the massive destruction of the ecosystems especially against the highly-destructive industrial plant emitting toxic pollution in Tablon that was causing deaths and diseases among the residents. Exposed to the excruciating heat of the sun for more than five hours, the people were barred from entering DENR’s compound, so Atty. Maning opened the closed gate which suddenly prompted the guard to fire his gun. Undaunted, Atty. Maning dared the guard to shoot him if such is the order of those whose sworn duty is to protect the environment, yet, have miserably failed to do so. Indeed, my brother was willing to give-up is life, right then and there, just to stop our accelerating drive towards ecological disasters.
That daring courageous action had allowed the people to present their issues against illegal logging, illegal mining, illegal fishing and industrial pollution with all the evidence necessary for legal action. Whether that office has all these years remained apathetic to the pitiful plight of our ecological people is by itself RES IPSA LOQUITOR. There was nothing more that would get the righteous ire of Atty. Maning than those of law enforcers whose sworn duties are to enforce the law to protect the people and the environment, yet would blatantly neglect their duties; they instead protect the interest of influential people or of the powers-that-be. He would dare to directly confront these law enforcers for their malfeasance, not minding their threatening acts of shooting him. The same portrait of courage that he had shown all those years for the rule of law to prevail, he always had a forgiving heart to those who do him wrong. What mattered for him was to continue his mission to serve the least of his brethren. For the thousands of Indigenous Peoples, farmers and fisherfolk whom he had served all those years pro bono in their struggle to protect God’s vanishing creation and to uphold their rights, he will forever remain as their champion and will forever remain in their heart.
I can liken my brother to what Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela had fought for during their time who trailblazed the liberation of the oppressed from the destructive structures and blindness of egotism. Somehow, Atty. Maning’s love and courage who was willing to sacrifice his life for sacred nature and for the oppressed had opened-up a new understanding of ourselves in oneness with all of God’s creation and a fresh perception of the world around us. He became the Indigenous Peoples’ inspiration to bravely stand for God’s vanishing creation which we believe is the highest form of worship. In fact, some of them had willingly sacrificed their lives so that others may live. If that love and courage will reverberate to trigger an awakening process, our people will be liberated from the power of money which is the principal disease of our time, and be replaced by the truest essence of life which is love and service! Humble as he was, Atty. Maning had exemplified the truism that what matters is to maximize inner values of having a strong will, love, service and courage, a trailblazing path that could be a liberating path against unbridled materialism and consumerism.
In remembrance of my dear brother as I continue his advocacy to save GAIA (Mother Earth) from climate disaster, I can always feel his presence by just looking at the stars as I would be aware of his presence as consciousness through the following poetic lines: “From time to time there appear on the face of the earth. men of rare and consummate excellence who dazzle us by their virtue, and whose outstanding qualities shed a stupendous light. Like those extra-ordinary stars of whose origin, we are ignorant and of whose fate, once they have vanished, we know even less, such men have neither forebears nor descendants: they are the whole of their race” To my dearest brother and also to our beloved NANAY MADING, our firm salute and warm embrace – WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!
