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Pastor Ricardo “Bong” De Asis, health ministries/Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) director for the East Visayan Conference, visited the Coast Guard District Central Visayas (CGDCV) for the second time Feb. 9, 2016. 

Under the leadership of Rear Admiral Agapito B. Bibat, the government agency invited him to conduct a “Mental Health Awareness” program to promote sound mental health and resilience of its personnel. 

Following this event, De Asis returned with Atty. Christian Abenir, Central Philippine Union Conference director for legal, human resources, and PARL, and Pastor Godofredo Romanillos Jr., director for communication and Adventist-laymen’s Services and Industries, to conduct another mental health event.

But what was the significance of the visits? Were those merely simple outreach programs designed to share the Gospel indirectly? Were there deeper meanings to the act of delivering lectures beyond what many of us can do? Or were those just another remarkable expansion of marketplace or workplace ministry? 

Yes, there was —the strengthening of PARL. Those missions involved building vital bridges with governments, international bodies, and diverse faith communities. 

Religious freedom has always been a challenge for the Adventist Church, especially regarding Sabbath concerns for university students and corporate workers. 

When we encounter such challenges, we quickly think of our religious rights, but what do those truly offer?

Our church may carry documentation proving our foundational rights as students and employees, anchored in the 1987 Constitution, Article III, Section 5 (the Free Exercise Clause). 

They may cite the Valmores Case Ruling, which mandates respect for a student’s religious freedom, or the specific CHED and DepEd memoranda issued to grant Sabbath liberty to Adventists. 

However, what do we—or our students—truly gain by forcing these rights upon universities? What are the struggles of those who must fight for their freedom?  Can they handle the emotional trauma of the waiting period? 

What, then, is the most effective method to attain this freedom more easily? 

Pastor De Asis has a consistent answer to this frequently asked question: “Increase our public affairs; multiply our partnerships and collaborations in their activities. Make them feel we are not the antagonists, but the top supporters of their cause.”

As someone who has engaged with military and police offices, political platforms, local government units, and academic institutions for several years, he has proven that negotiations for Sabbath freedom do not always require legalistic Memoranda of Agreement (MOA). 

“It will only widen the gap between us and cause prejudice. However, there is nothing more effective than friendship and mutual agreement.” 

He does not mean that the Supreme Court rulings and government memoranda are meaningless, but rather that their impact is greatly enhanced by genuine relationships. 

As an example, De Asis showed how he gained respect from those high-ranking officials, citing his recent conversation with Rear Admiral Bibat, where he asked him to grant Sabbath freedom to all the Adventist men under him.”

The high-ranking official of the Philippine Coast Guard assured him that the request would be granted, even telling him that there is already an existing collaboration between him and an Adventist medical team in conducting medical missions.

When the pastor informed him of his departure, the Admiral offered to have his men pick De Asis up from where he stayed in Cebu City and ushered him directly to the seaport. “This is what a relationship can do,” De Asis said. “Mutual understanding doesn’t always need papers.” 

He stressed that this success is not unique to the Admiral but has been his experience with all the prominent leaders he has collaborated with through his mental health advocacy. 

He admitted that these environments can be resistant and challenging, but our duty remains to sow the seeds, trusting that only God has the power to transform a heart or a mind. 

He supported this conviction with the biblical truth found in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7: "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." 

Ellen White expands on this concept extensively in her commentary on the Parable of the Sower. She emphasizes that even the most talented "planter" is helpless without the "Sun of Righteousness."

"The germination of the seed represents the beginning of spiritual life, and the development of the plant is a figure of Christian growth. As in nature, so in grace; there can be no life without growth. The plant must either grow or die... While the husbandman [farmer] cannot make the seed grow, he must do his part. He must prepare the soil and sow the seed, but the life-giving power is from God alone." — Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 63

Ultimately, the mission of PARL is not merely about securing legal exemptions but about revealing the character of God through service and bridge-building. By creating relationships, we move beyond the courtroom and into the heart of the community. 

“As we continue to sow these seeds of friendship and professional excellence, we trust that the doors of religious liberty will swing open not because they were forced open, but because we have proven ourselves indispensable partners in humanity's work,” De Asis added.

Lyn Lucero ⎸ ECPUC Communication Department