From afar, family grieves for Iriga City missionary

RYAN TURALLO, a Filipino volunteer missionary from Iriga City, died after the boat he was in sank off the Solomon Islands on July 28. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

IRIGA CITY—Ryan Turallo, an Iriga City missionary who died when a boat sank off the Solomon Islands on July 28, never fulfilled his wish to surprise his mother with a gift—a refrigerator.

His brother, Lunar, 34, said Ryan, 30, had revealed his plan to spring the surprise when they last talked by phone a day before his death.

While family members were sad that Ryan will never be able to give his present, they were more distraught upon learning that his remains had already been buried in Australian soil and could no longer be brought home, Lunar said.

The body was retrieved by Australian authorities on July 31, some 100 nautical miles from where the boat sank. It was badly decomposed and was not allowed to be transported, Lunar said.

Ryan, a teacher, left in November 2010 to become a volunteer missionary on the Solomon Islands, an archipelago in southwest Pacific Ocean, some 1,200 miles northeast of Australia. He served as student affairs coordinator of St. John Bosco Senior Technical School in Nila on the Shortland Islands.

Supply trip

The Filipino and three other Solomon islanders—two children and an adult—died in the sea accident, Archbishop Leonardo Z. Legaspi of the Archdiocese of Caceres in Camarines Sur was informed by Bishop Luciano Capelli of the Diocese of Gizo on the Solomon Islands.

Bicolano priest Edmund Siguenza from the Archdiocese of Caceres and five others survived.

The Filipino missionaries apparently get their supplies and other needs from the nearby island, according to Legaspi’s assistant, Fr. Louie Occiano.

“The boat, which belonged to the diocese (of Gizo) had waited a week for the weather to improve to make the crossing, and on Saturday, [the] weather and sea appeared to be suitable for the trip,” a dispatch from Capelli disclosed. A copy of the report was furnished the Inquirer.

Capelli described Ryan as a “lover of youth, life, with dreams and plans for himself, his beloved ones and the youth entrusted to him” and “has given his life as a volunteer missionary in a very isolated place, with great joy and enthusiasm for life.”

Lunar, who works as a branch manager of an appliance company in Batangas, came home on July 31 to be with the grieving family. He said he had talked with Ryan for two consecutive days the week before and recalled that the last thing he told him was “to be careful and God bless.”

The Turallos live in an old small two-story house of concrete and wood in a middle-income neighborhood in Barangay San Miguel at Iriga’s suburban area.

Bonfire gathering

Iriga Mayor Madelaine Alfelor-Gazmen said she considered Ryan a close friend as they were both mountain climbing enthusiasts and belonged to Asog, a local environmental group.

He had taught at Ceferino Arroyo National High School and was its Boy Scout coordinator, she said.

The mayor said she admired Ryan for his organizing skills and treated him like a younger brother.

She lost touch with him after he left for the Solomon Islands and was terribly saddened when she learned about his death. “At first, when I heard about the bad news that he drowned I could not believe it because he was athletic, an outdoor lover and a good swimmer,” Gazmen said.

As a tribute to Ryan, Gazmen said she would talk with their friends in Asog to hold a bonfire gathering to remember him and sing his favorite songs.

“He was full of life … We will invite all the people he touched like the Boy Scouts he handled,” she said.

For the meantime, the mayor said she was trying to find a way to help the Turallo family retrieve the remains of Ryan.

Lunar said the family was trying to reach out to the office of Vice President Jejomar Binay to ask for help in the repatriation. He said he could only hope that Ryan’s remains would eventually come home and be buried at the San Francisco Cemetery in Iriga.