DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 6 September) – Arnold Vandenbroeck – environmentalist, human rights defender, writer, and development worker – died at around 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday due to injuries he suffered after his bicycle, family members said, was hit by a vehicle.
He was 71.
In a statement on social media, veterinarian Bayani Vandenbroeck announced the death of his father from injuries suffered from a bicycle accident, but did not disclose where the incident happened.
Daughter Maya, in a private message sent to the family’s close friends, said that Arnold got hit by a vehicle after he abruptly swerved his bicycle to avoid running over a dog.
“As we are still coming to terms with his sudden loss, we appreciate all the prayers and messages of support, it gives us strength to see his impact in many people’s lives,” Bayani said.
Arnold came to the Philippines as a community development and church worker in 1974, two years after martial law was declared by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
The Belgian spent five years in Agusan in the early 1980s and another eight years in Antique after the 1986 People Power before settling in Davao City in the late 1990s, where he co-founded the Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability Inc. (IDIS)
IDIS is an environmental advocacy organization focused on influencing policies and practices of local government units, people’s organizations and non-governmental organizations.
In 2011, he was knighted by the King of Belgium in the “Order of the Crown” in recognition and appreciation of his development work and engagements.
Bayani said the family does not plan to hold a traditional Filipino wake of several continuous days but will post a schedule of the commemoration services and gatherings at their parents’ house to celebrate the life of Arnold.
“We invite everyone who wants to pay their respects and remember him to come during those days. It is also the wish of the family to be able to rest in privacy on the days we don’t have these services,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Bayani Vandenbroeck
Bayani said his father’s remains would be cremated, and that some of his ashes would be spread under the trees that he planted in their farm.
“One of the major personal projects Papa was working on was a “walk among the trees” in our farm, which takes visitors on a path around the farm where he planted hundreds (if not thousands) of trees over the course of his life. It was his wish to be eventually buried amongst the trees he planted, so we will be spreading some of his ashes there, under the trees that he planted, as he always wished,” Bayani said.
Bro. Karl Gaspar, CSSR, chair of the Paglaum Ecology Network (PEN), mourned the passing of his friend Arnold.
“I have known Arnold for what seems like a lifetime and everyone who has met him through the years would attest to the fact that he was an extraordinary person. We were lucky he entered into our lives and enriched our personal narratives,” he said.
He said Arnold and wife Norma were active in ecological engagements, which included, among others, “lobbying the city government for setting up a park in the Shrine Hills and having bicycle lanes, stopping the cutting of heritage trees in the city, protecting the watersheds of the city threatened by continuous logging, safeguarding the water source to make sure potable water is made available to all, protesting against an unsound zero waste management program of the city through the use of an incinerator, as well as the building of a bridge from the mainland to Samal Island that would destroy the remaining coral reefs.”
H. Marcos C. Mordeno, one of the editors of MindaNews, shared a fond memory of Arnold that happened about two decades ago.
In 2006, he and wife Norma went to see an indigenous sporting event at the Kaamulan Festival in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, Mordeno recalled.
“I introduced them to City Councilor Atty. Amador Melendez (deceased), who was managing the event. Excited kaayo si Melendez, nagratatat sa pag iningles ngadtong Arnold. Nakurat siya pagtubag ni Arnold kay nagbinisaya man nga di na mailhang Belgian kung di ka magtanaw. Pagdistansya sa couple, ana si Melendez, “peste, naglisodlisod tag iningles, mas maayo man mobinisaya kaysa ato (Melendez was so excited, and spoke to Arnold in rapid English. He was shocked when Arnold answered in Cebuano so fluently you wouldn’t even know he’s a Belgian unless you look at his features. After the couple left, Melendez remarked, “Darn, I had a hard time talking to him in English, but he was an even better Cebuano speaker),” the journalist said.
This reporter sought the Davao City Police Office through its spokesperson Capt. Hazel Tuazon for details of the accident but she has yet to respond as of 7:10 p.m. Wednesday. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
