FROM LEFT: Jay Hernandez, lawyer Jimmy and doctor Zorina Santos, Lissa and Nad Gonzales, Joey and Nenet Lavares, Father Danee and the author.
Fr. Danee Cruz was in Batanes for six years. In 2013, he became the parish priest of St. Vicente Ferrer in Sabtang, whose church was built in the 1870s.
Upon arrival on the island, our first activity is always to thank the Lord for keeping us safe on the falowa boat that brought us there. Father Danee has turned the convent’s bodega into a souvenir shop he calls Conscience Café, which operates like Elene Gabilo’s Honesty Coffee Shop in Ivana. Customers write what they buy on a ledger, and put their payment in a box.
Father Danee’s café raises funds to support the parish’s scholars and pay its electricity and water bills. It opened last May and offers coffee and souvenir items. With the support of the National Heritage Commission and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, Father Danee wants the store to undergo further improvement.
Though an epula (meaning, not an Ivatan), Father Danee, who comes from Binangonan, Rizal, blends well with the locals. He has built a museum, which displays the church’s relics.
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