http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/RH/RH19660421-V143-16.pdf
REVIEW AND HERALD, April 21, 1966 Vol 143, No 16
p 19
In 1935 a group of Seventh-day Adventist evangelists came to Lipa, proclaiming the Good News, teaching receptive residents about the true Sabbath rest and the blessed hope of Jesus' literal return. Gregorio and Simeona were among the very first baptized, joining the first group of Adventist Christians in the town of Lipa, Batangas. The new converts were understandably fond of the evangelists. One, Pastor Gonzales, was specially attentive to their spiritual and material needs; so, when Simeona's next and youngest son was born, she named him Petronilo.
The seventh child among eleven brothers and sisters, born May 9, 1935 to Gregorio Garcia and Simeona Sabido, in the little town of Lipa, the province of Batangas. The Garcia family was a humble one. Gregorio was a water hauler and Simeona was a market fish vendor. All seven siblings were supported by their parents till they reached young adulthood.
Early Schooling and WWII
The young Petronilo started his schooling at the Lipa Adventist Church School. His schooling, however, was halted due to the Second World War and subsequent Japanese occupation of the country. He was already 10 when the Philippines was liberated from the Japanese. First, he joined the market garbage collection crew. Later, he worked for the American forces by cleaning their tents. Once he was assigned with those fixing the landing strip at the Fernando Airforce base, putting steel matting together.
Soon, the church school opened again and so Petronilo was able to finish grade school in 1950. In spite of money problem, Petronilo pursued his secondary education. He enrolled in The Mabini Academy, which was a privately-owned high school. Monthly tuition was only six pesos a month, but it was still difficult to come up with that amount. By this time, Gregorio was already advanced in years and Simeona became the sole bread winner. Their main source of income was selling fish. When Petronilo was in his junior year in high school, Gregorio had a heart attack and died. By the mercies of God, Petronilo finished his secondary education in 1954.
On to Philippine Union College
Following his graduation from high school, the big question that confronted him was: "Could I go college?" As far as family means, there was no money for college. Nevertheless, Petronilo talked to his mother. He was so determined to finish college and so he decided to go to Philippine Union College (now Adventist University of the Philippines). There, he believed he could enroll, provided he was willing to work his way through. He was told that if he stayed in the dormitory, he needed a required deposit of seventy-five pesos to start with. So he returned home, confiding his concerns to his mother, letting her know what he learned from the manager of PUC. Still, Petronilo was really determined to go to college. He prayed and God opened his eyes to an alternative. He could stay with someone in the village off the PUC campus and pay only for a bed space.
Bed space was six pesos a month and the tuition was six pesos per unit. Petronilo thought that if he could work for the school, maybe he could survive. And so enrollment came and he traveled back to PUC to enroll with just fifty pesos in his pocket. By this time he had made an arrangement with his former teacher at the Lipa Adventist Church School for bed space. When school started, he prepared his own meals, consisting mainly of steamed rice and sardines that were sold in small, half-a-pint size canisters. Knowing full well that his mother would not be able to provide much, if any, of his monthly expenses, he started looking for work on the school campus. He was assigned to the grounds department, mowing lawns and fixing fences. His heavy work load meant he was allowed to take less that the full 16-unit load for regular students.
First and second semesters came and went. He kept working so he could get enough work credit to enable him to stay in the dormitory. He was weary cooking rice and eating only sardines with it. He checked with the supervisor of the school's security department and asked if he could work as a security guard. Being unusually taller than the average young adult college student, and husky, he was accepted as one of the security guards. He started to guard the East gate of the campus from 6:00 a. m. to 10:00 a. m. on days when he had no classes and worked as a roaming guard at night from 10:00 o'clock p.m. to 2:00 a.m., 7 days a week. During that time a security guard was paid only 40 centavos per hour and they were not paid in cash, just credit to the student account. Meanwhile, he still kept his bed space in the village and continued preparing his own food. Finally, after more than a semester of working as a security guard, he had enough work credit to use as down payment, enabling him to stay in the dormitory.
There was a time during Sabbath that he had to guard the East gate from 6:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. and then 6 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the West gate. Every Sabbath, he prepared enough food to last him the whole day. He had a small kettle full of rice and a can of LIGO sardines for that day. He had true water (not Royal Tru-orange) for his drink.
At last, by the end of the first semester of his second year in the school, after working so hard as a security guard, he was able to stay in the dormitory. He continued working as a security guard at the East and West gates in the morning and as roaming guard on the college campus at night. He earned almost enough for his board and lodging and for tuition. He was allowed to take no more than 12 units of studies each semester. Male working students were limited monthly to 40 pesos worth of meal tickets. Consequently, being a working student, he was always hungry and usually finished his 40-peso worth of meal ticket by the 20th or at most the 22nd of each month. From the 23rd to the end of each month, he had to buy extra meals on credit, either from Mrs. Campomanes' or Mrs. Morga's store, both of which were located just outside the East gate. At the end of each month, he went home to ask for some cash allowance from his mother Simeona, so he could pay for what he owed Mrs. Campomanes and Mrs. Morga.
Work-Study Interrupted by Illness
By the end of the second semester of his second year in school, Petronilo got very sick. He caught flu which turned to pneumonia due to his very low physical resistance because of overwork especially at night. He had no choice but to go home and rest. As a result he missed one whole year of school. Still, he was determined to return, following convalesecence, so he could finish his studies at PUC. Needless to say, his perennial problem was financial. How could he start all over again? He wrote to the college president, then, Dr. Reuben G. Manalaysay.
Subsequently, he re-enrolled as a ministerial student. He had to start working hard again to have enough work credit for his board and lodging and tuition. He was assigned to different departments where he could work and earn 35 centavos per hour. He was assigned in the farm, alongside other self-supporting students, cleaning the grounds around the college campus, repairing fences and doing all sorts of odd jobs.
As the school year progressed, he was again assigned to work as a security guard. Along with his guard duty, he was also given the chance to work in the Commercial Art department, printing church bulletins, the Friday Morning Post and exam papers, among other things. He was also assigned the job of bell ringing. He rang the bell to indicate that the hourly start of each class; also when it was over. For additional job credit, he was asked to be Boys' Dormitory assistant dean for Pastor Herminio Reyes. He held that job until the end of his junior year.
The last three years of his college career, Petronilo continued to experience difficulties especially on financial matters. Though the meal ticket limit was raised to 45 pesos per month, it still could not be stretched till the end of the month. So there were times when he and another assistant dean had to pick avocados from the tree behind the South Hall and kept them in the basement of the Men's dorm until they were ripe. Knowing the avocados were already ripe, together with another self-supporting dormitory worker, they would go to Mrs. Morga's store to buy a can of Carnation evaporated filled milk and a little refined sugar. He and the other student would go to the basement of the boys' dorm and ate the avocados for lunch. Petronilo and Ben Flores did that for a week, so their meal tickets would not be used, being limited to $45 only.
Being a full self-supporting student, he was still unsure if he could finish his ministerial course in four years due to his work load. So he thought of shifting partly to another course, which they called (BSC) Bachelor of Science in Commerce. He started taking a few subjects in accounting while continuing his ministerial course. By his junior year, he was pursuing both courses, the (AB) Bachelor of Arts in religion and (BSC) Bachelor of Science in Commerce
Annual Harvest Ingathering and Student Organizations
Besides his heavy work load and academics, Petronilo was active in other school activities. Shortly upon returning from his previously mentioned one-year sick leave, he was elected president of the Men's Hall (Boys' Dormitory). In the same semester, he was elected president of the sophomore class and vice president of the Ministerial Association. He was very active in the annual ingathering campaigns of PUC, as a leader for four years. School year 1961-1962 was Petronilo's senior year in college.
His last year in school was eventful. It was during the annual harvest ingathering week for the school that one day, after a full day of harvest ingathering, while all the students were enjoying counting the funds they have ingathered, Petronilo got a call from the Manila Sanitarium and Hospital, through the college president, saying, his mother was admitted that afternoon because she had a stroke. She was unconscious. By the help of good friends and fellow students, Petronilo was driven to the hospital that very same evening to visit his mother. It was a very shocking experience. Nevertheless, he did not lose hope.
Bright Spots on the Horizon
Despite sadness and difficulties, there were also some bright spots in his life. Before the end of his junior year, a beautiful young lady provided him the assurance he needed, of her willingness to become his partner in life. The beautiful young lady was Arceli Pulumbarit. It was after a year of absence due to his illness, following hiss return to college, when he first noticed this beautiful young lady. He observed her until at the start of his junior year, he gave all indications that Cely was special as far as he was concerned. Thus, started a most difficult journey of convincing and proving to Cely that she was the woman Petronilo wanted to be with for the rest of his life. Cely was a very modest person. In view of his whole year of absence due to illness, and finding her shortly after returning to school, he thought to himself that Cely was the true helpmeet that God had provided. Finally, after a long and difficult journey Cely said, "Yes".
In March of 1962 after seven years of study and work, Petronilo graduated with his two bachelors degrees, namely Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Commerce. After graduation, Petronilo's challenge was to look for a job. In those days, it was difficult to find a job especially if you don't have any "connections". All the missions could not afford to hire ministerial graduates due financial constraints. There was no budget for new employees. So, Petronilo had to wait for a job opening either in the ministerial or accounting field. When he filed an application for ministerial internship in one of the missions, he was told to go canvassing, meaning sell books, while waiting for a call. Sale or canvassing was never Petronilo's expertise. Anyway, as admonished by the mission officer, he went canvassing part time for at least three months. While waiting for a call, he was assigned to assist a district pastor in South Central Luzon Mission (now South Central Luzon Conference). His monthly stipend was fifty pesos. After assisting the district pastor for three months of evangelism, he still continued with his part time canvassing work.
Call to the Ministry: Central Luzon Mission and Manila Center
Finally, in January of 1963, after one year of patiently waiting, he received a call from Central Luzon Mission (now Central Luzon Conference) as a ministerial intern. He was assigned to work with the late Pastor Jesse Acosta, Sr. in the district of Nueva Ecija, particularly in the town of Cabanatuan. He helped prepare a temporary building for public evangelism. As a ministerial intern, he had to be a jack of all trades. Of course, he also wanted to impress his senior pastor, to prove he was qualified for the job. So, he painted the temporary evangelism building, dug a ditch around it and prepared the place for the opening night.
In those days, ministers who were assigned close to the office usually went to the office to get their salary and also attend a workers' meeting. As a ministerial intern, his gross salary was one hundred fifty-two pesos (P152.00) a month. He could not even buy a pair of shoes, less living expenses, he thought to himself. While they were in the mission office, Petronilo was called by Pastor Potenciano Romulo, then president of the mission. He was informed by Pastor Romulo of a new assignment, that he would be going to the Manila Evangelistic Center under the supervision of Elder Royce Williams and the late Pastor Carmelito Galang. He was so happy that he could return to civilization again. Manila Center is located at Quezon Boulevard and D. Tuazon in Quezon City. There he served as a ministerial intern for two years, assisting in the evangelistic meetings, visitation, and some bookkeeping and helping the treasurer of Manila Center church on the side.
Solo District, New Church Plant: South-Central Luzon
After two years at the Manila Center, Petronilo was called to be a district pastor in one of the districts in South Central Luzon Mission (now SCLC). He worked with Honesto Talento under the supervision of the late Pastor Juanito Tulio, Sr. After three months of evangelism work in one of the towns in the province of Batangas, Petronilo was given the full responsibility as the district pastor of the whole province of Batangas. A year later, Petronilo was transferred to Oriental Mindoro with the same responsibility as district pastor. While in Oriental Mindoro, his mother passed away. Life goes on. After two years as district pastor of Oriental Mindoro, he was reassigned to be the district pastor for the province of Laguna. As part of the Advent Movement, pastors must keep moving.
On May 21, 1967, Petronilo and Arceli took their vows to have and to hold `til death do them part. The theme song they chose was: "SWEETER AS THE YEARS GO BY" As husband and wife, they started life together as a ministerial couple in Binan, Laguna. It was their pastoral provincial district headquarters. Arceli continued working at Manila Banking Corporation, and this supplemented their family income. While in Binan, they led out in an evangelistic campaign in one of the barrios of Binan. After three months of evangelistic series of meetings, a church was organize The Malaban Seventh-day Adventist Church continues today as one of three thriving congregations in the town of Biñan.
Pulling Up Stakes, Putting Down New Roots
After two full years of working as district pastor in Laguna, the couple decided to migrate to the United States of America. On June 20, 1969, they left the Philippines and came to San Francisco, California. Petronilo found a job as bookkeeper/accountant for different limousine companies, while Arceli worked in different departments of the Bank of America. They both worked for more than 30 years in their respective fields. Since their arrival in June of 1969, they joined and became faithful members of the San Francisco Filipino church. Through the years, Petronilo served faithfully as a church elder, twenty five years as first elder. Beside him, Arceli also served as a church treasurer, deaconess, social committee chairperson, etc.
On April 17, 1972, Petronilo and Arceli were blessed with a baby boy whom they named
Gaylord, after pitcher Gaylord Perry of the S.F. Giants. Five years later on May 9th , 1977, God blessed them with another son, naming him Jason, from the literature novel, "Jason and the Golden Fleece". Both sons Gaylord and Jason went through the Christian educational system. They started the elementary grades at San Francisco Junior Academy, a school run by the Seventh-day Adventist organization. They finished their high school years at Monterey Bay Academy, another Seventh-day Adventist run school. They finished their college education at Pacific Union College in Angwin, northern California.
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Working continuously till after the 9-11 terrorist attack, Petronilo finally decided to retire. Two years later, Arceli also retired. In the year 2000 Petronilo took a three week vacation to the Philippines to accompany his oldest, Gaylord to ask for the hands of Joan Monzales from her mother to be Gaylord's better half. The following year 2001, Petronilo and the whole family took another one month vacation to attend the wedding of his son Gaylord and Joan Monzales.
On December 21, 2001, Petronilo went through a triple by-pass surgery from which he recovered very quickly. He decided to take life easy and retired completely. On January 21, 2001, Gaylord, Petronilo's first son got married in the Philippines to Joan Monzales. On October 12, 2005. Petronilo's first grandson was born. They named him LUKE JOHN M. GARCIA. Petronilo baby seated baby LUKE until the day he was unable to take care of his little grandson.
REVIEW AND HERALD, April 21, 1966 Vol 143, No 16
p 19
FAR EASTERN DIVISION OUTLOOK April, 1966 Vol 52, No 4
p16
The seventh child among eleven brothers and sisters, born May 9, 1935 to Gregorio Garcia and Simeona Sabido, in the little town of Lipa, the province of Batangas. The Garcia family was a humble one. Gregorio was a water hauler and Simeona was a market fish vendor. All seven siblings were supported by their parents till they reached young adulthood.
Early Schooling and WWII
The young Petronilo started his schooling at the Lipa Adventist Church School. His schooling, however, was halted due to the Second World War and subsequent Japanese occupation of the country. He was already 10 when the Philippines was liberated from the Japanese. First, he joined the market garbage collection crew. Later, he worked for the American forces by cleaning their tents. Once he was assigned with those fixing the landing strip at the Fernando Airforce base, putting steel matting together.
Soon, the church school opened again and so Petronilo was able to finish grade school in 1950. In spite of money problem, Petronilo pursued his secondary education. He enrolled in The Mabini Academy, which was a privately-owned high school. Monthly tuition was only six pesos a month, but it was still difficult to come up with that amount. By this time, Gregorio was already advanced in years and Simeona became the sole bread winner. Their main source of income was selling fish. When Petronilo was in his junior year in high school, Gregorio had a heart attack and died. By the mercies of God, Petronilo finished his secondary education in 1954.
On to Philippine Union College
Following his graduation from high school, the big question that confronted him was: "Could I go college?" As far as family means, there was no money for college. Nevertheless, Petronilo talked to his mother. He was so determined to finish college and so he decided to go to Philippine Union College (now Adventist University of the Philippines). There, he believed he could enroll, provided he was willing to work his way through. He was told that if he stayed in the dormitory, he needed a required deposit of seventy-five pesos to start with. So he returned home, confiding his concerns to his mother, letting her know what he learned from the manager of PUC. Still, Petronilo was really determined to go to college. He prayed and God opened his eyes to an alternative. He could stay with someone in the village off the PUC campus and pay only for a bed space.
Bed space was six pesos a month and the tuition was six pesos per unit. Petronilo thought that if he could work for the school, maybe he could survive. And so enrollment came and he traveled back to PUC to enroll with just fifty pesos in his pocket. By this time he had made an arrangement with his former teacher at the Lipa Adventist Church School for bed space. When school started, he prepared his own meals, consisting mainly of steamed rice and sardines that were sold in small, half-a-pint size canisters. Knowing full well that his mother would not be able to provide much, if any, of his monthly expenses, he started looking for work on the school campus. He was assigned to the grounds department, mowing lawns and fixing fences. His heavy work load meant he was allowed to take less that the full 16-unit load for regular students.
First and second semesters came and went. He kept working so he could get enough work credit to enable him to stay in the dormitory. He was weary cooking rice and eating only sardines with it. He checked with the supervisor of the school's security department and asked if he could work as a security guard. Being unusually taller than the average young adult college student, and husky, he was accepted as one of the security guards. He started to guard the East gate of the campus from 6:00 a. m. to 10:00 a. m. on days when he had no classes and worked as a roaming guard at night from 10:00 o'clock p.m. to 2:00 a.m., 7 days a week. During that time a security guard was paid only 40 centavos per hour and they were not paid in cash, just credit to the student account. Meanwhile, he still kept his bed space in the village and continued preparing his own food. Finally, after more than a semester of working as a security guard, he had enough work credit to use as down payment, enabling him to stay in the dormitory.
There was a time during Sabbath that he had to guard the East gate from 6:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. and then 6 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the West gate. Every Sabbath, he prepared enough food to last him the whole day. He had a small kettle full of rice and a can of LIGO sardines for that day. He had true water (not Royal Tru-orange) for his drink.
At last, by the end of the first semester of his second year in the school, after working so hard as a security guard, he was able to stay in the dormitory. He continued working as a security guard at the East and West gates in the morning and as roaming guard on the college campus at night. He earned almost enough for his board and lodging and for tuition. He was allowed to take no more than 12 units of studies each semester. Male working students were limited monthly to 40 pesos worth of meal tickets. Consequently, being a working student, he was always hungry and usually finished his 40-peso worth of meal ticket by the 20th or at most the 22nd of each month. From the 23rd to the end of each month, he had to buy extra meals on credit, either from Mrs. Campomanes' or Mrs. Morga's store, both of which were located just outside the East gate. At the end of each month, he went home to ask for some cash allowance from his mother Simeona, so he could pay for what he owed Mrs. Campomanes and Mrs. Morga.
Work-Study Interrupted by Illness
By the end of the second semester of his second year in school, Petronilo got very sick. He caught flu which turned to pneumonia due to his very low physical resistance because of overwork especially at night. He had no choice but to go home and rest. As a result he missed one whole year of school. Still, he was determined to return, following convalesecence, so he could finish his studies at PUC. Needless to say, his perennial problem was financial. How could he start all over again? He wrote to the college president, then, Dr. Reuben G. Manalaysay.
Subsequently, he re-enrolled as a ministerial student. He had to start working hard again to have enough work credit for his board and lodging and tuition. He was assigned to different departments where he could work and earn 35 centavos per hour. He was assigned in the farm, alongside other self-supporting students, cleaning the grounds around the college campus, repairing fences and doing all sorts of odd jobs.
As the school year progressed, he was again assigned to work as a security guard. Along with his guard duty, he was also given the chance to work in the Commercial Art department, printing church bulletins, the Friday Morning Post and exam papers, among other things. He was also assigned the job of bell ringing. He rang the bell to indicate that the hourly start of each class; also when it was over. For additional job credit, he was asked to be Boys' Dormitory assistant dean for Pastor Herminio Reyes. He held that job until the end of his junior year.
The last three years of his college career, Petronilo continued to experience difficulties especially on financial matters. Though the meal ticket limit was raised to 45 pesos per month, it still could not be stretched till the end of the month. So there were times when he and another assistant dean had to pick avocados from the tree behind the South Hall and kept them in the basement of the Men's dorm until they were ripe. Knowing the avocados were already ripe, together with another self-supporting dormitory worker, they would go to Mrs. Morga's store to buy a can of Carnation evaporated filled milk and a little refined sugar. He and the other student would go to the basement of the boys' dorm and ate the avocados for lunch. Petronilo and Ben Flores did that for a week, so their meal tickets would not be used, being limited to $45 only.
Being a full self-supporting student, he was still unsure if he could finish his ministerial course in four years due to his work load. So he thought of shifting partly to another course, which they called (BSC) Bachelor of Science in Commerce. He started taking a few subjects in accounting while continuing his ministerial course. By his junior year, he was pursuing both courses, the (AB) Bachelor of Arts in religion and (BSC) Bachelor of Science in Commerce
Annual Harvest Ingathering and Student Organizations
Besides his heavy work load and academics, Petronilo was active in other school activities. Shortly upon returning from his previously mentioned one-year sick leave, he was elected president of the Men's Hall (Boys' Dormitory). In the same semester, he was elected president of the sophomore class and vice president of the Ministerial Association. He was very active in the annual ingathering campaigns of PUC, as a leader for four years. School year 1961-1962 was Petronilo's senior year in college.
His last year in school was eventful. It was during the annual harvest ingathering week for the school that one day, after a full day of harvest ingathering, while all the students were enjoying counting the funds they have ingathered, Petronilo got a call from the Manila Sanitarium and Hospital, through the college president, saying, his mother was admitted that afternoon because she had a stroke. She was unconscious. By the help of good friends and fellow students, Petronilo was driven to the hospital that very same evening to visit his mother. It was a very shocking experience. Nevertheless, he did not lose hope.
Bright Spots on the Horizon
Despite sadness and difficulties, there were also some bright spots in his life. Before the end of his junior year, a beautiful young lady provided him the assurance he needed, of her willingness to become his partner in life. The beautiful young lady was Arceli Pulumbarit. It was after a year of absence due to his illness, following hiss return to college, when he first noticed this beautiful young lady. He observed her until at the start of his junior year, he gave all indications that Cely was special as far as he was concerned. Thus, started a most difficult journey of convincing and proving to Cely that she was the woman Petronilo wanted to be with for the rest of his life. Cely was a very modest person. In view of his whole year of absence due to illness, and finding her shortly after returning to school, he thought to himself that Cely was the true helpmeet that God had provided. Finally, after a long and difficult journey Cely said, "Yes".
In March of 1962 after seven years of study and work, Petronilo graduated with his two bachelors degrees, namely Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Commerce. After graduation, Petronilo's challenge was to look for a job. In those days, it was difficult to find a job especially if you don't have any "connections". All the missions could not afford to hire ministerial graduates due financial constraints. There was no budget for new employees. So, Petronilo had to wait for a job opening either in the ministerial or accounting field. When he filed an application for ministerial internship in one of the missions, he was told to go canvassing, meaning sell books, while waiting for a call. Sale or canvassing was never Petronilo's expertise. Anyway, as admonished by the mission officer, he went canvassing part time for at least three months. While waiting for a call, he was assigned to assist a district pastor in South Central Luzon Mission (now South Central Luzon Conference). His monthly stipend was fifty pesos. After assisting the district pastor for three months of evangelism, he still continued with his part time canvassing work.
Call to the Ministry: Central Luzon Mission and Manila Center
Finally, in January of 1963, after one year of patiently waiting, he received a call from Central Luzon Mission (now Central Luzon Conference) as a ministerial intern. He was assigned to work with the late Pastor Jesse Acosta, Sr. in the district of Nueva Ecija, particularly in the town of Cabanatuan. He helped prepare a temporary building for public evangelism. As a ministerial intern, he had to be a jack of all trades. Of course, he also wanted to impress his senior pastor, to prove he was qualified for the job. So, he painted the temporary evangelism building, dug a ditch around it and prepared the place for the opening night.
In those days, ministers who were assigned close to the office usually went to the office to get their salary and also attend a workers' meeting. As a ministerial intern, his gross salary was one hundred fifty-two pesos (P152.00) a month. He could not even buy a pair of shoes, less living expenses, he thought to himself. While they were in the mission office, Petronilo was called by Pastor Potenciano Romulo, then president of the mission. He was informed by Pastor Romulo of a new assignment, that he would be going to the Manila Evangelistic Center under the supervision of Elder Royce Williams and the late Pastor Carmelito Galang. He was so happy that he could return to civilization again. Manila Center is located at Quezon Boulevard and D. Tuazon in Quezon City. There he served as a ministerial intern for two years, assisting in the evangelistic meetings, visitation, and some bookkeeping and helping the treasurer of Manila Center church on the side.
Solo District, New Church Plant: South-Central Luzon
After two years at the Manila Center, Petronilo was called to be a district pastor in one of the districts in South Central Luzon Mission (now SCLC). He worked with Honesto Talento under the supervision of the late Pastor Juanito Tulio, Sr. After three months of evangelism work in one of the towns in the province of Batangas, Petronilo was given the full responsibility as the district pastor of the whole province of Batangas. A year later, Petronilo was transferred to Oriental Mindoro with the same responsibility as district pastor. While in Oriental Mindoro, his mother passed away. Life goes on. After two years as district pastor of Oriental Mindoro, he was reassigned to be the district pastor for the province of Laguna. As part of the Advent Movement, pastors must keep moving.
On May 21, 1967, Petronilo and Arceli took their vows to have and to hold `til death do them part. The theme song they chose was: "SWEETER AS THE YEARS GO BY" As husband and wife, they started life together as a ministerial couple in Binan, Laguna. It was their pastoral provincial district headquarters. Arceli continued working at Manila Banking Corporation, and this supplemented their family income. While in Binan, they led out in an evangelistic campaign in one of the barrios of Binan. After three months of evangelistic series of meetings, a church was organize The Malaban Seventh-day Adventist Church continues today as one of three thriving congregations in the town of Biñan.
Pulling Up Stakes, Putting Down New Roots
After two full years of working as district pastor in Laguna, the couple decided to migrate to the United States of America. On June 20, 1969, they left the Philippines and came to San Francisco, California. Petronilo found a job as bookkeeper/accountant for different limousine companies, while Arceli worked in different departments of the Bank of America. They both worked for more than 30 years in their respective fields. Since their arrival in June of 1969, they joined and became faithful members of the San Francisco Filipino church. Through the years, Petronilo served faithfully as a church elder, twenty five years as first elder. Beside him, Arceli also served as a church treasurer, deaconess, social committee chairperson, etc.
On April 17, 1972, Petronilo and Arceli were blessed with a baby boy whom they named
Gaylord, after pitcher Gaylord Perry of the S.F. Giants. Five years later on May 9th , 1977, God blessed them with another son, naming him Jason, from the literature novel, "Jason and the Golden Fleece". Both sons Gaylord and Jason went through the Christian educational system. They started the elementary grades at San Francisco Junior Academy, a school run by the Seventh-day Adventist organization. They finished their high school years at Monterey Bay Academy, another Seventh-day Adventist run school. They finished their college education at Pacific Union College in Angwin, northern California.
Working continuously till after the 9-11 terrorist attack, Petronilo finally decided to retire. Two years later, Arceli also retired. In the year 2000 Petronilo took a three week vacation to the Philippines to accompany his oldest, Gaylord to ask for the hands of Joan Monzales from her mother to be Gaylord's better half. The following year 2001, Petronilo and the whole family took another one month vacation to attend the wedding of his son Gaylord and Joan Monzales.
On December 21, 2001, Petronilo went through a triple by-pass surgery from which he recovered very quickly. He decided to take life easy and retired completely. On January 21, 2001, Gaylord, Petronilo's first son got married in the Philippines to Joan Monzales. On October 12, 2005. Petronilo's first grandson was born. They named him LUKE JOHN M. GARCIA. Petronilo baby seated baby LUKE until the day he was unable to take care of his little grandson.
